Chef Odeh doing his thing at last year's gourmet wine and food weekend
Canaan Valley Resort is planning a “Gourmet Wine Weekend in the Mountains," and I’ll be there to help spread the joy!

Join me and other wine and food lovers on November 14-16 for an entertaining and educational gourmet extravaganza. I’ll select wines from around the world that will be paired with a cornucopia of culinary delicacies prepared by Canaan Valley Resort’s classically trained European executive chef, Nemat Odeh

And the good news is you will have the option of attending the entire weekend, or choosing to participate in individual events ala carte.

The Schedule of Events:

-Fri., Nov. 14, 7 p.m. - A “taste-around reception” where more than 20 wines from the world’s most prestigious regions can be sampled with matching culinary treats, including crab cakes, beef tenderloin, smoked salmon, pasta, a raw bar and other treats.

-Sat. Nov. 15, 11 a.m. – I will conduct an educational wine tasting and seminar where guests will taste and evaluate a number of wines from around the world along with matching cheeses.

-Sat. 12 noon - The tasting will be followed by a delicious three- course luncheon with specially selected wines.

-Sat. 6 p.m. - An aperitif reception featuring a selection of wines to prepare the palate for the multi-course Grand Gourmet Dinner which will follow.

-Sat. 7 p.m. – Chef Odeh is planning an autumn-inspired five-course menu with accompanying wines, featuring Continental cuisine and using only the freshest seasonal ingredients. I will match his goodies with some truly outstanding wines.

For information on pricing or to make a reservation, you may call 800-622-4121 or visit online at:www.canaanresort.com.

When I was growing up in an ethnic family back in the 1950s, wine was considered an appropriate beverage to be consumed with meals on a daily basis. However, conventional thinking back then held that only reprobates or winos regularly drank wine. These were the moral police of the time whose idea of moderate drinking consisted of consuming three martinis at lunch. Thankfully, things have changed.

Even so, I’m always looking for ways to justify (my wife would say rationalize) my indulgences and wine is always at the top of the list. Years ago, a study known as “The French Paradox” suggested that regular and moderate consumption of wine (especially red) with meals was the reason the French experienced significantly fewer heart attacks than Americans. This despite the fact that the French diet is extremely high in fat.

We Americans eat a lot fat, too, but we don’t consume enough wine to mitigate the negative effects. Therefore, our rates of cardiac calamities are significantly worse than the French. So while you may disagree, I think there is a pretty strong correlation between regular consumption of wine and cardiac health - and I believe in taking care of my heart!

Another one of my weaknesses is chocolate. When I was a kid, I thought chocolate was about the greatest food in the universe. Not surprisingly, my mother would try and temper my chocoholic tendencies by frightening me with stories about obese chocolate over-indulgers whose teeth were rotten and whose faces were scarred with acne.

But, like admonitions regarding carnal thoughts, warnings about the ruinous effects of too much chocolate were largely ignored. Indeed, they only enhanced the forbidden pleasure of surreptitiously wolfing down a couple of Hershey Bars in the closet of my bedroom.

Now, fast-forward a couple of decades when, much to my pleasure, I read a story about how researchers at the University of California at Davis released a study demonstrating that dark chocolate has similar heart-healthy qualities to red wine. In a letter to The Lancet (a medical publication) some years ago, these researchers reported finding that compounds in cocoa had an effect similar to those in wine in preventing LDL oxidation in the blood stream. One researcher said, “The pleasant pairing of red wine and dark chocolate could have synergistic advantages beyond their complementary tastes.”

So, where am I going with all of this? Well, it seems to me that by pairing chocolate with red wine we could create the perfect food and wine marriage, and also double our cardiac benefits at the same time!

Holy Cow, I thought, this information is on a par with the discovery of penicillin! I’ve always suspected that good things are good for you. Unfortunately, too much of a good thing is not good for you. The key word apparently is moderation in both wine and chocolate consumption. Oh well, that’s a small price to pay for this heavenly experience.

Over the past several years, I have done considerable personal research to validate the above-mentioned studies and have come to the unscientific conclusion that there is just about nothing better for dessert than a good full-bodied red wine and your favorite chocolate.

