Traveling Oenophile, Day Two in Asheville

Today's post is being brought to you by the Battery Park Book Exchange. Yes, I might be at the bar hanging out with the spoils of my bookstore tour of Asheville and a glass of Prosecco. Hubby and I have our system worked out for visiting beer towns - he finds breweries, and I find books.

Let's back up to last night. Some of the other people at our B&B had raved about Modesto (http://modestonc.com/), so Hubby and I decided to give it a try. I have to give chef Hector Diaz credit for taking traditional Italian restaurant fare and giving it a twist.

Our first course was the fried-green tomatoes with tomato sauce, Gorgonzola, and greens. Yes, Asheville restaurants make sure you get your daily dose of greens:

Then for dinner, since I'm sort of trying to be vegetarian, I had the Eggplant Parmesan, which had tomato sauce, fontina and goat cheeses, spinach, and sweet peppers, and was served over vermicelli.

Oh, and of course there was wine, a lovely Super Tuscan:

We finished the evening at Sante, a wine bar, where I had bubbles and Hubby had Bordeaux.

This morning I started my Asheville book tour, as one does, at Malaprops (http://www.malaprops.com/). I got a book and a couple of journals, one for my morning pages and a small  one to keep in my purse. Then I made a tea stop and met Hubby at Mojo (http://mojokitchen.biz/) for lunch. I had the half-falafel sandwich and salad combo.

I did some other shopping this afternoon and resumed the book hunt for resources for my talk on hysteria and the occult in Victorian times, which I'll be giving in about a month at the Steampunk World's Fair. I began on Lexington at Downtown Books and News (http://www.downtownbooksandnews.com/), where they were helpful but didn't have exactly what I was looking for. Then I stopped by The Captain's Bookshelf on Page Avenue, where I found two good ones that had applicable chapters. It was then time for a coffee stop, which was okay, and more shopping! 

And now I'm at the Battery Park Book Exchange (http://www.batteryparkbookexchange.com/), where I found another book and a glass of bubbles. It's been a good day. Stay tuned as to what happens for dinner!

Five Things to Love about the South Okanagan Valley

Since the kids these days are all about lists, I thought I'd create one to discuss some of the highlights from our recent trip to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada. Before you ask, no we didn't see any of the Women's World Cup soccer (futbol for those of you from outside the U.S.) games, although we did walk by the Fox Sports pavilion when we were in Vancouver. The Okanagan Valley is about four hours to the east of Vancover across the mountains, and they make really good wine. We'd been there before, but this time we focused around the Osoyoos Lake and the wineries in and around Osoyoos and Oliver.

Without further ado, here are five things to love about the South Okanagan:

View from Tinhorn Creek Winery

1. The views.

Seriously, whether you're in the valley or on one of the ridges, everywhere you look, it's breathtaking.

Even the grapes have a view.

2.  The experience.

Hubby and I have tasted wine in several places including California, Oregon, Washington, and several other states including Georgia (duh), Pennsylvania, and Texas. Canadians have a reputation for being nice, and this comes through in the non-snobbishness of the tasting rooms. Granted, the wine-making operations seemed bigger than the previous time we were there, but it still felt laid-back and relaxed, even in the busier tasting rooms. Apparently winery-hopping is a popular "stagette" (i.e., bachelorette) activity, but everything was handled well.

3.  Drinkable white varietals

I typically stay away from Sauvignon Blanc because I find it to be too tart for drinking on its own, and Hubby doesn't like Pinot Grigio, but in the Okanagan Valley, these two grapes take on a smoother characteristic with stone fruit to balance the citrus. The Pinot Gris, as they call it there, also has more body to it than Italian Pinot Grigio, and we found the same with Hester Creek's Trebbiano. The highlight Sauvignon Blanc was from Maverick, which has an adorable tiny tasting room in the bottom of the valley right off the highway but still with a nice view. We enjoyed the one we bought from Fairview Cellars in Vancouver with a view of the harbor after an amazing sushi meal.


4. Interesting red varietals

Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are usually blended in with other Bordeaux grapes and rarely get the chance to shine on their own. They do in the Okanagan - pretty much everyone has a Cab Franc. The best we tasted were a Tinhorn Creek, and you can see that we came home with both the red and the rose. Another great find was the Desert Hills gamay, which they also make as a red and rose (and where the guy pouring the wine was pretty cute - don't tell Hubby). We already drank the red when we celebrated Canada Day last week. The regular reds - Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir, are also pretty fabulous. We came back with a Moon Curser Syrah.

The haul

Cherries!

5. The food

The first thing we noticed when we drove into the valley was that cherries were ripening, which we were told was happening about a month ahead of the usual time. They were beautiful, as were the meals on the plate. The restaurants there take pride in using locally sourced food and do great things with it. Strawberries were also in season, and we enjoyed a strawberry crepe at a place in Oliver and a strawberry dessert at the Tinhorn Creek restaurant Miradoro, which is where we had our fancy meal, going for the chef's tasting menu with wine pairings.

Strawberry crepe at Cock & Bull in Oliver

First course at Miradoro.

If you're looking for somewhere off the beaten path, Canada's Okanagan Valley is a great place to visit. For more information or to plan your own wine tour, visit winetourhandbook.ca  They even have a Twitter account, @BCwinetour

Kitchen playtime: Summer produce is finally here!

Well, I've been here, there, and everywhere, or that's how it seems. The past month and a half has included trips to North Georgia, Athens, Dallas, Seattle, Okanagan Valley, and Vancouver. I do plan to blog on some of those, but I wanted to get back to the basics. I'm ready to get serious about reporting on my kitchen playtime, which I will try to do every week. Yes, I hear you scoffing. That only motivates me further. Hmph.

