Tag: wine

  • Txakolina Extends Summer Fun

    DSC_4975 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We discovered Txakolinas a few years ago and really enjoy these light, bright Basque wines. They're a perfect match for the type of foods you crave on a warm summer night. This particular one is Txakoli Ameztoi. It's one of those rare wines that actually has the flavor of fresh, green grapes. It might also remind you of a green apple– dry, crisp, refreshing, and thirst quenching. 

    Here's a link to a New York Times article, by Eric Asimov, on Txakolinas including this one. And he gives this note on pronunciation, "In Basque it is mostly rendered as Txakolina (pronounced chock-oh-LEE-nah), but almost as often it shows up as Txakoli (CHOCK-oh-lee)."

    Txakolina, a Tongue-Twisting Name for Simple Pleasure

    DSC_4973 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Only 10.5% alcohol makes them easy to enjoy.
    By the way, we love to explore the food of a region with a wine. Over the years we've built a pretty good cookbook collection. One of our key reference books for Spanish food is 1008 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega. It's sort of the Joy of Cooking of Spain.
     
    DSC_4960 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino
    What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

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  • Txakolina Extends Summer Fun

    DSC_4975 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We discovered Txakolinas a few years ago and really enjoy these light, bright Basque wines. They're a perfect match for the type of foods you crave on a warm summer night. This particular one is Txakoli Ameztoi. It's one of those rare wines that actually has the flavor of fresh, green grapes. It might also remind you of a green apple– dry, crisp, refreshing, and thirst quenching. 

    Here's a link to a New York Times article, by Eric Asimov, on Txakolinas including this one. And he gives this note on pronunciation, "In Basque it is mostly rendered as Txakolina (pronounced chock-oh-LEE-nah), but almost as often it shows up as Txakoli (CHOCK-oh-lee)."

    Txakolina, a Tongue-Twisting Name for Simple Pleasure

    DSC_4973 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Only 10.5% alcohol makes them easy to enjoy.
    By the way, we love to explore the food of a region with a wine. Over the years we've built a pretty good cookbook collection. One of our key reference books for Spanish food is 1008 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega. It's sort of the Joy of Cooking of Spain.
     
    DSC_4960 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino
    What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • Txakolina Extends Summer Fun

    DSC_4975 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We discovered Txakolinas a few years ago and really enjoy these light, bright Basque wines. They're a perfect match for the type of foods you crave on a warm summer night. This particular one is Txakoli Ameztoi. It's one of those rare wines that actually has the flavor of fresh, green grapes. It might also remind you of a green apple– dry, crisp, refreshing, and thirst quenching. 

    Here's a link to a New York Times article, by Eric Asimov, on Txakolinas including this one. And he gives this note on pronunciation, "In Basque it is mostly rendered as Txakolina (pronounced chock-oh-LEE-nah), but almost as often it shows up as Txakoli (CHOCK-oh-lee)."

    Txakolina, a Tongue-Twisting Name for Simple Pleasure

    DSC_4973 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Only 10.5% alcohol makes them easy to enjoy.
    By the way, we love to explore the food of a region with a wine. Over the years we've built a pretty good cookbook collection. One of our key reference books for Spanish food is 1008 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega. It's sort of the Joy of Cooking of Spain.
     
    DSC_4960 - Version 22012-05-23Txakolina-Spanish-basque-wine-© 2011 Penny Cherubino
    What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • BU Seminars in Food, Wine & the Arts

    BU Seminars

    The catalog for the BU Seminars in Food, Wine & the Arts is one piece of mail that always brings a big smile to my face. Now that a new season of lectures, feasts, hands-on-cooking, tastings, demonstrations, and special events has arrived, we're making this wonderful series our Friday Link.

    Over the years, I have enjoyed and learned from people I respect at these events. If you are not on the mailing list, you can find the listing online right here. Explore the seasonal offerings and make your reservations now. You'll be surprised how fast some of these events sell out.

    What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

     
    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • BU Seminars in Food, Wine & the Arts

    BU Seminars

    The catalog for the BU Seminars in Food, Wine & the Arts is one piece of mail that always brings a big smile to my face. Now that a new season of lectures, feasts, hands-on-cooking, tastings, demonstrations, and special events has arrived, we're making this wonderful series our Friday Link.

    Over the years, I have enjoyed and learned from people I respect at these events. If you are not on the mailing list, you can find the listing online right here. Explore the seasonal offerings and make your reservations now. You'll be surprised how fast some of these events sell out.

    What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

     
    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • BU Seminars in Food, Wine & the Arts

    BU Seminars

    The catalog for the BU Seminars in Food, Wine & the Arts is one piece of mail that always brings a big smile to my face. Now that a new season of lectures, feasts, hands-on-cooking, tastings, demonstrations, and special events has arrived, we're making this wonderful series our Friday Link.

