CENTRE LOIRE VALLEY WINES SHINE at MAREA Restaurant in New York by Philip S. Kampe

At a recent, outrageous wine dinner at MAREA Restaurant (240 Central Park South), I sampled a variety of Wonderful SAUVIGNON BLANCS AND PINOT NOIRS from France's Centre Loire Valley.

The dinner, hosted by the LOIRE VALLEY WINE BUREAU, featured BENOIT ROUMET of the BUREAU INTERPROFESSIONAL e VINS du CENTRE. Mr.ROUMET is one of the world's leading authorities regarding wines from the Centre Loire valley--specifically SAUVIGNON BLANC and PINOT NOIR.

FACTS Abut the LOIRE Valley and its WINES:
+ The LOIRE is the longest river(630 miles)in France.
+ Much of the LOIRE Valley has been designated a WORLD HERITAGE area by UNESCO.
+ The LOIRE Valley's total wine production makes up the third largest AOC in France.
+ The LARGEST white wine production in France.
+ Second largest sparkling wine region.
+ The LOIRE Valley is the leading region for wines served in restaurants in France.
+ The LOIRE Valley begins in Central France and empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

The wine tasting and dinner focused only on two grape varieties--SAUVIGNON BLANC and PINOT NOIR.

Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir's 'UNIQUE' characteristics come from the LIMESTONE in the soil of the Centre Loire. The cool climate of the region produces late buds with early ripening. When you add the history (grapes have been growing in the Loire Valley for 2000 years), microclimate and limestone, gravel and sand to the grapes growth, you have a special region for wine. This is what sets the wines from the CENTRE Loire Valley apart.
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The wines I sampled all are sold in the U.S.,with prices ranging from $11.99 to $25.99 Retail...

My FAVORITE Whites (SAUVIGNON BLANC):
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CHATEAU de PRESLE 2010 (from Touraine) $11.99
Acidic, bright, grassy, green pepper, grapefruit, tropical fruit
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CLAUDE LAFOND CLOS FUSSAY 2009 (from REUILLY) $17.99
Elegant, citric, minerality, a perfect example of Sauvignon Blanc
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GERARD MILLET 2009 (from MENETOU-SALON) $18.99
Grapefruit, lemon, clean, crisp
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PHILIPPE RAIMBAULT LES LUMEAUX 2009 (from POUILLY-FUME) $19.99
Green apple, lemon peel, clean, racy
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THOMAS-LABAILLE LES MONTS DAMMES 2009 (from SANCERRE) $25.99
Ripe, intense, mineral driven with green apple overtones
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MY FAVORITE REDS (PINOT NOIR):
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PHILIPPE GILBERT 2008 (from MENETOU-SALON) $23.99
Cassis, black tea,silky,balanced,a true classic Pinot Noir.
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GERARD MORIN 2008 (from SANCERRE) $25.99
Spice, dark fruit, cassis, elegant,tart, bitter.
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ALL of the above wines I sampled SET THE BAR for wines from The Loire Valley.
The price points are reasonable, the quality high and the availabilty exists.

Americans who love wines from Chile, Spain, Argentina,Italy and Australia should take a second look at the wines from the CENTRE LOIRE VALLEY.

The wines from CENTRE LOIRE VALLEY are the 'BARGAIN' wines of the World.

QUALITY and PRICE equal VALUE.
VALUE EQUALS the LOIRE VALLEY.

PHILIP S.KAMPE
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

SUD de FRANCE FESTIVAL takes over NEW YORK by Philip S. Kampe

The Sud de France FESTIVAL, a mecca for food, wine and all other products from the LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON region, takes over New York.

For 40 days, the SUD de FRANCE Festival offers an introduction ro the tastes and aromas of the region through various events and venues throughout the metro New York area.

Most of the events are FREE..

