July 2007 Newsletter

Pretty in Pink

 

            For the majority of my 30+ year tenure (some would say it’s been 29 years too long) as a WineGuy, my own preference for fine Rose’s has had to remain a secret. At the height of the White Zinfandel craze (mania?disfunction?abberation?) admitting to a wine snob that you liked pink wine was akin to ‘fessing up to leprosy (Unclean! Unclean!).

            But (Never start a sentence with a preposition), Rose’s are popping up all over the covers of the big wine magazines this spring! Apparently whoever decides these things (God, I hope it’s not the marketing guys) replaced Prosecco with pink. Big pinks, little pinks, dry, sweet, and sparkling pinks are all the rage. All of us closeted pinks have come out and joined ranks with the trendy pinks. Pink, Pink, Pink, Pink, Pink (Sorry, just kind of lost it there for a second.).

            Anyway, we’re happily on board this bus. We been busily tasting our way through pinkdom, old and new alike, and buying a few extra here and there.

            Forget about the old saw that ‘Rose is neither fish nor fowl’ (Duh, it’s wine!). We have rose for fish, fowl, or beef (for that matter).

-RBD WineGuy

 

Some WineGuy(s)’ Favorite Pinks

 

2006 Ventana Arroyo Seco Vyd. Dry Rosado ( Monterey ) $9.69: Just a lovely wine! So pretty to look at, and delicious to smell, that I had a hard time drinking it! Tastes of fresh, bright raspberry, with spice notes. Made from Grenache and Syrah, this tastes like a much more expensive rose from Provence . –JDI WineGuy Too

 

2005 Tasca d’ Almerita Regaleali Vyd. “Le Rose” ( Sicily ) $10.99: Wowser quality, semi-dry and juicy. Easy to drink too much of! –RBD WineGuy

 

NV Jaillance Cremant de Bordeaux Brut Rose (70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot!) $13.99: It’s bubbly and it is from Bordeaux ! Tastes like fresh red fruits, and its' appellation is just too intriguing to deny. –JDI WineGuy Too

 

2006 Los Cardos Malbec Rose Lujando Cuyo, Mendoza , Argentina $7.99: Like biting into a fresh, cool red grape, except not sweet. Blindfolded, I would guess this was a red wine.-RBD WineGuy

 

2006 Cline Mourvedre Rose (Centra Costa) $9.99: Pretty, fresh strawberry nose and flavors. Utterly beguiling tipple. I’m so glad it isn’t available in magnums. –RBD Wine Guy

 

2005 Rose de Phelan Segur ( St. Estephe , France ) $10.99: Another intriguing pink wine from Bordeaux , this has faint aromas of cherry and some hint of chalk (from the soil). Very light. This is a nice wine for a very hot day. –JDI WineGuy Too

 

2005 Villa Wolf Rose de Pinot Noir ( Pfalz , Germany ) $9.49: A long time favorite here at T&C. We’ve sold more than 400 bottles in three vintages. Fresh, sweetish, and amiable, with fine acidity and focus. The “Go To” Rose at my house. –RBD WineGuy

 

 

2005 Zontes Footstep Cabernet/Petite Verdot Rose (Langhorre Cr., Aus.) $12.99:  Another red wine tasting pink. Big and smooth and fruity, but dry. Fits with many grilled red meats. –RBD WineGuy

 

NV Glorria Ferrer Blanc de Noir Brut (Los Carneros) $16.49: Carol and I have this thing for bubbly,  and this one includes serious pinkness as well, so you know we’ve downed a few bottles with salmon over the years. Gloria Ferrer has earned the respect of many Sparkling aficionados for their great quality to price ratio. –RBD WineGuy   

 

 

 

Wine, Film, and Popcorn Pairings

 

Food and wine pairings are supposed to be a transcendent experience that improves the perceived quality of both of the concerned parties. It is our on-going goal to simplify the successful execution of these pairings. There are, of course, a few very basic rules that are generally known to the wider public, such as white wines with fish and red with meat. We will discuss why these rules are true (and when they are not), and add to them. For a simplistic approach to this subject, let’s look at four styles of wine from both warm and cool climates.

