Are you a fan of Pinot Noir, the Willamette Valley, Oregon Wines, or all of the above? Then you do not want to miss out on meeting the founder of award winning Willamette Valley Vineyards, Jim Bernau. He will be visiting Connecticut this weekend and attending the events below; so everyone across the state will have an opportunity to meet him and ask questions. Here is a brief look into his vineyard and how he has changed the wine game. Saturday & Sunday, January 28th & 29th • Noon-5:00pm • Uncasville, CT Wine Fest Mohegan Sun Casino • 1 Mohegan…

The Sun WineFest 2012 is a destination weekend for food lovers in the tri-state area (and beyond) who visit the Mohegan Sun Convention Center for a phenomenal line-up of food, wine and celebrity events beginning Friday, January 27 through Sunday, January 29, 2012. We have been very generously given a $100 gift card to the Casino for one lucky reader to take home! To enter, simply visit our Facebook page and tell us why you’re excited for this event by writing a comment on our Wall. One of you will be chosen at random this Sunday, and the gift card…

Here is today’s Wine Wednesday review brought to you by PIPA. Want to know more? Talk to me on Twitter @ctfoodandwine Sorry, if you’re coming here from Twitter- there is no free give-away in Hartford. But if there was, PIPA could have censored it and anything else it wants to with no explanation. Take action to prevent this from happening.

This 2008 was very tight upon the first pour, even thirty minutes after opening the bottle; it needed some extra time to breathe and open up. Once it did, it had wonderful earthy aromas of crushed cherry and sweet strawberry with hints of spice. A dry wine with a light body. While I was initially disappointed upon the first taste, this is a wine that grew on me after drinking half a glass. I feel that this wine in particular needs careful attention to be decanted or aerated (whether you believe in this practice or not) to really help it…

Bogle Vineyards does it again, with this $10 Chardonnay that will blow you away for the price. Oak, sliced apple and fresh crushed pears on the nose, with a crisp and smooth lasting finish that drinks like a pinot grigio. Has good balance and I guarantee this will surprise your friends that are anti-chardonnay, anti-butter, or anti-$10-dollar-wine. Your friends, wife, girlfriend, husband, boyfriend- whoever. Take one of their favorite bottles once it’s empty and sneak this in it’s place, and see what they think of it. They will be in for a surprise when you tell them not only are…

Ice wine is a type of dessert wine that is created from grapes left on the vine past normal harvest and are subjected to frost and freezing. While traditional wine has been around for thousands of years, ice wine has only been around for about 200 years. After the first deep freeze of the growing season they are harvested and the wine making process begins. The sugars and other solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated substance to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a small amount of very sweet and very concentrated…

Tasting Notes 2008 Phantom Old Vine Zin by Bogle Vineyards has a juicy cotton candy aroma similar to the highly rated Chateau St. Michelle 2008 Cabernet. Sweet with a semi dry finish initially but mellows out after a few more sips. Cherries and vanilla on the nose, creamy, dark fruit is complex but still feels like something is missing on the finish. Aged for 30 months in American Oak, the Petite Sirah helps round out the flavor profile cutting down the edges of the other contents; Old vine Zinfandel and Mourvèdre. At 14.5% ABV, it is at a relatively high…

According to NBC30, “East Haven Mayor Joe Maturo gave more than a dozen interviews to reporters after four East Haven police officers were arrested Tuesday, accused of harassing and intimidating members of the Latino community.” One reporter asked how he would reach out to the Latino community that night, the…

Insomnia Cookies is now open for business on Chapel Street in New Haven, according to the company’s Facebook page they serve “fresh, delicious, oven baked cookies” and are “warm from the oven right to your door!” We visited Insomnia and Blue State Coffee last week for the grand opening to…

(AP) Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, is preparing to refile for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection just two years after emerging, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. A spokesman for the privately held Irving, Texas, bakery company declined to comment on the report. The Wall Street…

(AP) PEABODY, Mass. — The federal Transportation Security Administration is defending its decision to confiscate a frosted cupcake from a Massachusetts woman flying from Las Vegas. The TSA says in a blog comment posted Monday the cupcake was packed in a jar filled with icing, which is considered a gel…

As many of you know, I am in and out of Manhattan and the other boroughs of NYC frequently. Recently, I passed through Korea Town on the way to China Town for some dumplings at Shanghai Cuisine on Bayard Street, and was thinking about the whole controversy over the popular…

Connecticut Magazine’s Readers Choice Restaurant Awards just came out in their January 2012 issue. For the complete three page list, visit Connecticut Magazine here. If you’re thinking about going somewhere for New Years 2012 this weekend, why not check out some of the restaurants below? Do you agree with Connecticut…

Tourists, locals and beef lovers of all kinds will soon be able to feast upon gourmet burgers in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Tokyo will be home to Japan’s first Wendy’s fast food restaurants, with plans to build 100 locations within the next five years. The…

Gordon Ramsay has been battling more than wannabe cooks on his prime time television shows recently. A judge ruled that his father-, sister- and brother-in-law were guilty of hacking Ramsay’s personal emails and company computers. Ramsay was just awarded £250,000 or about $390,000 dollars. Ramsay fired his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson,…