WSET Update

Hi all,

So last November I completed the Advanced level of the Wine & Spirits Education Trust program (see my post earlier in 2008 re: Intermediate level).

I got my results back late last week, and Passed with Distinction, which is the best you can do overall. I just wanted to share.

Oh, and for anyone that hasn't stumbled upon it yet, I have a wine blog at: blog.oe-no-phile.com

Take care,

Ryan

Fall is upon us

So somehow we're already half way through the month of October. This year really has seemed to fly by without a second thought. I guess that's a consequence of getting old... right.

So anyhow, we are having quite an amazing fall here in NE Ohio. Overall Ohio isn't where I'd like to be for the rest of my life, but I have to at least concede that it does have some redeeming characteristics - colorful, sunny, cool fall days would be one thing that comes to mind. The leaves are all starting to change colors, and there's a crisp chill in the evening air. It's time to visit orchards and pick apples and find misshapen bright orange pumpkins. Rows and rows of jugs filled with amber colored cider line cooler displays in all the grocery stores.

This weekend I'm going on a little road trip with one of my bestest buds, Libby. We're going to drive up to Niagara Falls, and then head south through New York and into the hills and valleys of Pennsylvania. Really this is the kind of trip old ladies from coast to coast delight in - leaf peeping I believe they term it. Winding through the Allegany State Park (NY) and the Allegheny National Forest (PA) - god forbid we spell things with any consistency here! - I'm sure we'll get to see our fair share of fall foliage.

The majority of the trip will focus around a portion of Historic US-6 which we'll follow from Port Allegany all the way back home. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of our adventure and make a special post/album that I can link from this blog.

In other news, life is going very well. I remain overjoyed with both of my jobs - the accounting and the bartending. I'm taking the Advanced level for WSET this fall, and sitting for the exam at the end of November. I'm really quite nervous about it, as this class is much more in depth than the previous level, and I need to continue comitting lots of geographical and viticultural information to memory. We've also got a blind tasting to conduct, but I'm not as concerned about that as I was initially.

Life continues.

Be well everyone.

France takes on the world... well, New Zealand, South Africa, and California at least

Last night I hosted a gathering for the Cleveland French Language Meet-up group at my apartment. The purpose of the meeting was to hold a wine tasting comparing French (old world) wines to some of their New World (anywhere but Europe) equivalents.

 

I chose three varietals - Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir - and found some good couplings with the help of Maggie @ Whole Foods. Here's what we tasted:

 

Sauvignon Blanc

• Domaine Guy Allion – Le Haut Perron Sauvignon Blanc – Touraine, Val de Loire (2007)
• Giesen Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough, New Zealand (2007)

Chardonnay

• Cave de Lugny Chardonnay - Mâcon-Villages (2006)
• Ondine Chardonnay – South Africa (2004)

Pinot Noir

• Domaine Michel-Andreotti Pinot Noir – Côte Chalonnaise, Bourgogne (2006)
• Parducci Pinot Noir – Mendocino Valley, California (2006)

We also had two other wines - a starter of Brut Spumante from Italy and then finishing with cheesecake served next to a Muscat from Samos, Greece (which was part of last monht's Counter Culture event at WF).

 

There were 10 of us there including myself and a friend, Angela, from my WSET course. She doesn't speak French, so I think she might have been a little uncomfortable at first, but as we moved through the tasting I think everyone relaxed a little and she was fine.

 

I poured everything (except the Spumante and Muscat) blind, placing them in paper bags. Evreyone got some information and then a little "score card" to indicate which of the two wines they preferred and to take guesses at whether each was old or new world, and what the varietal was. At the end we tallied everything up, and the person with the most correct answers received a bottle of Root:1 Cabernet Sauvignon, a really tasty Cab from Chile.

 

With the counts completed for everyone's preferred wines, the French wines took first place resoundingly. Of the three new world choices there were a few votes for the Chard and the Pinot, but everyone agreed to liking the French SB much better than the NZ one.

