Implement Solution

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Asia Bauland

 

Our main goal, while preparing our wine was to achieve a well- balanced, medium to high acidic level. Our entrée we selected, that we served to pair with the wine we created was a perfect choice for the baked fish filet made with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Having a background primarily in food and beverage, our team developed a wine analysis of the wine varietals that we were going to blend. It was imperative for our team to understand the wines’ varietals, taste, aroma, and color. Red Hook Winery is known for its great single varietal wines. Chris mentioned that the wine he produces tastes great on its own but he would love to see the different blends the teams could come up with. The two wines we were given to blend was a 100% Chardonnay and a blend of 35% Chardonnay and 65% Sauvignon Blanc.

During the blending process the first step we took in order to create a well-balanced wine was to use a 50/50 ratio of the wines in order to have a baseline to work from. This first blend created a wine that we felt was dull and sweet and would not pair with our dish. The second wine blend had a ratio of 80% wine number one and 20% of wine number two. The wine was grassy, floral and appealing. However, we felt the wine was dirty and lacked balance. The third wine blend was 95% wine number one and 5% wine number two. It was dry and had a long finish. By using this ratio, the wine became very unbalanced and produced off aromas and flavors. Our final blend produced a crisp and well-balanced wine. We used 70% wine number one and 30% wine number two. This wine was intense, rich and had flavors of gooseberries, peach, grapefruit and had a tart short finish. The wine also gave off aromas of peach, white flowers and gooseberries. This was the wine that our team chose to submit for the blind tasting.

Posted in Team One, Asia, Jose, Matt P. | Leave a comment

Shelf Talker

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Asia Bauland

The Red Hook Winery

2015 White Blend

Color: Rose Gold

A.V.A: North Fork of Long Island

84%: Chardonnay

16%: Sauvignon Blanc

Aged in: American oak

Aromas: Peach, Gooseberry, with a Hint of Vanilla and White Flowers.

Flavor: Pear, Peach, Green Apple, & Grapefruit, with Low Residual Sugar and a Short Finish.

Posted in Team One, Asia, Jose, Matt P. | Leave a comment

Implement Solution

Posted on October 2, 2016 by AndellBrowne

As a group we went in thinking that fifty-fifty of each white wine would be a good idea. We would have a balance of acidity, sweetness and dryness that would go great with the salmon. Once we were ready to mix the wines we came up with four different combinations to make with the wines. We took into consideration that wine one which is the one hundred percent chardonnay was fermented with some berries in the tank.

While wine two the fifty percent sauvignon Blanc was fermented with the skin on and the fifty percent chardonnay was skin fermented and juiced. With that in mind we started our first combination: which was fifty percent of the one hundred percent chardonnay and fifty percent of the fifty-fifty. This combination gave us a light fruity, tropical scent; it gave us a little dryness but gave us very little acidity and a short finish.

Next we tried combination number two which was sixty percent of the one hundred percent chardonnay and forty percent of the fifty-fifty blend. This wine combination seemed perfect, it had a strong tropical smell, a longer finish, medium acidity and a hint of tannin. From there we decided to try two more combinations before deciding on the final one.

Combination three was seventy percent chardonnay and thirty percent of the blend. That gave us a wine with too much acidity with a strong alcohol smell. Our last combination was a flip of our second combination. We did forty percent of the chardonnay and sixty percent of the blend; this gave us a lot of fruit and a citrus finish. In the end we tried combination two again and decided it would pair well with the salmon with béarnaise sauce.

Posted in Team Three, Andell, Folashade, Diana | Leave a comment

Shelf Talker

Posted on October 2, 2016 by AndellBrowne

CityTech Chardonnay 2015
Blend (80% Chardonnay, 20% Sauvignon Blanc)
Long Island AVA, New York

This Chardonnay has inviting aromas of tropical fruit. On the palate, notes of white peach and pear blend beautifully with subtle vanilla tones. The natural acidity of the fruit is balanced by hints of minerals characteristic of the Long Island North Fork climate. This creates a well balanced wine with a long acidic finish that makes it crisp, fresh, and a great choice to pair with meaty, oily fish, and buttery sauces.

