Manoavino Taste!

Xmas Eve Dinner Ravine Dry Riesling Full of Holiday Spirit

When I think of where I’d like to be on Christmas, besides home, one place that comes to mind is the beautiful Finger Lakes. Such a festive place during the holidays.

The Wine: Ravines Dry Riesling Finger Lakes $$

The Food: Roasted Chicken, with Rosemary, Garlic and Lemon, and  Carrots, Parsnips, Onions, Turnips and Potatoes.

The Place: Home Sweet Home, where else on Christmas Eve.

Wishing You a Very Merry Xmas

Ancient Sweet Treats, Commandaria Dessert Wine with Clementine and Almond Cake

Where were you in 1989?  What about 800 B.C.? This elegant dessert wine has been aging for you for over 20 years, but it’s origin dates back over 20 centuries, to the isle of Cyprus.

Commandaria is an ancient hearty red dessert wine made with sun dried indigenous grapes, Mavro and Xinisteri, that are aged in oak barrels for three years and then in the bottle for many more.

Served with a dessert from an equally archaic place. Jerusalem.

The Wine:  Commandaria Alasia, 1989, VQPRD (Vino di Qualità Prodotto in Regioni Determinate) $$

The Food: Yotam Ottolenghi's Clementine and Almond cake that I made, savored after a feast from his Jerusalem and Plenty cookbooks.

The Place: A pretty party at home with a few friends

Eating Greek means Drinking Greek at Stamna Little Falls

What’s the best wine for a Greek Dinner? I’m not answering that question. What you should be asking is where can I find a good selection of Greek wines.  Like where did we find this brilliant white wine from Florina, Macedonia.

Oh, and if you were wondering where to get great Greek food in the area. We love Stamna in Little Falls.

The Wine: Alpha Estate Axia Malagouzia 2012  $$

The Food: Greek Comfort

The Place: A welcoming house with a long porch in Little Falls, home to Stamna Greek Taverna.

Vietnamese Please and the Perfect Wine? A Gruner Veltliner

Do you know Gruner Veltliner? The loved white wine of Austria. It is perfect for Vietnamese. This delicate, complex, yet deeply flavorful cuisine, demands a careful wine pairing. Something not so rich that it overwhelms the food or so light that it gets lost behind.

At Binh Dong an excellently authentic Vietmamese restaurant in Belleville, NJ we had such a perfect paring, with a Gruner that I had been saving for a few years for a special occasion.

The Wine: Laurenz V. Charming Gruner Veltliner the 2005 $$

The Food: Traditional Vietnamese

The Place: Binh Duong Belleville, NJ but could have been Ho Chi Minh City.

What Wine For Chicken Pot Pie?

My friends think we eat out all the time, it’s not true we usually cook at home. They are all great meals, both Diana and I are very good in the kitchen. But when I’m home alone I usually do something simple like this wonderful chicken pot pie. That does not mean I choose a simple wine. In fact I usually pick something extraordinary.

The Wine: Paul Kubler Pinot Gris “K” Alsace, France $$

The Food: Chicken Pot Pie, lovingly made by Vacchianno Farm

The Place: My warm and cozy kitchen, but I imagined myself in the dinning room of a great English estate.

Happy Birthday Manoavino

It has been 8 wonderful years, almost 1,000 articles, lots of new friends, and much great wine and food.  

Thanks so much for your readership and support.

Peter Conway

 

Lakeside Dining at Alice's Lake HopatcongTwo Good Wines with Lunch

Alice’s on Lake Hopatcong is a destination worth the trip. Former New Yorker Alice Szigethy opened her restaurant in 2009 with the mission to provide good food and comfortable drinks in a pleasing setting on the lake. With a beautiful view, a very credible menu and a well selected wine, beer and cocktail list we think she has done quite well.

The Wine: Willm Sparkling Blanc de Blanc from Alsace, France and a Malbec, Agua de Piedra, from Mendoza, Argentina $$

The Food: A very nice American lunch

The Place: Alice’s on the eastern shore of Lake Hopatcong, NJ.