Chicken Every Sunday and Chardonnay

There is a large pot of moss roses on the front step by the door and they are in full bloom. As I was growing up my mother always had moss roses on the front step, and it's a tradition that is easy to continue as witnessed the photo on the left.

We are back to the stormy season here in Ohio as we had a major storm roll through last evening and another came through this afternoon. Last night I was all set to grill some lamb rib chops when the storm began so they were done inside.

The chicken that was supposed to go on the grill went in the oven today because a storm rolled through just I was lighting the grill. The bird was brined, air dried and rubbed with rosemary, thyme, and lavender before going in a hot oven. There was some fresh pasta to go with some just made pesto and a little store bought corn salad. One of the two large pots of basil on the patio is producing a prodigious amount of leaves and while I wait on the local tomatoes to come to market in another month or so I'm using basil for just about everything. The second pot of basil is running a month behind the first so that it will produce when the tomatoes are ready.

The chicken was wonderful and with it we opened a wine just coming into the market place.
Meranda-Nixon is another Ohio winery that is helping revive the Ohio River Valley appellation for wine. I have tasted several of their wines but the 2007 chardonnay was new. They make a traminette that is very drinkable and they just released their first cabernet, a 2006, that shows some promise. The rest of their wines are on the sweet side and that doesn't appeal to me, though they seem well made for what they intend to be.

My initial reaction was that this was a mediocre wine. But with the chicken it was young, fresh, alive, and simple, tasting of tart white grapes and Granny Smith apples. There was a small sweet spot in the mid palate, but the finish was dry and crisp. This is a wine that's not trying to be anything but young and refreshing. Oak and butter? Not a hint. It was almost a chardonnay version of a German halb-trocken. By itself it was fine, but with food it came alive. A good, honest wine for $12.

The appellation on the wine is "American" meaning the grapes came from one or more of the 50 states. Let's hope they grow some or more chardonnay in their vineyard and continue to make this "summer" style wine in an estate version.

Father's Day

Sadly, Father's Day doesn't mean quite as much now, but I was invited to a cookout today to help some others celebrate the day with hamburgers and bratwurst. With the weather being cloudless, sunny and in the low 80 degree range it seemed to call for a rose'.

The 2007 Artazuri is from the Navarra region of Spain and is 100% Garnacha. I've had a previous bottle and it is full of strawberries and acidity and very little residual sugar. Since it was a pink wine and we hadn't run a picture of a flamingo on the site in some time it seemed like the perfect occasion to take the above photo. Rose's should be about fun.

Later tonight there will be a wee dram of single malt Scottish whisky to end the evening.

For the last twenty or so years that he was alive a bottle of single malt was my gift to my father on Father's Day. It fulfilled several requirements; it was easy to buy, it was very much appreciated, and I always got to spend some time helping him drink it over the course of the following month or two.

About 15 years ago his youngest brother was in town when I arrived with the bottle and he helped us put a dent in it over the course of an evening. When he left to return to northern Ohio he handed me his kids' phone numbers. "Call and explain things to them," he said. "All I ever get from them is socks or ties or things I don't want or need." Ever since then at least one of them has bought him a bottle of single malt for Father's Day. I'll call him tonight while I'm sipping a Lagavulin and we will no doubt exchange a story or two.

A Late Addition
There was a very good 2005 Schug Cellars Chardonnay at today's event but the day was stolen by a 2004 Silverado Solo. This is a varietal Cabernet from a single vineyard in the Stag's Leap area of Napa Valley. Balanced, dark, and full it continued to open an evolve over the afternoon. A very, very good wine that actually showed some restraint.

It Must Be Summer

The unofficial start of summer here in Ohio is Memorial Day, which was last Monday, but Saturday was definitely the start weather-wise. After an incredibly cool month of May the temperature soared to 85 degrees and the humidity rose in a like manner.

Warm , humid temperatures are meant for rose' wine with a slight chill to them. That's exactly what happened when I opened a 2006 Domaine Pierre Guindon - Saint Gereon Chateau D'Ancenis gamay rose from the Loire Valley in France. It had the requisite bright strawberries and cherries, a nice dose of acid, and a dry finish highlighted by a subtle taste of rhubarb. The dry finish was just wonderful, and was probably the best part of this wine. Not great, but for $10 it may appear on the table again.

I threw some Long Island Sound oysters on the grill for an appetizer. We are nearing the end of the season for oysters and these were plump, sweet, salty, and tangy. While we devoured the oysters a large rib steak took up residence on the grill and some garlic and rosemary potatoes roasted in the oven.

The wine was even better with the steak as the fruit really came to the fore and the acid did it's palate cleansing job, and there was enough fat in the steak that Scott and Ellie were thrilled to be on the receiving end. Good steak, good wine, great oysters.

The nice thing about this time of year is that it cools off once the sun sets so we ended the day watching the Stanley Cup hockey finals and sipping a glass of the world's best Scottish whisky, Lagavulin. Strange coincidence that it is Scott's registered name? No.

