Cabernet Shiraz

There is no prettier setting in France than Alsace. Having visited there twice, Tom and his wife have fallen in love with Alsace's picturesque villages - an enchanting backdrop to a culinary experience that is unique in all of France. Dishes like choucroute, baeckeoffe and flammekueche can be found only in this northeast region of France. We have tried to make these dishes at home and decided they are best enjoyed in situ.

It is not a coincidence that this region's wines are just as pretty and unique. Eschewing the grape varieties that make Burgundy and Bordeaux famous, Alsace is influenced by the varieties grown in neighboring Germany: riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot gris and sylvaner. However, the dry versions of these wines are vastly different from the sweeter versions made in Germany.

We were delighted to recently have dinner with Anne-Laure Helfrich, the sixth generation in her family to live in Alsace, and Serge Fleischer, who manages Helfrich's vineyard and winemaking operations. Anne-Laure's grandfather made brandy, but her father introduced wine to the family business. Now, she and her brother Frederic are fully engaged in branding Helfrich's wine portfolio.

Alsace gewurztraminers are incredibly intense and aromatic, but can become oxidized when aged. Although purists and the old generation of winemakers are attracted to this characteristic, new winemakers like Fleischer have sought to minimize oxidation by adding nitrogen crystals to the grape press and monitoring juice temperatures. The deep golden color - a sign of oxidation - is not present in his gewurztraminers. Instead, they are fresh and very well balanced.

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He's still got a bit to do to match La Coocaracha, but Danny Cash made further inroads into justifying Kerryn Manning's huge opinion of him with a breathtaking win in the SBG Accounts & Business Advisors Emerging Stars Trotters Final.

The Great Western trainer-driver left many harness fans astounded in the lead-up to last night's $20,000 decider when she compared the five-year-old to one of the most brilliant squaregaiters Australia has seen.

Danny Cash produced a performance that any of Australasia's all-time great trotters would have been proud when he ambled home by more than 18 metres in the 2760m standing start event.

It made it three wins in as many starts for Manning - by a combined margin of 55.5 metres - by the gelding who was only transferred by owner and former trainer Robert Shellie in April.

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A glossary is what we find at the end of a book where the author writes down words he uses constantly to impress readers but does not remember the meaning of. So let’s look at some other commonly dropped wine terms in polite society.

The bitter sensation associated with red wines only. Different grapes produce wines with different amount of tannins — Cabernet/Shiraz being the most to Gamay being least. Tannins leave a furry/velvety coat on the inside of our mouth which gives the effect of dryness. Tannins are what give red wines their super-structure and ability to age for long. Remember, it is one thing to have a young tannic wine with promise (pedigree hound) and another to have a crude red with harsh tannins (a rodent).

The sensation of lack of saliva in the mouth. Whites are generally drier than reds. A racy Chardonnay is a good example of a dry beverage. Not to be confused with the parched-throat-after-a-rough-night syndrome (read: hangover).

An after-taste like one experienced after eating a fruit basket. Wine has no fruit extracts added hence to find cherry flavours in a Burgundy red means that the sensation left behind is similar to one felt on eating cherries.

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Coates' soaring voice and spirit. In other words, temper the almost psychotically delusional ideas and ideals with a little 'real world' skepticism and you've got a collection of well-written songs that may well heal some wounds, mend some hearts and repair some torn souls. Rather immodestly intimating them as life-changing, on the other hand, as his website does, may be higher than hope.

Beautiful Catastrophe . Certainly, as evidenced last night, the title track is transcendent, in a way any number of 'Jesus Loves You' ditties will never be. An immaculate conception. That album saw erstwhile piano bar entertainer Gordon Tan join. OK, so the lineup changes have been a bit headspinning. A movable feast. But what would you expect from a band of gypsies? It's only fitting they should keep moving; 'though, fortunately, urged on by an unending quest for excellence and the new, rather than chased out of town by prejudice, like real gypsies. Phillips has gone on to a very promising career, moving through a solo phase, then forming a four-piece. By all accounts, you should 'do yourself a favour', but that's another story, for another day.

Torjinski , with his debonair mo and manner, is astonishing on his own and, if my companion and I had one regret, it was that we didn't hear more and longer solos from him. As it was, his short-but-concentrated bursts fell somewhere between Jimmy Page and Yo Yo. That's about as near as I can put it. Seeing and hearing is believing.

Libotte is a study in studied musicianship: one gets the sense he's constantly striving to surpass himself; every break a breaking free from his limitations, such as they are. it takes him into some dangerous, nail-biting territory, that's visceral and induces a sweat, just as gypsy music should.

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Siona, the less than four month old speciality restaurant in Sector 35, is all set to raise a toast to its new bar. Housed on the ground floor, the bar boasts elegant wooden interiors, similar to that of the restaurant tucked in the basement. Occupying centre stage is a high island bar with interesting horse saddles as bar stools, the only example perhaps of Brit-inspired furniture in the city.

Complementing the fine-dining restaurant?s plump spread of Mughlai and Lucknowi fare is the bar menu. The shelves are stocked with well-known brands of liquor including an assortment of wines. If you are going for the bottle, an Australian Cabernet Shiraz will cost you Rs 1,300. ?As an inaugural offer, we are rolling out Happy Hours from 11 am to 7 pm,? says general manager Raja Singha. ?If one orders two whisky pegs, the third is free. Same goes for beer. The third drink is on the house,? he explains. The sodas are not charged for and the crunchy peanut masala and papad are complimentary as well.

The rather no-fuss drinks menu brings in regular cocktail favourites such as the vodka-based Caprioska (Rs 150). If you are looking to get back at the heat, settle for either a Jamaica Cooler (Rs 150) or Beer Buster (Rs 150). While the former is an unusual mix of red wine, white rum, lemon and orange juice, the latter is a chilling combination of vodka with beer and a dash of grenadine.

The rather no-fuss drinks menu brings in regular cocktail favourites such as the vodka-based Caprioska (Rs 150). If you are looking to get back at the heat, settle for either a Jamaica Cooler (Rs 150) or Beer Buster (Rs 150). While the former is an unusual mix of red wine, white rum, lemon and orange juice, the latter is a chilling combination of vodka with beer and a dash of grenadine. ... contd.

Full Story: Siona's all-new bar is off to a cool start - Indian Express