An Evening at Signature Wines

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending a wine tasting and food pairing event at Signature Wines.

Signature Wines specializes in designing customized and personalized labels that are placed on the six different types of wines made and bottled at Kelly Harvey's winery on the east side of Columbus.

Here is my columbus imPRessions wine label I created for my dream winery someday!

Signature Wine grapes are fermented and aged on the premises of Signature Wines from high quality California grapes. The wines we tasted last night came from the Alexander Valley.

Pairing food and wine is really a science. When pairing food with wine, always match similar flavors so they don't overpower each other. The food and wine should compliment each other. Last night we paired six different wines:

2005 Chardonnay with Robusto Gouda cheese. The light salty, nutty taste complimented the sweet fruit of the Chardonnay. Surprisingly, this was my favorite pairing!

2005 Zinfandel Blush with smoked ham and aged cheddar. The smoke and salt of the ham and cheese balanced the semi-sweet wine.

2004 Rose' with Buffalo chicken dip. The sweet Rose' helped temper the heat from the hot dip. As a side note, the Buffalo chicken dip was pretty tasty!

2005 Merlot with basil pesto pasta salad. Food flavored with basil is frequently paired with Merlot because the herb of the basil balances well with the flavors of Merlot.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon with sirloin steak and mushrooms in Merlot sauce. A hearty dish needs a hearty wine. The richness of the red meat balances with the dry red wine. This was my favorite wine!

2001 Port with dark chocolate truffles. This brandy like wine is traditionally paired with chocolate because both have a luscious, rich flavor.

After the tasting Kelly gave us a brief idea of how the wine is produced and showed us some of the equipment used in the fermenting and bottling process.

Click on collage to view larger images.

To place an order to have a personalized label created for you, email Kelly at kharvey@signaturewinesofohio.com or call 614.395.2355. There is never a minimum order or set-up charge for customized labels. In addition, Signature Wines offers a 10% discount on a case of wine with the same customized label on all 12 bottles. It make a great holiday gift!

Social Media and Wine Come Together

Love It!

One Hope Wine, The Vino That Gives Back

You might have seen me mention before that I enjoy wine, especially red wine. I also enjoy giving back to the greater good and have assisted many non-profit organizations. When you mix the two - wine and non-profit you get ONEHOPE Wines.

I recently started following ONEHOPE Wines on Twitter and am so glad I did. Such an awesome concept. ONEHOPE has many causes. ONEHOPE Wines help make a difference in the world by raising awareness and money for worthy causes. Fifty percent of the profits are donated to the following charities:

• 2006 Zinfandel supports the troops through the Snowball Express
• 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon supports Autism through ACT! Today
• 2006 Sauvignon Blanc supports the planet through American Forrest
• 2006 Merlot supports AIDS through AIDS/Lifecycle
• 2006 Chardonnay supports breast cancer through Susan G. Kohman

Breast cancer awareness month is October. ONEHOPE Chardonnay is the perfect pairing to fight breast cancer. Apparently, Chardonnay is overwhelming the favorite wine among women. So, why not turn that love of Chardonnay into a powerful force for generating hope in the fight against breast cancer?

Make a Wish!

Today is my birthday so I closed my eyes and made a wish.

It must have come true because I have the day off! :)

Today I will indulge in good coffee, a spa day, some chocolate and a glass of red wine.

Hope you enjoy your day too!

If I Had A Million Dollars

Yesterday I admit I was daydreaming a little. . . .

It's no secret I love wine, especially red wine. Growing up in northeast Ohio I have visited many wonderful wineries that surround the lake area. When I go back to visit I always find time to catch up with old friends either at Laurello's, Ferrante's or Debonne's while enjoying some of the local grapes. On our honeymoon year's ago my husband and I went to San Francisco. I made sure we took a day to spend time in Napa Valley visiting the wonderful wineries of northern California. I love spending time at a winery.

So, if I had a million dollars I would purchase a winery. A cozy little place around the lake area that would be called "Wine By the Pine". In my daydream I pictured myself sitting on a bench under a pine tree looking out at the lake while enjoying a glass of Cabernet.

To take my daydream just a step further I spent a little time designing my wine labels. Here is what I came up with:

Now, how do I come up with a million dollars? Well, at least daydreaming is a fun distraction.

What's In A Name? Lots If You're Retired Pro Golfer Annika Sorenstam

It's Memorial Tournament Week so I thought it appropriate to highlight a golf story.

The names of pro athletes has proven to be very valuable over the years. The latest athlete to join the name branding ranks is retired pro golfer Annika Sorenstam.

Recently announced, Annika will use her name on two new high-quality products - win and fragrance. She already uses her signature on a clothing line marketed by Cutter & Buck.

Through her global travels on the golf tour Annika has always enjoyed a good glass of wine. That's why she teamed up with Wente Vineyards to create a Syrah called Annika. This bottle of red is a blend of 75% Livermore Valley Syrah, 15% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Livermore Valley Golf Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. 611 cases of 750 ml bottles will soon be released at $75.00 per bottle. A little pricey for my liking since most of my reds are $20.00 and under.

SA Fragrances in Boston is Marketing ANNIKA targeting women ages 16-65. The aromas of amber, vanilla, white flowers and fresh citrus supposedly bridges the age gap. The perfume will be packaged in 1.7 and 3.4 oz bottle retailing for $59.50 and $79.50. Not knocking Annika, but I really don't think perfume when I hear her name. I'm sure the fragrance is lovely though and I wish her the best of luck!

Virgin - It's not just for music anymore (or airlines)

Last week when shopping at the grocery store I leisurely strolled down the wine isle.  I'm sure I mentioned this before, but I do enjoy a good glass of red wine, especially those surprisingly, delicious finds around $10.00.

