American FineWine Competition – All Americas judging took place May 30th, 2021, in South Florida
More than 160 wines were evaluated and judged by a 12-member judging panel of wine industry educators, distributors, retailers, journalists, and sommeliers. It encompasses all the Americas – from Canada to Argentina. Medals are awarded – bronze, silver, gold, double gold, Best of Class, and Best of Show. The competition consisted of a two-day, blind-tasting where judges representing all aspects of the wine industry evaluated the wines and award medals accordingly.
Valet Parking: Complimentary until 7:00pm | $5.00 after
As the exclusive wine sponsor of Tampa Bay Restaurant Week, Prescription Vineyards is hosting its ‘Friday-Eve Live’ showcase at Epicurean, located in Tampa’s SoHo District. Playing off the pop-culture phenomenon of people jump-starting their weekend and calling Thursday nights’ Friday Eve,’ the happy hour mixer is part wine tasting, part musical showcase. The evening’s wine and music will pair with delicious bites by Élevage SoHo Kitchen & Bar, Hotel Epicurean’s exceptional restaurant, its menu developed out of Bern’s Steak House traditions.
The opening night celebration is in partnership with Creative Loafing Tampa and iHeartRadio. The night’s musical showcase guest is artist Carl Wockner. Wockner was named the first and only Australian artist to win Top Honors at the International Acoustic Music Awards (USA). He also scored in the top of the AAA category with his album Crayon Days with producer Michael Flanders in Nashville, Tennessee. He was recently awarded “Musician of the Year 20/21” by Western Australia Prestige Awards.
“iHeartMedia is excited to be a part of and attend ‘Friday-Eve Live’ on June 17 at Epicurean,” said April Easterly, Promotions Director at Rumba 106.5 and US 103.5. “As the kick-off to Tampa Bay Restaurant Week, our very own Tampa Talents can’t wait to experience the great food and sips from the Bay. Katie Sommers on middays with 93.3 FLZ, and Ian Beckles, who is on evenings as Co-Host of Beckles and Recher on 95.3 WDAE, will be attending.”
Tickets are $25 each in advance ($35 at the door if available) and include five wine tasting tickets, light nosh, and Wockner’s musical showcase performance. Hotel Epicurean will also offer a special appetizer menu and drinks for purchase. ‘Friday-Eve Live’ guests are also encouraged tobook advance dinner reservations to follow the happy hour event! Guests must be 21 with a valid photo ID to attend.
Prescription Vineyards – 2018 Chardonnay, Clarksburg ($20) Aromas of baked apple and tapioca are mind reeling. Rich and mouthwatering across the palate, notes of guava, creamed corn, cookie dough and lemon blossom have an ecstatic side effect. This 100% stainless-steel fermented white goes through 95 percent ML, with some oak treatment. Sourced from a single grower and crafted by winemaker Robert Lloyd, it’s a definite cure for the common Chardonnay. ~ Meridith May, Publisher
Prescription Vineyards Partners with Creative Loafing Newspaper, Producer of Tampa Bay Restaurant Week!
Prescription Vineyards is excited to announce that we are the exclusive wine sponsor of Tampa Bay Restaurant Week, happening June 17th through 27th throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Our wines will be featured by the glass and bottle at select restaurants and paired with the events prix fixe menus.
“We’re so excited to be getting back to market and sharing Rob Lloyd’s wines,” said Greg Moore, Director of Sales for Lloyd Cellars and Prescription Vineyards, “The opportunity to work directly with restaurateurs and support Feeding Tampa Bay means a lot to us!”
To take advantage of Restaurant Week, all you have to do is visit any participating restaurant from June 17th through 27th and ask for the Tampa Bay Restaurant Week menu.
As the longer days of spring and summer approach, we begin to dream of outdoor gatherings with family, firing up the grill, and sipping our favorite wines on the patio.
Of course, with the change of seasons comes the heat. We share a reminder to order your wines now to avoid summer ‘heat holds’ and overnight shipping costs. The difference between Ground vs. Overnight shipping can mean several hundred dollars.
In our ongoing Slow Food Fast Series, we feature Italian Trattoria and wine country favorite, Cafe Citti
Cafe Citti has been a fixture in Sonoma Valley’s town of Kenwood for more than 30-years. Both locals and visitors to wine country have flocked to the restaurant for its casual roadside setting and excellent Italian food served up by owners Luca and Linda Citti. It was also the perfect pit-stop to nosh when traveling between the Napa Valley and Sonoma County wine regions.
