The Chi & Meay show

The dynamic duo brought their lovely selves over to our house Sunday evening for a little blind tasting action. Along with two bottles of wine they brought yummy blue cheese and feta cheese stuffed olives, Cabernet soaked cheddar, delicious crackers and some Danish blue. I grilled some red wine and blueberry glazed pork tenderloin. Off we go!

The first wine was white and REALLY threw me off. I smelled limestone and wet rock but thought it was a Sauvignon Blanc. Silly me. It, of course, turned out to be a Chablis, La Chablisienne Cuvee LC to be exact. Doh!

Up next was a dark and rich red wine with gorgeous dark and earthy fruit. I initially thought it was a grenache, then switched to a syrah. I should have listened to my gut. It was the 2004 Las Rocas Garnacha. For $10 a bottle everyone should by this by the case.

#3 had a ruby color and light body, but with tons of fruit. I guessed that it was a new world Italian varietal such as Barbera, Sangiovese or Dolcetto. It was revealed to be Scott Harvey Barbera from Amador County.

#4 was so dark that Megan couldn't even read through it. The intense nose just poured out of the glass, the body was medium to full and the finish lasted a good deal of time on the sides of the palate. This little lovely was revealed to be the 1999 Falcone Cabernet Sauvignon from the Garda DOC in Italy. Wonderful.

Take every opportunity to blind taste. It's humbling....but a lot of fun at the same time.

My Apologies

I have been out of pocket lately and I supremely apologize for the lack of posts. I have been packing my head and palate with wine knowledge in order to prepare for the Introductory Sommelier Course. I will be posting soon!


Just to let you know. I passed the Intro level, with flying colors!

Across State Lines

Sundays are my days to cook. This Sunday was no different. Kelly informed me that we had dinner plans with our friends Scott and Dana. Since they have a son who is nearly 2, we thought it would be more convenient for them if we had dinner at their house. We packed up the dogs (Otis and Hank), grabbed the food I prepared and set off for Mississippi.

I prepared a fresh crab salad with fresh ginger, garlic, red wine vinegar, fresh lychees and olive oil. I served that with crispy focaccia crostini to spread the salad on. I also prepared a salad of sweet snap pea pods, walnuts, goat's milk feta, shallots, strawberries and spinach with a light vinaigrette.

Both of these dishes paired wonderfully with a 2005 Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir. This light pale rose has bright hints of strawberry which played well off the spinach salad. The white flower notes and light acidity complemented the crab salad very well.

Scott prepared beef carpaccio with parmesan and olive oil, an herbed cheese spread with crackers, and mini spiced burgers. All of these dishes worked incredibly well with the 2002 Coturri "Red Series" Sangiovese. This particularly wine is full bodied with an almost Amarone-like quality. Its fruit and tannin worked a perfect contrast to the beef.

My stomach is grumbling all over again.

For dessert I prepared fresh mango slices drizzled with a blue cheese sabayon. The mango was super ripe and sweet. Therefore, I felt it needed some salty richness to balance it out. I didn't add too much blue cheese to the sayabon, just enough to give it the kick it needed. It worked together perfectly, if I do say so myself, and wasn't difficult to make at all. This dish paired nicely with the season finale of The Sopranos. The sweet salty richness livened up the BORING episode. Sorry Kelly.

Sommelier?

I should be studying right now and not blogging, but I just can't help it. I'm set to take the Introductory Sommelier Course with the Court of Master Sommeliers next week and I'm not sure if I'm ready. Maybe I'll blind taste tonight or get some reading done at work today. I should. No matter how much knowledge I think I have, there will always be more to gain. That is the reason why I got into this in the first place. I'm constantly challenged and excited all at the same time. Cheers!

Hot Spain

In today's Dining Section of the New York Times there is an article about the Bierzo wine region of Spain. Here in Memphis Spanish wines are hot, hot, hot! People are wild about them for a number of different reasons.

1. They are absolutely delicious
2. Most of the wines are value priced
3. They offer something different

The article goes on to describe Bierzo as an out of the way region that has not sacrificed it's traditional grape, Mencia, for fashionable grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Some of the mencia vines are 40-100 years old! That's old vine for you.

