With summer here, we always talk about what wines to pair with this hot season of the year. And while light, fun, crisp whites and easy-drinking fruity reds are normally the go-to during these next few months, at some point you have to sit down and switch it up a little. A long day out in the sun makes for a hungry, thirsty individual that just needs some gastronomic pleasure. Enter Italian comfort food – more specifically pasta!
Now we can go many different directions with this versatile grain. We can mix it with red sauce, meat sauce, and white sauce; with chicken, sausage, or various vegetables and oils. Pasta is filling, and when you want to lay back, relax, and replenish your system with carbs, it presents some awesome wine pairing options.
Below are some familiar Italian dishes along with the perfectly paired wine pick. Let the summer breeze blow and the good wine flow.
Scene One (not pasta but a great way to get ready for some):
The dish: An appetizer of prosciutto and melon
Ingredients: unadulterated! Cured ham and ripe summer melon
The wine: Here is a really fun and light appetizer that brings together sweet and salty, all wrapped into a delicious way to wet your palate. Like any good meal should start, some sort of bubbly will be in order. The Italian Brachetto d’acqui is one of my favorite ways to kick off a meal; awesomely delicious and a touch of sweetness. Good acidity and low alcohol here will go perfectly with the melon and most certainly will hold up to the procuitto. If you have any leftover after your first course (which is doubtful) it makes for a great after dinner drink too… [Read the rest at Cork'd]

Every Sunday morning millions of Americans awake in a pool of their own sick asking the same question. Not, “Why do I do this to myself?” but, “Why is science wasting all that time on cancer when they haven’t cured the hangover yet?”

Well I’ll tell you why, who’s going to volunteer to be a research subject? Would you be lining up to feel like garbage so a guy in a lab coat could poke and prod you? Probably not. So we have to look for alternatives.

The way I see it, we’ve got 3 options:

1. Home remedies which all work to some degree
2. 7-Eleven rip-offs like Chaser which work almost as well as the home remedies but cost 10 times as much
3. The classic “Hair of the dog,” which works great as long as you can drink forever from this morning forward.

Read the rest of the story here . . .

We just wanted to pass along the latest food and wine pairing article from Cork’d. Please feel free to share this with your readers – some really solid advice to follow for planning your next meal!

I was recently out to eat at a restaurant in downtown New York City that inspired this piece. While the name of the establishment will remain nameless, I’ve noticed this particular restaurant’s downfall becoming a trend, sweeping across both Manhattan and the nation as a whole. The issue that I’ve experienced is with the pricing and quality of wine lists that are completely out of line with the pricing and offerings from a kitchen. The following description of incongruity between food and wine is not unique to restaurants. This same principal should be applied when preparing a meal at home…
My friend and I showed up for dinner decked out in our finest jeans, t-shirts and sneakers. A casual spot, we were led to our table by an unkempt, disheveled looking teenager and presented menus and a wine list. For food, we had an assortment of gourmet dishes to choose from, including a “chicken cutlet sandwich” and a “cheeseburger with sweet fries”. Nope, these were not kids menus.
After a quick dinner menu perusal, I flipped open the wine list. With over 150 wines by the bottle and 20 wines by the glass, there was a major French influence to the list. The least expensive by the glass pour was a Loire Valley Saumur – priced at $11 per glass. By the bottle there were verticals of Dom Perignon and Opus One. Suddenly I asked myself, “should I be wearing a collared shirt?”
You wouldn’t serve Beluga Caviar with Lay’s potato chips for scooping, would you?
For that very same reason, you shouldn’t serve a bottle of 1990 Dom Perignon alongside Popcorn. The two may complement each other. In fact, the two might even enhance one another. Like your Uncle Charlie who always seems to have a gas-attack when company is around; it’s funny, it might even work in the right situation, but it’s just plain inappropriate… read the rest on Cork’d

This one so timely and profound. . . San Mig baby!!! :-X

“You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.” -Frank Zappa

So, to the age old question begging to be answered. . . what wine pairs well with cereal?

watch and learn. . .

Possibly the most important show from Wine Library TV by far. . . :-X

Nice list. . .but where’s Chumbawamba? :-X

Here it is folks. . .from our friends at Lyke 2 Drink, the Top 200 drinking songs of all time!!

Music and drinking must go back in time to the very early days of civilization. The two things just appear to go together. Bar bands and juke boxes are proof that when people drink they like to hear music — or is it when they hear music they like to drink?

Get the rest of the article and the complete list here . . .

Apparently, Manila has a growing craft and microbrew fanbase. Nice. Choice is always cool! As read on Suds Magazine

I’m an avid supporter and lover of American (style) craft beers, and I love to spend my winter vacation in The Philippines. This presents a problem, and an opportunity!

When one thinks of great cities to visit and enjoy some fine ales, places like Portland, Seattle, San Diego and Denver come to mind. I know for sure that Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Boston all offer a beer-minded traveler a fine selection of local brews, beer bars and brewpubs. But what about Manila?

Read the rest of the article here . . .

We’re also a GBX American Craft Beer Outlet . . . see you soonest.

= great restaurant idea. . .

Recent reviews here

From our friends at Beer Universe.

Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher, believed in “Moderation in all things…” Well, while beer and nutrition are often placed at opposite ends of the health spectrum, there may be more benefits than you think to drinking beer (especially in moderation).  Moderation for most nutritionists means 1-2 twelve ounce glasses a day.

Read more here

can you say hottt???