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Le Power Panel: The Good Life @ UCLA Alumni Day 5/5 (Pinching Myself)
Wine is to Men as Handbags are to Women?
Macy's Capsule Collection Heat: Stylish Sips for Ferretti Fashionistas
Pre V Day Treat: HIP TASTES Speed Tasting @ Press Club 2.8, 3.7
Extra, Extra! Become a Bottling Wunderkind, Get Cool Cred @ Hip Tastes Bottling School
The Bachelor Weekly Updates: Winemaker Hottie, Drunken Confessionals, Cat Fights!
Liquid Farm: Insanely Cute Wine People, Liquid Gold, Santa Rita Score
Auction Me (Literally), Plus: Bazaar Gifting, Culinary-preneur Hotness Tonight!
Mechanical Pipettes, Hot Pink Pens, Cool Amador Pours, Or: Blending at Urban Legend
Photos Are IN: HIP TASTES: Mix It Up! + Debut Wine Capsule Collection
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May 16, 2012
Le Power Panel: The Good Life @ UCLA Alumni Day 5/5 (Pinching Myself)
filed under: Events, Ramblings
"The call." You know what I'm talking about. The call that makes or breaks a deal, a heart or something else very important. Sometimes "the call" is unexpected. I received one of these earlier this spring when UCLA called out of the blue, inviting me to be a panelist at Alumni Day. The panel was to be called The Good Life, and my co-stars would include a VP/TV judge from The Food Network (Susie Fogelson), a Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic from the LA Times (Jonathan Gold AKA @thejgold to his Tweeps), a food radio maven/resto-preneur hottie (Evan Kleiman, like myself hailing from both UCLA undergrad & the Anderson MBA program) and a lovely culinary book/TV impresario (Amy E. Goodman). I must admit I practically shouted "YES" to the folks on the other end of the phone. It was a totally un-cool moment, one in which I completely geeked out and gushed to excess - and one in which I knew that, well, I'm in love with UCLA. And UCLA loves me back.
Posted by Courtney at 12:47 PM
May 08, 2012
Wine is to Men as Handbags are to Women?
filed under: Goods & Gadgetry, Ramblings
While I have occasionally been known to rapture about a particular bottle of wine (any number of soulful West Coast Pinots come to mind), I am more often mystified by the reverence with which uber geeks - many of them men - approach certain "it" wines. The coveting, the plotting, saving, acquiring and subtle showing off of prized vinous acquisitions - these are qualities I find much more correlated to the way that women approach handbags. After all, if I a might be considered the Carrie Bradshaw of wine, then surely there is something in this.
Vogue contributing editor Plum Skyes invoked Ms. Bradshaw herself in "Second Chances," a meditation on the return of the iconic Fendi Baguette in the February issue of Vogue. More than a decade after Carrie Bradshaw was famously mugged on Sex & the City for her purple sequired version - having already inspired an army of It Girls across the globe to carry the luxury bag - the Italian label is reissuing some old favorites, with novel embellishments (for the unitiated: "baguette"s were named for the loaves of French bread you carry under your arm). While Ms. Sykes pondered whether an "it" bag of old could be newly covetable again (spoiler!: she concludes it could), I couldn't help but wonder: why don't women ever get this excited about buying wine?
After several glasses of that tonic and a bit of contemplation, my theory is this: women's take on wine focuses on consumption (yes, I'll take that much-needed after-work buzz, thank you very much), pairing and sharing. While we'd like to have a stash of great wines to pull from for as-yet-unplanned meals and cocktail soirees, wine is not something we worry about stockpiling. And we certainly don't need to peacock our vinous wares. We've already got handbags for that! To the ladies out there: wouldn't you rather rock a reissued python Fendi baguette (see below) in an almost psychedelic pop of various hues than a DRC? (You know your answer is an unhesitating yes.)
The price tag's not that different, nor is the statement these items are making, really. They're both about a show of wealth, about status, signal a certain amount of style, perhaps even intelligence (Carrie always had a knowing smile, didn't she?). But they express these qualities in ways that appeal to the signaler wholly differently. And even if I had several glasses more, for the life of me I still couldn't tell you exactly why. I could only tell you that if Fendi teamed up with DRC to create a wine bottle-inspired baguette, I'd be all over that. Oh, and: SJP? She surely would approve.
