Most of us have a house wine. Unless you are a restaurant with printed menus, yours is probably just your regular go-to when you're craving that certain taste. There's a payoff in familiarity and it's probably your go-to because, bang for your buck, the stuff is pretty good! At least you think it is.
Restaurant house wines get a bad rap. They too rely on familiarity but too much so since the wines end up being, frankly, lousy. They want the stuff to appeal to everyone so there's nothing there that's interesting or distinctive. Just the same old crap.
Wait a minute. That sounds a little too harsh. Today's bulk wine is way better than similar wines were forty years ago when I was just getting my feet wet in the business. What the mass marketers have done is actually impressive. By rounding off a lot of sharp edges they've made it imminently consumable. But that's the problem, right? It's just not interesting.
A lot of times for just a few dollars more you can bypass the house wine to get something better which makes my old suspicious self wonder whether that's why the house wine is dull. So you have the option of going for the better (and pricier) wine. The only problem here is that the next wine, while better quality, is also predictable and boring in the same way the house wine was. That's mass production for you.
Retailers are kind of like restaurants with respect to the wines they stock. The chain stores stock all of the mass market wines because it goes to the heart of the deal between supplier and retailer - the shelves must be kept stocked. No"out-of-stocks" allowed. Keep the product coming. So by default, they end up with mass produced wines.
It takes small independent restaurants and retailers to provide distinction and with a little bit of know-how, they can find it at any price.
This Thursday the 31st of January, Cheri Rubio leads us in a tasting of three from Pedroncelli of Sonoma Valley. That evening between 5 and 7pm we will taste the Merlot, Pinot Noir and Mother Clone Zinfandel. Our event will begin with a fine Alsatian white blend, Hugel's Gentil.
Then on February 7th Dominique Chambon offers us a tasting of French Burgundies and a particularly nice Italian Sangiovese Rose. Please join us for the tastings.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Monday, January 21, 2019
Double Cream Gouda
Every time you think you've seen it all, something new pops up. Double Cream Brie has been a staple around here for decades and Double Cream Gouda seems to have been created as a corollary to it. Regular Gouda has 40-50% butter fat. Double Cream or Room Kaas as it's called in Holland, has 60-70% butter fat. So while it's not really double the fat it is noticeably creamier. If the cheese is over 75% it can be labeled Triple Cream.
Cheeses are 50-70% water, by the way. The rest is protein, fat and other dry solids. The butter fat content percentage on the label doesn't take into account the water content, so a 60% butter fat cheese is actually probably 30% or so. The extra cream in the creamier Gouda is of course added to the existing whole cow's milk at the beginning of the process.
Not only is Double Cream Gouda creamier, it is also sweeter, silkier, richer and nuttier than regular Gouda. It slices well for sandwiches and melts well for cooking and on tortillas, casseroles, potatos, omelets, mac and cheese and apple pie. It also accompanies both fresh and dried fruit. Pinot Noir is the red wine that might pair best with this cheese.
Gouda is the best selling cheese worldwide. There are dozens of types out there. Just today I was offered Coffee Gouda! Now we can add Double Cream to the stable. We have a fresh wheel in the deli case so stop in for a taste!
We're closed on Mondays but will be here Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 to 6:30 and we're tasting here on Thursday after 5pm as usual. This Thursday Dustin Whiten pours tastes of California Chardonnay, Italian Sangiovese and Argentine Malbec and Pinot Noir. Maddie will be on the cheese table tasting out Double Cream Gouda.
Cheeses are 50-70% water, by the way. The rest is protein, fat and other dry solids. The butter fat content percentage on the label doesn't take into account the water content, so a 60% butter fat cheese is actually probably 30% or so. The extra cream in the creamier Gouda is of course added to the existing whole cow's milk at the beginning of the process.
Not only is Double Cream Gouda creamier, it is also sweeter, silkier, richer and nuttier than regular Gouda. It slices well for sandwiches and melts well for cooking and on tortillas, casseroles, potatos, omelets, mac and cheese and apple pie. It also accompanies both fresh and dried fruit. Pinot Noir is the red wine that might pair best with this cheese.