Posted in Shelf Talkers, Team Three, Andell, Folashade, Diana | Leave a comment

Job Opportunity, Be a City Tech Blogger

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Prof. Karen Goodlad

Apply to become an OpenLab Student Blogger or Photoblogger!
The OpenLab seeks enthusiastic student bloggers to join The Buzz and create conversation, community, and
engagement on the OpenLab and strengthen the intellectual and social life of the college. The Buzz is an Openlab
student project dedicated to all things City Tech, where students blog about themselves and/or topics of their choice.
Why join the OpenLab student blogging team?
● Share your experiences and ideas with the City Tech community
● Collaborate with a bright and creative team of students and receive mentorship from the OpenLab Team
● Publish your work on the OpenLab and develop a public portfolio of professional writing
● Gain real-world blogging experience
● Learn best practices for managing an online presence, social media writing professionally, and developing a
personal brand
● Build your resume and get paid $500/semester
Essential Duties
● Publish one blog post per week and comment on other bloggers’ posts
● Submit blog drafts for review and peer-review drafts of other bloggers’ posts
● Prepare for and present at the City Tech poster session on behalf of The Buzz
● Participate in an orientation and monthly meetings of student bloggers
● Participate in outreach, such as tabling and workshops
● Option to help develop The Buzz’s social media presence — and develop your social media skills!
● Option to present at academic conferences
Minimum qualifications
● For blogging as a writer: Have passed English 1101 before Fall 2016
● For photoblogging: Have experience taking photographs and optimizing images for the web with Photoshop or
comparable software
● For both: Ability to work independently and collaboratively
Application Instructions
● Send a resume to openlab@citytech.cuny.edu & jbelli@citytech.cuny.edu with “Student Blogger” in the subject
line.
● In your email, please write a paragraph telling us what you think you would bring to the Student Blogger team, and
another paragraph describing the topic that you would like to blog about.
● Include a writing sample with your application. A link to a blog post that you have previously written is preferred,
but a writing assignment you have done for class is fine if you have never blogged before. You do not need to
write a new blog post for your application.
● If you are applying to be a photoblogger, please include at least five images with your application.
● The application deadline is Monday, October 10th at 12 pm. Interviews will be conducted shortly after.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Propose solutions

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Sinoia

Team 2

 

The wine we have chosen that will pair well with the Baked Fish Filet with Tomatoes and Mushrooms is a clean full bodied wine, a wine with fruit and citrus aromas with some light oak nodes, medium acidity, and a well-balanced finish. The base wine will be the 50% sauvignon Blanc 50% Chardonnay. We have chosen this wine as the base wine because it’s a concentrated and dense wine, the wine has a medium/low acidity and a has moderate balance of tannin. The wine has a tropical and stone fruit aroma. On the pallet this wine was a medium balance with a medium finish. Citrus fruits witch will pair well with the Fish.

Our second blend  choice will be the Chardonnay.  We will experiment with the Chardonnay to balance out the acidity.

Posted in Team Two, Sinoia, Claudia, Nathalie | Leave a comment

Proposed Solutions- Team 5

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Tanya McCoy

The wine we are looking for to pair with our selected entrée- Grilled Lamb Steak Haché and Ratatouille- is a red wine that has a medium body with soft tannins, red fruit forward flavors and aromas.

 

We tasted three red wines at Red Hook Winery:

 

1) Cabernet Franc, 2015 from the North Fork, Long Island:

Sight: Ruby with a pink rim variation, clear, bright

Smell: Dark berries, cherries.

Taste: Short finish, high acidity, low to medium body, soft in tannins.

 

2) Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015 from North Fork, Long Island:

Sight: Deep purple

Smell: Cherries, cinnamon, fruit forward, floral notes, vanilla oak.

Taste: Dry, high tannins, high acidity, long finish.

 

3) Merlot, 2015 from North Fork, Long Island.

Sight: Ruby

Smell: Blackberries, blueberries, vanilla

Taste: High acidity, medium tannins, dry.

