Another fun evening was had by all last Friday night at Krohn Conservatory.  Not only did we shake some great cocktails and eat some fantastic appetizers, Diana Hoffman and Gary from Kama Salsa taught us some sexy salsa dance moves and Hannah Eaton from Mitchell’s Salon and Day Spa dazzled us with slick tricks for stylish summer party hairstyles and make-up.  The swag bags were filled to the brim with hand fans from the Bitty Breeze, Sunglasses, a sample bottle of Taste of Florida Mango Real Fruit Mixers and Hypnotic, mints, lip balm and coupons.  Check out the event photos and join us for our next Girl’s Night Out @ Krohn Conservatory on October 9th for “How to Host a Wine Tasting Party” presented by  Amy Tobin , party planner extraordinare.

See you there!

Connie Volker
EQ Event and Marketing Director

by Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager

The introduction of vermouth to America in the 1870s was a seminal moment in the development of the cocktail. Bartenders had a new toy to play with, and in short order had invented a host of classic cocktails that are still drunk today. As I’ve noted here before, vermouth is back, baby, with a vengeance. Mixologists amateur and professional alike are rediscovering the supple, mouthwatering glory of dry and sweet vermouth. And happily, we have some new firepower, with new vermouths landing from France, including the new/old Noilly Prat and Dolin, perhaps the best of them all. What to do with this herbaceous wine?

Vermouth de Chambéry is the aristocrat of French Vermouth.

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2006 Luca Laborde Double Select Syrah
91 points from W.S. and let me tell you why. We as a staff at dinner tasted this wine along with $50-$70 Oregon Pinot Noir,  high end Cali Cab and in my opinion it even hung with if not showed better than a $130.00 Spanish Cabernet. Luca is one of the hottest vineyards on the planet right now and this Syrah is one of the best bottles of juice I’ve had this year. Big, bold, and complex with a ton of charm. At this price buy 2 one to taste now and one to savor. I have already been working hard on my ‘09 top 100 wines of the year and I have this one marked #3 at present time.
SCORE: 4++++

Cheers,
Danny Gold
Fine Wine
The Party Source

Hahn SLH Pinot Noir-$24.99  California Aisle 6A

Hahn has a reputation amongst wine drinkers especially red as being solid and a safe bet for your money. In fact one of the first Meritage and Cabernet Franc wines I tasted 8 years ago were Hahn wines. They just released late last year with a new series of high quality performers and the buzz is mainly about this Pinot.   I had it last night with some Korean marinated Sea Bass and was impressed by it’s delicate touch and well mannered fruit. The wine was medium bodied packed with beautiful berry notes and floral tones.
SCORE: 4

Cheers!

Danny

by Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager

It all started with aperitivo Torinese. My friend in Turin, Italy, Italian wine expert (and regular EQ student) Vadim Putzu, had promised to indoctrinate me in this practice, which from the name I took as referring to a mere drink before dinner. Imagine my delight to find that the hour of aperitivo earned you not only a refreshing beverage, but a sideboard groaning under huge platters of food. Free! All you can eat! Italian! Sausages with local chiodini mushrooms, salads rich with radicchio, the ubiquitous grissini breadsticks, and fresh cheese in parsley and garlic—everything was terrific. I rolled out of aperitivo, with barely room to finish a late pizza—Italian style, which means an entire pizza for each person.

The nebbia hangs in the hills of the Langhe. Note the hillside vineyards in Castiglione Falletto.

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When I tell people I work at EQ, the cooking school @ The Party Source most ask, “What does
EQ stand for?” I reply, “EQ stands for Entertainment Quotient, and we are here to raise
yours!” Today I received an e-mail and photos from EQ customer Sue Poling. All I can say
is “WOW!” Sue and her friends ended 2008 with a dinner party chock full of EQ recipes from
the classes they attended. This group of women embraced all EQ stands for and we are
touched by their enthusiasm for great food, wine and spirits. Below you will find the e-mail, recipes and photos from the dinner party.

Connie Volker, EQ Event and Marketing Director

Julie Henderson and I started taking Party Source Cooking Classes (demos only as we think it is more fun to have someone else do the work) in January 2008 when Julie’s husband gave her a gift certificate for a free cooking class for two. Our experience was so wonderful that we signed up for more and encouraged our friends Susan Schroeder and Loy Jonson to join us.
Thus it went. We attended at least one demo class per month and a few E-Quickies in
between. Towards the end of the year they started offering A Toast to Tuesday (Cocktail
Class) which quickly became a new favorite for us. Also to expand our horizons (more…)