Wine Jabber

Recent Tastings, 8.30.07

Tuesday was my birthday, and my friends and neighbors H&T made me dinner - I had just returned from SF that afternoon. We ended up as a group of 12 - close friends all, on the back deck, enjoying the end of summer with a potluck dinner. A few lovely wines:

2006 Abeja, Viognier: Nose of exotic fruits, very thick and heavy aromas of pineapple, guava, flowers, honey, melons. On the palate, rich, sweet fruit, quite heavy on the tongue. It is delicious, but I wish it wasn't quite so ponderous. The finish has a nice nutty quality. (3.0-)

2006 Macualan, Vespaiolo: My favorite summer wine, all melons, honeysuckle, peaches and apple. Fresh and lively acids. (3.0+)

1999 Trimbach, "Cuvée Frederic Emile" Riesling: A monster, with loads of petrolic apple, pear and mineral essences, surprisingly well-balanced in the mouth, long finish of pears, minerals and a hint of almond. (3.5)

1999 Alvaro Palacios, "Finca Dofi" Priorat, from Double-Magnum: A superb wine, still very young. Loads of berries, earth and chocolate on the nose. Very dark fruits - hints of leather and spices as the secondary aromas begin to emerge. On the palate, deep, plums, currants, coffee, lovely. Firm tannins and good acid - this big bottle still has 15 years in it! Lovely finish, with the tannins very ripe and velvety. (4.5-)

1995 Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo, from Magnum: Classic Barolo, with tar, truffle, dark cherries, violets and dried rose petals in spades. Really classic, though beginning to show a bit of age at the very edges - this is not one for holding much longer. Soft in the mouth, with the fruit still very much present. A bit dry at the finish. Lovely (4.0-)

1991 Diamond Creek, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gravelly Meadow, Napa Valley: Deep cassis and earth aromas. Very harmonious nose. Though I am not a huge Cab aficionado, this smelled lovely, and did not disappoint on the palate. Loads of dark cassis, plum, dark chocolate and leatherin the mouth. Tannins well-integrated and fully resolved. Drinks beautifully now, but consume before 2011. (4.0+nb)

I woke up in the middle of the night to a pounding rainstorm.

The next evening:

1998 Numanthia, from Magnum: 750ml bottles of this first vintage of Numanthia in my cellar seem to have started fading in the last year, so I was worried that this would be starting to go soon, but it is not - the nose is all dark chocolate and raspberries, with earthy, mushroomy elements. The over-the-top vanilla aspect that I remember from this wine when young was completely gone - totally integrated into the rest of the wine. On the palate, it was deep, chocolately and subtle - none of the whack-me-over-the-head quality that this bottling had young. The finish was long, smooth and lingering ... perfect with a stuffed Mexican-style pork loin. (4.0-)

Last SF Notes

The last day in San Francisco - lunch at Taylor's Automatic Refresher in the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero - great burger. I had fish and chips the last visit - also excellent. I love a good burger. This was excellent. Awesome garlic fries. Faaaaabulous onion rings. Nice looking milksahkes, too. I am such a sucker for this type of food. After living in Italy for 6 months a few years ago, I craved this type of food over all others when I returned to the states. Also burritos and all things tex-mex. I was so done with pasta; besides, the places that can cook pasta adequately well in this country can be counted on one hand.

Dinner at Limón - an excellent Peruvian restaurant in the Mission. Well-chosen wine list, with lots of good Spanish and German whites that go particularly well with the cuisine. Nice Spanish reds as well - we had Alto Moncayo 2003 and 2004 Condado de Haza. Apps were fantastic, kudos on the ceviche and calamari, and the chicken skewers were surprisingly excellent. (I agree with Tony Bourdain that chicken dishes are on menus for people who can't decide what to eat. Though ubiquitous, chicken is the most wildly inconsistent meal you can have - honestly, how many times have you had chicken at a restaurant and felt it was better than good or even really good, but eye-opening amazing? Once, maybe twice in your lifetime? QED, baby.) Main courses were really nice - a whole snapper was delicious and well-presented (photo, with Alison) and the ribeye was perfectly caramelized outside while still cool in the middle, with chimmichurri sauce. Worth another visit - I was really impressed with the gracious service.

