neworleans

The Classicist: Cheers to the 1st Ever Independent Champagne Invitational

Filed under: Wine, Events, The Classicist

On April 16th -18th in New Orleans, more than 50 of the nation's top sommeliers will be on hand to pour some of the world's most sought after wines at the Independent Champagne and Sparkling Wine Invitational (ICSWI), the nation's first ever conference devoted exclusively to independently produced champagnes and sparkling wines. Industry experts will educate attendees, pouring wines produced in the grower and independent spirit ranging from the superb high-end cuvées of the Grande Marques to the terroir-driven jewels of the small producers. ICSWI sommeliers will represent cities and regions from across the nation, with restaurant representation including Per Se, The French Laundry, NYC's Eleven Madison Park, Aspen's The Little Nell, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. All have broad wine industry experience including winemaking, retail, restaurant management and buying for private collectors.

Today, there are over 19,000 independent growers in the Champagne region, accounting for nearly 88% of all vineyard land in the region, with around 5,000 of these growers producing wine from their own grapes. These "fizz farmers" if you will are master artisans, controlling what happens on their farm every day unlike at some of the more large-scale industrial operations at the corporate labels. Worldwide, independent Sparkling Wine production includes Cava in Spain, Asti and Prosecco in Italy, Cap Classique in South Africa, Sekt in Germany and the sparkling wines of California. All together, there are thousands of champagne and sparkling wines to chose from, making the grower category ideal for authenticity, quality, value and ultimately choice. Smaller vineyards allow more site specific wines to be created for a truer reflection of terroir, and their extraordinary attention to detail is reflected in each grower's unique product.

Gallery: Independent Champagne

Tags: champagne, New Orleans, NewOrleans, sparkling wine, SparklingWine, vineyard, wine

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Super Bowl Towns Put Their Art On The Line

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Sports

Mayors of towns involved in sports conflicts often get into betting deals (usually involving food) but it's not so ordinary to have rival museum directors representing local pride. Art Daily reports that museum directors Maxwell L. Anderson, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and E. John Bullard, The Montine McDaniel Freeman Director and CEO of the New Orleans Museum of Art have agreed to a Super Bowl wager. The pair began talking via Twitter and have decided that the losing town's museum will make a three-month loan of a significant work of art to the museum in the city whose NFL team wins the Super Bowl on February 7, 2010. Should the Indianapolis Colts win, the landscape painting "Ideal View of Tivoli", 1644, by French artist Claude Lorrain will head from New Orleans to Indianapolis. Should the New Orleans Saints be victorious, "The Fifth Plague of Egypt", 1800, a landscape by British artist J.M.W. Turner will spend a few months in new Orleans. The paintings were decided on after a Twitter war that took trash talking to a new eruidite level.

Tags: Indianapolis Colts, IndianapolisColts, miami, new orleans, New Orleans Saints, NewOrleans, NewOrleansSaints

Baron Davis In New Orleans, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Sports

Our friends at Move Trends have pointed out another sports star home on the market. Baron Davis, the NBA All-Star player for the Los Angeles Clippers, picked up a New Orleans home during his time with the Charlotte Hornets when the Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans. His seven-bedroom New Orleans home was once featured on the MTV Cribs show and has its own media room with recording studio and a lavish master suite. The home has a landscaped front garden, secluded pool and an additional third-floor apartment with its own kitchen. The home had a $150,000 price cut in recent weeks and is now listed at $1.7 million.

Gallery: Baron Davis In New Orleans

Tags: baron davis, BaronDavis, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, los angeles clippers, LosAngelesClippers, louisiana real estate, LouisianaRealEstate, new orleans, NewOrleans

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Tomato Warehouse, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's home in New Orleans, Louisiana is one of the more unusual homes in the French Quarter. The four-bedroom brick warehouse has a courtyard with a small in-ground pool. The compound is over 5,074 square feet and has open rooms and beautiful exposed brick walls. The home includes a bordello-red home theater, bar area, beamed ceilings and a spiral staircase. It is listed at $3.65 million.

Gallery: Tomato Warehouse

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Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, new orleans, NewOrleans, tomatio warehouse, TomatioWarehouse

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Bond No. 9 Creates New Orleans Scent

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance

Perfume company Bond No.9 has covered just about every neighborhood in New York with a distinctive fragrance but the brand has taken on the Big Easy for a new Saks Fifth Avenue exclusive scent. Bond No. 9's New Orleans scent includes notes of cinnamon and sandalwood, tuberose, violet leaf, cassis and vanilla. The bottle has a Swarovski crystal fleur de lis on the bottle. The scent launches on December 4 and Laurice Rahme of Bond no. 9 will be at the New Orleans Saks to sign bottles on December 4 and December 5 from 11 am to 6 pm. It sells for $325.

