Officially called Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, this small constitutional monarchy is nestled between France, Belgium and Germany. Luxembourg’s population of just over a half million reflects diverse cultural influences. German, French and Luxembourgish (which has similarities with both French and German dialects are the country’s official languages. Luxembourg is one of the founding members of the European Union. The capital city (and also the largest), Luxembourg, is home to several institutions and agencies of the European Union.

Passports & Visas

Passports are required to enter and leave Luxembourg. Visas are not required for US citizens for visits of less than 90 days. For longer visits, contact the nearest embassy.

Obtaining a US passport
The US Government Website is where to start.

Visa information
contact: The Consulate General of the Duchy of Luxembourg in New York

American Offices
Provides consular assistance to U.S. citizens
Luxembourg Embassy in the US

Luxembourg Tourist Information

Culture and History
Luxembourg in a Nutshell

Currency in Luxembourg
As part of the European Union, Luxembourg’s currency is the Euro (available in seven notes and eight coins). ATMS are available throughout Luxembourg, especially in more urban areas, and most machines accept debit cards bearing the Cirrus logo. Before you leave, be sure to call your local bank to find out if you can use your card in Luxembourg and if a special international PIN number is required to retrieve cash. All major credit cards are generally accepted for purchases made in Luxembourg. Banks in Luxembourg are typically open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with an hour off for lunch, and most are closed on weekends.

Driving in Luxembourg
For information on laws, speed limits and safety, see Driving in Luxembourg

Electricity in Luxembourg
Luxembourg operates on 220 volts electricity (as opposed to the United States, which uses 110 volts). Outlets take the continental two-round-pin plug (standard throughout Europe).

Emergency Numbers in Luxembourg
Medical emergency: 112
Fire: 44 22 44
Police: 113

Etiquette in Luxembourg
Meeting People: When meeting someone for the first time or upon arrival to a business meeting or social event, shake hands with everyone (men, women and children). Also shake hands when leaving. Good friends often kiss cheeks, one on each side (similar to France).

Body Language: Luxembourgers are friendly but personal space is to be respected. Do not put your hands in your pockets. Don’t chew gum in public.

Dining: Punctuality is essential for most social occasions except evening dinners, for which you should plan to arrive 15 minutes later than what is stated on the invitation. When finished eating, place your knife and fork side by side on the plate. To quietly signify that you are not finished or that you would like more food, cross your knife and fork in the middle of your plate. It is considered impolite to leave food on one’s plate.

Gifts: When invited to someone’s home, always bring a gift — bouquets of flowers (not chrysanthemums), good bottles of liqueur, or chocolates — to the hostess.

In General: Remain aware of Luxembourg’s individuality. Do not compare or lump the Luxembourgers together with the French, Belgians, or Germans.

Public Hours in Luxembourg
The majority of post offices in Luxembourg are open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an hour off for lunch. Certain places have extended hours. Banks in Luxembourg are typically open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with an hour off for lunch, and most are closed on weekends.

Safety in Luxembourg
The crime rate in Luxembourg is moderate as compared to other European countries. Travelers should take precautions against petty theft while in Luxembourg, especially in public areas where pickpockets tend to lurk. Luxembourg has many public parks that are safe during the daylight hours, though low-level drug vending has increased in some of the city parks. Tourists should avoid these parks after dark.

Time Zone
Luxembourg is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time in the United States. The country is in the Central European Time zone, which is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. During Daylight Saving Time, Luxembourg is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

Tipping in Luxembourg 
A service charge of 15% is added to your food bill at a restaurant.  An additional tip isn’t required, but many people add a Euro or two for good service.

Taxi drivers typically receive a 10% tip; bellhops and doormen, €1.25-€2.50; movie ushers, coat & washroom attendants, €.50-€1.50.

Weather in Luxembourg
With a moderate climate, Luxembourg is a great destination any time of year. However, be prepared for a bit of rain. Traditionally, “in-season” has been defined as anytime from mid-April to mid-October. Peak season is July and August.

Main Sights In Luxembourg

History buffs and sightseers will enjoy Wenzel Walk, which takes you through Luxembourg’s oldest quarters (a UNESCO World Heritage site). Among other sights, you’ll see the Bock Promontory, Castle Bridge (built in 1735 from red sandstone), and the Church of St. Ulric (the city’s oldest church).

Created by Luxembourg-born Edward J. Steichen, “The Family of Man” is a permanent exhibition at the Castle of Clervaux with more than 500 black & white photos by 273 photographs from 68 countries. The theme of this powerful imagery is love and faith. Before its arrival to the Castle, the photos were on display at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art.

A visit to Mullerthal , the little Switzerland of Luxembourg is a real treat

Wine aficionados will enjoy the Grevenmacher Wine and Grape Festival in mid-September.

Schueberfouer is a traveling fun fair that visits the country every year for 3 weeks in the summer.

Getting Around Luxembourg

Luxembourg is home to excellent road, rail and air transportation facilities and services.

Air
Most major international carriers fly to Luxembourg’s airport (Findel International Airport – LUX) is 5km (3.5 miles) northeast of the city (journey time – 20 minutes). To/from the airport: Coaches and buses run regular services to the city. Taxis are also available (it takes approx.10 minutes to get to the city). A new passenger terminal at Luxembourg Airport opened recently.

Boats and Ferries
Car ferries run between the UK and Calais (from which you can drive to Luxembourg. From Calais, the quickest route is to take the highway to Brussels via Lille (A25, then head south through Namur along the E411 to Luxembourg). In total, the journey from London (including the ferry crossing) takes approximately eight hours.

Rail Passes
Benelux Tourrail will get you through Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. This pass allows for unlimited travel for any five days within a one-month period throughout the year.

InterRail is for European residents only, and offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries. Discounts are available for travelers under 26 years of age, and children’s tickets are reduced by about 50%. Available from Rail Europe.

Eurailpass is available to non-European residents (the passes cannot be sold to residents of Europe, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or the Russian Federation) and is good for unlimited first-class train travel in 17 European countries. Depending on the type of pass, it is valid for 15 days, 21 days, one month, two months or three months. The Eurailpass Saver ticket offers discounts for two or more people traveling together. The Eurailpass Youth ticket is available to those aged under 26 and offers unlimited second-class train travel. The Eurailpass Flexi allows either 10 or 15 travel days within a two-month period. The Eurail Selectpass is valid in three, four or five bordering countries and allows five, six, eight or 10 travel days (or 15 for five countries) in a two-month period. The Eurail Regional Pass allows four to ten travel days in a two-month period in one of nine regions (usually two or more countries). Children receive a 50% discount. All of the above is available from The Eurail Group (website: www.eurail.com).

There are plans to introduce trams in the capital city of Luxembourg and light-rail lines in nearby areas within the next few years.

Car Rental in Luxembourg
Several major car rental companies have stations at Findel International Airport. Car rental prices can be high,but fuel prices are lower than in most other EU countries. As is the case in any EU country, you’ll need a valid passport, driving license & international credit card to rent a car in Luxembourg. The road network has been significantly expanded and improved in recent years. There are now 147 km of motorways connecting the capital (Luxembourg) to adjacent countries.

Taxis
Taxis are quite expensive in Luxembourg. The standard fare is 0.80 Euros per km, but expect to pay a 10 percent surcharge at night, and a 25 percent surcharge on Sundays. Asking a taxi to wait for you will cost EUR0.21 per minute.
Taxis can be booked by telephone or hailed from a stand outside public buildings such as train stations.

Health

Personal Medications
No permit is required to carry medication in your luggage. However, you should pack your medication in its original containers and/or have your doctor’s prescription with you. Customs officials will have to be satisfied that you are not importing more than would be necessary for your personal use, taking into account the drug type and length of stay (for no more than three months).

Lodging in Luxembourg

Luxembourg offers every type of lodging from couch-surfing, to hostels and agritourism , to 5-Star resorts. Check here to find a hotel that will meet your needs.

Public Holidays in Luxembourg

New Year’s Day 1 January
Carnival February
Good Friday
Easter Monday
May Day 1 May
Ascension Day
Whit Monday 1st Monday in June
National Day 23 June
Assumption Day 15 August
Luxembourg City Fete 31 August
All Saints Day 1 November
All Souls Day 2 November
Christmas Day 25 December
St. Stephen’s Day 26 December

Telephones in Luxembourg

Public phone booths are conveniently located in Luxembourg. Coin-operated phones are quickly being replaced with ones that accept only credit cards and telecards, available at most newsstands, post offices, and major train stations.

Dialing Procedures
When calling Luxembourg from abroad, dial the local international access code, then 352 for the country code, followed by the number. When calling Luxembourg from the United States, the international access code is 011. Please note that there are no area codes in Luxembourg. However, phone numbers range from five to nine digits.

Useful Country Codes
USA and Canada 1
UK 44

Returning to the US

Customs,VAT & Duty Free
When you return to the U.S., you’ll need to declare everything you are bringing back that you did not take with you. If you are traveling by air or sea, you may be asked to fill out a Customs Declaration Form provided by the airline or cruise ship. Keep your sales slips. Try to pack the things you’ll need to declare separately. Read the signs in the Customs area; they contain helpful information about how to clear Customs.
For complete information on Customs, look at the U.S. Government Customs Website

Value Added Tax (VAT or IVA) Refund Information
If you are a U.S. or Canadian resident, you may qualify for a personal exemption which allows you to bring goods of a certain value into the country without paying customs duties, excise taxes, or Value Added Tax. You can be reimbursed for the VAT you pay on large purchases throughout your trip. Save your receipts from large purchases and be sure to visit the VAT office at the airport for refund forms and information.

Duty-Free Items
U.S. and Canadian citizens may bring goods into or from France and the rest of the European Union up to a certain value before having to pay custom duties, excise taxes, or VAT (Value-Added Tax). You should keep the following in mind:

U.S. and Canadian citizens aged 15 and over and traveling by air or sea may bring articles totaling 430 Euros (approx.$545) into France duty and tax-free. Land and inland waterway travelers can bring duty-free goods worth 300 Euros (approx. $380) in their personal luggage

Individuals over 17 may also purchase and import certain duty-free items from France up to a certain limit. This includes tobacco and alcoholic beverages, motor fuel, and medications. Fragrances, coffee, and tea may now be imported into the EU with no restriction on amounts, as long as the value does not exceed the monetary limits listed above. Limits for other items are (be sure to check and make sure these limits are still the same before you leave):

Cigarettes: 200 units
Cigarillos: 100 units (max. 3 grams each)
Cigars: 50 units
Still wines: 4 liters
Beer: 16 liters
Spirits over 22 degrees volume: 1 liter
Fortified wines, 22 degrees volume or less: 2 liters
Medications: Varies according to traveler’s health requirements
Motor fuel: Quantities equal to that found in a normal full fuel tank, or in an emergency can, not exceeding 10 liters.

Duty and tax exemptions are strictly individual. You cannot apply them to a group. Items worth more than the maximum exempt amount will be subject to duties and taxes.

You can bring personal items such as guitars or bicycles to France and not be charged any taxes or fees as long as the items are clearly for personal use. You may not sell or dispose of these while in France. All personal items declared to customs upon entry into France must be transported back with you.

Related posts:

1. The Netherlands Tourist Information
2. Liechtenstein Tourist Information
3. Belgium Tourist Information

When you think of port, you may first think of the rich red fortified wine, often served after a meal. But White Port, made from white grapes, is relatively cheap and often used in punch bowls and predinner cocktails.

Only one of these men will get to open a restaurant in the Mall of America.

A wise man once said, “A journey of a thousand miles ends with a single step.” And so it has come to pass: We have reached the final episode of America’s Next Great Restaurant, and Osama bin Laden has been killed. (I’m glad President Obama had the decency to delay his announcement of Bin Laden’s death until after the ANGR finale; I guess he does read all those faxes I send him.)

Our three finalists are called into the Investors’ Suite. Bobby Flay reminds them of the stakes: “One of you three guys is going to open America’s next great restaurant.” He adds: “It’s not common that a person with little to no restaurant experience gets to do that.” Joey (Brooklyn Meatball Company) starts crying. Bobby Flay looks disdainful as he asks, “You okay? What’s the matter?” Joey admits to being overwhelmed. Bobby Flay musters a little compassion, admitting: “It’s emotional for us as well,” which is probably what the men in the helicopters thought as they flew toward a city north of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Our heroes are invited to enter their unadorned restaurant interiors. The spaces are empty, ghostlike. This doesn’t stop our friends from rubbing the spotless counters with awed affection. “Unbelievable,” says Joey, adding, “I keep sayin’ that.” Sudhir (Spice Coast) is moved as well: “As a newly minted American citizen ... it’s the embodiment of the American dream.”

Back in the contestants’ office, Bobby Flay introduces two architects who will help design the restaurants: Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind. (Joke.) Joey tells the architects that he pictures a customer walking in off the street and smelling garlic and oil. I applaud Joey’s vision of a culinary home away from home, but I’ve never been convinced that Italian home cooking is something people want to experience in a fast-casual environment. Jamawn (Soul Daddy) wants a Motown theme with lots of Motown music. Bobby Flay, reaching inside my head and stealing a thought, declares he “doesn’t want (Soul Daddy) to be the Hard Rock Café of Motown.” Jamawn concedes, “I kinda feel him on that.” Sudhir wants to make “exotic things accessible,” which is why I stand by my decision to make him the public face of 120 Days of Skadom, my erotic ska band. It’s the embodiment of the Skamerican dream.

It’s time to build out the restaurant interiors, and — ladies and gentlemen, BREAKING NEWS! Momentous world event! We never thought this day would come: The mysterious rockabilly contractor from episode four is BACK! We see him only for a flash, but his pompadour remains a Gibraltar of all-American defiance.

With 36 hours until the soft open, Joey dips into his Treasury of Subversive Provocations and declares: “I gotta bring my A-game like never before.” Joey’s chef, meanwhile, wants to play it safe and stick to the basics — the “three essential meatballs,” which according to Corinthians 13:13 are faith, hope, and love. Jamawn wants to keep his menu “balanced and healthy.” He has truly internalized the investors’ suggestions, which is why he’s about 40 minutes away from winning this thing. Sudhir admits that his goal is to make the Indian version of Chipotle. (In Hollywood, this type of thinking is called “high concept” — “It’s Knocked Up meets Grizzly Man" — and usually results in a huge payday.) Sudhir’s menu will feature tacos and quesadillas, in an Indian style. Is Sudhir being too overt in his Chipotle-obsequiousness? I ponder this question like a team of special-ops forces approaching a fortified compound.

FIRST COMMERCIAL BREAK:

I got this shirt on Canal Street shortly after 9/11. I’ve never worn it until today. Terrorism suck. Justice never fail.

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL:
The investors — who have never revealed how much of their money they’re investing, and are probably hoping that some kind of history-making news event will distract people from asking — show up to help the contestants cook. Curtis Stone puts on a pinstripe apron and commences schooling folks with impeccable style and panache. Are there too many fried items on Jamawn’s menu? Dr. Chipotle really wants Jamawn to help people eat better in this country: “I’m sick of Michael Pollan getting all the credit!” (Joke.)

Our friends are hiring staff one day before their opening. (Why didn’t they use the staff from the Las Vegas challenge? Would they have been too competent?) Joey thinks so far outside the box, he actually thinks outside the box that the box came in and decides to use table service: “I like my food to be brought to me; I don’t like walking around with a tray.” Is Joey intent on shattering every paradigm of fast-casual dining? Does he want to use valet parking, as well? Sommeliers? In fairness to Joey, there is something kinda demeaning about walking around with a tray — and I’m saying this as someone whose favorite food is salad bars! (Shout-out to the K&W; cafeteria behind University Mall in Chapel Hill; I’ll always carry your trays with pride.)

Against his chef’s wishes, Jamawn takes fried chicken off his menu. He decides to serve baked chicken instead — however, he draws the line at serving pieces of Melba toast with chickens drawn on them.

The new restaurant signs are installed. Overwhelmed by the moment’s momentousness, Jamawn starts weeping. The producers, adhering to their contempt for the maudlin and their love of understatement, deploy the kind of piano music that makes you think every character on a soap opera is about to be diagnosed with cancer simultaneously.

SECOND COMMERCIAL BREAK:
My friend opines that the three finalists are all living up to familiar cultural stereotypes: Joey (Italian) makes good food but is “unorganized” (“Just like Italy,” per my friend); Sudhir (Indian) is played up as technocratic and disciplined, but lacking passion (“Just wait til you see him in my ska band,” I say); Jamawn (African-American) is portrayed as instinctive, emotional — a kindhearted giant. For all the talk about “concepts” on ANGR, it seems to me that the cleanest, strongest concepts were actually embodied by the contestants, and not their restaurants. Go figure.

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL:
It’s the day of the soft opening. The dining rooms are set up. The restaurants’ counters and service area are low-rent industrial chic, à la Chipotle. (Would it kill Steve Ells to throw a sombrero on a wall? Eating at Chipotle sometimes feels like dining in an abandoned OfficeMax.) Soul Daddy has chosen a lurid shade of purple that brings to mind Prince’s underwear, assuming he wears any. Spice Coast has cushions like one would find at a real Indian restaurant, i.e., an Indian restaurant that is not trying to pass as a Mexican restaurant.

Suddenly Jamawn cries: “Get the hell out of here!” His family has been flown in for the opening. (Jamawn isn’t actually telling them to leave; that would be awkward.) We meet his fiancée, Tyrah, his father (a.k.a. “the perfect man”), and his kids. They seem like a happy, lovely family, and I grudgingly admit that I have been successfully manipulated into hoping Jamawn wins ANGR. (Which of course he will: Good thing ANGR’s producers weren’t in charge of killing bin Laden; he would’ve seen that shit coming from a mile away.)

Joey’s wife(?) and kids show up, too. When Joey’s adorable daughter leaps into his arms, he remains stone-faced, unemotional, a cypher. (Joke.) Sure enough, when Joey says, “It couldn’t have been a better surprise for this moment; I gotta tell ya, it really took the edge off,” he is not referring to a bag of heroin he palmed from Curtis Stone, he is referring to his family’s visit.

Sudhir shrieks with pleasure as well — his sister and two of his “dearest friends” have arrived. As I ponder the mysteries of Sudhir’s personal life, he admits: “That was the closest I’ve come to fainting on the show.” Sudhir explains his Indian tacos and quesadillas to his sister, who is his “biggest fan.” Nevertheless she accuses him of “selling out 5,000 years of culinary history” and storms off in a huff. (Joke.)

Sudhir tells his staff to prioritize “quality and accuracy over speed,” which is probably what President Obama told the Special Forces before sending them on their lethal mission. Joey tastes his pasta sauce and asks his chef: “Does it need anything?” His chef answers with a “NO!” that suggests Joey has been asking him this question constantly for the past 100 hours.

Joey decides to run a dress rehearsal and orders a meal from Brooklyn Meatball Company, an act of meatball-based recursiveness that would make Tom Stoppard’s mouth water. Things run off the rails immediately, as somebody mis-abbreviates “marinara sauce.” Joey waits at a table, impatient: “90 seconds! Where’s my food, chef?” Ninety seconds turns into three minutes, then four minutes! “This food better be good,” barks Joey. Meanwhile Joey’s staff bitches sotto voce about the kitchen’s inability to understand their newfangled marinara abbreviations. Guys, I smell something, and it’s not spaghetti sauce — it’s TROUBLE. (I hope Bin Laden said that to his bodyguards as the first shots rang out.)

THIRD COMMERCIAL BREAK:
I’m eating leftover party food and drinking white wine, one of the best kinds of wine. Have you ever eaten faro? One of my friends is obsessed with it, and I think it’s rubbing off on me.

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL:
Bobby Flay, in his final address to an assembly of ANGR diners, tells them to “consider the food, service, and environment” of the proto-restaurants. An old lady calls out: “I’m sick of you telling us what to do!” (Joke.) The diners eagerly fan out like the freeloaders they are. Curtis Stone ponders the significance of the occasion: It’s “the first time all the elements are being brought together: design, furnishing, food, service … ” (deep breath) “ … and the death of a terrorist mastermind." (Joke.)

Sudhir walks around greeting diners. He describes Spice Coast as a “redheaded stepchild,” which disappoints me: Surely a man of Sudhir’s intelligence and cultural savvy should have referred to Spice Coast as a “henna-headed stepchild”?

There are long lines at all three restaurants. The investors, moving for once as a single pack, walk into Spice Coast. The menu is praised for being “easy to read.” (It would’ve been funny if Sudhir had printed it in Vedic Sanskrit, just to fuck with them.) Sudhir greets the investors as they wait in line. They commence to yakkin’. Bobby Flay: “My concern is you’re turning this into a Mexican restaurant.” Sudhir just wants to make Indian food accessible; he’s willing to rename his dishes once he’s hooked America on his spices. Curtis Stone has had enough: “We’ve been here seven minutes; the line’s not moving. Instead of giving us a political discussion, get back there [behind the counter]!”

