We’re all fans here of Saveur magazine — it’s a great cooking magazine that shows us the best of regional cooking around the world, celebrates all that is holy and local, and provides us with recipes easy to follow and worth the effort. Checking out their website today I found the teaser Ultimate Cheese Recipes: 15 Creamy, Decadent Dishes. I mean, really, the Saveur web writers are geniuses. These recipes are perfect for the cooler weather of early fall. Stop by to stock up on kybecca’s great cheeses for snacking and cooking . . .

Here’s a good article by our favorite wine critic, Eric Asimov, about the wines of Jura in France. For those who are curious we actually have a Savagnin of the type described in the article – oxidized and sherry-like. Here’s a description on our website. I love this wine but as the article points out it’s not for neophytes. We actually tasted this wine in a seminar about a year ago and most people there said they did not like it. Interestingly though, when the person leading the seminar (Nicolas from Willliams Corner Wine) encouraged people to take a bite of cheese and crackers and try it again, most people said it tasted much better. That makes sense because in Jura these wines are nearly always consumed with food.

Easier to like is our Cremant de Jura, or sparkling wine from Jura. Here’s the website description. Very similar to Champagne, I often recommend it to people looking for something fancy but don’t want to pay Champagne prices. It’s as good as Champagnes that cost twice as much.

Ok, let me just begin by saying this: I am a self-proclaimed pesto-snob. I grow four types of basil in my garden and I am very particular about what type of EVOO I use. I do not get excited about any pesto that comes from a jar, no matter how good someone claims it to be. Nope….there is nothing like fresh-made pesto. Or so I thought….

I was completely unprepared for the garden fresh flavors of the Maison LeGrand Pestos and Tapanede to slice cleanly through my rock-hard skepticism. They are absolutely delicious…and all of the hard work has been done for you! Just open up and grab a bowl of pasta or a slice of french bread. Or even just a spoon. Yummmmm.

More reasons to buy/try these:
– Artisanal product
– Highest quality natural ingredients
– Freshly made every week
– No added sugar or preservatives
– Environmentally-friendly
– Extraordinary vivid colors
– Fresh pure taste
– Full texture and non-oily consistency
– Raw
– Loaded with all their complete natural vitamins

(Note: You may have seen this before at Whole Foods for $7.99. Our price is $6.99!

I do not normally write reviews of computer hardware, but after recently having the opportunity to spend a few weeks in the “real world” with a netbook computer I wanted to publish this post in hope that it may be useful to someone considering a purcha…

Whether you’re downtown or in Spotsylvania tomorrow (Friday), we are going to have some cool stuff open to taste. At the Plank Road store (next to Ukrops), we’ll be tasting out a fantastic Malbec from Argentina, the Lonko Single Vineyard from Patagonia. When the Washington Post did a tasting of Argentine Malbecs this one got their #1 rating. We’ll also be tasting a Cabernet Franc that I personally love with my beef stews, a Pinot Grigio that will make you never want to try Santa Margarita again, and a Gruner Veltliner from Austria that is one of the best values in our store.

If you happen to be downtown, we’ll have guest taster Kirk Evans from the Roankoke Valley Wine Company tasting out some of their imports, include two California reds, a dry Riesling from Australia, and a French Viognier that is ridiculously good for being less than $20.

Tastings start at 4pm and end at 8pm. Don’t gamble on what you buy, come try the wines first!

There’s lots of Oktoberfest beers out there right now. With the season nearly upon us, there will be lots of parties and imbibing German lagers. There are some very good ones out there and we try to pick the ones we like the best. As it turns out, many of them are domestically made. One of our favorites is Bell’s Octoberfest, brewed in Michigan.

As a special treat, this year we managed to get (in our opinion) the best German Oktoberfest you’ll be able to find in Virginia, which is the one made by Ayinger in Bavaria. We’ve been selling Ayinger’s hefeweizens and lagers for a while now, and their Oktoberfest is very true to the style. A fairly strong amber lager, it’s somewhat malty and grainy with some hop bitterness and quite aromatic. Forget Beck’s and the other big brands, this is the real deal. Available at both stores and the wine bar (by request).

A few years ago, our son had a school assignment to ask his family where they were on September 11, 2001. I believe that the teacher expected a brief response, but as I started writing to document my day, I found it difficult to stop. The following sto…

Okay, today is the 10th, but I reckon it’s not too late to point out another significance of 09/09/09 – it’s the release date of Stone’s Vertical Epic beer! Every year starting with 02/02/02, Stone Brewing Company releases a new beer in their Vertical Epic series. A vertical, in case you’re not aware, is a tasting of multiples vintages of wine/beer/whatever. Stone’s Vertical Epic will go through 12/12/12. If you’re just learning of this and you’re a beer fan, it’s not too late to start! Pick up a bottle of the 09/09/09 to cellar and another to drink now! This year’s beer is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale.

The next meeting of the College Terrace Neighborhood Association will be Tuesday, September 22nd at 7 PM. As usual it will be held at Aggie’s Beauty Salon on the corner of Franklin and Monument.Our featured speaker will be Guy Mussey, horticulture ag…

I just got back from the Town/Gown committee quarterly meeting with representatives of both the City and the University. Here are some of the highlights.1)The University has agreed for another year to share the cost of a designated city police officer …