GrapeStone Concepts

Cameron Hughes Wines Live Up to Their Hype and Value

2011-12-23T12:36:58-08:00

Many of my associated wine professionals have been raving about the quality and value of Cameron Hughes wines. So, I thought I would do some sampling on my own. I purchased the 2009 Lot 303 Stags Leap District, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2009 Lot 271 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

The Cab had wonderful scents of blackberry and plum, and had a good minerality with overtones of dark chocolate. It had very fine tannins. For $34 where are you going to find this quality of wine? Not any other place in Stags Leap appellation. Perfect for that rib roast or grilled steaks.

The Pinot Noir has already won a Wine Enthusiast 90 Pts. It had fragrant fresh cherry and raspberry aromas. There are some good toasty spices noted. Where can you find this quality Pinot Noir from Sonoma's Russian River Valley? Here at Cameron Hughes. Fabuous paired with a pork roast or turkey for Christmas dinner.

Happy Holidays!

Wine Sensory Detection is a Practice Sport: The Tuscan Magazine - Tasting Like a Pro: Hosting a Tuscan Wine Competion at Home

2011-07-26T13:58:21-07:00

In the latest issue of The Tuscan Magazine, you will find my detailed Top 10 tips on "Hosting a Tuscan Wine Competition at Home". Wine professionals recommend having tasting exercises often and recording your handwritten observations immediately. Can you image a wine judge tasting over 100 wines at a competition and not taking notes?

Our recommendations for a Tasting Competition at Home can apply to any vertical or horizontal tasting exercise. Expose your guests to some new as well as some familiar wines. Broadening the palate and "sensory rolodex" is important for improving sensory detection for any level of wine-drinker.

The Tuscan Magazine new edition for July 2011 can be found at this link. The article appears on page 17.

The Tuscan Magazine

The Tuscan Magazine now has both an iPhone and an iPad app that can be downloaded free. Check out the new articles on Tuscan wedding and travel recommendations in this terrific issue.

For a copy of the article:

Download Host a Tuscan Wine Competition at Home Tricia Conover The Tuscan magazine july2011

Calling All Wine and Soccer Fans: Wine and Snack Combinations for "Footie" Season

2011-04-08T13:45:16-07:00

I was asked to put together a snack-friendly wine list for my editor at Tuscan Magazine. It's soccer/footie season in Italy. Italians have the same desire as we do in the States to find wine that is a complement to their snacks. Go Fiorentina!

Check out the Tuscan Magazine Blog at: Tuscan Magazine Blog

April 1: What No Fools Will Drink

2011-04-01T08:03:18-07:00

I'ts April Fools Day. You don't want to be the fool caught drinking a poor value wine. The most commonly asked question I get is: Are there any good value wines out there? The answer is "yes", literally there are hundreds of them. Be discerning, do a little research, and you should be able to find some wonderful wines.

Here is my "No Fools" list of some great finds:

2009 Cameron Hughes Sauvignon Blank (Leyda Valley) $12

2008 Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley) $12

2009 Sand Rita Reserva Malbec (Colchagua Valley) $12

2009 Tangley Oaks Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast) 15

2009 Simonsig Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz (Stellenbosch South Africa) $13

2007 Andezen Côtes du Rhône $11

2009 Spellbound Chardonnay (CA) $13

2007 Rolf Binder Retro SS Shiraz Cabernet (Barossa Valley) $15

2009 Josef Chromy Pepik Chardonnay (Tasmania) $20

2008 Fornese Terre di Chieti Sangiovese (Abruzzi Italy) $12

2007 Fess Parker Pinot Noir Ashley's Vineyard (Santa Rita Hills, CA) $50

For more great buys for No Fools:

Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Cheat Sheet, click here:

Best Buy Cheat Sheet - Wine Enthusiast

Premiere Napa Valley Wine Auction - A New Screaming Eagle is Born? - Scarecrow

2011-02-28T08:23:21-08:00

I just returned from the Premiere Napa Valley Wine Auction and the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. A new star has emerged from the Auction - Scarecrow - by winemaker Celia Welch. A Japanese importer paid $125,000 for a 5 cases, or $2083 per bottle. Two years ago that same lot went for $80,000.

The Auction took place at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, where the crowd of 1,000 consisted of vintners, retailers, restaurateurs, distributors, brokers and media from across the country and around the world. The PNV Wine Auction began in 1997 as a "bake sale" by the Napa Vintners Association to preserve and protect the Napa Valley appellation and has evolved into a week-long event. The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers featured attendance from 85 of the most well-know editorial wine writers including Susan Kostrewza (Wine Enthusiast), Richard Bradley (Worth Magazine), Karen MacNeil (The Wine Bible), Lettie Teague (The Wall Street Journal).

