Langhe Nebbiolo 2004

I am truly a pack rat when it comes to recipes.  The computer holds way too many and there are files of recipes clipped from magazine, newspapers, etc.  Some are organized, but most are not.  Most I have never prepared - they just sounded good and they got clipped or copied.

Yesterday I decided it was time to go through one section of the computer files and actually cook some of the ones stored there.  First up was Ducketta, a play on the Italian Porchetta.   In this case a pocket was made in the flesh of a duck breast and a mixture of crushed fennel seed, rosemary, garlic, olive oil and parmigiano reggiano was stuffed in it.  It was seared on the skin side until the fat rendered, flipped over and tossed in the oven for five minutes.  While it was resting the cork came out of a bottle of 2004 Gianfranco Alessandria Langhe Nebbiolo and the contents went into a decanter. 

Earthy aromas and a smell of fresh cut flowers popped out with some swirling.  The wine was light in color and had just a touch of orange at the edges.  The body was mid-weight but the flavors were clear and sharp - dark red berries, clean earth and that sense of tar and roses for which this area is famous.  The tannins were strong but soft.   The wine was fully mature and turned out to be an ideal match with the duck - especially with the fennel seed in the stuffing. 

2004 Gianfranco Alessandria Langhe Nebbiolo.  14% alcohol and $16 a few years ago.

26 Year Old Napa Cabernet

I just returned from a trip to visit friends in Illinois, drink some wine and visit a very good small restaurant.  The wine highlight of the trip is pictured above, a 1986 Raymond Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the heart of the Napa Valley.  The wine had a special meaning for us as we were all part of a group that visited Raymond in the year this wine was made. 

I'm always cautious with a Napa Cabernet this old, and to that point I took a back up bottle in case this one was over the hill.  The backup bottle still has its cork and foil intact.

The cork was in excellent shape and came out easy.  There was sediment in the wine so we did pass it through a fine mesh funnel.  The aromas of bright, happy cherries immediately poured out of the glass.  The was an undercurrent of cinnamon and faint aroma of earth and vanilla as well.  The color was just beginning to fade to orange on the edges but still retained a good degree of darkness at the center.  The wine was full bodied and mouth filling with cherries and currants leading the way.  The tannins were soft but well structured and the acid was still great. This tasted more like a ten year old wine than a twenty-six year old wine. 

Dinner was prime strip steaks from the grill and some gnocchi with sage and brown butter that paired perfectly with the wine.  Just an ideal combination.  Tremendous wine.

1986 Raymond Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley.  13.6% alcohol. 

Soft Shell Crabs

One thing that I do less and less of as time goes on is deep fry food.  Last night was a big exception because there were fresh, soft shell crabs in the market and some just off the plane day boat scallops. There is something fresh and and springlike about soft shells. Their unique taste and a quick deep fry amplifies that for me by giving them a crunchy exterior and a warm, moist and sweet interior.

They were dredged in seasoned flour, dipped in an egg and milk wash and then coated with panko crumbs and placed in 350 degree oil in a wok.  They got one turn and were allowed to drain while the scallops got the same treatment.

The sauce was spicy to say the least; mayonnaise spiked with a good dose of sambal oelek, hot chilli oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and a pinch of five spice powder. 

The wine was a 2010 Hiedler Gruner Veltliner from Austria.  With an unusual nose of kiwi and melons I was prepared to not like this wine, but the spicy food made a difference.  The flavors of very ripe, green grapes and a bit of lime matched well with the crab and the mid palate sweet note tamed the heat of the sambal oelek.  Good body and length of finish and the blast of acid at the end redeemed this wine.  Still, it was an unusual nose.

Good meal.

2010 Hiedler Gruner Veltliner.  12% alcohol and $15.

1991 Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett

Two things that are rarely found in this area are older German wines and older German winemakers, and yesterday I found both.  Dr. Dirk Richter of Weingut Max Ferd. Richter was in the area and was hosting a drop in tasting of some of his wines.  Two years ago Dr. Richter was here and we had a good discussion while he was hosting a tasting.  The most surprising thing about this tasting to me was his response when he arrived.  We shook hands and he said, "You were here before and we had a good discussion...."  I accused the owner of the wine store of tipping Dr Richter off, but he insisted that he never talked to him before he arrived.  I considered what small ego I have to be flattered that I was remembered.

