Help Out Without Really Trying!

We all can be better people. I like to think that if work, school, responsibilities and all that life throws at us permitted, we would all be more charitable beings, able to give endless volunteer hours to groups, run endless miles-of-tribute or donate more money to whoever needs our helping.

Ever since performing as the Ghost of Christmas Present (thanks Lori!) in my 7th-grade production of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," I've always wanted to be a better giver, Ebenezer Scrooge-style. Even though it is trending due to the holiday season, that story always gets me to the point of near-tears no matter what adaptation or revision it is, be it a Jim Carey-CGI-animated blockbuster or a knockoff-Tori Amos-ABC Family adaptation.

So why should you care? Charity and my middle-school theater roles have nothing to do with wine or technology (although I beg to differ.) I'm posting this because of a site that Natali Del Conte of CNet has brought to my attention; nonprofitshoppingmall.com. Non-Profit Shopping Mall is a great way we can all give back this holiday season while we select the gifts we will be sharing with our loved ones. The best part is, you don't need to do anything extra but click!

Non-Profit Shopping Mall works on a commission base, where each retailer listed gives a little percentage to an organization of your choice. Why is it so great? Because EVERYONE is in there. All the retailers you would have looked at anyway are there, from Bestbuy to Amazon.com, Nordstroms, Target, Gap, Home Depot, get the point? None of their prices are marked up in anyway. The best part about all that is you can give to a charity of your choice, and there are tons listed, including the Children's Miracle Network, ASPCA, American Heart Association, UNICEF and so much more. So you literally just shop and the big corporations (not you) donate the money and you do nothing you wouldn't have done in the first place!

Please, I urge you all to consider this option as Thanksgiving weekend comes to an end our holiday season starts to gear into full-swing, and please consider it every time you shop online. What a great opportunity for us to give back and better fulfill our social and ethical responsibilities to be better people.

If you have trouble deciding who you want to support, please consider Toys for Tots or the Children's Miracle Network, which are my top choices. This December 18-24 I will be dedicating most of my time volunteering for Toys for Tots through my unit in D.C. It will be grueling work, but just knowing that a child who wouldn't have gotten anything from "Santa" will this year makes it all worth it :)

Happy Holidays everyone, and please shop at nonprofit until you drop (or your wallet goes pop!) The link is provided below for you to explore this wonderful way to share your wealth and give to others who really need it.

http://www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com/

With Love and Cheers,
-Tatum
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Working the 25th Annual Maryland Wine Festival

I know what you guys are all thinking; "Maryland wine sucks!" and while not a lot of Maryland wine I drink really appeals to me, but my eyes changed when I worked the Maryland Wine festival in Westminster a week back.

I worked for Cove Point Winery- a small winery located in Lusby, Md. who is run by Tom and Shannon. Tom has dedicated his whole house to producing the wines they displayed at the festival, with new facilities up-and-coming. I was amazed at his wines! They were light, crisp, approachable. I loved the Bleufrankhish and he had a killer Cabernet/Syrah blend. His wines were very solid.

The festival was very solid as well. I got free admission for two days of wineing and it was great. Some notable wineries included Fiori Vineyards, with their Italian- approach to making delicious wines (the sangiovese sold me), as well as other wineries/vineyards of note that I need to look back up. On top of free admission, I got a free bottle of wine for both days of work! Without a doubt I picked up the Bleufrankhish. All this, and all I had to do for "work" was to pour wines to festival goers, chat with them about anything and have a freakin' blast.

All the fun I had this weekend really showed me things I've always been curious about in myself. I never knew if I had the mettle to be in the wine business. It's tough; wine requires dedication, determination and devotion. But last week I realized I had these things, and when combined with my strength, my interest in people, I saw a glimspe that maybe I could survive in a wine society...

Until next time,
Cheers!

-Tatum

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Rockville recieves Gary

I finally got the opportunity to meet Mr. Gary Vaynerchuk a few weeks ago, before heading off to the Mojave Desert! Gary was doing a book signing at the Rockville Barnes and Noble, and when I heard I had to get something to go down! I immediately contacted Matt Sitomer, a very great guy who was very patient and cooperative with me. He made sure that Gary knew where the party was at after the tasting, with US!

