Weeds and Wildflowers

Often when the weather turns too hot and too sticky some routine gardening chores get put off, such as weeding.  Sometimes the weeds begin to bloom.  The difference between a weed and a wildflower? Possibly it's just laziness on the part of the gardener.

Nice wine last night - more tomorrow.

Crozes Hermitage

Despite the hot weather, and thankfully we are in the midst of a two day reprieve, one cannot live entirely on summer wines.  Once in awhile you need a big red, especially if there is a large porterhouse steak involved.

The wine selected for the steak was a 2005 J. Vidal-Fleury Crozes Hermitage.  The wine was a medium dark color but the aroma of dark grapes and fresh meat filled the room.  There was a touch of dry leather in the aroma as well.  The taste was all about fruit and some dry earth.  Dark cherries, red plums, a little spice and some vanilla all made for quite a nice package.  Tannins had settled somewhat but were still firm without being harsh in any way and the acid was more than acceptable. 

Not a heavy hitter or a huge wine, but a good, honest, solid red to go with a delicious steak.  $24 and 12.5% alcohol.

Dessert wasn't too bad either.  Fresh peaches hit the local market so there was a fresh peach sorbet to end the meal.

Back to hot, steamy weather tomorrow.

Swordfish

Good price on swordfish this weekend at the market and pictured above is a large, marinating steak of the fish.  Fresh rosemary, crushed garlic, lemon zest, Aleppo pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt made up the marinade.  After thirty minutes the steak was pan seared on both sides and then popped into a hot oven for an additional seven minutes.  It came out on the medium side of medium rare, cooked through but still moist inside.  Swordfish is so easy to over cook and so dry when it is overcooked.  Delicious with some fresh pasta tossed a sage and brown butter sauce with fried sage leaves on top. 

The wine was another bottle of the 2009 Abymes discussed a few posts below.  Good pairing.

Rain

No walk for the dogs this morning as the skies opened up to the tune of an inch of rain in less than 20 minutes.  The respite was brief as the sun is back out and the temperatures are up again, but it is steamy with all the evaporation.

Last night was a Riesling evening and the wine of choice was a 2007 Wilhelm Bergmann Bernkasteler Kurfurstlay Kabinett from the Mosel.  It was everything that a Riesling should be - sharp, tart, acidic, off dry, refreshing, smelling of rocks and citrus, and all around making one very happy.    8.5% alcohol and a mere $8 from a close-out bin.

A Better Gin and Tonic

As I've mentioned several times in this blog gin and tonic is just about the perfect hot weather drink.  As a result there are usually several gins in stock during the summer.  Tanqueray Ten, Tanqueray Rangpur, Bombay Sapphire, Citadelle and Plymouth are some of my favorites.  Currently in stock are the Tanqueray Ten and Plymouth. 

My usual recipe is is for a taller drink, and thus less alcoholic, than those served in most bars.  I use a taller glass and add a little more tonic water.

There are two widely available tonic waters in this area, Schweppes and Canada Dry, and occasionally some off brand that pops up on the shelf.   Schweppes has always been the 'go to" brand for me.  That ceased today.

Sitting on a corner display at the market was four-pack cartons of a more expensive tonic water, Q-Tonic.  The packaging caught my eye but the list of ingredients made the sale.  The entire list was water, agave nectar, quinine, lemon juice extract and natural bitters.  What?  No high fructose corn syrup?

With temperatures in the mid 90's today and with a heat index of over  100 it was time for the test.  A glass of ice, a squeeze of lime, two ounces of Tanqueray Ten and  Q-tonic to fill the glass.  There was also a second made the same way but using Schweppes.  The Q-tonic was much less sweet, light and nimble and lip smacking good.  The lime tasted fresher and the bitter element was tart and refreshing.  The Schweppes version was good and what I'm used to but this was like moving from a village white Burgundy to a Corton Charlemagne.  Fortunately the price differential isn't nearly as severe.  A six pack of Schweppes goes for $6 and some change while the four pack of Q-Tonic was $8.  Really good stuff.

2009 Abymes

Along with Chablis and Muscadet an Abymes may be the perfect hot weather wine from France, in this case from the Savoie.

This particular wine is 100% Jacquère and is from the 2009 vintage.  The producer is Roger Labbe from Domaine Labbe.  We discussed the same wine from the 2006 vintage on this site a couple of years ago, and three vintages removed it is still a great little summer white wine.

There's not much aroma but the taste is most like licking a piece of wet limestone.  This is definitely a mineral driven wine.  Tart green apples and green grapes ares there but the minerality and acidity really drive this wine.  Wonderfully refreshing and totally dry at 11% alcohol and $13 a bottle.  That's a two dollar increase since the 2006 vintage, but this is still a bargain and the supply is good.

This wine was a before dinner drink with some Delice du Jura cheese.  This cheese is basically a variety of Savoie's Reblochon made with pasteurized milk instead of raw milk.  The U.S. still doesn't allow the importation of fresh, raw milk cheeses.  This pasteurized version is nutty, earthy, rich and runny.  Soft in the center the cheese just oozes onto crackers and apple slices.  Near perfect with this wine.

Dom. Georges Vernay Saint Joseph

It was s terribly hot week that just concluded, and the upcoming one promises to be no better. It's been mostly a beer, iced tea and gin and tonic week.

That can't go on forever so last night we lowered the temperature in the house and lit the grill.  And we decided there would be no wimpy red wines.  Dinner was a dry aged, bone in rib steak and a potato gallette. 

The wine of choice was a 2006 Georges Vernay Saint Joseph.  The cork was pulled about half an hour before the steaks went on the grill and two thirds of the bottle was decanted.   Of course there was an immediate sip or two taken.

The wine was dark purple in the glass and definitely on the young side.  The aromas were dark plums and other dark fruit and that wonderful fresh meat smell that often comes with a good wine from the northern Rhone.  One sniff of the wine and I needed to sniff the steak since there were similar aromas.  The taste was full bore Syrah with lots of fruit and immense tannin to coat the tongue.  There was little elegance to this wine, it was in your face and somewhat rustic.  It was exactly what I was hoping for when I bought the bottle a year or so ago.  By the time dinner was ready the wine had only softened a small bit.  The tannin was still strong and the acid remained high and it was a perfect match with the steak. 

This was my first experience with a red wine from Georges Vernay, who is known primarily for his Condrieu.  The Saint Joseph was equally good and a decent buy at $30.  Alcohol was 12.5%.

The local market has greatly expanded their cheese offerings and we sampled a very good one after dinner in lieu of dessert.  The cheese was a Saint Nectaire.   It had a very rich and soft texture and one could get earthiness from it along with the hazelnuts and mushrooms for which it is known.  Good stuff and it would be great with a dry, crisp white wine.  It was good with the glass of Oloroso Sherry that we drank with it as well.