Another tidbit on Yellowstone – they have just announced a Women only Fly Fishing program. I for one like hanging with the guys for fishing – I like the competition and the strong silent types.
But when travel organizations get creative and cast out test packages like this one – we can reward them with our attention and approval, literally helping build the travel trend of serving us adventurous gals.
Below are the deets. If you have thought learning fly fishing before (and we all thought about it as we gazed on Brad Pitts sinewy shoulders in A River Runs Through It) now is your chance to act and book a hot summer sojourn! The price is right!
Scheduled for this August 10 – 13, the four-night program is based at Lake Yellowstone Hotel and includes accommodations in Frontier cabins; a special gift for each participant; all breakfast and lunches, and one dinner; eight hours of instruction each day; handouts, and use of equipment, including fly rods, reels, flies, fly-tying tools, lines and waders. The package is priced at $1,867 per person single occupancy and $1,649 per person double occupancy.
Under the guidance of nationally recognized fly-fishing instructors Molly Semenik and Matt Wilhelm of the Yellowstone Fly Fishing School, participants will learn about fly fishing in a fun, informative and non-intimidating environment. A wide ranch of fly fishing topics will be covered including casting, aquatic insects, reading the water, fly tying, safety, ethics and etiquette, hooking and landing fish and current challenges to Yellowstone’s fish and their habitat.
The "Fun on the Fly: Learn to Fly Fish" program is offered several times throughout the summer, although the August 11 program is the only one designated for women only.
For more information about this program and to make reservations, call (1) 307-344-5518 or (1) 307-344-5566 or visit the web site
————-PS My sister Jennifer (Mangan) Spenelli was a first assistant editor on Robert Redford’s stunning film and lived in Livingston during the filming. She loved Montana!
If Pink is the new Black, then Cheese is the new Wine, and Sommeliers will have to make room for Affineurs*. And if you don’t know what an Affineur is, then Sara Vivenzio’s The Cheese School of San Francisco will make the perfect alma mater.
I don’t think I’ve ever taken more notes or learned so much, or left a class with such a happy belly. Intimate classes are held in a bright, sunny room, and include detailed handouts, plentiful tasting samples, red and white wines, and a variety of “go-withs” such as fresh and dried fruit, Marcona Almonds, breads and preserves.
Sara was a professional cheese monger and buyer for Cheese Plus, a wonderful store a few doors down. She has recruited a talented roster of experts, such as my “teach”, Judy Creighton, an enthusiastic cheese educator and former owner of cheese and wine shops in San Francisco for over 25 years.
Novices can start at the beginning with Cheese 101, comprising of four courses: a Basic Cheese Primer, Cheese Selection, Service and Storage, and Cheese and Wine Pairing. However, true to form, I jumped in feet first, to a wonderfully stinky class: Extreme Cheese, which featured an incredible, international selection of Big, Bad Boys!
Our tasting started with Truf, a new chevre from Piedmont, Italy that was lightly infused with black truffles, and ten cheeses, later we finished with the award-winning Rogue Creamery Echo Mountain Blue cheese from Oregon. My fav, though, was an ooozing, dripping delight, Serra Da Estrela, a raw sheep’s milk cheese from Portugal, that Judy aptly described as “a thoroughbred just raring to get out of the gate.” (Priced at over $50 a pound, I’d better win big at the races to support my new habit!)
And trust me, after one two-hour class, you will be hooked. Not only will you have an enjoyable evening (some students brought their significant other–good idea for a fun & seductive date)! but you will cultivate a new appreciation for artisanal cheeses after tasting such superb examples and learning how they were made. For my next class it’s a toss–up between Ga-Ga for Goat, or For the Love of Chocolate. But I’m warning you… CLASSES SELL OUT REALLY QUICKLY! Check out their website for the latest offerings.
(*Affineur roughly translates to Master Cheese Ager.)
The Cheese School of San Francisco A: 1555 Pacific Avenue, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94109 T: 415-346-7530 W: www.cheeseschoolsf.com
P.S. Wouldn’t this make a GREAT Father’s Day Gift?
Ever since Ferran Adrià from El Bulli hit the scene, Spanish Food & Wine has been HOT HOT HOT- without any signs of a cool-down in the near future. Which is why I was looking forward to attending a trade seminar and tasting “The Spanish Market Now: Trends and Opportunities” presented by Karen Macneil, one of my favorite wine teachers and author of “The Wine Bible.”
The industry event, put on by the Spanish Wine Cellar & Pantry, in both San Francisco and NYC, showcased the latest food & wines from up-and-coming Spanish producers.
Rias Baixas wine region in Spain
Macneil, along with a panel of other wine experts, reported that they had never tasted so many great wines from one country and described them as wines that “underpromise and overdeliver” — often at shockingly reasonable prices (In part two, I will reveal some of Karen’s favorite picks for you to try.) Until around 15 years ago, all most Americans had experienced of Spanish wines was their rather characterless oxidized whites and tired over-oaked riojas. But that is a thing of the past. Read the rest of this entry »
Here are the six wines that Karen Macneil felt best exhibited the new trends in Spanish Wines.
1. Vionta Albarino 2006, D.O. Rias Baixas This hot grape makes the perfect crossover white wine since it pairs beautifully with California cuisine, Italian food or most any fish dish. Bright, crisp and brimming with energy-a good pick if you’ve had enough oak already!
2.Naia Verdejo 2005, D.O. Rueda Karen credited the New York Times with coming up with the perfect description for this wine–”Like Pinot Grigio with a Brain!” Fresh and lively, offering fruit, citrus and some mineral notes that would work well with any foods cooked with herbs.
