Spending a Night In Paris at Home

The other night we had some friends over for dinner and a movie. Since both of us have really fond memories of Paris we decided t make this a French evening. It included some really amazing French wine, food and watching the movie "Midnight in Paris" on the big screen.

Last summer we found some really delicious wines from Michel Chapoutier who is a winemaker and distributor from the Rhone region of France.  But before we could embark on the dedication of my new addition to the Man Cave: a Tim McGraw autographed guitar.

I got the guitar in a silent auction for one of my clients. I was trying to bid it up a little higher.  I wasn't sure that I won anything but the name "Mark Love" showed on the screen. Not taking any chances, I discovered that I now have a stage name!

In order to dedicate the guitar in the new "Wall of Fame" location I was told that I needed to have some Tim McGraw music playing. Not being a country music fan, I don't have any country music on my iPod or Kindle. Luckily my friend Kellie found something appropriate on YouTube.

For dinner I tried to find something appropriately French but perhaps not too difficult. To do that I looked to one of my favorite TV chefs, Laura Calder.  She's not French but from the French part of Canada.  I've found her shows to be really insightful.  So the two items I selected were a goat cheese dip for crudite (cut up veggies) and mussels.

The mussels are first steamed in Pernod. I never had Pernod before but it's a licorice flavored liquor. This gives the mussels an amazing start. The mussels are then laid out on a tray on the half shell.

This is followed by creating a compound butter made with tarragon and chives. A dot of this compound butter is then put on each mussel.  This was perhaps the hardest part of the whole process.

Apparently my hands give off a lot of heat because the butter was melting before I could get a bit on the mussel.  This was followed by some panko crumbs on each and then under the broiler for a few minutes until they're completely done.

All I can say is they turned out unbelievable. This went beautifully with the goat cheese dip. This was unbelievably simple to make. You start with 12 ounces of goat cheese and cream it. Then you add some milk that was boiled with rosemary. Normally I'm not a huge fan of rosemary because it can overpower the flavors.  In this case it didn't.  Add the zest and juice of one lemon and you have a fabulous dip.

It's got the freshness of the lemon which balances the goat cheese.  This worked really well with cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, orange peppers, and celery.  I thought tonight as I was having leftovers that it would work well with mushrooms, too.

Guess what? I was right.  It worked really well with fresh baby bella mushrooms.

My friend Kellie brought the French bread and a Brie en Croute with roasted onions.  Outrageously delicious. Our first wine of the evening was a Cotes-du-Rhone from M. Chapoutier. This $11 wine beats many that I've had at twice the price.

It's 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah.  We had some experience with this wine last summer when we were preparing for the picnic challenge at Ravinia.  It really is a wonderful wine at a very reasonable price.

I stopped at Binny's earlier in the day to select the wines.  I find that a little hard to understand when I have a houseful of really good wines from some dynamite wine producers mostly from various regions in California and Oregon.

Our second wine was another wine from Michel Chapoutier.  This bottle was Occultum Lapidem from Domaine de Bila-Haut. This wine was rated a 90 from Robert Parker. It comes from the Cotes-du-Roussillon Villages region of France -- just on the border of the Rhone valley.  This bottling comes from a vineyard that is planted to Grenache, Syrah and Carignan.

This was a richer wine. The addition of the Carignan changes the flavor profile significantly. It was a really rich wine and matched the food really well.

The night was finished with some macaroons from Trader Joe's. Wow. They took me back to Rue Cler in Paris with the flavors. It was about time to start the movie. In many ways "Midnight in Paris" is a typical Woody Allen movie but it was well cast with Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams.

It's a movie that plays out on many different levels. You have the character played by Owen Wilson dreaming of the magic years of the 20's and you have the character played by Marion Cotillard (one of my all time favorite actresses!) who lives int eh 20's but wants to live in the Belle Epoch.

It was during the movie that we ran out of the Bila-Haute and I opened up a bottle of wine from one of my absolute favorite wineries -- Frick Winery. This small winery in the Dry Creek Valley produces some of the best Rhone-style wines this side of the Atlantic.

The Garibaldi comes from the historic Garibaldi vineyard named for Bill Frick's mother-in-law. This is a traditional field blend where the grapes are harvested and fermented together. This particular blend includes Carignane, Grenache, Muscat Blanc, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Valdeque, Mission, Palomino, and Burger are some of the varieties in this blend.  No one varietal makes up 15% of the blend.

This is a dandy little wine that starts with cherry, berry, vanilla and raspberry aromas. It's a full, round wine that finishes with fruit and vanilla flavors. What a wonderful way to end the evening. Perhaps it's time again to take a walk in the rain in Paris.

A Wine Country Visit to New Friends and Old

We just returned from a visit to California Wine Country (Napa and Sonoma counties) where we had the opportunity to make some new friends and to renew some old friendships.  I have been traveling for the last couple of weeks and so this trip, right in the middle, provided a nice respite.

We left Chicago early Friday morning so that we wouldn't waste a complete day traveling. After arrival, we made the trek up to Napa. Our objective was to be at the Pine Ridge Winery at 2 o'clock for their vineyard and caves tour and tasting.

Since we arrived just before 10 am on Friday, we made it up to Napa in time for us to have a little lunch. We drove into the town of Napa and headed to the historic downtown area.  After navigating around a little, we found a parking lot behind the correction facility and walked to the visitor's center.

Not only did they have some great information on the Napa Valley, they also had some items perfect for wine country.  There was one we couldn't ignore -- it was a picnic kit complete with two wine glasses, plates, utensils and a cutting board that fit into the size of a lunch box.

Whoever thought up this design was a genius.