Here in the South, we have four seasons:  rainy, pollen, hot/humid, and dark too early but pleasant. You can guess where we are now with highs in the nineties and humidity that makes my naturally curly hair shrink up about an inch every time I walk outside. Mindfulness teaches us that nothing is all good or all bad, so as much as we hate going outside in the summer, we do get the benefit of amazing summer fruits and vegetables. Here in Atlanta we have several farmers markets that focus on local organic produce, and Hubby and I hit the Freedom Park market yesterday after we ran the Braves Country 5K. Yeah, next year I think I'll go back to my "no races during the summer" rule.

My first two recipes are courtesy of the July and June 2015 issues of Cooking Light, respectively. In the first, Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad with Farro, they return to a familiar combination of tomatoes, cucumber, feta, and vinaigrette that they first introduced me to in the early 2000's with wraps, which I couldn't find the recipes for. Let's play compare the pictures. Here's what their salads looked like:

And here's mine:

Yes, it's in a big bowl because we doubled the recipe so we could have leftovers for lunches. But aside from the plating difference and the fact that their recipe hides the farro and includes the cheese, I'd say I got close. The farro cooked quickly, and the biggest hassle of the recipe was all the chopping, but even that wasn't so bad, especially since I got the pre-halved, pitted kalamata olives. The best part - it didn't heat up the kitchen.

The next recipe, Tomato-Leek Pie with Quinoa Crust, didn't have that advantage. It's not a quick recipe, and it, too, has a lot of chopping but this time in a kitchen with a preheated oven. We were so hungry by the time it was finally done I didn't get a picture until after we'd gotten into it:

I have a habit of buying berries when they're in season and then freezing them with all the best intentions of making smoothies. This can result in us having several "vintages" of berries. Since the oven was already on, I decided to go ahead and clear out last year's vintage as well as a few stray strawberries from 2012 (don't ask) and make a mixed berry cobbler:

Oh, and some of the blueberries had already been used for pancakes this morning:

The cobbler recipe came from The Joy of Cooking, and the buttermilk pancakes from Cooking Light. Links not included because I couldn't find the CL one, and the Joy of Cooking is a book not a website.

Finally, our wine of the week is the Thralls 2014 Rosé of Pinot Noir. I once overheard one guy say to another at a rosé tasting, "If you're a dude drinking pink wine, you're going to have to take some [stuff]." It's really good, and even if you're a dude drinking this pink wine, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Hubby, who is notoriously picky about rosé wine actually likes this one. It pairs well with vegetables, light grilled meats, and hot flashes. We're in the wine club, so we got a discount, but this one is well worth the price.

So where do you go after all that lovely vegetable-ness? We ordered pizza tonight.

Oh, and to share my kitchen dumbassery of the week, I found out that when berry juice goes all over your counters from berries that thaw way more quickly than you expect, it looks like someone was murdered.

Have a lovely week! Just a reminder, if you'd like to sign up for my newsletter to find out about my books, sleep tips, and extra wine info, click here. I only send one out every one to two months, so you don't have to worry about getting them too often.

More Tipsy Musings -- California Central Coast, Day Two

I wrote this on Tuesday and am posting this from our hotel room in San Francisco. We're headed north today to Healdsburg, and then to Sonoma tomorrow. I really did mean to post this earlier this week, but I was busy being a psychologist rather than an oenophile. Okay, I was drinking wine as well -- in San Francisco, how can you not? -- but wasn't in the blogging frame of mind.  Due to a glitch in the Blogger app and some disagreement in the browser, some of the links are embedded, and some in parentheses after the places.

Back to the show...

When you're tasting wine in Paso Robles, there's only one number you need to know:  46, as in California Highway 46. On Monday, Hubby and I headed down CA 46 West for some tastings.  Eight to be exact. When we told people afterward, they weren't sure whether to congratulate us or put us on a liver transplant list. How much of the wines from the last few vineyards did we taste? Who knows? I got cute cat pictures, though.

We started at Turley Vineyards, home of the Zins. It seems like Zins should have an adjective in front of it like "Fighting," but let's be real -- Zin, in all its fruity glory, is a lover, not a fighter. In hindsight, it was probably not the best idea to cuddle up to a 15+% wine first thing in the morning. Granted, we'd had a good breakfast and had even stopped off for Pringles because we couldn't find a freaking grocery store anywhere -- seriously, what do you Paso Robles people do for groceries? Grow them yourselves? If that's the case, we're totally raiding your Triscuit trees next visit. Those are our wine tasting starch of choice.

Anywho, we ended up with one of the "younger" Zins, younger defined as the vines being 50 or fewer years old. Then we moved on to Red Soles, where my favorites were the 2012 Flop Flip Viognier/Chardonnay blend and the 2011 Kick-Off, a nice smooth Zinfandel, Petite Syrah blend. Since we tend to run short on whites, we got the Flop Flip.

Hubby decided we needed a breakto move on to somewhere a little farther away, so we ventured out to Tablas Creek (www.tablascreek.com), which several people had recommended to us. This was where we discovered how well Paso Robles does Rhone grapes. I liked a lot of their wines, the highlights of which were:

2010 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc:  60% Roussanne, 35% Grenache Blanc, 5% Picpoul Blanc

Okay, so first, kudos for planting the Picpoul, one of my favorite whites. This one had nice, light fruit with honeysuckle overtones. Trust me, I'm from Georgia, where honeysuckle pops up in the middle of one's garden completely uninvited. If I say it's nice, it means it's nice. This one is named for the estate in France they have a partnership with.

