Two Dogs, a Flamingo and a Bottle of Wine

Oban Distillers Edition 1995

2012-02-14T15:20:00.001-05:00

This is my third vintage of of this particular west Highland single malt whisky and they keep getting better. Rich and fragrant nose of grain and citrus fruit, primarily oranges. Oak and saltiness also seem to come through the nose, not surprising since it was aged on both American white oak and a used Sherry barrel. Medium body with a wonderful oily feel in the mouth and all kinds of bitter oranges chiming in for highlights. Warm, sweet finish that reminds me of a very unsweetened Drambuie.

A splash of cool water to dilute it opened up some subtlety and smoke to go with the orange flavors. Wonderful dram for a cold night.

42% alcohol (86 proof) and $80.

Manzanilla

2012-02-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

Lustau, Solera Reserve, Light Manzanilla, Papirusa.

Floral and nutty with the aroma of lightly toasted almonds. Salt spray taste with almonds and green olives. Light, refreshing, squeaky clean and acidic on the tongue. Sharp and salty on the sides of the mouth. Toasted almonds, green olives, cheese and roasted peppers to help it along. Slightly chilled. Great aperitif.

15% alcohol and $18.

Snow Falling on Thyme

2012-02-10T16:33:00.000-05:00

The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey

2012-02-07T16:35:00.001-05:00

It's always fun when a group is together and there is a wine on the table that no one in the crowd has ever tasted. That was the case Sunday at the Super Bowl party with a bottle of 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, Colorado. The wine that was a gift to me from a friend who previously lived in that area. My only other experience with a Colorado wine was a Cabernet from a winery in Larkspur, Colorado in the early 1990's. That winery is apparently no longer in business.

I opened the bottle to go with the Sicilian loaf pictured in the post just below this one.

The color of the wine was purplish red, but it wasn't a dense color. There was some dark fruit on the nose, a touch of vanilla and cinnamon and a definite blast of mint. The taste was much more full than the color indicated with fresh, dark and bright red cherries. There was a hint of raspberry, some light vegetable tastes and the mint. The acid was very good on this wine and there was just enough tannin to make the wine interesting. The vegetable taste I found pleasant and added a different dimension to the wine.

All together the wine fell on the lighter end most Cabernets, but that is also an end that deserves more attention and respect. Everyone liked the wine and it was the first bottle to be completely gone, and perhaps that is the best indicator. I think it would make a perfect summer Cabernet.

I would like to see how bottles from this winery change and evolve as their vineyard ages.

Good stuff. 14.9% alcohol and $22.

Sicilian Loaf

2012-02-06T11:36:00.001-05:00

I attended a seafood oriented Super Bowl Party yesterday so I took something that was not seafood related at all.

This Sicilian Loaf is a mixture of ground chuck, ground sirloin, ground veal, garlic, eggs, parsley, Italian spices and bread crumbs. The mixture is thoroughly mixed and then patted into a large, flat rectangle on a piece of parchment paper. The meat is then layered with Prosciutto ham, provolone cheese and sprinkled with bits of sun dried tomatoes. It is then rolled into a jelly roll and baked.

Just before the last ten minutes the top is lined with more provolone slices. After the mixture cools it is wrapped in aluminum foil and refrigerated over night.

I sliced the mixture and made a spicy mustard of mustard powder, mustard seeds, honey, vinegar, tarragon, horseradish and dried, fiery peppers all pureed together. The mustard went into a hollowed out yellow pepper and the meat went onto a large platter lined with parsley and cilantro and I scattered some grape tomatoes around for color.

Despite the seafood theme there was enough red wine to go with this dish. More on the wine in the days ahead.

Silene 2009

2012-02-03T09:43:00.000-05:00

One type of wine that I drink less of than I would like to is Syrah from the northern Rhone. The better examples have become quite expensive and very few seem to show up on the shelves of stores in this area. I have a few older ones resting in the cellar, but it has been awhile since I tasted a young vintage. That changed earlier this week with a 2009 Crozes-Hermitage Silene from J L Chave'.

Medium to dark purple color in the glass and a distinct nose of dark, red fruit, dry earth, fresh meat and squeaky clean leather left no doubt about the origin on this wine. Only a northern Rhone syrah smells like this. The taste was bright and tart and full of dark berries, spice, a touch of vanilla and a hint of cinnamon. There was also a bit of an under ripe taste to this wine, a taste I very much appreciated. This wine is dialed back from the ultra ripe fruit bombs that seem to be so in style. It was refreshing and that that leanness made it perfect with a small rack of lamb and some pasta.

After cleaning up the table and dishes I went back for another small glass and the exposure to the air did even more for this wine. It really bloomed in the glass and smelling it was almost as much pleasure as drinking it. There is enough acid and tannin to give it a few more years, but it so good it is certainly not a crime to drink it now. Not cheap, but not a budget buster by any means. Excellent value.

$30 and 13% alcohol.

River Village Cellars

2012-01-31T15:09:00.001-05:00

The 2009 vintage in this area, southwest Ohio, was miserable from a weather standpoint. It was wet and cold and basically a washout. Still there were grapes and if there are grapes there must be wine. There was.

There was a pan roasted rib eye steak the other night so I grabbed a 2009 River Village Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the second label for one of my favorite wineries, Kinkead Ridge. The year's entire production of red wines was moved off the primary label and bottled under this second label and sold at a more than reasonable price.

Nice cherry flavors with some earth notes underneath it, and surprisingly it was dry earth and not the wet mud that dominated much of the harvest. There was a small suggestion of darker fruit, but this primarily stayed on the red end of things. Unmistakably Cabernet, but definitely on the light side.

Good wine with the steak, and there was no sauce or heavy seasoning on the meat, just a simple steak and a simple wine to go with it. Nothing wrong with that, and at the price a good buy.

13.1% alcohol and $11.

Salad Days

2012-01-30T10:52:00.000-05:00

No wine here. A more austere week for eating following a couple of large meals last week. Golden beets, roasted and peeled with grapefruit sections, goat cheese and croutons dressed with a vinaigrette made with grapefruit juice, Dijon mustard and olive oil.

Liquid Dessert

2012-01-29T08:21:00.000-05:00

Burns Night was a chance to do something that I don't usually do, open a dessert wine. In this case it was a 2007 Ferrari Carano Eldorado Gold from California's Sonoma Valley. The wine was a botrytised blend of 91% Semillon and 9% Sauvignon Blanc. This was a wine that I picked up at the winery during a visit in 2009.

The wine had a deep golden color, as pictured at the left, and a wonderful nose of perfectly ripe apricots, golden figs and golden raisins. Thick and sticky on the tongue the apricots were joined by some honey, the before mentioned figs, a touch of herbs and just a suggestion of pineapple. Nicely balanced wine that really lingered on the tongue. It was quite sweet but there was still enough acid to keep it from being syrupy.

Dessert was a mixed bag. There was a shortbread cookie topped with a coconut caramel sauce, a slice of freshly baked gingerbread and a small scoop of caramel and sea salt gelato. Hard to argue with any of them, but together they made a nice test for the wine. It went best with the coconut caramel shortbread.

13% alcohol and $40.

Burns Night Riesling

2012-01-28T06:38:00.000-05:00

There was a salmon course during the Burns night dinner that begins with the post below this one. Few things are as Scottish as salmon but this one had an unusual twist in that it was full of southeast Asian spices.

The wine was a fully mature 2005 Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Kabinett from Germany's Rheingau region, a wine I have had on several occasions.

The wine has evolved into a beautiful light gold color and after an initial burst of kerosene it smelled of peaches, pears, apples and citrus. Sweet on the front of the tongue the wine added some lychee to the flavor profile of the other fruits. The finish was sweet, but tart, and left a wonderful mineral taste on the back of the tongue.

The coho salmon was roughly chopped and combined with some lemon juice, chopped red and yellow sweet peppers, chopped red onion, soy sauce, black pepper, cayenne, Sambol Oleck, brown sugar, cilantro and just enough fresh bread crumbs to hold the mixture together in small cakes. Just prior to hitting a medium hot skillet the cakes were coated with panko bread crumbs. They were sauteed on each side just until the crusts were crisp and the salmon was lightly cooked. The sauce was a puree' of mayonnaise, lime juice, grated fresh ginger and pickled ginger. A small slice of the pickled ginger garnished the top of each cake.

There was some heat in the salmon and that matched well with the residual sugar in the wine while the acidity in the wine paired with the richness of the salmon. The ginger flavors were an added bonus as they seemed born to be with this wine. Great recipe and a great match with a wonderful wine.

8.5% alcohol and $22.

Burns Night Treat

2012-01-26T12:33:00.000-05:00

There was a lengthy, multi-course meal last night to celebrate Robert Burns' Birthday, and I'll have the details in several installments over the next couple of days starting at the very top of the ladder with a 2002 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

We pulled the cork about an hour before dinner and splashed out enough wine to give it some breathing room. Beautiful color in the glass and a nose of blackberries, dark cherries, cinnamon, cardamon, vanilla and a bit of earth. We put the wine aside without tasting it and returned to it later when the third course of the meal hit the table.

The Corison was paired with a filet mignon of beef, seared and then pan roasted. While the filet rested we made a pan sauce of a splash of the wine, beef stock, blackberry jam, blackberry vinegar, Dijon mustard and fresh blackberries. The sauce was finished with a few swirls of butter. The side dish was a rendition of neeps and tatties, or potatoes and turnips. The vegetables were cooked separately, riced, combined with some chopped spring onions, milk and butter and then roasted in a loaf pan while the beef cooked.

The nose on the wine had virtually blossomed by this time and the blackberries and cherries were joined by some currants. They were definitely singing some harmony. The dark cherry flavors dominated on the palate but had some strong support in the mixture of baking spices that were in the original nose. There was an earthiness to the wine that appealed to me. The tannins here were smooth and integrated and almost Burgundian in their mouth feel. This wine was not in your face or over the top in any way. It was refined, graceful, mellow and classy. There was no pretension in the glass and the wine made no attempt to be more than it was. It was elegant.

The cherry and blackberry flavors married perfectly with beef and the sauce while the neeps and tatties brought out the earthiness and perhaps a bit of mint in the wine. It would be hard to imagine a better pairing. Wonderful wine and there is a glass remaining for this evening.

13.6% alcohol and $70

2008 Simmonet-Febvre Chablis

2012-01-23T14:52:00.000-05:00

We opened this for a late Friday night dinner with some friends. Dinner was a chicken roasted in a closed pot. The wine was opened before dinner with some olive tapenade and a couple of mild cheeses and some toasted bread slices. The wine was a 2008 Simmonet-Febvre Chablis Millesime.

The color of this wine was darker than I remember from a previous bottle. The wine smelled wonderfully tart with sweet citrus and a bit of toasted nuts. The hard edge of youth was gone here and the wine has matured into something different. The angles were more smooth and the flavors were softer with sweet apples, pears and the hint of hazelnuts. Long finish to the wine and a pleasant blast of acid to clear the palate at the very end.

This wine has fully matured and has acquired a bit of elegance. There are two more bottles in the cellar and they won't stay there long. For a simple, inexpensive Chablis this is hard to beat. Very pleasant wine.

13% alcohol and $12.99

Condrieu

2012-01-21T12:18:00.000-05:00

It had been awhile since I opened a Condrieu and after consuming this one I should probably drink more. The wine was a 2006 Georges Vernay Les Terrasses de l'Empire. Medium yellow in the glass, the nose was incredible ripe with peaches, nectarines, apricots and toasted nuts. This was a very viscous wine and clung to the side of the glasses. Wonderful flavors of the above fruits with a touch of pineapple coming along for the ride. Full bodied and a wine that cried out for some food. There was a small pork roast and it matched up well with that, but the side dish was amazing. Sliced carrots and parsnips were sauteed with some shallots, butter, tarragon and a pinch of sugar and pan roasted until they began to caramelize and develop a slight char. Great combination of flavors withe wine. The parsnips were rich and warming and the wine had great acid to balance that. The shallots had their usual pungency and the viscosity in the wine paired with that.

We sipped this over the course of the evening and it showed no signs of fading, but it definitely was most brilliant with the vegetables. There's now a post-it-note on my last bottle of this wine to repeat the vegetable dish when I open the bottle.

14% alcohol and $52

Dr. Jeckyl and His Friend

2012-01-18T15:02:00.000-05:00

At times wines can have two personalities and the 2009 Michel Schlumberger Dry Creek Valley Maison Rouge house red certainly did over the last two days.