3. Finca Antigua Reserva 2001, D.O. La Mancha A buyer in the audience beautifully described this Merlot-based ruby red as “smelling of Spain:a sweet dustiness combining oak and earth.” Aged for 18 months in French oak, soft tannin and flavors of pomegranate and cranberry.
4. Dominio de Tares “Exaltos” Mencia Cepas Viejas 2003, D.O. Bierzo If you like “Zins” than you’ll love Mencia- brimming with berry and spice. A perfect example of combining the old and the new, this new/old region is made up of slate-based soil with 90 year old vines that until recently had been abandoned.
5. Roda I Reserva 2002, D.O. Ca. Rioja You will find the Tempranillo in the wines of Rioja more subtle than it is in the other famous regions that use this grape. Roda is a modern producer that brings a new elegance to this traditional favorite. Compared to other fine reds, this is a steal at around $65.
I know you think that’s a punchline for a joke, but really — the borough is loaded with trendy artists, designer boutiques and some sooper restaurants thrown into the mix. Just a short 30-minute train ride from Manhattan brings you to a myriad of Brooklyn hoods.. with great names like Willyburg, ( Williamsburg), Dumbo, (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), and Bococa (which covers Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens.)
A fun day can be had exploring, shopping and eating your way through one hood to another. Some of my fav stops were:
* Moon River Chattel — an eclectic antique, gift and home design store, featuring some repros and original old- timey pieces. I fell in love with some of their antique lighting fixtures.
* Armoire — eye-catchers at this boutique were Ernest Sewn cigarette-leg jeans and gorgeous snakeskin slingback shoes by Jacqueline Schnable.
* Bird — a variety of up and coming international designers are shown here…selected by the owner who used to be an asst. buyer at Barneys. If you have a wee-one then dart next door to the new addition: Baby Bird.
* Matter – if you can’t find the perfect gift here than just buy them a bottle of wine and call it quits. Clever gifties range from the “still-life fruit bowl” which are perfect for designer-klutzes like me to some unique stainless-steel carved oil lamps.
By now you’re probably starved so head on over to:
* Franny’s, 295 Flatbush Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn (718-230-0221), arguably some of the best pizza — EVER! and this from a part of the world that takes their pies seriously. Franny’s is equally serious about their ingredients-using only local, sustainable produce, organic and hormone free-eggs and dairy, as well as honoring the venerable tradition of artisanal pizza-making. Even the crackling thin unadorned pie (extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt); is a thing of beauty-though I certainly didn’t leave even a blackened edge of my Clam and Chilies version.
If you are more the anal type, rather than a wanderlust, check out this edgy Brooklyn website that has everything neatly organized by hood, and then by topic (Shop/Eat/ Play/etc.)
If you’ve visited the Napa/Sonoma wine country lately, you’ve probably noticed that most of the wineries are now charging (sometimes hefty) tasting fees to try their wines, often standing elbow to elbow with a bus load of tourists, all jockeying for position.
In scenic Healdsburg, the Mayo Family Winery has opened a second Sonoma County “Reserve Room,” where guests can actually sit in a comfortable bistro-like atmosphere, surrounded by wine-inspired art, unique wine country views and a little mood music, and savor seven reserve wines with a seven-course tasting menu for only $20. Chef Jeff Mall (of ZIN Restaurant) foods pairings might include Dungeness crab, avocado and mango with the 2004 Chardonnay, Laurel Hill Vineyard, Sonoma Valley; and homemade fennel sausage pizza with a 2004 Zinfandel, Ricci Vineyard, Russian River Valley, “Old Vine.”
Finding The Reserve Rooms RESERVE ROOM SONOMA VALLEY 9200 Sonoma Highway – Kenwood – Sonoma Valley 707-833-5504 – Open Thurs to Mon, 10:30am – 6:30pm CHEF: Billy Oliver
RESERVE ROOM HEALDSBURG 340 Center Street – Healdsburg 707-433-9400 – Open Thurs to Mon, 10:30am – 6:30pm CHEF: Jeff Mall Reservations are not required, but recommended during peak season
Another tidbit on Yellowstone – they have just announced a Women only Fly Fishing program. I for one like hanging with the guys for fishing – I like the competition and the strong silent types.
If Pink is the new Black, then Cheese is the new Wine, and Sommeliers will have to make room for Affineurs*. And if you don’t know what an Affineur is, then 
Novices can start at the beginning with Cheese 101, comprising of four courses: a Basic Cheese Primer, Cheese Selection, Service and Storage, and Cheese and Wine Pairing. However, true to form, I jumped in feet first, to a wonderfully stinky class: Extreme Cheese, which featured an incredible, international selection of Big, Bad Boys!
Ever since Ferran Adrià from 
Here are the six wines that Karen Macneil felt best exhibited the new trends in Spanish Wines.
I know you think that’s a punchline for a joke, but really — the borough is loaded with trendy artists, designer boutiques and some sooper restaurants thrown into the mix. Just a short 30-minute train ride from Manhattan brings you to a myriad of Brooklyn hoods.. with great names like Willyburg, ( Williamsburg), Dumbo, (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), and Bococa (which covers Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens.)
If you’ve visited the Napa/Sonoma wine country lately, you’ve probably noticed that most of the wineries are now charging (sometimes hefty) tasting fees to try their wines, often standing elbow to elbow with a bus load of tourists, all jockeying for position. 