2011 Mourvedre: It's a 100% Mourvèdre, and no, we're not sharing the bottle we bought.

2010 Esprit de Beaucastel: 45% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache Noir, 21% Syrah, 4% Counoise

Is it just me, or does talking about Counoise make one feel slightly dirty? Seriously, it sounds like a French euphemism for something naughty. Either way, this was a lovely blend with a little more tannin but still very good.

Then we moved on down the road to Oso Libre (www.osolibre.com), which translates to "free bear." We didn't see any bears, but they do raise black Angus cows. I couldn't help but envision a pre-emptive pairing:

The Oso Libre tasting room is a refreshing change from the somber wood, glass windows to the barrel room style of most California rooms. They blast country music (okay, I wasn't so much into that part) and have a sort of diner-themed motif:

The wine highlights included:

2011 Volado Viognier:  good and fruity balanced out by nice floral notes

2005 Jovis Sangiovese:  great smooth fruit

2005 Revolucion Syrah:  velvety and fruity

2011 Carnal GSM: very good and smooth

NV Primoroso, Winemaker's Blend:  interesting layers of flavor

We bought a bottle of the GSM.

One thing that's imperative to know about Highway 46 West is that apparently the county has cracked down on wineries serving food, so alas, most of the places listed with food on the wine country map don't have food at the moment. This includes Grey Wolf and Cypher. 

We did taste at Grey Wolf (www.greywolfcellars.com), where we were served by an elderly lady whom Hubby decided reminded him of John's Grandma in the Garfield comic. In other words, she's got plenty of attitude and might ride a Harley home. I didn't get a picture of her but did get one of Jake the cat, who was not interested in me or much of anything:

The wine highlights there included:

2011 Pretty Girl Pink, a nice rose blend of Cab, Zin, Grenache, and Syrah.

2011 Barton Simple Man Zin:  nice and fruity but not too heavy

2010 Lineage:  a nice blend of 60% Cab Sauv, 15% Carmenere, 15% Malbec, 5% Merlot, and 5% Cab Franc.

We took a Pretty Girl home with us. Wine, you pervs. We're not into that kind of thing.

Then it was seeking food, for realz. The only place allowed to serve food on the 46 West corridor is Aron Hill Vineyards (www.aronhillvineyards.com). Luckily they're pretty cool and have a nice tasting room. I particularly enjoyed:

The PrimRose. It's not a white Zin, it's a dry white Primitivo. Totally different!

2006 Primitivo:  this was a dry year, and something nearby burned, so there's a little smokiness to it

2009 Cabernet Sauvignon:  lighter than they would have liked, but still good.

We didn't buy anything there -- room is getting scarce in Bertha the wine safe. Josh and Nicole in the tasting room were great, and he gave us some recommendations for the rest of the day. He also had me sign one of my book postcards and took a picture with me for his website.

Then it was off to Peachy Canyon (www.peachycanyon.com) because, being from Georgia, we had to make sure they were indeed peachy. I'm not sure if they're truly Peachy, but they were definitely Zinny. I particularly liked the 2011 Snow Zinfandel (not Snot Zinfandel, which my iThing just tried to make it), 2011 Mustard Creek Zinfendel, and the 2012 Rose. I also enjoyed petting the cat Peaches, who was slightly more awake than the aforementioned Jake:

Our final stop was Cypher Winery (www.cypherwinery.com), which had also been recommended to us. They also had a cool red, black, and white tasting room:

The highlight for me there was the Freakshow "Peasant" GSM, which should actually be an MGS to reflect the percentages of grapes in it.

By that time, our palates were fatigued beyond belief, as were we, so although we had time to hit a few more, we opted to head back into town and meet up with Matt and Annie Browne. Matt tweets as Matthew Liberty (www.twitter.com/MatthewLiberty), and he was instrumental in guiding us to the best wineries for us among the 200+ in the area.  He and Annie were also online "on call" for other questions for us while we were here, and I can't express how much we appreciated their advice. We even found a new wine club to join, but more on that tomorrow.

We met up with Matt and Annie at La Cosecha (www.lacosechabr), a cute Spanish/South American restaurant and had drinks since we were still stuffed from our 3:00 lunch at Aron Hill. Then Hubby and I headed to La Cosecha's sister restaurant, an Italian place around the corner from our hotel called Il Cortile (www.ilcortileristorante.com). We'd been told to try the beef carpaccio, which we'd never been brave enough to do before. It was served with a creamy truffle sauce and shaved truffles. Then I enjoyed the beef cheek tortelloni and finished up with the chocolate lava cake. We sat outside, and the lighting wasn't right for photos. We also shared a bottle of Terry Hoage red, but the wine list crashed the web site, so I can't tell you which one.

Book Review: The Curious World of Wine

On the eve of the Decatur Wine Festival, I brought Richard Vine's The Curious World of Wine (Perigee/Penguin, 2012) with me to Café Lily in case I had time to read the end of it before meeting a friend.  Allen Sanders, the wine expert, noticed it, and we had a great conversation about Zinfandels.  So, if you want to look like you know something about wine:  buy this book.

Those who actually want to know something about wine are in luck, too.  I've played trivia a few times with friends, usually in pubs for prizes or credit, and the secret of a good trivia team is each person has a specialty area like sports, popular culture, etc.  I don't feel very competent in any one area, although I'm a decent fill-in for addictive substance-related science questions like "What does THC stand for?" and "What is the maximum International Bitterness Unit level the human palate can discern?"*  After reading The Curious World of Wine, I feel able to offer a trivia team more wine-related knowledge.

