The new hardcore

On my post about mags of French country wine at a recent holiday party I attended, I had thought that the white in question was a Chenin from Anjou, when it was in fact a sauvignon gris from Touraine, produced by Xavier Frissant. Thanks for the correction, ombudsman.

In other news, I have have missed the past couple days in blogolandia due to the onset of holiday parties and, last night, checking out some amazing live music courtesy of Melt-Banana. They played one of the most awesome series of 6 uninterrupted songs I have ever heard. Each song averaged about 6.2 seconds. Opening act XBXRX was a tight, highly rockin' outfit as well, even without their bass player. Stage presence a bit spastic, but the high polish of their music and moves made up for it. If you check out either of these links, keep in mind that for both bands it's all about the live performance. Maybe some people can listen to stuff like this, Lightning Bolt etc on their ipods, home hi-fi or whatever, but I'm not one of those people.

More on wine tomorrow.

Our pizza's sort of the boss.

I'm withholding all modesty here and would like to declare the pizza that my roommate Nattles and I made as top-notch. With a few more efforts I think it will be safe to say that our pizza will be tops in the Bay Area - imnsho it's already top 3.

Whereas our first efforts last week were respectable, the crust was not as consistent, lacking a bit in flavor, and the appearance of the pizza was not the greatest. This week the difference was initially proofing the dough for 6+ hours in the fridge, as opposed to an hour at room temp. Both weeks we punched down the dough and then proofed again for another 30 minutes. Here are last night's pies:

Fresh mozz, chopped garlic, watercress
Olive oil, parmeggiano reggiano, cremini mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and fennel, crispy potato, dried chopped thai pepper, capers, parsley
parmiggiano reggiano, feta, creminis, chopped thai peppers, parsley (super thin crust)
Mozz, mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes
parmeggiano reggiano, sun-dried tomato, a few leftover scraps of creminis

The wine accompaniment was a delicious bottle of 1998 Cronin Zin/Mourvedre. Bright spicy, tangy central coastal California wine which will probably go strong for at least another 3 years. It is easily the most enjoyable $10 red I have ever drunk.

That's a cool shop Wednesdsay pt.II - Lucca Ravioli Company

Real authentic Italian food in San Francisco, be it a deli, pizzeria, or restaurant, is sometimes tough to find. Fortunately, Lucca is around to transport even the most critical Italian food loving New Yorker back to the City. The selection of imported canned and jarred goods is quite good, as is the selection of basic Italian cheeses — sweet and spicy gorgonzola, fresh mozzarella, parmeggiano-reggiano, ricotta, and others. The real star here, though, is the selection of cured meats such as coppa, salumetti and prosciutto di san daniele. Though I hear the fresh made pastas and sauces are supposed to be very tasty as well.

What I love about Lucca Ravioli Company almost as much as the quality of their basic Italian staples is the old school feel of the place. You go in, take a number from the ticket dispenser, and wait for a gentleman donning a white paper hat to help you out. When you are ready to settle up, you hand over your credit card or cash and someone will go to the behoemoth sized, gilded, early 1920's (?) era cash register to complete the sale. The whole experience is old school to the bone marrow. Lucca is conveniently located at the corner of 22nd and Valencia in la Mission. It has played a pivotal role in providing ingredients for another newly minted Wednesday tradition: Pizza wednesdays. Yep - we are cooking up some pretty killer Neapolitan style pies here at home. More on that tomorrow.

Buona notte.

