Here is the video side show component that was missing from the Croatia Country of Good Vines post on my blog Come for the Wine. A tiny taste, 47 seconds, of Umag on the Istrian peninsula of Croatia.
All my wine blogging friends are off to Virginia for WBC11 this week. I can't make it this year due to other commitments. But I’ll be thinking of you guys and trying not to get too jealous from reading all your #WBC11 tweets. Before you go here's something for veterans and newbies to consider--
The Five Signs You Are at a Wine Bloggers Conference--
1. The ribbons on conference badges are often NSFW. Stay away from people with more than two ribbons on their badge.
2. You accidentally get engaged to a fellow wine blogger during the speed tasting rounds. (I really need to give Randy of WineBizRadio this ring back)
3. The breakfast buffet offers Orange juice, Coffee and Absinthe.
4. You are shocked to find people don't look anything like their Twitter avatars IRL. Um Hello Kitty…aka Fred Swan aka @NorCalWIne!
5. By Sunday morning you discover can’t feel your face anymore. Because you’ve been smiling so much…what did you think I meant!?!
Have fun everyone…see you in 2012 in Okanagan ( my first choice) or PDX or SB… actually all would be great.
In case you missed this post from last year…
You Know You’re at a Wine Bloggers Conference When....
And while you're at it here is a perennial favorite--
The Five Types of Wine Bloggers: What Kind of Blogger Are You?
I can't believe it's almost time for another Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference. This year the faculty line up looks swell as usual. It's hard to believe those travel writing luminaries are so approachable. The accessibility of the teaching staff is what makes Book Passage a great event.
Last year I shot three minute interviews with all the faculty and several conference attendees. I asked just three simple questions about how they travel and what they pack. But for some of them, answering the questions proved to be an overwhelming and difficult task. All right, I must admit that the majority of these interviews were filmed on Karaoke night when eveyone imbibes a bit too much and goes crazy singing Born to be Wild.
Please note if you are on the fence about going to Book Passage this year DO NOT let this video be your deciding factor. Unless you are a past attendee and then nothing will change your mind. And if you are on your way to TBEX this week, this might be your first glimpse of some of the "calendar boys" you will meet there.
The limits of a Flip Cam are many, but the main one is there is no room for lengthy credits. I could only fit a few names in at the end. So here is the full roster of participants :
Don George, Jim Benning, Amanda Jones, Georgia Hesse, Spud Hilton, David Farley, Phil Cousineau, Tim Cahill, Bob Holmes, Andrea Johnson, Mike Barish, Chris Christensen, David Frey, & Andy Isaacson.
Thanks so much for being good sports. See you in August.
Prior to my Portugal trip I tweeted out I was looking for a place to stay in Lisbon after the Wine Pleasures Conference. Within a few minutes I got a tweet from Mello the General Manager of The York House. We tweeted back and forth. He answered my questions. Then I checked out the link he provided and I booked a room on the spot. That is the power of social media--Interaction leads to action.
(download)
The York House was just what I was looking for-- small and historic, located just outside the main tourist area. But there was one small problem--it was such a lovely little oasis, it was hard to muster up the energy to leave each day and explore the city. Our room was like having our own little apartment.
The York House also has a great restaurant, and one of the best meals I had in Lisbon was a late lunch on the day we arrived. I was also pleased to see some of my new found favorite Portuguese wines on the wine list, like Quinta Nova and AFROS.
Upon arrival we were presented with a plate of Pastis of Belem and a carafe of Port, and although I had this same pairing in almost every place I'd stayed, this was the first time I actually had the time to enjoy them. Perhaps it was just the relaxing surroundings or the fact that I could finally drink and taste for pleasure and not take notes. Whatever it was it was divine. I was pretty exhausted from the previous 14 days and The York House was the perfect place to relax and recover from the rigors (and the pleasures) of the wine tour.
You can read all my posts about the Wine Pleasures Tour in Portugal on my main site Come for the Wine.
The writing god's have smiled upon me and I am delighted to announce my story "In Lardo We Trust " has been selected for this year's edition of Best Women's Travel Writing 2011 edited by Lavinia Spalding.
The book is in stores now and includes a great lineup of contributors that I'm honored to share a table of contents with. I'll be participating in readings and events in the next few months. So come on out if you are in the area.
Some local events include:
May 26th --7pm Books Inc. Marina on Chestnut Street in San Francisco
June 3rd --7pm Books Inc. Berkeley on 4th Street in Berkeley
June 25th --1pm Book Passage in Corte Madera
FULL LISTING OF EVENTS
5/26 Books Inc. Marina, San Francisco, CA 5/29 Reading Frenzy at the Telluride Mtn. Film Festival, CO 6/3 Books, Inc., Berkeley, CA 6/4 Rebound Books, San Rafael, CA 6/16 Lolita, New York City, NY 6/22 The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA 6/25 Book Passage Corte Madera 7/8 Vromans, Los Angeles, CA 7/9 Travelers' Bookcase Los Angeles
8 pm, SF Travel Lit & Lectures Series
Lavinia Spalding, Marcia DeSanctis, Laura Deutsch, Marianne Rogoff
2251 Chestnut Street
415-931-3633
http://www.booksinc.net/SFMarina
2-4 pm
Kasha Rigby signing
http://www.mountainfilm.org/reading-frenzy
7-9 pm
Books, Inc
1760 Fourth St. Berkeley, CA 94710
Jacqueline Luckett, Lavinia Spalding, Marianne, Eva Tuschman, Erin Van Rheenan and Marcy Gordon
http://www.booksinc.net/Berkeley
4-6 pm
Rebound Bookstore
Marianne Rogoff, Lavinia Spalding, Eva Tuschman,
1611 4th Street, San Rafael, CA 94904
(415) 482-0550
http://www.reboundbookstore.com/
7pm
David Farley's Restless Legs Reading Series
266 Broome Street (on the Lower East Side)
New York, NY 10002-4509
Abbie Kozolchyk, Meera Subramanian, Nancy Kline, Carol Reichert
(212) 966-7223
http://www.dfarley.com/restlesslegs.html
7 pm
1521 Tenth Avenue Seattle WA 98122
(206) 624-6600
Sara Bathum, Susan Rich, Jocelyn Edelstein
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/
1 pm
51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA 94925
(415) 927- 0960
Laura Deutsch, Marcy Gordon, Erin Van Rheenan, Lavinia Spalding, Angie Chuang
http://www.bookpassage.com/
7 pm
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel: 626-449-5320
Anne Van, Bridget Crocker, Marianne Rogoff, Lavinia Spalding
http://www.vromansbookstore.com/
6 p.m.
Anne Van, Marianne Rogoff, Bridget Crocker and Lavinia Spalding
8375 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048-4312
(323) 655-0575
www.travelbooks.com
7 pm
279 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446‬ (near Boston)
Meera Subramanian, Carol Reichert, Anna Wexler, and Marcia DeSanctis
Contact: Evan Perriello
617-739-6002
http://www.brooklinebooksmith.com
Thanks to Seghesio Winery, one need not leave California for a fix of Gumbo, Ribs, Beignets and Zydeco music.
Today's Cajun theme party, one part Passport Dry Creek and one part wine release party, brought a bit of New Orleans to Healdsburg without the humidity!
In addition to the tasting new prereleases of the 09 Home Ranch & Rockpile Zins, and the 08 Omaggio (Super Tuscan blend), I sampled the 08 San Lorenzo Petite Sirah and my all time favorite the Seghesio Sangiovese, which is selling out fast. (I made sure to get a bottle of the 2008 before that happens.)
What a fun event.
10. It's history in the making that does not involve some government coup or killing of other humans in a war.
9. It's pomp and circumstance at it's highest level.
8. The Music: A flourish of trumpets, choirs and orchestral arrangements with pipe organ & stoic hymns.
And I want to see:
7. The Horses & Carriages
6. The Uniforms
5. The Hats
4. The Venue
2. The Dress
And the number 1 reason: --- The Distraction from Reality---
Most of all I am going to watch because it would have been of great interest to my brother an expert in ultra formal affairs, wedding etiquette and protocol, and lover of grandiose spectacle. Ironically the 29th of April was the day he tragically died, so this wedding gives me something to focus on that is not filled with the brain numbing grief and sorrow associated with that day. I'm grateful to the royal couple for the distraction.
I'll be drinking bubbly, eating appropriate snacks, and channel surfing for the best coverage in the wee hours of the morning and wishing my brother was here to see it all himself.
Believe it or not, Portugal is not all about Port. There is incredible cuisine, music and art. And then there are the tiles. The blue and white Azulejo tiles are most famous, but tiles of varying color, design and shape are found almost everywhere you look.
Here is a short video of the tiles I saw in the Douro at the Pinhão train station and around Porto, Sintra and Lisbon.It's not everyday you get to see a fashion show in a wine cellar.
While visiting the wine museum, Enoteca Douro–Quinta da Avessada located in Favaios, we were shown a startling interactive display of how the grapes are stomped in the lagares--the low limestone vats used for making the wine throughout Portugal. In the video below we have three rather metro looking lads that appear to be direct from the runway. I love the authentic smear of grape juice on the one guys leg. It really gives it just the right amount of realism.
The interactive museum aims to give the visitor a feel for the live action of the harvest. Unfortunately some of the field displays have the unintended effect of a Roger Corman style zombie invasion in the vineyard.
The field displays were a sight to see for sure, and thankfully we saw them before the tasting, it's not something you want to deal with after drinking Moscatel do Douro first thing in the morning.
I seem to have lost all my notes from this tasting, but we tried several styles of Favaios otherwise known as Moscatel. The blazing hot summers and freezing winters make ideal conditions for growing these grapes. It was also freezing in the tasting cellar the day we visited, but a few sips of the sweet (but not cloying) wines with flavors of toffee, dates and honey was all anyone needed to take the chill off.
Some people needed more than a taste to take the chill off.
After a stellar lunch at DOC we gathered outside and marveled at the pace of it all. Things were moving slowly. So slow, we had to encourage Terrence Carter of @gran_tourismo to get a picture. "Terry get a picture." along with "I've got port in my eyes!" became catch phrases of the trip.
Next, participants considered the prospect of a Goddess of Indulgence Boot Camp as taught by the highly qualified and capable Lara Dunston, and raved about the Wine Pleasures tour in Portugal.
