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I just had a little jaunt across the border into Greece. I got to taste a very nice Greek wine, and I had a not particularly Greek dinner at a very elegant Greek restaurant in Thessaloniki. While I do not often post restaurant reviews, I do have a few words to say on the subject.
For many of us the thought of Greek wine brings up recollections of pine needles and disinfectant. There is a world of Greek wine beyond just Retsina, and while my most recent foray was limited to a wine list it bears pointing out that there is a modern and thriving wine industry in Greece.
The wine list was full of the usual and all to ubiquitous Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlots that you would expect to find anywhere, except these were all of Greek origin. I didn't explore these transplants to the Hellenic wine scene, opting instead for a more traditional bottle of Asyrtiko .
Speaking of Cabernet Sauvignon's recent emergence in Greece, a recent book by Miles Lambert-Gocs "Desert Island Wines" suggests that Cab may just be tracing back its roots to its ancestral origins in Greece.
I won't do my usual song and dance about how Cab, Merlot and Chard are eroding the once varied landscape of international wines, honest. Suffice it to say that I have yet to go anywhere in my travels that these revered grape varieties, once relegated to France and California, have not been prominent on every wine list.
The Asyrtiko I had was a fun and different white wine indeed. It is hard to even find the descriptors for this wine, since the flavor is above all else, unusual for one used to the classic French varietals. This made the wine that much more interesting to try and to recommend you discover. It may well be that any examples of this grape you find in the US have suffered from the long boat ride, so if your impressions don't jive with mine, consider it an excuse to visit sunny Greece.
The restaurant we ate at was a delightful tourist trap perched high on the top floor of the Electra Palace Hotel. We went for the view, and were well rewarded for our efforts. The view and the wine were our favorite parts of the meal, but we knew this going in, and so were well prepared.
The view and wine were Greek, the food was closer to French than not. It was an ambitious menu, especially for an outdoor venue where night time temperatures never fell below 80. A lighter, more elegant approach would have been more to our taste than the heavy handed dishes we ended up with.
We started with a Crab Napoleon and a "Lobster," Shrimp and Scallop dish in a Parmesan Cream Sauce. The quotes are because it was of course a langoustine and lobster was probably just a translation.
The napoleon was fun, with a rich cream sauce in with the crab and pastry, but there was also a slightly sour cream sauce around the sides of the plate that went well with the roe it was decorated with, but clashed with the main sauce. The pastry itself was a bit soggy and even a touch musty tasting. The downside of being a few feet away from the sea. Had the pastry been made fresh it would have been more impressive.
The langoustine et al. was really flavorful, in a heavy tarragon cream sauce, but it became a chore in that heat to eat more than a few bites. The presentation was delightful, albeit hard to eat, with heads and shells intact.
We chose our main courses to accompany the wine, and ended up with Swordfish with Tomatoes and Capers, and an Escallop of Pork in a Mint cream sauce.
The swordfish was terribly overcooked and more reminiscent of tuna from a can than a fresh steak should be. But then it isn't like they pulled the swordfish from the bay we were overlooking. It was disappointing and dry.
The Pork to was cooked to death, but this may be due to the reflex to over cook pork that many restaurants have. It turned this potentially lovely dish into shoe leather. Missing too was the mint flavor. There seemed to be flakes of a dried herb in the sauce, but the mint flavo, if any was subtle even for my usually discering palate.
We paid dearly for the view, but honestly, it was what we were after. Our expectations were met right down to the server that forgot about us for over an hour, but it just gave us that much more time to drink in the view, and the lovely white wine.
I had in the back of my head finding a perfect little out of the way spot for a bit of moussaka and a few dolmas, to see how they compared to my own cooking, but Thessaloniki is a cosmopolitan city catering to tourists and our experience was probably more indicative of the flavor of the city itself.
For more on Thessaloniki and a look at the views, pop on over to our travel blog .
Celebrate Wine is pleased to be a part of a new wine-writing project called "Drink Local Wine." The site brings together wine journalists, sommeliers, bloggers, and other wine enthusiasts from 16 "non-west coast" states and Canada. The goal is to enforce the reality that North American wine is not just about California, Oregon, and Washington anymore.
