I can't believe that is has been well over a month, and a strange one at that, since my last post. I have attended some very interesting events, including the Sonoma Harvest Fair award winner tasting and a survey of Argentinian wines. Both were interesting, but paled to last nights Wine & Spirits Magazine's Top 100 Tasting.
Having gone to the event for the past 6 years, I was counting down the days till its arrival. Since there were 100 wineries pouring their wares, I decided to concentrate on Rieslings and wines that I haven't had a recent opportunity to sample.
After starting with the spectacular Roederer Crystal, it was on to German and Austrian Rieslings. The highlights were Joh. Hos. Purm, who were pouring Trockens, Spatlese, Auslese and Beerenauslese. They just got better as you went up the ladder. The trocken was crisp like a granny smith apple, and then added honey and spice the richer the wines got. The Beerenauslese was spectacular and worth seeking out. And these wines were not terribly expensive on a value per dollar ratio.
From Austria we tasted Schloss Gobelsburg and they were also quite nice. Gruner Veitliner was crisp and rich and the Riesling showed great acid and richness with a touch of sweetness. The Riesling was an excellent example of what Germans would call Kabinett.
Most interesting were the two Finger Lake producers who were pouring rieslings as well. They packed more value than anything else at the event. Hermann Wiemar's 09 Finger Lakes Late Harvest Riesling was a dead ringer for a Rheingau Spatlese. It was an intense, rich and unctuous wine that had hints of honey, tart apple and baking spice with a finish that lingered forever. At $24 per bottle, if I had access to a case, I would have bought in on the spot.
Red Newt, and other Finger Lakes producer poured 2 wines, a dry 2010 Riesling that was refreshing and a 09 that was vinted in the German Kabinett style. Both were very interesting, and at $16 per bottle,worth purchasing.
We then went to the Penfold's table. To our great surprise, they were not only pouring the listed 07 St. Henri and the 08 RWT Shiraz, they had a bottle of 06 Grange open. These three wines could have been the events best of show. We sampled the wines in order of oak. First the St. Henri which is fermented and aged in large oak fermenters, it is all fruit with a very nice tannic structure balancing it. A great wine to drink now, and a great value at around $50 per bottle. The RWT is fermented and aged in 100% new French oak and is all suppleness. The fruit is tempered by some exquisite tannins, spice and smoke. Give it five years.
Then there was the 06 Grange. This is perhaps one of Australia's and perhaps the world's, iconic wines. 100% Barossa Shiraz and aged in 100% new American oak, the tannins are still front and center. After sitting in my glass for a few minutes, the fruit began to emerge, along with the flavors of roasted meats and a sleek toastiness and sandalwood. This wine will be a great one. Of course a pricey one as well weighting in at $500 for the bottle.
We then ambled over to Andrew Will, one of the iconic Washington producers. Pouring two wonderful cab blends, they were sleek and fruit forward, yet will be even better in about 5 years. After that, it was over to Leonetti, another iconic Washington winery. Their Walla Walla Merlot was outstanding.
We then said hello to the Seps family, as they were pouring their Storybook Mountain Mayacamas Zin and Seps Estate Cab. The cab was interesting, but stick with the zins, they are among the most interesting and consistent ones made in California. We mostly chatted about the harvest and difficult it was. In case you are not aware, two days of forecasted sprinkles have turned into several days of real rain. This on top of a long and very difficult growing season. Dr. Seps felt that there will be a harvest and had his fingers crossed.
Next to Storybook was another favorite, Ravenswood. The 08 Old Hill zin was a blend of 75% zin and 25% mixed black woods. Those who know me, know how much I love mixed black woods, and this blend was no exception, it was great.
After that, we sampled some very nice Barolos, some more Aussie shriaz, and some excellent Sonoma Coast Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from Flowers. All this excellence ended with two outstanding sweet wines, 2007 Quinta do Noval vintage port and Chambers Grand Muscat from Rutherglen in Victoria Australia. Drinking this young port was almost like infanticide. This is a great port, and will only get better in 10 years. The Chambers Muscat was a revelation. It is a blend of aged fortified wines with an average age of 50 years. It was very special.
All in all, an interesting evening. Next week is a walk around tasting of Italian wines, I won't miss that!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
International Cabernet Day Celebration
As many, including myself, did not know, September 1 is International Cabernet Day so I decided to celebrate at the Cabernet Day Napa HQ Seminar held at the Napa Marriott. As it happens, it turned out to be one helluva event, with some very serious flights of cabernet poured for our evaluation. The whole event was covered live on Twitter and Toutesuit which is a new video blogging site.
First, hats off the the Napa Marriott for volunteering to host this event, and to JJ Buckley in Oakland for sourcing these incredible reds. And a serious hats off to Deborah Parker Wong and Andrea Immerman Robinson for providing the commentary at this event.
