Relationships, Aussies in the House, Classes, and a Cute Story

Several people have noticed that although there are many, many restaurants, wine-based stores, shops, etc., in Las Vegas, there are only a few that are showcased here. “Why is that?” they wonder. Well, it’s pretty simple.

All of the local places here aren’t just businesses – they’re relationships. In each and every one there are real people who greet you, offer assistance, deal with you honestly, and are always appreciative for the business you bring, even if it’s just a little.

The restaurants we love offer great food and wine choices with fair prices. I have yet to have a negative experience at any of the restaurants that I’ve linked to, and I doubt if it will ever happen because of their love and passion for the business.

Our retailer friends are the same. Not only do they have great selections and fair prices, but also the owners/proprietors are very knowledgeable about what they have to offer. I have tried more wines on the recommendations I’ve received at the shops than I probably would have ever tried on my own. They often recommend wines that have been off the Wine Spectator/Wine Enthusiast radar. The bad thing about that is the effect on my budget. Oh well.

My love for Paso Robles is well known by the regulars on this Blog, of course. The wonderful winemakers with the laid-back, friendly attitudes who are so generous with their knowledge and their wine are now a relative rarity in the “real” “Wine Country.” The warmth and love there are almost addictive, and I can’t wait until I get up there again!

Here’s a shout out to Elliot Pemberton, who, along with his father-in-law, Jim Lambert of Stanley-Lambert Winery, did a whirlwind tasting of their expanded line at our favorite local places this weekend. I was only able to make it to the tasting at Marché Bacchus, and discovered an incredible cab, their new Silent Partner Cabernet Sauvignon. While it’s not in my budget yet, you can be sure that I will be grabbing a bottle as soon as I can! Great seeing you, guys, and thanks for the terrific wines!

The first Combatting Swirl Envy – Lite! class for 2008 had its launch last week at Valley Cheese and Wine, and what a great time we had! This season is starting out to be a fun one, and the plans are in place for even more. Last week concentrated primarily on swirl basics, touched briefly on wine racism, defined Swirl Envy, and described gender issues in spitting.

In the next class we’ll be talking about bottles, closures, corkscrews, pouring, and storing wine. Lots of hands-on show and tell! And swirling, of course! And I now have something special for those who sign up and pre-pay through PayPal via this Blog. If you do, you will receive a raffle ticket in class for a chance to win a wine-related item – either a book, some other wine accessory, or a piece of Vegas Wineaux Gear™!

There are more classes coming up in February, and those will be posted shortly. By the way, several of my co-workers, students, and friends have discovered VC&W and affectionately call it the "Stinky Cheese Place." They love the cheeses there, and realize that Kristin is there to educate them on artisanal cheeses, which have character and complexity. She's not really a "pusher." :-)

There’s a little story I’d like to share with you at the insistence of one of my friends. It’s definitely not wine-related, but I love it when things like this happen.

On Christmas night, my family and I (Mom, Aunt Joyce and cousin Byron) went out for our annual dinner, but decided to do something a little different by going to the buffet at the Wynn. I won’t go through the annoyance of standing in line for such a long period; it made Disneyland lines seem like a blink in comparison.

There was a dad and his kids in line in front of me. They were Asian, and as far as I could tell, couldn’t speak English – at least not very well. We nodded and smiled, and I played Tetris on my cell phone while passing the time. After a while I noticed a weight on my left leg. One of the man’s sons, a little boy of about, say, six or seven, was slowly losing the battle to stay awake. He had one arm wrapped around my leg, and he nodded and dozed while leaning against me. I reached down to hold him there and he snuggled against the soft fabric of my jeans and slipped into sleep. Talk about a hand around my heart! This little guy had had it and needed a nice soft place to nap. The dad turned around and the universal look of embarrassment raced across his face. I smiled at him and waved him away. We were going to be standing in the same spot for quite some time, and I just reveled in the feel of a little one depending upon me for comfort.

As was inevitable, the line started to move and the dad reached down to pick up his now soundly sleeping son. We smiled and he undid the latch on the stanchion and took his other sons out of the line. The spell was broken, but what a warm and wonderful memory.

And no, we didn’t get to eat that night. After a 90-minute wait in a line that snaked outside of the buffet in the hallway, there was an additional 90-minute wait once we got into the buffet itself. We threw in the towel and finally ended up eating pretzels at the Rio. But that’s another story.

More on wines next week!

CSE-Lite! Class, Paso Robles Tasting, and Wine on Tap!

