The Olive Center’s 2012 olive oils are here! The Silo and Gunrock extra-virgin blends are available at most of the UC Davis Stores, and a tasting is scheduled at one of those stores on Wednesday (March 7).

The tasting is set to run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the main store in the Memorial Union.

Besides the MU, the oils are available at these UC Davis Stores locations: South Silo, Veterinary (Medical Science Building 1B) and Pro Shop (Activities and Recreation Center) on the main campus, Downtown (630 Second St., at F Street) and Sacramento (2270 Stockton Blvd.).

First Wednesday Wine Flight: Red Blends

This month’s First Wednesday Wine Flight blends in with the hot trend in red blends. “The blending bug only hit California in the 1980s, but winemakers have definitely made up for lost time,” states one of the wine tasting organizers.

The featured wines at the Red Blends event March 7 “will illustrate how extraordinary a good red blend can be, and how the whole really is the sum of its parts.”

First Wednesday Wine Flights (formerly called Wednesday Night Wine Flights) take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Gunrock Pub (on the south side of the Silo).

The pub and the Vintage Aggies Wine Club sponsor the monthly wine flights. Each includes the tasting of four wines (paired with food), and “terrific deals” on the wines to take home.

The cost is $10, and no reservations are needed. To reserve a table, purchase tickets in advance or schedule private tastings, call the Gunrock Pub, (530) 752-6262.

The First Wednesday calendar through June:

• April 4 — White Sale

The April wine tasting is only $8 for anyone who is wearing a Staff Assembly pin. Don't have one? You can buy one for $5 at the wine tasting. More information on staff pins and the staff pin discount program, and how you can purchase a pin by mail or in person.

• May 2 — Wente Vineyards
• June 6 — Wines with a Past

Take it slow, as in 'slow food'

A doctoral student announced the formation of the new Slow Food Davis-UC Davis chapter. It is an affiliate of Slow Food USA, which also includes the Slow Food Yolo chapter.

The Davis-UC Davis chapter will bring the slow food movement to the university, offering offer low-cost food events, classes, discussions and simple gatherings to students and community members, said Kristan Reed, a Ph.D. candidate in animal biology.

She and her faculty sponsor, James Shackelford, professor of chemical engineering and materials science, are inviting interested students and community members to the chapter’s inaugural event: 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 18, at Monticello Seasonal Cuisine, 630 G St. (next to the Davis Food Co-Op).

Reed said the inaugural meeting will include a short welcome and introduction to slow food, followed by light appetizers (made with local, seasonal ingredients) and conversation.

Everyone interested in good local food and wine, as well as food diversity, sustainability and accessibility is welcome to attend, Reed said. The $5 cover charge will go toward the food and help create a seed fund for the new group, she said.

Reed said future events will include a gathering of parents concerned about their children’s eating habits, a potluck dinner to celebrate the new growing season, talks by a local farmer and a local winemaker, a workshop on making good food accessible and affordable and a seasonal cooking demonstration.

She said the chapter also plans a discussion of “greenwashing.” The term is like “whitewashing,” only in an environmental context, according to the Greenwashing Index, run by EnviroMedia Social Marketing and the University of Oregon.

The Slow Food movement, which started in Italy as a response to the proliferation of fast food, is built on the idea that the pleasures of the table offer a route to social change that connects people to one another and to the environment.

Slow Food USA — a network of volunteers, members and supporters working through 225 chapters — seeks to bring integrity to the food we eat and the way it is grown.

Says Slow Food USA: “Slow food is everything fast food isn’t. Slow food is food that is good for the people who grow it, good for the people who eat it and good for the planet.”

For more information about Slow Food USA and the Davis-UC Davis chapter, contact Reed, davisslowfood@gmail.com.

More slow food news

The WorkLife and Wellness Brown Bag Series presents Slow Food and Buying Locally, during the noon hour Thursday, April 5. No RSVPs are needed for the program in King Lounge, Memorial Union.

"Learn practical and fun ways to introduce the philosophy of slow food into your kitchen and garden," the organizers said.

They said Ann Evans' program will include instruction in the principles of year-round gardening and the glass pantry, how to express yourself seasonally through garden and glass pantry gift giving, how to shop and cook seasonally. She also will offer a primer on Slow Food Yolo and how it fits into the international slow food philosophy, the organizers said.

Waiting list for Cheese Loves Beer

Cheese Loves Beer, sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, continues to be very popular — with this year’s program selling out in seven days. Others hoping to attend are invited to register on a waiting list.

Cheese Loves Beer IV: Global Marries Local, featuring Charles Bamforth and Moshe Rosenberg of the Department of Food Science and Technology, is scheduled for Saturday, April 14.

Bamforth, who holds the Anheuser-Busch Professorship in Malting and Brewing Science, plans a talk on “Buy Local to be Best for Beer,” while Professor Rosenberg, who specializes in dairy engineering and technology, will speak on “Cheeses of the World — The Most Successful Local Representatives to The Global Arena,”

A flier explains: “Whilst aging cheese at its birthplace is essential for the evolution of specific cheese quality attributes, quite the opposite is the case for beer.

“For most ales and lagers it is ‘downhill’ from the time they are packaged, and they certainly don’t benefit from travel. Yet we can celebrate the diversity of beer styles by looking for more local brews created according to the values of traditional international styles.”

The program is set to conclude with a cheese and wine pairing (eight cheeses from around the planet and eight beers from much closer to home), followed by a reception.

More information, including a link for the waiting list.