Dirty South Wine

What Is Twitter Taste Live? / "Where Are My Tacos???"

Twitter is freaky enough for some people.  Seen by some as an endless stream of Fozzie the Bear type chat (waka waka waka).  Throw in some good ol' fashioned drinkin' and that "waka waka" might start to sound like it is underwater-- A slow motion "waaahhhhkaaaaa, WwwwwwaaaahKa"....  But, get a great group of people and bottles together, through some structure around it, and it actually works! 

Enter Taste Live (formerly known as Twitter Taste Live)

The stream of tweets, becomes a scheduled symphony of notes, discussions, and a the chance to interact with hundreds / thousands of people that are simultaneously tasting the same wines as you (maybe not quite a symphony).  It is entertaining at the very least, and usually educational too.    For the twitter-phobe (or mostly sane person), this may still sound a bit odd, but jump into the stream, follow the conversation, interact, and you'll soon be hooked.

Following the conversation is easy--  You can either log into Taste Live (do this before the event starts) and follow and tweet from there, or just mark / tag your tweets with the hashtag for the week. #stsupery is the tag this week. Then follow the tag on your twitter application (done via search).

By tagging your tweets, they are automatically picked up and posted at Taste Live, and you can see all the other tagged participants messages as well (even if you are not following them on twitter).

This week's winery is with St Supéry out of Napa, CA.  5 of their wines will be tasted--  The 2008 St. Supéry Moscata, the 2008 St Supéry Sauvignon Blanc, the 2006 St Supéry Virtû (a higher end Sauvignon Blanc), the 2004 St Supéry Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2004 St Supéry Elu (a higher end Cabernet Sauvignon).  If you can't find all the wines, grab what you can and still participate.

At Chez Dirty, we are having people over for a pre Taste Live "Taco-a-thon", and then getting into the bottles with guests and a live video feed. 

Why all this?  Because it is fun.  Sure, we can sit around and crack a bottle at home, but wine is more fun with people, and even more fun, when connected to people all over the country .

This week's Taste Live is on Sat. 7/11, at 6PM PST / 9PM Pacific.  For more information, click here.

Top Chef Season 6: 3 Atlanta Chefs! Two "Riding Dirty" Winners!

(pictures courtesy of Savory Exposure)

Bravo just announced their 17 Cheftestants for Season 6 of Top Chef!

I'm thrilled that three Atlanta chef's are on the show, and even more so that two of the chef's were winners in the 2008 "Riding Dirty Atlanta Wine Pairing Challenge!"

Chef Eli and Chef Kevin are superstars.  Two totally different styles and my two favorite young ATL Chefs.  At the time of the "Riding Dirty" competition, both were starting fresh in roles as executive chefs and had yet to have much local press--  I am ecstatic that these guys will be seen on a national TV and get all the recognition that they deserve!!!!

The slideshow from yesterday features Chef Eli and his food from ENO

And here is Chef Eli's / ENO's Clip from "Riding Dirty".

And this outtake video shows Chef Kevin talking about what makes him tick in the kitchen.

Adding in Chef Hector Santiago, and this is a killer trio of Atlanta talent! 

HUGE Congrats to Chef Eli, Chef Kevin, and Chef Hector!!!!!

ATL IS ON THE MAP!!!!!!

"We've Got A Long Way To Go And Short Time To Get There!"

"West Bound and Down, 18 Wheels Are Rolling

We Gonna Do What They Say Can't Be Done
We've Got A Long Way To Go, And A Short Time To Get There
I'm West Bound, Just Watch Ol' Bandit Run!"
--Jerry Reed, Smokey and the Bandit Soundtrack
(click here to play)

Thank you!  I am completely humbled by the support I've been given from the food, wine, media, and music communities.  A list of blogs, media outlets, and businesses that declared "Dirty For Goode"  can be found here.  It is mind-blowing.  Within just a few weeks,the "Dirty For Goode" network reached millions of people.  That is the power of social media-- Getting people to share a message, a dialog, and to listen, cooperate, and partner with each other through various, no / low cost platforms.

The Murphy-Goode Top 10 fly out to Sonoma on 7/18.  We'll go through 4 days of interviews, activities, and I'm sure we'll do some slow-sippin'!

We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there-- I'm West Bound....

Wine is Meant To Be Crunk!

"Wine is Meant to Be Crunk!"

For those coming to Dirty South Wine for the first time, I'll be reposting a couple of items in the next few days to hopefully give you a glimpse into my relationship with wine.

Wine is about joy, fun, and sharing that with great people.  It isn't about just making it easy to understand, it is making people curious to experience it and make it a part of their lives.

For the Murphy-Goode process, I created a second blog-- "Goode To Be First"  a lot of my Murphy-Goode specific content can be found there.

Welcome to Dirty South Wine!

For more links--

You can follow me on twitter at
@dirtysouthwine and @goodetobefirst

On Facebook
Dirty South Wine and Goode To Be First

YouTube
Dirty South Wine and Goode To Be First

12Seconds.TV
Dirty South Wine

"Where Have I Known You Before?" : Ampelos Cellars

About two weeks ago, I had the chance to taste through some of Ampelos Cellars wines with owner Peter Work and Andres Loaiza of Aria Restaurant.

Based in the Sta. Rita Hills, in northern Santa Barbara county.  Ampelos is smack dab in the midst of the Pinot Noir country made famous by, yes, do I need to mention it, "Sideways"...  But, hey, you now know where I'm talking about.

Note: Ampelos farms organically and is now awaiting certification. 

We tasted through a couple of bottles- Viognier, Rose, their estate Pinot Noir, and a "Syrache"-- Syrah, Grenache blend.  To me, the Viognier was a standout.

2008 Ampelos Cellars Viognier
(US, CA, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County)  Approx $25, 175 Cases made
No oak, no malolactic fermentation- Full bodied, lots of stone fruit, good acidity, and solid, solid, juice.  I usually don't get that jazzed up about US Viognier, but I really liked this one.  Bold, upfront, but not over the top or cloying. 

2006 Ampelos Cellars Pinot Noir Lambda
(US, CA, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills)  Approx $35.
Though an 06, smelling this, I was hit by an incredible richness-  Like most people's 07 level of concentration.  I had to double check the vintage...  The second whiff was an incredible familiarity-  Sea Smoke.  It had been awhile since I've had any Sea Smoke wines, but it triggered the Return to Forever / "Where Have I Known You Before?" thoughts.  Ampelos has a lot in common with Sea Smoke-- clones, barrels, yeast, and Peter's son Don, is now Sea Smoke's winemaker, and Kris Curran, Sea Smoke's past winemaker, is now helping with winemaking at Ampelos... (previously Don was head winemaker at Ampelos, and assistant winemaker at Sea Smoke)-- Got all that?

Tasty, big, complex, rich, Pinot Noir- extremely well made, crazy depth, and texture.  Bigger than my personal preference, but I shared the leftovers with Jimmy from Eat It, Atlanta and he really really liked it.  Wine Spectator dug it as well-- giving it a solid 92.

My thoughts-  The Viognier is great, and if you are a fan of Sea Smoke's style of Pinot, you will totally dig the Ampelos Lambda Pinot Noir (at a fraction of the price of Sea Smoke).