Good fino, Great fino

I have been enjoying two tasty bottles of fino over the past week. One is marketed by a very well known (arguably the best known in the US), large shipper of sherries and the other is from a small, but significant producer with some prized real estate in one of the region's best vineyards.

Lustau Almacenista Fino del Puerto Obregon

Lustau started out as a family owned bodega in the late 1800's. They then became a reliable blender of sherry, or almacenista (a sherry blender, who historically was not allowed to commercially bottle their own soleras; in sherry country you are either a shipper - no matter how small, or an almacenista selling to shippers). In 1990 Lustau was bought and became a shipper. The company established the idea of marketing special bottles of some of their favorite almacenistas' best soleras. This is one such bottle, from José Luis Gonzales' fino solera of 143 barrels. It has an 18K golden hue, which leads to some classic aromas and flavors of salt, browning apples, and walnuts. This bottle is no slouch, a deal at $20.

Valdespino "Ynocente" Fino Macharnudo

From both a sourcing and production standpoint, this sherry is very unique. The grapes hail solely from the Macharnudo vineyard, which is viewed to be amongst the best for palomino grapes in Jerez. The fermentation, typically carried out in the region in 50,000 liter stainless steel tanks these days, takes place in used American oak barrels of 500 liter capacity. Then the wine is aged seven years prior to being bottled. The color here is significantly paler than the Lustau. Its aromas are very fine, there is a purity to the fruit and less of a flor dominated quality. Flor, of course, is that cottony layer of yeast growth growth which simultaneously prevents fino from oxidizing while lending a nutty character. Perhaps theirs is a thinner layer than usual, which allows the fruit to stand out more? Having recently reviewed the Jura issue of The Art of Eating, I do recall a producer saying that his layer of flor is the thickness of a playing card, whereas in Jerez it can be up to 1 centimeter thick. Flor aside, this bottling, from sometime in 2008, is great. If you have had the Equipo Navazos No.15, then this is the same bodega which provides them with some "botas" (butts, or barrels) of fino sherry from the very same vineyard. Off the strength of this particular bottle, I think I may prefer Valdespino Valdespino to Equipo Navazos Valdespino. I'll let you decide that one for yourselves, however I would encourage you to find a half bottle of this wine, which at roughly $18 is very much worth the tariff.

Given the quality of the Macharnudo vineyard, as well as the recent excitement created by labels such as Equipo Navazos and some boutique bodegas, one cannot help but wonder if the sherry triangle will start moving in the direction that Burgundy, and more recently Champagne, has. That is to say, a greater choice of estate bottled wines, from specific vineyards, produced by dedicated farmers and artisans. This question may be built upon a false presumption or poor understanding of the reality on the ground in Jerez/Sanlucar/El Puerto de Santa María, but nonetheless I'm going to risk looking misinformed and pose it to anyone with any background, perspective, or opinion on the matter.

Chez Moi, a la Lyon

There's a certain culinary satisfaction in researching the cuisine of a specific region. Even if it merely means whipping up 1 or 2 typical dishes and serving the appropriate, corresponding regional wine. I did just that today for a few core members of my wine tasting group, which convened tonight to discuss how we might meet monthly throughout the year.

Over cervelles de canut (recipe at bottom), carrots and celery, bread and housemade paté and paté de campagne from Bi-Rite market, we caught up with each other, listened to some records, and eventually got down to the business of wine tasting group stuff in 2010.

The wines we drank:

2007 Domaine Fery Bourgone Aligote

Sharply acidic (in a good way) and lightly marked by oak. This is as good an aligoté I have had since a glass of Lignier Aligoté I drank this past October. Great for drinking, and wonderful for Lyonnaise whipped cheese aka cervelles de canut.

2005 Trenel Macon Village

Perfectly pleasant, waxy, ripe orchard fruit. Not very compelling though admittedly put in a tough spot following the high acid, younger, aligoté,

2007 Daniel Bouland Morgon Vieilles Vignes

Delicious wine! From the courcelette vineyard (see: Foillard cuvee courcelette), this is all pure tangy cherry fruit with a slight mineral stamp. More about approachability and fun, though, than minerality and firmness.

