http://www.just-drinks.com/article.aspx?id=93216&lk=alrt3&amd=3076

It's out of this world. For dessert, there's green tea and red bean fried ice cream ($3.50). Fuji offers a pleasant dining room or carryout services. The owners are delightful, the flavors are bright and fresh and the prices are right. There may be a language barrier but pointing to pictured menu items works. Barring that, there's usually an English-speaking server who'll get you through. Keep in mind that the restaurant closes at 3 p.m. and reopens at 4:30 p.m. for dinner. Hours for lunch are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Dinner is 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, until 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.Cuisine: JapaneseReservations: NoSmoking: NoKids menu: NoPrice: $$Bar: NoTip: The lunch box, available between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., is a deal for $5.50.Gamba Ristorante455 E.


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Challenges ahead for Southern Hemisphere wine producers

While Australia's woes have attracted most media attention, all the wine-producing countries of the Southern Hemisphere face challenges in the year ahead, according to a recently published report from just-drinks. Ben Cooper reports. For the wine-producing countries of the Southern Hemisphere, the coming year looks set to present some significant though differing challenges, asserts a new report from just-drinks.According to the just-drinks report, Southern Hemisphere grape supply and wine production - forecasts to 2013, 2008 finds wine production in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Chile in a marked state of flux. Epitomising the "feast or famine" nature which sometimes besets agricultural commodities, 2008 sees Australia move from its much-publicised grape glut to a state of balance.


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Next OFM: December 5

Michel Rolland has transformed the world's wine market, wooing producers with hot science and entrepreneurial energy. But in a controversial new film, Mondovino, critics accuse him of betraying his native traditions and sacrificing individuality to the tastes of the mass market. Is he dumbing down? John Carlin meets the genie of the bottle. .


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WVV Makes Strategic Move

WILSONVILLE, Ore. - (Business Wire) In a unique strategic move, Oregon’s leading winery has moved some of its offices from the winery to the building owned by the Oregon Restaurant Association (ORA). The new Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVV) offices are also across the hall from the Northwest Grocer’s Association headquarters.

WVV Founder & President Jim Bernau said the two business associations represent more than 90 percent of all fine wine sales in Oregon. He added that the move was made to further the ties between industry partners, but also to reduce the carbon footprint of the winery.

"The ORA and NWGA are among the most effective business associations in the country," Bernau noted. "I have enjoyed my work with them over these past 25 years and I look forward to strengthening our industries, employment and charities."

Bernau was named the ORA’s "Purveyor of the Year" last year.


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Britain's alcohol problem: Our green and drunken land

But if the health prognosis was worrying Ms Withers, 67, she wasn't letting it show. "We were talking about cutting down this morning, but I said 'Why? We're nearly dead anyway'."

Her show of defiance was greeted with a roar of approval from fellow customers whiling away the early afternoon in this timber-beamed 14th-century coaching inn. "I'm cutting down," says the pub manager, Danny O'Leary, to more laughter. "I've given up drinking between drinks."

It is estimated the 26.4 per cent of people in Runnymede – one in four of the local population – are consuming alcohol in a hazardous fashion. The area ranked alongside other gin and Jag hot spots such as Harrogate inYorkshire, Surrey Heath and Guildford at the top of the table. The team of researchers found that while regular "everyday" drinkers predominated in wealthy areas, it was people in the industrial cities and towns of the North-west – Manchester, Liverpool and Rochdale – who were doing themselves most harm.


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Gemmel Restaurant and California Taste Fine Wine Host . Organic/Biodynamic Wine and Vegan Dinner Pairing

Organic/Biodynamic Wine and Vegan Dinner Pairing 07/03/2008 20:07:00 Business Wire To celebrate a new season, a dinner event featuring organic and biodynamic wines paired with a five course vegetarian meal will be hosted by Gemmel Restaurant, and California Taste Fine Wine.
The "Spring Bounty" dinner will be held Thursday, March 27th at 6:30 pm at Gemmel Restaurant, 34471 Golden Lantern, Dana Point, CA 92629.
The vegan menu, prepared by Michelin chef Bryon Gemmel, consists of fresh and natural appetizers, salads, entrees and the chef s signature dessert.
The dinner will be paired with biodynamic and organic wines selected by Ken Spears, owner of California Taste Fine Wine.
"Certified biodynamic and organic grapes are grown in self-sustaining vineyards making the terroir or soil alive, active and robust, which becomes evident in the flavor of the wines," according to Spears.