For dessert lovers: Cafe Citti’s house-made cannoli is perfectly not too sweet
Their homemade pasta, rotisserie chicken, and salads have always been great grab-n-go dishes to bring home to a hungry family. That said, a side of Cafe Citti’s deep-fried polenta sticks dipped in their superb marinara and pesto sauces are what feed uncontrollable, visceral human cravings. And then there are the rustic pizzas that give Italian pies their good name.
Here is the announcement from the owners of Cafe Citti:
“It is with a heavy heart that after 30 years of business in Kenwood, we announce that Cafe Citti will be relocating. Our landlords have made the decision to address the stability of the building and will be making renovations that will take several months. Due to the new restrictions placed upon us during this time of Covid, the annual PSPS shut-offs, and most recently the Glass fire, we will be leaving the dining portion of our business behind and we will concentrate our focus on continuing with our take-out business at a new location in Santa Rosa….”
Due to reopen this spring at its new location in Santa Rosa, next door to Hank’s Creekside (excellent breakfast!), Cafe Citti is sure to become an even bigger hit with hungry locals looking for Slow Food Fast! We recommend pairing our Clarksburg Chardonnay with the deep-fried polenta sticks and rotisserie chicken or teaming up our Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with a hand-tossed pizza of your choice. Note: never forget to order extra marinara and pesto sauce, or…
We felt compelled to call out Cafe Citti’s extensive offering of mouth-watering sauces!
Cafe Citti | 2792 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95405 | (707) 523-2690
Bodega Bay Oyster Company Grilling Day-Fresh Oysters Roadside! Photo credit: Bodega Bay Oyster Company
The North Coast of the Bay Area is Oyster Country, with Many Roadside Stops to Pick Up Some ‘Slow Food Fast’
The oyster is a roadside delicacy in Northern California’s Marin and Sonoma Counties. Take a drive along the Pt. Reyes National Seashore and Tomales Bay, and the selection of bivalve pit stops are many. Sure, you can use your navigation to find your way, or go old school and look for the long grills sending up smoke signals over picnic benches dotting the shoreline.
We chose oysters as our next feature for our ‘Slow Food Fast’ series because many don’t know that it takes two to three years to grow oysters for market. Along with the task of raising and breeding multiples varieties of oysters, these oyster farmers, and chefs, have a passion for making their secret house cocktail and barbecue sauces and mignonettes.
Locally, we can take a leisurely Sunday drive out to the Bodega Bay Oyster Company, grab a quick dozen or bag of 50 for a party, and ready to go sauces, and be back home for a late afternoon shuckin’. We make it a ritual, as we wash the oysters down with a glass of Prescription Chardonnay, to raise a toast to the aquaculturists who brave the cold waters and windswept coast.
Amy’s Drive Thru started in Sonoma County, California, several years back, and now have locations in Corte Madera and the San Francisco International Airport. They are sustainably focused and offer veggie, vegan and gluten-free burgers, burritos and pizza. Its buildings have reclaimed elements, rainwater collectors, and sod roofs layered with grasses and succulent plants. And, yes, they have indoor seating along with its drive-through window.
For those not from Northern California, you may be familiar with Amy’s organic products from grocery store shelves and in freezers. We’d equate the quality level of its drive-through food to In-N-Out Burger and Chik-fil-A (apologies to our vegan and vegetarian friends for the meat analogy).
In our house, for Friday movie night, we love the Amy Burger – a double veggie patty, double cheese, lettuce, tomato, (sans onion), pickle, with Fred Sr.’s secret sauce. When you avoid the onion, the beauty of this burger is that it pairs beautifully with both Presciption Vineyards Clarksburg Chardonnay and our Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Note, Amy’s fries are excellent, yet aren’t the best for pairing with wine. Our recommendation is to take another bite of burger after you eat a fry before taking a sip of wine—simple solution. And if you’re glutton free, get your veggie-on-veggie with Amy’s lettuce wrap option!
Our Flavorbomb Holiday Collection includes four wines with Blumer’s new cookbook. Read on…
From our family to yours, we hope you remain safe and healthy. Certainly, the holidays will be like nothing any of us have experienced before. During shelter-in-place, we’ve found ourselves cooking as a family more than ever. This is why we share a holiday gift collection that includes each of our four wines and the new cookbook, Flavorbomb by Gastronaut and Author Bob Blumer.
Blumer is also an eight-timeGuinness World Recordholder, creator and host of the television series Surreal Gourmet and Glutton for Punishment, and a producer and host of World’s Weirdest Restaurants. If you’re like us and not dining out like you used to, then this is the cookbook for you. It’s loaded with insider tips and recipes to achieve the widely addictive flavors served up by your favorite chefs and restaurants!
Rob and Bonnie Lloyd invite you to join uslive on Instagram on Thursday, December 10th at 4:30 pm PT for a live demo and pairing with Gastronaut & Author @BobBlumer.