Gouda is the best selling cheese worldwide. There are dozens of types out there. Just today I was offered Coffee Gouda! Now we can add Double Cream to the stable. We have a fresh wheel in the deli case so stop in for a taste!
We're closed on Mondays but will be here Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 to 6:30 and we're tasting here on Thursday after 5pm as usual. This Thursday Dustin Whiten pours tastes of California Chardonnay, Italian Sangiovese and Argentine Malbec and Pinot Noir. Maddie will be on the cheese table tasting out Double Cream Gouda.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Calling It What It Is - Bad Wine
My friend Donald (no relation) came through for me again with a treasure trove of Lettie Teague WSJ wine articles. He knows I'm too cheap to subscribe and bails me out periodically with stacks of his discards.
This time it's the September 29-30, 2018 edition that caught my eye. Teague is writing about the dilemma of describing bad wine. Now that's thought-provoking Pulitzer material if I ever heard of it! Only a true literary artist could go down this road!
Teague says it's easy to heap praise on examples of fine wine. It might be: "bright, lively, balanced, structured, tightly-knit, vigorous..." You get the idea.
She also says it's easy to identify cheap wine made from inferior fruit which may be described as such. Easily identified wine making mistakes can also be pegged like too much oak or flabbiness. Corkiness and age can also be easy to name. Too much alcohol can be "hot on the finish."
But what if a wine is so bad you don't know where to start. Back in the bad old days there were California wines that were all wrong. Not only were they unbalanced but the fruit flavors that dominated just couldn't have been the ones intended.
Wine industry veterans around here talk knowingly about those "bad old days" of yore when wine was shipped into the Atlanta market unprotected from the heat and then loaded onto trucks Friday evenings for Monday delivery. A whole lot of those wines had the same profile: stewed prunes!
Then there's the infamous "secondary fermentation" that resulted in a weird tasting fizziness that was impossible to get past. How about the vague chemically taste that seemed to indicate adulteration of some kind? Which brings us back to the present with the current generation of additives which have re-written the wine making textbook.
While criticizing wine that essentially tastes good may seem like nitpicking, there is still plenty of room to criticize a philosophy of wine making that allows for additives. But that's another subject. In reality, a whole lot of everyday wine is improved by what they're doing in California. It's just that some transparency would be nice. Like putting the ingredients on the back label.
But there is a wine tasting criticism to be laid out here: If your highly extracted, overblown big red wine tastes like an aberration of what it's supposed to be then what the heck is that all about anyway?
This question goes back to something fundamental that I have known for forty years: Wines can be good in themselves while at the same time being a bad example of that varietal. Prime example: current examples of Pinot Noir that sure taste good, but they sure as heck don't taste like Pinot Noir.
David Klepinger represents several wines from Kermit Lynch of Berkeley, California. Kermit Lynch is an impeccable importer of European wines. Please join us this Thursday after 5pm as Dave sets out a tasting of these and some fine California examples.
This time it's the September 29-30, 2018 edition that caught my eye. Teague is writing about the dilemma of describing bad wine. Now that's thought-provoking Pulitzer material if I ever heard of it! Only a true literary artist could go down this road!
Teague says it's easy to heap praise on examples of fine wine. It might be: "bright, lively, balanced, structured, tightly-knit, vigorous..." You get the idea.
She also says it's easy to identify cheap wine made from inferior fruit which may be described as such. Easily identified wine making mistakes can also be pegged like too much oak or flabbiness. Corkiness and age can also be easy to name. Too much alcohol can be "hot on the finish."
But what if a wine is so bad you don't know where to start. Back in the bad old days there were California wines that were all wrong. Not only were they unbalanced but the fruit flavors that dominated just couldn't have been the ones intended.
Wine industry veterans around here talk knowingly about those "bad old days" of yore when wine was shipped into the Atlanta market unprotected from the heat and then loaded onto trucks Friday evenings for Monday delivery. A whole lot of those wines had the same profile: stewed prunes!
Then there's the infamous "secondary fermentation" that resulted in a weird tasting fizziness that was impossible to get past. How about the vague chemically taste that seemed to indicate adulteration of some kind? Which brings us back to the present with the current generation of additives which have re-written the wine making textbook.
While criticizing wine that essentially tastes good may seem like nitpicking, there is still plenty of room to criticize a philosophy of wine making that allows for additives. But that's another subject. In reality, a whole lot of everyday wine is improved by what they're doing in California. It's just that some transparency would be nice. Like putting the ingredients on the back label.
But there is a wine tasting criticism to be laid out here: If your highly extracted, overblown big red wine tastes like an aberration of what it's supposed to be then what the heck is that all about anyway?
This question goes back to something fundamental that I have known for forty years: Wines can be good in themselves while at the same time being a bad example of that varietal. Prime example: current examples of Pinot Noir that sure taste good, but they sure as heck don't taste like Pinot Noir.
David Klepinger represents several wines from Kermit Lynch of Berkeley, California. Kermit Lynch is an impeccable importer of European wines. Please join us this Thursday after 5pm as Dave sets out a tasting of these and some fine California examples.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Casas Del Bosque Gran Reserva Syrah
Casas Del Bosque Gran Reserva Syrah was the best wine-related experience we had here last year. What I mean by that is we had no expectations for this wine before tasting it. We had been told it was good but salesmen always talk them up before tasting them. If you're not secure in your palate, you can be influenced that way. This one just blew us away. It may have been underpriced by half!
Bosque is a Chilean estate established in 1993 by the Italian Cuneo family. The Cuneo's primary business is grocery stores so this venture was a sidelight. Now with 235 hectares in vines located seventy kilometers from Santiago in the western Chilean Casablanca Valley they grow Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Syrah, and Riesling. Eighty percent of their production is exported. Casablanca is the appellation known for producing the finest Sauvignon Blanc in the country and that assertion holds true with Bosque whose Sauvignon Blanc is acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal.
They now have a star winemaker in Grant Phelps of New Zealand who consulted internationally before settling in Chile, first with Viu Manent before coming to Bosque. He prides himself on his abilities with Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. The former is still a work in progress. The Sauvignon Blanc is firmly in the "Win" column.
Phelps' Syrah is 100% varietal and sourced from 10-15 year old hillside vineyards. The soils are red clay over 110 million year old decomposed granite which retains a salinity from being under the ocean for most of its history. Picking is done by hand using a double selection process. The wine is fermented in small stainless steel tanks before seeing time in new and used French oak barrels.
The Syrah has a deep garnet color with purple hue. The nose shows lavender and blueberries; the mouth, black cherry and cedar with the requisite peppery spice and dark berries of type. The wine also has fresh acidity with firm crisp and savory tannins. While this wine is more reflective of old world France than Australia, it is most definitely a new world product with its forward fruit, vanilliny oak, and soft creamy texture. There is not any one thing from above that makes this wine special. Rather, it's the sum of its parts that make this wine perfect.
Please join us this Thursday at 5pm when Morgan Miller presents a tasting of four from Bosque. Then one week later David Klepinger offers us a tasting of Orin Swift California wines.
Bosque is a Chilean estate established in 1993 by the Italian Cuneo family. The Cuneo's primary business is grocery stores so this venture was a sidelight. Now with 235 hectares in vines located seventy kilometers from Santiago in the western Chilean Casablanca Valley they grow Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Syrah, and Riesling. Eighty percent of their production is exported. Casablanca is the appellation known for producing the finest Sauvignon Blanc in the country and that assertion holds true with Bosque whose Sauvignon Blanc is acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal.
They now have a star winemaker in Grant Phelps of New Zealand who consulted internationally before settling in Chile, first with Viu Manent before coming to Bosque. He prides himself on his abilities with Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. The former is still a work in progress. The Sauvignon Blanc is firmly in the "Win" column.
Phelps' Syrah is 100% varietal and sourced from 10-15 year old hillside vineyards. The soils are red clay over 110 million year old decomposed granite which retains a salinity from being under the ocean for most of its history. Picking is done by hand using a double selection process. The wine is fermented in small stainless steel tanks before seeing time in new and used French oak barrels.