2008 Coudert "Clos de la Roillette" Fleurie

My favorite wine of the night. This is unsually approachable at its young age, but still a wine with a strong personality. It has a definite mineral/soil imprint on the nose, which carries over to the palate as well. Soil, I'm saying, quite literally. If you ever go to the gardening supplies section of a hardware store, then this wine will smell familiar. Equally memorable on the palate, with the intense minerality combining with pungent red fruits, more cranberry than the usual raspberry/cherry Beaujo combination. The wine has a thick, palate coating texture (despite the relatively light hue in the glass) though it finishes lightly and elegantly. Wonderful stuff. I need to buy some.

2001 Domaine Joël Rochette Pisse-Vieille Brouilly

This bottle was something our group tasted a few years ago. It was controversial at that tasting, as it was much older than the other wines we were tasting (which were primarily from the 2005 vintage) but still held much appeal for many of us. Tonight it showed well. Dark cherry fruit, ripe and just short of stewed, with a more deeply pitched and mature quality, although still mineral and not heavy on the palate. Lovely and surprsingly tasty given its vintage and cru.

2007 Edmunds St. John "Porphyry" Gamy Noir El Dorado

From a single vineyard in the Sierra foothills, this was the ringer of the night. Though tasting it, even before the other wines, it struck me as good but not Beaujolais, which of course makes sense as it hails from a vineyard far away from Beajolais (though apparently there is a concentration of granite beneath these vines). With focused fruit, and 13% alcohol, this is a tasty California wine, albeit without much of a mineral or specific regional stamp to it.

Cervelles de Canut (Silk worker's brains)

Don't worry, no brains involved here. In fact, the dish is vegetarian. The dish received its name because it is what silk workers in Lyon used to eat daily. Combine 8 oz good quality fromage blanc (or young goat cheese), 1/4 c white wine, 2 tbs olive oil and a minced large shallot either in your Cuisinart or with a hand blender (I opt for the latter; we are still sans Cuisinart here for anyone who wants to send us one). Some recipes call for a bit of creme fraiche and white wine vinegar instead of wine; I prefer high acid white wine (aligote works great) and a dollop of good dijon mustard. Mix in 1 tbs chopped chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with celery and carrots, or for the purists place on top of good quality toasted bread.

Chicken Lyonnaise

I adapted my version from The Escoffiere Cookbook. Basically, I used a 50-50 mix of butter and oil (a substitue for clarified butter) and added a bunch of destemmed, chopped Swiss chard during the last 5 minutes of cooking. The "veal gravy" referenced below is actually chicken stock thickened with corn starch. Here is the Master's version, in his own words:

1563-Poulet Sauté Lyonnaise

Sauté the chicken in butter and, when it is half-cooked, add three fair sized onions, thinly sliced, tossed in butter and slightly browned. Complete the cooking of the chicken and the onions together, and put it on a dish. Swirl with one-sith pint of veal gravy; reduce; pour this liquor and the onions over the chicken, and sprinkle the whole with a pinch of chopped parsley. (Escoffier, The Escoffier Cookbook)

Rock n Roll is here to stay

Call me sentimental. But for now, I'll opt for this slow jam from Alex Chilton and Big Star rather than the more rockin' stuff, which I also dig quite a bit. Sad week in rock n' roll, very sad. Learn more in this NY Times obituary. I especially enjoyed the Replacements lyric cited in the article.

Alex Chilton, RIP.

What I'm Drinking now, Vol. 8, no. 87

Looks like a re-fill is in order

2008 Domaine Bart Marsannay Rosé

Delicious pinot noir rosé from a terrific producer, and one of my favorite areas of Burgundy, way up north in the Cotes de Nuits: Marsannay. Gouleyant (I recently learned that's French for 'gulpable'), fresh, precise, and surprisingly, not bad with spicy nacho Doritos.

I am quite ready for some Mandelay Burmese take-out....

Baltimore, MD

One of many purveyors of fried chicken at Lexington Market. Wes-sa-yeed (west side)!

These were apparently really tasty; I can't speak from experience, though. Note the Utz potato chips in background.

The USS Constellation is permanently docked at the Inner Harbor.

Art Car, AVAM (American Visionary Art Museum) style

These are just a few of many, many "vacants."

