So I was watching the Disney Princess Cake challenge on Food Network today and decided to check out the Disneyland website. I came across a fantastic food & wine event that I'm desperately wishing I was going to be in town for. Disney's California Food & Wine Festival takes place every day from April 11th to May 5th in Disneyland's California Adventure Park. I haven't been to Disneyland in probably 10 years or so, so I have no idea what the California Adventure Park is like, but if they host a wine festival every year you can bet I'll be there at some point!

You can check out the Disney website for a list of daily events, complimentary events included with your park admission, and even some wonderful signature events. You can meet chefs like Cat Cora, Guy Fieri, or Jamie Gwen there, and there are some wonderful classes and dinners offered.

This past weekend I volunteered as a "plate runner" for the chef's competition at the 2008 Colorado Restaurant Expo at the Broadmoor Hotel. I had the privilege of working with Chef Jeff Knight from the Craftwood Inn, and I'm very pleased to say that we won! Here's a sampling of what he created.



While I wasn't running plates back to the judge's room, I spent my time tasting in the exhibit hall. There were a lot of restaurants represented, but only a few really stood out to me this year.


The first thing I tasted was Palapa's Surfside Island Dining, which featured a fantastic ceviche in mini taco shells. I haven't had a meal at their restaurant yet, but I will definitely try it out now.


Rocco's Italian Restaurant had absolutely wonderful tortellini out for tasting. I'm a sucker for stuffed pasta, and this was some of the best I've ever had.


I've driven by Merlino's Belvedere Restaurant in Cañon City several times on my way through, but I've never stopped to eat there before. I recall hearing the name quite a bit when I first moved to Colorado, but not as much lately. But after tasting their Sausage and Mozzarella plate, I'm going to have to make a special trip down there for dinner soon.

Garfield Estates is a fantastic Colorado vineyard, and is hosting a winemaker's dinner next month. April 20th at Inari's Restaurant in downtown Palisade, Colorado. The price is $125 per person and includes a five course meal paired with their fantastic wines. Here's a look at the menu.

Passed Hors doeuvres
Spring Leek Cakes with Smoked Trout, Creme Fraiche and Chives
Garfield Estates 2006 S2 (Semillon/Viognier blend)
 
Salad Course
Salad of Grilled Asparagus, Prosciutto and Soft Boiled Egg with a Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese Balsamic
Garfield Estates 2006 Fume Blanc
 
Pasta Course
Rigatoni with Elk Sausage, Mustard Greens, Roasted Tomato and Fava Beans
Garfield Estates 2005 Syrah
 
Intermezzo
Blood Orange Ginger Sorbet
 
Main Course
Colorado Lamb Shanks Braised in Cabernet Franc with Roasted Plums on Parsnip Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
Braided bread of pumpernickel, white and whole wheat
Garfield Estates 2005 Cabernet Franc
 
Dessert Course
Poached Pear and Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese Gratin with Candied Pecans
Garfield Estates 2006 Vin De Glace (Icewine style)

Call (970) 464-4911 for more information, or visit www.garfieldestates.com.
 

Last Friday I made it to the last half of a tasting put on by Pine Creek Wine & Spirits. It wasn't a large tasting, but there were several bottles there that I hadn't tried before, so definitely worthwhile. The even took place at the Hilton Garden Inn in northern Colorado Springs, and was free to attend.

Here is a list of the wines tasted, along with my notes on them (prices according to Pine Creek Wine & Spirits).

• E All'Omo Vino IGT 100% Sangiovese, $17.99 - okay, but not impressive
• Innominato IGT Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot $11.99 - rather weak overall
• Seppelt Tawny Port $10.49 - fantastic tawny port, rich and caramel flavored
• Duo Cab Merlot Blend $12.49 - smooth, but not very bold
• Hayment & Hill Zin $11.99 - I didn't get to try this one, but the person I was with loved it
• Red Guitar Rosé $10.99 - a very weak rosé
• Tangent Pinot Blanc $14.99 - slightly too acidic for my tastes
• Baileyana Pinot Noir $27.99 - nice, bold

And I've tried these three before and always enjoy them
Menage a Trois Red Blend
Menage a Trois White Blend
Menage a Trois Rosé

Hey everybody! I know it's been a while.....so I apologize to my faithful readers, but my full-time job has been a little "over demanding" lately. But I wanted to put together a list of all the upcoming events. Hope to see you at some of them!

