Fall Food

The weather is trending colder.. It was time for some heartier food that I've been missing since early spring.  In the winter I have these cravings for fresh fruit and vegetables; tomatoes, corn, berries, etc. In the summer I miss winter foods of slowly braised meat and root vegetables.

Yesterday there was a long simmered pan of short ribs, done in red wine and stock with lots of onions, garlic, carrots, and celery.  We added tomato paste and powder and some anchovies for a deeper flavor.  Wonderful, earthy smells.  With garlic mashed potatoes it was just the thing for a cool evening.

The wine of the day for both the braising and the dinner was a 2007 Ogier Cotes du Rhone Heritages.  The wine was a blend of 70% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre and a little oak aging.  Dark red in the glass it looked and smelled more like a Crozes Hermitage or St Joseph than it did a jolly Cotes' du Rhone.  Dark fruits, the ripest strawberries imaginable, raw meat, and good damp earth all were going on here in both the aroma and the taste of the wine.  Very full bodied but with good acid and tannin.  Nice long finish.  Since it was part of the stock with the short ribs it was obviously a wonderful match. 

$13 and 14% alcohol.

Autumn Riesling

Another of the bottles that was discovered during the recent inventory of the wine cellar was a second bottle of the 2007 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Kabinett.  It certainly was a happy discovery.

The wine was golden in the glass and there was some kerosene on the nose, but that faded quickly.  The nose held a hint of pineapple, apricot and lemon zest.  There was a luscious mouth feel to this wine, almost luxurious.  The taste was near tropical with the pineapple and perhaps a hint of papaya overlaying a base of tart citrus and green apple.  This wine was definitely on the sweet side for a Kabinett, but the acidity brought the sugar back down to earth.  Wonderful balance to the wine.  At the very end the tart, green apple component kicked in to kill the sweetness.  Outside the weather was totally clear, briskly cool and the sun was casting long shadows for the promised autumn  evening.  That's about the perfect description for this wine.

There was a pan braised pork chop with fresh apple cider serving as  the braising liquid and some boiled fingerling potatoes with lemon zest, parsley and butter.  Good pairing with the wine.

The "Sonnenuhr" in the name of the wine means "sundial."  Pictured below courtesy of Wikipedia is the sundial in the vineyard in  Zeltinger.    $20 and 7.5% alcohol. 

Cotes du Rhone and Rain

Tuesday was interesting here. After three near record dry months with little or no rain the skies opened up for an hour or so, then slowed and blessed us with about another two hours of gentle rain. The wind gusts of 55mph weren't exactly pleasant, but all the dry, fallen leaves from in front of the house now reside down the street where that wind blew them. Certainly a labor saving device.

There was a simple shrimp and pasta dish with some herbs de Provence in the seasoning so we opted for Guigal's basic, white Cotes du Rhone. Viognier, Marsanne, Roussane, Grenache blanc and Bourboulenc are all in the blend. The white flower and peach smell of the viognier seemed to dominate but there was certainly body from the Marsanne and Roussane. The high acid from the Grenache blanc and Bourboulenc added their parts. The taste was virtually the same, uncomplicated, fresh, but with enough body to match up with the mood of the day. $12 and 13.5% alcohol.

Reading Between the Wines

Along with the 2009 German Rieslings showing up in the local market place Amazon was kind enough to deliver Terry Theise's new book, Reading Between the Wines.

It's certainly a different approach to evaluating wine and as Theise says, it's not about taking the mystery out of wine like so many other books lately, it's more about putting the mystery back into the wine.

It's a different approach and one that I certainly like. It is so easy and fashionable to be analytical about wine, to break it down to its components, to discuss it as though it's just an assemblage of its various parts - acid, tannin, fruit etc. Theise's approach is to let the wine take your mind to where ever it happens to wander, and the same wine might take two different people to two entirely different places with neither person nor place being neither right nor wrong. In the end, though he tends to shy away from this description, it's sort of a modified Zen approach to drinking wine. Whatever the case I have found the wines that Theise imports to be among my favorites.

