Wines of Italy
As much of the world is heading to the 43rd Annual VinItaly, the world's largest wine show, we are taking aim at some of our favorite Italian selections. Italy has been producing wine longer than (almost) recorded history, albeit, we didn't really see the Italian Wine Renaissance in this country until about 20 years ago.
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Want to see the NEW courses in Spring 2009? Download a schedule.

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World of Reds--HIGH END EDITION
Tuesday, April 14th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: P. Kelly Wheeler

This is one of our first formats that we coined in 2004 and it just gets better and better. Eight (8) specially selected reds hailing from global destinations, ALL PRICED OVER $60/bottle retail. >>>> More Info

For Beginners ONLY
Wednesday, April 14th (LIT Kitchen in Midtown)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Sure you can drink it, but can you pair it? Can you speak it? Come to terms with it in a special tasting that helps you express yourself in the world of wines. Don't be left standing there holding the bottle--get more confidence and find more pleasure in every sip.

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Certified Specialist of Wine Training Program (5 seats remain)
Sunday, April 19th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Get the confidence that comes with having a "wine expert" credential. Includes 18 hours of training sessions, 250-page Study Guide, 250-page four-color binder of lecture slides, quizzes, and exam. OVER 100 enthusiasts have gained this credential through us since November 2007. >>>> More Info (Discounts for Trade Personnel)

France: A Total Immersion (8 seats remain)
Wednesday, April 22nd (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

When it comes to French wine, it is simply about one "first" after another. Moreover, it takes more than one class to understand, appreciate and learn her wines (and cheeses). This four-class course includes a spiral-bound book of lectures, maps, pictures and will cover the world's #1 producer of fine wine like you've never experienced. >>>> More Info

Wines & Cheeses (this class was mentioned in today's Wall Street Journal)
Thursday, April 23rd (LIT Kitchen in Midtown)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Artisanal cheeses are no less labors of love than their wine counterparts. Location of pastureland, seasonality of milks, and aging all weigh heavily on the final taste experience. Join us for 8 pairings of wine & cheese. >>>> More Info

Riedel Tasting with CEO Maximilian Josef Riedel (30 Seats Remain)
Thursday, April 30th (Piedmont Room in Midtown)
Presenter: Max Riedel

Join us for a special tasting using Riedel's Vinum XL Crystal. Taste the extraordinary difference that Riedel wine glasses make in appreciating wine. This seated affair, conducted by Max Riedel, will include aperitif, lite bites and wines, along with your own 4-glass set of Riedel Stemware to take home. Secure your reservation (and your stemware purchase) now!>>>> More Info

Taste Like a Pro
Tuesday, May 5th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: P. Kelly Wheeler

Join Kelly Wheeler for some in-depth cues, pointers, and methodologies for the proper analysis, evaluation, and ultimately the conclusion of wine's identity--blind.

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A Lesson on Lamb: Two weeks ago, while in France, I met Aaron Shaw, Partner of Ottawa, Canada's Vintage Trade, an importer of fine wines. Aaron has a great palate for wine, and seemed to show a nack for cooking as well. After dining on lamb shank one evening in Avignon, France, we discussed its preparation. Now that we are home, Aaron not only emailed his successful recipe for me to share, but included pics as well. Merci, Bon Ami! First I browned the shanks in a cast iron frying pan, any frying pan will do, but I like cast iron because it holds the heat better with big pieces of meat (see photo "browning the shanks in frying pan"). I then tightly packed the shanks in a roasting pan with tomatoes, lemons, rosemary, onions, garlic, dried cranberries, cumin, cinnamon and white wine. You can use any ingredients you wish for this, but generally I find it better to use ingredients with a robust flavour that will stand up to the lamb (photo "shanks ready for the oven). I was going for a slightly Moroccan-style dish. The good thing is that because it will all be cooked together for a while, you really do not need to finely chop anything, it can all be coarsely chopped. Lamb shanks are tough, so you do need to cook them longer so they become tender. If you want to do it faster, you can heat the oven to 350 F and they will be done in about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. My dinner was on Friday night, so I assembled the dish in the roasting pan on Thursday night, put it in the refrigerator overnight. I then put the pan in the oven on Friday morning, set the oven at 180 F and let it braise all day while I was out. I got home at 6pm and the shanks were ready to be served by 6:30pm, I just quickly made some couscous with fresh mint to serve with the lamb and I was good to go. Super easy. Note: for cooking the shanks, you will want to tightly cover the pan in aluminium foil so it locks in the flavours and they do not dry out.

