and Pinot Grigio. The two most popular white wine grapes in the USA are Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. When I started in the business 2 score ago Chenin Blanc was the most popular grape variety. I remember my first trip to California and visiting the tiny J. Lohr winery in a former fire station in San Jose, if my memory is not failing me, and being told they were discontinuing my most favorite wine, Chenin Blanc.
Today, the best bang for the buck white wine is Chenin Blanc. Lighter than Chardonnay, richer than Pinot Grigio, it can be made in a variety of styles to the whim of the winemaker and vineyard manager.
South Africa produces the best Chenin Blanc values in the world today. Our most popular white wine in the store for the last few years has been the Ken Forrester Petit Chenin Blanc at $9.99 a bottle. However, I just set up a display in the store of 3 different and delicious Chenin Blancs, each for $14.99 a bottle. You get to pick your favorite.
First, the "Unwooded" Chenin Blanc from Raats Family is a crisp refreshing minerally essence of peach dry white wine. Lovely bank of the Charles River cheese and cracker wine for a warm spring-summer day.
Second, the lightly wooded Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc. This touch of oak adds a component of vanilla to the wine. You could also take this to the Charles but the picnic basket with chicken and salads in addition to the cheese would be a better match.
Third, the moderately wooded Graham Beck Gamekeeper's Reserve Chenin Blanc is oaked more like a California Chardonnay. This richer wine is yummy with the rainy day picnic with the chicken right out of the oven.
Finally, if you want the outrageous Chenin Blanc, you are more than welcome to plunk down $59.99 a bottle for the FMC. Save this bottle for a great white meat meal for a very special occasion. First time I tried it, I thought it was over-oaked. But it passed the empty glass test. You know, when you try a variety of wines, the glass that keeps being emptied most often is the best wine.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Peanut Butter and Jelly
I love the classic matches, bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly and Champagne and caviar, even though I hate caviar, but I get how it works. I am nominating pork and Rioja as the new classic match.
This past Easter my sister-in-law regaled the family with a ham and a pork loin on the bone. Among her guests were a couple visiting her parents from Barcelona, Spain. Since I was in charge of bringing the wine, I opted for a variety of red wines including a few from Spain. The fruitier reds were a nice match with the ham, always go for fruit with ham to counterbalance the sweetish glaze, but the Rioja and the pork created oohs and aahs from myself and the guests. Everyone got it!
The simple Rioja, Vina Hermina $12.99 at the store, was enhanced by the pork and the pork brought out the best in the wine. Synergy! It seemed like the pork smoothed out the edges in the wine and brought out the best flavors. The wine in concert with the pork seemed to make the meat juicier and more flavorful. Gah, just re-read what I just wrote and this is one instance where 1000 words are not worth one taste.
Next time you are roasting or grilling pork, whether ribs, chops or loins, serve any red Rioja and taste what I am attempting to write about. Caveat, it doesn't work with barbeque sauce.
This past Easter my sister-in-law regaled the family with a ham and a pork loin on the bone. Among her guests were a couple visiting her parents from Barcelona, Spain. Since I was in charge of bringing the wine, I opted for a variety of red wines including a few from Spain. The fruitier reds were a nice match with the ham, always go for fruit with ham to counterbalance the sweetish glaze, but the Rioja and the pork created oohs and aahs from myself and the guests. Everyone got it!
The simple Rioja, Vina Hermina $12.99 at the store, was enhanced by the pork and the pork brought out the best in the wine. Synergy! It seemed like the pork smoothed out the edges in the wine and brought out the best flavors. The wine in concert with the pork seemed to make the meat juicier and more flavorful. Gah, just re-read what I just wrote and this is one instance where 1000 words are not worth one taste.
Next time you are roasting or grilling pork, whether ribs, chops or loins, serve any red Rioja and taste what I am attempting to write about. Caveat, it doesn't work with barbeque sauce.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Work, work, work
My first day of Spring is the annual Cape Cod Wine Tasting Show held in the beautiful Chatham Bars Inn. In my foolish youth, I tried to taste all the wines at the show, this year close to 700, but like fine wine, my age has made me better. 200 wines tasted in about 3 hours is my limit now. Here are the few winners that I ordered for the store. They should, repeat should, arrive within the next two weeks, hopefully in time for Easter. This short list further proves, that I taste all the bad wines so you don't have to. These wines are in no particular order, they are just good and good value.
Casillero del Diablo 2006 "Riserva Privada" Cabernet/Syrah blend $17.99
Big, luscious and yummy
A.A. Bastianich (yes, that family)2007 Malvasia $39.99
Hole in the head wine, I don't need it, but it was a stunning dry white and I had to have it.
Josh Cellars 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon "Amber Knolls" $19.99
Just what you want in California Cab.
