Payday loans
Cialis
type=

Articles about TexSom 2010

Report From Japan: Master Sommelier James Tidwell is Okay

Four Seasons at Las Colinas Master Sommelier James Tidwell is alive and well in Japan.

Last week I spoke with the James Tidwell, the Master Sommelier at the Four Seasons in Las Colinas. It was a few days before he left for a three-week trip to Japan. He planned to spend time at the Four Seasons in Tokyo before heading out to tour the country which included a stop in Niigata to tour some sake breweries. When I learned of the earthquake and tsunami, I emailed him and didn’t hear back until minutes ago. I’m happy to report he is fine. He is in the Kansai area (Kyoto-Nara-Osaka) which is south and inland of major damage. James has had some communication with the Four Seasons in Tokyo and the staff is okay but phone lines are down and they have not been able to communicate with their families. Developing.

posted by Nancy Nichols | March 11th, 2011 9:47am | filed under Restaurant News, TexSom 2010, Wine & Spirits | 2 Comments »

Restaurant News: Bits and Bites

The following news comes from the copy and paste press release department.

1)The Dallas Morning News Wine Competition (DMNWC) has added TexSom, the country’s only organization that produces a yearly conference for sommeliers, as a “co-presenter and production partner”. TexSom was founded by James Tidwell (Four Seasons) and Drew Hendricks (Pappas Bros. Houston) and the annual event draws sommeliers and wine experts from all over the world. The DMNWC founder Rebecca Murphy says, “The reach of this extensive network of wine professionals broadens the impact on sales [of medal winners] far beyond the greater Dallas market. It’s invaluable exposure for a wine.” Judging will be held at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas February 20-21 and gold-medal winners will be announced in Salut! published by The Dallas Morning News on March 24. The general public will have the opportunity to sample the award-wining wines at the Dallas Wine and Food Festival on April 13-17.

2) Anybody remember chef Jordon Swim of Food Creates Community? He was actually a front-runner in the underground dining, long-table craze. He popped into my inbox this morning to say: “We are kicking off the year with a night filled with friends and flavors gathered around the bountiful table. The night will feature 5 courses sourced from the best of the area and prepared with passion for taste and nourishment. We will be back in the Lakewood community and offer two seating’s (6 and 8:00pm) on Saturday February 26. RSVP here.

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 8th, 2011 10:21am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Celebrity Diners, Events, Skinny bitches, TexSom 2010 | 4 Comments »

What I’m Drinking Now: WOW wine!

Man there is some good wine out there!

The last weeks I have had the opportunity to taste some great wine, often when I least expected it.  I noted the fantastic Leonetti we had at dinner the other night.  That was just the tip of the iceberg of the wine enjoyed over the weekend at the TexSom conference and more.  Some options have been sent for editorial consideration, others I just love.

Brenda and Clay Cockerell came over for dinner the other evening and (to my delight) brought some of their extraordinary Terrior Coquerel. A very French style Sauvignon Blanc filled with subtle citrus, with solid minerality and herbal notes.  The Terrior is all estate grown fruit from their vineyard in Calistoga, and aged in new French oak for 8 months.

When the Sigel’s on Inwood closed last year I stocked up on some great wines, including a 2004 Kenneth Crawford Blue Fin Syrah from Santa Ynez Valley which we opened Sunday night.  Aged 18 months in French oak, this is an extremely easy drinking Syrah filled with bright fruit flavors.  I love a Syrah with smoky, meaty notes that many of them have.
This one is not that, and instead is a juicy, but not jammy, blend of blackberry, black cherry and blueberry with black pepper and earth on the finish.  A delicate, delightful wine. (more…)

posted by Hayley Hamilton | August 18th, 2010 2:42pm | filed under TexSom 2010, Texas Sommelier Conference, Wine & Spirits | 2 Comments »

Sommelier Jason Huerta of Pappas Bros in Dallas Wins Best Sommelier in Texas

According to Italian Wine Guy Alfonso Cevola’s Twitter feed, Jason Huerta of Dallas’ Pappas Bros. Steakhouse won the Best Sommelier in Texas competition at TexSom last night. Congrats, Jason.

UPDATE: Kim Pierce has deets.

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 17th, 2010 10:05am | filed under Awards, TexSom 2010 | 2 Comments »

Texas Sommelier Conference Report: Unique Blind Tasting of Wine Flaws Without the Wine

This morning at TexSom I didn’t drink a drop of wine but I tasted plenty of major wine flaws. At the same time, I also discovered another useful purpose for vodka. But I didn’t drink that either. Lest you think I’ve been dipping into something stronger, I’ll enlighten you: My nose got a major workout when I participated in unique blind tasting designed to illustrate  some of the major faults and flaws in wine. The session, conducted by Gordon Burns and Eric Hervé, was  one of the most instructive wine education classes that I’ve ever experienced. TexSom organizers James Tidwell and Drew Hendricks did the tasting earlier this year in California and added the seminar to this year’s Texas Sommelier Conference at the Four Seasons in Las Colinas.

Gordon Burns and Eric Hervé are scientists with ETS Laboratories in St. Helena, CA. They normally spend their time analyzing wines for wineries and other clients for signs of spoilage. Today, they deliberately doctored eight glasses of vodka with the smell of eight common wine flaws detectable through smell alone. The vodka essentially acted as a solvent for the aromas. The audience of 300 wine professionals got to guess, from taste alone, what the flaws were.

Jump for the curious results.

(more…)

posted by Andrew Chalk | August 16th, 2010 7:32pm | filed under Andrew Chalk, TexSom 2010, Texas Sommelier Conference, Wine & Spirits |

Special Report: Texas Sommelier Conference in Las Colinas

Vines in Nemea, Greece

The final session at Texsom yesterday was a tasting of eight wines from Greece. When I first heard this I almost cut out early. I have never had a good Greek wine. They give me memories of alcoholic, flabby, simple fruit bombs.

However, it was a good thing that I stayed. The wines presented were the biggest surprise of the day. Six of the eight were red, and they were the stars. However, each reflected the grapes from which it was made. Two of the best were wines made from Nemea, a region noted for its wine making by Homer (who may have described them as ‘yummy’).

Jump for the glorious details.

(more…)

posted by Andrew Chalk | August 16th, 2010 1:10pm | filed under TexSom 2010 | 4 Comments »

Special Report: Texas Sommelier Conference in Las Colinas

Last year, TexSom organizers  Drew Hendricks and James Tidwell whooped it up at TexSom in  Las Colinas. Yesterday, they did it again.

Andrew Chalk spent all day Sunday at the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas, Texas. No he wasn’t lounging by the pool, he was hunkered down in a conference room along with a couple hundred wine professionals who trekked to Dallas for the Texas Sommelier Conference (TexSom).

Organized by the Texas Sommelier Association, the intensive two-day session attracts some of the best national palates in the wine industry. TexSom offers public and to-the-trade sessions to “promote professional wine service standards, outline paths for further wine education and certification, and to raise public awareness about the professional standards and certifications for sommeliers.”  The organization also sponsors the “Texas’ Best Sommelier” competition—and if you have ever attended a seminar at this event, you’ve surely noticed a few nervous competitors wandering the halls waiting for interview sessions with some of the great masters of American wine. Their reward?  Scholarships for professional certification courses.

Anywhoo, the conference room was without WiFi for most of the first day so Andrew Chalk really had to work to find a connection with more than wine to file the following reports of his first day at TexSom below the jumperoo. (more…)

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 16th, 2010 8:30am | filed under Andrew Chalk, GO TEXAN, TexSom 2010 | 1 Comment »