Next exciting chapter

Well, not much has happened since our last action packed installment. The publisher has had the revised manuscript for a little over a week. It goes to "readers" who decide if it is ready to present to the university review board.

Publisher number two was sent two ideas for other books I am working on and also no response from them either.

Even if nothing gets published this has been a great experience. I learned lots about some great people I did not know before and just the discipline of keeping at writing over three hundred pages was a trip.

Hopefully more later on the adventure.

Web site address

For those of you interested in learning more about wine whether personally or for your business, take a look at my web site, http://web.me.com/winewithachef/Site.

Talk soon.

So you want to write a cookbook?

Having recently seen "Julie and Julia," which I thought was a fabulous movie, I got to thinking about the process of writing and publishing a cookbook. Or a book on food or wine. Or maybe on anything.

It was just a year ago that I decided to author my own book, a combination of culinary history and cookbook, focusing on a number of cookbook authors, each of whom had a profound influence on the food we cook and eat today. Authors are from the earliest American cookbook to the first chef for the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

The format was relatively easy: write a biographical section on each author that would also place them in a historical context of the country as a whole. Recipes from their original books would follow with modern adaptions and some updating of syntax where required.

I had a great time writing the book and learned a lot. As a food professional for many years, I was wonderfully surprised to discover all this "new" information. Once the book was about 75% written, I decided that I would find a publisher.

After reading a couple "how to publish your literary masterpiece" books that all said the same thing, one item made sense. Get an agent. Many publishers do not look at manuscripts unless forwarded by a known or established literary agent.

Well. The first three months were something less than a joy. Many no responses. Some "you gotta be kidding, right," responses. Some nicely written that were ultimately, "sorry find somebody else." I did receive a rejection from an agent in Ireland who used wonderful language in his rejection. I actually laughed it was so well written. Yes, this is a "No," but let's not be all too serious about it.

Then started the process of writing directly to publishers. Which is a whole 'nother story.

Tune in for the next exciting chapter.

This is a photo of Manchester, Vermont for those of who haave never been there.

One of the best features of the Symposium that was interesting was the focus on Spanish wines. There was a program by Doug Frost, MS, MW, on wines of Spain where he featured unusual but distinctive and wonderful wines from less known regions.

Another program featured Steve Olson, the Wine Geek, on Sherry. We tasted about a dozen wines from the driest imaginable to wines with a texture so rich they had a viscosity similar to motor oil, but in a good way.

One of the featured underwriters of the symposium was Wines of Spain, USA. They did a great job and certainly had engaging and knowledgeable speakers.

There will be reviews later on of the wines tasted throughout the event.

Some Surprises

I was lucky enough to attend the Sante Magazine Symposium held at the Equinox Hotel in Manchester, VT. With lots of advance program information I was able to select from all the great programs and focus on wine, especially wines from Spain and ways of training staff in wine service. As a huge bonus there was a tasting and retrospective on wines of Bordeaux, with tastings back to 1989.

This Symposium will take several postings to cover.

Today I'll start with the Bordeaux wines. Presented by Roger Bohmrich, MW, who is managing partner in Mellisima USA, it was a revelation in just how good great Bordeaux wines can be.

We started with the 2005 vintage tasting Ch. De Sales from Pomerol and Ch d'Armailhac
from Paulliac.The De Sales had intense but subtle red fruit aromas and plenty of fine ripe tannins. The d'Armailhac had a deep intensity of color with a slightly smokey tinged aroma and palette of dark fruits. Composed of 60% Cab Sauv, 29% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc and whopping 1% Petite Verdot, it displayed incredible balance and confidence that let us know it would be alive and well for many years.

From 2003 we sampled Ch. d'Issan from Margaux and Ch. La Fleur Peyrabon, again from Pauillac. The D'Issan was a rapturous black red color showing dense aromas of black fruits, oak and dirt. On the palette there were plentiful tannins and great structure. At 70% Cab Sauv and 30% Merlot, this wine is still in its infancy.

The Peyrabon exhibited a large nose of deeply ripe red fruits, spice and oak. The palette was lush, full and ripe with a promise of increasing complexity as the years pass.

Vintage 2000 was represented by Domaine de Chevalier and Ch. La Dominque.The Chevalier was a deep ruby color with a long finish and tannins just starting to drop out of the wine. The flavor was intense but with an almost transparent lightness of being.

Dommique again showed intense dark ruby color with vibrant dark red fruits on the nose. After eight years, the ripeness of the fruit on the palette was impressive.

Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou from St. Julien and Leoville Las Cases, its almost neighbor from St. Julien, were both impressive. Ducru was showing a slight garnet on the rim evolving from a deep red core. The nose displayed red and dark fruits, noticeable dark cherry and spice and licorice notes. The palette was expressive and beginning to resolve into a fully mature personality. The Las Cases was also going to brick red on the rim with a little less intensity on the nose than the Ducru. The tannins were evident in maintaining a wonderful, firm structure while displaying a remarkable purity of fruit. This wine is 65% Cab Sauv, 19% Merlot, 13% Cab Franc and 3% Petite Verdot.

What Mr. Bomrich showed the attendees was how truly impressive the wines of Bordeaux can be. Despite all the hype of the French wine trade going down the drain, so long as wines such as these are produced, Bordeaux with remain the benchmark for wine growing areas around the world.