Unfortunately, Bierzo's presence in Memphis is fairly weak. I did see one bottle at Joe's on Poplar and would recommend starting there.

The Scotsman's Birthday

My friends and I will use any opportunity to cook. Paula and Doug came in town from Louisville to visit; and it just so happened to be Doug's birthday. So Kristi, Jeff and I decided to prepare a birthday meal for Doug. We got together to brainstorm over coffee. Halfway through our discussion, two men sitting near us told us to keep it down. We thought at first that they were being rude, but it turned out that we were just making them hungry. We had the menu planned and our courses assigned. Off we went.

At 5 on Sunday Phil, Jeff, Paula, Doug, Kristi and Warner arrived and the feast began. I asked that everyone bring rose wine. Rose, I felt, would best pair with the spicy flavors on this menu. I also prepared a fresh pitcher of mojitos to start off the dinner.

Jeff prepared some incredible mini tostadas with spiced refried black beans topped with a mango-jicama slaw and queso fresco, puff pastries stuffed with chorizo and manchego cheese, and chipotle cheddar mashed potatoes stuffed inside a grilled red pepper.

Kristi prepared crispy jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheddar, roasted root vegetables, grilled bbq shrimp, spiced brownies and cinnamon ice cream.

I cooked grilled corn salad with avocado and red pepper in a cumin-orange vinaigrette, and a spice crusted grilled london broil.

Accompanying this spice-laden meal were some lovely wines. Rose is a perfect partner to spice. The full fruit and refreshing quality of rose complements and contrasts spicy flavors in food. The Vision Cellars Rose was full bodied and packed with cherry and berry fruit with a crisp dry finish. The Remy Pannier Rose d'Anjou had light hints of watermelon with a slight off-dry quality. Toad Hollow Eye of The Toad Rose of Pinot Noir was light, refreshing, and full of bright fruit.

Anytime is a good time to prepare a wonderful meal, but food and wine always taste better when you surround yourself with loved ones. Happy Birthday Doug!

Blind

Last week Sabrina, Patrick, Hillary and I met at Sabrina's for a little blind tasting of Sauvignon Blanc. And yes, Sabrina, at first I was a little skeptical. I've always enjoyed Sauvignon Blanc and truly believe they have their place on the table when it comes to a multi-course meal. But I've never really looked at the grape with a critical eye. This was going to be fun.

We all brought a bottle of wine and gave it to Eric to tuck away from us all. He was the master pourer, the one who held the bottles and protected them from prying eyes. Hillary brought a delectable selection of goat's cheeses, Patrick brought a tasty herbed goat's cheese and Sabrina made shrimp and grits and a killer grilled tuna steak. I prepared a fresh salmon ceviche with dill, cilantro, habanero pepper, tangerine, mango, lime and avocado.

Wine #1 was a very pale pale yellow with a tint of light green. Very clear and bright with a clean fresh look about it. We all guessed it was 1-2 years old. On the nose I detected floral notes with a bit of fresh ginger and fresh fresh citrus. The first taste was like taking a bite out of a fresh granny smith apple. It had tart bright acidity with a hint of lime zest. The consensus was that it was New World, either 2004 or 5. I guessed it was around 12-12.5% alcohol. Eric pulled off the brown bag and revealed Mulderbosch 2005 from Stellenbosch South Africa.

Wine #2 also had a light pale green tinge to it, but was a bit darker than #1. The aroma was very herbaceous with a bit of nut and lemon rind. The palate revealed a very full mouthfeel but with quite a hot finish. I guessed maybe California, 1-2 years old. We all felt that the quality of this wine was considerably lower than #1, and that it was vastly more manipulated. It turned out to also be from South Africa. It was Kumala 2005.

Wine #3 had a bit of golden color and was less pale than 1 or 2; yet was still clear and fresh looking. The scent of grapefruit practically smacked me in the face. The grapefruit aroma gave way to hints of fresh cut asparagus with light fresh cut grass
and an herbaceous tone. The palate displayed sweet fruit with hints of pineapple and other tropical notes. The grapefruit characteristic led me to believe that it might have been from New Zealand. Maybe 2 years old. We all guessed that it was good quality. Eric pulled back the brown bag and revealed Cloudy Bay 2004.