Did Curtis Stone and Sudhir have a falling out? Does Curtis resent Sudhir’s constant genuflection to Bobby Flay and Dr. Chipotle? Curtis, to Ells: “Chiptole, Chipotle, Chipotle: You got into his head!” Ells seems genuinely wounded: “Oh, come on, that’s not fair!” My heart swells for Steve Ells one last time — he is truly a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a tortilla. It’s true, though: Sudhir even compares Spice Coast’s wait time to Chipotle’s, telling a customer: “It’ll take about five minutes, like Chipotle.” What kind of hand soap does Spice Coast use in its restrooms, Sudhir? IT BETTER BE JUST LIKE CHIPOTLE!

Joey and his chef are bristling in the midst of G.M.B. (general meatball disorder): Apparently there are two missing orders for children’s rigatoni. Joey: “How did this happen?” Staff-member Melissa is screwing up orders, simply writing “pasta” — what kind of pasta? Joey laments: “The day is not going the way I envisioned it going,” which we can only imagine was Osama bin Laden’s final thought on this earth.

The investors visit Soul Daddy, where the customers are all smiles. Bobby Flay likes the vibe: “It’s relaxed.” He further commends the staff for being “well-versed.” As if on cue, the staff gathers on the floor to recite Yeats’s “Sailing to Byzantium” from memory. (Joke.) The judges agree: Jamawn’s biscuits are good. (My friend remarked on the delicious-looking-ness of the biscuits every time they were shown, to the point where I almost said, “If you love Jamawn’s biscuits so much, why don’t you marry them,” before remembering that’s still illegal in most states.) Bobby Flay misses the fried chicken, but Curtis Stone thinks the menu is rich enough already. Lorena worries about the menu: She couldn’t see herself eating at Soul Daddy twice a week, and this “worries her tremendously.” Bobby Flay: “These greens are good, I could eat this all day.” (The greens are collard, not kale; Jamawn knows not to mess with Kale City.) Dr. Chipotle doesn’t like the Soul Daddy interior: “The purple doesn’t say anything about food,” which seems like an odd complaint to make about a color. Jamawn’s chef, who’s been with him the whole time, is emotional because Jamawn’s family is here. (My notes: She seems like a good person and has a nice, trusting relationship with Jamawn.)

The Brooklyn Meatball Company remains a Hieronymus Bosch–like vision of chaos. Melissa still isn’t writing clearly; her inscrutable chicken-scratch is monkey-wrenching the meatballs! (Was she secretly hired by Sudhir to kneecap the competition?) Joey pleads with her: “Please write clearly!” One customer has been waiting for 45 minutes, which is about as long as it takes to kill Osama bin Laden in a firefight. Joey pleads with his chef, with his staff, with his unforgiving God: “Get me out of this disaster.”

FOURTH COMMERCIAL BREAK:
It’s interesting to consider what the ANGR investors and producers thought was important in opening a restaurant chain: design, logos, “concepts,” etc. Very little attention was paid to finances, and (no big surprise, I guess) there was no discussion of business ethics or paying employees a decent wage. I suppose, in a country where McDonalds’ hiring 50,000 employees in one day is heralded as an economic boom, we can’t expect much. Still, for all of Dr. Chipotle’s proclamations about “changing food culture” and the Way Americans Eat, it would’ve been cool for somebody to pipe up and remind everyone that it’s easier to eat well when you have a little money in your pocket.

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL:
The ANGR doomsday clock is now a single word: TOMORROW!

The judges are not enjoying their time at Brooklyn Meatball Company; Dr. Chipotle complains about the line: “Three and a half minutes and we’re taking our first step.” (In a weird moment in the background, Bobby Flay sniffs a Styrofoam cup after it’s handed to him. Any theories, guys?) The diners sit in awkward, stiff-backed rows. Bobby Flay: “Dude, it’s like a nightmare.” Lorena comments on the lack of energy: “Where is the love and passion?” “It’s here,” I finally cry out, “It’s here, Lorena, just waiting for you! Come to me!” When the food arrives, though, it’s good. Ells likes his veggie sandwich. Joey looks depleted, but Bobby Flay gives him the ol’ shoulder slap and tells him to hang in there, and it’s actually a convincing display of fellow feeling from Mr. Flay, and I decide that I will intern for him whether he knows it or not.

In the contestants’ green room, our finalists reflect on their ANGR experience. Sudhir: “My biggest realization was how many dimensions you have to get right.” In competing on ANGR, he gave up his software career and “pivoted towards happiness,” which sounds like a Manitowoc crane translating Oprah. Jamawn says he’s “living closer to my dream than I’ve ever been before in my life.” Joey, meanwhile, says his goal has always been to “make a meatball so big I can have sex with it.” (Joke.)

FIFTH COMMERCIAL BREAK:

A message to all haters.

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL:
Judges on Sudhir: “Good organizer, seems to inspire people he works with.” They’re excited about his flavors, but his food is “going in the wrong direction.”

Judges on Joey: They like the food. Curtis Stone: “He makes fantastic meatballs,” but the service was a huge problem. Lorena: “He doesn’t think on his feet.”

Judges on Jamawn: “He’s come a long way.” Curtis Stone: “He wears his heart on his sleeve.” Lorena hated the purple, but thought he showed good leadership. Bobby Flay is still peeved that the other judges pressured Jamawn to abandon his beloved fried chicken, but admits, “the baked chicken was amazing.”

It’s decision time. Lorena: “I’m shaking, to be honest.” Dr. Chipotle admits he wants “a food revolution in this country, and revolution is never easy.” Careful, Dr. C: I know of another mastermind who longed for revolution in America, and last I checked he’s been buried at sea with a bullet through his eye.

The guys are brought into the Investors' Suite one last time. The judges are dressed up, though Curtis Stone still can’t be bothered to wear a tie. Bobby Flay says, “All of America would be proud of your concepts.” DING! I almost thought we were going to make it through this episode without hearing the “C”-word, but I was wrong. Everybody drink.

To the show’s credit, there is almost no climactic build-up. Bobby Flay just comes out and says it: “America’s next great restaurant is Soul Daddy.” This is the second-most-astonishing announcement of the night, surpassed only by President Obama’s remarks minutes later. Jamawn says it’s the “biggest moment of my life.” Jamawn lifts Lorena five feet off the ground. This, finally, is the passion she’s been waiting for! Jamawn is giddy: “I can’t wait to get to work.”

Joey is disappointed, but "[Brooklyn Meatball Company] is something I will continue to nurture; it’s too beautiful to die on the vine.” This is a moment of poetry from Joey, and it’s well-earned. Sudhir is disappointed: “Let’s not mince words about this.” If Sudhir jettisons all the faux-Mexican stuff from Spice Coast and gets back to his original vision of Indian street food, he’ll make money in metropolitan markets. We all know this. Get to it, Sudhir. I’m hungry for dosas.

A title flashes onscreen: TEN MONTHS LATER. Wait a minute — this all happened ten months ago? What manner of tomfoolery be this? Friends, we’ve been hornswoggled! Oh hell, who cares? Bobby Flay and Jamawn enter the Hollywood branch of Soul Daddy for the first time. (My notes: Where are the other judges? / Jamawn has new ultracool beard.) Jamawn loves it: “I’m a very blessed man.” Jamawn’s family is back as well. His father, Lyman Woods, chokes up as he talks about how proud he is of his son. Bobby Flay is “thrilled to death … [Jamawn] deserves it.” He goes on, “I mean, the guy cried on cue for two months straight; that ain’t easy.” (Joke.)

Am I disappointed that Kale City didn’t win ANGR in some sort of reality-show write-in coup? Of course I am. But as a wise man once said, “When God closes a door, he opens a secret bank account in your name and it’s just a matter of hacking the PIN so you can withdraw as much money as you want.” That’s what I aim to do — I’m off to find investors. (Joke. But seriously, thanks to everyone for their kind support of Kale City. It was a nice concept while it lasted.)

Dear reader, our time together has come to an end. Another chapter in our nation’s history has been written. As we reflect on the death of an evil man and the end of the adventure that was America's Next Great Restaurant — a show that combined America’s fondness for entrepreneurial capitalism with its love of food culture to exhilarating and bewildering effect — one question lingers in the air, unresolved, unrepentant, unanswerable:

“WHO WANTS A SPORT WRAP?”

May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America’s Next Great Restaurant.

The show may be over, but David Rees will be back next week to give us his take on Soul Daddy.

Read more posts by David Rees

Filed Under: overnights, america's next great restaurant, david rees, recaps, tv

So up until now, I've been holding off writing about Manhattans. It's a cocktail that you can find virtually anywhere, and many places do it quite well, but I don't know how many places do a really superb job with the drink. The thing is, in Ontario anyway, we're a bit limited. Sure there is lots of whiskey to choose from, but when you start looking at sweet vermouth and bitters, the selection drops dramatically.

But I wanted to do it, because it's kind of the granddaddy of all those sweetened whiskey cocktails (even if it isn't really) and one of my absolute favourites.

So I definitely wanted to include a Manhattan, but I just wasn't quite sure how to go about it. What if I chose a place and was enormously disappointed? Sure, the opportunity is there, BarChef does a $45.00 smoked Manhattan that is apparently divine, but I'm weary of too much trickery or tinkering. I don't want a riff on a Manhattan; I want a Manhattan. So with that in mind I set out to find one, and as far as I'm concerned there is really only one place to go: The Black Hoof.

The first time I tried this cocktail was on a Sunday back in the winter over at the — sadly, now defunct — Hoof Café. It was an evening of Manhattans and fried chicken, and might have been the best culinary experience of my life; this was the perfect excuse to have another, sans fried chicken.

So, it's already clear that Black Hoof makes an extraordinary drink, let's take a look at why.

Manhattan - 3oz, $16.00

Ingredients:
Whiskey
Sweet Vermouth
House Bitters

Top Notes: 9/10
A Manhattan, while full of big flavours, is a delicate cocktail and for that reason it is a stirred one - lest the drink get bruised and become cloudy. This one is fully intact and served with a house preserved cherry that puts those neon saccharine orbs to shame. This cherry is dark and chewy and a little sour — it's so good in fact that I'm taking a point off for only getting two (they're tiny). I could eat a bowl full of them.

The Back End - 10/10
This is a drink that makes you understand why people drink cocktails over straight spirits. It is the perfect combination of complimentary flavours that creates something that is better than the sum of its parts.

The key to a perfect Manhattan are the ingredients. Sure, it's whiskey, vermouth and bitters, but knowing just which types — and then getting your hands on them — is part of the trick. A Black Hoof Manhattan uses Alberta Springs rye, Carpano Antica vermouth, and house made bitters. The beauty here is that it's all about the drink; no one is trying to buy you with expensive whiskey. Alberta Springs is pretty smooth and pretty neutral, just the thing to let a really good vermouth shine. Carpano Antica is a rich and slightly spicy fortified wine that mingles really well with the whiskey. Combine that with the house bitters and you've got pretty much the perfect Manhattan.

Finish - 10/10
What makes this a perfect Manhattan is the attention to detail, every ingredient serves a specific purpose and a choice was made to fulfill that purpose. But that's par for the course at the Hoof, nothing "doesn't matter" and the Manhattan is no different. As it should, the cocktail stands on equal footing as the food, something that more restaurants should take note of. Neon red maraschino cherries aren't okay, nor are cheap generic ingredients of any other kind.

That doesn't mean you need to spend a fortune on "top shelf" spirits; it just means you need to care — and at Black Hoof, they do.

Total Score 29/30 (97%)

Previously in the series

• The Elixir
• Whiskey Sour
• Hime
• The Bullshot
• The Derby
• Balsamic Lavender
• Chemical Peel
• Petey's Mescal Muddle
• The Bramblish
• Sazerac
• The Sidecar
• Bloody Hound

Badzine

KOREA – Hwang clinches Spring Classic at home Badzine Nestled in the rural by heavily fortified area between Seoul and the North Korean border, Pocheon is known throughout Korea for its rice wine, or makkeoli, but the town's name is also familiar to everyone in badminton circles as it is the hometown of ...

People of New South Wales,

Well, that was close.

First of all, I think we should start with an apology. On behalf of my people — the tanned, tropical and slightly sun-stroked natives of Queensland — I would like to offer a genuine ‘Sorry.’ You know, for the whole Pauline Hanson thing. We breathed political life into her before passing her your way, and today, we nearly saw things get out of control.

Sure, Hanson seemed like a good idea in the mid ‘90s, but hindsight is a very funny thing and we all now know she was a mistake. We admit that. We deeply regret that she somehow escaped our state borders and managed to roam free, getting a little too excited for her own good and finding herself into all sorts of unlikely places — not just the lower house of Federal Parliament, but also the dance studios of Channel 7 and prison (quite similar, really) and today — thrillingly! — nearing scoring herself a seat in the Upper House of New South Wales Parliament. A free spirit, she was always going to be difficult to contain, that Pauline.

Should you have been worried, New South Wales? If she got in, she would have actually been harmless right? At worst, she would have been just comic relief, surely. Because everything about Pauline has always invited jolly laughter, from her delightfully retro hair to that endearingly clipped, verge-of-tears, “Seriously-you-guys, my-bladder-is-about-to-frickin’-explode” voice of hers. She’s the perennially alarmed bird of Australian politics, always sensitive to the political climate and alert to the next minority group to single out and hate upon. And golly, hasn’t she done well out of it.

In the spirit of today’s almost-landmark vote, let’s cast our minds back over some of her more hilarious political highlights to speculate on what you’ve missed out on. If you will, a gag reel (in every sense of the word).

I still fondly remember her 1996 maiden speech about the dangers of Asians swamping Australia. Retrieve it online and you’ll also have a very good chuckle, though that could just be reflux. “They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate,” she said about Asians — which is to say, me and my people. 15 years later and we know she was wrong, of course. Not necessarily about the swamping thing (seriously, look around: our takeover is almost complete), but the idea that people actually care. Unless you count high school violin quartets, LAN parties and yum cha dining experiences as “ghettos”, you couldn't take the woman’s claims seriously.

But in 1996 — the same year Hanson gave that speech and appeared in news footage all over the world — my Year 9 friends and I would gather at the school bus shelter for lunch and discuss all manners of things. We’d chew over The X-Files, passionately argue about the band Korn, and — quite often — had roaring chats about politics. (I know, I know: I’m just surprised we didn’t bring fortified wine to school in monogrammed flasks.)

Most of my friends saw merit in the types of things Hanson was advocating. Because we were teenagers, the arguments seemed to make sense. To live in Australia, you should speak the language. To improve the economy and people’s individual wealth, we should just print more money. The volume of Asian immigration was getting a bit, you know, out of control. When I started to protest this, lost for words, furiously jabbing at my face with my fingers, my friends would look at me beatifically and say, “Don't be silly, Ben. We don’t see you as Asian.” At the time, it felt like a compliment. It was only years later that I realised how bizarre that comment was. If they didn’t see me as Asian, how did they see me? Latino? White? Congolese?

Over the next few years, other students would be dropped off at school in their parents’ One Nation monogrammed cars, since their fathers had decided to become fully-fledged party supporters. Being one of the few Asians at my school, I felt deeply uncomfortable when these cars pulled up. Still, do you know who was in a state of far deeper discomfort? My Chinese family friends who were getting bashed and spat upon in the street.

If you want to see the extent to which political invective can translate to racist violence — and you’ve already forgotten about the hideous role Alan Jones played in the 2005 Cronulla riots — come over and I can tell you about the time our Chinese family friend was beaten up and left for dead in a petrol station late at night, by ugly, vicious men emboldened by that era’s political climate.

It’s easy and comforting to dismiss Hanson as a joke, because she’s a far scarier prospect when she’s doing what she actually wants to do: politics. What nearly happened today reminds us that she’s ridiculously good at it too. She nearly eclipsed both the Greens and the 11th Coalition candidate (who eventually won) in what Greens candidate Jeremy Buckingham described on The Drum recently as a “neck-and-redneck battle”.

While the parties will bicker over who’s responsible for Hanson’s near re-entry into Australian politics, it might be worth considering — and here’s a revolutionary thought — that the fault is actually ours. She nearly won, not because people didn’t understand preferential voting, and not because of botched preference deals, but because the will of the New South Wales people actually placed her in a position to win. As Antony Green pointed out this morning, on first preferences alone, Ms Hanson placed 20th position, the Coalition in 21st and the Greens in 22nd.

“She got a lot closer than […] people thought she could have,” said ABC NSW Political Reporter Mark Tobin on ABC News 24 today, after the results were announced. This might surprise some of you. People forget that voters like Pauline Hanson a lot. Run a search for news stories about Hanson online, scroll down through the reader comments and you’ll see a gushing, open admiration for the woman that borders on evangelistic zeal. And if her popularity surprises you, it probably means your social circle doesn’t extend to the vast stretches of Australian communities who adore the woman and what she stands for.

In some ways, it would have been okay if Pauline had gotten through. On Twitter yesterday, both The Chaser’s Chas Licciardello and News Limited columnist Joe Hildebrand tweeted practically the same thing within minutes of each other. “If people want Pauline Hanson to be ignored and irrelevant, I can't think of a better place for her to be than in the NSW Upper House,” Licciardello quipped. Hildebrand agreed. “[I’m] shocked at pundits’ predictions Pauline Hanson could soon be relevant again,” Hildebrand tweeted. “They clearly aren't familiar with the NSW Upper House.”

I laughed. But the problem wouldn’t have been about the amount of legislative power, or lack thereof, that Hanson would have wielded, but the fact we’d have given her a platform to be vocal again. If she had successfully scored a seat in a state parliament, that would have been enough reason for the press to flock to her. Her regular spot on talk shows, women’s magazines and talkback radio would have been guaranteed, and it would have been safe to expect her on an upcoming episode of Q&A very soon. We would have wanted to know what Hanson thought, and this probably says more about us than her.

Still, some good could have come out of her winning. Conservative politicians and newspaper columnists might distance themselves from Hanson the person, but have happily absorbed her arguments as their own for years: that Aboriginal people unfairly use race to their advantage; that it’s impossible for Muslim people to assimilate into Australia; that all Australians should speak English. If Hanson had come back in the political spotlight, we would have seen her at the same rallies as those politicians, advocating the same policies and agreeing with them thoroughly. Hanson’s endorsement alone would have forced them to reconsider how their views appeared to the broader Australian public.

People of New South Wales, before the result came in today, you might have been laughing, but we all knew it was nervous laughter. Sometimes, like in a horror movie, we laugh because it’s a flinch reaction to a deep, primal terror. And though she has lost today, we all need to understand that plenty of voters - not just in your state - take Hanson and her politics dead seriously. She may strike us as funny now, but we were all very close today to being stuck with her for eight more years. Bad comedy wears thin very quickly. The joke would have been on us.

Yours truly,
Benjamin


Benjamin Law is a Brisbane-based freelance writer.

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{liberatormagazine.com feature}

Funny Money Travels: Marrakesh, Morocco
by Nira Minniefield (Guest Contributor, Liberator Magazine)

Free.

"There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things." "I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." -- Lewis Carroll

Free.

Had I come to believe it impossible, to truly be free?

One morning, I woke up with the strangest feeling that I was no longer free. I wasn't sure how it happened, if I had ever been free or for how long I had felt imprisoned. Not that it mattered. One moment was too long, time enough. If I had ever been free I had known it only briefly enough to realize that now, I was not.

Since the day I tore open the envelope that delivered my passport, I carried it with me always. "Just in case," I would say. Just in case I was called to travel across the seas at a second's notice. Just in case I needed to film the location of my travel series’ latest exotic episode. I'm just a dreamer.

On December 20, 2010 I left cozy cul de sac townhouse, TV, radio, BlackBerry, bills, work, Christmas and my kids. I scheduled my re-entry, December 29, 2010.

At the time of this writing, I've been back for six days. Something I can't see lingers with me. Sweeter than jetlag's nauseating sickness, I can't shake the feeling that the collected snapshot picture show I called 'life' as seen from the HOV lane or Jack Horner's cubicle corner is a surrogate, a pixelated facsimile, a cheap exchange for the gluttonous feast that always waits, just outside the limits of comfort and plumb numb.

This is me, raising the stakes. Nine days, three countries. Destination: Marrakech, Morocco.



For many cultures rites of passage are commonplace and are used as a means to mark powerful life events such as: birth, puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. After turning 30 years old in 2010, I experienced an acute desire to mark a monument to my age, not to the number itself –- to the lessons and experiences I call my own. Somewhat of a life review, maybe prompted by the phenomenon known as Saturn return.

