Private Wine Tour on Saturday - Pre-Trip Inspection

Getting ready for a Private Winery Tour on Saturday I stopped in the garage Friday night to inspect Large Luxury Limo Coach #158. Good thing I did, too. The fuel was less than a quarter tank. Not a good thing.

After checking lights, fluids, belts and brakes, etc. I drove the unit to fill her up.

I decided to grab a few pre-trip photos. Tomorrows photos will be so much better. They'll have happy smiling people!

Private Winemakers Tour, Barrel Tasting, Cheese, Scenery & Music w Jake Kalegis!

Who should come?
You and your best friend! You and your loving partner! You all by yourself! You want to mix, meet and mingle with other people who wish to learn more about wines and and fine food!
Why
Come and enjoy custom private Members Only Events! This is a spectacular opportunity for a special day of scenic beauty, music, good friends, laughter, fine wines, and much more!
How to find US? "Don't worry! You'll find us!"

You won't want to miss this Special Event at Blue Mountain Vineyards! Put a BIG red circle on Sunday, April 27! from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM!

Owner Vicky Greff is welcoming Members of Lehigh Valley Wine & Dine to a Special Extended Private Barrel Tasting and Winery Tour with The Wine Maker. The barrel tasting will be held for the general public on Saturday night, but she is extending the festivities for Members of Lehigh Valley Wine & Dine on Sunday.


We'll make a day of it.

* Owner, Vicky Greff is extending Saturday night's 2006/2007 vintage Barrel Tasting just for us for this special Sunday. CLICK HERE to see what Gary Vaynerchuk from WineLibrary.tv has to say about Barrel Samples!
* We'll have Wine and Cheese Sampling at our own reserved table.
* We'll tour the Vineyards and the Wine Cellars.
* We'll enjoy Barrel Samples of four different varieties of what Vicky calls the "truly amazing 2006 and 2007 vintage. Barrel samples are not even wine yet. They've just been put into the barrels, but you can learn so much about the quality of the vintage from the barrel samples".
* We will also have the opportunity to purchase these Wine Futures at a 20% discount! You can mix and match case lots with just a 25% deposit, balance upon pickup when the wines are ready.
* We'll enjoy music with everyone's favorite Jake Kaligis Band from 2-5 pm.
* We'll be able to wander around, settle back and enjoy some beautiful scenery.

Bring a camera, bring some friends, bring a smile, a laugh and a warm heart.


I will arrange a limo or limo van with a chauffeur for those who wish to travel together as a group. More details on this later; please advise if interested. We might even gather together for dinner along the way home...any suggestions?

PLEASE RSVP and pay in advance! Event fee covers Wine Makers Tour, Barrel Tasting, Wine & Cheese, Music with Jake Kaligis and Group fee. No other charges except for group transport, if desired and, of course, your own wine purchases.

Gary Vaynerchuk and Conan O'Brien 'Building ther Palates'--HILARIOUS!

http://view.break.com/343258 - Watch more free videos

OMG! Did I screw up already? I asked myself tentatively...

I drove by the Karlton Cafe on Tuesday hoping to drop in and chat with Chef AJ or his brother and Manager Dan. Unfortunately I got there too late and the place was closed for the night.

Approaching the restaurant and peeking in the front window was a little disappointing--I didn't see any elegance here. Did I screw up already, I wondered? As I stand on a bench to get a shot of the exterior I notice that there IS plenty of free parking right out front! That's a good thing! Right?

In my eagerness to get a good first venue on the schedule in a hurry for our fledgling group, did I fail to do adequate due diligence? Would I have to embarrassingly cancel this event and reschedule for something a little more...mainstream?

I would have call tomorrow and talk with the Chef AJ. What would I say? Hi Dan, this is Chris. Is your restaurant really nice? Or does it suck? Damn! I should have known better than to trust a review from the Morning Call!

Wednesday came and went. My Valentine pampered me with a steaming bubble bath, foot massage, pedicure and back-rub and made me forget all about meetups and restaurants. I didn't call.

So now it is 3:00 am Thursday morning. I figure I better do a bit more research. I reread the MCALL review. Well, they couldn't have been that far off base, I think. It sounds unabashedly glowing! Not at all what it looks like from the front window! Let's see what else I can find.

Oh! This sounds promising! Check it out and let me know what you think!

ROBERT GORDON
NOVEMBER 2007 PRIMETIME A&E
Karlton CafÈ
HIS ENTHUSIASM IS INFECTIOUS. Chef A.J. Buehrer has sashayed into the Karlton CafÈ with the sound and fury of someone who simply likes to cook. His ebullience and desire are the kernels of promise that should make this transformed little ex-movie theater sprout.

Karlton Cafe occupies a central niche along an all-too-truncated little Rockwellesque stretch ofQuakertown proper,where it hopes to be the friendly/homey/edgy little cafe that anchors a slowly gentrifying downtown scene.

Sound and fury is a misnomer in the case of the Karlton Cafe . We haven?t advertised at all, AJ confesses. We just opened and started doing our thing. Fortunately, people seem to like what we?re doing. We see a lot of the same faces coming back.