• Atlanta Mourns Loss of Wine Professional, Henri Ferrier
  Atlanta’s wine world is mourning the loss of one of its most jovial and most dedicated workers, Henri Ferrier, recently with Dreyfus, Ashby & Co. Jane Garvey wrote a nice tribute; download here.
• Drop Your Prices, Bordeaux, or We Won't Buy You, Say British Importers!
  Bordeaux is awash in unsold wine, and merchants are pressuring the top wine producers to drop their prices on the 2008 vintage by 50 percent in order to jumpstart sales. Sales have skidded to a halt since the economic crisis hit in October. Importers and retailers around the world, suffering from a credit crunch, have frozen new orders and sometimes even canceled previous orders. >> More
• Dregs Report Catches Some with April Fools Website
  A collaberation of writers and bloggers put together this wine humor trick. >> More
• Once Again, California Beats the French in Blind Tasting
  Ned Towle, director of the Westchester Wine School and organizer of the event, used the same wines that were tasted in 1973 — current vintages, of course — with two exceptions. >> More
• From Subscriber Susan Blomely...the "Wine Angels" in Texas
  Texas de Brazil takes a page from the Las Vegas branch of Aureole, where “wine angels” on cables levitate up and float down a four-story wine skyscraper to get the bottle you need. >> More
• When Your Brand is BANNED!
  Strengthening European protections of place names and wine terminology are forcing U.S. producers to find a new identity for products traditionally labeled "port" or similar, Old World-based names. >> More

Jane's Monthly Dozen: Italian Wines
by Jane Garvey

Italy as a wine producing country swaps primary position with France, as the two go back and forth for Number One status in the world of wine. Currently, Italy may hold the spot by just a notch. Wine is so threaded into the Italian culture it comes as natural as breathing.

Early April begins the splendid Italian wine trade show known as VinItaly, held every year in Verona, the picturesque town that was home to Shakespeare's ill-fated lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Many Atlanta wine importers and distributors will attend this magnificent show, which covers something on the order of one million square meters of floor space in 11 exhibition halls, nearly all of it devoted to Italian wines. Then, if we're lucky, they’ll come back with ever more fabulous wines from Enotria. Just try any Italian red, even a Lambrusco, some time with fried chicken, and you’ll see what I mean.

The vast variety of grape types and styles makes it imperative that we explore beyond the usual and the familiar. If you’ve been stuck on Pinot Grigio, now is the time to visit other grape types. Italians are especially fond of red wines, and I have a hard time getting Italian friends to enjoy the whites as much as I do, but they're especially disparaging of Pinot Grigio. One friend complains that many vintners are ripping up good vines to plant Pinot Grigio because we are so willing to drink it and in some cases pay too munch money for it. Recently, I was sampled on a Pinot Grigio from Sicily. Sicily is too hot for this grape, and so it was heavily acid adjusted and so out of wack I couldn’t believe anybody would produce it. But I do enjoy those that come from the north, from the Friuli and from Alto Adige.

On the other hand, many of us tend still to disparage Chianti because we remember the basket bottles of medicinal-tasting cheap stuff that we drank back in our student days. Liquid razors, I used to call it. Those days are gone, however, and today we should savor Chianti Classico especially with fervor and appreciation.
From its French- and German-influenced northern zones to its Arabic-influenced islands off the toe of its boot, Italy produces a range of wine types that seems unparalleled anywhere in the world. It would alone satisfy a lifetime of wine cravings and never come up boring. I protest loudly when a producer tells me that a given wine is made "per il mercato americano," as this usually designates something made in an over-the-top fruit-lush style or is completely over-oaked. Italy has a style of wine all its own, and ought to stay firmly devoted to its heritage, in my view. But I suppose all that just adds to the incredible viticultural variety we find in this ever-fascinating art-, food- and sun-filled land.