Late in the book he mentions a favorite book of his and a favorite wine writer. One of his favorite books is the Fireside Book of Wine by Alexis Bespaloff. The book is a collection of essays, poetry, tasting articles, long and short pieces spanning about three centuries. The out of print book was first published in 1977 and my copy stays near the bedside and gets browsed frequently. Theise also cites as one of his early influences Gerald Asher's columns in the now defunct Gourmet magazine. Beginning in the mid 1970's I photo-copied a number of these columns from the magazine as they appeared, and they are enclosed in several, readily accessible  binders. There are perhaps 75 to 100 of these columns and they remain fresh and alive. It's nice to understand where a writer is coming from, and it's even nicer when I can go back to his roots as well as mine.

Do yourself a favor and read this small book. University of California Press, 2010.

Forgotten Bottle

The last two days have been spent completely re-cataloging the wine on hand, putting like wines together and entering correct locations in the database.  When all was said and done there were three bottles that seemed to have disappeared and three that seem to have never been entered in the database.  The three that disappeared were more than likely consumed, and none was anything more than an every day wine.

The other side of that coin was a rather nice bottle that never got entered into the database, a 2005 Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco.  I originally entered two bottles as having been purchased and have notes of having consumed one of them, but here was a third bottle. 

Not one to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth we opened it yesterday evening. There was a chicken roasted on the grill and some fresh ricotta gnocchi.  The wine was extremely tannic upon opening but we gave it two hours in a decaanter and that resolved those issues.

There was an intense nose of strawberries, cherries, roses, tar and earth.  This was a wine that I could enjoy just by sniffing it.  There was a lot of fruit in the taste, but this was not a fruit bomb, there was a lot going on underneath that fruit.  There was tannin and acid and a wonderful structure that promises more development.  The finish was wonderfully sweet and long and ended with both acid and tannin.

We finished the wine this evening with some white and wild rice and the remainder of a rack of lamb, reheated in a hot skillet in duck fat.  The nose was still there singing wonderful Italian songs and the wine had in no way faded.  For an entry level Barbaresco this was a tremendous effort and a very fine wine.    $28 and 14% alcohol.

2005 Petalos Bierzo

Yesterday we wanted and needed something hearty to drink with some stuffed pork chops. I opted for a  2005 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Pétalos, a wine I had not tried before.  The wine is made from the Mencia grape and these wines aren't seen too often in the local market.

The chops were two inches thick and were stuffed with a pureed mixture of dried figs which had been re-hydrated in some of the wine, a couple of anchovy fillets, almonds, rosemary, garlic, pepper flakes and olive oil. They were grilled for several minute on each side then allowed to finish cooking over indirect heat. 

The wine was intensely dark purple, almost black in the glass.  The aroma in the glass was dark red fruits and blueberries and a heavy dose of earth.  At first sip the wine was super tannic, fully extracted and walking a fine line between being both sweet and bitter.  We let it breathe for and hour and half while the food was prepared. 

When dinner was ready the wine had settled down somewhat, though it was still very much a new world type of wine.  The fruit was still strong and the blueberries were still showing their stuff.  Those drying tannins were still heavy and the wine still had that razors edge between sweetness and bitterness.  The finish was quite lengthy and tannic at the end.

The food, especially the stuffing in the pork chops, cooled some of the tannin and some of the sweetness in the wine.  It was a very good match with the food.  Altogether the jury is still out on this wine for me.  I would love to try a Bierzo that is not quite so extracted, but I would drink this one again.   $20 and 14% alcohol.

2009 Spreitzer 101

Beautiful day here yesterday, the kind of day that makes living in this area worthwhile. Brilliantly sunny, temperatures in the mid 60 degrees range, light wind and absolutely nothing to do except enjoy it.

The first of the 2009 German Rieslings arrived in the local area so a trip to the market became a shopping excursion.  Several came home with me, one in multiple bottles and the remainder in single bottles.  I'll be trying the single bottle purchases soon to see which ones to repurchase and store.

