Show 165, March 26, 2016: 2nd Annual SOCO Uncorked

SOCO Uncorked 2015The 2nd Annual SOCO Uncorked in Costa Mesa returns on Thursday, March 31st at South Coast Collection and The OC Mix. Event organizer Nancy Milby of LCA Wine and participating Chef & Restaurateur Noah Blom of ARC (and the soon to be Restaurant Marin and The Guild Club) join us with a tasty preview.

SOCO Uncorked is unlike any other wine and food festival – it is truly a collaboration between all the tenants at South Coast Collection (SOCO) and The OC Mix. Bites are provided by the culinary offerings at the food hall, including award-winning restaurants like Taco Maria, Pueblo, ARC, and more. To create the dishes, they use tenant offerings like Savory Spice Shop for all their rubs and spices. Nancy Milby and Master Sommelier Peter Neptune work with the restaurants individually to pair a wine varietal based on the dish they serve.

The charitable beneficiary is the Project Hope Alliance.

SOCO’s own Chef Noah Blom, owner and chef of the award winning ARC restaurant at SOCO, will demonstrate (as part of SOCO Uncorked) how to deconstruct a duck, and discuss how all of the various and sundry parts are used. Small bites will be offered of the delicious morsels, featuring duck of course, and will represent all three of Chef Noah’s SOCO restaurants, including the highly anticipated Restaurant Marin and The Guild, both coming soon to SOCO. Wines will be provided be Gerard Bertrand of the southwest of France.

Show 125, June 6, 2015: Kyle Meyer, Co-Proprietor, The Wine Exchange

Kyle Meyer of Wine ExchangeKyle Meyer, co-proprietor of the Wine Exchange in Santa Ana, is one of our on-point, resident wine authorities. He’s back with us to discuss old vine wines. You see this designation on a lot of wine labels. There is, unfortunately, no legal definition for “old.” It’s typically 40 to 50 years old. What should the casual wine aficionado know about buying and enjoying old vine wines?

Some grape vines in California can still produce modest clusters of fruit after 125 years. The yields are very small. Locally there are some small clusters of old vine Zinfandel growing in Cucamonga that are farmed.

Warm and dry conditions add to the longevity of grape vines. Overseas The Rhone region of France, Australia, and Spain are well-known for areas of old vine wines.

On Saturday afternoon, June 13th Wine Exchange is hosting their Grand Re-Opening Tasting Alley Party and Project Hope Alliance Community Fundraiser in Santa Ana. The festivities include the outside Tasting Alley Party as well as the in-store, door–busting deals.

For $40, guests will experience upwards of 30 wine tastings as well as a sandwich or burger from local TK Burgers. Proceeds from the Tasting Alley are donated to Share Our Wine Foundation and their direct beneficiary, Project Hope Alliance.