The event itself was divided into 5 flights, each one dedicated to a single Cabernet topic. So we had Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley, Washington State Cabernets, Library Cabernets over 10 years old, Australia Cabernets and the final flight was an overview of Bordeaux. Between each segment we had some surprises, such as Cabernet Franc from Colorado and a two Cabernet Sauvignons from Baja Mexico. Unfortunately I had to leave after the Library segment and missed Bordeaux and Australia. Judging from the quality of wines that I did taste as well as my familiarity with several of the wines from Australia, I'm sure that the last two flights were outstanding as well.
So lets get to the wines. The first flight were Cabernet Francs from the Loire. I found these interesting, but not to the point that I would rush right out and purchase them. The three selections all had herbaceous noises, some tight fruit and a very good acidic structure. The 2009 Chinon, poured last, was my favorite. Again, I would not run out and buy any of these, probably due to my new world pallet.
In between flights, we sampled a 2008 Cabernet Franc from Colorado. I wish I wrote the name down. This wine was definitely new world in style with big fruit, pronounced tannins, leather and spice. It surprised me a great deal, until I thought about a recent Daily Grape from Gary Vaynerchuk. He tasted a Cab Franc from Colorado and raved about it. I wonder if it was this wine. Whatever, at $25 per bottle it packed a lot of power, great fruit, texture and tannic structure.
Next up were cabs from Washington State. These were a revelation. Washington State has 15 plus hours of sun during its growing season, yet it has a shorter and cooler growing season than Napa or Sonoma. The result are ripe wines that do not have the explosion of fruit upfront on the nose. Yet this fruit showed itself with certainty on the pallat. The two standouts were L'Ecole 41 Columbia Valley cab, their single vineyard cab and Gilbert Cellars Wahluke Slope. All had tremendous finesse and subtle fruit. I would have loved to taste these side by side with the Bordeaux that were poured later in the evening.
We then tasted the Library Release cabs. I always enjoy old wines because you cannot predict how one will evolve, you have to leave it to chance. First up was the Vilafonte Series M from South Africa. This Cab Sauv-Cab Franc blend was downright delicious. Still showing some very nice fruit, it had some serious weight on the mid pallet and a great finish.
Next was L'Ecole 41 2001 Walla Walla Washington. This wine was at its peak. Leather, cinnamon, cedar, vanilla with at nice touch of fruit peaking through on the pallet, it was spectacular. The Jordan 2000 Alexander Valley cab proved to be the most surprising wine of the flight' at 11 years old, it was still very youthful. I have always found Jordan wines to be very lush on release and rarely have I tasted one that was over 7-8 years old that had any life left on it. This one was still young, my guess is that it would still need another 3-5 years to resolve itself and smooth out the tannins as it still was a fruit driven wine. Yet all the elements of a great aged wine were there, the leather, spice, tobacco and cedar were just waiting for an excuse to peak out through the fruit. This wine should be great.
The biggest disappointment, yet not really disappointing was the Chateau Montelena 1998 Napa Valley cab. 1998 was an awful year in Northern California. For those who need a reminder, it started raining late in January and did not stop until mid June. They were still picking grapes in November. Back then I was catering and one of my largest clients, Rosenblum Cellars was loosing banquet business because they could not hold eventsin the winery because were still fermenting their wines in December. The year was a mess of vegetalness and under ripeness. Chateau Montelena is a great winery with great vineyards, however this wine was over the hill. No disrespect to them, as I've had their most recent releases and they all are outstanding, this was just a bad vintage.
With this I had to leave for other commitments. Great event, and great show.
Later this month I will be tasting wines from Argentina, going to a Calistoga tasting, and a grand tasting of the SF Wine Competition winners. I hope you will read my comments on them.
First, hats off the the Napa Marriott for volunteering to host this event, and to JJ Buckley in Oakland for sourcing these incredible reds. And a serious hats off to Deborah Parker Wong and Andrea Immerman Robinson for providing the commentary at this event.
The event itself was divided into 5 flights, each one dedicated to a single Cabernet topic. So we had Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley, Washington State Cabernets, Library Cabernets over 10 years old, Australia Cabernets and the final flight was an overview of Bordeaux. Between each segment we had some surprises, such as Cabernet Franc from Colorado and a two Cabernet Sauvignons from Baja Mexico. Unfortunately I had to leave after the Library segment and missed Bordeaux and Australia. Judging from the quality of wines that I did taste as well as my familiarity with several of the wines from Australia, I'm sure that the last two flights were outstanding as well.
