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Schlepping in the West Village. Cold and windy but bright. Glamour and sensuality are well hidden today, layered away for winter. The same could be said for the heady, expansive displays of prosperity which ruled till just yesterday. Christopher Street, once the epicenter of gay commerical life, is half shuttered and empty. Many storefronts are bare except for rebtal signs in English and Spanish. Familiar coffee bars and eateries seem long gone. The same forlorn...
Rocket Science 2004 Proprietary Red $45 Wine Label says: “Son, your 21 years old. It’s time you learned the art of wine tasting.” “I already know how you taste wine,” replied the sure young man. “This wine has an inky, purple hue with a sensational purity, flavors of a blackberry liqueur with a creme de cassis intensity and [...]
Posted by 1 October 31: We 1 yesterday, just a few hours ahead of a rainstorm in the Paso Robles area. We'd originally scheduled the pick for today, but once we saw the forecast change, we moved the pick up one day. I'm really glad we did! When we got back to the winery on Thursday, we decided to wait to process the fruit on Friday.
Editors note: Starting today, we will be highlighting an Iberian wine, or winery, every Friday. It may cover a single one, a project or a winery. We’ll try, in most cases, to choose wines that are widely distributed, but this will not always be possible. Hope you enjoy.
About a year and half ago, I stumbled across a wine website that had a link to an Iberian winery blog. Clicking the link, I was taken to a page with about three posts and no comments enabled. At the time, there were approximately three other winery blogs out there, and I was excited to see another pop up. However, this “blog” didn’t allow comments. Thus, in my world, it wasn’t a blog. Long story short, earlier this month, I made contact with Andrew McCarthy through a friend, and was able to help him with a little Blogspot coding to remedy this problem. Today Castro Martin sits at the 8th place in our sidebar list of Iberian winery blogs, and I’m glad to have them there. I have loved Castro Martin’s wines for quite some time, and today, both Gabriella and I would like to recommend their great Albarino’s from the popular region of Rias Baixas.
Seriously, these are some nice wines: full of body and pure fruit, they are both complex and easy to understand. The Castro Martin Albarino is straightforward pure flesh fruit with some zesty acidity. It is a 2006, and if you noticed, we’re almost to the end of 2008; meaning that for it to have this kind of zestiness is a credit to the winemaker or the grape. I’ve been lectured by winemakers who work with Albariño that contrary to popular thought, it should be aged. In fact, I have yet to do it, but I have a standing invitation with Lusco to taste through some older vintages just to illustrate this exact point. This wine is still alive, full of vivacity, and I trust will last for another year or two.
The second wine we’re suggesting is the A2O, a wine that unfortunately is spelled with a tilde (~) over the 2; thus making brand awareness an issue since no one I know can type it. But that’s beside the point. This wine is full of stuffing and ready to go for a 5 year stay in my cellar, if we can stop ourselves from drinking it all up. Rich and layered flavors supported on a framework of acidity that is strong and yet supple. I want more, and you should too. Check this wine out!!
This family owned winery itself has a history that stretches back well before DO of Rias Baixas existed, and their website claims that they were the first to use stainless steel tanks for their wines. And current winemaker, Angela Martin is responsible for the production of award winning wines, such as the Acio de Ouro (no info) in 2000, for best Albariño. There’s even rumor that in 2001, Andrew McCarthy attended a wine tasting that appeared to have lasted a bit longer than was to be expected, eventually ending in a marriage!
I don’t need to recap the entire history and wine making, because the site (despite its silly pop-up windows and some distracting flash) provides some good information for your to peruse on your own time. Here’s a direct link to avoid the pop-up window.
Complaints? Well I have to say, I hate fake cork. If your going to opt out of the real cork, then please move to screw caps. Fake cork is annoying, ugly and at times, harder to open than the real stuff. Please just get on with it and move to a screwcap if you don’t want the cork. Otherwise, the wines are great and well worth seeking out. Not to mention, please leave a comment on their newly “open to comments” blog, where you can see what is happening in Galicia, Spain.
The secret is out: there?s always something to celebrate in British Columbia, particularly in the regions famed for their wine and food: Vancouver, Whistler, the Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island. Eat, drink and be merry at ten of the most...
A nice polished style. Rounded tannins surround a juicy core of raspberry ganache, plum and cassis flavors that lead to a long, spice-filled finish. Drink now through 2023. 1,200 cases imported.
