Sunday, January 10, 2010
Purple Teeth Cellars and JDRF
As we have mentioned in the past, Purple Teeth Cellars donates a portion of its profits to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). But we also get involved in JDRF and its mission in other ways. For example, we hosted our 3rd annual wine dinner with all monies going to JDRF directly and we’re starting to get involved in the local chapter as well.Last week, I had the opportunity to assist in gathering some footage for the video that focuses on one of the biggest events for the Northwest chapter of JDRF – “Beat the Bridge”. We want to get a message to sponsors (existing and potential) about the event and educate where we can about Type 1 diabetes. We were fortunate to have a very articulate young lady (“J”), currently a student at one of the local middle schools, act as our ambassador. She was gracious enough to be interviewed about what life is like with Type 1 diabetes.
Not only did we have the chance to talk to “J”, but we also interviewed her one of her teachers and 4 of her friends to get an understanding of how they look out for her. We also heard from “J’s” mother who talked about how there were a couple of misdiagnoses before the eventual diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. You never get used to hearing stories of when a child is diagnosed. Plus there is always some derivative of the statement that a family never gets a vacation from Type 1 diabetes, which is another thing you never get used to.
We captured almost an hour of footage, which we will need to shrink quite a bit for the promotional video, but I am excited about what we have on film. We are hopeful that we can use some of the extra content for other educational uses for the JDRF Northwest chapter page. When we get the video edited and it is ready for prime-time, I’ll post something here.
Thanks again for your continued support of Purple Teeth Cellars!
Labels: JDRF
posted by Jill @ 12:14 PM 0 Comments
Monday, December 28, 2009
Oh Dottie and John - please come back!
Hope everyone has been having a safe and fun holiday season. The folks of Purple Teeth Cellars are still recovering from the holiday festivities, last minute orders of wine, etc., but we still found some time to catch up on some reading over the weekend as we watched both of our football teams die a slow death in terms of viability for the NFL playoffs.While the Broncos are still technically alive for Mr. PurpleTeeth, the Giants put on a pathetic performance yesterday that just outraged Mrs. PurpleTeeth. We can only hope that the pathetic 2nd half for the Giants will lead to more strategic coaching and player changes for the 2010 football season. But we're digressing here as that is not the point of today's entry.
Today's entry is about finding that the WSJ has decided to end the much-loved "Tastings" column written by the husband and wife team of John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter. This column has been regular reading for a long time and was instrumental in educating me on wine in a non-judgmental way.
Their biggest contribution was the creation of "Open That Bottle Night", which is now celebrated in countless households around the world, including ours. We invite some friends over for a potluck, tell stories about why we selected that wine to open and most importantly, have a lot of laughs.
While we don't know the circumstances around the cessation of the "Tastings" column, all I can say is that I hope that this means that Dottie and John have found a better forum in which to share their wisdom and enthusiasm about wine and enjoying it in the larger context of life.
In the meantime, OTBN will continue to be a tradition in the Purple Teeth Cellars household. Speaking of which, I need to get those invites ready to go out on the 1st...
Labels: Food and Wine Pairing
posted by Jill @ 10:18 AM 1 Comments
Friday, July 31, 2009
Quick Alder Springs update....
Brief update on the 2009 Alder Springs, the vineyard in Mendocino County where we source our Syrah grapes from:The crews have been removing leaves on the canopy to achieve optimal light exposure for the fruit. The Syrah berries haven't sized up too much, so we still have a ways to go until we pick (we tend not to pick until late September/early October anyway). But we're happy to report that we're looking good!
Don't forget to keep on flashing those PURPLE TEETH!
And did you know that you can follow Purple Teeth Cellars on Facebook and on Twitter? Check us out and become a follower on our latest and greatest exploits!
Labels: 2009 Vintage
posted by Jill @ 5:39 PM 0 Comments
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Our inaugural vegetarian food pairing!
The world of Purple Teeth Cellars has been pretty busy over the past few weeks working on projects outside of monitoring what is going on with the 2009 harvest.