At "Drink Local Wine," you'll find information about wines from Illinois, Maryland, Georgia, and Wisconsin...and, of course, my home state, Ohio. Be sure to take a look.
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Sometimes, we just don't know how good we have it. May 28th was such a day. An incredible lineup of wines. If that wasn't enough Alan Meadows aka the Burghound was present to talk us through these wines. I will not bore you with individual tasting notes but just suffice to say that there were some great wines - it's just that side by side you begin to split hairs.
Chambertin and Musigny are definitely a cut above Grand Echezeaux. Just more complex. This statement is probably heresy to some and completely obvious to others. Can't win.
Comte de Vogue Musigny is variable and I'm not sure it's quite all there. Something to mull over given the high prices.
On the other hand the 1990 Musigny is a butterfly finally coming out of it's 18 year cocoon. This will need another 7-10 years? - but it's a knockout.
Armand Rosseau Chambertin. Amazing wine, year after year.
Best white of the night '99 CM. Some people liked the '90 but to me that shouldn't be what a CM is about - a little too much flabbiness not enough acidity and minerality. The '96 was a close second - perhaps an off bottle but tonight at least the '99 won on the nose.
Best red of the night was '90 Rosseau Chambertin. On the other hand I think in due time the '90 Musigny will be incredible and possibly better.
The wine world is chock full of gadgets these days and this is one of the funniest I have seen in such a while. A physician by trade, Patrick Farrell claims that he has an invention that will improve the quality of a wine simply by pouring wine into a glass. Let me explain?
He has created a device that will fit around the neck of a bottle that uses magnets to enhance the wine.
Farrell started out tying magnets to the neck of a bottle at the urging of business acquaintances who were distributing magnets to try to improve water quality. At the time, he thought the chance magnets would work on wine was ?about the same as seeing pigs fly.? But, he says, ?I took the thing home, put it on a bottle of shiraz from Australia and was shocked to see it made it taste smoother and fruitier. So then I went down to my cellar and I got a bottle of Bordeaux from the Medoc and it made it taste softer and fruitier.? Eventually, he came up with a molded plastic device that looks like a regular non-drip pourer and has an air hole to speed up oxygenation. That intensifies the effect of the wizard and differentiates it from other magnetic devices on the market such as The Wine Clip, which clasps around the bottle neck, says Farrell. Um?magnets?? I guessing the pourer at the top actually aerates the wine and that?s what softens the wine as opposed to the magnets. But let?s see what the critics have to say.
?Testimonials are irrelevant. Tastings are not proof,? says Ball, a professor at Cleveland State University, and ?amateur wine snob,? who says magnetic fields aren?t strong enough to change the shape of tannins. ?All that magnetic field is doing is separating you from your money,? says Ball, who won?t be trying the Bev Wizard any time soon. Awesome! At $30 for the gadget you?re better off buying a $5 corkscrew and a $25 bottle of wine!!
This really promises to be a cool event. I hope to see some of you there.
Seven North Carolina breweries - including all five from Buncombe County - are teaming up this month to host a Slow Food beer-tasting event at the downtown Asheville Brewing Company, 77 Coxe Ave. Slow Food is an international group that works to preserve food traditions and sustainable agriculture. Proceeds from the beer tasting will be used to send local delegates to the Slow Food Terra Madre gathering, Oct. 26-30 in Turin, Italy. The tasting, at 5 p.m. Aug. 27, will feature beers each from Asheville Brewing, Highland Brewing, Pisgah Brewing, French Broad Brewing, Green Man Brewing (all from the Asheville area) Catawba Brewing of Glen Alpine and Foothills Brewing of Winston-Salem. Each brewery will have at least two beers at the event, and Asheville Brewing will likely serve all of their ales, said brewmaster Doug Riley. Beers will be served in four-ounce samples, and the evening includes pizza. Tickets are $20, on sale now at Asheville Brewing and its sister operation, Asheville Pizza and Brewing, 675 Merrimon Ave. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060809/NEWS01/60809012/1119
So, things have been really hectic at work and with dial up access only (and limited at that) blogging is very difficult. Anywho I am not giving up on it, just lagging behind. I expect the next post to be on Sunday unless the heavens open up and smile upon me. Tomorrow I am going to a Highland Beer dinner at Ganache so I'll post the deets then. Lay-tah!! Cheers!