muscadet and mac n cheese

Ate some pretty decent takeout from my neighborhood falafel, rotisserie chicken, kebab and zatar pita joint - Gook Frikin' Chicken. Its logo has a cartoon rooster on it, sort of like a mug shot of Bugs Bunny rooster Foghorn Leghorn. Anywyay the food is decent, and I was looking forward to pairing it with a magnum of 1996 Jo Landron Domaine de la Louvetrie 'Fief du Breil' Muscadet that the household is currently working through, as well as a magnum of 1985 Couly Dutheil Clos l'echo Chinon and a puny little 750ml of 2004 Tour Grise Saumur '253' Rouge. While the food and wines were delicious on their own, the only really tasty pairing was the not so cheesy, plain mac n cheese and the Muscadet. On its own, this '96 Fief du Breil has become quincy like Jones, just very quince with lots of intensity of fruit. The acidity is more mellow and integrated than I would expect at this point in the wine's development. Together with the mac n cheese the flavors became more complete, slightly creamy, leesy and nutty. I had some chicken kebabs which were tasty, and worked ok with the wines, though they seemed to take away from the fading, muddled fruit of the '85 Clos l'echo. Oh, by the way, thanks to whichever customer it was who returned this bottle on Monday! The wine was certainly mature, with a very leafy, forest floor quality and strong notes of beef tenderloin. But certainly, to my judgement, not corked or flawed in any way. Though the wine was fading (and I don't know when the customer had opened it) there was at first a real vibrancy and freshness to the fruit and acidity. The texture, of course, was silky and gorgeous. What a contrast to the young '04 Tour Grise Saumur Rouge, produced from old Cab Franc vines in an area of Saumur for which producers Philipe and Francois Gourdon are proposing a new appellation. This is an incredibly fruity Cab Franc, but with excellent purity and liveliness as well. Fruit, fruit and more fruit here, mostly red. It has cab franc's delicious mouth-watering fruit without the more earthy and herbal tones. Maybe even a lover of Napa cab might enjoy this?

two good wines from the 'bad' 1997 vintage

Yet again, more proof that talented, consistent producers, who make consistently good, balanced wines, will do the same in more challenging vintages. Here we look at a Bdx and a Mosel Riesling from the oft maligned 1997 vintage. In the case of Bdx, it really was a tough year, with rains during harvest and many diluted, overly vegetal wines. Many '97s are not fun to drink. For the Mosel, I think that '97 was more overshadowed by the amazing '96 vintage, and was not by any means a dud.




Langoa Barton St. Julien 1997 - If St. Julien represents Bordeaux at its most elegant, with a most consistent spread of typicity, elegance and value (which, based on my experience up to this point, it does), then Langoa Barton is a perfect representative for the commune. Just like the '04 which I had a few months ago, this '97 is a balance of meaty savor, pure understated fruit, and soft texture. Of course this is a good bit more advanced, especially considering the fact that the vintage is not one for long cellaring. But really delicious, a much more complete and balanced wine than any other '97 Bdx I have yet tasted. '97 Malescot is pretty good now that I think about it, and may last a bit longer, but Langoa is the more interesting wine right now.



Max Ferdinand Richter Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Kabinett 1997 - I had to return a badly corked bottle to get to the good stuff. Which reminds me: at between 20-25% corked bottles (and I have cracked open many of Dirk's rieslings as I used to sell them for a distributor), this winery has BY FAR the worst corked wine to good wine ratio I have ever encountered. Dirk - you make very good Riesling but either find a better supply of cork or switch to stelvin!!! Anyway, VE is a monopoly vineyard for Richter, who is based in Mulheim in the middle Mosel. The flavors are very bright, pure, focused and citric, almost like Wehlener Sonnenuhr but lighter, more simple and with a more delicate minerality. Soil here is gray slate and quartz, not the famed blue Devonian slate as in Wehlener Sonnenuhr. With a light straw color, a bit of petrol and citrus on the nose, and a very juicy, snappy palate tasting of clementines, this wine can probably still evolve for another several years. The wine is starting to get the nice, silky, mature Riesling texture, but isn't all the way there yet. And it seems as though there is some sweetness that could further resolve itself in another few years. Richter's Veldenzer Elisenberg. wines, though, and this is no exception, are a real delight to drink young, middle aged, and I imagine old, though I have yet to experience a 20 yr old Richter wine from VE.

Tomorrow, probably back to the Loire valley (again....)

Good night.

Evolution of a reggae band - pt I

Aswad, from WAY back in the day.

Evolution of a reggae Band - pt II

Check out how much more polished Aswad is here. Not sure when this is from, but judging by how the band looks and the way they sound, I'd say somewhere between '89-'92.