So lets get to the wines. The first flight were Cabernet Francs from the Loire. I found these interesting, but not to the point that I would rush right out and purchase them. The three selections all had herbaceous noises, some tight fruit and a very good acidic structure. The 2009 Chinon, poured last, was my favorite. Again, I would not run out and buy any of these, probably due to my new world pallet.
In between flights, we sampled a 2008 Cabernet Franc from Colorado. I wish I wrote the name down. This wine was definitely new world in style with big fruit, pronounced tannins, leather and spice. It surprised me a great deal, until I thought about a recent Daily Grape from Gary Vaynerchuk. He tasted a Cab Franc from Colorado and raved about it. I wonder if it was this wine. Whatever, at $25 per bottle it packed a lot of power, great fruit, texture and tannic structure.
Next up were cabs from Washington State. These were a revelation. Washington State has 15 plus hours of sun during its growing season, yet it has a shorter and cooler growing season than Napa or Sonoma. The result are ripe wines that do not have the explosion of fruit upfront on the nose. Yet this fruit showed itself with certainty on the pallat. The two standouts were L'Ecole 41 Columbia Valley cab, their single vineyard cab and Gilbert Cellars Wahluke Slope. All had tremendous finesse and subtle fruit. I would have loved to taste these side by side with the Bordeaux that were poured later in the evening.
We then tasted the Library Release cabs. I always enjoy old wines because you cannot predict how one will evolve, you have to leave it to chance. First up was the Vilafonte Series M from South Africa. This Cab Sauv-Cab Franc blend was downright delicious. Still showing some very nice fruit, it had some serious weight on the mid pallet and a great finish.
Next was L'Ecole 41 2001 Walla Walla Washington. This wine was at its peak. Leather, cinnamon, cedar, vanilla with at nice touch of fruit peaking through on the pallet, it was spectacular. The Jordan 2000 Alexander Valley cab proved to be the most surprising wine of the flight' at 11 years old, it was still very youthful. I have always found Jordan wines to be very lush on release and rarely have I tasted one that was over 7-8 years old that had any life left on it. This one was still young, my guess is that it would still need another 3-5 years to resolve itself and smooth out the tannins as it still was a fruit driven wine. Yet all the elements of a great aged wine were there, the leather, spice, tobacco and cedar were just waiting for an excuse to peak out through the fruit. This wine should be great.
The biggest disappointment, yet not really disappointing was the Chateau Montelena 1998 Napa Valley cab. 1998 was an awful year in Northern California. For those who need a reminder, it started raining late in January and did not stop until mid June. They were still picking grapes in November. Back then I was catering and one of my largest clients, Rosenblum Cellars was loosing banquet business because they could not hold eventsin the winery because were still fermenting their wines in December. The year was a mess of vegetalness and under ripeness. Chateau Montelena is a great winery with great vineyards, however this wine was over the hill. No disrespect to them, as I've had their most recent releases and they all are outstanding, this was just a bad vintage.
With this I had to leave for other commitments. Great event, and great show.
Later this month I will be tasting wines from Argentina, going to a Calistoga tasting, and a grand tasting of the SF Wine Competition winners. I hope you will read my comments on them.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Food Fight!
There is a real knock down, drag out, heavy wieght fight brewing in the food world, Anthony Boudain vs. the food intellegensia.
First some background; for the past decade, Tony Bourdain has been the bad boy of the food world. He has smashed some icons, bowed down to others and has wrecked havoc through the gastronmic world with wit and charm. He started with what is now a considered a culinary classic "Kitchen Confidential." In his own words, Bourdain wrote that book for those who work in kitchens and never expected it to become the bestseller that it did.
He now hosts the highly successful, and very entertaining, TV show No Reservations where he travels the world in search of culinary edification. Sometimes he finds it, and sometimes not. His show from war ravaged Beruit during th 2006 world is about the most unusal culinary TV show that you will ever watch. Also his show where he worked the line with Eric Ripert at Les Halles was the only time I have ever seen the energy and fear that fuels the cooking lines at restaurants in a way that civilians can appreciate what it is all about.
I, and all of my colleagues, read Kitchen Confidential cover to cover with footnotes at least once. It was one of the only books that illustrated exactly what life is like in the kitchen. It was funny, profane and all of it absultely true and unvarnished. In fact, several of the chefs that I worked with in New York were among the skewered. Three of his points rang very true with me, first those anything ordered well done gets absolutely the worst cuts of meat. Boy that hit home as we did exactly that in every kitchen I worked in. The second point was that you should never order fish on Sundays as the last fish delivery was on Friday morning. It used to drive my owners crazy when we ran out of fish at the end of Saturday nights, until they looked at waste and food cost.
The last point is the most telling and relevant to the food fight brewing over his latest comments, he basically said that there were two types of kitchens, the churn and burn kitchens and the high art kitchens. I have worked in both. I learned more in the high end kitchens, but had much more fun in the churn and burn ones where we turned 500 covers (customers) per night.
