Monday we had an outrageous meal. The parts themselves would have been excellent, but together they took us to an altogether new direction of good. I realize that I risk censure from those who are rightly repelled by hyperbole but they (whoever they are) weren't here to swoop and swoon over this extraordinary wine and food pairing.
First, the food: a wonderful saute of peppers, carrots, bok choy blended into an Indian Coconut Curry sauce that we picked up at Costco (include the "t", please). KT made it swim with goodness, layered over basmati rice. To this we added a 2001 Hirschi Austrian Riesling that was nothing short of ethereal. Crisp, laser acidity, after nine years, swirling around a circumferential butterscotch, caramel goodness that was not sweet or unctuous but going on and on and on with flavor. The sharp acidity spoke of citrus, clean and exquisite, softened by the edge of caramel richness. Unbelievably good in some many ways and so deep and with the food, it was perfect. This is not hyperbole. It was a match of heavenly proportions. A riesling that gave a hint of petroleum on the nose, but in the mouth...OMG...pure, lingering pleasure. But maybe, you had to be there?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
So this is what the fuss is about!
Rainy Sunday dinner: braised short ribs in a succulent, spicy tomato sauce; white corn grits to place it on; ubiquitous broccoli. In a word: YUM!
Our vinous guest of the evening: 1996 Caprilli Brunello di Montalcino. I have stared at that bottle for a loooong time, wondering if it was foolish to let it lay, trusting those who attest to the longetivity of this wine. Finally, fourteen years seemed enough and I have a 1997 too, so I wanted to get a glimpse of what was going on in the bottle. We don't have huge temperature fluctuations in our basement, but you never know. The cork came out in one piece (a plus with older wines, in my experience - 10+ years of age is my benchmark for old, since we didn't start collecting until 1998) and the royal, regal dark purple robe poured silkily into the waiting glass. No brickish, brown rim hinting at age....just nobility. The nose so elegant and divine with no hint of pretense, just fruit and flowers, gamey, chocolate, coffee..all so subtle yet profound. And the taste: oh my! Full of flavor, impeccably smooth and elegant; fruit, coffee, leather in equal proportions and still some mild tannins to let you know that this pup could have lain a while longer. It was hauntingly beautiful....imagine a nobility that is generous and kind and loving, but make-no-mistake, it's a blue blood. It's like the pictures you see of Prince Phillip, such an openly human man for a monarch; royalty with grace. This wine was that. It didn't have gender characteristics; it could just as easily be compared to Grace Kelly. Prince Kelley? Just know that the wait was worth it and I'm encouraged to wait on others. I'm not often disappointed. I certainly wasn't tonight.
Our vinous guest of the evening: 1996 Caprilli Brunello di Montalcino. I have stared at that bottle for a loooong time, wondering if it was foolish to let it lay, trusting those who attest to the longetivity of this wine. Finally, fourteen years seemed enough and I have a 1997 too, so I wanted to get a glimpse of what was going on in the bottle. We don't have huge temperature fluctuations in our basement, but you never know. The cork came out in one piece (a plus with older wines, in my experience - 10+ years of age is my benchmark for old, since we didn't start collecting until 1998) and the royal, regal dark purple robe poured silkily into the waiting glass. No brickish, brown rim hinting at age....just nobility. The nose so elegant and divine with no hint of pretense, just fruit and flowers, gamey, chocolate, coffee..all so subtle yet profound. And the taste: oh my! Full of flavor, impeccably smooth and elegant; fruit, coffee, leather in equal proportions and still some mild tannins to let you know that this pup could have lain a while longer. It was hauntingly beautiful....imagine a nobility that is generous and kind and loving, but make-no-mistake, it's a blue blood. It's like the pictures you see of Prince Phillip, such an openly human man for a monarch; royalty with grace. This wine was that. It didn't have gender characteristics; it could just as easily be compared to Grace Kelly. Prince Kelley? Just know that the wait was worth it and I'm encouraged to wait on others. I'm not often disappointed. I certainly wasn't tonight.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Staying Power
On the 14th, I opened up a bottle of 2006 Reverdito Barolo that I picked up from Vinopolis. Selling for about $18 a bottle, I was highly skeptical that it could amount to much more than a pleasant nebbiolo (which is still a very good thing). Barolo "wine of kings" for less than $20? You can understand my pause. Ah, but good fortune is at hand: it is actually a very good wine. After the initial tasting - dark fruits and leather and gentle tannins - I continued to sample it daily, until KT and I finished it off on Tuesday....and it still tasted pleasant and showing no signs of turning. A case purchase can't be far behind1
Last night, we opened a 2001 Marcel Deiss Pinot Blanc, to pair with an apple-fennel hash, sausages and steamed small white potatoes. Amazingly, the wine still has life and vigor. Just the slightest hint of oxidation to me, but the full strength of the mouth-filling acidity and tart apple crispness never faltered.
