Pick up any newspaper, or click onto any financial website and it’s ongoing gloom and doom. From the mortgage crisis, to government bailouts of icon stalwarts (AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac…) to eroding home equity and rising unemployment. Ouch. It’s enough to make you just want to stay in bed… or at least stay at home.

And, it appears that is just what people are doing. I have a gazillion friends in the restaurant business and over the past few months, they have been loudly affirming what many of us already know from our own lifestyle adjustments - people are simply not eating out as much. According to BIGResearch in Ohio, 45% of Americans are eating out less this year to save money (a 12% increase over 2007). But what’s bad news for restaurants appears to be a boon for others, like cookware. According to a spokesperson for the Meyer Corporation, a cookware distributor in Vallejo, California, cast-iron sales are up 19% from last year. Food sales, despite price increases stemming from increased transportation fees and other energy related surges (bad pun!), are strong. IRI of Chicago, states that staples like tomato sauce, pasta and canned goods are up 3.4% in recent months as people are cooking more and eating out less. Continue reading »

Timing is everything they say. This paradigm was demonstrated to me a few nights back when friends were over for dinner.

If you recall from my last blog, a bottle of corked wine made it to the dinner table as the first course was being served. After cringing in horror and embarrassment, I quickly assessed the situation and dish at hand to decide what to substitute. I had a few obstacles to circumvent.

First, it was a soup, not always the easiest of pairings. Second, it was chilled hence taking most room temp wines off the table as serving a decidedly chilled dish with a room temp wine can be a disaster. Knowing that I wanted to go white, bubbly or rose, I raced to the kitchen. I realized half way to the refrigerator that there was a fourth challenge - the soup itself was slightly sweet. As we’ve been enjoying a classically late Bay Area summer, my friends had brought over a wonderful chilled melon soup garnished with a swirling of buttermilk and a squeeze of lime. Sweet, tart but not over the top and perfect for a warm day. But I digress. Continue reading »

Sometimes I simply forget to “walk my talk”… Such was the case a few nights back when we had some friends over to the house for dinner and I was serving up some casual hors d’oeuvres with wine.

I get so little free time that ANY occasion that I get to spend with good friends is highly anticipated and always enjoyable. I prefer to entertain on the informal side and avoid much of the pomp and circumstance that pepper my ‘work life’. Those high falutin’ meals that one has while traveling (multiple courses, doting sommeliers and several different bottles) are usually put aside in deference to good friends, lovely wines, and simple tasty food in more casual ambiance and with less fancy schmancy protocols. Simply put I’d rather focus on my friends than worry too much if the napkin color matches perfectly with the table cloth or if I have individual matching glasses for the 3-4 different wines we’ll enjoy over the course of the evening. Indeed proper decanting candles are put aside in the interest of speed (hello flashlights!). That said, last night I got a bit too relaxed. Continue reading »

It has indeed been a busy week in New Zealand with our Master Sommelier programs in both Wellington, the country’s capital, and Auckland, its largest city. The programs were rewarding and energetic and bode well for this nation’s evolution of the ‘métier’ of sommelerie. Tonight we are having dinner with NZ’s first and currently only Master Sommelier, Cameron Douglas, among others of the US team to review the courses, plan for the future and celebrate a week well done. Brian Julyan, the Court’s global CEO based out of the UK, and members of the ‘Team Australia’ contingent, coming off the successful courses in Melbourne and Sydney will join us and debrief the ‘Team NZ” on the results of those sessions. Should prove to be a great evening of shared success and camaraderie with great food and, of course, excellent NZ wines. Continue reading »

I have been in this business a long time. No old age jokes please, as I have heard them all - from “Pleistocene Sommelier” to “What wine goes with brontosaurus”. That said, I still get rookie-like giddiness when teaching people who are just beginning their quest.

A group of us have been down under for this past week to assist the Court of Master Sommeliers in expanding our “brand” into the Antipodes. We’ve just completed our first-ever course, in Melbourne and that group of MS’s (Team Aussie if you will) continues on to do same in Sydney. I am on “Team Kiwi”, and we are completing a session of level one (the Introductory program) and a “level two” certified in Wellington (NZ), before heading off to examine in Auckland. Continue reading »