Thursday’s night’s wine tasting benefit for the Merrimack Valley Food Bank proved to be a grape success. Several hundred people came out to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium and tasted wines from California, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand and New Hampshire – that’s right, New Hampshire. Food stations surrounded the outer edges of the Auditorium […]
Month: April 2012
Mastering the basics of wine with Dennis Meadows
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJQ-ZLjJT3Q] Dennis Meadows is the assistant wine purchaser at Ricardo’s Trattoria in Lowell. He’s also been managing the spacious bar for eight years. I met with Dennis on Tuesday to learn the techniques of properly opening a wine bottle, how to pour a glass of wine, and the best way to store an opened […]
'Troublemaker' crashes wine-tasting extravaganza
Troublemaker made a lot of noise with its red-blended taste and elegance. On a gorgeous Saturday evening, my wife Mary Lee and I hosted four other couples in a wine and food pairing extravaganza. Three reds and three whites were served with different foods throughout the evening. The reds were: • 2009 Giacomo Fenocchio Langhe […]
More Summer Wine Patio Pleasers
Monday (April 16) was Patriots Day in Massachusetts and the Wine Novice celebrated by sampling four “anytime wines” at Stadium Plaza Wine & Spirits store on Route 38 on the Lowell-Tewksbury line. Steve Maciejewski is the owner and has been operating the store next to Market Basket for 26 years, quite a strong run for […]
What an Easter feast
What wines did you pair up with your Easter food feast? Sunday in Providence, at Mama Campanini’s, is a day when the senses, after 40 days and 40 nights of Lent, are revived in great celebration. The food aromas are rich and dramatic. We drank a small taste of pink Banfi Rose` on arrival. It […]
Summer wines are on the way!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_nqfXF2j28] Spending several hours with Dickie Rourke is like an adventure to Vintner’s Valley. The “Wine Wizard” (as I affectionately call Mr. Rourke) is now stocking his shelves with light- and medium-bodied summer wines. It’s a turnover I look forward too, sipping cool white wine on the patio or down in the backyard pergola […]
Winemaker takes a calculated Zocker (Gamble)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YX7wYLiB8] I’ve never met a real live global winemaking star but if they are all like Christian Roguenant, the world would be a far better place. Hailed as a “winemaking genius” by reputable wine publications, the fact that Roguenant was willing to share his secrets with a Wine Novice like me, and make me […]