Fine Arts Center First Thursday Tastings
@ the FAC Main 30 West Dale Street 5pm-8pm
members $12, non-members $17 for 4 wines and appetizers
February 7th - French Wines
March 7th - Rhine Wines

and don't forget the 17th Annual Wine Festival of Colorado Springs coming up April 18-19, 2008,
tickets go on sale sometime this month!
FAC Website

---

The Blue Star Restaurant Wednesday Wine Tastings
@ the Blue Star 1645 South Tejon 6:30pm
$20 for 5 wines and tapas
February 13th - Barossa Valley
February 20th - Bordeaux
February 27th - Old Wolrd vs. New World Part 1

Still vs. Sparkling Wine Dinner
The Blue Star @ 6:30pm
5 course dinner with two pairings per course
$65 plus tax & gratuity per person
Blue Star Website

The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen is coming up in June, and this year Alder Yarrow, of Vinography.com will be teaching two classes. The Next Napa Superstars will focus on the newest and most exciting of Napa's red wine producers, and Sake for Wine Lovers will be an introduction to some of the finest sakes in the U.S. Alder is one of the best wine bloggers out there, and actually grew up in Aspen.

Tickets are already on sale for June 13-15, and can be purchased at Foodandwine.com.

I would absolutely love to be there, but I'm getting married on June 7th.....so between finances and time, it may just not be possible. So if anyone else is there, please let me know how it goes!

You may have seen this already, as it's been posted on and McDuff's Food and Wine Trail, among others. But for those of you that haven't, starting this month wine bloggers will begin reviewing books in the Wine Book Club. It follows much of the same idea as Wine Blogging Wednesday, so each blogger will be posting their own thoughts on the book or if someone doesn't have a blog they can post their thoughts to winebookclub.org.

Our very first book is Vino Italiano: THe Regional Wines of Italy, by Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch.



Now don't be scared by it. The book is a menacing 500 pages, but I'm told it's organized quite well. Priced at about $15 from Amazon, it's not too expensive either. Due date for reviews is February 26. Check out McDuff's for all of the details. Happy reading!

The 4th annual Menu for Hope kicked off yesterday, and goes through December 21st. The event is a charity that raises money for the UN's World Food Programme. Last year they raised over $60,000 and this year they hope to raise even more.

The wine community has donated some really excellent prizes for the raffle. Including everything from wine trips and tours, to personalized blending sessions, and signed books. Take a look at the prizes over at Vinography. Each raffle ticket is only $10, so go ahead and buy some to help out a good cause!

The first Thursday of every month the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, in conjunction with Coaltrain Wine and Spirits, hosts 1st Thursday Tastings. For $12 for members and $17 for non-members, you have the opportunity to taste four wines paired with small appetizers. This month the focus was on Sparkling and Dessert Wines. Here is the menu for December's event:

• René Muré Cremant d'Alsace (France) - paired with Butternut Squash & Gingered Apple Chutney in Filo Cup
Very good sparkling wine. Just the right balance of sweet and bubbly for me. For those that don't know Cremant is a term used for sparkling wine that comes from France, but not from the Champagne region. In Alsace grapes such as Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Riesling are used instead of the traditional Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

• Piper Sonoma Brut (Sonoma County, California) - paired with Smoked Trout Crepes with Microgreens & Aioli
Not my favorite wine, but I'm not a fan of dry wines. The appetizer however, was really excellent and paired extremely well with the wine.

• Elio Perrone Moscato d'Asti Sourgal 2006 (Italy) - paired with English Cucumber Cups with a Yuzu Vinaigrette Salad
Excellent wine. I adore Moscato because of it's sweetness and almost chewy character. This wine had a bit more sparkle to it than I'm used to in a Moscato, but still a fantastic wine. The pairing was not my favorite though. I don't think anything special was brought out by having them together.

• Seppelt DP 30 Trafford Tawny Port (Barossa Valley, Australia) - paired with Pear and Ricotta Tartlets
I tend to prefer ruby ports, but this tawny was pretty good. And it paired extremely well with the tartlets. When drinking this wine remember that there's a reason port glasses are much smaller than typical wine glasses.

If you were at the tasting let me know what you thought of the wines. If not, I hope to see you next month!

January 3rd - Wines from Napa Valley
February 7th - French & Belgian Wines
March 7th - Rhine Wines

And don't forget to check out the Fine Art Center's newest exhibition Impressionist and Modern Masters through March 9th.

I got an email today for the launch of 29 Cosmetics in Atlanta, Georgia. Unfortunately I'm not going to be near there this week, but for any of you that are, here are the details.

Wine Tasting and Private Preview of the 29 Cosmetics Collection
Location: 29 Cosmetics Counter in Neiman Marcus at the Lennox Square Mall
When: November 30th, 5:30 to 7:30pm

Come and get a look at the cosmetics line and try Neiman Marcus' exclusive 29 Chardonnay.

Call 888-415-2929 or email info@29cosmetics.com to RSVP.

This past weekend was the Harvest Festival at the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. I haven't ever had the chance to get down there before, so it was a great opportunity to get down there. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, and I definitely recommend stopping by if you get the chance.

The festival wasn't huge, it was held in a small field in front of the tasting room. There were four booths for tasting the Abbey's wine, and with $10 admission you were given a commemorative tasting glass and four tickets for tastings. I was able to sample three wines with my tickets, it cost two to try the reserve wines.