For those of you who are adventuresome, try this combination: Holls (or some other fine chocolate purveyor) and the cabernet sauvignon of your choice. One of my favorites to match with chocolate is Franciscan Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, see above ($22).

Go ahead, give it a try-- you’re too old to worry about pimples.

To breathe or not to breathe? That is a question I am often asked by perplexed wine lovers. No, I’m not referring to the actual act of breathing, but rather to a term used in the wine lexicon to describe the somewhat controversial practice of aerating or decanting wine to improve both the aroma and taste of the stuff.

While it is undoubtedly true that 99 percent of all wine produced is ready to be drunk when it becomes available in the market place, what you won’t know until you try it is whether or not the wine will actually drink better if you allow it to “breathe.” Yet some people think that merely removing the cork will suffice in allowing enough oxygen to aerate the wine. Unfortunately, removing the cork allows only a miniscule amount of air into the bottle. Properly aerating a wine in this manner would take about two weeks.

Knowing when and how long to aerate a wine is a matter of judgment and experience. The idea is to decant the wine into a larger, more open container to allow a generous amount of oxygen to aerate the liquid and release the aromas and flavors that have been locked up in the bottle.

In reality, oxygen can be both friend and enemy to the wine we drink, depending upon the varietal type and age of the product. For example, I believe that young red wines always benefit from aeration. The process of decanting and letting these wines  breathe for an hour or so can transform them from virtually tasteless and inert liquids into delicious beverages with pleasing aromas. On the other hand, aeration will also expose and magnify any flaws in the way a wine will taste or smell.

For older wines (20 years plus), my rule of thumb is to stand the bottle upright for a day before opening to allow the sediment -- which is a natural by-product of the aging process --  to settle on the bottom of the bottle. Then the question is: should I decant it and, if so, how long should I allow the wine to “breathe” before consuming it? Most times, I decant older wines right before serving to preserve the delicate flavors and complexity that have been bottled up over time. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of allowing a 30-year old California cabernet (which tasted wonderful right after decanting) to sit in a carafe for an hour before drinking it only to find that it had turned into something akin to Drano.

On another occasion, at a dinner party where everyone brought at least one bottle of wine, I forgot that I had opened a 25-year old Barolo and mistakenly allowed it to sit for 24 hours in a decanter. The next day, to my utter amazement, the wine had morphed into liquid Nirvana with exotic aromas of violets and spice, and luscious flavors of chocolate and dark fruit.

So here’s what I think. Reds under ten years old, particularly the heavier bodied varietals such as cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and syrah, etc., will benefit from one-half hour to one hour of aeration. However, one other factor to consider is the particular vintage year. If wines from a specific vintage were known to be fuller-bodied, for example, they might require even more aeration than ones from vintages where the wines were lighter in style. Older reds should be decanted and immediately poured into glasses and consumed since they tend to fade quickly once they are exposed to air.

Some fuller -bodied white wines such as chardonnay and Alsatian varietals (including gewurztraminer, riesling and pinot gris) will also improve from a half-hour to an hour in a carafe. In addition, very sweet wines such as Sauterne or late harvest riesling can improve with decanting.

Finally, the conditions under which the wine was stored will have a great bearing on how well the wine will stand up to air. Poorly stored wines will generally accelerate the aging process and thus be less tolerant of aeration. One quick clue to judge the condition of a bottle of wine is to check the level of the wine in the neck of the bottle. If the level is lower than normal, that could mean the wine has not been stored properly. In which case, you probably will want to open it carefully and taste it right away to determine whether it is drinkable.

So, like everything else associated with wine appreciation, there are no hard and fast rules - just opinions. Mine is: pour the wine in a decanter, pour yourself a small glass and give your wine a little breathing space.

What do WVU, pinot noir and Oregon have in common? Read on and you’ll find out.

So there I was on the campus of Linfield College in Oregon last summer, rushing to get to class on time. I had to chuckle at the irony of it all. Me, worried about being tardy for class? Any of my former WVU professors –if they’re still breathing – would certainly need to “suspend disbelief” in order to accept the absurdity of that image.

