News of the Crush, Costco Liquor, Big Mac Sliders and Lagunitas Layoffs

I’ve seen, heard and cooked a lot in the past few weeks and wanted to share with you what I’ve learned and eaten. We are surrounded by the grape harvest that is in full swing and in good shape, even with a little rain, egad! That and more, he said, is the subject of my Whine

And the Winner Is…

Why you may ask, is this man with a cheeseburger and a trophy smiling, has he won something, have you won something and is he looking for you??? Well the answer is yes and no but you have still won the opportunity to read this edition of Woody’s Whine and the story of two winners – funny place to put a window.

So a Blazer Designer Decides to Make a Meatloaf

I made a meatloaf the other day from what might be called an old fashion recipe that I found to be credited to the late fashion designer, Bill Blass. I have no idea where he got the recipe or why his name is attached…

Three Fresh, One Frozen

My curiosity has been at a “burger pitch” over wanting to try the new “Fresh Beef” quarter pounder to see if in fact there is a difference as frankly I am not a regular customer. So I thought who better to share my tasting with than you “Whiner’s” and of course I had to do a comparison tasting with Burger King and Wendy’s and I threw in the In-N-Out folks for my NorCal followers. Hope you’re hungry! Enjoy.

Of Cheese, Bubbles and Foothills

I’ll be offering several veins of travel and information (think about it for a moment) relating some good insight into cheese and wine pairing, bubbles with brunch and Zinfandel from the Sierra Foothills. There’s a great new chicken recipe for you from Ian Garten matched with a Scotto Lodi Chardonnay, one of the best matches I’ve ever made – love it when a plan comes together, enjoy.

A Light Whine of Pulled Pork, Total Wine and Costco Brie

Folks are you aware that most of you are buying your wine at grocery stores – really grocery stores where there is no chance of you getting any kind of qualified advice, much less a real discount, really a shame. But first let’s start with a great recipe and trends in wine sales from one of the big boys then some cheese news.

Wine, Woman but No Song (you could hum if you want)

It was my good fortune to have recently discussed the world of food and wine with two women totally involved in the process and I was also impressed by the words of third woman whom you may refer to as “prominent” in the industry.

The folks in Bordeaux are giddy with the 2015 vintage, best since 2010 and they aren’t afraid to say so, it was a tasty afternoon.

“Stuck in Lodi again…” Yes!!!

The stark and gnarly vines you see may be as old as I, in fact they may be even older and that’s good, as Lodi is the “Old Vine Zinfandel Capital of the World” producing  over 32% of California’s premium Zinfandel. Yet by total volume the area produces more Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay but that production goes into somebody else’s wine…and that he said is the subject of the my Whine, please click for more.

Fruity and French for Thanksgiving

The 2015 vintage from Beaujolais is terrific all around and these lighter, fruity wines that can take a bit of a chill love turkey and most all of the side dishes we will challenge it with.

Honey, Dinner’s Cold!

Wanting to do a complete dinner in advance I happened on the bright idea to serve everything cold or let’s say room temperature, appetizer, vegetable, seafood and meat course. It worked so well I served it twice, little did they know. You’ll also find a few more thoughts on the wine and weed situation, smoke’m if you got’m.

Woody in Sonoma

We literally live about seven minutes from grape vines at the edge of the Russian River yet Santa Rosa is not really a wine town, you’d hardly notice the industry if you didn’t know it was all around you. Actually beer making and drinking is the big deal in SR. The Sonoma sign and I are at the edge of the Kenwood wine area moments to the east of SR on your way to the city of Sonoma.

Woody at Ch. 2 New Years

Some years ago a friend of mine was the news director at the CBS station in Chicago and she asked me to do some holiday wine pieces for the morning news. I did Thanksgiving in a chef’s coat but owned a tux and used it for the New Year’s Eve Champagne and sparkling wine segment. When the spot was over I changed and went to my day job, oh the memories.

One for Uncle Joe

My column is usually calendar challenged – as I am trying to present food and wine thoughts far in advance of when you will actually see them, making the relevance often more than a bit difficult, but the moon and stars have aligned.