 

Based on the aroma and flavor profile of the wines we tasted, we decided that the blend of wine that we want is:

 

95 % Cabernet Franc as a base because it had a low to medium body and it had low tannins.

3% Merlot to add body/structure and fruit notes.

2% Cabernet Sauvignon to add floral aromas.

Posted in Team Five, Ana, Tanya, Lem | Leave a comment

[The wine that we think would pair perfectly with the Broiled Salmon]

Posted on September 22, 2016 by AndellBrowne

 

 

Initially wanted a medium to full body wine high in acidity but fruity and fresh in the palate with floral aromas as its base so we decided to use the 2015 Chardonnay because of its fresh characteristics. During the fermentation the juice had little skin contact in making the wine, its low in tannins but high in acidity which would cut through the fattiness of the fish and the sauce. The floral notes of the Chardonnay will help balance the dish because it will not overpower the entrée but instead complement it.

We will use the blended Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay in less quantity because the sauvignon was fermented with the skin which gives it a little more tannins. We will use this wine to elevate the fruitiness and freshness of the first wine without making it to fruity that guests wouldn’t be able to interpret it as “sweet”. Out major hurdle would be to find that perfect balance between both wines in our blending to create the experience we desire, without making the wine to complex and distracting.

Posted in Team Three, Andell, Folashade, Diana | Leave a comment

propose solutions

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Irina

 

#1 Cabernet Franc, North Fork, Long Island, 2015

#2 Cabernet Sauvignon,North Fork, Long Island, 2015

On our first visit to the Red Hook Winery we were given an opportunity to try two kinds of white wine and three kinds of red wine grape varietals. Our team  is assigned to blend red wine varietals to compliment the menu item that we chose-Grilled Lamb “Steaks” Haché with Ratatouille. Our initial goal is to create a blend  of medium to full body wine, that will be balanced in terms of tannin and acidity. We also want the wine to have some unique characteristics such as a hint of dark berries and spicy peppery notes on the nose. The wines that we were associating our wine blend were cabernet sauvignon , shiraz and merlot.

At the Red Hook Winery our team was presented with three kinds of grape varietals. The first option was Cabernet Franc, which had the peppery aroma and a taste of dark berries- exactly what we were looking for. The second wine turned out to be Cabernet Sauvignon-  full-bodied bold red wine, with a hint of vanilla and black pepper with little less but balanced tannin and acidity. And the third red was Merlot (North Fork, Long Island, 2015), full body wine with high tannin and long finish. Our team found the characteristics of this grape overwhelming, and we decided not to use it to avoid overpowering the tastes of our dish. Blending wine is a completely new experience for us and we are looking forward to try it and come up with our own blend.

Posted in Team Four, Christina, Kristen, Irena | Leave a comment

Team 6: Base Wine Requisition

Posted on September 20, 2016 by kat

Team 6: Base Wine Requisition

1. Cabernet Franc 2015, North-folk Long Island

2. Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, North-folk Long Island

Our experience at Red Hook Winery was wonderful. All three red wines we tasted were unique and stood out as individuals on the palate. As a team we chose to blend the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon together, making our initial thoughts about pairing these two wines correct. The Cabernet Franc at Red Hook Winery was fresh and clean, and the Sauvignon was bold, dry, rich, and oaky, as we had predicted. Once we sampled both wines together in a glass we found out that the Franc dimmed down the boldness of the Sauvignon, which is what we were looking for. The Sauvignon was a strong wine that can stand on it’s own but not particularly a perfect match for our braised beef and duchess potatoes. We wanted a smoother, less dry wine that can help a guest wash down the meal and not leave them with a lingering taste of oak on the palate. The winemakers at Red Hook winery mentioned both their Franc and Sauvignon are young wines. We decided we would like the wines to be aged for about five months in neutral barrels to let the blend concentrate and build in flavor. Overall our wine should have aromas of dark cherry, light oak, medium acidity, dry but not overwhelmingly, pre-mature blackberries, and hints of Red Hot candy. We are excited to get started on our blend.

Posted in Team Six, Viviana, Antonio, Derrick, Matt W. | Leave a comment