A traditional rite of passage is measured in three phases:
•Separation or detachment of the individual from an earlier fixed point in the social structure
•Transition between states; during which one has left one state but has not entered the next
•Consummation of the rite, assumption of a new identity, re-entry into society with a new status

After much deliberation, nail-biting, guilt and fear I decided. I would travel to Marrakech, Morocco -- from Washington D.C. (IAD) by way of Paris, France (CDG). From Paris, I will airport transfer to Málaga, Spain. Once landed, I take the bus from Málaga airport (AGP) to the port city of Algeciras (or nearby Tarifa) cross the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry, arrive in Tangiers then travel by train from Tangiers to Marrakech. I would do this all during the week of Christmas. I would do this alone. This would be my rite of passage.

I spent several weeks researching the trip and ended up with a neat airline itinerary for about $500.00 (USD) (Departure)IAD-CDG-AGP (Return) AGP-CDG-IAD.

For every trip I've taken, there is a plain pale yellow file folder that contains all the tidbits I find relevant to that particular trip -- from the idea, to the completion of the trip I include everything useful or interesting in relation to my destination.

The contents of my 'Marrakech File' looked something like this, but not necessarily in this order:

* Copies of my flight itinerary and confirmation
* Marrakech Fall & Winter Activity Guide 2010-11
* Moroccan Menu Decoder
* Hostelworld city guide for Paris
* Málaga Bus Schedule Departures/Arrivals
* Algeciras/Tarifa/Tangiers Ferry Companies Contact Information
* Hostel Reservation Confirmation (Paris, Málaga and Marrakech)
* Currency Cheat Sheet for Traveler's USD-EUR and USD-MAD
* BBC News: Arabic Phrases Cheat Sheet *INDESPENSIBLE*
* Full color copies of my identification documents (passport, US license, etc.)
* How to pack light, “One Bag Packing Checklist”

When I arrived at Washington D.C.’s Dulles airport, I had been so excited about the trip that it had completely slipped my mind to check the weather and airport conditions for where I was headed first -– Paris, France. I would soon find out that due to an enormous snowstorm all flights to Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) were cancelled or delayed. My 9:55 pm flight would now leave at 3:45 am the next morning.

Airport delays are cool for one thing, you get to chat it up with fellow travelers and actually meet people you would otherwise have just passed by trying to get to your seat. I met an older lady trying to get back home to Scotland, Ireland a 30-something trying to get to Egypt for his Father’s birthday celebration and a ‘backpacker’ headed to Málaga to meet up with friends for the holidays.

At the top of 3:00 am on December 21st, I boarded my initial flight –- set to arrive in Paris around 6:00 pm local time. This changed my original plan of having 8 hours to explore Paris between connecting flights, no worries. I spent the time at Charles de Gaulle wandering the duty free shops and checking out the Charles de Gaulle TGV station that is in the center of Terminal 2 and connects the airport to Paris central and other outlying areas.

My evening connection from Charles de Gaulle (Paris) to Málaga was supposed to be an unceremonious hop, it ended up being one of the most unnerving experiences of my life. High winds and pelting rain made the landing into Spain, nearly impossible. I could barely hear myself think over the wailing woman in the row behind me, I'm fluent in Spanish -- so I clearly understood her pleas to God for a safe landing -- I bowed my head in silent agreement. Usually I'm pretty good with turbulence, this snap pushed me close to the special plastic bag located conveniently in the seat back in front me. The treacherous weather forced the pilot two passes before landing us safely on the runway. Needless to say, the entire cabin erupted in relieved sighs, cheers and hearty applause when he finally did make a safe touchdown.



Unfortunately, Málaga airport was essentially closed down by the time I made it through border control at a hearty 2:00 am local time. Currency exchange closed, I had changed over only enough USD in Paris to pick up a few books for the kids, and grab something to eat. I figured it smarter not to carry around wads of euro -- no one was interested in pocketing (or accepting) any us paper presidents. Apparently United States currency has its own built-in security.

After arriving at the Melting Pot Hostel in Málaga to find a chalkboard welcome with my name neatly written in near the front door, I would soon find the person inside was not as warm and fuzzy. They weren't even nice.

After exchanging greetings and situating myself in the hostel lobby, I explain to the manager that I hadn't been able to change money at the airport, due to the flight delays and the closed currency exchange and that while I had enough U.S. cash, I didn't have the euro to pay for my bed (EUR12.60 or USD17.29). Without a second thought, he shook his head and told me that I would not be able to stay the night, and there was nothing he could do. I asked if he would hold the U.S. cash equivalent until the morning, when I could walk two blocks to the nearest currency exchange then and return with the equivalent in Euros. No dice. In retrospect, I realized this moment pushed me into the first phase in my rite of passage; standing on the street -- alone, exhausted and afraid I had chosen to detach myself from everything familiar -- and there I was.

More than 3,000 miles from anything I recognized as familiar, where family and friends are always only a phone call away. The adventure of a lifetime had me up to this point. This is where the road kicked my ass and left me holding my suitcases much like a child holds tight to a security blanket. A little girl lost and afraid, not sure what would happen to her next. It was a still life picture feeling of the past 30 years of my life, compacted into a span of moments about 45 minutes long.

Catching my breath to keep from crying, I could feel my face warm up and the tears start to well up in my eyes. It took a few hard heartbeats, but in my true warrior nature I forced myself calm, accepted where I was, stood up straight and marched on. Figuring I could either walk towards aimless until the sun came up, or make it to the local bus station and sleep there until the morning.

The hostel sits on Paseo del Pintor Joaquin Sorolla, which runs parallel to the coastline of southern Spain, affectionately known as the Costa del Sol (the Sun Coast). Side streets to the south of the main paseo all end at the shore. I followed an impulse and detoured for a moment, down a small side street and right on to the edge of where street pavement meets coastal sand. How often would I be standing on the southern coastline of Spain -- a strange time to seize the day, I know but still I did. Would I be able to see the horizon in the dark of the early morning? I knew the sound of the waves crashing meant the sea was there, waiting. Even squinting my eyes, I couldn't see them it was only dark. Street lamps standing watch to my left and right, they were the only light, playful fireflies pushing me on.

How blessed was I to be in Spain anyway, to have come so far!

After a few minutes I decided to head back onto the paseo, and figure something out; how would I make it to the ferry port, almost two hours away? My thoughts screeched to a startled halt, when I heard "Esta todo bien?!" (“Is everything okay?!”)

Enter Osmar, the coolest cabbie this side of the Mediterranean. I explain my U.S. dollar dilemma, and he shrugs it off without a thought. I tell him, I only need to get to the local bus station where I can wait until 6:00 am when it opens and be on my way. He insists that he can't leave me at the bus station, it wouldn't be safe.

He introduces himself formally and tells me he can help. I trust myself enough to trust him, and load myself and my bags in the cab. After a bit of Spanish small talk, we use my currency exchange cheat sheet to figure out how much he would charge me for the ride down to the ferry port and decide on a fair price.

He makes a few phone calls to his friends, trying to find a place that is open at this hour where I can exchange some bills, U.S. for Euro -- first we try a hotel, then an all night bingo house and finally, Torrequebradas Casino. Success! With a pocketful of euro, we made our way down the coastal highway. Two hours and a verbal exchange of our entire personal histories later, Osmar helps me secure a one-way Euroferrys ticket for the next boat out from Algeciras to Tangier MED (EUR35.00). I thank Osmar a million times and in exchange he gives me his business card -- just in case. I watch him drive off, and can't help but think that even after all the rigmarole that this is exactly how it was all supposed to have happened.

The ferry ride is short, 30 minutes or so. My arrival into Africa was not followed by drummers or fanfare, no glimmering sun or bustling marketplace as had been the stuff of my national geographic daydreams. It's still dark, the weather is cold and it's down pouring rain. I disembark -- exhausted and blurry. It is 5:00 am, and at this point I have been awake for almost 24 hours straight. I am still 10 hours from Marrakech.

As I step off the ferry and look around, I realize something is not right -- this doesn't look like the city I had read so much about, Tangiers -- population 700k, metropolis, bursting with development and modernization efforts - it looks like a commercial shipyard. I ask around and find out that I've landed at Tangier MED, a cargo port -- 40km from Tangier and the more commonly known passenger port. Bus service is limited. I have no bus ticket, there is no passenger terminal. Here we go.

I am brave. I see a group of men huddled under the roof a makeshift snack hut and I muster up the courage to ask for a cigarette. At this point my nerves are shot, and I just need a second to pull my straps together. I'm fraying at the seams and I need to adjust my plan -- again.

One of the men offers up a smoke, and says something to his friend in Arabic (I'm sure it was something like, "What is this crazy woman doing here -- AND she smokes! Holy shit!")

Transportation crisis aside, one of the coolest things I learned from my time in northern Africa is that in this part of the world you are met with a stew of languages -- unlike anywhere else. Even being from New York, it was amazing to hear even the smallest children switch mid-conversation between French, Spanish, Arabic and bits of English like a slick series of dance moves they are taught, soon after they take their first steps.

The man and I are able to speak in Spanish enough for him to hail the bus handler, and tell him my situation. I am able to get a standing room seat on the next bus to Casablanca, four hours away (EUR 30.00).

Going on almost 30 hours without sleep and as tired as I was, I still couldn't bring myself to close my eyes. I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline or the sun rising over the Mediterranean Sea as we made our way through border patrol. I was completely awake. Daylight came and I could finally see where I was now, crammed between babies, children, women and men who looked as travel weary as I was. Bags and boxes of clothes, pots and pans, tires, hoses, motorcycle exhaust pipes -- you name it, it was on board. I was taking it all in, listening to mundane conversations made beautiful music by the strangeness of their phonetically blended sounds. Surreal doesn’t begin to describe it.

Stealing a glimpse outside my window seat, my first dazzling minaret views pass painted blue, white and gold, scooters zip through city streets, children walk home from school in wide bright copper colored fields, vivid green brush next to piles of refuse where dogs and donkeys dig for a meal or treat and satellite dishes reach as far as my line of sight affixed neatly on every cinder block, mud-brick house for miles around.

The African coastline would peek through at me from behind the smattering of small buildings, varying shapes and colors crammed together in perfect chaotic assembly like a toddler's greatest building block city creation -- every so often, beautiful blue ocean and tender white waves playing off in the distance whisper to me -- "Now Nira, adventure doesn't seem so scary after all. Does it?" I smile to myself.

Sunbeams broke through the clouds just as the bus crossed into Casablanca. We pulled into the Univers Bus station (the drop off point) I said a few Goodbye's (ila al'likaa') and Thank You's (shukran) jumped bus, grabbed my bag and pulled out my trusty French phrase book. I would use it to ask my way to the train station for the continuing leg of this race.

Easily enough I crossed a busy traffic circle, and found my way to the nearest group of taxi's. “Taxi pour le chemin de fer?” ("Taxi to the railway?") "Yes, yes! No problem." (EUR23.00) Next stop - Marrakech 3.5 hours away, 1st class seated train (MAD90,00/USD$10)

The rocking and swaying of the train car was too much for me to fight. Sleep came quickly. My inflatable traveler's pillow probably still has drool stains for as hard as I fell into it. It was dark when I woke up, tiny amber lights lit up the city skyline. Marrakech was just within view.

The main Marrakech train station was my first introduction to Moroccan hustle and bustle. It has everything you may need, two currency exchange bureaus, a gift/candy/snack shop, a train ticketing information service station, Century 21 realty office (really) and a few other handy pit stops. I walked through the station and stepped out the main entrance ending up in front of the station building - facing Avenue d'France, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city; it's still raining. I couldn't help but to laugh a small victory chuckle to myself, I FINALLY made it! By train in the rain, by bus, cab, casino, plane I had made it!

Marrakech, Morocco it is nice to finally meet you. Here is where I caught my second wind.

Abdul, the cabbie I hailed at the train station was in such a good mood, despite the traffic and the rain -- he was just the company I needed after such a marathon. I used this as a chance to try more of my Arabic phrase work, and in return he used the chance to practice his English with me!

Abdul welcomed me to Marrakech, spent a few minute throwing shine on his beautiful city and dropped me off to a 'guide' he assured me would take me directly to the Equity Point Hostel where I stayed for the next eight days , we pulled up to one of the arched openings leading into the walled medina.

A word to the wise: for me, it was convenient to have one of these city slick ‘guides’ show me to my hostel. It was dark, pouring rain and almost 11:00 pm at night. I don’t recommend this option -– always try to link up with an official tourism guide. If not, expect to be overcharged. That is all.

Through a labyrinth of maze-like passageways and dark alleys, my guide finds me at the front door of my own Alchemist oasis -- Equity Point Hostel, Marrakech (80 Derb el Hammam; Moussaine). My bed set me back a paltry EUR18,00 per night, breakfast included. Fantastic hidden alcoves, cushioned and draped on every of the four levels, secret stairwells leading to back door terraces, flickering colored candles, silver and copper lanterns perfectly placed, huqqahs burning sweet tobacco, smiles everywhere and friends you've always known and never met along with any traveler creature comfort you could think of; yes, they have it. Room 108. Like a home I had forgotten I had, lovingly welcomed me back.

Chris, the Aussie who now travels the world researching new business trends and ideas and calls London home (for now) was the first of six bunkmates I would meet.

On our first meeting, I confided in him that I had thought about telling people I was from South America, given the generally poor image Americans may have abroad -- his reply set me at complete ease, "D***head Americans don't stay in hostels in Marrakech. You’re good, mate."

Over the next seven days I would meet more precious friends, eat enough Tagine and couscous to be married away for 16,000 camels (that dowry offer really happened-see the picture above, that is my would-be husband), lose myself in burning frankincense, myrrh, jasmine and amber, haggle my way through the wandering souks and come away with enough lanterns, incense, daggers, rainbow colored textiles, magic cedar wooden boxes and bangles, dried apricots and roasted almonds to open my own Moroccan export business.

I would make the acquaintance of Natalia from Poland, the beautiful and mysteriously reserved woman (a fellow wanderer) whose story is so eerily similar to mine that I could swear we were sisters in another life. With a simple reading of hands, my stubby and gnawed fingertips telling more of a story than my voice could -- she shook me completely to my core with a reading, a talk and a hug; I came entirely undone one afternoon at a cafe where we shared lunch. After which, we were nearly inseparable. Her son, personified my own three children and kept my motherhood in constant reminder during my time far away from home.

Mark, from England shared bits of his life with me as we sat under florescent light one night at our favorite open air Djemma el Fna restaurant sharing baguette and Tagine, picking at cured olives and talking shop. I'm in the technology field, he is in social service work -- I realized though, that we face the same tiny wars; both of us working to change the world for good, one person at a time. Hopefully, we helped each other that night, I think we did. Our talks lasted well into the early morning hours.

Chris, from England (who we discovered after playing the country game on Christmas eve has been nearly everywhere on the planet )made it difficult for us to decide where in the world we would meet each other next year, as we came to agree we would do. At the time of this writing and if my memory serves me, the top contenders are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bali and somewhere in South America.

And I couldn’t go on without mentioning my dearest friend Mr. Ghandi, a gynecologist from Sheffield who tells people he's a psychologist in order to ease the awkwardness of conversations about his profession -- and who has a certain disdain for Americans, had jokes for days. I was a good sport. His most impressive punch was something along the lines of: America received a request from the U.N. asking what they thought should be done of the food shortage in the rest of the world. America’s answer, “What's the rest of the world?"

Over Christmas Eve dinner, and what a dinner! Complete with fire-breather and didgeridoo on rooftop terrace restaurant overlooking Djemma el Fna square, we talk about more immediate travel plans and our planned trek which will take all of us several hours outside of Marrakech city limits, by bus and camel to the Sahara Desert where we would spend Christmas night in a traditional Berber village. We leave Marrakech at 7 am the next morning.

13 hours worth of driving, a broken tour bus and 15 camels later we are in Zagora, Morocco a town in the valley of the Draa River just a short distance from the Algerian border sharing what has to be the single most captivating glimpse of the milky way in the night sky that any human could imagine possible. Out of nervous delight, or complete disbelief I find myself laughing out loud. Not believing that I am where I see myself right now. It is Christmas night, and like one of the Three Kings I am leading a caravan of camels out into the middle of the Sahara Desert following the path of a brightly lit star. Me. un.be.lievable.

I'm sailing through my view of the sky, stars shooting overhead every few minutes, and the moon is just rising over the distant mountain range as we settle in around the camp fire. Berber men beat drums and sing to us about life in the desert.

This is where I mark the transition between states, the trance-like meditation that crosses dimensions and meshes the tiny machine world with the more subtle place between your foot and the ground. I sat there for a while, watching the fire dance. Being present. Looking around as the fire lit everyone's face in bursts of magic. In that moment, I was forever. Even thinking about it now, far removed from the desert floor now sitting in an office chair poised in front of my laptop -- I can still hear the quiet murmuring of my trekmates conversations around the fire, I can feel the ice cold sand beneath me and I can distinctly remember trying with great effort to hold on to that night, with as much success as a person would hold onto a star or a comet.

After everyone else had given up to their tents, and to sleep; only three of us remained. Matthieu from Marseille, Natalia and me. Matthieu fashioned himself a bed out of our dinner tables and about 15 blankets. He would sleep under the 'magic of the moon' that night. His French and my English met somewhere in the middle that night, as we watched the giant face of a yellow moon rise over top of distance ridges of rock face. ‘Magic’ was the closest we could come to square the description. Sleeping under the moonlight he was seizing the moment as he saw best. I covered him with one of my extra blankets, a small gesture of solidarity. Natalia and I would lie out for another hour or so, on the ice-cold sand dunes under the sea of sky talking and giggling like schoolgirls sharing a saucy secret.

We laughed about the events of the day, the highlight of which had to be one of our trekmates camels who came loose from the caravan and went astray -- in the pitch blackness of the desert. The only saving of our friend was Chris, from England calm as a cucumber he spoke up from the back of the camel line "Um (pause) I think we may have a problem here."

After our laughs subsided, we shared relationship matters as they were in our distant and far away lives back home and some of our favorite things, her love for the book 'The Little Prince' whose author’s plane had crashed in the Sahara and had been forever changed as a result -- the personal strength I had found since my divorce, my love for traveling, writing and my children -- how I missed them most that night. We sat in silence for a while after that, maybe just running around in our own heads or maybe sitting very quietly, very still inside.
Then, just goodnight.

It seemed like only a few minutes passed before my squinting eyes would meet the sunrise from behind the wool flaps of our Berber tent. The light was blinding bright, I pulled back the tent and stepped out into the desert. I stared at the wonder all around me. Was this what it was like to be born? Is this what it feels like? Breath squeezed from my lungs in awe and amazement. I drank the sunlight, along with my piping hot mint tea and consummated my rite with that libation and this thought: "This sunrise happens exactly in this way, every morning whether I am here or not." I feel infinitely powerful and utterly insignificant all at once. I sip, and think. “Stillness is where solutions are found, silence is where the wisdom resides.“

Maybe Matthieu also found himself in the same silence.

The ride back to Marrakech was very quiet for me. I lost myself in the passing views, and in the roadside stops through Ouarzazete. The silent funeral procession through a local village, the gentle sunset, a craftsman selling his wares. The purple and gold gilded journal I had brought along for this exact moment, makes her first appearance for this time. For these thoughts. Once our tour bus reached Marrakech city, we said goodbye to our trekmates and headed back through the square towards our equity point hostel.

We made it back into the city in time enough for a final flash of sunset and the most delicious Moroccan spa experience you could possibly fathom. A hammam known as a Moroccan bathhouse was the absolute perfect follow up to a two day desert romp. No tub, just a tiled room with a streaming faucet and burning hot to the touch, perspiring walls. The multi-step cleansing technique was an apothecary’s brew of alternating hot and cold water, olive oil (black) soap and a paste of eucalyptus, dark lava mud olive oil and other essential oil extracts. After a good scrub, I treated myself to an hour of full body massage wonderland. Orange blossom water completed my ritual of ablution. It was symbolic for me to have chosen a traditional Moroccan hammam, where all patrons as part of the ritual are completely naked. This is where you leave all the hang-ups, this is where I had that conversation, and where I healed. This was where I celebrated my body and all of her beautiful perfect imperfections, the re-incorporation phase of my rite. The assumption of my sparkling new identity.

After getting back 'home' to the hostel and a good night's sleep, Natalia, Mark, Chris and I met up with our friend Bartek who had opted out of the desert trek, originally from Poland and straight stand up comedy (this guy), no chaser. Witty commentary. Sharp jokelines, street smarts for days. He's definitely one you want on your team, and BONUS I think he loves wine as much as I do.

After an obligatory stop through the main square for a morning glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, we jump into a horse-drawn carriage to visit Jardin de Majorelle, an exquisite garden oasis designed by expatriate French artist Jacques Majorelle and considered the botanical muse of its once owner world renowned designer and artist Yves saint Laurent, whose ashes were scattered there in 2008.

If you ever find yourself in Marrakech, please visit the Majorelle. It can best be described as Morocco's answer to a Japense Zen garden. Tranquil and enchanting. Colors captivating, magnificence in garden and architecture surround a memorial to Saint Laurent. Even the birds of the garden are at peace and so at ease that they will share your almond pastries, and even eat directly from your fingertips if you are inclined.