The storm door from the previous post? It was pounded back into submission with a rubber mallet and is at least usable. The new door will be here Monday or Tuesday.

Wineries & Leftovers

It was an almost perfect ending for a three day weekend, which could have only been surpassed by someone declaring it a four day weekend.

Today (Monday) was the day we ventured down to Ripley OH on the Ohio River to pick up the 2007 white wines from Kinkead Ridge. As I have mentioned before this is an Ohio winery making some outstanding wines, and this weekend was the release of their 2007 white varietals.

There was a terrible Easter frost in April 2007 and it basically decimated the white grapes in this area, along with apples and other tree fruits. As a result there was significantly less wine available this year so a trip to the winery was necessary to assure getting some of them. How little was available? The 2007 Riesling came in at 38 cases. They took all the other white varietals this year and blended them into a white wine they call Revelation. Mostly Roussanne, it also included some chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, semillon and pinot blanc. There were 48 cases of this wine.

The Riesling was tart and drier than last year's version. Very floral on the nose it also gave hints of peaches and just a touch of citrus. That all carried through on the taste and then finished with a limey minerality that was very refreshing. The wine had 1.2% residual sugar. I loved last year's vintage, and I very much like this year's.

The Revelation was very interesting. There was definitely some kiwi fruit along with some peaches and pears, and to me a hint of yellow plums. Wonderful acidity, a full body and a very lengthy finish made for a good effort from a terrible year.

They were also pouring their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon and this was the first I had tasted since it was released last September. It has changed, evolved and come together in those months.

I brought home a mixed case of six Rieslings (the limit), four Revelations and added two Cabernet Sauvignons to fill out the case. The Cabs joined their four siblings in the cellar to make an even half dozen.

Later in the day I popped one of the Revelations in the refrigerator and began supper.

There was a leftover lobster from Saturday so the meat was removed and the shells steeped in some water and then reduced to a quick stock. I chopped a leek and sauteed it in olive oil and butter, and opened a Revelation and added half a cup of that. Once the wine reduced we added the lobster meat, a chopped tomato, a pinch of saffron, just enough red pepper flakes to give it some pizazz, a little lemon juice and some heavy cream. When the cream reduced and the lobster pieces warmed it was served over fresh tagliatelle with some parsley and basil tossed over the top.

It was tremendous with the Revelation and there were a few crusty rolls for mopping up the sauce. The wine was almost a perfect compliment to the pasta, and may have even been better with a chunk of bread soaked with the remaining sauce. Life is good.

Lobsterfest!

Saturday was the annual Lobsterfest. The local, upscale market flies in a huge amount of fresh lobsters (this year from Maine) and offers them at a great price, $12 each. They start selling at 9:00 AM and continue until they are gone, which is usually a little after noon.

The lines form early, but they are great lines to be in since they offer samples of cream cheese and bagels, small appetizers and a white wine or two while you are waiting. If you're going to stand in line at a market, you might as well be drinking a glass of wine.

This year we had twelve people so we picked up 13 lobsters. The friend who hosted the party this year brews his own beer, so he had an "industrial" natural gas burner and large tank normally used for his brewing. Saturday this equipment doubled as a great lobster cooker. We steamed them in two batches, took off the claws and tails and served them buffet style with lemon and thyme infused drawn butter, a twice baked potato, green beans, risotto cakes and four white wines. An outstanding meal.

The wines ranged from expensive to relatively cheap and the results were surprising. There were three serious wine drinkers in attendance and each of us tends to like something a little different in red wines. Today it was a unanimous verdict for the same white whine and it was the least expensive wine on the list, Burgans 2006 Albarino from Rias Baixas in Spain. Tart, citrusy, yet with good body and finish. It was a delightful wine at $13 and everyone was pleased with it. A simply great wine for lobster as it totally complimented the crustaceans, but then again, Albarinos are known for complimenting shellfish.

The second favorite was also unanimous, the Nigl Kremstal Gruner Veltliner 2005. Subdued fruit great acid and minerality and totally refreshing, this wine was a great contrast to the lobsters. $15 and will last for several more years.

In third place with 2 third place votes was the Rochiolli 2005 Chardonnay from California's Russian River Valley at $45 a bottle. It was over oaked and tasted more of hazelnuts and pineapple than anything else. It was way over the top and it was terrible with the lobster, and I suspect it would have been over kill for almost any food. What a disappointment this was, since this is one of my favorite California producers and previous vintages of this wine have been delicious. Throughout the course of the evening I re-sampled this wine several times and it never got any better. I had this wine in last place.

The last wine was the 2006 Naia, a Spanish Rueda wine made from the verdejo grape. Thin and herbaceous and almost totally lacking in fruit, it just did not match well with the lobsters. I thought it might be better with some spicy chicken. $16 per bottle.

All in all it was a great party and a wonderful way to start a three day holiday weekend, that will end with a visit to the local winery, Kinkead Ridge, on Monday.

