Travel,Wine and Cuisine by Christopher J Davies

Judges taste food & wine at a Contrada We were honored with an invitation to be judges at A Tavola con Il Nobile in Montepulciano, Tuscany. Our “job” would be to taste foods created by chefs at eight different contradas (divisions) of Montepulciano with select Vino Nobile wines over two days. To top it off, we were thrilled to learn that this year’s main ingredient would be duck (locally called Nano), one of our favorites. The trek from Denver to Rome via Detroit was smoother than one could imagine. Considering that Detroit was actually in bankruptcy, we were concerned about changing flights there. To our surprise, the Detroit airport was modern and loaded with restaurants, bars and shops. The flights took a combined 16 hours and when we arrived in Rome the next morning, a friendly man named Guido of Etruria Tours greeted us. After gathering up three other journalists who flew in from other US cities, we boarded Guido’s Mercedes van for Montepulciano. The ride took just ...

--> Homemade Red Sauce-With Meat #156 Over the years, I have made many versions of red sauce. As my career blossomed to include interviewing top chefs from around the world, I have fine-tuned the recipe more than 156 times! Just like with wine where you need great grapes, using authentic San Marzano tomatoes makes a big difference in taste. I usually use Cento brand. Currently both Walmart and Target have been discounting this product to around $3.49, which is about $1.50 less than small shops. Careful! Cento also sells canned tomatoes from California. These are not San Marzano Certified from Italy.  Serves: 6-8 people Prep & cooking: 2 hours Ingredients: 2-28OZ Cans of San Marzano Certified Peeled Tomatoes 1-Whole Yellow Onion chopped finely ¼ -Cup of Olive Oil 2-Carrots peeled and chopped 2- Teaspoons of fresh or frozen Basil 4- Garlic Cloves 3-Bay Leaves 1-Teaspon Italian Herbs Seasoning Mix 1-Tablespoon of Tomat...

Champagne Everyday: Champagne at Julia Child Memory Lane luncheon in D... : Champagne at Julia Child Memory Lane luncheon in Denver, Nov. 13, 2013 Placemat with menu Sunday, a week ago today, I traveled M...

The 9 th Annual Denver International Wine Festival was our best ever! Wine loving ticket holders booked 167 rooms on Friday November 8th enthusiastically supporting the move of venue to the luxurious, Four-Diamond, award-winning Omni Interlocken in Broomfield .   All ticket events were sold-out in advance. The five day festival stepped-up the focus on wine education and culinary greatness. Three educational seminars were moderated by Brandon Tebbe, Master Sommelier. Seminars included : Artisanal Cheese & Wine Pairing Adventure Seminar by: Barrie Lynn – The Cheese Impresario and Mike Andrews of Coyote Canyon Winery Champagne Styles by Madeleine de Jean, “Madam Champagne”. Riedel Vinum XL Glass Tasting by Price Kitchem, National Sales Manager, Riedel Crystal America A 4 th seminar was presented by The International Wine Guild Wine and Food Pairing Seminar Instructor: Claude Robbins, GWM, MWE The stars of this year’s...

It’s been about almost 2 months since James passed away of a heart attack in Rome. I am still in non-belief! I was one of his biggest fans when he played Tony Soprano, Godfather in HBO’S Soprano’s. As Tony, Gandolfino kept everyone glued to their couches on Sunday evenings. In 2009, I had the honor of getting back stage access at “God of Carnage”. Marcia Gay Harden, my friend and past wine tasting client arranged this very special visit. The play was amazing. The set was a living room where two couples are discussing what boundaries their rambunctious children broke. In the beginning, James voice had a lisp and was speaking softer than his Tony Soprano tone. When the phone continued to ring, with his mother’s continued nags, James screamed “WTF MOM!” in his typical Tony Soprano titrate. Everyone applauded! I had the pleasure of meeting James in person after the show. He was in front of the theater signing autographs. At first, when he saw me he...