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Tags: bond no 9, BondNo9, new orleans, NewOrleans, perfume, saks fifth avenue, SaksFifthAvenue

Nicolas Cage's New Orleans Homes Go Back To The Bank

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

t's official, Nic Cage is no longer a homeowner in New Orleans. The Times-Picayune reports on the foreclosure auction which saw Cage losing both his French Quarter and Garden District homes. Cage's lender, Regions Bank, bought both homes back for a total of $4.5 million, which is two-thirds of the value that appraisers hired by the bank had determined they were worth. There were no other bids for the property. Cage did not attend the auction. The city will collect $151,729 in unpaid property taxes. Cage owed approximately $5.5 million on the homes. The bank is free to go after Hancock Park Real Estate Company, Cage's real estate holding company, for the other $1 million and can also try to sell the homes at market value to raise the money.

Cage bought his six-bedroom Garden District home in 2005 for $3.45 million and listed it for sale for $3.7 million. Cage's New Orleans other home, the haunted LaLaurie mansion was bought by Cage in 2006 for $3.45 million. He listed it for $3.9 million. He has blamed his former business manager, Sam Levin, for his recent financial woes including a $6 million IRS bill. He still has homes in Las Vegas, England, Rhode Island and the Bahamas either on the market or about to be sold.

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

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Tags: new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Nicolas Cage's Two New Orleans Houses Listed In Sheriff's Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

A reader left me a hot tip this morning that he had seen a couple of interesting foreclosure New Orleans auction notices come up on the Trulia website. Could they be the homes Nicolas Cage has been trying to sell in New Orleans? A quick look at the Orleans Parish Sheriff website confirms that both of Cage's New Orleans homes on the market including the haunted LaLaurie mansion are listed as part of a November 12 auction. The houses each appear with a claim of $5,548,260.78 and Regions Bank is listed as the claimant against a real estate L.L.C. known to be used by Cage to purchase the homes.

It's just the latest turn in Cage's complicated financial saga.
Just the other day we learned that Nicolas Cage's current total owed to the IRS is now a steep $6,257,005. He recently sold both his Bel-Air, California Tudor home and his New York City apartment. Homes in Las Vegas and Rhode Island remain on the market

[Thanks Bill!]

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Tags: celebrity foreclosure, celebrity real estate, CelebrityForeclosure, CelebrityRealEstate, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

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Lafitte Guest House Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

It seems that nearly every residence of a certain age in New Orleans comes with reports of ghosts and the Lafitte Guest House is no exception. The Bourbon Street boutique hotel is a three-story guest house with 14 restored guest rooms with private baths. HauntedHouses.com says the house is home to several spirits including the ghost of a little girl who died of yellow fever.

What might be scarier however are the reviews the guest house has received on Trip Advisor lately which may be one reason that the charming property is up for sale. Some of the guest rooms have distressed brick walls and many have private balconies. It has a small courtyard and can host up to 50 people for weddings and other events. It is listed at $3.8 million.

Gallery: Lafitte Guest House

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Tags: bourbon street, BourbonStreet, hotel for sale, HotelForSale, inn for sale, InnForSale, lafitte guest house, LafitteGuestHouse, new orleans, NewOrleans

George Rodrigue's New Orleans Anniversary Editions

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Artist George Rodrigue is celebrating his 20th Anniversary in New Orleans with a special limited edition set of prints featuring his famous staring puppy dogs in chrome, blue, and gold on reflective backgrounds. Original Rodrigue works often sell for upwards of $20,000 (see some of his new releases in the gallery below) but each of these prints are priced at only $750. Each of the above designs is limited to 150 original silkscreen prints on heavy chrome paper measuring 35" x 26". Signed and numbered (of course).

Via ForbesLife

Gallery: George Rodrigue Newly Released Paintings

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Tags: 2009, art, george rodrigue, GeorgeRodrigue, new orleans, NewOrleans, rodrigue

The Brown Mansion, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's estate is one of the grandest in New Orleans, a city known for its grand homes. The Brown Mansion on St. Charles Avenue was built in 1904 for W.P. Brown, a local cotton mogul. The Romanesque Revival home has nine bedrooms and approximately 14,000 square feet of space. The home, which looks like it belongs on a university campus, was built with the finest materials and has ornate plaster details, carved wood ceilings and massive fireplaces. The stone home sits on private gated grounds by landscape architect Rene Fransen and has a terraced patio with a heated pool and a hot tub. There is also a built-in three car garage. It is listed at $8.5 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: The Brown Mansion

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Tags: brown mansion, BrownMansion, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, louisiana, new orleans, NewOrleans

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More Nic Cage Price Cuts

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Nicolas Cage is at it again chopping the prices on some of his many homes for sale. Dakota over at Curbed LA reports that Cage has cut another $2.25 million off his gorgeous Bel-Air home. The Tudor which Cage bought from singer Tom Jones for $6.469 million back in 1998 was once listed as high as $35 million three years ago.

