Nothing compliments a delicious vegetarian meal better than a glass of wine or beer- except when your wine or beer is not vegetarian.

Wait a minute. Beer is usually water, malt, hops and yeast. Wine is fermented grapes. What’s not vegetarian about these ingredients? The answer lies in the filtering, finings, and additives.

• Gelatin and isinglass are sometimes used to clarify beer and wine. Most vegetarians understand that gelatin is made from animal products, though isinglass may be a new term: isinglass is derived from the bladders of fish. Both products are often used to process cask beers and white wine; when added to the liquid, they cause excess yeast to clump and sink to the bottom of the vessel. A vegetarian alternative is Irish Moss.

• Egg whites are sometimes used to clarify wine and reduce tannins and astringency. Albumin, a protein found in blood and eggs, and pepsin, derived from pork, are also used for this purpose and sometimes added to beer to improve head retention. (Contrary to popular belief, a foamy, long-lasting head is actually a good thing in beer- except when that head is due to animal products.)

• Charcoal can be used to remove impurities and odors from wine; charcoal is frequently made from animal bones. Refined sugar, added occasionally to beer and wine to enhance sweetness, is also filtered with charcoal, meaning it too has animal blood on its proverbial hands.

The FDA does not mandate that breweries and wineries label spirits processed using these methods. So, how do you tell if your beer or wine is vegetarian? Look online.  My favorite resource is Barnivore, a site run by a couple of vegans that lets consumers know what beer, wine and liquor are and are not veg-friendly.

Unfortunately, while the popular Guinness is not vegetarian, there are a host of other delicious beverages that do make the cut. What’s your favorite vegetarian drink?

More information:

• Beer for Vegetarians and Vegans
• Vegan Wine Guide
• Vegan Wine: what is it? How to find it?
• Vegan vino? Sure, but it comes with a few catches

Image by Greencolander

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Categories:	Vegetarian • beer • wine	1 Comment
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For many, learning about wine can seem like a pretty daunting task. Where do I start? What do I need to know? How do I go about getting the right info? Rather than overwhelming yourself with the details it’s better to jump right in and get your hands dirty- or in this case, your mouth.

4 Steps to Knowing What You’re Drinking

1. One Grape at a Time

Blends (wines made using multiple grape varieties) can produce fantastic results. But when you’re just learning it’s best to go one grape at a time. Start by picking up a few different varietal specific wines, containing at least 75% of one grape. Common grapes such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc work the best due to brand diversity and availability. Then simply drink the wine and take notes on what you smell and taste. You’ll eventually begin to discover common flavors and aromas in the wines/varieties you enjoy.

2. Style is Key

Once you’ve got a handle on a few basic grape varieties and the flavors that go with them it’s time to figure out what style of wine you prefer. Wines of the same variety can come in many different styles (eg. acidic, smooth, bold, fruity). Find wines of the same variety but from different producers or regions and give them a try. You’ll eventually have a handful of favorites that will help in narrowing down what style of wine you prefer. Having some favorites is especially handy when your wine merchant or server asks what kind of wine you like.

3. Get Experimental

From your tasting escapades you should now be comfortable with several different grape varieties and have a general idea of the style of wine you prefer. Time to shake things up a bit. Visit your local wine shop and ask the merchant to help you pick out some unique varietals or wines from other regions, based on your stylistic preferences. This is a great way to extend your wine comfort zone and discover some great new wines or wine producing areas. Obscure varietals and regions can also provide quite a cost savings, which we can all appreciate.

4. Visit the Source

Now that you have a solid wine tasting foundation it’s time to take your knowledge on the road. Of the wines you tasted there should have been some from the local area. If not go back to the store and ask about local producers that fit your style. Then once you’ve picked out a few favorites visit those places. Wine is more than a beverage it’s an experience, and to truly understand and appreciate it you need to visit the source. And as I’ve mentioned, reliving these experiences sure beats discussing flavor profiles all day.

Now get out there and drink some wine. We’ll worry about filling in the other details later. Cheers!

