Tag: Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli

  • On March 1, 2023 We’ll Raise a Glass of Raventos i Blanc de Nit Cava

    This month we'll raise a glass of Raventos i Blanc de Nit cava. This sparkler certainly qualifies for inclusion in our year of choosing wines associated with great memories and great people. We have a scrapbook of photos of this wine in some of our favorite places. Moreover, we are grateful to four wine mentors for sharing their knowledge of this cava and its history with us.

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    This is one of many wines we discovered thanks to recommendations from Thomas Fielding and Scott O’Connor, one time owners of Perry's Wine and Spirits in Provincetown. These former restaurateurs chose the selection at their shop like a well-curated wine list. 

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    Perry's was always a stop on our initial shopping trip when we arrived for a week or two. We also loved their clever "OPEN" and "NOPE" signs. The last we heard, these gentlemen were headed for retirement in Mexico.

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    Thanks to them, we enjoyed many bottles of this great value wine as we made memories in one of our very special places. We'll think of those times with every sip this month.

    Back in Boston

    Penny ordered Raventos so often at Select Oyster Bar that the staff would often just ask, "The usual?" Select owner, and another wine mentor, Michael Serpa, told us more about the winery and its history. 

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    On the other side of town, we learned even more from Alcove Boston owner and long-time wine educator Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli. He likes this wine so much that he offers it in half bottles, 750s, and magnums. We've followed Tom around since his early years as a bartender at Craigie on Main. 

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    Raventos says, "Five centuries of winegrowing, tradition and family."

    Raventós i Blanc is a winery with one of the longest documented winegrowing traditions in the world. The family farm where our wines are now produced has belonged to the Raventós family since 1497. Five centuries working 90 hectares of vines and forest, a dynasty closely associated with the land from one generation to the next. Today, Pepe Raventós, who represents the twenty-first generation of the family, farms 44 plots using biodynamic winegrowing methods and is committed to maintaining the estate of vines, wood and lake as a complete entity. Raventós i Blanc is faithful to tradition and upholds the relationship between man and nature at the very core of its production philosophy."

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    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes and produced by different methods, adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

    We purchase our bottle at Gordon's Wine and Spirits for $24.99.

    Related Posts:

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: © 2014-2023 Penny Cherubino 

  • Our New Year’s Toast Takes Us to England for Hattingley Valley Rose 2014

    As the final toast in 2020 – our year of terroir, and the beginning of 2021, our year of wines that represent friendship – we'll raise a glass of Hattingley Valley Rose 2014 from Hampshire England. 

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    Our dog, Duchess Poppy, let us borrow her tiara for our photos of this wine. From what we've read and heard, this vineyard is doing its best to make the British proud of English wine. The winery has won numerous awards and has said of this bottle, “Our 2014 Rosé was also awarded the World Champion Rosé trophy at The Italian Wine Journal Challenge Euposia XI edition 2018-2019.”

    We have two reasons for selecting this wine to close our 2020 adventure and enter 2021.

    First, it was recommended by one of our trusted wine mentors, Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, owner of Alcove Boston. He told us about it on one of our last visits to his restaurant and we had planned to share a bottle with friends on our next visit. 

    Alas, Alcove is one of the favorite places we have sorely missed in this year of isolation. We hope those of you who are out and about will support Tom and his great team in whatever way you are able given your own pandemic limitations. Check out the little market they have added to their resources.

    Tom also represents all the friends we have made in the hospitality industry over the years. Our hearts are aching for what this situation is doing to all of them.

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    The second reason is that Penny had spent much of her relaxation time during this year in virtual visits to Britain. It all began with the discovery of the series Great Canal Journeys with Timothy West and Prunella Scales. From there she began following a number of YouTube narrowboat vloggers. She was already addicted to British history, food, and gardening shows. When she sits and watches something, it usually has a British accent.

    Back to the Wine! 

