After taping an episode of Wine Library TV at the Brown’s Stadium, a group of us went to Moxie (four doors down from the wine school) for lunch. The group included Gary V host of Winelibrarytv and Clevelander Jim Kukral. Jim is very internet/video savvy and he was nice enough to put together a little video on the Cleveland Wine School for us. Click here to check it out. This is the first of many videos we will post on this site. Kinda fun. If you are interested in seeing our episode at Brown’s Stadium, go to winelibrarytv.com and click on past episodes…we are #520.

This weekend, we will be at the Taste of Hudson sampling wine on Sunday and Monday. Come out and taste with us and be part of the video. Cheers.

Last night, more than 60 members of Cleveland Wine School’s Vine-ology Club attended a sneak preview of the new wine movie, Bottle Shock. The film is based on a true story from the 70’s in which wine writer/shop owner Steve Spurrier organizes a blind tasting of top French wines and not-so-famous California wines. The results placed California on the vinous map causing palates around the globe to take note. The film is playing at Cedar Lee theatre in Cleveland Hts. Before the preview, a few members of the group met at a newish Turkish restaurant down the street called Anatolia Cafe. As a side note, this place rocks! The food is great and the wine list offers something for everyone. It is definately worth the visit - which is more than I can say about the movie! While the film offers beautiful shots of Napa Valley - it lacks any sort of interesting dialogue. The plot is great, the actors are good, the setting is beautiful….but the dialogue and story prgression miss the boat completely. Too bad - I really wanted to like it. Not sure how the rest of the group felt about the film but I was very dissapointed. While Chateau Montelena was well represented, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was not part of the film. Not sure how that happened as they played and important role in the original Paris Judgement of 1976 - the historic tasting at the heart of Bottle Shock. If you see the film, let me know what you think at info@clevelandwineschool.com

For those of you who know and watch Wine Library TV - you might be interested in learning that the host of the show - Gary Vaynerchuk - was in Cleveland last week. I understand that he did a book signing at the Learned Owl and then a reception at Vue restaurant, both in Hudson. But the real reason Gary was in town is because our Tasting Consultant Carolyn Spengler won a tasting with Gary and friends during an on-line auction earlier this year. How cool is that? Further, the tasting took place at her home - very cool. For those of you not familar with Gary V. - he is a young guy who started a video blog about wine. Seems his parents owned a store in NJ and he decided to market it using modern communications. Bottomline, he has worked non-stop to become a household name and to attract young wine-wannabe types across the country. Part of his shtick is to “bring the thunder” (aka his video blog) to every football stadium in the USA. So, while he was in town - we met up at Brown’s stadium. I brought along a few Ohio wines including Ferrante’s Ice Wine which he loved and St. Joseph’s Pinot Noir which he did not. Also, we sampled a few “dog pound” wines worthy of tailgating parties this fall. You can check it out next week by visiting winelibrarytv.com. Cheers.