June 13th--SOMMELIER CONTEST--9AM TO 3PM--OPEN TO MEMBERS of the Trade and Guests
This is a contest to find which SOMMELIER knows the most about the LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLION region, through tests, blind tastings and food and wine pairings.
The FREE event takes place at new York's home of Sud de France:
La Maison de la Region Languedoc-Roussillion,10 East 53rd
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June 16th and 23rd--SUD de FRANCE WINE SEMINAR with a focus on the wines of GERARD BERTRAND--7-9pm--FREE and open to the public--10 East 53rd street
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June 20th--SUD de FRANCE DINNER at the James Beard Foundation-167 West 12th-7-10pm-
$170 through the James Beard Foundation- www.jamesbeard.org
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June 21st-COOKING CLASS at the FRENCH CULINARY INSTITUTE--462 Broadway-3;30-5:30pm
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June 21st-FETE de la MUSIQUE at the French Embassy--972 Fifth Avenue-5-7pm-FREE
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June 21st-FETE de la MUSIQUE at SUMMERSTAGE--Central Park--7-10pm-FREE
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June 22nd-FETE de la MUSIQUE at HIRO BALLROOM--371 West 16th--7pm
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June 25th--MoMA POPRALLY Featuring BLONDS--MoMA 11 West 53rd--7-10pm
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June 27th-SUD de FRANCE WINE TASTING PARTY--7-9pm-10 East 53rd-Enter to WIN a ticket on FACEBOOK
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June 30th-SUD de FRANCE SEMINAR-6:30-8:30PM--10 East 53rd--FREE
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June 30th--COOKING CLASS Featuring Wines from Languedoc-Roussillion and taught by MIKE COLAMECO--Tickets are $45 through Sud de France (10 East 53rd) 7pm-The event takes place at 69 Third Avenue at 58th
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The events look like New York is in store for three FULL weeks of the BEST of SUD de FRANCE...For complete information, Visit: www.festival-suddefrance.com/ny

REIMS CATHEDRAL CELEBRATES it's 800th ANNIVERSARY by Philip S. Kampe

Since the beginning of THE WINE HUBS existence, on the home page, one could and can still find the weather conditions in REIMS. It is one of those things that stays in one's head when they enter the WINE HUBS World.

Fittingly so, I must write a short piece on the REIMS CATHEDRAL. The Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims, historic coronation site for French Kings, located in the Champagne region of France, celebrates it's 800th Anniversary this year.

Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, the REIMS Cathedral welcomed generations of French Monarchs and Nobility. Wines from the Champagne region were historically served at the royal banquets that accompanied coronations, contributing to CHAMPAGNE"S reputation as a luxurious beverage for Kings.

To mark the 800th Anniversary, Champagne houses and wineries have committed to restoring the facade of the cathedral.

To celebrate, the town of REIMS has planned a seies of celebrations through mid-October of this year to celebrate the cathedral, including concerts, exhibitions and a spectacular daily light show.

It is time for us to CELEBRATE the Cathedral in Reims by drinking the "Beverage of Kings"---CHAMPAGNE--

PHILIP S. KAMPE
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

http://www.thewinehub.com/
One of the pillars of TheWineHub is Wine Tourism. Whether you are a wine maker, or a wine drinker, we all enjoy having discoveries... 

TheWineHub exists to help you with that. 

DISCOVER the "Exciting" WINES of El BIERZO from (Northwest Spain) by Philip S. Kampe

EL BIERZO, is a little known wine region in the Province of LEON, in northwest Spain.

Geographically, EL BIERZO borders the provinces of LUGO, ORENSE and OVIEDO. EL BIERZO is the home of 55 wineries, 2800 wine growers and 10,000 acres of vineyards. The area is known for warm summers, cools nights with lots of precipitation. Small parcels, at 2000 feet altitude, are divided by numerous owners.

The winegrowers and winemakers believe EL BIERZO is similar to BURGUNDY, both in climate and terroir. The wines are from single vineyards, each with a story to be told regarding that specific piece of land and grape varietal. Similar to Burgundy's philosophy, the wines from EL BIERZO are aged in small,new,oak barrels and are named after the geographic area they are grown in.

The MENCIA grape is the most important variety in the production of red wines, while GODELLO is the best known white grape.

The MENCIA grape was introduced and cultivated in the Iberian Peninsula since Roman times. The grape recovered from the phylloxera epidemic of the late nineteenth century and since, has become the red grape behind the wines of El Bierzo. The varietal produces small and compact bunches, with medium-sized, thick skinned berries. The grapes age beautifully and are characterized with a velvety, smooth, round flavor. MENCIA is known for freshness, while the other red grape varietals used in winemaking include Syrah and Pinot Noir.

The white GODELLO grape has a depth of substance, with a floral, somewhat mineral, complex quality, thus resulting in a pleasent, pure wine.

At a recent seminar and tasting, hosted by VICTOR ARROYO ALBA, President of AUTOCTONA EL BIERZO, I sampled well over 50 wines and will list only those that are exported and worth buying, in my opinion.

