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Lots of soup for you!

February 18th, 2017 by Joseph Temple

soup ideas for winter

By Joseph Temple

With the snow falling and cold winds of winter blowing, we could all use a little warming up. So here are seventeen tasty soup, stew, and bisque ideas to heat your tummy and if done right, your soul.  Just like mom used to make! Mmmm!!


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1. Pumpkin Curry Soup

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2. Beef & Vegetable noodle soup

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3. Cream of broccoli soup

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4. Roasted garlic cream soup

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5. Lobster bisque

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6. Squash with rosemary & hazelnuts

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7. classic French onion soup

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8. chicken and matzo ball

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9. Asian hot pot

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10. Roasted Tomato bisque

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11. Potato leek soup

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12. Japanese soup

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13. Miso soup

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14. Pork won ton soup

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15. Sausage and potato stew

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16. Beef stew

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17. Cabbage and beef soup


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Ask Sid: Opening a Burgundy Imperial?

February 15th, 2017 by Joseph Temple
Ask your question here

opening an imperial wine bottle

Question: What is the best way to open an imperial ? The size and condition of the cork because it’s a 1970 DRC LA TACHE worries me.

Answer: The 1970 red Burgundies are generally under-rated because the large crop size (could have used the saignee technique back then) resulted in less concentration than either 1969 or 1971. But La Tache seems to be superb in expressing the style of every vintage and could be a fresh elegant exquisite treasure in that large format size of 6 litres (or 8 regular 750 ml. size bottles). However, our experience with these big bottle Burgundies is that some of them can show more oxidation than even the smaller sizes. The reason we believe is that the cork does not always seal as tightly at the bottom of it as the neck widens so quickly in that large Burgundy size compared to the straight down Bordeaux neck. Would be better and safer if they used a champagne or port style cork that flares out more at the bottom. In several comparative tastings we did of the same DRC Burgundy wine in sizes up to an Imperial the magnum has usually shown the best freshness. Still you won’t know how your exciting big bottle of 47 year old wine will be until you open it. Anticipation! Each bottle at this stage of aging is different and I have enjoyed some sublime old Imperials. IMHO the best opening procedure is to carefully use The Durand Corkscrew with confidence. Once the cork is out check the wine for any issues including especially how advanced it is. May have to be very careful not to give it too much airing. The big size can be difficult to hold for decanting without disturbing the sediment so go slowly in pouring it out or alternatively I would siphon it off with some plastic or rubber tubing into the magnum decanters. Good luck! Please report back.


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Touchdown Australia!

February 10th, 2017 by Joseph Temple

Australia wine yellow tail superbowl commercial

By Joseph Temple

If you were one of the 111 million people who tuned in to watch Tom Brady and the New England Patriots pull off one of the greatest comebacks in football history at Super Bowl LI, then chances are you also saw the start of another great comeback. Only this one was not on the gridiron but in an eccentric commercial featuring a kangaroo wearing loud yellow sunglasses and supermodel Ellie Gonsalves. Marking the first time in four decades that a wine ad has appeared on the Super Bowl, Yellow Tail, a brand that represents more than half of all Australian wines sold in the United States decided to make a splash this year with a coveted 30-second spot. And while many Aussies felt the entire commercial was an embarrassing portrayal of their country, others praised the winemakers for thinking outside the box with a unique sense of humor that clearly left an impression with viewers.

One of the greatest success stories in the history of both wine and marketing, Yellow Tail (or [yellow tail]) was able to conquer the globe through a combination of low price points, color-coded labeling for its different varietals and (most importantly) by not taking itself too seriously. Launching what became known as the “critter era,” which featured everything from frogs to bobcats on wine labels, this Australian juggernaut defied all conventional wisdom by selling over eight million cases in the United States by its fifth year as an exporter.

Unfortunately for the land Down Under, its wine industry as a whole fell on hard times, making the breakout success of Yellow Tail in the early 2000s seem like a distant memory. As a blogger for The Wall Street Journal writes, “Once among the world’s most sought-after bottles, they [Australian wines] are now some of the hardest to sell.” Dropping an astounding 41% in exports from 2007 to 2013, how did a nation known primarily for its Shiraz that critics like Robert Parker praised in the late 1990s take such a nosedive?

A major problem for Australia has been with this demand came excessive vineyard planting, which over time created more wine than the country could sell overseas. Adding to the problem was the decision to put all of its eggs in one basket. For example, in 1994, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon represented approximately 27% of the total production; nearly twenty years later, these three grapes shot up to nearly 60%. So as supply exceeded demand, “branded commodity wines” began to offload their surpluses on the international wine market for as little as 50 cents a liter, a practice that smaller vintners who focus exclusively on fine wines feel has cheapened the industry as a whole.

Another issue has been the Australian dollar, which began a decade long rise beginning in 2001. Fueled by Chinese demand for their minerals and other raw materials, this spike severely hindered the country’s ability to stay competitive internationally, especially with countries like Argentina, Chile and South Africa being able to undercut them at the local wine shop.

However, there are signs that Australia is beginning to turn the corner, as reported by several media outlets. Home to approximately 2100 small vintners, many are hoping that with this Super Bowl ad serving as a catalyst and Yellow Tail as the vanguard, American oenophiles will take the time to rediscover wines from the land Down Under – especially in the mid-range section. While we all can’t afford a bottle of Penfold’s Grange, there are many excellent selections available, from the Margaret River to the Barossa Valley. Hopefully this marks the start of massive renaissance throughout the Lucky Country.

