My first gig as a chef was a wedding in a penthouse overlooking the Hudson River.  As the bride and the groom tied the knot at sunset, I was sweating my @$#& off in the kitchen, nervous as hell, but determined to execute the dinner with the best of my ability. In the end it paid off and we got raving feedback. What a feeling!

The next big event was an annual Gala for 190 people.  A daunting task, but the challenge was the adrenaline that kept me going. Of course, having the super special talented crew to help deliver the job made it all possible. Without them I wouldn’t know where to start. Probably with the Prosecco… Two days of crazy hard work, the Gala was a success and the Prosecco tasted better than ever and I felt grand!

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(Drink)- Equally dangerous, all the wine festivals held this June got me on a spin. First the launching party of the Sud de France Festival and the new wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon I put on the wine list. Then Vinho Verde Week, one of my favorite light white wines for the heat followed by Paul Grieco’s massive campaign; his Summer of Riesling. 94 days to taste the Riesling grape and its wines widely available all over Manhattan. And if that wasn’t enough, 31 days of Riesling runs through July.

Pray- I just sat for my first exam of the WSET Diploma level. Most of the time I wondered what I was thinking. I couldn’t run so I prayed.

Love- welcome back Schatzi!

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Puebla is pretty much the only place in Mexico that celebrates 5 de Mayo, but here in the US it has become almost a national holiday as well as a marketing gag. In 2005, the US President issued a proclamation calling upon  Americans to observe the date as a celebration of Mexican’s culture and experiences of Americans with Mexican’s ancestry as they do on St.Patricks’s Day and on Chinese New Year’s. 

5 de Mayo is a big party day, where people have an excuse to chow down buckets of chips and salsa with gallons of Margaritas while dancing to the Mariachi. Since I love all of that, and usually don’t need the excuse of 5 de Mayo, I fully embrace the date.

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To get to Santa Fe, New Mexico we drove through the mountains instead of taking the interstate, which was the most scenic part of the entire trip.  After brunch at Café Pascual’s and some chile shopping next door, we continued on until we randomly found Hoffbrau, a steak house in Amarillo, Texas. It turned out to be the best Rib Eye steak of our lives. No wonder, they raise their own cattle!

As we were driving behind a storm the entire time- one that flooded mid-America in record numbers- we decided to spend an extra night on the road, and stayed in Little Rock, Arkansas. Thank God for the shuttle bus that took us to The Flying Saucer, with BBQ Bratwurst and about 1000 different beer labels on the menu.

Next stop was Nashville, Tenesse. Country music, Pulled Pork, Beef Brisket, biscuits, beer and bed! Not really. With no rooms available and relatively still early, we continued driving. Flood and Bin Laden’s death shared the news when we finally checked in Knoxville, at 2am.

Storm gone, we jetted through 3 states: West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and finally had dinner at Lancaster Brewery, in Pennsylvania. That could have been my last supper. Milk Stout with Strawberry Ale, Lamb Burger and a whole Rack of Ribs. 1 week, 11 states and 2754 miles later we were home.

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Mr.Carrau started off with his Sauvignon Blanc which he leaves fermenting on its lees for six months. The result is a creamy and yet crisp citrus wine with notes of guava and grapefruit. Perfectly matched with a meat plate was the Tannat Reserva, made from 100% Tannat grapes from Las Violetas region, in the south of Uruguay.

The highlight of the evening was Amat, an intense wine made with 100% hand-picked Tannat grapes from a 30 years old single vineyard. Located in Cerro Chapeu, Amat is the highest site in the northeast, at over 1000 feet above sea level with sandy soils and very little yields. This elegant and luscious wine is featured in the book ’1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die’

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My first stop was Melac, a wine bar known for it’s wide selection of Southern French wines and for having vines planted around the facade. Each September there’s a party to celebrate the harvest. Unfortunately it was closed so I went to another wine bar on my list: Le Baron Bouge (not Rouge), next to d’Aligre Market. I tried a few wines, hang out for a while, met some people and was kindly invited to join them at Les Caves du Prague, a newer, modern shop/wine bar around the corner with a different approach and equally fun.

The next day I had Brunch at Rose Bakery, an awesome, all organic place that did magics with my hangover. Everything is made in house and you can taste the quality and love they put in it. From there I hit the Louvre- paid homage to the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the Sphinx and ran to Pierre Hermes; the number one Patisserie likely in the universe. I paired a White Truffle Macaroon with a Touraine Gamay which I savored at the Jardin du Luxemburg.

I headed to Au Sauvignon, an old-school wine bar in Saint-Germain that I thought specialized in Beaujolais Crus, but came to find out this wasn’t the case. Instead I tried a white Menetou Salon, an appellation near Sancerre but much smaller. After a stroll around the area we crossed the Seine for more libations at Juveniles, a wine bar near Palais Royal with interesting food and an international wine list. We tried to have a nite cap at Willi’s Wine Bar, but the legendary Parisian attitude threw us off.

The last day I shopped at Gallerie Lafayette, where I had tap wine from their wine fountain- mon dieu, ces’t fantastic! Then I met my friend Markus at Caves Legrand inside the Gallerie Vivienne, a perfectly preserved passage built in the 19th Century. This fancy shop/wine bar is worth every penny. Here we had the best Menetou Salon rouge (Pinot Noir) to date with very limited production thus hard to find.

For dinner we had braised baby goat, an specialty of Corsica with of course, Corsican wine, which I had never had before and enjoyed it very, very much. Then a few more glasses at Aux Tonneaux des Halles, another wine bar that was on my list and didn’t fail to impress. To end the trip in style we had cocktails at the China Club. Tres Chic!

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Tannat is the most planted grape and, I dare to say, the grape that put the wines of Uruguay on the map. However, other grapes shine just as much. Sauvignon Blanc has been fermented on its lees, Sauvignon Gris has gotten me crazy, Chardonnay reminded me of Burgundy, Merlot as good as St.Emilion Grand Cru, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for a Bordeaux style blend, and of course, Tannat- which has its origins in Madiran, France- reigns. I’ve had the whole spectrum; glorious, round, sometimes rough, sometimes luscious, often sublime.

I came back to NY so inspired and so full of energy that I wish I could plant Tannat in my backyard, even if it yielded a bad grape juice, but instead I am determined to promote their wines in any way I can. So, for starters you can come to Oak Wine Bar for a taste of about 6 different grape varieties and their respectively wineries. You can also go to your nearest wine store and try to find wines from Uruguay- you won’t be disappointed. And, if you see a wine from Uruguay on a restaurant’s wine list, just order it. Trust me.

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Granville Island Public Market is a mecca of exotic fruits and vegetables, off the coast shellfish, exquisite cheeses and cured meats, local wine, artisanal breads, you name it. Everything you want, and things you never heard of, can be found there, and at the best quality possible. So basically you shop at the market, head to Stanley Park or to Third Beach, set up your picnic, open a bottle of wine and chill. Vancouver offers more ways to chill than one can imagine- and that was an awesome surprise.

There are five main DVAs (Designated Viticultural Areas) in British Columbia — the Okanagan Valley, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the Fraser Valley and the Similkameen Valley.  With over 60 different grape varieties, the top 5 white varieties are Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Blanc. The top 5 red varieties are Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. Production is 49% white and 51% red. Being the summer, most wines we had were white and mainly from the Okanagan Valley, which all expressed great fruit profile in balance with a natural, vibrant acidity.

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