The wines from this little known region, EL BIERZO, are wonderful, complex and interesting.
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LOOK for:
TENOIRA (Mencia) 2009

BODEGAS ADRIA "Pazo de Arribi" 2009

++My Favorite++ PEREZ CARAMA "El Vino de Los Consules de Roma" 2009

BODEGAS PIEQUE "Ramon Valle" 2008

BODEGAS MARTINEZ YEBRA "Tres Racimos" 2007

BODEGAS LUZDIVINA AMIGO "Baloiro" 2007

BODEGA CASTRO VENTOSA "El Castri de Valtuille" 2007

LUNA BEBERIDE "Art" 2009

BODEGAS ESTEFANIA "Pagos de Posada" 2003
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PHILIP S. KAMPE
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com

http://www.thewinehub.com/
One of the pillars of TheWineHub is Wine Tourism. Whether you are a wine maker, or a wine drinker, we all enjoy having discoveries... 

TheWineHub exists to help you with that.

What's a Churrascaria?

If you've been following this blog, at this point, you have heard the name "Churrascaria" a few times...
Well, you're going to here even more after today, when some members of TheWineHub crew (including the lucky one here!) is going to visit Churrascaria "OK" (which, trust me, is much more than just "ok").

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A churrascaria is a Brazilian steakhouse. Churrasco is the cooking style, which translates roughly from the Portuguese for 'barbecue'.

History
Distinctly a South American style rotisserie, it owes its origins to the fireside roasts of the gaúchos of southern Brazil traditionally from the Pampa region, centuries ago.

Contemporary churrascarias
In modern restaurants rodízio service is typically offered. Passadores (meat waiters) come to your table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, be it beef, pork, filet mignon, lamb, chicken, duck, ham (and pineapple), sausage, fish, or any other sort of local cut of meat. A common cut of beef top sirloin cap is known as picanha.

Brazil
In most parts of Brazil, the churrasco is roasted with charcoal. In the south of Brazil, however, mostly close to the borders of Argentina and Uruguay, embers of wood are also used.

Cheers,

LA

http://www.thewinehub.com/
One of the pillars of TheWineHub is Wine Tourism. Whether you are a wine maker, or a wine drinker, we all enjoy having discoveries... 

TheWineHub exists to help you with that.

WHY WE NEED STORYTELLERS AT THE HEART OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT BY SARAH DOODY

There's an interesting question on Quora right now:

