A good friend of mine, Cara Price, and her lovely husband, Dan Price, were recently on a little vacation getaway. Being the good friend that he is, he was preaching his love for Sort This Out Cellars all across the land. Apparently, it became so entertaining that Cara decided to start taking pictures of Dan in his Sort This Out Cellars tee-shirt as he spread the love.
Dan decided, as the self proclaimed official champion of Sort This Out Cellars, he wanted to make it a contest to guess where he goes in his Sort This Out Cellars gear. We said, "Sure, Priceman, for you, anything!" (According to Cara it was a long drive back home in the car hashing this plan.) I asked him if he had been reading Cara's Marie Claire magazines because they have a similar thing they do with their magazine every month. He had no idea what I was talking about. "Really?", I said with a suspect tone.
Where in the world is Sort This Out Cellars, is born. Guess where in the world Dan is in this picture and you win a 30% off coupon for one bottle of any Sort This Out Cellars wine brands**. Enter your guess with City, State or Province, Country and Location in the comments section below. (i.e. Paris, France, Eiffel Tower) Be sure to register before you comment so we know how to contact you. If you comment as a guest we don't know how to contact you to give you your prize. If you're the first person with the correct answer you win!
Email me - felicia(at)sortthisoutcellars.com - your pictures in your Sort This Out Cellars gear or with your bottle of Sort This Out Cellars wines and you could be featured in our next edition of - Where in the world is Sort This Out Cellars? We'll throw you a little coupon love too if we use your photo.
Good luck and may the wine be with you!
Felicia
** Coupon expires one month from the date of issue. Coupon redeemable online only. Applicable shipping charges will apply. This offer is to available to residents of states we can legally ship to. Click here for a list of states we can ship to direct or through our partner VinoShipper.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Where In The World Is Sort This Out Cellars?
Friday, May 15, 2009
Adventures In Sin City
Jeff and I headed out to Vegas last weekend for the Bon Appétit Vegas Uncork'd Festival Grand Tasting, poolside at Caesars Palace. We were lucky to be invited to pour our wines at such a unique culinary event. It was also a great bonus that the event benefited the Three Square food bank in Las Vegas. I have a soft spot for charities. I would give away the store if I knew it was helping people. All week I have been thinking about how to sum up the event in a succinct blog post. My first draft detailing the weekend looked more like the long version of War & Peace. So, rather then write about it I posted a few pictures to show you the fun we had. (Some are better then others, I haven't quite mastered pouring at an event and finding time to take good clear pictures.) If you want the real goods on how fabulous the event was then you'll just have to clear your calendar and join us at Vegas Uncork'd 2010!
The wines chilling down before the event. It was over 100 degrees that day. Even the reds needed a soak.
Look at our sign. Very legitimate.
Our 2007 Zin City Zinfandel Rollers Reserve paired perfectly with this burger from our Uncork'd neighbors, the chefs from BLT Burger at the Mirage.
Here are my burger boys from BLT Burger. The guy on the right is the Executive Chef Laurent Tourondel posing with his crew headed by Ross Vehmeier the GM (tall one in the back). These guys kept us well fed all night with great burgers. I highly recommend visiting their restaurant located inside the Mirage hotel. They were also great wine drinking buddies!
Here are Jeff and I walking the red carpet. Well, not exactly, we had a lady snap a quick pic at the end of the night while the clean up crew was dismantling it. It's fuzzy but it was the only one we have from the night with us actually in it and my Photoshoping skills are zero.Thursday, May 7, 2009
Where's The Action At?
If you're looking for a place to get some good eats or a chill bar to have a drink in check out Sort This Out Cellars' monthly Hot Spots. Hot Spots are restaurants, places, or special events we recommend each month. They are not advertisements or endorsements (most don't even carry our wine), we recommend these places because we enjoy them and hope you'll enjoy them too. We find Hot Spots through our travels and right here on the Central Coast in our own backyard. These places might not always be hippest joints in town (Jeff would put In and Out Burger on our list each month if he could) but they are always a good time! Here are our picks for May.
