A friend just sent me a link to an interesting article about wine and music.  Have a read, there are some great suggestions for music that will enhance a wine when paired.   Thanks for the link Tony!

Catherine Jheon of Food Network Canada’s "Food For Thought Blog" recently interviewed This Food That Wine authors Stacey Metulynsky and Angie MacRae during their book tour in Toronto. Have a look at the post on Food For Thought. The blog post covers some wine and food pairing tips and also mentions a contest where you can wine a copy of the book!  While you are there have a look at the wine and food pairing tool (Stacey and Angie contributed to the wine and food pairing content).

If you love great meals that just happen to be inexpensive then you need to have a look at Cheap Eats.  Alexa and the crew at Cheap Eats just posted full details about the This Food That Wine book signings (much appreciated!). 

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of the Cheap Eats Guides for Ottawa and Toronto when you visit their blog!

Ron Eade, Ottawa Citizen Food Editor, covered the Futuristic Wine and Food Pairing Dinner we did with Chef Marc Lepine at the Courtyard Restaurant.  Have a read to see what he thought were the highlights. 

If you missed the Futurisic dinner and are interested in a similar event we are running in April at the urban element, check out our public event schedule.  Book early to avoid missing out!

Aaron Shaw was our guest wine expert for the Rose Podcast and he just won a blind tasting award at an annual Trade tasting in Toronto.  Aaron is a wine rep, winemaking instructor and a hell of a good taster.  Here’s a note that came out today about his award:

“Congratulations to the winner of the 8th Annual Tony Aspler Blind Tasting Competition held last Thursday (January 11) at The Wine Establishment – Aaron Shaw of Lifford Agencies.

This event was created in the spirit of fun to test the palates and enhance the tasting skills of full-time employees of OIWSBA Member organizations.  Aaron will be presented with a special engraved decanter and certificate at OIWSBA’s 28th Annual Awards Dinner on Friday, February 9, 2007. 

Contest participants were asked to blindly identify the grape type, region, vintage and, if possible, the producer of the following six wines:  

2004 Silverado Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley);
2003 Studert-Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese (Mosel);
2004 Tohu Pinot Noir (Marlborough, NZ);
2005 Sanford Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills (Santa Barbara County);
2004 Huff Estate South Bay Cabernet Merlot (Prince Edward County); and
2003 Scali Pinotage (South Africa). “

Good on ya Aaron, from all of us here at Groovy Grapes Headquarters! 

There will be a formal annoucement to come as we’re still in shock (but truely honoured)… 

“The National Capital Sommelier Guild announced today that Ottawa’s leading wine team, Stacey Metulynsky and Sean Moher have been selected as the 2006 Wine Person of the Year. Almost every year since 1996, the Guild has honoured individuals who have made a significant contribution to the wine community of the Ottawa-Gatineau region”. Read the news bulletin here. 

Hardy’s wine company in Australia aims to change the way we consume wine.  They’ve created a small bottle with glass/cup attached.  Simply remove the cup included with packaging and serve. Read more here.

A friend recently passed along this great article about an experiment Harvard researchers completed on obese mice.  Seems that red wine helps to reduce their weight and live longer.  Now they are trying to create links to humans… In case you need a reason to drink red wine - read on.

A great article about buying wine from a restaurant list and finding good value was published in the Toronto Star today.  Gordon Stimmell writes with contributions from our friend Zoltan Szabo fo Szabo & Szabo Drinks Trade Consultants.  It’s worth a read, especially the part about the dangers of buying older wines.  Lots of great tips about new and interesting wines to look for as well.

Ottawa Life Magazine recently named their top 50 in the Capital list. Stacey Metulynsky, Groovy Grapes co-founder, Sommelier and host of Food Network Canada’s newest wine and food tv series was selected. Read more about Ottawa Life Magazine.