The community is in the middle of restoration work on the river so there's a lot of equipment around. I imaine that when this project is complete the riverfront part of town will be quite beautiful -- and active.  On the hunt for a place to try we passed the Pear, a New Orleans bistro. It was also the location for Chef Anne Burrell's "Chef Wanted" program that evening.

While we were intrigued, we wandered a little further until we came to Morimoto Napa.  Iron Chef Morimoto's Napa Valley restaurant.  I've never eaten in an Iron Chef's restaurant before so I couldn't pass this up. It's both a restaurant and purveyor of Asian items, too.

I started with a glass of white wine -- a Rhone blend from Joseph Kent called 'vieux carre'. I found it to be quite nice.  It went really well with the Ishi Yaki Buri Bop. Prepared table side in a 500 degree stone pot. I had seen the Iron Chef prepare something like this on the show but I never had a chance to try it myself.

Until now.

I found the flavors to be quite pronounced as I ate everything. My dining partner had the ramen noodles. Two very outstanding dishes. Sometimes you're easily disappointed at restaurants of famous Chef's. This clearly was not the case here. I'd definitely recommend it anyone who's looking for a place to eat in Napa.

After lunch (and the purchase of the picnic kit, it was off to the Stag's Leap AVA for our visit with Pine Ridge. We arrived just before 2 and had an opportunity to taste some wines that were not part of the tour. I had first learned of Pine Ridge right after Crimson Wine Group had purchased Seghesio Family Vineyards.

We had two other groups of people joining our tour and met them as we left the tasting room and headed out to the demonstration plot. This makes for an interesting visit. They have samples vines of Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and others in a variety of trellis options.

With the grapes close to ripe, it gave us an opportunity to taste a variety of grapes. Very different than table grapes. Much more acidic and sweeter. The skins can be a bit tougher than table grapes, too.  I was trying to remember what I learned last year on my visit to sister winery, Chamisal Vineyards.

From there, we toured the winery. I was intrigued by the set-up that Pine Ridge has for barrels.  The barrel room is set up with these wine racks that allow for easy turning throughout the process. They didn't seem to take up any more space than standard barrel racking.

We then moved into the fermenting room to check out the various fermentation tanks. Unlike some of the smaller wineries where they utilize open tank fermentation methods, all the fermentation takes place within the tanks utilizing special yeast cultures.

As we were walking through fermentation room as they were getting ready to bring in this year's grapes as the tanks were all clean, empty and ready to go.

From there we moved into the caves where the traditional barrel aging takes place. While these caves are man-made, they are cut into the hills surrounding the winery. They keep the temperature consistently cool.

As we entered the tunnels, the winemaker, Michael Beaulac, and assistant winemaker, Jason Ledbetter, were there in front of a series of barrels.  They are in the midst of a barrel test to determine the barrels they'll be using into the future. We also had a chance to take part in the testing as we tasted some wines from a couple of the barrels.

I lagged behind a bit to ask Micheal and Jason their favorite wines to make.  With so many wines produced by Pine Ridge it's a little like asking a parent which of their children is their favorite. As it turns out their favorites are different but complimentary.  Michael's wine was the Stag's Leap Cabernet -- a little more subtle, more lush.  Perhaps, as Micheal suggested, the Stag's Leap carried with it more feminine qualities.

Jason's favorite was the Howell Mountain Cabernet. If the Stag's Leap had feminine characteristics, what Jason liked about the Howell Mountain was it's masculinity. A perfect pair, masculine and feminine. I've enjoyed both of these wines. It's amazing to me the opportunities that a winemaker has to mold a wine to their liking  I've had several wines from the Stag's Leap district and from Howell Mountain.  They're all different.

We finished out tour with a tasting in the caves.  They had paired three different wines with different artisan cheeses. I'm always intrigued by the way a wine works with different cheeses. Since we had three very different cheeses, I thought I'd try each wine with a little of each cheese.  I was surprised that some worked and some didn't.

I think, perhaps, the best part was interacting with other folks on the tour. We had a two couples from Miami and another group of college roommates from around the country.

Since we had come in early after a full week of work and travel. The college roommates were tired after a day full of tastings.  They were headed up to Sonoma later in the weekend.  Since we typically spend more of our time in Sonoma rather than Napa, I was able to suggest a couple of options to visit later in the weekend.

After the tasting, we were back in the tasting room to add a couple of bottles to my existing wine club order and to visit further with a couple friends before heading over to Sonoma. I had thought that planning the weekend and a stay and a very attractive Bed and Breakfast was a great idea.

As it turns out the air conditioning wasn't working so well. But more of that in the next post. Thanks, Pine Ridge, for a great visit. Make sure if you're in the Napa region and haven't stopped by before, please put this vineyard on your list of must see places.

The Ravinia Goat Rodeo Picnic Contest and More

As many of you who've been following my blog or my facebook feeds know, we've spent a lot of time at the Ravinia Festival this summer.  I think when all's been said and done we went to 12 concerts this summer. Perhaps our busiest week was the last one when we had six of the twelve events.

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post, we went to see Yo Yo Ma and the Goat Rodeo Sessions. That was the evening that we were selected as one of 50 entrants into the Ultimate Picnic Contest. This joint event was co-sponsored by Terlato Wines so part of the judging had to include some Terlato Wines.

The good news is that Terlato has a wide variety of different wines ranging from rally nice Napa Valley and California wines to those found in France and in Italy.  While I had not had one of their wines before, there was enough to choose from that I didn't think we'd have much of a problem.

As it turns out we didn't.  As you may know if you have followed this blog for some time our trip to Paris a couple of years ago was the launching point for this blog (the background photo is a cafe along the Rue Cler in the 7th arrondissement of Paris). It was during that trip that my partner in these adventures developed a love for the wines of the Cotes-du-Rhone.

