The Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce welcomes wine lovers to its latest Tour of Latin America event. Previous events have spotlighted the coffee and cigars of Latin America.
A vineyard in central Chile
This installment, the third, ventures into the rich vineyards of Argentina, Chile and Peru. (Our thoughts are with Chileans after the recent devastating earthquake, and we hope that export of the country's wonderful wines can continue.)
The party starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at the Wine Loft wine bar, 503 12th Ave. S. in the Gulch. Its free for THCC members, $20 for non-members.
The organization describes the mission of its Tour of Latin America series as a "continuing effort to provide a cultural education to Nashvillians and a celebration of all things Hispanic."
There'll be a new brew at some local bars soon, and it's a beer that aims to make a difference.
Jubilee Beer, an English-style nut-brown ale making its debut March 12, will contribute 50 percent of profits to Oasis Center, a Nashville nonprofit that assists teens in difficult home situations, according to Jubilee founder Mark Dunkerley.
Dunkerley, a returned Nashvillian, describes the brew as medium bodied, not overly bitter, smooth and flavorful.
The beer will be contract brewed by the award-winning Bluegrass Brewing Company in Louisville, maker of the Bourbon Barrel Stout that first caught Dunkerley's eye.
The roster of establishments signed up to offer Jubilee so far include many Bites favorites: Whiskey Kitchen, Patterson House, Melrose, Corner Pub Green Hills, Corner Pub in the Woods, Lime, Paradise Park, Virago and, for the thirsty in Williamson County, Wolfgang Puck in Cool Springs. You're likely to roll up in one or other of those watering holes at some point: supporting a worthy cause will be as easy as ordering a beer.
During a clear-out of the digital camera, this photo, taken in mid-summer, turned up, buried deep in layers of other shots. Seeing the frosty glass and remembering the cool cocktail and good meal on a hot day, my heart beat an extra beat, as if to say it was warm once, and sunny. And it will be again.
J. Alexander's was the site of this ingenious little cooling innovation. It keeps the teensy carafe of drink cool until you need it, but without watering it down. While February, which is the actual cruelest month if you're not a doom-sayer poet, drags on and on, I plan to dedicate myself to a bar-by-bar search for these little drinks coolers until the first green buds appear, and the daylight lingers at least until dinner time.
I've started a list of places with clever cooling devices. Who else has these, or something equally useful, so I can put it on my "winter libations" list. I figure that with a few excursions to bars, soon enough, or sooner rather than later, spring will be here.
People who love locally made Yazoo beer are dying to know when the new brewery (with a much expanded taproom) will open. I checked in recently with affable brewmeister Linus Hall for an update.
Launched in 2003 by Hall and his wife Lila, Yazoo Brewing Co. has outgrown its Marathon Motorworks space and is in the process of moving to a bigger facility at 910 Division in the Gulch.
Original predictions had the new brewery opening in mid-January, but Hall says some hitches in the electrical supply have delayed the project by a couple months. He's now giving early spring as the expected opening time.
Meanwhile, the current Yazoo Taproom continues to be the most adorable mini-pub in town, with lots of fresh Yazoo flavors on tap and baskets of Provence bread, fruit and artisan cheeses for sale as snacks.
Because the Yazoo staff is mostly busy with the actual brewing of beer, the taproom has limited hours (4-8 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 2-8 p.m. Saturday). But this week Hall added special hours 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, where customers can stop by the taproom and refill their growlers (that's a large reusable glass jug) with Yazoo from the taps.
It's just a fill-up station on Wednesdays, no food or pints served, only recharged growlers to go. "Our customers didn't like having to wait until the weekend to fill up their growlers," Hall says, laughing.
Sometimes it seems like a new restaurant dominates all the news on the culinary intertubes, and lately it's been Taco Mamacita. But they've been hard at work earning thebuzz. Most recently, they've come under the critical eye of La Señora Zorro (that's "Fox" in Spanish) in the latest issue of the Scene.
Now the proprietors of Taco Mamacita have started to attract throngs of patrons for their new Two-for-One Margarita Wednesdays. From 4 p.m. until closing, both the El Vez and the El Camino margaritas will be available for you to double your pleasure and double your fun (and, apparently double your definite articles). Be sure to try their special formulation of crushed ice that simulates the good parts of a frozen drink without the constant annoying scream of a bar blender. From all accounts, Wednesday nights have been slammed, so get there early.