A favorite of mine was there in a new form.    Spreitzer has introduced Riesling 101 to the market.  It's basic, Rheingau Riesling as opposed to individual villages and / or vineyards.   At $15 it was worth trying first.  Totally clear in the glass, the color was the palest gold.  The nose was lime and lemon zest, a tiny hint of melon and some tart apple.  The taste brought all those flavors together along with a drop or two of honey.  Wonderful feeling in the mouth with the acid in this wine.  Sharp and tart finish where the honey came to the fore before being trumped by the acidity and ending on the dry side.  This wine certainly matched the weather - sunny, light and breezy. 

There was some stir-fried chicken with green beans, onions and mushrooms and a lightly spicy sauce. The pairing with the Spreitzer was great.    $15 and 10% alcohol.

Maison Rouge

One good thing about autumn is that wine shipments start again.  The long, extremely hot summer put an end to shipments, but now that cooler weather is here they have started again. The first to arrive was from Michel Schlumberger, and it was a bottle of their Maison Rouge and a bottle of their Petit Verdot. 

Last night we twisted the cap off the 2007 Maison Rouge with a small rack of lamb from the grill.  The wine is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Viognier.  The nose was a great mixture of fruit and earth.  I could pick out the Syrah and the Cabernet aromas but really couldn't separate the other varieties though it was obvious there were some other varieties in the mix.   There was warm, ripe fruit in the taste, balanced with good acid and a soft tannin and an apparopriate touch of oak.  Lots of cherries and red plums.  Good mouth feel, full but not overbearing.  Nice finish with some tannin cleaning things up for the next bite of lamb.  This is a wine I could drink more often since all of these parts were so well combined. 

Too often I tend to gravitate toward higher priced wines when judging a winery, but perhaps the true worth of a winery should be more how they handle their lower priced wines.  At $20 this one is a real gem.  14.5% alcohol.

Beech Muchrooms and Abymes

There were fresh beech mushrooms in the market last weekend so a batch came home with me.  They are also known as Shemeji mushrooms since the originated in japan.  They have a propensity for growing around beech trees, hence there U.S. name of beech mushrooms.  They have a unique, nutty taste to me and a wonderful crunch even when cooked.

The mushrooms went into a shrimp, tomato, garlic, shallot, saffron and cream sauce which was all tossed with some hand formed pasta.  The mushrooms and the shrimp both have the same texture when cooked in this dish. 

The wine of choice was a 2009 Abymes, which was covered here previously.  The minerality in the wine seemed to pick up on the mushrooms. Very nice together. 

El Chaparral 2006

Five years ago Spanish red wines were a good buy, somewhat rustic and very easy to drink.  Then the more is better philosophy seemed to take over and the wines lost their appeal to me.  They became over extracted, riper, higher in alcohol and they all began to taste the same.  It didn't really matter what the grape variety was, they all began to taste like jams and jellies or cherry infused Dr. Pepper soft drink.

A person at one of the wine stores I've frequented for a number of years pulled me aside last week and said that he had a Spanish red wine that seemed headed back in my direction.  The wine was a 2006 El Chaparral old vine Grenache from Vega Sindoa, a wine out of the Navarra region.  The alcohol content was only 14% so I brought a bottle home.

Last night there was a large steak on the grill and some sweet potatoes done in the skillet.  Time to try the wine.  Nice nose of fruit, earth and a dusty wind.  The color was bright red and not overly dark.  The wine tasted of just ripe strawberries, a few raspberries, and a little bit of earth.  It was dry, not syrupy or sweet.  The major thing it seemed to have going for it was some restraint.  The fruit was ripe but they never pushed it over the top.  Good acidity and some nice drying tannins finished off the wine.  It seemed less polished, less manipulated and it was a good wine with the steak.  Still with 14% alcohol we stopped at two glasses and that was just about right.  Nice pairing with the steak, so this is a wine I would drink again.  $16.

Technically Correct

There were some fresh sea scallops a dew days ago.  They were simply pan seared in butter, lemon zest and lemon juice.  There was a side of super thin sweet potato French fries and a mixture of fresh corn, peas and carrots.

