Stuck in Dulles airport? Want some wine?

If you're flying through Dulles you might want to do something that is against your better judgment -- go out of your way to get a long layover there and check out the airport's Vino Volo. This great wine bar is a wonderful retreat from the depressing grays of the airport carpets and never-ending walkways.

Designed like a wine bar that might get rave reviews if it just opened in San Francisco, Vono Volo takes you away from airport exhaustion--you might even enjoy a slightly longer delay in your flight. VinoVolo (meaning wine flight - nice airport pun), offers a nice selection of wines by the glass as well as by the bottle--at reasonable prices considering it's the airport, along with tasty small bites such as fresh smoked salmon warpped around crab. The staff know what they're talking about and are friendly and hip --so much so that the two women next to me who were very happy, spent a good bit of the evening flirting with one of them.

I started with a flight of bubblies, because we just finished our WinePasport: Bubbly, a friendly guide to bubblies around the world, complete with nifty pop-out map, and I'm a little obsessed with all things sparkling. From Austria I tasted Steininger's sparkling which is a mix of Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc from Austria ($36/bottle at Vino Volo).  It was rich and delicious, perfect with the smoked  salmon.

Another thing I loved about Vino Volo is that in addition to California wines and wines from around the world, they dedicated an entire flight of wines to Washington DC area wines--great local angle that also made being there feel like a real place as opposed to one of thousands of airport watering holes.

Wines are served on a little paper mat describing each wine with friendly tasting notes. Go visit! I can't wait until they open in other airports -- I may make my travel plans around that. Until then, visit them at Concourse C near Gate 4.

Winetasting in Argentina

I just spent a week in Buenos Aires, and all along the way tasted delicious (and inexpensive!) Argentinian wines...

I spent the last week in the busy, huge city of Buenos Aires. I was there with three friends, all of us celebrating our birthdays. We found that after our first day we had already acclimated to what Becca called the Argentinian Lifestyle--getting up at 10am, leaving the hotel by noon, walking around for a while, then enjoying a 2-3 hour lunch (we had very simple food, but that's the pace of lunch), and then dinner at around 9pm and asleep by 1am.

Some highlights: We explored the Teatro Colon, which is an intricately designed old opera house/theater that currently employs 1200 people to put on its operas and plays. We also walked around Palermo neighborhood--a bit like New York's SoHo, with elegant boutiques and quiet little streets.
The wines we had were excellent and almost all from the Mendoza region. Wines we enjoyed in restaurants were never over $15 U.S. and most were about $8-$10. And unlike in the U.S., restaurants barely mark up wines, so you can walk into a wine store and get the same wine for almost the same price.

Our best wine and food experience was our last night at Gran Bar Danzon --a hip, lively, dark and modern restaurant, bar and wine bar on the second floor in the Recoleta neighborhood. It was packed at 9pm on a Wednesday night, and we had delicious sushi (they serve all kinds of foods but we were craving sushi) and then chose 4 wines by the glass to try from their large list. The waitress brought all four, each with a little printed tag detailing which wine was which, with a few tasting notes. The pours were generous and it was all done with a great deal of fun rather than serious, quiet wine snobbery.

Our top two favorite wines from that night were:
Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontés (my new favorite white wine grape), 2005. From the Cafayate area within Mendoza. This slightly rich white wine with great acid and fruit balance, has a floral nose, and a creamy texture. Reminded me of a viognier and it was a crowd pleaser with Margot, Ali, and Becca. These wines are made by a well-known woman winemaker--Susan Balbo.

Domingo Molina Malbec (the grape for which Argentina is famous), 2002. Bodega Domingo Hermanos. From the Cafayate area within Mendoza. Delicious medium bodied wine that was totally smooth.

Another favorite during our tastings at other restaurants were two wines by Alta Vista winery. We had a delicious Torrontés 2005 and a rich, smooth Malbec Grand Reserve.


Our other goal while we were in BA was to find the ultimate Alfajores. We tried several and found our favorite at a crowded little bakery in the Recolata neighborhood, called Cofiteria Panaderia "La Exposicion" - we also had a delicious chicken empanada there and could have spent several days tasting through their selections.

Now that I'm back home I'm off to search for the Argentinian delights available here....

Yep, it's us on TV and radio!

Jen and Julie featured in OPEN from American Express ad campaign

Perhaps recently while you were driving to work, watching TV, or flipping through a magazine, you saw or heard...us! While we haven't had people recognize us in the street yet, this ad campaign has been a great chance for us to introduce our games and guides to a larger audience... How did this happen?

The short answer is: we got incredibly lucky. The long answer is, we've worked really hard and have had some huge helping hands to get us to this point. A few years ago we applied for a small loan from Count Me In a great nonprofit dedicated to helping women-owned businesses grow. The application was simple and quick (when have your ever heard THAT about a loan?), and we got it. Then about a year later, the friendly, smart and helpful women at Count Me In got in touch with us and suggested we apply for a Make Mine a $Million (aka 3M) award (yes, that $ sign is supposed to be there), sponsored by Count Me In and OPEN from American Express.

