What do you bring?

This article was contributed by Steve Goodman, Owner and operator of WineFetch.com

When you are going to someone’s house, what wine should you bring? A Sancerre or a Pinot Noir? A recognizable wine or one that even a wine lover might have to look up? Its a tough question, but here are some simple things to think about.

First and foremost, you have to decide whether you want to bring a red or a white. I’d say you can never go wrong in bringing a red, but there are times that a white may be appropriate. The person you are bringing the wine to might love whites or it might be a hot summer day and a crisp white might just do the trick. If you’re not sure, I’d stick to a red but there are a couple of other things to think about.

Rose Sangria

Its not Red, its not White, but its tasty.  I tried this Sangria Recipe this weekend and it made for a tasty summer BBQ treat.  I got it from the Food Network and its worth a try!

SF Wine News added to the site

We’ve added wine news to the right sidebar.  Just in the spirit of being a more useful resource.  We’ll continue to comment on stories where appropriate but we thought this supplement would help round out the usefulness of the site.

Enjoy the Wine Life!

WineFetch Watch – Chronicling a great utility

About a week ago I posted about WineFetch.com, a wine search engine with some really nice features and add-on functionality, which is now in Beta.  I ran across it, loved it, and think it has to potential to become the ideal wine search utility.  That post generate ALOT of e-mails and several comment posts.  Many questions abound.  So, I contacted the owner/operator of the site, Steve, and asked some of the questions that wine lovers out there have been looking for.  Here are the highlights:

Happy 1st Birthday to Vivi’s!

Today, August 18th 2005, Vivi’s Wine Journal turns 1 year old!  What started out as a way to just talk about wine topics and write about wine and wine related experiences in a way that would help my friends understand why Kelly and I love the wine life so much has turned into a community site with a steady flow of visitors from all corners of the world.  This has been a great experience for both of us and really been more rewarding then I had ever imagined.

In life, the ideal “job” is one that can combine something you do with something you enjoy.  Vivi’s is definitely “work” but it doesn’t feel that way so much.  Kelly and I both have enjoyed the last year doling out and receiving advice where we could, meeting new people, and learning about wine while we do things to expand on Vivi’s content for the community.  Now that I have a taste of what it means to be doing something purely for the enjoyment and art of it the last step is to figure out how to get that same experience out of a career – wouldn’t that be cool.

In the mean time we’ll continue to get our fix from bringing our wine life experiences to you through Vivi’s.  Here’s to taking the time out to Enjoy the Wine Life!

Cheers!

Widget of the Day – Where are the wine enthusiasts?

This is just for fun but if you click here you can see where the last 20 visitors to Vivi’s Wine Journal came from.  This functionality was created by a site using Google Maps API.  Some quick programming and you can get it for your site (see GVisit’s website).

Welcome wine lovers everywhere!

Enjoy the Wine Life!

Wine Gadget – “Unbreakable” Wine Glass

Big time quotes around “Unbreakable” here because that is clearly marketing but Schott-Zwiesel has a wine glass that is break resistent and dishwasher safe while being as delicate and clear as your high-end Riedel glasses.  Now if you’ve never broken a wine glass I can say two things about it –

1.  The “finer” wine glasses break easily.

2.  If you drop one it doesn’t break, it explodes!  I’ve found shards of glass 15 feet away after dropping a wine glass.

The Schott-Zwiesel Tritan glasses

 are fairly reasonable in price at about $65 USD for a set of 6 when you consider comparable Reidel

glasses can run you almost twice that much.  And why pay double for more delicate glasses?  The only thing more hotly contested than cork versus screwcap is the allegation that the glass makes a huge difference in the taste…the shape, sure, but the actual glass?  C’mon.

So for a reasonable price you can get break resistent, dishwasher safe wine glasses.  Sounds like a deal to me!

[thanks to Andrew at Spittoon for catching this one]

Wine Gadget – Personal Aerator – Does it suck?

Found another wine gadget that, while I haven’t used it, I’m pretty skeptical about.  Its the WinePrism by O2 Essential Ideas out of Napa, CA.  Billed not as a replacement for casual wine drinking but a tool to enhance flavors for serious tasters, the WinePrism is (according to their website):

Through a small aerating hole, air and wine are combined in the glass stem allowing the connoisseur to evaluate wine more precisely and consistently than by the common method of drawing in air by the “reverse whistle” technique.

In English – its a straw…with a hole…

But what’s the use?

WineFetch.com – The Ideal Wine Search Utility

I’m a huge fan of reading about a “hot” wine either online somewhere or in a magazine and then doing my homework online and through my wine friends network (sort of like the Psychic friends network but without the pizzazz) and finding the little known, bargain masterpieces.  The latest hunting tool I’ve found is WineFetch.com.

Wine Gadget – Hanging Greeting Cards

GifToppers are full greeting cards that you can hang on you wine bottle that you’re giving as a gift.  Its purpose – keep you from going through the trouble of actually handing your card to the intended receiver!

Seriously, each GifTopper is hand-made by David Gregory, Inc., one of the Midwest’s most unique custom invitation and gift stores.  The website describes the GifToppers as follows:

What is it?
GifToppers! cards are a unique way to identify your gifts.  They are printed on heavy card stock and are available blank or greeted.  You can add your own artwork or corporate logo, your own sentiment or choose from several standard designs available in numerous categories such as new home, birthday, wedding, anniversary, and dinner guest to name just a few.

Why is it different?
Each card has a built-in loop designed handle.  The cards fold and close with a tab, so you can write a message inside which won’t be seen until the card is opened.

Why it’s unique!
GifToppers! offers customization and personalization options to create a card that is unique to each customer.  With so much of our daily interactions made more impersonal through email, voice mail, the Internet, etc., a personal touch itself becomes a unique gift.

The GifToppers are available online at the company’s website.

Enjoy the Wine Life!