What better way to celebrate than with a bottle of great wine. That sensational wine deserves an equally sensational presentation. Why carry wine to dinner parties and gatherings in a boring bag. Be original! And show how much you care with an upscale wine gift that will be remembered.

Art has never been an easy term to define…especially when a creation is intended for use as a wrapping rather than an actual gift. What’s nondebatable is that certain types of gift wraps function just as effectively as focal points as do the actual objects they are covering. I’m thinking specifically of unique and creative wine gifts and the art of presentation. Perfect for everyone on your list! Your friends, family hosts and hostesses will appreciate your good taste.

Giving a bottle of wine is such a joy in itself. Presenting it stylishly is an alluring attribute giving your gift a sense of distinction. It can be challenging to find just the right gift wrap to make that original statement. But your wine loving friends will appreciate your originality and thoughtfulness that went into it. A great place to find unusual and creative wine wrappings are at wine bars. Many have a fabulous selection offering anything from gifts to wine lovers home décor. You may opt to wrap simply in a classic and colorful drawstring wine bag. Or present a spectacular bottle of red in a chic café wine caddy. A wine case delivers a fine cuvee making an attractive decoration for any bar. An artful wine tube is also a handsome way to share a bottle of prized vintage. A beautiful addition to any table is a polished wine bucket. Fill it with ice water, place a bottle in it and you’re ready to dine in style. Love your wine? Show your metal! There is a variety of animated bottle holders made from recycled steel, copper and even wood. My favorite wine wrap is a clink proof wine tote. Consider one of these when you want to present both that fabulous bold red AND a crisp clean white. Its part wet suit, part wine bag, all functionally cool! These keep bottles safely separated so folks won’t hear your comings and goings…allowing you to party hop like a pro.

Bring a smile to the face of the most discriminating wine connoisseur and delight your family and friends at this years Holiday gatherings. Turn your gift of wine into an innovative wine presentation. Whether sophisticated, whimsical, elegant or contemporary, wine bags, boxes and purses are sure to impress. And be sure to pick one up for yourself too…cause you might not want to give em away.

Enjoy delicacies from the Valley’s finest restaurants, caterers and beverage purveyors

DATE / TIME / LOCATION
Friday, October 2, 2009
VIP Early Admission at 6:30pm
Event Hours 7:00pm-11:00pm
The Phoenix Zoo (455 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, AZ 85008)

Travel to the land of ZooFari, where those who enter honor the magnificent Wild Cats of the world. Adventure awaits with unique performances, cultural sounds and music that will make your heart beat. Feast on the finest delicacies, desserts, wines and fine liquors of the Valley. And, for those who dare, bid on unusual and intriguing gifts of jewels, art, experiences and more at the Silent Auction and the Exotic Raffle
Travel to the land of ZooFari, where those who enter honor the magnificent Wild Cats of the world. Adventure awaits with unique performances, cultural sounds and music that will make your heart beat. Feast on the finest delicacies, desserts, wines and fine liquors of the Valley. And, for those who dare, bid on unusual and intriguing gifts of jewels, art, experiences and more at the Silent Auction and the Exotic Raffle. Your experience at ZooFari promises to evoke wonder, adventure and above all else, excitement!

Discover the “art of wine”, while viewing the 18 visual art categories at the Tempe Festival of the Arts the weekend of December 4th – 6th from 10am- Dusk. The Arizona Wine Growers Association will showcase Arizona wineries that will offer up to six tastings with the price of admission to the Arizona Wine Festival. Admission is $10 and includes a commemorative wine glass.

For More Details please visit www.TempeFestivaloftheArts.com

Are you thinking about extending your living space by using more of your front or back yards? No doubt that adding living space will require additional patio for dining or other recreational use. What are my choices you may be asking yourself…well, please allow me to assist here and give you numerous options. We’ll touch upon what materials we can use, the differences in cost, and longevity & maintenance. The two most popular “flatwork” options besides standard grey concrete are pavers and flagstone. There are of course others like: exposed aggregate & stamped or stained concrete, travertines, saltillo & other tiles, canterra & Durango stones, and acrylic coatings to name the most popular. These half dozen options represent about 95 percent of what people are using for patio extensions. We’ll concentrate on the three most popular.

