The name sounds like some shadow conspiracy group whose purpose is to overthrow the Pope. It is not.  Or I should say, they are not. The name means “Sun of the Illimani” in the Aymara language and they are a Chilean musical group founded back a in 1967 which perhaps also owns the longest musical tour in history. You see, they were in Italy at the time of Augusto Pinochet’s military coup back in 1973 and since much of their music was a) politically motivated and b) aligned with Salvador Allende (the guy Pinochet overthrew as head of the Chilean state) they were not allowed back into Chile. It wasn’t until September 1988 that they were allowed back into their home country.

More...

A while back I wrote a little bit about America’s National Parks and the fact that we, the people of this country, do in fact own these wonderful places. Now I’m sure that there are very few of you that don’t know about these places. But what I’d be willing to bet that the majority of you don’t know is that hidden amongst all these wonderful jewels is an amazing concert venue, Wolf Trap.

Back in 1966, a gift of 100 acres of land in Vienna, Virginia and the funds for construction of a 6,800 seat indoor/outdoor theater was accepted by the U.S. Congress. It is on this land that the main venue, the Filene Center, was built. In addition to the Filene Center, two 18th century barns were relocated from upstate New York to this site and were used to create the more intimate 400 seat, The Barns at Wolf Trap. Both of these venues and the property is taken care of by the National Park Service.

More...

Music is the rhythm of life. That is very, very true. We hear things out in the world all the time and those of us that are so inclined translate those things into the music we hear every day. We take these rhythms and reproduce them on instruments made from everything from tree stumps to animal hides, reeds, bits of wire, animal hairs and even our own voices. It is the people that can do this translation that we call musicians.

A wise man once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. This is also true in the case of music. Sometimes, there are people that come along that are so adept at translating these rhythms that what gets produced, either by an individual or by groups of people all working towards a common goal, truly is magic. Their music transcends simply making sound emanate from a tube or a log or some strings, into something that transports us away from the moment.

It is at these special times that we can feel not only the technical proficiency of the musicians, but the rhythms that were originally captured by the artist. It is these rhythms that transport us to the other place in time, letting our inner self see and hear, smell and taste, those things being captured by the musician. It is in these moments that the magic happens.

After the first two wines, I thought for sure that things would just proceed down that same road. Of course, just when you think you know what’s going on, someone changes the rules. This wine was almost totally, but not quite completely like the first two I had tasted. Also, Ms Cocktail and I were not of like minds on this. While I liked the intense 2007 best, she picked the 2009 as her favorite.

Upon initial inspection, this wines shows its differences from the previous years. It was slightly paler in color than the previous two years’ wines and it didn’t carry that tinge of green. Just a very pale yellow.  Upon the nose you get a scent of melon and vanilla with a bit of clover. The scent of honey is a touch stronger than before, lending a touch more sweetness to the proceedings. On the palate it sings of honeydew melon along with honey and chalk. Yet there remains that bright acidity to tie its lineage back to the previous years.

This wine is remarkable in that it is an almost exact duplicate of the 2007. It just doesn’t have the same intensity of flavor that the previous year did. It tasted just a bit watered down. I would attribute this to more rain this year, which didn’t allow the fruit to be quite as robust or concentrated.

The color is identical to 2007, pale yellow with just a touch of green. On the nose there is that familiar scent of green apple along with honey and clover and just a touch of wood. On the palate there is that green apple and passion fruit and the honey and oak remain. Like I mentioned before, there is just less of it. If I hadn’t been tasting these two wines side by side, I may not have even noticed it. There is still a bright acidity associated with this wine.

This was the wine that introduced me to Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. A couple of folks I had been talking to mentioned that this wine had made the Wine Spectator Top 100 list in 2008. So when I saw it in the local stores I decided to grab a bottle. It very quickly became one of my favorite wines.

Pale yellow with slightly greenish tinge. As soon as the glass gets near your nose, the little hairs start to curl with the tartness coming from the glass. Green apple and chalk along with the barest whiff of honey are sensed upon the nose. On the palate that tartness of green apple is there but the sense of passion fruit is strong along with a touch of oak. There is a bright acidity that doesn’t linger at all.

All the scents and flavors in this wine are very intense and they haven’t lessened over the years. This is great wine to pair with seafood, especially flavors like halibut or cod. Next up, the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from this same vineyard.

It is a beautiful spring morning here in Northern Virginia. That is of course if you think that a dreary, rainy day is beautiful. Oh, and that being awoken by the sound of a woodpecker hammering on the side of your aluminum gutters is far better than the annoying beep of the alarm clock. Other than those minor annoyances, it really is a beautiful day.

The reason I’m happy is that I get to write to you about something that happened last Friday. Actually, let me back up a bit. It started last Tuesday when I went to the local megamart to pick up some odds and ends. As I often do, I wandered over to the wine section to see if there was anything new and interesting available. As I was browsing the aisles, I noticed that one of my favorite white wines, the Drylands Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, happened to have both a 2007 and a 2009 available. It was at this exact moment that the epiphany hit, if I could only find a 2008 of the same wine then I could do a nice little vertical tasting!

More...

One of the very cool things about wine is that it currently can be shipped directly from the vineyard to your doorstep. Well, it can if you live in one of the states that allows this to happen. It also means that stores in certain states can ship wine to me, giving me access to wines that I cannot get through the local distribution channels. This makes everyone very happy.

However, it seems that some forces are at work that would like this to change. The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has started contributing to the US House of Representatives committee members that hold the power to overturn the current state of affairs. Should the current laws change, this would not only curtail the ability of the consumer to have choice in the purchase of wines, but it would also limit the market for individual wineries, especially the smaller ones.

More...

So we've been talking about making mayonnaise from scratch (Blender Mayo, Hand Whipped Mayo) rather than running to the store to get it. The next logical question is, “Now that I’ve made the mayo, what do I do with it?” There are a plethora of things that mayonnaise can be used for in addition to the traditional slathering on a hunk of bread to make the sandwich go down easier.

The list includes, but is not limited to: potato salad, dips, cole slaw, deviled eggs, remoulade, sauces for salads or grilled fish.  The possibilities are endless. We’ll be exploring some of these in the weeks to come.

While a pita is a type of unleavened bread, "PITA," the acronym, has a much different definition. It means Pain In The Ass. And that is exactly what making mayo by hand, without an electric mixer or blender, is all about. However, the results are better than a mayo done in a mixer or blender, so much so that it makes it worth the extra effort, in my opinion.

The ingredients differ slightly from the blender version most notably in that only the egg yolks are used. Hopefully, your arms are in good shape because at some point you will use them both.

More...