Foodies know the importance of eating with the seasons--after all, who craves a beef roast and root vegetables on a hot summer day, or a fresh tomato gazpacho in January?

In his new book A Year of Wine, Tyler Colman, aka Dr. Vino, makes the case for drinking with the seasons as well. "At root, this annual rhythm [of seasonality] is about weight, with fuller, richer wines in the winter and lighter wines in the summer," Colman writes, whether you prefer red, white, or a combination.

Colman starts us off in January, when with the New Year comes new resolutions. I'd just made a new resolution myself to drink with the seasons when I heard about Dr. Vino's new book, which I absolutely recommend as a great buy for your bookshelf and your comfy chair.

Continue reading "Book Review - A Year of Wine" after the jump.

Getting the cork out of a bottle of champagne can be a challenge, especially if you don't have the bubbly stuff enough to actually practice. If the bottle has (accidentally) had a shake or two, the cork could fly out with enough force to break one of your flutes - and what would you use to serve your champagne, then?

Fortunately, Dv. Vino has a very helpful guide to opening champagne on his site, complete with pictures that will give you an idea of what you're aiming for. First, he covers how to "look like an aggressive moron" - in other words, he tells you what to avoid doing - before really telling you how to smoothly pop the cork out like a sommelier (place your hand over the cork as you gently twist, as Jonathan mentioned the other day) and how to use a champagne saber to look really slick at a party.

My own method involves putting a thin dishtowel on top of the bottle. Not only does it help me to keep a grip on the cork as I work it out, but it prevents flyaways and will catch any bubbly that decides to fizz its way out of the bottle.

We're not jetsetters who flit around the world dropping in on one pricey, critically acclaimed restaurant after another. Not that we wouldn't like to, mind you. This is probably why we enjoy seeing photo sets from and reading the experiences of other bloggers who are lucky enough to stop in to these establishments from time to time. One of our very favorite wine bloggers, Dr Vino, recently had the opportunity to eat at Homaru Cantu's Moto, in Chicago.

The opportunity arose from the fact that, after a discussion of Cantu's "caramelaserized" wine between the chef and the blogger, Dr Vino wrote to Cantu to tell him that he would have the opportunity to stop by the restaurant in November and would like to try the "lazerized" wine. Cantu, very generously, sent him a note back saying "you will be my guest" for dinner. So Dr Vino went and enjoyed a meal chosen by the chef, a wine tasting and a visit to the kitchen to experience the caramelaserization technique - wine flavored with smoke produced by firing a laser at some other element, like vanilla or orange - first hand. The meal is recounted great detail and it sounds as though the food really was excellent.

But a bill was presented at the end of the night and, at over $100 per person, it was a bit of a shock to a diner who had the impression (based on the "you will be my guest" comment and the fact that the menu was chosen for them) that the diner, excluding tip, would be covered for them. Was this too much to expect, given the circumstances? Knowing that he would have had to pay for everything, Dr Vino probably would have gone only for a taste of the special wine that he wanted to sample.

[Thanks, Matt]

Anyone who lives in, or around, Chicago might want to take a peek at this great map put together by Dr. Vino. According to him, the city has over 400 restaurants that allow customers to bring their own drinks to dinner, but even with so many places, it is hard to figure out quickly what restaurants permit this. The Chicago BYOB map is a start at cataloging all of these places so that diners know where they can - and can't - BYO. As of now, the map only lists about 45 or so places, but you can always write in and submit your favorite spots if they're not already listed.

And diners who are interested in BYO dining might want to check out the companion map of Chicago wine shops to pick up a bottle or two o the way to dinner.

Care to test your wine knowledge? Dr Vino is hosting a contest and giving away, as a thanks to his readers, a half case of wine (including 2003 Chave St. Joseph "Offerus", 2004 Ex Libris Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 Brun Terres Dorees Pinot Noir, 2005 Sur Bonarda, 2002 Chateau Moulin Rouge, and 2004 Laurens Marcillac). To enter, all you have to do is head over and answer a few questions about wine in the quiz that he put together. The winner will be selected at random from those who get a perfect score.

If you are a complete wine novice, don't worry - you still have a chance. Because the selection of the winner is ultimately random from those who get a perfect score on the quiz, Dr Vino encourages the use of Google to improve your odds at achieving that score. What are you waiting for - why not go take a shot?