Thursday 23 May
OKG Newsletter
Greg Horton
Space-age wine
Two native Oklahomans apply space program thinking and technology to their California Chardonnay.
_10-58x7-06cm.t2.jpg)
Greg Horton
Tulsa resident Chris Large sold his boutique wine shop in Utica Square in 2009. He and his wife, Natalie, were ready for a change.
Fork in the road
Deep Fork Grill has a new GM who happens to be a certified sommelier, and his new wine list is created with the customer in mind.
_10-58x7-09cm.t2.jpg)
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Joshua Strother took over as general manager of Deep Fork Grill, 5418 N. Western, in early July. A certified sommelier before he arrived at the restaurant, Strother brought his love of and expertise in wine to bear immediately, making small changes to an already very good list.
Red Rhone rising
As Grenache planting in the U.S. improves, wine lovers in the metro reap the benefits of French tradition.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Grenache long has been the dominant grape of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the region in southern France known for producing some of the world’s most complex and subtle wines.
Back to the land
Grower Champagne arrived in the metro last year, and this record-setting heat is a good excuse to try it if you haven’t already.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Chris Putnam, owner of Putnam Wines, is faced with the same challenge all wine brokers face: how to get people to try something they haven’t tried before. The challenge is even more difficult when the wine is French, pink, bubbly and not cheap.
The other white
Americans buy more Sauvignon Blanc than any white besides Chardonnay, and this old favorite is undergoing a transformation.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Sauvignon Blanc is second only to Chardonnay in acres of white grapes planted in California, but the Golden State hasn’t determined the style of this American favorite in the last few years.
Premium returns
Bin 73 retools one of the metro’s most extensive by-the-glass lists and returns to a principle that made it exciting from the start.
In praise of pork
A new restaurant focuses on all things porcine.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
In a 1995 episode of “The Simpsons” titled “Lisa the Vegetarian,” Homer Simpson exasperates his daughter, Lisa, by asking her to enumerate the meats she will no longer eat: pork chops, bacon and ham. Lisa snaps at him that those meats all come from the same creature.
Saving the leftovers
Wineries frequently use second labels to distribute excess juice or work on special projects. The results can be amazing.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
The wines are naughty. There is a small devil on the label to prove it.
Church abuses
A Catholic sexual abuse report finds that gay priests are not to blame, instead focusing on the upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s.
Saturday brunch
Popular metro-area restaurants offer brunch on Saturdays, as well as excellent by-the-glass lists to accompany your meal.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Sunday, for whatever reason, seems to be the de facto day of the week for brunch.
Napa for Papa
Napa Valley still produces some of the best wines in the world, and Father’s Day is a good reason to rediscover old favorites.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
“Don’t ever buy me anything I need as a present.” That bit of wisdom is actually from my wife. It’s a maxim I now live by when birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmases come round. It’s entirely apropos for Father’s Day.
Detour ahead
Budgetary hand-wringing puts the partially constructed American Indian center in limbo.
News
Greg Horton
Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, has called for an interim study on proposed bond issues, including the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum.
International focus
Eric Berumen, the sommelier at The Vineyard at Kamp’s 1910 Cafe, has put together a by-the-glass list drawing on the best of the Old and New World.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Eric Berumen left Oklahoma City 14 years ago. For much of that time, the Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School graduate worked as a sommelier in Austin, Texas, where he consulted with various restaurants.
Denomination divisions
An amendment that would allow the ordination of gay clergy has some Presbyterian ministers talking schism.
News
Greg Horton
The Presbyterian Church (USA) moved closer to ordaining LGBT candidates for ministry last month. The Twin Cities Presbytery in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area became the 87th presbytery to ratify Amendment 10-A, which changed previous language that only allowed for married or celibate candidates to be considered.
Wine words
Terry Theise has spent much of his life singing the praises of Riesling in a language we can all appreciate.
Food and Drink Features
Greg Horton
Terry Theise makes wine nerds gush. Jane Black, writing for The Washington Post, introduced him thus: “If you like wine and don’t mind name-dropping, here’s the name to know: Terry Theise.”