Glancing up and down the shelves I came across a wine bottle I didn't recognize, a 2006 Shiraz by Virgin Vines.  Reading the back I loved what I read - "Dare to enjoy this wine without dashes of pretentiousness or hints of snootiness. Virgin Vines believes wine should be all about having fun and loving the taste . . . not waxing poetically about meaningless wine-speak and food pairings.  Simply drink this big, bold red with something or someone you find delicious."

This wine had a sense of humor and I couldn't pass that up.   I just had to buy it, after all Sir Richard Branson always peaks my curiosity.  I opened the bottle of wine with my pasta dinner last night and even added a dash to my sauce. It was good!

I wanted to learn more about this wine and why Virgin would extend their brand to include wines.  Visiting their site I immediately was asked to become a V3IP and by signing up I will receive exclusive information on Virgin Vines, be the first to know about upcoming events, and get free downloads  - cross promoting the music brand - clever.  However, when I tried to download my free music the links did not work.

Researching a little further I learned that Virgin Vines is actually one of the brands fromBrown-Forman out of Louisville, KY who also brands a large number of alcohol brands.

Overall, my curiosity was satisfied.  I saw the Virgin brand, bought the wine, drank the wine, sign-up for more info on their website and now I'm blogging about it.  Heck, I sound like Virgin Vine's dream customer! :)

Wine and Cheese Pairing Is As Perfect As The TasteCasters and Katzingers Pairing

Last Night was TasteCaster event number two. This time at Katzinger's Deli in German Village. We were treated to five different pairings:

1. La Tur from Piedmont, Italy - a bloomy-surface-ripened cheese paired with Il Follo "Cuvee Rustot" Brut Procecco, NV from Italy


2. Cave Aged Gruyere - a semi-hard cheese paired with 2006 The Furst Riesling from France


3. Serena, Three Sisters - a hard cheese paired with 2007 Mason "Pomelo" Savignon Blanc from Napa Valley (definitely my favorite)


4. Grayson, Meadow Creek Farms - a washed-rind paired with 2007 Eola Hills Pinot Noir from Oregon


5. Cashel Blue, Neal's Yard - a blue cheese paired with 2007 Reginato "Celestina" from Argentina

The event was delicious, information and fun. Wendy Hunsinger, Specialty Food Manager from Katzinger's really knew how to make both the wine and cheese taste so much better when complimenting each other.

Katzinger's offers various tastings like this to the public. For more information visit their website. In fact, next Wednesday they are hosting a Meat Maddness and Beer Tasting featuring Columbus' own Elevator Beers for just $23.95.

As a Tweet-deal, Katzingers is also offering 10% off all the cheeses that we tasted last night now through Easter. Just give them your Twitter name at the register. If you don't have one, tell them @cbusimpressions sent you!

Here are a few photos from last night.

Wine Podcast

Yesterday I was doing some social marketing through Facebook and came across a feed from one of our on-line friends that said they would be attending this weeks Wine Crush Program. Loving wine, especially the reds, and having a curious nature I clicked on the link to see what it was all about.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a social networking "event" hosted by The Wine Crush. The Wine Crush is a radio program hosted by wine enthusiasts Laura Lawson and Michael Ambrose. Unfortunately the program does not run on Ohio radio. But never fear, their web site has a listen gallery where they podcast their broadcasts. This "event" was a podcast focused around Valentine's Day and wines that make this holiday extra special. Podcasts with various interesting topics from the last year can also be found in their listen gallery.

I'll be listening to all of these over the next few months and dreaming of the winery I wish I owned - "Wine by the Pine."

Red, Red, Wine

We love red wine. We love red wine even more when we find out that a winery dedicates their time to philanthropy. Today we found out that Five Rivers Winery makes it their mission to build awareness for the treatment, prevention and advocacy of women's cancers.

The Five Rivers Winery lives in the Central Coast of California. They've won awards for many of their wines - merlot, cab and pinot noir among the red. We think they should also win an award for their Save a Goddess stories. Now this is a company that is running their business with a big heart!

Can't wait to try these wines!

Camelot Cellars- one of our new C-bus Faves!

Last week the columbus imPRessions team made our way to an event organized by Columbus Young Professionals at Camelot Cellars Winery in the Short North (near downtown Columbus). We went with the intention of networking (and succeeded) but ended up having an incredible time tasting different wines, making wine and learning about wine decantering.

The winery made an imPRession on us because it was a great location, a cute store, and a very unique experience. For some people, these types of wine events can be intimidating, but Chuck and Mary, the owners would not allow that to happen. It is clear that they want everyone to have fun at their store because they have done a great job building this part of their brand. A networking event such as the CYP Wine Tasting is a great start to creating awareness. Can't wait to see what's next!

Marketing Wines With Artistic Labels

Wine labels are they art, a marketing tool or both?

Wine labels have a certainly changed over the years - not only their look, but their purpose. In the early days, most labels were rectangular in shape and included only one or two colors briefly illustrating the name of the winery. With the bland design all bottles blended together on the shelf. Today, wine labels burst from the shelves standing out because of bold colors, vibrant art and torn, warped shapes.

Why has there been so much change and focus on the label? Because nothing is as important to a wine's brand's identity as its label. One would think that the juice's nectar is the most important. That's not completely true. Because, today's consumers can't help but link their feelings about what is in the bottle to what is on the bottle. Therefore, in today's highly competitive world market, the wine label is more crucial than ever.

Some wineries a creating labels with a pull off tab so you can remember a good bottle. Brilliant idea!