Baltimore's famous form stone is easy to maintain if a wee bit tacky. Here it is painted Ravens purple.

The burgeoning Latino population as shown by a strip of storefronts north of Fells Point.

Park Heights and Glen Ave, right in the middle of "La Rue de Shul": 20 synagogues in just a two mile radius in Northwest Baltimore/Baltimore County

This is where you get your kosher meats and groceries.

This is a unique throwback: gift shop, stationery/ school supply stockist, 60's era pharmacy and lunch counter all combine at Field's. I still go primarily for the delicious black and white milk shake, made from vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

Touristic Pursuits in Washington DC, February 2010

Images behind the bar at Proof. Solid wine list put together by Sebastian Zutant.

Madame's Organ - for better or for worse, a fixture on 18th St in Adams Morgan

Pita full of falafel and delicious toppings from DC's (and likely one of the the US's) best purveyor of falafel: Amsterdam Falafel Shop

Look at all those wonderful fixins!

Walkway from the East to West Building at the National Gallery of Art

Komi, home of very good, creative, Greek inspired cuisine. Seafood, crudo in particular, shines.

Reserving a parking spot in Cleveland Park via the chair method, a mid-Atlantic regional tactic

United States of America, nation of neon and TV, or, as Michael Franti once said, "Television, the drug of the nation."

Knowledge of Pie: What I've learned making pizzas 5 weeks in a row

- Wet, slightly sticky dough, though more difficult to work with, makes tastier crust

- Mis-shaped pies, even perhaps with unsightly holes or crimped up areas due to a poor transfer to the oven, still taste good

- Women who work with dough in a professional kitchen make prettier pies than men who sell wine in a sometimes professional wine shop

- Mixing the right ratio of ingredients in a relatively consistent kitchen environment, using the same method and proofing the dough at least 8 hours (ideally, though, a day or more) makes a reliable dough

- Selecting and combining toppings is the most fun and forgiving part of the pizza making

- That's besides eating the pizza, of course

- Tomato sauce free pizzas often make for the most tasty and memorable pies (don't worry, Nat, the first pie will always have some sauce)

- A simple pizza can be a beautiful thing, for example: olive oil, sea salt, sliced red bell pepper, and a liberal sprinkling of ground espelette

- Enthusiastic, hungry pizza devotees are your biggest boosters of confidence and morale

Thanks to everyone who has participated in our ongoing, weekly pizza nights. There will be much more pizza to come, of course.

Peace and Speedy Recovery to the Guru

This is one of my favorite Gangstarr joints from what is possibly my favorite Gangstarr record, Moment of Truth. The combination of DJ Premier's super sparse production, Guru's legendary monotone, and the message of upliftment to the masses/ admonishment to the powerful that he puts forth in 16 bars all add up to a quintessential Gangstarr track. Join me in wishing Guru a most speedy recovery.

Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas Vertical

Roadside lunch, Galician style: caldo gallego, bread, and the house wine (unfortunately, not Do Ferreiro)

This was fun. One of the tables at De Maison Selections' recent San Francisco trade tasting featured the wines of Do Ferreiro, poured by winemaker Gerardo Mendez. Of particular interest was a vertical of Do Ferreiro's Cepas Vellas, their famed single vineyard bottling produced from a 200 year-old (yes, 200!), one hectare vineyard composed of sandy, broken down granite, sitting very proximate to the ocean. The 2007 was all lime and brine, intense and impressive. 2006 was a totally different animal, very saline but smoky as well - almost Islay in Galicia type smoke. 2005 was broad and ripe, but still fresh, though the 2004 was as ripe but with better acidity - the most generous, expressive, and delicious wine of the tasting.

I asked Gerardo which was the oldest vintage of cepas vellas he had recently drunk and he told me it was the 1999, which still showed very fresh and lively. I'm not surprised. And I'm not sure if better albariño is being made anywhere else in Rias Baixas. Do not look for the 2008 Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas as it does not exist; extensive hail damage destroyed much of the fruit. However, when the 2009 is released next year, I think I might have to grab some and start my own vertical.