I had the pleasure of stopping by Flyte for a quick drink and a nosh before heading out to a play reading last Friday night. Why didn't somebody tell me what an unbelievable happy hour deal they have there? Oh yeah ... that's supposed to be my job.
So consider yourself informed. Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 until 7:30, Flyte offers 25 percent off on their antipasto bar menu, including a selection of very interesting cheeses that you won't see on a typical cocktail menu. The Buffalo Chicken Spring Rolls were ordered, devoured, reordered and fought over by our the entire table. I shudder to think how many little Buffalo Chickens gave their all for our culinary pleasure.
The calendar is packed for us winos over the next few weeks, so pour yourself a tall one, Bitesters and Drinksters, and settle in for the update.
Leading off, those crazy kids at the Bacchanalian Society are throwing an event at TPAC on Jan. 28 to benefit the Performing Arts Center and its programs. Details below:
Recently I picked up Tom Standage's fascinating book, A History of the World in Six Glasses. Although it was written five years ago, I really don't think too much has changed in the world of stemware historians since the copyright date.
The conceit of the work is that the story of all of human history can be described by the influence of six beverages: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola. As a technology editor for The Economist, Standage has a gift for describing the minutiae of the discovery of these various drinks and the extrapolating their sociological impact. The story of the importance of beer to ancient Mesopotamian culture goes so far as to say that beer was one of the first currencies, as surely it was a gift from the gods.
Wine became a basis for the commercial trade of the Greeks, leading them to explore previously unknown ports, which would eventually become part of their empire. The nautical theme continues as Standage describes rum as the oil that lubricated the African slave trade and fortified the sailors who manned the transport ships.
His treatment of coffee and tea involves slightly more civilized imperialists, but still reveals the importance of these beverages on commerce and the expansion of trade routes. The story of Coca-Cola is simply a more modern-day version of the globalization of a product and one of the more remarkable marketing efforts of our times.
It's a quick read, and while claiming to view all of civilization through the bottom of a glass is a bit of a stretch, it does make you think about what you're drinking and the vessel it comes in. Pour yourself a nice glass of Petit Syrah and dig into the story.
It's proven scientific fact that alcohol has a lower freezing point than water and that the human body is on average 57 percent water. So it stands to reason that the more alcohol you can add to your body, the better you'll be able to handle this bone-chilling weather we've been enduring. If anybody tries to use logic or facts on me on this one, I swear I'll turn off the comments for this post.
So if you're willing to suspend rational thought like I am, there are plenty of opportunities coming up to change the titration of your bloodstream. A Nashville favorite, Jim Clendenen, is visiting from California to introduce a new line of Clendenen Family wines. The good folks at BooneDocks Distribution LLC will be squiring Jim around town for your edification and entertainment.
As of next week you'll have one less place in Berry Hill to buy your grapes and grain as Berry Hill Liquors & Wines goes out of business. That would reduce residents' options to...none?
According to the proprietor and neighborhood fave, Mr. Lee, the rent just got too high, and he could no longer justify the business model. Regrettable as that is, Mr. Lee's loss can be your gain as he sells out his inventory over the next few days. Shoppers who purchase four or more 750 ml or larger bottles of liquor or wine will get 30 percent off until supplies are gone. Mr. Lee is scheduled to stay open until Jan. 15 or the exhaustion of his inventory.
If you see a Silver Camry hybrid with a bike rack on the back of it in the parking lot, you'd better hurry. Or kindly get out of my way.
Berry Hill Liquors & Wines
708 Thompson Lane, Nashville
385-2914
Of all the decade end* lists of "Best of This" and "Worst of That," one that caught my eye in particular was Slash/Food's quick review of "The Decade in Cocktails." Personally, my decade in cocktails could be summed up by a gradual but continuous transition of mixers from sugary sodas to diet coke to water. Now I'm lucky to get some good ice to drop in my glass of Old Forester.
But according to the Slash/Foodies, the decade was about the return of artistic preparation and artisan ingredients to the cocktail trade. Gone are the flash bartenders like Tom Cruise circa "Cocktail" and their punnily named innuendo shots of "Sex on the Beach" and "Sloe Comfortable Screws." Syrupy drinks served in cocktail glasses are no longer readily referred to as blank-"tinis" and liquors of interest have emerged from fiercely regional camps like the cachaça of Brazil and Pisco from Peru and bourbon from Versailles.
