Square and fair | Wine in the Box

I have been buying wine in box for some time now, but usually only to give to our chefs for cooking purposes.  It is cheaper than large glass bottles, more eco-friendly, less weight and it stacks better in my storeroom!  Recently however, I was asked by a friend of mine, if I would drink box wine and I told him that there was NO way, I would be drinking that stuff.  He asked me if I ever had tried it and I said yes, about 5 years ago and I really don't want to do that again.  He kept talking about how much these wines have improved and how the wine lasts about two weeks once opened et cetera.  So long story short,

5 great wine quotes

Just stumbled across some great wine quotes and thought I would share a few.

Wine quotes:

Wine is the most civilized thing in the world

- Ernest Hemingway

Wine improves with age.  The older I get, the better I like it :)

- unknown

Compromises are for relationships, not wine.

- Sir Robert Scott Caywood

Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of the life's most civilized pleasures.

- Michael Broadbent

Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.

- Benjamin Franklin

I hope you get to enjoy some great wine this holiday weekend.  I know that I am looking forward to cook some nice lamp tomorrow night and indulge into a nice bottle... I mean glass of Pinot Noir.

St Patrick's Day | Green Beer or Green Wine?

We all know about the green beer for St. Patrick's Day, or the Guinness drinking competitions (yes, I did those as well when I was younger) and of course the good excuse to drink Irish Whiskey until we can't remember anymore...
But one thing, I never noticed, is the offering of green beer!  Not that I would want to encourage anybody to take a nice bottle of Chardonnay and add green food coloring to it, but I would have never asked anybody to do the same for the beer either.  Since my birthday is always a couple days prior to St. Patrick's Day and usually simply leads into a 3 day stretch of drinking anyways, I might as well, add drinking a green glass of wine to the list!  Only for my Irish friends - of course. 
In Germany, I properly would get shot for something like that :)

Cheers | Have a great St. Patrick's Day and don't do anything that I would not do ;)

Grüner Veltliner

Not sure if you had the opportunity to have a glass of "Gruener" but if you see it by the glass on a wine list, go for it and try a glass of this nice acidic, cool climate white wine.  The grape varietal calls its home in Austria. Gruener Veltliner goes well with Asian cuisines just like Riesling and truly deserves more recognition!  So, my wine loving friends - Go out there and ask for a glass of Gruener or buy a bottle at a wine store near you and have it with your sushi or asian take out! 

Prost

National Drink Wine Day

My dear wine lovers,

How much better can it get?  Today, February 18th marks the "National Drink Wine Day".  What a great reason to open a bottle of wine with friends and enjoy a glass or two or three...

Maybe you rather open a nice bottle of wine and share with your significant other to celebrate an extended Valentine's Day.  Or take the healthy approach - drink wine for health reasons, as most of us know, wine certainly can have positive impact on our health, often not as much as we read or would hope for, but nonetheless, it can have health benefits.  Whatever the reason, it is always a good reason to enjoy a glass of white or red wine and today more than any other day!

Prost | Cheers | Cin-Cin | Slainte | Salute | Skål | Santé | Kampai

In flight wine

Did you ever order a wine while flying somewhere?  If you did, you properly know where I am going with this.  The offering is usually awful at best.  Since we can't get any wine thru the security check points, you really don't have another choice but to settle for something else or drink wine with little to no enjoyment.  But that era is coming to an end.  Some airports these days have wine bars with retail licenses.  Brilliant!  Simply marvelous.  Have a nice glass of wine prior to boarding, and take a split, half bottle or the rest of your bottle of wine, on board with you.  Trust me, I first did that a couple of years ago on a flight to Hawaii, and while I was flying economy, I sure had the best wine and others, including business class, envied me.

To all these wine retailers in airports, kudos to you and I hope that there will many more airports that have somebody like you in the near future.  Just do me one favor; have more 375ml (half bottles) available!  There are perfect for a 2-3 hour flight.  

Wine and Dine my Valentine

Most people will go out for Valentine's Day.  This year you have some options, as most restaurants are prepared to give you and yours the special St. Valentine's Day experience today (February 11th), Valentine's Day itself or on the 18th of February.  With that, the pressure of ensuring that you made your dining reservations at her favorite restaurant way in advance, but forgot it anyways, should be at ease. 
But now what?  Do I arrange for special flowers for the dinner table?  Do I pre-order a nice bottle of Champagne?  I would.  It is Valentine's Day for crying out loud.  Might as well go all out and have lasting, memorable evening with your significant other.  Or stay home and cook a special dinner and pull a nice wine out of your collection (or if collection is nonexistent), buy a nice couple bottles of wine.
In regards to the Champagne selection, see my New Year's Eve blog for recommendations.


Want to know more about Saint Valentine? Click the hyperlink.