Wine 1004

Whether you’re cooking vegetables or meat, adding wine can help to make your food extra succulent and impart incredible flavor. Both dry white and red wines can amp up the savory or sweet side of a dish, depending on what taste you’re going for. However, best-selling cookbook author and food personality, Katie Lee Biegel, told us in an exclusive interview that there are a few mistakes you’ll want to avoid when cooking with it.

While promoting her line of completely organic wine, Kind of Wild, she explained that it’s important to mix it in at the right time and choose a variety that you actually enjoy drinking. “That doesn’t necessarily mean something that’s expensive, but something that tastes good because it’s just like any other ingredient in your cooking,” said Biegel. “You want to use something that is high quality and adding the alcohol at the right time, along with cooking at the right amount.”

Read more: Ina Garten’s 12 Best Cleaning Tips For A Mess-Free Kitchen

When it comes to one of Biegel’s go-to meals that features alcohol, she likes to whip up her scallops with a brown and white wine sauce. “The Kitchen” co-host revealed that it’s quick, easy, and delicious. She explained it’s also important when making a dish like this to let it simmer, “If you’re making a sauce, you want to put it in and give it enough time to burn off the alcohol flavor and to get into the taste of the wine.”

To make this specific recipe, after the scallops have been fully cooked in olive oil and butter, put them on a separate plate. Then add a splash of chardonnay and lemon to the brown butter and stir the sauce until it reduces by half. The last thing to do is pour this flavorful wine-infused topping over your seafood fare and enjoy.

However, if red wine is friendlier to your tastebuds, Biegel suggests adding your favorite dry variety to mushroom Bolognese. For this recipe ½ cup of alcohol is used in the sauce and it’s reduced for 30 minutes. She said the outcome is rich and hearty which is perfect “if you’re wanting something this time of year that feels very warming.”

To order Katie Lee Biegel’s organic wine, visit kindofwildwines.com. The new season of “The Kitchen” premieres Saturday, January 13 at 11:00 a.m. ET on Food Network.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.

The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, we are here to have some fun.

Sequels can be tricky business. They can be fun when there’s a legitimate way to continue the story, but they can also come across as lazy cash grabs targeted at a baked-in audience. Sometimes movie franchises try to have it both ways by setting up a sequel by ending on a cliffhanger, which is extra annoying and a good reminder that both the most recent Fast & Furious movie and the most recent Mission: Impossible movie cut to their respective credits after an open-ended reveal about a submarine that was either trapped under or bursting out of a sheet of ice. Which was actually kind of funny. Both movies also featured frantic car chases through Rome and twists related to characters that died many movies earlier. This isn’t where I thought this paragraph was headed when I started writing it but it’s still important to note.

The point here is that you need to have a good story to earn a sequel. And that original stories can be hard to create. And that it’s kind of nice when the universe just goes right ahead and plops one in your lap. This brings us to this bit of news out of France from earlier this week.

Wine worth more than €1.5m ($1.6m) has vanished from La Tour d’Argent, one of Paris’ most famous restaurants and the inspiration for the film Ratatouille.

I think you see where this is headed. Especially if you are a regular reader of this column. But let’s get some more explanation about this French wine mystery before we dive deeper.

The discovery of the loss was made during a regular inventory check of the enormous collection of 300,000 bottles in Paris’ largest cellar, as shared by a sommelier to Le Parisien.

Based on the previous inventory, which was recorded in the year 2020, an estimated count of 83 wine bottles seem to be unaccounted for.

Before we proceed further, there are a few noteworthy points to be highlighted:

One last blockquote.

In the list of lost bottles, wines from the renowned Burgundy estate, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti stand out.

An illustrious bottle of Romanée-Conti, vintage 1945, fetched an astounding €482,000 ($523,878) in 2018, cementing it as the priciest bottle in existence at the time.

Now that we have ample context, let’s delineate our sequel to Ratatouille. Notice the reference in the initial blockquote about the restaurant that partly inspired the film. Voila! We have our plotline. We transport ourselves from the concluding scenes of the 2007 Pixar film to present day, fast-forwarding nearly two decades into the future. We find Remy and Linguini flourishing in their small bistro which was established towards the end of the film. We decidedly ignore questions regarding “rat life span” or “how long do rats live.” Everything is perfect.

Regardless.

Next.

The cafe’s notable mini wine storage is plundered. Possibly not to the extent of $1.6 million, but enough to deal a blow. Perhaps Linguini overlooked the insurance documents. (Typical of Linguini.) Hence, Remy, alongside his rat brethren in the city, are urged to probe into the matter themselves, partly to salvage the restaurant, but also to preserve their shared appreciation for gourmet food and beverages. Action is necessary. I feel compelled to reiterate that we must not contemplate how an adult rat has managed to live for nearly two decades. This is critical.

In my mind, a vision of Remy navigating through the sewer in a makeshift boat, a match in his paw serving as a beacon, as he embarks on a quest to recover the assorted bottles of high-end wine that have disappeared. Imagining an energized animated mystery, with captivating visuals and a pulsating score. The antagonist lends his voice from Pierce Brosnan. Surely, you comprehend the proposed concept.

Coming to theaters next summer…

It’s time for…

Rata2ille.

(Sorry.)

Here’s a fascinating piece of news.

A man on his deathbed confessed to stealing the ruby red slippers Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz”, describing it as his “final big move.” Monday’s sentence is likely to rule out any jail time for him.

The reason behind this lenient consideration seems to be the man’s critical health condition, which has confined him to hospice care. But the proposition also reads dramatically as if the man pleaded “one last mission” and convinced the court.

The man in question, Terry Jon Martin, aged 76, executed the theft in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota – late actress’s birthplace. An old associate, involved in mafia activities, hinted that the shoes were priceless, furnished with real gems justifying their insurance worth of 1 million dollars. Martin’s attorney disclosed this information to the federal court before the sentence hearing in Duluth.

There are a couple of facts to point out:

The importance of seizing the day, and not forgetting the slippers. Embrace the moment and the slippers.

“Initially, Terry was not on board with the heist idea. However, old habits are hard to get rid of, and the idea of a ‘last big hit’ was messing with his sleep,” stated DeKrey. “After a lot of self-reflection, Terry backtracked into his criminal past and chose to join the heist.”

The narrative is quite disheartening on several layers if you decide to delve deeper underneath, but I would need a heavy-duty digger to look beyond “a lifetime criminal involved with the mafia drove himself into insanity by pondering over stealing Judy Garland’s slippers from The Wizard of Oz as his final great escape before he passes” thus…

Yeah, let’s just leave it there.

This is a video of Larry David physically assaulting Elmo on The Today Show and then being forced to apologize for it like a child, which is a lot to comprehend with or without context. And the explanation of how we all got here doesn’t make any of it less weird. But it’s fun. Here’s the shortest version I can put together.

Earlier this week, Elmo — or at least the social media manager who is tasked with being the voice of Elmo — tweeted this.

Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?

— Elmo (@elmo) January 29, 2024

And Lord in Heaven, did people ever tell Elmo. It became a whole thing. Thousands of people around the world replied to an adorable fuzzy red puppet to unburden themselves of piles of pent-up stress and anxiety and existential dread. There were write-ups and stories about it on the actual news, like the news normal people who aren’t online-addled weirdos consume. It achieved the escape velocity to get to the civilians, which is always a good barometer of whether something is an actual big deal or just something the rest of us goblins are shouting about.

A little while later, Elmo tweeted this follow-up, which is also adorable and proof that Muppets and Sesame Street characters are better-adjusted than the humans watching them.

Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.❤️ #EmotionalWellBeing

— Elmo (@elmo) January 30, 2024

Regardless, this is the fascinating story about Elmo’s presence on The Today Show. Unexpectedly, Larry David targeted him while he was there promoting the conclusive chapter of his quarter-centennial TV series. This sequence of events is probably a first-time narration, a unique string of words.

Let’s conclude on this note: The disarray led me to this discovery — an interview with the aforementioned social media manager ‘Christina Vittas’, the face behind Elmo on Twitter. Her demeanor appears to be quite intriguing.

Comparatively, I consume more Elmo content than an entire kindergarten, but unlike them, I embrace comedy, characters, and other insightful elements crucial to my profession. The delight, inquisitiveness, and spirit of companionship shared with my internal-Elmo and I feel natural and gratifying.

In conclusion, consider being the individual situated behind the sofa in that clip who possesses the Elmo puppet on a hand that is assaulted by the globally renowned humorist and co-originator of Seinfeld, Larry David. That’s a narrative you’ll be sharing for ages.

The Larry David CLAW! Elmo’s definitely had a week. pic.twitter.com/739kA8KuNg

— Travis Chapman (@Travispaints) February 2, 2024

We can cover this occurrence with three bullet points and a quotation:

Here’s the description as promised:

A young man barely survives in an underground fight club where he is consistently beaten to a pulp by more favourite fighters for money, night after night, while behind a gorilla mask. Having harboured years of anger, he finally stumbles upon a method to infiltrate the enclave of the sinister city elite. Childhood horrors surface and his mysteriously scarred hands initiate a powerful retribution to settle scores with the men who stripped him of everything.

We are definitely going to watch this movie.

Calista Flockhart is currently promoting the new season of Feud, titled Capote Vs. The Swans. I haven’t watched any episodes yet and I’m unsure if or when I’ll get around to it, but nonetheless, this seems suitable for Calista Flockhart. Ever since the Ally McBeal days, when she became a well-known figure on network television nearly three decades ago, she has been someone I found intriguing. Now, she’s more selective with her roles, not just taking them as they come. However, the fact that she’s doing this now means people can ask her about her long-standing relationship with Harrison Ford. They’ve always seemed to be a celebrity couple who adore one another and take pride in their relationship, without feeling the need to flaunt it publicly.

The new profile of Flockhart in the New York Times reasserts my beliefs.

These two are found hand in hand on the red carpet, they are spotted showing affection at the airport while traveling between Brentwood and their ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and they engage in playful pranks.

Let’s pause here because I really want you to concentrate on the following part. Pay attention. Eyes on the screen, please.

“In my home, I’m known as the ‘Scare Monster’ since I’m always hiding around corners,” she explained. “So when Harrison enters, I jump out and scream, ‘Raaah!’ And he would react, ‘W-uy-aah!’ That cracks me up every time. I plant fake spiders in his large ice cubes, and he drinks it. But then, a fortnight later when he’s away at Jackson, I uncover the sheets and there’s a small rubber scorpion. It’s such fun.”

Let’s highlight a few things here, using bullet points as usual:

Those who truly merit a reality television show are often those who would never aspire to be the star of one. It’s a bit harsh, but there’s a certain beauty to it.

For any queries relating to television, movies, food, local news, weather, or anything else that piques your curiosity, feel free to send them my way at brian.grubb@uproxx.com (indicate “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I’m proud to say I’m the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. No need to fact-check this claim.

A note from Paul:

I’m interested in hearing your views on the latest documentary about Christopher Reeve. You share a similar experience with his injury, correct? If it’s odd or uncomfortable for you, please forgive me. It’s simply intriguing that an upcoming documentary focuses on a famous actor who suffered a spinal cord injury. Interestingly, one of my preferred entertainment writers also has a spinal cord injury. Feel free to ignore my question if it’s inappropriate.

Comrade, I’m open to discussing it. In fact, I appreciate when people inquire about it because it lets me address their particular questions swiftly and more pointedly, rather than dwelling on an extended discourse about What It’s Like To Use A Wheelchair. Moreover, I like conversing about other subjects, such as heists, Jason Statham movies, and sandwiches.

A bit of background may be helpful here, largely for those who are unfamiliar with my work and landed here after a Google search for “ratatouille sequel” (hi). Indeed, like Reeve, I also have a spinal cord injury. However, mine is slightly less severe. His injury was at the level of C1 and C2 vertebrae. These vertebrae control essential functions like breathing. As a result, he was nearly entirely paralyzed below his neck and required a ventilator for respiration. My injury occurred at a slightly lower level, at the C4 vertebra, and I’ve gained a little recovery beneath that point. Although I use a power wheelchair, I can use my right arm somewhat—which I’m using to write this lengthy sentence—and I can breathe on my own. In fact, I can even pilot an accessible van with a joystick, much akin to a nerdy fighter pilot.

The gist of the story is that I find this documentary fascinating. Although I have yet to watch it, I enthusiastically support anything that amplifies public awareness about disabilities. I’m pleased that it might ignite conversations about the topic. Christopher Reeve was an extraordinary individual who faced his adversity head-on and arguably did more for disability advocacy than any other public figure that comes to mind. He deserves to be commemorated in a documentary. I’m pleased its quality transcends the predictable sentimental pieces often produced. Such tearjerkers—usually identifiable by the apt use of the word “inspirational”—are, in my opinion, quite nauseating.

Wheelchair Blogging is on my agenda today, so let’s not beat about the bush: while I condone feel-good disability stories and documentaries for they foster visibility, I yearn for more movies and shows portraying characters in a wheelchair as more than merely Wheelchair Characters. Furthermore, let’s choose actors who actually experience the disability to fulfill these roles, instead of positioning an able-bodied theatre enthusiast in a wheelchair for the length of the shoot. This, to me, seems a reasonable request.

Brace yourselves, for we are about to leap from a Serious Disability Discussion to something rather different…

Off to New Orleans!

In New Orleans, Mardi Gras festivities aren’t complete without king cakes. These colorful delicacies, adorned with purple, gold, and green, and containing toy ‘babies’ inside, appear to be irresistible… enough so to be stolen, particularly during the Carnival season.

Do…

Do we have a cake heist?

A Mardi Gras cake heist???

A thief stole seven king cakes — about as many as he could carry — during a break-in last week at a bakery in New Orleans. The thief also took cash and a case of vodka from Bittersweet Confections last Wednesday, according to New Orleans Police Department.

MARDI GRAS CAKE HEIST

Pondering over the unusual aspect of this story, one can’t help but ask, what does someone do with nine cakes? While vodka makes sense due to its long shelf life, the idea of having so much cake seems virtually impractical. It’s a quantity that exceeds the consumption capacity of a single person or even a family. It seems more like a crime committed without thorough planning. But wait, someone just stole 100 cakes as well.

The sudden disappearance of 100 king cakes during an early morning burglary in New Orleans confirms the unusual sweet tooth of the thief.

100 CAKES

Mike Graves, who is the proprietor of King Cake Drive-Thru, divulged that a thief had shattered a window on his van, running away with the cakes meant for sale today at the firm’s pop-up located in Meridian, Miss.

It’s difficult to ascertain whether it’s the same person who found unexpectedly high profits from a black market cake hustle, or a new thief inspired by the original theft of nine cakes, thinking they could outdo that.

Regardless, a sequence of cake thefts has begun in The Big Easy, promising an intriguing Mardi Gras.

Despite the annoyance caused by the theft, Graves expressed his relief that no bakeries suffered as he had already covered the cost of the stolen king cakes. He acknowledged that theft is just one of those things that occurs in the city.

This guy is remarkably chill about getting 100 cakes — ONE HUNDRED CAKES — stolen from him. We should all strive for this attitude. Good for him.

“Nobody got injured, and everybody has been very sweet and supportive,” Graves said. “There’s more good in the community than bad.”

THE CAKE HEISTS WILL UNITE US ALL.

Chilean wines are often overshadowed by wines from their next-door neighbor, Argentina.

And for those who have tried wines from Chile, most people have probably only had cabernet sauvignons from this South American country.

But Chile makes many other great wines with a wide range of grapes. And one of those grapes remains relatively unknown and which can pretty much only be found nowadays in Chile.

So what is this mysterious Chilean grape?

Carmenere.

And if you love subtle, smooth red wines, you will likely love carmenere wines from Chile.

In general, carmenere wines combine the complexity and the subtlety of wines made with other understated, red wine grapes like merlot or cabernet franc. But wines made with carmenere grapes can also be slightly intense and earthy at times as well.

This week, you can learn more about these wines, the history of carmenere grapes, as well as tasting notes for three Chilean carmenere wines.

Let me add that you can often find many great Chilean carmenere wines for under $20 a bottle. The three wines recommended this week cost a bit more but really illustrate just how great carmenere wines can taste.

Hope you enjoy.

HISTORY OF CARMENERE

Carmenere grapes are a cross between cabernet franc and a less well-known grape called gros cabernet, according to “Wine Grapes” by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz. Carmenere grapes were first grown in the Bergerac region in Southwest France as well as in the Medoc region in France’s Bordeaux region starting in the late 1700s. However, in the 1870s, the famous phylloxera blight wiped out most of the carmenere grapevines in France. Nowadays, the most likely place where you will find carmenere vines is Chile, where the grapes were first planted there in the mid 1800s.

CARMENERE WINE REGIONS

Carmenere remains king in Chile. There are roughly 25,000 acres of carmenere vines planted throughout Chile. In addition, you can still find a small number of wine producers in France’s Bordeaux region who still make wines with carmenere grapes. Other places that produce carmenere wines around the world include Italy, California and China.

WINE TASTING NOTES

2020 Primus Carmenere ($21 Suggested Retail Price)

Region: Colchagua Valley, Chile

Tasting notes: Dark, inky-colored wine with intense flavors straight out of the bottle, including hints of roasted cherry, blackberry and pomegranate. After a few minutes, these flavors smooth out nicely and become lighter and softer and more delicate.

2020 Terranoble Carmenere Costa ($36 SRP)

Region: Colchagua Valley, Chile

Tasting notes: Flinty, lively, earthy flavors at first (especially soft blackberry notes) take on a lighter, fruitier complexity in the glass after just a few minutes without sacrificing the wine’s bright, lively taste and aroma.

2020 Montes Wings Carmenere ($55 SRP)

Region: Colchagua Valley, Chile

Tasting notes: My favorite wine of the three discussed this week, this particular Chilean carmenere has dense, intense, full-bodied flavors and aromas, including powerful waves of blackberry and roasted cherry that last at least half a minute after each taste. Truly wonderful.

UPCOMING WINE EVENTS

Napa Valley Wine: Table & Vine will host a wine tasting class focusing on wine from California’s Napa Valley. The wine tasting will be held Thursday, Feb., 29 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Table & Vine, 1119 Riverdale Street, West Springfield. Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased at Table & Vine’s website.

Boston Wine Expo: The Boston Wine Expo will be held March 2 and 3 at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza Hotel, 50 Park Plaza, Boston. Wine tastings will be held each day, along with specialized wine tasting seminars at different times throughout the weekend. For tickets and more information, visit the Boston Wine Expo’s website.

Cheers!

Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican’s Weekend section every Thursday.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Four culinary experts from The Breakers, inclusive of its wine director and executive chief of restaurants, are the powerhouses behind an opulent wine dinner happening this Wednesday at the resort hotel.

The extravaganza set to begin at 7 p.m. in The Breakers’ Magnolia Room, will regale attendees with a four-course dinner which will be married with commendable wines from the respected French vineyard Château Cos d’Estournel located in the Bordeaux region.

To ensure exclusivity, the seating at this event is capped and would-be attendees are required to book their spot in advance. The event will be under the patronage of Charles Thomas from Cos d’Estournel who will be the guest of honor.

The maestros behind the curtain orchestrating this grand event are pair of master sommeliers Virginia Philip, also the wine director, and Juan Gomez, both from The Breakers.

Joey Tuazon, the esteemed chef at The Breakers’ HMF, alongside the resort’s executive chef of restaurants, Anthony Sicignano, take the culinary stage.

The wine dinner kicks off following a wine reception replete with passed hors d’oeuvres, starting dynamic with a seared sea scallop dish that features crispy rice, a spiced yogurt ginger crème, and a delectable tomato confit.

Turning up the taste a notch, the second course is HMF’s take on the “pot pie” – an exquisite blend of corn, leeks, the pungent Roquefort, and blueberry jam.

The culinary journey proceeds to a third course highlighted by a tantalizing wood-grilled cut of tender beef tenderloin, served with a dash of truffled parsnip purée, roasted varieties of salsify, the earthy chanterelles, and a bold syntax of red-wine currant sauce.

The final act of the culinary experience presents itself in the form of decadent chocolate truffles for dessert.

Several wine pairings during the evening will include, among others, Cos d’Estournel Bordeaux Blanc 2018; Les Pagodes de Cos d’Estournel 2016 in magnum; and Château Cos Labory Red Bordeaux 2018.

The Wednesday wine dinner at The Breakers is $525 a person.

For more information or to make a required advance reservation, call (561) 659-8980, ext. 7949.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Four-course Breakers wine dinner focuses on French house

Gone are the days when pasta dishes and fancy charcuterie boards are the only foods worthy of a wine pairing. Identifying the ideal wine match for your cuisine can significantly enhance the taste of your food. Why not upgrade your favorite snacks or even your regular dessert? We consulted a sommelier about the wine that best complements the flavors of peanut butter pie, enabling peanut butter enthusiasts to enjoy the ultimate dessert experience.

Doreen Winkler is a consulting sommelier responsible for creating wine lists for numerous restaurants, including the new Mishik in New York City. She has previously shared her expert knowledge with us, suggesting surprising yet welcome wine pairings for various dishes. For instance, she recommended the best grilled cheese and wine combination and shared ideal wine and snack pairings. So, which wines should fans of sweet and savory desserts stock up on? Winkler recommends an aged sweet vintage Pedro Ximenéz sherry from Spain for Peanut Butter Pie.

Read more: Popular Vodka Brands Ranked From Worst To Best

Many of us wouldn’t know where to begin when it comes to pairing a wine with something like peanut butter pie. Doreen Winkler’s suggestion for Pedro Ximenéz sherry might surprise some people. This is among the sweetest wines available. For a number of us, this may seem too sweet to pair with a dessert as rich and sugary as peanut butter pie. However, Pedro Ximenéz sherry has unique notes that complement the distinct combination of flavors in peanut butter pie.

“The notes of chocolate, coffee, nuts, and dried fruits will perfectly complement the richness and sweetness of a peanut butter pie and elevate it to the next level,” Winkler told us. Pedro Ximenéz sherry is made with a process called “asoleo,” which means that the grapes used for the wine are dried out in the sun. This process helps to make the wine particularly sweet and it also brings out the grapes’ acidity and warmth. That flavor profile paired with the classic sweet and salty flavors of a peanut butter-y dessert? That’s our new favorite after-dinner treat.

Read the original article on Mashed.

Vines at Beckstoffer Dr. Crane vineyard

In recent years, Cabernet Franc has been stealthily gaining favorable attention among wine enthusiasts and Napa Valley vintners, rising from its former role as an element of Bordeaux blends and moving onto center stage. “The secret is out and for good reason,” says wine writer Kristy Wenz.

But this surge in popularity is no mere fad. Wenz calls Cabernet Franc “eminently drinkable,” known for its freshness, vibrant acidity and versatility in food pairings. It offers a spectrum of flavors, from lush, dark fruits with significant aging potential to crunchy red, brambly fruits with green pepper notes.

Winemaking styles and geography contribute to this diverse range of expressions. Interestingly, the grape is also practical in the vineyard, requiring less growing season than its family member and Napa Valley darling, Cabernet Sauvignon. This makes Cabernet Franc more reliable in cooler vintages and ensures its availability for early harvests when weather conditions and fire smoke pose threats.

Winemaker Chris Carpenter of La Jota Vineyard Co. says that concern about climate change and fire danger by way of smoke taint makes varieties that ripen earlier more desirable, as California growers “want to get fruit off the vine as quickly as possible before any big fire event.”

Beyond its utility in the vineyard, Wenz notes that an increasing number of winemakers around the world—from Tuscany, Hungary, Languedoc, South Africa, Argentina and North America, particularly California and Washington—are now making exemplary single-expression Cabernet Franc.

Initially attracted by the grape’s distinctiveness, Carpenter has since championed the use of some of the valley’s oldest Cabernet Franc plantings. He sheds light on the historical importance of these vines, tracing their origins back to 1976 when Bill Smith acquired the then-dormant La Jota Vineyard and winery.

Contrary to the previous owners, who were known for their white wine grapes, Smith planted Bordeaux varieties. However, his decision to plant these on St. George rootstock rather than AXR, a common choice in the valley, allowed these vines to escape the devastation of phylloxera. These very vines continue to thrive today, their age contributing to consistent growth patterns, ripening curves and a concentration of flavor and texture that truly reflects the character of the variety.

“That block sets the flavor standard by which we judge all the subsequent blocks we have planted since we took over in 2005,” says Carpenter. La Jota’s current vintage 2019 Cabernet Franc sells for $125 direct to consumers.

Carpenter says Cabernet Franc appeals to wine drinkers who like to have choices when it comes to “varietal expression, across varieties.” He believes this grape offers a unique experience, likening it to the difference between the bands Nirvana and Foo Fighters: “Distinctive though similar, and in a very analogous way as one was derived from the other, as Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.”

The rising popularity of Cabernet Franc is a positive sign of diversity in wine offerings, says Carpenter. He believes that its unique qualities set it apart from other profiles and make it increasingly appealing to both consumers and the winemaking community.

Originating from France, specifically Bordeaux and the Loire Valley regions, Cabernet Franc showcases unique expressions in both areas, enriching the wine experience. Carpenter believes that experienced wine drinkers could argue Cabernet France stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest of Cabernet Sauvignon wines: “Cheval Blanc being the great example of that.”

As per the increasing consumer interest for unique and distinctive flavors, Carpenter predicts a growing preference for Cabernet Franc. “From a tasting standpoint, it offers a perfect blend of red and black fruit,” he comments. Furthermore, Carpenter notes a herbal essence, which could be explicit, as in the Loire-style focus, or implicit, much like the Right Bank style. Cabernet Franc tannins may look like Cabernet Sauvignon but are more coarse-grained, suggests Carpenter. It also features a “delightful floral rose petal aroma that offsets the herbal aspect,” remarks the La Jota winemaker.

Historically, marketing varied grapes and wine styles in Napa Valley has posed challenges, Carpenter explains. However, he advocates for Cabernet Franc as deserving of recognition and celebration. Carpenter argues, “If more wineries made an effort, the choice for a unique Napa Valley Cabernet Franc experience would make wine lovers think twice before choosing France over California. You might guess that I have a certain bias.”

Old vine Cabernet Franc is found at La Jota Vineyard Co.

Matt Sands, winemaker at Lithology, situated at the foot of Howell Mountain, is acclaimed for his work with the Cabernet Franc grape. He is devoted to gaining acknowledgment for the “incredible untapped potential” of lesser-known grape varieties thriving in Napa Valley. He aspires to lead future winemakers with his experimentation and passion for producing exceptional wines in an ever-evolving environment. “This encompasses demonstrating how impressively Cabernet Franc can emerge as a vital Napa Valley pillar,” professes Sands.

From the esteemed Beckstoffer To Kalon and Beckstoffer Dr. Crane vineyards, he reveals that Cabernet Franc wines from these vineyards are distinctive, characterized by strong floral scents, including violets, lavender, and wildflowers. Lithology Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Cabernet Franc stands out thanks to its unique, single-variety production from this well known vineyard. Unfortunately, the current release 2019 is no longer available.

According to Sands, Cabernet Sauvignon shall continue to be a regional frontrunner. On the other hand, venturing into other grape varieties lets vineyard owners display their creativity, identify what thrives in their vineyards, and present their intriguing discoveries to high-end wine lovers.

“Myself and a few other upcoming winemakers are eager to explore the Valley’s complete potential,” states Sands. He categorizes Cabernet Franc as “prevalent but underutilized,” believing a shift is occurring where these grapes can and should play a significant role in Napa. “The more we test the limits of what is expected of this region, the more of its full potential we can uncover.”

There’s also a market demand for Cabernet Franc, Sands points out. “From a consumer’s point of view, we’re noticing the arrival of the curious consumer who deviates from the usual wine drinking habits to explore more.” Sands is confident that if this curiosity persists, along with investments by winegrowers in Cabernet Franc, this grape’s popularity is set to rise further.

Whether as gifts or for my own consumption, I love bringing wine, craft beer and spirits back from my travels around the world. It’s a fun way to bring home the taste of a faraway lands while adding fun new tastes to my home bar.

But since liquids can’t travel in a carry-on bag, there’s always the fear of a bottle of red wine, stout or whiskey exploding in-transit if my bag is thrown onto a baggage belt. After all, this could possibly ruin all of my clothes.

Thankfully, the WineHero Bottle Protector Bags are here to solve this issue — and they’re a must-have for anyone who travels with wine, beer or spirits. Let’s take a closer look at how these travel bottle protectors work.

TSA rules: What’s allowed in — and prohibited from — your carry-on bag

These are a must-have for wine, beer and spirit enthusiasts who travel. Each bag protects your bottles from bumps and falls as your checked bag moves through the airport. Plus, each bag seals, keeping your clothes dry on the off chance a bottle breaks in-transit.

I’m a craft beer enthusiast, and most of the beers I collect come in large format bottles that are similar in size to wine bottles. I like to buy beer to bring home when I travel, so I went on the hunt for a product to protect my bottles in-transit.

In the past, I wrapped bottles in multiple t-shirts to provide a layer of protection against bumps and falls that might occur when my checked bag makes its way through the airport.

While I never had a bottle break, I was constantly playing a game of chicken with my wardrobe. A broken bottle would ruin all of the clothing in my bag. So, I set out to find a solution that would both protect my bottles and seal liquid in if a bottle did break.

The WineHero Bottle Protector Bags were the first thing that caught my eye when browsing Amazon for a better way to travel with wine and beer bottles. And at just $25 for a six-pack, buying a set was a no-brainer.

The VinGardeValise Grande suitcase is the luggage all wine lovers need

The WineHero Bottle Protector Bags protect your bottles, your clothes and everything else in your checked bag. Each bottle protector has a tough and flexible plastic exterior and a bubble-wrap lined interior. This keeps your bottles safe from drops and bumps.

Further, each WineHero Bottle Protector Bag seals shut with two zip lock seals and a velcro closure. So on the off chance a bottle does break in your bag, the liquid should stay inside the WineHero — not all over your clothes.

I’ve used the WineHero Bottle Protector Bags on a handful of trips over the past couple of months and haven’t had any issues with them. No bottles have broken, and the seals are still strong.

So if you’re a beer, wine or spirit enthusiast and a frequent traveler, don’t overlook the WineHero Bottle Protector Bags. These reusable wine protector bags could be the difference between your wine making it cross-country or having a wardrobe soaked in red wine.

Looking for a new travel credit card? Check out CNN Underscored Money’s list of the best credit cards currently available.

The 24th annual, world-famous Naples Winter Wine Festival kicks off this weekend, raising funds that benefit local children’s charities.

And the event serves a significant purpose for Collier County because not one penny of the $1.4 billion collected from Collier County’s tax dollars goes to social services for anyone at any age.

Concurrently, Collier ranks second among Florida’s 67 counties with the most significant wealth disparities among residents.

In 2023, Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF) ― the nonprofit that launched the Festival ― distributed a record-breaking $25.6 million in proceeds distributed to 49 children’s charities in Collier County.

Through the years, $269 million has been raised affecting 300,000 local kids.

Since NWWF’s 2001 debut, “Wine Spectator” magazine notes the Festival is America’s top wine charity auction.

This year’s theme is “Generosity in Full Bloom.”

If you’ve never been, here’s what to know.

The traditional components of the three-day event include fun, food and copious wine from the world’s best vintners.

The schedule is as follows:

Jan 26. is Meet the Kids Day which precedes the Vintners Lunch this year at Artis—Naples.

At night, attendees dine at a “Vintner Dinner” with meals featuring the world’s most prestigious fine wines. This year’s designated “Honored Vintner” is Veronique Boss-Drouhin.

The food is prepared by celebrity chefs, such as Tom Colicchio from “Top Chef”.

Interestingly, as reported by our affiliate Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the upcoming season of the show is being filmed in Wisconsin, which is home to the Festival’s 2024 “Chef de Cuisine” Paul Bartolotta.

The renowned auction at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón, begins on Jan. 27, with 50 astonishing lots available for bidding, offering unique access to the very best life has to offer. One standout lot is a week-long Mediterranean cruise for twelve guests aboard former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s impressive 312-foot superyacht M/Y Whisper, complete with a 27-member crew to attend to every need.

Prior to the auction, chefs from other Ritz-Carlton locations and J.W. Marriott’s resorts will showcase delectable treats. Outdoor tents are set up in a food festival style, albeit much more luxurious.

The auction’s highlight for this reporter in 2023 was seeing the divine Sela Ward, whose headshot was on my phone to inspire my stylist at the hair salon. I still hope Ward didn’t think it was too creepy to share my phone photo with her.

Post-auction Saturday caps off with a party at the resort.

On Jan. 28, Sunday brunch at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón, wraps up the celebration.

Ticket prices for 2024 start at $17,000 for two to attend. “Jeroboam” packages for four to attend are $40,000.

The Vintage Cellar wine-centric luncheon at Bleu Provence for 40 on Jan. 25 requires a separate ticket purchase.

‘Just too good to be true:1960s, ’70s music icon to be knighted in Naples next month

The suggested dress code is resort casual, but many glam it up for the festivities.

What will this year bring? Although funds are distributed to the charities in March, we’ll report live from the auction this weekend and keep readers posted at naplesnews.com.

Food and restaurant writer Diana Biederman is covering the Festival this weekend and will wear the same dress as last year, a Michael Kors Collection shift scored on Poshmark for $100.

Lucas Mearian

By Lucas Mearian

Senior Reporter,

Computerworld

New York-based Wine Enthusiast offers online customers what it calls everything they need to live the wine lifestyle — from the vino itself to corkscrews, glasses, wine cellars, furniture, and even two magazines on the topic. The company also receives 100,000 customer service inquiries annually.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the 45-year old online retailer’s presence boomed. Consumers were staying home, nesting, building out their perfect office space, and drinking more.

For more than a year, Wine Enthusiast had been utilizing a SaaS-based system from the San Francisco-based startup Pathlight for performance management metrics of its customer-facing teams. Subsequently, Pathlight introduced a new generative artificial intelligence (genAI) product titled Conversation Intelligence. This product had the capability to transcribe every customer service conversation, grade customer representatives based on company metrics, and identify potential issues.

The large language model (LLM) that forms the basis of the tool uses Wine Enthusiast’s own data to comprehend company policies and procedures, and to determine if a representative adhered to these procedures, and whether or not a customer was satisfied after a call, stated John Burke, the head of customer service and systems at Wine Enthusiast.

Historically, the company had to manually go through each customer service call to identify customer trends or problems, a task unfeasible to perform on a large scale. As a result, Wine Enthusiast could only perform a superficial analysis of customer service conversations. Furthermore, when complaints arose, they were all anecdotal, making the identification of recurring problems nearly impossible.

Now, genAI tools essentially operate as autonomous analysts, according to Burke. The LLMs utilized by the tools can rapidly scan the majority of customer conversations, analyze the content, and condense the transcripts into reports that highlight consumer trends and product issues.

John Burke is the head of Customer Experience at Wine Enthusiast.

He recently had a conversation with Computerworld discussing the implementation of genAI at Wine Enthusiast. They talked about the project’s history, the challenges faced during its implementation, and the resulting benefits.

When asked about the problem genAI was expected to solve, he said: “Our customer service footprint was relatively small, making it incapable of handling the inflow of customers effectively. Contrary to common understanding, customer service is not just point-of-sales service. It also spans product warranties and support. For instance, our wine cellars are designed with a longevity of 10 to 15 years, which means they will require maintenance and spare parts.”

“Being brought into this role, my responsibility was to spearhead the growth of this business segment to meet customer expectations. This is especially crucial in today’s world where customers are used to the immediacy and technological advancements offered by companies like Amazon. However, we had to find a way to achieve this without expanding our workforce by 60 extra hires.”

What was your strategy for solving the problem? Initially, to improve communication with our customers, we transitioned to using Zendesk as our main tool. One issue we encountered, despite the ease of communication provided by Zendesk, was understanding the reasons customers were reaching out to us.

We started by asking our service team to answer a few questions at the end of each conversation to help us identify the topics they discussed. As expected, we discovered that inquiries made up 90% of the reasons for communication. But what were these inquiries about?

I don’t point fingers at the team. They are continuously switching between calls and don’t want to have to pause to answer multiple questions.

My attention is not solely focused on the number of calls or tickets handled. Instead, it’s about the quality and consistency of the service delivered to our customers. We found Pathlight to be beneficial due to its sophisticated coaching platform. This platform aggregates various essential metrics and presents them in an intuitive ‘Health Score.’ This allows the team to understand their performance better.

“Instead of pointing out, ‘you’re achieving commendable results in first-contact resolution but your chat response time needs work,’ we assert, ‘your cumulative Health Score is at 90 and here are the areas you need to focus on for improvement.’

“About twelve months into our alliance with Pathlight…, they announced their plans for developing a product that wouldn’t just evaluate the [service] representative’s performance, but also dissect every single conversation that occurred. This tool could then provide insights on what is being discussed, gauge the sentiment, assess the resolution method used, and determine whether policy and procedure compliance was intact. This innovative approach catalyzed our exploration with AI.”

Do most of your service representative communications take place through voice calls or messaging apps? “Our communication channels comprise of 70% voice calls and the remaining 30% includes everything else. We were faced with the difficulty of extracting meaningful insights from telephonic conversation that sometimes extend up to 20, 30, or even 40 minutes.

“This was the crux of our problem. With Pathlight, we can now assign digital scores to our representatives. But my leadership team was posed with the dilemma of balancing their own tasks with the need to evaluate the team. They were exclaiming, ‘John, it took me 20 minutes just to analyze one phone conversation. How am I supposed to fulfill my responsibilities and also assess the team?’

“Historically, the only occasion we took a look at a [service] recording came whenever a complaint was registered by the customer. We’d then investigate what went awry. We were consistently focusing on the worst conversations to evaluate our team performance, neglecting the hundreds of perfectly pleasant interactions they have.”

Can you tell us about the amount of work involved in evaluating agents before the genAI rollout? “My leadership team isn’t particularly large. I believe they spent about half of their time conducting evaluations. A considerable chunk of these evaluations centred around damage control. For example, when a customer is angry because their order did not arrive in time. Many team members felt as though they were lawyers putting together a case against a client. Roughly half of the management team’s time was consumed by either identifying top performers or those who required extra guidance and training, or simply ensuring adherence to our processes.

“In our case, we pay close attention to specific business metrics. We strive for customer satisfaction, but we also can’t just hand over the store. The challenge lies in striking a balance – making the customers feel satisfied when things go wrong, without instantly resorting to giving a full refund.”

How did your old method of evaluating customer support not meet your company’s objectives? “We found ourselves in a place where we were only glancing at the absolute worst cases. A major hurdle for me was when I attended our marketing and commerce meetings, the issues raised usually included – what products are enjoying popularity or being disliked, what are the reoccurring issues? I knew it was a problem this regular meeting every week began with me asking my team on Slack, ‘What has been the topic of discussion this week?’

“It was so anecdotal, and I felt quirky to present that to the marketing team. Their subsequent follow-up queries were perpetually, ‘Quantity, which clients? Which product lines? Every time all I could retort is, ‘That’s all the information I have.’”

When was the initiation of your deployment of genAI and when was it finalized? “The inception started in August of the previous year and it took nearly a month of adaption. Then we went live around September. We’ve been operative ever since. I’d express we’re quite finished with tweaking the stimulus. We’ve got it quite in tune based on our identity and what conversations ought to resemble, which has been extremely useful.

“We’ve practically eradicated manual grading. We don’t practice it anymore. We merely let the framework handle it.”

Did you have worry that Pathlight’s LLM based on a cloud would use your proprietary data for self-training, and could possibly disclose your data later on? “I’ve pursued AI studies and I appreciate being at the forefront of technology. So, I’ve kept informed about privacy worries and ethical confines of AI —Governance and similar issues. I didn’t instantly have that worry, partly because we’re not a banking entity. We’re not in insurance or healthcare. If the language model desired to learn against our client base, I was not particularly bothered about that.

“Though there were initial concerns — mainly related to customer credit card details — Pathlight was transparent about their model. It is designed to identify and remove such sensitive data, which alleviated my worries. The only data we don’t own is our customers’ personal info, and ensuring its security gave us the confidence to proceed.”

Did you form a dedicated genAI team to implement the platform, or did you primarily lean on Pathlight for their expertise?

“Being a modestly-sized business, we couldn’t dedicate an entirely new team for this initiative. The implementation was largely handled by me and a few of my managers who started working closely with Pathlight. The first interaction where they assessed our calls and demonstrated their preliminary findings was not even through a finalized product but an early prototype. We got to see how the solution was evolving and feel that we contributed to some facets of product development.”

You’ve labeled your genAI technology as “autonomous analysts.” Why did you choose this name, and how does it operate?

“The presentation of the product by Pathlight was somewhat the inverse of its actual value for us. They thought it would primarily help avoid the manual process of evaluating your team and a secondary benefit would be enhanced understanding of customer interactions.

“For us, the value was precisely the opposite: we were more interested in understanding what our customers were talking about and addressing potential issues preemptively. As a result, our team’s performance naturally improved.”

“So, having this robot in the background listening to calls all day long and surfacing the stuff most important to us both on the agent and customer level was incredibly helpful to us, especially when my team’s biggest complaint before was they were spending half their day or more not even doing the work, just listening and scrubbing through calls and then having to go through the manual process of evaluating. That’s another area we struggled in.

“My leadership team has different backgrounds. They have different management styles. One of my managers who has been in this industry for 40 years is a tough grader. It takes a lot to impress her. So, when I looked at scores when manually graded, the agents she evaluated were generally graded a lot lower than one of our other managers who is a little more forgiving.

“When we switched to AI, that bias was removed. What we were seeing was the actual analysis of the conversation without the human nature of thinking, ‘Well, the agent has had a tough week.’ Or ‘the customer was really laying into them, and I think they really did well enough.’ We removed that element from the equation.”

How do you store your customer service interactions, and how is Pathlight’s LLM able to sift through them? “We currently use a cloud-based telephony system called Aircall. Aircall and Pathlight integrate together through APIs. So, basically the conversations are recorded securely on the Aircall side and we give access to Pathlight to access those recordings for a brief period of time to analyze them and move on.

“That was something important to us; We didn’t have to adjust our modus operandi. We maintained the use of our conventional phone and ticketing systems, only permitting Pathlight secure access to the specific data they required for the evaluation.”

Did you encounter any obstacles? For instance, did you have to label your data for easier detection?

“Truth be told, even now, we are still refining it. Much of the utility hinges on the instructions fed into the AI model upfront. In our case, this involved educating the model about our business. It goes beyond simply stating, ‘We market wine.’ You would invariably encounter references to items like corkscrews, furniture, magazine stories, and refunds.”

“After a few iterations with Pathlight’s assistance, we realized, ‘It’s not quite comprehending our customer yet.’”

“Another aspect that required us to train the model was in relation to our procedures. Initially, the AI couldn’t conclusively inform us if a customer’s issue had been addressed. It could not comprehend the meaning of ‘resolved’ in our business context. Would it mean a return? Or a refund? Or a credit? Over time, through repeated refining of the prompts, we managed to help the system grasp that the customer doesn’t always have to conclude the conversation on a happy note, provided we have achieved particular business safeguarding goals and offered them a satisfactory experience. Despite being slightly irritated, we would have still met our anticipated standard.”

“I think that was a learning process for us. We had an initial prompt we built, but it wasn’t until you started seeing the output that we realized we need to tell is a little more about our business, a little more about our products for it to really understand what we were looking for.”

Assembly member Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, has introduced a bill to help control an agricultural disease affecting the wine industry, she announced in a news release Monday.

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Pierce Disease kills grapevines by clogging their water-conducting vessels. Assembly Bill 1861 aims to strengthen the agricultural department’s Pierce Disease control program.

“The wine industry is integral to the economic success of the Central Coast and all of California,” Addis said in the release. “I’m excited to author AB 1861 that extends a crucial line of defense for our wine industry against invasive disease.”

The bill would expand existing law that aims to research and prevent agricultural disease and invasive pests, such as the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

California Association of Winegrape Growers and the Wine Institute are the sponsors of the bill.

Robert P. Koch, the president and CEO of the Wine Institute, stated in a news release that “AB 1861 will ensure the continuation of crucial research, innovation, and mitigation strategies to protect our crops against this intrusive species.”

The policy committee is currently considering the bill for referral.