Tag Archives: Stilton

This Week on the WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© Features the Capstone Dinner Event in Missoula

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Check out the radio show on The Trail 103.3FM and Fresh 104.5FM.  The live stream feed is online at www.trail1033.com where you can click on “Listen Live”.  The WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© airs on both radio stations Sunday mornings at 10:00AM MST.

Social Media links;

Today’s Podcast  and full length conversation with Culinary Arts student Kacey Swanson http://trail1033.podbean.com/2012/04/15/wine-guy-mike-for-april-15/

NBC Montana Today TV Easter wines with food pairing suggestions; http://www.nbcmontana.com/video/30847522/index.html

YouTube; My YouTube channel of course is WineGuyMike™ or the actual URL link: http://www.youtube.com/user/WineGuyMike?feature=mhum

Facebook; WineGuyMike please “like”

Twitter; @WineGuyMike please follow me

Ciao Mambo, “Eat Like You Mean It”, located in Missoula on The Hip Strip.  Find them online at www.CiaoMambo.com

Sleep City Missoula  www.SleepCity.com

Liquid Planet “Best of Beverage” and a great place to find your holiday wine located in the heart of downtown Missoula.

Georges Distributing in Helena, Montana.

I had the opportunity this week to feature an event many are unaware of.  Once you attend the Capstone Dinner Event you will make a point to never miss one.

This week I invited a representative from The University of Montana College of Technology Culinary Arts Department to join me on the WineGuyMike™ Radio Show©.  Kacey Swanson who is a student in the program and I discussed the upcoming Capstone Dinner Event.

The Capstone Dinner will take place at The Holiday Inn Downtown in Missoula on Saturday April 28, 2012 from 5-10PM.  The Holiday Inn is located at 200 South Pattee, Missoula, Montana.  Ticket prices for this event are $85.00 each.  For information on how to obtain tickets please call 406-243-7870.

I became familiar with the culinary program at a local event that I attend each year where I met the Director of the COT Culinary Arts Program, Tom Campbell.  I sought Tom out at this event on purpose to let him know just how inspired I was as a result of my interaction with his students.  The presentation of the food from this culinary program was beautiful; the passion shared by the students who prepared the courses of food was contagious.  Oh yeah, the food it was amazing too.  I was introduced to an instructor, Chef Suzanne Noyd who also owns The Butler’s Pantry.  The Butler’s Pantry is a catering company providing exquisite fine food for special events.

With my interest piqued I sought out to learn more about this wonderful program located in Missoula and respected regionally throughout the Northwest.  The Capstone Dinner Event is a combination of fine dining, fine wine, and a silent auction in which all proceeds support the College of Technology Culinary Student Education Fund.  This fund also supports competitions, exhibits, and field trips for the students, conferences and the Capstone Dinner Event.

This years event theme presented by the students; “SAUSSURE” (saw-sure), Explore the Alps in Montana – A Culinary Tour of Alpine Cuisine. Horace-Benedict de Saussure led the first expedition through the Alpine Range, believed to have founded Alpinism or Mountaineering.  Translating cuisine from Lyon, France to Vienna, Austria to the shores of the Adriatic Sea and infusing these dishes with Montana seasonal ingredients.  The culinary students are proud to show their unity by showcasing the talents and knowledge they have acquired over the past two years.  Don’t miss this opportunity for a great night out to experience a multi-coursed fine dining experience paired with exceptional wines.  There will be an assortment of delectable silent auction items presented and available for your bid.

For more information about this event and how to get on the mailing list, please e-mail Chef Tom Campbell at Thomas.campbell@umontana.edu or Kacey Swanson at kacey.swanson@umontana.edu