Wine #4 displayed a pale almost light golden color. On the nose was a very floral aroma with a touch of ginger, some spicy characteristics and hint of lemongrass. The palate had a bit of minerality with limestone, lime zest and wet rock. It was not very mouthfilling, more razor sharp. I really fluctuated between guessing New World or Old World. The style really led me to believe it was Old World because of its elegance. I was wrong. This little wine was from St Supery, Napa Valley 2004.

All in all, this was very educational AND a lot of fun.

Further Tales of Tasting

On a beautiful recent Sunday evening our unnamed club of wine aficionados met to indulge our taste buds. Kelly was off work so he joined us as we plunged headlong into some very delicious bottles.

First up was a 2004 Rose of Pinot Noir from Luddite Vineyards. Kelly and I picked up this bottle at Crush Wine Company on our trip to Manhattan last October. Only 68 cases of this vintage was produced! The only two places to purchase this wine is at Crush and The French Laundry in Napa Valley. The owner/winemaker of Luddite is a passionate man who strongly believes in high quality hand-crafted wines. This rose exhibited a beautiful clear strawberry color with cherry sorbet or jam, red raspberry and white flower aromas. The bright fruit and balanced acidity on the palate was beautiful. I would pair this wine with full-bodied olive oil and lightly spiced grilled pork sausage.

Next we opened a 2001 Les Cousins Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley. Beaux Freres hand selected this wine as a personal cuvee for Robert Kacher. The vineyards that these grapes were sourced from hold some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in Oregon. The nose displayed beautiful pinot fruit, spice and earth. At first taste, the acidity was too high and it almost seemed slightly bubbly. Leading Richie and Megan to think it might have undergone a secondary fermentation in the bottle, much like Champagne. After a few minutes it blew off and the wine settled down into a gorgeous almost Burgundian-style Pinot Noir. It had bright red cherry and blueberry and earth on the nose with soft supple tannins and a very long lasting finish.

Pressing onward we popped open the 2003 Domaine Chandon Carneros Pinot Meunier (thanks Bryce!). Both Richie and I were excitedly expecting a funk bomb of a wine. We were very pleasantly surprised when the wine revealed a fruit forward nose of cherry and rhubarb that continued on the palate! It was not funky at all, but a lovely fruit forward medium bodied wine exhibiting flavors of pomegranate and pie spice. It did have some earth on the nose but in no way was it overpowering. All in all I really enjoyed it. Pair this with black olives and spiced sausage.

And here we came to one of Richie's little jewels from his recent trip to Seattle; K Vintners 2004 "The Boy" a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre from Walla Walla Valley. Very impressive. It had a deep dark garnet-like color and a nose that at first was extremely difficult to decipher. We were all working very hard for at least 15 minutes on dismantling the nose to get to the flavors. The winemaker had so tightly integrated the varietals that we couldn't pull out aromas. It was as if a seamstress had woven the wine together, interlocking each varietal so that the aromas of each hit all at once. Finally, we were able to detect fig, slight leather, stewed fruit and black cherry. On the palate was cocoa, huge berries and a slight tea-like character.

Next we had another well traveled wine sourced from Richie and Megan's trip to Seattle, the 2003 Boudreaux Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. Good god! Two stellar Washington state wines in a row. Both are perfect examples of why Washington wines continue to get an exorbitant amount of press lately. I detected hints of vanilla, cola, dark chocolate and olive on the nose. The wine displayed a rich velvet texture that wallpapered my mouth. Wow! It was full-bodied and the finish went on for miles and miles.

And last, but not least, Michael finally showed up (a certain someone delayed his arrival.....hmmmmph) with a special treat...a 1988 Chateau Graud Larose. This beautifully aged Bordeaux was complex and impressive. It had an elegant aroma of leather, earth and sage. The palate exhibited a smoked meat quality, but it wasn't gamy or overpowering. The fruit on the wine had lightened but was still detectable. Pair with black olives, the olives will amplify the fruit in the wine.

Yet again another INCREDIBLE tasting. Thank you for hosting us Megan and Richie!

