Rock-n-roll and wine. In my opinion, there is a powerful combination between the raw edge of rock music and the sultry sexiness of wine. Together, you have a velvet edge and raw sex. Wine has also been described as liquid art. Winemakers are artists as they paint the canvas with their blends and create masterpieces that fill the soul. Combine all three…now you’re talking!

Several months ago, I was surfing the twitter machine and stumbled upon a re-tweet that mentioned Gene Simmons of Kiss and an art gallery. Kiss has been my favorite band since I was six years old. In 1978, I dressed as Paul Stanley, the star child, for Halloween. I did it again as a teenager, and now my step-son and I bond by watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels. He even dressed as Paul Stanley for Halloween one year (his make-up and costume are easier to do). Back to the tweet…I opened it up and saw @theartistwells and followed the link to the picture below.

I immediately ran upstairs with my computer to show Kimberly. Ian even got in on the excitement. I remember exclaiming, “I don’t care how much it costs, you can get me this for Christmas.”

If you love rock-n-roll, wine and art, you’ll love the artist Stacey Wells. Her creative Rock Star Reflections series includes such icons as Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and of course her most popular bottle, Gene Simmons. Stacey’s talents have her rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood and music’s elite. We sit down for an interview talk how she got started painting rock stars and wine, her encounter with the God of Thunder, and her sexy new “Spin the Bottle” series.

Contact Stacey Wells:

• www.artistwells.com
• Email – stacew@shaw.ca
• Twitter – @theartistwells

If you liked this post, you’ll love my Rock-n-roll Wine Pairings part 1 and part 2

What do you do with your leftover wine bottles? Do they make their way to the uninspired recycle bin awaiting their fate in a fiery furnace?  Maybe you’re like me and save a few of your memorable bottles and they adorn the tops of your kitchen cabinet. I still have the bottle of wine that we were drinking when I proposed to my wife. Sometimes I save bottles just so my wine rack doesn’t look so defeated. Many bottles are beautiful works of art and that glass has to be useful for something other than being reincarnated as…gasp…a beer bottle.

Here are 7 creative uses for your wine bottles. I would love to hear of anything fun that you do. Please share in the comments if you’ve done any of these or if you have other inspiring ideas to share with the readers here. Not only is it hip to go ‘green,’ the wine bottle makes for an elegant decoration.

From the Vine to the Flower

Creative angled cuts with a glass cutter and you have yourself a decorative vase.

Stemware without the Stem

A simple cut with a glass cutter and some edge finishing gives new life to wine bottles.

Shine A Light Outside

A few simple items from the hardware store, some premade ceramic wine glass torch toppers, and some fuel and you have yourself a creative outdoor torch.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Wine

Cut a hole in the bottom, fill with a short strand of Christmas lights and you have yourself a fun lighting solution.

Grand Lighting Solution

This industrious crafter could build a unique lighting solution that is sure to be a show stopper and conversation starter.

For the Builder

Take an old glass table top and add wine bottle punts for some new artsy loft flare.

A Work of Living Art

An alternate take on the outdoor lamp, use some ordinary hardware items to create a work of wine wall art .

BONUS: For the Over Indulging Wino

This Christmas tree is made entirely of wine bottles. I bet there was a severe hangover after that party!

Over the weekend I caught a glimpse of the future; something that could truly revolutionize action TV sports. It could be bigger than fishing or hunting TV. It will be more exciting than TV poker tournaments. I’m a little hesitant in sharing for fear that the idea could actually be picked up by a national show.

Speed Wine Blogging!

The rules

• 8 wine bloggers / 8 wines / 4 minutes with each wine
• Bloggers listen to the marketing PR blurb then quickly swirl, smell, sip, spit and score the wines.
• Prior to the cowbell ringing the blogger must document their tasting notes with either a tweet or a mini-post consisting of no more than 300 characters (140 character reviews are given an extra 2 points)
• At the end of each round the posts and scores are evaluated and compared to the baseline “Parker Score” to determine those that continue to the next round.
• One blogger is eliminated each round.
• The last blogger remaining wins.

