Shalimar!

A couple nights ago my friend Matt and his wife Karla took me out for some delicious Indian and Pakistani cuisine on Indian row in the 'loin. I had heard high praise for Shalimar, as well as some cautionary tales (greasy, do not use the bathrooms, etc). It is definitely a no frills greasy spoon without any pretensions; I found the place to be clean, if sparsely and simply decorated. But it's not about the ambience, or for that matter the service here (we were given dishes we did not order twice, you need to pay attention and be vigilant as the plates start arriving!) It's about greedily eating some of the most authentic, perfectly seasoned Indian and Pakistani food around. Each place setting is provided with a 'Shalimar Times,' basically a four page tabloid printout explaining what Shalimar is about, with a menu on the inside. An excerpt states, "SHALIMAR'S CULINARY PHILOSOPHY: 'No substituions to fit the local tastes, no frills or nuevo cuisine, but sensible, genuine, tasty hearty and wholesome food.' In each guest we look forward to 'many happy returns.' " The interesting word usage and liberal smattering of quote marks makes for entertaining pre-meal reading.

On to the food. We ordered 3 types of flavored naan (onion, garlic, and spicy potato). All were flavorful and properly moist and chewy. Okra and tomatoes was delicious - rich and velvety fresh okra, piquant from the simmered tomatoes, and very savory and authentic from a liberal use of hing. Pureed eggplant (bengen bhujia) was tasty, with a good amount of onion and a strong cardamom seasoning which was the dominant flavor of this dish. Even better was the tandoori chicken (murgh boti tandoori), crisp and well seasoned with spices and vinegar. The standout dish, however, was saag gosht - a combination of tender braised lamb and spinach, with ginger, coriander, and a more mild blend of spices.

No wine to wash this food down. It's a BYOB and I was caught unprepared, no riesling on me and neighborhood shops are fine for tall boys of beer but that's about it. So it was all washed down with a Bass ale. Which was fine, even Riesling would have a tough time handling much of this food. I wholeheartedly reccommend Shalimar for folks who can deal with a slightly sketchy neighborhood, poor service and a slightly louder than usual blend of hip-hop and Bhangra. At Shalimar, it's all about the food.

My mind on mencia from Ribeira Sacra

I had very big hopes for the 2 wines below from D. Ventura. Both are from Mencia grown in steep, terraced vineyards overlooking the Sil, fermentated in stainless steel and free of the yoke of oak. My initial impressions, as you will see from reading the tasting notes below, are mixed. That having been said, anyone to whom I've spoken, or whose notes I've read, about these wines has gushed enthusiastically about these wines. Yet another reminder of the subjectivity of taste, not to mention my palate's occasional contrarian streak.

At any rate, I will need to remind myself to set lower expectations for well hyped, emerging regions in future tastings. These notes are from tasting the wines right after opening the bottles and then the day afer. I will re-visit them again on day 3 and record any notable changes.

2006 D. Ventura Pera de Lobo Ribeira Sacra

Produced from 100% mencia grown in granite. The nose has black pepper and reminds me of some of the lighter, higher toned Rhone reds like Cotes du Ventoux and Lirac (sometimes). Yep, there is an '04 southern Rhone vibe to this wine, on nose and palate. Red plum and huckleberry fruit that is fresh enough but won't win any points from me for originality or true sense of place.

2006 D. Ventura Vina Caneiro Ribeira Sacra

This wine is from primarily slate vineyards. It is sturdier, with darker fruits on nose and palate. Tasty blackberry fruit on the palate, with good length. While heavier, it also appears to have more acidity as well, and to me is the more interesting wine of the two.

Both of these mencias changed very little over a day and I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of that fact quite yet. I look forward to continuing to track these wines' progress. For now I'm definitely underwhelmed.

