I’ve decided to live blog tonight’s Twitter Taste Live using COVERITLIVE, a service I used for live blogging a tech event earlier this week. All the presenting bloggers Twitter accounts will be captured here along with others I will add during the tasting. You can also post comments right here in the view below. If this works, I’ll continue to cover these online tastings for those who can’t join us live.

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...

This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laski Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal.

This is one of the wines available in Belgrade restaurants in 0.2l bottles, so if you’re a driver among non-wine drinkers (meaning you can’t order a whole bottle of some fine wine) it’s a good chance you’ll be in a position to try it. Do so.

Rating: 6/10
Price: 250 RSD (3.5 euro)

Technorati Tags: Macedonia Wine, Wine, Tikves

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up on our sappy stories from the European Wine Blogger’s Conference that took place in La Rioja last weekend, allow me to catch you up. For three days, Robert McIntosh, Ryan and I gathered together several wine bloggers from around the world to meet and chat about…yup, wine blogging.

However, what you, nor anyone else, has known up until today was that we didn’t have a location set for the keynote tasting / dinner until a few weeks before the event - I kid you not. Don’t get me wrong, we were looking! But try as we might, from June to August, getting anything planned and confirmed in Spain is impossible. So with literally days remaining, we used one of Robert’s many Rioja connections - also known as the golden enchufe - to get us a reservation at La Chata.

Now mind you, none of us had ever been there, but the restaurant came on good authority as a wonderful place that would actually seat all 40 bloggers. But get this, they wouldn’t only make room our entire crew, but they even had a separate area where we could host our wine tasting consisting of cases upon cases of wine! This, my friends, was a miracle, and a reservation based on complete faith, because for all we knew, it could have been a mess!

So what made La Chata such an incredible find?

The Perfect Feeling

The historic restaurant is nestled inside the old part of Logrono on a tiny Gothic style street called, Calle Carnicería, just a stones throw away from the Plaza del Mercado and the Catedral de La Redonda. Stepping through the door, you enter a small room holding a set of wooden stairs, a long hallway to the right of the stairs that lead to a white tiled kitchen, and a narrow wooden bar that sits about 6ft in front of an enormous stone oven. Built in 1821, this monster of an oven has seen more carcasses than I hope any of us will have seen in a lifetime, and was the first of its kind in Spain. Two stone ovens were later constructed in the Plaza del Mercado in the early 19th century, primarily for bread, but La Chata had already gained a reputation for creating the first of its kind.

Walking up the stairs, you enter a long cozy room with wooden floors, thick wooden tables and chairs, and cozy atmosphere that feels more appropriate for a large Sunday brunch with a Riojan family than a restaurant filled with foreigners. But strangely enough, that is exactly how they try to make you feel, like part of the family.

La Chata is owned and managed by the Belber family, a patient and loving group of people who were eagerly willing to not only endure my 1001 questions on cooking a suckling pig, but also handling a loud and passionate group of international wine bloggers who were ridiculously excited to experience a traditional Rioja meal. With grace and professionalism, they handled the most inquisitive and cautious among us with a humor, entertainment and kindness. For me, it was a feeling of complete acceptance regardless of whether or not I enjoyed the food. As stated by the chef and owner’s wife, Estela, “How cool that you all came from around the world to appreciate our food and culture. I appreciate that!”. So do we Estela, so do we!

Fourths Anyone?

And as if the service and atmosphere wasn’t cozy and heart-warming enough, the food was quite good. Granted, the caveat being that the conversation and gales of laughter may have influenced my perception, making every dish seem incredible, but hey, take my impressions for what they’re worth. From what I remember, between Juan mistaking Ryan as my brother and Emidio training his child how to differentiate aromas from various wines, in the end, it all tasted good to me

Our meal began with four appetizers:

Ensalada Templada de Perdiz Escabechada con Endibias (Partridge Endive Salad)

Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (Traditional Cured Ham)

Espárragos Especiales de la Ribera (White Asparagus served with Sliced Tomatoes and Mayonnaise)

Revuelto de Boetus Edulis con su Cebolleta Fresca (Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Onion and Edulis Mushrooms)

Of these four, I’d like to call attention to the Revuelto de Boetus Edulis con su Pebolleta Fresca. Having only had Huevos Rotos (scrambled eggs with chorizo and a touch of vanilla) in Rioja, I was extrememly happy to have tried another version. The eggs held a perfect delicate, yet firm texture, while the mushrooms added that earthy flavor that paired beautifully with the 2007 Pazos de Lusco from Rias Baixas. I´m still dreaming about this dish today!

Once the plates were cleared, a large heaping pile of Cochinillo (suckling pig less than 6 months old) was placed on the table with a crisp skin to contrast its tender and juicy meat. This was paired with Escarola de la Tierra con su Aliño de Ajitos, a stiff and curly leafy green lettuce (similar to frise) in a light garlic dressing. The crisp green texture and spicy garlic flavor added that perfect touch to the slightly sweet meat.

