WineTime TV

I love this simple initiative that Passaggio Wines have incorporated into their holiday wine season so much, I just have to get behind it. It reminds me of one winter where we did a considerable amount of fund raising to feed the homeless in Mannheim, Germany. Yes, homeless are everywhere.

Anyway, pleased to help and would love to try some Passaggio Wine sooner than later myself. Had it? Comment and let us know your thoughts. Meanwhile, I’ll be blogging and tweeting about this action in all the usual places.

Wine on…

A few weeks ago, while planning my holiday posts for the Loco Diner, I decided to write a story about The Unwinder, a drink made of a dry, Italian red wine, poured over ice and mixed with 7up. This drink has been part of my family for as long as I can remember and, from what I understand, as long as my dad can remember as well.

My grandfather, an Italian man who resembled Uncle Junior from The Sopranos, would make the drink using wine that was usually homemade by someone in the family and stored in jugs in the basement. For this reason, my dad still insists that the wine used for this drink pours from a “jug.”

It is worth noting that I planned this story before my invitation to become a member of the WTTV family and hadn’t given much thought to it until I sat down to write. All at once, I realized that WineTimeTV.net is a popular stop for the wine enthusiast and for this reason, this story almost didn’t happen. Could I really pitch an $8 jug of Italian red mixed with 7up to wine aficionados and keep my dignity?

It was a real “why am I here?” moment and I decided to take a break and think about it for a while.

While talking to a friend, a fellow Italian, about my dilemma, the Italian Spritzer came up in conversation. I was speechless when I found out that my friend’s “Italian Spritzer” was jug wine mixed with 7up. I had never heard of another family who drank this concoction.

I immediately emailed a few of my friends who grew up with similar Italian backgrounds asking them if they heard of this drink. Many of them had. So far, I have traced our Unwinder from Philadelphia neighborhoods to Camden and Runnemede in New Jersey, to Brooklyn and Long Island in New York all the way to the Abruzzo region of Italy.
The stories are all strikingly similar. Here is a sampling of the responses:

“My dad grew up in Camden in the 30′s and 40s…It was red wine, the type they sell in the liquor store with the screw cap.”

“It was common in South Philly. Usually an extremely dry red, often homemade.”

“I remember my grandmother in New Jersey making this drink.”

“My cousins and I all drank 7up and wine. We didn’t have any name for it other than wine and 7up. It was something like ‘vino e 7up.’ We always used homemade wine…All of my family is from the Abruzzo region of Italy. I think my cousins in Italy may have drunk it there too. In other words, I don’t think it originated with the Italian-Americans here.”

For those of you who are now dying to mix one up, here’s how:

The Unwinder
Fill a tall glass with ice.
Fill the glass half way with a dry Italian jug wine
Top off with 7up
Stir with a spoon.

With this connection to friends and family, I have a new found appreciation of my family’s most noted drink and for the culture in which I grew up. I also realize why I am listed with the sommelier and the adventure writer. I am the voice from the neighborhood, maybe quieter or more traditional, but still here with something to say.

In a few weeks, I’ll walk into my parent’s house for our traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner and my dad will say, “Hey, Buddy, do you want an Unwinder?” The answer, of course, will be yes and I can’t wait.

From my neighborhood to yours, happy holidays.

Secrets. We all have them.

I’m about to share some of my wine secrets. These are not secrets about my wine expertise. I have none. I am inspired to talk about this by a current discussion over at the Wine Whore’s blog. Don’t worry, he won’t get mad. He chose that name.

The discussion topic comes from a recent study that finds that people are more likely to enjoy a wine if a wine expert reviews it favorably.

I don’t buy it. In my humble, non-expert opinion, I think it’s 6th grade all over again. We all see it in our daily lives. For example, does anyone think Ugg boots look good? Of course not!

I have two pair. They’re comfortable, ok?

As far as wine goes, I no longer waste my time drinking wine I don’t like. On a vacation to Napa, one vineyard’s wine expert made a great proclamation that I have carried with me ever since.

There are two kinds of wines: Wines you like and wines you don’t like.

Since my humble beginnings as a Wine Nerd, I’ve taken this advice. Over the years, I learned that I dislike white wine and recently set white wine aside entirely. I have evolved into a full-bodied, red girl. And don’t go reading too much into that statement.

While I make this assertion, I am guilty of a few indiscretions.

The Wine Whore correctly and delicately pointed out to me that some people may use the wine scores because they don’t know how to select a good wine. I think this is more of the same issue: back to the 6th grade. Like pretending to get the joke when you don’t, people want to look knowledgable about wine when they’re not. They are afraid to admit that they don’t know which wine to serve at dinner and have to feign knowledge like a kid who doesn’t know the difference between Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

I am that kid sometimes. The wine nerd, who, I am sad to say, still has insecurities about my ability to choose a good wine. I’ve resorted to eavesdropping at wine stores which has turned out not to be the best of ideas. I also try to discreetly take note of the labels on the bottles other diners are enjoying at our favorite BYO. It brings new meaning to the term wine thief. I do this with books titles at the beach too. I freely admit to being a book snob but that’s a topic for another time.