And that brings us to Bourdain's lastet tome "Medium Raw." It is a very readable, very profane and very enjoyable book, but it can't escape the conflict of Tony the rebel vs. Tony now one of the culinary guys. In Kitchen Confidential, he was a rebel, skewering the Haute Cuisine world and all of it pretensions. He had some very choice words for Alain Ducasse and many others. He told us how it was to work the line, to turn out hundreds of dishes each night and how to run a kitchen.
In this book he starts up with a confession. He admits that none of his friends would ever hire him as a cook to work in any of their kitchens. What he does not say, but most culinarians know, is that these new friends were not his friends from his KC time, these are his new friends, friends of Tony the Culinary celebrity. And that conflict comes out in both guises throughout his book. His chapter on Alice Waters had to be written. He savages her elitism, and elitism that drips off everything she does. His comments on what Alice Waters says that Middle Amercia should eat during the winter are almost worth the price of this book alone.
However, when he speaks about some of the other so called celebrity chefs, Paula Dean, Rachel Ray et all, he is just as savage, and he should not be. After telling us how lucky he was, a recovered addict who was a journeyman cook/shef that lucked out into a successful new life, he really has a lot of gaul to put these other cooks down.
And that conflict arises time and time again. He writes about how fine dining needs to be redone, then goes to great lengths about how sad the closing of El Buili in Spain will be. How David Chang is rewriting culinary rules, and how he can't cook.
Adding fuel to the fire is an interview that Bourdain recently sat down for in TV Guide. While he did not say anything new, he attracted missles from Frank Bruni, the food critic at the NY Times. I don't know if Mr. Bruni read the book, but he proceedes to call Bourdain an elitist who has no conception about how the masses eat.
I guess Mr. Bruni did not read Broudain's chapters on how his travels around the world, experiencing scarcity among the many places he visited, made him more cognizant of how blessed we as a country are. Who is going to man the small farms growing local produce. It is an interesting conflict.
And Tony comes down on the sides of an elistist as well. He himself will not feed his kid anything but organic foods. Of course, that's his choice and he admits being a world traveling food personality pays very well.
Interesting stuff making Medium Raw a very interesting read for anyone who is interested in the current culinary world.
First some background; for the past decade, Tony Bourdain has been the bad boy of the food world. He has smashed some icons, bowed down to others and has wrecked havoc through the gastronmic world with wit and charm. He started with what is now a considered a culinary classic "Kitchen Confidential." In his own words, Bourdain wrote that book for those who work in kitchens and never expected it to become the bestseller that it did.
He now hosts the highly successful, and very entertaining, TV show No Reservations where he travels the world in search of culinary edification. Sometimes he finds it, and sometimes not. His show from war ravaged Beruit during th 2006 world is about the most unusal culinary TV show that you will ever watch. Also his show where he worked the line with Eric Ripert at Les Halles was the only time I have ever seen the energy and fear that fuels the cooking lines at restaurants in a way that civilians can appreciate what it is all about.
I, and all of my colleagues, read Kitchen Confidential cover to cover with footnotes at least once. It was one of the only books that illustrated exactly what life is like in the kitchen. It was funny, profane and all of it absultely true and unvarnished. In fact, several of the chefs that I worked with in New York were among the skewered. Three of his points rang very true with me, first those anything ordered well done gets absolutely the worst cuts of meat. Boy that hit home as we did exactly that in every kitchen I worked in. The second point was that you should never order fish on Sundays as the last fish delivery was on Friday morning. It used to drive my owners crazy when we ran out of fish at the end of Saturday nights, until they looked at waste and food cost.
The last point is the most telling and relevant to the food fight brewing over his latest comments, he basically said that there were two types of kitchens, the churn and burn kitchens and the high art kitchens. I have worked in both. I learned more in the high end kitchens, but had much more fun in the churn and burn ones where we turned 500 covers (customers) per night.
And that brings us to Bourdain's lastet tome "Medium Raw." It is a very readable, very profane and very enjoyable book, but it can't escape the conflict of Tony the rebel vs. Tony now one of the culinary guys. In Kitchen Confidential, he was a rebel, skewering the Haute Cuisine world and all of it pretensions. He had some very choice words for Alain Ducasse and many others. He told us how it was to work the line, to turn out hundreds of dishes each night and how to run a kitchen.
In this book he starts up with a confession. He admits that none of his friends would ever hire him as a cook to work in any of their kitchens. What he does not say, but most culinarians know, is that these new friends were not his friends from his KC time, these are his new friends, friends of Tony the Culinary celebrity. And that conflict comes out in both guises throughout his book. His chapter on Alice Waters had to be written. He savages her elitism, and elitism that drips off everything she does. His comments on what Alice Waters says that Middle Amercia should eat during the winter are almost worth the price of this book alone.