I tried the Colorado Merlot Divinity (a port style wine), the Cabernet Franc, and the reserve Sauvignon Blanc. All are good Colorado wines, however my favorite wine of theirs was still being bottled and thus not available. Once it is bottled I highly suggest trying the Wild Cañon Harvest wine. One of my favorite wines of all time.


There was a variety of vendors there with everything from jewelry and ceramics to wine jelly. Speaking of the wine jelly, it is absolutely fantastic. Made by Colorado Mountain Fine Jams & Jellies in Palisade, Colorado the jelly is incredibly sweet and rich. I had the opportunity to taste one of their varieties at the Colorado Mountain Winefest, but they had six or seven different types out to try this time. My favorite is the Fumé Blanc jelly, but the Syrah and Rosé were very good too. They also have a wide selection of other jams and jellies, and they're all fantastic.

Another treat at the festival was that Ed Adamic, the artist who creates the Winery's label, was there to sign posters of his creations. I picked up a beautiful poster of the Abbey in winter. Author Beverly Cox was also there signing her cookbook Eating Cuban. Being a foodie as well as a wine lover I would have loved to pick up a copy of Ms. Cox's book, but unfortunately I had run out of cash by that point!

This weekend is the Harvest Fest at the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. For a $10 entrance fee, that includes a commemorative Harvest Fest glass, you are able to taste all day as well as visit the arts and crafts booths, listen to live music, and even let the kids play in the fun zone. A Mexican buffet will be available starting at $6 for lunch. Cookbook author Beverly Cox will be there to sign her newest release Eating Cuban, and artist Ed Adamic will be there to sign copies of his original Harvest Fest posters.

And best of all there will be chances to see demonstrations of the crush!

The event is going on all weekend: Saturday the 29th from 10am-6pm, and Sunday the 30th from 10am-5pm. I'll be there on Sunday. Hope to see you there!

I arrived at the festival bright and early, actually about an hour before anyone was allowed in. Once the gates were opened, I was able to be one of the first people to enter the park though. I was very impressed with the festival. There were a large number of wineries there (all from Colorado of course) as well as many food and gift vendors. With musicians playing throughout the day, an opportunity to stomp grapes yourself, and even a stage of "dueling" chefs there is certainly no shortage of things to do during a day at the festival.

I wasn't able to stay and taste all day, because I had such a long drive ahead of me to get home, but I did manage to stop at some of my favorites.


Two Rivers Winery was there tasting and selling a selection of their wines. I personally picked up a bottle of their Port, Riesling, and Chardonnay.

Augustina's Winery in Boulder is always a favorite of mine. Their Wine Chick White is excellent, and I also picked up a bottle of a limited edition red they produced.

I had the chance to try the Garfield Estates booth to get a bottle of their ice wine. It's a truly excellent dessert wine.

I was so impressed by the wines from the Riedel tasting, that I also stopped to get a bottle of each of them.

The Riedel wine tasting was by far my favorite event of the winefest. It took place during the Festival in the Park, almost first thing in the morning after the gates opened. The tasting was led by Riedel's District Manager for this area, Tommy Leman who was very well spoken and knew a great deal about wine.

I have to honestly say that before this presentation, I did not believe that Riedel glasses made a difference to wine. Who would honestly think that what kind of wineglass you used would make the wine any better. Well let me tell you....I am now a believer! At each of the seats at the tasting there were 4 Riedel glasses from their Vinum series: a Bordeaux, a Sauvignon Blanc, a Montrachet Chardonnay, and a Burgundy. Each glass had wine in it from local vineyards, but I'll get to those later. Everyone was also asked to bring the souvenir wineglass that was handed out at the entrance, this glass was referred to as the "Joker". The point of the tasting was to compare a wine side-by-side in a Riedel glass and in a "Joker" glass. We began with the Sauvignon Blanc and tasted from the Riedel glass, then we poured the wine into the Joker glass and tasted again. The difference was really astounding. No one I've explained this to so far has believed me, but the Riedel glasses really do make a difference. From what I understand of it, it's all in the shape of the glass and the rim.


If you ever happen to have the chance to participate in one of these tastings, I highly encourage you to do it.

If the Vinum series is too expensive for you, check out their newest line, the stemless "O" series. Not only are these glasses a much easier size to store without a stem, but they are also quite a bit sturdier than the Vinum series because they are not leaded. This also means that they are safe to put in the dish washer (it's the lead in the other glasses that has the tendency to absorb the soap and taint the flavor of wine).

Now for the wines that were used.
• Canyon Wind Cellars Sauvignon Blanc
• Two Rivers Winery Chardonnay
• Alfred Eames Cellars Pinot Noir
• Spero Winery Cabernet Sauvignon

The final event that I went to today was the Chocolate and Wine Tasting put on by Enstrom's Chocolates. And to start off with, let me say that Enstrom's has truly excellent chocolates. That alone would have been quite a tasting! Guests also received a logo'd wineglass courtesy of Enstrom.