Islay Again

Another pleasant, cool evening topped off by a small glass of Caol Isla 18 year old single malt scotch.

Dinner was a prime rib steak done over charcoal with a baked potato sprinkled with black truffle salt and butter. There was a modest little Cote du Rhone, La Ferme de Gicon 2005. The wine is a good summer red. There is nothing heavy about it, it takes a slight chill and it is mostly about soft fruit and acid. At $10 a bottle there may be more of it once the weather turns warmer.

The whisky? Light peat smoke, some herbs and a little bit of the seashore on the nose. The peat and grain are there in the taste, though I was expecting a little more iodine. Nice lengthy finish that ends in a touch of honey and caramel. A very nicely balanced effort from Caol Isla. I have had several bottles of the 12 year old, and this 18 year old is an elegant addition and a step above the 12 year version. The Islay whiskies are unique and just have that wonderful sense of place about them.

The two, resident Gordon Setters spent some time sniffing the bottle, so I will take that as a sign of their approval.

As for the photo, I have to admit that I like the fact that the camera kept focusing on the reflection of the building across the way instead of the whole glass. I also like the streaming of the last of the day's sunshine shining through the whisky. Another day ends well.

Sensory Overload...

...and definitely palate fatigue. That's about the only way to describe today's Fleurs de Fete, a 300+ wine and food extravaganza. The event is held under a huge tent in a park along the Great Miami River. The weather cooperated for the most part; it was a little chilly with a north wind at the start of the day, but it was mostly sunny and totally dry. Throw in a local jazz combo and it was close to a perfect Sunday in the Park.

As usual my first chore was to quickly cruise the 25 food booths where local restaurants were serving up some wonderful food to go with the wines. The lines are generally longest at the food booths and there are some folks who come just for the food. Tops on my list for this year was a baby spinach and grilled salmon salad with strawberries and almonds. It was very lightly dressed and just plain delicious. There were five or six salmon dishes available from various purveyors and this one won my vote over small, two bite salmon cakes that were very spicy and topped with faux caviar. They left a distinct burn in the mouth and forced me back to my favorite Riesling of the day, a 2006 McWilliams Homewood Riesling from southeast Australia. Good match.

Several restaurants featured beef, and both of those were very good, especially the sliced filet served on a small slice of bread with horseradish sauce, though there was certainly nothing wrong with the small chunks of ribeye steaks served in a wine sauce.

One thing that I find almost impossible at this annual event is to pick my favorite wines. There are just too many wines to make fair evaluations, though one can certainly winnow things down and separate out some of the better wines.

Rule #1 for me is to insist on one sip samples, and not the generous half glass that most seem to pour. Rule #1a is to immediately dump anything more than a sip or two.

Rule #2 is that with the exception of a Stag's Leap Wine Cellars wine I refuse to drink anything with a cute animal on the label or in the name. No funky llamas, no blind moose, no flying fish, no leaping kangaroos, etc. I don't claim to have much dignity, but what little I have doesn't permit me to indulge in animal wines.

Rule #3 is that I try not to taste wines that I drink on a semi regular basis. I look for things that are new, different or hard to get in this area.

With those three rules in mind I managed to find some very nice wines at this event.

Having said that choosing a best wine is impossible, I'll stick to that statement, but I can narrow it down to two that stood above the rest. I took extra time with these wines, and with both I went back for a second, larger sip. The Jean-Marc Brocard 2004 Chablis Grand Cru Valmur was just what I look for in my favorite French white wine. Sharp and crisp with acid and apples, it also had a wonderful body to it and a very nice finish. The 2005 Clos du Mont Olivet "Cuvee de Papet" was full bodied and dense. It was somewhat closed up but there was good fruit and earth on the nose and in the taste and a nice finish with tannins hitting all the right spots. I have a 2000 vintage of this wine in the cellar, and now I'll have to add a 2005 or two. Very good Chateauneuf de Pape.

The best American wine of the day was a Washington state wine. The 2003 Columbia Crest Walter Clor Reserve Red Wine hit you with a new world bouquet on the nose, but the wine was well balanced and one could get earth and some herbs in the taste to go with the layers of fruit. It is a blend of the classic Bordeaux varieties and finished with some nice tannin.

I mentioned my favorite Riesling above, the McWilliams from Australia. My biggest disappointment of the day was the total lack of any German wines. There were a handful of other Rieslings, but a German or two would have been a plus for me. Another plus would have been an Austrian Gruner Veltliner or two.

There were two other chablis in the event, and I liked both of them. The William Fevre Champ Royeaux 2006 was crisp and refreshing. I've had the 2004 and 2005 of this wine, but this was the first taste of the 2006. The other was Jean Marc Bocard's Veilles Vigne Chablis from the 2005 vintage. It suffered a little by being tasted immediately following the Grand Cru Valmur from this producer, but it was still a good little wine.