On day #1 there was fresh three cheese ravioli and a home made tomato sauce, full of garlic, tomatoes, shallots, anchovies, tomato paste, red wine etc. The Maison Rouge was really pleasing with this. Fruity and not a lot of tannins on the front end, it was full flavored and matched well with the hearty food. I previously had a bottle of this wine and thought it merely OK, but this one was definitely good.

On day #2 dinner was left over roast chicken from the Burgundy meal one post below this one. Talk about a mismatch - those two fought each other like bitter enemies. The wine tasted over extracted, sweet and hot. It had no finesse or joy to it at all. It left a nice warm feeling in the mouth and at 14.9% alcohol that wasn't surprising.

I saved one small glass and later that evening I lightly toasted a slice of baguette and tried the wine for a third time. It was certainly better than it was with the chicken, but it still tasted sweet and hot. The obvious answer here is to open this wine only if you have a good pasta with tomato sauce to go with it.

14.9% alcohol and $20.

Small Celebration

2012-01-16T12:18:00.000-05:00

A little bit of good fortune came calling at the door recently, and thankfully we were home when it knocked. Good fortune calls for a celebration so out came a Bouchard, Pere & Fils Chambolle-Musigny from the 2005 vintage.

Dinner was a roast chicken, but we elevated it somewhat by slicing a black truffle and inserting the slices between the chicken skin and the meat. The bird roasted in a medium oven until the last few minutes when we turned the oven up to crisp the skin.

I opened the wine while the chicken was roasting to let it breathe. Medium brick color in the glass, dark but not opaque. Heady aromas of clean earth and cherries poured out of the glass. Nice to just sit and sniff this wine. Medium body with great fruit flavors of those cherries with suggestions of spice and earth. Mouth filling with flavors and true Burgundian silk. The tannins were soft and sweet and there was more than enough acid to balance the wine. When this wine was first released I tasted it and wrote that it was a very big wine with an in your face attitude. The wine has since mellowed into something much better. It's not the biggest dog in the litter, but it certainly has all the other qualities it needs. Wonderful sweet finish that just slowly faded and made one eager for another sip.

With the chicken and truffles the wine really bloomed. The earthy aspect of both the wine and truffles hung out together while the fruit played a piano solo for them, most definitely Dave Brubeck playing September Song. Very, very good wine and meal.

13% alcohol and $55

Mumm Napa Brut Prestige

2012-01-15T09:54:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we drank a Mumm Napa Rose sparkling wine, and it was a little too sweet and fruity for my tastes. This time the sparkler of choice was the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige from Napa Valley.

Good bubbles in the glass and a fruity nose of ripe apples and peaches. Full flavored and very fruity taste, though nowhere near as fruity as the rose'. The acid was good, but I prefer more. The finish was tart but the very end left a residual sweetness.

We drank this with a smoked trout and creme fresh dip served with toast points and apple slices. The wine improved greatly with the trout as the smokiness in the trout seemed to tame some of the sweetness in the wine. Good match and everyone liked the two together.

Bottom line - this was a bargain at $16 but at it's usual $24 I wouldn't buy another.

12.5% alcohol and $16

Asian Inspired Chicken

2012-01-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

It's not often I see a recipe and have nearly everything on hand to make it, but this happened the other day with an Asian inspired chicken roasted in a pot. The only ingredient I was missing was a daikon, and that was quickly remedied.

In short - the daikon was chopped and added to some peanut and sesame oil in a pot along with chopped garlic, the white part of scallions, some sliced shiitake mushrooms and some slices of fresh ginger. That cooked for about seven minutes and was then removed from the pot. I added a little more oil and then browned a whole chicken on all sides. When that was complete the veggies went back in along with a small amount of chicken stock, a little soy sauce, some Shaoxing wine and three, whole star anise. I covered the pot and it went in a low oven for an hour. There were some new smells that filled the house and both Gordons kept poking their head in the kitchen and sniffing.

I carved the chicken into serving pieces, added a tower of brown Basmati rice and some of the pot vegetables to the plate. The broth was a little flat so I added a couple of tablespoons of rice vinegar and the scallion tops.

The wine was a 2009 Leitz Eins Zwei Dry #3, Riesling Trocken. Dry nose of flowers and a touch of citrus. Tart and fresh with some apple tastes joining the citrus. Good acid and a sharp fresh taste in the mouth. Very low sweetness on the finish with a chilled, crisp apple filling in for any residual
sugar.

This was a good flavor match with the chicken. There was no spicy heat involved here so the dryness of the wine was refreshing and a nice compliment to the ginger flavors and the aroma of the star anise. The acidity cut through the richness in the chicken.

12% alcohol and $15

January Morning

2012-01-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

Skys streak to yellow
The stars and firelight slowly die.
Weariness from laughter
The music's flashing, soaring ride
That swept us to a wondrous world
And it left us gazing at a new--January morning.

Ian Tyson

Double Black

2012-01-08T08:09:00.001-05:00

Most of my consumption of Scottish whisky is confined to the single malt variety, and most of those are single malts from Islay. However, just as much as I like varietal wines, I also like blended wines that make for a unique experience.

With that in mind I purchased a bottle of Johnny Walker's newest entry in the U.S. market, Double Black. According to the Johnny Walker website this is a limited release for the market. They took the regular blend for Black Label and added more island whisky and aged the blend in a more thoroughly charred oak barrel.

The result is very good. There's a wonderful nose that suggest the peat and coastal aromas from Islay, but the front end of the taste is still a little reserved -- good suggestions of dried fruit and honey with just a bit of peat. The finish is where the difference lies. that is where the smoke from peat fires and the taste of oak from a charred barrel come to play. They are there in full force and reminded me of sipping a whisky by a charcoal grill or a campfire. Long finish that leaves the suggestion of smoke lingering in the mouth.

I sometimes drink blended whisky with ice, which is the way most Americans do it, but my single malts I usually drink neat with just a splash of water. Having tried the Double Black both ways I found a compromise that suited me best - more than a wee dram in a glass with one, small ice cube. With a little bit of swirling one gets just enough dilution to open up the whisky while cooling it to a little below room temperature. Very good stuff.

40% alcohol (80 proof) and a list price of $40, but on sale for $33.

After Dinner

2012-01-06T11:23:00.000-05:00

Prior to the other evening I really don't remember the last time I drank a glass of Cream Sherry. If I had to guess my estimate would likely be in decades rather than years. The main reason that this changed was due to the 375ml bottles of a range of Sherries that are currently available in the local market from Lustau and a few other producers.

I purchased five different bottles in the Solera Reserva range from Lustau and the Capataz Andres DeLuxe Cream was one of them. Needing something to finish the evening about an hour after a meal I opened this bottle and was delighted with the contents. The wine was beautiful deep, reddish brown, perhaps mahogany, in the glass and the aromas were dried fruit, a very sweet prune and some toasted nuts. I could particularly pick out some aromas that I've found in a couple of Oloroso wines that I've had lately. The Perdo Ximenez added more complexity. The prunes were front in center in the taste, but there were other dried fruits, some smoke and a faint suggestion of Nutella - hazelnuts and chocolate.

The wine was deep but not overtly sweet, it just sat on a line that was perfectly balanced, There were a few crackers and a small bit of Roaring 40's cheese from Australia that matched up well with this wine. Good stuff and not my last bottle.

$9 and 20% alcohol.

Tradition

2012-01-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

Though my ancestry is primarily Scottish and English there was German that sneaked onto the family tree in the late 1800's. Their major contribution seems to have been to give me a love for beer and sauerkraut. The New Year's Day meal is pictured above.

I started by browning pork shanks in some oil, then removing them from the pot and adding onions, thyme and crushed juniper berries. In went some chopped apples and then the pot was filled with fresh sauerkraut, a few bay leaves, the browned pork shanks and half a bottle of Riesling. That slowly simmered away, covered, in the oven for two hours. I removed it from the oven, adjusted some seasonings and added two racks of baby back pork ribs and it went back in the oven for another hour. The entire house smelled wonderful.

There were cornmeal muffins to go along with the main dish and those were used to soak up some of the juices covering the plate.

The wine was a 2005 vintage Weingut Leitz, Rudesheimer Klosterlay Kabinett Riesling from the Rheingau region of Germany. The bloom of youth was gone and the wine had a wonderful whiff of kerosene and then fragrances of ripe apples, pear skin and some lemon zest. Perfect balance between sweetness and acidity and a great flavor of apples, a touch of pineapple and some apricot.

Great wine with the sauerkraut as the sweetness played with the acidity of the fermented cabbage. The acidity in the wine also picked up on the lusciousness of the pork, especially the juicy shanks.

The year is off to a good start.

8% alcohol and around $20. Two more in the cellar.

California Meal

2012-01-02T11:10:00.001-05:00

Made an overnight trip last week and coming home I realized it was getting late and there was nothing for dinner. I stopped at a local market that was four blocks off the interstate and since it was still the holiday season they had live Dungeness crabs in a tank. I adopted one for a brief period of time.

After settling back in the house I threw a bottle of Mumm Napa Rose sparkling wine in the fridge and threw a potato in the small oven to bake. I also had enough lettuce for a small salad. The dogs weren't quite sure what to make of live food in the house and the crab was certainly a lively one even though the claws were restrained in rubber bands. When the potato was nearly done we put the beast in a bamboo steamer and waited for twelve minutes.

The wine was a neon pink color in the glass and the bubbles were going full bore. Lots of strawberry and cherry aromas with a touch of yeast to add some complexity to the nose. Sweet, fruity taste of ripe strawberries and raspberries, with good acid and a nice mouth feel. Sadly this wine seemed less focused than some of the previous California bubblies I've drunk lately. I felt the wine was just a touch sweet for a "brut."

When the crab was ready, we cut open the potato only to find the inside nearly rotten and still hard. It went into the garbage so we ate crab and salad for dinner. The crab was sweet and earthy at the same time. It was dipped in some melted butter with Meyer lemon juice added. The wine certainly cleaned the palate with it's acidity after a bite of crab, but the sweetness was still there. Not the best match in the world, and since there is a bottle of Mumm Napa regular brut in the cellar I decided it was the wrong decision to go pink with the crab.

Good wine, and if one likes a less dry sparkling wine it would be much more appreciated. 12.5% alcohol and $16.

New Year's Day

2012-01-01T11:38:00.001-05:00

The wine was a Gloria Ferrer 2006 Blanc de Blanc from the Sonoma section of Carneros in northern California. Beautiful color, a good number of bubbles, a nose that was crisp with apple, mellow with a little melon and warm with some yeast. Flavors in excellent balance with apples and pears playing a leading roll. Oysters on the half shell, freshly opened with salt spray and seaweed and adorned only with a light grind of pepper and single drop of lemon juice. Nice way to end the year.

Something I never thought I would see.....today marks thee start of the fifth year for this blog.

Housekeeping stuff:

I don't rate wines, but I certainly love to drink them. I love the way food and wine often compliment each other - and I find the times they don't to be almost as interesting. This blog was a solution to answering friends' e-mails and phone calls in regard to "what are you drinking and cooking." It seemed like the best way to answer those questions. It's still fun so it isn't going away any time soon.

There really are two dogs, Scott and Doer, both Gordon Setters and they love the unusual things that often show up mixed in with their dog kibble. On the right occasion a flamingo also might appear because thanks to the same friends mentioned above there is a sizable collection of "flamingo-ana" that has found its way to my doorstep over the years.

12.5% alcohol and $16 - a fantastic bargain.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T09:05:00.001-05:00

Christmas Wines

2011-12-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

It pays to have good friends at Christmas as witnessed by the two wines that went down very easily with a second prime rib of beef dinner of the holidays. There were a few preliminaries but the highlight of the day was definitely the 2003 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars SLV Cabernet Sauvignon and the 1996 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, both from Napa Valley. The Mondavi was a medium color and was turning to brick on the edges as it has begun to show its age. Still full of fruit and spices, but the fruit had mellowed into a nice melange of cherry, cassis, cinnamon, vanilla and graphite. Good acidity and enough tannin to carry everything the wine was offering.

The Stag's Leap wine was much younger and a much darker color. The nose was less evolved but still full of dark cherries, a few blueberries, a tiny bit of vegetable that I found appealing and clean whiff of dry earth. Full flavored with the cherries dominating. There was a richer mouth feel to this wine, and the richer feeling stood up a little better to the beef than the Mondavi. Good acid and a nice level of tannin at the finish made this wine a winner.

Very difficult to choose a favorite here as both wines offered their best efforts and were quite enjoyable. I loved them both.

Prices unknown but the Mondavi was 13.3% alcohol and the Stag's Leap was 14%.

