Last month, I chatted about pairing wine with chocolate and, as part of the Fabulous Food Show, teamed up Joel Fink of Fantasy Chocolate on the Wine Theatre stage. The tasting was a huge success. Earlier this month, Joel and I teamed up again, but this time on Ohio Authority’s At Cellar Door wine video. Click here to check out the video. Cheers.

http://www.ohioauthority.com/articles/food-and-drink/at-cellar-door-exploring-spanish-wines

A few months ago, I was approached by a former WSET student about a new on-line magazine he and a few of his past co-workers were creating after their employer, Northern Ohio Live, closed its doors. A testament to the adage - hard work pays off - the site is up, running and catching the eyes, ears and keyboards of thousands of viewers across the state of Ohio. Cheers to Ivan and the team at Ohio Authority! While the magazine does chat about food, wine, beer and the like - it also serves as a resource for finding out about various products, businesses, events and destination happenings across the state. Their goal is to be the EXPERT within the category of which they are speaking…that said, I am happy to tell you that OA has asked me to be their wine educator/expert and I could not be happier to do so. Click on the link above and check it out…our first of many videos focuses on wines from Spain. Cheers.

The term wine bar just took on a new meaning…seems there is a new iPhone application designed to help wine lovers keep track of their wine purchases. Cor.kz, a leading wine application company, together with RedLaser, bar code specialists, developed the technology that allows users to scan the bar codes on bottles of wine using their iPhone. Doing so records the name of the wine with out the fuss of typing in long wine names. Best yet. The application works with CellarTracker’s database so users can record their wine notes and reviews right in Cor.Kz application. Look for Cor.Kz worldwide via iTunes for $3.99. It is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch screens.

Sounds like a great way to keep track of all the labels we really want to remember - but simply can’t. If only they had an app for Blackberry…Cheers.

Earlier today I was chatting with Mike at the WAVE 107.3FM radio about wine on our weekly Wine on the Wave segmnt. During our chat, he (like everyone else) wanted to know which bottle makes the best match with traditional fall cuisine. For me, the Thanksgiving tables poses a bit of a challenge when it comes to food and wine pairing, here’s why.  Think about that sweet yam casserole along side sauteed Brussels sprouts spiced with pancetta and almonds followed by a buttery bite of mashed spuds with freshly made gravy. Now add to that, tart cranberry sauce and maple rubbed Turkey roasted with skin on…I can instantly think of 6 different wines, yet not one of them is a perfect match for all the food on the plate. What’s the solution? At my house, we plop down a bottle of red and a bottle of white, so everyone is happy. My top pick for white is a dry to off-dry Riesling such as Butterfly from Germany or Debonne from Ohio. The wine has enough acid to cleanse the palate between bites with freshing aromas and no oak to get in the way. For red, I always go for a blended wine such as a Cote du Rhone-Village from the Southern Rhone Valley region of France. The layering of fruit and spice just seems to go nicely with most of the flavors of fall. Regardless of your pick for the table - don’t forget to uncork a bottle of bubbles before dinner to offically kick off the start of the holiday season. Cheers.

This morning, I teamed up with Joel Fink of Fantasy Candies to create the ultimate chocolate & wine pairing to be featured on the Wine Theatre Stage at this year’s Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland. Joel specializes high cocoa chocolates with a fantastic 72% cocoa being his signature bar. For this tasting, Joel brought four bars each with a different percent of cocoa, 72%, 64%, 58% and a swiss milk chocolate at 23%. My job was to pair each up with the perfect (or near to perfect) wine. Tuff job.

In terms of pairing these wonderful bites up with wine, our first consideration is the amount of cocoa vs added sugar in each chocolate. The more sugar in the chocolate, the more sweetness we need to consider for the wine. #1 rule of thumb when pairing up desserts with wine; the wine should always be precieved as sweet or sweeter than the dessert. When it comes to chocolate, the higher the percent of cocoa, the less sugar in the chocolate.