If you had to pick between an amazing product designer or an amazing engineer to build a new company around, which would you pick and why?
This question reflects a painful problem that is common at both small startups and large corporate organizations. Far too often, teams focus on execution before defining the product opportunity and unique value proposition. The result is a familiar set of symptoms including scope creep, missed deadlines, overspent budgets, frustrated teams and, ultimately, confused users. The root cause of these symptoms is the fact that execution focuses on the how and what of a product. But in a world where consumers are inundated with choices, products that want to be noticed and adopted must be rooted in the why.
A product is more than an idea, it's more than a website, and it's more than a transaction or list of functionalities. A product should provide an experience or service that adds value to someone's life through fulfilling a need or satisfying a desire. The ultimate question then becomes: who identifies that value? After the executive or stakeholder identifies the initial idea, who in the organization ensures that the product and experience deliver value to the user? Maybe it isn't the product manager, marketer, technologist, or designer; perhaps what we need is a new role: the product storyteller.
Who are the product storytellers? Part matchmaker, marketer, technologist, and artist, the product storytellers ask questions, find answers, and figure out how to distill a vision or idea into a product story. They develop a plot, identify the people, and shape the product around the specific values it should offer consumers. Product storytellers think about the whole, and they see the big picture. But they also can go deep because they understand that the product's true value lies in the details of its interactions and every touchpoint that a consumer has with it.
The first goal of a product storyteller is to facilitate collaboration and co-creation. Today, many companies have their product and marketing groups disconnected from each other. Marketing decisions are often made at the executive level—much higher than where product decisions are made. The result is that marketing tells one story, and the product tells a different story. In the end, consumers are left to put together the conflicting messages and try to determine why they should engage with the product. A product storyteller should be positioned in the company to help break down the walls between all groups, facilitate the development of a single story, foster collaboration between groups, and ensure that every interaction a consumer has with a product or brand maps back to that story.
Not only do product storytellers identify the intended product value, they also share and evangelize this story throughout their organizations. This is important because it ensures that the entire team understands the why behind what they are doing. A common understanding of the product story allows a team to incubate a shared vision. This vision turns into passion, and people with both passion and vision are more likely to produce products that others want to use. Without a firm understanding of the why, the team risks becoming task focused, losing sight of the big picture, and deflating any sense of empowerment or excitement that once existed. When this happens, consumers and the team feel the effects. Consumers experience a disconnected product and message and, as a result, don't have a clear perception of its value. Organizations and teams feel the effects through slow, little, or no product traction with consumers.
If one of the primary factors in consumer arousal, interest, and adoption of new products is the ability of the product to answer the question, "Why would I use this?" then why do so many teams either let execution come before defining the product value or allow multiple groups to do this independently? The answer is simple: the process of identifying a product opportunity and value statement is not easy and the skillset required is still coming of age.
In his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future, Daniel Pink explains that we're in the "Conceptual Age" and that skills that were revered in the Industrial Age and Information Age are not as integral to where we are as a society today. Pink writes:
We've progressed from a society of farmers to a society of factory workers to a society of knowledge workers. And now we're progressing yet again—to a society of creators and empathizers, of pattern recognizers and meaning makers. We've moved from an economy built on people's backs to an economy built on people's left-brains to what is emerging today: an economy and society built more and more on people's right-brains.
Who are the right-brain thinkers? Through years of research, Pink has identified six aptitudes for the Conceptual Age: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. Most relevant to us is the aptitude of story. Crafting stories is not about assembling facts. Instead, according to Pink, people who understand story have "the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact." The impact to story in business is that, "like design, it is becoming a key way for individuals and entrepreneurs to distinguish their goods and services in a crowded marketplace." If you want your product to be heard by consumers, it must be rooted in a story that consumers can emotionally connect with.
The challenge today is that we face a shortage of storytellers because our current organizational structures and cultures are not optimized for the activities involved in storytelling. First, as I've already discussed, ownership of product value is not clearly defined and instead is distributed across or shared between teams. The result is a series of communication disconnects that produce a product experience and message that is not in line with the original vision—like a childhood game of "Telephone." But the second, and more interesting, reason for the shortage of storytellers is that the individuals who may have the skills to develop the story are not in the right environments.
Marty Cagan, a product management and product strategy expert, addresses this issue in his book Inspired: How To Create Products That Customers Love. Cagan notes that there are two key responsibilities of the product manager: "assess product opportunities, and define the product to be built." However, he asserts that product managers often become "consumed in the details and pressures of producing detailed specs rather than looking at the market opportunity and discovering a winning strategy and roadmap." The reason for this is that product management is often placed within the engineering organization. Ultimately, an engineering organization is focused on execution and that culture is not optimized for the process of discovery, curiosity, and play, all of which are fundamental to those who engage in storytelling.
Product storytellers should be at the intersection of product, marketing, and technology to help ensure that what's being created clearly maps back to a product story that identifies the plot, people, and perceived value to the consumer. Before a technologist writes a line of code, or a marketer writes a line of copy, or a designer creates a single wireframe or design, you have to establish the story that your product is going to tell.
The role of a product storyteller is not meant to take away from the founder, executive, marketer, designer, or technologist. As well, the development of product strategy and vision shouldn't be contained in a silo belonging to the product storyteller. But someone does need to own it. Now more than ever, cross-role collaboration is critical to product conception, incubation, and development. The product storyteller synthesizes rather than analyzes, sees the big picture rather than becoming stuck in the details, and ensures that all product interactions and touchpoints form a cohesive and value-based consumer experience.
So whether you are at a small start up or a large organization, whether you are a founder, executive, technologist, designer, manager, or marketer, ask yourself this: do you know your product's story? And perhaps more importantly, who creates your product story?

More top stories on UX Magazine: http://uxmag.com

www.thewinehub.com
One of the  pillars of TheWineHub is Wine Tourism. Whether you are a wine maker, or a wine drinker, we all enjoy    having discoveries... TheWineHub exists to help you with that.

UNIVERSITY of BOLOGNA Alma Graduate School Inaugurates FIRST FOOD and WINE MBA Program by Philip S. Kampe

The UNIVERSITY of BOLOGNA, which opened it's doors in 1088 (that's not a typo) is the WORLD'S OLDEST SCHOOL.

It has taken 923 years for the University of Bologna to develop the World's First "FOOD and WINE MBA" program, which you could be part of.

After 12 centuries of education in Italy's gastronomic center, the University will offer this intense 12 month program, beginning in September 2011.

TEN inaugural FULL SCHOLARSHIPS are being offered by FERRARELLE, Italy's leading water brand.

MASSIMO BERGAMI, Dean of the ALMA Graduate Program, says the MBA Food and Wine program prepares American graduates for successful careers marketing the world's most beloved cuisine. The food and wine program is a challenging 12 month program taught entirely in English.

The curriculum is divided into two parts: GENERAL MANAGEMENT (core courses) and FOOD and WINE CONCENTRATION, which is designed to provide an opportunity for specialization and in-depth focus on the gastronomy and enology sector.

Potential students can learn more about this Unique program by visiting:
www.almaweb.unibo.it/internationalmba/foodand wine.html

THIS IS A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED IN THE WORLD'S BEST BUSINES: FOOD & WINE

PHILIP S. KAMPE
philip.kampe@thewinehub.com