I reached for a Chablis, in this case a 2005 Domaine Chantemerle, Fourchaume, Premier Cru.  Nice pale color in the glass and a nose of crisp fruit, citrus and herbs.  The flavor was sharp and tart with green apple, yellow apple, lemon zest, and maybe a hint of tarragon.  There was an acceptable depth to the wine, but nothing special.  The finish was of moderate length and ended with a refreshing dose of acid.  

Absolutely everything about this wine was technically correct and it met every criteria for a Chablis.  It was also soul less.  There was nothing here that said anything except, 'this is wine.'  I gave it some  more time in the glass and it still failed to be anything more than common.

I vacuumed the bottle and chilled it in the refrigerator over night.  The next evening there was a chicken breast for dinner.  The Chablis was still correct, and it was still boring an uninteresting.    The Muscadet from last weekend was still fresh in my mind and it would have been a much better match with the scallops.  That wine was alive and singing, the Chablis made me feel like I was at a funeral.

12.5% alcohol and $24.

Not So Daffy Duck

Even though the wine involved in this meal, a 2008 Gianfranco Alessandri Dolcetto d'Alba, was disappointing in context the meal was still good.

The duck breast was dusted with salt, pepper and ground allspice then slowly pan seared on the skin side to render out the fat.  When that was complete the breast was flipped and very quickly seared on the flesh side before going into a hot oven for five minutes to firm the center. 

It was allowed to rest under foil while the pan was deglazed with a little wine, some juice from the pomegranate and a little agave nectar.  When that was reduced the pomegranate seeds were added and the sauce was spooned over the breast.  Lots of big flavors.

The wild rice was cooked with a few dried porcini mushrooms in the stock, then layered into a mold with toasted, hickory nuts scattered between the layers of rice.    Earthy, clean and delicious.

Dolcetto D'Alba

With apologies to Robert Burns...

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

We mentioned yesterday that there was a duck breast with both pomegranate juice and seeds in the sauce.  My best laid scheme was that a 2008 Gianfranco Alessandria Dolcetto d'Alba would be a good choice here.  It wasn't.  The intensity of the flavors in the breast and sauce overwhelmed this wine.  On it's own the wine had appropriate color,  a nice, fruity bouquet, good acid, and nice finish.  There just wasn't enough body in the wine to stand up to the duck breast and sauce.  This was a dish that when it was complete screamed for a Barolo or  a Burgundy of somewhat more stature than just a commune or village wine.

The second night the remaining wine was paired with some baked chicken thighs and a mixture of Kaljira and wild rice.  This brought out both the fruit and acid in the wine and was a good match for finding the promis'd joy in this particular wine. 

Alessandria's wine label is basic black and white, so I shot the photo of the bottle in that mode.  

Pomegranates

The first pomegranates were in the market this past weekend.  They were small, but a couple still found there way home with me.  They were sharp and tart and tasted similar to parts of a young, bone dry, French rose'. They were photographed outside in the harsh glare of very late afternoon.

Most of one found its way to a juicer and that juice was added to a sauce for a duck breast.  A few of the seeds served as a garnish.  Good meal.  Pretty fruit.

Muscadet

Summer has returned with a vengeance with record high temperatures for the last two days.  Fortunately it does cool off at night and the humidity is very low.  Still, that he means summer food and wine.  Since the meal involved oysters on the half shell the wine became a 2008 Andre-Michel Bregeon Muscadet, Sevre et Maine Sur Lie. 

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away a local wine store made a tremendous purchase of Muscadet.  The price was $1.99 per bottle, but since I bought two cases there was a ten percent discount so those two cases cost slightly less than $43.  It wasn't great, but I learned to like it and I've liked Muscadet since then.

This particular wine was a Kermit Lynch Selection so one knew it was good.  Almost colorless in the glass the most notable feature was the ever so slight effervescence; a few tiny bubbles working toward the surface.  The nose was virtually fruitless, but smelled of rocks, gravel, oyster shells and the sea.  Bone dry in the mouth the wine tasted much as it smelled, sharp, tart, chalky and delicious.  There was a tiny hint of green sea grass.  Great acidity on the finish. 

The oyster had only a light grind of pepper for a dressing and along with the wine it was all they needed.  Just a super pairing.

