Tag: Food

Marvin R. Shanken, founder and chairman of M. Shanken Communications and editor and publisher of Wine Spectator, has been named the 2019 recipient of the Association of Magazine Media’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing individuals who have made longstanding contributions to the magazine media industry and society. Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Condé Nast International, will present the award to Shanken at the American Magazine Media Conference on Feb. 5 in New York City.

Steve Lacy, Meredith Corporation executive chairman and MPA chairman, said, “I have known Marvin for many years and have had the honor of working alongside him on industry initiatives. He is the embodiment of the old adage, ‘Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ His story is unique, his success is remarkable, and his contributions to the magazine media world deserve our highest honor.”

“To be able to devote your life to subjects you are passionate about makes me lucky indeed,” said Shanken. “Being able to give back to worthwhile charities is a rich reward. It is an honor and a privilege to receive this recognition from my peers.”

Shanken began his career in publishing in 1972 when he bought Impact, a little-known wine and spirits industry newsletter. Today, Impact is read in more than 200 countries. In 1979, Shanken purchased Wine Spectator. He grew the publication from a small free newspaper to the world’s leading authority on wine, delivering expert reviews of 16,000 wines annually and reaching more than 3 million readers worldwide. In 1992, Shanken launched Cigar Aficionado, a magazine and accompanying website focused on luxury lifestyle topics, reaching more than 1.6 million readers. Shanken also owns Whisky Advocate, the leading whisky magazine in the U.S., and hosts multi-city WhiskyFest™ events. M. Shanken Communications also publishes Market Watch and Shanken News Daily.

M. Shanken Communications charitable events have raised more than $50 million over the past 40 years. They include the New York Wine Experience, which has raised over $25 million and funded more than 800 scholarships for students in wine and culinary programs; Cigar Aficionado‘s Night to Remember, which has raised over $20 million for prostate cancer research; and the Els for Autism Pro-Am, which has raised more than $10 million and helped fund the creation of a school for 260 children with autism on a 26-acre campus in Jupiter, Fla.

For more on how Shanken began his career in publishing 46 years ago, and how he built Wine Spectator from a small newspaper to the world’s leading authority on wine, check out this exclusive interview. And for more on the Association of Magazine Media’s Lifetime Achievement Award, visit their announcement.

---

Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts.

Master baker Tommaso Cannata from Sicily, shares his advice on how to create this Sicilian street food par excellence.

This is simply the most perfect gravy for your Thanksgiving turkey using pan drippings! So rich, so smooth and so easy!

I promised you a gravy recipe, didn’t I?

I always keep my promises. Plus, this isn’t just any ordinary turkey gravy recipe.

Nope. This is the world’s easiest, quickest, less-than-2o-minute recipe conveniently using the pan drippings from your foolproof turkey.

Which means, hello, this is also a foolproof gravy!

You just can’t go wrong here. All you have to do is strain your pan drippings and combine it with some butter, flour and fresh herbs.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and boom. You’re done.

The post How to Make the Best Turkey Gravy appeared first on Damn Delicious.

This lentil bake with vegetables and sausage is a great everyday meal for the family. Just follow the simple steps below to make it at home!

The new Michelin guide focused on cuisine style lists the best addresses for Cantonese food in 15 countries.

As its name suggests, a gluten-free diet is all about avoiding gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and a handful of other grains. This means traditionally prepared breads, pastas, cereals and beers are automatically off the table.

Many have adopted the diet over the past decade as a means of losing weight and boosting energy levels—proponents include celebrity wellness guru Gwyneth Paltrow—but gluten can be a serious health problem for those who have an intolerance or allergy to it, or who suffer from celiac disease, the autoimmune disorder in which the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine and other long-term health complications. For people with these medical conditions, knowing whether a food or beverage contains gluten is an absolute necessity.

“If they don’t embrace a gluten-free diet, they are sick,” Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Wine Spectator. “They don’t have a choice, because if they don’t embrace the diet, they will definitely pay a price.”

Regardless of why people opt to let go of gluten, there’s a common question many ask: Can I drink wine on a gluten-free diet?

The short answer is yes. “A classic example of an alcoholic beverage that does not have gluten is wine,” Fasano said. “Typically it is made by grapes, and the process, under normal circumstances, has no exposure to gluten whatsoever.”

And the feds agree. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau allows wines to be labeled “gluten-free,” as long as they comply with the FDA’s requirements of not being made with any gluten-containing grains and having less than 20 parts per million (ppm) gluten—and the vast majority of wines do comply.

Are there exceptions?

While wine is collectively considered safe for those with gluten-related disorders (barring other health issues related to drinking alcohol), those with severe reactions should still be aware of two instances in which wine may come into contact with gluten.

The first scenario is if a barrel that is used to age wine is sealed with wheat paste, which contains gluten. Across the wine industry, this paste has largely been replaced by non-gluten-based wax substitutes, and even when used the wine’s exposure to it is virtually negligible.

In fact, in 2012, Tricia Thompson, founder of GlutenFreeWatchdog.org, tested this idea by measuring the gluten levels of two different wines finished in wheat paste–sealed barrels. In her study, the wines contained less than 5 and 10 ppm gluten, respectively—far lower than the FDA’s 20 ppm standard for gluten-free foods.