However, when he speaks about some of the other so called celebrity chefs, Paula Dean, Rachel Ray et all, he is just as savage, and he should not be. After telling us how lucky he was, a recovered addict who was a journeyman cook/shef that lucked out into a successful new life, he really has a lot of gaul to put these other cooks down.
And that conflict arises time and time again. He writes about how fine dining needs to be redone, then goes to great lengths about how sad the closing of El Buili in Spain will be. How David Chang is rewriting culinary rules, and how he can't cook.
Adding fuel to the fire is an interview that Bourdain recently sat down for in TV Guide. While he did not say anything new, he attracted missles from Frank Bruni, the food critic at the NY Times. I don't know if Mr. Bruni read the book, but he proceedes to call Bourdain an elitist who has no conception about how the masses eat.
I guess Mr. Bruni did not read Broudain's chapters on how his travels around the world, experiencing scarcity among the many places he visited, made him more cognizant of how blessed we as a country are. Who is going to man the small farms growing local produce. It is an interesting conflict.
And Tony comes down on the sides of an elistist as well. He himself will not feed his kid anything but organic foods. Of course, that's his choice and he admits being a world traveling food personality pays very well.
Interesting stuff making Medium Raw a very interesting read for anyone who is interested in the current culinary world.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Some Random Thoughts
The Crystal Symphony was a seriously intensive food and wine exploration. It was so serious that I have been on detox since I came home so I have not had much to share with you. However, there are some thoughts that crossed my mind.
1. Several weeks ago I attended an interesting trade event at Sterling Vineyards where attendees had the opportunity to sample almost all of Diageo's California wines. They had Acacia covering Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Sterling with its moderately priced and widely available portfolio; Bealieu with its Napa Valley product line and Provenance with its Single Vineyard wines. To cap it off, Rosenblum provided zins and syrahs.
It is apparent that Diageo is attempting to cover all bases from simple varietal wines to sophisticated single vineyard reserves. The wines themselves ran from OK to something potentially special. I really liked the BV 07 Georges de LaTour Cab, as well as the Provenance 07 cab reserve. Another interesting point was that Acacia's two wines were made from Winery Lake Vineyard, formerly Sterling's pride and joy cool climate estate in the Carneros. Interesting.
2. Yesterday my Williams Selyem fall offering arrived in the mail. Having many wines in our house, including a lot from WS, I will only be ordering 6 bottles. The return of the Olivet Lane vineyard to the WS lineup is the highlight of this offering. Up until 1995, this was one of their top vineyards, and then they lost the contract. At WS pick up weekend last fall, I tasted a barrel sample last year and I can't wait to taste it in the bottle.
3. In the WS newsletter, there is a discussion about how long to age the wine. Interesting as the Wine Spectator had an opinion piece from Matt Kramer on exactly that topic. I agree with Matt Kramer that most California wines peak at around 10 years. As for WS, I recently had the 99 Russian River Pinot Noir and it was spectacular with great cherry fruit, baking spices and some smokey funkiness that I just loved.
4. Speaking of Pinot Noirs, tomorrow I am attending the Pinot Noir shootout being held at Allen Farms and Vineyards. I have no idea what this is about, but hey I'm game.
5. My lull in events to attend ends tomorrow with the aforementioned Pinot Noir Shootout. This weekend Russian River Valley Winegrowers Hog In the Fog BBQ makes its annual appearence and Monday is Family Winemakers in San Francisco. Tough slog ahead, but someone has got to do it. And if that's not enough on August 29 I will be attending a Tempernillo Day Cookout.
Thanks for checking in, and if you can think of anything to add, please feel free to get in touch with me.
1. Several weeks ago I attended an interesting trade event at Sterling Vineyards where attendees had the opportunity to sample almost all of Diageo's California wines. They had Acacia covering Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Sterling with its moderately priced and widely available portfolio; Bealieu with its Napa Valley product line and Provenance with its Single Vineyard wines. To cap it off, Rosenblum provided zins and syrahs.
It is apparent that Diageo is attempting to cover all bases from simple varietal wines to sophisticated single vineyard reserves. The wines themselves ran from OK to something potentially special. I really liked the BV 07 Georges de LaTour Cab, as well as the Provenance 07 cab reserve. Another interesting point was that Acacia's two wines were made from Winery Lake Vineyard, formerly Sterling's pride and joy cool climate estate in the Carneros. Interesting.
2. Yesterday my Williams Selyem fall offering arrived in the mail. Having many wines in our house, including a lot from WS, I will only be ordering 6 bottles. The return of the Olivet Lane vineyard to the WS lineup is the highlight of this offering. Up until 1995, this was one of their top vineyards, and then they lost the contract. At WS pick up weekend last fall, I tasted a barrel sample last year and I can't wait to taste it in the bottle.
