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Archive for August, 2011Near the historic city of Agrigento on the Southwestern coast of Sicily lays the beautiful, eco-friendly d’Alessandro winery. Founded in 2006 by Giacomo d’Alessandro, the winery marries both indigenous grape varietals and Sicilian tradition with innovative oenological practices. The d’Alessandro wines honor the traditions of the land and experiment with the contemporary. Created on land owned by the d’Alessandro family since 1820, the winery contains large solar panels to provide most of the energy for production. Similarly, the d’Alessandro logo pays homage to Sicily’s abundant natural resources, consisting of four colors representing earth, fire, wind, and water. The perforated back label on each of the bottles is also thoughtful, providing an easy solution to remembering wine information. Created by a young wine-making team led by oenologist Tonino Guzzo, d’Alessandro wines consist of native Sicilian and international varietals well suited to the terroir. The d’Alessandro Nero d’Avola/Syrah is a well-structured wine consisting of 65% Nero d’Avola and 35% Syrah. This powerful blend is best paired with salumi and hearty main courses. Nero d’Avola 2008 is a deep ruby-red and complex wine, representing the best of traditional Sicily. Suggested food pairings include grilled meats sand hearty fish such as swordfish with cherry tomatoes and capers. The d’Alessandro white wine is 100% Inzolia. Inzolia is a lively and easy to drink, and pairs well with cooked fish, sashimi (or ‘crudo’) and white meats. For more information visit: dalessandrowine.com Salute!  No related posts. Tags: d'alessandro wine, Italy, Sicily, Wine Every week I get the latest issue of TIME magazine and flip the pages while riding the subway on my way to work, looking for interesting articles that grab my attention. And this morning I came across a very interesting piece by Joel Stein, usually author of the fully-humoristic “Awesome Column” in the last page of the magazine, but this time “special” to the Food section. “The Other Cooking Channel” is the title (sorry but you need to have a paid subscription to check this out online) and Joel writes about how in the digital era we’re living nowadays, everybody can be a host of a cooking show. Yes, because video storage sites like YouTube, online foodie communities like iFood.tv or streaming video platforms like USstream (waiting for Google+ cooking classes), allow everybody with an internet connection and a webcam (quality of the hardware doesn’t really matter) to be on air or record shows where they can show their culinary talent or “funny” entertainment. So it happens to see a heavy-metal chef in Kiss-like make up cooking vegan recipes (yes vegan, with nothing derived by animals) while listening to heavy metal songs. This guy just posted three videos so far but the first one attracted nearly 1.5 million views. Or again you might see a former instructor of the Culinary Academy in San Francisco having 118,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. His secret? A crappy camera duct-taped to a spice rack while cooking onion rings. But all of this is not just driven by fame and popularity desire, it’s also and mostly about money. As Joel Stein points out, “Hundreds of people who have been accepted into YouTube’s Partner Program are now making more than $100,000 a year for letting the site run ads along the bottom of their videos, and many of these new partners have channels that involve food”. And of course YouTube is more than happy to satisfy these online celebrities, selling targeted ads to targeted audiences. So who’s the potential loser in this game? TV, I guess.
Brian Manowitz, The Vegan Black Metal Chef
No related posts. Posted in: digital media , Food | Comments Off This October, Italian wine lovers, producers, and writers will gather with their trade partners-in-wine to celebrate the US arrival of the Vinitaly in the World Tour. The US Tour will begin in Washington DC with a day of exclusive trade and press tastings and business seminars on Monday, October 17th at the Italian Embassy. The tour will move to New York City on October 18th with a fundraiser, open to the public and held in cooperation with the American Cancer Society. Events will conclude with a final day of tastings and business seminars for the wine trade and press at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. This year the seminar themes will be: ‘Technology and Innovation in the Wine Industry’, geared toward importers and distributors and ‘Scoring and the Media’s Influence on Consumer Purchase Habits’, geared toward restaurateurs and retailers. There will also be a seminar educating Italian producers on the workings of the United States market, dedicated tastings featuring the wines of Sicily and Morellino di Scansano, and a special Master Class with the Italian Sommelier Society (AIS) for sommeliers and wine educators. Vinitaly is the largest wine fair in the world with over 4,500 producers and 150,000+ visitors annually. The event is held every year in April in Verona, Italy (46th edition: Verona March 25-28, 2012).This year marks the 14th international tour for Vinitaly. The tour will be stopping in Russia, China and Korea with representatives making a stop in Japan as well. Press and trade registration for the Washington DC and New York City events is now available at the following links: For more information about the Vinitaly in the World Tour, please visit http://www.vinitalytour.com/ Related posts:
Tags: Italy, sommelier, Vinitaly, Wine It is a good year for wine, and it is not because of vintage or climate. It’s a good year, because wine is catching up to beer in regards to preference. In the U.S. 35% of Americans prefer wine; 36% reach for a cold beer, and 23% enjoy liquor as their libation of choice. Interestingly, young adults preference for beer decreased and wine increased. All the figures come from a study by Gallup. Read the full article by Lydia Saad here. The article is full of interesting facts including where certain beverages are mostly consumed and the demographics behind consumption and preference. Fun fact from the study: wine is most popular in the East, liquor in the South and West, and beer in the Midwest. Related posts: Tags: beer, Gallup, Lydia Saad, preference, Wine |