            Oak aged warm-climate Chardonnay: A well-balanced version will showcase buttery, yeasty, vanilla aromas with similar flavors and the addition of fresh corn and ripe apples (cooler areas like California ’s Russian River Valley will be green apple, warmer ones like Australia will offer red apples) on the palate. This style has been abused and over-produced throughout the New World for so long that many people are no longer craving them. Don’t give up! With the right food these wines are very satisfying. For the most straight-forward experience, prepare some air-popped popcorn and toss some of it in freshly-melted butter and try both versions with the wine. The popcorn without the butter emphasizes the toasty oak notes in the wine. The buttered version plays up to the rich, palate-coating butter notes of the wine. Pairing richness in food and wine compliments both partners. This pairing is so satisfying that I often pop in a film on a Wednesday night and enjoy it for hours. Most recently, I was entranced by Russell Crow in A Good Year, which is a surprisingly successful adaptation of Peter Mayle’s humorous memoir of a year spent in Provence tending a vineyard. When movie theaters catch the hint and begin to serve wine and popcorn in tandem I’ll be seen out much more often! A good choice for this pairing is Gallo of Sonoma’s Chardonnay for $8.99 (this is the price of the current “old-label” close out), or the Barefoot Reserve from California ’s Russian River Valley for $12.49.  

Cold-climate un-oaked Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay: Crisp and racy, with grapefruit, green apple, and citrus notes on the nose and the palate, these wines are the queen of the sommelier’s repertoire. They are the first choice for most salad courses because they cut right through the acidity of well balanced vinaigrette (or even better, a citronette:  fresh citrus juices emulsified with neutral-tasting oil). To sample this concept, lick a fresh lemon wedge and then try your wine. The up-coming experience used to terrify my co-workers in the restaurant industry, but everyone was shocked by how great it was together. Two acids cancel each other out. The wine’s citrus notes and bracing acidity seem to fall away, revealing the wines’ other fruit character (green apple, et al.). If you wish to pair this with popcorn, melt the butter and add zest of lemon, lime, and orange with pink peppercorn (only pink; it is the only variety of pepper that is sweet/sour) and a few drops of the lemon juice. The wine will cut through the richness of the butter, refreshing the palate for many more bites. The beautiful peppercorn-zest that is coating the popcorn will react the way the lick of lemon does. Satisfying vinous examples of this are the Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand ’s Marlborough district at $11.39 a bottle, or the Domaine Des Malande Chablis at $17.89. Enjoy with your favorite cool-climate film. My personal favorite is Snow Falling on Cedars with Ethan Hawke.

Cool-climate Pinot Noir: Light in both color and tannin (the stuff in red wine that makes your mouth dry out), these soft and often delicate wines have a deserved reputation for having one of the most intoxicating bouquets of any wine in the world. The flavors run toward cranberry and raspberry (cold-climate fruits). What could possibly make these ethereal sips of heaven even better? Mushrooms. If your budget permits, swing by your local grocery store and pick up a mélange of mushrooms, some garlic bulb, and shallot or onion. Sauté the mushroom with the shallots in butter until they are no longer firm and raw, add the minced garlic at the last minute, and when the garlic is browned (30 seconds or less-be attentive, as it burns easily!), pour in a 2 or 3 ounces of the Pinot Noir that you will be drinking into the pan. Reduce to sec (“dry”), and add 3 ounces of heavy cream. Reduce by half (be careful; if the cream boils it will “scald” and may overflow from the pan. If it begins to “scald” and erupt from the pan, merely remove it from the heat, lower the flame, and restart the process). Finish with 1-2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and swirl to incorporate the cream and butter. It will add a nice sheen. Adjust with salt and pepper at this point (you don’t salt at the beginning because the salt will become more concentrated as the food reduces and may inadvertently concentrate into an unpleasant salty flavor). Remember that you can always add salt, but can never take it out (okay, you can technically take it out by simmering peeled potatoes in your sauce for several hours and them straining the sauce through a chinois; the potatoes absorb the salt. Isn’t it easier to just do it right the first time?)! The whole process should take about 7 minutes. A final note: when using a variety of ‘shrooms be careful to add the densest first and more delicate ones later. Id Est.: sliced lobster and portobellos-stems removed-are added to the pan several minutes before the more fragile sliced criminis, shitakis, maitakis, fresh porcini and, lastly, morel.) The most economical will be any combination of Portobello, crimini, and shitaki mushrooms. When tasting your pinot with this dish you will impressed how the earthy mushrooms and sweet/earthy garlic bring out the earthy notes in the wine. The French call this appealing flavor in wine sous bois (“undergrowth,” or forest-floor aroma), and it smells like forest after a cool spring rain shower. Leaves, earth, trees, and-most heavenly-truffles! This satisfying marriage may be achieved with popcorn by melting butter and adding very finely ground dried porcini mushrooms (use your coffee grinder) at a simmer and finish with minced garlic. Toss, turn on Casablanca (or your favorite film) and sit back for a cinematic/wine/food masterpiece! Note: If your coffee grinder has been tainted with, well, coffee (how dare you), you can remove the unwanted aroma by grinding bread (it absorbs aromas) in it until all scents are gone. Good versions of these wines are 2002 Oliver Leflaive “Cuvee Margot” from Burgundy , France for $14.99; the Firesteed Pinot Noir from Oregon ’s Willamette Valley for $10.97; or the Elk Cove Pinot Noir from Oregon ’s Willamette Valley for $19.99.   

