Category: Wine

Maine: Wine Distributors and Taste of the Nation Benefit

| Posted in Wine, Events

The June issue of Maine magazine (not yet available online) includes a Joe Ricchio article on Maine’s small independent wine distributors,

With small distributors, someone is doing the dirty work for you. They are your advocates and personal tasters. They are willing to take chances on wineries that might not have the best packaging, but deliver a product they truly believe in. And since they’re are fewer people involved in the buying decisions, the portfolios have more character and focus.

and an article about Taste of the Nation, an annual benefit that raises money to address hunger in Maine,

Rob Evans agrees. “The issue hits everyone,” says the renowned chef. “We can all empathize . . . people are going hungry, and we’re surrounded by so much.” Once Evans got involved, he saw how much more could be done. As a board member of Share Our Strength in Maine, he teaches cooking classes for another one of the non-profit’s programs—Cooking Matters—and he is in the process of developing a restaurant dining series that will raise even more funding to support the cause.

This year’s Taste of the Nation dinner is taking place June 26 on the SMCC campus. Tickets are available online.

Restaurant Staff Weight Loss, Girl Gone Raw, Wine with Tofu

| Posted in Wine, People, General News

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes an interview with raw vegan chef Elizabeth Fraser,

The ease with which she made the almond milk coupled with its flavor was like a health food revelation to me. But to Fraser, it was just another day in the life of the Girl Gone Raw.

That’s the name of her raw vegan chef business, which offers classes, private parties and food coaching from her Munjoy Hill studio to groups and individuals.

an article about a staff weight loss program being run by the owner of David’s,

David Turin, the owner of David’s, noticed his staffers’ girth increasing from year to year, and decided to do something about it. He started a 90-day weight-loss competition at the restaurant and will be rewarding the “biggest losers” on his staff with lots of cash.

and advice on pairing wine with tofu.

She literally laughed. “I have no idea. You can’t drink wine with tofu.” With that, she was off to pay, and I started to say, Yes-Wait-Yes, but she laughed again and was gone.

This was what’s known as a teachable moment, and although I missed the opportunity then, I’ll try to re-seize it now. First of all, you can and should drink wine with tofu! There’s wine for everything.

Vegan Thanksgiving, Box Wine and Brett DeBlieck

| Posted in People, Wine, General News

The Food & Dining section of today’s Press Herald includes advice on cooking a vegan Thanksgiving dinner.

In recent years, supermarkets have been flooded with processed vegan foods. And while faux meat products such as Tofurky and Celebration Roast can work in a pinch, you’ll satisfy more people at your table when you go the scratch-cooking route.

Also in today’s paper is a declaration by the Appel on Wine column that you can get good wine from a box and a Q+A with sous chef Brett DeBlieck.

Oysters, 2 Buck Chuck, Robert Pieper

| Posted in Wine, Cooking, People

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes Joe Appel’s take on the Trader Joe’s 2 Buck Chuck wines,

Yet. Yet there are hidden costs. The biggest one is a general dumbing down of the wine market. I know everyone’s shopping Trader Joe’s exclusively right now, but next time you feel the need for an edible vegetable, head over to any other Portland-area supermarket and note the changes in the wine departments. See?

Everyone’s racing to the bottom, all desperate to offer an alternative to $3 Chuck. The interesting bottles lose their shelf space, taken over by more and more case stacks of faceless, automaton wine engineered to move.

a feature article on Maine oysters,

Once, oysters were as much a part of holiday celebrations as cranberries and champagne.

There’s never been a better time to revive this tradition. There are dozens of Maine oyster growers who can supply the freshest shellfish for your holiday table.

and interview with sous chef Robert Pieper from Nosh.

Portland WSET Wine & Spirit Certificate Course

| Posted in Events, Wine

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust, will be offering their Intermediate Level 2 certificate class in Portland this October. The class is being taught by Adam Chase and Elizabeth George from Grape Experience. The program is aimed at anyone “who works in wine, wants a career in the wine industry or has a serious interest in the subject”. See the WSET website for a more detailed explanation of what the course covers.
The class ($700 per person including wines and course materials) is taking place over 2 days October 23-24 with the final exam scheduled for October 30. The organizers are holding an informational session this Thursday (11 – 1 at Havana South) for anyone interested in learning more about WSET and the class itself.