Kilchoman

2011-12-28T07:35:00.000-05:00

Second to wine my drink of choice is single malt Scottish whisky, and I was into this even before falling in love with wine. I am particularly fond of the whisky from the Isle of Islay. A few weeks ago the New York Times was kind enough to taste twenty of these whiskys and publish their top ten choices. Sitting at #6 on their list was a new whisky to me, Kilchoman. After a short search I located a bottle and picked it up a week or so before Christmas.

Kilchoman is the newest distillery on the island by 124 years according to their website which you can find here. It is a small, farm distillery which does the entire process from growing the grain to aging the whisky on site. They began distilling in 2005 and began releasing whisky in 2010. There are several whiskys listed on their website and the one I was able to find was the 2010 Winter Release.

One whiff of the whisky and it is obvious it is unmistakably an Islay. The distinct peat and iodine aromas are there. The smokiness is there also, though it is not as prominent as in a few of its longer established neighbors. The taste is full of sweet grain, hints of orange and other citrus, and smoke. There is a luxurious mouth feel to the whisky, but it is most definitely lighter than it's bigger neighbors. The iodine and the peat sneak in on the finish. All together this is good stuff and my search for a bottle was worth the effort.

46% alcohol (92 proof) and $60.

An Alexander Pope Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T10:26:00.000-05:00

A friend phoned two days before Christmas to ask a favor. He lives on a large farm in the area and several folks were coming on Christmas Eve for a pheasant hunt and they were short a dog. Scott volunteered to help them with their problem. His manners weren't the best in a hunting sense, but he did find and point the birds well enough that the day was a success. It was successful enough that as a reward he provided dinner on Christmas Eve.

"See! from the break the whirring pheasant springs,
And mounts exulting on triumjphant wings:
Short is his joy: he feels the firey wound,
Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground."

Alexander Pope
Windsor Forest 1.111

The wine was one that I purchased three years ago based on past experience with it. It had been resting in the cellar since it arrived. The wine was a Fontodi, Chianti Classico Riserva, Vigna Del Sorbo from the 2004 vintage, a blend of mostly Sangiovese with some Cabernet Sauvignon added.

For dinner we cleaned and then cut up the pheasant into serving pieces. The pieces went into a pan with some rendered bacon and were browned. I added some shallots, a small clove of garlic, a carrot, some bay leaves, white peppercorns, mint and parsley and a cup of red wine. I covered the pan and braised the bird for half an hour. The pheasant pieces were removed and some fresh cranberries and some honey were added to the pot and the sauce reduced until the berries popped and softened. Add the last minute I added some sour cream. There was also some soft polenta flavored with black truffle salt and mascarpone.

The nose on the wine was unmistakable as a Chianti, dry and dusty, fruity, cherry aromas and some herbs. Very dark and very full bodied in the mouth, the cabernet gave an extra dimension to the wine. Lots of acid and dry, earthy tannins here. When the wine met the sauce on the pheasant they took things to another level entirely. The cranberries and honey mixed with the dry, tart cherries in this wine for a nearly perfect flavor combination. The flavors in the finish continued on for nearly 30 seconds. Just a wonderful wine and a great match with the food - and there are two more bottles in the cellar.

14% alcohol and $80

Look Homeward, Angel

2011-12-24T00:30:00.000-05:00

"In the morning they rose in a house pungent with breakfast cookery, and they sat at a smoking table loaded with brains and eggs, ham, hot biscuit, fried apples seething in their gummed syrups, honey, golden butter, fried steak, scalding coffee. Or there were stacked batter cakes, rum-colored molasses, fragrant brown sausages, a bowl of wet cherries, plums, fat juicy bacon, jam. At the mid-day meal they ate heavily: a huge hot roast of beef, fat buttered Lima beans, tender corn smoking on the cob, thick red slabs of sliced tomatoes, rough savory spinach, hot yellow corn-bread, flaky biscuits, a deep dish peach and apple cobbler spiced with cinnamon, tender cabbage, deep glass dishes piled with preserved fruits - cherries, pears, peaches. At night they might eat fried steak, hot squares of grits fried in egg and butter, pork chops, fish, young fried chicken...."

Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel.

No passage in a book has ever made me more hungry than this one, and Wolfe remains among my favorite authors. Best wishes for great food and great wine during the holiday seasons.

Another Bunch of Bubbles

2011-12-22T14:55:00.001-05:00

I'm still working my way through a group of American sparkling wines and this time it's back to California for Domaine Chandon and their Brut Classic.

Domaine Chandon led the European invasion to California to produce sparkling wines thirty years ago. I've been to the winery on a couple of occasions and eaten at the winery restaurant both times, but it has been awhile since I tasted their wines. This particular wine carries the California appellation, and not the Napa Valley one.

This bottle was loaded with carbon dioxide. When the cork came out of the bottle the Gordon Setters thought it was a gunshot and they were ready to go bird hunting. That pop was clearly an omen as this wine bubbled like one of those tall bubble lights that go on Christmas trees. This was the little engine that could for sparkling wine.

The nose had a definite apple aroma to it, with some citrus and maybe some pear. There was also a hint of cardamon in the nose. Wonderfully bright and fresh flavors of tree and citrus fruit, tart and sharp acid and lots of tiny bubbles all chimed in to produce a great balanced flavor profile. This went down very easily. At the finish the cardamon and perhaps some apple pie spice left a nice memory in the mouth.

Dinner was a small piece of Alaskan salmon that was pan seared and then finished in a sweet and sour sauce. There was no problem with this combination. Very tasty. After dinner we poured one more glass since there was no dessert for the evening. There was a single, small square of white chocolate - the last piece in a package. A bite of chocolate and a sip of wine and my mouth felt like it was at the circus eating cotton candy and those large, orange, marshmallow circus peanuts. This was totally unique and unexpected flavor combination and it made me laugh. Note to self to buy another bar of the white chocolate and try this again with some other sparklers.

$15 and 12.5% alcohol

Clos Du Val Reflections

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-05:00

Clos Du Val opened in the early 1970's in Napa Valley, set off of the Silverado Trail in what would later become the Stags Leap AVA. Their style was more European than most in California and has remained so over the years. It had been at least twenty years since I tried one of their Chardonnays so I remedied that with a bottle of their 2008 Carneros vintage pictured in the glass above.

The color in the glass was clear, bright and pale yellow. The nose was a little bit woodsy but with citrus and pineapple coming through as well. This was a nicely proportioned wine in the mouth, full without being overbearing. Definite apple notes up front with pineapple and a bit of mango coming in at the end. Nice mineral quality to the finish on this wine.

Dinner was gray sole, dusted with a light coating of flour and pan seared in some clarified butter. There was a pan sauce with a touch of the wine, some lemon juice, capers and parsley to finish it out. The fish was rich and melting in the mouth and the wine was just about perfect with it. Very easy meal to finish and sip more wine.

13.5% alcohol and $24

Another Round of Bubbles

2011-12-19T22:10:00.001-05:00

Prices for American sparkling wine continue be wonderfully low for the quality one gets. This time I opted for a sparkler from New Mexico, the Gruet Brut.

There was a lot of pressure on the cork as it came out of the bottle and quite a nice pop. Light color in the glass with a good string of bubbles rising. Tart and citrusy aromas with a good whiff of cotton candy. Good fruit taste with ripe apple and Meyer lemon tastes predominating. Delightfully tart but with a touch of sweetness to balance things out. Full flavored and long lasting finish with some roasted nuts at the very end. Very easy to drink.

There was an appetizer of shrimp and a main course of pan seared swordfish on a bed of brown, basmati rice. The citrus quality in the wine was delicious with the swordfish - a nice marriage of flavors.

$15 and 12.4% alcohol.

Zweigelt

2011-12-16T21:35:00.000-05:00

I purchased a case of assorted wines in October, and the case consisted completely of wines I had not tried before, either the winery or the grape. The Huber 2007 Zweigelt from Austria fell into the category of new grape for me.

I was in need of a red wine to drink with some thinly sliced, left over flank steak and when a friend dropped by on an errand I twisted the cap off this wine.

The wine had a reddish brick color to it without a lot of colorization. Dry, dusty nose with aromas of earth, spice, unripe berries and mushrooms. Medium weight and body to the wine and the depth of flavor was somewhat lacking. Good acid, a little tannin and a short finish completed the package.

There was nothing wrong with the wine, but then again there wasn't really anything right about it either. It was not unappealing, but it didn't create much of an appeal. In short - it was red wine.

I'll try another Zweigelt when I see one, but I won't be rushing out to get another bottle of this one.

13.5% alcohol and $14.

Old Reliable

2011-12-13T15:32:00.001-05:00

For more years than I've been drinking wine Louis Martini cabernets have been solid, honest wines. The 2009 Sonoma County vintage is no different. The bright, fruity nose with some earth and spice to it matched up with flavors that were more in the red fruit profile than black fruit. Ripe red cherries and berries overlaid a darker base, but the base simply gave more substance to the wine. It never interfered with the bright flavors. Good acid and the right amount of tannin. The skies were clear, the grill was lit, steaks were on sale, and so it was beef and honest, red wine for dinner. Goof stuff and a straight forward wine.

13.8% alcohol and $16

Nuts

2011-12-10T20:05:00.001-05:00

It's a hard choice as the whether sparkling wine or sherry is the best bargain in the market at the present. This wine certainly makes a case for sherry.

The wine is a Lustau Solera Reserva Dry Amontillado "Los Arcos." The name is a mouthful and so is the wine. Golden brown color and a wonderful aroma of toasted nuts, a bit of spice, and a dry, clean breeze. Lots of dried fruit flavors in the taste but the overwhelming impression is of walnuts, almonds, caramel, and light touches of iodine. Long finish that despite the use of the word "dry" finishes with just a hint of sweetness.

There were remnants of a Stilton cheese and it went well with that, but it went better with a handful of toasted walnuts. Experimenting a little farther we tried it with a few Picholine olives and that was another success. However, I think we reached the summit with a cheap can of smoked almonds. That was a flavor sensation I could repeat daily. Really good stuff.

20% alcohol and $19. An absolute steal at that price.

Young Burgundy

2011-12-07T14:58:00.001-05:00

I was in an earthy mood last weekend so I made a rabbit and mushroom risotto. I poached the rabbit lightly, then took the meat off the bones and used the poaching liquid as the stock for the rice. Another part of the cooking liquid was the water from soaking dried porcini mushrooms. Once the porcinis were soft I pureed them into a paste with some of the liquid and that got added to the pot as well. There were also some sauteed, fresh mushrooms in the mix. At the very end we added the chopped rabbit meat and some pecorino Romano cheese.

My first option was a Nebbiolo D'Alba , but instead I opened a 2009 Michael Sarrazin & Fils Maranges. I recently purchased this wine and decided to try it while more was still available in the market. Good choice.

Lots of earthy aromas in the nose left no doubt this wasn't a new world pinot noir. It took a couple of minutes for some fruit to begin peaking out of the glass. Bright cherry flavors overlaying the earthy components, with good, sharp acid and just enough tannin to clear the palate. Full bodied wine with a delicious and lengthy finish. Great match with the mushrooms in the risotto, very complimentary tastes. I picked up two more bottles to put in the cellar.

13% alcohol and $28.

Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs

2011-12-01T20:32:00.001-05:00

(Candida comes in with glasses, lemons, and a jug of hot water on a tray.)

Candida: Who will have some lemonade? You know our rules: total abstinence. (She puts the tray on the table, and takes up the lemon squeezer, looking enquiringly round at them.)

Morell: No use, dear. They've all had champagne. Pross has broken her pledge.

Candida (to Proserpine): You don't mean to say you've been drinking champagne?

Proserpine: (stubbornly): Yes I do. I'm only a beer teetotaller, not a champagne teetotaller.

George Bernard Shaw
Candida

It's a great time of the year to drink sparking wine because with the holidays approaching there are some tremendous discounts to be had. While this Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs is not champagne (it's from the Carneros region of Sonoma County, California) it certainly sparkles and bubbles.

There was a pretty copper color in the glass, and a nose of strawberries and lemons with a hint of cardamon, almost like a Christmas cookie Tight bubbles and great fruit and cookie taste. Just off dry with great acid and a wonderful fruity finish. There was some fresh cod loin baked in ginger and sesame and some garlic and ginger spinach for dinner. Good match with the wine as the fish retained its richness and the wine balanced that out.

$16 and 12.2% alcohol. Super price for this wine.

Kung Fu Fighting

2011-11-29T14:34:00.001-05:00

Good meal last week end. The market had some wonderful looking yellowfin tuna. I coated it lightly in crushed black, white, green and pink peppercorns and seared it on both sides until just crusty, but kept it dark pink in the center. The sauce was a reduction of two parts soy sauce and one part orange juice. The topping was a small amount of heavy cream that was whipped until stiff. At that point I put in a healthy dose of wasabi powder. Brown rice and sugar snap peas that were poached to crisp tender status completed the plate.