Do we have a new wine star? A new Screaming Eagle? The buyer of the Scarecrow lot, Ichizo Nakagawa, owner of Tokyo-based Nakagawa Wine Company, receive a standing ovation from a record crowd. He said he was determined to buy the lot "no matter what",

"I'm amazed, I'm shocked," said Scarecrow owner Bret Lopez stepping outside to catch his breath. "We never dreamed we'd reach this stature and (winemaker) Celia Welsh is a genius, a humble genius who coaxes the sublime flavors from the old men," referring to the 66-year-old-vines that produce just a 1/2 ton per acre.

Here are some of the other statistics from Premiere Napa Valley courtesy of the Napa Vintners Association:

Premiere Napa Valley 2011 – By the Numbers

Nearly $2.4 million in sales

23% y/y increase

Topped record year 2008 ($2.2 million) by 5%

Successful bidders: 68

Cases purchased: 1530

Average price per case: $1546 ($128/bottle)

Rounding out the other top ten highest earning lots of the day: Schrader Cellars, Ovid, Levy and McClellan, Shafer Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery, Reynolds Family Winery, Duckhorn Vineyards, Silver Oak Cellars and Beringer Vineyards.

The SuperBowl is not Just for Beer ....... Your Best Value Wine Pairings with SuperBowl Snacks

2011-01-27T19:46:59-08:00

Since the SuperBowl is in Dallas next week, the partying in our hometown has started early. Last night I was at a wine event – Côte du Coeur Wine Society of the American Heart Association - and this wine/snack pairing discussion came up frequently. Beer is terrific with snacks, but some of us just want a great value wine with our nachos, sliders, and chili.

Here are my best rating-for-the-dollar recommendations (under $20/bottle in most places) for the best wine that will hold up to unusual and spicy tastes of snack foods.

(RATINGS NOTE: WS-Wine Spectator, RP Robert Parker, W&S Wine and Spirits, WE Wine Enthusiast)

Salty Snacks - Chips, Nuts, Crackers
Prosecco: Riondo Prosecco $12.99 *RP90
Cava Spanish Sparkler: Montsarra Cava Brut $14.99 *WS90
USA Sparkler: Gloria Ferrer Brut $17.99 *WS 90

Salsa or Nachos and Chips
Pinot Grigio, Italy: J. Hofstatter Alto Adige Pinot Grigio 2009 $17.79 S&S90
Spanish Rioja: Bodegas Ramon Bilbao Crianza 2006 $12.99 *W&S 90
Or 2005 Beronia Reserva Rioja $16.99 *WS91

Pulled Pork or Beef Sliders or Hot Wings
Californiz Zinfandel : 2006 Rosenblum "Richard Sauret" Paso Robles Zinfandel $18.99 *WS90
or 2008 Decoy Napa Valley Zinfandel $19.99 *WE92
Merlot, Chile: Santa Ema Merlot 2008, $13
Australian Shiraz: Layer Cake 2009 $15.99 *WS89
Oregon Pinot Gris: 2009 King Estate Oregon Pinot Gris $14.99 * W&S 92

Hot dogs or Bratwurst
German Riesling: St. Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett 2009 $17.99 *WS92
Non-oaked Chardonnay: 2008 Clos la Chance "Glittering Throated Emerald" Un-Oaked Monterey County Chardonnay $6.99
or 2009 Foxglove Central Coast Chardonnay $11.99 *RP90
Austrian Gruner Veltliner: 2006 Weinrieder Gruner Veltliner Alte Reben $18.99 *WS90
Argentina, Mendoza, Malbec: Catena Malbec 2007 $15.99 *WS91

Chili or Frito-Pie
Spanish Rioja: Bodegas Ramon Bilbao Crianza 2006 $12.99 *W&S 90
or 2005 Beronia Reserva Rioja $16.99 *WS91
Australian Shiraz: D’Arenberg ,The Stump Jump 2008 $9.99 *WS 90
Chianti: 2008 La Maialina Chianti Classico $14.99 RP90
or 2007 Antinori Chianti Classico "Peppoli" $19.99*WS90
California Zinfandel: : 2006 Rosenblum "Richard Sauret" Paso Robles Zinfandel $18.99 *WS90
or 2008 Decoy Napa Valley Zinfandel $19.99 *WE92

SuperBowl-Shaped Chocolate Cake
Tawny Port: Dow Porto Tawny $15.99
Muscat blanc: Barefoot Cellars Moscato $10.99

Go Steelers Go Packers- Enjoy the Black Eyed Peas at the half-time show in Cowboy’s Stadium with a great value wine.