This one little book covers a range of topic areas from wine history to people to expressions.  I had a few "oh, so that's where that came from!" moments such as when reading about the Chateauneuf de Pape region of France.  I like wines from this region because it's fun to say.  This was a perfect example of how bits of knowledge floated around my brain but never got connected until I read this book.  Anyone familiar with Church history remembers that in the early 1300's, the Pope moved from Rome to Avignon, and it took the influence of Saint Catherine of Siena to get it all straightened out and move the pope back to Rome in 1376.  I took French in high school and know the words Chateau (house or home), neuf (new), and Pape (pope), but I never connected the Chateauneuf de Pape – or "new home of the Pope" – name with the Avignon papacy period.  The hills around Avignon overlook the Rhone River and grow Syrah, Grenache, and other reds, and now I have an interesting historical tidbit to relate in addition to the fun of saying Chateauneuf de Pape.

The book is loosely organized into chapters, some of which have clever titles like "French Connections."  However, I sometimes found my head spinning a bit with the time-hopping within the chapters better organized by topic area (e.g., different wine areas in France).  For example, the Chateuneuf de Pape story came after a World War II champagne story.  It was kind of like if disorganized time-traveling British science fiction character Doctor Who decided to lead a wine tour.**  That said, when dealing with this kind of material, it can be tough to figure out the best order, and I appreciate Dr. Vine's challenge. 

On first glance, this handsome little hardcover is appealing, and it's apparent someone spent a lot of time making it look pretty.  Upon opening it, I couldn't help but think they couldn't decide whether to go with a regular nonfiction format or a coffee table book.  The text inside is presented in double columns, which I found annoying until I got used to it, and bordered by nice little designs in the corners.  The enclosed text boxes with very short items are in regular format.  Illustrations add to the text without being distracting, and the editing was almost flawless with no typos.  An index would be nice for when I'd like to reference these stories in future blog posts.  As it is, I'll have to flip through the chapters to find what I'm looking for.  If you're not looking to use it as a reference, this will probably not matter as much.

Although the text is presented like a textbook and written by an academic, it's very easy to read, and the tone is light and conversational.  The humor contributes to the stories without prompting eye-rolling or groans.  After reading it, I would love to go to dinner with Doctor Vine and hear more of his wine stories, especially ones related to his experiences researching this book, and to find out what he couldn't include within the time and space restraints.  I thank him for providing a resource that will help with my blogging, my own dinner parties, and, of course, impressing random wine experts and trivia teams.

 

FCC Disclosure:  This was an advance review copy (ARC) provided to me free by the publisher.  This did not affect my opinions or review in any way.

* Answers:  THC, the active molecular component of marijuana, stands for Tetrahydrocannabinol.  I know this from my required psychopharmacology course in graduate school.

IBUs are the measure of how bitter beer is, and typically this flavor comes from hops.  The human palate can discern levels up to about 90.  My palate can tolerate levels up to about 25.  Yep, I'm a wine drinker and hop wimp.

** I would totally sign up for this.

Photos:  

Top:  The book on my wine rack nestled in between a couple of bottles of Canadian wines, which, sadly, are not mentioned in it.

Above:  The inside of the book.  Yes, it's blurry.  If you want to read it, please buy it.  

Decatur Wine Festival: This Year's Tips

This year's Decatur Wine Festival has a focus on organic and sustainably produced wines. In the same spirit, this is a sustainable blog post in that I've recycled some of last year's etiquette and survival post.

Now that we've all survived the elections, who wants a glass of wine? Or several? Seriously, whoever planned the Wine Festival for the weekend after Election Day was a genius. Nothing makes me want a drink more than weeks of mudslinging and robocalls.

However, no one wants a hangover or a miserable Saturday night after having spent three hours in the sun drinking wine. The temperature looks to be a little cooler than in years past, which will hopefully keep the reds from getting too warm.

Of course it's impossible to taste every single wine. First, the festival is only a few hours long. Second, a lot of tables start to run out toward the end of the day, especially the ones from popular or well-known wineries. Third, even if you have phenomenal tolerance, you've got to pace yourself.

Here are some survival and etiquette tips:

1. Bring a bottle of water and/or avail yourself of the ones there, if offered. An occasional glass of water is not going to be enough to stay hydrated. Try to consume equal parts water and wine, ideally more water. Hopefully they will continue to have the fancy portable bathrooms. Also, avail yourself of the food and keep something in your tummy.

2. To keep things moving, get a pour and move to the back of the line. Sip as you move forward again. There's nothing more frustrating than waiting forever for someone to go through four or five tastes while they block the entire table.

3. Rinse between tastes, especially if you're going back and forth between reds and whites. If you don't rinse, pour thoroughly and shake your glass out. Even if you're really tempted, don't shake it out on the table hog.

4. Try to save the sweet wines for the end. They'll burn your palate. They also tend to have higher alcohol content, and really, who wants to be sick by 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon?

5. As I mentioned above, pacing is everything. Hubby and I have a "two sip, three strike" rule: If the wine isn't good after two sips (two to allow for the interference of previous tastes), it gets dumped. If you try three wines at a table and don't like any of them, move on. Don't try to sample everything! The setup this year will make this easy with featured wines at each table.

As a wine professional commented last year, "Wine tasting is a journey, not a destination!" Relax, enjoy, and remember -- this is one of the few occasions where it's actually okay, even encouraged, to spit.

Disclaimer: all of the content of this post is mine. I didn't get any perks or freebies from the Decatur Arts Alliance or any of the festival sponsors. No wines were harmed in the writing of this material, although I can't make any guarantees for later.
Posted by Cecilia Dominic at 2:39 PM

Tasting Notes: Brown Bagging It at JavaMonkey

In Mindfulness there's a concept called Beginner's Mind, wherein you shelve preconceptions, expectations, and interpretations and experience things as though you're seeing, hearing, or – most importantly for this post – tasting them for the very first time. I think I got my first inkling of this in graduate school, when the newest darts player would usually score the highest. This concept came back to me clearly during this past Thursday's brown bag tasting at JavaMonkey.

