101 Wines...a Cheap Plug for Gary's Book!

Greetings from the Lake Erie Islands!

A shout out to my pal, Gary Vaynerchuck with the release of his new book this week (May 12, 2008). Gary is the host of Wine Library TV, and is a frequent guest on the Television talk circuit.

Always looking to make a buck (and that doesn't make him bad) Gary is releasing, "101 Wines Guaranteed to inspire, delight and bring thunder to your world." OK, so it's a long title and I haven't gotten an advanced copy yet (maybe the mail is slow), but knowing Gary it should be great!

A book tour is planned and there are some neat offers for people purchasing two or more copies. The book will be available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. The book lists for 19.95 but you can get it for around 13 and a half bones!

Congrats, Gary.

A Few Wines for the Weekend!

Greetings from Akron, Ohio!

Here are a few new wines that you might want to look for in the stores for this coming weekend. All are inexpensive and have a great QPR. (Quality/Price Ratio)

2006 Castle Rock California Cuvee Pinto Noir. In my never ending search for a good Pinot under 20 bucks, this one fits the bill nicely. The Castle Rock 2006 Pinot Noir is a medium bodied (not as light as most) wine with a nice nose of cherries and spice. On the pallet is is smooth with rather mild tannins and the distinct taste of cherries and a hint of iced tea, with a spicy but not peppery finish. At 13.99, this one rates 88 points and a great bargain.

2006 A to Z Oregon Pinot Noir. This is my first experience with this jammy fruit bomb. It is one of Wine.com's top sellers and now I know why. The label says "aristocratic wines at democratic price" and they are correct! At 17.99 a bottle the 2006 Pinot Noir is a refreshing mix of red cherry and red raspberry with good acidity and a hint of spices. Just what you would want from a Oregon Pinot. At 17.99 a little more expensive, but when you look at all of my Oregon favorites that used have this price point now over $30 bucks a bottle this one is a bargain. This is a 90 pointer!

2006 Windmill Estates Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel. What can I say, always one of my favorite Zins for the price, Michael and David Phillips have done it again with the 2006. This one reminds me of the 2001 with huge fruity plums and prunes, some Asian spice and black pepper on the long finish. A bargain at 11.99 and 88 points.

2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red Wine. This vibrant blend of of Washington State Syrah, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon, brings aromas of strawberry and some spice with blackberry and plum flavors on the mid-pallet and an nice smooth finish. And at 7.99, a really nice everyday wine especially with pasta and pizza. 86 points and a good QPR.

Cheers! Have a great weekend.

Oh my,,,I'm a Locavore...You might be too!

Greetings from Catawba Island, Ohio!

Every year the New Oxford American Dictionary declares its word of the year. In 2007, it was Locavore. Loosely defined, it's someone who prefers buys their food and wine locally. It came out of the local food movement, which encourages people to develop their own local or regional food economies. A locavore, is a person who would rather shop at the farmers market, stop a local roadside stands, and consume locally produced and grown foods and yes, wines!!

I was talking with a friend in Michigan who recently returned from Italy and all he could talk about was the local fruit and vegetables and local wines. He couldn't believe how fresh and flavorful they were. As we talked we both commented about how in the United States we eat food from all over the world but most is picked before it is ripe and then must be shipped to the US distributor then to the local stores. It never tastes as good as it looks. It just isn't as good as local.

For me my favorite tomatoes are grown in my back yard. And what national distributor can beat Seiberling Farms corn, sold from their roadside stand in Norton? One of the nice things about living on Catawba Island is the opportunity to get Catawba peaches right off the tree at the roadside stand on NW Catawba Road. Or to purchase Ohio apples from Bergman's on Route 53 or the famous Rittman Orchards.

The same goes for wine. It's a wonderful thing to drink the local wines from Ohio. It's no different that dinning at a local Trattoria in Italy. If you ask for a wine list, they'll simply say "house wine" and fill a carafe from a unlabelled barrel or jug. Montepultiano has never tasted better than the local house wines of Abruzzo.

So Ohio, let's make it our goal this summer to shop the local farmers markets. There is a nice one in Downtown Akron every Saturday morning. And stop by those local roadside stands. And when your near Lake Erie or the Ohio River, stop in at one of the Ohio Wineries and check out the local wines. They'll be glad to see you and you might just discover that you are a locavore as well.

2003 Marramiero Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Inferi

Greetings from Catawba Island, Ohio!

Once in a blue moon a wine comes along that knocks your socks off, the 2003 Marramiero Inferi is one of those. This ruby red Montepulciano combines an old world grape variety with modern wine making techniques to produce an intense "Barolo on steroids" fruit bomb.

The hand picked grapes are crushed and fermented in cooled stainless steel tanks, then spends two years in French and Slovenian oak barrels, are blended, bottled and further aged until release.

Vanilla and red fruit like cherry and raspberry explode in your mouth. This one really opens up with a little decanting. A 90 pointer and a real winner at around 30 bucks a bottle.