Lioco 2007 Unoaked Sonoma Chardonnay $19.99
Surprisingly rich flavors for an unoaked Chard.
The Wishing Tree 2008 Chardonnay AND 2006 Shiraz $11.99 each
From Western Australia, more acid, less over-ripe flavors, well done.
Angeline 2006 Chardonnay Russian River $14.99
Great value for classic California style
Angeline 2006 Merlot Russian River $14.99
Way too tasty and smooth for its price point!
Martin Ray 2006 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara $19.99
Only wine I tried that I inquired about buying the entire Mass. allotment.
Ken Forrester Petite Pinotage 2008 $9.99
Hate-Love, Hated this wine for years. Love this vintage!
De Trafford Shiraz "Blueprint" 2005 $39.99
BIG , enjoyable, cellarable, for a leg of lamb. Very limited!
Corte Rugolin Valpolicella Classico 2007 $14.99
Too good for red sauce!
Graham Beck Chenin Blanc "Gamekeeper's Reserve" $14.99
Tired of Chardonnay? Drink this!
Vinos Sin-Ley M5 (Monastrell) 2007 $14.99
Big, smooth, smokey, perfect for Catsup covered cuisine.
Vinos Sin-Ley Puntazo Rose' 2008 $9.99
A snoutful of fresh strawberries in a dry pink wine. Bring on Summer!
Typical average results, 7.5% worthy, 92.5% I don't want you to taste.
Blisters on my tongue healing until the second Cape show in 10 days and I get to do it all over again. New wines of course.
Casillero del Diablo 2006 "Riserva Privada" Cabernet/Syrah blend $17.99
Big, luscious and yummy
A.A. Bastianich (yes, that family)2007 Malvasia $39.99
Hole in the head wine, I don't need it, but it was a stunning dry white and I had to have it.
Josh Cellars 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon "Amber Knolls" $19.99
Just what you want in California Cab.
Lioco 2007 Unoaked Sonoma Chardonnay $19.99
Surprisingly rich flavors for an unoaked Chard.
The Wishing Tree 2008 Chardonnay AND 2006 Shiraz $11.99 each
From Western Australia, more acid, less over-ripe flavors, well done.
Angeline 2006 Chardonnay Russian River $14.99
Great value for classic California style
Angeline 2006 Merlot Russian River $14.99
Way too tasty and smooth for its price point!
Martin Ray 2006 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara $19.99
Only wine I tried that I inquired about buying the entire Mass. allotment.
Ken Forrester Petite Pinotage 2008 $9.99
Hate-Love, Hated this wine for years. Love this vintage!
De Trafford Shiraz "Blueprint" 2005 $39.99
BIG , enjoyable, cellarable, for a leg of lamb. Very limited!
Corte Rugolin Valpolicella Classico 2007 $14.99
Too good for red sauce!
Graham Beck Chenin Blanc "Gamekeeper's Reserve" $14.99
Tired of Chardonnay? Drink this!
Vinos Sin-Ley M5 (Monastrell) 2007 $14.99
Big, smooth, smokey, perfect for Catsup covered cuisine.
Vinos Sin-Ley Puntazo Rose' 2008 $9.99
A snoutful of fresh strawberries in a dry pink wine. Bring on Summer!
Typical average results, 7.5% worthy, 92.5% I don't want you to taste.
Blisters on my tongue healing until the second Cape show in 10 days and I get to do it all over again. New wines of course.
Monday, March 16, 2009
WWW-Wine Wont Work
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Wine won't work with corned beef and cabbage. The saltiness of the corned beef desensitizes your taste buds, plus all that salt makes you thirsty, so pour a couple of cold beers, green color optional, and enjoy your gourmet kinship with the Irish. And it is beer to be served whether your corned beef is pink in color, the NY style, or grey, the New England style. Another battle between New York and Boston. Again, there are no wrong answers, just your personal preference. If you find a butcher that makes his own New England style corned beef, ask a couple of weeks in advance if he will make you corned spare ribs! Then make sure your next appointment with your doctor is in the far away future so you dont get yelled at.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wine Mythbuster
Rule # 1. If you like the wine, it's good wine.
Rule # 2. If the wine tastes good to you with the food you are serving, it's the right wine to serve.
Chianti does not go with red sauce! In fact almost all red wine from Tuscany, Chianti the most famous, does not go with red sauce.