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Spirited keepsakes: Lake of the Ozarks souvenir label dresses up classic European table wine Moselland

LAKE OF THE OZARKS - The aerial view of Bagnell Dam glows on the inside of the bottle. It depicts one of the most recognizable landmarks at the lake and wine specialist Bill Van Pool says he plans to expand the line.Moselland Landmark Series has become a hit since it landed on store shelves. Although the first bottle depicted the St. Louis Arch at sunset, Van Pool said he wanted to come up with a souvenir for customers desiring to take a bit of Lake of the Ozarks home with them.Van Pool, who works in the Osage Beach Hy-Vee wine and spirits department, turned to an artist in Germany to make a label from a picture of Bagnell Dam he had submitted.

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Constellation consumer study finds trendy wine drinkers drawn to merlot

OAKVILLE, March 7, 2008 � It may be hip to drink merlot wine, after all. According to results from a large consumer study released today by Constellation Wines U.S., merlot was the most-purchased varietal premium wine by consumers who view wine as a status symbol.

Merlot made up 20 percent of the wine purchases made by a group dubbed "image seekers," called as such because they like to be known for knowing a lot about wine, according to the 18-month study, called Project Genome, conducted by The Nielsen Co.

Image seekers are consumers who use the Internet to harvest factoids about wine and like to experiment with trendy wines and packaging. However, when they bought wine for home it was merlot, she said.

Image seekers' average age is 35, many part of the millennial generation now reaching age 35, and 60 percent were male, according to Leslie Joseph, vice president of consumer behavior and affairs for Constellation.


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Gemmel Restaurant and California Taste Fine Wine Host Organic/Biodynamic Wine and Vegan Dinner Pairing

To celebrate a new season, a dinner event featuring organic and biodynamic wines paired with a five course vegetarian meal will be hosted by Gemmel Restaurant, and California Taste Fine Wine. The "Spring Bounty" dinner will be held Thursday, March 27th at 6:30 pm at Gemmel Restaurant, 34471 Golden Lantern, Dana Point, CA 92629.

The vegan menu, prepared by Michelin chef Bryon Gemmel, consists of fresh and natural appetizers, salads, entrees and the chef's signature dessert. The dinner will be paired with biodynamic and organic wines selected by Ken Spears, owner of California Taste Fine Wine.

"Certified biodynamic and organic grapes are grown in self-sustaining vineyards making the terroir or soil alive, active and robust, which becomes evident in the flavor of the wines," according to Spears.


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Pama, Mount Gay offer fine liquors without the hefty price

Pama for her, Mount Gay for him.

The world of fine spirits and liqueurs is still within easy reach with the planet's first true pomegranate liqueur, Pama, and the king of rums, Mount Gay Eclipse.

Pama is a seductive, silk-textured, sweet-tart liqueur, made with pomegranate juice emboldened with vodka and a splash of tequila. The 375 ml bottle is $13.95. You can drink it on the rocks, use it to spike a berry compote, or better yet, add an ounce of it to sparkling wine or Prosecco. It's sweet, but not like port.

Mount Gay, $14.98 for the 750 ml bottle, is produced by Mount Gay Distilleries in Barbados, where it has been made for 300 years. It has a luxury-brandy quality to it -- smooth, bracing and smoky vanilla in character. The sweetness is subtle.


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Crusaders preparing for Wine Tasting Weekend

Wine lovers in the Mohawk Valley have a full weekend to take advantage of their favorite wines during the wine tasting weekend, March 14-16. The festivities begin Friday when Vintage Spirits in Herkimer and Ilion Wine and Spirits host a wine tasting from 5-8 p.m. On Saturday there will be a dinner for the winemakers at the Crystal Chandelier restaurant, then Sunday is the culmination event at Herkimer County Community College where a wine tasting will take place, judging and awards will be given out, and even wine classes will be held in the Cogar Gallery at the college. The event is being sponsored by the Crusaders, a men’s group from Sts. Anthony and Joseph’s Church. Organizer of the event and vice president of the Crusaders, John Piseck says more than 40 kinds of wine will be available for guests to sample and all will be judged by a panel of celebrity judges who will be behind closed doors. Full story at the Herkimer Telegram.


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Bees to help sniff out quality wine

Scientists at the Queensland Brain Institute are using bees' noses to help develop a machine that can smell the difference between a good and a bad wine.

