wine – Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard

It’s spring, it’s time for a big celebration and party!
Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard Turned One!
It’s time to toast with my royal readers who kept me motivated all year.

The challenge is, you guys are from all over, so to involve everyone, the celebration needs to happen virtually, so to speak.

So I asked a good friend of mine who works for Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, one of the largest wine companies in the world, if I could share their Employee Wine Sale (which is going on just now) with all of you, and she said YES! The deals this spring are specutacular with up to 70% off retail on many of the wines including Rosenblum Cellars! You would love it — it looks like there are wines for pretty much every occasion, both domestic and imported. Oh, and the shipping is included. So all you have to pay extra is your local tax. Sweet!

Best of all, you are encouraged to invite your friends and family for the same deal. All you need to do is to forward this email, all they need to do is to sign up.

Better yet, she and her friend will give us a wine-pairing tele-seminar. You can send in wine-related questions in advance (leave as a comment on this post). These experts should be able to help you choose the perfect wine from many choices they offer.

So when is it?
Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines Wine-Pairing Tele-seminar (Complimentary): Friday April 30, 2010 9:00 am PST
Call in number and how to post your question will be sent in your confirmation email when you sign up.

How to access the sale: the details will be given during the special call. After the call, sale details and url will be sent again via email as well. The sale ends on May 7th.

Cannot attend the call?
No worries! If you register, you will receive the link to the recording as well as Employee Wine Sale details promptly after the call — whether you were on the call or not.

How do you share this deal with your friends and family?
Just share the link to this post with your friend and family. If you could add a short blurb such as “Hey, check this out. Mari’s blog will help you whip up twice as many variety of dishes, with half the time and effort.” etc. that would be awesome!

With summer approaching, this is a great offer you cannot miss, and can share with your friends.

Sign-up for Diageo Wine-Pairing Call & Employee Wine Sale from here.

So what are your questions about wine, wine-selection or wine-pairing to these wine experts from Diageo?
Leave your question as a comment below. Please be as specific as possible — we are expecting a lot of people on the call, so if your question is chosen, I’ll be asking your questions on your behalf.

You can ask as many questions as you want — yet make sure to use one comment box per question.

Thank you for your comments, questions and sharing my blogs with other people!
You guys are the BEST!

Cheers!

Mari

Please note: Anyone can sign up and attend the call. The wine sale is only available for US residents of 21 years of age or up. There are different state laws in regards to shipping wines, so depending on where you live, the quantity you can order, etc. on Diageo Employee Sale site will be different.

Looking for a great outing that is cheap and fun? Do you want to know about my hidden secret in Sonoma Valley? (If you aren’t in the Bay Area, come visit and take advantage of this.)

How many of you like wine-tasting?

How many of you like to do it for free?

How many of you like a very generous offer?

Even though free wine tasting is recently a thing from the past, at least in Sonoma Valley, there’s still a way to do it. Yes, without buying a bottle of wine. (Many “reimburse” you for the price of wine-tasting if you buy a bottle.)

Do you have a VISA Signature Card, or do you have any friend who has one? If so, you are elligible for free wine-tasting in Sonoma!(<- Click the link for the list of participating wineries.)

Among many listed, our favorite is Buena Vista Winery.

Why?

We got $10 wine-tasting for free (2 per card). And on their tasting list, there were about 8 of them instead of usual 5. AND, the serving was generous — about 2 oz each, compared with usual 1 oz. AND, our guy, Quinn was topping some extra in our glasses! AND, he gave us 3 or 4 extra tastings that were not on the list and were from their private reserve list. AND he kept going in to the back to get things like cheeses and olives to let us experiment with food pairing!

Maybe it was because he liked me (or maybe it was the bubbly girls in their mid-20s – our friends visiting from Canada), but beside that, he was more than generous! Another winery we visited (we did only 2, just because we had so much wine from Buena Vista), there was only about 5 tastings of 1 oz each. 5X1=5 oz vs 10-12X2= 20-24 oz. You do the math! Either way you can’t lose.

Now you know why I recommend Buena Vista.

Plus Quinn was so knowledgable about wine and food, and outgoing and gregarious. We learned a ton and had a great time. A good looking, generous guy who loves to cook and eat (and drink, obviously)! Too bad, I’m married!

So if you go, ask for Quinn to serve you. If you go, tell him that I sent you. (Even though he may not remember me.)

Have fun and let me know how your visit was.

Happy Easter!

PS: For those of you who are looking for Magic Mushroom Soup recipe — I will post it by Monday.