Cage has also shaved a modest $250,000 off one of his homes in New Orleans taking it down to the $3.45 million he paid for it in 2007.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Bel Air

Tags: bel air, BelAir, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

More Nic Cage In New Orleans, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Believe it or not there is even more of Nicolas Cage's real estate to cover. I thought we went over most of it a few weeks ago but the Real Estalker reminds me that there is another Cage home up for sale. It's another New Orleans classic and this one has quite the spooky past.
Cage seems to have a natural love of the macabre, he collects ancient skulls, horror movie posters and haunted houses. The LaLaurie house is a six-bedroom home on Royal Street that was a house of horrors in the mid 1800s. Delphine LaLaurie is believed to have tortured her slaves. Accounts differ as to what actually happened but the stories span the range from starving, beating and imprisonment to far more lurid and unspeakable acts. In 1834 there was a fire at the house and Madame LaLaurie disappeared never to darken the door of her own home again. Some reports say screams and the sound of chains dragging on the ground have been heard in the house and several owners have bought the home and then quickly sold it.

The gray home has a modern interior including a new kitchen and beige walls. This one isn't as charming as his other New Orleans home and he has accented it with red velvet furniture and some rather sinister art depicting vampires, gargoyle-topped buildings and strange monsters (all of which makes the crucifix on the wall in the dining room seem a bit disturbing). Cage bought the home in December 2006 for $3.45 million. Cage put it on the market last fall for $3.9 million but it is now listed at $3.55 million making this one a definite money loser for him.

For a more Earth day friendly estate, check out the Earthship on the Bright and Spacious blog.

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

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Tags: lalaurie house, lalaurie mansion, LalaurieHouse, LalaurieMansion, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

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Nicolas Cage Sells One, Many More To Go, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

The real estate habits of Nicolas Cage are legendary. He does more buying and selling in a year or two than most of us could do in a lifetime. In the U.S. he currently has three properties on the market but overseas he's just sold one of his many homes. Cage bought the 11th-century Schloss Neidstein in 2006 for $2.3 million back in July 2006. It is believed that he spent millions in renovations on the 10-bedroom property which is on a hill and overlooks more than 395 acres of forest and meadows. But after all that work, Cage did what he always does, he moved on. The Telegraph says that Cage spent only one night in the castle.

Cage has a variety of properties up for sale from a $7 million island in the Bahamas to homes in Nevada, California, Rhode Island and Louisiana. While I've covered the other three, I haven't given the New Orleans, Louisiana house estate-of-the-day treatment yet. It seems a grave mistake on my part because it's quite lovely. The Garden District home has six bedrooms and grounds that include a heated pool and statuary. Inside the home's graceful lines, marble fireplaces, plasterwork, stained glass and curved staircase are elegantly preserved. The kitchen seems to be an overly modern off note but otherwise the home is beautiful and the rooms done in shades of periwinkle and pale blue are particularly winning. Cage bought in 2005 for $3.45 million and this home is now listed at $3.7 million.

UPDATE: This home is now listed at $3.45 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

[Thanks, Lana!]

Gallery: Nicolas Cage at Gray Craig

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Bel Air

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Las Vegas

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

Tags: bavaria, castle, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, germany, louisiana, new orleans, NewOrleans, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

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Magnolia Mansion, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The Magnolia Mansion is a Greek Revival masterpiece built in 1857 in New Orleans and is now a bed and breakfast and popular spot for weddings. The mansion is located one block from the St. Charles Streetcar, and within minutes of the French Quarter. It is historically known as the Harris Maginnis Mansion and has a long history that includes serving as the headquarters of the American Red Cross during World War II. The classic antebellum home has 13 guest rooms each with a private bath as well as formal common areas decorated in an exaggerated Southern style that includes red walls, velvet draperies and crystal chandeliers. The Magnolia Mansion website even promises ghosts (there's a whole section with ghost stories and orb photos from guests). The mansion is listed at $5.5 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Magnolia Mansion

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Tags: estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, haunted, magnolia mansion, MagnoliaMansion, new orleans, NewOrleans

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Rosegate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's home has a literary past. The Greek Revival-style home in New Orleans, known as Rosegate, is the former home of author Anne Rice. Rice owned the five-bedroom house from 1989 to 2004 when she sold it for $2.6 million as Big Time Listings reports. It was built in the 1850s and has high ceilings, large antique beveled mirrors, plated ceilings and antique murals in the dining room. The home is where Rice wrote many of her vampire novels and she set her Mayfair witches books in the home. Her husband Stan died of cancer in late 2002 and she moved out in 2004. The home is said to be haunted a couple of former owners who died in the house. The beautifully spooky home is listed at $3.75 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Rosegate