2003 Alto Moncayo, Camp de Borja
100% Grenache - what a lovely thing. Soaring aromas of strawberry, watermelon, oak, red cherries and berries, sweet fruit on the palate, oodles of vanillin oak, and a tremendously well-extracted finish - this is smooth ... turn on the Barry White tape, turn down the lights, and who knows, you might even G.Y.S.! Drink now-2011. (4.0-nb)

2004 Condado de Haza, Ribera del Duero
Loads of blackness - in color (deep purple), fruits (blackberries and black currant) and feel (a tarriness to the whole thing). This is quite lovely - lots of mineral, cracked pepper and American oak - it all packs a wallop, and it has enough tannins and acids to keep it all from fallingto pieces. Drink now-2012. (3.5-nb)

OT: An amazing exhibit at the Yerba Buena Arts Center. Don't miss "Listening Post."

Imagine a concave curtain-like construction, about 30 feet across, like a bead curtain, but suspending small LED screens (4x30ish characters) in a regular pattern across the space. A series of speakers behind the curtain and behind the viewers gives an impression of 3-dimensional aural space. The piece consists of a series of computers trolling through public chat rooms all over the world, pulling snippets of conversation out of the stream, displaying them on the led screens in various ways, with voice synthesizers "speaking" some of the conversation. Occasionally, the screens would all flash waves of messages, alluding to the incredible volume of communication; at another time, an algorithm plucked out messages starting with "I like" (first visit) and "I am" (2nd visit), flashing them onto the little screens and some of them read by the voice one after another. The cycle lasted about 15 minutes.

It is an incredible piece – I am not a huge fan of conceptual art, but this was so haunting, hopeful and lonely in an unselfconscious way that I couldn't help but be touched by it. There was nothing particularly voyeuristic about it (a concern I had before walking in to see it; there's LOADS of bad stuff out there that coasts on smug superiority ...), none of the messages are attributed, none are given any context, none are presented differently from any other. It's mind-boggling, how many conversations are going on at any given time – how many people are reaching out, trying, all the time. The piece was absolutely, completely mesmerizing. I went to see it on two consecutive days, and would have gone a third, except the museum was closed that day. Some other interesting installations as well in those galleries.

I went to the SFMoMA thrice; there's a fabulous Martin Munkasci retrospective of work from 1920s-1950 – a photographer about whom I knew next to nothing except for a few iconic images. Amazing stuff – he was very influential on two of my favorite photographers, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon. Also, an excellent show of Matisse's sculptural work (put in the context of the development of his painting), the usual impeccable selection from their permanent collection of photos, and some seriously weird contemporary stuff. Most of these pieces are just beyond my understanding ... Maybe I need to study more; though figuring out why a pile of 18,000 folded blue work shirts stacked next to an "attendant" erasing lines out of a book, back to front, might be significant ... Leaves me cold. That particular piece (I did NOT make this up) sorta pissed me off – it was definitely the 900 lb gorilla in the room, and got in the way of looking at all the other stuff in that gallery.

Michael Mina, 08.26.07

Michael Mina, the high-end San Francisco restaurant in the St Francis Hotel, has been a favorite since my first visit a year ago. The hotel at which I usually stay in SF is just up the street, and I can see in the kitchen as I walk down to Union Square - there are big windows looking down on to the street in which cooks and waiters can be seen bustling about.

The room is big, high-ceilinged and luxe, the waiters are attired in these semi-wierd apron/smock thingies (worn over black shirts and black ties), and the overall effect of the room, setting and location is one of "This. Is. An. Important. Restaurant."

A and I have the tasting menu - 7 listed courses, with two starters in addition. The pre-apps (or amuse-bouche, should you prefer) were lovely - particularly great was a deconstructed/reconstructed peanut butter & jelly combo with foie gras mousse. Spectacular. I love a little chef joke like this - it starts the evening off with a smile. The Butterfish Tartare was equally great - cubes of butterfish and dashi gelée (a jelly made from dried bonito tuna flakes) with meyer lemon and sea beans. An olive oil poached king salmon was decadent - pure bliss (and I don't like salmon, generally) - served with a ratatouille purée that brought on a long coversation about the movie of the same name, the depiction of the hero as creative being, and the demands of craft vs art in the sphere of cooking ...

