Owner: Random Ramblings of Food and Wine URL:http://vinotas.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:56:20 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A wine broker shares his experiences as a complete wine, food and travel geek. Site statistics:Click here
100th Post: My Wines Have Arrived!!!!! 2008-06-04 07:38:00 Yes, it's true, and what perfect timing too! What a great 100th post, or at least I think so. Then again, I am terribly biased, as you can imagine. After months of hard work and negotiations, the first of several orders has landed in the US. The wines should be available within a week or two from my customer, the Wine Library, based in Springfield, NJ. Just in time, I might add, for the July Read more:Wines
The New Kitchen 2008-05-21 08:59:00 The Old LayoutWell, at long last, after a few false starts, some meddling from the NYC Department of Buildings, about four weeks of actual work, and slightly more money than was allocated, the kitchen is done. DONE. And all I could say... was nothing. Speechless. I was absolutely speechless (something quite rare, I assure you).Let me share with you what I see now every morning, the culminatio Read more:Kitchen
I love New York (the hidden one) 2008-05-14 08:58:00 There are times when I forget how much I love New York. Despite the non-stop gentrification, the banks and drugstores on every corner and the loss of character in our once proud neighborhoods, there does remain a little bit of the Olde New York that I grew up with and grew to love. It hasn't completely become a Las Vegas version of itself (yet).Hidden within the maze of new antiseptic glass towe
Let the Countdown begin... 2008-05-06 09:52:00 There are some momentous things afoot, but they won't come to fruition until the end of the month. Not the least of which are the impending end to my kitchen renovation, my 100th Blog Post, which will be quite soon, and which I will try to make as special as possible, and something else, something huge, something so wonderful that... well, you'll see.Who'd have thought, in September 2006, when I Read more:begin
, Countdown
Monday Night Champagne 2008-04-29 06:50:00 What better way to start the week than with a delicious bottle of Champagne
and some Vietnamese food? Needing an escape from the stress of another Monday
, and with our kitchen still on hold due to the boobs over at the Department of Buildings, we ordered in from a local Viet restaurant and grabbed a bottle of the NV Chartogne-Taillet Brut Cuvee Sainte Anne. Another great QPR (that's Quality-to-P Read more:Night
Champagnapalooza 2008-04-22 07:41:00 Last week I was looking for any excuse to get away from the mess that is the apartment. Still waiting for the oh-so-efficient folks over at the Department of Buildings to figure out when the kitchen renovation audit will be lifted, I accepted an invitation to join a few fellow bubbleheads in opening up some older Champagnes at Sugiyama in Midtown.So we sat down in the private room and told Chef t
Goodbye Old Friend 2008-04-21 07:42:00 Wilfred smiles in anticipation of the bottles...Last week we sadly said goodbye to our dear friend, fellow wine-lover, bon vivant, and true gastronome, Wilfred Van Gorp. I have had the good fortune to be friends with Wilfred for several years now, often benefitting from his amazing generosity and grace. Our little wine group was enriched by his presence, and he will be sorely missed as he moves Read more:Goodbye
Halt! 2008-04-13 10:25:00 I know I haven't written much lately, but there's a good reason: the Department of Boobs, er, Buildings, has decided to randomly audit our renovation and thus has forced a temporary cessation of work. WTF????They want us to re-submit the application with our contractor's Home Improvement Contractor License as well as a sketch of the apartment showing where our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
Birth of a Kitchen 2008-04-09 07:46:00 Wow. That was my first reaction yesterday when I came home, walking into the kitchen in an exhausted daze and seeing the results. The floor coverings had been pulled up, the pulls installed, and I'm finally seeing what the end result will look like. The effect is amazing and hard to show in pictures, but my apartment just seems to have expanded three times in size and light.The Bosch 700 Series Read more:Kitchen
Holy Cow! 2008-04-04 06:34:00 After ten weekdays of hard work, the kitchen has been transformed from a narrow galley to an open plan with an airy feel. I can't believe this is happening, and happening so fast! I really should mention that every day there are 4-5 guys here working their butts off, however.But what got me was yesterday, when I got home after the crew had left: the peninsula's base had been set down, the fridge