* Marcus Pape has worked in media and design for over 10 years with an extensive background in all forms of visual communication. As a proclaimed vinophile Marcus hopes to leverage his abilities to inspire interest in wine, recently launching WineCHATr.com – an online resource for the growing wine community, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

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Categories:	wine	1 Comment
Tags:	wine

In its recent heyday as the critical darling of the wine world, Aussie Shiraz was unstoppable. Massive scores, massive wines, massive prices. How the mighty fall. With a glut of jammy, indiscernible reds with cloying flavors and gimmicky labels flooding the market (combined, to put it mildly, with a bit of a economic downturn), the wine-buying public turned a blind eye to all Aussie reds that did not have a kangaroo on the label.  I do, however, ask that you ignore all that has come to pass in the world of Aussie Shiraz and focus on Riesling.  Yes.  Riesling.  From Australia.  Look for anything from the Clare or Eden Valley; these are dry, dry, dry Rieslings.  How dry?  Sahara dry.  Yet they have loads of zesty lime flavor, moderate alcohol, and (most importantly) are a delight to drink.  I fondly recall attending one of Seattle’s best oyster happy hours at a place with a mediocre wine list.  I asked for a bottle of Pikes Riesling that had clearly, based on the vintage, had been on the list for a few years;  unsurprisingly, the waiter said that in the four years he had worked there I was the first person to order it.  Well, fortune favors the bold.  This lively white, though gathering some dust, was as fresh as a daisy, reasonably priced, and phenomenal with oysters (especially when you top them with a frozen mignonette).  And if you have a fondness for ceviche, fish tacos, and/or sushi (just go easy on the soy sauce), you have found your perfect wine.

PS:  Sorry for all the parenthesis; my writing style clearly could use a shot in the arm.  (Seriously.)

PPS: I realize this wine has an animal on the label but pike (or any firm-fleshed fish) and Aussie Riesling would be delicious.  (Maybe with a fennel slaw.  Damn, I did that parenthesis thing again.  Twice.)

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Categories:	Fish & Seafood • wine	1 Comment
Tags:	australia • clare valley • pikes • riesling

Greetings my wine-guzzling friends. As I mentioned in my first post, I’m starting over with wine and you’re all (all two of you) invited along for the ride. I’ll be exploring wine for the first time, all over again with a new attitude and fresh perspective inspired by my recent trip to Italy, one of the largest and oldest wine producing regions in the world.

It’s my belief that the key to learning about wine is more than just analyzing grapes and comparing flavor profiles. Instead, we need to look deeper into the different regions, cultures, and lifestyles behind the bottle; because in many parts of the world, wine truly is a style of life. Not just a life with style.

For example, in Italy wine is an everyday constant. It’s ingrained in the people and embedded in the culture. This is more apparent right now with harvest than any other time of year, as growers and winemakers work to bring in their grapes just as their families have done for generations before them.

One evening in Italy, my wife and I sat down for a home cooked meal with our tour guide Paolo and his friend Valerio. Valerio is a winemaker. Just like his father before him, and his father before him. He never considered doing anything else. It’s what he knows and loves. He can speak for hours on the subject of Grignolino (a red Italian wine grape variety) and it’s magical ability to cure hangovers!

Our local wine culture doesn’t quite have the history that Italy does, but there are still plenty of opportunities to learn more about wine from the perspective of the people and places that produce it.

My recommendation, before you crack open that next bottle of wine; look at the label and then get online to find out more about the winery that made it and the region the grapes came from. That info alone should provide more talking points around the dinner table than how the wine tastes like blackberries and smells like a cigar box.

For a little more historical perspective on wine lookup A History Of The World In Six Glasses, which explores the significant role that wine along with five other beverages (beer, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola) have played in the world’s history. Interesting stuff. Cheers!

** Marcus Pape has worked in media and design for over 10 years with an extensive background in all forms of visual communication. As a proclaimed vinophile Marcus hopes to leverage his abilities to inspire interest in wine, recently launching WineCHATr.com – an online resource for the growing wine community, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

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Categories:	Italian • Travel • books • wine	Leave a Comment
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Did I get your attention?  Good.  Just trying to be deliberately provocative.   Maybe it was too many college parties with bulk red wine and bricks of generic cheddar that colored my early wine and cheese days, but I think white wines do so much better than reds with cheese.  Yeah, I’ve had Epoisses with Burgundy IN Burgundy, with atmosphere dripping and charm in abundance, and enjoyed it.  But even with the stinkiest, richest cheeses, I think a dry white, a sparkling wine, or a white with a touch of sweetness just works better with the cheese.  I won’t pick on Pinot Noir too much, but big reds with powerful tannins and heavy oak are just plain awkward with cheese.

