Tag Archives: wine education

Charcuterie and Wine 101

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charcuterie and wine 101 winestyles

What’s that funny word: charcuterie?

Charcuterie (French, pronounced: shahr-koo-tuh–ree) is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, ballotines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Originally intended as a way to preserve meat before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for their flavors derived from the preservation processes. (Source: Wikipedia) 

The history of charcuterie, in the sense of salting, smoking, and cooking to preserve, may date almost to the origins of Homo sapiens. It has been carried on in many forms through virtually every culture, and it has been one of the foundations of human survival in that it allowed societies to maintain a food surplus and therefore helped turn early peoples from nomads into clusters of homebodies. Sausage recipes date to before the golden age of ancient Greece. Even before that, the Egyptians were fattening geese for their livers-and possibly making the first pate de foie gras. (Source: Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn).

Charcuterie board

DIY Charcuterie Board

Step 1: Pick your Platter

Choose one, two, or a few! There are endless options of cheese and charcuterie boards. Have fun picking one that suits your style. Hint: check out the selection at your local WineStyles store.

Step 2: Select your Meats

When choosing charcuterie, opt for a diverse selection of tastes (smoked, tangy) and textures (hard, soft, grainy) so there will be plenty of variety.

Step 3: Add your Garnishes

Make it colorful! Add some pickles, small dishes with brightly-colored jams, olives, mustard, nuts, the options are endless!

Step 4: Slice the Bread

This main food group completes the picture. Best to stick with simple baguettes. Toast with olive oil for a gourmet touch.

Step 5: Serve with Wine!

When in doubt, stick to bubbles. Bubbly pairs great with charcuterie because the acidity will cut through the fattiness of the meats. Try a semi-sweet option to please everyone’s palates.

Wine and Beer Boot Camp Class “Charcuterie and Wine 101”

Charcuterie and Wine class

In this Wine and Beer Boot Camp class, you’ll learn the ins-and-outs of pairing charcuterie and wine – a gourmet tasting and learning experience! Attend this class so the next time you order a charcuterie board, you’ll know exactly how to enhance that experience with the perfect wine pairing. As part of our Boot Camp series in 2016, the more you LEARN the more you EARN in delicious wine tastings! Join us for multiple classes and you’ll be rewarded:

Stamper

3 STAMPS = Free Wine Tasting for 2 people
6 STAMPS = Free Wine Tasting for 4 people
8 STAMPS = Free Wine Tasting Party, up to 20 people
11 STAMPS = Boot Camp Survivor T-shirt

Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible!

*Please note: Classes and Boot Camp rewards may vary at different WineStyles locations. See your local WineStyles Tasting Station for details. Find your local WineStyles store here.

Thanks for reading,

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Happy 4th of July Weekend!

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Happy 4th

We would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend!

May your grills be hot and your wines be true – be they Red, White, or Blue!

Grill and wineWine is officially “all-American”, now donning all colors of our beloved American flag. Have you seen the latest news in wine innovation? We’ve been hinting at it… BLUE wine! As in, Red, White, and BLUE! (We just cannot get over it.)

A Spanish wine company, Gik (pronounced “geek”) is making their wines blue by using a special quality found in grape skins combined with naturally cultivated indigo.

Gik works with grapes from different areas of Spain to make their wine blends using both red and white grapes. The company’s wineries are located mainly in La Rioja, Zaragoza and Courthèzon. In case you’re wary of the blue coloring, Gik’s website assures that quality control checks are thorough, and everything used in wine making complies with EU food regulations.

Watch this brief interview of Taig Mac Carthy, Creator at Gik Blue Wine, at the ProWein Trade Fair in Germany this March. ProWein is the world’s leading trade fair for wine professionals, hosted annually in Germany.