Sometimes the deals are all about knowing what’s right next door, and sometimes it’s worth asking, “Yeah, but does she have a sister?” Viognier’s Pretty Stepsisters in this issue of the Seattle Weekly I feel bad that there wasn’t room to talk about their BFF, Bourblanc.
While traveling across the central width of Italy last month there were signs of interest in the coming election in the United States. Italians love to display their opinions. Anyone who traveled in Italy in early 2003 saw a preponderance of multi-colored flags with the word PACE streaming from balconies and balustrades across the country. In that moment the sentiment was of protestation against an imminent invasion and war against Iraq.
This time the PACE flags have faded. In windows and as fashion accessories, the Italians once again express their thoughts on an election they can neither vote in nor influence. That is unless some of those Italians also happen to be American citizens.
We visited one such family in Florence. I have been friends with photographer Maurizio Berlincioni since the early 1970?s. So as we traveled from Castiglione della Pescaia to San Benedetto del Tronto (one side of the country to the other ? left to right) we took a break for lunch with Maurizio and his two kids, who can vote, because their momma is an Americana.
It appears from all signs that the Italians greatly favor Obama. The fact that Biden in a Roman Catholic also adds a connection, just as it did when Kennedy ran in 1960. The Italians don?t forget so easily when one comes along that inspires and causes many of us to look up and beyond the current mire we have found ourselves wallowing in.
But seeing as we were (and are) on the wine trail in Italy, we thought we?d query the locals to offer vinous equivalents to the candidates and some of the supporting cast. And as we were in Tuscany the logical progression made it seem like we should stick to wines from that region. Here's our Tuscan tally:
Sarah Palin is a Chianti "in fiasco". A little wicker model, something fresh and fruity and not too deep. Not made for the ages, this is a wine to enjoy ?for the moment? as it traditionally doesn?t offer much interest in the long run. It still has the dreaded DOCG appellation, but as many have commented elsewhere, that simple Chianti shares the highest denomination as a Chianti Classico or Brunello says more about the political wheeling and dealing than anything else. Pick a young one and sell it far and wide- take the money and run. A long shot.
Joe Biden is also a Chianti, but a Chianti Classico Riserva from a well known and time tested producer. And like some of those riservas folks often underestimate their power or their presence among the cognoscenti of Italian wine lovers. Anyone who has let one of those wines rest in the cellar for 10,15,20 years and then open it up on a late October night knows the untapped potential and surprise that awaits the patient ones. Elegance, restraint, depth, character, if the cellaring has gone well. A good value if properly kept.
Cindy McCain is a Vernaccia di San Gimignano. We like to quote the poetry of Michelangelo, especially the part that he wrote about Vernaccia when he said it was a wine that licks kisses, bites, pinches and stings. Ask Carol McCain (the 1st wife) about the sting. John probably could vouch for several of those descriptions as well, though he might not remember them after so many years. And a doctor or volunteer back in the day over at AVMT (American Voluntary Medical Team) might be able to Xerox their affidavits from 1992 to cover the pinch. Vernaccia is a thin, acidic wine that everybody praises but almost no one in Tuscany likes. The only reason for not hating Vernaccia would be to save that emotion for Galestro, which by this time has been laid to rest, hopefully. Praised but seldom enjoyed.
Michelle Obama is a Super Tuscan, one that hails from Greve. The Tuscans made her wine-avatar a blend called Batàr, 50% Pinot Blanc, 50% Chardonnay and one of the few recognized white wines to qualify as a Super Tuscan. Too new and blended to be marked as a traditional wine (or potential First Lady) but able to stand up to the Big Boys and fire away with plenty of power and aim. While this is a white wine and many folks suggest that white wines from Tuscany (and Italy) don?t have the ability to stay in the game for long, Batàr has been proven to withstand the rigors of time, in fact ageing quite remarkably well. ?Sublime?, writes Parker. ?Truly extraordinary,? says Jancis Robinson. To get both of those folks on the same page is a real feat. Rare, but worth the search.