The main course was a shrimp and carrot risotto, and some of the Muscadet found its way into the risotto.   Another good dish and the wine was very good here as well, though considering the match with the oysters it suffered a little with the risotto.   

$13 and 12% alcohol.

Lemelson, Thea's Selection 2007

This Willamette Valley, Oregon winery is fast becoming a favorite of mine. This past summer we drank a Lemelson Stermer Vineyard from the 2005 vintage and loved it.  You can read those comments here.  A few weeks ago we drank a bottle of their 2008 Riesling and very much liked that one as well. The local market has recently featured Lemelson in a more prominent way so I've added a few more bottles to the cellar. 

There was one wine that was discounted so we bought several bottles of the Lemelson Thea's Selection from the 2007 vintage.  Thea's is basically a blend of the vineyards from which Lemelson makes wine.  Since there were two good looking lamb chops with some wild rive and mushrooms we cracked one open. 

Rich, ripe fruit on the nose, predominantly deep red cherries in a color that was true Pinot Noir.  It wasn't too dark, it was a rich semi transparent hue. With a little swirling there was a forest floor and slightly damp leaf aroma.  Full flavored without being overbearing the wine definitely tasted of cherries and cool, moist earth.  Good balance with acid and tannin.  It was very nice with the lamb but the wild rice and mushrooms brought out additional dimensions in this wine.  The flavor profile was fruit and earth and the wild rice definitely brought the fruit forward in the wine.  It just seemed to amplify everything about the wine.  It was a wonderful match. 

The current vintage in the market is 2008, a supposedly superior vintage for Oregon Pinot Noirs.  This was probably the end of the regular availability for the 2007 vintage, and thus a discounted price.  At $22 it was a true steal.  13.5% alcohol.

2008 Con Class Rueda

With crystal clear, green-gold color this wine looked wonderful in the glass.  Sharp, tart nose of peach and nectarine.  Medium body with super acidity.  Flavors of nectarine mixed with citrus.  Fruity and sharp on the finish.  The previous two vintages of this wine were good, but this one seems better.  One could do a lot worse for $12.  11.5% alcohol.

There was a trout  fillet which was pan seared in olive oil and butter.  Lemon juice was added to make the pan sauce.  Simple, easy, and great with the wine.

Farmhouse Cheeses

There were a couple of new cheeses at the market last weekend so we brought home a sample of each. Both were from the Meadow Creek Dairy in southwestern Virginia. They make the cheese with milk from their herd of Jersey cows.

The cheese on the bottom left in the picture is Appalachian, the original cheese from this producer. It's a semi hard, lightly cooked, pressed curd cheese that is aged for at least 60 days. Nice firm texture and good mouth feel. I could sense white mushrooms and earthy flavors here. Nice bit of acid in the cheese as well. The dairy's website says the cheese is similar to a French tomme.

The cheese on the right was a true delight, a semi soft, washed rind cheese called Grayson. Runny and gooey, the cheese has quite a nose to it, though that tends to dissipate quickly. Dense, earthy, strong and just flat out good. It's very similar to Tallegio from Italy, but has a more potent nose to it. A truer photo would have shown the cheese with a longer time out of the refrigerator. The cheese bulges and oozes and is great with some crusty bread.

The cheeses are only available at retail locations, as there is no ordering from the company web site. There's a list of stores at the web site.

Fontodi Chianti Classico 2006

The third wine on Sunday was a star in it's own right, a 2006 Fontodi Chianti Classico.  As mentioned in the previous post it was a wonderful wine with the risotto, and wasn't too shabby with the pork loin either.

Dark red in the glass, the aroma of tart red cherries and herbs was strong in the nose.  Add in a whiff of dry wind which had picked up some dust and it was like visiting Italy.  This was a full bodied Sangiovese that was full of the deep, but tart cherries.  There was a hint of spice to go along with rosemary and thyme.  The acid was just about perfect and the tannins supported all of this.  Totally balanced wine that just got better and better as the meal progressed.  There are times when one stops analyzing a wine and just drinks it.  $32 and 14% alcohol.

