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Wine, Dine and Travel Club |
Newsletter |
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Datevine: February 1, 2007 We're steaming full speed ahead here at Club Headquarters making some stunning progress...... Update Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse is one of the many restaurants who will welcome our members. Davio's, as you probably know, is one of Philly's top restaurants with a remarkable wine list. Located on 17th Street in the Rittenhouse Row shopping district, Davio's has earned a Wine Spectator "Award of Excellence" for it's wine list 5 years running. Out of state We are adding restaurants to our list outside of our tri state area. In a short while we will release our complete list of those in our region along with restaurants in various cities including Boston; Venice, FL; Los Angeles; New York; Las Vegas and London, England. These will all accept our Member Card. |
As we mentioned in our earlier newsletter, we're putting the finishing touches to our initial events. The delay is simply due to coordinating our new relationship with the Book and the Cook©. An announcement hasn't yet been released to the media about this exclusive collaboration which will produce, wine, cheese, whisky and cooking events in Center City. It's very close to completion. News Chocolate and Wine: A match made in heaven (or by you) An online survey by the Wine Market Council found that 59 percent of men and women preferred wine as a Valentine's gift, while 41 percent chose chocolates. Why should you have to choose? But before you grab the first box of chocolates and bottle of red wine you can find, perhaps you should know there are some useful guidelines for pairing the many available wines with the many varieties of |
chocolates. Similar to wine, chocolate comes in many styles, flavors and strengths. These characteristics should be your guide to pairing wine with chocolate, as you would with food. Different chocolates, for instance, contain varying levels of sugar, an important factor to consider when selecting a wine to sip alongside. (Hint: The sweeter the chocolate, the sweeter the wine should be.) There is a list-for example, a 2004 Easton Amador Zinfandel goes well with dark chocolate truffles-on the "For Consumers" section of the PLCB web site: http://www.lcb.state.pa.us under "Entertaining." * Medical experts have been reporting for some time that wine in moderation is good for our health, and recently the New York Times lauded the merits of the latest fashion: wine and yoga. South Coast Winery Resort & Spa in Temecula, California (www.wineresort.com) is embracing this concept with Women's Wine and Wellness weekend. The event, scheduled for March 9-11, has been designed |
exclusively for women by women; and according to South Coast Winery's Spa Director Wendy Rahier: "We've added an extra component to the wine and yoga concept that will include meditation; this, coupled with specially selected spa treatments available on site, will further enhance participants' balance and harmony." According to Rahier, the event's speakers are both acclaimed authors and specialists in their fields. They will be on site for the entire weekend to teach, nurture and coach participants, combining great wine, good food, meditation and yoga. The all-inclusive Wine and Wellness weekend includes two nights' accommodations in a luxury vineyard villa, all meals, two signature spa treatments at the Grape Seed Spa, all sessions with internationally renowned author and vibrational meditation specialist Caroline Reynolds and Chopra-style yoga instructor and acclaimed food and wine enthusiast Lynn Alley. South Coast Winery Resort & Spa is a 38-acre destination property located in the heart of Temecula's Wine Country. (1 866 994 6379) * |
Wines from Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina will be showcased in the UK's first southern US tasting. Nectar from the wineries taking part hasn't been in any glass I've tasted but I'm sure this will change quite soon. Wineries include Childress Vineyards, Shelton Vineyards and Duplin Winery of North Carolina. Texas is the fifth largest wine producing state in this country as vines have replaced cotton and grain crops. Sounds like a nifty event. * Another story from the UK is quite exciting. Worthington White Shield brewery launched a national search for Britain's oldest bottle of beer after brewery workers discovered bottled beers dating back over 130 years in their vaults. Many of the beers were in fine condition with corks and wax seals in place and they included commemorative ales brewed to celebrate royal marriages, visits and births. The oldest was an 1869 Harry Ratcliff's ale, brewed to mark the birth of a son into the Ratcliff family, which eventually became part of the Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton Brewing |
empire of the late 19th century (www.worthingtonwhiteshield.com). From Silverstone's pen People are funny old animals when you think about it. They can be so predictable at times. Especially when things stop being the way they were and start being the way they are. Take, for example, the days when I managed a "unisex" store (for readers under the age of 45, this referred to a mixed gender clothing store rather than a gender bending emporium). We were located in Carnaby Street and the swingers (people who were "hip" and "trendy" rather than enjoying an alternative lifestyle) would pop in virtually every weekend to see what bizarre, yet "smashingly with-it" (cool) creations were on the racks. Very often we'd change the layout of the store, and shirts would be moved to the trousers end and ties to the undies section. Being British, the customers would never ask what happened to the neckties, they'd simply come in looking for one but purchase a pair of underwear instead. This was quite disconcerting given the fact |
that we'd also frequently switch the men's and women's departments. And little has changed with the human being as the decades have tumbled by. I've been selecting wines for British Airways' Business Class and First Class lounges at Philadelphia airport for the past couple of years. And I've been quite clever with my selections, always sticking to the type of wines I know most people enjoy. Nothing too quirky. As a fairly seasoned traveler myself, one gets into the rhythm of the lounges and there's a certain routine that consumes the wayfarer of the skies. So I received a concerned call from my mate at the airport who procures the nectar I select. He informed me that one of my selections was a dismal failure. Nobody wanted to even touch the bottle, it was so dire. After a long chat on the phone and my pride being considerably pricked, we both determined the problem. Which brings me back to the Carnaby Street punters (customers). There's a certain routine to wine drinking in the lounges You remove the cork or have a new bottle's cork removed, pour generously and return to your comfy seat. However, I had introduced |
a somewhat foreign procedure to the routine which quite obviously created havoc with the passengers. The wine in question had a screw cap!! This was immediately considered lesser quality or even worse, required the passenger to open a fresh bottle unassisted. Rather than ask about the wine, or read my printed comments on the bar, they either selected a beer or chose whatever bottle regardless of color or type, was already open. Which leads me to the whole point of this column. Firstly, please do not consider Stelvin Closures (screw caps) as second rate wines. Most of the world's best wines are now being produced with screw caps. Secondly, when in doubt about wine, always ask questions, and thirdly, men should never wear ladies underwear around their neck, unless, of course they're British. Look for an update in a couple of weeks and thanks for being patient with us.........watch this space...... Cheers!
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Click left to download a pdf brochure about the club and application form for membership and gift membership |
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