The scene is intense. The room reeks with anticipation…and hints of brett, funk and cherries. The assembled bloggers are cleansing their palates, stretching their tongues and limbering up their nostrils for the event.

Here we are today assembled around the greatest talent in wine writing and reviewing hoping to determine the world champion of Speed Wine Tasting (Red Edition). Our contestants hail from across the US in the hopes to win the coveted @bparkerchuk trophy of a giant nose sniffing a bung hole. “Much love and success to each of you. 100 points *” inscribed on the base.

Our contestants are the formidable Joe Roberts (1WineDude.com), Steve Heimoff (SteveHeimoff.com), Fredric Koeppel (BiggerThanYourHead.net), C. Jason Mancebo (20dollarwineblog.com), Kori Voorhees(WinePeeps.com), Pamela (Enobytes.com), Gary Vaynerchuk (TV.winelibrary.com), and newcomer Steve Paulo (StevePaulo.com).

Round One

Round one begins with a fast pace as the winemaker rushes from contestant to contestant pouring and explaining the wine. The camera cuts across each of the blogger/writers serious faces as they begin to examine the wine with vigorous swirls. Thoughts of berries, cherries, cassis, leather, plums, prunes and pencil led come to mind. The camera cuts to Gary V. who spits gloriously in his trademark Jets spittoon. Newcomer Steve Paulo looks perplexed by the mouth feel of the wine and newly crowned blog king Joe Roberts has already submitted his perfectly crafted 140 character tweet and score. The horn sounds signaling the end of round one. What’s this! Gary Vaynerchuk has grabbed the mic and begins talking about the wine’s availability on Cinderella.com and how he met the winemaker back when he sold him a baseball card in the Jersey mall. The side judges quickly regain control and deliberate the outcome of the first round. In a huge surprise, Gary is cited with a black Vinum and ejected from the competition. Gary offers a string of expletives and then reminds folks of the “Thank You Economy” coming out later this year.

Round Two

The crowd quickly regains composure as round two sounds with the clicking of the 85oz Riedel glass. Everyone gasps at the odd blend of Mourvedre, Syrah, Counoise, and Cinsault. This may prove to be a difficult round. In a bold move with only one sip and spit, both Fredric Koeppel and Steve Heimoff confidently submit their post.  Let’s watch that again in slow motion…will their haste prove to be a good strategy or will one of them be eliminated? The bell rings and Pamela from Enobytes is having trouble submitting her post. Twitter API is frozen! The judges huddle and extend the time by 30 seconds. Everyone has their entries in and the judges quickly review the submissions to determine the winner. The scoring is close with Heimoff pegging the wine almost to a tee. Missing the flavor profile and the score by just one point, Pamela is eliminated. Damn that fail whale.

The energy in the room continues to rise as the rounds progress.

Round Three

Kori Voorhees is eliminated after round three. Strangely enough the wine was a Woodinville winery from her backyard. Dejected Kori and Colby rush from the packed auditorium trying to escape the media interview. As Randy and Kaz from WineBizRadio.com try to stop them, Colby takes the camera and smashed it to the ground.

Round Four

Round four ends with the elimination of Steve Heimoff. He is disqualified for going over the 300 character limit as his post includes a rant against the Republican leadership in California and a dissertation on how no money will ever be made in wine blogging. He’s escorted out of the room by security.

Round Five

With only four contestants remaining the fifth round begins. The purple tooth stains and barrage of tannin and acid are beginning to take their toll on the contestant’s palates. A strange purple stain had developed on Mancebo’s chin…and oddly enough on his bald head…Joe Roberts has a commanding lead with each review coming in at exactly 140 characters. The contestants battle through the round when out of the corner of his eye, Joe catches a glimpse of Geddy Lee from Rush in the stands. Immediately he faints from excitement and is disqualified. After calming the crowd and reviving Joe, the play continues.