Well, I have to admit this was not your ordinary boring lecture by some pedantic, patch-on-the-sleeve liberal arts lecturer. Rather, it was a seminar which required the class to assess the various taste characteristics of pinot noir produced in Oregon and Burgundy. This “class” was one of many such explorations of pinot noir as part of the International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) held in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

So what’s so special about pinot noir produced in Oregon? Simply put, it’s about location. The vast Willamette Valley begins near the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington border and stretches about 100 miles south to the city of Eugene. It is approximately 60 miles across at its widest point, and is an incredibly fertile area which produces a virtual cornucopia of fruits and vegetables, including wine grapes.

The valley lies between the coastal mountains on the west and the Cascade Range to the east. The weather in this area consistently produces long growing seasons with warm days and cool nights which is what is needed – meteorologically speaking – to grow good pinot noir.

As I’ve stated before, my general impression of Willamette Valley pinot noir is that it is kind of a cross between the sometimes intense, fruit forward version of the wine produced in California, and the more subtle and restrained style which typifies how pinot noir is made in Burgundy.

The IPNC weekend was filled with tastings of pinot noir from just about every wine making region on the planet, but the emphasis was on Oregon. We were also treated to the wonderfully fresh local foods prepared by an all-star lineup of chefs from some of the region’s most highly regarded restaurants.

At one of the al fresco luncheons on the lawn of this idyllic college campus (incidentally, Linfield has the longest string of winning football seasons in America at more than 50), I spotted a young man wearing a dark blue sweat shirt with a huge gold “WVU” emblazoned on the front. It turns out this mountaineer is an Oregon transplant working in the wine industry for R. Stuart & Co. – a well respected and superb producer of pinot noir.

Kevin Wiles grew up in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and South Carolina and he graduated from WVU. He is the son of the late Edwin “Eddie” Wiles who was a former president of the WV Coal Association. I knew Kevin’s dad from my lobbying days, and so we chatted about family, wine and prospects for the Mountaineers in the upcoming football season. Eventually, I asked the inevitable question: how did you get to Oregon?

It turns out Kevin, who is 32, had worked at a wine shop on Hilton Head Island where his mother now lives, and where he developed a love for wine. While attending a wine seminar in Oregon called “Pinot Camp” several years ago, he met Rob Stuart who is owner and winemaker at the winery that bears his name. Rob invited Kevin to work the harvest and then later offered him a job as an assistant wine maker. And believe me, Kevin is loving every minute of the experience.

I met Kevin again a couple of weeks ago in the Wine Shop at Capitol Market where he was in town to tout the latest wines from R. Stuart. Naturally, I was required to taste along with the good folks from the wine shop, and I was very pleased with the latest wines from R. Stuart.

Here are three R. Stuart wines I recommend for your tasting pleasure:

2007 R. Stuart Big Fire Pinot Gris ($17) – Oregon, without a doubt, produces the best pinot gris grown in North America. This wine has ripe green apple flavors with a touch of minerality and excellent balancing acidity. Pair it with pasta sauced with olive oil, arugula, pine nuts and garlic.

2007 R. Stuart Big Fire Pinot Noir ($27) – Ripe cherry flavors and excellent balance characterize this delicious mouthful of pinot noir. Try it with chicken that has been rubbed with rosemary, olive oil and minced garlic and then grilled over charcoal.

2006 R. Stuart Autograph Pinot Noir ($50) This is the flagship of the R. Stuart line of fine pinot noir. It is at once intensely flavored, yet restrained, with earthy, spicy aromas, dark cherry flavors with everything in balance. This wine will improve for several more years in the bottle. If you drink it now, be sure to decant it for at least one hour and then serve it with roasted rack of lamb seasoned with fresh rosemary, garlic, olive oil and Dijon mustard.

Kevin is back in Oregon now tending the vines and getting ready for another harvest. Just like his beloved Mountaineers, we won’t know the quality of the end product for another few months, but we’re all hoping for a spectacular season.