Bartenders have become "Master Mixologists" and "Bar Chefs." No matter whether you think those titles are pretentious and silly, they really have raised the thoughtful art of getting you slightly schnockered to a higher level. Getting home is still up to you. Or Zingo.
So what's your favorite or most despised liquor trend of the past decade? What do you hope keeps on flowing or finally gets corked for good?
*and don't get started on how the decade isn't really over until next year because there was no year zero. Blah, blah, blah.
In Nashville beverage news, we have some new neighbors making splashes. Soon-to-be residents of Marathon Village, Corsair Artisan Spirits just got back from the World Beverage Competition in Geneva, Switzerland and are bringing home some hardware.
Competing with liquor products from over 30 countries worldwide, Corsair's Gin won a gold medal to follow up on their gold from the 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Even more surprising was Corsair's platinum medal in Geneva for their experimental Rasputin Whiskey, distilled from a Russian Imperial Stout beer. We can't wait to have these guys as neighbors in Nashville and to try their new products.
Speaking of new neighbors, The Jubilee Craft Beer Company announced they will be creating a fun, novel beer brand that should hit store shelves and restaurants in the next month or so.
Don't forget there's more than one holiday going on right now. Friday, Dec. 18, is the last night of Hanukkah, so don't miss this opportunity to get a festive gift for your Jewish friends. Nashville Wine and Spirits is offering 15 percent off of any one bottle of kosher wine through Saturday, Dec. 19. They have a great selection of kosher wines, including vintages from Chile, Israel and Italy, so you're not limited to just Manischewitz.
Tell them you saw the details of the discount here on Bites, and I'll bet they let you buy it without the coupon they sent me. Nashville Wine & Spirits, 4556 Harding Road, 292-2676
If you're looking for a more traditional Christmas drink, drop by F. Scott's in Green Hills and sidle up to the bartender and whisper their current Speakeasy term, "It's a Wonderful Life," for a special discount on F. Scott's homemade eggnog, with bourbon and brandy.
The wine world changes so continually that I don't bother keeping up. Instead, I play a fun little game with Josh at Green Hills Wine Shoppe when the occasion calls for wine.
"Josh, I need a white wine for appetizers like bruschetta, but one that red wine drinkers will drink." "Josh, I need a white for chili." "Josh I need a rose for seafood."
There's always a reason. Usually it's because I prefer white wine and my usually dinner group drinks red, so I take my own white. Or because everyone will bring cabernet, so I want to be different.
It's never easy, or I'd figure it out myself. Josh prefers slightly drier wines than I do, but usually, it's a winner.
The latest was "Josh, I need a light red for lasagna." He recommended Il Campo, a sangiovese from the central coast of California. Fruity enough, tannic enough -- another home run.
So that's one less subject I have to know about, because it's delegated to someone else's expertise. What about you -- in what culinary areas do you defer to the experts?
Go ahead and take the weekend off and head to the gym on Monday, because next week is packed with opportunities to get your drink on.
Tuesday, Dec. 15
Mark your calendar for a Kentucky Bourbon Distiller's tasting hosted by Hunter Chavonne at Riverfront Tavern starting at 7 p.m. Just $15 gets you a trip through KBD's Small Batch Boutique Collection of four bourbons guided by Chavonne, whose wife's grandfather started the distillery over 60 years ago.
Riverfront Tavern is downtown at 101 Church St. For more info, call 252-4849.
Wednesday, Dec. 16
Enjoy a Holiday Cocktail Party at Amerigo in Cool Springs from 6 to 7 p.m. The good folks out at Amerigo always provide a good time and are offering samples of four drinks and a choice of small plate for $13.50. Stick around for a full dinner afterward. To check out the details, point your sleigh over here to get to their website.
Amerigo Cool Springs, 1656 Westgate Circle, Brentwood. For reservations call 377-7070.
Thursday, Dec. 17
Don't miss the Casa Lapostolle Wine Social hosted by Scott Ridlen with Moet Hennessy at Nero's Grill from 6 to 8 p.m. for $15. Casa Lapostolle makes some great Chilean wines, so this one should be a treat!
Nero's Grill, 2122 Hillsboro Drive in Green Hills, 297-7777
While we've been remodeling our house, we've been living in a dark condo with very few windows. I will forever refer to this interregnum as "The Summer I Learned to Drink Whiskey." Now, I've been a George Dickel drinker for years, but usually mixed with ginger ale or (shudder) Sundrop. If you've ever spent any time in Lewisburg, you'll know that Dickel/Drops are the municipal beverage of choice.
