2006 Ravenswood Petit Sirah

Last week I received my copy of Esquin's monthly newsletter, and I highlighted several tempting bargains. After work tonight, Jenny and I drove down and picked up a case from my selections.

This bottle is a bit of a dud. It has a toasty scent, and a strange initial flavor that Jenny describes as "stale." On the upside, once you get past the initial wave, I get a concentrated, almost syrupy cherry flavor, and a whiff of vanilla as if it were aged in oak (I've googled a bit and can neither confirm nor refute this suspicion).

I can't recall the price, though it was under $10. I wouldn't buy it again.

Tenuta Ponte - 2007 Coda Di Volpe

This wine is all over the place. I've seen it in restaurants, grocery stores, and at McCarthy and Schiering (though not for a while). Coda Di Volpe is an obscure varietal (the Wine Lover's Companion is silent) of ancient origins commonly grown in Campania. This bottle hails from Irpina, just a few miles from Napoli.

The wine has good body, with full fruit flavor and honey that reminds me of good Viogner, if somewhat less intense. It runs about $12, and is a reasonable buy at that price, but not a steal.

2004 Lan Rioja

A great bargain at $11 from McCarthy and Schiering. Totally delicious with a gentle perfumey vanilla scent from oak aging. I wrote about this wine in the pre-blog days, but I haven't seen it for a while. I'm going to order a case before it disappears again.

Verdier and Logel - 2006 Cotes du Forez

This stuff is crazy. It's got an intensely herbal nose, and a smoky flavor. The scent combined with the somewhat dusty tannins made me think it was Cabernet Franc, but it's 100% Gamay. I have another bottle by the same maker; I plan to drink it in the next couple days, and I'll report my fingings here.

Cotes du Forez is apparently a little known French appelation. None of my books mention it, but the French wikipedia has an article. If only I could read French.

$13 from McCarthy and Schiering. I liked it, it's worth buying just for the experience.

Jaboulet 2005 Muscat De Beaumes-De-Venise

I stayed late at work tonight, so late that I missed the last express bus home. I originally planned to take the bus tunnel to the SLUT, and walk home the rest of the way, but Jenny offered to meet me at Whole Foods where we could shop for dinner groceries and drive home together.

While wandering around picking up dinner groceries, Jenny broached the idea of dessert. Originally she wanted chocolate or something from the pasty case, but when I suggested cheese and dessert wine, she quickly came around to my way of thinking.

For the cheese, we got a mini Cheverot, a French goat cheese made by Cooperative Sevre-et-Belle in Poitou. Steve Jenkins in his Cheese Primer says he "never has tasted better goat cheese." This one we had tonight has young, so tasted sweet, but still had nice piquant goat cheese flavor.

The dessert wine selection at Whole Foods is somewhat limited (dozens of ports, 2 sauternes, 1 muscat, a handful of random domestic dessert wines), but this muscat seemed a good choice. Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise is an AC in France's Rhone region. The wines produced there are "vin doux naturel" or natually sweet wines. They are produced from grapes that are naturally high in sugar and then fortified with neutral flavored alcohol. This bottle has lovely honey flavor and floral nose. It was a superb companion to the cheese and the first honeycrisp apple of the season.

All in all, an exceptionally delicious dessert course.

Value is suddenly fashionable

You know the economy is in trouble when Eric Asimov at the New York Times writes an article on finding good wine values. His most salient advice: "Even with the pitiful exchange rate, France is the greatest source of wine bargains in the world."

This blog is squarely focused on value wines, and this seems a good opportunity to thank my friend JJ for instilling in me the importance of seeking "value" in all things, not least culinary pleasures. Any idiot can get satisfactory food and wine by spending a lot of money, but the real joy is in finding superlative food and wine in more modest venues at lower prices.

