Great Wine Source Wine Blog

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Blind Tastings

May 27

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Blind TastingThe other week a few members from my wine meetup group and I went to Uncorked in Neenah for their blind red wine tasting. The blind portion consisted of 7 wines, and Keith shared 3 of them before the actual blind event started, letting us know what it was that we were tasting. He provided a sheet of details on all 7 of the wines, including aromas, flavors, color.

I came in a little late, so had to rush through the first selection which was a Merlot, and then he gave us a Malbec and Cabernet (Joel Gott 815). (I should have kept the sheet telling me what all the wines were; that would have been so much better for this blog.)

When we had tried and evaluated the 3, Keith covered up all the reds and we went through the blind tasting. (You’d think it would be easy to guess those we had already tasted.) The only easy one was the Australian Shiraz — Jip Jip Rock. Can you guess why? (I’ll tell you at the end of the blog.)

The tasting was so interactive and so much fun because what you believe you know (a Zinfandel and Syrah) when tasting blind can be similar or remind you of something else that you may guess incorrectly.

The 7 wines varietal:
Sangiovese, Malbec, Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet, Pinot Noir

There were easy guesses: Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Sangiovese and there were no so easy guesses (the nose really threw me off on a couple). I’m not a sommelier and they are well trained in noticing the little nuances of wines to select each and every one correctly.

In the end, I ended up getting the Malbec and Merlot mixed up (it was the nose — the Malbec when I smelled it in the first three had a very distinctive scent, and at the end of the evening, apparently my senses were fatigued, because everything had that same aroma).

It was fun to talk through what you thought, to evaluate and compare and ultimately to find out if you knew as much as you thought you knew.

I will be trying a blind tasting for my wine meetup group in the near future — perhaps a blind white or a blind Cabernet with price points. Want to join us? Let me know.

(The Australian Shiraz was easy to guess because it was the only wine with a screw cap aka Stelvin closure.) Read more on different wine closures in this thorough article: Wine Closures

Cheers to full glasses all around!

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To Mom

May 10

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Mother’s Day has come and gone, and I wanted to write a short article on what Moms are. My Mom isn’t alive anymore, and because of that, each Mother’s Day is bittersweet. It reminds me of how much I miss her and how grateful I am for what she was able to give me when she was here.

Moms are special people. Even when you argue with her, you know that you can always count on her to be there no matter what. They are fiercely protective, whether it’s a human mother protecting her young or a lioness protecting her cubs, she will fight anything that tries to harm her child.

A Mom never stops being a Mom. Have you ever noticed how one of the first people you call when you need something is Mom? Have you ever noticed that when you’re scared, feeling blue or frustrated, you can call Mom and suddenly everything seems so much better? It doesn’t matter how old you are or how old your Mom is, she will always be your Mom, loving you, taking care of you, guiding you and protecting you.

For those of us who have lost our mothers, we know that she lives on through us, with all her years of wisdom and love guiding us, still helping us take the right path. For all who are so fortunate enough to have your mom around, be sure to appreciate her and show her how much she means to you, because when she’s gone, you’ll long for just one more day with her.

For the mothers who struggle with finances, emotional burdens, other hardships … hang tight. Even when things seem their darkest, you have been given a gift in your child. Children can show you how much compassion, patience and love you have.

For all the Mothers who each and every day give love, support and sometimes sacrifice so much for their children, I raise my glass to you.

To my Mom, I miss you each and every day and am so grateful for all the love and guidance you gave me.

To my son, words can never express how honored I am that God chose me to be your Mom.

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Wine, Food and Friends Event

Apr 21

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The Wine, Food and Friends Event held on April 17 was great fun. A fantastic musician came to entertain us, John Pfeiffer. You’ll definitely want to contact him for your events coming up.

We had great wine — ranging from a Germany Riesling to an Hungarian Red to an Australian Shiraz to a California Cabernet Blend.

Enjoying many different great wine regions, we paired it with fantastic food from Zuppas in Neenah. Stuffed mushroom caps, crab cakes and Beef Tenderloin crostinis that were fantastic!

To top it off we had cheeses, and cheesecake made by Bettersweet Bakery in Plymouth. Yum!

If you were unable to make it, you missed fantastic food, wine, entertainment and a great time with new friends.

The event was an Open for Business event where I talked a little bit about Wines for Humanity and what we’re all about. If you are part of a non-profit or charity organization and need to raise funds, contact me so that I can help you!

Cheers!

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EWGA Kickoff

Apr 10

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Today is the EWGA Kickoff at Ridgeway Country Club at 11am. Come on out and hear Bob Burns, Keynote Speaker and Golf Pro! Silent Auction items and door prizes, sign up for your summer leagues. Food, fun and you can sign up to host a wine tasting with specials available. Hope to see you there!

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My wireless experience

Apr 8

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I’m going to digress from writing about wine for one evening.

About 85% of Americans have wireless phones, and there is a handful of large wireless providers. These mega providers, much like Time Warner, are so big that the little customer like myself is minor and meaningless to them.

Last week I went to the Verizon Wireless Dealer in Menasha, Wisconsin. I had been a Verizon customer for about a year and they sent me an upgrade offer, so I was looking at switching to a Droid. The salesperson (Tad) indicated it was a good switch and that I wouldn’t lose any functionality (I had a Blackberry). Boy, was he wrong! Not only was he wrong that I wouldn’t lose functionality, it didn’t transfer my ring tones, music, photos and calendar appointments and didn’t let me know that they would be lost if I chose the Droid.

The Droid does not sync calendars, stops working and is not an acceptable phone if you are a business user. I went to Verizon in Sheboygan (because I work in Sheboygan Falls and it was more convenient to go there during the day), but the clerk said he couldn’t help me because the Menasha Store was owned by “Select Communciations” a different owner than the Menasha store and that I would have to go back to the Appleton area to get help. Strike one.

I called the Kaukauna store where I live and asked if they could help. The woman who answered indicated she could. I arrived there at about 6:30 to hopefully get some help resolving it, but there were two customers ahead of me and only one sales person. I waited, and waited, and waited. The first customer finally got done at 7:10. The next customer was helped (she had her daughters with her — I’m guessing 10 and 12 years old). She wanted to transfer contacts from three phones. I didn’t think it would take that long. 7:45 and she’s still being helped with the data transfer and her daughters were also trying on different cases for their Blackberries. It didn’t look like they’d be finished anytime soon (at least not before the store closed at 8pm), and I had other work I had to do and couldn’t wait any longer. Strike two.

I thought the better plan was to call Verizon and let them know what I’d like done, so that when I went back to the Menasha office they would be able to look it up and get everything taken care of in a timely manner. Uh, if you’ve ever talked with a customer service representative on a 1-800 line, you know, they rarely are able to help with issues. It was no different this time. Tasha was reading from her script of what to do when a customer calls with problems (although she said she wasn’t). I asked to talk with a manager and she said that the manager would say the same thing. Strike three.

Moral of the story: 1) do your homework on wireless providers; 2) if you’re looking for a wireless provider, I would not recommend Verizon; 3) do not get the Droid under any circumstances if you use your phone for business; 4) work with someone you know and trust.

I just want to turn back time to when I had my Blackberry and all was good with the world.

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