3. In the WS newsletter, there is a discussion about how long to age the wine. Interesting as the Wine Spectator had an opinion piece from Matt Kramer on exactly that topic. I agree with Matt Kramer that most California wines peak at around 10 years. As for WS, I recently had the 99 Russian River Pinot Noir and it was spectacular with great cherry fruit, baking spices and some smokey funkiness that I just loved.
4. Speaking of Pinot Noirs, tomorrow I am attending the Pinot Noir shootout being held at Allen Farms and Vineyards. I have no idea what this is about, but hey I'm game.
5. My lull in events to attend ends tomorrow with the aforementioned Pinot Noir Shootout. This weekend Russian River Valley Winegrowers Hog In the Fog BBQ makes its annual appearence and Monday is Family Winemakers in San Francisco. Tough slog ahead, but someone has got to do it. And if that's not enough on August 29 I will be attending a Tempernillo Day Cookout.
Thanks for checking in, and if you can think of anything to add, please feel free to get in touch with me.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
British Columbia Wine Country?
Yesterday was Vancouver, today was Victoria. I love both cities and we had cooperative weather as well. If in Vancouver and one is truly interested in Food, a trip to Granville Market is a must. The produce from the Okenagan Valley is really beautiful. We also saw some extremely great produce at the Victoria Farmer's Market as well.
But what really was interesting were the wines of the Okenagan Valley. Last night after dinner and the show, Jessica and I took a taxi to the UVA Wine Bar on Seymour Street in Downtown Vancouver. It's downtown, but at least a 20 minute walk from the pier. Add into the navigation of the rabbit warren that makes up Canada Place and you need to figure in at least 40 minutes to get back to the ship. Take a taxi, it's easier.
But I digress, back to UVA. In 2005, we could not find any local wines anywhere we looked. Not the case this time through. At UVA, the manager (I did not get his name) gave us a brief guided tour through several of the wines. Generally speaking, the whites were far superior to the reds. The first wine I tasted was a Laughing Stock 2010 Pinot Gris. The nose had citrus, honey and pear. As the wine warmed I found some surprising notes of toast and vanilla, this wine had some new oak! On the pallat there was refreshing acidity, notes of grapefruit pith, a rich mid pallet and a creamy long finish. I really liked this wine.
Next was a Rollingdale Pinot Noir. Very up front cherry nose, with a slight touch of smoke. However that smoke was not present on the pallet at all. There was nice acidity, but a hollow mid pallet. Some tannins and a mid minus finish. OK wine, but I would not purchase it.
The 2010 Desert Hills Gamay had a really funky nose. As this wine did not go through the traditional carbonic fermentation, it did not have the trademark gamay grapiness. I would pass on this one as well.
We finished our tour of the Okenagan wines with the Desert Hills Cactus Red, a Bordeaux blend. It had a dusty nose with hints of olives, green peppers and cassis. There was dark fruit on the pallet, but hardly any tannins. It was obvious that this wine did not see any new oak. It would have been much better if it did.
The final wine of the night was not from Canada, but from Sardinia, and it was a knock out. Montessu Winery is owned by the same parent company that makes the legendary Sassicaia from Tuscany. This Sardinia Sassicaia (that's what is on the bottle) has the same blend and winemaker only from Sardinia, not Tuscany. The nose had pine smoke, dark fruit, black cherry, some jolly ranchers snacks. The pallet had some surprising acidity with a richness and full body that had smooth tannins and a very long finish. It was spectacular!
Today, in Victoria, we visited the Mission Hills Winery Tasting Room. Most of the wines were totally dismissible. However, the Riesling Ice Wine was definitely world class. Uncious and rich with essence of melons and honey and a bright acidity under the tongue, I'd put this wine against almost any sweet wine from anywhere. It was that good.
My final feeling is that while the Okenagan wines are nice and interesting, they are really in their infancy. My gut tells me that they have not yet figured out what grows where, kind of like where California was 35 years ago. However, as the Mission Hills Ice Wine shows, they are capable of producing a world class wine. Let's see where they are in 5 years, about the time for me to go back to Alaska again.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment.
But what really was interesting were the wines of the Okenagan Valley. Last night after dinner and the show, Jessica and I took a taxi to the UVA Wine Bar on Seymour Street in Downtown Vancouver. It's downtown, but at least a 20 minute walk from the pier. Add into the navigation of the rabbit warren that makes up Canada Place and you need to figure in at least 40 minutes to get back to the ship. Take a taxi, it's easier.
