MAY 21, 2010
What’s in a name on the bottle matters
SARA NOEL Frugal Living
‘DIY’ can be good for your budget
Look into repairing before replacing. Some repair jobs you can do yourself. A basic repair book, manual, expert advice or a search online can be all that you need to save an item from being discarded or replaced. You can take a small appliance to a service center/appliance repair shop for an estimate to see what’s wrong and weigh out the cost of having them repair it, ordering the part and repairing it on your own or replacing it. The first reader tip might help you keep your microwave longer. Change the fuse: About 15 years ago, my husband found a microwave on the curb. “There’s not much that can with a go wrong microwave,” he said. He replaced the fuse (around $2), then we gave it to an uncle of mine. It worked Check years. for microwave repair 101 at www.doityourself.com/ stry/repairmicrowave. — Jora, e-mail Cream of wheat addin: I have made muffins with leftover cream of wheat. I followed a basic muffin recipe but beat in a cup of cooked cream of wheat with the milk, because the cream of wheat was solid of course, and it broke down in the liquid. I then added the dry ingredients in the usual manner. I sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top. Depending on the amount of leftover mush, it can be sliced and fried just like cornmeal mush. I’ve also used leftover cream of wheat to thicken a soup — it has a plenty of thickening power left! Cream of wheat is an expensive substitute, but any recipe that calls for cornmeal can have COW substituted. Think cornbread! I’ve also added some leftover cream of wheat mush to a basic
FRANK MANGIO
Taste of Wine From Calistoga to Carneros, the going has gotten tougher for Napa Valley vineyards and wineries. Since the 1880s the spotlight has been shining on this blessed land of Cabernet Sauvignon, to the point that it has passed the Cabernet homeland of Bordeaux France as the elite worldbeating appellation for this most-requested red. As the wine world acknowledged this accomplishment and we came to pay homage and premium dollars at the altar of Napa Valley and its 300 or so wineries, two inflection points became game-changers: the recession, and a host of hustlers with cash to buy up over-produced grapes along with the advertising dollars to flood the market with their generic wines. These broadsides have left the Napa Valley buckled but not bowed. Both the 2006 and 2007 Cabernet vintages are the best in a decade, and progressive winemakers that understand the need for change are determined to make wines that go to new heights of flavor and character. In ’06 and ’07, weather factors kept the crop under control so the emphasis was on quality, and not so much quantity. This had the effect of somewhat limiting the vulture generics that prey on vineyards with too many grapes and production costs to cover. Generics first launched a number of years ago to cash in on the Napa Valley reputation, with Charles Shaw, better known as “Two Buck Chuck,” leading the
VINE TIME David Raffaele is Photo by Frank Mangio
pack. This was really a wine processing company in a monster warehouse in Modesto that made box wine. A deal was made with Trader Joe’s, a large “organic style” food chain, and the rest is wine history. Success breeds imitators so in rapid
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yards with big over-production problems. If price is your major consideration, then these generics will certainly please. But be advised. There is no way of knowing exactly where and what wine you are getting. Aside from knowing what color the wine is, the rest of the story of that bottle remains in the hands of the wine lab that put it together. For my money, I want to know the essence of that bottle of wine, which includes the history of the vineyard, the soil, the sub climate, the development of the harvest, the winemaker’s credentials and the unique, natural qualities that single out that lovely essence in a bottle. Be cautious when you consider that next manufactured generic brand. Study the new winemaker at Keyways. the label. Then, pay a few dollars more for an authentic Napa Valley wine with a succession we got Beverages name you can count on. and More and Costco house brands, Barefoot Cellars and New winemaker their drugstore/supermarket in town high volume marketing, and David Raffaele has lately, Cameron Hughes, a wine power broker with pen- arrived at Keyways Winery cil-sharp margins that focus in Temecula Wine Country, on the Napa Valley vine- as the new winemaker. He
comes from the nearby Maurice Car’rie and Van Roekel Vineyards. After three harvests under one of the leading winemakers, Gus Vizgirda, Raffaele can now express his own ideas of grape cultivation of more a Mediterranean style, that he believes does extremely well in the Temecula Valley. Keyways is owned by Terri Pebley Delhamer and is unique as the only femaleowned and managed winery in Southern California.
Wine Bytes
— Golf and wine mix and mingle evenings at Temecula’s Pechanga Resort and Casino every other Wednesday with the next event May 26. There will be tastings, music, snacks, unlimited range balls and more. The cost is $18 per person. Mixer will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Call (951) 693-1819 for more information. — The Westgate Hotel downtown San Diego has an artisan chocolate and TURN TO TASTE OF WINE ON B5