Another potential point of gluten contact is if wheat gluten is used for fining. But this practice is also extremely rare. (In fact, two enologists interviewed for this story were unaware that gluten-containing fining agents even existed.)

And once again, the resulting wine isn’t likely to have enough (if any) gluten in it to cause a reaction: A 2011 study published in theJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry tested wines fined with gluten-based agents and found that they contained either very little gluten or none at all.

Furthermore, “even if any traces of gluten would accidentally enter a wine—let’s say the winemaker falls into a tank holding a whole-wheat sandwich—as a protein, gluten would react with [wine’s] phenolics,” said Dr. Christian Butzke, a professor of enology at Purdue University. This means the already trace amounts of gluten in the wine would be severely reduced after settling, racking and filtration.

However, while table wine is fine, not all wine (or wine products) are created the same. “Some types of wine do contain an unsafe amount of gluten for people with celiac disease, [including] those with added color or flavoring … and those made from barley malt, such as bottled wine coolers,” Marilyn Geller, CEO of the nonprofit Celiac Disease Foundation, said. “For these, consumers should check the label.”

The bottom line is that, in almost any case, it issafe to enjoy wine while on a gluten-free diet. However, if you want to be 100 percent certain you are drinking a wine that has not come into contact with gluten, contact the winery for confirmation.

---

Want to learn more about how wine can be part of a healthy lifestyle? Sign up for Wine Spectator‘s free Wine & Healthy Living e-mail newsletter and get the latest health news, feel-good recipes, wellness tips and more delivered straight to your inbox every other week!

A Pacojet, liquid nitrogen ice cream maker, freeze dryer and a chocolate temperer are just a few of the kitchen toys available at the open shared kitchen space.

One of the wildfires burning across California has chased vintners from their wineries and homes in the Malibu Coast appellation. The Woolsey fire has traveled from Highway 101 in Thousand Oaks down to the Pacific Coast, scorching acres of vineyards and damaging or destroying wineries and other structures.

“It’ll likely be a good six months to a year before the roads into the hills can be traveled again,” said Ken Fasola, owner of Malibu Discovery wine tours and the Sip Malibu Grapes tasting room, which burned down in the blaze.

According to the latest data from Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency, the Woolsey fire has burned more than 97,000 acres and destroyed more than 435 structures. As of last night, it was 40 percent contained. The blaze is one of several large fires in the state that ignited this week, aided by dry conditions and high winds. At least 50 people have died in the fires, including two in the Woolsey blaze.

The Malibu Coast AVA is one of the state’s newer appellations, created in 2014. The area encompasses 44,590 acres within the 182,000 acres of the Santa Monica National Recreational Area in Southern California. The local vintners association, the Malibu Coast Vintners & Grape Growers Alliance (MCVGGA), has more than 50 members representing—before the fire—roughly 200 acres of vines.

“We’ve been in contact with at least half of our members and we’ve learned that there has been extensive damage to virtually all the vineyards and wineries throughout the AVA,” said Greg Barnett, president of the MCVGGA and owner of Nabu winery in Westlake Village, in a statement. “The speed with which the fire escalated was terrifying.”

Barnett said reports of damage have ranged from burned vines around vineyard perimeters to total devastation of vineyards, residences and other buildings. Power is out in most of the region, and many roads are closed. The fire began on Nov. 8 in Ventura County, then spread into Los Angeles County. Thanks to high winds, it doubled over the next 48 hours.

Several winemakers observed that their vineyards have served as firebreaks, saving their homes and winery facilities from destruction. Vineyards typically don’t burn in wildfires.

Don Schmitz, owner of Malibu Solstice Vineyard, lost almost everything but his house, which was surrounded on all sides by vineyards. Schmitz said he had been going back and forth from his home to his office all night on Nov. 9, trying to save important documents, when the fire jumped the freeway at about 4 a.m. the next morning and headed down the hills toward the ocean.

He took backroads to the winery and watched as a wall of flames raced across the canyon, burning through a large stand of oaks. “Oaks are tough and can take an incredible beating, but they were reduced to sticks,” he told Wine Spectator. “The fire had 200-foot flames and took out all my equipment, my outbuildings and my barn. All vehicles were burned down to their metal frames, but the house was unscathed, and the vines made all the difference. As the flames reached the vineyard you could see them die down to about a foot tall.”

“Most everybody around me is gone,” said Richard Hirsh, owner of Cielo Vineyards. “Without a doubt, being surrounded by 10,000 vines saved my house and barn. I’d planned to stay, but when you see the ferocity of 100-foot flames, you feel their heat and the absolute roar of the sound, I knew no way could I stick around to save the property. We’ll probably need to replant 3,000 to 4,000 vines. All the stakes burned down, the posts are gone, the netting virtually evaporated and the irrigation hoses melted away. But the vineyard protected the house.”

Schmitz, like many winery owners and friends who’ve lost everything, plans to rebuild. “I will replant,” he said. “But I gotta tell you, it’s been so devastating to see my neighbors’ houses burn.”

---

Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts.

The second ever edition of the Michelin Guide to Bangkok has been released, with nearly a dozen new entries and a new two star.

The chef from Maido, #1 restaurant in Latin America’s 50 Best list, says he is opening a new restaurant in Bogotá and has great plans for his continent in 2019.