By the time you get to read this (at least for many of you) the Combatting Swirl Envy – Lite! class will be taking place Tuesday evening at Valley Cheese and Wine in Henderson. We’ll be tackling the subjects of Swirling, Sniffing, Sipping and Spitting, the proper way to handle a wine glass, basic wine/food pairing information, winespeak, and the Ten Commandments of wine tasting. I hope that your curiosity leads you to join us one future evening!

If you weren’t at the Paso Robles wine tasting at Vino 100 on Friday evening, then you missed something pretty special. I had planned to be there right at 5:30, the scheduled starting time. Silly me, I forgot that it’s rush hour and didn’t actually arrive there till about 5:35. At first, the tightly-packed parking lot confused me. Then I realized…Paso fans are out there!!

It was almost literally shoulder-to-shoulder as everyone jockeyed for position in order to taste the rich and delicious Paso wines. Palm Cellars was represented, as was Opolo, Linne Calodo, Adelaida, Garretson, L'Aventure, Tobin James, and Villa Creek. Let’s hear a giant YUM!! I met lots of people there, and we shared our Paso stories. I also learned a bit about a few obscure wineries with ethereal wines, and will be sure to visit them next time I’m up there. For a Paso junkie like me, it was pure heaven. The 45 minutes I had planned to stay turned into two hours before I knew what happened. As the last of the people reluctantly and slowly departed, I finally gave the last good-bye hugs and trundled out, tired, happy, with a full camera and a bottle of Mtn. Zin tucked under my arm. Phooey on the budget!

OF COURSE I took pictures! Lots of them! I knew there was no way that I could put all of the pictures on the Blog, so I made a slide show for everyone to see. Here is the “hidden” page for those who want to remember the fun experience, or for those who want to see what they missed. Feel free to share the link with anyone!

http://www.vegaswineaux.com/Vino100_Paso.html

After weeks of being too busy to even breathe, I finally got to stop at Marché Bacchus for their Chateauneuf-du-Pape tasting on Saturday. Wow, what changes! They now have a beautiful, marble-topped wine bar with 20 wines on vacuum tap. There are 1 oz, 3 oz, and 5 oz pours available from some very nice, high-end wines. It’s the perfect solution for someone who wants to try an expensive bottle, but who may want to try the wine first before parting with the big bucks. According to Rhonda, the wines will be changing on a regular basis, keeping the selection fresh.

By the way, the new pictures of the wine bar will be updated on the website shortly.

Next week, more about local tastings and events. Las Vegas is quite the wine town!

There’s a New Baby Wineaux in the House! WDW, Paso Robles meets NYT, Pinot at Steak, Khoury’s Scores a Coup - Whew!

I really don’t know where to begin!

The festive news is that Elliot had a baby! Well, not exactly *Elliot* (he was just the coach), but he and his wife Kari are the parents of a new baby girl, 7 lbs, 10 oz of healthy sweetness. Her name is Siri, and please join me in congratulating the Pembertons on their new arrival! Great job, Kari!

Elliot is the owner of Pemberton Distribution Company and son-in-law of Jim Stanley of Stanley Lambert wines of Australia. So, yeah. The kid has wine running through her veins.

I had another GREAT time at the last Wine Down Wednesday of the year! As usual, the appetizers were wonderful and the wine was flowing. Last week’s wines – for those of you who missed it – were Rosenblum. The Viognier, Syrah, and Zinfandel were the stars of the evening. Wine Down Wednesday is on hiatus for the holiday, but watch here or on the KSNE website for upcoming dates!

I was surprised to receive a nice note from Monica Villicana (Villicana winery in Paso Robles) regarding an article that had been written in the New York Times about the Next Great Wine Region in California. The Villicana’s winery had been mentioned briefly (hey! It’s still publicity!), and they were stoked that the region had been recognized by such a global presence. I read the article and was jumping for joy, too! As you may know, Robert Parker glowed about the area in the October issue of Food & Wine, and it’s been steadily uphill ever since. Paso Robles is a region that has been long in the shadow of the Napa/Sonoma juggernaut, but I’m happy to see that their wines are gaining the respect that they so richly deserve. Click here to read the article (you may have to sign up for a free account – it’s worth it!) and rejoice with me!

If you haven’t had an opportunity to enjoy one of the tastings at Steak in Henderson, then you’ve been missing out on a real treat. David Droz, the owner, chooses which wines to pour at any given Saturday, and they’re always good. This week’s offerings were the Pinot Noirs of Siduri Winery and two Syrahs from Novy Winery. Siduri has received accolades for its Pinots, and it was easy to understand why. David poured five, including the Terra de Promissio, Van der Kamp, and their much-heralded Gary’s Vineyard. Although the Gary’s was stellar, I liked the Van de Kamp just a tad more, with its almost ethereal silky mouthfeel, a bit more body, and a bit more fruit on the nose. The Novy Syrahs – one from Sonoma and one from Napa – were delicious. I preferred the Napa Syrah over the Sonoma.

