All Over Albany

Free Wine and Food Festival tickets

Next week is the last event of the season at SPAC-- the big Wine, Food and Ferrari Festival.

And the central event is the Grand Tasting on Saturday, September 11th from 1 to 5:30. More that 100 Italian and international wines will be available for sampling, there will be wine and cheese seminars, delicacies from local chefs and lots of Ferraris and other beautiful cars. Not a bad way to kill an afternoon.

Over 35 importers of Italian wines and food products will be offering tastings. Tickets to the Grand Tasting are $75 a piece -- but we've got 4 pair to give away.

Gourmet food, fine wine and fancy cars had us daydreaming about living like the other half does. Which brings us to the question we'd like you to answer to enter the drawing:

How do you "live rich" in the Capital Region?

Maybe it's where you go to splurge or treat yourself when you've got a few extra dollars. Maybe it doesn't cost anything at all but makes you feel like a million bucks. Anyway, tell us what it is and we'll enter you into the drawing. And of course, let us know what's so great about it in case we want to try it too. That part's not a requirement, but it's more fun to share.

The deadline to enter is Friday, September 3rd at 8PM.

Very, very important: One entry per person. You must answer the question to be eligible. You must post your comment by 8 pm on Friday, September 3rd, 2010. You must include a working email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winners will be notified by email by noon on Saturday-- and must respond by 5PM Tuesday, September 7th.

Albany Jane's guide to stocking the bar for parties

Albany Jane game plan involves a few stops.

It's party time.

Say you're having anywhere from 5-25 friends, family, or moderately tolerable neighbors over for dinner.

What do you do about the bar? Wine, cocktails, aperitifs? If you can't hire a bartender for the night (and chances are you can't), you're on your own.

So here are a few stores that I enjoy patronizing for my party libations.

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Patrick Boegel's got hops

Beer doesn't grow on trees.

Plenty of people brew their own beer, but Patrick Boegel takes home brewing a step further.

The Delmar home brewer has been crafting his own beers for about ten years -- but last year he decided to start growing his own hops.

Hops are one of the main component of beer -- and they're a really important part of how the beer tastes, but most home brewers just buy them.

So why did Patrick Boegel start growing his own? To get him through the great world hops crisis of 2007.

Obviously.

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Lunch at the Victoria Pool

Sunshine, water, gin and bacon -- all high on the list of things that make us happy.

Track, schmack. Don't get us wrong, the race course is pretty and can be a lot of fun, but when we can steal a little summer time in Saratoga, we prefer hanging at the Victoria Pool.

We've mentioned the pool before, but here's why we like it so much.

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Better bottle bill bad for beer choice?

The "better bottle bill" that was part of the recent New York State budget includes a provision requiring all redeemable bottles sold in the state to carry a special New York barcode. As you might imagine, this hasn't gone over well with bottlers.

And now there's this from the Brewers Association:

The cost to produce a state-specific label with a unique UPC and the inventory and shipping challenges that presents, will mean many small breweries will be forced to pull their beers out of the New York market because the cost of doing business in the state will be simply too high.

...

Several brewing companies have already weighed in on this issue with the Governor, explaining they would have no choice but to discontinue distribution of their beers.

The complaints about the barcode rule already seem to be getting traction. State legislators have been talking about delaying the rule -- or even dumping it all together.

photo: Flickr user mfajardo

Pop Rocks cocktail at dp

Mikey likes it!

If popular retro-themed activities like adult kickball or spelling bees in the bars just aren't doing it for you -- or if you just want a drink to compliment them -- try the pop rocks cocktail at dp.

This sweet drink is a slightly more sophisticated way to relive your childhood.

Slightly.

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Signatures wine bar at Proctor's

Yes, we know your Mom taught you not to drink and write on walls -- but it's OK here. Really.

Last week we headed over to Proctor's to see Sweeney Todd and we discovered this fun little makeshift wine bar called Signatures.

We were actually a little afraid to go in at first because the spot used to be an exclusive room for Proctor's patrons only.

But these days rabble like us can get in, have a drink before a show, and write on the walls.

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Ask AOA: wine for Passover

Kosher wines -- there are a lot more than you might think.