Have a Healthy Wine......for the Holidays: Excerpt from the Tuscan Magazine

2010-11-18T21:19:37-08:00

During my month-long trip to Italy in October, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sarah Frasier, editor of the Tuscan Magazine. I join British, Canadian, Irish, German, and Italian writers as their sole American journalist. It's a privilege.

Sara and her husband, Richard are Brits who have relocated to Lucca, Toscana, Italy and are the authors of Tuscan Living: From the Yorkshire Moors to the Tuscan Hills. I have featured their book in my Amazon.com "I Recommend" section.

To get a glimpse of this wonderful English-speaking publication of Tuscany, go to:

http://tuscanlivingmagazine.com/\

My article appears on Page 40 of the Body and Soul section of the on-line version. " Have a Healthy Wine: Healthy Italian Wines, the Difference is Skin Deep". For a reprint of the article, write us at: maggie@grapestoneconcepts.com.

We're grateful for our nation and all its blessing this Thanksgivings. Have a Healthy Wine!

Page 40: the Tuscan magazine

It has long been realized that red wine brings to our bodies a group of organic chemicals that can serve as clot-inhibiting, bad cholesterol reducing, antioxidant-enriching properties. How do the wines of Italy stack up in delivering these benefits?

The latest studies on red wine have been truly amazing. The health effect of wine drunk in moderation are not just the anti-atherosclerotic (anti-plaque in vessels), antithrombotic (anti-clot formation), but also are the angiogenic (inhibit the production of blood vessels) properties against tumors. Many new therapeutic cancer-fighting drugs work on the premise that the prevention of growth of new blood vessels inhibits the growth of tumors. These tumors need new blood vessels to grow.

Red grapes, dark chocolate, blueberries, garlic, soy and tea are some of the ingredients that starve cancer while feeding our bodies.

Dr. William Li, M.D., Medical Director and President of the Angiogenesis Foundation, Cambridge, MA, USA, was recently covered by Wine Spectator Magazine for his presentation at the TED Conference, a small non-profit where the world’s thinkers and doers gather for “Ideas Worth Spreading”, in February 2010. Dr. Li says,

“By examining the potential of antiangeogenics in food, we will find answers to cancer all around us…In our groceries, in our food, and in our glasses”.

Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skin and seeds of red grapes, is one of the agents that can inhibit cancer-feeding blood vessels. It has gotten much of the credit for healthy benefits. The other important agents are called OPC’s (Oglimeric proantho- cyanidins). OPC’s are the other antioxidants in the grape seeds and skins. In his book titled, The Red Wine Diet Roger Corder says it is the OPC’s not resveratrol which are suggested to be the real longevity factor in red wine. Roger Corder, BSc, MSc, PhD, MRPharmS
Professor of Experimental Therapeutics, is a scientist at the William Harvey Research Institute, London. The author studied locations such as Ger, France, where the citizen population over 90 is twice that of France. He then studied the OPC content of most of the world’s grape varietals.

The good news is that Italy’s native grapes have very high OPC rankings along with the tannat grape of Ger, France. Here is the list of Italy’s OPC Top 10:

OPC Five Star Italian Wines

1. Sagrantino di Montefalco Collepiano, Arnaldo Caprai, Umbria
2. Rosso Superiore del Mandrolisai, Cantina del Mandrolisai, Sardegna

OPC Four Star Italian Wines

3. Barolo Ciabot-Berton, Piemonte
4. Langhe Nebbiolo De Forville, Piemonte
5. Dolcetto di Dogliani, Luigi Einaudi, Piemonte
6. Palazzo della Torre, Allegrini, Veneto
7. Morellino di Scansano, Le Pupille, Toscana
8. Morellino di Scansano, Lohsa, Toscana

9. Poggio Bestiale, Fattoria di Magliano, Toscana
10. Aglianico Contado, Di Majo Norante, Molise

Many other Toscana wines are close behind.

