Thursday, September 24, 2015

Flee New York, the crowds and the Pope. Why not go to Newport, RI for the Newport Wine and Food Festival?






The Pope is in Manhattan.

If you are like hundreds of thousands of Metro- New Yorkers that flee the city to avoid the massive crowds, why not flee to Newport Rhode Island?

The reason why is obvious:
The 10th Annual Newport Mansions Wine and Food Festival will be in full swing. What that means is that if you are a foodie or an obvious wine lover, this festival is must for you.  So, hop on the train and flee the city.

If you arrive at the Festival on Friday, this is what you have in store for you:
12:30-1:30pm    Champagne Tattinger Master Class led by Bernard Sun, wines paired by Chef MacCartney  ($40)

2:30-3:30pm      A Tale of Two Vineyards: Tignanello and Townsend taught by Niccolo Maltinti of Marchesi Antinori   ($40)

4:30-5:30pm      The Craft of Winemaking with Bouchaine Vineyards hosted by Gregory Gauthier    ($40)

7-10-pm               Wine & Rosecliff     Held in the setting of The Great Gatsby and True Lies, this seaside mansion will host a musical evening with fine wines, breathtaking views and gourmet food     ($250)

Saturday
12-4pm               Grand Tasting at the Marble House          Cooking demos, hundreds of wines, two dozen restaurants, celebrity chefs and a silent auction ($185)

7pm                     Collectable Win Dinner at The Elms       ($450)

9pm-12am           Newport After Dark       at Newport’s 41 North…sample specialty cocktails, wine and light fare    ($50)

Sunday
11am                   A Conversation with Martha Stewart & Jacques Pepin….admission includes a ticket to the Grand Tasting    ($235)

12-4pm               Grand Tasting…..($160)

Don’t forget I warned you about the Pope. It is up to you to decide whether the Newport Wine and Food Festival is the solution?

More information can be found at: www.newportmansions.org

'A Second Helping of Life' and #winelover against cancer supports Breast and Ovarian Cancer by Philip S. Kampe and Maria Reveley





Note: (As you know, Luiz Alberto and wife, Nanci Bergamo, of The Wine Hub, recently  started #winelover against cancer. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to attend an event run by cancer survivors, aptly named, 'A Second Helping of Life'. It was a fundraiser, as is the t-shirt that supports #winelover against cancer.)

My wife runs a ‘prayer circle’ for those friends or friends of friends who need encouragement during their long journey with cancer and other illness. Many of her acquaintances have survived breast or ovarian cancer.
Others haven’t.

There is an organization, SHARE, that raises awareness for women affected by breast and ovarian cancer. To survive financially, SHARE sponsors a benefit each year, titled, ‘A Second Helping of Life’. The benefit includes participating and celebrity chefs, an auction led by Nicholas D. Lowry of Swann Auction Galleries (NYC) and awards to Honorees, Marcia Godosky, Dr. Aye Moe Thu Ma and Karen Orczyk.

This years ‘benefit’ took place in Manhattan on Monday, September 21st at Pier 60 /Chelsea Piers. The money raised from the event helps SHARE to meet their goals. The culinary end of the benefit features prominent chefs who are women.

April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig and The Breslin fame acts as the event’s executive Chef.

Participating chefs from local restaurants volunteer and include, a list of ‘Whose Who’ of the culinary world.

The chefs include:

Amanda Cohen: Dirt Candy
Robecca Isbell: Betony
Sue Torres: Espoleta & Sagrada BK
Lynn Bound: 54 Below
Angie Mar: The Beatrice Inn
Jessica Weiss: Maialino
Sawako Okochi: Shalom Japan
Lauren Resler: Empellon Cocina
Colleen Grapes: Oceana
Amanda Cook: Cookshop
Sarabeth Levine: Sarabeth’s
Christine Lau: Bar Chuko Izakaya
Patti Jacobson: Delaware and Hudson
Roxanne Spruance: Kingsley
Zahra Tangorra: Brucie
Deborah Racicot: Narcissa
Allison Robicelli: Robicelli’s
Barbara Sibley: La Palapa
Janine Booth: Root & Bone
Alex Raij: Txikito, El Quinto Pino & La Vara
Leah Cohen: Pig and Khao
Sara Jenkins: Porsena, Porchetta
Lauren DeSteno, Marea

Add 28 Celebrity Sous Chefs to the list above and you have a roomful of high caliber cooks.