The font of the title is pleasantly wacky, and the title itself promises a dream-like escapade in which Feiring daydreams herself ?saving the world? and falling in love with a superhero winemaker. Not a bad concept. This is not a journalistic effort like other recently released wine books, To Cork or Not to Cork, The Billionaire?s Vinegar, First Big Crush, Wine and Philosophy. This is a personal essay on a personal point of view. The book is a small-format book?hardbound, 5 ½ ? by 8?, 158 pages exclusive of acknowledgments and index, and can easily be read in a few hours. In the introduction she says, ?I am hoping to intrigue those who want wines that truly have a story to tell. Once people experience these wines and winemakers, once they know that wine truly does have soul and character, it will be difficult for them to cozy up to wines made by the numbers and not from the heart.? I hope that this book fulfills her mission. Unfortunately . . .
At the recent Albany event at the Desmond, I had a chance to meet Chris Reno of Chateau Lafayette Reneau. I chatted with him for a while, and tasted some of the exciting new varietals. Always a personal favorite, I wanted to try their riesling.
The riesling did not disappoint. It had a wonderful nose and an excellent balance between fruit and acid. Still one of my favorite rieslings.
They also had an exquisite dry rieslign as well. Absolutely fabulous!
Dining in Thailand has been hit or miss for us. We are currently staying in a beach resort about 2 hours south of Bangkok, and it is not exactly cosmopolitan, despite this being the beach residence of the royal family (who probably don't get out to the local eateries much).
Before we left Bangkok we did have a fun meal at the impressive (and very expensive) Siam Paragon Mall. We ate at the Another Hound by Greyhound Cafe. The original Greyhound Cafe being at the Emporium Mall. It was a fun selection of updated versions of street food, with a passable wine list. Not cheap, but innovative and surprisingly good for a shopping mall.
Here in Hua Hin, the beach community that is our home for two more months, we have mostly visited local restaurants, which are a dime a dozen. Every few feet there is another establishment, ranging from a push cart to a 100 seat sit down restaurant. The quality of the food has nothing to do with how impressive the place looks, and we have found that even highly rated restaurants have constancy issues.
Thai food seems to be a fusion of neighboring India, China and Indonesian influences. At least as it is has been served to us, it seems to fail to live up to any of those origins. Some of the finest food I have ever had were in China, India and Indonesia, but don't judge those cuisines by their watered down American counterparts. To visit these lands is to be thrust into a culinary adventure.
France has long been my favorite destination for food, a bias no doubt propelled by the fact I have classic French chef training. On this year long trip I have made a point of cooking, no matter how meager our kitchen logistics may be, and my dinners almost always rival any restaurant's.
So it was with great expectation that we visited the Brasserie de Paris here in Hua Hin, Thailand. The modest restaurant is beach side with great views of the lighted fishing boats in the dark harbor. The food was good, and we enjoyed ourselves, but it was not our night for wine. The slim pickings on the wine list were pared down further by "finished" labels covering almost all of the red wine choices. Our first selection was greeted by a verbal "finished" and we had to settle for what would never have been my choice if only the list were fully available.
They had no Thai wines on their list, and after having tasted my first Thai offering, I am not altogether surprised.
Such is just one of the many problems with trying to run an upscale French restaurant at the beach, hours from the nearest city with its suppliers. For all of that we still managed to have a very nice savory style of Foie Gras (as opposed to the common practice of preparing it with a fruit sauce). Everything was perfectly nice, but the au gratin potatoes were especially memorable. Considering the challenges they faced, the Brasserie pulled of a feast that would be impossible for lesser restauranteurs.
We still have several months to explore, and even if we only eat out once a week or less, there is ample opportunity to find another gem, and when we do, you will read about it here.
During a two-day visit to the Mendocino coast we visited Café Beaujolais (Mendocino), Le Rendezvous (Ft. Bragg) and the Mosswood Cafe (Boonville). We particularly enjoyed Café Beaujolais.
Foodista , a new approach in online food blogging that launched a couple of days ago, brings a new approach to recipe sharing.
The brainchild of a Seattle couple, Foodista is similar to Wikipedia in that anyone can contribute a recipe, ? and anyone can edit one. On one hand, this means that adjustments can be made to imperfect submissions. But it also means that the potential exists that recipes could be altered to the point that they?re unrecognizable to the original author.
On conventional recipe blogs, readers have to scroll through submitted comments to glean tips from other cooks on how a dish might be improved. On Foodista, there are no comments, but there is a History tab so it?s possible to see what edits were made. I may submit a recipe just to see what happens to it....
