Wine the Experience: Five Years of Cheers!

We're back on the blogging. We've had a very busy September planning for our huge 5th anniversary party. Five years and still going! We blocked off the entire Kilohana Square, invited outside vendors such as Jessica's Traveling Boutique and Le Crepe Cafe, had some live music, and invited all of our winemakers, friends, and the community to join us as we threw our thank you event!
Scroll down for a sample of the fun. A HUGE mahalo to Dave Miyamoto and Company for shooting all the photos! There are more at his blog.

Mahalo to the entire WTX crew and volunteers -- this wouldn't have happened without you!

Mahalo to everyone who shared their food with us. We're sure NO ONE went home hungry!
Winemakers and friends in a festive winery!

Need a glass? Come say hi to our pourers!


Outside, the band starts to play...

A few thank yous and raffle time!

Mahalo to Ma'o for the tents!!

Getting some (henna) ink done.

Mahalo to everyone that came down to help us celebrate. We hope everyone had a blast!!! (Cause we sure did!)

Mind Your Bottle (size)!

Ever wonder if you could bottle your wine in a bigger bottle than the standard 750mL? Did you know that the larger bottles have specific names? Below is your handy-dandy guide to larger bottle sizes! (we carry magnums, if you're interested. ;))

Standard (.75 liters) 1 bottle
Magnum (1.5 liters) 2 bottles
Jeroboam (3 liters) 4 bottles
Rehoboam (4.5 liters) 6 bottles
Methuselah (6 liters) 8 bottles
Salmanazar (9 liters) 12 bottles
Balthazar (12 liters) 16 bottles
Nebuchadnezzar (15 liters) 20 bottles

Imagine that! Your entire barrel of wine could be put into approximately 2 Balthazar bottles! That'd be an easy bottling party huh?

Mmmm... I'd like a Salmanazar bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir please....... :)

Betcha Didn't Know...

1) Wine Toast - The word "toast," meaning a wish of good health, started in ancient Rome, where a piece of toasted bread was dropped into wine.

2) The Oldest Wine - The wreck of the TITANIC holds the oldest wine cellar in the world and despite the depth and wreckage, the bottles are still intact.

3) Wine in a Box - Australia developed wine in a box in the ‘70s. The wine inside of the box is stored in a bladder that is not exposed to air. This means that the wine may last up to a few weeks compared to a few days.

4) Celebrity Wine - Celebrities who own vineyards include Francis Ford Coppola, Cliff Richard, Mick Hucknall, Victoria Beckham, Joe Montana, Sting, Gerard Depardieu.

5) Lizard Wine?? - Chameleons are not afraid of harvesting machines.They often end up being picked off the vines and crushed along with the grapes.


A little bit of trivia for your weekend! Enjoy, share with friends!!!

Cool Down with a glass of....

It's summer time! With all the backyard barbeques and beachside picnics, don't forget to bring something to cool you down. Here's a quick and easy recipe for a refreshing Pomegranate Spritzer!

3/4 part Pomegranate Zinfandel
1/4 part Club Soda or Lemon-Lime soda
Ice Cubes

Fill a glass with ice cubes, then fill 3/4 with the Pom Zin and top up the rest of the way with Club Soda.

Garnish with a few pomegranate seeds and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy!

"Wine experts are of two kinds, gastronomic and intellectual, distinguishable according to whether, on the sight of a bottle they reach for their glass or their glasses."

~~ Thomas McKeown

We know we're definitely the gastronomic type. ;) How about you?

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone had a great beach-bbq picnic weekend. Mahalo to all who attended our complimentary wine tasting last Wednesday and picked up bottles for your barbeque! Hope everything was deeeelish!!!

For those of you that missed out, here's what we poured that day, as well as some food pairing suggestions... perfect for any barbeque party:

Italian Pinot Grigio - Dry, crisp, almond, lemon-lime, bright citrus
Great with salty seafood, mac salad, fried calamari, grilled mahi, poke - anykine

Pacific Chardonnay - Buttery, oaky, vanilla
Great with bbq chicken, grilled fish, hot dogs, fried chicken, chili, roasted corn/grilled veggie skewers

South African Pinotage - Red cherry, gamey, peppery
Great with pepper crusted steak, kalbi beef, hamburger, hot dog, veggie burger w/fixings

AU Cabernet Sauvignon - Smooth, easy, medium, dry fruit red
Great with steak - dry rubbed, short ribs, chili, roasted corn, kalua pig

Corvina - Dried fruit, raisins, dark and full-bodied
Great with bbq steak, kalbi beef, baked beans, grilled portabello mushroom burger, teriyaki everything

Pomegranate Zinfandel - Juicy, berries, refreshing
Great with fresh fruit, somethin' spicy, Korean style fried chicken, strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream

Hope this handy-dandy guide helps! Let us know what you think of the pairings -- did they work? Any other suggestions?

Happy grilling!

Wine and Chocolate part 2!