 

This provided an interesting juxtaposition to an evening earlier this week when I went out with the people from the Cleveland Wine School. We got to see a screening of Bottle Shock, a movie chronicaling the events leading up to the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris. This was a blind tasting arranged by an Englishman living in France to try and expand his business in wine, and putting California wines  up against the likes of some of the best from France. Surprisingly - especially to the French, who comprised the entire tasting panel - the top wines amidst the Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays sampled were from California! Starring Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, the film was enjoyable and very well made - my favorite parts being some of the beautiful shots of the California landscape.

 

So, I've had a good week, and am excited to host future wine tastings for our French Language group. I'm even considering starting a weekly wine tasting group on Meet-up, but have to put a little more thought into it and see if there's any other interest.

 

I encourage everyone to go out and grab a bottle of wine you've never tried before - or better yet, find a knowledgeable staff member wherever you like to buy wine, tell them what you enjoy, and ask them to point you to something different that you might also like.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

WSET update

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I got my scores for my Internediate level WSET certification. I passed with merit - not the highest achievement, but 2nd in the rankings. I probably could have done a little better (not sure what the numerical score was), but I'm pleased with it.

I'm registering next week for the Advanced level which starts in September.

Bought a domain name: oe-no-phile.com - I'm going to set-up some kind of wine information site and start using the Ohio Oenophiles group/blog more seriously.

In other news we're moving at the end of the month - not far, but to a nicer place. I'll update later with contact info.

Cheers!

Ryan

to the West and Back

So we're back from our great California adventure. We had a really wonderful time. Spent time in San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and other wine regions of norther California. All in all we visited 50+ wineries, and I purchased 35 bottles in all - I'm anxiously awaiting their (safe) arrival in Ohio! Since I work at a winery we ended up being able to taste wine at 99.9% of the stops we made for no charge (saving up to $300 per person!) Also, most places extended a very generous industry discount on all purchases which made the 35 bottles much more affordable overall.

Here is the photo album from the trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan.reichert/California

There are some photos missing at the end from our visit to Copia. I believe I've maxed out the albums photo limit, so I'll probably be updating that link above soon to one where all the pictures will fit (and also deleting some of the duplicates!) The beginning photos from SanFran are a little confusing to look at - we were taking pictures of the gathering crowd and the running of the Olympic torch up Van Ness just minutes after arriving at our hotel. It was a real surprise! Everything else I think is pretty self-explanatory.

I'll post more details soon regarding what we did day-to-day, and a list of all the wineries we went to as well as all the wine purchased.

Until later!

Best bartending one-liner ever

So I'm working at the winery yesterday and I had one of those wonderful moments where the best reply comes right to you exactly when needed. I think it may be the best winery bartender line I've had every.

Scenario: Two women approach the bar to sample wine.
Setting: Grand River Cellars wine bar

Me: "Hi ladies - My name is Ryan. What will you be having today?"

Lady 1: "We're not sure, but we like sweet-ish."

Me: "Well...... I'm German."

END

As if my world doesn't revolve around wine enough

Griffin Technologies has allowed my love of wine to expand to new parts of my life. Yesterday I received my new iPhone Elanform via UPS.

The case is a polycarbon (or some kind of plastic!) shell with an exterior made of actual cork. Now how about that for a wine lover? It makes my phone a little thicker, and prevents me from using the dock that it came with, but more importantly it will hopefully protect my phone from getting banged and scratched up should I - forbid - drop it at any point.

So I know some might squawk about how this takes away from the aesthetic of the iPhone, the silvery, streamlined, shiny state that Apple has become so good at producing and marketing. I'm not really bothered though because this reflects something more about me Where some other leather or latex case might take away from the product, I think this is an acceptable addition.

I'd love to know what you all think.

Let it breathe, let it breathe

So I've strangely taken to automatically aerating any beverage that I put in my mouth. I don't seem to be able to help it. And then I realize I'm sitting there pulling air in through my teeth while sipping my coffee, and think I may have truly gone over the edge.

On the upside, doing so does significantly magnify the flavor of just about anything.

Silly wine nerd that I am.

In other wine-related news, my friend Steve has suggested I begin a wine-vidcast. I've got the equipment, and he's got the know how and interest enough to offer hosting and such. Does anyone have any feedback? As he pointed out, I certainly wouldn't be the first - but then, to quote him "Microsoft wasn't the first either." I appreciate any commentary on the subject.