    Over the years, I have enjoyed and learned from people I respect at these events. If you are not on the mailing list, you can find the listing online right here. Explore the seasonal offerings and make your reservations now. You'll be surprised how fast some of these events sell out.

    What's on your food lover's shopping list? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Screengrab courtesy of Alimentum  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

     
    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • Basque Country Supper: Recreating Happy Memories

    Sometimes we gather food to recreate a happy memory. A recent Basque themed supper did just that.

    DSC_5342 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheese-wine-jamon-olives-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We fell in love with Basque food in Philadelphia back in 2007. Preparing for the trip, Penny had scoured the area’s Chowhound boards and booked a table at a new restaurant called Tinto. As we’ve said so many times since then, “If we’d had a week in Philadelphia, we would have eaten at Tinto every night.” 

    DSC_5324 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheee-wine-jamon-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Wine, cheese, ham, olives, and bread combine for supper with terroir!

    We love grazing on small plates. At Tinto, those small plates were perfect gems. When we want to bring back some of those memories, we stop at a place like Formaggio Kitchen and tell the staff we want a Basque experience. They will then lead us to the flavors of the region.

      IMG_5252 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheese-wine-jamon-olives-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    The rosey Jamón Serrano seems to call out for a Txakolina Rosé like the one above from Ameztoi. We like both their rosé and their crisp, thirst-quenching white. If you haven’t discovered Txakolina, summer is the time to introduce it to your personal wine list. 

    The cheese is from the French Basque side of the Pyreness, Ardi-Gasna Pardou. It’s a rich, aged sheep’s milk variety with an edible rind and proper, sheepy punch. 

    IMG_5256 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheese-wine-jamon-olives-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Some good bread and olives filled out our tray. The flavors share the terrior of the region. You might want to return to a different region of Spain, to Turkey, or to Paris. Gather the best of what Boston has to offer from your favorite place and make yourself a supper filled with memorable flavor. 

    What’s on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • Basque Country Supper: Recreating Happy Memories

    Sometimes we gather food to recreate a happy memory. A recent Basque themed supper did just that.

    DSC_5342 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheese-wine-jamon-olives-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We fell in love with Basque food in Philadelphia back in 2007. Preparing for the trip, Penny had scoured the area’s Chowhound boards and booked a table at a new restaurant called Tinto. As we’ve said so many times since then, “If we’d had a week in Philadelphia, we would have eaten at Tinto every night.” 

    DSC_5324 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheee-wine-jamon-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Wine, cheese, ham, olives, and bread combine for supper with terroir!

    We love grazing on small plates. At Tinto, those small plates were perfect gems. When we want to bring back some of those memories, we stop at a place like Formaggio Kitchen and tell the staff we want a Basque experience. They will then lead us to the flavors of the region.

      IMG_5252 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheese-wine-jamon-olives-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    The rosey Jamón Serrano seems to call out for a Txakolina Rosé like the one above from Ameztoi. We like both their rosé and their crisp, thirst-quenching white. If you haven’t discovered Txakolina, summer is the time to introduce it to your personal wine list. 

    The cheese is from the French Basque side of the Pyreness, Ardi-Gasna Pardou. It’s a rich, aged sheep’s milk variety with an edible rind and proper, sheepy punch. 

    IMG_5256 - Version 22012-06-02-Basque -supper-cheese-wine-jamon-olives-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Some good bread and olives filled out our tray. The flavors share the terrior of the region. You might want to return to a different region of Spain, to Turkey, or to Paris. Gather the best of what Boston has to offer from your favorite place and make yourself a supper filled with memorable flavor. 

    What’s on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon Everything You Need for Summer Fun and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Enhanced by Zemanta
  • Filipa Pato’s 3B Sparkling Rosé is Our August Sparkler

    DSC_6393 - Version 22012-06-27-3b-sparkler-rose- OZ-wines-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We're saying "Happy New Month" to August with a bottle of 3B Sparkling Rosé created by winemaker Filipa Pato and imported and distributed by Andrew Bishop, owner of Oz Wine Company in Haverhill, MA. We begin each month by popping the cork on a sparkling wine and will be very happy to have you join our sparkling resolution!

    It's our first sparkler from Portugal, but it won't be the last. We intend to enjoy more vinho from this famous family of winemakers. (Thanks to Howie Rubin from Bauer Wine & Spirits for recommending another winner!)

    DSC_6379 - Version 22012-06-27-3b-sparkler-rose- OZ-wines-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Andrew told us a bit about this wine and how it fits into his collection of Oz wines. 

