Super Bowl can wait a day. On February 4, 2012, we will be hosting and celebrating the 2nd Annual New Zealand Wine Day, presented by Complexity Fine Wines of New Zealand. The live event will take place at the Kenmore Live Studio and can also be viewed online live at 7:00 PM CS : New Zealand Wine Day with WineChannelTV and Complexity Fine Wines

We will be joined by celebrity winemaker, Sarah Burton from Cloudy Bay and Chef Billy Kim from Urban Belly!

To register for the live event, and automatically entered to win a Complexity Fine Wine t-shirt and other great Kiwi prizes, please check in here: Watch New Zealand Wine Day Live Event !

It’s America. We invented “XL” and the Super Bowl. And now wine lovers around the USA can truly enjoy a wine lifestyle experience at a Walgreens that expands your wine shopping list. Wine Wednesday with Walgreens in Chicago brought together a fun pairing of Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, Americas #1 selling wine with the #1 Celebrity Rated restaurant in Chicago, Sunda New Asian. Chef Jess DeGuzman from Sunda was on hand with a truly remarkable Sushi platter that is a must for any Super Bowl party.We paired that with fun wine lifestyle products from Walgreens, including a Raspberry Jam Perfume. If you are looking for that fun Super Bowl Party shopping store; check out the Walgreens Flagship Store in Chicago and get your wine on!

Wine Wednesday at Walgreens with the Godfather of Zinfandel, MasterChef Suzy Singh and a full house of “wowed” wine lovers was the perfect recipe for the Kickoff Event at the new Flagship Store of Walgreens at State and Randolph in Chicago. Joel Peterson, of Ravenswood, Celebrity Chef Suzy Singh from MasterChef  Season 2 joined Jessica Altieri, CEO and host of WineChannelTV for a fun filled, wine lifestyle event that paired great food, fashion and wine lifestyle conversation. Stay tuned for upcoming events including Super Bowl Wine Wednesday, and a special Valentines Day “Message in a Bottle” event.

It’s that time of year again and in case you missed last years New Zealand Wine Day, now is  your chance to register  and attend this years event on February 4, 2012. Wine Channel TV  in partnership with Complexity Fine wines is celebrating Waitangi Day (NZ’s National holiday) with a virtual wine tasting and cooking demonstration – and you’re invited to ‘come along’!  With Celebrity Winemakers in attendance, and a live audience in Chicago, you’ll have the opportunity to message in questions as you sip along with us from the comfort of your living room. Gather up a group of friends, register, and tune in with fellow-wine lovers from around the globe for this fun, social way to taste and learn about New Zealand’s finest wines!

Wings, nachos, beer and cheese dip move over. Looking for a special way to spend 3 hours in front of the Super Bowl game. I’m going for a combination of Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny Port, Truffles and lets kick in a taste of Rosemary Sea Salt Caramel. Now thats a challenge for most guys who would rather pick up a case of beer and a Taco Bell 12 pack. You know what. You can get your port, truffles and Rosemary Sea Salt at Walgreens. How easy is that. You could also pick up some flowers and make this event called the Super Bowl a really “super” romantic event. Easy Choice! Pass the truffles.

“Up-Market” is what its being called. I call it “Wine Served Well. With a spectacular conveyor belt wine showcase, it makes you wonder if you are in Disney. The Flagship store at State and Randolph offers over 700 wines, manicures and eyebrow shaping, made-to-order sushi, a juice and smoothie bar, self-serve frozen yogurt and even a humidor. The new Walgreen’s will also offer a clinic and an upscale cosmetics department.Make sure you stop by the Flagship location in Chicago if you get a chance! Wine and Walgreens is Wine Served Well!

Move over New Years Day and get your calendar set for the 2nd Annual New Zealand Wine Day and Waitangi Day Celebration! February4, 2012 at 7 PM CST. In partnership with Complexity Fine Wines, we’re celebrating Waitangi Day (NZ’s National holiday) with a virtual wine tasting and cooking demonstration – and you’re invited to ‘come along’! With Celebrity Winemakers in attendance, and a live audience in Chicago, you’ll have the opportunity to message in questions as you sip along with us from the comfort of your living room. Gather up a group of friends, register, and tune in with fellow-wine lovers from around the globe for this fun, social way to taste and learn about New Zealand’s finest wines! Be sure to stock up with a few bottles from  featured wineries at a participating retailer beforehand. To stay up-to-date with #nzwineday news including competitions, participating retailers and restaurants, like Complexity on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

We had the pleasure of appearing on ABC7 in Chicago on Windy City Live for a fun filled segment on our 2011 Holiday Wine Gifts. Our gifts included a $250 Wine gift Basket from Walgreens and assorted wine gifts from Pier 1 Imports. Our special holiday wines featured the new launch of Cantina Sociale di Canelli in the US as well as the Colby Red Cuvee which supports the American Heart Association. The Colby Red Cuvee, available at Walgreens is less than $10! This is a velvety smooth California blend of cabernet, zinfandel, merlot shiraz and petite syrah. The earthy notes in this wine would be a  perfect pairing with a juicy burger off the grill  or that special Holiday meal. There’s also a great story behind the wine; it’s named after Colby Groom who under went back to back open heart surgeries at age of ten, is now fully recovered and his father created this wine with him to give back to the American Heart Association where they are both seasoned veterans.

Our picks also featured Personalized Wine Boxes, custom engraved! Each gift box is custom made and lasered for your needs, featuring engraved logos and even photos making this the perfect holiday present! The box can also be customized for any birthday, anniversary, wedding, or charity event! A Braille box is even available with complete Braille lettering on the top sliding cover!

And how about the Bathtub Champagne  Chiller! The perfect Holiday treat to relax with! This champagne bucket chiller clamps to the side of a bathtub and keeps champagne or wine on ice while you bathe! The 7″-diameter frosted acrylic bucket holds a full size champagne or wine bottle and helps keep it cold and within reach as you relax or celebrate. The chrome bracket adjusts to accommodate tub sides and vinyl pads on the bracket ensure the unit won’t scratch bathtubs.

Watch the video for a few other picks for 2011 and have a great Holiday!

There are hundreds of outstanding Wine Events we attend each year. One of my favorite in 2011 was the Virtual Vino Social Media Seminar at the Vino 2011 Italian Wine Week event in New York City. The convergence of winemakers, social media experts, wine communication and marketing professionals provided a one of a kind opportunity to share ideas.
The Vino 2011 initiative follows the successful 2010 “Virtual Vino” experiment, where leading wine bloggers, journalists and trade live-blogged panel discussions, wine tastings and other events for the first time during Italian Wine Week, Tweeting in reactions, questions for speakers, and observations and contributing to an online dialogue that touched nearly 500,000 wine and food enthusiasts.

Over the next 4 weeks, WineChannelTV will be bringing you our “Best of 2011″ picks for events, people, wines and more from our travels around the world. Our first category includes Best Food and Wine Interview 2011 and we have selected our interview with Chef Marcus Samuelsson at the Saratoga Wine and Food and Fall Ferrari Festival this past September.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson is an award-winning chef, cookbook author, and food activist. Chef Marcus and I had a chance to talk about a cooking session for kids at the event and  highlighting new, fun types of food in a “cool” format.