More sabor from Spain

One of our reps with a terrific book of Spanish wines - from wacky and funky, to traditional and regional, to cool and modern - came by today to sample a few things. Here are the wines:

Pere Ventura Cava Brut Nature

Brut nature= no dosage. It is an increasingly popular movement in Penedes, and for good reason if this wine is an indication of how exciting the quality can be. Touch of toastiness on the nose, leading to the crispest, driest, most precise tasting cava I have ever tasted. A real winner.

Sanstrave 'e' Cava Brut Nature Gran Reserva

48 months on the lees. Much more yeastiness on the nose, which also had a very prominent, funky, yellow miso aspect to it. It was similarly of the earth on the palate. Not much in the way of fruit here. Not so good.

2005 Vina Ijalba Blanco

Produced from Tempranillo Blanco, from a mutated section of their Tempranillo vineyard. Ijalba functions as a nursery for rare Rioja varietals, and makes some pretty exciting stuff. This wine is explosive on the nose - loads of quince and a hint of red fruits. Very textural, fleshy palate, and once again explosive. It is like dry Chenin that doesn't need a lot of time to come around; it's already delicious. Apricot and tangy red currant fruits were full and mouthfilling.

2006 Odysseus Rosat

This could be Spain's most expensive rosado. It had red fruit, with pomegranate leading the way, on the nose. A bit stinky as well. Grippy and palate coating, it reminded me of a 2002 Kir-Yianni Akakies I drunk quite a bit of 4 years ago, with less acidity but a very similar funkiness. Thing is, the Akakies is half the price.

2006 Valduero La Uve Toro

A bit bubblegummy on the nose. But fresh dark fruit, moderate tannins and a bit more liveliness than the nose would suggest made for a pleasant enough Toro. I often can't stand wine from this D.O.- too one-dimensional and clumsy. The fact that this was fermented in stainless (probably preceeded by a carbonic maceration) clearly helped to make this more to my liking.

2006 Martin Berdugo Ribera del Duero Joven 2006

Reductive, reductive, dark fruit. Lacking in purity, overly aggressive tannins. Poorly made wine.


2004 Vina Ijalba Graciano

Easily better than their 2003 Graciano, which was pretty damn good itself. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is one of the 2 or 3 most interesting young Spanish red wines I've ever tasted. Very aromatic, with white pepper and floral notes, a touch of Indian spices as well. Cote Rotie-like. Blue and purple fruits on the palate, with very fine grained tannins. Impressive, and for under $25 a real steal.

1998 Valduero Ribera del Duero Reserva

Black cherry jam and blackberry nose leads to more of the same on the palate. Well-integrated tannins and acidity, pure fruit, terrific intensity and length. Still very primary, but beginning to hit its stride. I'll have to get a few bottles to drink in 3 or so years. This wine spends 30 months in barrel, 2/3 American oak and 1/3 French, both previously used.

2003 Sangenis i Vaque Priorat

Priorat is typically not my thing. As recently as one and a half years ago, yes. Now, I either hate the wines as most are so sickly fruity and over-extracted, or shrug my shoulders at the wines that are ok but still pricey and not quite exciting (a la Palacios Les Terrases). Though this particular Priorat is not my style, it was distinctive. Very dark fruited, with the intensity of many $50-$80 Priorats, sans cloying fruit. Good minerality (slate here is more red than the blue stuff that dominates many of the estates which produce and export Priorat to the US market). Not my style but I respect this wine. And it retails for about $30. Which follows the inverse correlation between price and quality I'm continuing to observe in estate's offerings througout Priorat.

Cymande - Listen Up

Cymande was a group of Jamaican and Guyanese emmigrants to England. Their music is tight, soulful, and timeless. I really enjoy the way this Cymande fan captures in his video the album art and shows a bit more of what the band was trying to accomplish with their music.