Posted by Courtney at 07:34 AM • Comments (0)
March 26, 2012
Macy's Capsule Collection Heat: Stylish Sips for Ferretti Fashionistas
filed under: Events, Goods & Gadgetry, Hip Tasters, Ramblings, Regional Spotlight, Winning Wines
Dream collaboration announcement: I was recently asked to create a tasting around Alberta Ferretti's new capsule collection for Macy's Impulse. HeLO amazing fashion opportunity! It gets better: they're dressing me in the clothes. It's all going down at Macy's SF Tues. April 17 and called, officially: Stylish Sips: Wine Pairings for Ferretti Fashions. I'll be creating a tasting around four featured outfits (so the wine will literally be paired with the fashion), plus styling food pairings to match. It's like, FREE (!) to attend, but RSVP is a must.
Oh, and they'll have personal shoppers on hand for those of you who'd like some extra attention (you know who you are). Let's share a drink to being ever more fashionable. Drop me an email or leave a comment here if you'd like to be added to the guest list. - xoxo, CC
Posted by Courtney at 09:26 PM • Comments (0)
February 07, 2012
Pre V Day Treat: HIP TASTES Speed Tasting @ Press Club 2.8, 3.7
filed under: Events, Winning Wines
Hip Tastes brings you speed dating, with wine. Why meet strangers with nothing in your glass when you could sip on something tasty while stumbling through awkward first-encounter banter? Taste five wines and meet ten strangers, leave at least wiser about what's in your glass. And you never know: you just might find a new partner while you're at it. And we don't just mean drinking partner.
The nitty gritty:
* hetero singles 25-35
* 5 minute meetings
* tasting flight of 5 eclectic pours (ice breaker: talk about what's in the glass!)
* we'll synch you up via email with your mutual matches after the event
See? Easy.
Where?
PRESS CLUB
20 YERBA BUENA LANE, SF 94103
2.7.12 - Learn More/Sign Up
3.8.12 - Learn More/Sign Up
Posted by Courtney at 10:57 AM • Comments (0)
January 30, 2012
Extra, Extra! Become a Bottling Wunderkind, Get Cool Cred @ Hip Tastes Bottling School
filed under: Events, Hip Tasters, Winning Wines
Enter to be considered for a spot on the bottling line for Hip Tastes' new red blend - our first-ever commercially available wine - debuting this spring! A small group of Hip Tasters will pitch in over barrel samples and snacks at Oakland's Urban Legend Cellars this Saturday 2/4/12 (note: timing and details to be confirmed once bottling team selected). To be considered, visit our Facebook page, like us and post a note on our wall telling us why you would make the best wine bottler ever.
Extra points for creativity, natch.
Posted by Courtney at 11:40 PM • Comments (0)
The Bachelor Weekly Updates: Winemaker Hottie, Drunken Confessionals, Cat Fights!
filed under: Ramblings
[photo: ABC]
When my editor at food blog Eater SF - where I dish on beverage-related gossip in a recurring column called The Swill - asked me to document this season of ABC's The Bachelor, I quickly accepted the challenge. With SF-based Sonoma winemaker Ben Flajnik of Envolve Wines in the lead role, it's a choice opportunity to be dishy not only about wine, but about reality TV to boot (oh what a glorious pairing!). Check in on my coverage - updated weekly throughout the season - here at Eater, and stay tuned on Twitter, too. #TheBachelor hashy is a great read come Monday nights whether you're watching or not (if not, skip right to the recap on Tuesday).
Posted by Courtney at 05:44 PM • Comments (1)
December 31, 2011
Liquid Farm: Insanely Cute Wine People, Liquid Gold, Santa Rita Score
filed under: Hip Tasters, Regional Spotlight, Winning Wines
One of the most delightful new people I met - virtually, via Facebook in this case - in 2011 is Nikki Nelson of Liquid Farm. Nikki runs Liquid Farm - a 100% Chardonnay project - with her husband in Los Angeles, with the wine made in the Lompoc wine ghetto. She was kind enough to share with Hip Tastes these pics of her "Wine Nerd Wedding" with Jeff, a longtime rep for Henriot Champagne. After the jump, more on their in-the-vineyard nuptials (I so love this pic of them holding grapes in the vineyard, which they captioned "Chardonnay and Us") and the startup label, which takes inspiration from the whites of Burgundy but equally channels the richness and purity of the Santa Rita Hills. Onward, to wine geek fabulosity!
Continue reading "Liquid Farm: Insanely Cute Wine People, Liquid Gold, Santa Rita Score" »
Posted by Courtney at 03:18 PM • Comments (0)