For wine beginners a brown bag tasting involves the wine bottles being covered by a brown bag and numbered so that the tasters are blind to what's being poured other than it being a red or white.* This means the clues you have to what you're drinking come only from your senses, so it truly is mindful wine tasting. I'll admit – I'm not good at this type of tasting and fully expected Dan Browning, who's had a decade more to develop his palate and knowledge, to kick my ass. Surprisingly – or maybe not so – we were both trounced by the newbie** at the table, at least the one who was actually trying. The other beginner was merely labeling what she drank as "wine."

The wines:

Number one had a floral nose, and those notes carried to the edges of the palate with fruit in the middle. The texture had a slight effervescence, and it was so delicate I guessed something like a Semillon. Dan guessed Australian Riesling since the bottle was obviously a screw top. The newbie guessed it was a Sauvignon Blanc, and he was right. It was the 2009 Cartlidge & Browne Sauv Blanc from Napa.
Newbie: 1
Dan: 0
Cecilia: 0
Rating: Good

Wine number two didn't have much of a nose, but it was so tart that I guessed Sauv Blanc, and Dan went as far as to say it was from New Zealand.

"Hmmm," said the newbie with a swirl, "I'm going to say Pinot Grigio."

Once again, he was right. The kicker is that Hubby and I had tasted the 2008 Montinore Estate Pinot Gris on our recent trip to Oregon (yeah, that's one of the blog posts I need to catch up on). My notes in the tasting room were melon, green apple, and pear. I guess I got more of the green apple with this pour.

Newbie: 2
Dan: 0
Cecilia: 0
The wine: Good to Very Good

We were all in agreement on wine number three in that it was a Pinot Noir. Newbie and I both said Willamette, Dan said New Zealand again. It was the 2009 Montinore Estate Pinot Noir, which we hadn't tasted because it wasn't out yet. Again, a little fizzy on the texture, fruity with white pepper overtones, and with a nice, buttery finish.

Newbie: 3.5
Dan: 1
Cecilia: 1.5 (I'm awarding half points for guessing the region)
The wine: Good to Very Good

Those will be the last scores because the Newbie didn't get any of the other ones, and Dan and I only got the last one beyond this.

Wine number four threw us all. It came out of the bottle dark and inky, and it had smooth fruit with a cedar-spice finish. I decided to throw caution to the wind and guessed (hopefully) Petit Verdot. Wrong! This beauty was the 2008 Protocola Tempranillo (Castilla, Spain).
Rating: Very Good

Number five had a plastic nose, dark fruit middle, and hot finish. Dan and I guessed Merlot or maybe a Cotes du Rhone blend (can you tell we were foundering?). Nope, it was the 2008 Viña Borgia Garnacha (Borja, Spain).
Rating: Good

Finally, Dan and I both guessed number six to be a Shiraz from Australia. Oaky with blueberry overtones and a chocolate finish, the 2008 Cimicky Trumps Shiraz (Barossa Valley, Australia) was yummy.
Rating: Good to Very Good

Discussing it at the end, Dan and I figured that we had overthought the tasting. Apparently one of the regulars had nailed five out of the six varietals.*** This tasting demonstrates that I need to do more drinking with my nose and palate in Beginner's Mind mode. I can definitely live with that.

Final Scores:

Newbie: 3.5
Dan: 2.5
Cecilia: 3

* Yes, I realize that most of you know what a brown bag tasting is, but I figured I'd explain just in case there's someone out there who thought we were drinking wine that's typically drunk from a bag-wrapped bottle, e.g., Mad Dog.

** I mean no disrespect or condescension – he's in a similar field to mine, so I'm not sure whether he'd be okay if I identify him.

*** Bitch.

Tasting Notes: Big Ass Reds at JavaMonkey

What is a "Big Ass" red? I'm pretty sure that's not a technical wine term, so I'll give you my definition. A "Big Ass Red" is a wine that warms you to the bone on cold days like this past week. It could be because of style -- lots of fruit -- or just straight-up alcohol content. Or maybe it tastes "hot" (high in alcohol) but really isn't. For whatever reason, these are reds you can't ignore, and you probably don't want to put them with food that relies on subtlety. For me, the quintessential BAR food is steak. Pizza works, too, which is what we ate before last Thursday's tasting at JavaMonkey.

Here are the wines:

2007 Di Arie Zinfandel (Sierra Foothills, California):
I was surprised to see a Zin leading off the list -- usually those come last -- but this one wasn't as full-bodied as I expected and had elegant balance. The bright, fruity nose literally made my mouth water, and the wine's smooth, dark fruit led to a little hot kick at the very back of my palate.
Rating: Very Good to Excellent

2006 Chasing Lions (Napa Valley, California): Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Syrah
I had high hopes for this one with its promising blend, but apparently chasing lions is a lot like herding cats: it's hard to get everything you want in the same place. There just wasn't much to this wine beyond a little insipid fruit.
Rating: Okay

2007 Bon Anno Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California):
Attack of the killer tannins, at least at first! With persistent swirling, it opened nicely to leather and fruit (but not in a kinky way).
Rating: Good

2006 Del Rio Vineyards Claret (Rogue Valley, Oregon):
The nose has anise on it, and this wine definitely qualifies as "chewy" in the beginning. It moves to nice fruit at the end with oak in the middle. This was one I kept sipping just to feel and taste the interesting chewy-oak-fruit progression.
Rating: Very Good

NV J. Bookwalter Subplot No. 23 (Columbia Valley, Washington):
Smells hot, but kind of like chocolate-covered raisins with its undertones of milk chocolate plus ripe fruit.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2006 Don David Tannat Reserve (Cafayate Valley, Argentina):
The first pour our table got of this one was from a so-so bottle. We all commented on the funky nose and concluded that it was close to corked, although not all the way. With all the bottles we go through at these tastings, it's bound to happen occasionally. I tasted a sip from a different bottle and got berries and spice.
Provisional Rating: Good, but worth a revisit

The favorite of the evening for me was the Di Arie Zinfandel with the Claret close behind. If you can't find those but want to experience big reds, try any of the reds from the Lodi region of California, especially the Cabs and Zins. They're usually pretty reasonable, too.