I'm on the road for work, which means that I'm reading The Wall Street Journal. This paper is everywhere business travelers are: in lounges, planes, and hotels. I don't subscribe at home, but as it's Friday and the paper was outside my door, I turned to the "Tastings" column written by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher to read what two of my favorite wine critics had to say. (photo by filtran)
Essentially, they said that expensive wine was so five minutes ago. And then they made a surprising recommendation for this year's "holiday gift pick."
It's not expensive. It's not hard to get. But it will leave you wondering if America's expensive wine habits are on the brink of changing--for the better. What do I think? For my thoughts on their story, click over to Serious Grape, my weekly column on the excellent food site Serious Eats, and get all the details.
The Pisco Sour is one drink that comes and goes and almost has its day in the sun… Why do people like it so much? It’s the egg white, stupid. Some where back in the 80’s bartenders stopped using egg whites in their sours, but they had bigger problem with the pre-made bottles of sour [...]
[08/29/2006, 02:09]
Buenos Aires, wine and tango (1).
Almost a hundred of Argentine warehouses will expose your products in the biggest Fair of Wine of Latin America.
This event - Wines and Warehouses 2006 - removes to end for the sixth year in a row. It will be realized in the Fairground Land of La Rural, in Buenos Aires, between the 14th to September 16.
This meeting of the industry of the wine incites the interest not only of the consuming public, but specially of merchants and distributors, places and foreigners who have opportunity to analyze in an alone place the variety of Argentine wines, produced both by big companies and by the warehouses called "boutique".
In the last years the Argentina realized a deep review of your position on the international market of wines and, thanks to the joint effort of the local butlers, the positioning of the mark is fortifying country in the different markets. Provided that your wines expire with all the requirements of quality and being relied on, likewise, by two varietales celebrated, the malbec and the torrontés, the Argentina marks a difference and manages to differ from other countries producers.
Wines and Warehouses 2006 foresees the accomplishment of business Rounds, where the local producers will be able to make concrete economic agreements with buyers of the whole world.
Exhibitors' list:
Alta Vista - Bodegas La Riojana Coop.- Aristides - Lariviere Iturbe - Atilio Avena - Lavaque - Babco - Los Haroldos - Balbo Luigi Bosca - Barale Biurrun - Luis Segundo Correa - Bgas. Kaufman - Lurton - Bodega Altus - Morsella - Bodega NQN - Navarro Correas - Bodegas Borbore - Nesman - Bodegas La Guarda - Norton - Bodegas Lopez - Pcia. de San Juan - Bodegas Mayol - Porvenir de los Andes - Cavas de Santos - PR Argentina - Chacras del Sol - Putruele Hnos. - Chandon - R. J Viñedos - Clos de los Siete - Revista Club del Vino - Club del Vino - Dante Robino - Roca - Crotta - Ruca Malen - Del Fin del Mundo - Saenz Briones - Domingo Hnos - Sua - Don Cristobal - Telteca Winery - EAS - Tempus Alba - EAV - Terrazas de los Andes - El Rosal - Tittareli - Eral Bravo - Toso - Familia Nofal - Trapiche - Fantelli - Trivento - Fecovita - Valentin Bianchi - Finca el Retiro - Viña El Cerno - Finca Flichman - Viñas del Baron - Finca Las Moras - Viñas del Golf - Fincas Andinas - Vinecol - Flia. Schroeder - Wine 5 - Flia. Zuccardi - Xumek - Freixenet - Honda - Guime - YPF - Humberto Canale
Torbreck’s top shiraz – the Run Rig Shiraz, priced at well over $200 per bottle – is probably Australia ’s most hedonistic wine. It leaps out of the bottle like a rattlesnake, all fanfare and bite. It is, always, dangerously drinkable. It is thick with flavour and accented by sweetness, its spicy, gravelly, smoky complexity ramping its class through the roof. There’s always been a question mark though: this tastes so bloody good the day it is released – what happens if you stick it in the cellar? Is it Australia ’s best early-drinking wine, or will it develop and evolve if given time? A tasting in the Barossa Valley recently of every vintage yet made of Torbreck Run Rig Shiraz (including the just-released 2005) threw a crust of clear answers.
It didn?t take long for a tribute album to surface following the death of Pink Floyd mastermind Syd Barrett. The groovy part is Like Black Holes in the Sky: The Tribute to Syd Barrett avoids gimmickry with an all-underground roster of metal, prog and sludge bands.