2006 Domaine de Montine - Coteaux Du Tricastin

The Coteaux Du Tricastin appellation in situated in the south of France's Rhone region. Many varietals are grown there, and I'm not adept enough to discern which one dominates this wine. Either way, I wasn't very happy with this bottle as it's flavor profile was dominated by earthy tobacco flavors (Jenny described it as "dusty" and "rustic"). The small amount of fruit flavors present were very dark, running dangerously close to bitter.

$12 at McCarthy and Schiering. I won't buy more.

2006 El Quintanal - Ribera Del Duero

Not to be confused with the Duoro region in Portugal, Ribera Del Duero is a DO in northern Spain, along (as one might guess) the Duero river. This bottle is 100% Tempranillo, known locally as Tinto Fino, and has a flavor reminiscent of chocolate covered cherries. The fact that I don't like chocolate covered cherries, along with the rough tannins means that I probably won't be buying more.

$12 at McCarthy and Schiering.

Domaine du Pas Saint Martin - 2007 Saumur

I made Indian vegetable curry for dinner last night and it was my best effort yet. I toasted the spices perfectly, and got spectacular browning from the aromatics and spices before adding the liquid.

I was eagerly anticipating the leftovers on my way home tonight and while I was walking from the bus I pondered what wine I'd like to drink. I prefer unoaked whites with spicy food, particularly those with high acid.

I stopped by McCarthy and Schiering and quickly spotted a tempting bottle of Gruner-Veltliner, but when I explained my situation to Lauren, she pointed out that the 2007 wines from Saumur were super high in acid (unfortunately, I didn't ask why). Since I tend to like acidic wines, I went home with this bottle which runs $13.

It's based on the Chenin Blanc, as is common in Suamur wines, and Chenin Blanc is known for high acidtity, but this wine it pretty extreme. Still, the nice citrus flavors come through, and it was great with my spicy curry.

2006 Lemelson Pinot Noir

After hacking up my finger cutting basil into chiffonade on Friday night, I didn't feel like cooking dinner on Saturday, so Jenny and I walked to How To Cook A Wolf for dinner. As usual, they were jam packed with a 45 minute wait for a table inside, but luckily there was no wait for an outdoor table. We'd brought light coats, so sitting on the sidewalk on a crisp evening was just fine with us.

We shared bruschetta topped with cranberry beans, marinated heirloom tomatoes, and a bowl of trofie with pesto. The pasta was particularly delicious; even better than the trofie I've had in Liguria (where it originates).

The wine was also very tasty, exhibiting classic pinot flavors of red fruit (Jenny: cherry, me: strawberry) and perfumey vanilla from the Burgundian oak in which it's aged. I might have preferred something a little more earthy with our meal, but this bottle was up to the job.

It wasn't cheap at $42. I probably wouldn't get it again at restaurant prices, but would definitely consider it if I wanted a good example of Oregon pinot and found it in the low-$20s at a wine shop.

Domaine de la Pepiere - 2007 Muscadet

A new vintage of an old favorite. It smells of pears, and has bright citrus acidity and a full mouth-feel. An superb accompaniment to the roast chicken with root vegetables I made for dinner (including lovely beets from my local farmer's market).

$13 at McCarthy and Schiering, and worth every penny.

Castano - 2006 Yecla Monastrell

When I was a little boy, I would occasionally cook tacos for my family from the Ortega kit. It was so easy that even as a kid I could do it successfully, and this experience was seminal in my lifelong love of food and cooking. It is slightly embarrassing to admit that, on occasion, I still make tacos in the much same style.

Tonight was such an occasion. I couldn't decide what to make for dinner, and kept putting off the decision until it was too late to do anything the least bit elaborate. While Jenny was running on her treadmill, I ran to Metro Market for groceries.

I buy taco seasoning in bulk from Penzeys and add onion, garlic and a bit of tomato paste, so the filling is somewhat better than the Ortega seasoning packet, but little else has changed from my youth: grated cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, La Victoria taco sauce, and Ortega hard taco shells warmed in the oven.