The wine was a 2010 Kung Fu Girl Riesling by Charles Smith wines out of Washington's Columbia Valley. The wine was closed up before some serious swirling in the glass. Finally some lime zest and white peach aromas started coming out of the glass.

The wine was tart with good white peach flavors, a little apricot and some citrus. Good mouth feel to the wine and it finished just off dry and with a good mineral quality to it. Very good with the tuna as the small amount of sweetness paired well with both the peppercorns and the wasabi.

One mark of a good wine is that it is gone before one's thirst is quenched and before everyone has had enough. That happened with this wine. Toward the end of the meal I reached for the bottle for one last glass, and the wine had disappeared.

Very good bargain and a totally drinkable wine.

12.5% alcohol and $12.

Shakespeare for a Dreary Day.

2011-11-27T10:15:00.001-05:00

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

Sonnet 73

White Burgundy and Fresh Truffles

2011-11-26T10:22:00.001-05:00

Life is too short not to indulge oneself on occasion. That was the case when I walked through the market the other day and found fresh, black truffles in the produce section. The price was a not so subtle $240 a pound, though fortunately I wasn't in the market for a pound. I did bring home a few small ones, enough for one meal for three.

I sliced the two largest truffles into paper thin slices and tucked them between the skin and flesh of two boneless chicken breasts. They were pan seared on both sides and the shoved in the oven to finish cooking. The remaining truffles were chopped medium fine and tossed into some melted butter and olive oil to warm through. When the truffles were warmed we tossed in home made pasta, a touch of heavy cream and a large tablespoon of mascarpone. We sliced the chicken breasts and laid the slices beside a serving of the pasta.

The wine was a 2008 Domaine de Pouilly, Pouilly Fuisse from Andre & Vincent Besson. The nose on the wine was surprisingly earthy with the aroma of dry, fresh earth and ripe fruit. Wonderful acidity with the first sip. The mineral and earth flavors were dominant, but there was a good base of ripe fruit to compliment them. This was definitely a meal for the nose. Between the earthy aromas of the warmed truffles and the earthiness of the wine it was almost enough to just smell what was on the plate and in the glass. The two made beautiful music together. Nice long finish to the wine, nothing out of balance.

$34 and 12.5% alcohol.

Mr. Tulkinghorn's Port

2011-11-24T11:41:00.001-05:00

"Mr. Tulkinghorn sits at one of the open windows, enjoying a bottle of old port. Though a hard grained man, close, dry and silent, he can enjoy old wine with the best. He has a priceless bin of port in some artful cellar under the Fields, which is one of his many secrets. When he dines alone in chambers, as he has dined today, and has his bit of fish and his steak or chicken brought in from the coffee-house, he descends with a candle to the echoing regions below the deserted mansion, and, heralded by a remote reverberation of thundering doors, comes gravely back enriched by an earthy atmosphere, and carrying a bottle from which he pours a radiant nectar, two score and ten years old, that blushes in the glass to find itself so famous, and fills the room with the fragrance of southern grapes.

"Mr. Tulkinghorn, sitting in the twilight by an open window, enjoys his wine. As if it whispered to him of its fifty years of silence and seclusion, and it shuts him up the closer. More impenetrable than ever, he sits, and drinks, and mellows as it were, in secrecy."

Charles Dickens, Bleak House

Port can do that to you. It's a wine to sit and sip and think about, mostly because I drink it in the evening of shorter, fall or winter days. The wine here was a 2003 Noval late bottled vintage port. Warm, grapey nose with cinnamon and wood notes. Mouth filling sweetness balanced by just the right amount of acid. Lush and thick with flavors of dark and red cherries. Lingering finish that begged for a few more pecans and little bit of Stilton cheese. Two, small glasses makes a wonderful evening.

$19.5% alcohol and $21. Good price.

Survivors

2011-11-22T15:13:00.001-05:00

The days are becoming dark and dreary here. I was cleaning up the plants in front for the coming winter and found the last blooms of summer today, three small flowers from a pot of multicolor verbena that apparently gave life one last shot with the recent (and continuing) rains. They survived frost and freeze but time is certainly against them now. The opening lines from a Thomas Moore poem apply, though this isn't a rose....

'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone....

Two weeks ago there was another survivor, the last fruit from the yellow, pear tomato plant that was in a protected spot. I picked and ate the tomato before cutting down the rest of the dead plant and tossing it in the neighborhood mulch pile. It's unripe sibling was sacrificed to the tomato gods because of the hard freeze coming that night. Now it's on to winter and tomatoes that taste like red and yellow cardboard. In six weeks the seed catalogs will be arriving and I can start thinking of spring again.

Paolo Scavino Barolo

2011-11-21T16:06:00.001-05:00

There was good Italian food a few evenings ago. Dinner was fresh, home made, duck egg pappardelle with porcini, shiitake, oyster and cremini mushrooms in a light cream sauce with a bit of marscapone stirred in at the last minute.

About an hour before eating I opened a 375ml bottle of Paolo Scavino Barolo from the 2004 vintage. The wine went into a jug to breathe. There was almost no nose in the wee bit I poured into a glass and the flavor was tight and tannic.

The hour did wonders for the wine. The nose was flowers, tar, leather and cherries all in perfect balance. It was good to just sniff the wine. With some swirling the aromas left the glass and floated over the table. Tart, red cherries led off the taste, followed by mushrooms and hints of sweet tobacco. The tannins had calmed down to a point where they played a supporting role to the fruit tastes. Full bodied and mouth coating feel to the wine, and then there was a bit of acid and extra tannin at the end to clear the palate. The mushrooms in the pasta sauce had a love affair with the cherry flavors in the wine. Good stuff together.

This was a wine to savor, and we did. It took a couple of hours for the two of us to kill this bottle slowly. There is a full sized bottle of this still in the cellar, and I wondered how it would taste being 750ml. Would the wine be as ready as this half bottle? We decided to wait for another day on the larger bottle, but we certainly enjoyed the little brother.

$28 and 14.5% alcohol

Off the Wall

2011-11-17T08:10:00.001-05:00

Interesting wine the other night, a 200 Humanitas Malbec with a Schlumberger Bench designation in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley. Since there aren't a tremendous number of Malbec based wine from California this one was worth a shot.

Humanitas is an interesting winery run by the (now) former manager and former winemaker of Michel Schlumberger, hence the Schlumberger Bench designation. The winery and estate were sold last week and the new owners replaced the wine making team and the management. A good portion of the profits from the Humanitas wines are donated to charity.

The wine had an interesting brick color to it. The aromas were pretty much tart, red cherries and raspberries. The first sip was tannic but fruity, medium weight red fruit with good tannin gripping the sides of the tongue. Halfway through the first mouthful some vegetable characteristics began to make a statement. There was a definite green edge to the wine. While it can be a detriment if there's too much of it, this added to the wine's appeal for me. It wasn't overly ripe and tasting of jam or jelly. The vegetable inferences just made the wine a little more complex. There wasn't tremendous length to the finish, but it was more than suitable for the wine; the same with the acid.

The weather is still holding here so there was a small steak from the grill and some pan roasted potatoes. The wine and the steak were very good together as the acid and tannin stood up to the flavors of the meat. Nice combination and a good wine.

$30 and 14.4% alcohol

Victim of Love

2011-11-15T10:30:00.001-05:00

There was a new shipment of wine from Michel Schlumberger in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County, California. One of the wines was the 2008 Faux Pas red wine, a mixture of equal parts cabernet sauvignon and syrah. With apologies to the 70's group the Eagles this wine was a Victim of Love, a song from their Hotel California album. It was a victim because it had to share it's time and space and food with the Clarnedon Hills Astralis discussed below, and that was a wine I loved.

It's unfair to make a comparison and very unfair to even attempt to judge Faux Pas since this was certainly not a level playing field. Nevertheless we did manage to drink about half the bottle. There is more of this wine so I'll let it rest for a few months and try it again. Judgement reserved.

$40 and 14.5% alcohol.

Astralis

2011-11-14T07:40:00.001-05:00

Quite an evening last night with good friends, a very good meal and a wine that was impossible to ignore. The wine in question was a 2003 Clarendon Hills Astralis from the Fleurieu region of South Australia. Dinner was a grill roasted rack of lamb with a side dish of wild rice, basmati rice, Gruyere cheese and toasted pecans. Basically it was a "welcome to winter" meal with hearty food and rich wine.

We opened the wine early and poured a couple of very small glasses, then set the bottle aside. There was oak and dark fruit aromas in the nose, but not much else. The wine was black and opaque in the glass. The taste was black fruit jam with a lot of of oak. We poured a couple of good size glasses, then set those aside to breathe while we worked on dinner and a bottle of Crispin cloudy, hard cider and a few snacks.

When the meal was nearly ready we went back to the wine. During its hour in the glass it decided to bloom. Great aromas of blackberries, dark cherries and vanilla. Wonderful fragrances. The flavors were pure, sweet, blackberry jam and dark, juicy plums. The tannins were soft and integrated thoroughly into the wine. For a wine that literally coated the mouth and tongue there was surprisingly good acid. The flavors continued to linger in the mouth until the next sip.

With the lamb the wine simply got better. The sweet, slight gaminess of the meat was an almost perfect match for the fruit flavors and the tannin in the wine. The pecans in the rice dish brought out a brighter, less dark, fruit flavor in the wine. There seemed to be more cherry flavors with the pecans. The interplay between the food and the wine was just remarkable. Each was better with the other than on its own. The good acid in the wine kept the taste fresh and kept each of us going back for more. A rare and appreciated treat.

14.5% alcohol and $245

Oestricher Lenchen Kabinett

2011-11-09T15:23:00.002-05:00

Cellar inventory can be good or it can be bad. This time it was good in the sense that I discovered an unaccounted for bottle. My records showed that I had two bottles of the 2005 Weingut Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Kabinett Riesling from the Rheingau. The reality was that I had three bottles. I had two choices. I could correct the inventory or I could drink the bottle of wine. I opted for drinking.

Good color to the wine, just past pale green gold. The nose of wet slate, lime zest and honey highlights was strong as well. If nothing else I could have sat and sniffed this wine all evening. The taste was first about the super sharp acid, then going into lemon, lime, and white peach flavors, and ending with drying minerality. One could almost picture gray slate with some electricity dancing above it.

There was some monkfish in a coconut milk and Thai curry paste sauce for dinner and the residual sweetness in the wine seemed to be best friends with the heat from the curry paste. Delicious together. Very good wine.

$22 and 8.5% alcohol.

Bubbles

2011-11-04T07:57:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I walk through a wine department and something virtually jumps off the shelf into my cart. That was the case the other day with a Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut sparkling wine. I wasn't looking for sparkling wine, I really wasn't looking for anything in particular, but there was a sale for a couple of dollars off per bottle and it just hit me that it had been awhile since I opened a bottle of sparkling wine.

I picked up the bottle then went back to the seafood section and bought some very large shrimp and brought the wine and the seafood home. The shrimp were simple - peel and de-vein and toss in a moderate pan with some shallots, garlic, dried hot peppers, some olive oil and butter, a little pimenton and a splash of fino sherry.

Nice nose on the wine with fruity notes and a bit of yeast. Good dry taste with subdued fruit and baked goods. There seemed to be just a touch of cardamon in this wine. It was dry without being austere and I liked that very much. Good match with the shrimp which were served over some basmati rice. After cleaning everything up and settling into the recliner there was enough for one more glass to sip while the dogs chewed their post dinner rawhide.

With the holiday season coming up there should be some good prices on sparkling wine and I may have to redo the evening.

$23 and 12% alcohol.

Picpoul de Pinet

2011-11-02T14:43:00.001-04:00

Good little wine the other evening, a 2010 Picpoul de Pinet Cuvee' Prestige by Foncalieu. The wine is a Coteaux de Languedoc. Bright green in the glass and mostly herbs in the nose, primarily some hints of thyme and rosemary. Tart and bracing at first taste there was some green apple and grape flavors to go along with the thyme in the taste. Refreshing and pert. The finish was equally sharp. If you're looking for big, rich fruit this is probably a wine to avoid.

Nice match with a fresh, whole trout that was stuffed with rosemary, lemon thyme and tarragon and grilled over some collected apple wood that burned down to the ember stage before meeting the fish. Rich and smoky fish and light and refreshing wine and brisk and cool evening. Nice.