But this summer I began to discover the concept of quality over quantity when dealing with liquor. I also happily bought into the concept of two ice cubes and a splash of water as a mixer. If you search my liquor cabinet (which is sadly just a corner of the counter in our kitchenette), the bourbon of choice of the moment is Four Roses Small Batch. Not as expensive as Single Barrel, but much smoother than their normal yellow label, Small Batch is a wonderfully balanced bourbon with spicy notes of fruit and an oaky finish with a hint of caramel. At $30-plus per bottle, it's a sipping drink so that helps to moderate consumption. Not that I want to...
Well, as a treat for us Four Roses fans, Whiskey Kitchen is hosting Master Distiller Jim Rutledge on Thursday, Dec. 10, starting at 6 p.m.
Steak costs a fortune, or does it have to? Give a working guy a tip: where is the good value in steak?
The difference in art and science is dissolving, so it's hard to know whether guacamole is an art or a science. Perhaps professionals can help.
Guacamole calls for chips, and chips call for drinks: homemade cordials are easy to make but it may take a professional to make it right.
Morale of the story: whatever the question, Bites readers have an answer.
It was a week before Thanksgiving when the first carton of Hatcher Family Dairy eggnog came home. That violates the "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule, and the only reason I grabbed it was that it was the last jug of it on the shelf at Whole Foods, so obviously, the rule is being flagrantly broken.
With a creamy body that's thinner and more beverage-like than Purity eggnog, plus loads of nutmeg, it's flying off the shelf for good reason. I like that the nutmeg sinks to the bottom -- shake it for more flavor, or leave it for a milder flavor.
This year's crop of plums from our tree was smallish -- just about 15 plums. A quick flip through Martha Stewart turned up Plum Brandy! It was a strange technique, with those extra steps that always seem to be in her recipes. Instead of simple syrup and plums, there was a proper 234-degree sugar candy syrup poured into the jar, where it immediately turned into hard candy at the bottom of the jar. The brandy was poured over it, then topped with plums.
It lingered at the back of the fridge all summer, all autumn. Like Tom Petty said: The waiting is the hardest part. At last, it was ready to drink a couple of weeks ago.
Drumroll please. Meh. It tastes like cough medicine. So I called Stephanie M., the erstwhile bartender at Mirror, a master mixologist and concocter of concoctions. She took on the task and concocted three suggestions.
The Wino will not be wandering far from his couch today, but if you're feeling more ambitious there will be a few opportunities to get into the holiday spirits next week.
Amerigo-Cool Springs will be hosting a tasting next Tuesday, Dec. 1, to introduce some of the completely affordable new additions to their wine list. They will be tasting four new wines, along with your choice of one small plate for just $13.50 per person. The wines they will be pouring are:
I usually order Diet Coke when I'm out for lunch. Possibly my generation is influenced by the John Belushi sketch on Saturday Night Live, but personal experience confirms that places owned by Middle Eastern people seem to offer Pepsi more frequently. Or anyway it happened when Chris and I went to Fat Mo's for a burger.
I'd be interested in how other people receive the news that Pepsi is your option. Do your shoulders drop in disappointment? Do you switch to Sprite? I feel a slight thrill, actually, because I prefer Pepsi. True, it lacks the strong vanilla waft of Coke that goes so well with Jack Daniel's fine Tennessee-made bourbon. But it's lunchtime, and the slight bitterness from the cola nut has more personality, the slightly less sweet flavor profile and the carbonation level go better with food.
Now if Snapple or Jones sodas were available, this discussion would be moot.
Waters with additives are everywhere: SoBe, Vitamin Water, SmartWater. They're beefed up with herbs, vitamins, oxygen and more.
For overall nutritional profile, they're definitely a better choice than sugary beverages but the Berkeley Wellness Letter reports that the vitamins and minerals in them are "certainly not going to make you healthy, boost immunity or energy, or relax you, despite the claims."
As we've gloated on Bites before, one of the great things about working at the Scene is that people send us free food. Even better, sometimes we get free beer. A few days before Halloween, the Magic Hat Brewing Co., one of our favorite out-of-state suds crafters (South Burlington, Vt.) sent a mysterious package.
One bottle was marked clearly (Howl: Black-as-Night Winter Lager), the other was tightly cloaked in black paper. While the Howl had a spooky label that seemed like a hokey Halloween tie-in, the witchy, black-shrouded bottle piqued our curiosity in a more mysterious way. So of course, it was time for a tasting.