While at Metro Market I picked a random, cheap bottle of red ($8.50 as I recall). Yecla is a DO located in eastern Spain that produces wines primarily from the Monastrell grape. Monastrell wines are typically high in alcohol and low in acid, and the Wine Lover's Companion says that they tend to be heavy and dry.

This bottle matches that description to a tee. With little acidity, this wine hits your tongue with a dull thud. It was barely up to accompanying the humble tacos I'd prepared for dinner. I won't be buying more.

La Badiane - 2004 Coteaux Varois

Coteaux Varois is a large VDQS in France's Provence region. Many different varietals are grown there, but I suspect that the La Badiane is primarily of Carignan, which is noted for being high in alcohol and tannins. This wine is also rather spicy, another Carignan characteristic.

Jenny liked it a lot, but I wasn't a fan of the tight tannins and lack of acidity. The La Badiane is a mixed bag. $10 at McCarthy and Schiering.

Domaine La Croix Belle - 2006 le Champ du Coq

This is a Syrah/Grenache blend which, according to the back of the bottle, is a vin de pays (country wine) from the Cotes de Thoungue region of France.

The syrah component comes through very strongly. It is tannic, and has intense dark fruit flavors I associate with syrah. It has a funny scent on the nose that I couldn't quite place. I described it as vaguely chemically at first, though after consulting The Wine Lover's Companion, it might be "tar," a positive term associated with young syrahs which are said to sometimes smell of hot tar.

Moderately priced ($12 I think, but I've lost the price tag), from McCarthy and Schiering. I liked it, and would buy it again, though I would reserve it for dinners where I was serving something with huge umami flavors.

Cave Des Onze Communes - 2006 Torrette Vallee de Aoste

Valle d'Aosta is Italy's smallest DOC, in the northwestern part of the country, bordering France and Switzerland. The area is officially bilingual, hence the French spelling on the bottle. Torrette is one of the seven subregions. Many red wine grapes are grown in this region, but this site indicates that the Cave Des Onze Communes Torrette is made from Petite Rouge.

Jenny and I both liked this wine a lot. We both get a strong cherry flavor, and I get a slight tinge of banana. Well worth the $12 it'll cost you at McCarthy and Schiering.

2007 Domaine De Couron Voigner

My 1995 edition of the wine lover's companion says "low yield and vineyard diseases make Viognier wines extremely difficult to find." Well, things seem to have changed in the ensuing twenty years -- I see Viognier based wines all the time nowadays.

That said, to date I've only had new world Viogniers, and they are much wimpier than this bottle. It's intensely floral on the nose and is very sweet, tasting of pears and honey on the palate. I served it with roast chicken with root vegetables (it's already feeling a bit like fall here in seattle, sadly). I would have liked a bit more acidity, to cut through the rich flavors of the roasted vegetables, but it was quite enjoyable. It would be a great with a light summer meal of cheese, olives, bread and a green salad.

$12 at McCarthy and Schiering.

Finca El Reposo - 2007 Saint Jeannet - Mendoza Agentina

Oh my! An amazing bargain at $8 from McCarthy and Schiering. I plan to buy a case at my earliest conveneince.

Saint Jeannet is an obscure varietal of unclear origin (depending on who you believe it might be Greek, Italian, French or possibly Asian), brought to Argentina some 90 years ago. Supposedly there are just four hectares of it in production and all of it goes into this wine.

The limited production is something of a tradgedy, because this bottle is delicious. It's got great acidity, a full mouthfeel, and a tiny touch of sweet (pineapple?). I would happily kick to the curb dozens of fine Burgundy Chardonnays at twice the price for a bottle of the lovely Finca El Reposo.

Lang and Reed Cabernet Franc

Jenny and I had this bottle with dinner at Betty for my birthday. As I recall, it was very tasty, very floral and perfumey on the nose, not quite as dusty or herbaceous as some cab francs are.

It was a bit spendy, in the middle range of Betty's wine list, but very much worth it in my opinion.