So Abby asks:

Passover is later this week and I'm in need of a good bottle of wine to bring to a seder. Can we get some leads on where to find something that tastes better than cough syrup aka Mogen David wine?

Well, there's always Manischewitz... kidding. Ahem.

We checked out a few of the local wine shops and liquor stores to get recommendations. Got any other ideas? We'd love for you to share.

Here's what we found:

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Ian Egas knows his wine

Ian trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa.

So we've been known to drink a little wine here at AOA. We admit it. We also, sadly, admit that we have a bit of trouble differentiating our sauvignon blancs from our gewurztraminers. OK, actually, we have trouble once we get past "red or white."

Fortunately, that's not a problem for Ian Egas. He's the sommelier at Albany's swanky 677 Prime. Ian took time out from aerating and decanting to share some secrets about buying wine in the Capital Region, what your neighbors are drinking -- and Prime's $3000+ bottle.

Yep, one bottle. Yeah.

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Who has the best prices on beer?

It doesn't grow on trees you know.

Maybe you're rooting for the Steelers. Maybe you're rooting for the Cardinals. Maybe you don't so much -- you know -- care. But you will care if there's beer at the Super Bowl party.

According to the folks at the Beer Institute (yeah, there is such a thing) 3.5 percent of beer sales come from Super Bowl weekend. So how will you get the best bang for your beer buck this weekend? AOA went beer shopping to help you out. (Yay, beer shopping.)

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Teavana

Pots at Teavana

My doc says I should relax and cut down on the caffeine, so I was especially looking forward to visiting Teavana, which just opened this weekend at Crossgates Mall.

So what exactly is "a heaven of tea"?

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Belgian beer from Brewery Ommegang

Not just beer -- Ommegang beer.

On day five of AOA's holiday gift guide -- a little holiday cheer.

What?
The 2008 gift pack from Cooperstown's Brewery Ommegang: three 750 ml bottles (one Hennepin, one Three Philosophers and one Chocolate Indulgence Stout), plus a special Ommegang glass.

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Drinks at The Adelphi

Romantics, enter here.

OK Romantics, here's the best place for you to have a drink in the whole entire Capital Region. If you haven't been to The Adelphi yet, seriously, you gotta go.

Alright, maybe the drink prices are a little steep (from $8 to $10) but they make their signature daiquiris ($9) with fresh cream, so it's tough to drink more than one anyway. And you can practically get drunk on the atmosphere of the place.

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The Midsummer Night's Martini at DeJohn's

Simple, cool and delicious.

OK, we're not martini connoisseurs . We've been known to order them shaken, not stirred, straight up with a twist just because we've heard it before. But we're also not fond of sticky fruity drinks with lots of juice and umbrellas in them. If you like a summer drink that's dry and cool with just a hint of citrus and a few bubbles, you may just find your new favorite cocktail at DeJohn's on Lark Street.

That's where we found ours.

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The little wine shop on Lark

Everyone's excited about the wine store opening--even big giant hands.

It's coming--really it is. The wine shop on Lark Street just got the thumbs up from the liquor board. Empire wines, a popular neighborhood shop, outgrew the space at the corner of State and Lark about a year ago. New York State liquor laws prevented them from owning two stores, so they were forced to shut down the Lark Street location. New owner Mark Brogna has been waiting for approval since January. He's been keeping the neighborhood updated on the progress with signs in the window. Today we noticed that the crossed fingers switched to thumbs up. Hang on to your corkscrews, Mark says there will be wine before the summer is out. (Thanks Colleen!)

Bloody Marys at Cafe Madison

OK, we're not Bloody Mary connoisseurs or anything, but we know what we like. And we like the Bloody Marys at Cafe Madison.

Don't ask the bartenders. They won't share the secret to this tomatoey/peppery concoction. They will tell you they start with a basic Bloody Mary mix, but then they have a little fun with it.

What we like most about this particular tomatoey/peppery concoction is the consistency. It's thicker than your typical Bloody Mary, with just the right amount of horseradish, pepper, lemon and, of course, vodka. Not too spicy -- but spicy enough.

Sip one on a Sunday morning and you may find yourself in some powerful company. We're not naming names, but apparently at least one very tan Albany celeb is a fan.