Tuscany is home of white beans, olive oil and Sangiovese. Sangioves is the dominant grape of Chianti. It has a slight sour cherry, Morello, flavor. So would you put sour cherries in your red sauce? Nope. Other than a homemade pasta called Picci, you do not see pasta in Tuscany except in tourist places. The nickname for the people of Tuscany, and I apologize in advance for the spelling, is Mangiafagioles, The Beaneaters. For you Boston Red Sox fans, that was the name of the Red Sox, before Red Sox. Tuscans pour olive oil on their dishes like American kids pour ketchup on their fries! The cloyingness of the oil is a perfect foil for the high acid of the Sangiovese grape. The best steaks are to be found in Tuscany too. Chianina, again spelling apologies, is the local best breed of cow for meat. It is high in fat content, cooked rare on a wood fire and is yummy with Chianti and other Tuscan reds. The beef is so rich that it is common to liberally apply Kosher salt and lemon juice to a Tuscan steak. The Tuscans also love grilled game birds and wild boar stews. These foods taste terrific with Tuscan reds. Secret ingredient in stew from Tuscany, a spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder at the finish! You will not believe how it enrichens the colour and flavor of stews.
Southern Italian red wines are the perfect foil for red sauce. The acidity from the tomato and the low acid from grapes like Primitivo, Negroamaro and Nero d'Avola compliment each other for some sure-fire tasty combos. In addition, those three grapes make great inexpensive wine! And in this economy, inexpensive and delicious is a great match.
Rule # 2. If the wine tastes good to you with the food you are serving, it's the right wine to serve.
Chianti does not go with red sauce! In fact almost all red wine from Tuscany, Chianti the most famous, does not go with red sauce.
Tuscany is home of white beans, olive oil and Sangiovese. Sangioves is the dominant grape of Chianti. It has a slight sour cherry, Morello, flavor. So would you put sour cherries in your red sauce? Nope. Other than a homemade pasta called Picci, you do not see pasta in Tuscany except in tourist places. The nickname for the people of Tuscany, and I apologize in advance for the spelling, is Mangiafagioles, The Beaneaters. For you Boston Red Sox fans, that was the name of the Red Sox, before Red Sox. Tuscans pour olive oil on their dishes like American kids pour ketchup on their fries! The cloyingness of the oil is a perfect foil for the high acid of the Sangiovese grape. The best steaks are to be found in Tuscany too. Chianina, again spelling apologies, is the local best breed of cow for meat. It is high in fat content, cooked rare on a wood fire and is yummy with Chianti and other Tuscan reds. The beef is so rich that it is common to liberally apply Kosher salt and lemon juice to a Tuscan steak. The Tuscans also love grilled game birds and wild boar stews. These foods taste terrific with Tuscan reds. Secret ingredient in stew from Tuscany, a spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder at the finish! You will not believe how it enrichens the colour and flavor of stews.
Southern Italian red wines are the perfect foil for red sauce. The acidity from the tomato and the low acid from grapes like Primitivo, Negroamaro and Nero d'Avola compliment each other for some sure-fire tasty combos. In addition, those three grapes make great inexpensive wine! And in this economy, inexpensive and delicious is a great match.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Alphabet Soup/Wines
Simple as ABC! With all due respect to the Jackson 5, it is that simple. A few years ago ABC was an acronym for Anything But Chardonnay or Anything But Cabernet. Chardonnay and Cabernet are the two most popular white and red respectively wine grapes in the US today.. but people were getting tired of them. Most great red Bordeaux are a blend of up to 5 varieties of grapes and today more winemakers are having fun creating some interesting blends that you would never see in Bordeaux.
A staple in the store for years and exceeds expectations in the 2007 vintage is the CMS from Hedges of Washington state. A tasty blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah/Shiraz, the 2007 is an easy guzzler as well as a nice tasting red dinner wine. The Cabernet gives the wine complex flavors, the Merlot is for smoothness and a pleasing vanilla-cherry flavor and the Syrah/Shiraz gives the wine some weight, smoke and spice flavors. Great with all catsup,covered cuisine. I will use this as a backyard bar-b-que summer wine and serve it with a slight chill. It retails for under $15 a bottle.
SMG is not a new global positioning system, but rather a fantastic red blend from golfer Ernie Els' Guardian Peak label of South Africa. This $25 a bottle red bombshell wine gets the gamey-peppery flavors from the Syrah, mucho smoke from the Mourvedre and extra weight and power from the Grenache. If you get the chance, have lunch at the Guardian Peak winery for a great meal with a better view. Great winter/spring red wine for lamb in all its forms. Too good for the ketchup, but great with a steak, open the bottle a half hour before serving to allows its massive flavors to expand out of the glass.
A staple in the store for years and exceeds expectations in the 2007 vintage is the CMS from Hedges of Washington state. A tasty blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah/Shiraz, the 2007 is an easy guzzler as well as a nice tasting red dinner wine. The Cabernet gives the wine complex flavors, the Merlot is for smoothness and a pleasing vanilla-cherry flavor and the Syrah/Shiraz gives the wine some weight, smoke and spice flavors. Great with all catsup,covered cuisine. I will use this as a backyard bar-b-que summer wine and serve it with a slight chill. It retails for under $15 a bottle.