Syd Barrett?s spacegrassy Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a building block for future stoner, doom and tech metal practitioners. As testimony to the Pink Floyd album?s pioneering spirit, Like Black Holes in the Sky: The Tribute to Syd Barrett hoists six Piper cuts in addition to seven of Barrett?s solo tunes, largely represented by The Madcap Laughs.
Instead of obvious candidates like Queens of the Stone Age on this thing, you get Jesu, Yakuza, Intronaut, Zodiak, Stinking Lizaveta, Unearthly Trance and Kylesa as well as the mighty Pentagram, all likely nominees to do Syd Barrett?s frequently off-kilter music justice.
Jarboe and Giant Squid capture the sheer lunacy of Barrett?s quizzical music on ?Late Night? and ?Octopus? respectively. Meanwhile, Voivod drummer Away leads his offshoot project Kosmos in a laser-dashed version of ?Vegetable Man,? one of the compilation?s coolest tracks.
Other highlights include Intronaut?s ?Arnold Layne? as well as the Piper songs like Yakuza?s ?Lucifer Sam,? Pentagram?s ?Flaming,? Kylesa?s ?Interstellar Overdrive? and Dredg?s faithfully trippy interpretation of ?Astronomy Domine,? a translucent gem that briefly made Voivod stars.
Appropriate Syd Barrett should be represented by fringe rock and metal bands whose mutual appreciation for where their sounds originate makes Like Black Holes in the Sky: The Tribute to Syd Barrett a rare tribute album with its heart in the right place.
What does it take to be a pioneer in the wine business? Vision, drive, a great love of wine, and of course, money. Dr. Piya Bhirombhakdi found himself in possession of all of these prerequisites and so in 1989 he fulfilled his dream and started PB Khao Yai Winery.
The Bhirombhakdi family are no strangers to the beverage industry. They founded Thailand's first brewery in 1933 and so it is only fitting that they should also lead the way in wine making. Today the PB Winery produces over one million bottles of wine annually from 130 acres of vineyards.
The ubiquitous Syrah and Chenin Blanc are well represented, but PB's Tempranillo which is not widely planted in Thailand, it is also amazingly good. This Spanish grape seems an obvious choice for the warm climate of these southern latitudes. I expect to see more of it from other producers in the future.
The large area of plantings allows PB to source grapes from a myriad number of micro-climates. This not only gives the fruit a variety of characteristics, it helps to mitigate the chance of disaster. Mildew may pop up in one side of the vineyard, but down the dell and around the corner chances are the vines are safe.
The banana trees that can be seen from the vineyards are the only indication you have that this is not your ordinary grape growing region. One of the first of the "New Latitude Wines" as they refer to themselves in Thailand, PB's vineyards are among the most mature and healthy of those we witnessed.
The entry level of wines go by the charming name of Sawasdee, which means "hello" in Thai. True to their name the wines are welcome and a good place to start. The Pirom line is in the middle, with PB Reserve taking the top position. Chenin Blanc can be found at all three levels, and Shiraz at the top and bottom, but Tempranillo is only used for the Pirom wines.
The winery and vineyards are open for tours and the Great Hornbill Grill is the on site restaurant. We had quite the feast when Piya himself hosted us, but any visitor will enjoy their selection of Thai and Western dishes. In the mood for something simple and familiar? A wood fired pizza and plenty of Singha beer on tap may be just the thing you are looking for.
400 people a day on the weekends come to marvel at this wine estate. Set among the jungle growth of this tropical locale, it is situated less than two hours outside of Bangkok. If you prefer to skip the crowds come out during the week and take in the sights and flavors of Thai wine country. To make tour arrangements or for more information, visit their web site at http://www.khaoyaiwinery.com.
Well I?m back, with many changes on the way?too many to report on here.The move was predictably stressful, complete with long waits at the police for foreign national registration, idiot bank employees who don?t do what you ask them to, negligent estate agents only interested in their miserable commission?and that?s if they?re still employed, considering the global financial meltdown that ensued, seemingly occurring right after I physically landed at Heathrow and cleared the baggage claim.Oh well, at least the internet service provider finally showed up and set me up, so on towards the more exciting, positive bits of news...I look forward to coming back more often to post, particularly on my own domain.Look for updates on that soon.
Onto the wine?one of the final remaining, seemingly recession-proof products around, particularly if you?re a wine producer from Argentina or South Africa, or perhaps a wine importer in China, but I?m getting ahead of myself again.