Sources:

MacNeil, Karen. The Wine Bible. New York: Workman Publishing, 2015.
Robinson, Jancis. The Oxford Companion to Wine, 4th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Taber, George. A Toast to Bargain Wines: How Innovators, Iconoclasts, and Winemaking Revolutionaries Are Changing the Way the World Drinks. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.


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Ask Sid: Horizontal & Vertical?

February 8th, 2017 by Joseph Temple
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difference between horizontal and vertical wine tastings

Question: What do they mean by horizontal or vertical?

Answer: Presume you are referring in connection with wine tasting! They are special words for 2 different ways of assessing a group of wines one against another all having something in common.

1. Horizontal tasting is comparing wines from the same year. Usually (but not necessarily) it has a narrower focus of that SAME vintage from a more restricted region – like 2009 red Burgundy, 2010 red Bordeaux or even more specific 2010 St. Julien. This is an educational tool in helping you evaluate at any point of time the quality of wines in that chosen year from the area selected.

2. Vertical tasting is focusing in on a specific wine and trying several DIFFERENT vintages of it – like Chablis 1er cru Vaillons Cuvee Guy Moreau from say 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010. This also is very educational allowing you to assess the overall quality of the producer & property, the similarity of the wines, as well as how the yearly weather conditions have influenced each resulting wine.


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A look at 6 Classic Champagne Cocktails

February 3rd, 2017 by Joseph Temple

champagne cocktail recipes

By Joseph Temple

With winter in full swing, many of us simply cannot wait until that first backyard party or when the patio at our favorite restaurant finally opens its doors. Thinking about the warm sun beaming down sure makes you thirty for a cool and refreshing libation of the alcoholic variety. And if you’re tried of the same old drinks, why not experiment with some classic Champagne Cocktails that date back as far as the nineteenth century? Have a look below at six ideas that are sure to excite your palate as you prepare for that day when the snow finally melts.


champagne cobbler recipe

Much like the famous Sherry Cobbler, its bubbly cousin also dates back to the mid-19th century and is featured in the classic book The Bar-Tender’s Guide by Jerry Thomas.  Consisting of shaved ice and sparkling wine, the original recipe called for orange and lemon pieces to be used as a garnish. Topping it off with fresh berries, the cocktail is to be consumed with a straw, making it one very refreshing drink. Of course, there is plenty of room for creativity, whether it’s substituting crushed ice, adding mint leaves or choosing which berry goes on top!

 

black velvet drink recipe

Following the 1861 death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, a period of deep mourning was felt all across England. In fact, it was so strong that some even resorted to adding black stout with champagne to symbolize their sorrow, thus resulting in the Black Velvet. Also named after Bismarck who was quite fond of them, it is a cocktail that has never really crossed the pond. However, in the book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David Embury writes, “The champagne cuts the heavy, syrupy consistency of the stout, and the stout takes the sharp, tart edge off the champagne. Each is the perfect complement of the other.”

 

kir royale cocktail

Originally created by Felix Kir, a former mayor of Dijon, France, the original intent was to make a cocktail that would simply blow away any visiting dignitaries, who in a state of euphoria (mixed in with a healthy dose of inebriation) would easily succumb to his every demand. While the original Kir recipe used white wine mixed with a black-currant liqueur, the champagne version consists of framboise and lemon twists, giving it a more majestic taste.

 

death in the afternoon hemingway cocktail

Fans of Ernest Hemingway will appreciate this concoction, which shares the same name as the author’s 1932 book about Spanish bullfighting. In a collection of cocktail recipes published three years later, Hemingway instructs us to, “pour 1 jigger of absinthe into a champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink 3 to 5 of these slowly.” Supposedly created during his time on the Left Bank in the 1920s, the book also warns us that “after six of these cocktails, The Sun Also Rises.”

 

seelbach drink hotel

In an elaborate hoax that fooled nearly everyone, Adam Seger, then the restaurant director at the Seelbach Hotel in Lousiville, Kentucky (a hotel mentioned briefly in The Great Gatsby) claimed to have “discovered” a recipe that was supposedly created during the pre-Prohibition era. Legend had it that a New Orleans couple celebrating their honeymoon got their drinks mixed up, which caused the hotel’s bartender to experiment with different formulas, eventually leading to a legendary cocktail bearing the hotel’s name. Consisting of bubbles, bourbon and Peychaud’s bitters, this incredible tale was reprinted in several books until the fall of 2016 when Seger admitted that he made the whole thing up. But hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a great story – or a great cocktail.

 

French 75 drink wine

Named after the French 75-mm field gun that became a mainstay during World War I, this cocktail usually consists of gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, and chilled brut champagne that is then topped off with orange slices and maraschino cherries. And like many other drinks, the origin of the French 75 is clouded in mystery. While the original owner of Arnaud’s restaurant in New Orleans claims to have invented the cocktail, books from the same period also make mention of a “’75 Cocktail” or a “French 75.”

Sources:

DeGroff, Dale. The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks. Berekeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014.
Haigh, Ted. Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Beverly: Quarry Books, 2009.
Mariani, John F. Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
Rathbun, A.J. Champagne Cocktails: 50 Cork-Popping Concoctions and Scintillating Sparklers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.


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