After dancing through the gardens, and sneaking a peek at the local Acima supermarket; where I buy some local cheese and a Tunisian Bordeaux-like wine (Vieux Magon, 2007) ... I remember that my fairytale adventure is winding down and I will soon have to board the 9 pm Marrakech Express -- an overnight sleeper train that would take me directly to Tangiers (the passenger port -- I got it right this time). Tangiers to Málaga by bus. Málaga to Paris by plane, aireuropa. Airfrance from Paris to Washington DC.

My friends walk me to the cabbie stand, hugs and farewell kisses. I cry all the way to the train station.

I just met them and already I miss them, deeply.

Marrakech lies at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, it is made of an old fortified city and a modern counterpart. Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in morocco and also has one of the busiest main squares in the world, Djemaa el Fna. The square is precious to us as a human people and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The square bustles with acrobatic monkeys, story-tellers, henna artists, horse-drawn carriages, water sellers, dancers and musicians. Every night around 6:00 in the evening, a hundred or more food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant. Some of the most amazing architecture and history jump out to welcome you and compete for your attention.

The Koutoubia mosque, the ruins of el Badii palace and the High Atlas Mountains are only a few of the experiences that scratch the surface of this most amazing paradise.

It is thought by some that the origin of the name Marrakech, comes from the Berber work mur (n) akush, which means ‘Land of God’.

Whatever your religious persuasion, I can only speak for what happened to me there and what was changed in me. Life personified, living out its dream as me, as Mark, the two Chris', Bartek, Mr. Ghandi, the Melting Pot Hostel manager (I already forgive you), Osmar, the bus guy in Tangiers, Abdul the cabbie, Aziz, Natalia, Surinder and me.

Life's pure energy was always in me, as me. My responsibility was merely to acknowledge that. To do much more would muddle with a series of perfectly orchestrated events that, while not pre-determined unfurled precisely as they should have, for all of the right reasons. I have realized that I am nothing more than an animated ball of clay. Within which stars fly and desert skies cry moonrise and remind me of nights around a fire with a world as small as the faces around me. I was everywhere, in them. Everything is always perfect it is only our vision that requires adjustment.

I am sitting at my cubicle desk, facing the window to the east; wondering if Morocco is missing me as much as I long to be there.

Thank you for traveling with me.

Ah, prom, that special time when you rent an ill-fitting tuxedo in a bizarre color and awkwardly dance until you get your date drunk enough on a smuggled 750ml of blue-flavored fortified wine to let you grope her in the back of your parents' Cadillac.

The Drinks Business – Niepoort to release organic vintage Port. Boutique Port producer Niepoort is to release an organic vintage Port in the UK. The fortified wine, appropriately named “Bioma”, is made from 22 different grape varieties from over 100-year-old vines. The principal grapes in the 2008 vintage – the first vintage to be commercially [...]

When National Public Radio executive Ron Schiller was caught on tape criticizing the Tea Party at a Washington, D.C., luncheon, he also drew snickers for expounding on his love of Madeira, a fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name.

This blackberry milkshake begins with a Port Chocolate Syrup . Port is a fortified wine from Portugal's Douro Valley.

Charming gîtes and secret campsites are all very well, but staying in a stunning chateau can be surprisingly affordable. Here's our pick of 10 of the best

Les Fontaines d'Escot, near Pau, Aquitaine

A former monastery in an isolated valley below the Pyrenees, Les Fontaines d'Escot has been a haven for travellers for more than 600 years. A fascinating melange of architectural styles, the chateau has its own thermal waters – first used by the Romans. Walks along the river or into the mountains are de rigueur, while adventurous souls can try out a section of the nearby Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route.

• Self-catering gîtes (sleep four) from €49 a night, double rooms from €31. +33 5 5934 5440, fontaines-escot.com

Le Château Fort, Sedan, Champagne-Ardenne

Claiming to be the largest fortified medieval castle in Europe, this mighty chateau dominates the ancient town of Sedan from its 30m ramparts. Its bright contemporary bedrooms add welcome homeliness. At night, you can join a torch-lit guided tour of the chateau followed by a medieval banquet. Any extra pounds can then be walked off moseying around Sedan.

• Doubles from €60 a night. +33 3 2426 1100, tinyurl.com/6cny7vs

Château de Cherveux, Cherveux, Poitou-Charentes

On a high plateau rises the village of Cherveux, inhabited since prehistoric times. Its castle – of the fairytale variety – has a pleasingly complicated history, with its present incarnation built by a Scotsman, Robert Conningham, in the mid-15th century. You can buy food produced on the estate to recipes from the middle ages (check out the amazing mushroomy beer), or take a group and the staff will put on a medieval banquet.

• Doubles from €50 a night. +33 5 4975 0655, tinyurl.com/6gudetx

Château d'Alteville, near Dieuze, Lorraine

Don't be surprised if, on entering this chateau, you begin to feel like a Napoleonic general – it was built for one and it retains the grandeur its owner clearly felt was his due. Set in 10 acres of parkland with its own lake, Alteville is a window on a lost world of opulence.

• Doubles from €77 a night. +33 3 8705 4663, sawdays.co.uk

Hôtel Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, near Chinon, Loire

Covering 35 acres, Fontevraud is not so much a chateau as an entire medieval city. The extraordinarily well-conserved double monastery – it housed both monks and nuns – boasts a magnificent abbey church, seemingly endless cloisters and the tomb of England's Richard I. Happily, the 52 bedrooms are less spartan than the cells they once were. And if you can bear to step outside this Unesco world heritage site, there's the typical Anjou village of Fontevraud to be explored.

• Doubles from €66 a night (from €52 for two-night stays). +33 2 4151 7316, tinyurl.com/5tfbrab

Château Font Guitard, Cambounet-sur-le-Sor, Midi-Pyrénées

Built close to the river Sor, this 19th-century chateau may lack history, but it makes up for it with a rose garden and a park adorned with orchids, 100-year-old linden trees and more than a thousand species of flowers and shrubs. There's also an open-air swimming pool. To zip back in time, head for Cordes-sur-Ciel, a wonderfully preserved medieval town romantically perched on a hilltop.

• Doubles from €192 a week (daily and weekend rates available). +33 5 6371 7408, chateaufontguitard.com

L'Hostellerie du Château, Bricquebec, Normandy

Unusually, Bricquebec is believed to have been built by a Viking. Still a commanding presence on the Cotentin peninsula more than a millennium later, the castle has its own museum, while the knights' hall is a restaurant offering reasonably priced haute cuisine. For those craving more recent history, the D-day beaches are within striking distance. Thanks to Henry V, Bricquebec was in English hands for 32 years, but it's best not to mention this when booking.

• Doubles from €75 a night (three-for-two offers from mid-October). +33 2 3352 2449, lhostellerie-bricquebec.com

Château de la Guillonnière, near Dienné, Poitou-Charentes

Guillonnière was a favourite of King François I, who came hunting here with the apparently gorgeous local girl Diane of Poitiers. Sitting prettily in its own 25-acre park, the 16th-century castle runs to a scattering of bedrooms and small apartments, one of which was once home to feisty novelist George Sand. Beyond the grounds, there's horse riding in Dienné, or you can go all 21st century at a high-ropes adventure forest (parcours-aventure.eu).

• George Sand apartment (sleeps four) from €400 a week. +33 5 4942 0546, a-castle-for-rent.com

Château de Cautine, near Aurillac, Limousin

The Barons of Cautine have owned this chateau in the Dordogne since it was built in 1670 until two years ago, when it was captured (oh, all right, purchased) by an English couple. Cautine is awash with beams, huge fireplaces and a Rapunzel tower.

• Doubles from €44 (three-night minimum stay). 020-3287 9212, chateau-de-cautine.com

Hôtel Le Couvent Royal, Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Tucked beneath the Sainte-Baume massif, just north of the Côte d'Azur, the Couvent Royal is one the finest gothic buildings in France. Built in the 13th century by Charles II of Anjou to house the relics of Mary Magdalene, the Dominicans' quarters have been converted into chic, bijou bedrooms. In summer, there's alfresco dining in the cloisters, while a vaulted hall serves as a bar. Try wine tasting with a twist at the Casino du Vin (oenosud.com).

• Doubles from €62 a night. +33 4 9486 5566, tinyurl.com/5u5tl3f

My last blog post, on Tondonia Rioja, praised them for having beautiful wines of low alcohol content, but I realised that my point was wrong.  Sure, lower alcohol may result in slightly less horrific hangovers, and but the real talent of Tondonia was that they integrated the alcohol into the wine so you didn't notice it.  And, this is nothing new, as port producers have been doing it for years.

I have, for the past three years, been excited about trying the 2007 Vintage Ports.  In what could be one last hurrah for the old port buying nations (before the far eastern market diverts their attentions to these fortified wines), this vintage has the potential to be one of the greatest ever.  Sure, all port producers say that, but this really could be the once in a lifetime vintage - up there with 1927 or 1945.

I gathered together nine different vintages, all cask samples, and pulled the corks.  It was one of those days that I love my job!

2007 Croft Vintage Port
Lovely, fresh cassis with a bit of menthol and freshly cut mint on lamb.  Cinnamon and cloves come through the very inviting, fresh and sweet nose.  A thick, softness up front on the palate, lots of juicy fresh berries with superbly well integrated alcohol.  A stalky flavour comes through, with leather elements and more cloves, but this time clove rock.  It is a very tasty, and drinkable, port.  8/10 (potential 9/10)

2007 Niepoort Vintage Port
Very minty - cassis plays a very distant second fiddle to the spearmint aromas, with some aniseed too.  Only after a while does bramble and bonfire toffee come out of the glass and up your nostrils.  The palate has a dustiness, lots of leather and a lovely spice element.  It is very very dry, with tobacco galore.  It is lighter bodied than the Croft, but a harder wine at the moment, but it will develop into a gorgeous, elegant older lady but not for many years.  6/10 (9/10)

2007 Delaforce Vintage Port
Very sweet and jammy with white chocolate and some vanilla too.  A minty lamb aroma as well that was quite sweet and very pleasant.  A big, gutsy palate, spicy, with lots of firm tannin and a big alcohol kick, punching through jammy flavours with a big old cigar dunked in for good measure.  A simple wine that delivers its flavours in a very punchy, binary way!  7/10 (8/10)

2007 Quinta do Vale Meao Vintage Port
Light and quite closed on the nose, with cherry aromas and some sharp raspberry.  The palate is bold dark and brooding with chocolate, leather and a lot of liquorice.  A lot of cinnamon stick and firm tannins come through.  There is a kick of alcohol shows a fierceness, and this is like a tomboy that will grow up to be a beauty.   6/10 (9/10)

2007 Churchills Vintage Port
Very vegetal with a chai tea aroma and a lot of coffee.  Some really nice berries come off and continue onto the palate that is light, bright and full of juicy bramble, a little leather and some burnt toast bitterness.  This is very special and a wine that I would buy lots of given half a chance.  8/10 (9/10)

2007 Taylors Vintage Port
Elegant.  A balance of savoury, sweet & spice.  Aniseed, pink peppercorns sprinkle a gorgeous prine aroma.  This wine just gently meanders over your palate, sometimes giving full on fruit and then sometimes a light floral element.  It is so well delivered, even at this young age.  It is only on the finish, a blend of leather and sweet tobacco, that spice and tannin grips you, but it is done firmly and gently, so you don't mind at all.  A warm, delightful wine.  8/10 (10/10)

2007 Fonseca Vintage Port
So light, with lots of herbs and cocoa.  The palate is sweet, soft and pretty, with soft spice, soft tannin and soft alcoho.  Pretty much.... soft!  7/10 (8/10)

2007 Warres Vintage Port
A gorgeous sweet and sour aroma with cassis, juniper and honey coating some raspberries.  A very drinkable port, velvety tannin, with lovely fruit padding a vegetal backbone.  It is wonderfully clean on the spicy finish and for some reason, this sensation reminded me of what a German Riesling does!  Very, very good.  8/10 (10/10)

2007 Grahams Vintage Port
A lot of juicy fresh fruit and darker, stickier jammy fruit all mixed in with some dried fruit!  Then lighter floral elements come through, with sweet cocoa powder and a cinnamon and pepper element.  Dark liquorice, dark chocolate and a hint of fruitcake and marzipan sweetness.  Lots of coffee come through with some leather notes and silky tannin.  This is an outstanding port, and, although I have bundles of Grahams in my cellar and therefore am a little bias, my wine of the tasting.  8/10 (10/10)

These are great wines, and even the smaller houses are producing wines that are world class.  The house styles were all very clearly defined, and it is no surprise that my favourite houses, Grahams and Taylors, came up trumps for me.  These are not expensive at the moment, and if you want to pop aside a case of 6 of these for long term cellaring, you can for less than £400.  I urge you to go out and do it.

Three superb wines to drink with dessert

Concha y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon, Maule Valley, Chile 2007 (£5.99, or £4.79 if you buy two bottles, 37.5cl, Majestic)

If you're going to drink a wine with all the puddings, cakes and chocolate that come with Christmas, it has to be correspondingly sweet, and this is one of the best-value sweet wines around. A blend of sauvignon blanc, riesling and

gewürztraminer harvested late to accumulate more sugar, it's a real tropical-fruit salad of clementine, guava and banana in a fresh, zingy syrup.

Darting Estate Scheurebe Beerenauslese, Pfalz, Germany 2007 (£17, 50cl, Marks & Spencer)

Sheurebe is an obscure grape variety that tends to get overlooked in Germany in favour of riesling. When it's as carefully handled as it is in this dessert wine, however, it is full of character and flavour. Like a classy, pure-grapefruit version of those Newberry Fruit jellies that always get rolled out at Christmas, it's got lip-smacking tartness to carry the sweet fruit.

Gonzalez Byass, Matusalem Oloroso Dulce Muy Viejo, Jerez, Spain (£15.47, 37.5cl, waitrosewine.com)

One of the world's great fortified wines, this quite astonishingly rich and concentrated sherry from Gonzalez Byass (the people behind Tio Pepe) is a blend of wines averaging some 30 years in age. Dark in colour, the wine explodes on the palate with Christmas spice and dried dark fruit and nuts, and has an inordinately long, sweet finish. Delicious!

I love sherry.  I love port more, but I do love sherry, and top sherries really are fine wines that are exceptional value for money.  So when I got news that Lustau were releasing four sherries that were over 30 years old and limited to 1000 bottles of each, I got excited.  Retailing at sixty pounds for a 50cl I was hoping that these sherries would be the greatest fortified wine from Spain that I'd ever put in my mouth.  They weren't.

Lustau VORS 30 Year Amontillado
Delicate, slight raisin and malt elements with a touch of honey and cinnamon with polished wood aromas.  This is a very easy and very woody palate with a bundle of sea salt, cashews and zingy citrus.  A very dry salty finish which totally cleans up and leaves you with a very fresh mouth.  8.5/10

Lustau VORS 30 Year Palo Cortado
Ripe apricots with spiced apple and smoky oak fires mixed with dried orange peel.  Then there is a smoked sea salt aroma.  The palate is gutsy, with alcohol kicking things off and lots of salty stone flavours, followed by almonds and dried leather.  The finish tastes like Twiglets!  8/10

Lustau VORS 30 Year Oloroso
Very subtle, some polished wood and a lot of vanilla toffee on the nose - fudgey!  The palate is so soft, you get sweet cashews, salt and a little chilli mixed in with toffee.  Very pretty with great acidity cleaning your mouth with a finish that tastes of sweet tobacco and fresh leather.  9/10

Lustau VORS 30 Year Pedro Ximenez
Figs, prunes and a lot of dark chocolate and liquorice.  There is coffee galore on the nose.  The palate is dark, with sticky toffee pudding and parkin flavours.  A bundle of coffee with prunes and treacle.  A really good PX but £60?  8/10

These are stunning wines, and given half a chance, any fortified fan should give these a shot as goodness only knows when Lustau will release any old sherry again.  But are they worth £60?  Definitely not.
 

If you won't drink these often-underpriced treasures now, when will you? Most of these will last well over the festive season in an opened bottle. Roussillon joins the classic fortified wine regions as a useful source of the sweet, stickie and succulent. Wines are listed within each category.

P>culture@sfbg.com

Nothing warms on cold and rainy winter nights like a good bottle of liquor — better yet, one given by (and possibly shared with) a good friend. Allow me to recommend some of my top quality favorites, including a few cocktail mixers, many of which can be found at K&L, the Jug Shop, D&M, John Walker & Company, Cask, and other local stores and suppliers.

 

FOR THE HIP COCKTAILIAN:

 

GRAHAM'S 10-YEAR TAWNY PORT ($30)

A port is really just fortified (spirits-enhanced) wine: sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, ideal for after-dinner sipping. For those who might tire of another bottle of wine, this gift travels a slightly different path. Graham's 10-year Tawny Port is one of the more common ports but packs plenty of flavor for the price, making it a fine intro for the uninitiated. It carries floral, sweet currant, and spiced apple notes, with a whisper of creamy chocolate.

 

BITTER TRUTH TRAVEL PACK ($20)

For the cocktailian on-the-go, what could be better than a retro travel box of five of the best bitters in existence from German wonder duo, Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck? The Bitter Truth travel box (www.the-bitter-truth.com) includes three mini-bottles of the gents' Creole, Orange, Chocolate, Old Time Aromatic, and award-winning Celery Bitters. It's an affordable, quirky gift that (bonus) showcases your savvy and panache.

 

SMALL HAND FOODS SYRUPS ($10–$12 EACH)

From local bartender Jennifer Colliau, this line of artisan syrups for cocktails eliminates resorting to crappy, generic grenadine — Colliau's grenadine remains the best I've tasted — or attempting your own gum syrup. Small Hand products (www.smallhandfoods.com) are made with organic cane sugar, gum arabic, and fruits. There's regular, pineapple, or raspberry gum syrups, for everything from pisco punch to tiki drinks, and an orgeat (almond syrup most commonly known as a Mai Tai ingredient) made with California almonds.

 

BOLS GENEVER DUTCH COURAGE GIFT SET ($38.99)

Go Dutch by giving the gift of Bols Genever, genever being the original Dutch gin. A bottle normally retails for the price of an entire Dutch Courage set, which includes a bottle and two tulip glasses for the traditional Dutch ritual of kopstootje (pronounced kop-stow-che). Translated as "little head butt," it's essentially a glass of beer, traditionally a lager, mixed with a shot of genever. Proost!

 

FOR THE DRINK AFICIONADO:

 

PARKER'S HERITAGE WHEATED BOURBON ($80)

I adore legendary distiller Parker Beam, whose Parker's Heritage Collection remains a thrilling pinnacle of what bourbon can be. Though many will never forget his profound Golden Anniversary bourbon, this year's release is truly unique. Instead of the corn-dominant notes of typical bourbon, this 10-year aged, cask-strength edition combines winter wheat and corn, bottled at 63.9 percent straight from the barrel. Open it up with a splash of water or sip neat. Either way, whiskey fans will marvel at bracing, rich layers of caramel, maple, and, yes, wheat ... but also at the incredible smoothness for a spirit of this proof.

 

CRAFT DISTILLERS' LOW GAP WHISKEY ($45) AND LOS NAHUALES MEZCALERO ($65)

You won't go wrong giving any Craft spirits (www.craftdistillers.com) to an aficionado. If she isn't already a fan of this incredible Ukiah distillery, she'll fall in love with Craft's brilliant brandies and grappas or exquisite bottlings like Crispin's Rose Liqueur. Consider newer releases such as Low Gap Craft-Method Whiskey made with malted Bavarian hard wheat. Where many white whiskeys are harsh and bracing, at 90 proof, it's intense yet balanced. Or try the recently acquired Los Nahuales Mezcalero (mezcal fans will know it as the former Los Danzantes). As with all Craft products, small production and artisanal techniques are behind this smoky-but-clean, Oaxacan-grown mezcal.

 

LAPHROAIG 18-YEAR SINGLE MALT ($99)

For the peat monsters among you ... or rather, for those who don't fancy the standard Laphroaig 10-year, which, like many in the line, hits hard with that peat. Extra aging has mellowed this Islay single malt to a robust but roundly balanced pour. Alongside peat smoke, enter honey, vanilla, hay, anise, and toffee nuttiness, minus the medicinal properties some tell me they get on the nose in other Laphroaig expressions. This one changes the game, and, in my opinion, best exemplifies Laphroaig's possibilities.

 

TASTING ROOM SAMPLER KITS ($19.99–$29.99)

New to the market is a sampling experience a California wine fan can enjoy from home: Tasting Room (www.tastingroom.com). Discover new favorites or taste a winery line side by side (all samples are also available as full-sized bottles). Choose from six-pack sets of 50 ml bottles in groupings by winery, region, or type (for example, California cabs). Nicely packaged in a slim black box with winemaker's tasting notes, consider it a home wine tasting for the cost of tasting at the winery itself.