12.5% alcohol and $11

Summer's Over

2011-10-27T16:17:00.002-04:00

Warm, sunny and a pure delight yesterday, but last night the damp, wet, cold front came through overnight and it is now gray, dingy and drizzly here. There may be a day or two of Indian Summer yet to come, but for all practical purposes we're close to November, my least favorite month of the year.

We fired up the grill and sacrificed a large rib-eye steak to the grilling gods as a thank you for the summer past. The wine was a 2006 Mazzocco Maple Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel from California's Dry Creek Valley. Almost black in the glass, the wine was virtually opaque. Warm blackberry and dark cherry jam in the nose and those same flavors were there in the taste. Pure taste of those fruit with some prickly tannins mixed in. The mouth feel was intense and the flavors just lasted forever. A well made wine and quite tasty, but it was a bit big for my taste.

We sipped one glass with the steak and then poured a second glass to go with a chunk of Rogue River Creamery blue cheese from Oregon. The wine was big enough to be called a near-port and one taste with the blue cheese brought all that home. Great stuff with the cheese.

15.8% alcohol. No price since the wine was a gift.

Lobster

2011-10-25T07:06:00.001-04:00

There was a grand opening for a new market in this area, Earth Fare. Since I was in the neighborhood on an errand there was no need not to stop in and see what it was like. Nice store, and definitely a competitor to Whole Foods. One of their opening day specials was packages of two, medium lobster tails, and a package came home with me for dinner. They were steamed simply over some salt water and served with a butter and lemon juice dipping sauce.

The wine department was adequate and I did manage to find a few interesting things. The wine with the lobster tails was a 2010 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc / Viognier from California. The blend is 79% Chenin Blanc and 21% Viognier. The nose was definitely Chenin Blanc with the bloom of melon and honeysuckle aromas. Nice pear and tart apple taste and great acidity. The Viognier provided a nice mouth feel to this wine. Tart finish with crisp fruit notes made it a very nice bottle of wine with the lobster, and we finished the bottle two days later with some fresh sea scallops. Good with those too.

13% alcohol and $13.

Rabbit and Chablis

2011-10-21T08:12:00.000-04:00

One thing I like very much but rarely eat is rabbit. We solved that problem the other day when a few "bunnies" showed up at the market. I divided it into pieces, and tied the loin and flaps together. They went into a hot pan with some butter, olive oil, and the peeled carrots that was quickly thrown into the oven. We turned the rabbit pieces after ten minutes and added the garlic, onion, chopped rosemary and lemon thyme. After ten more minutes we added the leeks and some of the wine for dinner. All that got another fifteen minutes. At the end we swirled in one last bit of butter.

The wine for the evening is pictured at the right, a 2009 Joseph Drouhin Chablis, Vaudon. This is the basic Chablis from Drouhin.

It might be a basic Chablis but it is very good. Bright, green-gold in the glass, the aroma was tart, minerally and not all that fruity. There was some hint of lemon, but the wine was basically closed up. We used some in the rabbit, poured a small glass and let the rest breathe until dinner.

By the time we ate the wine was showing signs of tart, green fruits and some citrus. Highly acidic in a very pleasant way. It left a wonderful dry, almost chalky feel to the mouth at the very end. Absolutely delicious with the rabbit. The butter and oil in the dish were rich and the citrusy quality of the wine really played well with that. There was no citrus in the dish save for the citrus quality that the wine imparted.

A very nice match and a very tasty and savory wine at a more than reasonable price.

12.5% alcohol and $22.

Cool Weather Braise

2011-10-19T08:14:00.001-04:00

No doubt with the weather, it is now mid-Autumn and the cooler nights make for some good eating and good wines, and a hearty braised beef is warming and rewarding.

I browned a small chuck eye roast with a good amount of marbled fat and tissue in it, then tossed in some carrots,onions, celery, garlic, canned tomatoes, anchovies and tomato paste, Thyme and rosemary were in the mix as well as some wine. The meat braised in a low oven for four hours and then was allowed to cool completely in the pan. The fat and spent vegetables were removed, the broth thickened slightly and everything was rewarmed for dinner. Packaged, extra wide egg noodles were the only side dish.

The wine was a 2008 Michele Chiarlo Barbera D'Asti "Le Orme." Medium red in the glass the wine was earthy in it's aromas. This was a damp earth as opposed to a dry earth. Lots of bright cherry flavors with more than enough acidity in the taste, but it was correct here. Two hours later, while the beef was still cooking, the wine finally opened up and was much more balanced. By dinner time the wine was really showing well with the fruit and earth equally balanced in both aroma and taste. The medium body and acid cut through the richness in the meat. Good bottle of wine for a good meal.

13% alcohol and $16.

Apple Dumpling & Heaven

2011-10-16T16:37:00.001-04:00

Nice dessert the other day courtesy of the local farmers' market. One of the best local restaurants (Rue Dumaine) makes frequent appearances at the market and they were there this past Thursday with a variety of items, including the apple dumpling pictured above. We added the whipped cream which had a few drops of Calvados in it, a dusting of Ceylon cinnamon and the mint leaf. The sugar was restrained a little so the dumpling wasn't overly sweet.

Wine? Of course there was wine, a 2005 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese. Just about a perfect match. Great acidity, clean, pure flavors of apple and peach, wonderful sweetness and a great finish that was both dry and tart. Extremely focused wine. Heaven.

Too Big?

2011-10-14T11:51:00.001-04:00

After the rain cleared out yesterday afternoon it was a nice evening, so we fired up the grill and cooked rib-eye steaks. There were some local sweet potatoes courtesy of a farmers' market so the menu called for a big wine.

The wine was a 2002 Reilly's Clare Valley Stolen Block Shiraz from Australia. It had been sitting in the cellar for four or five years. Lots of wonderful, ripe fruit in the nose, mostly blackberries and black plums. The wine wasn't shy about filling the mouth with flavor. Unctuous flavors of dark fruits and fruit jams with bits of cinnamon, leather and vanilla adding to the mix coated the tongue and the side of mouth, and they clung there for some time. There was still some tannin showing and almost enough acid to carry everything. In the end the wine was just a little bit too big, even after sprinkling the rib-eye with some blue cheese bits. This was a sipping wine and not a drinking wine, and after one glass I was satisfied.

15.5% alcohol and $24

Thanks, Canada

2011-10-11T07:19:00.000-04:00

Good price on some large, fresh Prince Edward Island mussels at the market on Sunday. They looked too good to resist and at $3 a pound it was a quick choice for dinner.

Some garlic and ginger and shallot went into a large, heavy skillet with some olive oil. When that was active and fragrant in went the mussels and a light splash of white wine. On went the lid and when the mussels began to open I added a large tablespoon of Thai green curry sauce and stirred it into the broth.
The result was way beyond good. The mussels were plump and just cooked through while the sauce was spicy, sweet, earthy, and a perfect match. There was a good amount of crusty bread to soak up the juices.

The wine was the last glass and a half of the Kinkead Ridge Riesling discussed below. Just barely off dry it was very tasty with the mussels, but remarkable with chunks of the bread dipped in the sauce.

Good meal.

Kinkead Ridge Riesling 2010

2011-10-08T09:52:00.001-04:00

Cool, crisp mornings usually means that Scott the Gordon Setter is frequently busy keeping the local squirrels in good physical condition through an aerobics program he has designed for them. Not so this morning when the Bella Balloon sailed overhead. He was otherwise occupied until the barking became too much and he had to come in the house.

Cool, crisp, fresh and primary also describes the 2010 Kinkead Ridge Ohio River Valley Riesling we had with dinner Thursday night. When this wine was released back in May it had just been bottled and seemed loose and light. Four months bottle age helped this wine. Now it is definitely focused and the Riesling flavors are coming to the front. This wine had a very linear taste - most of the flavor seems to run down the center of the tongue while the sides pick up the acidity. Very good with two grilled Kurabota pork, rib chops. One was cooked with minimal seasoning of salt and pepper and the other had some added paprika and once it was flipped on the grill the top was coated with a mango chutney. Hard to choose between the two chops but the wine was great with both.

$12 and 11.9% alcohol

Donhoff Riesling 2005

2011-10-04T22:26:00.002-04:00

Beautiful fall weather here so there was a beautiful wine to celebrate the day. The wine was a 2005 Donhoff Riesling from the Nahe region. Riesling with a little age on it is nearly always good and this was no exception.

A bit of kerosene at the very beginning, but that quickly blew off and left a precise and tart nose of lime, peach and a bit of pear skin. Solid mouth feel and full bodied. Wonderful flavors of stone fruit with dry and crisp citrus on top of it. Sweet at the edges but tart at the finish. Just a wonderful wine to go with some pork cutlets with both a mustard sauce and a an oriental sweet and sour sauce. Throw in a small salad and a couple slices of crusty bread and it was a great meal.

Very nice to sit outside on the patio under a shade tree and sip this while watching one of the dogs chase squirrels and the other sit next to you in case there were snacks to go with the wine.

9.5% alcohol and $21

Saladini Pilastri Falerio

2011-09-30T09:02:00.000-04:00

Here's another bottle from the mixed case of wine I picked up a month ago, none of which I had ever tried before. Falerio is a small enclave in the Marche area of Central Italy. The wine is a blend of Ugni Blanc and two lesser known grapes, Passerina and Pecorino. The vintage was 2010.

Pale color, lemony nose with some hints of anise. Crisp and tart, with the lemon showing bright and fresh. The anise flavor faded more into fennel on the taste. Good length to the finish, ending with a last little burst of lemon. The first half of the bottle went down with some grilled chicken with minimal spicing, but the second half on day two was even better with a fennel and shrimp risotto. The fennel taste in the wine was great with the dish. The acidity cut the richness and the fennel overtones really matched well. Good honest wine that went great with food.

13% alcohol and $14. Good wine.

A Great Laugh

2011-09-27T14:39:00.001-04:00

Here's two videos that made me laugh long and hard. The first is from a week or so ago and the second is a reply to the first and was posted a couple days ago.

Caution: Subtitles on the first are a little over the top.

Beaune - Boucherottes 2006

2011-09-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

The autumn style weather is still here and I after reading an article on line I got in the mood for Burgundy.

The Burgundy of choice was a 2006 Louis Jadot Beaune Boucherottes premier cru. I opened the bottle as we began dinner prep and poured half of it into a decanter, and a little bit into my glass. Very closed nose with earth and spice but no fruit showing.

Forty-five minutes later the beef tenderloin was sauced and ready. The wine was still closed but after some swirling there was enough fruit to plunge ahead. This was a very reticent wine, it kept refusing to give up very much in the way of aroma save for earth and wood spice. Near the end of the meal the cherry flavors began to emerge and the silkiness of the wine started to bloom. Acids and tannins were great and the mouth feel was wonderful. For the last bite or two of beef the wine was a great foil. I loved the earthiness in the wine.

Later that evening I poured another glass from the now re-corked bottle. The fruit was much more pronounced and the wine had mellowed, but it still wasn't ready.

The last fair sized glass was left for the next evening, and twenty-four hours was what this wine needed. Wonderful, ripe fruit aromas, finally subdued earth and a wonderful silky feel in the mouth. It was difficult, but I forced myself to drink that last glass slowly. Lots of smiles.

$25 and 13% alcohol.

Pleasures of Autumn

2011-09-19T08:15:00.000-04:00

Technically it isn't Autumn here yet, but thanks to our Canadian neighbors to the north the weather has been unseasonably cool. That means that fall food is back in vogue, as is the case pictured above.

The roast is a six pound, bone-in pork shoulder roast. It was brined for six hours in a mixture of kosher salt and sugar. After that it was rinsed and thoroughly dried. A mixture of kosher salt, sugar and smoked paprika was rubbed all over it and it was wrapped tightly in plastic film and refrigerated for 24 hours.

While it came to room temperature after its stay in the refrigerator I built a small fire in the grill. The coals were all pushed to one side and the roast was placed on the far side. A drip pan partially filled with water sat under the roast and a few apple wood chips were tossed on the fire. The lid went on the grill and I monitored the vents so that the temperature in the grill never got above 325 degrees. Five hours later the roast was done and the air in the neighborhood smelled of pork and apples. A few hungry neighbors wandered by to check things out.

The pork rested for about half an hour while I made a sauce from some of drippings from the catch pan, some sugar, vinegar, mustard and mango chutney. When that had reduced we carved the pork, opened a couple bottles of apple cider and spent a wonderful evening sitting outside watching the blue sky turn into evening pink. The dogs even managed to get a few pork tidbits mixed in with their dog kibble.

Life can be very good, and very delicious.

Weingut Max Ferd Richter

2011-09-16T14:08:00.000-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of tasting seven wines from Max Ferd Richter with Dr. Dirk Richter of the estate in Mulheim Germany. Informative and delicious are the two words that would best describe the experience. It was a drop in tasting rather than one that was formally organized so there was a fair amount of one on one conversation about the wines.