A random 2001 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

On our second night in San Francisco, Mark, JJ, Dave and I went back into the city for dinner. After the conference sessions had concluded there was a reception with wine and hors d'oeuvres among the vendor booths (good strategy: get the attendees tipsy, then sic the sales guys on 'em). Having diddled around at the reception for too long, it was eight or so before we started thinking about dinner.

Dave, never having been to San Francisco before, really wanted to go into the city (the conference was at a hotel near the airport). We hemmed and hawed for a while, trying to figure out where we'd go and the best way to get there. After some minutes, it was clear that we were making no progress, so JJ just started walking to the front of the hotel.

With no clear plan at all, we hopped into a cab and asked the driver to take us into the city, we'd tell him precisely where later. After ten minutes of furious cell phone yelping and calling for reservations we decided on some obscure Italian place, the name of which has completely escaped me. This is unfortunate as it was one of the best meals I've eaten in a long time.

We shared two appetizers. The first was some truly remarkable grilled vegetables, which under any other circumstances I would rave about at length. Sadly for the veggies, they were upstaged by a plate of burrata (a fresh buffalo mozzarella shell, filled with a mixture of more mozzarella and cream) accompanied by crostini and caponata. The burrata was exquisite, fresh, creamy, lightly sweet... I've never tasted anything quite like it.

For my entree I had a plate of braised rabbit with polenta. The preparation was very traditional; no fancy flourishes, just flavor so rich and complex that it makes you want to cry.

This wine was up to the task of accompanying such a fine meal, though I must admit that I don't recall much about it. This is ok, I think. Wine doesn't always have to announce itself. Like a good server, sometimes it's enough that wine makes everything come together smoothly without your even noticing.

Grigenti 2002 Nero d'Avola

I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week in San Francisco at the O'Reilly Velocity conference. After scouring Yelp for a little while, Mark, JJ and I decided that Tommaso's in North Beach looked like a fun place for dinner on Sunday night. Luckily, we arrived just ahead of the rush and were seated almost immediately; by the time we left, a crowd of people waiting for a table spilled out onto the sidewalk.

We had a couple of pretty good pizzas, a plate of assorted cured meats, and some pickled vegetables. While not insanely great, it was good value, everything was pretty cheap.

This wine, recommended by our extremely effficient server, may have been the highlight of the meal. Nero d'Avola is a grape cultivated in Sicily, originally near the town of Avola in the south of the island. This bottle was light and easy to drink, with soft tannins and a lovely floral nose.

La Vieille Ferme - 2006 Cotes Du Ventoux

I grabbed this bottle from Metro Market because I was planning to make wine glazed vegetables with lentils for dinner, and I don't like pouring a bunch of "good" wine into a pot.

Reasonably priced at $9, this bottle is totally serviceable in cooking and at the table, though in my opinion it's not especially balanced, with too much alcohol on the palate.

Pascal Aufranc 2006 Chenas

Jenny was at the market yesterday and stopped by Sosio's to pick up vegetables for dinner. Nothing caught her eye until she alit upon some garlic shoots, also called garlic "scapes," you can see a decent photo here. I'd never tasted or prepared them before, and none of my books had anything to say about them, even the bible.

On the way home I picked up a chicken breast, planning to saute it and make a simple pan sauce with the cut up garlic shoots. The bunch we had was pretty big, too big to put all of it the sauce, so I steamed the rest, finishing them with butter, salt and pepper.

They were delicious. Raw they had a strong peppery bite, but once cooked they were very mild, tasting vaguely like asparagus spears. I think I preferred them just steamed with a touch of sweetness from the butter; in the pan sauce they were overwhelmed by the other flavors.

This wine went very nicely with dinner. Chenas is the smallest of the 10 Crus in France's Beaujolais region, and this bottle tasted like a really concentrated Beaujolais. $15 from McCarthy and Schiering, and worth the price.

Jackpot!

I've written previously about my Wednesday ritual of reading the Dining and Wine section of The New York Times over lunch. Like all things in life, there is some variance in this experience. Some weeks, nothing particularly strikes me in the food section, and I end up reading other parts of the paper. Other weeks, I feel deeply blessed to be spending a hour with some of the best food writing being published today.

I'd like to report that last Wednesday was a red letter day. A few of the articles:

• A Tiny Fruit That Tricks the Tongue
• Suddenly, Ricotta's A Big Cheese
  
• Nothing Says Summer Like Icing
  
• A Tour of Bitters For the Summer

Tonight I'm making fresh ricotta to have with ricotta crostini with fresh thyme and dried oregano.

Chateau de la Ragotiere - Muscadet

Jenny and I planned to grill last night, but before dinner we went for a walk. We wandered down to Kerry Park and were treated to a nice Mt. Rainier view. As we walked back, Jenny suggested that we stop at Betty and to see if they had any seats open. We got lucky again, scoring two seats at the bar right in front of the expediter.

The food was delicious, as usual. We shared fried risotto balls stuffed with fresh mozerella, served in a bowl of tomato sauce and topped with fried kale leaves - Betty's answer to the fried mozzerella stick. We also shared a green salad and the fish special, which was halibut alongside braised pea vines and mashed potatoes. A note to other diners: being in a good mood and treating your server with kindness and respect pays dividends, our dessert was comped.

This wine was a perfect accompaniment to our meal. Muscadet is unusual among French wines in that it's named for the grape instead of the region it's grown in. This bottle is from the Muscadet de Sevre-et-Maine AC, considered the best of the Muscadet producing regions in Loire. It had the nice citrus flavors and a creamy mouth feel typical of good Muscadet.

It's a good deal at a restaurant, priced in the upper $20s. You can probably get it in the low teens if you find it at a wine shop.

My Wednesday Ritual

I put up a post about my Wednesday ritual over at telepatch.

2005 Selby Chardonnay

We had this bottle on a different night at the Ritz on Maui. I don't recall much about it except that it tasted very strongly of cantaloupe when it was cold. Jenny liked it immediately, but I don't care for cantaloupe. As it warmed up the cantaloupe mellowed and honey came through, and I liked it too by the end of the night.

Chateau du BlahBlah - 2006 Graves

We had this at Gaylord's Restaurant on Kauai. Gaylord's is a high-end place, perhaps with fanciest place to eat on the island. The tables are arranged around an outdoor courtyard - it's a beautiful setting.

The most entertaining part of the evening was the couple at the table next to ours. She was a tall, beautiful and very chatty (three lemon drops and two Irish coffees will do that to you). He was a short, bearded German fellow. They were an odd couple, but good conversationalists.

Among the things we talked about was the 17 mile, guided sea-kayak trip she'd scheduled for the next day. It had been canceled due to predicted heavy winds. When I noted that 17 miles seemed like a long way and Jenny asked where she had learned to kayak, she said "Oh honey, how hard can it be? You just put your paddle in the water." Though she was rather irate that the trip was off, I was secretly happy for her that it had been canceled.

As for the meal, this wine was probably the best part. I call it Chateau du BlahBlah because I didn't write down the name and I can't quite make it out from my low-light cell phone shot. I think it's Chateau du Seuil, and if I'm right it's an 80/20 mix of Semillon and Sauvignon blanc. I can't recall any detailed tasting notes, but I really enjoyed it.

Selvapiana 2005 Chianti Rufino

Upper $20-ish at Via Tribunali on Queen Anne.

Oh, how I dearly love Via Tribunali. The food and this wine evoke Italy very clearly for me. We've had this bottle a couple times and have enjoyed it immensely. All the elements I like in Chianti are present, but they've been turned up to eleven, especially the earthiness, acid and tannins. Go, but go on the weekend, when we avoid it due to the crowds and long waits... save the weekday nights for us.

