The Carlton Restaurant

This week, try a wine you can feel good about!

That is, try a tasty organic wine, like this one from Frey Vineyards, America’s first organic winery.

Frey Vinyard’s innovative techniques for wine production focus on revealing the best natural flavors in wine without the addition of unhealthy chemicals, and without leaving a carbon footprint. The result? A delicious, eco-friendly, organic, guilt-free wine! Enjoy!

Cool down this summer with a wine spritzer.
Bukisa.com shows you how simple it is to make this effervescent treat!

What you’ll need:
Wine of your choice
Soda of your choice
Fruit of your choice

Step 1
Frost some glasses by putting them in the freezer for a little while.

Step 2
Take your frosted glass and add your wine about 2/3 full. Now take your soda of choice and add it until you are about a 1/2 inch from the top of the glass.

Step 3
Slice up a little of your fruit and add to the drink for a little extra flavor.

This week is national friendship week, and what better way to let your favorite friends know how much you appreciate them than with a bottle of their favorite wine?

Or better yet, get together with friends and share a bottle!

Celebrate your friendships with a special wine, like Melia Wine’s “47 Friends.”
This delightful California wine comes in just about every varietal, so it is sure to satisfy all of your friends unique tastes. Plus, its attractive label makes it a great gift, and it’s affordable at just $8.50/Bottle.

Learn more about 47 Wines, and how to purchase at the manufactures website.

Click here or see below to read a great post from the Wall Street Journal’s On Wine Blog about how to hold a glass of wine:

How to Hold a Glass of Wine
By Lettie Teague

I had dinner with my friend Roger and his daughter Molly in New Jersey last night. Molly is just beginning to learn about wine and likes most of the bottles I’ve opened (“except the fizzy kind”).

I’d brought along a 2008 Domaine Nembrets Pouilly-Fuisse — one of best things about the Garden State is its BYO policy. Molly declared that she liked it. Then her father pointed out she was holding the glass wrong. “Hold it by the stem not the bowl,” he gently admonished Molly. “Why?” Molly wanted to know. “Lettie will explain,” Roger replied.

I explained that there were several reasons that the stem was preferable. First of all, if Molly gripped the bowl she couldn’t see the wine properly — and its appearance would tell her a lot. For example, if the wine was a pale white, it was probably young and likely aged in stainless steel and not oak. If it was deep gold, it was likely a bit old — or oxidized. And of course, if Molly held the wine bowl in her hand, she risked warming it up. She didn’t want to drink a warm white, did she?

Finally, I said, holding the glass by the bowl just didn’t look very nice. It’s much more elegant to hold it by the stem.

Molly, who is always very well-turned out, could appreciate this third rationale. Then she began looking around. “That man is holding his glass by the bowl,” she pointed out. “And so is that other guy.” The three of us waited to see what other diners would do.  Who would have guessed the proper-looking man would be a glass-gripper? Or that the couple with the cheap Sauvignon Blanc actually knew what to do? It made for a good few minutes of sport — and then we went back to the wine in our glasses.

August is Romance Awareness Month!

You won’t want to let it pass you by with these fabulous romantic wines.

Celebrate this month with the special someone in your life, by trying out one of the top ten most romantic wines, rated by novusvinum.com

Find a wine that works for you, whatever your taste or budget!

Champagne Deutz – 1999 Amour de Deutz Blanc de Blancs; $150
Champagne Piper-Heidsieck – Cuvée Sublime; $49
DeRose Vineyards- 2007 Viognier; $27
Little Black Dress Wines – 2007 Pinot Grigio; $9
Contessa Wine Cellars- Rosa d’Amore; $17
O’Brien Estate- 2006 Seduction; $45
Two Hands Wines- 2007 Aphrodite Cabernet Sauvignon; $165
Watts Winery- 2003 Dos Amores; $24
Peju Province Winery- 2006 Zinfandel Port Delicias; $50
Osborne Ports & Sherries- Osborne Pedro Ximénez 1827 Sherry; $18

Wine this August is just Peachy!