But I digress, back to UVA. In 2005, we could not find any local wines anywhere we looked. Not the case this time through. At UVA, the manager (I did not get his name) gave us a brief guided tour through several of the wines. Generally speaking, the whites were far superior to the reds. The first wine I tasted was a Laughing Stock 2010 Pinot Gris. The nose had citrus, honey and pear. As the wine warmed I found some surprising notes of toast and vanilla, this wine had some new oak! On the pallat there was refreshing acidity, notes of grapefruit pith, a rich mid pallet and a creamy long finish. I really liked this wine.
Next was a Rollingdale Pinot Noir. Very up front cherry nose, with a slight touch of smoke. However that smoke was not present on the pallet at all. There was nice acidity, but a hollow mid pallet. Some tannins and a mid minus finish. OK wine, but I would not purchase it.
The 2010 Desert Hills Gamay had a really funky nose. As this wine did not go through the traditional carbonic fermentation, it did not have the trademark gamay grapiness. I would pass on this one as well.
We finished our tour of the Okenagan wines with the Desert Hills Cactus Red, a Bordeaux blend. It had a dusty nose with hints of olives, green peppers and cassis. There was dark fruit on the pallet, but hardly any tannins. It was obvious that this wine did not see any new oak. It would have been much better if it did.
The final wine of the night was not from Canada, but from Sardinia, and it was a knock out. Montessu Winery is owned by the same parent company that makes the legendary Sassicaia from Tuscany. This Sardinia Sassicaia (that's what is on the bottle) has the same blend and winemaker only from Sardinia, not Tuscany. The nose had pine smoke, dark fruit, black cherry, some jolly ranchers snacks. The pallet had some surprising acidity with a richness and full body that had smooth tannins and a very long finish. It was spectacular!
Today, in Victoria, we visited the Mission Hills Winery Tasting Room. Most of the wines were totally dismissible. However, the Riesling Ice Wine was definitely world class. Uncious and rich with essence of melons and honey and a bright acidity under the tongue, I'd put this wine against almost any sweet wine from anywhere. It was that good.
My final feeling is that while the Okenagan wines are nice and interesting, they are really in their infancy. My gut tells me that they have not yet figured out what grows where, kind of like where California was 35 years ago. However, as the Mission Hills Ice Wine shows, they are capable of producing a world class wine. Let's see where they are in 5 years, about the time for me to go back to Alaska again.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment.
Friday, July 29, 2011
You Can Always Tell When There's a European Chef Behind a Dish
Yesterday was Neptune's Dinner, a dinner that features various seafood dishes. I found one that was particularly interesting for all the wrong reasons, and a rare slip up for a Crystal kitchen. In culinary school we had a saying that French Cuisine can be summed up in one sentence; Saute a hunk of protein, deglaze the pan and finish with butter or cream. Of course, the cuisine is more than that, but probably 75% of the dishes are a variation of that formula. I have worked for several European chefs, and all of them had a hard time incorporating ethnic trends into their cooking.
This was not the case with American chefs. We have been eating cuisines from around the world since we were kids. By the time I really got serious about cooking, I was on familiar terms with Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Med-Eastern and Japanese food. Stretching my cooking to incorporate these cuisines was not a hard stretch of my imagination. European trained chefs start at 16 working in kitchens, and may not experience these foods until well after they've learned their culinary chops.
Last night's dinner showed what can happen when a European chef gets loose and tries Asian fusion. We had a wonder Ahi tuna fillet, served with bok choy and Basmati rice. So far so good, but where does red onion confit fit into this flavor pattern, or for that matter green apple vinaigrette. The sweetness of these accompaniments did not work, and only could come out of a European tradition. Teriyaki glazed something, roasted veggies, even grilled veggies with a soy marinade would have worked. To me, it was a bad conception, however, I was the only one who noticed this. By the way, the tuna was great and cooked to perfection. We enjoyed an August Kessler Riesling from the Rheingau that was spectacular.
Well, tonight is another night. I forgive Crystal for the Red Onion Confit, which by itself was very nice, just not put on the right dish.
Tomorrow, Victoria and then melancholy as we head home. Thanks for reading.
This was not the case with American chefs. We have been eating cuisines from around the world since we were kids. By the time I really got serious about cooking, I was on familiar terms with Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Med-Eastern and Japanese food. Stretching my cooking to incorporate these cuisines was not a hard stretch of my imagination. European trained chefs start at 16 working in kitchens, and may not experience these foods until well after they've learned their culinary chops.
Last night's dinner showed what can happen when a European chef gets loose and tries Asian fusion. We had a wonder Ahi tuna fillet, served with bok choy and Basmati rice. So far so good, but where does red onion confit fit into this flavor pattern, or for that matter green apple vinaigrette. The sweetness of these accompaniments did not work, and only could come out of a European tradition. Teriyaki glazed something, roasted veggies, even grilled veggies with a soy marinade would have worked. To me, it was a bad conception, however, I was the only one who noticed this. By the way, the tuna was great and cooked to perfection. We enjoyed an August Kessler Riesling from the Rheingau that was spectacular.