I tasted several Robert Mondavi wines as a tribute to their late namesake. Best of the lot was the 2004 pinot noir which I thought was very well balanced. I did not care for the reserve as it was just too much for a pinot. That said a Gloria Ferrer 2004 pinot was better.

There was a very nice 2005 Minervois from Chateau de Paraza and I liked the Chateau Paviel de Luze 2005 Margaux.

I finished the day with a full glass of Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut sparkling wine, and thanks to a designated driver I managed a nap on the way home.

True Bargain

A quick stop at a different market last night resulted in a true bargain of a wine.

Realizing there was nothing in the house that wasn't frozen I stopped in the early evening and picked up a small pork tenderloin. Since I was there I naturally wandered over to the wine department. In the "reserve" room I noticed this bottle of Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva from the 2001 vintage. There were two bottles marked at $11.99.

Knowing the vintage and the producer I decided they were worth a try so I put one in the cart. Halfway to the checkout station I decided that this really was a decent price so I went back and picked up the other bottle.

The big surprise of the day was when the clerk rang up the wine and the bar code scanned not at $11.99 which I thought was a good bargain, but at $1.99. Now that is a bargain even if the wine was relatively poor. I mentioned this to the clerk and she re-scanned the bottles and they came up $1.99. I paid her and brought the bottles home.

We sliced the pork into medallions, pounded them lightly, dusted them in flour and Italian seasoning, sauteed them in a little olive oil, added some mushrooms and shallots, removed the medallions, added pork stock and balsamic vinegar, a half teaspoon of tomato paste and whisked and reduced the liquid. I added the medallions back in to rewarm.

The wine? Bright cherry fruit and Tuscan earth on the nose. Good, dark color and no signs of age. It had already surpassed my investment on just the nose and appearance. The cherries were in full force on the taste, along with some underlying currants. There was that wonderful Chianti acidity and the the earthiness that I love. It was more than sound, it was a very good wine. I would have been very happy with this wine at $20, but I was ecstatic at $2.00.

We served the pork medallions alongside some wide noodles, adding the sauce and mushrooms. A handful of flash cooked haricot vert with garlic completed the meal. The chianti was perfect with this meal.

Sipping the remainder of a glass after cleaning up I decided that the wine must have had more than sangiovese in it. The color was darker than I expected and there was that underlying flavor of currants. I suspect the wine had some cabernet sauvignon in it. Whatever it was it was very good and a nice mid-week treat.

A Rare Treat

It was a good meal.

The plane arrived earlier in the day from the northeast and some totally fresh day boat scallops were part of its cargo. They were only a day out of the water, and for the US Midwest it doesn't get any fresher than that. Something that good deserved a great wine so we went to the very top shelf.

If I could have only one chardonnay based wine there is no question that it would be a Chablis. There are some other great ones, but Chablis is simply my favorite. I purchased a couple bottles of the Domaine Laroche Chablis Grand Cru "Les Blanchots" 2000 several years ago. One was drunk almost immediately and this bottle was stashed away.

Greenish gold in color, the nose immediately had that flinty or mineral smell that I love about Chablis. Tart, but ripe apples, a bit of pineapple and some lemon zest were in full force on the taste. The wine was a tad understated and was "asking more questions than it answered" when sipped before the meal.

The scallops were pan seared in a little butter and olive oil and tossed at the very end with lemon juice and a scattering of chopped lemon thyme fresh from the herb garden. Every question the wine asked by itself was answered with the food. The deep ocean flavor of the scallops was perfect with the understated wine. They refreshed and totally complimented each other. A stronger wine would have over powered the scallops, and the understatement in the wine became an asset. The wine was perfectly mature and I don't think it will get much better with any more age. At the very end there was a small bit of oxidation that just reaffirmed that it was the perfect time to drink it.

The Chablis will get full consideration in in December for my wine of the year. The 1996 Staglin Cabernet and the 1998 Luciano Sandrone Barolo will give it some stiff competition. I love these three choices.

Swordfish Wednesday

We have gone from very early spring to full summer here in Ohio in the course of a few days. Today was 78 degrees and humid, more like late June than late April. Since it felt like summer there was no reason not to eat like summer.

I marinated a fresh swordfish steak in olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary and lemon peel for half an hour and the tossed it on a hot grill. There was some Kaljira rice (very, very small grain) that cooks quickly and some steamed asparagus.

While the food was cooking there was tall gin and tonic made with Tanqueray Rangpur gin. G&T may be one of the best parts of summer. For a wine I chilled down a Burgans 2006 Albarino. It is almost perfect with seafood. Tart and sharp on the nose with lots of grapefruit and other citrus. There was great citrus flavor with some underlying flowerniess and a long wonderful finish. The wine is a tremendous bargain at $13.

The fish was cooked to the rare side of medium and the smoke from the grill combined with the rosemary, garlic and lemon for a wonderful flavor. A little white pepper and a dusting of Malden sea salt when it came off the grill made it a wonderful meal. The asparagus was steamed to medium and then drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil.