Random Thoughts: What I cooked this weekend and what I'm drinking tonight

I poured at the Sherlock's wine tasting in Decatur yesterday. It was wines from Burgundy. I accidentally left my list there, so I can't blog on the wines, but they weren't that interesting.

Yes, this would definitely be a case of: too much going on, too little mental space for it. I have ten working days left in my current employment situation. Not that I'm counting down, of course. This weekend I sublimated the range of emotions I'm feeling about the transition into cooking. There's nothing like a little stress to bring out creativity in the kitchen.

Last night, I pan-sauteed the flounder we got in Destin (thank you, Sexton's!) and put it with a nice lemon caper sauce. We went to the Morningside Farmer's Market yesterday and got veggies to turn into side dishes with it: sweet turnips, summer spinach, and Japanese eggplant. I braised the turnips in some vegetable broth and butter, sauteed the spinach with garlic and olive oil, and grilled the eggplant. The only glitch in the meal is that the flounder was "cleaned," not filleted. So, last night, I got to fillet flounder and figured out it's time to get my knives sharpened again. One web site (yes, Hubby looked up the "right way" to do it) said that a sharp knife should cut through the fish like butter. I wasn't so lucky, although I did not hurt myself, which is better than I can say for the Pork Loin Incident of Autumn 2007 (I won't go into details, but let's just say it's a good thing that neither Hubby nor I faint at the sight of blood).

We had the 2004 J. Saunders Meursault (Burgundy), which is 100% Chardonnay, with it, and it paired really well with the sweet, flaky fish and sauce. It's fruity and buttery with a hint of honey, and not oaky, although it's wood-aged.

Tomatoes are in season, and yesterday, we came away with 5 pounds and then some for sauce from the Woodland Gardens booth at Morningside. The lady who rung us up asked what we planned to do with them. Tomato sauce, of course! We've been having fun with the tomato press we got 4 years ago when we got married and hadn't played with until this year. The 5 pounds of tomatoes gave us 7 cups of sauce, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it will be enough, with turkey breast meatballs or on its own, for the next few weeks, anyway. I also made a summer vegetable soup with onion, carrots, celery, okra, corn, zucchini, and tomatoes. That will go into lunches this week. Soup during the summer may sound odd, but I usually end up freezing at work because the air-conditioning controls are in the hands of some hot-blooded people.

What do you have with spaghetti and meatballs? A Cab, if you don't have anything Italian handy, and we didn't. We got into the 2005 Wall Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa), which Hubby had poured at a wine tasting a few weeks ago. Although it's not the most complex Cab, it's smooth and fruity with currant and black cherry and didn't overpower the sauce. In fact, it balanced out the acidity of the sauce quite nicely. That bottle didn't make it through the evening.

Brutal Blends: Java Monkey Thursday Wine Series 6/12/08

Last Thursday's wine tasting was a first: everyone I talked to who had been there woke up in some discomfort. Poor Hubby had a touch of a stomach virus, so I'm not sure if he was truly hung over or not, but he was hurting along with the rest of us. At least he got out of going to work. I would like to add that I didn't drink any more than I usually do, which is to say, not to excess. Others didn't, either, with the exception of a few whose names I shall not mention.

What were the brutal wines?

1. 2006 Gramona Gessami (Penedes, Spain): This blend of Muscat d'Alexandria, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscat Frontignan was an interesting blend, mildly sweet with an odd finish.
Rating: Good

2. 2007 Casamaro Blanco (Rueda, Spain): I don't know if it was the trauma the wine endured when Jess dropped the bottle, which miraculously didn't break, or the wine itself, but this was another strange wine. One taster said, "It does something weird to my tongue!" The floral, yeasty nose gave way to a chemical odor, and the palate followed suit. The blend was 90% Verdejo and 10% Viera.
Rating: No, thanks (I blame this one for everyone's difficulties the next day)

3. 2005 La Piece Sous le Bras (Languedoc-Roussillon, France): A nice blend of 90% Chardonnay, 5% Vioginer, and 5% Roussane, this wine was light and fruity with a bit of mineral to the finish.
Rating: Good

4. 2005 Rapitala Nuar (Sicily): 70% Nero d'Avola and 30% Pinot Noir, the nose had dark fruit and raisin, and it was fruity on the palate, but finished dry and slightly buttery.
Rating: Very Good

5. 2004 Costa del Sol (Napa Valley): How could a blend of sangiovese, zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot not be good? This was Hubby's favorite of the night. It had an excellent nose and was well-balanced with fruit and acidity.
Rating: Excellent

6. 2006 Hahn Estates Meritage (Central Coast, CA): This wine "flummoxed" one of my drinking companions. It had a very nice nose, a little smoky, and a really good mix of dark fruit, jam, and a bit of earth. It was my favorite of the night, and it turned out to be a "kitchen sink" wine with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, our friend from Virginia Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec.
Rating: Excellent

No, I don't have a logical reason for blaming #2 for everyone's difficulties the next day other than its chemical characteristics. Again, this was an odd tasting. Perhaps there was some magical property to the combination of wines. I'm open to suggestions/discussion.