Hidden Gems

You never know what you're going to find when you dig around your favorite wine shop. Yesterday at Joe's on Poplar I found a 1985 Nebbiolo for around $40! The wine was the last vintage made by the original winemaker who died just before its release. They have a little informational sign regarding the wine that, I believe, stated that he died just shy of 100 years old! It's amazing to think what else might be lying around Memphis.

Banned

The Chicago City Council voted Wednesday to ban the sale of foie gras, making Chicago the first city in in the U.S. to do so. California has already passed a law that will end the production and sale of foie gras by 2012. Rick Tramanto, executive chef at Tru in Chicago, stated that "Government shouldn't be dictating what we eat, it's just not right". Mayor Daley feels that Chicago shouldn't be wasting time with foie gras and should be focusing on the "real issues in this city".

This is where the grey area lies. I consider myself progressive, liberal and eco-conscious. I also am a passionate lover of food. Supposedly, there are humane ways of raising ducks and geese to produce the rich, velvety foie gras. If so, then I say it should be allowed to continue. It is rather delicious. Is that heartless?

Gift

My father called me the other night to tell me that he was thoroughly enjoying a bottle of Hayman & Hill Pinot Noir that I had given him. Last Christmas I gave my parents a case of wine. It was comprised of really interesting and delicious bottles such as Foris Gewurztraminer, Castello di Monastero Chianti Classico and Venta Mazzaron Tempranillo along with some others. My parents have everything (except that vacation home in the Caribbean, that's coming Mom) so it's usually an interesting feat when purchasing gifts for them. I get my love of cuisine and wine from the both of them, so a gift of wine seemed natural. Also, they live in a small town in Illinois and therefore do not have access to as much of a selection as we do here in Memphis. I even found two beautiful wooden wine boxes to put them in. Which my dad, being the craftsman that he is, turned into wall art for their bar. Every time they pop open a bottle of wine from that Christmas collection, they call me to express how much they are enjoying it. Sometimes they call me to ask my advice on what wine to open with the meal they are about to have.

I can't express how good it feels to know they are enjoying my gift. My mother and father are the reason why I love to cook good food and drink good wine. The kitchen was always the heart of our home and the room that holds the most memories for me. They instilled in me an experimental palate and a desire to create and share. I'm so passionate about wine and food that it was only right to give back to that original source of passion. My beautiful niece Halei, who just turned 2 in February, already loves to cook and loves to eat. I can already foresee that she will be a great cook and I hope that I will be able to pass along that passion for cooking that my parents passed to me.

Here's to you guys.

Salud y pesetas y tiempo para gastarlas!

Here it comes

Spring, as usual, will probably last about 10 seconds here in balmy Memphis. With that being said, I guess we should prepare ourselves to make the inevitable leap to summertime wines. My list of such wines include riesling and rose.

The New York Times food section published an article in the 4.12.06 issue on German rieslings, one of my ABSOLUTE favorite styles of wine. These wines go with practically all foods, especially spicy Asian cuisine, and can run the gamut from dry to sweet to late harvest dessert style. They are perfect for sipping on a patio on an oppressively hot Memphis day. I recommend picking up rieslings from Rudolf Muller (especially the Kabinett and Eiswein), Dr. Thanisch or J.J. Prum. Great Wines and Spirits in the Regalia shopping center (682.1333) has a good stock of all of these wines, try Joe's on Poplar as well. If you can't find what your after, either shop should be able to special order for you.

For the red wine drinkers who feel they couldn't possibly stoop to drinking white wine (what is wrong with you, I mean really??) there are some INCREDIBLE rose wines out there. Rose gives a red drinker the satisfaction and body that accompanies a red wine with the crispness and cool refreshing qualities of a white wine. My favorites include: Saintsbury Vin Gris of Pinot Noir, Susana Balbo Crios Rose of Malbec, E Guigal Cotes Du Rhone Rose, Bonny Doon Big House Pink and Fife Redhead Rose.

Springtime in Harbor Town

I recently was asked to lead a food and wine pairing at a private residence in Harbor Town in downtown Memphis. The host (thanks, Joe!) wanted to have a few friends over for dinner but wanted to do something a little different. I felt up to the challenge so I agreed to do it.