As it turns out Terlato has a couple of wines from a well-regarded winemaker in the region Michel Chapoutier.  His Belleruche wines are imported by Terlato.  We found these to be very consistently good in our pre-picnic planning.  At the same time I wanted to do something that I thought would be unique -- turn one of the bottles into a candle.  (As it turned out, it wasn't so much of a unique concept.)

Our original plan was to feature a theme of East meets West with the clever use of some Bento boxes.  Unfortunately, Amazon let us down and didn't deliver the boxes in time.  That left us scrambling a bit.

I had ordered a cheese from IGourmet.com that was a selection of Goat Cheeses.  This concert is a unique mix of talents from across many musical genres as Yo Yo Ma has blurred the lines many times. The name of this album -- the Goat Rodeo Sessions -- refers to a situation where the chaotic cannot seemingly be controlled with each person having their personal agenda and direction.  This certainly reflects the nature of this effort.

A cross between bluegrass and classical, elements of jazz with each musician playing elements together in what could be called controlled chaos.

Perhaps that's what my selection of cheeses could be called -- controlled chaos.  I ordered Aracena, Beemster, Midnight Mood and Buenalba for the event.  The Aracena by Dona Manuela is a raw goat's milk cheese from the Andalusia region of Spain. It's a full-flavored cheese full of herb and citrus flavors. It reminds me a little of a nice stinky cheese from France.

The Beemster is a Gouda made entirely of goat's milk.  Apparently there are a number of farmers who keep goats for the locals' enjoyment and so they also produce a goat's milk gouda.  I found this cheese to be a clean, sweet flavored cheese that was very easy to eat.

The Midnight Moon is a relatively new cheese coming from Cypress Grove Chevre. This is a very different cheese both in texture as well as flavor.  It has a nuttiness to it that makes it great to eat on bread or all by itself.

We finished the cheese with a Buenalba with Pimenton.  This cheese is similar to the Spanish Ibores but different in that the Pimenton de la Vera is infused into the goat's milk before setting it in curds.  This is another raw milk cheese.

These cheeses added nicely to the rest of the spread which included an unbelievable fruit tray with champagne grapes, blueberries, strawberries and our new favorite fruit, figs.

There were also olives, chicken salad on baby romaine leaves (really great for picnics) and a rice salad with some of our homegrown tomatoes and a heavenly lemon vinaigrette.

While we didn't win, show or even place, it was a lot of fun.  We really had a lot of people commenting on the quality of the spread and how it was something that they could reproduce themselves pretty easily.

That, I thought, was one of the best parts. I forgot to mention that we also had saucisson, a French dry cured sausage.  It was intriguing enough that one of the judges -- who views himself as mostly vegan -- had to try a bit of it.

Not surprisingly he found it to be quite good!

Perhaps the most difficult part of the whole affair was that we had to wait until after the judging was completed in order to dig into the delicious picnic fair. We certainly learned a lot about this for next year so plans are already in the works.

I'll leave you with some pictures of some of the other entries in the picnic contest. While there were a lot that were amazing entries, very few seemed like they were something to replicate.

I was astounded by the sound of Yo Yo Ma and the other musicians.  While at times it seemed as though they were all headed for a train wreck somewhere through the music, they ended up pulling every piece together. All in all a very enjoyable evening.

Picnics are always fun. What was your favorite picnic this summer?

Lord of the Rings, George Thorogood, Buddy Guy and Yo Yo Ma? Part I

Unfortunately for the last couple of weeks I've been busy with quite a few summer concerts at Ravinia.  Beginning a couple of weeks ago we attended six of the twelve concerts through last Saturday.  Frankly it's gotten in the way of me getting my blog completed.  But we're back on schedule now.  Thank you for your patience. Now onto this week's post.

Two weekends ago was filled to the gills with music.  We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at the Ravinia Festival to enjoy a wide variety of music. It culminated with last night's Picnic Contest sponsored by Terlato Wines and Sunset Foods.

Ravinia is a great location to just sit back and enjoy various artists.  This weekend began with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings: Two Towers. One wouldn't have thought that this would be one of the more crowded events of the last few years but it was.

The venue is great but sometimes getting to the venue is a bit of a problem. Such was the case on Friday.  We arrived close to the gates in less than an hour through rush hour traffic but it took another 90 minutes to get parked and into the concert.

While we brought our "slimmed down" picnic, it was still a bit of a challenge.  Saturday was a better bet.  Because we could arrive early enough to take advantage of the members early entry, we found a great spot for eight of us to enjoy right outside the amphitheater.

I selected a number of wines from my Chamisal Vineyard collection for the evening.  We began with the Chamisal 40th Anniversary Chardonnay followed by the Pinot Gris and finally ending with the 8-N Pinot Noir.


The 40th Anniversary Chardonnay was very easy drinking. Not too heavy on the oak and it seemed to have some earthiness to it. I think, though, it could use a little more time in the cellar.  During this summer I've really been enjoying a lighter mix of wines and the Pinot Gris is a perfect example.  I should say lighter for me.

I've had some really great Rose wines that I wouldn't have expected to be that good (I've too often attributed them to the sweeter wines like White Zinfandel). The Pinot Gris is the exact same grape as is used in the Italian Pinot Grigio.  So then, what's the difference.

The difference is found in the style of wine that's produced.  It's in the hands of the vintner -- in this case the very talented Fintan du Fresne.  He's been the lead winemaker at Chamisal Vineyards since 2006.  I've found that his style is to make the most of the grapes based on the unique terroir of the vineyards.