I encourage you to pick up a variety of rich, creamy, and/or sharp cheeses that purportedly are good with reds and throw a few whites in the mix.  And don’t be afraid of a little sweetness, like the kind you find in wines like Vouvray or Riesling (which also have good balancing acidity); I feel that the acidity lasers through the richness and the sweetness tempers the strong, earthy flavors of highly aromatic cheeses.

Here’s a slam-dunk, white wine and cheese pairing to get you started, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Bring a white to your next wine and cheese party. Shock the world!

A trio of South American whites were fantastic with a fresh, young, soft goat cheese:

2008 Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes (Argentina)
2008 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva (Chile)
2007 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc Vision (Chile)

The Torrontes, a floral, aromatic white that reminds me of a lighter version of Viognier, was very good with the cheese but the Sauv Blancs were the star. The high acidity and subtle grassiness of the wines were a perfect compliment to the goat cheese. Stop buying the overly vegetal, stewed green bean-smelling Sauv Blanc from New Zealand; Chile is producing some delicious Sauv Blanc for around ten bucks.

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Categories:	Cheese • wine	3 Comments
Tags:	goat cheese • sauvignon blanc • south america • torrontes • wine

Anyone that knows me knows how obsessed I can be about getting information. Hey, what can I say, I’m a do it yourselfer with an addiction for answers. This is especially true when it comes to wine. There’s just so much to know, that sometimes I have trouble drawing the line between beverage and obsession. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you!

I’m not one to just walk the line, or drink the grape flavored Kool-Aid as they say. I want to know why things are the way they are. If someone tells me that I need to lay a bottle down for a few years before drinking, I want to know why. When a waiter hands me the cork at a restaurant, what’s that all about? These are things I want to know.

So, on a recent trip to Italy, you can imagine how frustrated I was when I realized that I truly knew nothing about the world of wine. Don’t get me wrong; I knew all about the grapes, the growing regions, and how the wine was made, etc. But what I was truly clueless about was the global culture of it all and how differently wine is perceived in other parts of the world.

In Italy, for example, wine is an everyday phenomenon. It’s ingrained in the culture. At local events and festivals they erect portable wine bars. Not because it’s a “wine event”, but because it’s an event. Wine is sold in ice cream shops and coffee bars. It’s everywhere. Grandparents drink it. Young adults drink it. Even kids drink it. There’s no level of knowledge that has to be reached before you’re deemed worthy enough to truly appreciate wine.

This open approach to wine is unlike many “new world” countries (areas outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe) with shorter wine histories, where we have a tendency to overanalyze wine instead of just enjoying it. On this point, I’m  as guilty as the next person. Everything I thought I knew about wine came from the bottle or glass, magazines or books. But for many people around the world, including those in Italy, wine is a lifestyle, a cultural constant passed down for generations.

So, I invite you to join me as I start over in order to gain a more global appreciation for fermented grape juice. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and learn about wine from scratch.

* Marcus Pape has worked in media and design for over 10 years with an extensive background in all forms of visual communication. As a proclaimed vinophile Marcus hopes to leverage his abilities to inspire interest in wine, recently launching WineCHATr.com – an online resource for the growing wine community, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

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Categories:	wine	3 Comments
Tags:	Italian • Italy • new world • old world • wine

Editor’s Note: Foodista is pleased to introduce Jameson Fink as our new wine contributor. Jameson is an accomplished wine steward with much to share. Look forward to “Wine Wednesday” each week for tasting notes, pairings, and more!

