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Happy Bastille Day! It was a day of gorgeous food, until dinner that is. I started out with a great green monster (spinach, Amazing Grass, blueberries, banana, pumpkin, and choc soy milk) and for lunch had a delicious homemade gazpacho (canned plum tomatoes, 1/4 red onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 large cucumber, 1 large red pepper, drizzle olive oil, 1/3 cup cold water, cracked black pepper, all blended together) with a sandwich thin and a big ol’ bag of cherries and almonds. The dinner at my favorite restaurant, Petit Robert, was one of the most disappointing meals in a long time. I will blog about that tomorrow as today I have reserved for only good things: New England coastal wine.

After our fab day in Newport on Sunday,we drove about 5 miles to Portsmouth, RI for a visit to Greenvale Vineyards. Back in June, we tasted some of Greenvale’s wine at the Coastal Wine Trail Kickoff and wanted more.

If you read my blog, then you know that I love wine. I love all of the dozens of different flavors that can come from grape varietals and storing methods, and I love the way the flavors bring out food. Over the past year plus, I have really gotten into visiting vineyards, and I have been lucky so far to visit vineyards in Italy, wine tastings in Spain, a wine tour in Oregon, and several vineyards in RI and MA, plus many other local tasting events and wine dinners.

I don’t just love the wine in visiting vineyards; I also really love the whole experience, the fields of grapes and the beautiful scenery that often accompanies these visits. Greenvale Vineyards certainly offered the whole package.

From the long country road, to the fields and marshes leading down to the bright blue sea, to the fields of grapevines, and the quaint, beautiful wooden house, Greenvale takes you on a mini vacation from the second you arrive. Though not far at all from Newport and the main road, I felt totally worlds away from the city.

The view from Greenvale's lawn

The view from Greenvale's lawn

 greenvale view2

Greenvale's store/tasting room

Greenvale's store/tasting room

 greenvale2

We were greeted in the tasting room by a friendly member of the staff and a gorgeous black lab. Nature: check, dog: check. . . wine: check. Meghan is a happy girl!

Doggie
We definitely planned on doing a tasting and got started right away. Over the course of the tasting we tried:

2006 Chardonnay Select: Oak aged, this chardonnay was not for me. I am not a chardonnay fan in general, and while this wasn’t bad, it just had a burst of oaky flavor that I don’t care for.

2005 Greenvale Chardonnay: This chardonnay was better as it was a blend of oak and steel aged wine. It had a more buttery finish and was definitely more drinkable.

2007 Greenvale Vidal Blanc: This refreshing, light, delicious white was the star of the day on Sunday, as it was at the Coastal Wine Kickoff. It has crispy, sunny flavors that are perfect for drinking out on the deck. I would pair it with anything from a light cheese to seafood to a light summery dessert.

Skipping Stone White: I also tried this at the Coastal Wine Kickoff. It is my second favorite Greenvale wine now, with a very floral nose and a slight acidic crispness that I would love with a nice curry.

2005 Cabernet Franc: This is a very lovely, rich red that tasted like dark red fruit and had a nice smooth finish. We didn’t buy any of this, but I plan on buying some for the fall.
The lovely and engaging woman who poured the wine for us chatted with us quite a bit about her upcoming wedding, and we talked about our wedding a bit as well as travel. She was a delightful person, and our conversation added another element about wine that I love, communication and socialization. The friendly staff at Greenvale are reason enough to return, and the variety of different, yet all delicious wines are a definite bonus. They also have jazz every Saturday afternoon. If you are in the RI/MA area, I would absolutely recommend a visit to Greenvale. I know that we will be going back and look forward to more adventures on the Coastal Wine Trail!

Tags: amazing grass, Food, Newport, vineyard, wine

Monday is over, and it is a short week! Aside from having to work, this weekend was really fun. I got to play with lots of doggies and cats at the MSPCA and went to a fabulous tapas party Saturday night, thrown by a friend from Barcelona. I didn’t bring my camera, and I am sorry for my lack of food photos, but the spread was mighty.

Homemade sangria, chock full of oranges, apples, and blueberries, Estrella beer, tortilla española (omelet-like with potatoes and onions), pan con tomate, Manchego cheese, chorizo, olives, pulpo, and gambas al ajillo (garlicky shrimp). I had a couple of small plates of everything throughout the evening, along with an Estrella and about a glass and a half of sangria. I had a lot of fun “eating” my sangria. The fruit tasted like wine, and was so yummy! We had a really great time. I love that our friends are from so many interesting places and that we get to share our favorite food and travel experiences.

 

As I mentioned several times over the weekend, Sunday was Bin Ends’ Fine Wine Flea Market. We started off a lovely, cool, cloudy Sunday with a pair of ugly brown monster shakes. I had been looking forward to these blueberry/spinach/banana/pineapple/Amazing Meal packed dynamos, but for some reason, and I suspect it was the huge amount of blueberries, they took on a gelatinous texture that was hard to choke down. I still managed it because I was draggin and needed my nutrient blast! We spent the early part of the day at an area near our home called Castle Island, a fabulous place for running, walking, biking, picnics, and a great children’s playground.