After many hours calling, searching and visiting possible restuarant locations, and discovering that Rockville sucks and that corkage here does not exist (most owners don't know what the phrase means) I was stuck. I had a cult-celebrity coming to visit, I had promised him a gathering and I got all the Vayniacs excited as well, and I couldn't get a freakin' restuarant! But then Big Brad swept in and saved us and offered his pad.

Gary being the honorary "G" for TBAG 2.0

The night couldn't have gone smoother (other than me almost losing Gary in the convoy to Brad's pad...) It was a great, informal, relaxed atmosphere. I suppose Gary liked it because he wasn't the center of focus- people were getting to know each other, we got personal autographs, everyone got to one-on-one with Gary; we could have not asked for a better outing. Thank you Gary for keeping us inspired and for being personable. Thank you to all the Vayniacs who came out and showed Gary that he has a following in D.C. and that it doesn't completely suck, even if it sucks quite a bit...

Until next time, cheers!
-Tatum Read More!

The Path to Passions

Please excuse me for my hiatus in updating Deranter. School has been getting to me, and I’ve been busy running back between Baltimore and D.C., doing projects, writings essays… Finally, let me take a break from all my responsibilities and derant for a bit…

April 20th was a special day for me. It was the first wine event I’ve ever went to since I turned 21 not more than six days earlier. The gathering was at the Sonoma Wine Bar in D.C. with a bunch of Vayniacs from WLTV. Brad accompanied me to the BYOB; I brought a 2001 Chateau Larrivet- Haut Brion, which was the first legal wine purchase of mine on my birthday. Along with Brad’s 2005 Educated Guess, a Napa Cabernet I believe, there were 11 other bottles! The wine list went:

2001 Chateau Larrivet-Haut-Brion

2004 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

2006 Saint Cosme Cotes du Rhone

2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

2005 Monchhof Riesling

2004 Olek Mery Chinon

2004 Alois Lageder Lagrein

2004 Zantho St. Laurent

2006 El Nino Loco Rhone Red

2003 Adelaida Rhone Style Red

2005 Querciabella Chianti Classico

2004 Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon

Again, without making this too much of a tasting note, I’d like to point out some wines I enjoyed throughout the night. One of the tasters, Patrick, commented that the Bordeaux I brought was the wine of the night. I loved it as well, as it had a bit of age to it that gave it a nice old-world but still fruit-forward, solid structure. The Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon was amazing as well. The fruit was the star in that wine, and it was a very classic example of winemakers letting the fruit serve its purpose and not manipulating it. The Alois Lageder Legrein was the most interesting of the night; it had a very barnyard nose but a very fruit-forward taste.
The Kim Crawford SB tasted like Welchs’ Grape Juice to me… Very sweet and not very enjoyable. The Justin Cabernet also seemed a bit of a fruit-nuke. One taster pointed out that the Saint Cosme Cote du Rhone had a “orange peanut circus candy” to the nose- that was the call of the night!

The experience was fun and amazing. Two full boards of cheese and charcuterie were ordered to accompany the wine. I got a good look at very different styles that night, something that is invaluable to the palate. I got to chat with very wine-knowledgeable people and experience something I know I want to keep experiencing. At 21 years of age, my passionate journey into the wine world has just begun! Cheers!

-Tatum

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A Sunny Day

Let me start off by declaring that it is a wonderful day! The sun is bright and meets your face with a smile and the weather is so warm it hugs you as you walk. It is about time Spring nears!

This upcoming weekend will be the last weekend until I turn 21. Can anyone else believe this? They’re actually going to give me this little card with my picture and information on it, and I show the card to any wine store, and they let me buy wine? Wow… what were these fools thinking? But in all seriousness, I am excited, despite having massive amounts of work to do (for school, military and financial needs.)

In Computer Science class the other day we had an assignment to make a Flash animation advertisement. I made a small, very amateur ad for deranter. You can see for yourself above (if you haven't noticed…) It took me about 20 minutes with all the drawing. (There is no sound, just an animation.)

It's already a pretty amateur animation, and to top it off, I was going for the "amateur/young artist" style... So I guess that just makes it worst!

Not much else to rant about today- got to get things in motion for the “coming of age.” Finally, I can officially say that I love wine and I can drink it. My passionate venture into tasting and wine trade has begun. Watch out wine world, here I come! Cheers!

-Tatum

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Missed the Leap...

