July 2012 Enewsletter

DOG DAYS JOURNEY During these “Southern Scorcher” days, Wines Down South is sharing destinations that will cool the traveler. Doc Lawrence reports his adventures in Alabama with visits to Montgomery to see “Cooking Nanta” at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. More than four million people have seen this Broadway play about five fabulous chefs who drum, juggle and cook their way through a fast-paced evening. (See video at right.) Doc pays a visit to the grave of the immortal Hank Williams. Wines Down South visits lovely Monroeville, Alabama, Truman Capote’s boyhood home. Monroeville is also the home of Harper Lee. the Pulitzer Prize winning author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Mobile is a Gulf Coast gem that has its own Mardi Gras, beautiful homes, and many fine restaurants. You’ll read about Dauphin Street, oysters at world famous Felix’s Fish Camp (where there is an “R” in every month), and fine dining at True Midtown Kitchen. Enjoy the vacation possibilities in our current feature on the White Lightnin’ Trail (click) that covers much of the lake and mountains culture in East Tennessee from Knoxville to Cumberland Gap. And we’ll guarantee it’s cooler there and the fishing’s good any time of year. Wines Down South journalist Lynne Brandon is covering the American Cheese Society’s annual Festival of Cheese in Raleigh, NC. One of the world’s biggest cheese events, the Festival boasts some 1,600+ artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheeses and cultured products. Lynne will share with Wines Down South readers the amazing growth in artisan cheese production and farm-to-table products. Stay cool. Enjoy the crabcakes and wine pairing (shown on right). Work easy and play hard!

Friend Us! Follow Us! Share Us! “Cooking Nanta” at the world-renowned Alabama Shakespeare Festival is an amazing theatrical production where Iron Chef meets Stomp. Millions have seen this Broadway play centered around five chefs who drum, juggle and cook their way through a fast-paced evening.   The esteemed Chef John Folse shares his legendary recipe for crabcakes (click).   DOC'S WINE PAIRING Three Sisters, located near Dahlonega makes a wonderful Vidal Black that fits Chef John Folse's crabcakes like the hand of a beautiful woman in an elegant glove.

Wines Down South Sheila Brewington    Doc Lawrence    Stephen W. Cannon    Val Kruse  Jordan Bloomingdale    Guy McKenzie     Anne Marie O'Keefe     Lynne Brandon Copyright © 2012 Wines Down South, All rights reserved.  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

BACK TO ‘BAMA

By Doc Lawrence

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA. My Alabama roots run deep. My wonderful mother was from the northeast part of this state near the west slope of Lookout Mountain. My paternal ancestors came over to Georgia from St. Clair County outside Birmingham. I’ve always felt a spiritual kinship with a cross section of the state’s cultural icons. It’s nearly impossible to be raised in the Deep South and not be influenced by Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole and Emmylou Harris.

ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

This is heartland in tune with nice accents. Examples are easy to find of why the gifted journalist Marshall Frady called the region “America’s Ireland.” Music, literature, dance, hospitality and a love of tradition are omnipresent. Being no stranger, I set out to visit again the grave of Hank Williams, It’s a pilgrimage I made before, a walk up the hill in the cemetery hoping to connect with those archetypes that Williams embedded in his music.

Paradoxes abound in Montgomery as they do throughout the South. The Confederacy was born here. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The Rosa Parks Museum is near the White House of the Confederacy. This was the home of the great folk artist Mose Tolliver and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. I plan to read again F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, his account of their storied marriage.

Cuisine has special identity here and is proudly showcased. In Alabama, farm-to-table has been a way of life since pioneer days. Throughout the state, gourmet dining thrives alongside country and soul cooking. And these folks know how to do great barbecue.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, headquarters of the heralded Southern Writers Project, stands almost alone at the pinnacle of cultural acclaim in the South. I’ll attend a performance on their mainstage of NANTA, a cooking musical garnering across-the-board international praise.

It’s a few days of returning to things deep in my heart. Nostalgia, reassurance, comfort, flavors and fragrances, heritage and the joy of being immersed once more in the soul of the South.

Enjoy this amazing video from NANTA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uJ2pqBY6bQ

ON THE BARBECUE TRAIL

LOOKING FOR LOVE

By Doc Lawrence

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA--Each year for about a decade I’ve shared barbecue experiences with readers and listeners, often daring to whisper an occasional opinion or recommendation about the All-American food, dear and delicious smoky barbecue. Down here near Atlanta, pork reigns. It’s the meat of choice with no close second, although plenty of places do chicken and beef right.

The history of barbecue and its preparation will not be in my food, wine and spirits columns. Rather, finding the best places-restaurants, café’s, shacks, roadside tents-where you can drop in knowing that everything is prepared with a whole lotta' love is the goal. I’ll stick my neck out and say that no state really has a corner on barbecue. The style, spicing, wood, pit, sauces and preparation aren’t confined to state boundaries. However, there are pockets of cooking methods that do hearken to tradition and have been preserved by good cooks over many decades.

And, therein lies the mystery. Who are the ones that keep local traditions alive? What keeps everything original? What causes good people to come back month aftr month, year after year?

Most of all, where can we find these people and their food?

What they have in common is a commitment to quality barbecue. It’s an art form, one of the few flawless collaborations that really make people happy.

I’m on the road in the heat of summer in Dixie looking for the barbecue that stands out from the rest. The sauce that is made with love. Real Brunswick Stew. And the wines, cocktails and beers that magnify the barbecue experience.

Look for dispatches from Valdosta, Dothan, North Wilkesboro, Monteagle, Lexington, Panacea, Corinth, Spartanburg and Winchester. Plus many more places.

Looking for a worthwhile vacation featuring new places and smiling faces? The Mississippi Gulf Coast is a winner. Enjoy this destination with Wines Down South- Click Here!