Daily Loaf

Tuesday, September 22: The NoHo Bistro
Harvest Wine Dinner. Underdog Wines are paired with each of the meal’s five courses, which include crudites and red pepper aioli, seared scallops with cauliflower puree, a green salad with sweet potato crisps, a duet of veal or a vegetarian option of polenta and wild mushrooom torta, and cardamom-buttermilk pie. Call in advance for reseravtions.  $45. 6:30-9 p.m., 1714 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa (813-514-0691)

Wednesday, September 23: Bern’s Fine Wines and Spirits
Potluck Wednesday. Beat the mid-week dinner blahs by stopping in for SideBern’s gourmet take-away — and enjoy a complimentary mini-wine tasting while you wait. This week’s one-stop wonder is coq au vin  with carrots, mushrooms and potato puree. $19.95. 5-8 p.m., 1002 S. Howard Ave., Tampa (813-250-9463)

Wednesday, September 23: Publix Apron’s Cooking School
Not Your Average Pasta. There’s nary a macaroni and cheese or marinara sauce in sight — instead, the menu includes: orzo salad with feta cheese and avocado; tagliatelle with fava beans, mascarpone and prosciutto; tortellini with grilled chicken in a dijon caper cream auce with sundried tomatoes and basil; and shrimp and casarecci carbonara. $40. 6 p.m., 7835 Gunn Highway, Tampa (813-926-4465)

Thursday, September 24: Carrollwood Cultural Center
Teach and Taste Wine. Wine guide Charles Visalli leads this series of workshops on wine etiquette, how to sample wine when dining out, wine varietals, the art of pairing food with wine and more. This week’s focus is “discovering champagne and sparkling wine.” E-mail timeforwine@tampabay.rr.com to reserve a spot. $25, $20 for CCC members. 6-7:30 p.m., 4537 Lowell Road, Tampa (813-269-1310) Read the rest of this entry »

This week, life threw a massive curve ball at Creative Loafing Media. Taken over by the NYC-based hedge fund to whom we owed a ton of money, each employee processed the news in a different way: sadness, optimism, relief. Me? I got shit-faced. On great wine. I figured if my family’s legacy is going down [my parents founded Creative Loafing and my brother was CEO until last Tuesday], I should consume voluminous amounts of quality juice. Fast. However, the questioned remained … which ones? So many choices, so little time to race and get to the promised land.

Obviously, I needed something high in alcohol. These sorts of wines emerge from hot areas, where the grapes grow fat with sugar and the resulting wine has more punch (sugar converts to alcohol in fermentation). Napa, Sonoma, Barossa Valley (Australia), Washington State (yes, there are areas where it isn’t miserably rainy), and a host of other delicious choices for the perfect Zen state of non-thought. Read the rest of this entry »