Round Six

Three contestants remain; Mancebo, Koeppel, and newcomer Steve Paulo. Mancebo’s eyes seem a little bloodshot and he’s struggling to find the keys on his iPad. A bead of sweat drips from his chin into the glass. The wine is the Molly Dooker Velvet Glove. As he stares into his glass his face turns flush and he quickly rises. “No wine should be 16.8%ABV this is a travesty against wi….” In mid-sentence he falls forward onto the table sending purple spit juice everywhere. For several minutes the scene is chaos. The head referee calls for a 30 minute break so the contestants and compose themselves and clean the spit out of their hair. In a post interview, Mancebo says, “I guess the lesson here is to spit. I let the excitement of the day get to me. I’m a professional, I should know better than that. I’ll be back next year.”

Final Round

The lights dim and the music comes up as the final round begins with perennial award winner Fredric Koeppel and the new kid Steve Paulo surviving to the finish. Intense stares of determination are fired across the table. The wine poured is a 1949 Chateau Ausone. The stage is set and the audience is eerily quiet for the first time all evening. The sound of swishing and spitting can be heard across the room. Both writers deliberate, sketch a few notes and deliberate some more. A commotion arises from the back of the room. Bursting into the room is Joe Powers from AnotherWineBlog.com. “This is a scam, this is a set up! Who are the judges? How the hell did these people get picked to be in the finals! I demand to know!” He overturns the table crushing Koeppel. Paulo attempts to restrain him, but Joe (more crafty than he looks) eludes his grip and rushes off. Screaming toward the exit, “I bet Tom Wark is behind this madness,” Lenn Thompson from NewYorkCorkReport.com dives from the mezzanine level and tackles Joe. Lenn quickly restrains him and stuffs his head in the only remaining spit bucket.

What a night. What a sport. Dazed, the officials and referees head to the replay booth to review the tape. After several minutes of deliberation, they return to declare Steve Paulo the winner by default as he is the last man standing. This new sport is sure to take hold across the country as wine bloggers turn in to rock stars and thousands clamor to the scene.

This post is from guest blogger Tamara Belgard of @sipwithme

All my blood was rushing to the organs in the lower regions of my body. I sat there looking across the table at my husband, slowly wrapping my lips around the cool metal fork, enveloping the last bite of warm toffee bread pudding, feeling it sweet and satisfying as I took it in my mouth and let it slip down my throat. We sat still, relishing in the afterglow, savoring the final moments of true decadence and complete indulgence when it occurred to me and I said, “You know honey, I think wine and food may just be better than sex.” He laughs.

While exploring this topic, I noticed the gorgeous couple in the booth behind us who’d been keeping pace with us all night had also just finished their dessert and were now sitting so closely next to each other, they could have been spooning. They, who were previously all giggles, batting eyelashes and showoffs, were quiet for the first time of the evening with wicked grins freshly smeared on their contented faces. It was like they just had virtual sex, or wine and food sex… and I watched. Hell, I more than watched, I participated! It was like a wine and food orgy!

I thought about it further (because as a blogger, I tend to obsess about new ideas for my blog): This couple’s wine arrived as she was throwing back her hair, flirtatiously laughing at every silly thing he says, using very obvious and suggestive body language. While they were sipping from their glasses, he acted dominant, making recommends from the menu, saying things like “Trust me, you’ll love it” (I wasn’t exactly evesdropping, the guy just happened to be a very loud talker). Their foreplay continued with the arrival of their appetizer—fries with duck fat (yummers, btw)—as the perfectly crisped French-fried potatoes hit their lips, tongue and mouth with the intensity of a French kiss… “Amazing,” he kept saying again and again. By the time their main course was being consumed, their conversation had degraded to mere moans and groans, more than hinting at their experience of infinite pleasure.

They were not alone… we simultaneously and langourously lingered over those last morsels of our decadent desserts, feeling our minds and bodies relax, giving way to the pleasure just received. As if on cue, I watched her rise from her seat and slide into the booth next to him, gently laying her head on his shoulder, snuggling… spooning, until their bill was paid and they quietly slipped out (for round 2?).