The sun was just setting and the bees were gone and it is too early for flies so we ate outside on the patio. It was a nice treat to eat outside and enjoy the weather. All in all it was a wonderful evening, topped off with one scoop of dark chocolate and orange gelato made locally by our upscale market.

Rain is forecast for late tonight and a front will be here Friday night so the weekend will be damp and cooler, with highs in the 60's. It may be the last weekend of the season for a big red wine.

The Morning After

Tax Day has come and gone and the federal, state and city income tax returns are slowly crawling their way through the postal system in route to the correct locations. In years when money is owed I always wait until the last day to pay the pound of flesh, and though it wasn't a large amount I waited to the last day to 'render unto Caesar.'

Once the chore was complete it was time to celebrate so we went top shelf for the evening. There was a small rack of lamb that went on the grill after bathing in Dijon mustard, garlic and rosemary. There were some cut up redskin potatoes tossed in garlic, olive oil, rosemary and pepper and baked in the oven until crispy.

Finally, there was a 1996 Staglin Family Cabernet Sauvignon that had been resting in the cellar for some time. It was decanted while the lamb and potatoes cooked, though a bit found its way into my glass. Deep and dark color with a somewhat restrained nose at first. After some swirling there was fruit and earth and blackberries. The first sip was wonderful. The fruit was there, there was great acidity and very round tannins. The finish was remarkably long and in the very end left just a little acid and tannin to clear things for the next sip. The depth of the fruit was just amazing. There was a sweetness that came from perfectly ripe fruit and not fruit left to hang until the ultra ripe stage that seems so in vogue today. The wine was perfectly balanced. It was 13.8% alcohol.

When the lamb and potatoes were done I poured a generous glass from the decanter. The nose was now alive with dark cherries, blackberries and cassis. Another sip confirmed what the first sip had promised and expanded on it. The wine was ready for the lamb. The gaminess of the lamb was complimented by some gaminess in the wine and the tannins and acid in the wine cleared the palate between bites of lamb. The mouth-feel on this wine was just remarkable, full and rich.

The wine was perfectly mature and I can't see it getting much better, though it certainly should hold for a few more years. That is great because it has a "litter-mate" resting in my cellar. Over the course of the evening the wine remained constant. It took over three hours but at the end of the evening the wine was gone.

This wine reminded me of why my first love in wine was Napa Valley Cabernets. It was a 20 year romance that ended several years ago when the 15% "fruit bombs" became the fashion of the day. At one time the cellar was probably 80% Napa and Sonoma Cabernets. Now it holds less than 20% of those wines, and those that are there are 1997 or earlier. Sad what has happened for the sake of fashion.

So -- we now have nominee number two for the best wine of the year. The first wine to consider was the 1998 Luciano Sandrone Barolo La Vigne that we drank in January. It's nice to know that if I can't decide which is the best at the end of the year there is another bottle of each in the cellar. New Year's eve is looking very promising.

Scott and Ellie were also in a wonderful mood last night as they got to eat the trimmings from the lamb.

Cheap Red Wine

The search for an every day, good, red wine is proceeding, with a detour or two. The major detour was yesterday when the local wine store managed to find four more bottles of the Vina Alarba Old Vines Grenache (2005) that has been the house red for almost a year.

There was a sale on the Torres Sangre de Toro ( Blood of the Bull) at $7.99 a bottle. It's a wine that I used to buy fifteen or twenty years ago, but one that had fallen from memory. The 2006 is 25% Carignan and 75% Grenache, or if you are Spanish it is Carinena and Garnacha Tinta. Good fruity nose with some strawberries in it. Medium body with good acidity, and just a hint of tannin. There was a flat and unappealing spot in the the middle that tasted like the floor of the bull arena - and that isn't exactly prime territory. It is 13.5% alcohol, so it isn't over done. It drinks well without having to put much thought into anything but drinking it. At the price it's a decent wine.

The weekend weather did indeed turn cold again, but that didn't stop a meal of New Zeland caught orange roughy on Saturday. It was pan seared with a dusting of smoked paprika. There was a 2005 Domaine de la Croix Senaillet, a Saint Veran. There were flowers and honeysuckle on the nose with ripe pears and apples in the taste. Definitely low in acidity so it tasted more off dry. A decent wine, but at $16 not one I would buy again.

Since the weather was colder today there was a large pot of beef short ribs braised in white wine and chicken stock with black, green and Szechuan peppercorns and a lot of garlic. Served over some noodles and dressed only with the de-fatted and reduced braising liquid it was a great and filling end to the weekend.

The Sangre de Toro got its audition with the meal, and performed as described above. It isn't quite as full as the old vines grenache and it definitely failed with an after dinner bite of dark chocolate. It lacked the fruit to stand up to the chocolate and I suspect the carignan. It is highly drinkable but I doubt it becomes the new house red even at its $7.99 price point.

The house white remains the Marques de Caceres Rioja Blanca, a 100% Viura wine at $6.99 a bottle. Not much chance of that going off the market and even if the price goes up 25% it would still be a bargain.