As a wine steward at a grocery store, I spend a significant chunk of my day helping people select wines to go with their meal.  I take a lot of pride in making thoughtful suggestions, and I always try to have fun and keep things relaxed.  My goal is to demolish the stereotype of  boorish know-it-all wine snobs with nothing to offer conversationally but their specialized knowledge.  So while I can talk your ear off about matching food and wine for a frighteningly long time, I am often pleasantly surprised how well food and wine work together with just a modicum of effort and a little bit of luck.  Last night’s dinner was a case in point.

We started with some crostini and a fresh herb cream cheese with (because it was not rich enough already) some butter whipped in.  I just happened to bring along a very tart apple left over from last week’s trip to the Farmers Market.  The 2007 Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse, a French Chardonnay, that we began with had touches of buttery richness and texture from moderate oak influence as well as snappy fruit and acidity.  A bite of crostini with cheese, a slice of apple, and a big sip of wine turned out to be the perfect start to the evening, when it was still warm and bright enough to be outside.

For our main course we retreated inside.  I had  some baby eggplant and Walla Walla onion that I had roasted with nothing but salt and olive oil.  I dumped in some tomato sauce, wilted some arugula, finished with Parmesan-Reggiano, and served over penne.  I wasn’t sure how the 2001 Falesco Marciliano (an Italian Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc Blend) was drinking and if it would work with the food; all I knew is that I wanted to drink it.  It turned out great.  With a few years of bottle-age, the Marciliano had taken on some nice secondary, Bordeaux-like qualities.  I’m trying to think of a better way to describe these characteristics than “green” or “vegetal” but I am a bit stumped.  The wine was fantastic with the sweet, rich eggplant and the arugula bite at the end really played well with the bottle-age on the wine.  I was really surprised how well it went considering there was no meat in this dish.

So while there is a time and a place to nerd out over matching food and wine, most of the time it’s just best to enjoy the company, the food, and the wine.  The worst case scenario is that maybe you learn a little bit about what doesn’t work.  (Unless you are having something like Malbec and oysters.  That is truly awful sounding.)  So what are some of your favorite wine pairings?  Or ones you tried that made you wince?

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Categories:	wine	Leave a Comment
Tags:	falesco • jadot • wine

This weekend I had the epitome of a “staycation.” No plans except to sleep in, cook good food and watch the second season of Mad Men with Mark. On Sunday night we decided to open up a great bottle of syrah and slow cook a pork belly with a homemade huckleberry sauce. We had gone to the Sunday farmers market earlier in the morning and purchased a pint of foraged huckleberries from Christina Choi at Foraged and Found Edibles. The berries were plump and glistening, looking like violet caviar, simply perfect for a thick piece of pork belly.

We roasted some golden beets and Ozette potatoes we had purchased from another vendor to add to our pork belly. After searing the pork belly on all sides, I removed it from the heat and set it aside. Next I added 1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots and sauteed them over medium-high heat with a good pinch of salt and pepper. I deglazed with some balsamic vinegar and syrah wine. Next I added 1 cup of wild huckleberries, 1/2 sprig of fresh rosemary, two fresh sage leaves, a fresh oregano sprig, two garlic cloves that were smashed only slightly and a sprinkling of brown sugar.

I brought the pan to a simmer and let the sauce work it’s magic for a couple minutes. Next I added the seared pork belly back to the sauce, covered it and let it cook at 300 F for almost two hours, turning the meat half way through cooking. Once the meat was more than fork-tender, I removed the pan from the oven and onto a plate. I covered the pork in the sauce and sprinkled on another handful of the uncooked huckleberries for color and a nice tang to balance flavors.

The result was rich, juicy and over the top indulgent; absolutely perfect for a weekend all to ourselves.

For the whole recipe for Pork Belly with Wild Huckleberry Sauce go here:

Can’t get enough of pork belly, check out these other recipes:

Cucina Rebecca

Cook it Simply

Wrightfood

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Categories:	American • Cooking tips • Entertaining • Meat & Poultry • Sauces • condiments • wine	2 Comments
Tags:	huckleberries • pork • pork belly • staycation • syrah

No matter how good we are in the kitchen there are always new things we can learn, right? Perhaps you want to explore Southern Indian or Provincial Italian cooking, or how about the art of cheese making? Mario Batali’s father, after retiring from Boeing, went to Italy to study sausage making. How fabulous would that be? People now queue up for his amazing links at Salumi.