John McCain is a Brunello in today?s political landscape. Under fire, not quite sure what is inside, elements of long-standing tradition, but somehow our Italians think his image has been ?swift-boated? by his own party. The jury is still out, though they are being pressed to come in with a verdict. We might have to wait a little longer to find out what will happen to Brunello than to John McCain. If he doesn?t win, he can always drown his sorrows in buckets of beer and bucks, something he has access to both of in excess. Then again he can search one of his many cellars, from Sedona to Coronado and maybe find a bottle of red even older than he. Pray it isn?t corked, or cooked. He certainly seems to be of the latter disposition at this point. Their verdict for Brunello: When young, unstable, when older, unreliable. A wine we want to love but at this moment don?t quite trust.
Barack Obama is, like his wife, a Super Tuscan. He is an amalgam of indigenous and transported grapes. His vineyard is on the Maremma, the sunny coastal area which is new and relatively untested. But there is a great deal of enthusiasm for these wines and the wine that Obama reflects in the hearts and minds of our Tuscan prognosticators is, although untested, reminiscent of a once great one from the 1960?s. It might be that our Tuscans are just tired of the same old Sangiovese, they are ready for a change, and this Super Tuscan has arrived in time to anticipate their hopes and dreams. We shall see. Their conclusion for the Super Tuscan: Young and lively, with a mid-palate of composed notes, carefully composed and arranged. If it hasn?t been over-oaked, it might be ready within the next 4-8 years.
We went back and forth with the emails on the characters and the wines but it wasn?t until this past Sunday that we had our final entry.
Colin Powell is a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, for like the wine, they both served at the pleasure of their rulers. Often cast aside in favor of the more obstreperous Brunello, Vino Nobile is the phlegmatic one, calm under fire and very dependable, and a great dancer. Able to take the hill and "get down tonight". Our Tuscans thought the Colin Powell showed great strength of conviction even though his latest moves probably wouldn?t be too popular back in his grand old party. But like Vino Nobile, sometimes being the most popular one isn't the highest goal. To serve as an agent of change and veracity seeks higher ground and purpose.
And that dear readers, is how our Prada Italians are calling the race. We shall see, shan?t we?
Ringing in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, this cheap wine was an equal match to the FishEye Merlot. From Ripon, California, this wine lets the fruit speak for itself. Along with the dark plum taste, I also experienced a little pepper in the nose.
At only 8 dollars a bottle, I found this to be a great wine. I had mine with Spicy Montreal seasoning. Try it! Rating: 7/10 Price: 7.99 Place of purchase: L&L Grocery Vineyard Info: FishEye Winery Ripon, CA www.fisheyewines.com
Whether you always agree with him or not, there's little denying that Robert Parker, Jr. has had a tremendous influence on wine buying. The author and publisher of "The Wine Advocate" for over 25 years has won countless awards, including being appointed a "Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur" in France. He created the now widely-used 100-point wine ranking system and has written extensively about wine industries around the world.
Parker's latest work is the exhaustive "Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide," a 1536-page catalog of the world's great, good, and average wines and comes out on October 7. Far from being dry and laborious, this tome is easy-to-read with lots of maps and regional wine information interspersed with winery and individual wine ratings and prices.
"Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide" is being publishing in trade softcover, in hardcover, and as an e-book simultaneously. Shipping is an issue with a book this large, so the $24.99 ebook is a smart option. The softcover is currently $23 with Amazon.com and you can get free shipping with them for orders over $25. This book would make a good gift for anyone who enjoys wines and/or traveling throughout the world's wine regions.
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The web site for Philip Stein - purveyor of the new Wine Wand - claims that thanks to this nifty device "The full bouquet and taste of wine can be enjoyed within minutes, not hours." That's a bold statement, but one that can be tested on your very own at home, for the bargain price of just $325. That's right, that's the price of the Wine Wand, which Stein's site describes loftily as "a breakthrough device that uses natural energy to aerate wine, enhancing flavors and aroma almost instantly." Okaaaaay, so where's the catch?