There were nine wines available for tasting, each paired with a small chocolate piece. I have to say that in theory, this is a fantastic idea. But in practice it was not executed well. There were no dump buckets or water pitchers anywhere in the room. And the room itself was a little too small for the amount of people at the event (as it was I had to wait for about 20 minutes to just get in the door). It was a lovely location though, the Courtyard Marriot looks like it would be a fantastic hotel to stay at. There was a small veranda off of the main room where a string duet was playing and some savory hors d'ourves were being served. There should have been more variety though, the only thing available was sashimi style grilled tuna. I thought it was very tasty, but I heard a few people say that they weren't interested in fish.

The thing that amazed me most about the evening was when I went to write down some tasting notes in the corner I overheard a man telling the director of the event, Marilyn Jensen, that he was disappointed with the event. To my utter amazement, she didn't accept the criticism, but instead told him that he was being negative and it was very difficult to put on an event like this, and they told him to leave if he really wasn't enjoying himself. Now believe me, I agree that it takes a lot to put on such a large event. However, the gentleman was very nice in his approach to her, and didn't say anything that I haven't mentioned here. I'm really not sure how someone could get to be a "director" with that kind of attitude. And to react in such a way in front of guests at an event is startling to me.

Oh by the way, she said that if anyone really had a problem with how the event was run to go to www.coloradowinefest.com and leave a suggestion. So by all means feel free to email her your thoughts.


I really did enjoy the event overall, however the lack of planning was very apparent. Sidenote: if you're planning a wine tasting event.....ALWAYS provide buckets for dumping/spitting and water pitchers for washing out wine glasses. To not provide those things is not only unprofessional, but a little unsafe as well because it forces guests to finish every glass of wine. And as someone who's at this event alone, I fully understand the need to stay sober so that I can drive myself around town.

I had a few hours free today to visit some of the many wineries in the Grand Valley, so I got to as many as I could. I have to say I was very impressed by the fact that every vineyard I went into offered free tastings of all their wines......that is fantastic. Definitely something you wouldn't see in Napa Valley!


The first vineyard I came across was Plum Creek Cellars in Palisade, Colorado. This is a beautiful little winery with a fantastic view. And right off of Hwy 6, it's very easy to find. I tried several wines here, and they were all very good.





Next was Garfield Estates, about a mile off of of Hwy 6 in Palisade. This was a very quaint little winery that felt more like walking into someone's garage than a winery tasting room. There's not a lot of room inside, so it got a little crowded at the tasting bar when I tried to get a glass, but the pourers were very friendly and ready to help.




Graystone Winery was just down the road in Clifton, Colorado. This tasting room is also just off of Hwy 6, but a little harder to see. It kind of sneaks up on you. There was a very large gift shop, but a slightly smaller tasting room. It looked fantastic, but didn't function extremely well. There were so many people at the tasting bar that I didn't even bother to wait around for a spot. I figure I can catch them at the Festival in the Park tomorrow, because I really do want to try the Port that they claim to "specialize" in.



My final vineyard stop was Two Rivers Winery. This location is absolutely gorgeous! The Chateau is available for weddings and other events, and you can even rent a room in the "bed and breakfast" also on the grounds. Fabulous tasting room with extremely friendly staff. The girl that was pouring for me was even willing to stay past closing and continuing pouring wines while she restocked the gift shop, talk about customer service!

I met a couple there that was staying on site and they suggested that next year I look at getting a room there, they were only paying $95 a night! That's just slightly more than I'm paying at a motel in town. I will definitely have to look into that for my next trip down.

There are probably about 50 more wineries/vineyards in the area that I didn't have enough time to make it to. I truly enjoyed the tasting rooms that I did make it to though, hopefully next time I can make it to some more!

The second event of the day was another class focused on the home winemaker. This time the class was hosted by Gene Spaziani, a wine judge, professor, author, and former president of the American Wine Society. His book "The Home Winemaker's Companion" was for sale, and I even had him sign it for me. Now I suppose I'll have to give home winemaking a shot!

Gene's class began with viewing a video on winemaking. He prefaced the viewing by saying that while the video was about 20 years old, not much has changed in the world of winemaking. He also gave us some of his own pointers on how to blend wines.


The most interesting part of this class was the "scent" exercise that we did. Twelve vials of scent were passed around with only numbers on them. We were asked to smell each vial and match it up to a list of aromas given to us. Now, while you may think that you know the scent of things like vanilla and apple, it's much harder when there's no visual association with it, just as it's hard to pick out the aromas in wine. I'm sorry to say that I only picked out 3 of the 12 wines (as did the majority of the class).