After leaving Steak, I headed up the road to Valley Cheese and Wine who has tastings from noon to four. Bob loves French wines, and was pouring five (I’m sure he’ll correct me if I’m wrong). The standout of the group for me was the Chardonnay, which at $16.00 easily rivaled anything more expensive out of Napa. And, no, it wasn’t a white Burgundy! I will contact Bob to get the particulars on this wine, but it was delicious!

Khoury’s has Susan!! Who’s Susan, you ask? She is the Wine Diva/Goddess of Las Vegas. Susan worked for years for Lee’s Discount, and I discovered early on that she has incredible, magical knowledge of wines. Well, she was moved from the Lee’s at Buffalo and Lake Mead to the one at Flamingo and Ft. Apache and I didn’t get to see her as much. When they moved her to the main warehouse, well, wine life without Susan’s vast knowledge just wasn’t fun.

So a Sunday visit to Khoury’s to set up CSE classroom space turned into a news flash when I learned that Issa’s new employee is Susan! Woo hoo! She will be dividing her time between the two stores. As I get more information, I will share it. And for those of you who are asking, no I don’t know Susan’s last name (actually I *did,* but it slipped out of my brain cell) but will be sure to update you as soon as I can. I can just *feel* an interview coming on!

Here's another reminder to Friend Me Up! I have had some amazing things happening on MySpace, and I'd love to see you there! I will tell you more (yes, this is meant to be mysterious!) next week.

In the meantime, may you all enjoy a great Holiday Season. Stay safe, and tune in next week when I’ll be writing about a very special event!

UPDATE!!

I stopped by Khoury's Durango this afternoon ("Madhouse" can be a verb when we're talking about Christmas Eve), and who should be there but Susan! Of course we screamed, hugged, etc. She's very happy to be at Khoury's and loves the atmosphere, the caliber of the wonderful wine customers, and couldn't be happier!

By the way, her last name is Kaumans. Pronounced "Commons." When you're in the area, stop by and ask for Susan and meet one of the nicest, most knowledgeable wine folks you'll ever see!

Updates, Boon for Seniors, and Classes!

Since being static is something I’m clearly not into, I’m happy to announce still yet another change. Not only with the Blog – as you can clearly see – but also with the website as well.

Because wine is bright and happy, I felt that I needed to bring in some wine-bright colors to make everything cheery. But the changes aren’t just cosmetic; there are also some changes in content as well. The long-promised “Logo Links” page is finally up and running. If you are a wine-related business who wants to have your logo on the Vegas Wineaux site, please send it to me and I will post it! Thanks to everyone who sent a logo – it makes for a colorful page! Just about every page has been updated, and a few new ones have been added. Check out the website at http://www.vegaswineaux.com.

Needless to say, this has been quite a tiring week for me. Last week’s vertical was fun, exciting, and exhausting! I’m happy to say that everyone had a wonderful time, and that Robert Young Estates Winery is jumping with joy over the outcome of the tasting. Lots of fun, with great wine, great food, and even better company. I think I may recover shortly.

I found something on the Vino 100 page that made me jump for joy and I had to go to visit the girls (Theresa and Natalie) to make sure that it was true. They have a new Sophisticated Seniors Monday discount in place. Everyone 55 years of age or better will receive a 10% discount on any purchase on Mondays. According to Theresa, although it appears to be a promotion just for December, it will more than likely be permanent. Nice little break for those of us who are budgetarily impaired (I made that up) during the holiday season.

Classes are scheduled! The first Combatting Swirl Envy classes are scheduled at Valley Cheese and Wine through March, with other classes in SW and NW Las Vegas upcoming. The exact dates are still being ironed out, but stay tuned for updates!

This week’s entry has to be pretty short because I’m just about computer’d out. With the updates the Blog, the website, and running around in a scheduling frenzy, I think I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and relax in front of the tv.

You all have a great week!

Thanksgiving fun! Fried Turkey Mishaps, Purple Sweet Potatoes, and Stir-Fried Miso Collard Greens. Oh yeah … and Wine!

Okay, so this may be more about food and holiday than about wine, but it’s all related. Really. Trust me!

First, I’ll talk about the wines. Get that out of the way before I knit everything else together.