Mai Tai

This fine specimen was spotted at Tahiti Nui, a somewhat dive-y bar where the locals hang out amid the tourists in the town of Hanalei on the North shore of Kauai.

When we stopped there for lunch one day after snorkeling, the very kind waitress told us about their happy hour and the Hawaiian guitarist that would be playing that night. We went back and were treated to a great evening of music, Mai Tais and hula dancing (by the local ladies as well as a 60ish white guy who actually kinda looked like he knew what he was doing). The food was just ok, but I was having too much fun to care.

A modern Mai Tai recipe:

• 1 oz gold rum
• 1 oz dark rum
• 1 oz Orange Curacao
  
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz Orgeat syrup

Shake everything but the dark rum together and pour into a glass with ice. Float the dark rum, and garnish with a maraschino cherry, pineapple, and a mint sprig.

2006 Pighin Pinot Grigio

From Friuli, a region in the Northeast corner of Italy, near Yugoslavia and Austia. Friuli has a number of DOCs - this wine is from the largest, Grave Del Friuli, so named for the gravelly terrain found there.

We drank this bottle with dinner at the Ritz-Carlton on Maui, where we stayed for three nights during our recent vacation to Hawaii.

When in such a lovely setting, eating wonderful food, the wine probably doesn't need to be great, but I found this Pinot Grigio delicious, with good strong acidity and the mineral flavors I like in old world whites. It also had a rich, full mouth feel.

I think it was under $35 to boot, a welcome respite when dining at the Ritz.

Chateau Paul Mas - 2005 Coteaux Du Languedoc

$15 at McCarthy and Schiering. It's late, so this is going to be short. According to the label on the back, it's a syrah/grenahce blend. It has the lovely, smooth, dark fruit of good syrah and the nice tannins to boot. It's very full bodied, Jenny says it "tastes like a November wine." In short, well worth the $15.

Douro - 2006 Vale Da Clara

$11 at McCarthy and Schiering. I wrote about this wine in the pre-blog days. From March 23, 2008:

Very tasty, complex, with darker fruit flavors and nice tannins. A great deal at $11. A little too dark to accompany the simple, bright tomato sauce I served it with: sautée some rosemary and two cloves garlic, dump in some canned diced tomatoes, salt and pepper, drizzle with balsamic and cook until it thickens a bit, correct seasoning and toss with pasta, torn basil and fresh parm.

I'm going to buy a case of this stuff, but I'll reserve it for food a tad meatier. I think it would be perfect with something like my chicken cacciatore.

----

Apparently I forgot about the above advice, because after buying every bottle McCarthy and Schiering had in stock, I served it tonight with a vegetable soup. While it again overpowered the delicate flavors of the dish, this bottle remains a steal at $11. With the weather turning, I'll be grilling soon and this Douro will be the perfect accompaniment.

Domaine Roc De Chateauvieux - 2006 Loire Pinot Noir

$11 from McCarthy and Scheiring. I was delighted to find that the French grow Pinot Noir in places other than Burgundy. This is a very pleasant and easy table wine. Exceedingly food friendly, I think it it would be a good match with nearly anything brought to the table; it certainly went well with the delicate vegetable soup I made tonight. It's got a floral, almost perfumy nose, and bright acidity balanced by fine tannins.

As an added bonus, it's bottled with a Stelvin closure (aka screwcap), so it's easy to open. It's a Vin De Pays, which I've learned is a French wine classification that translates to "country wine." This classification is below Apellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC), but above Vin De Table.

A steal at $11. I'm going to buy a case of this to have on hand for weeknight dinners.

Telepatch: my other blog

Way back in the dot.com boom, I worked for a great little company called Net Perceptions. The engineers sat in a giant cube farm, where the cubes were organized in little groups of four that my friend Dan called "cube patches."

I shared my patch with three of the best people you could ever hope to work with: Dan, Scott and JJ. With the dot.com bust and the demise of Net Perceptions, we've taken different jobs and scattered across the country. We've kept in touch via e-mail, and often pine for the good old days and camaraderie of "the patch."