A veal dish was a near-perfect combination of textures, flavors and bite - and the veal sweetbread that sat on the truffled succotash was the anchor - its earthy, animal quality set the meat's caramelization off perfectly.

The somellier was great and the service fantastic (ask for Tina when you go). The wine list is big, but filled with a lot of "important" wines that seem like they'd overwhelm the meal; more interesting things can be found, but you have to dig a bit. The selection of Burgundy is very impressive and well-thought-out, though, and the half-bottle selection is refreshingly and thankfully sufficient - not an afterthought like at most places. When I do a multi-course tasting menu, half bottles are definitely the way to go. We had a lovely Sancerre, a Jadot Corton and Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Definitely worth repeat visits.

An Excellent San Francisco Neighborhood Eatery

Why can't someone open a place like this in COS? Preferably within walking distance of my home!!

My friend M (I've known him since 6th grade) and his wife A live in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco. Within a few hundred yards of their home is this fabulous little eatery, Gialina, a small trattoria/pizzeria with which I have fallen head-over-heels in love.

It's located about 100 yards from the Glen Park BART station (on Diamond Street across from the Library branch entrance), so if you're traveling to SF, this is easy to get to via public transport (I love public transportation - why can't we have better in COS?)(OK, OK, enough complaining already ...). It's a tiny place, and doesn't take rezzies, so be prepared to wait for a bit on a busy night - but the wait is worth it. The menu is SO simple and limited you may just want to write it off, but it reflects an incredible economy and efficiency in the kitchen - all that's required is some cold prep space and an oven. Not a sauté pan in sight!

Coi, a San Francisco Restaurant

Last night, Coi, with M & A and A - amazing. The chef, Daniel Patterson, definitely seems influenced by Ferran Adria, the Spanish chef who did all the foams and airs at El Bulli, but updated with new American ingredients and in a super-spare, tiny dining room - only 9 tables. Great wine list; the sommelier, Paul, was so unpretentious and knowledgeable, and we tried all these amazing obscure wines from Austria, Sardinia and Slovenia. I love places that make a point of avoiding the "usual suspects" on their wine list, challenge their customer's palates and really think about what works best with the chef's menu. 11-course tasting menu: a standout was a slow-poached egg yolk, with crème fraîche and osetra caviar; an amazing interplay of textures - the yolk and cream were incredibly smooth and velvety on the tongue, and the roe was like little firecrackers popping in your mouth, releasing this incredible flavor of the sea. Yow. Three bites. Perfect.

With the first course, a valencia orange and green olive sorbet, the dish had a drop of perfume on the side - one puts the perfume on the wrist, to combine its aromas with the dish's flavors as your hand comes toward your mouth. The perfume was a mix of Valencia orange, green olives, pink peppercorns, litsea cubeba (an oriental citrus) and coriander. Really interesting and imaginative work.

A course of Medai (a whitefish) grilled on the plancha was spectacular - the skin was perfectly crisped, and the tiny quinelle of accompanying sautéed dandelion greens - slightly bitter, in a most excellent way - perfectly offset the sweetness and flake of the fish.

The strawberry-watermelon soup was a perfect late-summer dessert dish. As the menu changes every night, I won't bore you with details of the individual dishes; suffice to say that I will come back - the chef is tremendously creative and the staff executes really well.

I can't say enough about the wine choices - I loved the list. The menu really lent itself to whites, and we stuck to those all night. A revelation was the 2003 Capichera Vermentino di Sardegna, which Paul claimed was made in the new style, with oak, but we wouldn't notice - it was so well integrated (if you know me, you know that i find overoaked wines deeply tedious ...). Well, he was right - the wine was layers of mineral, apricot, citrus and melons - only the richness of texture gave away that it was not made in stainless steel. Bründlmayer Brut from Austria is a long-time fave; interestingly, it is made from all five varieties of the Pinot family: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Auxerrois. A 2004 Sauvignon Blanc by Movia from Slovenia was rich and layered, far better than most wines I've had from this slowly-improving wine region. Kudos to Paul for picking wines that really work with the chef's preparations rather than big names that he knows will sell on the brand alone. A big part of a goood som's job is educating his customers' palates - and this guy does a fantastic job.