The Syrah has a deep garnet color with purple hue. The nose shows lavender and blueberries; the mouth, black cherry and cedar with the requisite peppery spice and dark berries of type. The wine also has fresh acidity with firm crisp and savory tannins. While this wine is more reflective of old world France than Australia, it is most definitely a new world product with its forward fruit, vanilliny oak, and soft creamy texture. There is not any one thing from above that makes this wine special. Rather, it's the sum of its parts that make this wine perfect.
Please join us this Thursday at 5pm when Morgan Miller presents a tasting of four from Bosque. Then one week later David Klepinger offers us a tasting of Orin Swift California wines.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Akakies Kir-Yianni Rose of Xinomavro
Sounds Greek to me. (Rimshot, please.)
Akakies is the best rose we have sold here for most of our recent history. The French Tavel Roses are the best, period, but they seem to come and go while Akakies is available most of the time. If we are ever out of stock it's probably due to human error.
What makes this stuff so good? All of the factors wine geeks always look for. While most roses are made from lesser grapes, Akakies is made from high altitude (700 meters) hillside produce. There is sorting though. The grapes destined for rose are taken from large bunches while the smaller bunches go into red wines.
Amyndeon is the name of the wine appellation where the grapes are sourced. It is in northwestern Greece (Macedonia) where the terroir shows the kind of poor sandy soil grapevines love. The locale featuring four lakes which help to moderate its cool continental climate of cold winters and warm summers. This is the only Greek wine appellation that permits rose production.
The grape itself is Xinomavro, a rare variety indigenous to the area. The Greek industry considers Xinomavro to be a noble variety, one that is known to produce superior wine. It has been compared to what Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo would be if they were a hybrid.
Akakies is one of those roses that your palate would tell you was a red wine if you didn't see it. It is a bright cherry color with an intense nose of focused fresh cherry and raspberry. The lengthy flavors of the wine feature a doubling down on the berries along with tomato (!) in a rich full-bodied format. The wine has a robust finish.
Akakies comes from Greek wine royalty. The full name of the company is Ktima Kir-Yianni and was established in 1997 by Yiannis Boutaris of the Boutari Wine Group (est. 1879). It is fully independent of Boutari. Along with their Amyndeon holdings the company also owns vineyards in Naoussa on the other side of Mount Vermion. Now twenty years old the company practises integrated farming which means all of their vineyards are sustainably farmed.
Please join us here at the store this Thursday at 5pm when Adam Bess leads us in a tasting of four reds: Albert Bichot Beaujolais, Chateau La Croix du Doc Bordeaux, Badgerhound Zinfandel, and a nice little red from Lisboa, Portugal.
Akakies is the best rose we have sold here for most of our recent history. The French Tavel Roses are the best, period, but they seem to come and go while Akakies is available most of the time. If we are ever out of stock it's probably due to human error.
What makes this stuff so good? All of the factors wine geeks always look for. While most roses are made from lesser grapes, Akakies is made from high altitude (700 meters) hillside produce. There is sorting though. The grapes destined for rose are taken from large bunches while the smaller bunches go into red wines.
Amyndeon is the name of the wine appellation where the grapes are sourced. It is in northwestern Greece (Macedonia) where the terroir shows the kind of poor sandy soil grapevines love. The locale featuring four lakes which help to moderate its cool continental climate of cold winters and warm summers. This is the only Greek wine appellation that permits rose production.
The grape itself is Xinomavro, a rare variety indigenous to the area. The Greek industry considers Xinomavro to be a noble variety, one that is known to produce superior wine. It has been compared to what Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo would be if they were a hybrid.
Akakies is one of those roses that your palate would tell you was a red wine if you didn't see it. It is a bright cherry color with an intense nose of focused fresh cherry and raspberry. The lengthy flavors of the wine feature a doubling down on the berries along with tomato (!) in a rich full-bodied format. The wine has a robust finish.
Akakies comes from Greek wine royalty. The full name of the company is Ktima Kir-Yianni and was established in 1997 by Yiannis Boutaris of the Boutari Wine Group (est. 1879). It is fully independent of Boutari. Along with their Amyndeon holdings the company also owns vineyards in Naoussa on the other side of Mount Vermion. Now twenty years old the company practises integrated farming which means all of their vineyards are sustainably farmed.
Please join us here at the store this Thursday at 5pm when Adam Bess leads us in a tasting of four reds: Albert Bichot Beaujolais, Chateau La Croix du Doc Bordeaux, Badgerhound Zinfandel, and a nice little red from Lisboa, Portugal.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Cheese Temperature
Have you ever not been told something was the case, but you always thought it was so? I guess that's a "hunch" that I'm talking about. I always thought cheeses tasted better at room temperature but I had never heard definitively that cheeses were supposed to be served at room temperature. Well, now I have.
Many years ago I had a customer who told me he left his cheeses out of refrigeration for three days prior to eating them. He said he had lived in Italy for a number of years and, I guess, that's what they did over there. That fella ended up moving back to Italy.
Yesterday a couple was here and they too talked about leaving their cheeses out for an extended time before getting into them. So I decided to look into the subject just to learn from experts in the field what is right and proper and what may be considered questionable. Here's what I learned:
Fresh cheeses like Ricotta and Mascarpone and, of course, Fresh Mozzarella should be kept refrigerated and consumed within a half hour of leaving the fridge and then whatever is left should promptly be returned there.
Bries and other "bloomy rind" cheeses need at least a half hour at room temperature to show their best. Straight out of the fridge brie can be rubbery and flavorless but once it's warmed up, it's soft, creamy and luscious. One half hour is actually a good minimal estimate for most cheeses to warm up from refrigerated conditions. Because of the extra moisture in soft cheeses, they are susceptible to bacteria and should be returned to refrigeration in two or three hours.
Harder cheeses are just fine at room temperature (70 degrees or lower) for an extended time. Parmesan may comfortably be left out for eight hours or more. One expert I consulted validates my Italian friend's claims - just go ahead and keep your hard cheeses at room temperature. Or optimally wine cellarize your cheese if you can - keep it between 45 and 60 degrees. Another says if you forget it on the counter overnight from last night's soiree, have it for breakfast! Several food writers say the worst thing about cheese that's been left out is it's appearance. It can get grotey to look at.
So what are we talking about here? A good part of this discussion is about "fat". Cheese is fatty and fat is flavor. Refrigerators are actually too cold for cheese and the fat molecules contract. Once the cheese warms up the fat molecules relax and the flavors become amplified.
So, you know that household chore you've been putting off for so long? Set your favorite cheese out on the counter. Salivate. Then tell yourself you can't get into it till your chore is done. Now that's incentive!
Join us at 5pm this Thursday for our weekly wine tasting. We will be sure to have room temperature cheeses ready for you and because all cheeses are different, their fat molecules should show a spectrum of contrasting flavors.
Many years ago I had a customer who told me he left his cheeses out of refrigeration for three days prior to eating them. He said he had lived in Italy for a number of years and, I guess, that's what they did over there. That fella ended up moving back to Italy.
Yesterday a couple was here and they too talked about leaving their cheeses out for an extended time before getting into them. So I decided to look into the subject just to learn from experts in the field what is right and proper and what may be considered questionable. Here's what I learned:
Fresh cheeses like Ricotta and Mascarpone and, of course, Fresh Mozzarella should be kept refrigerated and consumed within a half hour of leaving the fridge and then whatever is left should promptly be returned there.
Bries and other "bloomy rind" cheeses need at least a half hour at room temperature to show their best. Straight out of the fridge brie can be rubbery and flavorless but once it's warmed up, it's soft, creamy and luscious. One half hour is actually a good minimal estimate for most cheeses to warm up from refrigerated conditions. Because of the extra moisture in soft cheeses, they are susceptible to bacteria and should be returned to refrigeration in two or three hours.
Harder cheeses are just fine at room temperature (70 degrees or lower) for an extended time. Parmesan may comfortably be left out for eight hours or more. One expert I consulted validates my Italian friend's claims - just go ahead and keep your hard cheeses at room temperature. Or optimally wine cellarize your cheese if you can - keep it between 45 and 60 degrees. Another says if you forget it on the counter overnight from last night's soiree, have it for breakfast! Several food writers say the worst thing about cheese that's been left out is it's appearance. It can get grotey to look at.
So what are we talking about here? A good part of this discussion is about "fat". Cheese is fatty and fat is flavor. Refrigerators are actually too cold for cheese and the fat molecules contract. Once the cheese warms up the fat molecules relax and the flavors become amplified.
So, you know that household chore you've been putting off for so long? Set your favorite cheese out on the counter. Salivate. Then tell yourself you can't get into it till your chore is done. Now that's incentive!
Join us at 5pm this Thursday for our weekly wine tasting. We will be sure to have room temperature cheeses ready for you and because all cheeses are different, their fat molecules should show a spectrum of contrasting flavors.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Wine Recommendations
I hate to criticize someone else's work but I just read the worst wine column I can recall in quite some time. This was at one of those ultra-bland news magazine sites that has a dedicated Food & Beverage section that is so transparently driven by advertisers, you feel used and insulted as you read it.
The title of the column admonished readers to stop buying everyday priced wines and spend more for better wine. That's not a bad idea. The problem comes when they start directing the reader to what they think is better wine. What is left unspoken is the obvious mass marketers' desire to corral diverse tastes into one camp in order to provide their own palate panacea. Reading the article I couldn't help but think of the current insurance industry commercials featuring Dennis Quaid as the wink-and-a-nod cynical spokesperson.
So here are three points I think are just plain wrong:
1. Trust your friends for wine recommendations.
What's wrong with that? We are all subject to the mass-media advertising onslaught in our lives. We have both the blatant in-your-face advertising and the more subliminal product placement or celebrity endorsements. We fall prey to the stuff. Personally, I fall prey to advertising. So don't assume your friends don't. Venture out to other wine types for adventure.
2. Try shopping the New World wines first.
Why? The Old World has been making wine a lot longer. Old World winemakers may have forgotten more than New World wine makers have learned. While the New World makes great cocktail wines, if it's dinner wine you want, at every price point a better wine can be had from old Europe.
3. Stick with a vintner you trust.
You've got to be kidding me. It's a worldwide wine industry. Why wouldn't you venture out to experience more and more from everywhere? How can one vintner be the best at everything he does? That doesn't make sense.
Now, to be fair, here are three points from the article that do make sense to me:
1. Forget points. Forget the rating system. It's a racket. Money changes hands. Moreover, as an industry insider, there are too many ways wine can be altered in transportation and warehousing so it's not the same wine as reviewed by the expert.
2. Trust your palate. When you try a new type of wine, give it a fair shot. The first sip in never accurate. Try it again. Pair it with the food it's intended to accompany. Now see if it works.
3. Above all, drink what you like. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
The title of the column admonished readers to stop buying everyday priced wines and spend more for better wine. That's not a bad idea. The problem comes when they start directing the reader to what they think is better wine. What is left unspoken is the obvious mass marketers' desire to corral diverse tastes into one camp in order to provide their own palate panacea. Reading the article I couldn't help but think of the current insurance industry commercials featuring Dennis Quaid as the wink-and-a-nod cynical spokesperson.
So here are three points I think are just plain wrong:
1. Trust your friends for wine recommendations.
What's wrong with that? We are all subject to the mass-media advertising onslaught in our lives. We have both the blatant in-your-face advertising and the more subliminal product placement or celebrity endorsements. We fall prey to the stuff. Personally, I fall prey to advertising. So don't assume your friends don't. Venture out to other wine types for adventure.
2. Try shopping the New World wines first.
Why? The Old World has been making wine a lot longer. Old World winemakers may have forgotten more than New World wine makers have learned. While the New World makes great cocktail wines, if it's dinner wine you want, at every price point a better wine can be had from old Europe.
3. Stick with a vintner you trust.
You've got to be kidding me. It's a worldwide wine industry. Why wouldn't you venture out to experience more and more from everywhere? How can one vintner be the best at everything he does? That doesn't make sense.
Now, to be fair, here are three points from the article that do make sense to me:
1. Forget points. Forget the rating system. It's a racket. Money changes hands. Moreover, as an industry insider, there are too many ways wine can be altered in transportation and warehousing so it's not the same wine as reviewed by the expert.
2. Trust your palate. When you try a new type of wine, give it a fair shot. The first sip in never accurate. Try it again. Pair it with the food it's intended to accompany. Now see if it works.
3. Above all, drink what you like. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
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