72% cocoa chocolate: Starting with the driest chocolate, we sampled a few wines including Fonseca Ruby Port and Ridge Zinfandel. The Zinfandel proved to be too dry with not enough fruity character to pull it off. The Fonseca port, while tasty with the chocolate did not move either of us. Seemed to be a bit too sweet for the chocolate. Given the bitter bite of the 72%, we decided to use it as an example of what NOT to do when pairing wine and chocolate and teamed it up with Rati Dolcetto. The bitter tannin-bitter chocolate pairing offered a perfect example of a bad pairing. We are keeping it in the tasting.

64% cocoa chocolate: This chocolate had decidedly more sugar and was much less bitter that the first. Joel and I decided that we could up the anti a bit and bring in a sweeter styled wine. Hands down, the FroZin from Meeker won the prize. With 17.5% residual sugar and a lovely perfume of raspberry and red flowers, this wine and chocolate pairing was heaven.

58% cocoa chocolate: Interestingly so, this level of sweetness posed a problem for the wines we had on hand. Less cocoa means more sugar and the wines I pulled for the tasting did not seem to match the unique flavor profile nor sweetness level of the chocolate. While the Fonseca Port faired well, its dried tobacco aromas over powered the lovely creaminess this chocolate from Belgium offered. We then tried an Oloroso Cream Sherry, which failed the test as well. My thoughts are leaning towards a PX or Maderia. I try and few more wines and let you know.

32% cocoa Chocolate: The only mild chocolate on the table this sweet, melt-in-you-mouth chocolate left a lasting impression. The pairing was dead on, Optima 10 year Tawny Port. The result was a to-die-for hazelnut, chocolate, cream explosion on the palate. I think Joel and I both agreed, this combination is a match made in heaven. Cheers.

This past Friday and Saturday nights, we hosted an Oregon Pinot Party at Cleveland Wine School Cellar Door. The place was packed with Pinot sipping friends, each greeted at the Door with a glass of bubbles - Argyle Brut to be exact. I think most were amazed (and pleased) with the versatility of Pinot, namely its ability to morph into a new grape variety. One of the oldest vines on record, Pinot Noir is genetically unstable and likes to misbehave in the vineyard. On my recent trip to Oregon, I actually saw a lone rogue vine within the row. Very cool. When Pinot Noir mutates to the point of changing color, we give it a new name such as Pinot Blanc. A delicous white wine that is neutral in flavor offering gullet washing properties. This weekend we featured Elk Cove Pinot Blanc. Light in body with lemon, apple and slight peachy aromas the wine is a perfect starter wine and a good value at $20. Some tasters noticed the slight residual sugar on the wine, others did not. Regardless the wine is very easy to sip. The other fantasic white, and one of my favorite varieties, that Pinot Noir takes form as is Pinot Gris. Fuller in body than its Italian version (Pinot Grigio), well crafted Gris is packed with flavor making it a great wine to sip alone or with food. Since Pinot Gris tends to lose its acidity in the vineyard, warmer climate growers race to harvest in hopes of keep acid levels high. Not so for cooler climate growers where night time temps keep bunches cool resulting in longer hangtime and flavor concentration. Chehalem Pinot Gris rocked the tasitng room last night. Might be my new favorite wine.

Then came the real deal, Pinot Noir. We sampled examples from different sub AVAs of the Willamette Valley including Bethel Heights (Old World styled with lots of minerality), Rex Hill (fruit-forward and approachable), Willamette Valley Whole Cluster (carbonic aromas with bright cherry fruit), Penner-Ash (hefty with lots of dark fruit aromas), Domaine Drouhin Laurene (big and built to age). Each wine brought something different the glass decidedly illustrating the flexibility and transparency of Pinot Noir. And that my friends is why grape growers like to grow it, winemakers like to make it, Sommeliers like to suggest it, we like to drink it and Hollywood made a movie about it. Kind of makes you want to grab a glass….go on, its noon somewhere. Cheers.