P>culture@sfbg.com

Nothing warms on cold and rainy winter nights like a good bottle of liquor — better yet, one given by (and possibly shared with) a good friend. Allow me to recommend some of my top quality favorites, including a few cocktail mixers, many of which can be found at K&L, the Jug Shop, D&M, John Walker & Company, Cask, and other local stores and suppliers.

 

FOR THE HIP COCKTAILIAN:

 

GRAHAM'S 10-YEAR TAWNY PORT ($30)

A port is really just fortified (spirits-enhanced) wine: sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, ideal for after-dinner sipping. For those who might tire of another bottle of wine, this gift travels a slightly different path. Graham's 10-year Tawny Port is one of the more common ports but packs plenty of flavor for the price, making it a fine intro for the uninitiated. It carries floral, sweet currant, and spiced apple notes, with a whisper of creamy chocolate.

 

BITTER TRUTH TRAVEL PACK ($20)

For the cocktailian on-the-go, what could be better than a retro travel box of five of the best bitters in existence from German wonder duo, Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck? The Bitter Truth travel box (www.the-bitter-truth.com) includes three mini-bottles of the gents' Creole, Orange, Chocolate, Old Time Aromatic, and award-winning Celery Bitters. It's an affordable, quirky gift that (bonus) showcases your savvy and panache.

 

SMALL HAND FOODS SYRUPS ($10–$12 EACH)

From local bartender Jennifer Colliau, this line of artisan syrups for cocktails eliminates resorting to crappy, generic grenadine — Colliau's grenadine remains the best I've tasted — or attempting your own gum syrup. Small Hand products (www.smallhandfoods.com) are made with organic cane sugar, gum arabic, and fruits. There's regular, pineapple, or raspberry gum syrups, for everything from pisco punch to tiki drinks, and an orgeat (almond syrup most commonly known as a Mai Tai ingredient) made with California almonds.

 

BOLS GENEVER DUTCH COURAGE GIFT SET ($38.99)

Go Dutch by giving the gift of Bols Genever, genever being the original Dutch gin. A bottle normally retails for the price of an entire Dutch Courage set, which includes a bottle and two tulip glasses for the traditional Dutch ritual of kopstootje (pronounced kop-stow-che). Translated as "little head butt," it's essentially a glass of beer, traditionally a lager, mixed with a shot of genever. Proost!

 

FOR THE DRINK AFICIONADO:

 

PARKER'S HERITAGE WHEATED BOURBON ($80)

I adore legendary distiller Parker Beam, whose Parker's Heritage Collection remains a thrilling pinnacle of what bourbon can be. Though many will never forget his profound Golden Anniversary bourbon, this year's release is truly unique. Instead of the corn-dominant notes of typical bourbon, this 10-year aged, cask-strength edition combines winter wheat and corn, bottled at 63.9 percent straight from the barrel. Open it up with a splash of water or sip neat. Either way, whiskey fans will marvel at bracing, rich layers of caramel, maple, and, yes, wheat ... but also at the incredible smoothness for a spirit of this proof.

 

CRAFT DISTILLERS' LOW GAP WHISKEY ($45) AND LOS NAHUALES MEZCALERO ($65)

You won't go wrong giving any Craft spirits (www.craftdistillers.com) to an aficionado. If she isn't already a fan of this incredible Ukiah distillery, she'll fall in love with Craft's brilliant brandies and grappas or exquisite bottlings like Crispin's Rose Liqueur. Consider newer releases such as Low Gap Craft-Method Whiskey made with malted Bavarian hard wheat. Where many white whiskeys are harsh and bracing, at 90 proof, it's intense yet balanced. Or try the recently acquired Los Nahuales Mezcalero (mezcal fans will know it as the former Los Danzantes). As with all Craft products, small production and artisanal techniques are behind this smoky-but-clean, Oaxacan-grown mezcal.

 

LAPHROAIG 18-YEAR SINGLE MALT ($99)

For the peat monsters among you ... or rather, for those who don't fancy the standard Laphroaig 10-year, which, like many in the line, hits hard with that peat. Extra aging has mellowed this Islay single malt to a robust but roundly balanced pour. Alongside peat smoke, enter honey, vanilla, hay, anise, and toffee nuttiness, minus the medicinal properties some tell me they get on the nose in other Laphroaig expressions. This one changes the game, and, in my opinion, best exemplifies Laphroaig's possibilities.

 

TASTING ROOM SAMPLER KITS ($19.99–$29.99)

New to the market is a sampling experience a California wine fan can enjoy from home: Tasting Room (www.tastingroom.com). Discover new favorites or taste a winery line side by side (all samples are also available as full-sized bottles). Choose from six-pack sets of 50 ml bottles in groupings by winery, region, or type (for example, California cabs). Nicely packaged in a slim black box with winemaker's tasting notes, consider it a home wine tasting for the cost of tasting at the winery itself.

P>culture@sfbg.com

Nothing warms on cold and rainy winter nights like a good bottle of liquor — better yet, one given by (and possibly shared with) a good friend. Allow me to recommend some of my top quality favorites, including a few cocktail mixers, many of which can be found at K&L, the Jug Shop, D&M, John Walker & Company, Cask, and other local stores and suppliers.

 

FOR THE HIP COCKTAILIAN:

 

GRAHAM'S 10-YEAR TAWNY PORT ($30)

A port is really just fortified (spirits-enhanced) wine: sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, ideal for after-dinner sipping. For those who might tire of another bottle of wine, this gift travels a slightly different path. Graham's 10-year Tawny Port is one of the more common ports but packs plenty of flavor for the price, making it a fine intro for the uninitiated. It carries floral, sweet currant, and spiced apple notes, with a whisper of creamy chocolate.

 

BITTER TRUTH TRAVEL PACK ($20)

For the cocktailian on-the-go, what could be better than a retro travel box of five of the best bitters in existence from German wonder duo, Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck? The Bitter Truth travel box (www.the-bitter-truth.com) includes three mini-bottles of the gents' Creole, Orange, Chocolate, Old Time Aromatic, and award-winning Celery Bitters. It's an affordable, quirky gift that (bonus) showcases your savvy and panache.

 

SMALL HAND FOODS SYRUPS ($10–$12 EACH)

From local bartender Jennifer Colliau, this line of artisan syrups for cocktails eliminates resorting to crappy, generic grenadine — Colliau's grenadine remains the best I've tasted — or attempting your own gum syrup. Small Hand products (www.smallhandfoods.com) are made with organic cane sugar, gum arabic, and fruits. There's regular, pineapple, or raspberry gum syrups, for everything from pisco punch to tiki drinks, and an orgeat (almond syrup most commonly known as a Mai Tai ingredient) made with California almonds.

 

BOLS GENEVER DUTCH COURAGE GIFT SET ($38.99)

Go Dutch by giving the gift of Bols Genever, genever being the original Dutch gin. A bottle normally retails for the price of an entire Dutch Courage set, which includes a bottle and two tulip glasses for the traditional Dutch ritual of kopstootje (pronounced kop-stow-che). Translated as "little head butt," it's essentially a glass of beer, traditionally a lager, mixed with a shot of genever. Proost!

 

FOR THE DRINK AFICIONADO:

 

PARKER'S HERITAGE WHEATED BOURBON ($80)

I adore legendary distiller Parker Beam, whose Parker's Heritage Collection remains a thrilling pinnacle of what bourbon can be. Though many will never forget his profound Golden Anniversary bourbon, this year's release is truly unique. Instead of the corn-dominant notes of typical bourbon, this 10-year aged, cask-strength edition combines winter wheat and corn, bottled at 63.9 percent straight from the barrel. Open it up with a splash of water or sip neat. Either way, whiskey fans will marvel at bracing, rich layers of caramel, maple, and, yes, wheat ... but also at the incredible smoothness for a spirit of this proof.

 

CRAFT DISTILLERS' LOW GAP WHISKEY ($45) AND LOS NAHUALES MEZCALERO ($65)

You won't go wrong giving any Craft spirits (www.craftdistillers.com) to an aficionado. If she isn't already a fan of this incredible Ukiah distillery, she'll fall in love with Craft's brilliant brandies and grappas or exquisite bottlings like Crispin's Rose Liqueur. Consider newer releases such as Low Gap Craft-Method Whiskey made with malted Bavarian hard wheat. Where many white whiskeys are harsh and bracing, at 90 proof, it's intense yet balanced. Or try the recently acquired Los Nahuales Mezcalero (mezcal fans will know it as the former Los Danzantes). As with all Craft products, small production and artisanal techniques are behind this smoky-but-clean, Oaxacan-grown mezcal.

 

LAPHROAIG 18-YEAR SINGLE MALT ($99)

For the peat monsters among you ... or rather, for those who don't fancy the standard Laphroaig 10-year, which, like many in the line, hits hard with that peat. Extra aging has mellowed this Islay single malt to a robust but roundly balanced pour. Alongside peat smoke, enter honey, vanilla, hay, anise, and toffee nuttiness, minus the medicinal properties some tell me they get on the nose in other Laphroaig expressions. This one changes the game, and, in my opinion, best exemplifies Laphroaig's possibilities.

 

TASTING ROOM SAMPLER KITS ($19.99–$29.99)

New to the market is a sampling experience a California wine fan can enjoy from home: Tasting Room (www.tastingroom.com). Discover new favorites or taste a winery line side by side (all samples are also available as full-sized bottles). Choose from six-pack sets of 50 ml bottles in groupings by winery, region, or type (for example, California cabs). Nicely packaged in a slim black box with winemaker's tasting notes, consider it a home wine tasting for the cost of tasting at the winery itself.

That wonderful group The Secret Sherry Society keeps me informed about the wide world of sherry, and most of this column emanates from their dispatches. In truth, you cannot go wrong with bringing a bottle of sherry as either a holiday gift, or having one handy to share in upcoming months.

“Sherry is full of vitality and complex flavors. It brings our favorite foods to life and reminds us why people have been drinking wine for hundreds of years. It may be an historic wine, but in the United States, Sherry is new again. Sherry can be described in one word: versatility. There is a Sherry for every mood and every occasion,” says the Society.

Sherry is a fortified wine, which means that it has been fortified with spirits – specifically brandy. The best examples of Sherry can be delicious, complex, exciting and refreshing. Most of us have never tasted a great Sherry because in many restaurants and bars it is often left open too long or unrefrigerated on a shelf. But, wait until you try fresh Sherry from a newly opened bottle.

In sherry, location matters. The Secret Sherry Society notes that it’s only Sherry if it’s from Jerez, Spain.

With the wide spectrum of Sherry styles, there’s sure to be a Sherry that fits every mood and personality. Which Sherry are you or your friends? Take the Society quiz below to find out.

Are you a smart, dry-witted, urban sophisticate who enjoys dry white wines? Your Sherry personality might be Fino or Manzanilla. Fino is pale, dry and delicate, great with seafood and soups or can be enjoyed alone as an aperitif. Manzanilla is made in a seaside town called Sanlucar de Barrameda. The result is a dry Sherry that has a unique, almost briny flavor.

Pairings for Fino and Manzanilla: appetizers, canapés, spring rolls, dumplings, Serrano ham, tapas, chorizo, goat or sheep’s milk cheese, ceviche, sushi, sashimi, oysters, calamari, marinated or smoked fish, shellfish (i.e. shrimp or lobster).

Are you the type who enjoys a hike through the woods on a crisp fall day? Your Sherry personality might be Amontillado. Amontillado is amber in color, dry and robust in taste, possessing a slightly nutty smell. Great as an aperitif, with poultry, meat or after dinner.

Pairings for Amontillado: Everything you would pair with a Fino would also work with an Amontillado, but also consider light meat soups like consommé, rich seafoods like scallops, sardines or herring, grilled fish, poultry, game birds, meat terrines, and ripe, pungent cheeses.

Do you enjoy adventure and mystery? Do your friends describe you as bold and worldly? Your Sherry personality might be Oloroso. Oloroso is dark, full and exotic. They are nutty and fragrant in character.

Pairings for Oloroso: cheeses, foie gras, game meat, red meats, smoked meats, rich foods, and after dinner with cheese, nuts, savory desserts and dried fruits.

Do you have a love of travel and adventure, but prefer a plaid shirt over formal wear? Palo Cortado might be your Sherry personality. Palo Cortado is a rare style of Sherry with the nose of an amontillado and the flavor of an Oloroso.

Pairings for Palo Cortado: rich foods, cheeses, game meat, smoked meat, pork chops, and after dinner with cheese, nuts, savory desserts and dried fruits.

Do you eat your dinner for the main purpose of getting to dessert? You could have a Moscatel or
Pedro Ximénez Sherry personality.

Moscatel is a sweet, soft dessert-style wine. Pairings for Moscatel: foie gras, chocolate, cheese, sip as dessert.

Pedro Ximénez is a rich, dark, raisin-sweet dessert-style wine. Pairings for Pedro Ximenez: foie gras, cheese, sip as dessert, pour over ice cream.

Whatever your preferences, treat yourself and those on your gift list to wine’s best kept secret and discover the deliciousness and versatility of Sherry wines.

(Many thanks to the Secret Sherry Society for these and other interesting tidbits on sherry)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
© 2010 Barbara Keck

For more information on dining and the wide range of activities around Lake Tahoe, see the online version of The Tahoe Weekly. This article appeared in my column "It's Grape" in December 2010.

Book in Process: " Mountain Wineries of the Sierra and Its Foothills".

David Williams has the right drink for every moment, from midnight mass to the New Year bells.

No other event has the ability to transform the way we drink quite like Christmas. At this time of year, the otherwise abstemious take to the Harvey's Bristol Cream like Nicolas Cage to the bourbon in Leaving Las Vegas, the otherwise sane come over all creative with eggs and Advocaat, and the idea of mulling wine suddenly makes a strange kind of sense to pretty much everyone.

There are drinks that I wouldn't touch the rest of the year that exercise a magnetic pull on my palate once the EastEnders Christmas special is on. I blame it all on the season's potent mix of sentimentality, nostalgia and arcane family rituals. The reason my sister and I get through gallons of grape-flavoured Shloer at this time of year, for example, has very little to do with its taste (much as I still like it). It's about our memories of drinking this utterly 80s fizzy drink – served in an unbreakable Shell garage-giveaway wine glass – at childhood Christmas dinners while Mum and Dad tucked into their duty-free rioja and asti spumante.

I'm still partial to a dubonnet (or failing that martini) and lemonade on Christmas evening for no other reason than it was my late grandmother's favourite festive tipple (and something I was allowed to drink at Christmastime, in very diluted form, long before I was of legal drinking age). And Christmas Eve in our house wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a glass of the cream sherry (such as the very respectable Harvey's Bristol Cream, £10.30, 1 litre, widely available) that gets left out for Father Christmas.

Christmas drinking isn't all about nostalgia-induced offences against the normal run of taste, however. Indeed, the biggest difference between the holiday week and the rest of the year is the sheer number of occasions when it's deemed acceptable to drink – each of which calls for a glass of something appropriate to the moment. It's as if all social bets are off, and behaviour that would normally have your relatives seeking help on your behalf is actively encouraged. Fancy a glass of fizz a matter of minutes after you've woken up? Go ahead. A G&T; while cooking lunch? Go on, you know you want to. One last whisky before you hit the sack? Why not, it is Christmas, after all.

Christmas Eve

My Christmas usually begins on Christmas Eve with an evening of wrapping presents to the sound of the carol singing from King's College, Cambridge on BBC2. I'd do this while munching a bowl of nuts and sipping a glass of dry sherry, which is somehow in keeping with the donnish atmosphere of the service. Two that I've particularly liked recently are Manzanilla en Rama, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Jerez, Spain (£9.99, or £7.99 as part of a mixed case, Oddbins), from the trendy Equipo Navazos, a complex, tangy wine full of savoury, salted nut complexity; and the more intense, salty-fresh Hidalgo Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana (£10.99, Majestic), with its long, almond-rich finish.

Christmas Eve continues with a light family meal, usually based on smoked fish, that will act as a pre-administered antidote to the rich food in the days ahead. This calls for white wines with body and depth, and a touch of oak to balance the smoke. Finca Allende Rioja Blanco 2007 (£17.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, slurp.co.uk) is a magnificent example of a modern, barrel-fermented white rioja from one of the region's best new-wave producers, all tropical fruit, broad palate, creamy oak and a fresh lingering finish. Louis Latour's Grand Ardèche Chardonnay Vin de Pays des Coteaux de l'Ardèche 2008 (£8.99, Majestic) is a good value alternative, a kind of mini-mersault produced in the Ardèche from a producer more often associated with burgundy.

Most of us aren't looking to drink too much yet, and for me at least it's still too early to crack open the port, but the next event in the Christmas calendar – the walk to midnight mass – calls for something to fortify you against the cold. A rich, warming red would be my choice. Something like the gutsy, southern Rhône-style AA Badenhorst Secateurs Red Blend, Swartland, South Africa 2009 (£9.99, swig.co.uk) with its succulent mix of dark fruit and wild herbs; or the impressively rich but bright, dark cherry-scented Quinta das Mouras, Vinho Regional Alentejano, Portugal 2009 (£6.99, Laithwaites).

Christmas Day Morning

If you have young children, the morning is all about the frenzied unwrapping of parcels of various bits of Chinese-produced plastic. Two drinks seem to fit the mood, both fizzy, essentially frivolous and light in alcohol: a classic Buck's Fizz or a glass of moscato d'Asti. For the Buck's Fizz, I'd squeeze the orange juice myself and use a simple, inexpensive prosecco: there's no need for anything too smart since the orange juice will drown out any of the wine's complexities. But you don't want anything too acidic as that will overwhelm the orange juice, so the simple, fresh Asda Extra Special Prosecco NV (£7.28, Asda) will do just fine. As for the asti, it all depends on your budget and the sensitivity of your tastebuds at this time of the morning. La Spinetta Moscato d'Asti Bricco Quaglia, Piedmont, Italy 2009 (£11.75, agwines.com) has classic muscat grape flavours balanced by winning, linear acidity. Marks & Spencer's Asti Spumante (£7.49) has plenty of light grapey charm at a somewhat more affordable price.

For me the rest of the morning will be taken up with preparing dinner, and to keep me company in the kitchen I'll open a bottle of another low-alcohol classic with a touch of sweetness: German riesling. Something like the steely, delicate, floral Dr Loosen Urziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany 2009 (£13.49, Waitrose) or, for something no less delicate but dry and with slightly higher alcohol, the scintillating Riesling Kabinett Trocken, Prinz Von Hessen, Germany 2008 (£9.99 or £7.99 if you buy two bottles, Majestic) with its citrus and white blossom nose.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner starts with pan-fried scallops or, if our local fishmonger has some, maybe even some oysters. For this we'll need some cool, zippy, refreshing, dry whites, and I'd be happy with any of: Chablis Drouhin-Vaudon, Burgundy, France 2009 (£17.99, Oddbins), which is unoaked and pure, with waxed apple, a mineral kick and a sharp, focused finish; Costero Sauvignon Blanc, Leyda Valley, Chile 2009 ( £6.99 until 31 Jan, Majestic), a great example of cool-climate Chilean sauvignon blanc with tangy gooseberry fruit and a touch of flint; Domaine Gardrat Vin de Pays Charentais Sauvignon Blanc, France, 2009 (£8.50, Yapp Bros, ) which is youthful, lip-smackingly fresh and light; and Quadro Sei Gavi, Italy 2009 (£6.99, Marks & Spencer), a very well-made and affordable Gavi with a fish-friendly draft of preserved lemon.

The bird – and our family usually goes for a turkey – calls for reds that are light in tannins and have good acidity. Five wines that fit this bill are: Secano Estate Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile 2009 (£7.99, Marks & Spencer), with its wonderful lifted fruit bursting with red cherry and cranberry; the exuberantly crunchy, fragrant Château de la Bonnelière Chinon, Loire Valley, France 2008 (£10.95, Robersons, ); Morgan Marcel Lapierre, Beaujolais 2009 (£18, Whole Foods Market), a wine with all the trademark purity, grace, elegance and depth of the natural wine pioneer, Marcel Lapierre, who died earlier this year; Coste della Sesia Uvaggio, Proprietá Sperino, Piedmont, Italy 2006 (£19.99, Liberty Wines,), a wine with the grace of a top burgundy with real freshness, delicacy and savoury/gamey complexity; and Rippon Central Otago Pinot Noir, New Zealand (£25.50, Lea & Sandeman), a standout example of top New Zealand pinot noir's ability to mix silk and perfume.