Most interesting was tasting both a Kabinett and a Spatlese from two separate vineyards. The wines involved were the 2009 Graacher Himmelreich and 2009 Veldenzer Elisenberg. The Elisenbergs were sharp, focused and very precise with citrus and peach flavors. There was a distinct difference between the Kabinett and the Spatlese, with the Spatlese being more full and fruity while the Kabinett was dry and racy. The Himmelreichs were fuller wines from the start, explained by Dr. Richter by saying there was clay in the slate soil of this vineyard that lends fuller flavor whereas the Elisenberg is slate and quartz primarily. I was getting apple and yellow plum aromas from the Himmelreich wines. I loved the Kabinett, but the Spatlese quickly put it to the rear. Very, very good wine and one I could sit, smell and sip all day.

Click below for the rest of this article.

There were two wines from the Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr vinyeard as well, a Spatlese and an Auslese from the 2008 vintage. Here the wines got into apricots and apples, sweet golden delicious apples. Wonderful mouth feel on both wines but the nose on the Auslese was a pleasure unto itself. I could almost be content to just sit and smell this wine. By the time I got to this wine they were putting out some snacks so I tried this wine with a ginger cracker spread with a light pumpkin mousse. Nirvana.

The first wine tasted was the estate Riesling from the 2009 vintage. Good stuff at a great price, but it suffered in the presence of its bigger siblings.

I also asked about the 2010 vintage which is reported to be great or horrid, depending on the winery. Dr. Richter said the vintage was very difficult with very ripe fruit but acid that was almost beyond belief. The wines he made he likes, but there is 50% or less in yield from all of his vineyards.

All together an excellent range of wines. I left the estate Riesling on the shelf, but a bottle or two of each of the other wines made the trip home with me, including a signed bottle of the Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese.

All wines between 7.5% alcohol and all between $20 and $50.

Blaufrankisch

2011-09-13T10:56:00.000-04:00

Another wine from the mixed case I picked up recently was a 2008 Neckenmarkt Blaufrankisch from Austria.

I like all kinds of wine, and though I do have my favorites I still try and keep an open mind about the rest. The nicest thing I can say about this wine is that it was inoffensive. It was light, which I expected, but it was almost devoid of flavor, of acid, of tannin, of any form of soul or reason to exist. It wasn't bad, it just didn't seem to be there at all. It was enough to make one wonder what the point was or even if there was a point to be made.

The steak was good from the grill and the soup pictured below was delicious. It was yellow tomatoes and yellow peppers cooked together and pureed with just a hint of heavy cream, a tiny touch of garlic and salt and pepper. That was the best part of the meal.

13% alcohol and $10.

Vinho Verde

2011-09-11T13:13:00.001-04:00

Some wines are just plain fun. the 2009 Gazela Vinho Verde from Portugal is certainly one of them. As you can tell by the picture the wine is almost colorless, and it was that way in the glass. About the only thing breaking up the monotone was the near bubbles clinging to the side of the glass and slight head on the wine. Almost fizzy would describe it. The taste was highly tart and sharp, almost prickly on the tongue. Young, fresh, zippy, uncomplicated, happy, glad to be free from its bottle are a few of the words or phrases that come to mind.

Dinner was a whole Branzini, stuffed with rosemary, lemon thyme, lemon slices and fresh dill and then tossed over hot coals that had more fresh dill tossed them for smoke effect. The before shot is pictured above and the after shot is pictured below with some lettuce, beets,pickled onions and goat cheese. Tasty fish with a notable herby taste and a particularly good match with the wine. Fun meal.

$7 and 9% alcohol.

Out of Season

2011-09-09T16:08:00.001-04:00

We have been in a very strange weather pattern lately. Within the span of one week we went from recording record high temperatures of 100 degrees to record high temperatures at the other end of the spectrum with three days where we did not get above 62 degrees. I found the records at the lower end much more pleasant, and the cooler temperatures meant it was time to braise something.

In the summer I miss braised food as much as I miss a fresh, ripe tomato in the winter. Lamb shanks became the braise of choice. Browned, they were thrown in the pot with wine, garlic, onions, carrots, leeks, tomatoes, and herbs. At the end we added white beans. I also made another winter dish, polenta. The results are pictured below.

The wine was an old friend, a Foppiano Petite Sirah from Sonoma's Russian River Valley. Year in and year out no one makes Petite Sirah better than Foppiano. In this case it was the 2005 vintage. Inky dark in the glass the nose was all about black fruit and black pepper. There was a little bit of earth peeking out as well. The taste was just as full as the color was dark. The wine just oozed ripe fruit, spice and a hint or two of chocolate. Good acid and loads of tannin balanced this wine out. Despite its size it was not heavy and overburdened with anything. It was just a delicious mouthful.

It stood up to and really complimented the lamb, and it definitely picked up on the rosemary, thyme and sage that were in the braising liquid. Good stuff.

#20 and 14.5% alcohol

A Taste of Spain

2011-09-07T16:15:00.001-04:00

Another find on the recent out of state excursion was a 2006 El Jamon, Crianza, Tempranillo Do Carinena from the Aragon region of Spain. Nice aromas of tart red fruit, dusty earth and hints of oak. Medium bodied wine with a silky mouth feel. Lots of cherries and berries, a little taste of earth and a decent dose of tannin and acid at the end. Nicely balanced wine that just pleasant to drink.

Dinner was a pan seared and oven roasted tri-tip beef roast with a Romesco sauce of tomatoes, peppers, almonds, garlic, pimenton and olive oil. Good little wine and a good meal to go with it. The best "critter label wine" I've had for awhile.

$12 and 13% alcohol.

River Village Cellars

2011-09-06T11:24:00.000-04:00

The highlight of the three day, holiday weekend here was on Saturday. To start the day we traveled down to Ripley, Ohio, for the release of two red wines from River Village Cellars, a second label for Kinkead Ridge.

The 2009 vintage was, being kind here, terrible and all the red wine was declassified to the second label. The bottom line was bad for the winery, but certainly good for the consumer as both of released wines were quite enjoyable.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is comprised mostly of cabernet sauvignon, with some petit verdot and some syrah blended in. The wine was very closed on the nose with some faint aromas of dark cherries and earth coming out along with some dark plums. Dark color in the glass. Definitely a full flavored wine with a rich, fruity feel in the mouth and flavors of black cherries and other dark fruit. The wine seemed a little low in acid but there was good tannin. The finish was a little short, but not enough to detract from the overall pleasure.

The Cabernet Franc was the better of the two to me. Brighter cherry flavors and aromas, sweet tannin and vanilla from the oak, medium mouth feel and a tart and cheery finish to it. The fruit here was definitely more toward the red end of the spectrum. The finish was a little nicer and there was a littel burst of fruit at the end. Easy wine to drink. Both are great values at their price point.

Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.1% alcohol and $12.95
Cabernet Franc, 13.5% alcohol and $11.95
Both wines carry the Ohio River Valley AVA

Muscadet

2011-09-02T16:59:00.000-04:00

Domaine de Beauregard Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 2009. It takes much longer to type that than it does to appreciate it. Sharp, tart, bone dry, refreshing, and like sitting on a beach with salt spray in your face. There was a fresh swordfish steak marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and red pepper flakes for dinner and it was just about perfect with this wine.

12% alcohol and $12

Drew & Guigal

2011-08-30T14:56:00.000-04:00

As far as the weather goes yesterday was just about perfect and very unusual for this area at the end of August. There were almost no clouds, the humidity was low and the temperature topped out at 78 degrees. There was a small group that got together for dinner to cook a cow. In reality it wasn't the whole cow, but it was a 4 inch thick, dry aged rib-eye steak that was half grilled and half roasted. It was delicious.

There were two wines and both were very good. The first was a 2006 Drew Family Cellars, Ridgeline Syrah from the Mendocino Ridge AVA. A number of Syrahs in California have gone the way of some of the Cabernet Sauvignons. They have become big, over ripe monsters with very high alcohols and syrupy sweetness. The Drew was certainly cut from a different cloth. The nose was hard, dark cherries, some earthy spice and some wisps of raw meat. The wine was a definite purple, showing its young age. The flavors were definitely fruit forward with dark cherries, some plum notes and that little bit of raw meat. Great acidity and tannin, a medium mouth feel and a long, smoky finish that stretched on for a good time. With the food it was almost perfect since there was enough tannin and acid to cut through the fattiness of the steak.

If I had to compare it to a European wine it would be Crozes Hermitage. There wasn't quite enough depth to rival a Hermitage and it was a little too refined for a St Joseph. This wine still needs a couple of years. but the good news is that there are two more in the cellar. It disappeared quickly.

The second wine was a 2003 E. Guigal Hermitage. Deeper and darker than the Drew in the glass, this wine had a touch of brett to it that took several minutes to work it's way out. Dark color, notes of raw meat and plums in the nose. The taste was deeper and fuller than the Drew but the wine tasted a tiny bit hot, and a little bit old. Long finish to this wine as well and it was still a joy to drink when the brett aromas faded.

Drew, 14.4% alcohol and $33.
Guigal, 13% alcohol and $70.

Roero Arneis

2011-08-28T12:01:00.000-04:00

Another of the wines in the recent mixed case was an Arneis, Specifically a 2009 Antico Contado Roero Arneis Renesio from the Piemonte region of northwest Italy. This is an old variety that is enjoying something of a renaissance and the Roero region is at the forefront.

Very bright green/gold color in the glass the wine smelled like the perfectly ripe pear one gets when they hang on the tree until fully ready to eat. This was a very full bodied wine and very mouth-filling. The pears were there in force with a tiny bit of apple and yellow plums underpinning the pear flavor. There was very good acidity for such a full bodied wine. The finish was fruity and then bone dry with acid.

Dinner was also a little unusual. A nearby farmer is now producing and selling locally Cornish hens, small chickens with a full taste. I brought home one that was 1 1/4 pounds then stuffed it with fresh sage, thyme and rosemary, dusted it with some coarse salt, put it in a small skillet and popped everything in a 350 degree toaster oven for 40 minutes. The result is pictured below. There was some fresh bail gnudi served in a freshly made sauce of just harvested red and yellow tomatoes to go with the poultry.

The acid in the wine killed the richness of the hen and the flavors in the wine were a nice compliment to the gnudi, which were full of ricotta cheese and fresh basil. Good meal.

13% alcohol and $15.

Rosebank 16 Year

2011-08-26T22:41:00.002-04:00

One can't live by wine alone.

For some time I've been searching for a bottle of Rosebank Scottish whisky. Obviously, from the picture I finally found a bottle. Rosebank is a lowland malt, triple distilled, and lighter than its highland cousins. The distillery closed in 1993 so it took some searching to find a bottle. This bottling was by Gordon & McPhail and was distilled in 1991 and bottled in 2007.

The nose was quite flowery and lightly fruity. Good warmth and there were hints of orange and honey flavors. This was a very elegant and refined whisky, more like a cognac than my usual island whiskys. Very easy to drink.

46% alcohol and $70

Salmon

2011-08-25T12:48:00.000-04:00

Good piece of salmon last night for dinner. I dusted it with salt, garlic powder and pimenton and then pan seared each side quickly. It then went into the oven to finish cooking. Cabbage coleslaw and a couple of just picked yellow pear tomatoes rounded out the plate. The wine was a glass of fino sherry. More about that later. Good meal.

Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc 2004

2011-08-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

Over the last few days I've been following via Face Book and other media the journey of some Kinkead Ridge wines to Australia, purchased by a private consumer and shipped via FedEx. That certainly made me thirsty for a Kinkead Ridge wine so last night I opened a bottle, my next to last, of the 2004 Cabernet Franc.

Dinner was a filet mignon, pan seared on both sides then tossed in a moderate oven to finish cooking. There was a pan sauce with the drippings, some shallots, vermouth, cognac, blackberries and butter that simmered while the meat cooked. When the filet were done I put the sauce on the plates in an attractive swirl, placed the filet in the middle and topped it with some more of the sauce. There was a green salad and some roasted tomatoes also on the plate.

The problem with the wines from Kinkead Ridge is that are so easy and good to drink that it takes a lot of willpower to let them age. This bottle was stashed away in an odd location so it did get some bottle age to it. The aroma was wonderful, full of black raspberries and bright cherries and clean earth. Those aromas had mellowed into a wonderful bouquet. The wine was medium weight in the mouth and the flavors were soft and appealing. Both the cherries and raspberries were there, along with a touch of cinnamon and some subtle hints of vanilla. The acid was still wonderful in this wine and there was just enough tannin to complete the package. The wine was fully mature, lean, svelte, and all the parts were completely harmonized. This wasn't a loud, brash teenager, this was a mature woman with a few discreet stories to tell. They were stories I bought into, and they were just about perfect with the filet and the sauce. Wonderful bottle of wine.