    Here's what we've learned from the folks at Hattingley about their 2014 Rose:

    "BLEND | 60% Pinot Noir, 38% Pinot Meunier & 2% Pinot Precoce

    VINEYARDS | Sourced from vineyards across the South of England, mainly chalk with clay topsoil.

    WINEMAKING | Approximately 8% of the blend is fermented in 4-5 year old Burgundy barrels. Before tirage, the base wine is blended with 5% red wine made from the Pinot Precoce to give a delicate soft pink colour and some vibrant red fruit flavours. The wine spent 2 years ageing on lees in the bottle before being disgorged.

    PRESS | 92 WA | “This is a very impressive sparkling Rosé. It has a succinct bouquet of freshly picked strawberry, red cherry and a touch of green apple, all precise and quite mineral-driven. The palate is fresh on the entry with a slight waxiness to the texture. It has more complexity than its peers and it fans out gloriously with hints of praline and strawberry towards the vivacious finish. This is one to serve to the next person that refutes the idea of great English sparkling wine.”

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    Our bottle was delivered by Urban Grape and cost $64.00.

    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month! Related Posts:

    Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

    A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

    Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Our New Year’s Toast Takes Us to England for Hattingley Valley Rose 2014

    As the final toast in 2020 – our year of terroir, and the beginning of 2021, our year of wines that represent friendship – we'll raise a glass of Hattingley Valley Rose 2014 from Hampshire England. 

    IMG_5788

    Our dog, Duchess Poppy, let us borrow her tiara for our photos of this wine. From what we've read and heard, this vineyard is doing its best to make the British proud of English wine. The winery has won numerous awards and has said of this bottle, “Our 2014 Rosé was also awarded the World Champion Rosé trophy at The Italian Wine Journal Challenge Euposia XI edition 2018-2019.”

    We have two reasons for selecting this wine to close our 2020 adventure and enter 2021.

    First, it was recommended by one of our trusted wine mentors, Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, owner of Alcove Boston. He told us about it on one of our last visits to his restaurant and we had planned to share a bottle with friends on our next visit. 

    Alas, Alcove is one of the favorite places we have sorely missed in this year of isolation. We hope those of you who are out and about will support Tom and his great team in whatever way you are able given your own pandemic limitations. Check out the little market they have added to their resources.

    Tom also represents all the friends we have made in the hospitality industry over the years. Our hearts are aching for what this situation is doing to all of them.

    51R8kzeuN2L

    The second reason is that Penny had spent much of her relaxation time during this year in virtual visits to Britain. It all began with the discovery of the series Great Canal Journeys with Timothy West and Prunella Scales. From there she began following a number of YouTube narrowboat vloggers. She was already addicted to British history, food, and gardening shows. When she sits and watches something, it usually has a British accent.

    Back to the Wine! 

    Here's what we've learned from the folks at Hattingley about their 2014 Rose:

    "BLEND | 60% Pinot Noir, 38% Pinot Meunier & 2% Pinot Precoce

    VINEYARDS | Sourced from vineyards across the South of England, mainly chalk with clay topsoil.

    WINEMAKING | Approximately 8% of the blend is fermented in 4-5 year old Burgundy barrels. Before tirage, the base wine is blended with 5% red wine made from the Pinot Precoce to give a delicate soft pink colour and some vibrant red fruit flavours. The wine spent 2 years ageing on lees in the bottle before being disgorged.

    PRESS | 92 WA | “This is a very impressive sparkling Rosé. It has a succinct bouquet of freshly picked strawberry, red cherry and a touch of green apple, all precise and quite mineral-driven. The palate is fresh on the entry with a slight waxiness to the texture. It has more complexity than its peers and it fans out gloriously with hints of praline and strawberry towards the vivacious finish. This is one to serve to the next person that refutes the idea of great English sparkling wine.”

    IMG_5785   IMG_5784

    Our bottle was delivered by Urban Grape and cost $64.00.

    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month! Related Posts:

    Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

    A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

    Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino