Our Weekly Newsletter, November 5, 2013
Beth Ribblett
This Week at Swirl Wine Bar + Market
Wednesday Nite Flite to Oregon!
After our trip to Pacific Northwest with James Moises, I can now add Oregon to my short list of wine region obsessions, second only to Italy as my favorite place to drink and eat!
I spent yesterday writing about our trip and my new wine quest which is to drink a new 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir a week until every bottle in the city is gone! And all of that writing about Oregon made me want to drink more Oregon wines and share them with you so our Wednesday Nite Flite this week will feature 3 Oregon wines: the newly released 2011 Moises Pinot Gris, the 2009 J.J. Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (our new best selling Pinot!) a Syrah Tempranillo blend by biodynamic winemaker Patrick Reuter (see my post below on Patrick and Dominio), the 2008 Dominio IV Technicolor Bat. It's a really great lineup, I hope you'll join us! And here are my 2 blog posts and a little Oregon wine for thought:
Falling in Love with Oregon, One Pinot at a Time
2008 Pinot Quest, Dominio IV The Black and the Red
Election Day Sale, Tuesday November 6, All Day!
We will all need beverages to either celebrate a win or drown our sorrows so today only, take 15% off a 12 bottle mixed/same wine case or 10% off 6 bottles! 10% off all cheese, meats, pestos, olive oils and crackers too! Afraid to use glassware because your friends might break something? Take 10% of Govino shatterproof, stemless champagne flutes and wine "glasses" too!
Wednesday Nite Flite to Oregon Wine Country, November 7, 6-8pm
Join sommelier Kimi Kiviranna and Mike Fabianski for a great flite of wines from Oregon! The newly released 2011 Moises Pinot Gris, the 2009 J.J. Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (our new best selling Pinot!) a Syrah Tempranillo blend by biodynamic winemaker Patrick Reuter, the 2008 Dominio IV Technicolor Bat. $15 gets you 3-2 oz. pours of delicious juice, no reservations required!
Italian Wine and Cheese Pairing at St. James Cheese! Wednesday November 7, at 7pmI'll be joining Chris Noyes from Winebow and Casey Foote for an evening of delicious Italian wine and cheese! Chris will be pouring 6 exciting wines from the Allegrini family portfolio with wines from their Tuscany and Veneto estates paired with Casey's best picks from the regions. The event is at St. James and reservations are required, call St. James @ 899-4737 or click here to reserve on line, Allegrini. $30
Friday Free For All, November 9, 6-8pmPeggy Hymel is joining us this evening for a Latin wine themed evening with wines from Chile, Argentina and Spain! Walter is out this week, but we're working on a guest appearance from one of our favorite chefs... Check out our Facebook page on Friday for the lineup, chef and menu!
Saturday Hollygrove Happy Hour November 10, 4-6pm
Saturday afternoons are heating up at Swirl as we are THE place to pick up your Hollygrove Market box of fresh, local produce. The infamous $25 Hollygrove box contains roughly 12 items at the peak of their season and can be picked up at Swirl on Saturdays from 4-6pm during our 1/2 priced Happy Hour. See instructions here on how to order your box
New Tuesday "Cheesy" Hour with Casey Foote, November 13th
Casey Foote, the infamous cheese monger from St. James Cheese is the latest addition to the Swirl staff of talented, passionate professionals and on Tuesday nights we'll be giving he and Matt Snyder the opportunity to dazzle you with wine and cheese pairing ideas. More details in next week's email, French wine and cheeses will be on the menu!
Special Wednesday Nite Flite with James Moises, November 21, 6-8
Tonight is a truly special flite where James will share his 2006, 2007 and 2008 vintages of his Moises Pinot Noir Yamhill Carlton. Besides drinking three killer Oregon Pinots, you'll learn about the differences in the 3 vintages and how they effect what is in your glass. Reservations are required for this event, please call for information, 504.628.1226
Special Wednesday Nite Flite Nite with Dave Kenney from Uncorked Wines, November 28, 6-8pm Uncorked's wine guru Dave Kenney joins us for a really cool lineup of wines from Sutton Cellars in Mendocino. You know that I don't often feature California wines in our Flite Nite, but these are really special and Dave is a great presenter so come out and show him some love on his first flite nite!
Friday Free For All with Antonio Molesini, November 30, 6-8pm
Join Antonio for a special tasting of wines from Umbria and Tuscany! We'll also be releasing our itinerary for our 2013 trip to these two amazing wine regions and chef Walter will have some Italian themed small plates for us tonight.
Mark the Dates, Wine & Cheese Classes @ St. James!
November 28, The Killer B's, Barbera, Barbaresco, Brunello and Barolo, more details TBA. $50, 7pm. Call St. James for reservations at 899-4737.
2013 Wine & Culinary TravelAntonio's Italy: July 20-27, 2013; Details and itinerary this month!
The Oregon Road Show: Harvest 2013, October 9-13; Details and Itinerary coming soon!
Drink Like a Pro @ SerendipityWe are so excited to have chef Chris deBarr, whose palate for interesting and different wines is a perfect match for our own, just blocks away in his new restaurant, Serendipity. We are already discussing events and his "Drink Like a Pro" events are a great way to taste and evaluate wines like those of us in the "business"! This Thursday Chris welcomes Debra Lewis, of the wonderful French wine importer Vintage '59 and their amazing portfolio of artisanal winemakers, to New Orleans. Chef Chris is holding a special edition of "Drink Like A Pro" Wine Seminar on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 6-7:15 pm at Serendipity. Call the restaurant for more information and reservations at 504-407-0818
Swirl and SavorAfter our trip to Pacific Northwest with James Moises, I can now add Oregon to my short list of wine region obsessions, second only to Italy as my favorite place to drink and eat!
I spent yesterday writing about our trip and my new wine quest which is to drink a new 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir a week until every bottle in the city is gone! And all of that writing about Oregon made me want to drink more Oregon wines and share them with you so our Wednesday Nite Flite this week will feature 3 Oregon wines: the newly released 2011 Moises Pinot Gris, the 2009 J.J. Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (our new best selling Pinot!) a Syrah Tempranillo blend by biodynamic winemaker Patrick Reuter (see my post below on Patrick and Dominio), the 2008 Dominio IV Technicolor Bat. It's a really great lineup, I hope you'll join us! And here are my 2 blog posts and a little Oregon wine for thought:
Falling in Love with Oregon, One Pinot at a Time
2008 Pinot Quest, Dominio IV The Black and the Red
Election Day Sale, Tuesday November 6, All Day!
We will all need beverages to either celebrate a win or drown our sorrows so today only, take 15% off a 12 bottle mixed/same wine case or 10% off 6 bottles! 10% off all cheese, meats, pestos, olive oils and crackers too! Afraid to use glassware because your friends might break something? Take 10% of Govino shatterproof, stemless champagne flutes and wine "glasses" too!
Wednesday Nite Flite to Oregon Wine Country, November 7, 6-8pm
Join sommelier Kimi Kiviranna and Mike Fabianski for a great flite of wines from Oregon! The newly released 2011 Moises Pinot Gris, the 2009 J.J. Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (our new best selling Pinot!) a Syrah Tempranillo blend by biodynamic winemaker Patrick Reuter, the 2008 Dominio IV Technicolor Bat. $15 gets you 3-2 oz. pours of delicious juice, no reservations required!
Italian Wine and Cheese Pairing at St. James Cheese! Wednesday November 7, at 7pmI'll be joining Chris Noyes from Winebow and Casey Foote for an evening of delicious Italian wine and cheese! Chris will be pouring 6 exciting wines from the Allegrini family portfolio with wines from their Tuscany and Veneto estates paired with Casey's best picks from the regions. The event is at St. James and reservations are required, call St. James @ 899-4737 or click here to reserve on line, Allegrini. $30
Friday Free For All, November 9, 6-8pmPeggy Hymel is joining us this evening for a Latin wine themed evening with wines from Chile, Argentina and Spain! Walter is out this week, but we're working on a guest appearance from one of our favorite chefs... Check out our Facebook page on Friday for the lineup, chef and menu!
Saturday Hollygrove Happy Hour November 10, 4-6pm
Saturday afternoons are heating up at Swirl as we are THE place to pick up your Hollygrove Market box of fresh, local produce. The infamous $25 Hollygrove box contains roughly 12 items at the peak of their season and can be picked up at Swirl on Saturdays from 4-6pm during our 1/2 priced Happy Hour. See instructions here on how to order your box
New Tuesday "Cheesy" Hour with Casey Foote, November 13th
Casey Foote, the infamous cheese monger from St. James Cheese is the latest addition to the Swirl staff of talented, passionate professionals and on Tuesday nights we'll be giving he and Matt Snyder the opportunity to dazzle you with wine and cheese pairing ideas. More details in next week's email, French wine and cheeses will be on the menu!
Special Wednesday Nite Flite with James Moises, November 21, 6-8
Tonight is a truly special flite where James will share his 2006, 2007 and 2008 vintages of his Moises Pinot Noir Yamhill Carlton. Besides drinking three killer Oregon Pinots, you'll learn about the differences in the 3 vintages and how they effect what is in your glass. Reservations are required for this event, please call for information, 504.628.1226
Special Wednesday Nite Flite Nite with Dave Kenney from Uncorked Wines, November 28, 6-8pm Uncorked's wine guru Dave Kenney joins us for a really cool lineup of wines from Sutton Cellars in Mendocino. You know that I don't often feature California wines in our Flite Nite, but these are really special and Dave is a great presenter so come out and show him some love on his first flite nite!
Friday Free For All with Antonio Molesini, November 30, 6-8pm
Join Antonio for a special tasting of wines from Umbria and Tuscany! We'll also be releasing our itinerary for our 2013 trip to these two amazing wine regions and chef Walter will have some Italian themed small plates for us tonight.
Mark the Dates, Wine & Cheese Classes @ St. James!
November 28, The Killer B's, Barbera, Barbaresco, Brunello and Barolo, more details TBA. $50, 7pm. Call St. James for reservations at 899-4737.
2013 Wine & Culinary TravelAntonio's Italy: July 20-27, 2013; Details and itinerary this month!
The Oregon Road Show: Harvest 2013, October 9-13; Details and Itinerary coming soon!
Drink Like a Pro @ SerendipityWe are so excited to have chef Chris deBarr, whose palate for interesting and different wines is a perfect match for our own, just blocks away in his new restaurant, Serendipity. We are already discussing events and his "Drink Like a Pro" events are a great way to taste and evaluate wines like those of us in the "business"! This Thursday Chris welcomes Debra Lewis, of the wonderful French wine importer Vintage '59 and their amazing portfolio of artisanal winemakers, to New Orleans. Chef Chris is holding a special edition of "Drink Like A Pro" Wine Seminar on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 6-7:15 pm at Serendipity. Call the restaurant for more information and reservations at 504-407-0818
Our wine and food blog...here are a few from the past 2 weeks, but there are lots more at swirlandsavor.
Falling in Love with Oregon, One Pinot at a Time...
"Oregon is a pretty fabulous place that makes fantastic wines without any pretense. It's a place where quality over quantity is the rule, sustainability is a lifestyle and where visitors always feel welcome and the winemaker is never far away…Click here for the post, Falling in Love
The 2008 Dominio IV Pinot Noir The Black and the Red
We spent a few hours tasting and talking with the passionate, dynamic winemaker/proprietor of Dominio IV wines Patrick Reuter on our recent trip to Oregon. His tiny production wines are represented by James Moises in New Orleans and we've been big fans for awhile. His winery and tasting room are located in an old granary in McMinnville and will definitely be a stop on our Oregon Wine Tour 2013. Click here for the post, Dominio IV
New recipe on swirl and savor...
"...Everyone in the group loves to cook so each brought a dish with Kerry and I providing some appetizers and the meat course. I decided on grilled pork loin, and a recipe that was fairly easy yet really flavorful, featuring my two favorite herbs for Italian cooking. Thanks to Kerry, sage and rosemary are in abundant supply in our garden! Click here for Italian Grilled Pork Loin
Fish en Papillote
"Now that the MS Ride is over I feel like we can finally get back to cooking which means I can get back to writing about cooking! One of the things I've really been enjoying lately is cooking fish and vegetables in parchment paper. It is a super easy, quick, healthy and flavorful way to prepare food and while certain combinations give better results than others, you really can't go wrong! Using filets of your favorite fish, fresh herbs and veggies served with pasta, rice or quinoa, the combinations are endless..." Click here for Fish en Papillote
Positano Bites Deep...
"After 13 hours of flying and two tiring train rides, the five of us, later tagged as "le cinque donne", lug our suitcases down the very long train track in Napoli. At the end of the platform a pack of Italian male limo drivers awaits, holding up signs, maneuvering around each other, ready to whisk the "stanieri" to destinations on the beautiful Amalfi Coast." Click here for the post: Positano
A Dangerously Simple Summer Cocktail
"Sunday evenings = cocktail time. We've done a long, hard bike ride at the end of a busy week, and a nice refreshing beverage is the perfect recovery tonic! We love citrus based cocktails and this one with fresh lemon juice, ginger and agave nectar added to some Square One Organic Basil Vodka is the BOMB!"
Olio, Limoni e Ospitalità del Sud (Olive Oil, Lemons and Southern Hospitality)
"...took a drive down the coast to visit a frantoio, an olive mill owned by friends of Vincenzo, perched atop the high cliffs of the Sorrentine Peninsula. Stomachs rumbling from the swervy coastal switchbacks and the small breakfast consumed hours ago, we were anxious for our lunch on the "dal patriarca", the local term for a coastal garden by the olive mill where they entertain guests lucky enough to know about this place..." Click here for the post and a recipe Olio, Limoni
True Italian Lasagna
"The first time I had this amazing dish was in Tuscany last year on our wine and food tour. Antonio's sister knows an Italian nonna who is in her 80's and makes the best lasagna you've ever eaten. She made us two big pans that arrived at our villa still warm from the oven, and we served outside in the garden with some delicious Cortona red wines. It takes her 2 days to make it, and now having done it myself, I know why."
I've been doing a series of posts on the recipes for the soffritto, the ragu, the pasta and the besciamella; now it's time to put it all together! It's best to make this over a two day period....the links to the recipes are highlighted below.
Humble Beginnings, Italian Soffritto
Next Step, Tuscan Ragu
Time to Make the Pasta
Almost there, the Besciamella
True Italian Lasagna
Hope to See You Soon!
Beth, Kerry, Matt, Mike, Kimi and Sangi
Swirl Wine Bar & Market
3143 Ponce de Leon Street
New Orleans, LA 70119
504.304.0635