We left at one, verrrrrry happy and full. I'll be back.

Wine Tasting Video, Real Funny, Ha, Ha.

Remeber your first time at a "serious" wine tasting? Was the language arcane, impenetrable and insufferably pretentious? Were the participants complete bores wearing "smug" in neon letters across their foreheads? Did you think this was the stupidest thing in which you'd ever particpated? Yeah, yeah, I did too - but I loved wine too much to give it up. This video took me right back to those early, heady days, but with a twist - which in retrospect, makes the whole thing much more palatable ... to a point.

(Anyone who knows of stuff like this for inclusion in future posts, please send me the info. Thanks!)

After about a year of participating in organized tastings where I thought everybody was just spouting utter horsepooey, I was at a tasting when an older gent appproached me swirling a glass of some godawful swill, trying to appear utterly sophisticated, and said: "This wine has great legs!" To which I replied: "Yes sir, but it appears to have wrinkled buttocks."

He's never spoken to me since.

Take heart, grasshopper.

Northern Italy - Quick End-Of-Summer Notes

Just got an email from Angela Maculan in Breganze. The harvest started TODAY. That's about 3-4 weeks early.

The Maculans have been growing grapes for generations, and making wine under their own label since Fausto Maculan, the current proprietor, decided that he could make better wines from his grapes than the people to whom he sold the fruit were doing. Angela, his daughter, is continuing the tradition. Click here for a cool tour of the winery.

There should be plenty of sugar development for great sweet wines at the Maculan estate, but I'm worried about freshness in the resulting wines. Low-acid wines leave me cold.

A few weeks ago, Silvia Altare emailed me that the summer in Barolo was way hot, way ahead of schedule - they'll be picking three weeks early as well if the hot conditions persist. Apparently, they have.

The Altares are among the finest producers of Barolo. Elio Altare, the current patriarch, looks to Burgundy for his inspiration - he convincingly argues that Nebbiolo is closer to Pinot Noir, stylistically and physiologically, than any other grape. Though in making their wines they employ the short macerations and oak ageing characteristic of the modern producers, they are emphatically not in the over-the-top category like some other producers (who shall remain nameless; you figure it out for yourselves ...). Altare wines are really lovely, and in my opinion, balance the concerns and preferences of the traditionalists and modernists. Unlike some of the haut-modernists, their wines age - I have had 20-year old bottles that are still showing beautifully - and the Barolo from the disappointing 1991 and 1992 harvests (consumed in 2006) was delightful and still had vigor.

Looks like it's going to be another super-ripe, low-acid, high alcohol vintage. California redux. Conditions are apparently similar all across Europe, so we have a few things to look forward to: a run on tartaric acid, and the Wine Speculum declaring this the "Vintage of the Century" (third one so far?) and giving it 117 points.

I'm heading over to Barolo for 10 days in October - I thought I'd be there during harvest, but it looks like I'll be too late. As I'll be there during vinification, I'll be looking for the acid adders! Should be an interesting trip - I'll be curious to hear the spin on this vintage. Keep checking here for my notes on the vintage - I'll be posting from the road as access allows.

Surgery. 10 days without wine. Ak.

So. A week without wine. I had some minor surgery two weeks ago (turbinates), and was forbidden alcohol while on the massive antibiotics I was prescribed. Good god. What to do. Plus, for a week I had these ridiculous "nose splints" in my nose (obviously) that helped everything heal, I hope, but also left me very congested.

I was over at my neighbor's for dinner two days after coming out of the hospital. H & T are dear friends, and T is one of the motley crew with whom I spend two or three weeks in Northern Italy every March, doing tasting and wine research. Needless to say, these are folks who know how to cook, eat and drink - and this evening was no exception. There I was, jealously salivating over the lovely wines. I have blocked out what they were drinking - really, I have no idea any more - in an attempt to convince myself that it wasn't anything special, of course. Nice try. Of course it was good stuff.