Oenophile at large: Restaurant Review of La Grotta Ravinia, Thai Tour of Decatur

This past week allowed me the opportunity to go to one of those dinners at a nice restaurant that someone else pays for, and all I have to do is listen to a talk. Am I a food slut? Maybe, but I really enjoyed my dinner at La Grotta Ravinia, which is at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Perimeter Mall. I'd been there once before when my in-laws were in town and found it to be consistently good across both visits.

Thursday evening started with appetizers including calamari, bruschetta, and a marinated portobello mushroom. Due to it being a somewhat corporate event, only two wines were poured, and I only got a peek at the label of the Pinot Grigio I had. I didn't get to write it down, but I think it was the 2004 Marco Felluga (Fruili) P.G. It had a hint of oak with lots of fruit and enough body that I think Hubby, who normally turns his nose up at Pinot Grigio ("wine-flavored water"), might have liked it, or at least drank it without fussing too much. The red option was the Ruffino Chianti, which is one of those good, food-friendly, go-to Italian wines.

For dinner, I had the Gamberetti al Grotta, which is "Shrimp Sautéed with Baby Artichokes, Shiitake Mushrooms, Yellow Peppers & Tomato Filets with Polenta." It came with a light lemony cream sauce and went very well with the wine. On our previous visit, I'd had the "Ravioli di Vitello con Salsa di Funghi Selvaggi: Homemade Veal Ravioli with Shiitake Mushrooms, Fresh Spinach & Wild Mushroom Sauce," which I also enjoyed. And yes, I had dessert: chocolate cake with creamy hazelnut icing. I also got a tiramisu to go for Hubby, who's not allowed to come to these things. Both were excellent.

Atmosphere: Very nice, dark, and romantic in the main dining room
Food: Excellent
Wine list: Good
Wait staff: Good
Desserts: Very good
Vegetarian friendly? Not really - no options beyond starters
Kid friendly? No
Would I go back? Yes

Lunch on Friday found me sitting outside with my friend the Chiropractor at Thai Me Up, which is on Ponce right next to Noodle. Again, this was my second time there, and I found it to be consistently good. We started with the summer rolls, which were served with peanut sauce. I found them to be good, but a little heavy on cilantro. I had Pad Thai with chicken, which is the typical recipe, but not too sweet like some places make it. My friend had the Num Ya, which he requested to be made "Thai Hot." He still had to add chili sauce to it but said it was good as well. The service was attentive without being intrusive, and we were served fast, which was good since I had to get back to work, and he had to run errands.

Atmosphere: Very good, outside seating good for people watching
Food: Very good
Wine list: Don't know -- I was good since I had to return to work
Wait staff: Very Good
Desserts: Unknown, but apparently they have shot desserts
Vegetarian friendly? Yes, most of the dishes have a tofu option
Kid friendly? Depends on whether your kids like Thai food, would stick with lunch or early evening if you try it
Would I go back? Yes

On Saturday, Hubby and I made grilled Mahi Mahi with parsleyed tomatoes, a Southern Living recipe. I've got to give Lynn Sawicki, the owner of Sawicki's Meat, Seafood, and More props for the outstanding quality of the fish. It was dubbed "local from North Carolina," and it had obviously never been frozen. Hubby is excited because it's another "fish Cecilia will eat," for the very short list of approved fish. I love shellfish, but I'm just not a big fan of fishy, meaty fish.

While making dinner, we got a call from friends we haven't seen in a while and who happened to be in town for the evening. We ended up going to drink wine while they ate dinner at Siam Thai Restaurant, and although we didn't partake since we'd already eaten -- we only drank wine -- we enjoyed smelling and seeing the dishes they ordered. I can't really rate the restaurant since I haven't eaten there in over a year, but everything looked and smelled really good. The diners agreed, although they also found the "Thai hot" level of spiciness to be somewhat wimpy.

After dinner, we went to Java Monkey (web site under construction) for coffee, tea, and dessert. Hubby got a fantastic Tempranillo that I have to mention: Campos Reales (La Mancha). I came away with the cork, but not the year. It was very fruity on the nose and didn't disappoint when tasted. It was a very smooth wine, and the perfect way to end a fun evening.

Oenophile at Large: Restaurant Adventures

Last Friday's dismal weather gave us the excuse to stay in town and celebrate one of our friends getting his architect's license. It will be interesting to see how well it works for picking up chicks at bars. After some revelry, Hubby and I decided to head toward the Inman Park/Old Fourth Ward areas for dinner. We ended up at P'Cheen, where we hadn't eaten in a while due more to our resistance to traveling outside of Decatur than to the restaurant itself. It was as good and fun as we remembered, and a nice little bar scene had developed by the end of the evening.

The cool, rainy weather as well as the scent of cooking beef that wafted out to the sidewalk as we came in inspired us to have the Hangar Steak with Mushroom Ragout and Artichoke Heart and Spring Onion Gratin. Kieran himself took our order and recommended the d'Arie Zinfandel to go with it. The d'Arie is a zin-gasm with a coffee/chocolate nose and "ripe but not jammy" fruit (wine list description). Basically, this is a zin for grownups: smooth and lush without any grape jam comparisons. The food was stylish and well-prepared, and we were both impressed with the Artichoke Heart and Spring Onion Gratin, which Hubby has been bugging me to duplicate. Dessert was something called a "Chocolate Explosion," which lived up to its name. They get their desserts from the Chocolate Pink Pastry Cafe, so they're guaranteed to be rich and sinful.