Pat Battle, co-anchor of Weekend Today and a cancer survivor was the emcee for the event. Her upbeat style and positive attitude helped make the event a success.

SHARE is a 39 year old ‘survivor’ led organization that provides support, information and resources to women affected by breast or ovarian cancer. Its ‘Mission’ is to help women and their families address the emotional and practical issues that arise from a cancer diagnosis and to provide the support these women need to feel less isolated, better informed and more empowered as health care consumers. Each year, more than 32,000 people are touched by the SHARE program.

The funds raised by ‘A Second Helping of Life’, from the event enables SHARE to provide free support services and educational programs to thousands of women and families.

In its 12th year, nearly four million dollars has been raised at the event.

Last year, over 300,000 people were diagnosed with breast cancer and over 20,000 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
These diseases affect everyone.

To learn more about SHARE, visit www.sharecancersupport.org




World Tourism Day (September 27th) focuses on Free Worldwide Wine Tours & Tastings



Sunday is "World Tourism Day". It is a perfect day to visit wineries all over the world. Each winery will welcome guests, take them on an extensive tour of the property and let the visitors sample their wines. The cost? Nothing, thanks to World Tourism Day.

There are twenty (20) wineries worldwide who are celebrating World Tourism Day. Some are in our backyard, California and others are across the globe.

This is the most recent list of participants. E-mail your friends overseas with this news, as this free day happens just once a year in most cases.

California: Dry Creek Family Vineyards in Sonoma. Sample six wines from the six participating vineyards in the cooperative tasting room. Other vineyards participating are: Philip Staley, Mietz Cellars, Forth Vineyards, Dasche Vineyards, Collier Falls Vineyards and Lago do Merlo Winery.

Spain: Clos Figueras in Priorat.

France:Mas du Soleilla in Languedoc and Champagne Beerzaens in Champagne.

Italy: La Raia in Piedmont: Cascina Cucco in Piedmont: Isolabella Della Croce in Piedmont: Fratelli Vogadori in Veneto: Poggio al Casone in Tuscany, Casa Sola in Tuscany and Barone Ricasoli in Tuscany.

Croatia: Bolfan near Zagreb.

England: Bet you didn't think they produced wine? Visit Bolney Wne Estate in Sussex and find out.

Uruguay: Posada Campotinto in Carmelo.

Chile: Kingston Family Vineyards in Casablanca.

Argentina: Famillia Zuccardi in Mendoza

Portugal: Croft Port in the Douro Valley

This is the first year that vineyards are opening their door on World Tourism Day. With a little success, the numbers will grow in 2016.

Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

Monday, September 7, 2015

Nineteen (19) Pass the Masters of Wine Exam by Philip S. Kampe

Our leader at The Wine Hub, Luiz Alberto, is a candidate for the Master of Wine program. It is a long journey, often taking up to 5 years to achieve the goal. The failure rate, by most indications is above 90%.

Today, September 8th, results were announced for all of those who were involved in the program. The list of Accredited Master of Wines Certificates that were issued today for candidates from around the world.

The 19 new MW's include 11 women and 8 men, who hail from 10 countries.

They are:
Mollie Battenhouse. USA
Tania Vikuna  Finland
Marcus Ansems.  Canada
Richard Hemming. UK
Yiannis Karakasis.  Greece
Konstantin Baum  Germany
Yang Tan  Singapore
Rebecca Gibb   New Zealand
Romana Echenspergen. Germany
Sarah Knowles  UK
Lynne Cole   Ireland
Eugene Miynczyk   Canada
Dawn Davies   UK
Wendy Cameron   Australia
Kenichi Ohashi   Japan
Emma Symington. UK
Janek Schumann   Germany
Victoria Burt   UK

The Wine Hub wishes the new inductees Congratulatoions on your achievement.

Philip S. Kampe
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com







40 Years of Winemaking at Russian River Valleys Sonoma-Cutrer by Philip S. Kampe

 Innovation in Winemaking at Sonoma-Cutrer began forty years ago. The focus has always been innovation for this Russian River Valley winery....