Winners and Losers

Tried two wines last night to get the weekend off to a good start. One was very good and the other no so good, and the not so good one was the one highly recommended by one of the local wine stores.

The not so good wine was a 2005 Two Princes Riesling, an entry level wine from Schloss Wallhausen from the Nahe region of Germany. There was a little bit of lemon in the nose along with some not quite ripe apricots. Those were also the predominant tastes, but the wine offered little else. It seemed low in acid, a little too sweet and flabby. There was no hint of any sense of minerality to the wine and it left an overly sweet taste on the finish. There are much better Rieslings for $11 in the market. Fortunately this was a buy one and try it type of wine before committing to even a second bottle. That was the best part of the wine - the fact that there won't be a second bottle.

There was a steak to grill since the rain stopped earlier in the day and the Riesling was not a steak wine so we opened a 2005 Enzo Boglietti Langhe Nebbiolo. We poured part of it into a decanter and put a little in the glass for an immediate taste. Strong nose of red cherries, earth, a tiny touch of leather and some cedar. The wine was very closed but after a couple of minutes it began to bloom and open up.

Just after taking the steak off the grill to rest for a couple of minutes we finally tasted the wine. There were cherries that were darker than the those in the nose, sweet red plums, great acidity and ample tannin. The earth smell remained and it only added to the wine. The tannins were gripping, but not harsh and they certainly cleaned the palate.

With the steak it was almost perfect. The body was medium here so it opened up much quicker than the Barbaresco from a few nights ago. Both this wine and the Barbaresco were from the 2005 vintage, but this wine was much more approachable now. By the end of the second glass it was very good. At $20 it was a small bargain, but at $11 the Riesling was over priced.

The picture is two blooms on a volunteer lily at the side of the house. The photo was taken last night, but late this morning the lily became a fatality as it got between Scott and a fleeing squirrel. A second lily survived but is not yet blooming.

Barbaresco and More

It's almost impossible to beat the wines of the Produttori del Barbaresco for value in northern Italian wine and last night's 2005 basic Barbaresco was no exception.

Half of the bottle got about an hour in a decanter, and that wasn't nearly enough, but the wine was still delicious. The nose was cherries and and red fruits along with some herbs, tar and even a little black coffee. There was some earth in the nose as well.

The taste was just about the same, minus the coffee which seemed to dissipate quickly. The acid was wonderful and the tannins grabbed hold of the sides of my tongue and held on for awhile. An hour later the wine was finally softening and showing much more fruit.

This is very young, but very promising. I bought several bottles and just wanted to taste one before putting the others away to mature for a couple of years or more.

Dinner was pan roasted chicken thighs and some pasta with a fresh sage and butter sauce. Good food and an even better wine.

There is a new local winery, La Vigna, and after two years on their mailing list I finally received notice that they are releasing their first wines. The wines are a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2008 Petit Manseng, a variety I have never tasted. Both are estate grown and bottled. We will be off to the winery this weekend or next to pick up some of each.

Note

Nothing exciting or noteworthy going on so I thought I would answer an e-mail question Dave G. regarding the lack of scores for wines on this site.

Simple answer to a very length worthy topic: I don't find scores particularly useful though they can be a convenient shorthand.

On the 100 point scale most scores fall between 80 and 95 with an occasional score above 95. In essence that makes it a 20 point scale and that defeats the purpose of using 100 points. I'm also more interested in describing how the wine tastes and smells and how it goes with food that I am eating. 90% of what I drink is with food and for that remaining 10% I'm imagining what food would go with it when I'm tasting the wine.

Bottom line for me is that I just hate the thought of grading everything in my life. Wines are like kids and dogs, some are brilliant and some less so, but that doesn't mean I don't love them all. Each has its own place in the world.

Photo is a geranium on the front step.

Let's Start with Dessert

We're getting toward the end of the local strawberry season so they are coming at us fast and furious. It's a nice problem to have.

Tonight's meal ended with the above picture, two slices of pound cake topped with macerated strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. Simple, satisfying and delicious.

Dessert was preceded by a pan seared swordfish steak and some pan roasted asparagus topped by the last of the pheasant eggs.

The swordfish was marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh rosemary, two cloves of crushed garlic and a good dose of red pepper flakes. It was seared in a pan and then finished in a hot oven. A dash of salt and a squeeze of lemon and it was ready to eat.

The asparagus was roasted in butter and topped with a poached pheasant egg. When the yolk is broken it makes a perfect sauce for the earthy asparagus.

Scott was busy recovering from the near fatality of a squirrel earlier in the day but he was more than willing to scarf down the swordfish skin.

The wine was our last bottle of the 2007 Kincaid Ridge white Revelation. From past experience I knew that the wine had a slightly sweet finish to it so we added extra garlic and red pepper flakes to the fish marinade to balance things out. The wine smelled of melons and figs mostly. There is good acid and nice balance, but just a bit of sweetness. It takes well to a chill.

1999 Clos Des Papes

Yesterday our temperatures reached 90 degrees for the first time this year. Today we were lucky to break 60 degrees, finally managing to get to 62. We went from chilled white wine and cold beer weather to a red wine night in less than 24 hours.

Instead of the planned left over roast chicken from Sunday we fired up the grill and cooked bone in rib steaks. Instead of a cheap white wine with too much chill on it or a gin and tonic we went to a Chateauneuf de Pape, a red wine that is any thing but subtle.