To welcome the guests I had prepared a edamame dip with rice crackers. The dip had lovely flavors of garlic, ginger and a hint of soy to whet their appetites. The first course was red wine poached figs stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts and drizzled with pomegranate molasses. I paired the figs with Castellblanch Rosado cava, a bright and fruity sparkling rose from Spain. The fruit in the cava mirrored the figs, contrasted the saltiness of the blue cheese, and complimented the tartness of the molasses.

Next up were grilled chicken skewers with a pad thai dipping sauce comprised of coconut milk, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy, chilis and lime. This I paired with McWilliam's Dry Riesling from South Australia. The lime zest hints in the wine picked up the lime in the sauce while the spice amplified the fruit in the wine. It was a harmonious pairing of flavors that everyone should try.

The main course was marinated flank steak seared rare and topped with a chimmichurri sauce paired with Antis Malbec from Argentina. The wine's supple tannins complimented the beef while the olive oil in the sauce brought out the wine's red fruit flavors. The slight spice from the chilis in the sauce mirrored the slight spiciness of the wine.

Lastly was a chocolate souffle paired with Clocktower Port and Coturri Chauvet Vineyards Old Vines Zinfandel. What way to end! The sweet fruit of both wines amplified the souffle's chocolatey richness. The souffle also brought out a hint of cocoa that I had never detected in the Zin.

All in all I had a blast preparing the food and pairing the wine. I could definitely tell that the guests enjoyed themselves just as much.

I can't wait to do it again! Bring on a new set of tastebuds!

Grapes in Baldwyn

Recently I drove down to Baldwyn, MS to lead a wine tasting at the Old Post Office restaurant. Jim Davis, CFO of Stanford Financial Group is a native of Baldwyn and has reinvested in the town by opening this restaurant as well as a design shop across the street. The town itself lies in two counties. The county line runs straight down the center of Main Street. The Old Post Office is on one side of Main and the shop is on the other. One county is dry and one is wet. Obviously, the restaurant is on the wet side.

My friends Patrick and Deni Reilly (who are opening The Majestic Grill in the old Gordon Biersch space in downtown Memphis) brought me down to Baldwyn to lead this tasting. Patrick and I decided it would be fun to theme the tasting "Old World vs New World". We tasted a 2002 Barton & Geustier Loire Valley Vouvray, a 2000 Pine Ridge Napa Chardonnay, a 1996 Chateau Gloria Bordeaux, and a 2001 Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot.

The crowd had never really experienced a wine tasting format before and most were very eager to learn and interact with me. I had maps and printouts to show tasters so that they would have a frame of reference of where the wines came from. The food Patrick had prepared really paired well with different wines. I instructed the tasters to try the Shrimp Dill pastries with the Vouvray, the Smoked Salmon toasts or the Baked Brie with the Chardonnay, and the smoked duck with cherries with both the Merlot and the Bordeaux.

All in all everyone had a wonderful time and I can't wait to do it again. Opening up people's minds, and mouths, to new flavors is always so rewarding.

San Francisco pt 2

Sorry it's taken me so long to post again but I've been a bit busy.

Back to San Francisco.



On Friday we went to the Ferry Building down on the bay. Every foodie and culinary explorer in the world owes it to themselves to get there NOW! The building is packed with stalls, stands, storefronts and cafes that the mere sight of electrifies the tastebuds. The Slanted Door, the perennial vietnamese favorite, has relocated to the building; and The Cowgirl Creamery has an outpost here. At one point I had to stop and rebalance myself because my head was near explosion due to sensory overload.

We picked up some sandwiches at Lulu Petite and sat down at the Ferry Building Wine Bar for some vino. My sandwich was INCREDIBLE! I ate blood orange and tomato braised pork with fontina on ciabatta bread. Wow wow wow. It paired perfectly with the Gruner Veltliner we ordered. I truly could have stayed in that building all day long.

San Francisco pt 1

We descended into San Francisco International Airport after a horrible flight, and wandered into beautiful weather. It's absolutely imperative for someone involved in food and wine to travel. No matter where you live there are always exciting tastes and flavors to be explored elsewhere. These trips are necessary for inspiration. As I was saying, the weather was beautiful so we made a short trip to Cori and Joel's apartment to drop off our bags. We then walked next door to Le Zinc to sip wine and snack on the patio. I drank a sparkling rose from Burgundy, Kelly had a Rhone Valley red blend, and Joel had a Loire Valley sauvignon blanc. We split duck and pork rilletes, lamb sausage and Morbier cheese in a crepe, and crispy Camembert drizzled with truffle oil. Absolutely killer!