After reading The School of Essential Ingredients, a wonderful book set in the kitchen of a restaurant, I’ve been noodling over the idea of taking a cooking class. So I went on TeachStreet to find some classes in my area. Teachstreet is a great site that helps you find cool things you want to learn like Snowboarding, Pilates, Voice Lessons, Adobe, even Citizenship! For us food lovers maybe a course in Wine Appreciation, Knife Skills, or a series in Thai Cuisine. Take a Bartending course and awe your guests with your keen mixology skills!  Or, improve your “food porn” skills by taking a Digital Photography course. On the flip side perhaps you’re one of those people who possesses a great skill. You can teach too! Here’s how you can share your wealth of knowledge on Teachstreet.

Check out courses in your area or simply browse what’s being offered. You never know what may spark an interest!

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Categories:	Chefs • Cooking tips • Events • Italian • Photography • Seasoning & Spices • wine	2 Comments
Tags:	cooking • Cooking Classes • Cooking School

Here in Southern California we often suffer with the cold more indoors than out due to lack of insulation and heating methods that, well, don’t. So a one-dish meal that starts on the stove top and then migrates to the oven pays both heating and eating dividends. This particular dish combines two favorites, pork and scalloped potatoes, with the pork fat standing in for butter and milk plus white wine for cream. Definitely from the what’s-not to-like comfort food playbook.

The usual American style rather lean pork works best as the drippings from the meat will mix with the potatoes underneath and there is no real strategy for degreasing once the ingredients are combined. Thick or thin chops work fine, just plan on cooking longer in the final oven stage if the chops are thick. Another bonus is that the dish can be made ahead up to that point, and cooking time is forgiving as the chops are basically braising rather than roasting. So you shouldn’t end up with the pork radial tire that we all remember so well from camp and college dining halls.

I happened to have some dried tomato so I tossed in a few of those, diced, to add some flavor and color to the dish. You could as easily use fresh or dried mushrooms and leeks could replace the onions. I have made a version of this with port replacing white wine and the mushrooms would go handily with that. Similarly with the seasoning rub, I used a NOMA brand seasoning blend theoretically made for lamb but at our house we like rosemary on pretty much anything.  You could easily substitute thyme or sage and the amount is to your taste rather than critical.

The amounts of the ingredients listed below are pretty arbitrary. Basically you want enough sliced onion and potatoes to fill your dish, leaving room for the chops to sit on top. And you want enough liquid just to peek through the vegetables and keep everything moist.

Ingredients:
Pork chops, one per person, trimmed of fat
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and sliced very thin.
4-5 dried tomato or sun dried tomatoes
1/2 c milk, fat free
1/4 c dry white wine
1-2 TB  seasoning mix of rosemary, cumin, garlic and black pepper, combined to make a rub OR any favorite seasoning
1 T grape seed or other oil for browning meat

Equipment:
You will need a shallow casserole pan which can go from stove top to oven

Technique:
Preheat oven to 375
Mix spices to make a rub and apply to all sides and edges of chops
Heat oil in casserole until  hot, brown chops quickly on each side to a nice brown color
Remove pan from heat, remove chops temporarily to a plate
Pour off any accumulated fat in the pan and discard, being careful to retain any tasty dripping and browned bits
Pour the wine and the milk into the pan and stir to incorporate the juices and drippings
Mix onions, potatoes and tomato bits together, add to the pan and distribute in an even layer. The level of the liquid should be roughly to the top of the vegetables. If not, add more.
Place the browned chops on top of the vegetables, cover with a fitted top or with aluminum foil
Place in middle of oven, lower heat to 350 degrees
Bake for 20-30 minutes approximately, checking the level of the liquid a few times. Timing will vary based on the thickness of the chops.
When the chops are cooked through and the potatoes are tender, remove the top from the pan and bake for another 5 minutes or so to reduce and thicken the liquid.

Serve 1 chop per person with a side of the potatoes and enjoy!

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Meat & Poultry • Seasoning & Spices • Veggies • wine	Leave a Comment
Tags:	Food • foodista • one dish cooking • pork • pork chops • potatoes • scalloped potatoes