What makes the difference in these wines? According to Dr. Corder,

"Although differences in the amount of procyanidins [OPC’s] in red wine clearly occur because of the grape variety and the vineyard environment, the winemaker holds the key to what ends up in the bottle. The most important aspect of the winemaking process for ensuring high procyanidins in red wines is the contact time between the liquid and the grape seeds during fermentation when the alcohol concentration reaches about 6 percent. Depending on the fermentation temperature, it may be two to three days or more before this extraction process starts. Grape skins float and seeds sink, so the number of times they are pushed down and stirred into the fermenting wine also increases extraction of procyanidins. Wines that have a contact time of less than seven days will have a relatively low level of procyanidins. Wines with a contact time of ten to fourteen days have decent levels, and those with contact times of three weeks or more have the highest."

Dr. Corder points out that deeply-colored reds are more likely to be richer in OPC’s. The debate continues on whether it is the agents of the wine, the way the wine is made, the way the wine is consumed, or how we live our lives that is most responsible for the long healthy lives of many wine drinkers. However, the evidence seems clear that regular, moderate consumption of red wine is beneficial to your health. So here’s a toast to your health! Salute!

An have a Healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!

For a copy of this article, use this link:

Chocolate Atlas:News and Resources for Sophisticated Chocophiles

2010-11-17T04:56:17-08:00

This is a webzine that you'll want to visit often if you love chocolate, and need advice on all things and places "Chocolate Covered". I have a new article: Wine Roads and the Chocolate Valley of Italy:
Take the A-11 Autostrada to Health.

http://www.chocolateatlas.com/index.htm

Italy: Take the Wine Road through the Chocolate Valley

2010-11-16T16:41:18-08:00

And go to Chocolate Atlas for the remainder of the Article:

http://www.chocolateatlas.com/L2Europe/6BConover_Italy/Wine_Roads_and_Chocolate.html

Wine and Chocolate: A Healthy Pairing Fit for a Gala

2010-08-26T15:34:24-07:00

I was asked in September to participate as a Certified Wine Professional to help promote a wine and chocolate pairing on Dallas’ KDAF TV 33 segment, “The RC Project”. This pairing of chocolates from Steve Smith’s company, Nib Chocolates, and Waterbrook Winery, Columbia Valley, WA, will be served at the after-party of the AT&T Dallas Symphony gala, September 11. The Côtes du Coeur of the American Heart Association, of which I am a Society member, is providing the wine. This appearance made me contemplate the healthy pairing of wine and chocolate as part of our GrapeStone Concepts “point of view” on the benefits of drinking wine and eating healthy foods slowly.

(Roni Proctor, Dallas’ KDAF Channel 33 The RC Project; Steve Smith, Nib Chocolates; Tricia Conover, C.W.P., GrapeStone Concepts, Candice Crawford, The RC Project)

It has long been realized that red wine brings to our bodies a group of organic chemicals that can serve as clot-inhibiting, bad cholesterol reducing, antioxidants. Recently, chocolates also have been known for their health-inducing and psychoactive properties. The Aztecs were the first to use a hot, steamy chocolate drink from the seeds of the cacao tree, species theobroma cacao ,“food of the gods”, for its restorative properties. The consumption of chocolate triggers the release of endorphins which contributes to that inner glow induced in susceptible chocoholics, according to the Directory of Chocolatiers. Chocolates have organic compounds of anandamide and theobromine which cause relaxation and happiness.

The latest studies on red wine have been truly amazing. The health effects of wine drunk in moderation are not just the anti-atherosclerotic (anti -plaque in vessels), antithrombotic (anti-clot formation), but also are the angiogenic properties (inhibit the production of blood vessels) against tumors. Many new therapeutic cancer-fighting drugs work on the premise that the prevention of growth of new blood vessels inhibits the growth of tumors. The tumors need new blood vessels to survive and spread. Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skin and seeds of red grapes, is one of the agents that can inhibit cancer-feeding blood vessels.

Red grapes, dark chocolate, blueberries, garlic, soy and tea are some of the ingredients that starve cancer while feeding our bodies.

Dr. William Li, M.D., Medical Director and President of the Angiogenesis Foundation was recently covered by Wine Spectator for his presentation at the TED Conference, a small non-profit where the world’s thinkers and doers gather for “Ideas Worth Spreading”, in February 2010. Dr. Li says,

“By examining the potential of antiangeogenics in food, we will find answers to cancer all around us…In our groceries, in our food, and in our glasses”.

So the pairing this week of fine Oaxacan Spice and Tahitian vanilla bean chocolates with Waterbrook Winery’s 2007 Mélange Noir, a blend of Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc grapes, is not only fit for the spectacular Dallas Symphony Gala, but will make us fit, too.