So often wine lovers fall in love with a grape. Like Miles with his beloved Pinot Noir in Sideways the people behind P.S. I Love You are devoted to Petite Sirah. The Petite Sirah noble varietal is often confused with the standard Syrah but it is a separate varietal with its own flavor. It is the same as the French variety Durif and takes half of its DNA from the Syrah varietal according to information on the P.S. I Love You website.

Why does Petite Sirah need the love (and advocacy)? Often this tasty grape is overlooked and the word Petite can sometimes lead people to think that the varietal is a less version of Syrah but it actually has a rich and ripe flavor. The website includes Petite Sirah resources as well as a list of events and a referral to wineries making award-winning Petite Sirah (I'm a fan of the Concannon Vineyards Reserve Petite Sirah myself).

[via the OC Register]

We write about plenty of wine and food festivals but how about an event just for the cocktail. Tales of the Cocktail runs July 19-23 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans and centers around the mixed drink. There are seminars, discussions, dinner pairings, bartending lessons and plenty of cocktail parties.   Carson Kressley, star of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," NPR's Kitchen Sisters and chefs Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Samuelsson and Suvir Saran of New York  are among the presenters.  The winner of the Tales of the Cocktail competition for this year has also been announced. Judges chose from 19 recipes using Bacardi Superior Rum, selecting Michael Brewer's drink which includes rum, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, cilantro and avocado. The Drink in History package includes access to all seminars, cocktail events, the bartender's bash and a private mixology seminar with Marvin Allen of the Carousel Bar. This package sells for $275 and rooms at the Hotel Monteleone are selling for $88 per night during the event.

I've been on a Merlot kick lately, while Cabernet Sauvignon is a great winter wine, Merlot's fruitier feel makes it a great spring red. Another great Napa Merlot producer Duckhorn Vineyards has just released their 2003 Merlot offerings: the 2003 Duckhorn Estate reserve and the 2003 Duckhorn Three Palms reserve. The Three Palms Vineyard, which has been producing Merlot since 1978 is located on the northeast side of the Napa Valley in an area that has rocky and well-drained soil. The wine is 75% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 7% Cabernet Franc. It spent 20 months in French oak château-style barrels. The resulting wine is described as smooth and full-bodied with a palate of red fruit notes and cedar and oak. The wine costs $80 per bottle.

Fans of  Hungarian Tokaji wine will have a rare opportunity on May 21. Royal Tokaji Wine Company will hold its first-ever vintner dinner in the U.S. on May 21, 2006, at  the Pebble Beach Resort. The dinner will take place at the Casa Palmero Resort and will be attended by Royal Tokaji Wine Company's founding partner, Ben Howkins of the United Kingdom. The seven-course meal by Club XIX Chef de Cuisine Lisa Nakamura will be paired with six wines from Royal Tokaji but the real treat comes when each guest is served  spoonful of the Royal Tokaji Essencia 1999, which sells for $500 per 500ml bottle. Beginning with the 1999 vintage, each bottle of Royal Tokaji Essencia has come with one crystal sipping spoon which bestows a neat 33 sips from the dessert wine. The wine has been described as being so different from other wines that it is like seeing a new primary color. Guests on May 21 will be given an engraved sipping spoon as a keepsake. The meal is limited to 35 guests and costs $195 per person.  Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis by calling Stefanie Brand at (831) 622-8761.

Another winner of the Double Gold at the recent 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition was Brown-Forman's Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. The bourbon received its second Double Gold medal in the Small Batch Bourbon 11 Years and Older category. The bourbon is released each year on the birthday of George Garvin Brown, the founder of Brown-Forman which produces the bourbon.  This year's bourbon which barreled in 1993 is described as an orange-red bourbon with flavors of caramel, light mint and dried fruit. The bourbon sells for around $67.

What are the 20 best restaurants in the world? According to Restaurant magazine, El Bulli, Ferran Adria's iconic restaurant in northern Spain is now top on the list, upsetting last year's winner the U.K.'s Fat Duck (shown here), which is now number two, where El Bulli was last year. Both restaurants specialize in experimental cuisine. French Laundry was tops in the U.S. at number three four and Thomas Keller's New York restaurant Per Se ranked eighth.

1. El Bulli (Spain)
2. The Fat Duck (U.K.)
3. Pierre Gagnaire (France)
4. French Laundry (U.S.)
5. Tetsuya's (Australia)
6. Bras (France)
7. Restaurant le Louis XV (Monaco)
8. Per Se (U.S.)
9. Restaurant Arzak (Spain)
10. Mugaritz (Spain)
11. Can Fabes (Spain)
12. Nobu (U.K.)
13. Gambero Rosso (Italy)
14. Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road (U.K.)
15. Restaurant Alain Ducasse (France)
16. Jean Georges (U.S., New York)
17. Le Cinq (France)
18. Daniel (U.S., New York)
19. Oud Sluis (Netherlands)
20. Chez Panisse (U.S.)