Don't get us wrong – the 2009 harvest is moving along nicely, but it's still long enough away where we can work on some other things. I'm going to be posting some entries this week about some great food and wine pairings that go with our current releases, and the kicker is – these are vegetarian-friendly!
Our 1st recipe is something really simple, very "summer oriented" (if you are looking for an excuse to drink red wine when the weather is warm) and will pair really well with our 2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Petite Sirah from Mendocino County. And we'll also have you make some extra pesto so you can use it with other dishes because it is *very* tasty.
Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Gruyère Sandwiches with Smoky Pesto
Sandwich
4 Portobello mushrooms, stems removed and discarded 
4 English muffins, split
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, cut into 8 thin slices
Salt and pepper – amount based on your preference
Smoky Pesto
2 cups packed basil leaves
1 ½ large shallot, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
Salt – amount based on your preference
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 people
Directions
- Using a food processor, combine the basil, cumin, shallot and paprika and process until finely minced. With the machine on, gradually pour in the 6 tablespoons of olive oil until blended. Season the pesto with salt. You will only need ½ of the pesto for this recipe. Set aside the remaining half of the pesto and refrigerate for use with other dishes.
- Light a grill – a grill pan will also work if you don't have an outdoor grill. Brush the Portolbellos with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over high heat until nicely charred and just tender, approximately 2 minutes per side.
- Grill the English muffins, cut side down, over low heat, until just soft, for approximately 30 seconds. Turn and grill until the muffins start to brown, about 1 minute. Spread the cut sides of the muffins with the pesto. Layer 1 slice of cheese, 1 Portolbello and 1 more slice of cheese on the bottom halves of each muffin. Close the sandwiches and brush the tops and bottoms with olive oil. Grill the sandwiches over low heat, turning, until they're crisp on the outside and the cheese is melted, about 4 minutes total. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve right away.
When we tasted this, we enlisted the help of some of our friends, which included our friends Heidi, Jim and Gure. Thanks to them for their help in preparing some of the dishes and for their very honest opinions. That's what your friends are for!
And while this dish was decent with our 2007 Alder Springs Syrah from Mendocino County and our 2007 White Hawk Syrah from Santa Barbara County, the pairing with the 2006 Eaglepoint Ranch Petite Sirah was clearly the standout pairing.
So get your grill ready with some Purple Teeth Cellars and let us know what you think of this pairing. And while you are sampling, please don't forget to flash those PURPLE TEETH!
Labels: 2006 Vintage, 2007 Vintage, Food and Wine Pairing
posted by Jill @ 3:58 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
2007 Syrahs Are Ready To Go
ling and subsequent release of our 2007 Purple Teeth Cellars Syrahs, which we are happy to report are available for purchase on our online store.Let's talk about how awesome these wines are. Seriously. They were bottled in March, but we like to wait 3 months after bottling before we release them.
The Purple Teeth Cellars 2007 Alder Springs Syrah (Mendocino County) is one of those subtle wines that doesn't try and grab your attention when you initially taste it. Instead it is a wine that really wants to showcase its fruit on the finish, and will linger in your mouth for awhile. More specifically, we picked up some black fruit, pepper, some chocolate and just a tad of smokiness that really mesh well together.
O
n the other hand, the Purple Teeth Cellars 2007 White Hawk Syrah (Santa Barbara County) is one of those wines that immediately informs you of its presence - in its color, on the nose and on your palette. The White Hawk Syrah has blackfruits like it's sibling from Alder Springs, but this one has more "jammy-ness" (is that a word?) and spice - black pepper, in particular. And of course, we would be remiss if we didn't rave about the long finish on the White Hawk! Both are ready to drink now (decanting for an hour or two will make them even better), but another year in bottle will help the flavors come together even more.
More to come on pairing ideas and on our recent visit to Mendocino, where we had the opportunity to meet with the proprietors of both Alder Springs Vineyard and Eaglepoint Ranch (home of our 2006 Petite Sirah).
If you have any questions, please let us know by clicking on the 'Contact Us' tab. Thanks for your support and for passing this on. And don't forget to keep on flashing those PURPLE TEETH!
Labels: 2006 Vintage, 2007 Vintage
posted by Jill @ 10:41 AM 0 Comments