August is national peach month, and what better way to celebrate than with a sweet and refreshing glass of peach wine? Try Florida Wine’s “White Gold”. ($16.95/Bottle)

This Florida wine is made from 100% of the very best white peaches, and has a sweetness that is sure to satisfy your peachy cravings.

It is a tasty addition to dinner, light summery snacks, or just for sipping while you relax this August. It can even be poured over peach or vanilla flavored ice cream for a unique sweet dessert.

We love cooking with wine… Sometimes, we even put it in the food!

Check out this wine-inspired recipe from allrecipes.com, and try something new with your wine!

Ingredients
1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon paprika
1 cup brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook garlic in oil until tender. Place chicken in the skillet, and cook about 10 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear.
2. Drain oil from skillet. Sprinkle chicken with paprika and 1 cup brown sugar. Pour red wine around chicken. Cover, and simmer about 15 to 20 minutes; lightly baste chicken with wine sauce while cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Enjoy!

Ever wonder how many grapes it takes to make your favorite wine?

Well, according to  800wine.com,
here is the approximate grape to wine ratio:

1 grape cluster = 1 glass
75 grapes = 1 cluster
4 clusters = 1 bottle
40 clusters = 1 vine
1 vine = 10 bottles
1200 clusters = 1 barrel
1 barrel = 60 gallons
60 gallons = 25 cases
30 vines = 1 barrel
400 vines = 1 acre
1 acre = 5 tons
5 tons = 332 cases

P.S.: If you’re a Pittsburgh native or from western Pennsylvania and make your own wine in September (for the holidays etc.), a great place to get your grapes is from Consumer’s Produce in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Here’s a great old article about Consumer’s Produce from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

July is the Official Grilling Month, so have the perfect wine to complement your barbeque!
About.com has complied a grill-friendly wine list to match whatever your cooking up this July, and we just had to share it with you!

Grill-friendly Red Varietals to Consider:
Zinfandels will be able to handle a wide variety of red meats. Great with meaty, smokey flavors! Also, good for barbeque sauce, steak sauce, or salsa!

Merlot compliments grilled pork chops, chicken and garden-variety salads with lighter dressings.
Shiraz/Syrah is delicious with just about any red meat. Offering dynamic, fruit flavors, balanced with more mellow tannins and a softer-fuller body. Goes extremely well to smoked brisket.
Cabernet Sauvignon is made for steaks with a higher fat content and burgers of beef or turkey will pair equally well.
Pinot Noir goes with just about everything, and it is an ideal candidate for grilled fish – especially salmon.
Grill-friendly White Varietals to Consider:
Chardonnay is great with grilled fish (including shellfish), chicken with creamy sauces, and grilled corn on the cob with lots of butter!
Riesling is perfect for brats, shrimp, barbecue chicken, grilled pineapple and a variety of grilled veggies.
Sauvignon Blanc compliments herbs and citrus flavors! Try grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing or a citrus marinade, grilled fish with dill and lemon, or roasted peppers.
Gewurztraminer is a great choice to go with blackened Mahi Mahi, or grilled Cajun chicken with fresh mango salsa.

If you’re searching for a fruity, summery, delicious way to do wine, and we found it!
FoodandWine.com features a ton of fresh sangria recipes that you can make at home, and we just had to share one of our favorites!

Whip up a pitcher to share with friends on a hot summer day!

Rosé Sangria with Cranberries and Apples

Ingredients
One 750-milliliter bottle Spanish rosé
1/3 cup ruby port
1/3 cup Cointreau
1/3 cup cranberry juice
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 large cinnamon stick
4 allspice berries
3 whole cloves
1 star anise pod
2 cups cranberries
2 Granny Smith apples, diced
14 Ice cubes, for serving

Directions
1. In a saucepan, mix the water, sugar, crushed red pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and star anise. Simmer the syrup over moderately low heat for 15 minutes. Strain into a bowl and add the cranberries and apples. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Strain the fruit, reserving the spiced syrup. In a large pitcher, mix the rosé with the port, Cointreau, cranberry juice, fruit and 3/4 cup of the spiced syrup. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Serve over ice.

Make Ahead of time. The sangria can be refrigerated for up to 6 hours.