SMG is not a new global positioning system, but rather a fantastic red blend from golfer Ernie Els' Guardian Peak label of South Africa. This $25 a bottle red bombshell wine gets the gamey-peppery flavors from the Syrah, mucho smoke from the Mourvedre and extra weight and power from the Grenache. If you get the chance, have lunch at the Guardian Peak winery for a great meal with a better view. Great winter/spring red wine for lamb in all its forms. Too good for the ketchup, but great with a steak, open the bottle a half hour before serving to allows its massive flavors to expand out of the glass.
Monday, February 16, 2009
President Gourmet
Washington may have chopped the cherry tree, but it was Thomas Jefferson who was the first wine geek president. While living in Paris as a diplomat he not only developed his taste for fine wines and foods, Ben Franklin acquired the same habit the same way and both lived into their 80's, but also used his farming skills and brought back vine cuttings from Bordeaux to his home at Monticello in Virginia. Alas, the yet undetected native American vine mite, Phylloxera, destroyed the vines and no wine was ever produced by Jefferson. Eventually this microscopic bug was transported to Europe and ruined most of the vineyards there in the mid 1800's. Surprisingly, today almost all vines are grown on American root stock. Think of Concord underground and Cabernet on top.
With that knowledge today there is a healthy and high quality wine growing region in the Virginian Piedmont. Jefferson would be proud. Unfortunately, these yummy wines rarely are available outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the D.C. area. If you live there, you know, but for the rest of us... road trip!
When Jefferson was alive, he enjoyed fine Bordeaux, but the Bordeaux of the 1700's was different than today's Bordeaux. Today, only 5 varieties of grapes are allowed in the blend; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Back then there was a 6th grape, think of the 5th Beatle, Carmenere. When the Phylloxera bug hit, the winemakers of Bordeaux allowed the Carmenere to go extinct because the grapes need to hang on the vine for an extra week than all the others. This extra week of ripening was not always reached as the Earth was in a cooling time back then, think of global warming in reverse. Until recent scientific advances, ie. DNA mapping, the way you determined what grapes were growing in your vineyard was the science of Ampelography. No, Ampelography has nothing to do with silicon implants, but rather it is the science of tracing leaf patterns to determine grape varieties, sort of fingerprints for leaves. Unfortunately, the Merlot and the Carmenere have the same pattern, so DNA to the rescue. Today's almost all of the known Carmenere is grown in Chile.
Carmenere is one of the most lovable dry red wines in the world today. When the grape is allowed to hang to ripen perfectly it yields a smooth dry red wine with some fruit and spice and chocolate flavor/aroma sensations. My two favorites are the Vina Chocolain 2007 retailing about 12 a bottle and the luscious Arboleda 2006 around 20 a bottle. They are equally good with steaks as well as roasts and braises of beef or lamb. And I would not be against serving them with a game bird such as goose or duck.
To pronounce Carmenere, try Car man air.
With that knowledge today there is a healthy and high quality wine growing region in the Virginian Piedmont. Jefferson would be proud. Unfortunately, these yummy wines rarely are available outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the D.C. area. If you live there, you know, but for the rest of us... road trip!
When Jefferson was alive, he enjoyed fine Bordeaux, but the Bordeaux of the 1700's was different than today's Bordeaux. Today, only 5 varieties of grapes are allowed in the blend; Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Back then there was a 6th grape, think of the 5th Beatle, Carmenere. When the Phylloxera bug hit, the winemakers of Bordeaux allowed the Carmenere to go extinct because the grapes need to hang on the vine for an extra week than all the others. This extra week of ripening was not always reached as the Earth was in a cooling time back then, think of global warming in reverse. Until recent scientific advances, ie. DNA mapping, the way you determined what grapes were growing in your vineyard was the science of Ampelography. No, Ampelography has nothing to do with silicon implants, but rather it is the science of tracing leaf patterns to determine grape varieties, sort of fingerprints for leaves. Unfortunately, the Merlot and the Carmenere have the same pattern, so DNA to the rescue. Today's almost all of the known Carmenere is grown in Chile.
Carmenere is one of the most lovable dry red wines in the world today. When the grape is allowed to hang to ripen perfectly it yields a smooth dry red wine with some fruit and spice and chocolate flavor/aroma sensations. My two favorites are the Vina Chocolain 2007 retailing about 12 a bottle and the luscious Arboleda 2006 around 20 a bottle. They are equally good with steaks as well as roasts and braises of beef or lamb. And I would not be against serving them with a game bird such as goose or duck.
To pronounce Carmenere, try Car man air.
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