About two weeks ago, we featured Melanie Boudar of Sweet Paradise Chocolatier at our Wine & Chocolate event. We brought in 5 of her chocolates, as well as her self to educate our guests about the chocolate making process and her style of chocolate making. Everyone had stellar wine to pair with the chocolates. Check out some of the photos from the event below!

chocolates lined up and ready to go!

the winemaker and the chocolatier

Ms. Boudar giving her speech

Oooh the chocolates were sooo good.

Cacao pods and beans

Melanie answering some burning chocolate questions

What's next on our plate? We've got a Limiteds tasting coming up on Tuesday, June 9! Call us if you wanna sign up! Seats are filling up fast!

WELCOME BACK MELISSA!

We are extremely happy to have Melissa back to the WTX ohana! Melissa was gone for over 3 months studying at the Professional Culinary Institute in CA, and has returned as a CERTIFIED SOMMELIER! Wine the Experience hosted a "Wines of the World" tasting 2 weeks ago taught by Mel to another packed house. Pics will be up soon.

Most of you who've stopped by have undoubtedly seen her, but for the others, feel free to drop by and say hi anytime!

We are gearing up for a Fun Fun Fun trivia night event some time next week, filled with wine facts, wine prizes, and wine to drink, of course.

Stay posted!

Indian Fever!

We hosted our Taste of India event last week Tuesday to a full house! Everyone enjoyed tasty samples of samosas, curries, and chutneys (among many other yummy stuff) from India Cafe creatively paired with wines from yours truly. Check out some photos from the event:

What's on the menu tonight??

Spices from the east.

Happy wine tasters.

Mmmm... Samosas...

Jiva giving everyone a little education on the tastes of India.

We've got more photos of the night -- head on over to our Facebook page!

Did you know...

Chemists have identified over 250 compounds in wine, making it more complex than blood serum.

There are approximately 49 million bubbles in an average bottle of sparkling wine, but an estimated 250 million bubbles in a bottle of Champagne.

The Speyer Museum in central Germany contains the oldest bottle of wine in the world, dating back to about 300 A. D.

Grape skin is the major source of wine’s color, flavor, and tannin. Small grapes such as Pinot Noir produce the most concentrated, flavorful wines.


A little trivia for you to impress your friends with.

We've been busy here (as always!) gearing up for our Taste of India event next week as well as parties and tastings as usual. Our newest limited varietals are almost ready for tasting, and we're particularly excited about that as well! Drop by if you'd like a sample. You know where we are. ;)

Wine&Chocolate Event

Last Wednesday, we had a delicious wine tasting event at our site! Wine & Chocolate was the name. We paired 5 exclusive hand-made chocolates we had for sale including the Genmai chocolate and Orient Espresso chocolate (you GOTTA try these) with some of our yummy reds. We had a full house of over 20 guests at this exclusive event. Everyone had a lot of fun!

Hmmm.. which should we try first?

Come up for your next pour!

Mr. Shannon giving us all some wine and chocolate pairing education

Gourmet, hand-made artisanal chocolate bars. Yummmm yum.

What a treat!

Everyone having a great time.

Thanks to Aishah for the wonderful photos!

Interested? We are having another event on Wednesday, March 11 from 6-8pm. Call us, call us, call us! for more information. 738-0738.

Cheers!

A good reason to drink wine

As if we need anymore... but just in case you forgot, check out the following article, which'll give you 6 more reasons a glass of wine a day is good for you!

Tell me why!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

In the spirit of love... from Wine the Experience!

Random wine fact of the day:

Did you know before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the liquid to determine the ideal temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, for adding yeast. From this we get the phrase "rule of thumb."

Happy Weekend!

Is everyone ready to watch the game tomorrow? Hosting a big party with friends or just firing up the grill in the backyard? Beer, of course, will be the quintessential drink of choice for all you football fans, but what if you have guests who don't care for it or you'd like to try something different for a change?

A crisp, cold Chardonnay, such as our Chilean Chardonnay goes perfectly with those salty chips and salsa, or a bowl of nachos!

What to serve with the chili and rice? A glass of the Chianti is a great option to balance with the meat and tomatoes.

Finally, no Super Bowl party is complete without pizza right? Try our Estate Lodi Valley Old Vines Zinfandel to match.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a relaxing, long vacation with delicious food and even tastier wine! This year, Wine the Experience is ready to roll out some new surprises. We've got a few new limited wines coming out soon, so keep coming back for more info!



Today, we'd like to share a quick and delicious recipe for those of you who've bottled our Washington Cabernet Franc Merlot - a fine wine with tasty flavors of plums and black currant. If you've got an extra bottle lying around, or are looking for a new way to experiment, try this out:

Beef Casserole with Red Wine

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1 1/2 lb. beef, cubed

3/4 cup Estate Washington Cabernet Franc Merlot

1 can beef consomme

1 large onion

1 tsp. salt

pinch of pepper

Combine flour and bread crumbs and mix well. Combine other ingredients; blend all together and place in a large casserole dish. Cover. Bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

The versatile beef casserole makes a hearty winter meal. Cold, blustery nights call for a hearty meal that fills you up and chases away the chill.

Let us know what you think! Cheers!