Ocean's Alive

It was a great weekend weather-wise, the first great weekend of spring so we went into total summer mode and made the first rule for the weekend - it had to have once been underwater. In other words, it was a seafood weekend and it was as good as the weather. The fishmonger outdid himself.

On Saturday we went to friends' house and took a huge slab of Alaskan halibut that was just off the airplane. We heated a cast iron skillet on the outdoor grill to something in excess of 500 degrees. We dusted the fish, cut into serving portions, with chipotle powder, added some grape seed oil to the skillet and tossed them in, flesh side down. The quickly browned and we turned them over, closed the lid on the grill and let them finish cooking while we stir fried some sugar snap peas. Along with a small salad it made for a great meal. The wine was a 2005 William Fevre Chablis Champs Royeaux. Tart and crisp with a good dose of that Chablis minerality. Not the best Chablis I've had, but it was perfect with the halibut.

Today was equally as good. There was a five pound bag of Cape Cod mussels that came in on a different plane. We sauteed some shallots in butter, along with some chopped fresh fennel, tomatoes, garlic, and Thai chili paste. Once the fennel and shallots were softened somewhat we added a cup and a half of Riesling and the mussels. They steamed in a pot with a tight lid just until they opened. The mussels were removed and we added a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and some heavy cream to the pan and cooked the sauce down for a minute or two. We dumped it over the mussels.A handful of parsley and some crusty bread and it made for the second great meal of the weekend. The Riesling assuaged my guilt about eating from both U.S. coasts in one weekend since it was a 2006 Kinkead Ridge Ohio River Valley wine. Kinkead Ridge is about 40 miles from home.

The Ohio River Valley was once regarded as the Rhineland of the U.S. Thanks to black rot and odium the wine production died in the late 1800's. It is now being revived and Kinkead ridge is in my opinion the premier winery in the region. Their Riesling is very Germanic in style. It checks in at only 10.5% alcohol and is very close to a Kabinett in style. There is the kerosene or petrol on the nose and the hint of sweetness on the finish, all balanced by great acidity. The sweetness tamed the fire in the chili paste and the acidity was just a perfect match for the richness of the mussels. Toss in a loaf of locally baked, crusty bread to mop up the juices and there was no need for anything else.

Life is good.

Odds and Ends

Yesterday's "bargain" at the market was some imported tomatoes that looked just great sitting in the display. Even though one would think 'south' at this time of year, the yellow on vine tomatoes were actually Canadian in origin, eh. The red Roma's were from Florida and the yellow grape tomatoes were Mexican so we covered most of the north American continent.

They wound up being peeled, seeded and chopped and tossed into a pan with some olive oil and crispy pancetta chunks, garlic and shallots. The only sad part was that there was no fresh basil. I mixed in some pecorino Romano cheese and tossed the whole thing with some fresh tagliatelle for a faux mid-summer feast.

I was auditioning a new wine for the 'house white.' The 2006 Mas Des Bressades from the Costieres de Nimes is a blend of Viognier and Roussanne. Bright, fresh and fruity and affordable at $8 a bottle. It might be just a touch low on acid, but it's QPR (quality price ratio) is good enough to get it some strong consideration.

We are down to the last two bottles of the 'house red." There is no more 2005 Vina Alarba Old Vines Grenache in the marketplace. It was a great little Spanish red for $7 a bottle, but the search is now on for a replacement. It is getting harder and harder to find a good wine in the under $10 price range.

I had a nice conversation with my neighbor this morning. He is the one who puts out the cracked corn for the squirrels which have become Scott's and Ellie's current raison d'etre. He was puzzled as to why the tree rodents weren't eating as much corn as they used to and why they weren't around as much. I replied that "it's spring so it must be breeding season." He seemed to accept that excuse and we left it at that. It's nice to see some green in the ground instead of brown and white.

There's a new, roaming cat in the neighborhood that's been spotted a couple of times so if the squirrels have finally abandoned the area the dogs can start to work scaring away the new feline.

Delightful Surprise

A little skillet, beef Stroganof this evening and I opened a wine that I purchased about six weeks ago for $15.

Bright purple (it is a 2006 vintage) and full plummy fruit on the nose, but also a few earthy smells. Half the bottle was decanted, but I poured one glass to drink while cooking.

Definite red plums and acid on the taste, along with some cherries, and those earthy aromas combined for a great foundation to put the fruit on. Surprisingly, it had great tannin going for it also.

Very young and fruity, but the things underneath raised it above what I expect from a young Dolcetto. A Beaujolais on steroids? Perhaps. Well balanced to the point that I would never believe it to be a 14.5% wine. The finish was long and fruity and the last of the tannins just refreshed you mouth.

The best news? A quick phone call to the local store and they still had four bottles on the shelf. They can get no more, but I reserved those four bottles.

Bottom line for me - as good a Dolcetto as I've had, and an excellent food wine despite it's high alcohol content.