Pavers are probably today’s most popular flatwork option. First of all the word “paver” is the generic term for that type of material. There are dozens of companies throughout Arizona and the United States that manufacture their own brand of paver. Here in the valley there are companies like: Belgard, Arizona Block, Phoenix Pavers, Acker Stone, Pavestone (sold at Home Depot) & Artistic Pavers just to name a handful of the most popular. Besides coming in different colors, they come in different sizes, thickness, standard or tumbled, and multiple pieces to create patterns for artistic flair. Standard pavers have very clean edges, where a tumbled paver edge is “roughed up” to give it more of the old world, Tuscan look. The cost of pavers in my opinion is the best overall value and ranges anywhere from $5 to $9 per square foot depending on how much you are installing and the type of paver you choose. The sub base is compacted using a material called ABC and then a layer of sand ranging from 3’4” to 1 ½ inches deep is applied, graded, and set. The edge of your patio known as the border or soldier course is set with mortar to keep the main area from falling apart on itself. Sand is applied to the finished patio by brooming and watering which helps it set up nicely for heavy traffic. A good paver with the proper installation should last 15 to 20 years with little difficulty. Negatives…hot under foot and patio has to be periodically re-sanded when rain washes some of it away.

Flagstone is also extremely popular. It comes in a variety of colors, can be mortar or sand set, saw cut (clean look) or snap cut (a more rustic look), and more than 90 percent of the flagstone we use is quarried right here in northern Arizona in a place called Ashfork. Flagstone is commonly used for BBQ counters, wall & pillar caps, and step stones to name a few other uses. Flagstone costs between $10 & $14 per square foot, depending on the type of flagstone chosen, and cleans up nicely with a strong hose or power washer. Flagstone is not a DIY project. It takes a true artisan to work and lay the stone for a professional look. Negatives…warm under foot and grout joints have a tendency to “spider crack” away from the stone while the patio settles. Joints may have to be re-grouted once or twice during its’ life span and lasts 15 – 20 years.

Concrete products give you a wide variety of looks. There are broom & salt finishes. You can add color or use an exposed aggregate (small rocks in the concrete mix). You can stain existing concrete yourself for about $1 per square foot with products found at any home improvement center. You can stamp concrete (during the install) with a variety of patterns and colors, or use an acrylic topping to create a variety of different looks. Acrylic finishes get applied over existing or new concrete and of course the most popular is the standard “kool deck” finish around our pools. There are acrylic coatings that can mimic old stone, flagstone, or saltillo tile to name a few. Standard grey concrete is between $4 & $5 per square foot depending on quantity installed. If you already have concrete and just want to spruce it up, coatings range between $4 & $6 per square foot depending on the pattern chosen. If you are starting from scratch and need to pour concrete and then add the coating, your starting cost will be at least $7.50 per square foot and can be as high as $11 per square foot. That’s why pavers are my flatwork recommendation when possible because you can’t beat the price point and overall beauty. Negatives…costly if you don’t already have concrete, and it also has a tendency to crack with our expansive soils here in the valley. Lastly…not easily repaired if it does.

If you have any questions on patio extensions, or are looking for a quality landscape contractor for your yard makeover, please contact me personally for a complimentary consultation. We offer a free landscape design on an approved budget! Remember…when it comes time to designing & building great landscape, it all starts with a master plan!