    "Filipa Pato comes from a very long line of winemakers in her family, and her father Luis Pato is probably the most famous sparkling producer in Portugal. So, she has grown up making sparkling wine with her father on a grand scale. But, what makes her "Oz" material is that she isn't making huge quantities, and she is using all natural yeasts and farming 100% organically from smaller vineyard plots."

    He went on to explain, "This is not necessary to make it into our portfolio, but we tend to taste the difference in smaller production wines that you simply cannot in more industrialized. The result is 100% baga sparkling that has personality."

    Like most rosés, this in NOT a sweet wine.

    "There is no residual sugar (or very little) in Filipa's sparkling Baga, so what you taste is fresh, clean, pure fruit with racy acidity," Andrew said. "This is what makes her wine compatible with everything from shellfish to pork."

    DSC_6397 - Version 32012-06-27-3b-sparkler-rose- OZ-wines-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Winemaker's Tasting Notes

    Filipa Pato describes this wine as, "Raspberries and strawberries on the nose, the palate has the freshness and body of the Baga grape and the creaminess of Bical." She says, "I believe that Baga and Bical in Bairrada are like the Chardonnay and the Pinot in Champagne. They need each other to make a balance…"

    What makes this Portuguese wine special?

    Andrew detailed what distinguishes these wines from this Portuguese winemaker. "It's pretty rare when you find someone like Filipa who does everything from watching her buds break to putting the labels on her finished bottles. I think this wine shows the "New Portugal," or at least, a new wine movement that is going more 'old school traditional (meaning less technology and more hands off methods)' in that she is using grapes that she tends to rather than purchasing, and the winemaking is letting the fruit from the vineyards come through more than masking."

    Here's a look at the Wines We’ve Been Tasting

    And, more about Our Sparkling Resolution   

    Thanks to everyone who begins their Amazon shopping from one of the links or products on our site. It doesn't cost you any more but Amazon puts some coins in our tip jar for everything you buy.


    Details:
    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino  


  • Filipa Pato’s 3B Sparkling Rosé is Our August Sparkler

    DSC_6393 - Version 22012-06-27-3b-sparkler-rose- OZ-wines-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We're saying "Happy New Month" to August with a bottle of 3B Sparkling Rosé created by winemaker Filipa Pato and imported and distributed by Andrew Bishop, owner of Oz Wine Company in Haverhill, MA. We begin each month by popping the cork on a sparkling wine and will be very happy to have you join our sparkling resolution!

    It's our first sparkler from Portugal, but it won't be the last. We intend to enjoy more vinho from this famous family of winemakers. (Thanks to Howie Rubin from Bauer Wine & Spirits for recommending another winner!)

    DSC_6379 - Version 22012-06-27-3b-sparkler-rose- OZ-wines-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Andrew told us a bit about this wine and how it fits into his collection of Oz wines. 

    "Filipa Pato comes from a very long line of winemakers in her family, and her father Luis Pato is probably the most famous sparkling producer in Portugal. So, she has grown up making sparkling wine with her father on a grand scale. But, what makes her "Oz" material is that she isn't making huge quantities, and she is using all natural yeasts and farming 100% organically from smaller vineyard plots."

    He went on to explain, "This is not necessary to make it into our portfolio, but we tend to taste the difference in smaller production wines that you simply cannot in more industrialized. The result is 100% baga sparkling that has personality."

    Like most rosés, this in NOT a sweet wine.

    "There is no residual sugar (or very little) in Filipa's sparkling Baga, so what you taste is fresh, clean, pure fruit with racy acidity," Andrew said. "This is what makes her wine compatible with everything from shellfish to pork."

    DSC_6397 - Version 32012-06-27-3b-sparkler-rose- OZ-wines-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Winemaker's Tasting Notes

    Filipa Pato describes this wine as, "Raspberries and strawberries on the nose, the palate has the freshness and body of the Baga grape and the creaminess of Bical." She says, "I believe that Baga and Bical in Bairrada are like the Chardonnay and the Pinot in Champagne. They need each other to make a balance…"

    What makes this Portuguese wine special?

    Andrew detailed what distinguishes these wines from this Portuguese winemaker. "It's pretty rare when you find someone like Filipa who does everything from watching her buds break to putting the labels on her finished bottles. I think this wine shows the "New Portugal," or at least, a new wine movement that is going more 'old school traditional (meaning less technology and more hands off methods)' in that she is using grapes that she tends to rather than purchasing, and the winemaking is letting the fruit from the vineyards come through more than masking."

    Here's a look at the Wines We’ve Been Tasting

    And, more about Our Sparkling Resolution   

    Thanks to everyone who begins their Amazon shopping from one of the links or products on our site. It doesn't cost you any more but Amazon puts some coins in our tip jar for everything you buy.


    Details:
    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino