In the Cellar - Learning the Wines of Portugal!

Portugal is now creating some of the world's best values for table wine, take 10 minutes and learn about Portuguese wines with Managing Director of Marquee Selections, Christopher Cribb and Bonnie Rabicoff - Host & Food Expert of In the Kitchen With Bonnie!

In our second episode we bring you a brief introduction on Marquee and dive into two wines from the Iberian Peninsula, specifically Portugal! Learn about the award winning Clemen Reserva Vinho Verde - a white table wine from the North of Portugal that is 2010 was featured as one of Wine & Spirits Magazine's Top 100 Wines (regardless of price... and it is only $12.99) as well as a red blend, the Lua Nova Em Vinhas Velhas (Old Vines) from the Douro region, an outstanding value at only $14.99.



Marquee Selections has partnered up with the award-winning chef focused program " In The Kitchen with Bonnie" (http://inthekitchenwithbonnie.com) to produce an exciting new wine segment entitled "In the Cellar" with Marquee Selections . During each episode we will unravel the wine world one grape at a time! Each week we invite you to join us for an engaging conversation for our food and wine lovers to see why wine has been a worldwide tradition for centuries and how learning more about it can help bring the stories and flavors to life. Learn more about exciting regions, new wine types, varietals, how to pair wines with food, decanting, proper serving temperature, what wine goes best with pizza and more! A great 10 minute break from your day to learn and "wet" your taste buds for more"!

Please enjoy this web-episode of In the Cellar with Marquee and additional details are available below for more information on Marquee Selections! I am a bit new to the HD Camera, so please bear with me as I get my sea legs as an action reporter ( with today's technology you can find the grey hairs if you look) :) and thank you so much for tuning in and supporting Marquee Selections!

Check back next week as we move around the map and explore new wines!

Cheers!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW
cjcribb@marquee.com

In the Cellar - Visit to Northern Italy - Piedmonte

Marquee Selections has partnered up with the award-winning chef focused program " In The Kitchen with Bonnie" (www.inthekitchenwithbonnie.com) to produce an exciting new wine segment entitled "In the Cellar" with Marquee Selections . During each episode we will unravel the wine world one grape at a time! Each week we invite you to join us for an engaging conversation for our food and wine lovers to see why wine has been a worldwide tradition for centuries and how learning more about it can help bring the stories and flavors to life. Learn more about exciting regions, new wine types, varietals, how to pair wines with food, decanting, proper serving temperature, what wine goes best with pizza and more! A great 10 minute break from your day to learn and "wet" your taste buds for more"!

JCCCF2F Cellar from In the Kitchen with Bonnie on Vimeo.

In our initial episode we bring you a brief introduction on Marquee and dive into two wines from Piedmont, Italy the Quattro Leoni Monferrato Bianco and the Quattro Leoni Barbera D'Asti by Castello Di Gabiano! These wines are both perfect for back to school and the fresh harvest bounty available at markets as farmers start tidying up for fall. Castello Di Gabiano last year was awarded the prestigious "Best Barbera" medal at VinItaly and focus its red wines on this signature grape as well as doing an elegant blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cortese for our white wine drinkers! Please enjoy this web-episoded of In the Cellar with Marquee and additional details are available below for more information on Marquee Selections! I am a bit new to the HD Camera, so please bear with me as I get my sea legs as an action reporter ( with today's technology you can find the grey hairs if you look) :) and thank you so much for tuning in and supporting Marquee Selections!

Check back next week as we move around the map and explore new wines!

Cheers!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW
cjcribb@marquee.com

Five “Go To” Methods of Food & Wine Pairing that just DON’T MISS!

When I talk with an event planner, chef, or even my family about pairing up food and wines for whatever the special occasion, I first start by asking good questions…

• Is it a daytime event or an evening event?
• Are you going to have a cocktail hour or might there be a silent auction that you want people to look at?
• What is your theme for the night, casino; masquerade ball, Italian castle, a night in Paris?
• Will you be inside or outside (and accordingly what is the temperature / season of year)?
• How many courses are you serving and what type of staff and what do you want to be the focal point of the dinner, the food, the wine, both?
• What is the main course?

Answers to questions like these will help you move forward and narrow down your overall search. Simple knowledge of having a Saturday afternoon grilling party (something similar to a 4th of July event) will sway you towards serving more light alcohol, less tannic wines at the event. At this point, I tend to rule out things more than make choices, for example – I would pass on the Cabernet Sauvignon for my grilling party, most are heavy, higher in alcohol, with oak and tannin and look towards lighter reds like a Pinot Noir, Rioja, Grenache, Barbera or Red Blend.

Back to the Meat & Potatoes – FIVE “Go To” Food & Wine Pairing Tips

• ONE - MATCH THE WEIGHT – One of the best tactics and the central approach I take to pairing wine with food is to pair and serve lighter wines with more delicate foods and heavier wines with richer, more robust items. This simple approach ensures that neither the food, nor the wine overtakes the other and allows the diner to appreciate the nuances and flavors in everything. A big fan of examples, think about Sea Scallops and Beef Brisket; one is light, one is heavy. I would pair a simple grilled Sea Scallop with a lighter wine such as the Blue Fin Vinho Verde from Northern Portugal. The lime and stone fruit flavors, high acidity & 11% alcohol pair well with a delicate dish. For the Beef Brisket, I would first hope that the grill master used my favorite KC BBQ Sauce in cooking it, Gates Original in slow cooking the beef, and then move to a robust red wine to pair with it, the Caligiore Organic Reserve Syrah would be a nice choice, the spicy notes in the BBQ would bring out more of the white pepper, clove notes in the wine.

Takeaway – Delicate Food = Light Wine; Hearty/Rich Food = Big Robust Wine

• TWO - LET THE SAUCE SPEAK LOUDLY – The accoutrement sauce to your dish can significantly change the food’s compatibility with wine. A lighter fish like poached sole loves a delicate white wine like a Pinot Grigio but this same fish swimming in a rich, creamy butter sauce or pan fried with a thick batter would become a great candidate for a heavier white wine as in a rich Chardonnay. In many cases I look first at what the sauce is and then find a nice wine to match up to it. One example of this I find is very effective, think Chicken Breast and plan your wine pairing by the sauce. If done in a light lemon sauce with capers this to me screams for medium bodied wines with citrus fruit but a bit of depth, the Castello Di Gabiano Quattro Leoni Monferrato Bianco would be a great choice (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Coretes Blend). The 2nd chicken breast has been used with a rich cream alfredo sauce to transform a plate of pasta into a hearty meal. I would stick with Californian or New World Chardonnay for this wine pairing, the Marquee Classic Chardonnay a great choice. If you are at home, try using just a bit of your wine in the sauce, most of the alcohol will burn off in the pan and it is another trick to tying your dinner together with flavor!

Takeaway – The Sauce is king, match the flavor and wine to the sauce 1st, the protein – main portion second!

• THREE - LET OPPOSITES ATTRACT – Think nuts in chocolate or peanut butter and jelly, a great way to find a lovely wine and food pairing is for a flavor or textural contrast to transport a meal to new heights! Contrasts in acidity of a crisp white wine with the grease of fried foods or with the smooth creaminess of soft cheeses are interesting direct pairing. One chef I know makes a delicious pan Fried Chicken that the restaurant has been known to pair up with different types of Sparkling Wine! The acid and fizz in the bubbles help to cut through the grease and cleanse the palate. Likewise, I have had other success with the Grazioso Organic Torrontes from Mendoza Argentina with Tempura fried vegetables; the contrast makes the pairing work. The time honored food and wine pairing of this type I must mention is a late harvest honeyed “dessert wine” such as Sauternes with a salty richness of foie gras or Roquefort cheese!

Takeaway - There are reasons why different sides of a color wheel look good together, this same principal applies with food and wine, just think what you want to Contrast against!

• FOUR - SPICY FOOD CAN BE TAMED – The key to taming the heat in some spicy foods is to balance that heat with the sweetness found in “Off Dry Wines”. In particular I have found that there is nothing better than a slightly sweet Riesling or Gewurztraminer to tackle mildly hot Asian food. One fondness I have in particular is for Kung Pao Chicken, and the Marquee Classic Riesling from Victoria, Australia is the perfect wine to quench the heat. With a touch of sugar, it pairs well and the acidity allows you to taste more exciting flavors in the Asian fare. If you want to see something that doesn’t work, next time you see somebody with Cajun shrimp, hand them a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, the hot spices make the dry wine seem harsh and metallic and unfortunately the food spicy factor also goes up in the food!

Takeaway – An off dry, low alcohol, white wine like Riesling is the choice for Spicy Ethnic food.

• FIVE - PEPPER & SEA SALT PACK A GREAT PUNCH – Despite it being a very pungent spice, pepper is far more wine friendly than people give it credit for. A small sprinkling of freshly ground pepper on food will sensitize your taste buds and make many wines taste more vivid and flavorful. As restaurants and home kitchens have access to greater varieties of course salts, such as traditional sea salt, these can also assist in bringing the natural flavor out of your dishes and enhancing the notes you find when pairing with wines.

Takeaway - One or two cracks of the Pepper Shaker or Ground Salts will enhance your meal!

Have a great day!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW
Managing Director & GM
Marquee Selections - Green, Global, Grapes
1.888.MARQUEE (627.7833)
www.marquee.com

Just A Brief Break from Wine - Baby Cribb Has Arrived

Ready to change my world and warm my soul from Day 1 until eternity, our baby, Elizabeth Lynn Cribb has just arrived and wanted to say hello!

Have a great day!

The Cribb's

Announcement generated with Smilebox

Five Wines to "Class Up" the Movies for the VIP Theater Treatment

Last Friday night I went with friends and family to not just our local theater to see a movie, but instead for the VIP movie theater, a great experience! With the change in habits since our 2009 Recession, people are doing things differently and that now includes movie theaters! We had quite a blast at the theater and Watched Hangover 2, which in my opinion was just about as funny and distasteful as the original. The whole crew got it right in a remake on this, use what works (the great lines and character roles) and MAKE US LAUGH (yes, the story was basically the same, but I did laugh out loud several times).

Today’s digression to the movie theater brings us to the new trend in movie theaters, providing great food with more of an “Applebee’s” feel / menu than the standard fare that I had growing up as a kid (hot dogs, popcorn, candy and carbonated beverages “soda” or “pop” depending upon where you were raised. I am all for the idea of making going to the movies a big thing, and I think in doing so you need to make the food and beverages equal to the task. I would be happy to have my chef/foodie friends plug in some entrée’s, but I will stick to the wines and here are five versatile wines to bring to the movie theaters as we “Class up the Theater”. I choose all wines here that can be sold both BTG (by-the-glass) and BTB (by-the bottle) and range in price from $10.00 to $25.00 Retail. Theater price points will range, but there is hope that theaters will not go quite as far as a few restaurant cousins in the wine mark-up area. I have estimated below a BTG price for these wines based on current market trends and what I would happily pay.

First on the list must be a GOOD, Solid New World Chardonnay. In terms of white wine there are varietals making headway, but Chardonnay is the king and your list will need a good one. Now that the global wine world has arrived we have more options and pairing a white wine with just a hint of oak, and malolactic fermentation will do wonders for that person that is also grabbing a few bites of buttery movie theater popcorn! I would tend to go “New World” so that they are fresh and fruity (who’s kidding, they also cost less than stuff competing with the Euro).

• 
  
  Marquee Classic Chardonnay – 2008 Vintage – Victoria, Australia – Perfect Aussie complement of cool climate and a touch of oak, WS -88 Points - $7.00 Glass
  


• 
  
  Sebastiani California Chardonnay 2009 Vintage – Sonoma Coast - A larger producer that keeps the lid on quality for price - $9.00 Glass

Second on the list it is time to go lighter and stay with the white wines, choose an Alternative White Wine Blend – I personally love Spain or Portugal white wines, or could have my arm twisted for Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, South Africa or California depending on mood, so I submit this is a great wine to let it change with the seasons! Start off with summer, right now it’s hot so I am concentrating on lower alcohol levels and something that is refreshing to take the bight out of the spicy or fried foods coming my way, at the movies. Come winter I might think of something a little heavier with more body (Pinot Gris for example), but on the light side for summer I have two great selections:

• Blue Fin Vinho Verde – 2009 Portugal – Light blend of Alvarinho & Trajadura (yes, Alvarinho like the Spanish grape, Albarino – same varietal different countries) with a hint of fizz and only 11% alcohol (you can have two glasses at the movie and not need to take a cab home) – $6.50 Glass
  


• Nobilio Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough New Zealand – 2009 Grassy and zesty, but not so much acid that you feel like you are having alcoholic limeade. A lovely bit of citrus, a nice choice if your movies have a summer salad or are experimenting with Sushi! - $9.00 Glass
  

Third the ease of finger foods in the new movie theater will keep us more limited in terms of offers, but another “go to, must have” wine on this list is a Great Red Wine for Pizza! Small slices, little flatbreads, and even the large appetizer brochette is lovely when made well with perfect ingredients. Let’s hope the staff can move those TV trays around to accommodate our new space, & pizza offerings. The other good news about a lovely Pizza wine is that it can also be a great cheese sticks, pretzels with mustard and meatball wine (if you make the right choice). I look for a lighter bodied wine with lots of red fruit, a hint of spice and smooth, mouth coating tannins when looking to pair with my pizza pie. Two great choices:

• Staccato Malbec / Cabernet Blend - 2010 Vintage – Mendoza, Argentina - Cabernet grown at higher altitudes gives lighter bodied red flavors and the Old Vine Malbec smoothes out the palate and coats any places burned form melting cheese - 100% Organic and $6.00 Glass




• Castle Rock Pinot Noir – Carneros - 2009 Vintage – California A fruit driven pinot that has lots of raspberry and some smoky tones that make you think of a big stone pizza oven. Seek out Castle Rock, the quality to price ratio is high - $9.00 Glass

Fourth in our top five is a big red winethat may have been made for food, but it stands out when enjoyed by itself! What we are looking for here is to find a wine that do change with food, gets better with a few swirls of the glass, allows for more taste, tertiary aromas start coming out and this wine is at its best when on center stage, in a big red glass. I call this selection the BIG BAD Velvety Red Wine and when narrowing down this category I thought of wines with bold dark fruit flavors, wines that can start to turn your teeth a bit purple like, Caberent Sauvignon, Petit Sirah, Monastrell, Malbec, or Zinfandel and two of my favorites might cost a bit more, but if you are only going to have one glass, lets’ make it one “big bad” glass of wine to savor & sip!

• Charles Smith – “Chateau Smith” Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – 2008 Vintage Rock star Winemaker Charles Smith of K Vintners has done an outstanding job with this sweet Cabernet from Washington State. Big, bold and best of all SUPER SMOOTH! - $12.50 Glass
  



• Trapio – Bodegas La Purisima - 2006 Vintage Old Vine Monastrell – Yecla Spain Like a bold crimson fist wrapped in a smooth glove, un-grafted 80 year old vines and time in small new French make this a real bargain, one of the top 50 Wines in Spain! - $14.00 Glass

Fifth - Bubbles, Sparkles, Fizz, or Champagne… nothing says it’s time to celebrate quite like a glass of sparkling wine and why should the movies be any different! I highly suggest a reasonably priced bubbly needs to be on the wine list and it will pair wonderfully with almost all of the food! All grown up and still wanting a bit of that fizz from the soda fountain, try it in your vino for fun and class! Sparkling wines are a real success with a light cheese / fruit plate (which also gives someone an option besides fried items on the movie menu)! Two of my favorites for value & quality are:

• Segura Viduras – Brut Reserve - Cava – Spain Non-Vintage Light, medium dry, / brut style with lots of green apple flavor, this is a very refreshing and reasonably priced sparkling! - $900 Glass
  



• Greut Brut Rose Non Vintage Sparkling Wine – New Mexico – A lighter style rose from New Mexico. I love the bit of watermelon notes, and yes I said New Mexico, these guys are doing a great job – try a taste & you will want a second. - $12.00 Glass

Our movie going experience is changing, we now have 3D, IMAX, luxury all around and it is time for our movie theaters to step up to the plate and class up our beverage and wine choices to match! I recently watched the movie Annie (a blast from the 80s past) for the first time in years and noticed when Daddie Warbucks took Annie to the movies it was a BIG DEAL! He bought out the entire theater, but in the 30s the cinema was really the golden screen and watching Mr. Warbucks at his picture show, I just kept thinking to myself that the only thing he was missing was a nice big glass of vino! One aside, watching Annie as an adult, the humor was really very funny and I think Carol Brunette deserved an award (if she didn’t get one).

Cheers!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW - GM/ Managing Director
Marquee Selections - Green, Global, Grapes
E – cjcribb@marquee.com M – 816.223.9201
W – http://www.marquee.com/ P – 1.888.MARQUEE (627-7833)
F – 913.217.9343 Marquee Selections on FB,
@Marqueewines on Twitter Christopher J. Cribb on Facebook & LinkedIn
Marquee Selections Blog - Notes From The Cribb

Using Beer and Beer Styles as a Guide to Wine – Part I – White Wines

Over the past weekend I was out with some good friends that are more into beers than wines, but truly enjoy the best of both. We were discussing a few wines that were on an Italian Wine List and I had just ordered a glass of Barbera D’Asti. Asked, “What is that wine like?” I thought about the style of the wine, the medium body and flavors and quipped, “Well if it was a beer I would think of it sort of like a Brown Ale, not the really nutty kind, but very smooth, easy drinking, but one I probably wouldn’t have more than a couple of before switching to something a little lighter or to have with food.”

The more we discussed the concept I decided to write this piece for all of my beer loving friends that get handed a wine list and could use a little “Cliff Notes” version of Wine 101 to help them to choose a wine that their palate will like. I do have to make a small caveat before I dig deep into this subject, just like with beer, every wine is different and finding producers / importers you can trust will make choosing wines that you like much easier. There is a ton of wine out there and 80% of it is average – some good , some not so good… choosing the 20% that is above average is a talent that can be learned, the first lesson is to choose a wine that is in the style that you are looking for you will be more apt to be happy with the results. Here we go…

The Light Stuff

Bud Light is to Beer as Pinot Grigio is to Wine… Sometimes what you are looking for is light, easy drinking and simple. The alcohol content is usually a bit lighter in this wine and some may find it “a bit watered down”. There is nothing wrong with Bud Light or Light beer in general, but we had to start somewhere and this is it. Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris are they same grape type / varietal, but most Pinot Grigio is from Italy and is typically “unoaked” (a term for not having a buttery or toasty flavor) and has tropical fruit flavors. If you are a Coors Light fan or have another light beer you like that has more flavor, you might try an Oregon Pinot Gris that is grown in a cooler climate to show a more robust taste profile. A stalwart for many wine lists is the Santa Margeherita Pinot Grigio and for an Oregon Pinot Gris I like the King Estate wines that are also widely found. Check out a picture of the Pinot Gris grapes up close and you will be surprised to find that the grapes are not “Green” or “White” but rather a light copper colored in most cases and the reason that the finished wine is white is because it doesn’t have the long skin contact that other wines have…

Pilsner – Pale Lagers = Similar to Chardonnay (Chenin Blanc) – OK, so this is the softball because this is one of the largest categories for both beer and for wine and it also is allowing for the most wide ranging flavor profiles in each. Chardonnay is the white wine equivalent of the middle of the road, it can go fruity, or have a lot of oak, it can be very round in the mouth with unctuousness and oily tones or it can be light and crisp… just as you can go with many different styles of Pilsner. I grabbed a couple notables on each to highlight this area, one Italian Pilsner I like is Peroni, it doesn’t have a ton of flavor, is slightly bitter, but is still rather refreshing. I liken this to an Australian Chardonnay, fairly fruity goes well with a lot of different foods and two I like under $15.00 a bottle are the Marquee Classic Chardonnay and to a lesser extent the Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay.

To peel this onion back a layer deeper, I think another great Pilsner I like, Pilsner Urquell from The Czech Republic is a good example of comparison with a good California Chardonnay. In years past I would have used the Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay as my example for this, but I contend this has gone downhill quite a bit, I actually think a better comparison these days would be the La Crema Chardonnay It is made in rather large quantities, but it has good flavors and shows a balance between fruit and oak.

For Chenin Blanc and very “oaky” chardonnay, I think this wine is the highly similar to a beer that I first found in the Pennsylvania area, but later have been also enjoying across Florida, Yuengling. The lager flavor is there and to accompany it is a very rich mouth feel that you get with wines like Chenin Blanc. A recommendation would be to try some Chenin Blanc from Vouvray in the South of France to taste this style. I mentioned Bud Light earlier, but think that another good comparison here exists in the country’s largest production beer, Budweiser and one if its highest production wines, the Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. Both can be good and in the relatively large quantities they are made, but when giving a gift of wine to a friend, think of the bottle of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay in the same light as handing off a six pack of Bud… it doesn’t scream awesome gift!

Wheat Beers or Hefeweizen– Similar to Sauvignon Blanc – Kansas City has a great local brewery, Boulevard that makes a very tasty wheat beer, that I would highly recommend anyone check out. In some cases, wheat beers come with a lemon or orange on the glass to give the beer a bit more spritz of juice and complement the beers flavor. The reason that I compare wheat beers to Sav. Blanc (and to a lesser extent some Portuguese White Wines like Vinho Verde) because they have a more pronounced acid content and flavor profile. The same pucker that you get when you suck on a lemon is what some Sav. Blanc from places like New Zealand can lend you to (often thought of as gooseberry and grapefruit juice). The wheat beer has a lighter body, just like these white wines and concentrates the flavors on crisp, refreshing tones, even creating a mouth watering sensation. I would recommend picking up a glass of the Peju Sauvignon Blanc if you like the Boulevard Wheat Style (one of my wife’s favorites) or trying the Quattro Leoni Sav. Blanc blend as a good comparison if you like wheat beers like the Blue Moon that are often served with an orange on the glass.

Belgian Style Ales – (Viognier, Marsanne/Rousanne & Torrontes) – The main string that I see tying these two disparate entities together is “florality”, or a floral note that is highly predominant in the nose or bouquet of the wines (and to a lesser extent in the Belgian Styled beers). The site, ratebeer.com calls this category Belgian Session as opposed to the specific wheat beer style this category has more of a “Sour Ale” style. The wines that I see as a good comparison to these are known for a great smelling wine, almost perfumed in nature and have a bit of a sharp, acid based profile. Off the top of my head I can’t name my favorite Belgian Session beer, but a couple great Torrontes (A white grape that hails from Argentina) are the Bodega Colome from the North and the Grazioso Organic Wine from Caligiore Organic Wines in the Mendoza Region.

Viognier, Marsanne & Roussanne are white wine grapes that you can find in several places in the world, but I have found some of my favorites in the Rhone Valley in France and the Central Coast of the California, USA. Viognier by itself has been popping up in new regions and I have been particularly impressed with some from Virginia including Jefferson Vineyards, Barboursville Vineyards, and The Winery at La Grange.

A fun exercise, I think to do this write-up justice this post will need to be released in two parts…
Part I – The White Wines and Part II – The Red Wines.

Thank You!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW

GM / Managing Director

Marquee Selections – Green, Global, Grapes

Five Great Ways To Use a Coffee Filter - Most Food/Wine Related!

Five Great Ways To Use a Coffee Filter - Most Food/Wine Related!

This is not a revolution of hope for America, nor a condemnation of the current political scheme, this my friends, is good common sense that just happens to touch on the world of food and wine. I blog and write about many things some plain, others a bit more esoteric, but this knowledge can be passed along and make life a little better, a little easier, and comes with a great price tag… FREE.

Use a Coffee

Filter to Remove Pieces of Cork / Cork Crumbles From Wine

I was down in Florida recently with a large group

of friends out for dinner on Atlantic Avenue in Del Ray Beach at 32 East Restaurant and encountered a wine related problem. I selected a nice value red wine from the list that had a bit of age to it (Rioja 2002) and the waiter proceeded to rip into the cork like it was a $8.99 synthetic… the cork started to crumble right away and those chunks went into the bottle as the other half of the cork was removed. No problem I thought, but the server went ahead and poured me a glass with large chunks and said “Sorry, there is nothing I can do with these older bottles…”

Ok, so I was annoyed, but here comes lesson one, I told the server this wasn’t going to work and kindly asked him to go get me a coffee filter from the kitchen. In these circumstances slowly pouring the red wine from the bottle kept the crumbling cork bits in the filter and out of my wine, a vast improvement to having a “cork mustache” after a few sips. I don’t recommend using this technique alone or on bottles with large amounts of sediment, but if the goal is to remove floating pieces of destroyed cork a simple coffee filter between the bottle and the glass will do the trip nicely!

Use a

Coffee Filter to Clean / Dry Wine Glasses / Crystal

Coffee filters are “lint free” so when you use these for cleaning on crystal, mirrors, windows, wine glasses etc… they pickup what they are supposed to without leaving behind extra fibers or lint. Each year in the fall I am involved with a great wine competition in the Kansas City area coordinated by Doug Frost (MS/MW) called The Jefferson Cup that looks to find the best wines from around the US (grapes of all varietals). As this blind tasting completion moves forward a team behind the scenes has to turn hundreds of racks of glasses to be ready for the next flights, the next day, etc… it just won’t do to have your glasses with lots of water spots on them or streaky and this is where I have seen the coffee filter (also called the glass cleaners best friend) do its magic so that the vessel to judge the next wine is inert with no spots, smears or

fibers… Your glassware need not be a Riedel big bowl if it is sparkling clean and dried correctly with no streaks!

Use a Coffee Filter to Protect Your China

With my wife, mother, and mother-in-law all “china addicts” (the plates / teacup type – not the country), you learn to live with lots of breakable things around you. As Megan and I have started to utilize some of our own fine China for dinner parties and various events I take special care in not doing ANYTHING careless that could lead to a chip, scratch or broken plate. If you have the nice felt inserts that go between the dishes that works very well, but let me say if you are looking for another great use for the Coffee Filter then use them to separate fine China when stacking. Doing this simple setup helps to prevent the possibilities of chipping or scratching as the dishes are stacked up and put away. I also use this trick when it comes time to pack boxes for a move across town or across the country. Compared to the price of the felt versions, coffee filters serve the same purpose for pennies instead of dollars. PS – Thinking about China got me dreaming of dinner at one of my favorite places, Staker’s Reserve on the Plaza in Kansas City drop in to find beautiful China all around the dining room (maybe even a coffee filter) and stop over to Halls Plaza China / Crystal to fill up your cabinet!

Use a

Coffee Filter to Line the bottom of a Potted Plant

With potted plants you need for them to be able to breathe and let out excess water, but the problem is that the soil rolls right out the bottom with it. If you take and include a coffee filter at the bottom of your potted plant before adding the potting soil and plant, you place a nice permeable layer in place that lets the water out, but keeps the soil In. Yes, I did just give advice on potted plants… I don’t have a green thumb, but this one was pretty easy.

Use a Coffee Filter to make GREAT COFFEE!!!

I might get called out by a bean baron on this one as I know that in making specialty coffee barista’s are not really using coffee filters a pot at a time, but if you buy good coffee from someone like my friends over at The Roasterie in Kansas City – you can also put that good coffee into a filter and make a great cup for everyone at the table. My preference is to grind the beans immediately before placing them into the filter and keep everything as “airtight” as possible. Grind away, make a great cup and enjoy; perfect for a Sunday morning to read the paper!

That seems like more than enough useful info about coffee filters for one day! In addition we need to share some Marquee Selections news that we are very excited about…

First, Marquee Selections has just gotten in the new vintage Marquee Classic GSM 2008 and Marquee Classic Riesling 2009 from Keith Brien at Marquee Australian Wines, two wonderful wines that are in stock and available right in time for your Thanksgiving feast!

Second, we keep having continued success as we delve deeper into the wines of Spain and Portugal… just this past month we had the Rio Real Reserva win “best in tasting” for a group of sommelier / buyers down South and it also received a 91 Point Score from Tastings.com, Top 10 wines under $15.00 Retail, Top Rated Portuguese wine! Finally let me pass along kudos and congratulations to our friends at Quintas Das Touquineras and Wines & Winemakers by Saven as the Clemen Reserva Vinho Verde was selected by Wine & Spirits Magazine as a part of their Top 100 Value Wines for 2010 – 92 Points! A very high honor (that last year Marquee Selections was a part of the list with the Caligiore Reserve Malbec), two years in a row to have part of our small/focused, green global portfolio in this list was a very nice honor!

Finally, Marquee is doing updates to our www.marquee.com website and brand imagery + has opened up our own Cellar door – “The Marquee Cellar” at www.themarqueecellar.com for direct sale purchases. If you are ready to put together a mixed case for the holidays – drop by The Marquee Cellar and place your order – Promo Code “MQBLOG” will get you 10% off. Also now available we offer cellar door pickups / deliveries in the Kansas City area… so send great wines to friends or for yourself across the globe/ bring it home, we aim to please.

Have a wonderful start to fall and you will be seeing more things soon from your friends at Marquee Selections including, new regions, additional wines and of course great information like out new WineWOD “Word of the Day” on FB & Twitter! Please share us with friends, there will be prizes along the way for those that help recruit others to the Marquee social media army!

Ciao!

~C.Cribb

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW

Marquee Wines
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