What's Wrong With Wine and Alabama?

Consider this scenario: 1. Wineries are required to sell their wines exclusively to wholesalers 2. Wholesalers are not required to distribute the wineries' wines 3. Wholesalers won't represent and distribute the wineries' wines. We are talking here about Alabama. The...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FermentationTheDailyWineBlog/~3/cKaBRby6dog/whats-wrong-with-wine-and-alabama.html

Simone Mütherthies Sofía Vergara Soft Cell Sophia Bush

Short term wine storage: How warm is too warm?

Weather-wise this past week in Boston has been gorgeous. The high temperatures topped 80F yesterday and I started to get concerned about the boxes of wine I have sitting around that don't fit into my wine fridge. The room where I tend to keep wine got up to 76F yesterday afternoon so I decided to take the wine down to the basement where it's in the low 60Fs.

With quite a bit of wine in-flight across the country as spring shipping season is in full swing I've also been wondering whether those shipments might be exposed to more heat than we'd like.

It got me thinking I might be overreacting a bit.

The wine sitting on a retailer's shelf has, in some cases, been through much worse. Who knows what weather that wine was subject to when it was shipped? And how long as it been sitting on the retailer's shelf in a room that's usually air conditioned but likely hits the mid-70Fs during the warmer months?

And what about my friends who live in warmer climates? Wines stored on the counter spend most of their life in the high 70Fs. How long until those wines are spent?

I know first hand how extreme heat can destroy wine. When we were moving from Arizona to Massachusetts a few years back I had a couple boxes of wine in the $30-$60/bottle range. It wasn't enough to warrant exploring separate climate controlled transport - or so I thought - so I just shipped it with the rest of our household goods. The wine was totally cooked. Some wine seeped out of the corks as I could see on the capsules. The wine tasted lifeless and like stewed vegetables. After popping 2 or 3 spoiled Sterling SVRs (that blew me away at the winery) I was thirsting for anything fresh and clean. Anything!

So, for short term storage, how critical is it to keep wine cool? Here's Wine Spectator's Dr. Vinny weighing in on a similar question:

Is it OK that a bottle of wine was exposed to a temperature of 70-75 degrees for 24 hours? Answer: http://bit.ly/GH5HXo
My take is that I'm comfortable keeping wine in the mid-70Fs for a month or two. But if it's going to be longer than that I'd seek out some way to keep the wine cooler. Especially for nicer bottles that merit mid-term aging. 

Question of the Day: What's your take on this?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/EXrWrgEAlhg/short-term-wine-storage-how-warm-is-too.html

Rachel Bilson Rachel Blanchard Rachel Hunter Rachel McAdams

Details Revealed for Cochon 555 Boston 2012

Cochon 555, a culinary competition and tasting event celebrating heritage breed pigs, returns to Boston this year. The event is Sunday March 25, 2012 at 5 pm at the Mandarin Oriental Boston.

Here's an event report I wrote up last year to give you a feel for what to expect at Cochon 555

And here's more information on this year's event:

WHAT: Cochon 555 ? five chefs, five pigs, five winemakers ? is a one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs. Cochon 555 Boston, presented by Infiniti and media partner Boston Magazine, will challenge five local chefs to prepare a menu created from heritage breed pigs, nose-to-tail, for an audience of pork-loving epicureans.

WHO: 2012 Boston competing chefs include Jamie Bissonette of Coppa and Toro, Tim Cushman of O Ya, Barbara Lynch of Menton, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, and Steve "Nookie" Postal of Fenway Park.

DETAILS: Guests will be treated to a epic pork feast of five whole heritage pigs prepared by five chefs and wines from five family wineries, including Buty Winery, Elk Cove Vineyards, Syncline Wines, Sokol Blosser, Chehalem Wines, and K Vintners. The evening will also include wines by SALDO, an interactive tasting contest with Matt Jennings of Farmstead and Le Creuset, Anchor Brew, tastings of ChinacoTequila and the "Perfect Manhattan" Cochon 555 Bar with Daniel Hyatt of Alembic featuring five craft American spirits, and Domaine Serene of Oregon paired with Iberico De Bellota by Fermin. Joshua Smith from TICO will host a Heritage BBQ whole hog family meal after the completion of the voting.  The night will conclude with a special 25th anniversary champagne toast to the James Beard Foundation, sponsored by Laurent-Perrier Champagne, now celebrating its 200th year; and dessert samples of exclusive chocolate bar flavors from Xocolatl de David, paired with cold-brew Safari Cup Coffee.

At the end of the night, attendees and local judges will select the Prince or Princess of Porc. The winning chef will go on to compete against other regional winners at the finale Grand Cochon event at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, June 17, 2012.

WHEN: Sunday, March 25th
     4 pm VIP opening; 5 pm general admission

WHERE: Mandarin Oriental Boston
     776 Boylston Street
     Boston

TICKETS: $125 per person for general admission;  $200 for VIP, which includes one hour early access to sample dishes from three of the competing chef stations, welcome cocktails from The King's Ginger, artisan cheeses from Formaggio Kitchen and Murray'sCheese, and Island Creek Oysters.

For more information and to purchase tickets:


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/Pafh6mE6Xf8/details-revealed-for-cochon-555-boston.html

Shakira Shana Hiatt Shania Twain Shanna Moakler