Brown monsters- in our class-tastic free Stella glasses

Brown monsters- in our class-tastic free Stella glasses

We have 8 nieces and nephews with 5 nieces living in the Boston area. We got to see and spend time at the playground with all of them at once yesterday which provided some great family time and also a great workout!

 From Castle Island, we went straight to Bin Ends. It was already crowded when we arrived at 1:10. While overall this was a great event, it would have been so much better if it had been outside. Our terrible weather unfortunately did not permit this. The result was a slightly uncomfortable space, but mostly because, as I experienced at the Coastal Wine Trail Kickoff, adults just become crazy around free stuff. I had my feet run over by carts a few times, and there were certain people that just really needed to pay attention to their surroundings.

 

Anyway. . .

as I said the event was great, and the staff at Bin Ends was awesome! There were 13 distributors with tables of wine, crackers, and water. Upon arrival, we received two tasting glasses and a tasting sheet/order form so that we could take notes and then order our wine. We tasted a LOT of wine. I have gotten good at pouring it out after a sip, and even still I know I drank a lot of wine. I won’t write about all of them, because there were many, but we did have some favorites and ended up buying 13 bottles. There were some GREAT discounts at this event, and if you live in the area I would suggest checking out Bin Ends for their variety of wine that is discounted on a regular basis.

 Our favorite tables were Martignetti Companies, Sun Wine,Grateful Palate, and Old Bridge Cellars. We ended up spending the most time at these tables, and out of the 16 (!) bottles that we bought yesterday, the majority came from these tables.

Bin Ends

Bin Ends

Some of our purchases included:

2006 Durban Muscat Beaumes de Venise – a lovely sweet dessert wine that I can see pairing perfectly with cheese or maybe an angel food cake with lemon curd sauce. We will likely save this wine for guests or to bring to a dinner party.

2005 Casa Santos Lima Pinot Noir – a very drinkable red from Portugal with a nice dark berry flavor

2005 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings GSM– a VERY dark red with berry and chocolate-y flavors. This was the most expensive bottle that we bought at $45, but it was down from $70, and its gorgeous velvety flavor will be enjoyed on a special occasion, perhaps our upcoming 3rd anniversary.

2005 Rejadorada Tinto Roble – have I mentioned my love of Spanish wine lately? This is just a really delicious wine, with a very long flavor. One website describes it like this: Plenty of fruit in the mouth – loaded with blackberries, black cherries and currants – this beginning and middle is followed by a finish of licorice, smoke, and earth. We bought several bottles of this, and will enjoy it for many dinners to come!

Fuzzy wine photo

Fuzzy wine photo

All in all, a really enjoyable day, and I look forward to picking up our wine orders on Thursday before the LONG WEEKEND!

Some of our in-stock purchases

Some of our in-stock purchases

I am off to make a huge salad with baked beans to refuel after my fartlek workout today, and maybe to have a little of this:

Haagen Daz Five Brown Sugar - yum!

Haagen Daz Five Brown Sugar - yum!

Tags: Boston, vineyard, wine

My love of Vienna goes back 20 years before I ever stepped foot in the place, probably before I ever even knew where it was. At around 8 years old and a voracious reader, I discovered the book As the Waltz Was Ending by Emma Macalik Butterworth. In love with ballet, I read every word about this young ballerina growing up in Vienna during the Depression and World War II. It was through Emmy that I learned about the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna Opera House) where Emmy was a young dancer, the majestic Ringstrasse, the big ferris wheel at the Prater, Vienna’s large amusement park, and the Hotel Sacher, where her favorite Viennese cake, Sachertorte was created. I also learned about the Gestapo, air raids, and what life was like when your whole world is falling apart. Her father lost his job, the family lost their home and loved ones to the war, and their Jewish friends disappeared. Over the course of my life, I have read that book at least twenty times, likely more than that, until I knew virtually every word, every street name. Despite the many horrors portrayed in the book, Emmy’s Vienna was a magical and beautiful place that I could not wait to visit for much of my life.

Fast forward two decades, planning a winter holiday with my husband, and he wants to go to Vienna!!! I can not even tell you how excited I was boarding a very early morning Sky Europe flight from Amsterdam to Vienna. Amsterdam had been mild for December/January, but we landed in Vienna to a fresh coating of snow. I would not have had it any other way. Retrieving our luggage and boarding the S-Bahn was so easy. It was a very quiet, clean train, and we were in Vienna in under half an hour. The hotel that I booked via hotels.com was Hotel Capri, about a 15 minute walk from the station. My husband speaks fluent German, so checking in was a breeze (English was widely spoken as well), and our room was lovely, clean, and had a balcony looking out on to the main street.

