Archive for the George Heritier Category

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The Detroit Red Wings have been terribly (and disconcertingly) inconsistent during the 2009-2010 NHL season. Unlike the first forty games or so, they can now no longer point to the rash of injuries they sustained as the cause of their up-and-down play, because everyone is pretty much healed or at least patched up and back on the ice. They’ll play a solid game and follow it up with one of their worst of the campaign. (There have been 6 or 8 “worst games of the season” so far.) They’re actually in danger of missing the playoffs, a situation that has been all but unthinkable for the last 20 years. It’s enough to cause Red Wings’ fans everywhere to pull hair out by the roots, sometimes even their own! Read the rest of this entry »

Jim Lester rode into town a few days ago with some new selections from his Wyncroft winery in tow to taste with prospective buyers.  After he was through making his rounds, he stopped over for dinner, and of course, we got to try the wines too.  Bonus!  We had tasted two of the three wines with him and others last fall, but in the case of at least one of them, it has already undergone some noticeable evolution.

I was underage when I bought my first bottle of vintage dated wine back in 1971.  I had actually been able to buy alcohol legally for a short period before that, when the state of Michigan lowered the drinking age to 18, but the voters, in their infinite wisdom, rescinded that privilege through referendum, leaving me and my peers in alcohol limbo for several months.  Nonplussed, when I needed a dry red wine to go with grilled steaks I was serving to a hot date one evening , I paid a visit to Lemanski’s Food Emporium, a delightful little gourmet food and wine shop in Bay City, Michigan that is sadly no longer in existence.  I stood in front of a wall of fine wine, all with mostly incomprehensible labels , and I eventually, and quite randomly, settled on a bottle of 1966 Chateau des Templiers Bordeaux Superieur, reasoning that two of the few things I knew about wine was that Bordeaux was a dry red and dry reds went well with steak. Read the rest of this entry »

“I Need a Miracle Every Day” – Grateful Dead

Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead brought their latest musical project, Furthur, to Chicago for two shows on March 2nd and 3rd, and Kim, Rosie and this reporter reprised our Rothbury adventures to meet there for both shows at the beautiful Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University, a venue that more usually showcases the likes of Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández and the Alvin Ailey Dancers. Read the rest of this entry »

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We book-ended the fantastic 2010 Winter Olympic Hockey Tournament with Detroit Red Wings victories over the Ottawa Senators (Feb. 13, 4-1) and the Colorado Avalanche (Mar. 1, 3-2), and as has become tradition here at Gang Central, we enjoyed successive vintages of fine Gigondas from an excellent producer whilst watching the respective games. Here’re my impressions: Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re into Michigan wines the way Kim and I are, there’s one blog you need to bookmark and check in on regularly. Michigan By The Bottle owner Shannon Casey has his finger on the up-to-the-minute pulse of the Michigan wine scene in all its aspects, from wineries and current releases, to conferences and events and more.  He uses video podcast reporting very well, links regularly to other bloggers who have good things to say about Michigan wines, and when it comes to understanding the importance of social media, he GETS IT. Read the rest of this entry »

The Brownbag Irregulars gathered for their second meeting last week to blind taste and consider another dozen wine selections from around the world. Some tasters had been at the previous event, while there were some new attendees as well, including our own Kim Adams; all were “in the biz,” as the saying goes. As was the case previously, there were no sales pitches, just some good palates checking out some new wines. We got things going with the two whites in the lineup. Read the rest of this entry »

Our friends at Wines of Distinction held a trade tasting last week focused primarily on their portfolio of wines from the Southern Rhône, with particular emphasis on the stellar 2007 vintage. Most of the wines were from the J et R Selections book, which has long been a favorite of ours. There were a few from Hand Picked Selections as well, another importer that we’re quite fond of.  The tasting was held at the Oak City Grille in Royal Oak, which provided a cozy setting and a tasty spread of victuals to go with the wine selections. As Kim and I entered, we were greeted with a glass of bubbly to boot up our palates and we were off to tasting. Because of the crowd and the number of wines presented, my notes are necessarily of the very brief “snapshot” variety. Read the rest of this entry »

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I got an email a few days ago informing me of a new blog that should be of great interest to serious bubble-heads everywhere. The message was from “The Dom Pérignon team,” and read as follows:

“… we thought you would be interested in knowing that Richard Geoffroy, chef de Cave at Dom Pérignon, is launching his personal blog, which is an unprecedented initiative for a prestigious Champagne house’s creator. Read the rest of this entry »

Luca Carrado and George Heritier - Click to enlarge

For a guy who runs with the likes of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, Luca Carrado is about as down-to-earth and friendly as one can get. Luca was in the neighborhood last week to promote his family’s Vietti wines, and I enjoyed his last visit so much, I made a note on my calendar as soon as I heard of his impending return. This time around, the boys at Cloverleaf Fine Wine and Liquor hosted a tasting with Carrado on hand to talk about all things Vietti, so Kim and I hopped in the car and drove over to Royal Oak to partake in the festivities. A goodly sized crowd turned out and Luca held court for about four hours. We hung out for about an hour and a half, talking with him, noshing on an excellent spread of food that was provided by pure food 2 U, and of course, tasting the wine. Read the rest of this entry »