Area Wine Events, Wine, Food, and Fun for Charity

On April 25, 2005, Our Lady of the Wayside and Giant Eagle present Grapes on Tour at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Museum in downtown Cleveland. The tasting begins at 6:30 with the VIP and the Grand Tasting at 7:30 PM. More than 50 wineries will be featured spread throughout the wonderful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibits. Tickets are $50 per person with VIP's at $100. For more information call 440-934-6054.

On April 26, 2008, Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital Foundation Board will present a wine tasting featuring Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climate Vineyard in Los Olivos, California in the Santa Yanez region. The event, "California Dreaming" will feature some of the vineyards finest wines and great food pairings. Tickets are $500 dollars per person and will benefit Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital's Osteopathic Graduate Medical Education. For information call: 330-971-7409.

On May 15, 2008, it's the 14th annual Silver Spoons Awards Party for the Arthritis Foundation of Northeastern Ohio. The event is from 6-9PM and the InerContinental Hotel in Cleveland. A long list of fabulous restaurants will provide the food and a VIP Martini lounge will be open from 6-10PM. Tickets are $80 per person and $90 at the door. Call 216-831-7000, ext 110 for tickets.

Here are a few dates to block out on your wine tasting calendars.

June 13-15, 2008 Wine X III A weekend Wine Celebration of Wine to benefit the Akron Art Museum. 330-376-9185 ext. 211 is the number to call for information and tickets.

On Friday, July 25, 2008, is the 10th annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction at Hardesty Park on Akron's west side, during the Akron Arts Expo. Tickets for the event that runs from 6-10PM are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. Phone 330-375-2836 for details.

July 19-20, 2008 is the date for the First Annual Hudson Wine Festival hosted by the Vue Restaurant and benefiting the Humane Society of Akron. For ticket information please contact Debra Sherman at 330-256-8704.

Vintage Ohio is August 1-2, 2008. This premiere event runs from 1:00-10PM each day and is $25 dollars per person, $22 in advance. Over 30 Ohio Wineries and 20 area restaurants will be featured each day. Music, Artisans and demos will be featured throughout the event. For more information call: 800-2276972.

Grapes on the Gridiron at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Museaum will take place on Friday, October 24, 2008. Mark that date, more details to follow.

Ohio's Wine Shipping Law Revision Stinks!

Greetings from Wadsworth, Ohio!

Back on October 21, 2007, I wrote an article about the new Ohio wine shipping law and how I felt it was not only bad but probably illegally restrictive and that it needed to be changed. As I stated a 2005 Supreme Court decision against the state of Indiana for similar restrictions did not give equal treatment to out of state wineries as was overturned.

To refresh your memory, the Ohio Shipping law prohibits wineries from out of state to ship wines to Ohio if the winery has a production of over 62, 000 cases. That means if you want to purchase and have shipped to Ohio the Limited Edition Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, from your favorite vineyard, you'll be breaking the law.

Wine lovers united in an organization called Free the Grapes, an organization of over 300.000 wine lovers including many Nick On Wine fans, have been working to overturn the ban.

Now our State lawmakers have attempted to rework this awful piece of legislation and have come up with a revision that is just plain bad! Industry officials say the change won't do any thing except open the shipping to a few more wineries that the deal that was slipped into the June state budget without a public forum. The ban was the result of lobbing by the Wholesale Beer and Wine Association looking out for their best interests and not those of the consumer.

To read more check out Aaron Marshall's article in the Plain Dealer from last Monday. You can access it at: cleveland.com.

Truth in Labeling, When is Champagne not Champagne?

Greetings from Wadsworth, Ohio!

I received a press release from the Center for Wine Origins, a Washington D.C. based lobbing group representing the Champagne district in France as well as Porto, Portugal and Jerez, Spain. The release concerned the misuse in the United States of the terms Champagne and Porto in describing a type of wine. They contend, and rightfully so, that a Porto, should be from Porto, Portugal and a bottle of champagne should be from Champagne, France.

To be fair, I doubt that any wine drinker would make the mistake of thinking that a bottle of sparkling wine for 3.99 was champagne, but I guess they could. Most wine drinkers in the United States call anything sparkling champagne whether it's the real thing or not. It's the equivalent of calling facial tissue, Kleenex even though that's a brand name or calling the condiment ketchup even though only Heinz is ketchup and the rest are catsup!

When a product become so familiar and so popular the brand name becomes the generic name for the product. In most instances, that's good. It proves the value and popularity of the product. But is it misleading?

Most American, according the the article, are opposed to mislabelling. Of course, they are! The release states:

"A recent national survey of U.S. wine consumers, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, reveals that 79% of wine purchasers agree that consumers deserve protection from deceptive claims on food and beverage labels. The poll also found that 63% support a law prohibiting mislabeling."

