Those of you Chester County, PA folk who feel compelled to Go Green by supporting business that produce wares locally – and those of you who just happen to like supporting local business, or just happen to dig the food and wine produced by local business – will certainly want to check out Taste Local this weekend at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA.

Those of you who aren’t Chester County folk are just gonna have to forgive me for goin’ local today.

Taste Local is billed as “a celebration of the best regional beer and wine, accompanied by locally produced cheeses & other food products.”  As frequent 1WineDude.com readers know, we have some pretty darn good wines being made out here (especially Penns Woods and Chaddsford), but what you might not know is that we’re home to a dizzying array of totally kick-ass beer producers, with stand outs being Troegs, Sly Fox, and the venerable-bordering-on-insanely-good Victory Brewing Co.

All of the above (and more) will be in attendance at Taste Local this weekend.  Tickets range from $35 single-day passes to all-inclusive VIP packages that include lodging at the Desmond.

Well worth checking out, especially if you’re looking for a crash-course in all-things food/beer/wine in Chester County.

Cheers!

Driving home last night, I heard a segment on NPR about the local response to the current disaster in Haiti:

• A Haitian man had made his way to one of the camps being set up to care for the displaced. He was asked if he was injured or looking for lost relatives.  No, he said, he was fine and his family was unharmed.  He had come to see if he could in any way comfort those who had no one left after the devastating earthquake.  The man ended up comforting an eight year old girl whose entire family had been killed in the disaster.

There are scores of stories like this. 

The situation for Haitians was dire before the quake – now, it’s abysmal, and there is no government relief effort.  Now you can help, in two wine-related ways:

1. The first way comes to us via mweb’s posterous site: If you purchase charity wine at ONEHOPEWine.com using the promo code HAITI you receive a 20% discount and 20% of your purchase will go to support those in need (via donations to Partners in Health).
    
2. The next comes to us via PalatePress: PalatePress.com is partnering with Brother, can you spare a bottle? to create a wine auction from wines that you donate from your cellar, with proceeds going to the American Red Cross.  Palate Press is covering costs of shipping and handling to the auction winners. Check out the details at http://palatepress.com/2010/01/haiti/.

Please spread the word, support one of these causes if you can!

Earlier this week, I could have had wine signed by Philadelphia Flyers bruising legend Dave “The Hammer” Schultz.

Dave’s wine, that is.  The Hammer Chardonnay.  Given Dave’s playing reputation as an enforcer, I’d hope that this Chard packs at least 14.5% abv and is an oak & fruit bomb that will knock you squarely on your ass after two glasses.

[ Editor’s note: I met The Hammer once.  He’s a very big and imposing man and I want to make it very clear that I am not making fun of him.  Thanks. ]

Dave’s wine is part of the NHL Alumni Signature Wine Series – wines that bear the picture and signatures of hockey greats like Gordie Howe (another Chard bottling), Wendell Clark (a Canadian-only Merlot) and Pat LaFontaine (a CA Cab) – the proceeds are divvied up among a few charitable causes:

“There are three charitable components to the NHL Alumni Signature Wine Series™ wine program. First, a portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold will be donated to the charity of each player’s choice. Second, each of the teams’ Alumni Associations will receive a portion of the proceeds to be further donated to the charities of their choice. Finally, a portion of the proceeds will also benefit the NHL Alumni Association’s “Hockey’s Greatest Family Fund” which helps bring together former players to support charitable causes, assist former players in life after hockey and generally promote the game of hockey.”

The wines are made by Ironstone Winery and distributed via MyWinesDirect.  I haven’t tried them yet, and I’m not holding my breath over it, either – both Dave Schulz and Bobby Clarke are legends in Philly, but thanks to the Communist-like liquor sales setup in the Flyers’ home state, those living in PA won’t be able to have the wines shipped to them. Oh, the irony…

Personally, I view this as a logical guy response to Paris Hilton’s wine-in-a-can.  What do you think about celebrity wine and the NHL series?  Let’s hear it in the comments!

Cheers!

I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is No, 1WineDude has not become a German Wine Blog.  It just looks that way because October has (primarily) featured German wines and German wine happs.  This is due to TasteLive.com having dedicated the month to featuring selections picked by the organization Wines of Germany (I helped to set this up and might collect a modest “finder’s fee” for that – if I’m lucky).  Also, Wines of Germany keeps sending me pictures of the German hotties who were vying for the German Wine Queen title, and I’m just shallow enough that those caught my interest.

Anyway…

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be your co-host for the wrap-up German wine event at TasteLive.com on October 22, which is open to the public – that means that you can join us in tasting and tweeting about the following wines live from the comfort of your favorite drinking chair!  (TasteLive has partnered with Bacchus Wine and Spirits for those that can’t source the wines locally).

• Selbach-Oster, Riesling, Kabinett, Mosel, 2007/2008
• Leitz, Riesling, “Eins Zwei Dry,” Rheingau, 2008
• Dönnhoff, Riesling, Nahe, 2008
• Darting, Riesling, Durkheimer Nonnengarten, Kabinett, Pfalz, 2008

I’ve had the Selbach-Oster and the Leitz, and they’re both really tasty wines, which probably bodes well for the other selections.  Those of you who have been following along at home with the previous October events featuring German wines know that the selections have all be very good, so I’m really looking forward to the 22nd.

More detail is available on the TasteLive Blog.

Sign up over at TasteLive.com, get yourself the wines, and join us on the 22nd!

Cheers!