Which is exactly what he did with the 8-N Pinot Noir. The grapes from this wine come from a vineyard approximately 8 miles north of the Chamisal vineyards.  Even though they're relatively close together the different soils produce a different flavor profile from most of the other Pinot Noirs that Chamisal Vineyards produces.  I found this wine was a delightful way to end the evening with some sweet desserts.

An interesting mix of wines with which to enjoy George Thorogood and the Destroyers along with Buddy Guy.  After setting up the tables and getting the food out -- Roxanne really outdid herself with a rice, tomato, and chive salad featuring a lemon vinaigrette. Add to that a truly outstanding  fruit tray with our brand new go to fruit (figs) and chicken salad on romaine lettuce boats.

Great picnic food.

Of course my cousin showed up with some great steak strips,a  fresh Caprese salad and blueberry buckle and Redi-Whip (of course). There's nothing like a great picnic with family and friends.  Perhaps that's the best part of the Ravinia experience.

While this is a great concert venue with plenty of great musicians, I think the Ravinia experience is best enjoyed in a relaxed style with food, friends and a glass of excellent wine in your hand. Sometimes it doesn't even matter that the music may not be the best.

Although for tonight, the music was really, really good. While we were pretty close to the Pavillion -- and the park was packed -- it almost doesn't matter where you're sitting.

Tomorrow is a big day.  We're entering the annual picnic contest (one of 50 tables) for the first time. Even though it's a late night, we'll have an early start in the morning.  But more on that in the next post.

Guest Post from Cheese Expert, Max McCalman

As a fan of the Artisanal Cheese Company of New York, I was pleased to be asked to include this guest post in my blog. Here's what Max had to say:

The American Cheese Society will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year in Madison, Wisconsin. Several participants will be headed there early. Even though the festival does not officially start until July 31st many in the ACS executive office have already transplanted themselves from their Denver headquarters to ready everything: for the attendees arriving from across the United States and abroad, as well as the nearly 1,800 cheeses entered into competition. There are nearly that many people attending some part if not all of the conference. I'll be there, definitely.

There was a time not that many years ago when I did not feel the need to attend each year. The same crop of nice cheeses showed up each year; there were fewer "new" cheeses and for the most part, the conference sessions were less inspiring. The cheese industry has grown dramatically and the quality improvements are notable. One of the best things that has happened to ACS is its Certified Cheese Professional endorsement. The second ACS CCP exam will be administered July 31 to nearly 190 applicants, and as Chair of the Certified Cheese Professional committee I will be there helping proctor the exam. We anticipate we will have about 150 new CCP's added to the 121 who passed the first exam last year, all of them helping assure continuing quality advances in this vibrant industry.

Max McCalman

Be sure to visit the Artisanal Cheese Company website at www.artisanalcheese.com.

When Disappointment turns to Enchantment

Saturday night was a special night for a couple of reasons. First, we were headed to the city to see Harry Connick, Jr. in Chicago and second we were going with some good friends. There's nothing like having a great evening with friends.

Unfortunately, my first choice for dinner wasn't available.  I've been to the Gage in Chicago several times. It's just down the street from the Symphony Hall (home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). Because the Jazz series at the CSO is on Friday nights we don't get to city early enough to enjoy the Gage.

(Photo from Midwestern Masticatory Musings)

The Gage is a great restaurant with a wide ranging American menu. My good friend, Charlie, introduced me to the restaurant the first time. I've been back a couple of times since. But with the concert starting at 7:30 a 5 pm reservation was too early and a 8:15 reservation was a bit late.  So, although I had never been there, I made reservations at Henri, a restaurant from the creators of the Gage.

(photo from Hogshead Wine)

Apparently every route into the city was conspiring against us with traffic and construction which made us about 15 minutes late. We called and the hostess was very kind. After parking I joined the rest of the party and took a look through the extensive wine list.  A great majority of the wines on the list were French.

I was a little disappointed that there weren't many California Rhone-style wines. (I did suggest that they consider some of the great Rhone-style wines from Frick Winery and Pine Ridge.)  In the end, I selected a Cote du Rhone Villages from Domaine Gramenon Les Laurentides.

This wine was reasonably priced and an old vine blend of Grenache and Syrah. The staff decanted the wine for us -- and probably for good reason.  In doing a little research, several reviewers suggested that the wine was much better after several hours of decanting. We didn't have that kind of time but found the wine to be quite good.

Doing a little research on the wine itself, I found that the winery was founded by Philippe and Michele Laurent in 1978 on 12 hectares of vines. The wine is sourced from mostly 50 year old Grenache vines located in the La Bicarelle plot near Vinsobres.

The soils here are mostly clay limestone with rounded pebbles. The grapes were partially destemmed, fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged for 8 months in oak barrels.  (I wonder if they imported American Oak barrels for this or if they went with the French Oak?)

 

Lamb Rack

Roasted Duck Breast

Truffled Chicken

We found the wine to be a great match across several offerings. We started with the Oysters Mignonette. The mignonette was just the right note on the oysters with shallots and a red wine vinegar. That was followed by the fresh vegetable soup.

Dinner included a lamb rack, truffled chicken and roasted duck breast.

Everything was delicious. Frankly, they surpassed my expectations. What I didn't expect was how perfect the service was. We were never hurried nor did the staff smother us. Even though we arrived late, it never felt as though they were trying to turn the tables. General Manager Tim Sandow has done a great job with his staff. The ambiance is relaxed but not casual.

What started as a bit of disappointment that we didn't get into the Gage for dinner ended with a bit of a disappointment, too. Only this time the disappointment was that we had to rush out to get to the concert and we didn't have time for dessert.

