Looking for delicious wines at a reasonable price? Aren’t we all? Check out the Gold Medal winners from the 30th Annual San Francisco International Wine Competition. Many are under $25, all are scrumptious.
Click here to see the top winners in this week’s Vine Guy column in the Examiner Newspaper
The Double Gold Medal Zinfandel
It’s hot and I need a wine that I can kick back and relax with – whether I am swinging in a hammock at home or hanging out at the beach.
I need a “summer” wine.
The requisite summer wine has got to have enough fruit to keep up with summer foods and enough acidity to keep it light and refreshing. After all, the acidity is responsible for the clean, fresh finish that dries your palate and whets your appetite.
Click here to listen in to this week’s WTOP Radio Wine of the Week and then find a hammock…
A Hammock and a Bottle Wine - A Perfect Match
I have just returned from a whirl-wine tour out west where I spent three glorious days kicking around the wine-fantasy world of Napa Valley.
After tasting that ranged in rpice from $15 to $500 a bottlem I thought I’d share some of Napa Valley’s best values.
Click on this link to check out my favorite Napa Valley Values
Chateau Montelena's Elegant Zinfandel
How many times should someone have to call a restaurant to book a LARGE party before they give up? Once? Twice? THREE TIMES??? How about an in-person visit? And no response… nada, nein, zip, zilch, goose egg.
Thus is the tale of my experience at Fiola – the hot, hip new Italian eatery captained by Uber-chic Chef Fabio Trabocchi and his spouse, Maria.
I have been trying for two weeks now to book a dinner party at Fiola and cannot get as much as a return call to tell me to drop dead. My firm is getting ready to celebrate our ten year anniversary and I want to treat my staff to a fantastic evening of food, wine and fun to mark the occasion. I had dined there recently for a wine dinner and I was impressed with the service, food and ambiance, so I thought Fiola would be the perfect spot to host dinner for 30 people.
After leaving three messages – count ‘em, three – for Maria Trabocchi (the chef/owner’s wife and director of private dining), I decided to confront her directly. My wife and I went with another couple to Fiola for dinner last week to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. When we arrived, I asked the hostess to please send Maria over to the table so that I could give her a card and make the connection.
Overall, the evening was a solid 8. The food was very good and both our server (ask for Ashley) and the wine director (Theo) were attentive and charming. We noticed Maria flitting about the restaurant visiting most of the tables and giving everyone the standard kiss-kiss routine. But somehow, we escaped her attention and she never as much as looked in our direction. Must have been my cologne?!?
On the way out, I asked to speak to Maria. I explained who I was and that I was trying to book a dinner party for 30 – count ‘em – 30 people. She feigned great surprise and promised (PROMISED) to give me a call on my cell phone the very next day…. And I am still waiting.
Why am I taking the time to rant about this seemingly trivial experience? Because I have had my fill of restaurants (and other businesses) that just DON’T GET IT! It’s like the scene in the movie Network when the news anchor stands up and delivers his famous “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” speech. It’s that simple.
Citronelle (another story) and (BLT Steak) could take a lesson from Wolfgang Puck’s The Source or any of Ashok Bajaj’s eateries. Every single time I have been at any of these restaurants, they have made me feel welcomed and comfortable, like Norm at Cheers (you older readers will probably get that reference…). So why didn’t I start with The Source (or Bibiana) for the anniversary party? Good question. And now I will…
Wine has become a familiar site at backyard barbeques across the country. This weekend, try an assortment of red, white and sparkling wines as a way to declare your own independence this Fourth of July.
As Benjamin Franklin put it, “Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.” I’ll drink to that.
Click here to listen to my wine recommendations for this Fourth of July.
Cheers
The Perfect Sparkler for the Fourth of July
Cindy and I recently celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary, and, as we do each year, we opened a bottle of 1985 Lynch Bages. This lovely Pauillac shares the vintage year as our wedding, and we have been enjoying this tradition for just about 15 years. I have four more bottles, enough to get us to our thirtieth wedding anniversary and we also got great decoration as table and chair covers just for this celebration. What we’ll do after that? Start drinking younger vintages…
This year, we celebrated with dear friends Jon and Lori at the swanky Italian eatery, Fiola, in Washington, DC. Service (ask for Ashley) and food were superb.
I’m Sure That At One Point It Said “Happy Anniversary”
The wine still sported a beautifully dense purple color, which is always a good sign in an older wine. The fragrant bouquet instantly transported me to Bordeaux, with scents of earthy cigar-box, tar, and minerals. It was remarkably well-layered, with a solid core of black fruit followed by blackcurrants, cedar, tobacco and toasty oak. Mature tannins and great acidity kept the wine perfectly in balance while hints of minerals slid in on the sumptuously long and elegant finish. I can’t wait for our 27th anniversary to try this wine again!
It seems that every five years, the same five couples take time out of their busy, harried lives to stop, smell and sip the rosés. Kevin and Stacy herded all of the cats and we all met at the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, DC for a night of good food, wonderful wine, but most importantly, incredible friendship. Guests included Kevin and Stacy, Jeff and Mary Jo, Bill and Rebecca, Barry and Caren, Jim and Lori, Gene, Cindy and me.
We were seated at a loooooong table where we were served 13 – count ‘em, 13! – dishes, family style.