It may seem odd , but this fine summer day we’re going to examine the qualities of Port - that sweet Portuguese nectar which is usually consumed after a hearty meal or by a roaring fire to ward off the chill of winter. Why? Well, the other night after a special meal on the patio, I decided to open a tawny port to complete this lovely evening. As I sipped and enjoyed  a relatively inexpensive version of this sometimes very expensive wine, I was inspired to tell you about the pleasures of Port. So today, we’ll look at the wonderful world of port.

First a little history lesson. Back in the 1700s, the English dearly loved the wines of Bordeaux, but because of their constant wars with the French, our British cousins were forced to look to Portugal for vinous sustenance. As they began to import red wine from Portugal, some enterprising folks added brandy to the barrels so the wines would be fortified to survive the arduous sea journey.

The practice of “fortifying” the wine was refined by the Portuguese wine makers who began to add distilled spirits to their wine during fermentation. This had the effect of stopping the fermentation and leaving the wines sweet. It also made the wines higher in alcohol. The British loved the sweet, high alcohol wines and the Portuguese were more than happy for the significant trade that ensued. Since that time, port has been exported all over the world and has become the staple after dinner drink for many wine lovers.

Some would suggest that port, like scotch, is an acquired taste. I can assure you that, from my perspective, port is a lot easier to enjoy than Scotch. True, there is a “baked” quality to the taste of this sweet wine that some folks take a while getting accustomed to, but once you try the stuff with a good blue cheese or a handful of walnuts, you’ll be hooked.

Port or 'porto' (as it is called in Portugal) is made from a variety of (unpronounceable) grapes grown along the steep slopes of Douro River. The river flows toward the town of Oporto, where the wine is sold to companies (called” Shippers”) who age it, label it under their house name and then export it all over the world.

Port is fortified which means that distilled spirits are added to the fermenting wine. This causes the fermentation to stop, leaving about 10 percent residual sugar in the wine and also boosting the alcohol to about 20 percent. At first, port was produced in a dry style, but the British changed all that and, in fact, many port producers today are English companies.

There are also some very good port-style wines produced in other countries, most notably Australia and the U.S. As a matter of fact, two of my favorite tawny ports are produced in these two countries and I’ll list them for you later.

SORTS OF PORT  Here are different styles of Port available in the marketplace: Vintage Port: This is the best and most expensive style and is produced on average in only three years a decade. A “vintage year” is usually declared by an agreement among the shippers and the wines are then given special care and aging. Once you buy it, vintage Port can age easily for 15 to 40 years before reaching maturity. Recent vintage Port years are 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986, 1991 and 1994, 1995, 1997 2000 and 2003.

Late Bottled Vintage Port:  Not to be confused with vintage port, this wine is a blend of ports from different vineyards in the same vintage year. Late bottled vintage port (or LBV) will have a vintage date on the label, but it is not vintage port. However, these wines are vinified in the same manner as vintage ports, except they are aged in barrel longer to accelerate their drinkablity.

Ruby Port: Young port wine blends from several different vintages comprise ruby port. They are lighter and fruitier than other styles and usually the least expensive ports.

Tawny Port:  I call this 'the poor man’s vintage port' because it is aged for many years in oak and, when released, it is very smooth and rich like an old vintage port, though not as fine. Without a doubt, this is my favorite everyday drinking port. Most of the better tawnies are aged for either 10, 20, 30 or 40 years and this fact is listed on the label. Tawnies, without these label designations are usually less appealing.

White Port: Made from white grapes, this is the only port-style wine that is dry. It is usually crisp, yet full-bodied, and makes a nice aperitif wine.

RECOMMENDATIONS  Okay, here is a list of some of my favorite port producers: Ficklin and Quaddy (U.S.) and Clocktower (Australia) are my favorite port-like wines produced outside Portugal. The rest of these producers are Portuguese: Warre’s, Graham’s, Taylor-Fladgate, Croft, Dow’s, Fonseca and Ramos-Pinto. Prices for 10-year old tawnies can range from about $10 to $25 dollars a bottle. If you can find it, try Ficklin’s 10-year old tawny – it’s absolutely delicious.