We applied and got to the next level - a few minutes in front of a board of judges and an audience in Long Beach, California. Julie flew down and did a great job, and the judges were so impressed with everyone that they awarded not just three (the original number of winners), but all six. We all got access to financial and marketing support as well as mentorship and coaching, and access to an incredible network of smart and energetic women with great ideas.

American Express found out about us through this award, and with luck on our side, they selected us to be in the national TV and radio and print campaign. It was totally fun filming and recording -- everyone in the crew was amazing. Now we know why the Academy Award thank you's are so long - we only did a commercial and had a huge list. The commercial was directed by Jesse Dylan, a brilliant, creative, and all around nice guy.

Now what's next? A NEW group of smart, entrepreneurial women recently won 3M wards at a big event in San Francisco. So check out Make Mine a $Million and apply for the next round of awards in October in New York City. A million women business owners at or above a million dollars could create a lot of change in the worlds of policy, employment, and more...

Where are SmartsCo blogs?

We're busy SmartyPants, so if you want to find out about great food and wine experiences..we've got out blog here and on the SmartsCo website. You can also find coupons for some of our favorite wineries and other stores on our party tips page, which changes regularly.

If you're interested in reading about our experience as part of the Make Mine a $Million Business program sponsored by OPEN by American Express and Count Me In, visit our CMI blog. Here you'll hear all about our experience being featured in an ad campaign for American Express.
Cheers,
Jen and Julie

My Wine, Your Wine let's all try

Last week we got a gift in the mail -- a selection of 6 different wines from MyWinesDirect. They are a website where you can order wines for yourself or others, and - get this - there's always free shipping. We decided to review their wines and their service the only way we know how - with a bunch of friends and some food.

We had eight friends swing by the office last week, with promises of wine and pizza from North Beach Pizza (maybe not the most elegant, but who doesn't love pizza and wine) and a winetasting party. And they came willingly. Shocking. They were a mixture of wine lovers who shop for wine all the time, and others who enjoy just picking up a bottle now and then. We disguised all six wines with our colorful WineWrappers from WineParty (which was recently featured in the Washington Post and Gayot !). And the tasting and talking began.

Our friends Justin (from BPS who also happens to hook us up with all our local printing needs, and we need a lot) and his wife Aya regularly get a selection of six wines from a local store but Justin said "I never had them all together before" -- this seemed to strike a bunch of people as a fun idea. Instead of holding on to the wines or enjoying them slowly one at a time, invite friends over and make it an event in itself to taste them all at once. And a box like we got from MyWinesDirect, does all the shopping for you, which might be great if you're too busy or just want to be surprised.

We started with a Chateau de la Roche Sauvignon Blanc 2003, from Touraine, this was quite a light wine, almost too light without much of a nose. It got in the 3-5 zone in the rankings (with 1 being great and 5 not great). Next up, we had Hahn Estates Chardonnay 2002 from Monterey CA. This was buttery, smooth, fuller-bodied, with some nuttiness. It generally rated around a 2-3. Neither white was a huge crowd pleaser, but the fun began with the reds.

The group split on their favorites between the 3rd and 4th wines -- a good argument for having a wide variety of wines on your table. The Moorewood Pinot Noir 2001 was a hit with some people (especially Chip and me) -- great with pizza, smooth light with berry flavors, great body, really lovely and woody with some strawberries. Others in the group were big fans of our fourth wine, the Palio Vecchio Merlot 2000. This Napa Valley wine was described as musky, peppery, bittersweet chocolate, earthy, nice tannins. And some people wanted more of that right away.

The final two wines were a Chateau Picoron Bordeaux - Cote de Castillon 2000 and a Vitae Sangiovese 2001 from Puglia, Italy. The Bordeaux got comments like "Yum, great structure, with licorice notes, new wood, barnyardy - in a good way." Though one person described it as having a bigger bark than bite, and too watery. The final wine was almost port-like in its lovely sweetness, but without being syrupy. People were surprised by it and most enjoyed it. Perhaps a good sign of how much people enjoyed trying all these wines is that the 4 reds were polished off by the end of the night.

So, what did our wine lovers think of the idea of giving or getting MyWinesDirect? They loved the free shipping and that each box comes with their tasting notes, as well as note sheets where you can take your own notes. They also really liked the suggestions of what kinds of foods to serve with each wine. The price was also popular - $79.95 for all six wines. The individual wine prices, if you were to buy them through MyWinesDirect, seemed a little expensive and not quite such a deal as the group, but not bad. And the group in general said the imagery used in the marketing worked better for gifts for people with more traditional tastes, who are a little less urban.