Heading down the street to Symphony Hall for the concert we arrived just as bells were ringing to take your seat. Harry's show was one of the best I've seen. For nearly 2 and 1/2 hours he entertained the audience with a selection that crossed several genres. Loved the music enough that I came home and purchased his latest two albums.

And I'm not alone.  The usually curmudgeonly Jazz Critic, Howard Reich, writes: 

New Orleans has produced more than its share of great showmen, entertainers for whom almost any stage is too small and any evening too brief. 

Anyone who doubted that Harry Connick, Jr. belongs to this tradition and extends it into the 21st century surely was not out Saturday night at Symphony Center, where Connick offered an intermissionless show that stretched well past two hours and yet seemed to pass too quickly. Aside from the sheer stamina of this performance, Connick addressed so many musical styles so persuasively, while also unveiling several striking new songs, that one had to reassess earlier impressions of him.

All in all, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday evening. Great friends. Great wine. Great food. And great entertainment. And as I drove home I couldn't help but hear the words and music of "Some Enchanted Evening" playing in my head.

Three things I know for sure.  I'll be looking for some Domaine Gramenon Les Laurentides, I'll be back again to Henri, and I won't miss the next Harry Connick, Jr. show in the Chicago area.

An Evening with Four Sisters

The other night we went to the Ravinia Festival for our third concert of the season. Tonight's show? The B52's and the Go-Go's. Nothing like enjoying a little bit of the 80's all over again. After a week of rain off and on, Saturday night was perfect.

Three sisters lined up for the evening

For those in the Chicagoland area, there's nothing like being able to spend a beautiful evening at the Ravinia Festival. They have concerts virtually every night all summer long. And for the really popular concerts it helps to be a donor.  A small contribution and you can enter the park 30 minutes before the gate opens to the general public.

This was one of those concerts. We arrived in time to take advantage of the early donor entrance. This allowed us to set up in close proximity to the pavilion so we could see the the stage screens from our seats. There's nothing like a delicious picnic on a beautiful evening with good food and great wines.

For this night's concert, I chose four sisters to share with my cousin Elizabeth and her husband Dale. These four sisters come from sister wineries, Seghesio, Pine Ridge, Chamisal and Archery Summit.  We started with the Fiano from Seghesio Family Vineyards. All of these wineries are owned by Crimson Wine Group.

Fiano is a wine enjoyed by the ancient Romans who referred to it as Apiano because bees were attracted to it as the harvest approached. The Seghesio family's introduction to this wine came through a blind tasting and they soon became the first grower in Sonoma County to grow this particular grape. With origins in the marine -influenced Italian village of Avellino, Fiano grows very well in the Russian River Valley.

This wine reminds me a little bit of a Pinot Grigio but more complex. It starts with floral aromas and a hint of pear and lime zest. The pear flavors come through very strongly, too. There's a hint of honey that comes through at the end. (Perhaps this is what the bees of ancient Rome were looking for!).

It paired well with our appetizers of several cheeses, a goat cheese, a cheddar and havarti. We also had some olives and some homemade pickles.  We also had some smoked salmon and a few slices of various charcuterie.

Our second bottle of wine was the Estate Rose from Chamisal Vineyards.  This was also a fruit forward wine with strong aromas of strawberry and cream.  Up until last summer's visit to wine country I had never really thought much of Rose wines. I put them in the same category as white zinfandel.

But I was wrong. I've found that the Rose wines make for a great summer wines. With both the Fiano and the Rose being chilled, provided some relief to a warm afternoon.

I found the Rose surprisingly fresh and yet complex. That may be the result of the calcareous, clay-rich soils of Chamisal Vineyards. Having been on the tour on a recent visit to the Vineyard, I can see how the soil could impart unique flavors.  I found the wine to be more than just a smooth drinking wine.  I found the flavors to be very rich . . . reminiscent of the Pinot Noir that forms the base of this wine.

My cousin Elizabeth determined that everything tastes better with Reddi-Whip. That includes not just the fruit and pound cake but also the peanut butter cups.  It's certainly something to keep in mind in the future.

The music began as we just finished this bottle. It was time to open up the Archery Summit Estate Pinot Noir.  From the Dundee Hills region of Oregon's Willamette Valley, this wine really reflects the quality of wines from Oregon.  I recently wrote a post about my recent visit to the winery -- it was the last of the four sisters for me to visit.

Each one of the wineries is producing fabulous estate wines but they're all unique. Each one of the winemakers takes the unique terroir of each vineyard and the grapes to develop really spectacular wines.  The Estate Pinot Noir from Archery Summit is no exception.

This wine opens with aromas of slate. You can really pick up on minerals of the wines.  When you taste the wine you can really pick up on the dark red cherry flavors of this wine along with depth of flavors. The finish of this wine is velvety smooth.

As it turns out it was a great way to finish the evening. Since we still needed to drive home from the concert, I decided not to open the Onyx from Pine Ridge Winery.  This is one of my favorite Bordeaux blends.

As the concert wound down, we ended the evening with a little coffee and pound cake (and of course the Reddi-Whip).  As we were putting away the tables and chairs, the B52's were belting out their hit single Rock Lobster.

Over the years we've developed a pretty good pattern for what we bring to Ravinia. We've seen so many different set-ups that we've created our own picnic package.  Now I'm looking forward to our next concert -- Heart.  A continuation of the 80's theme for this year.

If you haven't tried some of the other wines from these great wineries, I would encourage you to do so

Virginia is for Wine Lovers?

One of the challenges with this blog is that I often don't have my notebook by me and by the time I get around to trying to write about it I often forget the details. That doesn't make for a dynamic post. So I'm going to try something new.  I'm writing the post as I do a taste test.