We finished up the seminar by tasting 3 wines that Gene made himself. A Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and a Cabarnet Sauvignon. His wines were quite good overall. It was apparent to me that he really enjoys wines that are buttery with an almost "chewy" mouth feel. That's not my favorite style of wine, but it's not bad.

Today started out early with winemaking. Hosted at the CSU Agricultural Station in Grand Junction, this class was focused on the home winemaker. There were at least three couples in the class with me that are growing their own grapes to make wine at home, one even wanted to eventually go commercial.

The class was split into 3 groups and rotated through different sections. The first section I was a part of was the wine tasting (9:30 in the morning is a bit early for a wine tasting, but hey I'm on vacation right?). This section was hosted by Dr. Horst Caspari, Colorado State Viticulturalist. We were given two sets of 3 wines to taste and asked to rate which wine we thought was the best. After tasting all of them we found out that two wines in each set were the same, and then asked to guess which. I'm proud to say that I was correct on the first set, but the second was much harder to tell. The point of the exercise was for us to taste a wine from both a "low yield" and "high yield" vineyard. Strangely enough, the majority of the class preferred the high yield vineyards. I guess that says something to winemakers.

The second portion of the class was hosted by Bill Musgnung, who works as a winemaker with CSU. He stepped us through the process of destemming, crushing, and fermenting. And finally the third section took us out into the experimental vineyards to learn about pruning, and allow us to pick several bunches of grapes (see the picture above).

While there wasn't as much hands-on time during the class as I would have liked, the class was still very informative. As someone who has primarily focused on the finished product, it was extremely interesting for me to see the process of making the wine.

There are a couple of fun wine contests going on right now. I thought some of you might be interested in entering!

T-Shirt Contest

Sponsored by Tina Caputo of The Wine Broad's Board, the object is to submit a "winemaker written haiku or limerick poems posted about you-know-who" (i.e. Rober Parker) will receive t-shirts sporting the fun phrase "Robert Parker's Bitch". If you win, you also have to agree to send in a photo of yourself wearing the shirt.



The Duplin "Jewels of the Carolina Coast" Wine Label Art Contest

This contest is a little more professional :) Duplin wine is releasing a new wine in honor of the 1st annual Toast of the Wine Festival to be held in Wilmington, NC in May of 2008. The contest is to design a new label for this wine depicting your interpretation of the best of the Carolina Coast. One grand prize winner will be chosen, along with three finalists.

Check out the website for the official rules and deadlines.



Have fun entering, and good luck to you all!

Yesterday I went to the Taste of Douglas County food festival in Castle Rock. And honestly, I was not impressed. I've been to a few of these events, and this was by far the worst I've seen.

I should have realized that it wasn't going to be up to my standards just based on the fact that it was held on the grounds of the Douglas County Fair, but despite my better judgement I decided to give it a try. So after a 40 minute drive on the highway, and then another 10 or 15 minutes driving around Castle Rock, I finally found the Events Center. The room it was in looked a bit more like a warehouse than an events center, with cement floors, folding tables, and children running all over. After dragging my fiancé along with me, he was not at all happy to see that. We tried a few restaurants like Miyama Japanese Steakhouse and LoDo's Bar and Grill, and the food wasn't bad but it wasn't fantastic either. Miyama's sushi was nothing to drive out of town for.

I probably would have tried more of the restaurants except for the fact that some of the lines stretched across the entire room. The food was not plated and ready to pick up, it was plated per person. While that may seem like a good idea, it's not efficient in any way. The few tables that had the food plated and ready were wonderful things like Little Caesar's Pizza and a Persian restaurant serving hummus spread on pita bread.

The available drinks in the room came from a table selling margaritas. Although the event was sponsored by Bubbles Liquor World, there wasn't any wine or beer to sample.

For an event that cost $20 at the door, plus whatever it cost you to drive there, it was not worth it in any way. I think the only thing I really liked was the condiment size serving of Coldstone Ice Cream I picked up on my way out.

I realized today that I haven't posted any upcoming events for a while. So here you go!

Castle Rock Wine Fest Grand Tasting
July 21 noon-7pm
$36 for tickets ($15 for DD's)
Hosted at the Grange at the Meadows. Features Colorado wines, gourmet foods, and a host of vendors.
www.castlerockwinefest.com

Experience Wine Classes
"Summer Wines" on July 26
$40-45, check out the website for location.
www.experiencewine.net

Blue Star Wine Tastings
Wednesday Wine Tastings, $20
"Tribute to Elvis" August 6
"Pinot Noir" September 10
www.thebluestar.net

Power Liquor Mart Events
Free, just call to reserve a spot.
"Italian Wines" July 21
"New World and Old World" July 26
"Wines of the World" July 28
www.powersliquormart.com

Colorado Mountain Winefest
September 13-16
Various prices for classes and tastings.
www.coloradowinefest.com

Please let me know if any of you are going to an event and we can try to meet up there. I would love to meet some readers!