In all the years I have been a practicing landscape contractor, I don’t think I have ever come across a potential client that does not like a good water feature if it’s in the budget. Even if it’s out of their budget, everyone I meet would love to have one. There is nothing like the beauty of a custom water feature and the tranquil sounds they make. An artistic and strategically placed water feature will lull even the most restless to sleep. Having two on my own property, I can really relate to that. With our great weather that allows us to have the windows open for many months of the year, hearing the sound of running water as you travel from one room to another…well…there is nothing like it, especially at night when going to bed. What a great way to relax and doze off! They compliment any backyard recreational space and add great curb appeal if placed in the front yard. You just can’t go wrong with a good water feature. Each creates its own unique sound, so there really are dozens of audible options to choose from like splashing, trickling, cascading, etc.

If this is something you have thought about for a while and are ready to move forward, please keep the following things in mind. There are two ways to go about it….cheap and prefab, or custom and more expensive. As with just about anything in life, you get what you pay for. You can purchase a small, pre-cast feature that you simply place in the yard, fill it with water, and plug it in. You may be able to find something halfway decent in this department between $500 – $1000. There is no need to call a professional for this type of feature. Just a credit card and a small pick up truck and you are good to go. If you don’t have electric in the vicinity where you plan on placing it, there will be an additional expense here. Also, if you want to set up an auto-fill so you don’t have to manually fill it with water, this again will add to the overall cost. I would budget $1,300 for a prefabricated feature, which includes the water & electric run. You should be able to find something that will suit your needs in this price range without breaking the bank.

The most common water features today are made from scratch using a detailed plan drawn by a good designer. They have all the bells and whistles to keep them as low maintenance as possible, but all water features require a little bit of upkeep and TLC. Materials available for fabrication can be block, metal, stone, tile, etc. They usually operate on a timer identical to what you would find by your pool equipment that can turn it on and off at specified times. It operates on 110V electrical power using a GFCI circuit, has a water run for the auto-fill and a pump to re-circulate the water. You can add other accessories such as lighting and remote controls. You are only limited to your imagination here. Custom water features truly require a professional to be built properly. As a landscape contractor and a person who has design & installed hundreds over the years, I have learned to avoid the pitfalls that an average do-it yourselfer would make. A well designed, custom water feature usually starts at about $3,000 to about $6,000 on average, although I have done a few over the years for over $10,000. Material options available today and the complexity of the build are what drives price.
Every water feature poses its own construction challenges and requires a little upkeep like your pool. A chlorine tablet in the pond keeps the algae down during the majority of the year; although you may need some algaecide during the summer months when the water temperature is excessively warm. If a water feature is on your landscape wish list, may I remind you to always start with a master plan, as I have talked about in previous articles. If you do things one at a time without a master plan, you will only end up with a finished product that looks like it was done in many stages and not necessarily all by the same person. Continuity and flow are the primary components of a good plan.

If you have any questions on water features, or are looking for a quality landscape contractor for your yard makeover, please contact me personally for a complimentary and professional consultation. We offer a free landscape design on an approved budget!

So remember…when it comes time to designing & building a good water feature, sometimes you just have to go with the flow!

Chef Jon-Paul Hutchins Le Cordon Bleu | Executive Chef

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Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter, oil or Bacon fat
½ LB White or Yellow Onions thinly sliced
½ LB Red Onions thinly sliced
6 each shallot peeled and thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic minced
6 each scallions thinly sliced
1-½ quarts chicken or beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
Salt & Pepper
Sherry to taste
Chopped chives for garnish

4 slices toasted French bread
4 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Directions:
1. In a heavy bottomed soup pan heat the butter until it begins to sizzle. Add the onions, garlic and shallot. Cook slowly until the develop color without burning.
2. Add the stock the bay leaf and the thyme let simmer for 30 minutes to develop the flavor.
3. Add the sherry a Tablespoon at a time until the flavor of the onions comes out.
4. Divide the soup between 4 oven safe bowls, top with a slice of the toasted French bread, a slice of the cheese and either bake in a 400-degree oven or broil to melt the cheese.
5. BE CAREFUL VERY, VERY HOT!

Pairs Well With:

SauvignonBlanc	Cabernet

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