Warm climate earthy reds: The flavors of earthiness in wine range from the intense minerality of France ’s Rhone valley wines to the leathery, brambly flavors of California Zinfandel. In the case of the Rhone wines (Grenache and Syrah predominately, with a wider range of varietals in the Southern Rhone ), the pronounced mineral aroma and flavor are derived from the granite soils that the vines grow out of. Predictably, other warm places on the planet with similar soils will produce similar tasting wines. The flavor to pair with these wines is smoke. Anything that comes off of a grill will taste better with a warm climate, earthy red wine. Now it is time to revisit the old adage of red with meat, white with fish. Grilled shellfish will not work with a tannic red wine because the iodine in the fish will cause a chemical reaction with the wine that will make the tannins taste like copper. Suddenly it tastes as if someone has dropped a dirty penny in your wine glass. If you would like a wine to pair with your grilled lobster (or crab, ect.), please try a Sauvignon Blanc from the village of Sancerre , France (yum!!). Meat is particularly successful with red wines because the texture of the protein compliments, and improves, the texture of tannins in the wine. The temperature that you choose to enjoy your meat at has significance as well. Medium-rare steak is paired with a younger red wine, because the “tight” and astringent tannins are complimented and tamed by the chewy, toothsome texture of the meat. Tannins soften and “round out” as a wine matures, so a steak that is more well-done will be more appropriate for a mature wine (or a young wine that is light in tannins due to the nature of the grape varietals used to make the wine). To increase the quality of the pairing even further, one need merely grill the meat. Note: If anyone wishes to avoid meat, the texture of a grilled Portobello mushroom is a very acceptable alternative. Notice how the flavor of something even as simple as a grilled hot dog or hamburger brings out the leathery, gamey, smoke and cedar notes in the wines. Smokey foods bring out the earthy elements in wines. If time does not permit you to light the grill, stop by the Safeway grocery store next door to us and pick up a California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken pizza and run home with your wine. For an even more informal pairing, try these wines with BBQ potato chips! You don’t even need a grill to pull off this pairing with popcorn. Merely melt butter in a pan and add a teaspoon or two of ground cumin, a small sprinkle of smoked paprika (I prefer Spanish), and a touch of minced garlic. Toss on the popcorn and toss in your favorite Salma Hayek film (Desperado!). Ladies, feel free to substitute Mathew McConnahay ( Sahara if the boyfriend is over, and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days if it is a solo evening). Superb wines to try with these pairings are: 2004 CG di Arie Zinfandel from Amador County in California at $15.99; 2003 Guigal Cotes du Rhone at $11.99; 2004 Clayhouse Malbec Reserve from Paso Robles, California for $16.99 (on sale); and the 2004 Orphelin from Ch. St. Michelle at $11.99.

I hope that these pairings are fun, delicious, and easy enough to do often. Please let us know of any pairings that you prefer. My favorite so far is Manischewitz Concord wine with fruit loops cereal, Welch’s grape jam, and grape juice poured over the top. I am not making this up. If you want to watch someone really eating it, and seeming to genuinely enjoy it, check out www.winelibrarytv.com. It is under the tee-shirt contest icon.  

-JDI Wine Guy Too

 

NEW SUPPLIERS

 

Those who have visited the store recently have remarked on the large selection of empty bins. We’ve been reacting to, and (we hope) keeping up with our clientele’s vinous expectations. In the last month we’ve welcomed Ventana Vineyards to our direct-shipped family. This single-vineyard Monterey producer was with us when we opened the store 28 years ago, and we’re more than happy to welcome them back. Think cool climate reds and whites with classy old-world flavors.

Many of you have commiserated with me over the absence of Cline Cellar’s classic Contra Costa, Ancient Vines, Oakley, Sonoma and single vineyard bottlings. They are on a refrigerated truck headed for T&C as I (slowly) type this! That’s right, they’ll all be here in the next week. Look for ad features and a couple of tastings this fall. No more trips to Colorado because we couldn’t find any here….and you won’t believe our pricing! We bought big, you’ll save big ( Ancient Vines a dollar under Sam’s everyday.), and just wait for the SALE pricing!

There are a couple more exciting prospects in the bullpen as well for next month, just ask when you’re in.

 -RBD WineGuy   

 

 

I think that’s about it for this issue. Please let us know if you’d like for us to cover any vinous topics that you’re not seeing in your regular reading, and we’ll take a shot at them!