Cori joined us after returning for work and we set off for Cha Cha Cha, a Latin American restaurant in the Haight-Ashbury district. We split a pitcher of sangria (almost as good as my mom's but not quite) and settled into a table in the middle of the PACKED front dining room. Even though we were squashed into a small table right up against two other tables, we were having such a good time that we quickly forgot how cramped we were. The restaurant has the coolest Central American religious altars I have ever seen. They are literally everywhere in the place.




We dined on ceviche, pork quesadillas and plantains. The ceviche was hauntingly good. It was packed with octopus, shrimp, fish and scallops. I have never in my life had octopus so tender and succulent. Kelly was a little wary of it but oh well, more for me. The pork was slow cooked to perfection and seasoned beautifully. Our plantains were sweet but not cloying, and even though they were fried they were not greasy at all. They served them with a deliciously creamy black bean sauce that I literally could have poured all over myself, it was that good! After polishing off another pitcher of sangria we headed over to the Fairmont Hotel for some tiki drinks at the Tonga Room.

The Tonga Room is wild. Seriously. We felt as if we were in Bora Bora on some patio bar. It has a small lagoon where it rains and thunders every 20 minutes. They also have the stiffest drinks in town. Kelly and I shared a Lava Bowl before he and Cori shaked their groove things to the Polynesian cover band. It was soooo much fun. If you go to SF, be sure to go to Cha Cha Cha for dinner and Tonga Room for drinks.

Super 6

Last week some wine loving friends and I gathered together for a tasting. We've been trying to host them on a regular basis but invariably something comes up with someone and we have to postpone. Oh well. Bryce, Elizabeth, Michael and I went over to Richie and Megan's apartment to pop some bottles. Richie had already decanted a 2002 Henschke Keyneton Estate Euphonium Shiraz. It had been resting peacefully in its gorgeous glass container, waiting to be drunk. He had also opened a bottle of 1999 Modus Ruffino to let it breathe and blossom. We all were anxious to taste this particular bottle because the 2000 vintage that Richie brought to an earlier tasting was corked. He had taken that bottle back and had it replaced with the '99, which, according to critics, was a much better vintage.

We started off with Michael's bottle, a 1998 Marcel Deiss Gewurztraminer from Alsace. It had a beautiful nose of peaches and jasmine. The mouthfeel was voluptuous and creamy with bright acidity and tasted of honey and ginger. Gorgeous wine, absolutely gorgeous. Pair this wine with gorgonzola or some other salty blue cheese.

Next up was the '99 Modus Super Tuscan. I smelled red raspberry, red pepper and fennel. On the palette was a strong flavor of leather and earth with balanced acidity and firm tannin. Pair this wine with strawberries or prosciutto. The berry flavors complement the strawberry and the earthiness mirrors the earthy flavors of the prosciutto.

Then we tasted the bottle I brought, 2002 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Right Bank. This particular wine is a blend of cabernet franc and merlot. It had been quietly blossoming in the decanter that Michael brought (thanks Michael) while we were enjoying the two previous little gems. The reason I brought this wine was completely based on Michael and Richie's reaction when I suggested previously that I might bring it. They both grew HUGE grins on their face and grunted "Yeah, yeah, yeah bring that!" Okay, back to the wine. On the nose there were violets and cinnamon and hint of sweet vanilla. The taste was all sweet fruits, figs, plum; with medium tannins. TASTY TASTY TASTY!



And then we tasted the 2000 Clos Mimi Bunny Slope Vineyard Syrah (Thanks Mr. Burhop!). I was especially psyched about this wine since I've lately been drinking, and loving, syrah. The nose had hay loft notes, cedar, and what I said smelled like a berry bush in the center of a briar patch. The taste was a bursting mouthful of raspberries. I definitely think this wine could still age some more and it would still be KILLER.