Now you have another reason. Our friends to the north are throwing a Scotch, Cigars & More dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6 p.m.
The menu looks pretty appetizing, both for drinking and eating: Tuaca Hot Apple Pie
Romesco stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary-Apple Jus Velvet Elvis (featuring Chambord Liquor which is also donating proceeds to Breast Cancer Awareness)
Espresso crusted Beef Tenderloin with Raspberry-Balsamic Glaze Old Pulteney 17 yr.
Lobster Potsticker with Caramel Vanilla Sauce Balblair 16 yr.
Lemon Saffron Chicken Brochettes Port
Chocolate Bread Pudding
Choice of Rocky Patel or Olivia CAO Cigar
$30 per person (excludes tax and gratuity) ($20 with no cigar)
Call (615) 822-5323 for more info or to RSVP.
CAO is getting around this month, also sponsoring a bourbon/cigar tasting in their facility with Grand Cru.
OK, so maybe it's been around a little while, but something this disgusting never truly goes out of fashion. To keep your fingers rubbing the martini glass rim of the boozehound's pulse, behold the McNuggetini--part cocktail, part concoction, and sure to please your college-aged guests at any party fit for a fast foodie with an affection for regurgitation.
Not being especially fond of hops, or burping, I'm not much of a beer drinker. Take that as a starting point when I say I liked Trader Joe's generic suds, Simpler Times.
A six-pack bought for research purposes turned out to be not Big Fella's cup of tea, so to speak. That left five beers from the six pack for me. Served really cold, it was light, dry and refreshing, which is what I like in a beer. Maybe it was a little like Pabst, but the beer it most reminded me of, the Proustian wave of familiarity, was Pearl, the beer from Texas.
It's been more than a decade -- no, two decades -- since I drank a Pearl beer, but there's no denying that happy homecoming between Simpler Times and my tongue.
Recaling that there's no accounting for taste, what's the popular verdict on Simpler TImes?
While slurping a pumpkin-and-spice-infused Peregrino at Crema this morning, I was chitchatting with Rachel Lehman about the recipes for her two new autumnal coffee drinks.
The Peregrino thickens coffee with actual pumpkin pulp and adds a medley of cinnamon, clove, orange zest and nutmeg for a soothing seasonal sipper.
The Lavender Macchiato, on the other hand, relies on fresh herb flavoring, which begged the question of how to best make an herb-infused simple syrup.
Rachel and I were bandying recipes back and forth, when she deferred to a customer who walked in the front door. None other than Patterson House owner Ben Goldberg was stopping by Lehman's Hermitage Avenue establishment for his morning cuppa. Who better than Goldberg, whose midtown speakeasy makes all its bitters, tinctures and syrups in house, often from herbs grown in the back courtyard.
Of course, I was so flustered by the small-world encounter that I forgot to ask him whether he would recommend muddling the herbs first, then boiling, or just boiling alone. Instead, we made a lunch date for later today at Gabby's Burgers & Fries, where I'll get to the bottom of the muddling business. Stay tuned.
A lot of interesting opportunities competed to lead off this week's edition of The Wandering Wino, but in the end how could you ignore the prospect of scores of burly men walking/running/drinking their way through the Belmont/Hillsboro and 12South neighborhoods wearing red dresses? And they want you to join them.
Hold Saturday, October 24th for what will be a great new event for Nashville and the Belmont-Hillsboro and 12 South neighborhoods; the inaugural Grizzlies Red Dress Rampage to benefit the historic Belcourt Theater and the Nashville Grizzlies Rugby Football Club. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, every dollar donated (or very nearly all) will go directly to support these two venerable organizations.
Here's the concept:
WHAT: A fun 5K pub crawl/run or walk from the Village to 12South and back with stops at five of the best local "watering holes" in the neighborhood. There will be a 30 minute rest period at each stop and each runner will be provided a tasty Yazoo beer at each location as part of their registration fee.
3Crow has Yazoo Brewery's newest offering, the beer named Sue. We swilled a sample or two. Its smoky and chocolatey flavor profiles is autumny and heavy, kind of like stout.
I liked it. Big Fella says that he wishes people would stop trying to ferment chocolate. True, it's heavy, and one is probably enough, but then again, you shouldn't have more than that anyway.
Post a Comment