In short, this restaurant is a must visit, a place I would highly suggest you go if you wish to experience a traditional Rioja meal in a cozy and quaint family run restaurant, where good service and a big smile are a normal part of the experience. Sigh, only a few months to go before we’re back again. I can’t wait!

Que Aproveche!

Gabriella Opaz

Restauranta Asador La Chata

Carnicerias, 3

26001 Logroño, Spain

+34 9941 251 296

lachata@teleline.es.

http://geo.ya.com/weblachata/bienve.htm

• Some of the Food Culture of La Rioja (warning may cause salivation)
• Dinner at Terete in Haro, La Rioja
• Aromas & Sabores in Campo de Ourique, Lisbon
• Tapas at El Xampanyet
• Wine Bloggers Dinner during Alimentaria in BCN, Hosted by Bodegas Tintoralba

Although I missed the boat on this one completely, the results are in for the latest Wine Blogging Wednesday over at CorkDork. This month’s objective was to try new red wines from New Zealand. 31 bloggers participated this time! Check it out!

Best of the wine blogosphere for October 3rd through October 17th:

• Boycott Beaujolais Nouveau
• The state of American wine
• What We Talk About, When We Talk About Food
• Cork USB Memory Stick
• Imagining a world after Parker
• Are Wine Magazines Shattering on the Vine?
• David Lett and an Eyrie Vineyards retrospective
• Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2008: 2nd Annual Contest at domaine547
• David Lett Dies
• Can We Talk?
• Tell Him What He Needs To Know!
• Baked Goods: Announcing Wine Blogging Wednesday 51(WineDude) Edition!
• Wine Blogging Wednesday #50: The Great Outdoors
• Souschef helps you keep your recipes organized
• Wine Blogging Wednesday #50: Wine and the Great Outdoors
• WBW#50: Into the Land of Rancho San Antonio and the Torremoyon
• Good Wine Under $20: Now Entering Its Third Year
• Wines at the Beach
• Dry Creek Vineyard Goes Accounable and Authentic
• Serious Grape: Back to the Barrels? An Old-Fashioned Proposal

Vern Fisher of the Monterey County Herald came by one day and photographed us as we processed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on the same day. Click here to see and hear the slideshow he put together. By the way— I’d have to get my arm twisted to do both whites and reds simultaneously here, because, well, you’ll see why…..but sometimes I’m reminded that Mother Nature is stronger than me, hee hee. Anyway, I’ve long admired Vern’s photographs in the paper, and I think he was able to capture what we do here on a very busy day.

The slideshow starts out at Chula Vina….the first photo is Henry Carrasco, owner of Chula Vina…the crew is shown harvesting the Chardonnay and Pinot that we subsequently are shown processing. Chula Vina is in Chualar Canyon, BTW, and it is one of my favorite beautiful places. Enjoy…

Every year Wine & Spirits magazine hosts a simply fabulous event at which regular old people (read: those not necessarily carrying the title of sommelier, wine director, wine writer or wine retailer) can taste the spoils of some of the best wines recognized that year by the magazine. It's called the Top 100 Tasting - named for the magazine's list of fav wines ranked all year - and this year the banner event looks to be as fabulous as usual. Even better, it's right around the corner:

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I've always privately believed that if everyone just drank a bit more wine, the world would be a better place. Who knows if that's really true, but apparently it's quite likely that if everyone drank more wine, the world would be more democratic.

According to analysis by Jon Bonné, Wine Editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, Obama was elected by The Wine Vote.

What's that, you ask? Wine drinking liberal elitists? Guilty as charged. But get this little statistic:

Amount of wine produced in states that McCain won: 4.3 Million Gallons Amount of wine produced in states that Obama won: 773 Million Gallons Percentage of wine produced in America that comes from states that Obama carried: 98.6

Harper's Index eat your heart out. The whole thing makes me giggle. And while Obama is a big beer lover, it's clear that the White House wine cellar will get a lot more attention starting in January than it has for the last eight years.

Check out Jon's blog post.

Apparently I don’t get out much.  Until recently, I didn’t know that some restaurants charge as much as $250 per bottle for their corkage fee.  Excuse me, but that is insane.  As Lettie Teague in Food and Wine magazine asked recently, “What could you get for $250 that you couldn’t for, say, $25?”

The average cost of corkage around the country is about $25, which is infinitely more reasonable, but even those establishments that have reasonable corkage fees, they, perhaps surprisingly, come with their own set of rules.  One of the more popular restaurants in San Francisco, Michael Mina, for example, has a two-bottle limit with their $35 per bottle fee, and the bottles that you bring can’t be something that they have on the house list.  That certainly makes sense, and if you’re planning on bringing your own bottle of wine to your next dinner reservation, it’s a good idea to call ahead to inquire as to the restaurant’s fee and their own individual rules.  You know, “know before you go,” and all that.