Capstone Dinner Menu

SAUSSURE

Menu

Hor D’ Oeuvres – An Expedition through The Alps Buffet Assortment

Western Platter

Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Terrine

Smoked Local Trout Mousse in Dill Barquette Garnished with Cavier

Caprese Salad featuring House-made Mozzarella & White Balsamic Reduction

Duck & Sage Sausage Links

Red Onion & Rhubarb Tartlet

Risotto Croquettes with Fontina & Red Pepper Coulis 

Central Platter

Beef Liver Pate

Venison Kielbasa, Ginger Sauerkraut and Hot Mustard on Pumpernickel Canape

Weisswurst Links & Headcheese

Beet & Carrot Latkes, House-made Quark and Pickled Red Onion Canape

Pastrami Cured Salmon on Rye Point with Beet Pesto

Eastern Platter

Mediterranean Style Seafood Terrine

Marinated Sardine Crostini with Salsa Verde & Fresh Fennel

Chevre Balls Rolled in Turkish Spices

Spring Porcini paired with House-made Ricotta & Braised Garlic Scapes

Croatian Flatbread crowned with Dry Cured Bacon, Fresh Cow Cheese and Assorted Vegetables

Turkish Sausage Links

Hot Cheese Fondue with Pretzels

Soup

House-brewed Schwauzbier Cheese in Bread Bowl 

Fish Entrée

Grilled Local Trout adorned with Eggplant, Cherry Compote on a bed of Angel Hair Pasta 

Intermezzo

Lemon Sorbet

Meat Entrée

Montana Bauernschmaus

Braised Venison, Montana Beef Bacon and Kielbasa accompanied with Fresh Cabbage Salad, Caramelized Root Vegetable Trio and Crostini 

*Paired with House-brewed Hefeweizen 

Dessert Assortment

OPERA – French Chocolate Coffee Cake made of Layered Dark Chocolate, Coffee Buttercream and Almond Sponge Cake

Huckleberry, Lavender and Apple Tarts

Spice Cookies

Cupavci – Croatian Sponge Cake filled with Pastry Cream

Chocolate Fondue accompanied by Gingerbread & Fruit

Bread Basket

Rye, Pumpernickel, Italian Crostini, Grissini, Pretzels

You can listen to the WineGuyMike Radio Show live each week on the Trail 103.3FM or U 104.5FM.  These shows are podcast for your convenience and available on my blog at; www.WineGuyMike.wordpress.com

Liquid Planet in the heart of Downtown Missoula features wines I have specially selected for you.  Be sure to stop by the very best of beverage and   Missoula’s premier wine shopping experience, Liquid Planet.

From my table to yours,

"from my table to yours"

This Week on the WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© Donald Ziraldo the world authority of Ice-wines Part 2

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Check out the radio show on The Trail 103.3FM and Fresh 104.5FM.  The live stream feed is online at www.trail1033.com where you can click on “Listen Live”.  The WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© airs on both radio stations Sunday mornings at 10:00AM MST.

Social Media links;

Today’s Podcast and full length conversation with the “Iceman” Donald Ziraldo

Part 1 Podcast  and full length conversation with the “Iceman” Donald Ziraldo http://trail1033.podbean.com/2012/04/01/wine-guy-mike-for-april-1st/

NBC Montana Today TV Easter wines with food pairing suggestions; http://www.nbcmontana.com/video/30847522/index.html

YouTube; My YouTube channel of course is WineGuyMike™ or the actual URL link: http://www.youtube.com/user/WineGuyMike?feature=mhum

Facebook; WineGuyMike please “like”

Twitter; @WineGuyMike please follow me

Ciao Mambo, “Eat Like You Mean It”, located in Missoula on The Hip Strip.  Find them online at www.CiaoMambo.com

Sleep City Missoula  www.SleepCity.com

Liquid Planet “Best of Beverage” and a great place to find your holiday wine located in the heart of downtown Missoula.

Georges Distributing in Helena, Montana.

This week the Iceman Donald Ziraldo joins WineGuyMike for week two for the final show in this series on Ice-wine.  Last week we tasted the Equifera Riesling Ice Wine and this week I’ll taste the Equifera Vidal Ice Wine with Donald.

If you missed last week’s show with Donald and I be sure to listen to it, the podcast link is; http://trail1033.podbean.com/2012/04/01/wine-guy-mike-for-april-1st/  Talking with Ziraldo is like sitting in on an intimate wine education course.