I traveled this weekend to Virginia to help my son get set up for his summer internship in DC.  While I had some time in my room before heading to meetings tomorrow, I thought I would taste some of Virginia wines.

While we know California for our best wines, Virginia was really the birthplace of American wine.  It began after Thomas Jefferson returned to this country after being in France, he helped established a vineyard next to Monticello.

This is a unique challenge because of the climate. The winters can be harsh and the summers can be hot and humid.  Not exactly the same type of climate as California.

To test these wines, I chose three different Cabernet Franc from three different wineries.  The first is the 2009 Cabernet Franc from Prince Michel Vineyards. This wine has a strong dark cherry aroma. The strong fruit flavors come through first with a hint of spice. Overall a very smooth tasting wine.

I've not had a Cabernet Franc as a single varietal.  In the past, I've had several wines where Cabernet Franc is used in blending but not as a stand alone wine. This is a unique experience. This grape is pretty hardy so it can withstand the climate.

While not my favorite wine so far it is drinkable.

On to wine number two, the Jefferson Vineyards Monticello Cabernet Franc.  I'm tasting a non-vintage Cabernet Franc. This wine has a very different aroma than the first.  It's not as overtly fruity as the first. It does have a black cherry aroma but there's more vanilla coming through. This is a very dry red wine.

Not bad.  I'm undecided about the first two.

The third was a recommendation from a wine store in McLean.  It was the answer to my question about the quintessential Virginia wine. It's from Horton Vineyards. It has a more similar aroma as the Prince Michel only there's more spice.  It doesn't have the strong cherry as the Prince Michel. It reminds me of several good meritages from California.

This is certainly the best of the lot. The wine was a lot more complex than the first and I liked it better than the Jefferson Vineyards.  The history buff in me wanted to love the Jefferson wine but it wasn't enough.

At the end of the day, the wines were good -- and perhaps better than I thought -- but still not up to the standards set by other wine making regions of the United States most notably California, Oregon and Washington.  But I'll keep on trying.

A Trip Back to Paris

This may be, in fact, the cheapest trip to Paris. Ever.

No I'm not talking about going to Paris, Texas or the 19 or so other towns in the United States named Paris. Unfortunately I'm not in the City of Lights but I'm sitting in a little restaurant in Merrifield, Virginia called Le Pain Quotidien (Our Daily Bread).

I frankly had never heard of it before.  As it turns out it's a chain of restaurants around the world founded by a couple of guys from Belgium. But I digress.

I had come in thinking this was just a French name for another Panera Bread-like company. Don't get me wrong, I really like Panera Bread.  But this took the experience a bit further.

Sitting here drinking a perfectly drawn double espresso, I was writing my other blog when the wild mushroom and goat cheese omelette appeared with a side of French ham and Gruyere cheese. I was transported to a cafe in Paris I ate in two years ago.

The omelette was beautifully prepared.

And it got me thinking.  Up until the omelette arrived, I was not thinking a lot about restaurant at all.  I was just sitting here writing. But . . . the minute the omelette arrived, BAM I was back to Paris.

But this isn't the first time that has happened.  Sometimes it's a glass of wine that takes me back to the vineyard where I first tasted it. I can remember the experience as much as the taste. Other times it's a particular food.

Comfort foods are those things that take us back to times when we felt good. When life was what it should be. I think that's one of the reasons why I love food.  It's not so much the food as the experience and friends and life that is lived around the table.

And that is as it should be.

A Case of the Blind Leading the Blind?

I've always wondered how much I'm influenced by the label or brand of a wine.  I wonder if I like a wine because I know what it is or what I expect it to be. That's what made our event the other night so interesting.

For the first Mondays @ Mark's event of the year, I invited some friends over for a blind tasting of four different Chardonnays.  For the tasting I selected the newest offering from Pete and Cathy Seghesio, their Journeyman Chardonnay 2011.  I also selected the Bacigalupi Vineyards Chardonnay 2011 (made with grapes from the same vines that produced the Chardonnay for the 1973 Chateau Montelena that won the Paris tasting in 1976), the Chamisal Vineyards Califa blend 2010, and rounded out the selection with the Kirkland $6.99 Sonoma County Chardonnay.

I was intrigued to find out if people could really tell the difference between the various wines.  Myself, I was a little dubious.  For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that I don't necessarily have the best, most distinguishing palate.

Many of the tasters, when told they were tasting just Chardonnays, told me they wouldn't be able to distinguish between the wines. Well, we all were in for a big surprise.

All four wines were distinctive in their taste.

It comes back to the gifts of the winemaker and the imprint of the terroir from which the grapes are grown. Like people, no two are alike.

Take the Chamisal, for instance.  They hand harvested and sorted the best blocks of three clones (Dijon, the original Chamisal clone, and 352). They did this at night to best preserve the grapes. Then they pressed the whole clusters and cold settled.

I wasn't sure what cold settling was or why it was important, so I looked it up.  It's a process by which the juice and skins are put in a vat to allow the solids to settle at the bottom then the clear juice is skimmed off for fermentation.

For the Journeyman wine, the fruit was sourced from five vineyards each making outstanding single vineyard chardonnays. Each lot came from the part of the vineyard that were poised atop a ridge or elevated bench because they allow optimal drainage and temper vine growth. From there each lot was hand sorted at their winery (in the basement of their home located in the midst of the historic San Lorenzo vineyard) and gently pressed for four hours.While it yields less wine, they avoid the bitterness that can sometimes be present.

From there the wine is placed either in barrels or in a concrete egg (40%). The egg shape contributes to a longer fermentation and the neutral concrete allows for the full expression of both vineyard and fruit. The other 60% is barreled in new French oak barrels and since the fruit was harvested between 3 and 7 am the temperature is ideal for fermentation. During the last portion of fermentation, the barrels are stirred daily as the temperature rises to stop the fermentation.

