Web sites: April 2010 Archives

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Fantastic wine tasting tonight at The Wine House in Manlius. Started out with a Prosecco.

Moved into the Matua Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from the Marlborough region of New Zealand (see the map) and then to the Hollywood & Vine 2480 Chardonnay 2006. Switching to reds it was a Burgundian Pinot Noir, the Louis Jadot Chambolle-Musigny "Les Fuees" 2006, which I reviewed last about a year ago. After that we tasted the Swinto Old Vines Malbec 2006 from Mendoza, Argentina.

The last of the night, a phenomenal treat was the Concha y Toro Don Melchor 2005 from Chile, one of the best Cabernets out there, and definitely the best from Chile. The 2005 received a 96 from Wine Spectator and a 94 from Robert Parker and this was a great opportunity to taste this wine.

I'll write up individual reviews for all of the wines over the next few days, but I wanted to get out the kudos to the folks at The Wine House for putting together this exceptional tasting for about a dozen lucky customers. As I said a few entries earlier, the reason I enjoy wine tastings is the opportunity to learn about the wines, the regions, and the stories from friends about the wines they've had before as well as what they're looking forward to trying next. Thanks!

Just a quick post to recommend another two CNY food blogging sites - with a nod to one of them for their props for Dinosaur BBQ in NYC that mentioned the First Lady and daughters picking out this fine gem of a BBQ place. Anyway, recommended blogs, worth a read - Chus on Chow - http://chusonchow.com/ and Pulled into Syracuse at http://pulledintosyracuse.blogspot.com/

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As most people know, Syracuse's food scene is not equivalent to NYC, Boston, DC, Philly, or even Albany. That's not to say there aren't some decent finds out there, but you have to work at it a little bit. There are also some great dives, good appetizers, and of course the one, true, amazing standout, Dinosaur BBQ.

Lauren Young, of youngeats.com, does a great job of profiling the places you don't want to miss in Syracuse and the surrounding area. She also travels and writes about the places she find. Her review of the Brickskeller in DC was right on. I think La Tasca's review could have been a bit better - while I agree places in the US don't do justice to tapas like Spain, La Tasca (at least the one in Old Town Alexandria I ate at last weekend) was pretty darn good. Especially the meat plate and cheese plate. The sangria didn't come close to sangria in Spain, but let's be honest, that has as much to do with being in Spain as the taste of the wine! (And I should know, I spent 2 1/2 years in Spain enjoying sangria AND tapas!)

But I digress, essentially I was recommending her food blog because she showcases good finds in Syracuse. And no one else I've seen has ever profiled Chuck's specials.