University of Queensland researcher Doctor Judith Reinhard says the tests are carried out by blowing different scents over the bees and measuring how they react.

Doctor Reinhard says a bees' sense of smell is so precise it can distinguish between hundreds of different aromas.

She says the research will define how the CSIRO builds an electronic nose. "The plan that CSIRO has is to design a specially sensitive electronic noses which you can hold over a wine bottle and tell what kind of chemicals are in the wine and if it's going to be a good wine or a bad wine," he said.

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The Sipping News: Italian wine online

With Wine Country in our backyard, it's easy to get caught up in local news and forget about the wine industry in Italy.

Recently, however, Italian journalist and wine critic Franco Ziliani and American writer, blogger and translator Jeremy Parzen launched VinoWire.com, a new Web site that focuses solely on that region.

Italian wine lovers will find a live newswire with industry-related events and breaking stories, tasting notes and recommendations. Check out longer editorial pieces and commentary from visiting journalists, and links to other blogs devoted to the Italian wine culture.

- Amanda Gold .


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Wine exports volumes drop

A report shows Australian wine export volumes dropped five per cent in the past year.

The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation says at the same time, the average price of wine increased by five per cent.

The Corporation's Lawrie Stanford says the volume decline is due to short harvests.

"Volumes have declined as we have been expecting with two short harvests," he said.

"The 2008 harvest is coming in short and it follows up from a short harvest last year, which means that the industry is having the opportunity to draw down the oversupply of wine that we have had on hand for several years now."

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The Wine Guys: Your questions answered

Sometimes we get questions that send us searching for answers. Here are a few that we have collected over the last several months.Q: I have heard that immersing plastic in corked wine will remove the off flavors. True?A: We thought this was crazy until we heard the same from Rick Sayre, winemaker at Rodney Strong Vineyards. He said small plastic pellets are used in the winemaking process now, so he joined others in trying to use plastic on a smaller scale to remove trichloroanisole - TCA - in a bad bottle of wine. He says you can use a wad of plastic wrap, but a better idea is to pour the wine into a plastic mug of some kind.Pete Finkelstein at Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits says he too has tried the technique as a last-ditch effort to save a corked wine. Both men say the technique will make the wine drinkable - but it will not restore the wine completely.Q: Is TCA found only in wine?A: No, TCA is a common characteristic of many foods.


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France's wine exports hit record $13.8B; China big buyer

PARIS -- France's wine and spirit industry scored record exports in 2007, with triple-digit surges in China and an exuberant performance from the star of French wines, Champagne.

France sent nearly 9.4 billion euros, or about $13.8 billion, worth of wines and spirits abroad in 2007, an increase of nearly 7 percent year-on-year, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters announced Wednesday.

Growth in China more than doubled to nearly 247 million euros ($364 million) worth of alcohol. The country of 1.3 billion people, and a growing middle class discovering a taste for wine and already fond of cognac, was the 11th-largest market by value for French wines and spirits in 2007. Barely a decade ago, wine buyers' choices outside of the poshest hotels, restaurants or stores were mostly limited to Chinese-made rot-gut.


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Grape expectations

SCIENTISTS AT CALTECH and Stanford recently published the results of a peculiar wine tasting. They provided people with cabernet sauvignons at various price points, with bottles ranging from $5 to $90. Although the tasters were told that all the wines were different, the scientists were in fact presenting the same wines at different prices.

The subjects consistently reported that the more expensive wines tasted better, even when they were actually identical to cheaper wines.

The experiment was even more unusual because it was conducted inside a scanner - the drinks were sipped via a network of plastic tubes - that allowed the scientists to see how the subjects' brains responded to each wine. When subjects were told they were getting a more expensive wine, they observed more activity in a part of the brain known to be involved in our experience of pleasure.


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Classy wine lounge now open in Drayton Tower

The Roman god of wine has found a home on Liberty Street. Bacchus Wine Lounge opened last weekend on the ground floor of Drayton Tower. For owner Brian Kight, it's the culmination of nearly 20 years in the bar and restaurant business.

A Dublin, Ga., native, Kight worked in Athens and then in California before moving here eight years ago.

A confessed "Georgia boy," Kight told me he just felt the need to be closer to home. "I got too deep of roots," he laughed as we chatted a few days ago across Bacchus' exceptionally comfortable bar.

Once Kight decided to move back to Georgia, Savannah seemed an obvious choice even though he didn't know anyone who lived here at the time.