12.9% alcohol and $15 when purchased. 355 cases produced.

Summer Reading

2011-08-23T12:01:00.000-04:00

Three new books and one old standard managed to get me through the late July and August heat wave. With temperatures in the mid to upper 90 degree range it was time to stay inside and read.

From the bottom up.....
Authentic Wine by Jamie Goode and Sam Harrop MW, subtitled Toward Natural and Sustainable Winemaking. If one is into understanding the technical aspect of grape growing, wine making and more this is a valuable book. Technical writing, but thoroughly readable. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it and know much more than I did about organic, biodynamic, sustainable viticulture, etc. My only complaint is the incredibly bright cover. I have examined the book thoroughly and I have no idea where the battery replacement compartment is, and there must be a battery to a make a cover this bright. University of California Press.

To End All Wars, a Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild. A completely fascinating and readable account of World War War I from mostly a British perspective. The author not only examines the military aspects of the war but also the anti-war and labor movement in Britain at the time. Remarkably these two sides overlap each other with members of the same families being on different sides of the issue. If there's a "history streak" in your reading habits I recommend picking up this book. Really good stuff. Houghton Miflin Harcourt.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I read this novel a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away....it was first published in 1959. I was in a book store recently and there was a new, paperback edition, and since I have fond memories of the book it was time to give it another try. This one is set at a New England prep school in 1942 and 1943. Short, dramatic, moving and just a good story about shattered dreams. It's a much deeper book than I remember from first reading far too many years ago. Scribner.

A Vineyard in My Glass by Gerald Asher. No one writing about wine moves me more than Gerald Asher. This book is collected essays, mostly from Gourmet Magazine. Some are 20 years old but they are fresh and alive. I subscribed to this magazine for 20 years, and most of those years it was just to read Asher's columns. More than any critic or wine writer this is the person I respect the most and the one who set me off on some serious wine quests. Keep this one by your bedside and a chapter a night will make you thirsty the next morning. University of California Press.

Cotes du Rhone

2011-08-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

There was a special on flank steak at the market the other day so we bought several, divided them in two and froze what we didn't fix the first night. The first part was rubbed with garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt, chipotle powder and pepper and allowed to marinate for several hours.

When the steak came off the grill the top came off a bottle of Cave de Rasteau, Le Dome du Grand Bois, Cotes du Rhone from the 2009 vintage. This was one of the wines in the mixed case discussed below. The wine was a mixture of grenache, cinsault and carrignane. Fruity, straightforward nose that had a few traces of spice and earth in it. Purplish in the glass. Good medium body and good fruit flavors of berries and earth. Good tannin profile here, a fair amount of it, but the tannins were ripe and friendly. This is a happy wine. It takes no deep thought to enjoy it and it washes down good food leaving a pleasant taste in the mouth. It does it with little expense also.

There was some ratatouille to go along with the steak and the wine may have been even a better match with the eggplant, zucchini, squash, onions, and tomatoes in that dish. Very tasty with the veggies.

13% alcohol and $12.50

2006 Le Corti Principe Corsini

2011-08-19T11:55:00.000-04:00

Some pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and a couple grated cheeses called for a Chianti. This time it was an Agricola Le Corti, Principe Corsini, Chianti Classico from the 2006 vintage. The nose was red fruit and earth, just like Chianti should smell. Dark red fruits, good earth tannin, great acid, nice balance, and a good finish. All this for a reasonable price. Not spectacular or earth moving, just a good medium weight red wine for summer drinking.

$15 and 13% alcohol.

Godello

2011-08-18T07:08:00.001-04:00

The 2009 Benaza Godello was a very interesting wine. Beautiful color in the glass, pale golden with a slightly green edge to it. The nose was all about white flowers and tropical fruits. There were hints of papaya and melon, and from sniffing the glass my initial reaction was that it was going to be fat and a little overblown with fruit, an uber-ripe California chardonnay minus the oak.

One sip put that impression to rest. This wine had a tremendous spine of acid. While the nose screamed fat and amorphous, the feel of the wine in the mouth was more Chablis like. It had sharp edges to it that really balanced out the big fruit tastes of papaya, melon, and pineapple. It never went over the top, the fruit and acid just balanced each other perfectly. There was a lengthy finish that ended totally clean with a definite minerality to carry you to the next sip. I was very impressed with this wine.

The wine is from the Monterrei region of Spain, a small area adjoining the extreme northeast corner of Portugal. This was my first ever wine from that region, and my first Godello. It definitely won't be my last.

There was a small plate of pasta with shrimp for dinner the first night and this was a good match. The second night there was a pork chop, sprinkled with paprika and grilled. When the chop was turned on the grill we covered the top with a peach and habanero chutney and let that warm while the chop finished cooking. Great match with this wine.

$13 and 13% alcohol. A very reasonably priced wine.

A Trip to Bountiful?

2011-08-17T07:48:00.001-04:00

There was a trip to another out of state store Monday and I approached it in a different manner than my usual method. I put together a case of inexpensive wine that matched one of two criterion, each bottle had to be something I've never tried before or it had to be from a producer that was new to me. I ended up with a very mixed case from France, Spain, Italy, Germany, New York, California, and Scotland. Obviously the bottle from Scotland was a single malt whisky, but the others were all wine.

One part of the excursion that was unexpected was the reaction from and the interaction with the personnel in the wine store. Monday is their least busy day so they had time to spend on my project. When I moved from section to section the in store "expert" on those sections was there to talk wine and make suggestions. Two of the bottles were not displayed on the shelves, they were tucked away in back awaiting shelf space. My not being a novice or new wine drinker proved to be a challenge for them as some of their early suggestions were rejected with comments like, "I had that about fifteen years ago."

Fun day and there will be some interesting wines to try over the next few weeks.

The pictures don't have much to do with the story, they are just shots of a morning glory vine on the fence around the patio and in the adjacent tree.

Morning Sun

2011-08-15T15:55:00.000-04:00

Scott, one of the dogs, and I went for a walk Saturday morning. My walk was leisurely, but his was busy. Six turtles found a wonderful spot to warm themselves in the morning sun. They were quite content until Scott got too close.

Summer Bounty

2011-08-14T16:36:00.002-04:00

One of the true treasures of summer in Ohio is tomatoes. In August one tends to almost overdose on them to make up for the dearth of a good tasting tomato once late fall and winter arrives. Yesterday I picked a good number of cherry tomatoes and then friends dropped by with a huge bag of full sized ones from their garden. Pictured above is the result of a few minutes of work - the best local Bloody Mary in the world, made with fresh tomato juice.

We filled the blender with tomatoes, threw in some Worcestershire Sauce, hot sauce, lemon juice, salt and pepper and punched the 'liquify' button. After a minute we passed the resulting liquid through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds and skins. We let the mixture settle for an hour.

This was as fresh and local a Bloody Mary as is possible. The tomatoes were grown locally. The vodka was distilled about fifteen minutes from here and the basil used for the garnish was grown in a huge pot by the patio. We don't do lemons in Ohio and there's no substitute for Worcestershire Sauce so those items remain non local.

Chateau de Riviere

2011-08-13T08:29:00.000-04:00

Slightly out of the area the other day and there was a wine store across the street from my appointment. It's great fun exploring a brand new store simply because one sees things that are new and different from those in one's the usual haunts.

One wine I had not seen before was Chateau de Riviere, a Chinon from the 2009 vintage. We tossed a veal chop on the grill, fixed a small salad and some fresh corn and pulled the cork. Light purple/red in the glass and Beaujolais like in its depth of color. Fresh aromas of sweet red cherries, a little earth and a tiny bit of spice. Light and pleasant on the tongue with a good acid attack up front. Flavors were full of light fruit, but despite the lightness they were full flavors. Good tannin on the side of the tongue and a surprisingly long finish that ended with an earthy feel to it. Nicely balanced wine and a great summer red. Perfect match with the veal chop which had been marinated in olive oil, rosemary, garlic and lemon zest prior to being grilled.

12.5% alcohol and $13.50

Farmers' Market Day

2011-08-11T16:35:00.000-04:00

The spring here in southwest Ohio was very wet, and that delayed the farm folks from getting a number of their crops in the ground. The last month has been very hot so the crops are making up for lost time. Pictured above was part of today's haul at the local Farmers' Market. On the right is a sweet dumpling squash. There are two golden globe eggplants and one purple and white globe egg plant. Obviously the long, purple veggie is another variety of eggplant. There were some just picked cherry tomatoes to round out the photo. Not pictured were some small zucchini, the first of the local onions and some heirloom tomatoes.

I bought a large amount of the cherry tomatoes and plan on making a large batch of Bloody Mary mix with them. That drink is so much better with freshly made tomato juice than it is with the canned variety.

To make things even better, one of the best local restaurants was there with side dishes prepared with nearly 100% local ingredients (we don't make olive oil in Ohio). Dinner tonight will be all local - a pan seared local chicken breast with ratatouille and a roasted beet and onion salad with local goat cheese. No decision yet, but I'm betting there will be local wine also.

Life is good.

Norton

2011-08-10T14:58:00.000-04:00

I picked this wine up two years ago at the Kickapoo Creek winery in Illinois. I was visiting some friends in the area and we stopped for a tasting at the winery. Out of twenty some wines this was the one I found palatable. I really didn't care for their chocolate wine.

Norton is a unique grape in that it is not a vitis vinifera grape, it is a vitis aestivalis and was first isolated in Virginia. It is also unique in being one of the very few native grapes that doesn't have the "foxy" off putting taste that most native grapes do, though most are vitis labrusca. More info on the grape here.

I took this wine to the picnic last Saturday that is discussed below. So how did it taste? Pretty good, but not great. Very dark color and a nose of heavy grape and black cherry, but they were unusual and not the typical taste of cherry one gets in most wines. Let's call it very, very ripe black cherry. Very lush mouth feel. There was decent acid and some good tannin. The most unusual part was the finish. The wine was going along great, one got a hint of sweetness and then it just stopped. It went from flavorful to "gone" in a matter of a second. The next sip produced the same results, as did any sip the rest of the evening.

All that said, it was a highly drinkable wine and had it's charms. No one at the picnic disliked it.

The wine was not vintage dated, but according to the folks at the winery is was a mixture of the 2006 and 2007 vintages.

13% alcohol and $16.

Blue Nun

2011-08-09T07:19:00.000-04:00

Saturday was fun. Some friends hosted a retro or "redneck" dinner with appropriate wines. In other words, cheap stuff. I made three contributions to the evening, and the first was a 2009 Blue Nun, German Table Wine.

This was an extremely popular wine in the 70's and early 80's here in the U.S. For a significant number of people it was their introduction to German wines and I should be included in that group. At the time it was labeled as Liebfraumilch, quite often shortened to Leap Frog Milk. The blend has obviously changed because the label now says German Table Wine. There was quite a bit of razzing from my friends at the wine store when this bottle appeared in my cart at the checkout counter but in spite of the shouts of derision I took the old lady home with me.

The wine was basically colorless in the glass with some hints of green/gold at the edges. Flowery nose of ripe blossoms and fruit. There was no hint of citrus in this wine. Medium body and a less sweet taste than I remember. The acid that so marks a good German wine was missing here so the wine tasted flat. There was no edge to it to balance out the sweetness that was there. For $3 more one could move up to a good basic Riesling.

$9 and 9.5% alcohol.

Chateau Bel Air

2011-08-07T20:41:00.000-04:00

I really don't buy much Bordeaux any more. I used to buy quite a bit of it and at one time had a number of second growths in the cellar. Of course they used to be affordable. Times change and today there aren't that many in the cellar because of the price inflation.

A couple of weeks ago I found this bottle of 2009 Chateau Bel Air in a wine store at $14. That's certainly a price that made it worth a try.

There was nothing outstanding, ethereal or life changing about this wine, but it was certainly good and tasty. The color was medium and definitely young at the edges. The aroma was young as well with some medium dark berries, a hint of cassis and a touch of cedar. Medium body and mouth feel and a pleasant fruity finish that ended with a moderate dose of tannin to clear the palate. There was a roast chicken for dinner and some brown rice mixed with a few vegetables and the wine was equal part of a good meal.

Sadly they sold out of this wine, but today it was back in stock so I added two bottles to the cellar. It will be fun to try it again in a year or two.

13% alcohol and $14. Good buy.