Taig discusses how the innovative blue wine is going over at the German wine professionals trade fair, and how its radiant blue color is made:

For curious minds, Gik has answered the question – Why blue?:

“We are not vintners. We are creators. So we sought the most traditional and closed minded industry out there. Once having selected the wine industry as our battlefield, we set about creating a radically different product, changing the color to a vibrant blue and making the wine sweeter and easier to drink.When we started to work on our project we came across a book called The Blue Ocean Strategy. This explained that there are red oceans, full of sharks which have torn the little fish so much that they’ve tinted the water red. Then there are blue oceans, where there is no competition and fish swim un-harassed. Thus the poetic idea of transforming a red ocean into a blue ocean through changing the most traditional red liquid into blue was one which greatly appealed to us.

Apart from that, in psychology blue represents movement, innovation and infinity. It’s also a color frequently associated with flow and change.” (gik.blue)

Blue Wine

Image from ProWeinTradeFair YouTube video “No red wine, no white wine, but blue wine!” Watch video below.

Before you go rushing to the store, know that Gik’s radiant blue wine is not yet available in the US. Until we are able to raise our glasses of Red, White, and Blue, we send our support from afar.The WineStyles concept shares Gik’s goal of demystifying the wine world for our customers. After all, wine tasting can (and should) be fun! And if you ask us, the more colorful, the better! #GikBlueWine

July Wine & Beer Boot Camp – Wines for Summer Grilling 

WineSummerGrill

We know you’ll be out and about grilling, drinking wine and beer, and having a grand ‘ol time this 4th of July weekend celebrating America (and we support you in that endeavor!)

For further summer grilling and wine pairing preparation, join your local WineStyles for the next Wine and Beer Boot Camp Class, Wines for Summer Grilling! It will be a delicious event and the perfect complement to your summer grilling routine.
In this class, you will learn how to pair wines with your favorite grilling items, and of course the best part of learning is the tasting!  As part of our Boot Camp series in 2016, the more you LEARN the more you EARN in delicious wine tastings! Join us for multiple classes and you’ll be rewarded:
Stamper
3 STAMPS = Free Wine Tasting for 2 people
6 STAMPS = Free Wine Tasting for 4 people
8 STAMPS = Free Wine Tasting Party, up to 20 people
11 STAMPS = Boot Camp Survivor T-shirt

Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible!

*Please note: Classes and Boot Camp rewards may vary at different WineStyles locations. Offer void where prohibited by state or local alcohol laws. See your local WineStyles Tasting Station for details. Find your local WineStyles store here.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

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Wine and Beer Boot Camp 2016

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Bootcamp Classes WineStyles Tasting Station

Enlist in our Wine & Beer Boot Camp educational series in 2016. Each month, we’ll march our way through a wine and beer training educational class, a salute to all things tasty! This training will make you more confident in choosing wines and beers AND pairing food with your drinks. Best of all, the more training you complete, the more you can earn in delicious tastings!

WineStyles Boot Camp Wine and BeerYou will receive a tasting Boot Camp booklet at your first class. Upon completing each class, we will stamp your booklet, acknowledging your attendance. Keep your Boot Camp booklet and earn a stamp for each class.

The more you learn, the more rewards* you earn!Stamper

LEARN MORE, EARN MORE:

3 stamps in booklet = Free Wine Tasting for 2 people
6 stamps in booklet = Free Wine Tasting for 4 people
8 stamps in booklet = Free Wine Tasting for up to 20 people
11 stamps in booklet = Free “I Survived” Wine & Beer Boot Camp T-Shirt!

2016 WINE & BEER BOOT CAMP CLASSES:WineStyles Wine and Beer Boot Camp Series 2016

January  – Wine 101: Taste Like a Pro
February – Desserts with Wine Pairings
March  – Craft Beer 101
April  – Starting a Wine Collection
May – Cheese and Wine 101
June – all about Rose
July – Wines for Summer Grilling
August – How to Read a Wine Label
September – Exploring German Beer
October – Charcuterie and Wine 101
November – In Depth Guide to Fortified Wine

Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible!

*Please note: Rewards may vary at different WineStyles locations. Offer void where prohibited by state or local alcohol laws. See your local WineStyles Tasting Station for details.