Iggy’s at the Regent Hotel in Singapore is the recipient of quite a bit of hype, with various awards and reviews proclaiming it to be among the best restaurants in Singapore and the world. It seems very few people have anything but good words to say about it. Wednesday the 25th of June saw me visiting this restaurant for the first time.
My expectations were high, but I will be one joining in with the praise for this establishment after my experience. The food we tried was sensational with both classic and surprising combinations of flavours that worked brilliantly together. The service was overall very good and with one or two minor tweaks could have been excellent.
Four courses at lunch (an amuse bouche, two entrees, a main and dessert) was an entirely reasonable $70AUD (including GST and a mandatory 10% service charge) per person plus wine.
The wine;
The list is heavily tilted toward white and red Burgundy, the prices are quite decent for a high quality restaurant. I was impressed when I asked to keep the bottles, they offered to remove the labels if I wished instead, and I was presented with them laminated and in perfect condition at the end of the meal.
Serriger Schloss Saarsteiner Spatlese Riesling 1986 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany) - 8% alcohol - Golden coloured. Initially a bit closed, but as it warmed and shook off the confines of being in bottle for almost 22 years it blossomed beautifully with notes of honey, orange peel, lily petals and minerals. The palate showed fine, detailed acidity to balance the ripe fruit characters. Very good length and balance initially, with the mouth-feel and components coming together even further with time in the glass. Drinking very well now, but will hold for another 5 years. 91/100
Rossignol-Trapet Chambertin Grand Cru 2002 (Burgundy, France) - 13.5% alcohol - This was decanted for around an hour and a half. Deep ruby red in colour, the nose is expressive and sensual with aromas of red cherry, rose petals, strawberry, light earth and black truffles. The palate shows great finesse and depth. The structure is excellent, with tannins playing their role in the background and acidity giving great freshness to the mouth-feel. There are layers of subtle flavour and complexity to this wine that kept me enthralled with every taste. Delicious and approachable now, but it will get even better over the next 12-15 years. 93/100
The food;
Sweet Corn “Cappuccino” with Chocolate
Sourdough roll with garlic and herb infused olive oil
Charcoal-grilled bonito with white anchovies, mizuna salad, olives and peppers, citrus dressing
Roulade of kurobuta pork belly with red cabbage salad, whole grain mustard dressing
Fresh Burrata mozzarella with vine-ripe tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil
Home-made potato gnocchi with truffle salsa and soft-boiled egg
Classic onion soup served with crusty bread loaf
Braised kurobuta pork cheek with onion confit
Home-made Wagyu beef burger with white truffle sabayon
Confit of duck leg with rosemary potatoes, mesclun
Grand Marnier soufflé with home-made Java vanilla ice cream
Baked chocolate molten cake with Java vanilla ice-cream
Founded in 1729, Ruinart is the longest established sparkling wine house in the Champagne region of France. Named after Benedictine monk Dom Thierry Ruinart, the winery is located in the city of Reims, where ancient crayères (chalk pits) serve as cellars that offer constant temperature and humidity, thus allowing the wine to age as long as 12 years. These crayères were hewn from the chalk sub-soil by the Romans, who used the chalk as building materials. Also used during World War I to escape the bombing, these cellars were classified an historic monument in 1931.
Join us as we sit down with Ruinart’s Cellarmaster Frédéric Pana?otis to discuss Ruinart’s history, its vineyard sources, and of course its various cuvées.
The French wine appellation of Gigondas tends to get overshadowed by its flashy and better-known cousin, Chateauneuf du Pape. However, the smooth red wines of this Rhone Valley region have a charm and complexity all of their own. Like Chateauneuf, they are made with primarily Grenache grapes, but the similarity ends there as James Molesworth of "Wine Spectator" magazine illustrates in the video below:
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I couldn't resist dropping a line about McCormick & Kuleto's 15th Annual Shuck & Swallow Challenge, going down tomorrow eve in SF, because it's just so deliciously fun to say out loud. Those in the mood for shucking and swallowing are welcome to watch and score some oysters and wine in the process ($30 for food & wine). The 411: The competition between a dozen teams from Bay Area restaurants goes down at 5pm and showcases teams competing to shuck and eat as many oysters as possible in 10 minutes. (The current record is just under 200.) The shucking & swallowing is free to watch...