For an aperitif, Zach (of 2BC fame) brought a Zinfandel that he had purchased from Trader Joe’s. It’s made up of 81% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah, with dashes of Syrah and Carignan. It has aromas of spice, raspberry, and smoke laced with a hint of clove and black pepper. It’s jammy and fruity with not a lot of complexity or finish, but at $5.99, surprisingly good and very, very drinkable. My mom, who “hates” red wines, drank down a glass with gusto. And for those of you who wondered, yes, she swirls quite nicely, thank you. After all, she's the mom of Vegas Wineaux!!

At dinner, we had a white wine, the 2005 Cuevas de Castilla ConClass Rueda, from Spain. This is a blend of 80% verdejo, 10% viura and 10% sauvignon blanc, and pairs beautifully with nicely roasted turkey breast. In fact, it is almost a perfect pairing, with the fruitiness and acidity making a great foil for the sweetness and juiciness of the white meat.

The two Pinot Noirs were also served. One was the 2005 Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir. Man. What a nice wine … especially for $10.99!! First of all, it smells like Pinot is *supposed* to smell! On the nose, you get ripe black cherries, smoke, and a hint of spice. Core flavors of cherry coke, smoke, and plum along with notes of berries along with rounded tannins and crisp, balanced acidity stay with the wine’s surprisingly long finish. This fruitiness and acidity made it a perfect mate to my Cranberries in Port Reduction Sauce and the dark meat of the turkey.

The other Pinot was firmer, darker, and more “grown up.” The 2005 Magnet Pinot Noir has smooth dark fruit flavors and a nice balance of oak influence. The silky mouthfeel (always important to me) showcases flavors of cherries, dark berries, smoke, and earth. Firm tannins and tart acidity cut through the fat of the Thanksgiving meal (even through fried turkey!), and is a definite food wine! Delicious!

The ConClass was purchased at Valley Cheese and Wine and the two Pinots were purchased at Khoury’s. Thanks guys!

And now for the fun. Fortunately, my mother doesn’t own a computer, so I can talk freely here. What a story! She decided about three years ago that we were going to start a new tradition of fried turkey. I hated the idea because I’m trying to cut fried foods (except for stir fried, of course) out of my diet as much as possible. So now we were going to have fried turkey (and the subsequent WEEKS of leftovers!) on a regular basis?!? Now, although my mother is now 86, my female bloodline tends to go well into the mid/upper 90s, so I felt stuck. Fried turkey every year for the next ten or more years? Yikes!

The last two years have been, um, *eventful* to say the least. I won’t talk about her frying the turkey in her apartment. It was truly scary. Or the grease that I finally got scrubbed out of my patio concrete. Once again, a long story.

This year, everything changed!! Aunt Joyce (Mom’s younger sister) bought a turkey that was too big to fit into the fryer, which meant that it had to be fried in two parts. We were looking at eating Thanksgiving dinner late at night! This year, however, having had enough of fried turkey, I had surreptitiously roasted a small, free-range bird. It was properly brined for several hours (sea salt, evaporated cane juice, allspice, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic), rinsed, and slowly roasted. I just happened to mention in passing that I had this bird available, and it was a hit. We were enjoying dinner, wine, and each other’s company while the big bird was frying (and frying and frying and frying) outside. At that time my mother declared that this is the LAST time we’ll ever consider fried turkey. I did the happy dance on my butt!

I did “The” Brisket. It was from Costco, therefore a “company sized” cut, right? Well, I have a piece about 2x5 inches left. Lucky me.

I surprised everyone by baking a purple yam. A staple of Okinawa, it has a beige papery skin and a PURPLE interior! It is creamier than a “regular” garnet yam but still packs plenty of sweetness, and the color is arresting. Aunt Joyce didn’t partake because it wasn’t “normal,” but everyone else dug in with gusto.

The collard greens that I cooked departed (sucked down various gullets and shamelessly stolen from my home, LOL), so I had just enough to “do” something with. Well, I made a Soul Food Asian stir fry starring the collards, Vietnamese tofu, garlic, shallots, choy sum (a variety of bok choy), and Miso. YUMMY! Talk about a melding of cultures!

As you can see, my holiday was fun, and it’s always great to have loved ones around during these special times!

Next entry will be updating you on upcoming classes for 2008, including a wine class with no wine. Huh???? Stay tuned!!

By the way, the fried turkey eventually *did* finish cooking!

Oh Say it isn't So!!! Marché Bacchus Newsflash. CSE Lite info

Marché Bacchus has been sold!

Before you cry, wail, grieve, throw yourself into sackcloth and ashes or under a train, you have to hear the whole story.