Birth Pangs of a Kitchen 2008-04-03 08:05:00 Wednesday, the oven and some of the base cabinets were put in place, though not really installed. That panel in the picture above goes alongside the fridge, to make it look like it's a built-in. Things are advancing...I have to say, I didn't realize how much I'd miss cooking. And paying for coffee, even at the small independent roasters (you couldn't pay me to step foot in a Charbucks), is kill Read more:Kitchen
Birth of a Kitchen 2008-04-02 07:43:00 Another day and more signs of progress. The top cabinets are up and are looking GREAT!!!! The base cabinets and the frame of the peninsula are in the apartment, waiting to be installed. The new floor, made of light bamboo planks, is down but protected and hidden from view. My new faucet just got here, and it's a doozy, and the sink is soon to arrive.Some of the appliances are here, also waitin Read more:Kitchen
The Kitchen Renovation Continues... 2008-04-01 07:19:00 Or more signs of progress...Look at that! They've put down the floor! And what's this? My kitchen cabinets are on the kitchen floor, waiting to be installed. Yay!By Friday night, they'd set up the walls of the dry bar and installed the small wine fridge that sits at the bottom of the closet. This gave me some hope that things were moving in the right direction, and Monday was another day of h Read more:Kitchen
, Renovation
Saturday Night Champagnes 2008-03-31 07:18:00 Well, after 10 days of destruction/reconstruction in my apartment, I needed some wine. I had opened a few non-descript bottles at various restaurants since I can't cook at home, but Saturday
I was at a dinner party with a private chef who also turned out to be a wine geek.And he loved old Champagne... Yay!-1990 La Grande Dame (from magnum) Oooh, wow, this smells so young! A bare hint of oxydati Read more:Night
, Saturday Night
Day Five (1st Signs of Progress?) 2008-03-28 08:10:00 The entranceDay Five ended with a shocker: visible signs of progress throughout the kitchen. Granted, going from the utter destruction and devastation that had been present to something slightly better wasn't difficult.Filled in electrical trenchesHow awesome, rough corners had been plastered over, and holes in walls had been filled in. Electrical boxes were in place and wires were capped, await
Day Four 2008-03-27 08:18:00 Trenches for electricityDay Four
of the Great Kitchen Renovation of 2008. Despite the crew's best efforts, a thin veil of dust covers everything in the living room and bathroom, though our bedroom is thankfully unaffected (seemingly). Dust quickly clings to every inch of exposed skin the moment one ventures from the haven of the bedroom, and seems to slip stealthily into the mouth and eyes. The
Day Three (the Dust Storm) 2008-03-26 08:05:00 Day Three
and now things got messy. The crew showed up around 10:15am (a bit late, grrrr...) but nonetheless they quickly erected big plastic sheets, opened the windows and installed fans to suck out all the mess they were making. Today, they'd be digging channels in the concrete for electrical wires as well as enlarging the entrance to the kitchen. There had been a doorway and French doors the Read more:Storm
Day Two (or dude, where's my kitchen?!) 2008-03-20 18:32:00 The Work in Progress, 9amDay Two of the Great Kitchen Renovation of 2008 dawned cold and windy. Thirsty for my espresso, I stumbled blindly into the kitchen, or where the kitchen had been. Damn, forgot, I'm in the midst of a reconstruction. Luckily, my beloved Francis Francis X5 espresso machine was plugged in, but in the living room.After a few shots, the General Contractor and his crew return
And so it begins (again)... Day One 2008-03-19 21:01:00 The Old Kitchen, 2pmWell, after four months of delays and and false starts and waiting for permits, we finally got the go-ahead to start the Great Kitchen Renovation of 2008. It had begun four months earlier, when the first new appliance was installed, a Bosch Evolution 700 Series Range (which I have come to love). I was so happy that if I'd had some Champagne in the fridge, I'd have popped it ( Read more:Day One
Saturday Night Bubblies & Burgs 2008-03-17 06:29:00 It's always a treat when friends from out of town visit. What better excuse to open some Champagne and Burgundy? Granted, I've been known to open both at the drop of a hat, so it's not like I really needed much of an excuse... So we welcomed our travelling companion and a few other friends with open arms and open bottles on Saturday
night.We began the festivities with some NV Champagne Chartogn Read more:Night