Tired Tongue

Quite a "wine day" yesterday. There was an early afternoon tasting of ten northern Rhone wines and an evening dinner with two more bottles. There were some outstanding wines in that mix.

The Rhone tasting offered a nice contrast as there were two Saint Joseph's, two Crozes Hermitage and two Cote Roties that offered the chance to taste a new vintage against an older vintage. Add in two medium aged Hermitages, a single Cornas and a Condrieu to start the day and it was quite an experience.

The Condrieu was a 2006 Georges Vernay. It was full of peaches, nectarines and honey on the nose and an apricot or two jumped in on the taste. Full bodied and oily, almost unctuous with a long, full bodied finish. There were two absentees at our table so I not only tasted my sample, but managed to confiscate one of the unused samples. At $70 a bottle the price was a little steep, but this was a nice wine.

The two Saint Josephs were a 2000 Pascal Perrier Domaine de Gachon ($40) and a 2005 Chave Offerus ($35). Bright, tart cherries in the Offerus with a sweet cherry taste and noticeable oak. It's a very young wine. The Gachon was about meat and leather and dark fruit on the nose. Medium weight in the mouth feel, but with good acid and a long, sweet finish. It is more than drinkable now, but still has some short term aging potential. Good wine.

On to the two Crozes Hermitages, a 2000 Belle Pere et Fils Cuvee Louis Belle and a Y. Chave 2006. The Belle ($40) was smoky meat and dense fruit on the nose and just loaded with dark fruits in the taste. It retains some gripping tannin and has great acidity. The finish was very long and full. I liked this wine. The Y. Chave ($35) was a surprise and to me it seemed out of place in this tasting. Obviously it is quite young, but it was so fruit forward and extracted that I would have picked it as Australian or Californian if the tasting were blind. It was all about fruit and it was hard to detect anything else but fruit and oak. Not what I want in a northern Rhone, but a well made wine.

The Cornas was a Despesse 2005 ($68). Young, closed nose with some meat and cherries peeking through. Deep, dark color - almost black. Cherries, spice, meat tannin, acid all came through. A long, long finish just full of fruit. This wine is nowhere near ready to drink, but it should be spectacular when it is. Production was was less than 150 cases.

The two Cote Roties were a Burgaud 1999 ($70) and a Rene Rostaing 2005 ($85). The Burgaud was all about old leather and dirt overlaid with sharp tart fruit. Bright cherries in the taste made this wine taste much younger than it smelled. Totally balanced wine and a finish to die for made this my favorite wine of the day. Sadly there was only one bottle for sale and it was sold via a random drawing to someone else. The Rostaing was a huge wine with full fruit forward on the nose. It tasted sweeter than it smelled. Medium body with great acidity and wonderfully ripe tannin. A definite wine for the cellar.

The day ended with a 1998 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle ($109) and a 2000 Chapoutier La Sizeranne ($120). There was some oxidation in the Jaboulet wine and some light browning at the edges. The nose was spicy with fully ripe fruit underneath. There was still that wonderful raw steak smell that I love. The wine tasted much younger than it looked and was full bodied with meat and spices and dark cherries. Add a long finish and you had a very nice wine that is drinkable now, but should last a few more years. The Chapoutier was very closed in the nose but eventually some blackberries and cherries came through, along with the raw meat. That's exactly the way it tasted, and there was acid to refresh and tannin to add to it. The finish was perhaps the longest of the day.

I was very happy to taste the Jaboulet wine and even happier that I liked it as well as I did since there are two already in the cellar. That eliminated one potential purchase for me. So the net haul for the day was two bottles of the Gachon Saint Joseph, two bottles of the Belle Crozes Hermitage, one bottle of the Despesse Cornas and one bottle of the Rostaing Cote Rotie. It was a tough call to come home without a bottle of the Condrieu but budgets are what they are - a warning to not overspend.

The two wines with dinner were a Clarendon old vines Grenache, Hicknbotham Vineyard from Australia and a Zind-Humbrecht Clos St Urbain pinot gris from Alsace. More on them later.

Rueda

A couple of weeks ago the New York Times tasting panel sampled white wines from the Rueda region of Spain.

It was more than interesting that their top choice of the 20 wines was also the best buy of the group at $9. Equally surprising since southwest Ohio is not the wine center of the universe is that I already owned two of the wines that they recommended. I had purchased the Conclass and a bottle of La Brisas a month or so prior when I was stocking up on every day white wines. Each was $10. The primary grape in each is verdejo. Conclass is 80% verjeho, 10% viura and 10% Sauvignon blanc.

Lemon and honey on the nose and I have to agree with the NY Times, there was a floral quality to the nose. I also got a Riesling-esque hint of kerosene in the nose. It faded quickly , but it was there at the start. The wine had some substance to it and the lemon and fruit came through on the taste. Nice, crisp finish that cut through the simple roasted chicken and rice that we ate with the wine.

The article from the Times can be found here. There is also a multi-media presentation to go along with the article and it's worth checking out. So is the wine - it's very good.

