Three recent purchases I'm excited about

2005 G.D. Vajra Barolo Albe

I don't remember this being particularly mind blowing, wine world view altering or anything like that. Just effortlessly balanced, ripe yet delicious, representative young Barolo. One for now, 6 for later.

2001 Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos Crianza Rioja

I've said it before and I'll likely say it again, dozens (if not hundreds) of times. I do tend to repeat myself. Good traditional crianza style Rioja is 10 year (from vintage) wine and in this case longer than that. Not bad for $15. In fact, very good wine, without price qualifiers. I really am looking forward to visiting this estate in May.

Jolly Pumpkin (4 assorted bottlings straight outta Dexter, Michigan)

Without the aid of the internet, is there anyone out there with some Michigan experience who can talk to me about what's going on in and around Dexter? Besides the best spontaneously fermented beer in America, that is? More on these beers later, likely later this week.

WU-YI... WU-YI...WU-YI!

I love the Wuyi style of oolong tea. Though I do not drink it as often as I drink the more green, fresh, less heavily oxidized Taiwanese formosa oolong, Wuyi definitely has its place as a tea of contemplation during the day or evening, even to wake you up in the morning. Wuyi mountain is located in northwestern Fujian province, where the tea plants are grown on rocky cliffs. Upon harvesting, the leaves are then allowed to oxidize up to 50% or slightly more prior to being twisted and pan or oven roasted to remove moisture. Finally, a well produced wuyi will be roasted on trays over a charcoal fire (using various types of wood as fuel) to add complexity to the final product. As you may imagine, there is a degree of subtle smokiness to the finished tea, but when it is well made this is in balance with the flavor of the tea. Even the strongest of teas are, when properly brewed, much more mild, subtle, and layered in flavor than coffee. After a few infusions, I love to observe the smokiness recede into the background as the character of the particular tea varietal become apparent, which in turn recedes to leave a mineral core. You can appreciate this evolution over the course of multiple infusions within a half hour or so, depending on how quickly you drink the tea.

Perhaps the amount of infusions a tea will deliver interesting flavors can provide you with a sense of how it might age if you cellar it? This is the wine drinker in me proposing this theory. That having been said, I have drunk few aged teas and have yet to appreciate them as much as I do younger ones. Surely this will change with some more exposure, I suspect. For now, though, I will keep drinking the current vintage Wuyi.

Spain in 3 weeks

Press junkets for wine bloggers are popular these days. Whether it's debating the merits of typicity vs oak influenced, post-modern homogeneity in the Piemonte, or reporting on wineries, abalone farms and other attractions in Paso Robles, there is most assuredly a junket for any blogger with just a little bit of hustle and some writing ability.

Now, I do not claim to be hustling or writing particularly well of late. Fortunately, however, I was approached by the US-Spain Chamber of Commerce with a junket proposal through my daytime gig as a Spanish wine buyer and will be heading to Spain - to the city of Terrassa, specifically. Throughout the week, I will be tasting and meeting with various Catalunyan producers, likely to be mainly in the Penedes D.O. The idea is that I find something I like, of some perceived commercial value, that I can sell to my customers. The good old direct importation model of selling wine. While in Terrassa I am very excited to be meeting up with Gabriella Opaz, who is one half of the husband-wife team at catavino. They have done a great job not only with their Iberian focused wine blog, but with uniting wine bloggers throughout Europe. Who knows, maybe she will teach me how to blog better.

In addition to seeking some wines that are honest, well-made and priced to move in large quantities, I will certainly be visiting a few producers of wine on a smaller, more human scale, making more natural wines. I have a few addresses I am planning to visit but would love to hear any thoughts on what may fit into this category. Oh, as a reminder small production and organic does not necessarily equate to natural.

After the week is up, I will stay several extra days to explore Rioja. With the exception of one huge, historical bodega whose wines I quite like, I will be focusing on smaller producers. Once again, any ideas are welcome.

Ideally, I will be reporting from the ground in Spain, which should hopefully provide some entertainment, with perhaps a bit of education for good measure.

Edutainment for the massses.

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....