Site vs Elevage

A view down to the barrel rom at Cune's Viña Real winery in Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa

I attended a seminar this morning titled, "Tempranillo: Site vs Elevage." It preceded a De Maison Selections trade tasting, and was conducted by the erudite, always interesting Andre Tamers. You may recall that he was one of the people I had briefly interviewed last year for a piece on the state of Spanish wine. Without getting into too much detail, Andre pointed out that Rioja was traditionally based on the premise of house style, a la Bordeaux, or even more so, Champagne. Just as in Champagne, in Rioja there are some larger companies who both grow their own grapes as well as purchase fruit from all over the D.O. Then, different bodegas have different methods of vinification and aging; traditionally in a slightly oxidative manner involving extended aging in American oak, a few rackings a year, and bottle aging. In Andre's view, this type of blending and aging process creates wines that are overly oxidized and lack individual personality. OK, he did not explicitly say that so as to let attendees make up their own minds, but reading between the lines (as well as tasting through his Rioja portfolio) that is most likely where Andre stands.

Perhaps, according to Andre, the future of Rioja lies not in a bodega's skill at blending fruit from different sites, even different sub-zones separated by many kilometers (as has been the traditional model) but rather in estate bottled, village and vineyard designated wines. As Andre said, "Gevrey doesn't taste like Chambolle. " That is obviously due to differences in soil types, climate, aspect and a whole host of other factors - in short, terroir, or "terruño" in Spanish.

So the point was to show 3 flights of Rioja of various ages (joven, crianza, and reserva) based on which villages the wines were from, and to try to taste the different character of each site. Thing is, though, it was very difficult to do this given, you guessed it, the wine's dramatically different elevage. Was the 2005 Viña Real Crianza's spicy, strawberry fruit characteristic of Tempranillo from Laguardia, or of fruit that is perhaps picked a bit earlier than is fashionable these days? And the sweet, black cherry and fruitcake flavors of the 2006 Luberri "Biga" Crianza were because the wine's fruit hails from Elciego, or due to the French oak, some of it new, and possibly other methods in the winery? Maybe the grapes were picked later and riper? There was at least one surprise as well, at least in terms of fruit sourcing for the 2005 Bodegas Muga Reserva. Andre had picked it to show what a Tempranillo based wine from Haro tastes like, though it turns out that one of his producers disputed the grapes exclusive Haro, Rioja Alta provenance, as he regularly sees the Muga truck in villages in Rioja Alavesa.

As with any academic learning experience, far more questions were generated than answers. Some questions I pondered after the tasting:

Is extended aging in American oak, when well employed with good quality fruit, an intrinsic part of Rioja's terruño? Is that a good thing?
Is it realistic for Rioja, which lacks the tradition of village and vineyard branded wines practiced for centuries in Burgundy, to try to re-brand itself in this way?
Why is Rioja either traditional or modern?
Is anyone experimenting with different sizes of oak for aging and fermenting, larger foudres for example? Or perhaps new barrels without any toast?
Is 100% tempranillo based wine from Rioja the best vehicle to express the region's diverse terruño, and is it the best path to take for the region's many crianza and reserva bottlings?
What constitutes good, reasonable and attentive farming and viticultural practice in Rioja versus elsewhere?

Thank you to Andre Tamers of De Maison Selections, as well as his staff and the folks from Estate Wines for putting this together. In particular to Andre, whose knowledge of Spanish wine country, paired with a real curiosity and sense of humility, made for a terrific seminar which emphasized learning about a region over merely pushing product.

The Mos Mighty Muscadet

Photo courtesy of The Ten Bells, New York City

There is something just so incredibly likeable and exciting about Muscadet; once you find it you're not likely to ever shed the excitement you have while craving it and then downing a glass (or more) of it. There is nothing pretentious about the wine, there is plenty of it available, and everyone from the most jaded of wine drinkers to someone who enjoys wine uncritically will agree that Muscadet quenches thirst and flatters a variety of foods. When made well from top vineyard sites, Muscadet is both deeply satisfying and intellectually stimulating in a way that few wines can be. In the case of the true grand cru vineyard sites of the AOC, I do not think I stand alone in arguing that there probably is no better white wine value in the world. Here are two such wines I have been slowly following over the past two days, and will continue to do so over the next several.