Big News! Okay, I was trying to keep this one under wraps but it seems a few people have already found out and, well what better place to announce it than here right?
As of August 7th I will be back at the Wine Warehouse full time drinking for my living. I am very excited and can't wait to get back in the game.
Also My friend Andi got a new job at the O'Henry Hotel and I wish her mucho success in all of her endeavors. I will miss her.
We hopped in the car with some friends yesterday and went on a little day trip to Chicago to take in WIRED magazine?s 2008 NextFest , an annual exhibition of emerging technologies.
While not nearly as grand in scale as the 2005 event on Navy Pier, this year?s show in Millennium Park still packs a lot of wow factor in its exhibits ? and admission is free. We were greeted outside the tent by a whimsical, grass-clipping electronic sheep (which later had to be corralled inside after a light rain began to fall). Once inside, there were exhibits relating to about every aspect of modern life, including clothing, art, design, health, transportation, communication, entertainment and the environment.
Toyota, which along with Xerox and Citi is one of this year?s major sponsors, brought along a range of transportation exercises ranging from personal vehicles (imagine a luxurious Segway) to its plug-in Prius, a pre-production model that is currently undergoing real-world shakedown tests. Toyota also is showing its 1X concept vehicle , a lightweight (980 lbs.), fuel-sipping (90 mpg) four-passenger vehicle suitable for urban environments.
Xerox focused on green technology, including its solid-ink printer technology that reduces waste by 90 percent and is much more cost-effective than conventional color printers and a paper that printing fades from over a 24-hour period so that it can be reused. Those who value the permanence of print might find this a strange product, but Xerox was motivated to develop it after determining that more than 40 percent of office printouts are discarded the same day they are printed. Obviously, the potential savings in money and resources made possible by such a technology are enormous, particularly for school systems, large corporations and governmental entities.
In the energy and environment section, a technology that rapidly makes diesel fuel from algae and ultra-efficient photovoltaics that convert 40 percent of the sun?s energy to electricity ? up from 15 percent for conventional solar panels ? were the standouts. For photographers, the Gigapan technology developed by NASA and Carnegie Mellon University is exciting, and apparently will be surprisingly affordable. And while it seems unlikely that you?ll ever see them at Bed, Bath and Beyond, the food-delivery systems created by designer Martin Kastner for chef Grant Achatz will give foodies something to drool over.
Nextfest?s run will continue October 7 through 12 (the show is closed on Mondays). If you get there early, you could have time to wander through the Art Institute across the street or head down to the Museum of Science and Industry to tour the modular, green smart home which will be on display through January 4 of next year. If your route to Chicago takes you up I-65, be advised that major highway construction will cause you to take a detour , whether your preferred route is the Tollway or I-80/94.
A16 tops the list of the best wine bars in San Francisco. The owner-sommelier Shelley Lindgren?s wine list is focused on Southern Italian varietals. This wine list is an integral part of the A16 experience and what makes it the best of the wine bars in San Francisco.
Andalu on 16th Street is another one of San Francisco?s finest wine bars. They are awesome because they offer small plates with big flavors. This is one of the San Francisco wine bars that has an approachable wine list and offers 35 wines by the glass. The crowd there is mixed and energetic.
Wine bars don?t usually come as good, or as small, as Bacchus on Hyde Street. Bacchus has knowledgeable bartenders that make innovative saké cocktails and they pour over 50 wines that range in price from under $10 a glass to more than $200 a bottle. The signature drink at Bacchus is their sake-version of the mojito.
Cav is one of the wine bars in San Francisco that takes itself extremely seriously. Cav has a well-chosen wine list of over 300 international wines. Some of the wines on the list are offered by a taste, or the glass. The chef has crafted unique takes on lots of dishes and Cav actually offers a cheese course that is served at the proper temperature and is on par with some of the finer restaurants in San Francisco.