Sunday Dinner

Last week we posted a picture of a pork loin after it came off the grill.  Sunday that menu was repeated so I thought the best thing to do was post the before picture from the same recipe. 

The pork loin was rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Branches of fresh sage and rosemary encased it and strips of bacon were tied around it.  After a half hour on the grill  over indirect heat the oil from the herbs infused the loin and the bacon and hickory chips gave it a wonderful smoky flavor.  There was also a a repeat of the buttercup squash and Swiss chard risotto.  Good meal.

There were two wines and by the end of the day it was hard to choose between them except to say that one seemed a tad better with the pork and the other seemed to light up with the risotto.

The wine that was best with the pork was a 2003 Enzo Boglietti Barolo, Arione.

It spent a good part of the day open to breathe,  The nose was classic Barolo, rose petals and violets, dried red cherries, and whiff of dry, fresh earth and a a touch of fresh road tar.  The color was true also, more on the orange side of the red spectrum and clearly lighter in color.  Swirling in the glass continued to release those wonderful aromas.

The taste was the dried cherries and the earth.  There was only a hint of oak though this wine would be classified as a modern style Barolo.  Good depth of fruit and wonderful acid were there.  The Barolo tannin was out in full force on the sides of the tongue, not harsh or rough, but definitely strong.  The wine was at its best with a bite of the pork loin as the herbs seemed to intensify the fruit flavors and tone down the tannin and astringency.  It was a match that I would gladly repeat.

This wine was chosen by our host over a couple of 2001 Boglietti Barolos in his cellar.  His wine merchant explained that the 2001 vintage reportedly is still improving in the bottle while the 2003 vintage may not get  better with more age.  Whatever - this was a delicious wine and a great meal.

The wine that went best with the risotto was a 2006 Fontodi Chianti Classico.  More on it tomorrow or Thursday.

Kinkead Ridge Riesling

It's definitely autumn now in this area, although the weather felt more like mid to late November than it did early October. Cool and damp with gray skies seemed to be the order of the day.  The local grapes are picked or are being picked and the early report from Kinkead Ridge is that the 2010 Riesling could be their best ever.

Yesterday we opened the 2008 vintage as a precursor to an Italian meal.  Crystal clear color of pale gold in the glass the wine hit you with a brief whiff of kerosene before settling down to smelling of lime zest and wet rocks in the rain.  Medium body with flavors to match the nose.  Good citrusy quality, a touch of the wet rock and some herbaceousness on the front of the tongue and great acid on the back end.  Good flavor to finish with a touch of sweetness at the end and then the last little bit of acid to clear the palate.  It was a great match with some grilled shrimp with garlic, rosemary, lemon zest and lemon juice. 

Riesling may not be Kinkead Ridge's best wine but to me it has been the most consistent over the number of vintages I've consumed.  They are always good, sound and flavorful and true to the grape.  They are also fairly priced.  $13 and 11% alcohol. 

Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone

Cool, drizzly, Saturday evening, but the grill was smoking and there was a thick porterhouse that needed cooking. 

The wine of choice was the 2007 Paul Jaboulet Aine Cotes du Rhone, Parallele 45.  The wine is 60% grenache and 40% syrah.  Not a thought provoking wine, just a basic red with a solid core of strawberries and a few red plums to taste.  Good acid, appropriate tannin, good dry finish with a hint of earth in it, and a great palate cleanser between bites of the steak.  Easy to drink and at a sale price of $12 very easy on the wallet.  14% alcohol.

Left Over Wine

The remains of the Clerico Dolcetto spent a couple of days under vacuum in the bottle before giving up the last of its pleasures.   There was a small, pork loin that was rubbed with garlic, sprinkled with salt and pepper, lined with rosemary and sage branches, wrapped in bacon and tied into a neat package. It spent about half an hour on the grill over indirect heat becoming smoky and savory as the bacon crisped from the heat. 

The Clerico still had some stuffing left in it and still had those wonderful drying tannins.  The fruit carried through to day three, though the front end seemed to mellow a little.  Still a wonderful bottle of wine for the price and perfect with the pork. 

Still having problems with posting pictures, but at least we found a work around until this issue is resolved.