QUINOA - it's what's for dinner

Quinoa is indigenous to the Andean regions of South America. It thrives in low nutrient, high pH soil, in conditions where no other fruits or vegetables will grow. Yep, it's similar to the vine.

Here is a lazy, last minute, no produce available, somewhat nutritious dinner recipe. It's vegan, throw it together, cuisine brut type cooking:

2c Quinoa
3.5c water
3 large cloves garlic, sliced into thin rounds
1/4 c olive oil
One half of one lemon
3 tbsp chopped walnuts
1/4c italian parsley, chopped
2 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2c white wine
salt and pepper to taste
extra olive oil to drizzle on top

Mix water and quinoa together in a pasta pot. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium heat
Heat olive oil on medium in a large pan, and then add garlic. Cook for 40 seconds.
Add walnuts, sundried tomatoes, red pepper, white wine, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. When finished, add most of parsley and stir into sauce.
When the quinoa has soaked up all of the water and is fluffy, add the sauce and stir well. Serve in a bowl and add a bit more olive oil on top. Garnish with parsley. Add freshly grated piave or pecorino if desired.

This dish would probably also be pretty good with a few tbsp butter in the sauce, and/or 2 sardines sauteed initially in the olive oil and garlic.

Single Blind Arneis Tasting

This past Thursday night my tasting group met at the usual spot, Chez Mark in Oakland, for a single blind tasting dedicated to the little rascal, the proverbial Pacherenc to the Piemonte's Nebbiolo, Arneis. Before going any further, I'd like to thank Mark Middlebrook for once again hosting the group, and for organizing what might have been the most educational of our tastings to date. Mark, who has been to Piemonte on numerous occasions, is a passionate advocate of the wines, food and people of the Piedmont. In particular Mark loves the Roero, which came through in Mark's stories about some of the winemakers with whom he has visited, helped with harvest and spent much quality time in the past 7 or so years. To go with the wines, there was some basic Mortadella, a meatier Fra Mani Mortadella (I preferred this one), Fra Mani salametto, Piave (delicious cow's milk cheese from the Veneto, not the Piemonte), a Piedmontese goat cheese (Bra tenero, I think), good bread and Piedmontese styled sardines with parsley, olive oil, lemon and garlic. Perfect for Arneis. Mmmm - it does go well with the sardines. Delicious again, Mark.

Here are the wines, seven in all, listed in order of service. We tasted everything single blind (i.e. we knew that each wine would be an arneis, but did not know the producer or vintage):

Fillipo Gallino Roero Arneis 2006 - A very impressive start. Clean, crystalline and vivid, with good length and purity in its appley fruit. This was my #2 wine and was in most people's top 3. At about $11 it's a killer value.

Cascina Val de Prete Roero Arneis 2004 - This one was richer, with golden delicious apples and lemon curd on the nose. Mario Roagna apparently ages 1/3 of the wine in new oak (not sure for how long) and there is extended skin contact prior to fermentation. No wonder given the wine's richness. Somehow I found this to be OK, in the middle of the pack. Not so with other folks, as it was ranked last.

Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis 2006 - Relative to the other wines, this one struck me as being richer, with a fatter, more rounded mid palate. Also more spice and a slightly sweeter pear/apple fruit profile. After re-visiting the wine on its own (after the line-up), accompanied by the sardines, it definitely was tastier and not as ponderous. We ranked this one 6th.

Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis 'Vigna Sparse' 2006 - Ar-NIIICE! (delivered in the Borat style). A ton of mineral opens to very discreet citrus and lemongrass on the nose, which then leads to one hell of a nervy, racy, squeaky clean wine. With tremendous minerality and focus, this one really reminded me of a young Nigl Gruner Veltliner. Others mentioned Chablis and Muscadet. This was clearly the WOTN for me, though it was ranked second by the group. Mark was explaining that Domenico Almondo, who now makes the wine here, is mentioned by everyone in the Roero as making the most serious Arneis in the region. This wine is clearly not dumbed down with any Chardonnay like some of the other wines in this line-up. Get it if you can find it. Good luck finding it.

Ceretto Roero Arneis 2006 - Nose a bit funky, and very distinct from the others. Starfruit and gentle citrus fruits on the palate. I am embarrassed to say that it somehow squeaked into my #3 spot, as this is a fairly softened style of Arneis, and further as it is an LVMH product, Oh well. On behalf of my palate, I'm pleading temporary insanity. Though it's not an archetypal Arneis, I must admit that the wine is soundly made and agreeable. Someone mentioned that the wine reminded them of Vermention; someone else thought the wine to be leesy.

Vietti Roero Arneis 2006 - A bit closed on the nose, at first this arneis seemed a bit clumsy. After opening up a bit there was more freshness and classic Arneis appley fruit and snappy, biting finish. Upon further review, this would have been my #3 wine. I typically really enjoy Vietti's Arneis for its typicity and overall deliciousness, and look forward to it each summer when the new vintage arrives in the States.