He was especially attracted to the city's walkability. "There aren't a lot of cities like that," he said.


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A photo caption with a report on the opening of the South Beach Wine...

A photo caption with a report on the opening of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival misspelled the name of celebrity chef Rachael Ray. The error, which was made in the editing process, was on Page 4A of some editions Friday.

• In a story that ran Friday on Page 1C concerning a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of MasTec, J. Marc Lewis, the company's vice president of investor relations, misspoke when he said the company had been exonerated. The SEC simply ended its investigation without recommending enforcement action.

A story about a multiple shooting in Miami-Dade, which ran Friday on Page 1B in Dade and 5B in Broward, incorrectly stated how two wounded victims got to the hospital. They were transferred by fire-rescue truck, not by air.


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Stew Leonard's wine tasting to benefit United Way of Norwalk and Wilton

Stew Leonard's will present its fifth annual wine and food grand tasting to benefit the United Way of Norwalk & Wilton and United Way of Westport-Weston on Friday, March 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Aitoro Appliances HDTV Home Theater, 401 Westport Avenue, Norwalk. The tasting will feature more than 70 wines from California, Oregon and Washington, along with the cuisine of Stew Leonard's Executive Chef George Llorens. "Following the hot trends in the wine business, this year's tasting features the 'best of the West' including Oregon Pinot Noir, Sonoma Chardonnay, and some of the new cult Washington vintners," said Amy Dixon, Stew Leonard's fine wine specialist. "The tasting will showcase well-known producers such as Caymus, Ponzi, Andrew Will, Chateau St Michelle and Bernardus, with their top cuvees being poured.


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Bill would allow bottled wine sales at festivals

A Vermont lawmaker with two wineries in her district wants to make it easier for them to sell bottles of their product at wine and food festivals.

Wineries already are allowed to sell their wares by the glass at such festivals; the bill would add the words "or by unopened bottle" to the law.

Wilmington Rep. Ann Manwaring says the bill would maintain the current requirement that permission for such sales be sought from the selectboard in the town where the festival is to occur.

Lauraine Muha of Honora Winery in Halifax told lawmakers that allowing sales by the bottle would make it more economically worthwhile for wineries to send representatives to such events.

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Information from: Brattleboro Reformer

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Some Napa vintners pump up the alcohol

SEBASTOPOL, Calif.

California's big reds are coming on strong these days as winemakers pursue riper, fuller-flavored fruit.

A number of wines have been creeping past 14 percent alcohol and even into the 15- to-16 percent range, as opposed to the tamer 12- to 13-percent of years past. This is largely because vintners wait longer to pick their grapes. More mature fruit is thought to make tastier wine, but it also means sugar levels have a chance to rise, which comes with the side effect of pumping up the alcohol volume. Warmer harvests only increase the phenomenon.

Some are calling for a halt to the so-called "hot wines."

"I just hate high-alcohol wines," said Randy Dunn, founder of Dunn Vineyards, who fired off an open letter last year urging consumers to demand wines of 14 percent alcohol or less.


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SOBE Wine & Food Festival Hot Ticket: The BubbleQ

If you love fabulous food and wonderful wine, you're in luck, but only if you managed to secure tickets to many of the sold out events at the annual South Beach Wine and Food Festival. The epicurean extravaganza kicked off Thursday night with the "Burger Bash" hosted by Rachael Ray, and it continues Friday night with another hot event, "The Moet & Chandon BubbleQ". The BubbleQ features Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network as the first female hostess of this sold out event. It pairs great American barbeque with excellent French champagne on the beautiful sandy shores of Miami Beach. Giada De Laurentiis, one of the Food Network's most recognized personalities, will meet guests and invite them to select from bountiful buffets featuring fresh, grilled meats, seafood, vegetables and other side dishes and well as desserts.


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Honour system for drinkers at Berlin wine bar

You pay 1 Euro (about $1.50) and sample various wines displayed on the bar. For as long as you want, The New York Tiimes reports

Then, at the end of the night, you sling a few coins, or notes, or whatever you think is "fair" into a jar on the bar.

Cool.

Read the full report here.

Share this article What is this? .


