It’s Holiday Time again and you are wondering what intriguing gift would excite the wine enthusiast in your life… Here are a few ideas that will bring a smile to any wine lover. Continue reading »
Dec 012011
Restaurant & Food Reviews
Apr 142011
So here’s the question: Can a Wine Drinking Dude secretly be a Thirsty Girl? At 6’ 3” and well north of 200 pounds, I’m not exactly the kind of attendee you would expect to see at a Thirsty Girl Live Austin Tour Event. I wasn’t sure what to expect, maybe a bunch of chicks talking about their favorite Pinot Grigio and new Jimmy Choos? Well, I was wrong and had more fun than I imagined.
Thristy Girl is the creation of self-proclaimed “Head Thirsty Girl,” and NBC Television wine expert / contributor Leslie Sbrocco. This girl is high energy bawdy fun. No wine sipping here, this is a drinkin’ girl. Bacchus and Beery Wine Blog was the guest of Head Thirsty Girl of the evening, Fall Creek Vineyards co-founder/owner Susan Auler. Fall Creek was the only Texas winery pouring and their wines stood well against Thirsty Girl nationally known sponsors Ravenswood, La Crema, Cambria and others. Continue reading »
Apr 082011
Each March we make a concerted effort to head to Austin, Texas for the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival (2011). This four day festival (nearly 20 events to choose from) goes from Thursday to Sunday, usually during the last weekend of the month. Unfortunately this year, we did not arrive until late Thursday night forcing us to miss the Stars Across Texas Gala. This event is a walk around Bacchanalia with world renowned chefs and wines from around the world. Though Texas wines are featured, there are plenty of delicious offerings from California, Oregon, Washington and elsewhere. Though, as I said we were unable to attend, the consensus was it was a great event and “better than last year,” which we thought was pretty darn good. Continue reading »
Jan 302011
Winemaker Andrew Schweiger and Chef J.D. Brown
Earlier this week we had the opportunity to join winemaker Andrew Schweiger of Schweiger Vineyards for a wonderful winemaker dinner at CRU Wine Bar – Park Meadows in Denver. The restaurant was closed for the event which was attended by at least fifty people. I doubt anyone went home disappointed in the wine, Andrew’s presentation or the food. The menu was very well thought out and showcased the wines beautifully. More on that later… Continue reading »
Jul 112010
Recently I was reading an article on our slow to rebound economy. The writer interviewed an upscale restaurateur who claimed his sales were still off by 60% from a couple of years ago. I have no idea where the restaurant is but that doesn’t seem to be the case in my two cities, Denver, CO and my beloved Austin, TX.
Donna and I spent a little time discussing the restaurateurs claim and agreed that we don’t eat out as much as we did. So we asked why? We came to the conclusion that there are a number of restaurants we like very much but refuse to pay their exorbitant wine mark ups. In my early days of wine collecting (that was a long time ago) in Austin I’ll admit I was spoiled (Henry and Jay, you know who you are). Back then wholesale laws and enforcement were much more lax and I’d buy cases of great wine wholesale, compliments of my restaurant buddies. So very early on I learned the real cost of wine.
Here’s my rant. What the hell am I getting when I pay a restaurant 200% or more than I can buy the exact same wine retail. Continue reading »