Now my wine secrets are out and I feel better about them. In sum, the only advice I can give you is to stop keeping secrets. Be bold, ask questions and allow yourself to make mistakes when choosing wines. That’s how I became a proud wine nerd instead of a pretentious wine snob.

New Site

I could have titled this article “Dirty Laundry” or “Out With The Old…” Let me explain;

I started Wine Time TV back in late July 2009 on the wake of the then infamous Murphy-Goode Winery “Lifestyle Correspondent, A Really Goode Job” campaign, where I was publicly acknowledged as a Top 10 candidate (from over 1,000 applicants) and promised a Goode job by none other than Billionaire Entrepreneur himself, Jess

Jackson, Murphy-Goode winemaker David Ready Jr. and a slew of Jackson Family Wines VP’s of Marketing and What-Nots at the time. It was my intention to use this entertaining platform as one of several innovative tools I had up my sleeve to further promote Jess’ wonderful wares, like Murphy-Goode wine, for example.

Since then however, Jess and Jackson Family Wines have reneged on their promises, thus leaving this Wine Aficionado in training high and dry. Since receiving that awful news only a few weeks ago, you might imagine that someone transplanting themselves from Germany to California has likely already made travel plans and tied up local loose ends (flat, jobs, etc.) preparing for a new life in a new town/country. That someone, me, was basically screwed.

New Wine Time TV Experience

For a while there, it was difficult to NOT let Jackson Family Wines despicable and dishonest business practices corrode my new found lust for Wine, Wine Culture and Wine Edu-tainment and I certainly thought about calling it a day, related to my many online wine-oriented activities. It takes energy, commitment and passion to keep social networks alive and kicking, as many of you certainly know from your own exploits. I for one, have a very loud voice and strong presence in a variety of online niches (search Kamary Phillips google or yahoo) and have decided to continue growing Wine Time TV.net within the Winosphere, despite my unfortunate setbacks courtesy of Jackson Family Wines. (Wow, imagine if I was getting paid and dedicated everyday/all day to this!?) Thankfully there are thousands of wineries in the United States and I look forward to finding a new personal favorite and also creating mutually beneficial relationships with those knowing the value of social media and understanding the true meaning of partnership and promises.

New Writers

Helping with the new Wine Time TV experience are a handful of talented writers who’ll be contributing interesting and entertaining articles related to Wine, Food and the culture surrounding both. I’m happy to announce a few of them today as promised. Please give a warm Wine Time TV welcome to Jodi Fritch, Elizabeth White, and Rachel (just Rachel, like Cher!) Expect to see regular articles from these brilliant folks as well as several other talents being announced in the next days. Welcome aboard!

Thanks for reading,
Kamary

There’s been so many positive responses and requests to write for Wine Time TV since putting it out there that I think the new energy and content from the new writers warrants a brand new website to match. I’m working on it right now and will launch the new site along with announcing at least one new Wine Time TV writer on Monday, December 7th! Stay in the loop, follow Wine Time TV and me…

Kamary Phillips, host of Wine Time TV

It’s been a fun ride so far virtually hanging out with Foodie & Wino Tanya Melillo! This webisode of the 4 part series is by far the funniest. Tanya and I seem to be laughing the whole time about one thing or another. In this clip we learn what kind of man this attractive and single lady goes for as well as where to take her on a date. Tanya also reveals a brand new project which involves dinner with 5th generation winemaker Karl Wente.

*Music - Sir Charlie London’s “Enjoy – Forum De Luxe” Edit

Special thanks to Susanne and her friend Monika. Since living on the country in Hamburg Germany at present, internet speeds are of the stone age. Well, you get my point. A thrown rock would reach point B faster than a mouse click around here. Anyway, on occasion it’s necessary to drive the data to a neighboring town with faster internet in order to upload a 125MB file without any connection errors. Thanks again ladies!

Thanks for watching.
Kamary Phillips

Ah, thank Goddess for Spanish wines! This one was a steal at only €2.69! This 2008 had a wonderful, rich fruity taste. Though young, this BIO wine was quite smooth with no ‘tangy’ aftertaste which might otherwise suggest needing to lay down another year. We were totally satisfied with it. More than normally, I noticed a real similarity to California wine with this particular bottle. Good call Susy!

Click To Enlarge

No body and I mean nobody can Hobnob like my current guest, Wine Pro and Foodie Tanya Melillo. The Wine Time TV series continues with Part 2 (of 3 or 4 clips) of my then live Skype interview with one if the new stars of PBS’ The Winemakers Season 2, where I learned of Tanya’s exciting encounters with French Laundry’s Thomas Keller, top chefs Gary Danko and Traci des Jardins, retired Playboy and current Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom and more!

Thanks for reading!
Kamary

I’m always excited to make new Wine Time TV shows however this next series is particularly interesting for me. This marks my first attempt at incorporating a Skype video call with the guest!

Recently I had the honor of hanging out (virtually) with top Foodie and Wino and new star talent in The Winemakers Season 2 (PBS), Tanya Melillo! In this first websode we learn a lot more about Tanya and what makes her tick. We also discover how the heck she and I even know about one another. And I finally figure out what her connection with the likes of comedian Will Ferrell, star chef’s Tom Colicchio and Rocco Dispirito are all about!

Here’s a new promo image you might see floating around the Interwebs courtesy of my boys at Modern Media Maniacs.com!