Sure it’s the middle of winter and you miss fresh garden offerings. But those who make it happen are working already to prepare for the Spring growing season. Today I’ll be chatting with Josh Wheeler from “Flying Toad Farms” Flying Toad brings fresh produce to both the Derby and Wichita Farm market. The store and garden shop is located at 112 West Main Street in Oxford Kansas.
My guest this week is Chris Benziger from Benziger Family Winery. Chris and I first met in Miami at the Florida International Winefest at the Doral Ocean Beach Resort. I had met parents Bruno & Helen at the winery when they were primarily producing Glen Ellen wines, the first label to be called Proprietors Reserve. So much has changed and for the better. Many of the family members have retired from the wine business, but Chris is still there and sharing the family story and promoting Benziger’s quality wine making.
Chris Benziger – VP, Brand Ambassador
Still in high school when the Benziger family moved from White Plains, Chris finished his senior year in wine country. He went on to earn a degree in marketing from the University of San Francisco while spending summers, weekends and every spare moment working at the winery. He officially joined the Benziger Family Winery in 1993. Chris oversees the home ranch and is dedicated to the thriving Biodynamic ecosystem of the estate: shepherding the Benziger flock of sheep, tending to the estate vegetable and fruit trees, and producing Biodynamic preparations for our vineyards. Chris feels that the only way to communicate the quality of the wines he promotes is by having the soil from the vineyard in which he’s endorsing under his nails. Chris also travels to major markets and promoting Benziger wines around the country.
Chris NOW
Chris and Guy THEN (1989)
Good Life Guy’s Wines of The Week:
2023 Benziger Family Sauvignon Blanc
Fresh and elegant, our Sauvignon Blanc invites you in with aromas of bright apple, fresh grass, pineapple and melon. Enticing citrus flavors are followed by complex minerality. The wine’s acid is both balanced and integrated, giving it a textured mid-palate and an elegant softness. ABV12.5%
2022 Benziger Family Chardonnay
This wine has a beautifully balanced style that is fresh, yet oaked with creamy notes. Ripe white pear and mango aromas combine with creamy meringue notes. The cool coastal location of the vineyards enhances the acidity in the wine giving it a long savory finish.
ABV14%
2021 Benziger Estate Obsidian Point Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep and inky ruby in color, but light on its feet, this Cabernet gives waves of saturated cassis and blackberry aromas on the nose. The palate is fresh and bright, with flavors of raspberry coulis, dark chocolate, coffee, spiced plum and cinnamon. Some grip of tannin shows on the finish and this wine should age gracefully for five to 10 years. ABV14.5% WE91
Happy New Year!
My first guest is Jen Newens with her new book “Monday Night Mocktails”
Featuring 52 seasonal recipes, one for every week of the year, and more than 50 gorgeous images, Monday Night Mocktails welcomes the week with style. With drinks this chic and tasty, you won’t miss the alcohol! Monday Night Mocktails offers inspired, easy-to-put-together non-alcoholic drinks that are as appealing as cocktails. The 52 creative infusions are crafted with seasonal ingredients and use widely available non-alcoholic wines and spirits.
The recipes include fresh takes on old stand-bys (such as a Virgin Margarita, Fauxjito, or a Nearly Negroni) as well as original creations (like a Turmeric Meyer Lemon Drop, a Peach-Rosemary Spritz, or a Star Anise Mango Mocktail). Welcome every season with the perfect drink—without the bar, booze, and crowds.
Jennifer Newens is a cookbook editor, cooking teacher, and literary agent from Oakland, California. She received her culinary training from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She believes that everyone deserves to have a special drink in a fancy glass with a pretty garnish at the end of a long day – whether or not they choose to put booze in it! www.jennewens.com
“A handy resource enhanced by vibrant photos.” ― Publishers Weekly
“There are options for both straightforward and more creative cocktails, so readers are sure to find something to suit any mood or skill level . . . A great buy for those who would like to have a solid reference volume for mocktails in their mixology collections.” ― Library Journal Get a copy NOW!
In the second half I’ll be talking to Greg McBoat about “The I Love Trader Joe’s cocktail Book – 52 Drink Recipes for Every Occasion.”