I find the UK wine marketplace, from the consumer?s perspective, incredibly fascinating in ways that would make importers and distributors from back in the US think twice and want to look hard and long on certain matters.After all, this is the market from which, time and again, I?ve seen trends emerge, subsequently reaching American stocklists, on average and depending on the specific trend, around 12-18 months later.Whether we?re talking organics, fair-trade wines, an upsurge in country/region-specific wines being consumed (Austria, Bierzo, NZ Pinot Noir, Chilean takes on Alsace, Argentine Tempranillo, and many more ), or even a specific craze for wines that single out a particular grape variety, it always seems like it all begins here first.A small clarification of course, we always need one of those?when I discuss market trends, the proportions I am are referring to could well be regarded as ?mainstream? or en-masse.Leaving aside the handful of enlightened, forward-looking importers, distributors, retailers and agents involved in the US wine trade, I?m thinking of trends that American consumers simply haven?t embraced in mainstream fashion.
What trends am I talking about, then, in terms of the ?here and now??The recently sudden and intense interest, expressed particularly by some of the largest retail entities in the US (Target, Walmart, etc?), in ?certified organic? and ?fair trade? wines, has been preceded by all sorts of retail outlets here in the UK by almost five or six years.In fact, the revered wine education cathedral of sorts, Vinopolis, recently hosted a consumer-oriented Fair Trade tasting featuring South African and South-American wines.In terms of the prevalence of ?Fair Trade certified? wines in the marketplace here, even large supermarket chains maintain extensive production relationships with wine producers in Argentina, Chile and South Africa that intend to compensate the grape farming coops that supply them fairly and ethically.The venerable Trainsfair USA, I believe, is just beginning to crank the gears that will soon establish an American Fair Trade certification scheme in the vein of its successful coffee program.One recently elaborated section of its website seems to be calling all potentially interested retailers, importers and distributors of Fair Trade certified wines, complete with legal advice and guidelines to becoming approved agents.
I don?t have much in the way of a formal set of closing thoughts on this, but a few questions come to mind in terms of this apparent phenomenon where certain trends poke their heads out in the UK first:
1) Could this simply be attributed to there being an altogether greater sense of open-mindedness here in the UK?I?ve seen many food products here, ingredients easily available at mainstream chain supermarkets for very reasonable prices?meats, spices and foods for which I used to have to trek all the way to a Whole Foods in the US, sometimes fifty miles each way, just to get in line and pay frighteningly exorbitant prices, given that my purchases didn?t consist of the bland crap available in most stores.
2) The second question revolves around economic irony:Why is it that the UK is at the forefront of wine consumer trends, as far as imports, when it is actually the US market which the latest reports point to as being the most profitable market to export to, on a per liter of wine basis?This should be taken into account in addition to the US being ranked the second largest export market (by volume).Would the people at the American Association of Wine Economists have a paper on this?
Whether I am here or there, from now on I will be posting recommendations and pieces such as this one on both the American and British wine market environments.More to follow in the near future?
My girlfriend discovered some wines in a family member's apartment. The condition of the wines...are questionable, I suspect most of them are vinegar, but thought I would run them by the fine people in this comm.
They are
1975 Champagne: Piper-Heildsieck
1979 Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe: Chateau L'Angelus
I wanted to let you all know that my Pinot Gris website (PinotGris.Biz) is up for sale. It is full of great, original wine content written by me. It also currently ranks highly with the major search engines:
#3 overall on Yahoo for Pinot Gris (search) #4 overall on MSN for Pinot Gris (search) Page Rank = 1 (Google)
I am asking $250 for the site, perhaps less to someone who just wanted the domain name. If I don't sell right away, I will continue to promote it.
Recently, at a dinner with friends, one man's date turned to me and complained, "He's so boring. All he ever talks about is wine. All day long he talks about wine." I probably looked hurt, because I was just as engrossed in our discussion of Syrah as he was. Lorraine leaned toward me and whispered, "She's right, you know. We're all hopeless wine geeks. Look at us from an outsider's point of view."
Love is in the air this month. For those of you looking for a way to dress up your Valentine?s Day, consider the object of your affection ?the one with the sparkling personality? as your inspiration.
Accordingly, pop open the sparkling wines and celebrate.
If Valentine?s Day is not your thing, there are plenty of other reasons to celebrate with bubbly this month, from Presidents? Day to any other day of the week, which ends in ?y.? Why? Because sparkling wines add a touch of festivity to any occasion and they taste too good to wait for a special event. And, even though you may not have a fondness for this Hallmark holiday, you always have your love of wines to keep you warm.
Sparkling wines, of which Champagne is most well-known, capitalize on harnessing the CO2 created d
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