The classic Christmas pudding is an overwhelmingly sweet and powerfully flavoured dish that very few wines can withstand. I'd go for something fortified with flavours that echo the dried fruit and spice. Waitrose has two fine candidates: Campbells Rutherglen Muscat, Victoria, Australia NV (£9.99, 37.5cl) which is the definition of sticky – an elixir of raisins, sultanas and citrus peel with a spine of tingling acidity; and the astoundingly complex toffee, spice and cigar box-flavoured D'Oliveiras Reserva Terrantez Madeira 1977 (£55), still youthful after more than 30 years. The rich, hazelnut and dried figs of Vin Santo del Chianti Rufina, Villa di Monte, Italy 1995 comes in at a slightly less extravagant £14.99 from Marks & Spencer.

Christmas After dinner

By this stage it's time to collapse in front of a Christmas TV Event. Something about the dim late-afternoon light and the drowsy mellow feeling makes me think of those two rustic French classics, calvados and armagnac. Two I've enjoyed recently are the luscious Château du Breuil 15-year-old calvados (£53.49, thedrinkshop.com), which is like flambéed tarte tatin in a glass; the Janneau eight-year-old armagnac (£20.49, Waitrose) is all about toffee, spice and wisps of dried fruit. For a slightly smoother, sweeter experience, I'd be happy to sip a balloon of another great French brandy, Hine Rare VSOP Cognac (£41.98, thedrinkshop.com), with its earthy hints of fallen autumnal leaves and spring flowers and its honeyed palate.

At some point in the evening something resembling hunger will return and tradition will call for some stilton (or that wonderful unpasteurised alternative, stichelton) and port. Port offers incredible value for money at this time of year when the main late-bottled vintage brands are almost all on offer somewhere. Some of my favourites from recent tastings include the powerful, dense, grippy Tesco LBV Port 2005 (£8.99), made by the Symington family of Graham's, Dow's and Warre's fame; the vibrant, intensely concentrated, violet and black fruit-scented Quinta do Noval LBV Unfiltered 2004 (£17.99, ocado.com); the mature, silky, complex Fonseca Guimaraens 1996 (£24.99, from £25, Booths, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Waitrose); the multilayered, fresh nuts and dried fruits of Churchill's 20 Year Old Tawny Port (£24.99, or £19.99 as part of a mixed case, Oddbins); and for a truly special treat, 1970 Warre's Vintage Port, which comes in at £110 a bottle from Berry Bros, but which, with its mindboggling complexity and endless ethereal finish, is good value for a truly great wine.

Boxing Day

The morning is very much a time of recovery in our house, a leisurely day when the toys are played with rather than merely glanced, and the adults nurse their hangovers until the next big lunchtime meal, which in our case is roast beef. This is a time for reds with a bit more power, tannin and bite, wines such as: Tejo Touriga Nacional, Portugal (£6.99, Marks & Spencer) with its firm tannic backbone and attractive cherry fruit; Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône, France (£8.49) from top producer Michel Chapoutier, which offers black pepper spice and raspberry fruit; Dolines de l'Hortus Coteaux du Languedoc 2008 (£9.49, Laithwaites) with its elegant, silky tannins and spicy red fruit compote; and a good, mature claret, such as 2000 Château Belgrave, Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux (£32.50, The Wine Society), which has mellowed beautifully with soft cassis and cedar wood.

Boxing Day is also the day when a long walk becomes essential to work off some of the excess and to escape the claustrophobia that by now afflicts even the closest families. A hip flask full of that classic ginger liqueur, the sweet, spicy The King's Ginger (£18.35, Berry Bros & Rudd) is a fine way to get the blood going on a cold afternoon; a draft of Stone's Ginger Wine (£4.50 to £5, widely available), shaken with ice and then strained into a vacuum flask, is a slightly less alcoholic alternative.

The difficult days between Christmas and New Year

Spirits, and finances, can flag in this no man's land between Christmas and New Year, when many of us return to work and where the excess can begin to pall for everyone else. It's worth having a couple of reliable, inexpensive, versatile wines to hand at this point, and two that spring immediately to mind are The Wine Society's easy-drinking, coconut-and soft berry fruit-flavoured Rioja Crianza 2007 (£6.95), which will match nicely with cold meats but can be happily sipped on its own; and Zalze Bush Vine Chenin Blanc, Coastal Region, South Africa (£6.49, Waitrose) which has nice weight, lots of fresh tropical fruit and good, zippy acidity, and which will handle anything from fish to lightly spicy Asian noodles to white meat.

New Year's Eve

And so to New Year's Eve. I've been through most kinds of celebration over the years: massive, drunken party; boozy dinner party with close friends and family; at home with just the wife and Jools Holland on the box. Wherever I am, I like to start with a cocktail, and my favourite is a freshly made, rough-and-ready mojito, with as much fresh mint as I can find, the juice of a couple of limes, plenty of coarse cane sugar and a good glug of Havana Club Especial (£18.49, down to £14.49, Waitrose, until 4 Jan).

Then it's on to the fizz. If I were hosting a big party, I'd be happy with Asda's Cava Brut (£4.28) or the cleaner, crisper, appley Cava Torre Oria Brut NV from Oddbins, which is decent value if you buy a case of 12 for £7.19 each (the single-bottle price is £8.99). With a bit more cash I'd move up to the excellent Château Moncontour Vouvray Brut, Loire Valley, France (£9.99, M&S;) with its tingling acidity, and crisp green apple freshness, or the very well-made Jansz Premium Non-Vintage Brut Cuvée, Tasmania, Australia, which has some of the brioche and toast of a much more expensive champagne, and which is, again, pretty good value from Oddbins if you buy 12 (£10.39 or £12.99 for a single bottle). I'd be happy with either of those if I was having a small dinner party, too.

If it has to be champagne, then the lemony-fresh slightly buttery Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne NV is a solid bet for under 20 quid (£19.49), while Majestic has a good offer on Champagne Jacquart's Brut Tradition NV for the festive period: at £15 until 31 Jan, this is a very tasty, slightly nutty, yeasty fizz for the price. Moving up a little in price, but equally good value, are the fruity, clean, precise Déhu Tradition Brut (£23.99 or £19.99 as part of a case of 12 bottles, Oddbins) and the subtle Champagne Thienot Brut (from £25, Bedales,; Corks Out, Warrington; Cornelius Wines, Edinburgh). And to see in the New Year in real style, the perfectly mature 1990 Champagne R&L; Legras, Cuvée Exceptionelle, St Vincent (£110, Berry Bros & Rudd), with its complex palate of honey and a whisper of fresh coffee, would take some beating.

New Year's Day and January

There are, in my experience, two ways to confront the existential horror of New Year's Day. You can either drink your way out of the almighty hangover and the prospect of the long, dark January to come. Or you can resolve to enter a period of abstinence.

Bitter experience has taught me that the first method never works. And the prospect of abstinence needn't be treated with dread. The key is to find non-alcoholic alternatives that are genuinely delicious. This isn't easy. As far as I'm aware, nobody has yet managed to produce a drinkable non-alcoholic wine or beer. And many of the other adult soft drinks presented as alternatives to booze, such as the really quite delicious fizzy fruit-and-herb infusion Amé (or, for that matter, Shloer), are too sweet to fill he gap left by the neither sweet-nor-savoury hole left by my favourite kinds of booze. Drinking too much tea or coffee merely leaves me feeling wired.

I do have a few staples, however. A glass of the very clean and crisp Fever Tree Tonic (see below for stockists) with a tiny dash – any more and it becomes an alcoholic drink – of the intense Angostura Bitters (£5.49, 200ml, thedrinkshop.com) is a nicely bitter aperitif, while Fever Tree's Ginger Beer (£2.99 for 4 x 200ml or £1.69 for 500ml, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Majestic, Oddbins and some Tesco stores) holds back on overt sweetness, is genuinely refreshing and works better than most wines with Asian food. I've also developed a bit of an addiction to the Belvoir range of cordials: mixed with sparkling water, the elderflower, gooseberry and muscat (£4.25, Ocado.com) mimics many of the flavours you find in sauvignon blanc, while the cranberry (£4.25, Asda and Waitrose) satisfies my craving for the crunchy fruit you find in beaujolais – a drink to fill in the empty days while you wait for normal drinking service to resume.

Holiday shopping is rarely easy, especially when you throw Hanukkah into the mix. Last year, it seemed the Festival of Lights came hot on the tail of Thanksgiving. But this year, it's so close to Turkey Day that you could have practically browned the bird over a Menorah flame. So without further ado (seriously, there are only two shopping days before the first candle gets lit), here are some of our Hanukkah gift picks for your favorite wine lover:

Glassware: Wine, of course, is the best gift for your favorite wine lover, but recommending buying wine is as obvious as suggesting an umbrella on a rainy day. That said, the right glassware can improve the everyday drinking experience. More than just a vessel, the size and shape of a glass can enhance or accentuate different characteristics in different wines. Riedel is, perhaps, the best known wine glass maker here in the US, and they have an incredibly diverse portfolio of glasses for every varietal and aesthetic. I'm also a big fan of the Schott Zwiesel lines, which are fortified with titanium instead of lead, making them a great bargain for style and durability. We also recently started carrying the lead-free, mouthblown glasses from Zalto of Austria. These glasses are elegant and lightweight, the angles based on the tilt angles of the earth and believed by the Romans to maintain freshness and improve taste.

Wine Clubs: Hannukah might be eight nights, but a subscription to a K&L Wine Club is a gift that can keep giving. Know someone just getting into wine? Try the Best Buy Club. An Italophile? Try the Italian Wine Club. Champagne? Red Wine? Premium wines? We've got you covered. And if your favorite wine lover has made their particular tastes abundantly clear ("I only drink Pinot." "I'm a Rhone slut." try the Personal Sommelier Service and set the price, number of bottles, regions and varietals.

Is your favorite wine lover a little impatient? The Vinturi "Aerator" ($35.99) is a time machine for wine, quicker than a decanter and definitely faster than stuffing wine into the cellar to age. Perfect for unwinding young, tannic wines that are hard to stay away from, and a quick way to smooth the edges on some of our favorite, affordable Bordeaux.

If the Vinturi is the perfect gift for the wine lover in search ofinstant gratification, the Durand Corkscrew ($124.99) is what you should buy for the person who's stocked their cellar and sat on wines like they were the goose with the golden egg. Even perfectly stored, old wine corks can be unbelievably stubborn. The Durand is a handmade wine opener that combines an Ah-So opener and a worm to gently remove a fragile cork from the bottle rather than sending it for a swim.

For more gift ideas, check out K&L's Holiday Gift Guide, which should be arriving in-home any day now, search our site or call toll free 877-KLWINES. Happy Hanukkah!

Leah Greenstein

Visit our website to read more www.InsideWorld.com.


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Sherry is not a single wine, it embraces 4 variants at denomination of origin made from a base fluid prepared in the same way: 

• Fine
• Amontillado
• Oloroso (Odorous)
• Palo cortado 

By law, the 70% of the initial pressing is used to develop the fine wines, light sherry or ordinary sherry, the next 20% goes to the odorous wines and other wines of lesser quality. While any remaining liquid to be distilled (become a spirit, like brandy). 

In developing these wines, it‘s important to go though these procedures; after the grape harvest, the grinding, crushing, fermenting and header (addition of wine alcohol to raise their graduation), which lies in the barrel where it grows is known as "flower": a fungus that develops a layer that provides unique properties to wine protecting it from the harmful effects of oxygen.

Anyway, there’s a difference with what happens with the traditional wine and oxygen is not always a bad company, on the contrary, sometimes the deterioration caused by its presence is wished, like in this case for example, to obtain“Jerez Amontillado”. "The alcohol content of fortified wine shall define it. In the case of the "Fino" "Amontillado" and "Olorosos" requires 15 volumes and the "Palo Cortado”, 17 volumes (the “flowe”r can not be developed in this environment). 

The ultimate expression of these wines is the "fino", pale golden color and nutty aroma. This is a dry mild flavor drink. In this case, the flower is kept for at least 3 years of biological aging of the liquid oxidation. For many, the perfect aperitif, is consuming this wine at 8 ° C, and combines well with fish and seafood, as well as typical Spanish tapas. 

The "amontillado” Sherry’s color reminds amber and has like hazelnuts flavor. This dry drink is a double ageing, biological and oxidative. Beginning its development as a "fino" with flower, but as it loses it; oxygen starts acting on the liquid printing new characteristics. Better Serve at 14 ° C, the experts recommend drinking this wine with soups, white meat and oily fish. 

"Oloroso" is the term used to identify a darker sherry than the other ones, with notes of nuts and toast in the mouth. With higher alcohol content than the "fino" or "Amontillado", this sherry wine is the result of a prolonged contact with the air inside the barrel. It is usually consumed with game meat for the pronounced flavor, at around 14 ° C. 

Among the “amontillado" and "oloroso" we have the "palo cortado, which is achieved when the tasters identify citrus notes during aging of fine sherry, and add more alcohol to remove the flower and give way to an oxidative phase that leads to potencial the special features found in the barrel. This wine is taken at 13 ° C, and is great to drink it alone or with nuts. 

In the area of Sanlucar de Barrameda, winters are warmer than in Puerto de Santa Maria and Jerez de la Frontera, because of the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean which moderates the cold weather. Nature does the flower to be active all year in this area to provide a special feature to "Fino", actually known as Manzanilla.

Leer Development and variations of sherry en Uvinum's blog

Paul Einbund is the wine director of the Slanted Door restaurant group including Out the Door Bush Street and Westfield Centre as well as Heaven's Dog. He also runs the beverage program at Frances, and has worked at Coi and more. Look for him here every Tuesday. Follow him on Twitter @pauleinbund.

How could you not love a holiday that is based around dinner?  Here are some of my ideas on what to drink—and what to avoid. 

Drink while cooking. This early in the day, so avoid beer. I know this may be an unpopular thing to say, but beer fills you up, and if you want to take part in the night’s festivities, then slow down on the cerveza, Holmes.  Consider making a sangria—not too filling, fresh fruit, spices, and it's got booze! Take a light bodied white wine that has a little sweetness and add some fresh fruits and a stick of cinnamon and you are done.  If you want to get more involved, visit an Asian market, grab a bunch of pandan leaves and make a pandan simple syrup. Add the syrup to taste and now you are the coolest person in town!  

Drink with dinner. Variety is the key. Rieslings are the greatest wines with any kind of food, especially on this holiday when you find so much sweetness in the dishes. Look for a German Riesling Kabinett to go well with the food because it will have just a touch of sweetness too (my only food and wine pairing rule is that the wine needs to have at least as much sweetness as the dish). For the reds, I usually start with a light bodied wine like a Beaujolais.  I am crazy about a wine from Edmunds St. John called Bone-Jolly, the 2009 is the best he’s ever done. This wine is made from the same grape as Beaujolais, the Gamay grape, and is light, fresh and fruity, not to mention affordable at around $16 retail. Towards the end of dinner we usually break out the big reds. My family plays along with me and my "fancy wine pairing ideas," but what they really want are the big, thick, juicy reds. Last year I brought along a bottle of Gramercy Cellars Syrah that was tasty; this year I think we will round out the night with Fred Scherrer Zinfandel. 

Drink with dessert. I always have a bottle of Madeira around, maybe a Boal from Cossart Gordon because it’s not too sweet and chock full o’nuts. There’s a winery called Miraflores located up in the Sierra Foothills where winemaker Marco Cappelli is making great sweet wines from grapes like the old Mission grape and Muscat.  He focuses on fortified wines, which suits my family just fine.

 

  

I've reprinted this great piece from a friend Natalie Maclean's blog post. Her site is at:
www.nataliemaclean.com


Wines for the Top 10 Tough-To-Buy-For People on Your Holiday List

Pairing wines with personalities for gift shoppers--there's an app for that (and a web site)

New York, November 18, 2010 -- "Wine is one of the few presents that makes both the giver and the receiver look good," says Natalie MacLean, the red-nosed e-sommelier behind www.nataliemaclean.com, one of the largest wine web sites. "You look like you spent a bundle on the gift (even if you didn't) and the recipients are happy that you think they know something about wine (even if they don't)."

This holiday season, anyone can tap into MacLean's expertise via her free web site and mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid and other smartphones. They help consumers with a whole new type of pairing: wine with the people on your Christmas shopping list. The app and site also pair wines to thousands of dishes, including holiday favorites, such as turkey, goose, duck, and even partridge in a pear tree.

"When you give wine, doubles are fine, there are no wrong sizes and you can always find something good in stock," MacLean adds. "Vintage gifts will get anyone into the holiday spirits."


Natalie's Top Ten Gift Wines for Your ...

1. Hairdresser: For the person who combines humor and optimism every time she styles your mop. Go for a light, gulpable wine like a dry rosé. It's versatile and fuss-free--a great quaff for your coif.


2. Psychiatrist: Of course, he'll analyze whatever you give him so choose a wine that's all about balance. Easy-drinking pinot noir is medium-bodied yet packed with flavor. Surprise him with a large-format bottle, like a magnum. Big thinking means big progress for you. This wine also works for psychologists, marriage counselors and bartenders.


3. The Boss: Pick too pricey a wine and your boss will think your last raise was too much; go cheap, and she'll think you lack judgement. Focus on a label with a lot of white space since that makes the bottle look more expensive. A castle in the distance also works, but avoid fluffy animals.


4. Personal Trainer: Think a muscular, robust red would work? Hold that position. Instead, try riesling: this light white wine pairs well with a health-nut diet of salad and seafood, plus it's low in alcohol. You can also give it to Pilates instructors, yoga masters and Tai Chi coaches.


5. Financial Planner: You and he both know it's going to take decades before your portfolio recovers after the crash of 2008. With that long-term view, vintage port makes the perfect gift. This fortified wine from northern Portugal, with its long aging potential, will be around for both of you into your retirements.


6. Travel Agent: She's been everywhere and seen everything, so go local with your choice of wine. Even better, if you live close to the winery, get the bottle signed by the winemaker.


7. Teacher: If you can't find a suitably obscure wine with a Latin name, there's always cream sherry. It's the tipple of Oxford dons, not to mention the centerpiece of Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story The Case of the Amontillado.


8. Mail Deliverer: Go for a winery that's consistent year after year in producing a wine that can be enjoyed in snow, rain, sleet or hail. Try an Australian shiraz or Argentine malbec.


9. Mechanic: Yes, there's a wine called Red Truck, but try to be more imaginative. Why not give a wine made by Mario Andretti in California or Ferrari in Italy?


10. Online Date: So you're on your second or third rendezvous with the person you met on eHarmony or Dating.com. If you're not sure yet whether marriage is a possibility, try something middle-of-the-road, like merlot. Yes, it's the soft jazz of wine, but until you know, play it safe.

And after all that shopping, don't forget yourself: even Santa's little helpers need more than milk and cookies. Try something with high-alcohol like Italian Amarone or Rhone syrah: these big reds easily drown out tone-deaf caroling and pair beautifully with tired feet.

Pairing wines with personalities for gift shoppers—there’s a Canadian app for that (and a web site)


November 18, 2010 -- “Wine is one of the few presents that makes both the giver and the receiver look good,” says Natalie MacLean, the red-nosed e-sommelier behind www.nataliemaclean.com, Canada's largest wine web site. “You look like you spent a bundle on the gift (even if you didn’t) and the recipients are happy that you think they know something about wine (even if they don’t).”



This holiday season, anyone can tap into MacLean’s expertise via her free web site and mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid and other smartphones. They help consumers with a whole new type of pairing: wine with the people on your Christmas shopping list. The app and site also pair wines to thousands of dishes, including holiday favourites, such as turkey, goose, duck, and even partridge in a pear tree.

“When you give wine, doubles are fine, there are no wrong sizes and you can always find something good in stock,” MacLean adds. “Vintage gifts will get anyone into the holiday spirits.”


Natalie’s Top Ten Gift Wines for Your ...

1. Hairdresser: For the person who combines humour and optimism every time she styles your mop. Go for a light, gulpable wine like a dry rosé. It’s versatile and fuss-free—a great quaff for your coif.


2. Psychiatrist: Of course, he’ll analyze whatever you give him so choose a wine that’s all about balance. Easy-drinking pinot noir is medium-bodied yet packed with flavour. Surprise him with a large-format bottle, like a magnum. Big thinking means big progress for you. This wine also works for psychologists, marriage counsellors and bartenders.


3. The Boss: Pick too pricey a wine and your boss will think your last raise was too much; go cheap, and she’ll think you lack judgement. Focus on a label with a lot of white space since that makes the bottle look more expensive. A castle in the distance also works, but avoid fluffy animals.


4. Personal Trainer: Think a muscular, robust red would work? Hold that position. Instead, try riesling: this light white wine pairs well with a health-nut diet of salad and seafood, plus it’s low in alcohol. You can also give it to Pilates instructors, yoga masters and Tai Chi coaches.


5. Financial Planner: You and he both know it’s going to take decades before your portfolio recovers after the crash of 2008. With that long-term view, vintage port makes the perfect gift. This fortified wine from northern Portugal, with its long aging potential, will be around for both of you into your retirements.


