Manoavino Taste!

Lyle Fass, Wine Rebel or Wine Savior? Whichever, his selections are great!

I think the most exciting thing about wine is that there is always something new to discover. We met an extraordinary wine aficionado and revolutionary, Lyle Fass, at a fabulous tasting of 12 unique French and German wines organized by my new friend Bruce Frank. Lyle is breaking all the rules with a new direct to consumer approach to marketing really great wine.

The Wine: A wonderful selection of refreshingly delicious and remarkably affordable wines.

The Food: The artful and very wine worthy menu of Chef Bryan Gregg

The Place: Escape Montclair, with delightful images of precious European vineyards and cellars running through our heads as we learned about the wines.

Exciting Spring Events at French Institute Alliance Francaise

Never satisfied with simply great, French Institute Alliance Française has stepped up their spring events with a partnership with Food and Wine Magazine to present two exciting programs in their 2014 Art de Vivre Series for food and wine lovers like you and me.

À table !

The Art of French Dessert: Cronuts, Chocolate, Pastries
Dominique Ansel, Jacques Torres & Zachary Golper• Wed, May 7

The Greats of French Cuisine in NY
Alain Ducasse, Anita Lo & Maguy Le Coze • Wed, June 4

&

Wine Tour de France

Bordeaux Smackdown: 2009 vs. 2010 Vintages • Thu, May 1
The Secrets to Drinking Top French Wine in NY • Thu, May 15
Tasty Terroirs • Thu, June 12

So we say Sante!  --- Cheers!  More Information Here

A Great Wine Makes Left Overs Even Better - Paul Mas Estate Marsanne, La Forge Vineyard, Languedoc

It’s a Monday evening, lots of left overs from a weekend of feasting, how to make them exciting? With a perfect wine of course.

The Wine: Paul Mas Estate Marsanne, from the Sud de France $

The Food: Some delicious left overs warmed and spiced

The Place: Our warm kitchen on another chilly night, will the warm weather ever come back? Yes!

We fell in love with Paul Mas wines last spring when we met 4th generation wine maker Jean-Claude Mas, since then we buy them often. 

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.

Why Cotes Du Rhone and Mac and Cheese? at Whitman and Bloom it's a Match Made in Heaven

Are we happy yet, oh yes you are, but if not get yourself over to 384 3rd Avenue where you’ll find awesome cocktails, beer, wine and many tasty bites in a very comfortable 19th century antique setting in the culinarily burgeoning Kips-Hill hood.

The Wine: Chapoutier Cotes du Rhone, cocktails and beer. $$

The Food: Four Cheese Mac and more.

The Place: Whitman & Bloom Liquor Company, a great new bar and restaurant with a warming fireplace.

Tonight's Wine Pairing - Homemade Indian Chicken and Vegetables with a GSM

Grenach-Shiraz-Mourvedre, GSM, from Minervois, Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France was a perfect compliment to a simple Indian influenced dinner tonight.

Indian food is considered to be a challenge for wine pairing but is really quite easy. With a few simple rules.

The Wine: Le Grand Noir Black Sheep Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre (GSM) $$

The Food: Homemade Indian Style

The Place: Our Kitchen 

Tonight's Wine Pairing - Classic French Food with a Classic French Wine

For a dinner at the Montclair French restaurant Fricassee we chose this white from the Sud Quest region in southern France.  When choosing a wine for a meal my first thought is the origin of the cuisine, generally you are going to find the best pairings in wines of the same place as the food. In some cases like Asian cuisine this is not possible, or a wine from say Puglia is just not available.  Next thought is what dishes we will be having, this can be tough because the standard rules of red with meat and white with fish don’t really apply in every case.

I chose this bracing white because it has crisp balanced flavors of citrus and melon, like a Sauvignon Blanc, that compliment a wide range of foods.

The Wine: Domaine Duffour Côtes de Gascogne Blanc $

The Food: French Broiled Salmon and a Meaty Cassoulet, with a Frisee Salad

The Place: A welcoming local French Bistro, Fricassee, Montclair, NJ

Tonight's 10-6-13 Wine Pairing Asian Inspired Dinner with a "New World" French Pinot Noir

We love pairing wine and food, food and wine, however we are inspired. Here at Mano a Vino we are shifting our focus to just that. Beer and Cocktails and Bars will be heading over to TheBadassPour.Com which we hope you will visit. Out focus here will be the great flirtations, courtships, engagements, and loving mariages of great wine and delicious food.

Last night was Asian inspired, all fresh ingredients from the Montclair Farmers Market.  So the wine? The immediate and easy answer for a red wine when the meal is Asian? Pinot Noir of course. 

The Wine: Black Sheep Le Grand Noir Pinot Noir $

The Food: Asian Inspired Dinner, Seared Tuna from the Farmer's Market

The Place: Home