The Culinary Timeline is a side-project that I've been working on since October. I'm hoping to have most of it complete by the end of January, with any luck. Until then, updates around here will be weekly, rather than twice weekly. Do stay tuned.
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The dining area outside Ehlers Estate.
Slow Food Napa Valley hosted a pig roast and potluck on Sunday, September 11th, in conjunction with Ehlers Estate in St. Helena. The following photos highlight the event, which provided a forum for SFNV members to discuss the future of SFNV, and how they can help to increase interest and awareness of the Slow Food movement. Naturally, the brunch was amazing. Please click on any photo for a full-screen view.
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Pig cracklins, up close.
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CIA instructor Patrick Clark carves the [... read more ...]
“Coffee’s for closers only.” Anyone who has seen 1992′s “Glengarry Glen Ross” might recall this line from the film’s first act, when Alec Baldwin delivers one of my all-time favorite movie monologues. The scene marks Baldwin’s only appearance in the film — a scant seven minutes — but his abusive tirade establishes the movie’s tone, and it sets up the second act perfectly. In “Glengarry,” Baldwin plays the character of Blake, an über-alpha real estate salesman, and a role that was written specifically for Baldwin by playwright David Mamet (as great as it is, Baldwin’s “Glengarry” monologue was not [... read more ...]
The Bourn and Wise Cellar. Later to become Christian Brothers Winery (1950), and eventually, CIA Greystone (1995).
Originally published as a large pamphlet in 1889, “Wines & Vines of California” offers a decent trip back in time for the California wine geek (although I do stress the word “geek”). I will admit, I found certain parts of the text interesting, but it’s definitely not the type of book that’s geared toward cover-to-cover reading: For one thing, large sections of the text are dedicated to exhaustive lists of grape growers, scores upon scores of names that have [... read more ...]
As an American and an avid wine enthusiast, the Prohibition Era will always fascinate me: I find it incredible, for one thing, that the Temperance movement could gather enough momentum to actually change the U.S. Constitution. Beyond that, I’m also amazed that Prohibition lasted nearly 14 years, and furthermore, I’m amazed that the Noble Experiment occurred within the last century. As someone who was born in the 1970s, it’s odd to consider that I only missed the Prohibition Era by about 50 years, or slightly less than two generations. As I’ve grown older, Prohibition somehow seems much less “distant” [... read more ...]
Having read and reviewed dozens of wine books since launching this blog back in 2008, I’ve become pretty up-to-date with most of the material available. As I’ve found, wine can be an endlessly scientific subject, yet at the same time, it can also become endlessly philosophical. With wine, there’s much to discuss, and as the world of wine continues to expand, the literature dedicated to this subject is bound to increase accordingly. For the true wine nerd, I’ve been mulling over my list of the “top 10″ most indispensable wine books, which I will divulge near the [... read more ...]
Studying for the Certified Wine Educator (CWE) exam has required me to dust off a few of my old favorites, though unfortunately, I’m talking more about books than bottles these days. Certainly, the one book that really helps to jog my memory about Italian wine is 2005′s “Vino Italiano,” which was authored by Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch. Folks who are Food Network junkies may have already seen Bastianich on his mother’s cooking series, “Lydia’s Italian Kitchen” (Bastianich usually appears at the very end of the program, just in time to taste the food and recommend a wine — [... read more ...]
I once had an English professor at UCLA who claimed that the purpose of being an English major was to learn how to write essays about books that you’ve never read. This comment was as cynical as it was correct: I winged way too many midterms on a plot summary and a prayer. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. Frankly, I was far more interested in devoting my time to the student newspaper, writing stories for a sports section that always garnered top national awards (I was surrounded by super-talented folks, and will only take a minimal share [... read more ...]
Much better than my wishy-washy review, but still…
From time to time, I’ve mentioned a few of the “secret handshakes” that can easily distinguish the wine aficionado from the casual drinker. The term “phylloxera” definitely belongs in this category, since few people would ever encounter this word without reading about the history of wine. On the other hand, phylloxera has had such a profound impact on the modern wine industry that it has also become one of the first terms that people learn when they decide to look beyond the bottle and into a book. In author Christy [... read more ...]
I realize that Memorial Day is all about remembering those who served our country, but since I also had the day to go wine tasting, I decided it would be somewhat appropriate to visit a few of the pioneering wineries here in the Napa Valley, in order to sample the current releases from such stalwarts as Grgich Hills, Heitz Cellars and Duckhorn Wine Company (I had Chateau Montelena on my itinerary as well, but they were closed for the holiday).
Since I have lived here in the Napa Valley, I have visited each of these three wineries countless times [... read more ...]
For a wine geek like me, old and out-dated wine books can sometimes be fascinating time capsules. I was rummaging through a used bookstore in Berkeley the other day, when I uncovered an old copy of “The California Wine Book” by Bob Thompson and Hugh Johnson. Published in 1976, this book has now become irrelevant for the most part, especially in terms of its original purpose, which was to provide a contemporary assessment of California wine. Considering how much the California wine industry has evolved over the last 30 years, the introduction to the book is almost mind-bogglingly quaint, [... read more ...]
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