If you happen to be traveling in California, I came across a fun tour company. Californiawinehikes.com offers tours ranging from one day hikes to week long excursions in wine country.

One of their more popular hikes is "Walking the Zinfandel Trail". It's a single-day tour that costs $85 per person. The description says that it covers 4 easy, flat-to-rolling hills on a trail that lies right outside the tasting room of the Picchetti Winery. The hike is followed by a gourmet lunch and wine tasting at Picchetti's picnic grounds. The hike also includes trail snacks and bottle water.

I think this would be a great way to explore wine country in an active and and fitness minded way. And what better way to reward yourself for exercising, than to have a nice glass of wine!

Today was the annual Manitou Springs Wine Festival, and I have to say that it was quite an event. For $25 admission, you received a wine glass etched with the festival's logo and a tote for carrying wine bottles that you purchased, and quite a few people were purchasing bottles that day. All of the wines featured were from Colorado wineries, and some of them were really excellent wines.

Here is a list of the wineries in attendance:

• Amber Ridge Vineyards www.amberridgevineyards.com
• Augustina's Winery www.winechick.biz
• Balistreri Vineyards www.balistreriwine.com
• Bonacquisti Wine Company www.denverwine.net
• Bookcliff Vineyards www.bookcliffvineyards.com
• Colorado Cellars www.coloradocellars.com
• Concetta Cellars www.concettacellars.com
• Cottonwood Cellars www.cottonwoodcellars.com
• Desert Moon Vineyards www.desertmoonvineyards.com
• Garfield Estates Vineyards www.garfieldestates.com
• Guy Drew Vineyards www.guydrewvineyards.com
• Mesa Grade Vineyards www.mesagrandevineyards.com
• Mountain View Winery www.mountainviewwinery.com
• Pikes Peak Vineyards
• Redstone Meadery www.redstonemeadery.com
• Spero Winery
• Spruce Mountain Meadery www.sprucemountainmeadery.com
• Stoney Mesa Winery www.stoneymesa.com
• St. Kathryn Cellars/Meadery of the Rockies www.st-kathryn-cellars.com
• Turquoise Mesa Winery www.turquoisemesawinery.com
• Two Rivers Winery www.tworiverswinery.com
• White Water Hill Vineyards www.whitewaterhill.com

And I'll tell you right now, that I have very definite opinions on every single winery that was there. Over the next few days I'm going to be posting reviews of the wines that I thought really stood out from the crowd. There were quite a few wines that I tasted today that were really nothing special, there were also some that were really horrible and some that were really excellent. Stay tuned for my list of the "best of the best."

I wanted to be sure to remind everyone that this coming Saturday is the Manitou Springs Wine Festival. From 12pm to 6pm in Soda Springs Park, twenty-two Colorado wineries will be pouring samples. Live entertainment will be provided throughout the day by Me and Julio, The Brad Easton Trio, and Johnny Grave and the Blue Waves. Wine tastings will be $25, which includes a glass and tastings from all the wineries.

Specialty food and gift booths will also be located throughout the park, and wine will be available for purchase by the bottle and case from the wineries.

Tickets will be going on sale very soon for one of the largest wine events in Colorado. Colorado Winefest will take place from September 13-17, 2007 in Grand Junction, Colorado. There are a host of events planned, including a winery bike ride, Reidel Glass tasting, and multiple winemaker dinners and brunches. For more info and to buy tickets, check out www.coloradowinefest.com.

I just got back from the All Australia Wine Tasting in Denver, and wanted to let you all know my thoughts.

The event was hosted by Primo Vino, a wine store in Olde Town Arvada www.primovino.net, and featured a selection of 30 wines from Australia. While many people are only familiar with Yellow Tail when it comes to Australian wines, the goal of this tasting was to expose tasters to the wide variety of other wines available from the area.

There was a wonderful buffet to go along with the wines. And the views from the 15th floor of the Warwick Hotel were very nice.

Here are my top picks from the tasting:

• Mitolo Jester
Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale 2006 ~$18

• Penfolds
Magill Estate, Shiraz 2003 ~$43

• M.R.
Marsanne Roussanne, Barossa 2005 ~$30

• Hill of Content
Pinot Noir, Margret River 2005 ~$20

Here's a list of wine events coming up in the next few weeks:

• April 22 - All Australia Wine Tasting
I plan to be at this tasting myself. All wines from Australia, but no Yellow Tail allowed.
5-8pm at the Warwick Hotel in Denver - Info here
$45 advance purchase, $50 at the door

• April 26 - Experience Wine Class "Colorado Wines"
5:30-8pm at Mimi's Café on North Academy Blvd - Info here

• May 5 - Taste of the Springs Wine Dinner
6:30pm at the Craftwood Inn - Info here
$85 per person

• May 6 - Taste of the Springs
3pm at the Sheraton Hotel - Info here
$65 per person

• June 2 - Manitou Springs Wine Festival
12-6pm in Soda Springs Park
Includes a wine glass, and tastings from all of the wineries

Please feel free to email me and let me know if there are any events that I've missed.