Cascina Val de Prete Roero Arneis 2006

This one was darker in color than their '04. In fact I thought that this wine was an '04 or '05. Given the advanced color and very mature aromas, as well as the flabbiness of this wine, I showed little mercy in calling it 'over the hill,' and reminiscent of two-year old Godello that should have been drunk already. Easily my least favorite wine, though others ranked it 4th. Viva la diference. Though the wine recently arrived from Italy and might have been bottle shocked, this was just part of the problem. There is a lack of life, acidity and varietal character that is disturbing for an '06 white wine. Maybe it was cooked en route?

After all these whites, Mark brought out a Roero red, a 2004 Mateo Corregia Val dei Preti Nebbiolo d'Alba made by Mateo Corregio. Apparently everyone in Roero congregated around Mateo, who was only in his early 40's when he died of a tractor accident in the vineyards. He was serious about his craft and other vintners sought him out for his opinion (often times brutally honest) on their wines and what they should do to improve their quality. The wine, composed of 100% nebbiolo, is modern, tamed slightly by some new oak, but not over the top, with pretty, pure dark fruit. Not quite as firm, nuanced, or haunting as young Barbaresco, Barolo, or even really good Langhe Nebbiolo, but very tasty all the same.

Thanks again to Mark for organizing this great tasting and doing such a good job with it. It made me want to visit the Piedmont.

Hondarribi Beltza

That's the grape used in red txacoli, and the grape used to make the 2005 Talai Berri Txacolina Beltza which I enjoyed last night. It's a cool little wine. Definitely its own thing, though if one had to compare it tastes very much of the Cabernet family with a strong green peppercorn note on the nose and curranty fruit. The floral aspects of the wine on the palate, as well as the acidity, remind me more of Loire valley Cab Franc than anything else, certainly more than any Mencia I've had, which is the Spanish grape most widely compared to Cab Franc. Just like most white Txacoli, this vinito had a slight pettilance to it, which I enjoy in red wines (as long as it is a subtle aspect and the flavors taste as they should, it indicates that a touch of CO2 was left in the bottle from the fermentation, which often times means that a minimum of sulphur was used prior to bottling. A good thing).

My brother and I had this with one of my favorite French cheeses - Ossau-Iraty, the Basque country sheep's cheese. It was good and dry, crumbly, pleasantly earthy, dusty and sheepy. We also had it with a chipotle rubbed steak salad, with sauteed mushrooms and a simple olive oil, lemon and shallot dressing. With lots of parsley. One of the things I love about Basque cooking (not that this was at all a traditional Basque dish) is the parsley. I'll have to make some parsleyed potatoes and maybe a nice piece of fish tonight to go with the remaining txacolina in my fridge.

Scarface REMIX - BALTIMORE CLUB

WHAT'S UP, BALTIMORE!!!

Stereolab - Fluorescences

I am an unabashed Stereolab junkie. Well, at least up until the Dots and Loops album.

A terrific Stereolab song, the ever present commodore computer, multi-colored neon lights, Michel Gondry direction - what's there not to like? Fluorescenses captures a mood and state of mind to which I can relate. It's a beautiful song.

YESTERDAY WAS W&S TOP 100 TASTING DAY

Yesterday was the single busiest day we have had at the shop year to date. The ever powerful closeout email insured an afternoon of trying to stay on top of the order qeue, pick and process order after order, cart after cart. Usually not my j-o, but as it's a team effort, I was hangin' with the operations crew, processing orders for the better part of the afternoon yesterday. They're good guys, slightly more friendly than the ops team at Dundar-Mifflin.

I had planned to go to the trade portion of the good old Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting, but ended up catching the last hour of the consumer portion of the event since I didn't get out of the shop until later than I had hoped. It's just as well. Trade tastings, at least as used for tasting, enjoying and remembering wine, are not ideal events. They are crowded, noisy, and full of distractions. As a way to meet other people in the business (crotchety old retailers, chipper young distributor reps, cute servers, etc) trade tastings sometimes are fun. Yesterday, however, I was in the midst of an all-out consumer cocktail party, sponsored by Wine & Spirits. With about an hour to fit it all in, I definitely missed a bunch of stuff. It didn't help that I was not entirely focused, talking to some winemakers or importers for too long, allowing a drunk restaurant owner to chat my ear off for what seemed like forever. You need to attack an event like this in the way you would a museum. Example: OK, I'll start with Champagne at the Gimmonet table, try the Cliquot stuff so I have something to hate on for my blog, skip the Gobelsburg because I know the wines really well already, hit the Royal Tokaji table for some 6 puttonyo deliciousness before it gets too crowded at the end of the night when everyone wants dessert wine, then have some food and taste wines from Toro and Ribera del Duero so I have more things to hate on, and so on.

So this time around I only tasted champagnes and whites, which is fine as there was not a whole lot of winners from the looks of the red wine line-up. A very condensed listing of some highlights and lowlights:

TASTY

Pierre Gimmonet Blanc de Blancs 1999 - Very precise and crisp, with great minerality and fruit intensity. Their special club, very recently disgorged, was a bit tightly wound up and very mineral. Needs some time.

Hidalgo 'La Gitana' Manzanilla and 'Napoleon' Amontillado - These are always good, better than the comparable Lustau sherries. I was talking to the importer rep, a nice girl who grew up on Russia's Pacific coast, who is now selling wines along the United States' Pacific coast.

Francois Chidaine Montlouis Sur Loire 'Les Choisilles' 2004 - Tasty, dry chenin, tasting of green things: green figs, green tea, just under-ripe Anjou pears.

Francois Chidaine Montlouis Sur Loire Clos Habert 2005 - Off dry and the most funky of his whites that I have had. There is a similar funk in his sparkling wine. This chenin tastes like a peach pit, is slightly honeyed, and has a real chewy Loire chenin texture.

Francois Chidaine Vouvray Le Bouchet 2005 - This is between demi-sec and moelleux. Sweeter, but the acidity seems brighter and stands out more than the Clos Habert, which by comparison is heavier and, once again, fonky. On this particular evening, Le Bouchet was my clear favorite.

Domaine Huet Vouvray 'Clos du Bourg' 2005 - Very famous vineyard site and producer and it was very tasty. I do not remember specifics, just that it was really good Chenin that has a long, long life ahead of it.

Domaine Weinbach Cuvee Ste-Catherine L'Inedit Riesling 2006 - My memory is failing me here. I remember just the slightest bit of RS, ripe mandarin fruit, and lots of energy on the palate, with very good depth, intensity and length. The gewurz, the 2004 Cuvee Lawrence, had a really gorgeous nose, with an amazingly vivid, red grapefruit character, and then was all gewurz on the palate - spicy, bitter, alcoholic and lacking in acidity. If I don't like this then I guess I'm officially an Alsace gewurz hater.

JJ Prum Spatlese Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 2004 - Really cool wine. Super funky doryann fruit characterize the nose of this riesling. Very slatey /petrolly and already an interesting wine, though it is still a young pup.

C. Von Schubert - This is what I get for not taking notes. These were good wines and I don't recall which was my favorite, the Maximin Grunhauser Abstberg Riesling Spatlese or the Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese. Were they both '05, or was one '05 and one '06? Maybe one was a kabinett as well. I don't know, outta sight outta mind. All I remember is that these are very solid Rieslings, with talc like minerality and very clean, lemon-lime soda flavors.

EH...NOT SO MUCH

Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame 1998 - What a waste of money! This is so boring. A real snooze fest. I'd go as far as saying that I would rather drink even a few mediocre grand marque NV champagnes than this stuff. For $130 I would just get four bottles of good grower champagne. Or Bollinger. BOYCOTT Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy. products. They're overpriced, branded, strictly profit-driven wines that are guaranteed to disappoint.

Schiopetto Mario Schiopetto Bianco 2004 - Anonymous, boring, friulian wine.

That was the tasting - as you can tell, a rushed, not so expertly recorded event. For dinner I decided to dine solo (something I enjoy doing and haven't done in a while; if you haven't already done so you should try it) and went to Two (which is in the former Hawthorne Lane space). I ate an amazing lamb pastrami sandwich with russian dressing, sauerkraut and melted gruyere served on toasted black bread. The pastrami was spicy but not overly salty, and much more tender and less dry than the usual rendition. At first I had ordered a bottle of 1990 Poniatowski Vouvray Moelleux (only $42 on the list) which, sadly, was corked. I then got a bottle of 1995 Crouchet Vouvray Demi-Sec. Nothing like a high acid, slightly sweet white wine to go with some hearty, spicy meat and kraut. The sommelier noticed that I still had a good amount of wine left, so I was comped a cheese plate (thanks, Jeff). Great food and way reasonable prices, so I will definitely have to make a return visit to Two sometime soon.

A Malbec from Walla Walla - It's good (trust me).

Mmm, mmm, mmm. This is a really tasty wine that I will happily drink again, and again. It smells like Malbec, with some mixed berry fruit and subtle floral notes. The texture is very soft and supple, with mulberry and some raspberry fruits, and the inner mouth floral notes that I love to perceive in wines and seldom do in more inexpensive offerings. Tannins are light and very well integrated. Nowhere is the overoaked, cloying, manipulated quality found in many Argentine Malbecs. Seven Hills Malbec is refreshing, food friendly, and should please many a Euro-centric, jaded, geeky palate. At least it certainly did with folks I was tasting with.

Why don't more folks in the US make wine like this?? If they did maybe more younger wine drinkers would support their wine instead of buying imports.