, Saturday Night
40 New Communes Added to Champagne! 2008-03-13 18:26:00 Well, it's official, 40 new communes have been added to the Champagne
AOC (Appelation d'Origine Controllee), the largest single change in the history of the AOC system. What does this mean?Well, for one thing, Champagne production will increase. Is that bad for quality? Maybe, it will depend on the various growers and producers, and how they tend their vines and make their wines.Does that mean
Cassoulet! 2008-03-11 08:11:00 The Table is SetAfter a long week of work, I decided I needed an escape: time for that classic French dead-of-winter dish, Cassoulet. Basically a pork, duck and bean stew that is made over three days, it has fortified and fattened generations of Frenchmen, to the horror of their doctors and nutritionists. Luckily, with all the red wine they drink (or at least used to drink), their arteries are
MarketWatch: Beaune 2008-03-07 08:16:00 The Historic Hospice de BeauneThis past week was extremely busy, I had a ton of work and didn't taste enough wines. In fact, I barely had any wine at all (shocking, I know). But I promise I am not slipping into any sort of abstinence. To let off steam, I went to the Greenmarket in NYC to grab some supplies for a cassoulet I am making this weekend. While the market's a great resource, it pales
Meals with Friends in Paris 2008-03-02 10:37:00 My first week in Paris
, I joined fellow blogger and good friend Sharon at her place for a fantastic lunch. A British expat, Neil, also joined us, as did my wife, who had just landed and courageously ignored the jet-lag trying to drag her down. After picking her up from the Air France shuttle, we dropped her bags at our apartment and walked through the Jardins du Luxembourg to Sharon's place.Henr Read more:Friends
, Meals
Three Days in the Rhone Valley 2008-02-27 13:37:00 The Uzes CathedralAfter the madness that was ViniSud, I had the distinct pleasure of staying with some friends, Abra and her husband Shel, in the Rhone Valley
. A lovely retired couple, they decided to spend a year in the south of France, visiting towns and villages and writing about their experiences in a wonderful blog that can be found here, Amazingly generous, they drove me around, visiting Read more:Three
, Three Days
Champagne Bargains 2008-06-10 08:58:00 To celebrate the arrival of my wines and the ending of the kitchen renovation in style, I ordered a mixed case of Champagne
s under $30 to taste. Plus, with the economy in the doldrums, discovering Champagnes that won't break the bank should be everyone's goal. I mean, come on, finding good Champagne QPR is never done, is it? It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it...-Champagne Moutard Brut
Cool Wines for a Hot Night 2008-06-11 10:09:00 With the heat in NYC these past few days, it's been tough trying to think of things to cook. Who wants to make anything over a flame when it's 98F outside? So a fellow New Yorker and I decided to make some cool dishes to fight the heat. He dropped by last night despite the oppressive warmth, his hands full of grocery bags. Over the course of the next 2 hours, he proceeded to make a delicious fresh Read more:Night
, Wines
Breaking News: Brunello Imports Blocked, My Wines Available! 2008-06-17 16:02:00 This has been a busy week already, and it's only Tuesday! But I wanted to share some incredible news, maybe not relevant to me per se as I rep only French wines, but very important to those who love Italian wines: in the wake of a wine-faking scandal in Italy that saw Brunello di Montalcino-labelled bottles being filled with everything from cheap Italian to cheaper Algerian to cheapest who-knows- Read more:Blocked
, Breaking
, Wines
They Like Me! 2008-07-02 10:33:00 Rodolphe in his vineyardWell, not me, but one of my wineries, Domaine de Montfaucon. A fellow wine-lover was in the Rhône and asked me if he could visit my wineries. Thrilled, I immediately made a few phone calls and off he went to visit Rodolphe at Montfaucon. Little did I know he'd write up a lovely report about his visit, which kind of validates my choice. I mean, I always knew Rodolphe wa
A New Addition to the Portfolio 2008-06-30 14:07:00 I've been searching for a while for a high-quality, low-cost Muscadet that I could put my name on. Finding a good wine, from any region, that I can represent is tougher than you think. There's a lot of searching, negotiating, slurping and spitting before finding one that meets my stringent criteria (price is of course a big factor, but I also want it to be well-made). And when I do find one, th Read more:Addition
, Portfolio
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