Continuing with the syrah lover's wet dream, we tasted the 2002 Henschke Keyneton Estate Euphonium Single Vineyard Shiraz. It poured forth scents of chocolate, black cherry and pie crust. I could taste coffee, blueberry, earth and chocolate. In my notes I wrote "Very F***ing good"

Last of the night was a 2002 Williams Selyem Russian River Forchini Vineyard Zinfandel. On the nose was stewed fruit, raspberry & blueberry compote, and rich dark cocoa. The taste very closely mirrored the nose. I was extremely impressed. This wine was the perfect ending to a stellar tasting.



Thank you, Richie and Megan, for hosting this awesome lineup. And thank you Michael, Bryce and Elizabeth for the KICK ASS bottles you contributed.

No Passport Needed

For those of you who have not visited the Winchester Farmer's Market (at the corner of Kirby and Winchester), you are truly missing out. I took my good friends Richie and Meagan out there for the first time and they were amazed. It is so energizing to be around people who are culinary "addicts" such as myself. The three of us were hopping around the store like kids on a sugar high. Our jaws were permanently dropped as we marveled at the foreign treasures. Beautiful, but odd, products such as whole dried octopus and canned cuttlefish made me want to run home with an armload of groceries and cook. I was so inspired by all the fresh produce.



It is truly awe inspiring to see the vast array of fresh fruits, veggies, herbs and spices. All of you who love cooking and love food need to visit the Winchester Farmer's Market IMMEDIATELY!



They have curry leaf for crying out loud!

Sharing pt. 3

Wine is, without a doubt, better when you share it. I'm constantly amazed at how people I don't even know will open up to me and share. At Bluefish last night a guest brought in a bottle of 2004 Ken Wright Cellars Carter Vineyard Pinot Noir. The gentleman who brought it in was nice enough to pour me a taste, and I'm very glad that he did. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. It tasted off balance, hot, slightly astringent, and just generally unpleasant. I was very disappointed. Ken Wright is supposedly THE MAN when it comes to Oregon Pinot. If this is a reflection of his other 2004 bottles, then I don't plan on purchasing any of them. I OF COURSE didn't say any of this to the man who shared it with me, because I didn't want to seem rude. He seemed to enjoy it and I didn't feel it necessary to spoil that. Why should I?

Super Syrah Sunday

My wine loving friend, and co-conspirator, Sabrina and I decided to have a Super Bowl of Syrah. Neither of us care about football but we did want a reason to drink good wine. We had hoped it would be a larger affair with more people, but gradually our friends cancelled on us. That didn't stop us from popping some bottles. With it down to just myself, Sabrina, her husband Eric, sister in law Hillary, and brother in law Marc; we made it a blind tasting to add another layer of intrigue. Sabrina prepared an AMAZING braised beef stew with luscious creamy polenta. I made a blue cheese pyhllo napoleon topped with a dried fruit and port compote.




Both dishes paired wonderfully with the syrahs. While we were digging in to the lovely spread, Eric wrapped the bottles in brown paper bags and began pouring. Sabrina pulled out some tasting sheets for us to make notes on. It was a lot of fun and a real exercise on my palette. The first wine threw me at first. The fruit that was so evident led me to believe that it was new world. But the slight funk and earth on the nose made me think it was new world. After careful consideration both Sabrina and I guessed old world. This wine was Mas De Aveylands from the Rhone Valley of France. We were both correct in the region but wrong on age. We guessed 2-3 years of age but the wine was actually vintage 2000. The second wine was obvious from the start that it came from the new world. I guessed Central Coast California, but it turned out to be Renwood Sierra Series Syrah from Sierra Foothills area. The third really threw me. From the start I couldn't think it was anything BUT an Australian shiraz. It had the concentration, fruit and extraction of an Australian. Or so I thought. This wine was actually a 1999 Jory Syrah from Monterey County California. Even though I was wrong on my guess I still have to say that this third wine was absolutely stellar. Go buy it now. I saw it at Joe's, but PLEASE save me a bottle. The fourth wine was rich and full bodied, but not quite ready to be drunk. Sabrina likened it to a teenager who was rambunctious, untethered, and unsure of itself. It will be ready to go in a few years after it settles down. Go grab a bottle of Novy Garys' Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah from Great Wines and Spirits and lay it down for 2 years. You'll be glad you gave it time.

The unveiling:



Thanks Sabrina!