Wine bars like Piccolo on Fillmore street handpick the wines on their wine lists. Piccolo is one of the wine bars that choose limited availability and small production wines. They prefer to concentrate on Italian wines. The owner of Piccolo has wonderful antipasti on his menu. There is fierce competition between wine bars to have the most excellent food to accompany their spirits.
Varnish Fine Art is both an art gallery and one of the top wine bars in San Francisco. The atmosphere at Varnish Fine Art is comfortable and it draws a post-work crowd for beer or wine during happy hour. The wine list at Varnish Fine Art is well chosen and features a number of delicious fine wines, as well as soju and saké cocktails.
Set your sights on wine, and you?ll set your eyes on some of the most incredible scenery in BC?s three main wine regions. Here are ten of the best scene-stealing sights and activities that insiders guarantee will tempt your palate...
Some guys you never forget, and when I’m getting a case of the mean reds, I always turn to a bottle of Old Overholt. It just seems right. So does drinking it warm out of a dirty glass, but my OCD won’t let me go that far. Here’s Rye In Your Eye In this issue of the [...]
I came back from the first Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma this weekend and there was one thing I knew for sure: I didn't want to drink any California wine. I needed a change. I caught up on my mail and read the backed up blog posts in my RSS reader and inspiration hit: I was going to drink an Argentinian Malbec.
This inspiration stemmed from two of the people I met at the conference (though I've known them via the blogosphere and Twitter for some time now): David from the blog Vinomadic, and Philip James from the wine finder and keeper site Snooth. David lived in Argentina for a time (and always gives me good suggestions on what to drink), and Snooth just had a tasting dedicated to value Malbecs. I enjoyed talking to both of them this weekend, and that was enough to send me scurrying to the cellar in pursuit of an Argentinian Malbec.
The wine that I pulled out was the 2006 Finca Las Moras Malbec Reserva (sample; suggested retail for this new release is $12; you may find it or other recent vintages near you for between $7 and $12) This wine was a simple pleasure from start to finish, because it was made in an apologetically New World fruit-forward style, but with some sensitivity and restraint. Malbec is often described as fitting somewhere between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in the flavor spectrum, but what I always think of is plums--lots and lots of plums. The 2006 Finca Las Moras Malbec Reserva did indeed have prominent aromas of plum, leather, and vanilla. These aromas were echoed in the flavors of plum and spice, and there was also a nice meaty note that gave the wine some depth of complexity. Very good QPR for this wine brought into the US by Joshua Tree Imports, who are known for their good value brands such as Razor's Edge and Fetish.
I love lamb with Malbec, and so we had this with Lamb Chops and a tomato-and-potato gratin. If you are vegetarian, I highly recommend making the gratin, and having it with some meaty grilled portabello mushrooms instead of the lamb. Whether you go with meat or a meatless option, you'll find that the meaty, leathery aromas and flavors will get drawn out by the grilled food and the beautiful plum fruit will be a nice complement to the earthy potatoes and sweet tomatoes.
Thanks to David and Philip for helping me get inspired about wine all over again. See you next year at the Wine Bloggers Conference!
Tecnorati
While traveling across the central width of Italy last month there were signs of interest in the coming election in the United States. Italians love to display their opinions. Anyone who traveled in Italy in early 2003 saw a preponderance of multi-colored flags with the word PACE streaming from balconies and balustrades across the country. In that moment the sentiment was of protestation against an imminent invasion and war against Iraq.
We visited one such family in Florence. I have been friends with photographer 
Colin Powell is a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, for like the wine, they both served at the pleasure of their rulers. Often cast aside in favor of the more obstreperous Brunello, Vino Nobile is the phlegmatic one, calm under fire and very dependable, and a great dancer. Able to take the hill and "get down tonight". Our Tuscans thought the Colin Powell showed great strength of conviction even though his latest moves probably wouldn?t be too popular back in his grand old party. But like Vino Nobile, sometimes being the most popular one isn't the highest goal. To serve as an agent of change and veracity seeks higher ground and purpose.
The web site for 
We hopped in the car with some friends yesterday and went on a little day trip to Chicago to take in 