The Looooong Chef's Table at Blue Duck Tavern
We started off the evening with a Magnum of 1996 Jaqueson Champagne, courtesy of Gene. It must have been disgorged recently, because the wine was so young and vibrant, with notes of green apple, bright citrus and a long, clean finish where hints of roasted nuts glided in.
Wines Included:
2006 Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres Premier Cru by Remoissenet (Bill and Rebecca). Beautiful wine with spectacular balance and elegance. The nose featured a delicate bouquet of peach, pear and citrus with minerally notes lurking just beneath the surface. Flavors of apple, peach and butterscotch coated the mouth in lush style. Nice ping of mineral/wet stone on the end brought this wine into perfect focus.
2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri White Wine (Barry and Caren). From the mind and cellar of Manfred Krankl comes a white Rhone-style blend of 69% Roussanne and 31% Viognier. An aromatic nose of orange marmalade and white flowers (acacia and honeysuckle blossoms) begs for a sip. The mouthfeel is lush and unctuous without being cloying, but the flavors of nectarine, orange rind and peach fall off rather quickly and seems to have a hole in the finish. But it certainly won’t stop me from trying it again!
2004 Dujac Clos Saint Denis Red Burgundy (Scott and Cindy). Wow – it smells like Mr. Ed’s stable in the glass – barnyard almost to distraction. Good thing the wine didn’t taste like it smelled. It sported flavors of strawberry jam and cherry on the front of the tongue and then sour cherry and rhubarb notes on the back of the palate with a noticeable hole in the middle. The end-notes were pleasant, with a touch of smoke and earthiness to round out the smooth-but-short finish.
2000 Boisenard Chateauneuf du Pape (Bill and Rebecca). I love this wine – but I love most CDPs. The nose featured earthy scents of smoked game and black pepper. The beautifully textured mouthfeel was a cacophony of flavors, including dark plum, black currants, smoked meat and tobacco. The full body sported silky tannins, good freshness and remarkable depth on the finish for such a young CDP.
2005 Merus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Barry and Caren). The nose was huge on this wine – like singe-your-nose-hairs huge. Boasting a big bouquet featuring blackberry, black current, roasted coffee bean and dark chocolate that leads into flavors of blue and black fruit jams, black licorice and espresso in the mouth. It’s full-bodied and not for the faint of heart. A touch out of balance, it either needs more time in the bottle or more acidity to hold up the over-whelming fruit-centric finish.
1996 Montelena Estate, Calistoga (Kevin and Stacy). I had the remarkable pleasure of having this wine twice in one week. The first time was a few days before at the winery in Calistoga with owner/winemaker Bo Barrett. So it might be wine goggles talking, but I thought this wine was spectacular. Still young at 15 years, it boasted an extraordinarily beautiful nose of lead pencil shavings, blue and black fruits, licorice, subtle oak, and acacia flowers. The balanced, medium-bodied frame was the perfect support for flavors of blackberries, cassis, and roasted coffee roast. A savory finish with great fruit, low acidity and abundant sweet tannins will ensure that this wine is around for 10-15 more years.
1996 Lynch Bages, Pauillac (Jeff and Mary Jo). As much as I loved the Montelena, I loved the Lynch Bages! With beautiful aromas of tobacco, new saddle leather, roasted coffee, it filled the senses. Its structure is dense, with flavors of blackberry fruit intermixed with licorice, minerals, and dried herbs on a medium-bodied frame, with solid tannina and plenty of sweet fruit on the long finish.
1998 Fox Creek Shiraz, Australia (Bill and Rebecca). If memory serves (and I am not sure that it does), I believe this wine was made by Spark Marquis (of Mollydooker fame) for his in-laws. It sported an explosive nose of black fruits, blueberry liqueur, black pepper and incense. The flavors were layered and “in-your-face,” with a youthful exuberance featuring rich, concentrated notes of blackberry fruit, espresso, black pepper and smoky oak. A touch of mint on the long, powerful finish was unexpected-yet-appreciated.
1961 Gilette Sauternes (Gene). Wow – when you drink a wine older than most of the people at the table (unfortunately, not me), it gives you time to pause and reflect… and if the person next to you pauses long enough, you can steal their glass and drink it. I certainly would have if I could have gotten away with it… A lovley bouquet of caramel and roasted hazelnuts, combined with intense aromas of honeyed fruit such as pineapple and apricot. An unctuous, chewy texture, yet with enough acidity to provide great delineation and balance, this is a magnificent wine that has retained an amazing freshness for its age… like me.
From Lft to Rt: 2000 Boisenard CDP, 2005 Merus Cabernet, 1996 Chateau Lynch Bages, 1996 Montelena
When I was growing up in a “small town” in Central California, the Fourth of July meant ice cold watermelon, cookouts, a parade down Main Street, and fireworks at the community college stadium. And beer. Lots and lots of beer. I don’t remember anyone drinking wine with their burgers and ribs, even in California. But that was then.
Click here to listen to this week’s WTOP Radio Wine of the Week segment
Estate Grown and Bottled Signarello Chardonnay
An Organic Bubbly From Italy
If you really want to know what’s in your wine, other than grapes and yeast, take a moment to consider that traditionally farmed grapes contain trace levels of pesticides, even after washing, due to absorption through soft skins. In addition, small amount of pesticides have been found in wines made with traditionally farmed grapes.
But before you give up drinking wine entirely, consider trying organic and biodynamic wines, whose farming practices are both rooted in a philosophy that involves promoting the use of natural techniques to keep the soil and crops healthy without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