Our favorite comment came from Justin -- "It's like speed dating for wines" - now that's the kind of dating I like. Chip said the drawback for him on a service like this is that he really wants to know who he's talking to - like he can at a winery he loves or a local wine store. But for others they liked the wide variety that they never would have picked themselves and MyWinesDirect offers a variety that you can't get when you join one winery. The service seems great if you live in a city that doesn't have great wine stores, than for people who live in a place like SF. It also seems like the quality is good across the board - not every wines was a favorite for everyone, but each person discovered something new they liked and wanted more of. Tune in for our next tasting....

WineClub & WineParty

So I unveiled WineParty, our new winetasting kit to my wine club (SFWC) last week. Our little club of about a dozen great friends have been getting together about once a month to learn more about wine for over seven years. While our unwritten -- but frequently mentioned -- rule is "you don't talk about wine club", I have to give them a bit of a shout out as these friends have been my inspiration for my half many SmartsCo product ideas and concepts.

To me, WineParty is basically SFWC in a box. We've tried out kits in the past that didn't really work as there usually weren't enough blinding sheets (we typically blind 8 to 12 bottles, and WineParty has 24 WineWrappers), didn't have good note pads, and they certainly weren't stylish. I also found it difficult to pour a bottle of wine with a bag wrapped around it - our WineWrappers adhere to the bottle and there are four really festive designs (okay I'm biased).

Our Review of Italian Barberas

Eight members attended the last meeting that featured Italian Barberas. Everyone got one of our WinePassport: Italy as their handout for the evening on arrival with a glass of our starter wine, the new Bootleg Italian Sauvignon Blanc . Our hostess, Tracy, put out some great cheese, dips, and Italian sandwiches and we were set for a great evening. We sipped on one of as we waited for everyone to arrive. Then we jumped into the tasting itself. With our tastings, everyone starts with about 1 to 2 ounce pour of each of the wines, so we can quickly (and soberly) make an assessment of the wine. Once our favorites have been determined, we typically finish off the rest of the wine, typically getting a bit loopy (let's just say in the past, some of our tastings have turned into slumber parties).

This time everyone was behaved and they took great notes on the Tasting Notes provided in WineParty which I summarized below - mactualacutal quotes, but a bit of paraphrasing (as you can tell, some people take better notes than others).

#1 - 2003 Agostino Pavia Barbera d'Asti "Bricco Blina" - $10.99 at K&L (a great wine shop in SF)
GROUP SUMMARY: A clear loser from the get go. However, we had a great selection from which to choose, so on it's own, it would be enjoyable at this price point.
Color / Aroma

• hearty and earthy, "like dirt after a fresh rain"
• cloudy, lots of alcohol on the nose
• bright ruby color
• brownside of red
• smooth balanced smell

Taste

• Tangy and acidic, with subtle tannins
• Orange, acid
• A little harsh, nice nose, metallic, oak
• Hot tangie, slight jam, not too smooth, steel / "like biting metal when getting fillings"
• High acid, raspberry young, subtle jam
• Light, raspberry, tart, earthy, fresh rain, mud, musky

Overall opinion

• good for a pre-dinner wine
• "unique"
• Not super fond of (after breathing, mellowed out a lot though)
• Excellent aperitif, needs fat such as salami / cheese, pizza
• "Sort of like licking a 9-volt battery"(NOTE: Several club members were familiar with this taste from childhood. I'm surprised they made it to adulthood.)

#2 - 2003 Cascina Val del Prete Barbera d' Alba "Serra de Gatti"- $15.99 at K&L
GROUP SUMMARY: A close 2nd to wine #4 (the Ruggeri), and a nice bargain. Same winery as #3, and while the less expensive option, this beat #3 hands down.
Color / Aroma

• dirty, plumy, fresh black fruit
• Clear, deep ruby color
• Acidic fruit
• Cranberry red

Taste

• soft, balanced tannins, with good acidic finish
• Woody, plum, soil
• Tangy, soft with high acid
• Bright, concentrated black jammy fruit, nice acid finish, odd vannillan character, well balanced
• Plum, ML
• Plum, smoother than slight spicy. Weacidicanced with slight acitic end

Overall opinion

• good with pork in a cherry reduction or other fruit
• Smooth and nice
• Smoothest overall

#3 - 2003 Cascina Val del Prete Barbera d'Alba "Carolina"- $33.99 at K&L
GROUP SUMMARY: 3rd favorite - most people guessed this was the most expensive as the jammy, rich wines, tend to be pricier. While favoritethe 8 SFWC members favorited this one above all, most of our group prefer more lively wines and clearly found wine #2 (from the same winery) & #4 more enjoyable.
Color / Aroma:

• rich, cocoa butter and honey aromas with evident wood
• Dark odor, nice nose
• Honeysuckle
• Roasted red pepper, musty