Delicious

It was a hectic week at work but it is ending on a definite high note.

There was a chicken breast with goat cheese for dinner and the last glass of a Spanish white blend, 75% viura and 25% chardonnay. It went great with the chicken but something more was needed.

I opened a De Boisseyt-Chol 1998 Saint Joseph that I had in both a 750ml and a 375 ml bottles. I opened the 375. Very closed at first in the fruit area, but definite leather and dirt on the nose with some rustic spice. There was a sharp, almost vegetative smell that I finally decided was ripe rhubarb. The first sip had some gripping tannins on the sides of the tongue and some more restrained fruit (dark cherries and ultra ripe strawberries). Good acidity with a long finish that tended to the fruity side. The ripe rhubarb was there too.

After an hour of sipping the wine has opened up tremendously. It actually went through a 15 minute period where it tasted old and I thought perhaps it was gone. It came back to life, the fruit came forward and the tannins eased. Definitely has the dark cherries and the very ripe strawberries, and has wonderfully balanced acidity. The finish is now almost silky and Burgundian. This is a really nice, medium weight, cold climate Syrah wine. It reminds me again of why I love the wines from the northern Rhone.

The half bottle was no doubt at it's peak. I'm going to hold the full bottle for another year or so, and if it as good as the 375 it will be worth the wait .

Four Parts. No Harmony

There were guests coming for dinner last night so the day was spent shopping and cooking. The weather cooperated nicely since it was very cool in the morning to lend itself to braising. The afternoon was warm enough to fire up the grill.

The result was a chili rubbed, braised beef roast preceded by fresh Island Creek oysters warmed on the grill until they just popped open.

The beef got a rub of ancho and chipotle powders mixed with some salt and granulated garlic powder. Browned to a light crust on top of the stove it was braised for four hours with onions, garlic, celery, carrots, red wine and chicken stock. Heavenly smell.

The wines were supposed to be easy but it didn't work out that way. There was a 2005 Albarino to go with the oysters. I previously drank this wine with oysters and it was wonderful. This was the last bottle so it's time had come. We pulled the cork and poured a glass. Peaches and honey came from the nose and it just delighted everyone. It was different from bottles in the past. It had aged for an additional year and was not as fresh as it had been. It had mellowed and honey had become the dominant flavor. It was delicious by itself but paired with the brininess of the oysters it was now too rich and not a good match at all. The oysters were great and the wine was delicious, but they just weren't a happy match.

On to the beef. There were two bottles available and my friends chose a bottle of the 1999 Chapoutier La Bernardine Chateauneuf de Pape. The other choice was a Clos de los Siete 2005, a Malbec blend from Argentina. That would have been my choice but my freinds wanted to drink the older wine.

The beef was rich and hearty and the wine smooth an elegant, but again they didn't pair up well at all. Whereas the Albarino had been too big for the oysters, the Chateauneuf de Pape was not big enough for the hearty flavors in the beef. The wine was wonderful but it had aged to a point where it needed something milder to go with it.

I popped the cork on the Clos de los Siete and did a quick decant. Huge, dark wine full of fruit and flavor and after a couple of minutes in the glass it was perfect with the beef. The guests are generally not fan of big, red wines, and at 15% alcohol this was a big wine. We each drank a glass with the beef and then after dinner switched back to the Chateauneuf de Pape with some mild cheese, but there was no question that the big wine saved the main course.

I liked all three wines and the food was all good, but if I had to do it all over again the Albarino and the Chateauneuf de Pape would stay in the cellar - or I would do a 2006 Albarino which should be fresher and a better match.

Scott and Ellie were happy. They love a good party and guests and they got some of the skimmed fat from the beef over the dog food this morning. Life is good for the Gordons.

Why Not?

It is a shame that most everyone regards sparkling wine as something to drink only when there is a celebration or something to drink before a meal. Made correctly it has a great nose, wonderful acidity and that great carbonation to clear the mouth between bites of food. Matched correctly it's a great food wine and opening a bottle makes the meal a celebration in itself.

While Sunday's chicken (see below) was roasting I raided the cellar and we opened a Vicomte de Castellane brut Champagne. We poured a couple of glasses and then re-stoppered the bottle. There was nothing fancy about the chicken other than it was free range and produced locally (within 15 miles). It was seasoned with some herbs de Provence and salt, air dried for an hour and the roasted breast side down for half an hour. When I flipped the bird to breast side up for it's last 40 minutes I opened the Champagne.

Great toasty nose with a hint of lime. There was a lot of fruit mixed with some buttered bread in the palette and it finished tart and clean. For a brut I thought it was just a touch on the sweet side, but the tart finish was still there. Not a great wine, but for $28 a decent bargain. There is one more hiding in the cellar.

When the chicken was done we poured more of the wine and drank it through the meal. It matched well with the juicy chicken and actually seemed to accentuate the lavender in the herb mix. A better wine with the chicken than it was by itself - and that's good from my perspective.