Version 1.0.0
Discover cocktail-making techniques, learn to balance sweet, sour, bitter, and savory flavors, and master the art of mixology with these 52 step-by-step seasonal cocktail recipes featuring unique Trader Joe’s® products.
Trader Joe’s is all about bringing flavors from across the world into your kitchen with ease and fun. And what better way to up your mixology game than by using some of the most amazing Trader Joe’s products to make unique and creative cocktails? Welcome to The I Love Trader Joe’s® Cocktail Book. This book features 52 classic cocktails and mocktails with unique seasonal trends. Get a Copy NOW!
Greg McBoat first watched Julia Child making her Queen of Sheba cake when he was six years old. He was captivated by her style of explaining the history and influence of food and drink. This began Greg’s understanding of how the stories behind food and drinks give unique insights into people and cultures. His mission is to change people’s lives through the stories he tells.
While specializing in food and drink photography and writing, Greg has worked for such clients as Food and Wine, the Denver Post, Joseph Phelps Winery, and Hard Rock Cafe. Greg has collaborated on three previous cookbooks: 50 Things to Bake Before You Die, The Official Catan Cookbook, and The Official Ticket to Ride Cookbook. Greg is from New Mexico and lives in Denver, Colorado, with his daughter, Eponine, and cat, Ash. Check out some of Greg’s photography and learn more.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2021 The Seeker Riesling, Mosel Germany
The 2021 harvest was the first generally cool vintage the region has seen in the last couple of years. Although the harvest did not yield a high quantity, the fruit showed complex characteristics with amazing concentration. A distinctive, classic Riesling made from grapes grown in choice Mosel sites from vines on fine, mineral-rich slate soil. Off-dry with a fine balance between light sweetness and crisp acidity. Ideal with difficult-to-pair foods, including sweet and spicy fare. ABV10%
For more info! Buy some at Jacob’s Liquor Exchange on North Rock Rd.
My guest this week Kim Shapira with her new book “This Is What You’re Really Hungry For – Six Simple Rules to Transform Your Relationship with Food to Become Your Healthiest Self.”
Quit your on-again, off-again relationship with dieting for good—and become healthier and happier than ever.
You’ve tried to eat only vegetables. You’ve tried to eat only meat. You’ve gone gluten-free, dairy-free, satisfaction-free—but you shouldn’t have to. In fact, you don’t have to. It’s time to stop restricting yourself and learn to make your relationship with food healthy—without forcing yourself to eat “healthy.”
Dietitian Kim Shapira has developed six simple rules that will change your relationship with food forever. In This Is What You’re Really Hungry For, she breaks down the science to get your brain and your body on board; replaces fad diets that do not last with a sustainable method that encourages you to eat what you love; and empowers you to be the authority in your own body.
Kim’s refreshing approach will help you:
Food should be a source of joy and nourishment in your life—not stress—and This Is What You’re Really Hungry For will help you get there. Featuring a foreword by Kaley Cuoco, this will be the last “diet” book you ever need—without ever asking you to go on a diet. Learn more about Kim Shapira! Get a copy NOW
Kim Shapira, MS, RD, is a celebrity dietitian with a BS in exercise kinesiology from Tulane and an MS in human metabolism and clinical nutrition from Boston University. Kim has spent the last 25 years helping people lose weight and keep it off in her private Los Angeles practice. In addition, she has worked in hospitals, sports clinics, and addiction centers. Kim’s work has become the Kim Shapira Method; a focus on 6 rules that helps her clients develop and sustain a normal relationship with food.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2022 Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia valley Riesling
Wine Spectator 87
“A perky white, with easygoing lemon sorbet and melon flavors that finish with zip. Drink now. 19,250 cases made.”
This Columbia Valley Riesling is a blend of Riesling grapes from throughout WA’s Columbia Valley. The wine offers crisp apple and white peach aromas and flavors with subtle mineral notes. This is your go to Riesling that is incredibly refreshing and flavorful and easy to match with a variety of foods. Relatively low in Alcohol and with bright acidity, this wine is a great food wine that goes with most anything. It’s especially good with spicy Asian good, Indian cuisine, salads with citrus or most any cheese. ABV12%
Well DANG! The Good Life is pre-empted by Kansas City Chiefs Football game on KNSS starting at Noon. I’ll be home watching and hoping for yet another victory 🙂