Taste of the Springs 2007 is coming up in May and offers two chances for great food and wine. 



On May 5 at 6:30pm, the Craftwood Inn is hosting the Winemaker's Dinner, featuring wines from Michael and David Vineyards.
Then, on May 6 from 3pm-6pm, the Sheraton Hotel will host the Taste of the Springs, featuring 30 of the finest restaurants in the area. This event also features a silent auction and a "Wheel of Good Taste."

This is one of the biggest food and wine events in the Colorado Springs area, and definitely should not be missed. You can check out all of the details at the website here.

Winemaker's Dinner
May 5th @ 6:30pm
The Craftwood Inn
$85 per person ($45 of which are tax deductible)
Menu and wine list here

Taste of the Springs
May 6th from 3pm-6pm
Sheraton Hotel
$65 per person ($45 of which is tax deductible)

I know it's short notice, but I thought this was a big enough event to post, just in case anyone is in the area. 



The Grand Tasting at the Cincinnati International Wine Festival will feature more than 130 wineries, pouring nearly 600 vintages. The festival will take place at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati, and live music and food will accompany the many wines. 



6:30pm-9pm 

March 23rd and 24th 

www.winefestival.com

Next week Coaltrain Wine is hosting a tasting featuring "Wines to Drink with Spicy Foods" at Mackenzie's Chophouse. The Chef will be preparing Mexican, Thai, Chinese, and other spicy foods to pair with wine. There sill be a series of food samplings to compare and match. The price is $40 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Call 719-475-9700 to secure a reservation. 



This should be a fun event with great food and wine. 



March 28th @ 6pm 

Mackenzie's Chophouse 



Coaltrain Wine & Spirits 

330 W. Uintah 

Colorado Springs, CO 80905 

719-475-9700

Passport to Sonoma is a huge wine event scheduled for May 19th and 20th from 11am - 4pm at over 40 participating wineries in the Sonoma Valley, which will be presenting over 200 exceptional wines. Events at the wineries will include food pairing, live music, tours, wine education, and more. Ticket holders will receive a commemorative wine glass, unlimited wine tasting at over 40 wineries, preferred access to pre-release, library and winery-only wines, special pricing on select wines, and discounts and/or waived corkage on Sonoma Valley wines at participating restaurants.

Advanced tickets prices are $50 for the weekend, or $45 a day. And $10 tickets are available for designated drivers. At the event tickets will be $60 for the weekend, or $55 a day. To purchase tickets click www.sonomavalleywine.com.

The Manitou Springs Wine Festival will be on June 2nd from 12pm to 6pm at Soda Springs Park. More than 20 Colorado wineries will be pouring samples, and there will be live entertainment throughout the afternoon. Food, fine art, and craft booths will be located throughout the park as well.

Tickets can be purchased at the event.

June 2nd, 2007 
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM 
Soda Springs Park 
Manitou Springs, Colorado 
$20.00 per person - includes a wine glass and tastings from all of the wineries. 
Wine can also be purchased by the bottle or case. 


---

The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey

Reserve Tastings & Food Pairings
• Colorado Merlot Reserve, with guest chef James Tracey: March 22 4-7pm.
• 2006 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, with hors d'ouevres by Han Son: March 29 4-7pm.
The events are free and located at the winery. Click here for directions.

Harvest Fest
September 29th and 30th, 2007
Harvest Fest features a host of wine events. Including tastings, tours, a wine dinner, and a community grape crushing! There isn't a lot of information yet, but you can find a brochure here.

---

Power Liquor Mart Events
• California Wine Tasting, March 24th
• Microbrew Tasting, March 29th
• Wines of the World Tasting, March 31st

Pre-registration is required for these events, call 719-596-4700 for more info.

---

The Blue Star Events
Wine tastings on Wednesdays at 6:30pm, $20.
• Wines with Chocolate, March 21st
• Spanish Wines, March 28th

Visit www.thebluestar.net for more info.

---

Experience Wine Classes
Experience Wine Classes are held at Mimi's Café, located at 7133 N. Academy Blvd, and offer Sunday wine tastings.
• Simply Reds, March 28th 5:30-8pm $45
• Australian Wines, March 29th, 5:30-8pm $45
• A Friendly Introduction to Wine, April 15th 5:30-7:30pm $40
• Colorado Wines, April 26th 5:30-8pm $45

Visit www.experiencewine.net.

The Expo today had to be one of the most heavily attended wine and food events I've been to in the Colorado Springs area. It had been promoted on the local radio station KKPK though, so I'm sure that had some effect on the attendance. While I love to see more people get out and experience local food and wine, there were a few too many people at the event for my standards. I don't like having to push through crowds in order to simply throw away a plate. 


