Wine Blog

Water trust fund call – Land

Water trust fund call Land That's the view of McLaren Vale Grape, Wine and Tourism Association chairman, Dudley Brown, who believes politics should be moved away from the Basin debate and back into the hands of local communities. "The truth is there's always been plenty of water … and more »

Glass Grapes: and Other Stories (American Readers Series)

Glass Grapes and Other Stories is the first full-length collection of short stories by distinguished poet and fiction writer Martha Ronk. Ronk’s work has garnered critical accolades and numerous awards, including, most recently, a 2005 PEN USA Award in poetry, a 2007 NEA Fellowship, and a 2007 National Poetry Series Award. Glass Grapes is a collection of short, experimental stories, usually dominated by an object imbued with fetishistic qualities by an obsessive, self-involved narrator. The language of these stories is repetitive, provocative, imagistic, occasionally comic, and unnerving. Ronk’s fiction moves with the same grace, beauty, and attention to language as her most accomplished poetry.

Customer Review: stunning
The writing matches the perceptive and sensitive tracking of contemporary precariousness — in relationships, landscapes both real and remembered, and our attempts at survival. The author is witty without being condescending, empathetic without being sentimental. I’ll never look at objects… or objectification in quite the same way. Her discipline as a poet doesn’t so much relax into narrative as it expands; it becomes more muscular. Highly recommended.

IMPORTANT: Bing News RSS feed has moved!

Ridge Wine Bar in Bellingham may be sold by end of week – Bellingham Herald
BELLINGHAM – The Ridge Wine Bar may be sold by the end of this week, possibly making room for another wine vendor at the same location. Jenny Schwartz, who owns The Ridge, declined to discuss details of the sale as it’s still being negotiated

Vino Italiano Buying Guide – Revised and Updated: The Ultimate Quick Reference to the Great Wines of Italy

The Tra Vigne Cookbook: Seasons in the California Wine Country
“The closer your cooking stays to the seasons, the simpler–and better–your cooking will be.” Michael Chiarello’s mom told him that as he stood beside her at the stove, learning what a real Italian tomato sauce looks, smells, and sounds like as it cooks. Those lessons led him into the chef’s life and his own restaurant in the heart of California’s wine country, Tra Vigne. So it should come as no surprise that the subtitle of his lush cookbook, The Tra Vigne Cookbook is Seasons in the California Wine Country. And such is the organizing principle. Not only are the sections of the book divided into the four seasons, but the subsets include four ingredients key to each season: asparagus or garlic in spring, for example, or mushrooms and eggplant in fall.

Chiarello describes his own cooking style as “combining spectacular ingredients, professional technique, and imaginative presentations.” He shows how to take this into your own home kitchen, in word and technique. A lot of the exceptional flavors he is able to muster come from the flavor enhancers he has put up in his pantry through the seasons–the flavored olives, the dried figs. To read his section on the pantry is to yearn for a dark, cool basement. “Take the time when you have it in order to reap the rewards later when you don’t,” Chiarello encourages.

The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a carefully layered dish of family reminiscence, tech tips, master recipes, and heartfelt yearnings for the seasons and the way they pass outside the windows of a country restaurant, the way they feel on the skin, the way they taste and smell. It’s about attitude. Chiarello grabs it all and makes it accessible. The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a large-format, elegant book you will want to leave open on the table to flip through. Let your attention get caught up in it and carried away. Chiarello stays with the seasons, and his accomplishment is simpler and better as a result. And therein lies a world of glorious, flavorful complexity. –Schuyler Ingle

Customer Review: Excellent for casual weekday meals
We bought this on Amazon after eating in Napa, and are very pleased with the recipes. The recipes are not overly intimidating for a casual weekday meal. In contrast, the Mustards’ Grill cookbook gives a number of more advanced recipes, with complex ingredients. This cookbook avoids the need for ingredients from a high, high end grocery store. We were so pleased with this cookbook we checked out another from the same chef (casual cooking), and ended up purchasing this book as well. If you have fresh ingredients available, this is a nice cookbook for a dinner party or a weekday meal. Overall, very pleased with this cookbook.

Customer Review: Nice cookbook
I collect cookbooks. I like this book because the recipes are original and the ingredients aren’t too esoteric. I don’t like the coffee table size, it’s too hard to browse through. I recommend if you are an experienced cook and always searching for new, interesting recipes.