Finally, after 10 days - back to the bad old ways, and boyoboy, was I thankful. First, a rosé of Grenache, I think (it was a glass just handed to me - I believe it was Spanish). Then a few glasses of Fausto Maculan's Vespaiolo. Talk about a perfect re-entry. The next night, Janasse's 2006 rosé (bleed wine off Chateauneuf du Pape, orgasmic), then Josko Gravner Rosso 1997 and 1999 Donnafugata's Nero d'Avola "Mille e Una Notte," both from magnum. Wow. Lovely.

Apparently the surgery will help me breathe (always a good thing) and should improve my sense of smell, as I'll probably be less frequently congested.

Any lessons? Naaaaaaah. Needless to say, I like a glass of wine with dinner, and I missed it! If I try to build some sort of life lesson out of this, I'll just have some nugget of wisdom to rationalize not drinking sometime in the future - something I am determined to avoid at all costs.

The nose splints came out last Thursday. Holy cow! They were huge! Enormous! (apologies to Phil Rizzuto). Finally, beginning smell accurately again - I need to spend a few hours with Le Nez du Vin and a few familiar bottles to re-calibrate my nose.

Nosh, 2 Visits, July 07 - Brief thoughts on the new Colorado Springs restaurant Nosh

Nosh, the latest entry into the downtown dining scene, comes with large expectations and grand designs. It is located in the Plaza of the Rockies South Tower, and is part of the Fine Arts Center Modern Galleries. The space is bright, nicely appointed with framed poster art and a good-looking bar, but the table layout has a bit of the look of an upscale corporate cafeteria. There is a fantastic patio off the east and south faces, with a perfect view of the historic Pioneer’s Museum.

Summit, with three interesting wines.

2005 Betts & Scholl Grenache, “The Chronique”
2004 Vall Lach, Priorato “Embriux”
2002 Aalto, Ribera del Duero

The Summit at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs has been a beacon of light in an otherwise generally moribund local dining scene. (Really, I'm NOT laying this on too thick, and no, they are NOT paying me to say nice things about them). I visit about once a month, and the level of service and quality of presentation and cooking are really very impressive.

After a charity reception at a gorgeous local home, a bunch of invitees met at the Summit for a late dinner - two tables, 12 people, three wines. I had the flank streak with peppercorn sauce and french-a-fries ... a really well-prepared classic Parisian bistro dish. My neighbor also ordered the same, and I was mightily surprised to see the kitchen honor her request for bernaise as an accompanying sauce - this was obviously made to order from scratch as it is not a sauce they have on the regular menu. VERY impressive, and delicious - I was quite shameless in inviting myself to sample off her plate.

2005 Betts & Scholl Grenache, “The Chronique”
Forward and bursting with strawberry, raspberry and red cassis. Loads of oak and vanilla – this smells like dessert, and is about as exuberant on the tongue, though not as sweet as one might expect from the nose. Delightful now, though it won’t age beyond three of four years. There is no discernible tannin, and the acids are low, though sufficient to keep the wine from feeling fat. (AEM 3.5-nb)

2004 Vall Lach, Priorato “Embriux”
Total opposite of the Chronique. Needs 3-5 years to come together. Still dark and unevolved on the palate and nose, with black plums, black raspberries and licorice, framed by milk chocolate, oak, earth and cracked pepper. It is delicious now, but seems to bee all sharp elbows and knees – with a few years of cellaring, this should emerge beautifully. Drink 2011-2017. (AEM 3.5+)

2002 Aalto, Ribera del Duero
The biggest surprise. Though the 2002 vintage was difficult all over Europe, the Summit’s excellent sommelier, Mike Buckaloo, recommended this wine, saying it was an enormous surprise to him, and worth trying. Nose of cranberry, berries and dark spices, with some oak and chocolate. The palate was very refined, and showing lovely flavors of dark fruit, minerals, cracked pepper and spices – nothing green or unresolved about this wine! There is nothing blockbusterish about this wine, it just drinks really well. It was perfect with the hangar steak. Delightful now, don’t let it sit, as it will probably not improve much. Drink now-2010. (AEM 3.5nb)

By the time we finished, it was well past midnight - the ride home on my fabulous Vespa scooter was brrrrrrr-cold. Summer in the Rockies!