---

There were a great number of restaurants represented, and of a very large variety: mexican, greek, american west, fusion, italian, and many more. Here are my thought on some of the restaurants I tried out.

• Fuse - New American Cuisine
3317 Cinema Point
Colorado Springs, CO 80922
www.fuseamericanrestaurant.com

This restaurant's booth had two dishes, a greek style salad and a pita chip with a vegetable hummus. Typically I'm not much of a fan of this type of food, it usually seems a bit too new age for me. However the sample food was intriguingly refreshing. It was light and enjoyable, and the rest of their menu looks interesting as well. It features things like chipotle pasta, flatbread pizzetas, and a great drink list of martinis, margaritas, and wines.

• Salsa Brava
9420 Briar Village Point
& 802 Village Center Drive
http://www.restauranteur.com/salsabravaonlinecom/

I've actually eaten at this restaurant several times before, and they really do have excellent food. The sampling at the expo was of a seafood salsa. It was very good, though it had a bit much cilantro for me. They also have a great happy hour with fantastic margaritas.

• Jake & Telly's Greek Cuisine
2616 W. Colorado Ave.
http://www.greekdining.com/

Jake & Telly's offering was a stew flavored with some uncommon spices, such as cinnamon. I was a little leery at first, but it really did have a wonderful flavor. I've eaten at this restaurant several times before, and I actually know the family that owns it, I went to high school with Jake & Telly's younger brother. For Greek cuisine in the area, I highly recommend it.

• The Place
13990 Gleneagle Dr.
http://www.meetattheplace.com/

The Place is a fairly new restaurant that is located in the old building that used to be the Cactus Rose in Gleneagle. Their food samplings were meatballs and a shrimp salsa wrap. Both were excellent. I've never eaten there before, but I have heard good things about it, and it seems to be fairly popular with people in the area.

---

As for wines, there weren't as many available for tasting as I thought there would be, but there were a few that I would recommend to you.

• Menage a Trois Rosé


As you have probably guessed rosé wines tend to be my favorite, and I think this one is a real winner. It's sweet and crisp, but not too sweet. An excellent wine to choose when you don't know what to pair with your meal.

• 337 Cabernet Sauvignon

This is perhaps the smoothest cabernet sauvignon I've ever tasted. While it has much of the body typical of a red wine, it's still somewhat light and fruity. If you have a hard time drinking red wines, give this one a try.

• Irony Wine Merlot

I had never tasted this wine before, but I definitely think I'll be buying some in the near future. The aroma was truly intoxicating, with a strong scent of cherries. The taste was just as fruity as the aroma, and made for a truly bold merlot.

---

Finally, here are some of the pictures I took of the expo:

I just found out about this event and wanted to share it with you all. The 11th Annual Restaurant Expo & Culinary Arts Show will be on March 18th at the Broadmoor Hotel. Over 40 of Southern Colorado's best restaurants and caterers will be there, with over 100 wines to sample as well. 
Plus, Colorado's best chefs will compete in an Iron Chef style competition. Should be lots of fun. Here are all of the details: 



Date: March 18, 2007 

Location: Colorado Hall at the Broadmoor Hotel 

Time: 12pm-3pm 

Tickets are $37.50 and can be purchased here 

All proceeds benefit the Memorial Hospital Foundation and Pro Start Colorado.

The International Wine Guild is hosting a Guild Certification class down in Colorado Springs! It will be in June at Plate World Cuisine in Briargate. The cost is $485, and includes all materials, wines, and guild membership. 



You can register here. Hope to see you all there!

The Grand Tasting for the Wine Festival was on Friday night, and it was spectacular. It was held at the Broadmoor Hotel and featured a wide assortment of wines and food. I have to admit that I've never been to this particular event before, so I don't have any previous years to compare it to. But as a first-timer, I truly enjoyed myself. 



I have to say that my favorite wine was the Peter Mertes Riesling. It was very sweet and crisp, an excellent German wine. It appears to be slightly difficult to purchase though, so I'll be sure to let you know when I find a store that sells it. I also enjoyed the Spruce Mountain Meadery's selection. I had never tried mead before, so it was a pleasant surprise. I recommend giving it a try if you haven't before, very sweet. 



For food the Ranch Steak House truly rose to the occasion. Their roast beef was excellent, and did well to help pad my stomach amongst all of those wines. The Melting Pot was also there with a wonderful assortment of fondue dippers and tiny cups of chocolate. Placing a $10 gift card on everyone's plate will definitely get some more people into their restaurant for a while I'm sure. 



The silent auction seemed to go very well, and hopefully raised lots of money for the CS Fine Arts Center. Though I truly wanted to contribute and purchase the Dale Chihuly print, it was sadly out of my budget. I highly encourage you to come to next year's event, you definitely won't regret it.