Apple Cider

2011-08-02T23:01:00.000-04:00

Another something new for dinner tonight, a French apple cider. To be precise it was a 2009 Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouche Brut de Normandie, an unpasteurized and unfiltered cider from Normandy.

Golden color in the glass and a tremendous nose of rich apples, yeast and bread dough. Tart and full flavored there was a great balance between intense apple flavor component of freshly baked bread. Lots of flavor and a long finish that ended sweet but dry.

Dinner was a grilled pork chop and we stuck some apple wood chips on the coals for a smoky flavor, and basted the chop as it grilled with cider vinegar and oil. Nice combination and very complimentary flavors.

5.5% alcohol, 375ml and $7.

Gertrude

2011-07-31T20:49:00.000-04:00

What can one say? It's a wine called Gertrude and it features a pink piggy-bank on the label. Once in awhile things are so bizarre they warrant a try.

Officially the wine is la Maia Lina Gertrude Rosso Toscana 2008. The wine is a blend of 45% Sangiovese, 25% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon which I guess makes it a "super Tuscan." Deep colored wine with a nose of blueberries, dried cherries, earth and meat. Medium body but full flavor with the fruit predominating. It really does taste like blueberries. A good hint of wood tannin and a dry finish actually made for a pleasant wine with a grilled pork chop and a little bit of fresh pasta with good olive oil, cheese and chopped fresh tomatoes and basil.

13.5% alcohol and $13.

Chenin/Vio

2011-07-31T09:09:00.000-04:00

Nothing like something a little "off the wall" to grab my eye in a wine store. That was the case with this wine, a 2009 Vinum Cellars Chenin/Vio, a mixture of 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Viognier. A modest price meant it had to come home for a test drive.

Dinner was fresh blue cod encased in panko crumbs and served with a spicy Louisiana style Remoulade sauce with a touch of curry in it. Interesting play of flavors between the sweet, mild fish and the slight bite of the sauce. It turned out to be a nice pairing with the wine as well.

Straw color in the glass and an unmistakable nose of Chenin Blanc, honeysuckle blossoms, peaches and pear skin. Medium body wine with a great mouth feel to it that certainly brought out the Viognier. Flavors of under ripe peaches, grapefruit, pears, and a touch of cloves. Tremendous acidity to the wine and it ended with a great, refreshing flavors of citrus. It worked wonderfully with the curry flavors in the sauce.

Remarkably it also worked well with the appetizer for the evening, a fresh steamed artichoke with a lemon butter dipping sauce.

80% Chenin Blanc, 20% Viognier, 13.5% alcohol and $13. Good wine at that price.

2005 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Merlot

2011-07-28T09:03:00.002-04:00

Out shopping yesterday and came across a sale on the 2005 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend from the Margaret River area of western Australia. Dinner was a small rib eye steak from the grill with fresh white corn and a salad. While the steak was grilling we opened the wine.

Nice aroma that was a great balance between dark fruits and wood tannin. Very fruit forward wine with a taste of black cherries, a little cassis, some dark plums and a hint of mint. Medium body weight and mouth feel. Wonderful fruit, wood tannin and acid balance. Good length to the finish that ended with a mature, but not old, flavor of a well made wine. Easily drinkable with food in that even though it was flavorful it wasn't overpowering. Very good wine for the sale price.

70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot. 14% alcohol and on sale $11.

Lunch

2011-07-25T17:16:00.001-04:00

A chewy crust, tomato sauce, provolone cheese, fresh picked red and yellow tomatoes, sliced pepperoni, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil - and a beer.

Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc

2011-07-24T10:20:00.000-04:00

The New York Times featured a tasting report on California Sauvignon Blancs this past week. A long time ago I was a big fan of those wines but I have to agree with the Times when it argued that a number of them appear to be produced these days so that wineries will have a white to pour in the tasting room. They are the redheaded step children of Napa Valley.

One of the wines they recommended was a Sauvignon Blanc that I have always liked, the one from Frog's Leap from the Rutherford AVA in Napa Valley. In this case it was the 2008 vintage. Light, green gold in the glass the aroma is bright, grassy and citrusy. Medium weight in the mouth the wine was tart and refreshing and tasted young and fresh. There seemed to be a bit of tarragon in the flavor of this wine and there was a fair bit of grapefruit on the finish. Very nice wine.

Dinner was several sizes of shrimp marinated briefly tossed on the grill. The head on shrimp were small but delicious and the big boys in the middle of the below photo had great texture. A great match with the wine.

12.5% alcohol and $22.

Gruner Veltliner

2011-07-17T17:18:00.000-04:00

Shrimp, zucchini, snap peas, shallots, and red and yellow peppers all in a hot and sour sauce. The wine was a 2009 Leth Gruner Veltliner, Steinagrund Lagenreserve from Austria. Flowery, but reserved nose, pale color in the glass. Intensely fruity at the front with ripe green grapes, melon and lime. Tremendous acid in the mid palate that dried out the sweetness in the wine. Long, lengthy and sharp and tart finish that ended with some herbaceousness. Very nice wine with the richness and heat of the shrimp.

Good wine. $16 and 12.5% alcohol.

Rose' of Merlot

2011-07-14T15:42:00.000-04:00

Beautiful evening yesterday, clear, bright, and cool for July. I lit the grill and tossed on a rib-eye steak about an inch and a half thick. There was fresh corn, and some just picked salad greens tossed with an orange marmalade and lemon juice vinaigrette.

The wine of choice was the second bottle of Michel-Schlumberger rose' of Merlot, Le Flirt, pictured above with an echinacea flower. Lots of strawberries and cherries in both the nose and the taste, great acidity, and very little residual sugar. Dry and enticing and just plain fun to drink, and it went well with all the food.

$16 and 13.2% alcohol

A Long Trip?

2011-07-12T07:04:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the two resident canines being highly incensed by the hissing sound of the balloon I managed this picture a couple of evenings ago. It would be quite a long trip and quite a feat to reach that destination, but it does make a decent photograph.

It was also a long trip for last night's wine, a 2007 Michel Schlumberger Dry Creek Valley Chardonnay. I had enjoyed this wine on its release a little more than a year ago and jumped at the chance to get four more bottles for a decent price during a closeout at the winery.

Unfortunately it was a long trip from California and the wine wasn't up to the task. Yellow in the glass, a nose of butterscotch and an old and tired taste. It's seen better days.

$15 and 14% alcohol

Chianti Classico

2011-07-09T13:38:00.000-04:00

A break in the weather meant it was time to get in a serious red wine. The Querciabella Chianti Classico certainly qualifies as a serious wine.

There was a flank steak done on the grill after marinating in olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and anchovies for about twelve hours. We added some fresh corn and a salad to complete the meal.

I opened the wine about an hour before dinner was ready and it was very closed. Not too much coming out of the nose and a dry, earthy taste with little fruit. I decanted the bottle and went ahead with cooking dinner. When dinner was ready so was the wine. Dark and sour cherries on the nose, with a good dose of earthiness. Great fruit in the taste along with acid and tannin. There was a smoky quality to the wine that I liked very much. Smooth and mellow on the finish and bone dry at the very end. It was virtually perfect with the food. There's still some life ahead for this wine and I'll wait a couple of years for my last bottle.

$28 and 13.5% alcohol.

Bottle Age

2011-07-07T16:10:00.000-04:00

I was prowling around in the far reaches of the cellar when I discovered a forgotten wine, a 2008 Domaine Guindon Gamay Coteaux d'Ancenis VDQS Rosé, a Loire valley rosé. No doubt that it was purchased last year and quickly forgotten.

Dinner was left over salmon and a wild rice dish with peaches and avocado. We put a chill on the wine and opened it. Nice color, very fruity aroma, and a great taste of strawberries, a bit of cherry and maybe some rhubarb. Good acid and a bone dry finish.

Good, tasty wine that doesn't require thought, it just requires a glass.

12% alcohol and $10.

Pinot and Salmon

2011-07-05T15:54:00.001-04:00

Sunday was a a delicious day and there was a good sized group to celebrated Independence Day that evening. The entree was a nearly seven pound wild Coho salmon fresh from Alaska. Appetizers and side dishes were way to numerous to mention but it was definitely a Pinot Noir night.

Two of the better ones that evening were both 2008 pinot noirs from Oregon's Willamette Valley, a Penner Ashe and a Chehalem Three Vineyard.

Both were full and rich but no where near being overbearing. The Chehalem came in at 13.1% alcohol and Penner Ashe at 13.4%. The Chehalem was a little less intense. Full fruit flavors with woodsy aromas. Ripe, lush, good acid and great balance. Wonderful mouth feel and the acid was great at cutting through the richness of the salmon. $30 and a good buy at that price.

The Penner Ashe was a little bigger and fuller wine with darker flavors and a little more wood to it. Another year or two in the bottle would be great for this wine. Still, it did nothing to tarnish the food.

Very nice Frank Family 2008 Napa Valley chardonnay before dinner. Lime, white peach, and a little melon. Good acidity. Nice with some of the appetizers.

Being July 4 eve, there was about a 30 minute fireworks display afterwards. It was like a competition in this neighborhood to see who get the loudest and highest. I would have hated to have been trying to land a plane on this evening.

Sadly, I remembered all the food items that I was bringing, but left the camera at home so I was forced into using the camera in the phone.

Delicious Riseling

2011-07-02T20:38:00.000-04:00

A superb wine with some spicy Chinese food this evening, a 2009 Alfred Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese from the Mosel. Bright and cheery aromas of white peach, citrus and crisp melon. Beautifully clear in the glass. The taste was magnificent with apple, lime, white peach and a minerality that gave it's own distinct edge. Wonderful sweetness that was in perfect balance with excellent acidity. A long, slow finish of sweet apple and a final burst of acid at the very end.

The food was a chicken breast that was was pan seared and roasted. While the chicken breast roasted we tossed some shallots into the pan, along with diced red bell pepper, both snow peas and sugar snap peas, and a chopped up zucchini fresh from the garden. All of that was stir fried until beginning to color. The chicken breasts went back into the pan and a hot and sour sauce with about ten ingredients went in with it. The vegetables were coated and so was the chicken.

There was a fair amount of heat to the dish but the sweetness in the wine mellowed the fire. The crispness of the wine refreshed the palate for the next bite of food. To be perfectly honest the chicken was almost redundant. The vegetables turned out to be the star.

Good meal and an excellent wine. 9% alcohol and $21. There are two more bottles in the cellar.

Summer Fare

2011-07-01T09:05:00.000-04:00

The latest cool spell appears to be over and the weather is turning hot and humid again, just in time for the heart of summer. My meals tend to get lighter and my wines tend to get whiter in the summer heat. Last night we got a jump on the conditions with some pan seared swordfish.

The fish sat in a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, rosemary, lemon thyme and red pepper flakes for about 30 minutes. The fish went into a hot skillet for two minutes on each side and then was tossed in a 400 degree oven for an additional five minutes. The results, with a sliced tomato and some basil, is pictured above.

The wine was a Con Classe Ruedo 2008 from Spain. Tart, sharp, flavorful, dry and perfect for cutting through the richness of the swordfish. There is good depth of flavor, a wonderful mouth feel, and a bracing finish. We put a chill on the wine but even when it warmed up in the bottle the refreshing quality remained.

$9 and 12.5% alcohol.

Chateau Bel Air 2009

2011-06-30T09:58:00.000-04:00

I don't drink very much Bordeaux any more because the prices have gone beyond high and into the realm of being ridiculous. That doesn't mean that if a bargain shows up I won't drink it. That was the case when an out of state wine buying trip produced a 2009 Chateau Bel Air Haut Medoc from Domaines Joel Irigaray for a reasonable $15.

It rested for a week and then I pulled the cork to go with some pan seared and oven roasted lamb chops. This is definitely on the savory side of Bordeaux. There was clean earth and black cherries in the nose. The taste was much the same with good fruit, lots of tannin and correct acid. The fruit was secondary here and even after forty minutes breathing it was still somewhat reserved. Medium length to the finish and it ended totally dry. Very good with the lamb.

The vacuum stopper went in the bottle and it went back in the cellar for a day. On the second day there was a small strip steak on the grill and some pan fried zucchini. The fruit came on much stronger on the second day, though the backbone of earthiness and tannin was still strong. The finish was still a little short but this was still a drinkable wine. Good with the steak.

Going back a number of years I remember reading notes from Hugh Johnson or Michael Broadbent where they were discussing lighter Bordeaux as being 'luncheon clarets.' I think that's a fair description for this wine. It's not big enough for a serious meal or pairing, but it's a good wine for a light supper or a lunch. With it being full summer here it also made for an acceptable summer red.

$15 and 13% alcohol.