Well, tonight is another night. I forgive Crystal for the Red Onion Confit, which by itself was very nice, just not put on the right dish.
Tomorrow, Victoria and then melancholy as we head home. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Prego, Now That's Italian 2
On all our past cruises, we have had dinner only 1 time in each specialty restaurant. As we received and invitation from our Travel Agent to join him and his wife in Prego last night, we were able to have dinner a second time in this wonderful Italian outlet.
This time, I had their signature Mushroom Soup, Beef Carpacio, and a half order of the Lasagna. The soup is sublime. I've made mushroom soups in the past, but have never come close to this one. I will have to google the recipe so I can once again give it a shot. My guess is that they saute a variety of mushrooms, then deglaze them with cognac, cooking this liquid down to a paste, then add mushroom stock. Mushroom stock is made by simmering mushroom stems in vegetable stock for a considerable time. It is the type of thing you can do in a restaurant, but difficult to do at home. The added stock is then reduced, probably by half. At that point reduced cream is added to the brew. My guess is that the cream is reduced with mushroom stems, which are then strained out before it is added to the soup. This soup is then served in a freshly baked focaccia bowl. Heaven on Earth, and the best part is eating the mushroom soup soaked bread at the end of the course.
The Carpacio was also quite good. In short this is an Italian version of beef tartare, except the raw beef is dry cured and aged, then frozen and sliced paper thin before arranging it on a plate. The product is then dressed by the waiter with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and parm. A very nice version indeed.
My main course was the Lasagna, and it was spectacular. They use layers of bechemal, mushrooms, ground beef and tomato sauce all wrapped in house made pasta. One of the best I've ever had!
As we just survived the Vintage Room, I decided to go by the glass on my wine selections. My first glass was a Brunello from Casteli Banfi. Very nice, aromas of berries, nice balance tannins and a delicious acidity that went well with the soup and the carpacio.
My second glass was a Chianti Classico Riserva from the same producer who makes Tiganello. This was a fantastic, food friendly wine, It was funny, but I had three different wines at Prego, all sangiovese based, all very different, all very good to great.
Dessert was simple, more cannolis, and these were the best I've had since Venerio's on First Ave in NYC. I could probably eaten a plate of them for dinner.
Tonight, it's back to the dining room. Oh well, foie gras and caviar instead. Tough choices, but someone has to make them.
I ask forgiveness for my spelling and gramatical errors. These will get better when I get back to land and have the time to really work on them. Thanks for reading.
This time, I had their signature Mushroom Soup, Beef Carpacio, and a half order of the Lasagna. The soup is sublime. I've made mushroom soups in the past, but have never come close to this one. I will have to google the recipe so I can once again give it a shot. My guess is that they saute a variety of mushrooms, then deglaze them with cognac, cooking this liquid down to a paste, then add mushroom stock. Mushroom stock is made by simmering mushroom stems in vegetable stock for a considerable time. It is the type of thing you can do in a restaurant, but difficult to do at home. The added stock is then reduced, probably by half. At that point reduced cream is added to the brew. My guess is that the cream is reduced with mushroom stems, which are then strained out before it is added to the soup. This soup is then served in a freshly baked focaccia bowl. Heaven on Earth, and the best part is eating the mushroom soup soaked bread at the end of the course.
The Carpacio was also quite good. In short this is an Italian version of beef tartare, except the raw beef is dry cured and aged, then frozen and sliced paper thin before arranging it on a plate. The product is then dressed by the waiter with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and parm. A very nice version indeed.
My main course was the Lasagna, and it was spectacular. They use layers of bechemal, mushrooms, ground beef and tomato sauce all wrapped in house made pasta. One of the best I've ever had!
As we just survived the Vintage Room, I decided to go by the glass on my wine selections. My first glass was a Brunello from Casteli Banfi. Very nice, aromas of berries, nice balance tannins and a delicious acidity that went well with the soup and the carpacio.
My second glass was a Chianti Classico Riserva from the same producer who makes Tiganello. This was a fantastic, food friendly wine, It was funny, but I had three different wines at Prego, all sangiovese based, all very different, all very good to great.
Dessert was simple, more cannolis, and these were the best I've had since Venerio's on First Ave in NYC. I could probably eaten a plate of them for dinner.
Tonight, it's back to the dining room. Oh well, foie gras and caviar instead. Tough choices, but someone has to make them.
I ask forgiveness for my spelling and gramatical errors. These will get better when I get back to land and have the time to really work on them. Thanks for reading.
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