Sublime Wine

Did I tell you that I love to cook?

As I am preparing for a very special dinner party for tomorrow night, I decide to make something bold…something decadent…something with WINE. I come across the perfect recipe, it’s Michel Richard’s “Silky Syrah Short Ribs.” It’s got everything: rosemary, port, honey,butter, garlic, cloves…and TWO FULL BOTTLES of Syrah! Hoorah!

So I shorted the pot and drank a glass. I picked Castoro Cellars Syrah from the Central Coast.

WOW! Like my mood, it was smooth, peppery, dry, and spicy! I started to feel bad that I only pinched one glass-would it be rude to stick a straw in the pot and siphon some out? Yes, I decide, it would. So I begin to wonder, what really is a Syrah, anyway?

After browsing some books and surfing the web, I have found out these interesting little tidbits. First of all, did you know that Syrah is grown throughout the world, and is one of the ten most popular varietals? I didn’t! It’s name is used interchangeably with Shiraz, but Syrah is mostly used in France & the USA, Shiraz is more Australia. According to www.wisegeek.com, some winemakers choose to use the term Syrah to refer to smoother wines made from the Syrah grape, and Shiraz for wines that are somewhat crisper.

Syrah is dark and spicy. It’s a lovely change when you usually drink the ol’ reliable Cab or Pinot. Next time you are wine shopping, do yourself a favor and grab a bottle of Syrah. If you can find it, get yourself a bottle of E & E Barossa Valley Black Pepper Shiraz-it will rock your world!

glug glug,

Suz

Does this sound familiar?

Who put these tiny socks on my teeth? Where are my pants? Who are you people and how did you get into my room? We’ve all been there: the splitting headache, brutal dehydration, colon blow…face it, you’ve got a hangover and you are screwed.

Or are you? We have three topics to discuss on hangover cures:

1. Prevention

2. Top Ten Hangover Cures

3. Hangover Pills

Let’s take prevention first. Wait, I have to put on the Granny Panties and turn into your mother for a minute. Don’t drink so much! Drink a ton of water before you go out to your crazy parties! Don’t take Tylenol or your liver might explode!

Okay, big underpants off, you obviously DIDN’T take your Mother’s advice, so let’s get to the list:

TOP TEN HANGOVER CURES:

1. Water and Gatorade-hydrate hydrate hydrate until you stop spinning.

2. Our Caucasian friends swear by a Bloody Mary.

3. Our Latino Amigos swear by Tripe soup.

4. Our Korean pals love Haejangguk (more brutal than tripe) It’s a soup with a base of cow bones and cow’s blood

5. Advil

6. Greasy hamburgers and a milkshake

7. Greasy Hash browns, or Tater Tots

8. Vitamins B6 and B12

9. Clam Chowder

10. Anything off the menu of Cracker Barrel or Waffle House (sorry West Coasters!)

So there’s your list. Did I forget something? COMMENT! Tell me what works for you! If you are the Jedi Hangover Master, I’d love to hear from you. Personally, a Mc Donald’s run does the trick for me.

Finally, you can order pills online that promise a hangover-free morning. We will be trying several hangover pills in the near future, so stay tuned for the final results! For now, check out Hangover Stopper.

They offer a 24-count bottle for $6.95 (I’ll try that before Haejangguk!)… and no, I’m not getting paid to plug them.

You can also check out Drinkin’ Mate for a FREE SAMPLE of Drinkin’ Mate tabs… “all natural effervescent tablet that social drinkers are taking to parties and happy hours to help ease the effects of over-indulging.”

Until next time, remember…

BEER BEFORE LIQUOR, NEVER SICKER

Wine when you dine, that’ll be fine,

Suzanne

Okay, we know we love wine, but when we get invited to a dinner party and inquire, “What can we bring?,” we hold our breath and wait for the dreaded words, “Oh, just bring a bottle of wine.”

Thanks for the 411. Why don’t they just say, “Oh, I don’t know, why don’t you bring food, since we’re having dinner…”

The panic kicks in. What to bring? What is the best wine for a dinner party? How much to spend? How do we pick out something decent besides picking a cool-looking label?

People, have no fear, Supersuz is here. For thirty bucks, go get yourself a mind-blowing bottle of St. Supery Cabernet Sauvignon 2002. If you want to really impress, bring a decanter and let it breathe for about a half- hour.

Eyebrows will raise. Friends will look at you like you are really smarter than they thought. Then they will want more. And the best part? You will absolutely be invited to more great dinner parties.

Here are some wine notes from the winery as to what you can expect:

The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon is a dense wine loaded with rich plum, black cherry and briar. There is a slight hint of rose petal that is very seductive. On the palate bright cherry, cassis, currant and a touch of tobacco are mixed together to form wonderful flavors that last and last. The fine tannins and beautiful balance show signs that this wine will age for years to come. Drink now through 2012.

Two words for you people: MOUTH PARTY!

Do yourself a huge favor and check out St. Supery’s site. There’s a great video on the history of the winery and their philosophy of winemaking.

And, no, they don’t pay us for plugging them… I’m just a big fan.

Is St. Supery Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 the best wine to bring to a dinner party? That’s up to you, but I do know its an amazing choice for the price. I’d love to hear your comments!

Cheers and glug glug!

Suzanne

Hi Party People,

Stemless wine glasses. Yes? No? Maybe so?

Have you seen the stemless wine glasses out there? Are you confused as I am? What the hell is the point? If I wanted to drink wine out of a tumbler like Tony Soprano, I could very well do that. But I LIKE my stems. Wine is a celebration that should remain fancy. So I did a bunch of research, and here is what I can up with comparing the stemless with our old-school stems:

Pros of stemless glasses:

1. Guilt free dish washing

2. Better bar space

CONS:

1. You can’t put your nose in the glass and maximize the aroma (especially a problem with young wines).

2. 98.6 degrees temperature of my hand affects the temperature of my wine.

3. FINGERPRINTS- can’t get a proper impression of the color of the wine or the legs since your hand is covering the whole damn glass.

4. LAST BUT NOT LEAST: you can’t swirl your wine without sloshing.

If this info has just irritated you, because you REALLY REALLY wanted to get them a set of stemless wine glasses, the highest rated one one on the internet right now is Riedel brand. People do swear by them. You can get them at The Wine Club.

I really need your feed back on this. Please post your pros and cons to stems versus no stems, brands, etc. I am new to wine and stemless wine glasses, so please educate me!

There are some really cool wine gadgets and accessories out there, and then are are some really crappy ones. The stain remover we tried was Wine Away by Evergreen Labs, Inc. Did it remove the stain? YES. No one will ever know I dumped red wine all over the carpet. Check them out at www.wineaway.com.

The disposable disks from Epic gave a clean pour, but when you remove it from the bottle, you get splattered! There is no need to use these in everyday life. If you can’t pour a glass of wine without spilling all over yourself, maybe it’s time to take a break and switch to water for an hour or so. If you must use them, keep Wine Away handy!

One brilliant gadget Epic has come out with is their Wine Filter. It seals, preserves, and purifies! They are based out of Newport Beach (I’m jealous) and they are at Epic Gifts.

Another GREAT product we tried was our favorite-Label Lifters. They worked great, and I have been lifting labels ever since. Check out their website or go to your favorite wine and spirits purveyor and pick it up there.

The wine decanter cleaner ROCKS! The best response to this post WINS their VERY OWN wine decanter CLEANER! So Start typing people! Now go play with gadgets! And tell me your favorites!

Glug Glug!
Suz