All of London is abuzz about the McDonald sandwich. BBC News reports that the new sandwich, named after its creator Scott McDonald, costs $148 and is being sold at the London department store Selfridges. What do you get for your money? The sandwich uses 24-hour fermented sourdough bread, wagyu beef, fresh lobe fois gras, black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit and English plum tomatoes. At 2,000 calories its not for dieters but a few curious Londoners have already sampled the rich repast. I think I'd still rather have the $100 Philadelphia cheese steak because at least your get a mini-bottle of champagne with it.

Another new tequila has made its way onto the market. Partida Tequila is an estate-grown tequila made by the Partida family in Mexico's Amatitan region. They make a Blanco, Reposado and an Anejo that has been aged 18 months. The Reposado recently won a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.The  Partida Blanco was awarded a Gold and Partida Añejo a Silver. The tequila was introduced last summer and has received positive reviews including a five out of five stars in the Spirit Journal  by F. Paul Pacult. It was the first time Pacult has ever given his coveted five stars for an entire tequila line. The Reposado can be purchased for around $50.

One of my favorite bloggers, restaurant reviewer, Andrea Strong who writes The Strong Buzz, has a new cause. She has created a new benefit to raise awareness and funds to stop the genocide in Darfur. The benefit, Dining for Darfur, will take place on Sunday, April 30 dovetailing with the Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington, D.C. on the same day.  Restaurants will pledge 5% of their proceeds to the cause. Last time I looked there was only one restaurant signed up  (Lassi in New York) but hopefully more will join the cause and make this a nationwide event.

Food and wine festivals are always happily decadent events but when an event is hosted by the Jumeirah hotel group, luxury takes on a whole new level. Th  first annual Jumeirah Festival of Taste takes place May 21-26, 2006 in Dubai and features perhaps the most over-the-top dining event I have ever heard of. It is called the Ultimate Dinner Party and will take four people on an unparalleled dining experience. It starts with a cocktail reception at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers where they can mingle with the celebrity chefs participating in A Festival of Taste, then they are taken by helicopter to the  Burj Al Arab for a first and second course. A luxury car then takes them to the Villa Beach Restaurant at Jumeirah Beach Hotel for a hot entrée. Then a limo takes them to the Pisces in Souk Madinat Jumeirah for the main course, followed by a short walk to Napa for dessert, coffee, cigars and digestifs. The evening ends with an overnight stay in a suite at Burj Al Arab and a morning breakfast as well as a receive a gift from Jumeirah to commemorate the night. The party costs AED 100,000 for four (around $27,230). Other more traditional events that are part of the festival include cooking demonstrations, wine tastings and book signings.  The festival kicks off with the ‘1001 Nights Meet the Stars Opening Event’ which includes a champagne reception,wine tasting, live cooking stations featuring renowned chefs and live entertainment.

Just in time for Edward Roberts International's latest fine wine auction March 4, the Chicago Tribune covers what to do at a wine auction. As they point out, certain wines are always demand because of the region, the vintage or the amount that remains. Wine auctions are a chance for collectors to get their hands on that rare bottle they have been looking for. Both Edward Roberts International and Hart-Davis-Hart wine says that the online bidding has become an increasingly large part of their auction business. The one negative to online bidding is that you don't get to sample at the pre-auction tasting. The Tribune article recommends checking the fill level of the wine you want to bid on because an unusually low level of liquid in the bottleneck could indicate oxidation. And of course the same rules that apply for any auction work here. Do your research first, know what you want to bid on and how much you are willing to pay.

Being a celebrity chef is not a bad life indeed. While many chefs will be golfing and soaking up the sun in South Beach later this month, others are at Beaver Creek in Colorado this week. The Beaver Creek Culinary Classic runs from February 1-5, 2006 and features Eric Ripert, Ming Tsai, Laurent Tourondel and many others. Special events include the Celebrity Chef Ski Race on February 3, pastry competitions including the Cake Relay and the Sugar Showdown which will be filmed by the Food Network, a 'Master Chef Challenge' and the Grand Tasting at the Park Hyatt Resort and Spa on Saturday February 4. Tickets to the Grand Tasting cost $95.

Want to serve your beloved a home-cooked meal on Valentine's Day but you aren't a great cook? You could always order a four-course dinner from Gourmet Station. Their romance menu includes artisan bread, two soups, a choice of two entrees (from a list that includes lamb shank and tortellini with shrimp in lobster sauce served with creamy spinach and artichokes and dessert for two (either cheese cake slices or heat or pop-in-the-oven cookies and coffew or tea served with after dinner candy. The package includes a card with a personal message, a heart shaped candle with matches, and a pair of cloth napkins with crochet trim. The meal for two costs $99.99 but be warned Saturday shipping costs $49.99 and shipping to arrive on Valentine's Day will run you $39.99.