Day 1: Began when 18 WSET students landed in McMinnville at Hotel Oregon. Located in the heart of the Willamette Valley, Hotel Oregon is an authentic styled tavern and inn (circa wild wild west) that feels more like a guest house than a hotel. After a quick sip of house-made brew, we headed out for our first winery visit at one of the area’s oldest wineries, Eyrie Vineyards. Founded by the late (and great) David Lett, the Eyrie tasting room and winery is situated right in the center of town making it an easy first stop for anyone staying in McMinnville. The tasting room had lots of historic photos, each adding to the rich Lett story which began  40 years ago.  Best yet, a platter containing three tight bunches of very ripe grapes - Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc - was on display for all to see, touch and taste. A pinoneer at heart, David Lett was dedicated to growing Pinot Noir (along with its various mutations) and was the first winemaker to grow Pinot Gris in the region. After a quick taste of the 2007 Pinot Blanc (light weight, crisp acidity with bright citus and appley fruit), we walked into the barrel room for an intimate lesson on Eyrie by winemaker Jason Lett.

The barrel room was designed to create the perfect environment for barrel maturation - temperature controlled, no windows and cement walls and floors. Once we settled in, it did not take long to notice the mold on the walls which Jason quickly told us is part of the natural environment helping to keep “bad” bugs away from the wine.

While he shared many stories and interesting winemaking techniques with us, my favorite take was a line Jason quoted from a friend. “When the grapes come into the winery, you start with 100 points and you can only lose points after that.” This sentence sums up the Lett philosophy.

Whether you are hosting a gathering in your backyard or attending a city-wide event such as our Taste of Hudson and Taste of Cleveland, long weekends such as Labor Day Weekend always centers around food and wine. While we may consider ourselves a progressive  society, simple pleasures never change. We all gotta eat and we all gotta drink; perhaps not wine, but you get the picture. When it comes to food - politics, race, gender and religion (to some extent) become secondary notions. Food & wine are the grand equalizers. In selecting the wines for this week’s events in Cleveland, I use special care to ensure that the wines will appeal to everyone and pair up nicely with most cuisines. Below you will find a two of my favorite equalizers:

Red Guitar Tempranillo: Crafted from old vines grown in Navarra Spain, this wine is great sipped alone or made into a batch of Sangria. Perfect for the last days of summer grilling.

Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc: A nod to the sunny days of summer, this Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand has plenty of bright citrus fruit and crisp acidity making it a perfect partner for just about any light bodied cuisine.

Earlier this week, I tasted with Robert Hall of Robert Hall Winery in Cellar Door. He was visiting the area and brought several different flavors including a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc and a flavorfull Rhone Valley inspired blend called Rhone de Robles. While his wines impressed, it was the man himself that got my attention. A true grape farmer, Robert has been working among the vines since day one and knows exactly what is going on with each of his vines. He speaks passionately about the terrior of the Paso Robles region and was the  moving force behind the region’s SIP (Sustainability in Practice) vineyard certification program. Under this program, SIP farmers commit to protecting both natural and human resources. Rules for certification cover energy & water efficiency, habitat conservation, pest management, soil, water and air quality as well as vineyard and fruit quality. Today, consumers have many options when it comes to selecting “eco-friendly” products.

Sustainability in Practice (SIP): Meet today’s needs without compromising the neds of future generations including environmental health, economic viability and soical equity.

National Organic Program: Optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.

Biodynamics: Create and maintain a unique, self-sustained farming ecosystem. Or as my grandmother puts it “planting by the stars.”

It is up to individual farmers to make the right growing decision for their vineyards. Each program has its benefits and economic impact for the farmer, environment and consumer. But when push comes to shove, we just want good wine made from good grapes grown in good soil shared with good friends. Cheers.

This week starts my weekly blurb (Wine on the Wave) about wine on Cleveland’s WNWV 107.3 FM jazz station The WAVE. While I have chatted wine on the radio many times before, I am very excited about this weekly session as it has the potential to provide a strong platform for wine education. Talking about wine or sharing thoughts about wine is an important part of wine appreciation and I cannot wait to nuture and grow Wine on the WAVE. Clevelanders can catch it on air each Thursday at 8:15am by tuning into 107.3FM. Out-of-towners can listen to past blurbs by visiting the media page of my site or by going to the Ask the Expert page of wnwv.com Cheers.