Just in case you’ve been wondering – and even if you haven’t – MirePoix Vegas has been on hiatus since the server issues earlier this year.  As a result, any and all posting about food has happened here on Vegas Wineaux.  Well, that wasn’t working for me. Let me tell you why.

I’m a “Featured Publisher” on Foodbuzz.  ”Featured Publishers,” by the way, are those blog writers whose focus is on all aspects of food (including wine and beer!), and who have good writing skills.  So if you can sauté, braise, and render but have difficulty with punctuation and grammar, you probably won’t make it as a “Featured” publisher.  Well, I can manhandle an apostrophe or gut a gerund with the best of them!

I recently entered a contest on the best Foodbuzz food blogs out there (Project Food Blog) and didn’t make it past the first round.  Okay, neither did 1200 of my fellow publishers, but that’s beside the point.  I came to a gun fight armed with a cheese spreader and was doomed from the start, no matter how well I wrote about food.  Vegas Wineaux is about wine, wine, and more wine, with some food, travel, and personal stuff occasionally thrown in.  The competition, on the other hand, included career chefs who can write well. Wow.

Reenter MirePoix Vegas.

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I’ve had a few questions from (Friends? Fans? Admirers? Stalkers?) asking why do I blog? And why, for goodness sakes, would I focus on such a narrow niche as wine etiquette in Las Vegas?

Assuming that these questions come from a place of really wanting to know – as opposed to trying to get me to stop – I can think of only one answer.

Passion.

I’ve always *liked* wine.  Just like many other Boomers, I started with Mogen David or Boone’s Farm. Hey! It’s a start! And it’s wine … kind of.

My journey to so-called “good” wines took a couple of decades, and it was the man to whom I’m now committed who introduced me to my first wine of substance.  I can still see that experience as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.  The expectant look on his face which turned to a broad smile as I “got it.”  It was a rich and luscious port, and the layers danced on my tongue.  I was hooked.

It was many years and many false starts later before I hit my stride.

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Well, I was in already in Henderson. I was done with my business errands and happened to note that it was 5:02pm.  Did I want to join in on rush hour traffic all the way to my home in the Northwest?  I think not.

So I decided to go to a restaurant and have a quick meal.  What better place, I thought gleefully, than to go to where the late, not so great Sweet Water and Steeles once resided.  Cackling all the way, I made my way along Eastern Avenue to get there.  And was in for a shock.  Sort of.

To be fair, I already knew that the property had changed hands several times, and I couldn’t wait to see what was in store from the current occupant.

I saw the letters painted in an arch over the door; the large original letters had left their mark in the badly repaired stucco above.  Oh well.

I went to the door of what is now called the Churrascaria, and the door was locked.  The door sign indicated that their restaurant hours began at five, and by this time it was nearly five-fifteen.  There was no activity going on inside to indicate that there was any staff running a little late and hurrying to open for business. Is this place cursed?? (This, by the way, is the reason for the recent archives posts I did a few days ago).

The traffic was still bad and I was still hungry.  I drove across the parking lot and saw a restaurant called BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse.

What the heck. I’ll give it go.

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The Zin Fest in Paso Robles was an incredible weekend of food, wine, and fun.  And I mean FUN!

After a quiet Friday evening, we visited several wineries, but ended up spending most of the day and early afternoon at Hug Cellars.  It wasn’t just because of the wines – although that had a lot to do with it – but it was because of the Wild Game BBQ that Augie hosted.  So it was our stomachs that made the decision for us.

What a shock, right?

With that being said, there were lots of activities that entire weekend with the different wineries which we had to miss.  However, it was not all about food.  It was also about reviewing some of the wines in the Spring shipment of the Hug Cellars Wine Club (Club Hug).

Oh man. What a treat!

Rather than go on and on about how wonderful the wines were, just watch the videos!  There was enough footage to make a mini-movie, but unfortunately, YouTube is pretty strict about the whole ten-minute thing.

The first three videos all take place at Hug Cellars where we taste the wines, pair the wines with the food, and find out what a “mystery” wine was.  Lots of tape on the cutting room floor!

Zin Festival Fun – Tasting at Hug Cellars Pt. 1

Zin Festival Fun – Tasting at Hug Cellars Pt. 2

Mystery Wine Revealed! – Tasting at Hug Cellars Pt. 3

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