The Washington Wine Academy in D.C. offers tremendous amounts of services, including a service to help you get Wine and Spirit Education Trust certifications. These WSET certificates are a big deal, because they are a stepping stone for people who like wine and drink it often and people who love wine and want to be in the business, or just want to get a bit more serious about it. Via WSET, one can take on the Master of Wine certification, which in itself is a very prestigious title to hold. I believe there are less than 200 Masters of Wine in the United States. To my understanding, the Master of Wine certification is sort of the International Sommeliers Guild certification with more emphasis on wine knowledge (where the ISG certification is more emphasis on serving.)

In any case, I’ve put this one in the “deranter” because for a couple months, since I found out about the WWA’s existence, I’ve been going back and forth on whether to take a class. I’m going to eventually, but it’s just a matter of when. I have a lot set forth for me this summer, and I’m not sure how much I can commit to it- this is a legitimate course, with a real tuition fee, exam and serious class lectures every Monday night.

The upcoming May through June courses perfectly fit my schedule, but I’m just afraid of my summer job (I do not have a set schedule yet.) The largest thing holding me back from jumping right onto it is the exam date, which is on July 7, where I’ll be running around in the Mojave Viper in California doing my two-week training for the Marines.This sounds like something I will have to wait for the next session to start. Maybe there can be a July through August course I will definitely take.

Something like this will surely set me apart, but more importantly, it will enable me to dive into the vast, diverse knowledge-pool of wine and learn more about this great beverage.If you are yourself interested in the course, or the Washington Wine Academy, the site is below.

In addition to WSET courses, they offer numerous tastings, dinners, and classes. Have a look for yourself! Cheers!

-Tatum Read More!

TBAG Wine Event

A few weeks ago, while doing my daily stalking on Facebook, I saw my friend’s photo album called "Wine and Cheese Tasting." It thrilled me, so I clicked on the link to look at photographs. I didn't prepare myself to be so under whelmed; picture after picture of teenagers pouring bag wine into red, plastic cups; Boys and girls partying and dancing, all dressed up in their "tasting attire" playing slap-the-bag. Now, I know I'm sounding like a wine snob, but I truly am not. If kids want to get together and drink bag wine and play slap-the-bag that is fine, but I was a little discouraged to think they would call that a wine tasting... Perhaps a better title for the photo album would have been "Wine and Cheese Dance Party Bash."

Anyway, I bring this up only because I finally posted pictures of a wine tasting a few friends and I did a not too long ago on Facebook. It was a bit more serious, and involving wine, and less about inebriation. We had a great time, meeting a few new people, discussing the wine at hand, and “spreading the thunder” of WLTV to our loved ones. Everyone who didn’t supply the wine brought a little appetizer, so we had some cheeses, fruits, crackers and even a bread-bowl spinach dip! Everyone loved the WLTV, but because of a dinner reservation, we probably should have cut it off a bit sooner. Nonetheless, we made it to the dinner fine, and it was very yummy!

The wines tasted were:
2006 Chateau de Callac Graves Blanc2005 Chateau de Lavagnac Rouge2005 Chateau Moulin de Lavaud2005 Chateau de Callac Prestige Rouge2006 Le-Tendance Rose2006 Chateau Dereszla Tokaji Dry2003 Mas de la Barben la Danseuse2004 Marguante Garnacha Seleccion

Without becoming too much of a giant tasting note, I’ll discuss a few notable wines. The Le-Tendance Rosé was very peculiar. It looked sweet and watery, but when it touched your tongue it was very heavy and dry. It was sort of like eating green ketchup, where you mind sees one thing, and your tongue tastes something unexpected! Chateau de Lavagnac Rouge astounded everyone, with its $9 price tag, and its full-bodied, rich, complexity. It was real wine for an amazing price! The wine of the night, and my personal favorite, was the Tokaji Dry. Noble rot has done its job, as you sensed noticeable fungi-like nose, with pineapples, honey, and lime. It splashed down my palate with a myriad of fruit and floral components as well.

The experience was enjoyed by all, and I think we had a general consensus that something like this should be done again. We met nice people, we got to know each other and share a great, lasting memory. It was all due to the spirit of wine, and the magic it brings to us every time we pop open a bottle. So I urge you to gather up your friends and family and do the same; great wine was meant to be shared with great people. Cheers!

-Tatum

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