6. Travel Agent: She’s been everywhere and seen everything, so go local with your choice of wine. Even better, if you live close to the winery, get the bottle signed by the winemaker.


7. Teacher: If you can’t find a suitably obscure wine with a Latin name, there’s always cream sherry. It’s the tipple of Oxford dons, not to mention the centerpiece of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Case of the Amontillado.


8. Mail Deliverer: Go for a winery that’s consistent year after year in producing a wine that can be enjoyed in snow, rain, sleet or hail. Try an Australian shiraz or Argentine malbec.


9. Mechanic: Yes, there’s a wine called Red Truck, but try to be more imaginative. Why not give a wine made by Mario Andretti in California or Ferrari in Italy?


10. Online Date: So you’re on your second or third rendezvous with the person you met on eHarmony or Dating.com. If you’re not sure yet whether marriage is a possibility, try something middle-of-the-road, like merlot. Yes, it’s the soft jazz of wine, but until you know, play it safe.


And after all that shopping, don’t forget yourself: even Santa’s little helpers need more than milk and cookies. Try something with high-alcohol like Italian Amarone or Rhone syrah: these big reds easily drown out tone-deaf carolling and pair beautifully with tired feet.





For Natalie’s favourite wineries, tasting notes and recipe matches for all the wine types mentioned above, please visit:
http://bit.ly/GiftWines

Whether it's your grandmother's crystal, hand-blown Riedel Burgundy glasses with bowls the size of a baby's head or something you picked up at T.J. Maxx, properly caring for your wine glasses will help them last longer, look nicer on your table and can even improve your wine-drinking experience. Cloudy glasses, off-putting smells (Barolo with a touch of Dawn, anyone?) and the generally frustrating time-sucking process of polishing don't need to wreck your next dinner party if you follow a few simple rules.

1) Skip the dishwasher: While these days all but the most delicate stemware is considered dishwasher safe, unless you've got a dedicated machine for your glasses, we recommend washing each one by hand. Yes, this is a little more time-consuming, but dishwashing detergents--not to mention all the food particles flying around your Whirlpool like cosmic dust--can leave residue on your glasses at best, and pit or chip them at worst.

2) Skip the dish soap: You shouldn't need a grease-cutter to clean your wine glasses, so skip the Dawn, Joy or Palmolive. Even the most stubborn lipstick marks should come off with some hot water and a little scrubbing. Use a cleaning brush like the Flute Brush, which is made out of soft foam that will help prevent your glasses from chipping or scratching and make it easier to get all those hard-to-reach spots. If you absolutely must use soap, make sure to rinse your glasses extra-thoroughly to be sure that "fresh clean" scent doesn't linger in your wine.

For stubborn stains, K&L's Shaun Green recommends denture cleaning tablets. "These dissolve in warm water and really scour the stains. Of course, you need to wash thoroughly and rinse several times to make sure there is no residue."

3) Let your glasses air dry: Ever look at a wine glass that's been towel-dried? It looks like little lint critters are marching ant-like across the surface, and they are often streaky, too. We like using the Architec AirDry (pictured above), an affordable drying rack that's stable, easy to store because it comes apart and lets the air circulate around the glass (as opposed to drying them on linen) so they dry clear.

4) Be careful when (and if) you polish: If you do all of the above and your glasses are still a bit spotty, particularly if you have hard water, you'll probably have to polish them. Captain obvious would like to remind you that wine glasses--even the ones fortified with titanium--are fragile, so be careful. Use a microfiber or other lint-free cloth to polish, always hold the glass by the stem and don't twist the base or the bowl. If the glasses aren't coming clean, holding them over a steaming pot of water should help.

Leah Greenstein

Date: Nov 12th 2010 3:55p.m.
Contributed by: winechi

Cold weather has set in, and that means it’s time for hairy crabs, one of China’s most celebrated delicacies. These crabs are very rich in taste, so wines with high flavor intensity pair well with them. Traditionally, the crabs are served with Shaoxing rice wine.

However, there are some off-the-beaten-track value wines that pair well, too. Dow’s Fine Tawny Port (¥199) is a sweet fortified wine that is aged in wood for three years and exhibits subtle nutty and caramel flavors that go along well with the Chinese vinegar served with the crabs. Another choice is Domaine Cazes Muscat de Rivesaltes 2005 (¥185). It is also a fortified sweet wine, but packed with flavors of peaches and apricots that marry nicely with the crab. Lastly, try the Torbreck RMV 2008 (¥150). Made in France from Roussane, Marsanne and Viognier white grapes, it’s a good alternative for those who prefer dry wines.

All wines are available directly from Links Concept Tel:6503-0808.

Paul Einbund is the wine director of the Slanted Door restaurant group. He's also worked as the sommelier at Frances, Coi and more. Look for him here every Tuesday. Follow him on Twitter @pauleinbund.

Americans have historically been the largest market for Madeira wines in the world. Now most of us only know the stuff as cooking wine. All this is a’changing!

What is it? Madeira is a wine made on the island of the same name that hangs a Portuguese banner. The wines are fortified (think Port and Sherry). To oversimplify things, let’s just say that all of the methods used to make these wines expose the wine to oxygen, more so than the usual wine-making techniques. The wines end up with a caramel color (sometimes added with coloring). But more importantly, they end up much more resistant to the affects of oxygen than any other wine.

Why drink it? From my experience, Madeira improves for about three weeks after being opened and then stays the same for about the next year!  You can’t say that about too many wines. Madeira is one of the greatest glasses of wine you can order in a restaurant. I rarely order wines by the glass in restaurants because often the bottles have been open too long and don’t taste fresh. Madeira doesn’t have that problem.

Which Madeira to drink? It’s kind of a funny thing to say ‘forward thinking’ in a wine region where drinking wines from 100 years ago is common practice, but Vinhos Barbeito is arguably the most forward-thinking producer on the island. Ricardo Diogo Freitas is the managing director for Vinhos Barbeito and he is breaking with tradition in some ways by making wines that you can drink young. (Mind you, young for the island of Madeira is still 10 years or more, but that’s a whole lot better then the 30-plus years I had been using as my minimums in the past.) He's releasing single-cask, single-vintage wines called colheita (prounounce cole-yet-ah). A bottle retails for $50 to $70 but you have little sips of for at least the next year. ­ Now that represents incredible value. In a restaurant, these wines range from $8 to $15 a glass, or you can indulge in an old vintage wine that goes up to $100 a glass for the rarer grapes from the 1800’s!

What to pair it with? I enjoy a glass of Madeira at the end of a meal or when I get home from work, but the wines can be amazingly great with food as well. Try a Sercial (the driest of the major grapes) as an aperitif. If you happen to be enjoying a little puff pastry with wild mushrooms and herbs, then consider a sip of Verdehlo (also a dry grape, but a little tropical, as opposed to the citrus of the Sercial). Because Madeira has a caramel or toffee element to its wines, the sweetness or perceived sweetness allows them to be amazing with Asian cuisines like—oh, say Vietnamese.

Where to get it? The best place to purchase Madeira for your home is absolutely the Rare Wine Company. They are also the largest premium importer of these wines. Otherwise, both Spruce and Coi have a great selection.

This week on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the housewives were busy selling their wares and trying to pawn off their baby daddies somewhere else. NeNe Leakes is trying to divorce Gregg, Cynthia Bailey's trying to pretend like she This week on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the housewives were busy selling their wares and trying to pawn off their baby daddies somewhere else. NeNe Leakes is trying to divorce Gregg, Cynthia Bailey's trying to pretend like she doesn't want to marry her boyfriend, Phaedra Park's baby may or may not be her husband's, and Kim Zolciak. Well, Kim just wants an excuse to talk about Big Poppa. Through it all, the women have fortified themselves with comfort food, wine spritzers and heart attack inducing Mexican cheese plates. Let's dig into last night's episode to see who won our weekly Foodcap review. ... More »

Post from: Crushable

The Real Housewives Of Atlanta Foodcap: The Wine Doesn't Mean A Thang

Sports by Brooks: Papa on Raiders radio doing live spot for "New Amsterdam Gin" right now. Still waiting for Flores fortified wine live read.

(By @sportsbybrooks - Blog Feed - Sports, Sports by Brooks)

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is port. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Port, a fortified wine made by adding brandy to arrest fermenting grape must which results in a wine, red and sometimes white, that is both sweet and high in alcohol. Port derives its name from Oporto (Porto), the [...]

Wine Word of the Week: Port was originally posted on Wine Peeps on Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:00 UTC. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Fortified Wines: A guide to the history, making and styles of Portugal's most famous wine, Port.

From a small but highly competitive shortlist comprising Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, the winner of this year's Decanter Supermarket of the Year was Waitrose. No surprises there. Waitrose won the gong last year and it's actually shifted into overdrive since then with a stronger selection from Australia and New Zealand. Forgive me, then, if I sound like an ad, but from today until this Wednesday, Waitrose will be offering 25 per cent off when you buy six bottles of any wine, mixed or unmixed, including fortified and sparkling wines, and delivery is free. Don't live near a Waitrose? Visit online at waitrose.com/wine for a 12-bottle case with free delivery.

(from the Wall Street Journal Magazine) In a concrete bunker somewhere beneath Massachusetts, one man has been quietly amassing a prodigious amount of port for more than two decades. Meet Bob Antia Poor port wine. The fortified, sweet, strong stuff from the Douro region of Portugal has few champions left. While it remains a popular purchase—should your kid be born in one of the few years per decade when a vintage year is declared—the stuff is mostly relegated to postprandial pours between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Still, any serious wine collector is expected to have a small stash to show the...

Date: Oct 27th 2010 12:13p.m.
Contributed by: winechi

It’s getting cooler now as we get to late autumn and that means it’s time for yummy hairy crabs. The crabs are very rich in taste, so wines with high flavor intensity pair well with them. Traditionally the crabs are served with Shaoxing rice wine. However, there are some off-the-beaten-track value wines that pair well, too. Dow’s Fine Tawny Port (RMB199) is a sweet fortified wine that’s been aged in wood for three years and exhibits subtle nutty and caramel flavors that go along with the Chinese vinegar served with the crabs. Another choice is the Domaine Cazes Muscat de Rivesaltes 2005(RMB185). It is also a fortified sweet wine, but packed with flavors of peaches and apricots that marry nicely with the crab. Lastly, try the Torbreck 2008 (RMB150). Made from white grapes Roussane, Marsanne and Viognier in France, it’s a good alternative for those who prefer dry wines.

You can get your hands on these wines by heading over to Links Concept.

Don't look now, but we got a bottle of Vodgria, a sangria-flavored vodka, in the mail for review today. For those of you who've been living under a rock, sangria is a wine punch that is usually fortified with a...

As I wrote in my last post, I recently returned from Rutherglen where I had been invited to judge at the Rutherglen show. And judge I did, with around 160 wines on average passing the lips of each judge including myself, each day, over five-days. Entries consisted of wines from across Australia yet thoughtfully, the coordinators of the show made sure that I, the quasi foreign guinea pig, proved my metal on mettle by tasting lots of local wines which reached their zenith during the classes of teeth-jarring Durifs and majestic fortifieds.

While I walked away with utmost respect for Durif (or Petit(e) Sy/irah as it is also known in the US) and in particular the camphor-scented peppery Campbells ’95 that Colin Campbell served me; it is the fortified legacy of Rutherglen that remains an indelible print on the memory.

This legacy is an echo of eons past when Rutherglen, a warm region in euphemistic terms, ripened Brown Muscat and Muscadelle grapes to raisins and whacked them full of spirit before ageing them under the aegis of temperature regimes that would be considered dubious in modern terms and oak of exotic Slovenianesque provenance that proves unidentifiable even to this day.

Sulphured, roughed up by heat and muscled with fortification, Rutherglen’s wines, virtually indestructible, were shipped to the colonial minions. These wines, among others from the likes of Seppeltsfield in the Barossa, were the soul of the Australian wine industry throughout the nineteenth century and into the middle and a bit beyond, of the twentieth. While consumption of fortified styles wanes throughout the world, Rutherglen's wares remain an artery of pride among not just Australian wine lovers but perhaps, more tellingly, among those passionate and knowledgeable about wine the world over. Jancis Robinson MW called Rutherglen fortifieds 'Australia's greatest gift to the wine world', Parker frequently waxes rhapsodic and Campbell's 'Merchant Prince' Rare Muscat recently received 100 points from the Wine Spectator and rightly so, although I do prefer the term Wine Speculator.

Amazingly, the mother lodes of some of these early wines serve as blending material for contemporary releases at the most historic houses such as Campbells, Morris and Chambers-note the Scottish clans. Meanwhile, the quest in Rutherglen today is for elegance, even in an incredibly rich and sweet regional context. This means that the better wines do not exhibit raisiny or torrefacted fruit, stale old oak tones, nor overt rancio, or cheesy oxidative notes. Producers such as Pfeiffer make equally complex wines as the older guns although as Chris Pfeiffer and his talented winemaking daughter Jen admit, it takes time to season one’s oak and to build up aged material necessary for imbuing the older wines with the necessary depth, power and detail.

Rutherglen’s fortifieds are principally made from Brown Muscat and Muscadelle which until recently, was known as Tokay. There also fans of local ports and sherries which, in many instances, were striking. EU pressure instigated a name change for Tokay, which is now marketed as Topaque. Muscat remains as ‘Muscat’. The Topaques and Muscats are classified across a regional hierarchy, promulgated recently due to confusion around the many quirky and highly personalized marketing terms used by producers. The goal is to nurture a strong regional identity for wines that proved to be among the greatest fortifieds I have tasted anywhere in the world.

The hierarchy is as follows: Rutherglen is the term used for entry-level, young and lively wines ready to be quaffed as aperos or also, as I heretically suggested, with an ice-cube! These wines are about varietal character so think ginger, honey and floral notes for Muscat and lemon curd, other citrus notes, cold Darjeeling tea and fish oil (yes, I know that sounds bizarre but it is true!) for Topaque.

Classic is used for the next rung of wines which principally, are of lesser quality fruit than the the ascending rungs albeit, with slightly more age than the standard Rutherglens. The Rutherglen tier proved attractive in many instances due to their simplicity and gulpability.

The following tiers are known as Grand and Rare follow and now we are talking business! Grand wines are on average in the vicinity of ten to fifteen years old with ‘average’ meaning the average age of all wines in the final blend. Rares  average twenty years with older houses such as Morris and Campbells boasting base wines back to the early 1900’s and overall average ages far older than the median of the region.

None of the fortifieds (aside from port) in Rutherglen are vintage wines but rather, a sum of judiciously blended wines of varying age and complexity; hailing from different barrels also with their own character depending on provenance, age and indeed, the nature of the wines that sought solace within prior.

The production process works something like this: most producers fortify their wines early in the fermentation process with neutral spirit, although the highly rated Chambers (see Parker’s scores if curious) mute the ferment from the outset making a wine akin to a mistela, as it would be known in Spain. Some producers champion skin contact during the fermentation while others practise skin contact prior. Most producers blend their wines at bottling to ensure an exactitude of quality although Campbells use a version of a traditional solera that sees younger wines gradually blended with older wines in barrel whence wines are drawn off for bottling. As the barrels with older wines become less full they are revitalized, if you will, by the spark of youth. This allows for a particular house style and harmony while the wines age.

Due to age, the colours of the wines progressively become amber and even green/gold in the case of the Topaques, with the Grand and Rare tiers boasting the texture of resin or motor oil, along with a finish that coaxes one’s saliva into the mouth for an orgy of texture, sweetness, indescribable complexities and palate-staining intensity and length. Another glass please along with ringing temples and a bus back to Rutherglen!

...

Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/fettuccine_brussels_sprouts_mushrooms.html

Ingredient Note: We prefer dry sherry, sold with other fortified wines in your wine or liquor store, instead of higher-sodium “cooking” sherry.

Per serving: 385 calories; 10 g fat (4 g sat, 2 g mono); 22 mg cholesterol; 56 g carbohydrates; 19 g protein; 10 g fiber; 438 mg sodium; 467 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (75% daily value), Calcium (28% dv), Magnesium (25% dv), Folate (19% dv), Iron (18% dv), Vitamin A (16% dv).

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 3 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 high fat meat, 1/2 fat

Recently I flogged body and brain as judge at two very different shows on the Australian wine show circuit: the Rutherglen Wine Show and the Adelaide Hot 100. The former is Australia's oldest wine show while the latter, a young show in flux, aspires to the noble modus operandi of identifying enjoyable wines based on drinkability.

Although I am Australian, I have lived most of my professional wine life abroad. I had seen footage of clinical looking Australian judges in white lab coats marauding around long tables lined with tasting glasses, mostly standing while tasting before awarding scores out of 20; yet I had not experienced such a wine show before. Rutherglen was that type of show.

In Europe where I have judged on a number of occasions, the approach is very different. Attractive young sommeliers are employed to pour disguised bottles tableside, while judges sit and ponder what they are tasting before scoring out of 100. While parameters for quality are established by a panel chair, with each panel employing three judges including the chair in Australia and up to seven including the chair in Europe, the mood in Europe is largely more relaxed. Perhaps this is due to the convergence of so many lands and cultures and/or because wine is largely an integral part of the dining experience in much of Europe, accepted much like a carafe of water on the table. Fine wine is more often than not a separate entity to be lauded and an experience around which a meal is designed. My experience indicates that the critiquing of wine is largely seen as nihilistic by many Europeans.

In Australia on the other hand, the table wine revolution really began in the early 1980's and the efficacy of the wine show circuit and judging establishment within gave Australian wine exportable quality, consistency and indeed, cachet.  Quality came to be defined by a rubric that allowed for Australian wine's rapid export success. Prior, Australia was largely a fortified wine producing country whose wares were essential for controlling the colonial hordes of mother England.

The table wine revolution was sped along by a combination of surly confidence in the belief that Australia could produce a better quality product than Europe at most price-points through attention to 'purity of fruit', a phrase that I heard too many times in Rutherglen for my liking. The Australian way meant that fruit flavours were largely protected with the adept use of technology including stainless steel fermentation tanks that allowed for rigid temperature control throughout the handling process, mechanized vineyards to expedite the time it takes to harvest the grapes and overall, the perception that oxygen's role in winemaking is anathema. This style of winemaking is largel known as 'protective', meaning that fruit flavours are protected at all costs. While this approach to winemaking in Australia still exists and is useful if a wine is reasonably priced and merely about freshness and fruit as with most Sauvignon Blancs for example, many smaller premium producers are trying to coax texture and complexity from their wines with less intervention in the winery and vineyard. In many cases this incorporates the controlled use of....gasp...oxygen!

In my view, freedom of expression is to be rewarded given the stereotypical view throughout much of the world that Australian wine is large-scale and soulless. While I tasted fantastic wines from both sides of the production paradigm and believe the negative stereotype of Australian wine to be largely groundless, I could not help but feel discouraged by the attention that most Australian show judges pay to finding faults in wine rather than pleausure. Tendencies like this appear to be a legacy of a wine show circuit that was designed to promote the quality of Australian wine in a different time, when the demands on the industry were not what they are today. Surely, given the struggles of the Australian wine industry of late, the rubric defining wine quality has been altered and the habitual drive among judges to find what is wrong with a wine is an anachronism. Australia must promote pleasure and enjoyment through what is does differently than elsewhere. After all, even the southern Italians know how to use stainless steel these days!

Conversely, the Adelaide Hot 100 is a young show that eschews lab coats and seeks to discover the fun in wine. Organizer, James Erskine, a former sommelier and soil scientist, hopes that this goal will ultimately attract wines far from the madding crowd; that speak of a place rather than winemaking techniques alone. While James was clear that starkly faulty wines that detract from pleasure were not to be rewarded, he was also firm in his vision that juges who focus only on faults were not to be a part of the Hot 100. As a result, he assembled a motley crew of judges including winemakers, artists, foreign buyers, sommeliers, importers of European wines and me. Subsequently the group provided very different takes on what constitutes quality due to disparate relationships with wine's many paths. Discussion was further encouraged while eating at restaurants together, visiting wonderfully eccentric local producers and thus, through immersion in wine as an integral part of South Australian culture.

At the Adelaide Hot 100, judging was out of 100 and the flights were generally smaller allowing for a more discerning approach to each wine. While 'drinkability' was declared a beacon to be rewarded, many of us correlated our scores with the traditional bronze, silver and gold scoring-windows rather than rewarding upwards from a base of 'commercial acceptability' (55 points). Clearly, if one has judged more traditional shows in the past, it is a habit that is hard to shake but one that will have to be addressed in the future of the show is to put forth more wines that are far from the paradigm of 'purity of fruit'. While I can't divulge the Top 10 wines yet, a wonderfully scented and textured rose was among the top 10, two eclectic Spanish-inspired blends were well rewarded and the standard of entries was very high suggesting that the Adelaide Hot 100 is well on its way to becoming a show that rewards wines of courage and pleasure while stimulating the judges who partake.

