From Richmond During the Warby Sallie Brock PutnamUniversity of Nebraska Press, 1996, page 87″So ready were we to catch at the faintest shadow of hope which promised us independence and peace, that we gave credence to many ridiculous reports, and as de…
Hello, again. It occurs to me that I did not introduce myself properly. My name is Tina Morris and I am going to be one of RIFF’s principal bloggers this year. Last year I served as a judge and I am very excited to contribute to this third year. It is a pleasure to be […]
Last night I attended a Basics 1 Skywarn training as a refresher as I hadn’t had a class since 2005. The briefer was Greg Schoor, one of the forecasters from the NWS Sterling office. During the first half of the class he mentioned he had graduated fr…
Ahhhhh, the models have come in with warmer air at the surface for Sunday’s precipitation event. Thus the ice I was concerned about won’t happen anywhere near here, and the above graphic only holds a 10% probability for ice in the mountains. We will …
Bill Madden posted some exciting news on his Madd Brewer’s Blog today. He’s settled on a brewing system for the soon-to-open Mad Fox Brewing in Falls Church, VA. The brewpub is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010 so this is an important mile…
It’s no secret we are avid home cooks. In fact after all this time it is still our favorite thing to do and even better when we take home a wine that really sings with our dish.
Last week I made a creamy seafood pasta with American scallops and Alaskan wild-caught Salmon fish roe from Vital Choice (a seafood website I highly recommend), you can see the result to the left. I am the pasta queen. Having cooked for 5 to 7 people for years now, I have made lots of pasta, some fancy some some not. This one was made with fettuccine cooked just under al dente and then mixed into cream, grated sheep’s milk cheese (I used Hirtenkase from our shop), lemon juice, white wine, lemon zest, pink flake salt (also from our shop) and scallops. Top with salmon caviar and you have perfection. The trick with this kind of pasta is timing. Don’t let the pasta sit dry while you work on the sauce, and serve immediately once the consistency is correct (creamy, not too thin or thick).
The pairing with the Pierre Frick Sylvaner is what knocked our socks off. This Alsatian wine is another gem from distributor and importer Williams Corner wines. Pierre Frick is a pioneer of biodynamic farming in Alsace, starting the practice in 1981. All wines are certified biodynamic and fermented naturally with wild yeasts and spontaneous fermentation. Minimal sulfites are used – 15 parts per million where the maximum allowed in Alsace is 200 parts per million. Unlike some other Alsatian producers the Pierre Frick wines aim for low alcohol and terroir-driven wines, so while each wine shows its varietal character they all have an underlying signature that speaks of their terroir. This dry white showed lovely ripe apple, mineral and soft citrus flavors that made our dish really come to life.
We will be sampling this wine at our William street store December 11 from 4-8p and the Pierre Frick Muscat at our Plank Road store (same time).
From the Blue & Gray Brewing newsletter:Madison the brewer opened one of the oak bourbon barrel casks today to taste and see if Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout has matured into full-blown Minor Dementia.We found him shortly thereafter beneath fer…
TriCities.com has published a short article about three southwest Virginia brewers. Chris Burcher of Wolf Hills Brewing in Abingdon is featured in the article Cheers for Wine & Beer. Jim Strickland from Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blac…