Two different wineries, two different approaches. Yet both produce stunning wines. When I read about the work that goes into a single bottle of wine, I'm amazed at both the skill and perseverance of the winemakers.

Here's what we discovered: preference has nothing to do with the price of the bottle of wine.  Some of the younger folks taking part in the tasting were challenged a little by the spice from the Chamisal Califa blend while those of us who have been around the block a few times really enjoyed the wine.

Ok.  I did know which wine was which so my palate wasn't necessarily fooled.  However, I had shared a bottle of the Bacigalupi Chardonnay with a friend who instantly picked it out of the tasting. It took a little work to keep that one under wraps while others were still tasting.

They were all good in their own way.  While my preference for the evening was the Journeyman with the Bacigalupi a close second, it was fun to listen to the others comments. At the end of the day that's how the tasting ended. (Although it wasn't as close as my voting would have been.)

While the Kirkland Chardonnay wasn't outstanding some of the younger drinkers preferred its milder taste to some of the more complex wines. At $6.99 it's certainly a great value and a very drinkable wine. Frankly I was having too much fun hosting the party and enjoying friends around the bar to take too many pictures.

What I liked best about the whole tasting experience is that everyone was able to express their own opinions.  None of them were wrong. Perhaps that's the best part of sharing wine with friends -- it's not so much about the wine as it is about the friends.

I'd certainly recommend making this a fun part of an upcoming party you may be hosting.  I'm having fun bringing friends along with me on my wine journey. How about you?

Oregon's Beautiful Wine Country

Over the last month I've been all over the US.  I've been to California (and visited one of my favorite wineries, Chamisal Vineyard) and I've been to Texas a couple of times and I've been to Philadelphia, Atlantic City and New York. As a result, my posting of late has been a bit erratic.

That's something I intend to correct over the coming weeks.  Thank you for keeping up with this blog in the meantime.

In between those trips I had the opportunity to take a trip back in time and head back to Oregon.  I hadn't been back to Eugene since I left in the mid-80s.  In the meantime, the wine industry has taken off and they're producing some of the finest Pinot Noirs in the country.

As many of you know if you've been following this blog, I'm a huge fan of Seghesio Family Vineyards.  I have been from the very first time I tasted their Old Vine Zinfandel back in 1999 and since they were purchased by the Crimson Wine Group a couple of years ago, I've had the privilege of visiting the other sister wineries -- all except one.

I had never visited Archery Summit.

Last summer I visited Pine Ridge Winery for the first time and last fall I had visited Chamisal but I had never really had an opportunity to visit Archery Summit. That is until now.

I have made several trips back to Oregon but never really had the time to explore the wine industry.  I really didn't have a lot of time on this trip either but I allowed for a slight detour on my way down to Eugene for meetings.  The wine industry in Oregon is actually quite strong.  I've really enjoyed some of the wines I've had including those from Owen Roe like their Sharecropper's Pinot Noir and their Sinister Hand and Abbot's Table.

On this trip, however, a trip to Archery Summit was all I could manage.  And I'm glad I did.  Not only is the setting for the winery beautiful, but the wines are absolutely delightful.  After winding our way through the Oregon countryside, we arrived at the winery.

They had anticipated that there would be work done on the stairs leading to the main tasting room so they moved it to an auxiliary area. Although it was April first, the weather couldn't have been more agreeable. A surprise for Oregon this time of year.  (I even needed some sunglasses!)

Archery Summit was founded by Gary and Nancy Andrus (also founders of Pine Ridge Winery).  In fact, one of the clones is called the Archery Summit clone (also can be found at sister vineyard Chamisal). Why?

According to legend, the clone found it's way into the country underneath Gary's overcoat. But after all these years it's a little hard to tell the facts from the fiction I'm sure.

Our tasting covered both their estate wine as well as a number of their single vineyard wines.  I have to say that the more I taste wines, the more I discover how the unique soils, temperatures and rainfall can all change how a wine tastes and the particular characteristics.  Of course the specific clones that are used in making the wine also play a significant role.

At the end of the day, the wines we tasted resulted in the purchase of three bottles to enjoy on the rest of the trip.  On our return, trip after our meetings we had the opportunity to visit a little restaurant on the way to the hotel.

I had found this little place, thanks to a friend in the area, on one of my previous visits to Oregon.  Portland, if you've never been, has a very thriving food scene.  The Woodsman Tavern is no exception -- and they had a corkage fee so we could bring one of our bottles in for dinner.

After feasting on some really great oysters, we settled in for a filet with dungeness crab and potato wedge. Unbelievably delicious.  We did have to end the evening with a little dessert, too.  This is a restaurant you won't want to miss if you're in the area.

 

A Soothing Wine to Tame Your Inner Beast

I'm in the middle of nearly three weeks on the road.  As I write this post I'm 30,000 feet in the air somewhere over Nebraska (probably). After nearly two solid weeks on the road, I returned home last Thursday in need of something.

Not just anything but something really special. 

Since the dreaded fiscal cliff we just went over, our friends at the Transportation and Safety Administration decided to make life a little more difficult. Lines are longer. People are just a tad bit less friendly. Ok. Maybe not "people" but I know I certainly was!

By the time I got to the house on Thursday I was looking forward to that special treat.  Just before all the travels began, I received my shipment of Chardonnay from Pete and Cathy Seghesio's new venture -- Journeyman Wines.

I wrote about their new venture a few posts back in "Taking a New Journey through Wine" but I hadn't yet tasted their wine.