In her recent Corkage article, Lettie shared seven cheap corkage spots for your drinking pleasure:

Where to Go

Metro Marche, New York City ($10).  This bus-station brasserie has good food and cheap corkage.  625 Eighth Avenue, 212-239-1010

Sip Sak, New York City ($13).  Great Turkish food and a low corkage fee.  928 Second Avenue, 212-583-1900

Dehlia Lounge, Seattle ($15).  Corkage here is just $15, as it is at all of Tom Douglas’s restaurants.  2001 Fourth Avenue, 206-682-4142

Market, St. Helena, California ($15).  Corkage is free on Tuesday nights at this friendly diner.  1347 Main Street, 707-963-3799

Charlie Palmer Steak, Washington, DC ($25).  If you bring an American wine, the corkage is free; otherwise, it’s $25.  101 Constiutution Avenue NW, 202-547-8100

Naha, Chicago ($25).  There are lots of great corkage spots in Chicago, but this restaurant also has terrific food.  500 North Clark Street, 312-321-6242

Michael Mina, San Francisco ($35).  This top restaurant has a great wine list and a fair corkage fee as well.  335 Powell Street, 415-397-9222.

Photo from Morgue File.

If you've read many wine labels, especially those of wines that cost more than $25, you've almost certainly seen on that contains the phrase "fermented with wild yeasts" or "native yeast fermentation." This indication that the winemaker has not used a so-called "commercial" yeast is often a telltale clue as to the overall philosophy of the winemaker. Making wine without commercial yeasts can be more difficult, more unpredictable, and more risky than some are willing to accept. Those who do eschew commercial yeasts often do so because they are committed to making what they believe is a more natural wine, both for its lack of "intervention" by the winemaker, as well as because the yeasts that do end up driving the fermentation are believed to be from the vineyard and part of its ecology.

Without a doubt, making wine without commercial yeasts represents a more traditional method of making wine, but apparently the more we learn about yeasts and winemaking the less it seems that there actually is any such thing as a wild yeast fermentation.

A recent thread on the Mark Squires bulletin board addressed this very topic, and I highly encourage anyone who is interested in the subject to check it out. The discussion ranges across a number of different issues regarding yeasts, often getting quite technical, but the gist of it can be boiled down to a simple set of arguments.

First, it is clear that there are yeasts on the skins of the grapes out in the vineyards, and that when no commercial yeasts are added (and sometimes even when they are) some these yeasts can also be found working away in fermenting grapes in the winery.

However, it is also true that most of the time the yeasts that do the most work in fermenting the grapes in the winery are very different yeasts than are found in the vineyard. Which begs the question where, exactly, did they come from?

The answer, according to a lot of winemakers and researchers, is from within the winery itself. No matter how well a winery is sanitized, it tends to harbor all sorts of biological elements, including complex "cultures" of yeast that breed, mutate, and even evolve in the little ecosystem that is the winery.

If the winery ever has used commercial yeasts, this local culture will most certainly include some of these commercial yeasts. And if it hasn't it will likely include yeasts that were brought into the facility on humans, pets, equipment, insects, and more.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that the decision to not use commercial yeasts to ferment the wine doesn't really mean that what you're getting instead is some natural cocktail of yeasts that are specific to a vineyard. A native fermentation it may be, but the yeasts that are chowing down on the grapes are much more likely to be native to the winery building than they are the vineyard, and in many cases they may include commercial yeasts as well.

I'm certainly guilty of romanticizing native yeast fermentations as a writer. Along with the decision not to fine or filter the wine, this decision generally says something to me about the quality of the wine. The fact that winemaking yeasts aren't entirely wild doesn't necessarily undermine that meaning, but it certainly does call into question just how much justification there might be for prejudice against commercial yeasts as somehow "unnatural." Biodynamic winemaking, for instance, clearly proscribes use of commercial yeasts as yet another unnatural intervention in winemaking.

The process by which grapes ferment involves sometimes 80 or more different kinds of yeasts, the actions of which are affected by pH, temperature, sugar levels, and thousands of compounds in the grapes, not to mention anything we humans might do. We're still trying to figure out just exactly how it all comes together.

As intrigued and excited as I am about the degree to which science is gradually deepening its understanding of what wine is and how it comes to be, I also love the fact that it's so complex that we've still got a long way to go.

Mystery is a good thing. It means we need to keep drinking.

Read the yeast discussion on the Mark Squires board.

Thanks to Jack at Fork & Bottle for pointing me to the discussion.

With English wines now winning awards over and above some of their more established competitors and many international wine companies buying up acres of southern England now’s a very good time to find out what you might have been missing. 

If you feel a bit in the dark about what English wines have to offer English Wine Week from Saturday 26th May to Sunday 3rd June provides the perfect opportunity to find out more.  With events taking place throughout the country at vineyards, restaurants and local fairs there’s sure to be something in your area that will give you the opportunity to taste a drop or two or learn more about this emerging industry.

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