Taste:

• leathery (pigskin), oaky, tannic, wild fennel and cooked green pepper
• Structured tannins, carmeley, well balanced
• Good acidic, light & thin
• Burnt-sugar, fennel, cherry
• Vegetal, pinewood, melon

Overall opinion

• would be good with osso bucco, pork with leeks or braised fennel, stewed lamb, duck with cherries
• "okay, but not very inspired:
• Smooth after about 10 minutes, pretty biting at first - eat with putenesca
• least favorite - appetizers only

#4 - 2003 Ruggeri Corsini Barbera d'Alba "Armujan" - $17.99 at K&L
GROUP SUMMARY: this was the overall winner, with most everyone putting it as their first or second favorite.
Color / Aroma:

• soft nose, leather, fresh stewed artichoke
• lovely nose
• deep ruby color
• very nice cherry smell
• vanilla nose

Taste

• soft wine, with good acids and a nice long finish
• A little hot, spicy, tannins, burnt sugar
• Pineapple, leather, cherry
• Dark berry, smooth
• Balanced, fruit and well structured tannins
• Very fruit forward, more tannic / pucker at end
• Fresh goat cheese, dry tannins

Overall opinion

• would be good with lonzo (cured pork loin), salami or anything salty
• Some tannins, good finish
• Floral finish, bright acid
• Good with salty food, fat, porcinis
• very nice
  
  

Something Fishy's Going On

My friend Eric went on a fishing trip in Cabo a couple weekends ago and brought back some yummy fish for a fish party that I helped out with. This year, instead of the Sea of Cortes the fishermen set their sights on the Pacific side of the Penninsula in hopes to catch some marlin, with little success (given the fact that marlin isn't so yummy to eat, it seems to me a better idea to stick in the bay where you're sure to catch lots of tuna and dorado, but I'm not a fisherman). But he was intent on bringing back fish for the party and chartered another boat and brought back some great tuna and dorado.

Saturday consisted of an early trip to the SF's Ferry Plaza farmer's market where we could pick up all the goodies to prepare a fab meal. Then we stopped off at Trader Joe's for the few items not available at the farmer market and and then we spent all afternoon cooking. We tried to keep a pseudo Mexican theme and had the salsa music when we served our friends with a great meal:

First Course
Chips with Tomatillo salsa and homemake guacamole (mashed avacado, diced garlic, jalapeno, onion, lime juice)
Seared Tuna encrusted in sesame seeds with a soy-based sauce with ginger, green onions, and garlic, and jalapeno
Dorado Ceviche - (Did you know that Dorado is the same thing as Mahi Mahi? I didn't). Got the perfect ceviche recipe from my friend James at Destino Restaurant, who knows all about making great cevice. James tells me you can make ceviche from any fish and there are 5 elements to ceviche and you can adorn is as fits your personal preference.
- fish (any kind you want, really, just be sure it's super fresh and cut up in small pieces)
- lime juice (the key is that you really don't want to marinate the fish for long - 5 minutes for light fish, 15 - 20 minutes for steakier fish, such as swordfish. A saw a recipe that says to marinate for 3 hours which I suppose you would do if you're not working with really fresh fish, but with the good stuff, James says a few minutes is perfecto!)
- heat (japapeno or other hot pepper, garlic)
- diced veggies (red onion, tomoato, avacado, etc.)
- herbs (typically cilantro, but others could work too)

Main Course
Sauteed dorado - just fish in some butter
Tuna belly baked with onions, lemon in tin foil
Caesar salad - key is to cover each piece of lettuce in olive oil that's been infused with garlic overnight. Then you'll boil one egg (or 2 depending on the size of the salad) for 1 minute and break it and mix it in with the lettuce; and then add chopped up anchovies (fresh ones are much preferable to canned) and lots of parmesian cheese and croutons (use some old french or sour dough bread fried in olive oil and diced garlic). Mmmmmm.
Baked eggplant and tomato with a vinagrette, parmasian cheese and bread crumbs. This was a bit of a complicated dish we got from the Alice Water's Chez Panisse Cookbook, but well worth the time and effort. My only change would be to reduce the amount of bread crumbs as the eggplant and tomatoes were so tasty on their own

Dessert
Creme Brulee - I actually had never made it before. It's basically egg yolks and heavy cream infused with vanilla bean. The key is to only cook half the cream with the vanilla bean and then cool it down with the 2nd half of the cream before you mix in the egg yolks and pour it in the ramakins. One of many techniques I got from my favorite cookbook The New Best Recipe Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen. It's quite weighty, but they clearly have done the research on how to perfect any recipe.

Definitely fun was had by all. The early Sunday morning flight to DC for the WineParty launch came way too soon (fortunately we turned the clocks back so I got an extra hour sleep).