I regularly read on line wine review sites that keep me up to date with others' opinions on some of the older wines I have in the cellar. One of those was a lone bottle of 1999 Clos De Papes. The last few reviews were four to one that this wine had reached its peak and had declined. The fourth review was a rave review of this particular wine. I went with the four instead of the one and pulled the cork. The four were wrong.

The color was more like a pinot noir, but the nose was like sitting in a brand new car with full leather interior and eating a bowl of strawberries and cherries with a few pomegranate seeds thrown in for crunch while driving with the windows down and smelling fresh earth after a light rain. (Why do I feel like I should apologize to Gary Vaynerchuk here?) Throw in a cinnamon stick and a couple allspice berries and it was the quintessential smell of a good Chateauneuf de Pape.

The taste was full of the strawberries and cherries and they were fully ripe, but just at the moment when those sweet tastes were about to become too much the tannin and acid kicked in and totally cleaned the palate. The finish was long, smooth and dry.

Along with the steak there was some butter simmered asparagus and some wild mushroom and black truffle ravioli (store bought). All those foods did was pick up on the earthiness in the wine and accentuate the fruit.

There is just a little less than half of the wine left and the vacuum seal should go in so that we can see if the second day on the wine lives up to the first. On the other hand the evening is young and the wine is much more than delicious, and it is a red wine night. I sense a late morning coming tomorrow.

Pasta with Sage and a Wine Lesson

After a sweltering day with 90 degree temperatures and humidity to match the day is ending in a much better manner.

I remember reading somewhere / sometime about a simple pasta dish primarily using fresh sage, butter, and Pecorino cheese as its sauce. Not being able to find the recipe we improvised and came up with a winner. The pasta was pappardelle, a very wide egg noodle. The sauce was a tablespoon of melted butter and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Those two were warmed together until the butter was melted and then we stirred in two tablespoons of chopped fresh sage and a few leaves of chopped parsley. The pasta and sauce were tossed together and we added cracked black pepper, a wee bit of salt and about two tablespoons of grated Pecorino cheese. The results are pictured above. Simple, rich and delicious are three words that come to mind.

The wine was the last two glasses of the 2006 Kincaid Ridge Viognier Roussanne reviewed in the post below. As a general rule I find that white wines don't taste better after two days, even if they are kept cool and under vacuum. In this case the general rule failed because this wine was better after breathing for two days. The edges came together and the wine was perfectly balanced. The first glass was a little cool so judgment was reserved, but the second glass had come to cool, room temperature and it was the best glass from the bottle.

When we do the comparison this fall between the 2006 and 2008 vintages I will read this note and let those two wines breathe a little before tasting.

Good meal and a very good wine.

The "Eat Local" meal was more than a success, it was fun and interesting at the same time. Everything on the menu was grown or produced locally here in southwest Ohio with the only exceptions being a little lemon juice, sugar, some olive oil and the salt and pepper.

The salad was locally grown lettuces dressed with homemade chive blossom vinegar and olive oil; tart and flavorful and tasting like spring. The main course was a whole free range chicken roasted over indirect heat on the grill. A mixture of fresh sage, lemon thyme and rosemary was chopped, mixed with some local butter and shoved under the skin and in the cavity. The lemon juice made an appearance here. It smelled wonderful while it was cooking and it piqued the interest of a couple of the neighbors.

There was also the last of the locally grown asparagus. The stalks were sliced into thirds and stir fried in a small amount of butter in a cast iron skillet. The only liquid was from the butter or asparagus itself. This also marked the appearance of the pheasant eggs discussed a couple of posts below. Two of the eggs were gently poached, then cooled in water. They were trimmed to a nice round shape then dropped back into hot water until warmed, then dried and laid on top of the asparagus. A little lemon juice finished the dish. The egg yolk was a bright, vivid orange. The taste was a little stronger than a chicken egg, but it was perfect with the asparagus and the size of the egg was perfect for the serving portion. A chicken egg would have overwhelmed the dish. We both agreed that this was the highpoint of the meal.

The remaining pheasant eggs were used to make a creme Anglaise with local milk and cream. One more outside ingredient popped up here in the form of a couple drops of almond oil. The sauce was cooled and then served over locally grown strawberries. The strawberries were distinct for their depth of flavor and color. Most of what shows up here as strawberries are grown in California and can best be described as strawberries on steroids. They are huge and when one slices into them the centers are white. What taste one gets from them is usually in the outer edges. The local berries were perfectly ripened and red from the outside to the center. They were sweet and full flavored and the acid in them wasn't harsh. They needed no sweetening.

The wine was local also. Having tasted the 2008 Kincaid Ridge Viognier Roussanne last Monday we broke out a bottle of the 2006 vintage of the same wine. The aroma reminded me of a good Condrieu with it's oiliness and slight musk overtones. The taste was the bright lemon and melon mix of Viognier with body and pear added by the Roussanne. The wine did taste slightly green and not nearly as ripe as the 2008 version, but I loved the acid in the wine with the richness of the chicken and pheasant egg. This wine is ready to drink and I will move my remaining two bottles up to the front of the cellar. I'll wait until fall and open one of them along side the 2008 version for a good comparison.

Good meal.