Once again while he was pouring wine we had a great discussion about his vineyards and my preference for one of them in particular, Veldenzer Elisenberg, a monopole to his weingut - or a vineyard wholly owned by his winery and not shared with others.  The soil composition in this vineyard is slightly different in that it contains a fair amount of quartz in the mix along with the usual blue slate.  It gives the wine a distinct flavor profile that appeals to me.

Among the wines Dr. Richter brought with him was a 21 year old Kabinett wine from the Graccher Himmelreich vineyard.   After tasting several other wines this one proved to be a shock and a pleasant surprise.  The wine looked fresh and new in the glass with no darkening of color that I expected on a 21 year old wine.  The nose was crisp and sharp with an initial hint of kerosene that soon gave way to lime zest.  The flavors were tart and sharp with a good dose of lime overlaying a bit of cream.  The residual sugar was almost entirely gone and the wine now was more like an extremely deep Austrian riesling.  There was no suggestion that this wine was as old as it is.

The 1991 vintage was not one for the ages, though most old charts rate is as good.  I would be perfectly happy drinking this wine regardless of the vintage rating, and along with several of the newer releases a bottle of this wine found its way home with me.

1991 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter, Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett. 8% alcohol.

Barbaresco

I took a bottle of wine with me on the recent California trip because one of the folks I was having dinner with out there is fan of northern Italian wines.  It was more than well received.

The wine was a 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Ovello Riserva.  It got about an eight hour decant before being appreciated.  The wine was still very young looking in the glass and was very closed when it went into the decanter.  A small sample got a couple of minutes of swirling before sipping.  Tightly wound but full of flavor, it definitely needed the decanter time to soften some tannins. 

By the time dinner was ready the wine was blooming in the glass.  The cliche' of tar and roses was in full effect, but there was a subtlety to those aromas.  They sat on top of a bouquet of clean, dry earth and dark red fruits.  The tannin had subsided to a supporting roll and the fruit and earth flavors were wonderful  The acid was great and the body was muscular and fit without going to any extreme.  The drying tannins kicked in again at the every end and the wine just begged for another sip or two.  The only regret is that I didn't take my second bottle with me, because it would have disappeared as quickly as the first one.  Great stuff.

2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Ovello Riserva.  14% alcohol and $55 several years ago.

Evening

With the color that paints the morning and evening clouds that face the sun I saw then the whole heaven suffused.

Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy

Almost autumn like weather here this evening with clear skies and cool temperatures to cap a beautiful day.   Some pasta with fresh thyme, dill, oregano, chervil, chives, parsley, rosemary, sage, mint and tarragon dressed with only olive oil and a grating of pecorino Romano cheese.  There was a 2012 River Village Cellars white wine from a couple of posts below that was a near perfect match.  Nothing to interfere with pure flavors.  The last glass was on the patio watching the sunset pictured above while Scott the Gordon Setter kept guard against squirrels and cats. 

Sempre Vive 2006

The first wine I drank on the recent California trip was a pleasant surprise.  There were steaks on the grill and our hosts handed me the key to their wine cellar and said, "pick a wine."  I explained that the process might take two hours, but they insisted.

After poking around a bit I found a wine that I had never tasted, nor had I ever heard of the wine, Sempre Vive Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the Romeo Vineyards near Calistoga.  There were two vintages and I pulled out the 2006 primarily because there was only one bottle left of the 2004. 

This was a big wine by any description, but one that had moved into an elegant phase.  It had dark colors and no fading at the edges and a nose of fresh fruit and light touches of cinnamon and oak.  It had full flavors of dark cherries and plums with hints of spice and a touch of graphite.  The acid and tannin provided a solid base for the fruit.  The finish was long and ended with a bit of fruit and enough acid to keep the wine fresh tasting.  Very good blind choice and delicious with the steak. 

Sempre Vive translates as always alive.

Romeo Vineyards Sempre Vive Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Vines.  14.1% alcohol and price unknown.