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Wine: Girl power

Those for whom every day is Valentine's Day may be interested in a new range of wines aimed at women developed by a French wine merchant. WineSight has selected about 30 French wines under the label Sublimelle, "parce que la femme est Sublimelle". It boasts "no need for images of lingerie", so the fact that a French lingerie label of the same name adorns such fine brands as Forplay (sic) and Leg Avenue, is presumably a coincidence. Selected by a man, Fr�d�ric Auriol, the range (available at www.chateauselect. co.uk) offers wines for a variety of occasions, "whether it is a girls' night out, an individual tasting, a romantic dinner, after love-making, or a business success".

Young women embarking on drinking wine are particularly susceptible to the blandishments of marketing speak, as I have found from the sessions I teach 18-year-olds in schools on the Leiths course.

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French send wine by sailboat

French vineyard owners are returning to a slower pace of life by starting to export their wine by sailing boat - a method last used in the 1800s - to reduce their carbon footprint.

This month 60,000 bottles from Languedoc will be shipped to Ireland in a 19th-century barque, saving 22,680kg of carbon.

Further voyages to Bristol and Manchester in England and even to Canada are planned soon afterwards.

The three-mast barque Belem, which was launched in 1896, the last French merchant sailing vessel to be built, will sail into Dublin after a voyage from Bordeaux that should last about four days.

The wines will be delivered to Bordeaux by barge using the Canal du Midi and Canal du Garonne, which run across southern France from Sete in the east, via Beziers in Languedoc.


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The Business of Wine -- An Executive Seminar

Laurent Guinand, the president of GiraMondo Wine Ventures (a wine business consulting firm), is conducting a seminar on Friday March 14, 2008: The Business of Wine -- An executive seminar. This seminar will take place at the GiraMondo Wine Ventures Headquarter in Wheaton from 9:30am to 5:00 pm.

Wheaton, MD (PRWEB) February 24, 2008 -- Laurent Guinand, the president of GiraMondo Wine Ventures (a wine business consulting firm), is conducting a seminar on Friday March 14, 2008: The Business of Wine -- An executive seminar. This seminar will take place at the GiraMondo Wine Ventures Headquarter in Wheaton from 9:30am to 5:00 pm.

In this seminar, Laurent Guinand will present and discuss about the most important business trends in the wine industry:

- Consolidation of both wineries and wine distributors
- Understanding the evolution and developing sophistication of the American wine consumer
- Increasing importance of wine marketing (with business cases such as Yellow Tail, Fat Bastard or Red Bicyclette)
- Consequences of disruptive technologies such as internet, telecom or RFID
- Challenges of importing and marketing imported wines in the United States
- Areas of the industry that are recruiting and the profiles they are looking for

This seminar utilizes business cases from Harvard Business School and materials from other graduate school specializing in the wine industry as well as a number of articles from trade publications.


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Farmers markets backed by Vic Govt

Victorian food and wine producers hope to tap into lucrative new markets with the help of State Government grants announced on Friday.

By next summer it is hoped there will be a defined network of farmers' markets and new ways of attracting more tourists and locals to them.

The region from Colac to the South Australian border and extending north to the Hamilton district has experienced a boom in new food growers in the past decade.

New local produce includes wine, cheese, olives, biscuits, bread, smoked eel and trout, chocolates and vegetables.

However, it is generally felt the Western Victorian region lacks the marketing profile of other parts of the State.

A Great South Coast Food and Wine Group established three years ago as a representative organisation will undertake a marketing study using $16,000 from the Government.

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A wine primer

Erich Orris began uncorking wines for his clients in downtown Rapid City about 18 months ago. What happens after the bottle’s foil is peeled away and the cork drawn from its neck has less to do with snobbery than with customer satisfaction, he said. Here’s a quick overview.

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NAPA wine executive returns for Northwood tasting

The president of one of Napa Valley's most prestigious wineries, Bryan del Bondio, returns to Meridian this month to lead the February 28th wine tasting at Northwood Country Club. Del Bondio will lend insight to the entire Markham portfolio as area wine lovers sample the 2003 Cabernet, 2004 Merlot, 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, 2003 Petite Sirah, 2005 Chardonnay, and the 2001 Reserve Merlot. The Markham selections come from a company that traces its history in Napa back to 1874 and an immigrant from Bordeaux, France, Jean Laurent. Today, the winery is owned corporately (the Mercian Corporation), and has benefited from a multi-million dollar renovation and expansion. The Markham facilities, located in St Helena almost directly across the street from the old Christian Brothers Winery (now the impressive home of the west coast branch of the Culinary Institute of America and its Center for Professional Wine Studies), are among the premier of the Napa region.


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