Wine, Travel & Food News By Vino-Sphere: September 28, 2018

A Tailgating Debate – Wings versus Burgers

With tailgating season upon us, savings destination RetailMeNot conducted a survey about what foods tailgaters prefer--did you know people in the West and Midwest prefer burgers, while the South and Northeast prefer wings?

Here’s the breakdown. People in the West (26%) and the Midwest (22%) prefer to eat burgers at their tailgates. Where do you find wing lovers? People in the South (27%) and Northeast (24%) would rather eat wings at tailgates.

When it comes to food, these foods are tailgaters' favorites: Burgers (22%), Wings (21%) and Pizza (10%). You need something to wash down all that great food. Here’s what people prefer to drink at tailgates: Beer (33%), soda (18%), we don’t get the point of this next one… water (17%), liquor (6%), and wine (5%). For both females and males, beer is the preferred drink.

JUSTIN Opens Second Paso Robles Tasting Room

One of our favorite producers, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery has opened a second tasting room location situated prominently on the square along Downtown City Park in Paso Robles. It features the "infinity" underground bottle display at the front alcove. The floor tile is a reproduction of the famous "Gaudí tile" designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí in the early 20^th century. Kaoru Mansour, a Japanese-born artist now based in Los Angeles, created the series of six paintings displayed throughout the dining area and French artist Christophe Côme created the room's dramatic metal and glass divider. Throughout the space, 14 state-of-the-art high-definition screens take guests on a visual enological journey coined, "Liquid Containers." The rotating digital installations produced by Mill+, a collective of the Oscar-winning studio The Mill, feature a series of different JUSTIN wines being slow-poured at 1,000 frames per second.

Mexican B&B Involves Guests In Day Of The Dead Rituals

La Palomilla Bed and Breakfast in Mexico City wants guests to experience a traditional Dia de Muertos by making an offering at its pop up altar and participating in bi-weekly sugar skull making classes all October and November long. Guests also receive delicious and colorful skull cookies as part of evening sweets to mark this festive time.

“The edible skulls are a lot of fun to make and are a delicious souvenir,” said Alessandra Pérez-Cirera, owner/innkeeper of La Palomilla in Roma Norte, one of the hippest and safest neighborhoods in the City. “Dia de Muertos is a very big holiday throughout Mexico when we honor those we’ve loved, and we like to extend that celebration here at La Palomilla.”

Dia de Muertos lasts technically a few days – it begins on October 31st and ends on November 2nd. La Palomilla will have an altar available to guests from the beginning of October through mid-November. “It’s not a spooky holiday. It’s actually quite joyous and lively,” explained Pérez-Cirera.

“Though foreigners tend to remember the day on Halloween because of the skulls and the colorful costumes, so we thought it would be fun to begin celebrations early so that more travelers may experience the magic of our festivities.”

BERTOUX Premium Brandy Launched

BERTOUX Brandy, a new premium brandy from California, announced its launch in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. A blend of pot-distilled brandies aged 3 to 7 years, BERTOUX Brandy is designed to shine in classic and modern cocktails, like the Sidecar, and sets the stage for next-generation brandy drinks. A Solera-style blend of pot-distilled California fine brandies aged in French and American oak, BERTOUX Brandy is vibrant and highly aromatic. SRP is $45.

BERTOUX Brandy takes its name from Jean Bertoux, a French inventor who had an unforeseen yet transformative impact on cocktail culture. In 1892, he designed a means to modify bicycles and patented a way for a bicycle to elegantly accommodate a passenger. Soon thereafter, the motorcycle roared onto the scene and Bertoux's concept was adapted into what is known to this day as the Sidecar, which also became the namesake for brandy's best-known cocktail.

Nation's First Upscale Indoor/Outdoor Water Coming To Nashville

This December, guests of Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Resort will have the option to transform the way they unwind during winter weather with the opening of SoundWaves — a first-of-its-kind water and music experience. Featuring four acres of attractions and amenities, SoundWaves' indoor venue debut in December.

SoundWaves fuses water and music with amenities and activities -- from thrilling rides to relaxing decks and an adult-only pool. SoundWaves enhances each experience with paired musical components from country to pop — featuring attractions that play music and a giant screen with music programming at the outdoor wave pool. The outdoor portion of the attraction will open in Summer 2019.

A modern design, sleek finishes and rides intertwined with living walls and plant beds create an alluring ambiance. Much like the temperature controlled indoor gardens at the resort, SoundWaves will maintain an 84-degree tropical temperature. A uniquely-designed roof permits natural light, giving guests the opportunity to sunbathe indoors year-round.

Best Coffee Cities Announced

With National Coffee Day around the corner (Sept. 29) and the U.S. coffee industry currently valued at $48 billion, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018's Best Coffee Cities in America.

To determine the best local coffee scenes in America, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 14 key indicators of a strong coffee culture. The data set ranges from coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés per capita to average price per pack of coffee.

Best Coffee Cities

1. New York, NY
2. Seattle, WA
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Portland, OR
5. Los Angeles, CA
6. Washington, DC
7. Chicago, IL
8. Miami, FL
9. Boston, MA
10. San Diego, CA
11. Denver, CO
12. Las Vegas, NV
13. Minneapolis, MN
14. Philadelphia, PA
15. Orlando, FL
16. Atlanta, GA
17. Austin, TX
18. Pittsburgh, PA
19. Oakland, CA
20. Fremont, CA

Best vs. Worst

• Tulsa, Oklahoma has the lowest average price for a pack of coffee, $3.38, which is 2.4 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at $8.16.
• Fremont, California, has the highest average annual spending on coffee per household, $186.85, which is three times higher than in Cleveland, the city with the lowest at $63.06.
• Gilbert, Arizona, has the highest share of households that own a single-cup/pod-brewing coffee maker, 24.50 percent, which is 2.7 times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest at 8.99 percent.
• New York has the most coffee shops, coffee houses and cafés (per square root of population), 1.1791, which is 17.4 times more than in Laredo, Texas, the city with the fewest at 0.0678.
• Portland, Oregon, has the most coffee and tea manufacturers (per square root of population), 0.0209, which is 41.8 times more than in Riverside and San Bernardino, California, the cities with the fewest at 0.0005.

Ferrari Trento Releases Reserve Rosé Sparkler

Ferrari Trento, producers of superb Italian sparkling wines, announced the debut of Giulio Ferrari Rosé, the exclusive Riserva Trentodoc with a vivid intensity, a perfect romance between the character of Pinot Noir, and the elegance of Chardonnay.

Both varieties are strictly selected from vines tended within the family-estate vineyards upon the higher slopes of Trento mountains. This wine is crafted only in select vintages deemed appropriate for a great Riserva.

The inaugural release is vintage 2006, a wine that has been meticulously aged on the lees for eleven years, in the twilight and silence of the cellar. Trentino mountain vineyards produce wines that can win the challenge of time. Only 5,000 bottles have been produced, each individually presented in an elegant collectors’ case.

Glazers Adopts French Wine Scholar Program

Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, the largest wine and spirits distributor in North America, has adopted the Wine Scholar Guild's French Wine Scholar study & certification program to train its employees on the wines of France. Currently, 23 Southern Glazer's employees have earned the FWS title and post-nominal with 140 more mid-study.

Photo Credits: Chicken wings: ginnerobot Flickr via Compfight cc  Coffee Cup Coffee-Channel.com Flickr via Compfight cc