I also just recently received an amazing FREE book from the Spanish government, outlining many of Spain's best wines and the regions they come from. It's a hundred pages or so of high quality, glossy color photos and text. Here's the link to order your own: http://www.winesfromspainusa.com/WFSUSA/Guide/WineGuide.htm Again, it's 100% free - no shipping cost or anything. A great deal.

Santé!

I'll drink to that!

I have a history of being a lack-luster journal updater. I’m not very good at staying on top of a daily account of life, though I need to try harder.

Since my last entry I’ve moved to my new apartment with my roommate Hannah. The move was made much easier by family and friends, though did not take as much time or effort as I had anticipated. At this point, almost one week after hauling all my possessions to Cleveland, I’ve got a fair majority of the boxes unpacked. Things are stacked all over my bedroom though in piles.

One corner is devoted entirely to books. While I disposed of many of them I still have probably close to 200 books. I need to invest in supplies to construct shelves on the walls to hold all said books and a variety of brick-a-brack. Someone said to me, “I think getting to know you through examining all your stuff would be very interesting.”

Earlier this week I battled with the evil do-badders at Time Warner Cable. Without going in to the whole long drawn out tale though, basically their customer service is sub par, and I wasted a considerable amount of time trying to get internet hooked up. In the end I came out ahead with about a month and a half of free service for my trouble.

My new neighborhood is teeming with things to do with my friends, all of whom - with the exception of the Toledo-ites – live within walking distance of my front door. Tuesday evening is 35 cent wings at the Winking Lizard, and a good excuse to go and try their Beer of the Month. You get a free commemorative glass to take home. Wednesday evening is ½ priced margarita night at Mi Pueblo, a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant next to Case Western’s campus. If my mom is reading this she is surely holding her head and fretting that I am on a steep decline towards alcoholism.

Then of course Sunday we all have brunch together at one of our apartments. This past week Brandon made Eggs Benedict with rosemary parmesan potatoes and garlic butter green beans. While I had to eat and run in order to get out to the winery for work that afternoon, it was a really fantastic meal. I need to follow his steps for poaching eggs, as I’ve never seen them done so beautifully.

Monday I rejoined Colette out in Westlake for Pilates. I was glad to be back, and after exercising I felt very good. She does things a little differently than when mom and I had attended her classes before, but it’s still a good work out. I’m thinking about attending two times a week, but initially may opt just for once a week so that I’m free on other weeknights to participate in other activities (i.e.: there’s a dance class I’d like to take this fall on Monday evenings, and another – and cheaper – yoga class on Wednesdays).

Tuesday evening I took Hannah to the Whole Foods Market on Warrensville and Cedar. She, as no one can help but doing, fell in love completely with the wonder that we like to refer to as the “Whole Foods Experience,” or WFE. We picked up a bottle of the 2004 Shingleback Grenache I had ordered, a couple delicate pieces of dark chocolate, and then went home to enjoy them together. Red wine and chocolate are two of the best things on earth – and keep in mind, both have been shown to be beneficial to your health to a certain degree!

Last night I bought a wireless router from Wal*Mart, and while it works perfectly fine it seems to hiccup while I’m connected to the internet. It’s – thank god – nothing to do with the actual service, so I’m pretty sure it is the router itself. I need to call their customer service line and see if they have any answers. Hopefully they can fix it because browsing the web or chatting with a friend and suddenly losing your connection only to re-establish it 45 seconds later every 5 minutes or so is rather annoying.

I’ve heard from Libby two or three times since she started her Camino to Santiago across Spain. I’m proud of her for going over to take on the adventure by herself and think that she’ll come away from the experience a much happier and healthier person. Talking with her a couple days in a row on the phone made me really long to be back on the train, backpack, boots, and all. I’m not sure if granted the opportunity I would head back right away, but living vicariously through her brings a smile to my face for the time being. On that note, I need to remember to reconnect with some fellow pilgrims I’ve not spoken with in a while. My memories of that time are so abundant and wonderful.

I’ll get back some day. In the meantime I am perfectly content with the place my life has taken me to this point. I love my job, I love my new home and neighborhood, and I’ve got a great family and wonderful friends. I really can not complain.

I need to go to the Barnes & Noble downstairs and see if I can find a copy of Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch – I miss reading Miller, and that I can fix.

Until later.