Gregoire and Agathe Verge are the founders of Marché Bacchus, the wonderful French Bistro/wine store located in the community of Desert Shores in NW Las Vegas. MB’s patio is located along the edge of Desert Shores which makes patio dining an ethereal experience. It is almost always busy, and the patrons are fiercely loyal. So why would they leave such an ideal setup?

“Time.” Agathe said that time was the primary reason. They didn’t have any to themselves.

“It’s been eight years of seven days a week,” she said in her lyrical French accent. “And now the baby is 18 months old, and I need to be spending time with him.”

So she and Greg decided to sell their much-loved business to sit back and reassess their lives. Oh yeah…and take a much-needed rest!

So where does that leave the rest of us? In quite capable hands, thank you very much!

I was fortunate enough to meet two of the four new owners, and was very pleased to see the heart and passion for the restaurant, the business of food, and the seriousness with which they are approaching this venture.

The new owners are Jeff and Rhonda Wyatt and Christophe and Noanie Ithurritze. Because of the “busyness” of the day I didn’t get a chance to talk with them at length, but I can tell you that Christophe is formerly of Spago’s here in Vegas, where he worked for Wolfgang Puck. Wow. I will talk to them in depth later when it’s not lunchtime at Marché!!

Jeff is affable, enthusiastic, and talks animatedly about the future of Marché Bacchus, his blue eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. While we had noticed some changes in the menu, he pointed out a few more, including a new luncheon dessert menu. He indicated that some other changes were in the works, including catering, an expanded wine bar, and wine dinners!

Christophe has an infectious smile (that’s him on the left), and it looks like the two of them will take Marché Bacchus to the next level.

Meanwhile, Agathe’s plans are to rest for the next few months. “And then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do. I like sitting for a while.”

We wish Greg and Agathe the very best and hope (this is a hint, you two!), that they will stay as Las Vegas fixtures for years to come.

The Farewell Group around the table are: Elaine, Tex, Scott, Agathe, Gidget, Yours Truly, and Aaron.

The last CSE (Combatting Swirl Envy) Lite! class of the year will be held on Wednesday, October 24, at Valley Cheese and Wine in Henderson (of course!). This class is going to be lot of fun, celebratory, with a special drawing! Each participant will receive a ticket and the winner will receive a special wine-related gift!

Plans for classes next year are in the works, with locations in the SW area of Vegas, and plans for the NW as well. Of course we will always have classes in Henderson!

Hope to see you on Wednesday!

Don’t forget that if you are a business, send me your logo! I’m working on the “logo links” page on VegasWineaux.com and would like to showcase your business (and brag that I know you!).

Until later in the week, see ya!

PS: I’m working on a review of the awesome wine dinner we had at Sonoma Cellar at Sunset Station last Tuesday. Stay tuned …

Swirl Envy Class, and oh so busy!

Have you ever had those times when you’re too busy to even think???

That’s the perfect description for the last week and a half for me, which explains the delay in updating the Blog! Thank goodness for Scott and Elaine’s Blog, which has done a wonderful job of keeping up to date on the items I’ve been unable to report.

I do have some stuff to share, though!

The Combatting Swirl Envy – Lite! class was great fun! A small group, we had an enjoyable time sipping wines, learning the finer points of swirling and wine etiquette, pairing wine with food, avoiding wine racism, and enjoying the spectacular artisanal cheeses and wines from Valley Cheese and Wine!

To those of you are requesting a class location on the West side of town, be assured that I’m working diligently to make that happen. Since I live in the NW area, it would be an easier travel time for me! Meanwhile, check out the website and Local Wine Events for information on the next class upcoming at Valley Cheese and Wine on October 9.

Now a quick overview of recent events:

1. National Wine Week! That was last week, and I attended on Monday. National Wine Week is held twice a year and for a small fee of $10.00 plus lunch, you get the chance to taste up to twenty very nice wines. National Wine Week is held locally at Smith & Wollensky on The Strip. Many locals don’t make it to The Strip on a regular basis, and being down there during a lunch hour was a special treat for me. The website is http://www.nationalwineweek.com, and it’s worth the effort to take a look and make plans for the Spring!

2. The now quarterly AWS dinner at Café Bleu, the restaurant arm of the Cordon Bleu Cooking School! The wines of Banfi were featured, and Scott and Elaine did a great job of covering the event on their Blog.

The next posting (in a few days – I promise!) will be on the newest wine shop in Vegas. I visited there at length on Saturday afternoon and had a wonderful time! Stay tuned!