The Equifera Ice Wine was a treat for me to taste.  Tasting wine with Donald Ziraldo was a pleasure and an education, one of my stand-out featured guests I have had the opportunity to have on my show.  In addition to last week’s following blog post I have included my review from this week’s tasting of the Equifera Vidal Ice Wine.

Ice-wine is a wine of extremes. Donald Ziraldo who produces Equifera Icewine is a man of extreme passion.  This week on the WineGuyMike radio show I had the pleasure and opportunity to talk with Donald and learn about him, his life’s body of work, and the Ice-wine he is so passionate about.

Ice wine is a form of extreme winemaking that takes the excruciating circumstances of Mother Nature to an entirely new level.  Ice-wine or “liquid gold” as it is referred to by wine aficionados is a dessert, or aperitif wine.

The practice of making Eiswein in Germany dates back to the early 1700’s.  But it is in Canada where it has become a modern day art.  Canada is now recognized as the finest Ice-wine producing area in the world.  This is mainly due to the Herculean efforts of one man, Donald Ziraldo.

Ziraldo is known as the “Godfather” of Ice-wine throughout the world.  He is also readily acknowledged as the world’s foremost authority on Ice-wine’s.  Ziraldo is the son of Italian immigrants who settled in the Canadian province of Ontario.  This is just across from Lake Ontario, one of the best known wine regions in the United States, the Finger Lakes region.

Ice-wine is a winemaking style wherein grapes are naturally frozen on the vine, harvested during the middle of the night and pressed in the extreme cold to separate the juice from the ice crystals. 

If the freeze does not come soon enough, the entire crop can be lost to rotting and if the freeze is too severe, it can prevent any juice from being extracted when the grapes are pressed.  The results produce very special wines that express aromatic flavors of white and tropical fruits such as mango, peach, and lychee.

Donald Ziraldo has a long and storied history of producing fine quality wines with winemaker Karl Kaiser.  Ziraldo and Kaiser are the forefathers of Canadian Ice-wine, together they founded Inniskillin Winery.  The Ice-wines of Inniskillin put Canadian Ice-wine of the map of the wine scene internationally.  Inniskillin produced many internationally renowned wines.

In 2006 Ziraldo and Kaiser left Inniskillin, although Kaiser remains as an emeritus consultant to Inniskillin.  Ziraldo has a new wine project in the Equifera Ice winery. 

The Equifera Ice Wines are grown and produced in Short Hills, a sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula.  The Equifera Estate Winery is the former home to champion race horses in the 1950’s and 60’s.

 Equifera produces Riesling, Vidal, and red Cabernet Franc Ice-wines. This week WineGuyMike had the opportunity to talk with Donald about the beautiful Equifera Ice-wines, we tasted them too.

The award winning Equifera Ice Wine is a special occasion in a glass.  When I taste great wine it occurs to me that you can taste the personality on the person behind the wine.  This is true of the Equifera Ice Wine, perhaps the best of Donald Ziraldo’s entire body of work in the world of wine.

The first wine that Donald and I tasted was the Riesling Ice-wine.  The Equifera Ice Wines strike the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity.  The Riesling is lighter in body and texture than the Equifera Vidal Ice Wine that Donald and I will taste next week on the show.  The structure and complexity of this magnificent ice-wine go hand-in-hand.  You would be hard pressed to find more complex wines in the world than the Equifera Ice Wines.  You could think of the Equifera wines as having multiple personalities as there are some many layers to them, you must try them.

Visually this Riesling ice-wine has a deep golden straw color that dances in your glass.  You are then greeted with the aroma of tropical fruit and a wonderful essence of stone fruit, and the nectar of honey.  On the mid-palate combine a wonderful tug of war between sweetness and acidity. The complexity of this wine is so deep that of the finish your palate is cleansed from the perfect acidity of the wine, but it does not end there.  The finish is an eternity of joyful bliss, just like a world class Sauterne you are left with the flavor of tart raisin.  This is one of the premier dessert or aperitif wines you will ever taste.

Week Two wine tasting:

The Equifera Vidal Ice Wine is every bit as complex as the Riesling, the Equifera Ice Wines are tantalizing.  The quality of Donald’s wines is exceptional.  The Vidal varietal is a hybrid of Trebbiano and Ugni Blanc grapes.  The Vidal varietal is hardy and more resistant to the extreme cold than the Riesling.