Well, that depends on how the question was asked. If the questions was do you think consumers deserve protection from deceptive claims on food and beverage labels or support a law against deceptive labelling practices, sure they would agree to that. But would they feel the same way about a law to ban people from calling tissue Kleenex? I don't know.

Although someone might not be able to distinguish a bottle of sparkling wine from a bottle of French Champagne, or an American Port from a Portuguese Porto, I don't know if a law is worth the time.

So, what do you think? I'd love to have some readers weigh in on this issue. You can read more and view a well produced video package at the Center for Wine Origins web site at: wineorigins.com.

Let's hear from you, Nick On Wine fans!

It's Like MySpace For Wine!!!

Greetings from Wadsworth, Ohio!

With social networks all the rage, MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin are as popular among we oldsters as they are among the college aged students who have been at this the longest.
With this in mind, I thought it was time to do a column on my favorite social network sites dealing with, you guessed it, wine!

I got the idea tonight after signing up for a new wine community called MustLoveWine.com . This site has all the feel and easy navigation of Facebook and lots of really great features that make this a well thought out community. So far I have made a few friends, posted a few sample blogs, made a few comments to fellow members of the community and had some fun. And don 't forget to send me a FRIEND REQUEST!!

The site is still in beta and granted, I have more MySpace friends that the site has members, that will change fast! As a matter of fact, I have promised to introduce some of my blog friends to the site and see what that think. Let me know your feelings once you've spent some time on MustLoveWine.com.

Another favorite is OpenBottles.com. This site is great for reviews of not only wines but wineries. I've found the wine reviews very interesting and helpful and the site has a nice feel and navigation. I wrote an earlier blog on OpenBottles.com but it is worth repeating here.

Still another favorite is Corkd.com. This one features reviews of wines and an easy way to set up an on-line wine cellar and wine journal. Wine buddies are the friend equivalent and you can friend me up there at as well.

And finally a FaceBook application called Wine Beagles is a cool app with some very active users. If social networks are your "thing" then don't forget the wine communities on the web and again, friend me up!

Another "Feast" at Vernon's Cafe in Niles!

Greetings from Catawba Island!

It's Saturday and we just got dumped on. Another 4-6 inches fell over night and I just finished shovelling the driveway. I can't believe it was a week ago that we had the "Feast" at Vernon's Cafe in Niles.

It was Rick and Becky's 25th wedding anniversary and a group of friends (about 20) met at Vernon's for dinner. You may recall from a past post that I really like Vernon's! We ate from 7-11PM! That's right, first the hot peppers and crusty Italian bread, then the clams casino, followed by the bracciole, then the calamari. And that was just the appetisers!

Then a salad, followed by two pasta dishes, one in a red and one in a white sauce, Then chicken franchise, with Italian greens, and finally a steak followed by a tray of desserts, cheese cakes and such with coffee. A meal like that really deserves some good wine, and Vernon's had a nice surprise. They had the 2005 Justin "Orphan" that I wrote about last week from Nashville. Just when I thought that I'd never drink this one again, Dennis ( Vernon's fantastic sommeillier) came up with a couple of bottles. Needless to say it was a hit.

Then it was off to a nice Cabernet, the 2003 Cafaro Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. By the way, no relation to the Cafaro family from that area (although we did toast Capri Cafaro just for fun.)

The garnet colored cab had a nice subtle nose with tart cranberry and red raspberry with a hint of coffee, chocolate and mocha. Nice finish. A 88 pointer and a definite order again. A great evening with friends.

And a side note. Just when I thought I wouldn't get to drink the "Orphan" again, I found a case on Monday and have stashed a few bottles away for when we all are together again.

2003 Tommasi Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico

Greetings from Nashville, Tennessee!

It's my first day in Nashville, still unaware of the blizzard of 2008 that would have our flights to Cleveland canceled for two day. It was bad enough getting here are our flight to Nashville at 6 AM this Wednesday morning was canceled as was the 7:30 and the 9 AM. We finally got a flight, not to Nashville but to Midway in Chicago at 9:30 AM but parked on the tarmac for two hours to de-ice. A two hour layover in Chicago and finally we made it to Nashville. Normally a one hour flight, that day it took 13 hours!

I was anxious to get to Nashville because my son, Mark, was in town. He was leaving for a weekend of shows with Brian Stace in Oklahoma ad were going to have lunch before they hopped on the tour bus and headed for Tulsa. Brian and Mark picked us up at the airport and we had a chance to have a few drinks and get a great dinner offer.

You buy dinner and I'll buy the wine, was my response to an old friend also in town! We made our way to a little restaurant called Sole Mio, The food was great and we had a chance to drink one of my favorites, the 2003 Tommasi Amarone Della Volpolicella Classico (see my review on corkd)

This wonderful amarone from Veneto is a blend of three grape varieties, Corvina Veronese, Rondenella, and Molinara. I rated this gem 92 points. How can you beat that, a wonderful free meal, a great wine, and an opportunity to see my son. Well worth the 13 hour trip!