Last night, we opened a 2001 Marcel Deiss Pinot Blanc, to pair with an apple-fennel hash, sausages and steamed small white potatoes. Amazingly, the wine still has life and vigor. Just the slightest hint of oxidation to me, but the full strength of the mouth-filling acidity and tart apple crispness never faltered.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Taking the Gloves off with the Minkster
What a treat for a Monday night. KT made one of our favorite dishes, the now infamous green chile pork stew, coupled with mashed spuds, steamed-to-perfection broccoli and a lovely salad to follow. We were blessed with a visit from the just-back-from Italy Chanel, who regaled us with delightful stories of Rome and Naples and brought a delightful little bottle of Touraine Sauvignon Blanc from Domaine Vincent Ricard.
I hastily opened that chilled offering and was delighted to find a light bodied, herbal wine that danced daintily on the palette. I quickly sliced up some aged dutch goat cheese and soppresata salami and the wonders of the chalky hills of the Loire came swimming up in my mouth, calling back the fall of '09 when the AP and I spent a hall of fame afternoon in the hilltop town of Sancerre, sitting in an outdoor cafe bedazzled with assorted fresh goat cheese offerings and a pitcher of local sancerre blanc all the while surrounding by an expansive view of acres of soon to be harvested minerally, herbal gooseberry, grassy, cat pee, mown lawn grape goodness. One of the finest wine/food moments in my life.
Then on to dinner and I offered up a 2000 Produttori Barbaresco from the single vineyard of Moccagatta. This wine has enough tannins to go longer, if need be, but tasted just fine right now. Earthy and balanced with flavors of dark red berries and earth and plums and earth, it was not the best match for the spicy pork stew but it wasn't bad. I've read that the Moccagatta vineyard is one of the highest in Barbaresco and is known for its earthy power. Amen to that. And the good news: there's another bottle of it for another day!
I hastily opened that chilled offering and was delighted to find a light bodied, herbal wine that danced daintily on the palette. I quickly sliced up some aged dutch goat cheese and soppresata salami and the wonders of the chalky hills of the Loire came swimming up in my mouth, calling back the fall of '09 when the AP and I spent a hall of fame afternoon in the hilltop town of Sancerre, sitting in an outdoor cafe bedazzled with assorted fresh goat cheese offerings and a pitcher of local sancerre blanc all the while surrounding by an expansive view of acres of soon to be harvested minerally, herbal gooseberry, grassy, cat pee, mown lawn grape goodness. One of the finest wine/food moments in my life.
Then on to dinner and I offered up a 2000 Produttori Barbaresco from the single vineyard of Moccagatta. This wine has enough tannins to go longer, if need be, but tasted just fine right now. Earthy and balanced with flavors of dark red berries and earth and plums and earth, it was not the best match for the spicy pork stew but it wasn't bad. I've read that the Moccagatta vineyard is one of the highest in Barbaresco and is known for its earthy power. Amen to that. And the good news: there's another bottle of it for another day!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Va bene!
Apologies to Suzie, if that's not how you say "Wow!" in Italian.
The highly anticipated Swirl occurred last night at Barry and Suzie's cucina, the pork roast holding center court. The usual suspects were on hand, save for that social butterfly Kay, who has created such a delightful oasis in Salem that her guest beds are seldom, if ever, empty. We soldiered on without her, hardy souls that we are :-D
My angst over the perfect wine for the cubano pork settled on a 2001 Mas Donis, Capcanes, from the montsant region of Spain, the area surrounding the more famous priorat. Made mostly from old vines (80+ years) garnacha, it seemed a good choice for a sumptuously roasted pig. Indeed it was, the earthiness complementing the moist, succulent pork to a "T"...at least in this taster's opinion.
Yes, we had more than pork (but it is the pork that still resonates most in my mind). Jewel blessed the proceedings with a kale/corn saute that was a divine choice. Ruth brought a potato dish (?kugel) that baked up yummy with mushrooms nestled within. KT freshened our palates with a splendid spinach, roasted red pepper salad, and Lee (with Rick doing the "flip") brought it all home with a dreamy, creamy pumpkin caramel creation.
The table also sported a lovely melange of wines: barbera d' alba from Vietti (!), very lively with lots of festive italian fruit; pirouette from WW Long Shadows, dark fruit candied goodness in it for the long haul; cabernet sauvignon from Bogle, a really approachable Cali cab - words I don't often utter; and another very drinkable cab from Cali with the moniker of "Cask"....so drinkable, in fact, that it was drained first!
These crisp beautiful autumnal days are off to a flying start. I love this "shoulder" wine season. Still time to revel in whites and roses (like there's an 'off' season for that!), yet the fare begins to resemble the dinner hour and the wine choices, growing darker by the day. This my friends is truly la dolce vita.