Before all the blood had fled my head to my belly, inducing a serious food coma, I was able to jot down my top 10 reasons why the food and wine experience is better than sex.

1. Condoms aren’t required to eat or drink and there’s never a risk of pregnancy.
2. It’s legal to pay for food and wine.
3. Dropping $100 on a meal is perfectly acceptable.
4. You can take pleasure from both food and wine in public and even in front of your family.
5. You don’t have to be committed to just one; feel free to eat and drink around.
6. Food and wine won’t leave you dripping with sweat or give you bed head.
7. You can make dinner and a bottle last for hours, even all night.
8. There’s no obligation or expectations after you’ve enjoyed wine or food.
9. You don’t need mirrors, angles or toys to make the experience better.
10.  Sorry men, I love you all, but it just has to be said; women have a better chance of being truly and deeply satisfied by a good meal and a few glasses of fine wine.

We’d just finished a stimulating date-night dinner at Allium Bistrot, Hunter and I were having great fun traveling down this obnoxiously creative road until I got to number 10 and he matter-of-factly said, “Wait a minute, I’m not so sure I support this article after all.” So, in all fairness to him I’ve also come up with one great reason why sex will always be better than food and wine. Any sex is good sex and you couldn’t ever say that about a bottle or a meal.

So, in the end, my advice to you is simple, select some good wine, have some indulgent bites and then slow down and discover how the food and wine experience can seduce your palate, leaving you utterly exhilarated, entirely blissful and ever wanting more. Until we sip again…

Cheers!

About the Author

Tamara Belgard is a freelance writer and graphic designer living her dream in Portland, Oregon. She currently writes a wine blog called Sip with Me detailing her journey through wine, Oregon and beyond. In addition to being a full-time mom, Tamara is also a marketing and social media specialist. Her passions include wine, chocolate, travel and all things culinary.

• http://www.sipwithme.blogspot.com
• http://www.belgardcreative.com
• @sipwithme on Twitter
• Sip With Me on Facebook

Guest blog #1 from Coryn Briggs @bstar2009

Are you bored with your girls’ night out cocktails? Has that Cosmopolitan lost its luster? Look no further than your local wine shop for wine selections and food pairing ideas. I’ve included my current list of top five favorite wines along with ideas for food pairings and girls’ night out activities.  Wines listed below are not in any kind of order– all are wonderful and need to be enjoyed in the company of good friends. 

2008 Erath Vineyard Pinot Gris – How do I love this wine let me count the ways…

First, I love this winery as they consistently produce wonderful quality affordable wines. I also had the great opportunity to visit the tasting room and was so pleased with the level of customer service. The second reason I love this wine is for the bright fruit aromas and flavors—it is a wonderful combination of citrus and tropical fruit. The third reason is that this wine pairs well with many different dishes, including seafood, pasta salads, roasted game birds and mild to medium flavored cheeses.  An easy and fun idea to incorporate this wine into the next girls’ night out is to have someone host a tapas party because the versatility of this pinot gris makes it great for a mix of ethnic foods and flavors. 

Black Star Farms Sirius Raspberry Dessert Wine – Anyone for dessert and a movie? This is a perfect wine for a girls’ night party themed around chocolate. This port like wine has flavors of ripe sweet raspberries, combined with the warmth of brandy. Try this wine with anything chocolate. Ideas include: fudge brownies and chocolate fondue. I instantly think of a night in with the girls and one of my favorite movies, Chocolat (staring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche). Or, try your hand at a flourless chocolate cake, host a contest and serve this wine alongside the decadent dark chocolate creations. In the end you will all be winners! 

