Tag: wine

luxury · wine

Adventures in Enology: Wine School, Round 2

MstldelanoLeave a comment

A few months ago, I mentioned an awesome FREE Wine Tasting class on Coursera. If you missed out on the course previously, I have good news for you: the course reopened this week! I’m re-registering for it, since I only completed about 50% of it during the last session. This time, I’m determined to complete it!

all free download

(photo courtesy of All Free Downloads)

Though the course is free, it requires the purchase of wine, glasses and food for the exercises. I’m so committed to completing the course this time that I’ve already ordered some of the items that will be needed in the upcoming weeks. I hope you all join me in taking this free Wine Tasting course. Of course, if you aren’t interested in learning more about wine, you can always check out the many other free courses available on Coursera.

luxury · wine

Fenty Estates Wine False Alarm

MstldelanoLeave a comment

A tweet went viral announcing that Rihanna, beauty mogul and perpetual wine sipper, filed to trademark the name, “Fenty Estates Wine and Spirits Company”. As a wine lover, I was absolutely giddy. If the wine label went anything like the beauty launch, I was anticipating amazing things.

clker wine gif

Unfortunately, Rihanna didn’t file for a trademark, nor did Roraj Trade LLC (the company that trademarked Rihanna’s name and Fenty Beauty). The Fader broke the news, and I must admit, I was a little crushed.

But never fear: I’ve got some other wines I’ve been waiting to try and I’ll be reviewing those soon. If Rihanna wants to trademark a wine, I’m still going to support it. I just have to make peace with the fact that her wine won’t be coming from Fenty Estates.

international · luxury

Fine and Rare Wine Auction at Sotheby’s

MstldelanoLeave a comment

As a wannabe sommelier, I love to learn all that I can about wine. So, on a hunch, I decided to look up wine auctions. Lo and behold, Sotheby’s London will be auctioning fine and rare wines on September 20, 2017.

Screenshot 2017-09-14 at 10.01.50 PM - Edited

(This 62+ year old The Dalmore, The 12 Pointer, is expected to command more than $66,000 USD at auction. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.)

I’d never heard of many of the brands, but I was in awe of the prices that some of these wines were expected to fetch. Some lots were expected to go for upwards of $66,000 USD. I’ll never cease to marvel at the concept of wine as a collectible asset!

Even more interesting was the wine catalogue: it’s more than 100 pages long and very informative. I enjoyed reading about the flavors of the wines; the descriptions are superb. If you can’t use these terms to describe some of the wines you’re drinking, then it may be time to try some different wines!

This event sounds like the perfect place for wine connoisseurs and anyone that loves luxury. Again, it will be held on September 20, 2017, at 10:30 BST, at Sotheby’s London (34-35 New Bond Street, London W1S 2RT UK). However, you don’t have to attend to bid. You may complete the absentee bid form, or register online to bid electronically.

Do you collect wine? Have you ever attended a wine auction? Please comment and let me know!

wine

Adventures in Enology: Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club

MstldelanoLeave a comment

Several months ago, I stopped in Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant on a whim. I sat at the bar and proceeded to order to my heart’s content. I chatted with the bartender and decided, at the end of my meal, to join the Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club.

I signed up for the lowest commitment – one bottle per month – just to see if I would enjoy the membership. I’ve since tried 6 of their wines, read several of the monthly newsletters, did a wine tasting, and dined at the restaurant again. I feel pretty comfortable offering an opinion on Cooper’s Hawk.

FullSizeRender (1)

This prosecco was delicious when chilled. I had it with chocolate.

IMG_1514

I really loved how well this went with an Indian curry I had.

 

I found Cooper’s Hawk’s wine club to offer fantastic value. Firstly, they offer a plethora of wines for you to try. Also, you have considerable flexibility with your monthly wine selections; you aren’t “locked in” to any particular wine offering.  They offer generous promotional coupons, both for just being a member as well as coupons in celebration of your birthday. The club also offers monthly themed events where members can enjoy exclusive menu offerings and limited edition wines.

However, if you’re looking for a spectacular wine, I can’t really recommend one from Cooper’s Hawk. I found that the wines are not particularly complex or fascinating, but decidedly SOLID. This is not a condemnation of the brand; indeed, the wines are tasty and enjoyable. I just haven’t had one that I found to be amazing.

These wines are a good option for those new to wine tasting and that want something better than most of the variety available at your local grocer. And again, the wine club is still a great way to get some experience with wine tasting.

Are any of you members of Cooper’s Hawk wine club? Do you have any particular Cooper’s Hawk wines that you could recommend?

wine

Adventures in Enology: School is in Session!

MstldelanoLeave a comment

clipartszone

On this journey toward living my best life, I’ve been listening carefully to my “inner voice” and learning what piques my interest. Following my interests led me to wine tasting.

I love wine: dry or sweet, red or white, sparkling or deep. I’ve done wine tastings at different wineries, but I still wanted a comprehensive education that isn’t biased toward a particular winery.

So I searched for viticulture and enology courses. I found one that could work for my schedule, but sadly, it’s located over 100 miles away. But I found the next best thing: an online wine course. Better yet, it’s free!

Wine Tasting: Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis seemed like a great course to get me reacquainted with wine basics. The class is available through Coursera, which has many interesting free courses. The platform is designed for MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), so that anyone with internet access can gain knowledge from the best universities for FREE.

The beauty of this course is that enrollment is ongoing and you can access all of the materials for FREE (however, you have to pay if you want to get a certificate). I’ll go through the materials and review the course in a few weeks. However, if you’re interested, sign up with Coursera and enroll in the class.

See you all in school!

 

(royalty free image courtesy of ClipArts.Zone)