We took off instantly to explore Vienna, and in my mind, Emmy’s Vienna. Everywhere I turned, there was a street, a café, something that reminded me of my favorite childhood book. It was like I had stepped into someone else’s world, and it was so amazing.

Our hotel was very close to the subway which ran perfectly on time and was uber clean. When we stepped out of the subway in the city center, there was St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stefansdom), the gothic, foreboding, and beautiful structure whose bells ring clear throughout the city. This building in various forms has been there since 1147 AD, was partially destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII, and stands tall today as a symbol of the pride and stature of the Viennese people. It is surrounded by cosmopolitan shopping areas, which I enjoyed thoroughly. The Viennese are gorgeous, fashionable, and friendly people, and I felt extremely welcome in their city. In my book, Emmy received her confirmation at Stefansdom, and I was really excited to finally bring to life the images I had in my mind all those years.

Holiday decorations

Holiday decorations

 

One of the things that I had to do in Emmy’s Vienna was to drink coffee and eat pastries. The Viennese coffee, mélange is coffee with steamed milk, and it is delicious. I felt like a real Viennese lady from days long ago sipping mélange and eating apple pastries. But what really made my holiday (my year??) was going to the famous Hotel Sacher for sachertorte, coffee, and port.
I wish I was a food blogger at this point in my life because I would have taken a million photos inside the Hotel Sacher. Its majestic warmth and style gave way to a relaxing afternoon over this dense chocolate cake with apricot jam filling and a light chocolate frosting. The port was leggy and slightly syrupy and went perfectly with a rich Viennese coffee and some German newspapers which I actually was able to read a bit before our Austrian/German/Swiss holiday was done.

Hofburg Palace at night

Hofburg Palace at night

Another culinary delight was Naschmarkt, Vienna’s 1.5 km outdoor market. Here you can buy and sample anything from bread to cheese to sushi to nuts and candy. Literally an entire kilometer and a half of food and drink. It was cold outside, but the closeness of the market stalks kept us warm. Here I tried sweet red peppers stuffed with fresh goat’s cheese. The textures worked together perfectly, the slight crunch of the partially cooked pepper with the cold creaminess of the goat cheese. This snack was rich enough to fill me up for quite awhile. Nashmarkt is a place that I could, and did, spend hours just marveling at the types and beauty of the food. No foodie visit to Vienna is complete without a stop here!

Even when traveling, we like to eat some of our meals in, and Vienna was no exception. It was quite funny because while our hotel room did not have a fridge, we did have a balcony, and it was quite cold outside! We shopped at the Spar right down the street from the hotel and bought a couple of types of cheese, some fruit, yogurt, Viennese sausage, and of course, some Franziskaner beer from nearby Germany. With our little makeshift “fridge” we were able to eat healthy inexpensive breakfasts and have light dinners and snacks back at our room. There really is nothing like opening your balcony door and grabbing a cold one!

The Prater

The Prater

Stefansdom

Stefansdom

 

My final Vienna favorite, and one that I discovered through research and not through Emmy, was Austrian wine taverns. Heurigen, as they are called, dot the Austrian countryside, serving local wine, bits of food, and lively singing. We were staying in the city so we visited one of the city taverns, Esterházykeller on Esterhazygasse, incidentially, one of the streets that Emmy lived on as a child. Esterházykeller has been operating since 1683 and has quite the history and a very old, otherworldly feeling. In order to reach this tavern, you descend several flights of stony stairs to a cave-like tavern. The walls are stone, and the benches are old wood, the rooms lit by very dim lighting. We did not eat here, but each had Welschriesling, a light and refreshing white that almost had the effervescence of a vinho verde. Not knowing about Austrian wine, I was pleasantly surprised at its taste, and really enjoyed the medieval-feeling surroundings of the heuriger.

Esterhazykeller

On our walk back to the hotel on our last night after one last lap around the city, we stopped at one of the many Glüwein stands on the streets. Glüwein is a hot, mulled red wine that is popular in many European countries around the winter holidays. Its warm spiciness heated us up as we walked along the DanubeCanal , looking at the holiday lights, and never wanting to leave Vienna.

This trip also included several days in Amsterdam (a trip I have made many times), Munich, and Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. I am planning upcoming posts on those stops as well as on our visit to Dachau, which will be a heavy post, but one I feel the need to share.

I am hoping to spend some more time in Austria in the very near future, perhaps a summer trip that includes Salzburg and the Vienna Woods. I would recommend visiting in the winter though, the magic of the holidays just seems to truly bring out the spirit of the city!

This post is dedicated to the memory of Emma Macalik Butteroworth as a thank you for sharing her story with little girls all over the world.

Tags: Food, foodie, Gourmet food, riesling, Travel, Vienna, vineyard, wine

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