Can't Finish That Bottle of Wine at the Restaurant? Take It Home with You

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Published on Friday, 22 June 2012 22:01

Written by Scott Joseph

This week on WMFE-FM, Scott chats with 90.7's Nicole Creston about a little known law that allows restaurant patrons to take unfinished bottles of wine home with them. You can hear the segment at 5:45 p.m. Friday; it's repeated Saturday mornings at 9:35. Or, click to listen to the podcast anytime.

It’s been seven years since the Florida legislature enacted a law that allows patrons to take an unfinished bottle of wine home with them if they are unable to finish it at the restaurant. The law went into effect on July 1, 2005, and when I first wrote about it for the Orlando Sentinel, in September of that year, few people knew about it.

Few people know about it today.

But it’s a terrific little way to free yourself from the confines of the list of wines by the glass.

Here’s some of what I wrote back then that explained the law:

Vertical Tasting of Freemark Abbey Cabernets with Winemaker Ted Edwards

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Published on Monday, 31 October 2011 16:44

Written by Scott Joseph

Freemark Abbey winemaker Ted Edwards

Update: Attendees are not required to pay a parking fee to attend the tasting. Simply tell the attendant at the entrance gate that you are attending a wine tasting at California Grill. This is also true any time you have a lunch or other business at one of the resorts inside the parking gate entrance.

 Here’s an extraordinary opportunity: a vertical wine tasting spanning three decades of Freemark Abbey cabernet sauvignons, hosted by winemaker Ted Edwards and local master sommelier John Blazon of Jackson Family Wines. Part of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, the tasting will be held at California Grill in Disney’s Contemporary Resort Saturday, Nov. 5, from 1 to 3 p.m. Cost is $225 per person, plus tax. Gratuity is included, and because it will be outside Epcot’s gates, no admission fee is required, although parking rates apply because it is necessary to pass the Magic Kingdom parking attendants.

But those who know fine wine, and the reputation of Freemark Abbey’s cabernet, will appreciate this as a bargain.

Here are the featured vintages:

1987 Cabernet Bosché
1987 Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
1991 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
1991 Cabernet Bosché
1991 Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
1995 Cabernet Bosché
1995 Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
1999 Cabernet Bosché
1999 Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 Cabernet Bosché
2003 Sycamore Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Freemark Abbey, one of the first 16 wineries in Napa Valley, was founded in 1886. Ted Edwards has been the winemaker since 1985. Edwards and Blazon will also be in downtown Orlando on Sunday as judges for the Battle of the Parks.

For more information about the Freemark Abbey vertical tasting or to purchase tickets, call 407-939-3378.

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Rioja Street Fare Festival with Scott Joseph and Wine on the Way Tonight

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Published on Thursday, 22 September 2011 10:06

Written by Scott Joseph

Tonight’s the night for the big Rioja Street Fare Festival with Scott Joseph and Wine on the Way. Here are some details for those of you attending:

• The event is sold out -- I have no more tickets I can sell -- however, as happens sometimes, people who have bought tickets find they cannot use them. If you are one of those people, post a notice on Facebook or Twitter and I can guarantee the tickets will be snapped up before you can say Vibrant Rioja! Those transactions are between you and the buyer or seller.
• With our event sold out and the Winter Park Chamber’s Sip & Stroll on Park Avenue, parking is going to be at a premium. Therefore I’ve secured the services of One Way Valet through Events by Grace to provide complimentary valet parking. Yes, tipping makes it not-so-complimentary, but this is a whole lot better than trying to find a space nearby. By the way, don’t park in the bank across from the Winter Park Farmers Market -- you will be towed. Just pull up to the Farmers Market on New York Avenue and the valets will take over. And don’t be concerned with the name of the valet company -- they assure me they will return your car when you request it.
• Please print out your tickets and bring them with you. Or, you may display the ticket on your smartphone as long as the unique code is visible. The people checking tickets will first ask for the name of the person who purchased the tickets, so if you were given a ticket that was purchased by someone else, give the other person’s name when you check in at the gate.
• The event is planned for inside the Farmers Market and around the parking lot, so dress casually. It’s a Street Fare Festival, so street clothes are fine.

I’ve invited a whole bunch of the area’s top chefs who have created special “street fare” dishes specifically paired to the wines of Rioja. We say street fare, but in some cases the street may be Rodeo Drive or the Champs-Eysees. Or even Park Avenue. The amazing crew from Vibrant Rioja have put together a booklet of the dishes and the inspiration wine the chefs used to create it. Who's cooking?

• Scott Hunnel, Victoria & Albert's
• Kevin Fonzo, K restaurant
• James & Julie Petrakis, The Ravenous Pig
• Jamie McFadden and Harold Henderson, barJme
• John Rivers, 4Rivers Smokehouse
• Gregory Richie, Emeril's Tchoup Chop
• Brandon McGlamery, Luma on Park
• Matt Cargo, Prato
• Tony Adams, Big Wheel Provisions food truck
• Steven Saelg, The Crooked Spoon food truck

Many of the wines you’ll be tasting this evening are not readily found in retail outlets. Wine on the Way has graciously agreed to make your favorite wines available this evening. They’ll even deliver them for free in the cutest little delivery car you’ve ever seen. (It’ll be there tonight; don’t trip over it.)

A portion of tonight’s proceeds will benefit one of my favorite organizations, Canine Companions for Independence. These good folks train dogs to assist disabled people in performing the everyday duties you and I take for granted, like picking up something you’ve dropped or helping you take your socks off. They’re really amazing, and we’ll have some CCI representatives there with some of the doggies.

What else? Some fun surprises. See you there.

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Capital Grille's Most Generous Pour

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Published on Monday, 01 August 2011 10:22

Written by Scott Joseph

The Capital Grille is in the midst of its “Generous Pour” promotion, a summer event (through September 4) that offers diners a chance to pair some of the steakhouse’s popular dishes with some well-thought-out wine selections.

Generous is the appropriate word here. For just $25 with your dinner purchase -- and there is no minimum food purchase required -- you may sample as many of the promotional wines as you wish. The wines, which were chosen by Darden’s resident master sommelier, George Miliotes, include: La Cana albarino (2010), a light Spanish wine; a fuller bodied 2008 Chateau St. Jean chardonnay; an Italian merlot from Conte Brandolini (2006); a Spanish red, 2009 Tarima Hill monastrell, also known as Mouvedre; Freemark Abbey’s Cabernet Bosche (2003); a 2006 cabernet sauvignon from Chalk Hill Estate; Byron pinot noir (2009); and a French sparkling wine, Marquis de la Tour (nv) from the Loire Valley (and so technically not a Champagne). There is also a port style wine for dessert called The Portly Gentleman from RL Buller in Australia, about as far from Portugal as you can get.