The highly anticipated Swirl occurred last night at Barry and Suzie's cucina, the pork roast holding center court. The usual suspects were on hand, save for that social butterfly Kay, who has created such a delightful oasis in Salem that her guest beds are seldom, if ever, empty. We soldiered on without her, hardy souls that we are :-D
My angst over the perfect wine for the cubano pork settled on a 2001 Mas Donis, Capcanes, from the montsant region of Spain, the area surrounding the more famous priorat. Made mostly from old vines (80+ years) garnacha, it seemed a good choice for a sumptuously roasted pig. Indeed it was, the earthiness complementing the moist, succulent pork to a "T"...at least in this taster's opinion.
Yes, we had more than pork (but it is the pork that still resonates most in my mind). Jewel blessed the proceedings with a kale/corn saute that was a divine choice. Ruth brought a potato dish (?kugel) that baked up yummy with mushrooms nestled within. KT freshened our palates with a splendid spinach, roasted red pepper salad, and Lee (with Rick doing the "flip") brought it all home with a dreamy, creamy pumpkin caramel creation.
The table also sported a lovely melange of wines: barbera d' alba from Vietti (!), very lively with lots of festive italian fruit; pirouette from WW Long Shadows, dark fruit candied goodness in it for the long haul; cabernet sauvignon from Bogle, a really approachable Cali cab - words I don't often utter; and another very drinkable cab from Cali with the moniker of "Cask"....so drinkable, in fact, that it was drained first!
These crisp beautiful autumnal days are off to a flying start. I love this "shoulder" wine season. Still time to revel in whites and roses (like there's an 'off' season for that!), yet the fare begins to resemble the dinner hour and the wine choices, growing darker by the day. This my friends is truly la dolce vita.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Laugh Night Repast
Monday's have become our laugh night. Although we aren't often slouched in front of the television, for some reason a series of what are called "situation comedies" have caught our fancy. To fortify our soon to come belly laughs, we had a simple dinner of last of the season corn on the cob, compliments of our CSA and supported that with a sausage/potato/egg in a skillet bake. Nice and spicy, the Italian sausage! To embellish this melange, we had a 2008 Penner-Ash Roseo, or as they describe it, a pink, pink wine. Yum! Now I know why we bought it. We are not huge P-A fans; the few times that we've gone to the winery, they just seem so snobbish, so California-esque. But the Roseo (which I don't think was a mercy buy, since we don't feel any affinity towards the winery or servers) and a Riesling found a home here and we have enjoyed them. It's nice to have an alternative to the ubiquitous pinot noir.
This coming Saturday we will be going to Barry & Suzie's for a SWIRL. Suzie's famous pork! A whole week to find the perfect wine. My favorite homework.
This coming Saturday we will be going to Barry & Suzie's for a SWIRL. Suzie's famous pork! A whole week to find the perfect wine. My favorite homework.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Recent Swoonings
It's only Wednesday and already KT and I have knocked back two sensational wine pairings. Monday night, it was a delicious roasted chicken thighs/cherry tomato feast graciously accompanied by Lopez-Heredia's 2001 Vina Cubiillo. Primarily a tempranillo blend (65%), this wine was suave and sultry, deceptively so. It's so comfortable in its skin that it doesn't need to strut; it purrs with subtle pleasure that you can dabble in or go deep if you take the time. Like a skilled lover this one: relax, you are in good hands, and L-H is quickly becoming my favorite winery of this time.
Tuesday night's treat was more spontaneous. Our "tub o' vegetables" from the CSA included some zebra skinned tomatoes. KT had her heart set on some chopped tomatoes with buffalo mozarella and basil, dressed lovingly with an artisnal olive oil from Oregon, no less. It was tremendously good, with flavors that just kept coming in waves. For some reason, I opted to pair this with an Austrian riesling. The 2004 Prager riesling was spot on with this dish. The wine's lovely acidity worked in harmony with the acidity of the tomatoes to create a clean, bracing flavor that kept the acid of the riesling intact while allowing its caramel flavors to show through. No unctuousness or insipidness here; just tight, taut, clean flavors that soared. Six years in our basement had not induced any oxidative qualities to this wine; it was pure heaven. Can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds!
Tuesday night's treat was more spontaneous. Our "tub o' vegetables" from the CSA included some zebra skinned tomatoes. KT had her heart set on some chopped tomatoes with buffalo mozarella and basil, dressed lovingly with an artisnal olive oil from Oregon, no less. It was tremendously good, with flavors that just kept coming in waves. For some reason, I opted to pair this with an Austrian riesling. The 2004 Prager riesling was spot on with this dish. The wine's lovely acidity worked in harmony with the acidity of the tomatoes to create a clean, bracing flavor that kept the acid of the riesling intact while allowing its caramel flavors to show through. No unctuousness or insipidness here; just tight, taut, clean flavors that soared. Six years in our basement had not induced any oxidative qualities to this wine; it was pure heaven. Can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds!
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