It arrived just as I was leaving town for California for a week and so the wine sat in the trunk of the car for a little over a week.  I was trusting that the trunk -- even if it was around 35 degrees outside would be warmer in the garage at the airport rather than in my 75 to 80 degree office.

While I normally prefer red wines, I was anxious to try this one.  After our visit to the Central Coast region, I also received a little more wine than I should have ordered. Now I have to get to drinking the wine. Actually, I've now had to take six shelves out of the wine cabinet to get all my wine appropriately stored.  Like I said, time to have a party and drink up.

 Back to some Chardonnay. I came home to a great meal of chicken breast, veggies and a baked potato. Some good home cooking that I longed for after nearly two weeks of being on the road.  I called ahead and asked Roxanne to open up a bottle of the Journeyman Chardonnay.

Over the last couple of months I've had some really delicious Chardonnays -- especially the Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay made with grapes from the same vines that produced some of the grapes that made the historic Paris Tasting. (Read about it in my post "Experiencing my Own Bottle Shock".)

I had already tasted some of the Journeyman Chardonnay from the big green egg as it was in the middle of the malolactic fermentation so I had high hopes for the wine.

And I was not disappointed.

This is a delicious wine.  They say that music can soothe the savage beast but I'll tell you this wine soothed my inner beast.  After a week on the road dealing with grumpy travelers, losing my way through Philadelphia, narrowly missing a barricade trying to pick up a phone call on my blue tooth, this wine was just what I needed.

I'm hosting the next Mondays @ Mark's on Tax Day.  I think that I'll be doing a blind tasting between three of my favorite Chardonnays: one from Bacigalupi Vineyards, one from Chamisal (the Califa blend) and this wine.  I'll report back in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, I'd sure recommend giving the Journeyman Chardonnay a taste.

In the meantime, if there's a wine you think I should try, please let me know.  I'd love to try something new.

Chamisal Vineyard Revisited

I was back in Santa Barbara again this past weekend and took the time for a friend and I to head back up to Chamisal Vineyard.

It's still mid-march and many of the vines are still sleeping but I won't say the same thing about the wines that we got to taste. We got a bit of a later start than I had anticipated because we met some friends for breakfast.  We met at Joe's Cafe in Santa Barbara.

Joe's Cafe is a Santa Barbara classic.  Joe's is the oldest restaurant in Santa Barbara and it's a favorite of both locals and visitors alike.  And with good reason.  It's at a great location on State Street -- the main drag in Santa Barbara.

This morning I just went with Joe's Omelet. It's a basic omelet with Italian Sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions and cheese. Your basic delicious omelet.

Only this morning I stepped beyond the basic and added the grits instead of the potatoes. It's been a long time since I've had good grits.  And these were good.  They were even kind enough to add some cheddar cheese to the mix.

After filling up on breakfast and getting a helpful hint on heading up to San Luis Obispo, we were off.  The last time I made this trek I took the 101 all the way up.  Perhaps not the most scenic approach.

My friends suggested we head up 154 through the Santa Barbara wine country. Besides, they said, the wildflowers are ablaze in the mountains.

We we couldn't resist the prompting and took the road less traveled. At least I think it was less traveled though there were a lot of cars on the road. The poppies and lupine were beautiful and the views were tremendous. We made the decision to travel straight up to SLO and then take our time heading back.

It was about 12:30 by the time we made it to Chamisal Vineyards -- about an hour behind my schedule but it was well worth the drive. The tasting room was full when we arrived but we found our way to the counter.  They had a lot of really nice selections on tap for the tasting.

Up until last year I never really thought about Rose wines. Frankly I had relegated them to the same pool as white zinfandel. And while my first wines were in large jugs over at my Aunt's house, I never succumbed to the really fruity wines.

I have now realized the error of my ways.

The first couple of wines we tasted would be perfect for Ravinia.  As a member I'm currently reviewing the lineup for early purchase in the next week.  I have 13 concerts I'd like to plan on. This means I have a lot of crisp, clean wines to select.

And among those is the Chamisal Vineyards Rose of Pinot Noir.  This amazing wine consists primarily of Pinot Noir with a little bit of Grenache added in for rounding out the wine.  This wine was crafted from a couple of Burgundian clones (clones 828 and 667 along with some Calerafor your grape growers!) It's a lot more information than I need.

But I discovered something else on this visit to Chamisal. I discovered my palate. For those of you who read my blog know that I generally taste wines and find those that I like and those that I don't like.  All the aromas, the various tastes (cigar box is my favorite . . . who has ever purposely tasted a cigar box?) are lost on me.

As I was tasting various wines this weekend I was picking up on both the aromas and the flavors.  I was intrigued by the various flavor profiles of wines produced from grapes within yards of each other still tasting significantly different.

One of the special pleasures in tasting this weekend was the Vintner's Quest 8-N from Chamisal.  This is a special wine crafted from grapes not on the estate.  These grapes come from a vineyard 8 kilometers north of the vineyard. If you visit the homepage of Chamisal Vineyards, you'll find a brief video outlining this particular wine.

While quite different from the flavor profiles of the Chamisal Estate Pinot Noirs, it was quite delicious. There was less of the spice profile that's found in the Chamisal wines and the fruit was more pronounced.  All in all it's a wine that's being added to my cellar.

And that's a problem. I've already taken four shelves out of my wine cabinet to make room for my current wines. Alas. I will have to remove a few more.  All that means is look ahead to an upcoming Mondays @ Mark's where I unleash some of my new favorite wines on my unsuspecting friends.

Though I suspect no one will be complaining.

Later this week, look to my next post about some really delicious wineries in the area. I found some things that I liked and some things that I didn't like.