Girls Night of Pampering

Last night I engaged in a little indulgement with my girlfriends. We started with a glass of chardonnay with our manicure and pedicure and ended up at nearby Bonefish Grill. Let me tell you the appetizers are awesome but the big hit was the Pomegranate Martini's, what a crowd pleaser! I recommend it for a change of pace. Heading off to Banff Park in Canada for the Labor Day weekend, hope to give you an update on our exploits there sooner than later. Enjoy your holiday!

Mari

What did I drink in Edmonton, Alberta...

After a beautiful and peaceful flight to Calgary, 3 hours of driving North to Edmonton on Sunday, I made it to my next client... Holiday Inn Edmonton...
I followed the Front Desk receptionist recommendation and I headed towards Whyte Ave. It was a nice area with lots of sidewalk cafes, street vendors and the likes. With temperature in the 80's, most of Edmontonians were out and about. I found an inviting Mexican place named Julio's Barrio. I ordered some original Tacos... and one of the best matched beverage: an original cerveza, la creme de la creme: CORONA! It was outstanding and I would recommend consumming a large amount of it any time you have mexican food... with lime of course. Cheers! -The Cork Dork-

Weekend Wine Selection

We tried some Edna Valley 2004 Chardonnay out of San Luis Obispo County, California. It was a nice addition to a spicy chicken salad lunch. It was medium body, a little hot to the nose most likely due to the 13.9% alcohol content. I'd say it was a wine that relaxed you fast. A green apple flavor with a hint of grapefruit, not very acidic (flabby per the Cork Dork)...good with grilled or smoked foods anything with tropical flavors. Purchased at Costco at less than $10.

One of our dinners consisted of Steak and Salad with Brie cheese. We tasted some Crane Canyon 2000 Zinfandel and experienced high acidity, black cherry flavors - very good compliment to the salad and brie. Complimentary to foods that have a little sweetness, for instance Duck with currant sauce. All in all it wasnt a favorite for us for $18 at Vino 100 we really didnt wouldnt highly recommend it. It was good but not a favorite!

Look back at our notes on the WINE CLUB coming up on September 21st, hope to see you there. If you do have an interest the Cork Dork wants to let you know that we are able to assist in future wine tastings by supplying glasses, we realize not everyone keeps that many glasses on hand. Also if anyone is concerned about the food planning, let us know and we can arrange to help or assist in the planning.

Have a great week ahead!

Naples Wine Week

Culinary Concepts' three Fifth Avenue restaurants will host Naples Wine Week. The event offers diners at Pazzo Italian Café, Yabba Island Grill and Chops City Grill 10 wines for $10. Wine Week sure sounds like a good deal for wine lovers.The best part is that Naples Wine Week benefits children in Southwest Florida. Last year, the event raised $15,000. It is one of several fundraisers held by Culinary Concepts throughout the year for local nonprofits such as the Shelter For Abused Women and Children, Candlelighters of Southwest Florida for children diagnosed with cancer or blood disorders, EDEN Florida for children with autism, and other local foundations helping children with medical needs.Diners receive a sampling (not a full glass) of five whites and five reds to accompany their meals. According to Keith Cronebach of Culinary Concepts, the wine selections will vary by restaurant. Chops City Grill will serve Chardonnays and sauvignon blancs from Napa Valley. Pazzo will serve pinot grigio and Tuscan reds. New Zealand sauvignon blancs and pinot noirs from Willamette Valley in Oregon. The wines are donated by local distributors.
Naples Wine Week takes place Monday, Sept. 4 through Friday, Sept. 8 during dinner service. Reservations are being taken now at Pazzo Italian Café (434-8494), Yabba Island Grill (262-5787), and Chops City Grill restaurants in Naples and Bonita Springs (262-4677).

Local Wine Tasting Tonight

As I drove by the Bell Tower on my way to work this morning I noticed that BISTRO 41 is holding a Wine Tasting from 6-8pm. I didn't find out what the focus was on, but go and enjoy if you can get there as they are usually a pretty class act at that restaurant.

Happy Tasting!
Mari

The Blue Windows Wine Club is born!

Calling all wine enthusiasts, beginners or advanced connoisseurs!
The purpose of the Wine Club is to educate not to inebriate... although it could happen too! No membership fees, no by-laws (well, almost...), no Board of Directors...