LIVE webcast with Doug Frost – January 12

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Wine101SPECIAL EVENT:
TASTE LIKE A PRO with Doug Frost, MS, MW
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
6:00pm CST / 7:00pm EST

W&B_BootCamp_logoJoin us for a LIVE webcast wine educational class with Doug Frost, Master Sommelier and Master of Wine.  Attend our very first Wine & Beer Boot Camp educational series of 2016 and learn how to Taste Like a Pro!  Doug Frost will share his tips of the trade, making you look like a pro!  Seating is limited – call your local WineStyles Tasting Station store to RSVP.

DougFrostDoug Frost, Master Sommelier & Master of Wine

In 1991, Doug Frost passed the rigorous Master Sommelier examination and two years later became America’s eighth Master of Wine.  He was the second person in history to complete both exams and almost two decades later he is still one of only four people in the world to have achieved both these remarkable distinctions. According to USA Today, “Frost likely knows as much as anyone in the world about how to make, market, serve and identify wines.” The Wine Spectator has also bestowed the accolade of Master of Spirits on Mr. Frost, and he is one of the founders of BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource), considered by most industry professionals to be the preeminent education and examining body for the spirits and cocktail industry. He continues to teach and examine for BAR and within the Master Sommelier and Master of Wine programs; currently he serves as President of the Institute of Masters of Wine North America.

Doug Frost also reviews, tastes and approves the monthly selection of Wine Club wines for WineStyles Tasting Station.

His first book, Uncorking Wine, is a staple for many restaurant and retail companies and their staff and management. Frost’s second book, On Wine, published by Rizzoli International, was released in 2001 and his most recent book, Far From Ordinary: The Spanish Wine Guide, the third edition released in 2011. Frost is a contributor to the Oxford Companion of Wine, Opus Vino, The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and The Wine Report, an annual report edited by Tom Stevenson. He writes about wine and spirits for many publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Underground Wine Journal, Drinks International, Practical Winery & Vineyard, Wines & Vines, Wines & Spirits, Cheers Magazine, Sante Magazine, and Epicurious.com and is the beverage columnist for the James Beard award-winning food section of the Kansas City Star, as well as Hemispheres Magazine, Missouri Life and Fine Cooking. Frost is the host of Check Please!, an Emmy Award nominated weekly public TV show filmed in Kansas City. He also appears as a featured judge on Public Television’s The Winemakers, PBS’s first nationally broadcast reality show.

To learn more about Doug Frost, please visit his blog at DougFrost.com

LIMITED SEATING
Contact your participating local WineStyles to RSVP!

Around the World in 48 Sips!

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Passport-48sips

Passport_shadowJoin us in 2015 as we embark on a virtual wine tour around the world. Each month, we will host an education class, focusing on different wine regions around the world. We are kicking off our ‘Passport Series’ with a Chilean Wine Education class.

During each class we will discuss the wine history of the region, appellations within that area, the typical grape varietals of that region, and tasting 6 different wines from that area.

StamperYou will receive a tasting Passport at your first class.  Upon completing the class, we will stamp your passport, acknowledging your attendance.  Attend all 8 classes and receive 8 stamps in your passport.  The more you learn, the more rewards* you earn!

LEARN MORE, EARN MORE:

3 stamps in passport = Free Wine Tasting for 2 people
6 stamps in passport = Free Wine Tasting for 4 people
8 stamps in passport = Free Wine Tasting for up to 20 people

2015 Passport Tasting classes:

January  – Chile
February – Tuscany, Italy
March  – Germany
April  – Mendoza, Argentina
May – New Zealand
June, July, August – school is out (no classes)
September – Napa Valley, California
October 20 – Washington State
November 17 – Champagne, France

48_sips_bottles

Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible.

 

*Please note, rewards may vary at different WineStyles locations. Offer void where prohibited by state or local alcohol laws.  See your local WineStyles Tasting Station for details.