2007 Pierre Luneau-Papin L d'Or Muscadet Sevre & Maine Sur Lie
Their top cuvee. Any info on the domaine and wine that you might need are readily available on Joe Dressner's site. 30 hectares is a lot of land, but in these hands I trust how that land is used. There is an effortless, seamless balance in this wine that is tough to verbalize and simply should be experienced. Having had examples of this wine - not often, but on a few occasions - going back to 1989, and seeing how well and consistently it tends to age, it's worth mentioning that while metrics such as acidity, tannin and residual sugar are important indicators of a wine's development, ultimately a young balanced wine from great terroir will age a long time. We are not sure how this happens but invariably it does. There is no better indicator of wine ageability than a solid track record.

2007 Domaine de l'Ecu Expression de Orthogneiss Muscadet & Maine Sur Lie
While the Luneau Papin L d'Or is muscadet minerality and typicité personified, this particular bottling from Guy Bossard always seems something quite other. Bossard's vines are located in Le Landreau the same as Pierre Luneau-Papin. Shortly after I first opened this, it was rich, comparably fat, and seeming to lack in the type of acidity and rocky minerality that I come to expect in most Muscadet. A few days of sitting in the fridge after opening, however, and the singularity of this bottling really comes through. This may seem strange (it certainly does to me) but the aromas and flavors suggest more red fruit than white, and I even get a sort of Pinot Noir like character out of it, albeit with white wine acidity and texture. Richer and fleshier than the norm for Muscadet, to be sure, the Expression de Orthogneiss still has loads of finesse, a Burgundian sensibility as well as gravitas that sets it apart. Domaine de l'Ecu has been farmed biodynamically since 1986.

For less than $25 for each of these, I will likely pony up for at least 6 bottles of each, and ideally a case so that should I be tempted to drink a few, I will still have some bottles remaining.

Quick List of Things Tasted Recently (Wine & Beer)

Quick, off the cuff, laundry list post. Errors in spelling and grammar may ensue....

2004 Stephane Tissot Selection Arbois
70% Chard, 30% Savagnin. Sous Voile (semi-oxidative.) Showing quite nicely, actually. Reminded me of 06 Tournelles Savagnin with more body and oxidation, 05 Puffeney Cuvee Sacha with less brightness. Not bad for Tissot, might have enjoyed it more if my mood was better for critical wine drinking.

2001 Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos Crianza Rioja
Full disclaimer: we sell this wine where I work. I was really pleased how well this $15 wine is showing. An important reminder that reserva vs gran reserva vs crianza is not of nearly as much importance as quality of your fruit and what you do (or perhaps better put, don't do) when you're making your wine. Sort of the funky bass player philosophy that the notes one does not play make your playing sound better, funkier. This is pretty much organically grown fruit from Rioja Alavesa, fermented with native yeasts, judiciously sulphured (don't know the specs, just know what I taste) and plain delicious. I bought a case of 2004 because it should age in a similar way - less ripe vintage but every bit as structured. 15 year old crianza? No problem. Hey, favorite wine bar, if you're reading I'll bring you samples by and maybe you can buy some wine from this importer - good shit.

3 Fonteinen Kriek Schaerbeekse
This was fucking awesome: great balance between sour, savor, and fruit, lots of fancy fucking cherry fruit. I enjoyed this with McDuff last weekend at Max's in Baltimore. Here is a more informative note from importer Shelton Brothers: "Armand Debelder's most special Kriek, brewed with Belgium's famous Schaerbeekse cherries, renowned for their incredible color and flavor. Loads of these rare and expensive sour cherries, pits and all, are poured into aging casks of lambic, where they are gradually infused into the beer. The result is a delectable blend of sourness from the lambic and a slight hint of sweetness from the ridiculous quantity of cherries employed. Naturally, no sugars, sweeteners, or artifical flavors are used."

Montseny Iberian Ale
Really delicious, subtle hop influence, dry, clean, thirst quenching beer that is easy drinking in that Spanish and Italian beer type of way, minus the lack of body and polish that some of these beers using cheap hops can show.

