My Experience at the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival

This entry was written on May 20, 2009 by our Wines Guru Joann Quinn

I had the opportunity to taste my way through the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival this past weekend. This was my first time at this event and I am happy to report that I was very impressed! It was a relaxing and fun atmosphere of food and wine on St. Petersburg Beach at the Loews Don Cesar Resort and reminded me very much in style of the much larger South Beach Wine & Food Festival.



The tasting tent was set up in the white sand of the beach (leave the Manolos at home) and several of the vendors had their own specialty areas set up, complete with areas to relax in lounge chairs and enjoy a plate of food and a glass of vodka, wine, sake, or even a hand massage from the ladies from Spa Oceana at the Don Cesar.





I tried to taste my way through some of the offerings, but I was a bit disappointed (but not surprised) to see several chain restaurants making an appearance. Although the shrimp was tasty from Bone Fish Grill, and the little steak sliders looked good enough from The Capital Grille, I always prefer to taste my way through more unique offerings from local merchants. Luckily, I came upon at least one at this event. The most memorable experience of the day was the wonderful Cheese Steak Spring Rolls from Wayl of a Time Catering in Tampa. Wow. Imagine a light, spring roll wrapper that is fried to the perfect crispness with a oozy delicious filling of onion, cheese and small bites of steak. This was a truly spectacular find! I took a look at their website and lo and behold, they are generous enough to share their recipe! http://www.waylofatime.com/recipes/recipe006.htm That is one recipe that I will be trying out for my next gathering!



There were quite a few vendors with vodka, sake, sangria, and other cocktails that were a mystery to me. I did not venture away from the wine much (unlike when tasting wine, it seems that people frown upon cocktails being tasted and spit out), but I tasted a really unique vodka that I think is worth mentioning- Sonnema VodkaHerb. This was a crisp, smooth vodka that they claim has the benefits of having those valuable herbs infused. In actuality, I think it is just a nice, refreshing vodka that would blend well in a number of cocktails or drink well on its own. They were mixing Herb-a-Litos (their version of Mojitos) at the event, but I passed on the experience.



I also want to mention a really nice wine that I came across. Palmaz Vineyards must have been the smallest winery represented at the event, and they were pouring their Cabernet Sauvignon. I tasted the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 (their current vintage) and I was very impressed with these consistently well-made wines. Primarily dark fruits, earth and spice throughout these vintages, with the occasional appearance of some lush red fruit peeking through. The 2002 has started to develop more of the earthiness that I personally like in a Cabernet, and I would anticipate that this will just continue to evolve for the next few years.



Overall, a nice event and a great opportunity to get out on the beach for some good food and wine. Next week I am heading to Northern California to stop in at our winery, visit some friends in Napa and Sonoma and taste some great wines and then spend a couple of days in Pebble Beach at the San Francisco Security Traders Association Conference (part of my other life). Keep an eye out for highlights upon my return!

When You Want to Buy Kosher Wine

If you are looking to purchase Kosher wine for a friend or family member, there are Web sites that can offer great selections. There are plenty of Kosher wines at online sites such as KosherWine.com and cheeseandwine.com. Find Kosher wines online from more than 20 countries including Israel, France Spain, Chile and Australia. Kosher wine gift baskets can include Kosher foods such as wafers, preserves, honey and gourmet cappuccinos.

Organize your wine cellar

This entry was written on Mar 12, 2009 by our Wines Guru Joann Quinn

How many times do you go to your wine cellar (or closet, perhaps) to pull out a bottle of wine and just cannot find what you are looking for? Or, perhaps you don’t have anything in mind, and you are worried that you are going to end up drinking a $100 bottle, when you really just want to relax with a $15 bottle. (This has happened to me, so you are not alone.) Well, in the spirit of ‘Organize Your Home Office Day,’ I am feeling renewed with enthusiasm about finally getting our wine categorized and labeled, to prevent any future drinking mishaps. Yes, I realize that everyone may not have their wine in their home office, but we happen to since this is our business, so I think this is a great chance to get this done.

Not only can you save yourself time and frustration by organizing your wine collection, you can also prevent misplacing bottles that end up being saved past their prime. Many wines are now made to be consumed relatively soon. If you tuck these away and lose track of them, you just may be throwing away your investment, and worse, missing out on a great bottle of wine!

To get organized, take a physical inventory of your current collection, and log this information into a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel. As you take your inventory, you may wish to snap a photo of each bottle, or find a photo online. Usually wineries have photos of the labels or bottles on their website, and it is nice to have an image to reference when you look at your list. (This visual recognition may also be another layer of security against grabbing that expensive bottle that you are saving for your birthday!) When you place the wines into their storage location, reserve a section for the ‘everyday’ wines, and since you are probably drinking these on a regular basis, these don’t even need inventorying. Just make sure that the section is marked so that you know which bottles are for casual consumption. Next time you reach into your cellar for a bottle of wine, you can refer to your list (or your everyday grab bag section) to be sure that you get just the right bottle for the occasion.

Link for more info- corkwiseconsulting.com

the ultimate package

Friends don't let friends taste and drive. To give the ultimate gift in wine tasting, get your family or friends a guided tour to different wineries while be chauffered in a limosine. Check out beauwinetours.com, fingerlakeswine tours.com, ctwine.com and californiawinetours.com for information and pricing. You'll not only be giving a gift to remember, you'll be giving piece of mind!

Welcome to Wine Tips... now, how to take the fear out of wine buying

This entry was written on Sep 24, 2008 by our Wines Guru Joann Quinn

I come across people all the time that are downright intimidated by the thought of buying wine. As a vintner, my parents even call me at the last minute asking what wine they should buy for a dinner party or a gift. In each case, I tell people the same thing: trust your local wine merchant.

There are many sites online that offer advice (and tips!) on buying a great wine at all price points, but the best way to become more familiar with wine and end up getting a good bottle for your needs, I recommend you visit your local wine shop. Personally, I prefer a small shop that is locally owned and operated, and find that that is where you will find the best value/quality combination. While most people feel that they can get a great bottle at their local grocery store or warehouse store, the wines that you will find there are large production wines, most likely coming from a corporation, not a smaller winery.

So, next time you need a good or great bottle of wine at any price, stop in to your neighborhood wine shop and ask for some help. Don't be embarrassed if you are not familiar with terminology, just tell them what you like and they will point you in the right direction. Who knows, this could be the start of a great love affair... (with wine, not the wine merchant!)

Jo