I drank a wine from the Jeffersonian era! Palo Cortado, pt. III

And it was not a Th J Lafitte counterfeit bottle. Rather, it was a real deal bottle of Hidalgo Palo Cortado Viejo V.O.R.S. OK, to be honest the solera was begun in colonial times, which might represent .3333333% of the contents in the bottle. But I'm still going to count it as the oldest wine I have tasted to date. It was phenomenal. Endlessly fascinating to sniff, this sherry showed incredibly complex, nutty, dried fruit flavors with great acidity, and a silken texture that only a whole lot of age can provide. For roughly $120 you can enjoy the same experience, as well as help to save a rare species of Spanish eagle. Now how could you pass that up?

Puzelat Pd'A and other fun stuff at Terroir

Saturday night I went back to San Francisco's premier spot for enjoying natural wines - Terroir. Once we had settled in and started browsing for a bottle to enjoy, Guilhaume gave us a taste of the 2005 Tissot Poulsard. It was nice - fresh berry fruit, light tannins, direct and simple, just what I expected. With a bit of direction from Guilhaume, we ended up starting off with a bottle of 2006 Thierry Puzelat 'La Tesniere' Pineau d'Aunis. It was their last bottle and they're unable to buy more for the time-being, so it was a generous and appreciated rec. The wine was very, very good. A mix of wild strawberries and bramble on the nose. More of the same on the palate, tremendous purity of fruit and terrific balance. The tannins though were certainly firm, but very fine. In fact, the power of the wine and the firm tannin structure brought Barbera to mind, as did the slightly resiny, stick to your gums quality of the wine. But the fresh, bright quality of the fruit was all Loire valley; 14.5% abv did not at all detract from this wine.

In the Burgundian - and opposite Billy Joel style come to think of it - we had a bottle of white following our red, a humble bottle of 2005 Dr. Burklin Wolf Estate riesling. It was bright, nicely dry, fleshy, with yellow stone fruit and a bit of flinty minerality. Throughout the evening, Guilhaume and a few others poured a few other wines for us to taste(thanks, guys!):

2003 Tissot Chardonnay - This was pleasantly funky for a Tissot wine; I've found their other stuff to be pretty straight ahead. It is a savory, slightly spicy number, sort of village Meursault like, without the mid-palate richness and heft.

2003 Frick Riesling - Biodynamic Alsace riesling, here. It is made in a slightly oxidized style. Broad and creamy, it tasted like Riesling grown in some heavily clay based soil.

There was a pretty '05 Mercurey and I don't recall the producer's name. Also someone very generously brought in a bottle of 1986 Macon Village from botrytized chardonnay grapes (?) I forget the specs on this one, but it sure was one rare bird.

On this particular evening, Terroir once again came correct.

Creative Expression vs Economic Opportunism; Comparing wine to '80s music

Call me an idealist, a business novice, or just an idiot. But whenever I engage in a form of creative expression, I do it mainly to satisfy my criteria of what I would enjoy listening to, reading, eating, or, if I were to make wine, drinking. This seems logical, right? With stories like this one about Adam Tolmach of Ojai, one wonders how many folks in California are truly guided by a sense of personal aesthetics in their winemaking. It is not fair to limit this question to California; however, many people would contend that a whole lot of winemakers in California are guilty of making wines which lack originality and, to not mince words, are boring, sweet, and just plain suck.

The tide here is obviously turning, though. I see it in what most critics write about wines and in what many of my customers enjoy drinking.

I see 1984-1991 in the music business in similar terms as 2000-2007 in the world of wine. There are certainly many interesting albums and wines in both periods. But just as many wines now taste similar and lack inspiration, a whole lot of music was watered down, all featuring the same new genre of synths, and the same heavy handed production. Look at the list of established artists who made terrible albums in the 1980's. At the same time, new genres, most notably hip-hop, were continuing to evolve. If you looked carefully, the beginnings of what would be the new pop rock in the 90s was forming from the underground rock of the '80s. To return back to the vinous side of our discussion, natural wines and grower champagnes have never been more popular.

It will be interesting to see when this particular chapter in wine tastes will close, but it appears to be doing so quickly.