The Vidal that Donald and I tasted this week is fuller in body than the Riesling Ice-wine.  The nose of the Vidal is beautifully aromatic with tropical fruits of pineapple, mangos, lychee and then notes of grapefruit.  When this wine hits the palate it just explodes filling your mouth with lush texture that clings to sides of you mouth.  The Vidal, like the Riesling from Equifera is so well structured and balanced with acidity that it cleanses the palate on the finish, but not without a lingering memory of rich tropical fruit and honey. Truly incredible wines from Ziraldo.

View this Cocktail Mixology video with Equifer Ice Wine with Donald; www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeJV_arD8P4

I would like to thank Donald for taking time to share his Equifera Ice Wine with the WineGuyMike audience; it was a memorable experience for all.

You can listen to the show live on the Trail 103.3FM or U 104.5FM.  These shows are podcast for your convenience and available on my blog at; www.WineGuyMike.wordpress.com

Liquid Planet in the heart of Downtown Missoula features the wines I have tasted today.  Be sure to stop by the very best of beverage and see the Ice-wine I have selected for you.  Missoula’s premier wine shopping experience, Liquid Planet.

"from my table to yours"

This Week on the WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© Donald Ziraldo the world authority of Ice-wines Part 1

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Reply

Check out the radio show on The Trail 103.3FM and Fresh 104.5FM.  The live stream feed is online at www.trail1033.com where you can click on “Listen Live”.  The WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© airs on both radio stations Sunday mornings at 10:00AM MST.

Social Media links;

Today’s Podcast  and full length conversation with the “Iceman” Donald Ziraldo http://trail1033.podbean.com/2012/04/01/wine-guy-mike-for-april-1st/

NBC Montana Today TV Segment with Christmas wines; http://www.nbcmontana.com/video/30063511/index.html

YouTube; My YouTube channel of course is WineGuyMike™ or the actual URL link: http://www.youtube.com/user/WineGuyMike?feature=mhum

Facebook; WineGuyMike please “like”

Twitter; @WineGuyMike please follow me

Ciao Mambo, “Eat Like You Mean It”, located in Missoula on The Hip Strip.  Find them online at www.CiaoMambo.com

Sleep City Missoula  www.SleepCity.com

Liquid Planet “Best of Beverage” and a great place to find your holiday wine located in the heart of downtown Missoula.

Georges Distributing in Helena, Montana.

Ice-wine is a wine of extremes. Donald Ziraldo who produces Equifera Icewine is a man of extreme passion.  This week on the WineGuyMike radio show I had the pleasure and opportunity to with Donald and learn about him, his life’s body of work, and the Ice-wine he is so passionate about.

Ice wine is a form of extreme winemaking that takes the excruciating circumstances of Mother Nature to an entirely new level.  Ice-wine or “liquid gold” as it is referred to by wine aficionados is a dessert, or aperitif wine.

The practice of making Eiswein in Germany dates back to the early 1700’s.  But it is in Canada where it has become a modern day art.  Canada is now recognized as the finest Ice-wine producing area in the world.  This is mainly due to the Herculean efforts of one man, Donald Ziraldo.

Ziraldo is known as the “Godfather” of Ice-wine throughout the world.  He is also readily acknowledged as the world’s foremost authority on Ice-wine’s.  Ziraldo is the son of Italian immigrants who settled in the Canadian province of Ontario.  This is just across from Lake Ontario, one of the best known wine regions in the United States, the Finger Lakes region.

Ice-wine is a winemaking style wherein grapes are naturally frozen on the vine, harvested during the middle of the night and pressed in the extreme cold to separate the juice from the ice crystals. 

If the freeze does not come soon enough, the entire crop can be lost to rotting and if the freeze is too severe, it can prevent any juice from being extracted when the grapes are pressed.  The results produce very special wines that express aromatic flavors of white and tropical fruits such as mango, peach, and lychee.