AJ had lived and toiled at Chestnut Springs Farm, an organic farm in Bucks County prior to plunging into the swirling waters of restaurateuring. I?ve been cooking since I was 14 at home and at restaurants. My mother and grandmother were awesome cooks. I had a good opportunity to come in here and start a nice little cafe in a great little town. I liked the building. I like Quakertown. I love to cook. Here I am. AJ has gotten up to speed quickly, developing a good rhythm and a good formula, while avoiding the formulaic. His ever-morph-ing menu offers some fresh takes on favorites old and new.

A next-generation of variations are in different stages of gestation. The dynamic seems to be translating into an intriguing yet tight little menu. Karlton dishes generally reside within the bounds of creativity without straying into reckless territory.

At first glance, a few things on the menu strike you. The price-conscious can?t help noticing that only two or three selections lie on the heavy side of the $20-entree demarcation line. A few choices are priced closer to half that sum. In fact, one meat dish weighs in under $10. Yes...meat dish. It?s not there to skew the menu or to deceive either. Smokin? Chicken, at $9.50,is a palate titillator tossing the dairy heft of Maytag Blue cheese into the ring with homemade BBQ gravy, chicken and pineapple. There?s nothing either skimpy or wimpy about this dish which serves as a segue into the second striking aspect: The kitchen delivers on its promises. Each ingredient listed in the menu description shows up on the plate. I?ve noted a marked increase in phantom ingredients recently ingredients trumpeted on menus that never find their way to the plate. Thus when the Karlton dish Piggly Wiggly claims to be sweet sopresata, pecorino Romano cheese and mushroom risotto, that?s what shows up. The sopresata (a delicious Italian salami) has nice bite. The Romano is earthy and the risotto, studded with mushrooms, is moist. And the price, $10.95 is right.

Piquant dishes spice in at the right heat so hot-food aficionados (the caliente/ some-like-it-hot contingent or jerks in Jamaican terms) can sate their guilty pleasure. Dishes labeled Hot Shot Clams don?t choke back on burn. Ditto for Hot Shot Clams, which pack peppery punch into a medley of peppers, onions and bacon.

Not surprisingly, the cafe abounds with finger-food items ó hors D?ouevres for either a before-dinner starter or an anytime tide-me-over (the eatery serves continuously). Strip on a Shingle coats sirloin strips in Madeira wine cream sauce atop toast points. Fruity pineapple salsa multi-tasks: It makes the Smoked Wings take flight, lends tang to Marinated Salmon, and bolsters the Barbecued Baby Back Shrimp clad in bacon.

There?s a large salad selection. Classic Caesar clads a cheesy gloss on each leaf, although the salad would benefit from some croutons for crunch. Classic chopped salad mixes a vegetable garden of greens dressed in mild feta cheese vinaigrette.
Cuisine: The chefs ever-morphing menu brims with fresh takes on favorites old and new with another generation of variations in various stages of gestation.

Atmosphere: The converted movie theater is bi-level. The walls are alive with posters of past cinematic glory days. The descent to the main dining room brings you into an understated room filled with tables and a beautiful grand piano.

The menu shows a lot of stretch in entree selection. Peasant on a Shoestring ($12.95) takes a heap of roasted veggies and tosses them with Angel hair pasta (considering the portion size, plan to enjoy some the next day as well). Sea Angel tosses sauteed shrimp, scallops and roasted garlic with angel hair pasta dressed up in lemon zest and white port.

BYOB Plus FREE DESSERT courtesy Che?

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Museum of the Codorníu caves on the domains of Codorníu.
Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, comarca Alt Penedès, province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
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Artyomovsk Winery, wine cellarThis photo (C) Leon_II
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Both photos published under Creative Commons Copyrights from Wikimedia

A private glass-enclosed wine room with capacity for thousands of bottles right here in the valley

I spoke today with one of my clients returning from a month-long New Zealand and Australia cruise. He tells me of a friend with a multi-million dollar home featuring a glass enclosed wine room with capacity for several thousand bottles--right here in the Lehigh Valley. This particular individual has interest in one of the finest dining experiences in the Lehigh Valley. We're sure to meet again. We need to talk.

Awesome plans in the works...

Thank you all and welcome to what promises to be the most exciting Meetup Group in the Valley.

The initial response to this group is very encouraging. It's been only about a week (8 days) since I made that fateful mouse-click; and already have nearly two dozen members.

You only live once. OK, some have argued that point. You live THIS life only once! You want to set aside a special day every month to make friends, make memories, make merry and even make passionate love! Circle the second Tuesday of every month on your calendar and toss out some ideas for our upcoming events.

Who? You! You and your best friend! You and your loving partner! You all by yourself! You want to mix, meet and mingle with other people who wish to learn more about wines and and fine food!

We'll visit area wineries and great restaurants, even spas and other exciting venues. We'll have catered events and cooking demonstrations in professional kitchens and private homes. We'll have limo tours and discussions with wine experts. We'll even plan an annual California wine tour.

More details will be posted shortly regarding our first get-together. Until then, please send an email to the group. Post some ideas and suggestions so I can row this boat in the direction YOU want it to go!

Yours truly and truly yours,
Chris