2007 Babich Unoaked Chardonnay – Not your typical housewife’s chardonnay…this unwooded Chardonnay is bursting with flavors of citrus, fresh apple, pineapple and a crisp dry finish.  I first discovered this wine because I was on a mission to try unoaked Chardonnays from around the world. The winery I work for produces a lovely unwooded Sur Lie Chardonnay and I was looking to expand my knowledge and palate on this style. This chardonnay is perfect with creamy sauces and cheese.  Fondue party ladies? Or perhaps a pasta cooking party complete with homemade noodles, sauce and all… 

Cristalino Brut Rosé Cava– Rosé is the new Pinot Grigio, that being said, I tend to associate Rosé wines with summer and in Northern Michigan we will take anything that evokes thoughts of summer. Spring or summer this bubbly Rosé brings versatility to the table anytime of the year. Think flavors of ripe red berries followed by a refreshingly bright finish. Not too sweet or too dry this has become my favorite new bubbly.  Move over cosmopolitans…a new pink is in the house.  Try it with appetizers, white meats, salmon, and mild cheeses. For girls’ night out think pink and do something fun that will benefit breast cancer awareness.  

Shady Lane Cellars Sparkling Riesling – The party ideas are endless when it comes to this wine. It is truly a fun wine and a favorite in my house.  With aromas of fresh peach and green apple followed by a touch of sweetness and a dry finish this wine is crisp and refreshing. Pair this bubbly with appetizers or add a little apricot nectar for a quick Bellini. Sip on a glass of this bubbly and let the girls’ night out begin! Or pour a glass at the spa where you can release your inner diva in the company of good friends.

Celebrate the joys of friendship, take quality time with your friends, relax and unwind. Whether you want to stay in or go out, the wines and ideas presented give you a good start for your next night with the girls. So go ahead, wine a little and feel good about it! 

About the Author

Coryn Briggs moved to Traverse City 6 years ago and quickly immersed herself into the Michigan wine industry. She is currently the Winery Promotions Coordinator for Black Star Farms. In this role she manage the many pieces of the marketing mix including, off-site events, website content, advertising, social media, as well as graphic design. She enjoy local food, wine and the downtown Traverse City area where shes live with her husband and two young daughters.  

Black Star Farms is a unique agricultural entity that features two winery production facilities, their adjacent tasting rooms, a distillery, Inn, and equestrian facility.  The winery just celebrated its 10^th year anniversary and is proud to represent the viticultural diversity of the Northwest Michigan region, and its proximity to the 45^th parallel.

• Twitter: @bstar2009
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blackstarfarms
• Web: www.blackstarfarms.com
• You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/corynbriggs1

Hello, my name is Josh and I’m addicted to Google Analytics. This is a post to help fellow bloggers identify their addiction. If you answer yes to 3 or less, then you’re safe. If you find yourself agreeing with 3-5, you may want to continue watching for the warning signs of addiction. For those bloggers reading this that can relate to 6-9 of the addictions signs, you should consider admitting yourself in to the G.A.A (Google analytics anonymous). You will find a strong support group to help break free from the bonds of addiction. For those that can relate to all 10 “signs,” you’re obviously a super star blogger with massive site traffic. Can you re-tweet this? PLEASE! 

10. Each night you go to bed counting referrals instead of sheep. 

9. Before you go to sleep you pray, “Now I lay me down to rest, I pray for visits from the West, as China and India awake, please click my links for heavens sake.” 

8. You go into a cold sweat as you enter the weekend still needing 400 page views to pass last weeks numbers. 

7. You think about posting an expose on sex addiction including “exclusive” quotes from Tiger Woods and Jesse James. 

6. You refresh you stats page 30 seconds after every time you tweet your newest post 

5. You secretly tag your posts and images with key words, Brittany Spears, Avatar, Porn, and Justin Bieber 

4. The first 30 minutes of every visit to your psychiatrist covers how your value and self worth are not tied to your page views 

3. Secretly you hope that @rickbakas, @sung_h_lee, @nansen or @garyvee will re-tweet your posts 

2. To be trending on Mashable is one of your bucket list items 

1. You read that people like to read lists so you put together THIS list in hopes to boost your traffic for the day.

*photo credit www.thedailydigi.com