Donald Ziraldo has a long and storied history of producing fine quality wines with winemaker Karl Kaiser.  Ziraldo and Kaiser are the forefathers of Canadian Ice-wine, together they founded Inniskillin Winery.  The Ice-wines of Inniskillin put Canadian Ice-wine of the map of the wine scene internationally.  Inniskillin produced many internationally renowned wines.

In 2006 Ziraldo and Kaiser left Inniskillin, although Kaiser remains as an emeritus consultant to Inniskillin.  Ziraldo has a new wine project in the Equifera Ice winery. 

The Equifera Ice Wines are grown and produced in Short Hills, a sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula.  The Equifera Estate Winery is the former home to champion race horses in the 1950’s and 60’s.

 Equifera produces Riesling, Vidal, and red Cabernet Franc Ice-wines. This week WineGuyMike had the opportunity to talk with Donald about the beautiful Equifera Ice-wines, we tasted them too.

The award winning Equifera Ice Wine is a special occasion in a glass.  When I taste great wine it occurs to me that you can taste the personality on the person behind the wine.  This is true of the Equifera Ice Wine, perhaps the best of Donald Ziraldo’s entire body of work in the world of wine.

The first wine that Donald and I tasted was the Riesling Ice-wine.  The Equifera Ice Wines strike the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity.  The Riesling is lighter in body and texture than the Equifera Vidal Ice Wine that Donald and I will taste next week on the show.  The structure and complexity of this magnificent ice-wine go hand-in-hand.  You would be hard pressed to find more complex wines in the world than the Equifera Ice Wines.  You could think of the Equifera wines as having multiple personalities as there are some many layers to them, you must try them.

Visually this Riesling ice-wine has a deep golden straw color that dances in your glass.  You are then greeted with the aroma of tropical fruit and a wonderful essence of stone fruit, and the nectar of honey.  On the mid-palate combine a wonderful tug of war between sweetness and acidity. The complexity of this wine is so deep that of the finish your palate is cleansed from the perfect acidity of the wine, but it does not end there.  The finish is an eternity of joyful bliss, just like a world class Sauterne you are left with the flavor of tart raisin.  This is one of the premier dessert or aperitif wines you will ever taste.

You can listen to the show live on the Trail 103.3FM or U 104.5FM.  These shows are podcast for your convenience and available on my blog at; www.WineGuyMike.wordpress.com

Liquid Planet in the heart of Downtown Missoula features the wines I have tasted today.  Be sure to stop by the very best of beverage and see the Ice-wine I have selected for you.  Missoula’s premier wine shopping experience, Liquid Planet.

"from my table to yours"

The Best of the Blues, cheese that is, from CheeseGirlSara

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If I were banished to a remote mountain top and told I could take only one food to accompany my bread for nourishment, I would choose one of the  great blues of the world :  The French Roquefort, the English Stilton or the Italian Gorgonzola.  And If I had to choose between a Roquefort, a Stilton or a Gorgonzola I would  choose the Roquefort, either a Carles or a Pappillon mark.

Of these blues Roquefort is the only blue made from raw ewes milk.  Ewes milk cheese have up to twice the amount of protein as cows’ milk cheese.  The magnificent Roquefort dates back to the first century B. C.. and has been the favorite among a whole gamut of  historical figures, including Caesar, Charlemagne, the Popes of Avignon & King Louis XV.

These are the recognized great blues, but have you tried Peral, a wonderful Spanish blue, available here and definitely worth comparing to the better known blues?  It is soft and pungent with a recognizable creamy texture, strong flavor and a good lasting quality.  A great bargain among any cheese it certainly has a place at my cheese table and with a good pairing it is fabulous and enjoyed by all.
All these great cheeses are best drunk with known paired wines and Peral is no exception.  It likes a fruity wine, if white, maybe a Riesling, or even a dessert wine or sherry.  If red, try a Californian Cabernet  or Zinfandel.
It is a cow’s milk cheese developed over generations in the region of Astoria and its smooth, buttery flavor will delight your blue cheese lovers, give your cheese plate a new taste and if you’ve not tried it already, you’ll be delighted too.   This is one of the great blues, from my table to yours.

CheeseGirlSara