Score card:
Atmosphere: Very nice, modern, semi-casual; music's a little loud
Food: Very good
Wine list: Short but a good variety
Wait staff: Excellent and knowledgeable
Desserts: Excellent
Vegetarian friendly? Maybe -- there is a veggie plate option
Kid friendly? No kid's menu
Would I go back? Definitely

Saturday morning found us sleeping in too late to make it to Birmingham in time for lunch, so while running errands on the way out of town (including picking up my umbrella from P'Cheen), we stumbled across The Albert. Hubby had the wild salmon sandwich and fries. I had the gyro sandwich and cole slaw. Both sandwiches were made to order, and the sides were very good. We didn't have any alcoholic beverages, but a quick glance at the limited wine list reveals some consistently good, if not adventurous, wines (e.g., Ercavio Tempranillo).

Score card:
Atmosphere: Bar/pub style, entertaining with pictures of famous Alberts all over
Food: Very good
Wine list: Limited, but what they do have is good
Wait staff: Very good
Desserts: Don't know -- would like to go back and try
Vegetarian friendly? At least 2 all-veg menu items
Kid friendly? It seemed to be at lunch time; not sure about dinner
Would I go back? Yes

I'm not really sure what to say about Saturday afternoon for fear of ruining my wine cred. Hubby and I never drive through east Alabama on I-20 on Saturdays, so we haven't had the opportunity to try any of Alabama's wineries. I do give them credit for operating in a state that's so hostile to anything alcoholic. We weren't impressed with the wines at either of the wineries we visited. It may be a good excursion to try again in about three to five years, although we'll give Bryant, which is all muscadine, a miss.

I grew up in Birmingham and am continually astounded at how it grows. My parents took us to brunch at the Grey House Grille, which is in the new multi-use SoHo development in Homewood. The food took a little while to come out, but the wait staff was attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. I had the Seafood Crepe, which was excellent, although I wouldn't have minded some bigger pieces of shrimp and crab and a little less salt in the dish to allow the sherry sauce to shine. Hubby had the Shrimp and Grits, which was very good. Mom had the Chicken Crepe, and Dad had the Eggs Florentine. Everyone really enjoyed their meal.

Score card:
Atmosphere: Dressy casual, a little noisy
Food: Very good
Wine list: Looks like it would be worth a try
Wait staff: Very good
Desserts: Don't know
Vegetarian friendly? Maybe
Kid friendly? Appears to be
Would I go back? Yes, would like to try for dinner

Tasting Notes: Pinot Noirs at Java Monkey's Thursday Night Tasting 3/27/08

Wow, there's nothing like sitting down to write a blog entry and having one's husband come in with a red-stained shirt saying something in a fake Italian accent about having to hurt someone. Unfortunately this tasting notes entry isn't about the Sangiovese brothers or their cousin Chianti, but rather Pinot Noir, who is quite the sultry dame herself. As my wine P.I. wrote to me last week:

It was one of those days in a week that seemed to go on longer than the "Knock Knock" bit on "Prairie Home Companion" or the wait at the doctor's office that's just switched to a paperless system that no one understands yet. Everyone was on edge due to the schizophrenic spring weather, and the only constant -- the pollen that covered everything like a poisonous film -- didn't make moods any better. I hid in my office and studied the backs of my eyelids, hoping that something refreshing would come through the door.

Something, or should I say someone, did.

She wore a pink coat with a hint of rust in it. Her whole demeanor said, "light," "dry," and "pairs well with just about anything." It was like an Oregon springtime had appeared in my office.

"Can I help you, miss?"

She perched on the edge of my desk, peered at me from under a burgundy beret, and said in an accent straight out of those black-and-white French movies: "I need to get drunk."

"Excuse me?"

"It's my lousy ex-husband. He's driving me to drink."

"Well, first I need your name."

"It's Noir, Pinot Noir."

--

He didn't go into any detail beyond that, but let's just say that a lot of Pinot Noir got drunk last Thursday even without many of the usual suspects in attendance. Here's the lineup:

2006 Ramsay North Coast Pinot Noir, California (50% Mendocino fruit, 50% Napa-Carneros)
Very good. Light, dry, and crisp with a hint of oak, it would be a good summer wine. I have a note that it's "very pinot."

2006 Domaine de Regusse Pinot Noir, Provence, France
This one was excellent after allowed to breathe a bit. It had an interesting butter-tobacco finish.

2006 Foris Pinot Noir, Oregon
This one is a favorite. Try it if you haven't.

2006 Jovino Pinot Noir, Oregon
A little bigger and with some dark fruit. The table said, "yum!"

2006 Araucano Pinot Noir 2006, Central Valley, Chile
This one could have stood up to a steak with its meatiness and spice.

2006 Cartlidge & Brown Pinot Noir, California
Very good with a hint of caramel on the finish.

Overall, this tasting was an excellent start to a fun weekend. More to come about that!

Keepin' it warm?

Tonight it's going below freezing for the somethingth night in a row here in the ATL. Actually, it was only above freezing for a couple of hours today, long enough for my husband to drag my lazy ass to the gym, then to the grocery store, where, miraculously, there was still some milk and bread left on the shelves. My porch plants, which have been sequestered in the garage for about a week now, are totally saying, "WTF?" That's pretty much what we're saying, too.

So how does an oenophile stay warm on chilly nights such as this? Warm wine drinks! The one that follows is a beautifully simple recipe that was concocted by my mother many years back for a gathering on the feast of Christ the King (which, for those of you who aren't Catholic, is the Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent. Yes, Christ is honored as king just before he's gotta go back and do it all over again. Silly liturgical year).

Ingredients:

16 oz of apple cider
1-2 sticks cinnamon
burgundy (a jug burgundy is perfectly acceptable in this context)

Put the apple cider and cinnamon in a saucepan and set over medium heat until warm, but don't boil. Add approximately 2 oz of burgundy to each mug of cider. Season to taste. Serves 1-2. Multiply as needed.

Goes well through the holidays and beyond. Enjoy!