Terzetto
12300 Las Vegas Blvd
Henderson, Nevada 89044
(707) 797-1000
www.themresort.com/terzetto
Located inside the newly opened M Resort on the northern edge of Las Vegas. Terzetto offers a wonderful selection of meat and fish with great sides. We recommend visiting the rooftop bar/restaurant located inside the M at Veloce Cibo for a cocktail after dinner and spectacular views of the strip. Thanks to my cousins Ted and Maria for taking Jeff and I to this great new place.
Sbicca
215 15th Street
Del Mar, CA 92010
(858) 481-1001
www.sbiccabistro.com
We love their seasonal menu and Wine Lover's specials. Every Tuesday and Thursday all wines are 50% off. While Sort This Out Cellars is not in their list, we love supporting restaurants that have reasonably priced wine lists.
Cortez
550 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
www.cortezrestaurant.com
Their mini peanut butter milkshake is to die for. With tasty tapas and a great selection of Spanish wines on their wine list, you can't go wrong.
We hope you check out the places on our May Hot Spot list. Do you have a Hot Spot tip? We'd love to hear it, please leave it in the comment section of our blog.
Felicia
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Cinco de Mayo Vino
Today is Cinco de Mayo and most folks will have a margarita in one hand and a chip with guac in the other. I say why not a nice glass of wine to go with that salsa. I know, I know, I must be crazy it's Cinco de Mayo the holiday commemorating the Mexican defeat of the French army at the battle of Puebla. Tequila and cold Corona are the perfect pairing for this holiday, right? Well maybe not, around the same time in the early 1500s the Spanish settlers were distilling Tequila in Mexico they were also producing wine. In fact, the some of the earliest history of the California wine industry can be traced back to the Spanish settlers who brought European wine grapes with them to Mexico and then on to the territory that would become California.
Around 1550 Spanish explorers and settlers brought their European wines grapes to the Valle de Parras. Soon after they established the Mission of Santa María de las Parras or "Holy Mary of the Vines". Parras in Spanish means "the vines". In 1597 the Hacienda de San Lorenzo was built by the Spanish settler Don Lorenzo García, there he established Casa Madero, the oldest winery house in the Americas. From these native grapes the first "American" wine was produced. Many vines from Parras were the first to be exported and cultivated to where is now Napa Valley, California. Our California winemaking roots are firmly planted in Mexico.
So I call to all of you wine drinkers out there on this Cinco de Mayo, if distilled agave and Dos Equis aren't your tastes the pop open a bottle of wine (Californian if you've got it) and raise a glass with our Mexican compadres on this Cinco de Mayo. I thank them for their early contributions to the California wine industry. Viva la vino!
Need some wine for your Cinco de Mayo Celebration? Stop by the tasting room today and mention Cinco de Mayo and take 10% off your purchase of any white wine. Offer ends 5-5-09 at 5:30pm.
Felicia
Are You Feelin' The Grooves? - Oh, Jah Man
The temperature is rising in Vegas, and that can only mean one thing....it's time for Rock 'n Roll Wine's annual Reggae Pool Party! Get ready to sip Sort This Out Cellars Wines and more then 50 others under the stars, poolside at the new billion dollar M Resort Pool as you take in the live Reggae sounds of Michael Black & the Jah Guide Band, and openers, One Pin Short. Our very own Michael Cobb will be out there keepin' the juice flowin' and getting his groove on!
Presented by Rock 'n Roll Wine
Poolside at the M Resort
Saturday, May 16, 2009
7:00-11:00pm
12300 Las Vegas Blvd
Henderson, Nevada 89044
www.rnrwine.com
Tickets: $35 in advance - $40 at the door
Ticket price includes all the wine tastings and live entertainment, as well as your $10 Rock 'n Roll Wine Bucks voucher, good for $10 towards the retail purchase of any of the featured wine at local Las Vegas wine retailers Lee's and Khoury's.
We know you want to come out and join us....there's always time for Vegas! A little pool, a little sun, and little wine. Visit www.rnrwine.com to purchase tickets.
Felicia
Monday, May 4, 2009
Wine Tasting - Are You Prepared? - Part One
Lists of wine tasting etiquette are certainly not a new concept. You can type it into Google and get thousands of references from print media and bloggers. Most of those list are from critics, wine reviewers, wine bloggers and wine consumers. I though I'd throw my hat in the ring with my own list of wine tasting tips/etiquette from a bit of a different perspective, one from the person actually behind the counter. With the peak Summer wine tasting season approaching I think it is the perfect time for a little refresher course in the subtle art of planning a successful wine tasting day. Hopefully, this list is just as helpful as it is entertaining to all of you veteran and virgin tasters out there. All of the stories and antidotes are true - really, I wouldn't make this stuff up.
Sort This Out Cellars Guide To Wine Tasting
In no particular order:
1. Designate a Driver - Please, please, please designate a driver. Responsible tasting is always the best tasting. In every wine country region there are limos, taxis, and tour buses that will make your day so much more enjoyable then if you have to drive. Click here for a list of companies we recommend in the Santa Barbara Wine Country area. I really don't want to have to cut you off and bounce your behind outside. It's just embarrassing and makes me feel like a hall monitor. We're all adults and should act like it.
2. Taste & Dump - You don't have to drink the whole sample. If you hate it dump it or spit it! If you don't by the end of the day you'll be wondering where you left your shoe. Really it happened, I actually got a call from a taxi driver just last weekend asking if a guest he brought left her shoe in the tasting room. How do you loose your shoe?! Shirt, purse, credit card, maybe, but not your shoe. Glad we saw her early in the day.
3. Ask Questions - Please ask us questions. We love to educate you about wine and anything else we feel we are experts in. There are no stupid questions - well...maybe - "Does Crystal Light make a Chardonnay flavor?"
4. Plan a Time to Eat Lunch- Don't rely on the light snacks and crackers you brought along with you. Crackers are not a food group and by the end of the day you're starving. It doesn't need to be fancy "wine country" fare with gourmet cheeses and meats. Grab a quick cheeseburger or a burrito. You need something in your belly to get you through the day. I won't stop your friends when they embarrassing pictures of you when you've passed out from starvation.
5. Just Leave - If the vibe, atmosphere or people in the place just aren't your thing then hot foot it out of there. A good wine tasting experience is just as must about the atmosphere as it is about the wine. If a snarky tasting room attendant is attempting to wow you with their vast wine knowledge or to the other extreme can't be bothered to barely poor you a taste, then move on to the next stop on your list. Life's too short to waste your palate and your time on a bad place.
6. Remember There Are Others Around You - Be respectful of the decibel of your voice, your personal space and general enjoyment of others around you. Not everyone needs to hear about the walk of shame you did last weekend with the guy you met at the bar. Bachelorette parties - we don't need to see all of your parts . Keep the girls in the cage, it's nothing we haven't see before. It's a winery not a night club. Divorced cougars - I'm glad you're out there still rockin' it and having a good time but don't flirt with my husband or anyone else's right in front of us. It's just tacky and desperado. Pretentious wine hobbyists - Stop sharing all of your vast wine knowledge to the unsoliciting couple tasting next to you. They don't care about your trip to Bordeaux or your annual pilgrimage to Napa. They're just there to have a nice afternoon and sample some wines. Save the wine geek talk for your wine society friends.
7. It's Ok To Tip - Just like in a restaurant or bar it's ok to tip if you feel you've had good service. Most tasting room attendants make peanuts and would welcome a little extra cash if you feel their service merits it. Some wineries have a no tip policy but it never hurts to try and acknowledge a job well done.
8. Have A Good Attitude - If you "only drink beer", your girlfriend is dragging you for your 6 month anniversary together & you'd rather be watching sports game (fill in the blank here), you think the wine region you are tasting in "isn't worthy" then you won't enjoy your day. If you think only Napa winemakers can, "....make wines I would drink. The rest of you wineries are all rubbish.", you will not have an enjoyable time and might as well just stay home. A bad attitude from the start will have more of an effect on your wine tasting experience the the quality of the wine itself. Wine tasting should be fun and enjoyable, so put on a happy face and stop the whining, you just might actually like it!
As I write this a realize there are far too many wine tasting tips to list in one post so, I've decided to make this a first in a series of Wine Tasting The Sort This Out Cellars Way. Stay tuned for part deux and in the meantime we hope you plan a tasting trip to visit Sort This Out Cellars or favorite winery soon.
Felicia