Haandbrygeriet Norwegian IPA
Hey, California brewers! Why don't more of you make pale ale in this northern European style: slightly bitter hop punch but restrained, balanced, and well...drinkable? Somehow northern European 'hoppy' I can handle. American hoppy? No thanks.

1989 Vieux Telegraphe 'La Crau' Chateauneuf du Pape
Another imbibement shared with DMcD in Bmore, in this case during a most ill advised dinner at a truly terrible restaurant in Little Italy. I will not go into further detail about the dining but I do accept full responsibility for the decision made. Anyway, this wine showed strangely young, tannic, simple and closed. Bad storage? In a weird phase? Forged bottle? While it would be a strange one to forge given its relative lack of collector status, stranger things have happened. If co-op wine from Fitou can be counterfeited then anything is possible, right?

1995 Vieux Telegraphe 'La Crau' Chateauneuf du Pape and 1995 Les Cailloux Chateauneuf du Pape
Both brought in by a generous longtime customer. Les Cailloux - browning color, stale spice cabinet aromas, celery salt. Mort. VT - really delicious. Showing good development, balanced acidity, intense fruit, loads of complexity. Wonderful now, should continue to improve another decade.

MV Manekin Cellars Rioja Blend
I can be extravagant, yes, but I also have some frugal blood in me: must be my eastern European shtetl heritage. Anyway, after I conducted a Rioja tasting for my co-workers, I poured the dregs into a single bottle. Almost entirely traditional Riojas, mind you, but from different producers and vintages, with different levels of age (crianza, reserva, etc). These wines were included: 2005 Contino Reserva, 2003 La Rioja Alta Viña Alberdi Reserva; 2003 Peciña Crianza; 2001 Cune Imperial Reserva; 2000 La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva; 2000 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva; 2000 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva. Not a successful experiment. As far as the individual components, my clear choice for tastiest wine of the bunch would be the Ardanza - that wine is showing incredibly right now.

This DC wine bar is great and you should go there

One often finds exciting deals in unexpected places. That having been said, I did not expect to find many interesting wine values to drink while checking out restaurants and wine bars in Washington, DC. The city is what we in the business refer to as a conservative market. While a a handful of restaurants do a great job providing guests with dynamic, carefully chosen, fairly priced wine lists, the vast majority of them concern themselves chiefly with issues of profitability and their perceived notion of what people want to drink. In other words, California chard, cab and pinot noir, as well as some better known imported entities. If you find yourself in a city such as DC and dig deeper, do some research, or as happened to me simply have a little luck and a keen eye, you may just come across a real gem, as I did while strolling down 14th st on the way to meet a friend at the Black Cat. Glancing in the window of a cozy looking wine bar, I noticed that they were featuring Do Ferreiro albariño by the glass. Could be worth further investigation the following night, I thought, as I passed by.

Fortunately, my plans the following evening included dinner at Dukem and garage/psychedelic records nearby at the Velvet Lounge (great bar to check out if you're in DC, by the way), so I'd be in the neighborhood. Cork is, if last Wednesday night was any indication, an incredibly popular restaurant and wine bar. Take a look at the list and it's easy to see why.

My girlfriend and I drank two bottles of champagne; usually I'd hesitate to order even one bottle since, more than any other section on a wine list, the Champagne selections are typically large brands at overly inflated prices. Here, however, there was a treasure trove of grower champagnes at prices that were marked up just a touch above retail, as opposed to 150%. R. Dumont et Fils Solera Reserve Brut was creamy and broad, while still showing good minerality, brightness and acidity. Interesting texture and a lot of length. José Michel et Fils Brut Reserve was an amazing bottle of Champagne (no surprise, as Michel is widely considered to be one of the best producers of Champagne based on pinot meunier grapes), a steal at $58.

Good wine lists have a variety of carefully chosen selections at a broad range of prices. Great wine lists have those qualities as well as at least a handful of selections that are real deals and compel wine enthusiasts to spend money and hang out for a while. I went into Cork expecting to have a few glasses, perhaps share a bottle and head out; instead my girlfriend and I bought two bottles and stayed a while. Cork has a great wine list.

Cork Wine Bar
1720 14th St (btw R and S St)
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 5:00 p.m.-Midnight
Thursday-Saturday: 5:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.