 

...

It's no secret that the ladies of LUPEC love vermouth. We like it poured with a heavy hand in our martinis and our Hearst's. We have also been known to enjoy it on the rocks with a twist of lemon, orange wheel or even an olive.

A recent excursion to the left coast landed this LUPEC lady at Sutton Cellars, a winery in downtown San Francisco. Though the winery is basically a one-room operation with concrete floors and walls, a small room off the cask-filled space is Sutton's vermouth lab. Jars filled with infusing botanicals line the walls, and the aroma of dried flowers fills the room. We sampled the freshest vermouth we'd ever tasted there, literally minutes after it was blended.

Vermouth is a special category of aperitifs that takes its name from the German word for wormwood, "wermut," and is essentially an aromatized wine that has been fortified and flavored with herbs, roots, bark and flowers. Whether red or white in color, white wine is usually used as the base, with color imparted in the vermouth by botanicals.

Sutton's vermouth is based on neutral white wine, fortified with unaged brandy, and flavored with a proprietary blend of 17 different botanicals. The most prominent among these is chamomile, making for a vermouth that is elegant and floral, with a little citrus kick.

Fortunately for us, Sutton Cellars vermouth is available in the Boston area, too. Hit up Dave's Fresh Pasta or Central Bottle Wine in Cambridge to sample a bottle. Try it in a martini or on its own to whet your appetite before the dinner hour.

VERMOUTH APERITIF

2 oz Sutton Cellars vermouth

splash soda

Build over rocks in an old fashioned glass and a twist of lemon or orange.

CIN-CIN!

FOR MORE GREAT COCKTAIL RECIPES, VISIT LUPECBOSTON.COM.

Sure, you've been drinking since Brandon Walsh first moved to Beverly Hills, but somehow you still manage to get king-sized hangovers. How is this possible? You've learned how to invest and talk your way out of tickets, so why has mastering hangovers continued to elude you? Thankfully, the Village Voice has got five ways to avoid hangovers. 1. Eat a good dinner. It's much better to drink on a full stomach than an empty one — you create a buffer between your bloodstream and the alcohol. Foods rich in B vitamins might help prevent hangovers, like most fish and fortified cereals, and so will eating food with olive oil and drinking milk. 2. Learn how to mix. We're not saying you've got to choose one type of booze and stick to it all night. But remember a few rules. Go from drinks with a low alcohol content to high ones gradually over the course of the night. Also, dark liquors will give you a worse hangover, and if you start out drinking red wine, don't switch to anything else. ... More »

Post from: BlissTree

The Morning After: 5 Ways to Avoid a Hangover

Sherry is a wine, albeit a fortified one, that does spoil after a certain time being open. It also typically doesn't improve once it is put into the bottle so here's how long to keep it around. According to the Consejo Regulador of Sherry, the wine should be stored for the following times: Fino or Manzanilla: in a sealed bottle it will last for 12 to 18 months. If the bottle is opened and stored in the refrigerator, it will...

[Visit Alcademics.com for the full post.]

Follow up on last night's classic veal number by making an equally sumptuous Italian specialty. Use leftover steaks, pounded thin, to make a variation of the renowned dish known as veal marsala. Rather than following a traditional recipe, which calls for marsala wine, flour, and cream, try a lighter, more contemporary version with sherry. The fortified wine, when combined with mushrooms and a bit of mustard for emulsification, transforms into a fragrant, boozy sauce that coats the tender meat. Don't care for veal? Try using chicken scaloppine instead. For the recipe, keep reading.

Posted by CamperEnglish
Sherry is not only a food-friendly fortified wine, it's also a versatile cocktail ingredient.

Amid Tension, China Blocks Vital Exports to Japan

HONG KONG — Sharply raising the stakes in a dispute over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain, the Chinese government has blocked exports to Japan of a crucial category of minerals used in products like hybrid cars, wind turbines and guided missiles.

Chinese customs officials are halting shipments to Japan of so-called rare earth elements, preventing them from being loaded aboard ships this week at Chinese ports, three industry officials said Thursday.

IEA says higher oil prices hurt the world’s poorest the most

High oil prices have made it more difficult for the world to close a persistent energy supply gap that has left more than 1.4 billion people without access to electricity and double that number dependent on burning wood and waste to cook food, an official report warns.

Governments and international aid organisations would need to invest US$36 billion (Dh132.23bn) a year over the next 20 years to give everyone on the planet regular access to electricity and modern cookers, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday.

Relatively high prices for oil and gas would preclude poorer countries from relying on fossil fuels, creating incentives for the development of renewable energy sources including so-called “off-grid” sources such as gas from landfills, the IEA said.

China follows British footsteps to African wealth

Chinese investment in Angola is bringing back to life one of the greatest rail routes in Africa, the Benguela Railway. In return, China gets oil - but how fair are accusations that China is engaged in a colonial-style scramble for resources?

Oil Trades Below $75 After Falling on Unexpected Increase in U.S. Supplies

Oil fell in New York as the dollar recovered from its weakest level against the euro since April, while an increase in U.S. crude supplies reinforced concern that the recovery is not fast enough to whittle down excess supplies.

Futures declined as much as 1.1 percent after the Energy Department said yesterday stockpiles rose 970,000 barrels to 358.3 million last week. They were forecast to drop 1.75 million barrels, according to the median analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Gasoline supplies also rose and are now 15 percent higher than their five-year average and distillate stockpiles are now 23.3 percent above the five-year mean.

Rising European Heating Fuel Demand Draws South Korean, Japanese Supplies

Rising heating oil demand in Europe amid seasonal refinery maintenance has attracted supplies from as far as Japan and South Korea and pushed the benchmark London futures market into so-called backwardation.

Peak Oil Consumption - How much oil is left?

Will we have enough oil for future generations?

Total, Petroplus French Refineries Output Reduced by Strike, Union Says

Output at French refineries owned by Total SA and Petroplus Holdings AG is lower due to a strike, a union representative said.

South Africa Mulls Shale Gas to Reduce Nation's Dependence on Oil Imports

South Africa’s petroleum regulator said Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. and Bundu Gas and Oil Exploration Ltd. have applied for shale gas exploration permits as the nation looks to reduce its dependence on petroleum imports.

“We’re certainly going to have significant exploration in the next three years or so,” said Mthozami Xiphu, chief executive officer of Petroleum Agency SA, by phone from Cape Town yesterday. “In the next five, six years, we do expect the beginnings of significant production.”

Iran says nuclear talks can succeed only if fair

(Reuters) - Iran is ready to enter 'fair' negotiations with major powers over its nuclear activities, state radio quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying.

Major powers said on Wednesday they hoped for an early negotiated solution to the stand-off over Iran's nuclear program, which the United States and its allies suspect is aimed at developing bombs, as well as fresh talks on a potential atomic fuel swap plan.

Southern Sudan Independence Referendum Delay Might Reignite War, Kiir Says

Delaying the referendum on independence in Southern Sudan would risk resumption of civil war, the head of the region’s government said, even as the U.S. suggested it will be hard to organize a credible vote on Jan. 9.

Petrobras `Reverse Privatization' Looms as Brazil Backs $78 Billion Offer

Brazil is reclaiming part of the Petroleo Brasileiro SA stake it sold to investors a decade ago in a record $78 billion share sale today.

The government will boost its stake in Petrobras, Latin America’s largest company by market value, to as much as 55 percent from 39 percent now, Adriano Pires, head of the Brazilian Center for Infrastructure, a research group based in Rio de Janeiro, said yesterday in a telephone interview.

Official says Canadian detained in Libya can leave

CAIRO – An official says a Canadian man reportedly detained in Libya on suspicion of spying on a planned BP offshore drilling project can now leave the country.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Department spokeswoman Catherine Loubier said Wednesday that restrictions preventing Douglas O'Reilly from leaving Libya had been lifted. She did not provide further details. Libyan officials have refused to comment on the case.

Petrobras share sale easily oversubscribed: sources

(Reuters) - Brazilian state oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) has received more than enough investor interest to sell all the shares in a massive offer worth up to $79 billion, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

Nigerian Rebels Say They're Seeking Custody of Kidnapped French Nationals

Nigeria’s main rebel group in the oil-rich Niger River delta region said it’s trying to gain custody of three French nationals seized in the West African nation’s coastal waters.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it’s working to transfer the three crew members employed by Bourbon SA, a French company that provides supply vessels for the oil industry, from their kidnappers.

Enbridge allowed to restart pipeline two months after Michigan spill

CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. has received approval from U.S. regulators to restart its Line 6B oil pipeline after more almost two months of outage following a significant spill in Michigan waters.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said Wednesday the oil line, which supplies refiners in the U.S. Midwest and Ontario, will resume operations slowly and under tight control by the United States regulator.

Kevin Costner pitches emergency oil spill plan to Congress

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Kevin Costner told US lawmakers Wednesday that clean-up operations during the BP oil disaster were a "tangled mess," as the Hollywood star urged Congress to adopt his 895-million-dollar emergency response plan.

Costner -- the on-screen hero of "Waterworld" who has a real life passion for developing oil clean-up technology -- said that 32 of his company's centrifugal oil-water separators leased by BP sat idle while the British energy giant figured out what to do with them.

Defending the oil sands

For more than two years, Canada's oil sands have been attacked by environmentalists and left-leaning think-tanks. In particular, these critics accuse the project of producing more carbon emissions than any other energy-extraction effort on the face of the Earth, and of "ravaging" the northern Alberta landscape. In Copenhagen last December, at the largest climate change conference ever convened by the United Nations, Canada was branded as a "climate criminal." In 2009, no less revered a journalistic outlet than National Geographic magazine published an attack on the oil sands.

The lesson from all this is that Alberta politicians and oil sands officials must do a better job defending the project -- its worth to the national economy, its fine record of land reclamation and the manner by which it makes Canada self-sufficient. The benefits even extend to foreign relations: The oil sands have become the largest source of foreign oil to the United States because their supply is stable and reliable -- a fact that both Ottawa and the United States factor into negotiations when disputes arise in unrelated areas of trade. The fact is, the oil sands provide Canada with a major bargaining chip in a world that is increasingly worried about supplying future oil needs.

Greenpeace plan month-long stay on North Sea drill ship

LONDON (AFP) – Greenpeace campaigners who boarded an oil drilling ship near the Shetland Isles in protest at exploration in the North Sea have enough food and drink to stay for a month, the group said.

Two activists from the environmental lobby group spent Tuesday night in a tent suspended by ropes from the anchor chain of the Stena Carron drill ship, which is owned by US oil giant Chevron.

Woodward Book Says Afghanistan Divided White House

WASHINGTON — Some of the critical players in President Obama’s national security team doubt his strategy in Afghanistan will succeed and have spent much of the last 20 months quarreling with one another over policy, personalities and turf, according to a new book.

The book, “Obama’s Wars,” by the journalist Bob Woodward, depicts an administration deeply torn over the war in Afghanistan even as the president agreed to triple troop levels there amid suspicion that he was being boxed in by the military. Mr. Obama’s top White House adviser on Afghanistan and his special envoy for the region are described as believing the strategy will not work.

Murkowski keeps Energy post

Senate Republicans decided not to strip Sen. Lisa Murkowski of her position as the top Republican on the Energy committee, after she mounted a write-in bid for her Senate seat.

"The conference decided not to make any changes," said Sen. Richard Burr. The Conventional Wisdom going into the GOP caucus meeting was the Burr would be selected to replace Murkowski.

Spending Too Carefully?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February 2009, allocated $3.1 billion for distribution by state energy offices to improve energy efficiency and spur the use of renewable energy. But by July 9 of this year, only about 7.2 percent had been spent, the audit indicates.

Report: NY’s electric grid reliable through 2020

The New York Independent System Operator’s latest review of the state’s power system finds there are no major problems facing reliability in the next decade.

NYISO’s board’s 2010 Reliability Needs Assessment found generation, transmission and demand-side programs will meet the state’s electricity needs through 2020. However, a stronger than expected economic recovery could increase reliability risks in 2019.

Major EU Renewable Energy Forum In October

The future direction of renewable energy deployment and funding in Europe will be discussed by government ministers and energy industry heavyweights during a three-day alternative energy forum to be held in London next month.

The debate-style forum begins on October 19 and will be chaired by CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick. The conference will serve a primary role of informing public opinion and will include presentations on issues such as peak oil, wind farming, the future of solar PV, concentrated solar power, and wave and tidal energy generation.

Global Wind Power Capacity May Rival Nuclear Within Four Years, GWEC Says

Installed power capacity from wind turbines around the world will probably rival the potential generation of electricity from nuclear plants within four years, the Global Wind Energy Council said.

Installed wind capacity by 2014 will probably reach 400 gigawatts, Steve Sawyer, secretary-general of the council, said in an e-mailed statement. Current nuclear power capacity is about 376 gigawatts, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Largest offshore wind farm opens off Thanet in Kent

The world's biggest offshore wind farm off the Kent coast has been officially opened.

Swedish energy giant Vattenfall said the 100 turbines are expected to generate enough electricity to power 240,000 homes.

Palm Oil Body RSPO Rebukes Indonesia's Smart On Sustainability Claims

KUALA LUMPUR -(Dow Jones)- The Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry organization that groups palm producers, environmental groups and food companies, said Thursday that Indonesia-based Sinar Mas Agro Resources & Technology has breached its policies and that the firm's membership in the group is at risk.

“The Moneyless Man” Talks to The Green Prophet About The Middle East

Mark Boyle, otherwise known as the “moneyless man,” says that the Middle East’s emphasis on caring and sharing should make adopting a “freeconomic” lifestyle easier than in the West.

Symposium offers hope for us and our troubled planet

“Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream” offers hope and ideas. Created by the Pachamama Alliance, an international partnership of first-world and indigenous people, the symposium is conducted by trained volunteers who clearly present the problems we and our Earth face today and send us on our way fortified to make changes.

Spiking Summer Fruit in Order to Preserve It

AT the end of every summer, as the heaps of fresh fruit start to dwindle at the farmers’ markets, the urge to preserve it all pulls strong.

Usually, I suppress it.

As much as I love the idea of a pantry full of homemade jams, jellies, pickles and syrups, I rarely have the patience for serious canning, with its macerating, simmering and sterilization of jars.

But there is another, easier way: boozy fruit. There are many incarnations but the basic premise is the same — simply mix fruit and sugar with enough hard spirit to keep the fruit well soused, and let it sit. You can sip the liquid as a cordial and eat the sweet, spiked fruit over ice cream or cake. Apart from freezing, it is about the simplest preserving method there is.

Paris Offers Water With Bubbles, but No Bottles

PARIS — In the latest in a series of unusual efforts to make Paris green, the city is now offering residents free sparkling water to try to wean Parisians not from red wine, but from overconsumption of plastic bottles.

10 given Heinz Awards for environmental work

PITTSBURGH — A photographer who took more than 500,000 photographs documenting global warming worldwide is among 10 people who were named Heinz Award winners Tuesday.

This year's awards recognized environmental challenges. The awards each come with a $100,000 prize.

Bjørn Lomborg: Use technology to fight climate change

First off, let's get something straight. Exactly how sceptical are you about climate change?

Man-made global warming exists. My problem is with the single-minded focus on drastic carbon emission reductions that have been promised in the 18 years since the Earth Summit in Rio, and have gotten virtually nowhere.

Pegasus Helping Design `Green Bank' to Fund Carbon Projects, Tamminen Says

Pegasus Capital Advisors LP, the U.S. private equity firm that manages almost $2 billion in assets, is helping set up a bank to fund carbon reduction, a former adviser to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says.

Pegasus is “volunteering some time to help with the design and structuring of the green bank,” Terry Tamminen, 58, said in a telephone interview in Melbourne. He is an adviser to the firm, founded in 1995, according to its website.

Chris Huhne fights Treasury to save his climate department

Climate change secretary Chris Huhne is fighting to defend his department's funding and independence, fending off a suggestion that his civil servants should be moved to the Treasury to cut costs.

Sea level plan 'will ruin our farmland'

A scheme designed to deal with predicted rising sea levels in a low lying area of East Devon could create malarial swamps, regularly flood a busy road, erode prime agricultural land, wreck buildings, ruin livelihoods and see water meadows disappear forever under acres of mud.

Professor’s book models future of the Arctic

Staring at the devastated shores and towns of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Laurence Smith had one thing on his mind: melting glaciers.

To this geography professor who studies melting ice sheets in the Arctic, the vast damage of the hurricane was a testament to global warming, rising sea levels and more violent storms throughout the world.

Rising Sea Levels, Disappearing Countries and Floating Houses

While floating houses and urban centers may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, for nations like the Republic of the Maldives that are in serious danger of losing their land and economy, nothing is too bizarre or ridiculous.

Canada's glaciers have shrunk significantly in past 50 years: data

Glaciers in Canada's High Arctic and in the mountains of Western Canada have shrunk significantly over the past 50 years, new data released by Natural Resources Canada yesterday show. This, experts say, could have consequences for municipalities that depend on the run-off for drinking water, irrigation and power generation.

Ocean cooling 'contributed to global warming hiatus during mid-20th century'

A new study has indicated that the ocean cooling in North Atlantic around 1970 contributed to the hiatus of global warming in the Northern Hemisphere during the mid-20th century, and not tropospheric pollution.

David W. J. Thompson at Colorado State University, John M. Wallace at the University of Washington,John J. Kennedy at the Met Office and Phil D. Jones of the University of East Anglia discovered an unexpectedly abrupt cooling event that occurred between roughly 1968 and 1972 in Northern Hemisphere ocean temperatures.

Vulnerable Arab world lags on climate change action

(Reuters) - The Arab world will be one of the regions worst hit by climate change but still lacks any coordinated response to its potentially devastating effects, experts said at a conference this week.

With hotter, drier and less predictable climates, the amount of water running into the region's streams and rivers is set to fall 20 to 30 percent by 2050, worsening desertification and food insecurity, the United Nations Development Programme says.

Arab states, many rich in petroleum and grappling with fast-growing populations, lack the political will to act, experts said at the UNDP regional meeting that ended on Tuesday.

The times, they are a-changin' for Portugal's Douro Valley (pictured). Port, the sweet, luxurious, fortified wine for which the region is known, still dominates. But in recent years, the port-producing families have also been making better reds with the grapes...

The Barossa and Rutherglen are steeped in history when it comes to making fortified wines influenced by the Port styles of Portugal.

History shows that the Barossa, Rutherglen and other fortified regions of Australia exported large amounts of their fortified wines to England in the 1930s, prior to the UK’s palate evolving to table wines.

Even today you can find one of the rarest Barossa fortifieds at Seppeltsfield winery, a 100 year-old Tawny style, current vintage release 1910, rare and seductive.

It was not until the 1950s in the Barossa that there was a real change in winemaking direction from the traditional fortifieds to a new and exciting table wine direction. It was the introduction of Cabernet Sauvignon, a relative newcomer to the Barossa in the 1950s and 60s that showed a deliberate change in our winemaking future.

The hardest aspect of transition from fortified production to table wine production is producing a true regional style, from varieties that best perform in the region.

It is my belief that as a region we first looked to Bordeaux for inspiration hence the introduction of Cabernet Sauvignon, these were the wine styles of the 50s and 60s up to the mid 70’s. The wines often were big extracted styles that I still think will live for another 20+ years. In the 70s to mid 80s we tried to emulate Burgundy with lighter Burundian inspired styles.

It was not until the mid 80s to early 90s that as a region the Barossa started to produce wines that were made to our own unique style, and the discovering of key varieties, Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro (Mourvedre) and Cabernet Sauvignon that excelled in the regions climate and soils.

Driven by a small but visionary group of winemakers and wineries like Rockford, St Hallett, Elderton, Charlie Melton, Grant Burge, Yalumba, and Henschke to name a few. These wineries inspired the region to make wines that are true to the Barossa and telling stories of the people, place and true regionality.

It takes courage to be true to the region, variety and one’s own interpretation, especially when the world has a very vocal wine community and everyone has their own opinion of what a wine should be.

Let’s keep it real and true to those people who live and breath wine grape growing and winemaking, and encourage them to be true to themselves and their beliefs. It will certainly make the wine world a more interesting and engaging place, encouraging individuality and great wine experiences to the people that love wine.

These, I think, were the lessons learnt from our region’s transition from fortifieds to table wine production and ones I feel are worth sharing with the wine world.

 

...

In the last five to ten years, we have seen beverage culture take fantastic strides in most major markets. Boutique spirits have begun pop up on the backbars of cocktail bars and finer restaurants alongside the ‘bar wallpaper’ of the big box spirits brands we grew up with. Bartenders have started to experiment with new expressions while consumers have turned to expecting more in their libations. Classic cocktails have begun to re-emerge with a vengence as have the consumer’s desire for high quality ingredients. Enter artisan vermouth, a fortified wine enhanced ...