Here is the format:

We will meet on a monthly basis to taste 6 or more wines.
A theme for the meeting will be determined before each session and each participant (not each couple) will bring 1 bottle of the wine of the specified varietal of a value of $20 or more. This is our chance to taste the finer wines, wines that we don't drink every day.

The attendance will be limited to the first 10 or 12 participants to RSVP. A participant that is a NO-SHOW to a meeting will no longer be invited. The tasting is a formal blind tasting: the wines will be poured without your knowledge of the brand or even the varietal if we have a mixed varietal tasting. You will be seated with a tasting sheet for you to use during the tasting. While we will have fun, this is not a cocktail party, this is a learning experience!

We will take turns "hosting" the tasting. The host should provide ice water and substantial Hors d'Oeuvres. The Cork Dork will give guidance on the Hors d'Oeuvre selection. The Cork Dork will hide all labels, supply the tasting sheet, pour the wines, and facilitate the tasting and educate the participants on terms used in sampling wines, etc...

Here are the Steps to attend a Wine Club meeting:

Sign-up for the meeting by emailing Bluewindowswine@yahoo.com

• Purchase a bottle of the wine varietal that will be studied during the tasting valued to $20 or more
• Be on time for the meeting
• Bring the wine, chilled if required, in a bag, as to hide its provenance from other tasters.
• Be willing to host the meeting once or twice a year
• Be on time for the meeting
• And... be on time for the meeting!

Please send your friends to this blog and encourage them to attend the Blue Windows Wine Club!

Christian, the Cork Dork!

PS: THE FIRST WINE CLUB MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21 at 6:45 PM AT CHRISTIAN & MARI'S HOME IN ESTERO. DIRECTIONS WILL BE SENT WITH THE CONFIRMATION OF YOUR ATTENDANCE TO THE MEETING. THE THEME IS SAUVIGNON BLANC.

It's a Thursday night wine...

Thursday night wine... I just flew back from Dallas and I was a bit tired but thirsty... no white wine in the fridge... Mari and I met at Publix coming from our respective jobs. My first pick was a 2004 Kendall Jackson Sauvignon Blanc. I am not a huge fan of their Chardonnay but I am willing to give Sauvignon Blanc a try. After all, $8.99 was not a big gamble. We also picked-up a few fillets of Tilapia that looked pretty good.
While the wine was chilling, we had a tiny Martini with 2 Blue Cheese-stuffed olives. We tried all kinds of canned, jarred (and so on...) olives but the ones from the deli case are the only ones we will ever buy.
I quickly and lightly floured the fish, pan-sauteed the fillets in a combination of olive oil and butter, a squeeze of lemon and voila... The yellow rice took longer than the fish!
We were both very pleased with the KJ Sauvignon Blanc: Crisp, herbacious, citrus-y... it was a perfect Thursday night wine! And we still have some spare change to put gas in the Yukon...

Note our Answers to Questions

Please view the comments area when you logon to see some answers to questions that have been posted directly from the Cork Dork to our fellow wine fans. We will be assembling a 911 Emergency Wine list of some wines to buy in a hurry from your local grocer's shelf in case you are in need or on your way to a social gathering.

Chumeia Chardonnay and Arcturus Red Wine

Last night Christian and I had a little vino before dinner. We tried Chumeia 2004 Chardonnay, $15 at Vino 100 wine shop. It was full bodied, light with a mild nose and buttery and nutty texture. It had overtones of walnut with a butterscotch finish...not bad at all.

We later had guests for some steaks on the grill, Filet Mignon for the ladies and Tbone for the guys. We served Arcturus 2000 Napa Valley Red Wine $25 at Vino 100. It went really well with the steaks, garlicy spinach, twice baked potatoes and mushrooms. It was a cabernet blend with dark chocolate overtones, great value wine with an attractive label and bottle shape (who knew anybody cared about the shape of a bottle)!! It's Sunday evening and Christian has flown off to Dallas so updates on wine we've tasted may be a little sporadic for a few days. If he spots anything out there we'll be sure to give you the details. Tune in for other tidbits as we start the week ahead.

Welcome to the Wine Blog

Hello and thanks for logging on to Blue Windows Wine Blog where we hope you find useful and sometimes quirky but fun insight into the world of wines, wine tastings, wine dinners and other wine related "stuff". Tell your friends and please feel free to post comments so that we can interact and answer your questions. Christian & Mari appreciate your input and want to extend the warmest of wine welcomes to you. Tell your friends to check us out if they have any interest in the World of Wine!