A couple weeks ago, we started a group blog called telepatch, where we prairie-dog remotely. It's been fun so far, you should check it out.

Tom Colligrino

Last Saturday was very warm here in Seattle. It was sunny and the high probably got close to 70. It felt like the beginning of summer, so I bought the ingredients for one of my favorite summer cocktails, the Tom Colligrino.

This drink was invented by my good friend Darren Vengroff. It's nothing more than a shot of vodka and half a can of San Pellegrino Limonata, on the rocks with a slice of lime. Fancy-pants mixologists out there may look down on the Tom Colligrino as unsophisticated, but to my mind it elegantly captures the low-stress, back-porch, hanging out with friends essence of summer.

Of course yesterday the weather was miserable: it hailed in the morning, and all afternoon was a mix of rain and snow. But some days you come home from work and you want a cocktail. Yesterday was one of those days for both Jenny and me, and I've found that if you close your eyes and sip a summer cocktail you can conjure the feeling of summer regardless of the current conditions.

Farecast acquired by Microsoft

Farecast, the company I work for, has been acquired by Microsoft. I'm probably not allowed to say much more at the moment, but the fact of the acquisition is public knowledge.

Quinta De La Rosa - 2004 Douro

$18 at McCarthy and Schiering. Yum! I really, really like good Douros, which may be unsurprising given my affinity for port. This wine has big, dark fruit and elegant tannins, perhaps a bit shy on the acid, but I don't miss it at all. It's very full bodied, so much that I wanted to describe it as "rich," as if every sip was a little bite of dessert, even though it's not sweet. (This was, perhaps, a tad distressing as my mid-western upbringing makes me eschew dessert until I've "earned it" at the end of a meal. Oh, the tribulations I must overcome!)

Sadly, it's out of my price range for a nightly opener. I pulled it out tonight to have with asparagus and a simple tomato sauce over pasta only because it's been siting in my cupboard, bugging me, for weeks and I could no longer resist.

In short: well worth the $18, go buy some.

2006 Conclass Rueda

$10 at McCarthy and Schiering. This is the second Rueda I've tried since reading Eric Asimov's NY Times article (the 2006 Naia is the other).

Asimov chose the the Conclass as his best buy, and I totally agree; it's a steal at $10. Jenny described it as floral, and I get the mineraly quality that I really like in old world whites. I just looked up Asimov's description and was pleased to find that we agreed on two of four descriptors. He says, "Vivacious with enticing lemon, floral and mineral flavors and a touch of honey." Maybe I've got a future as a pro wine writer?

I think I've found this summer's Gruner-Veltliner.

Roagna - 2006 Dolcetto d'Alba

$17 from McCarthy and Schiering. An interesting educational experience. I was all prepared to pan this wine. My initial impression of it had some positive notes, it had the "tastes like Italy" quality that Jenny and I like in Italian reds, which I think other people call "earthiness." But it was aggressive to the point of harshness on the palate, and excessively tannic, which isn't in keeping with the character of dolcetto.

"Maybe we should have decanted it," I lamented. Jenny suggested sticking the cork in and shaking the bottle up. It's something she's seen wine professionals do at work. Always up for an experiment, I jammed the cork in and shook the bottle like it was a can of Rust-oleum. I was surprised to find that a little aeration mellowed the tannins significantly, making it quite pleasant.

So, I withhold judgment on the Roagna. At $17 it's got to be pretty good to earn my endorsement, and I'm not quite certain about it. Perhaps I'll buy another bottle and report
new findings.

Caparzo 2004 Rosso di Montalcino

I didn't feel like cooking on Friday, so Jenny and I walked up to the top of the hill to get dinner. At 7:30 with no reservations we were prepared to wait a while, but we got lucky at Betty, where we were able to sail right in.

We scored two of eight seats situated on one side of a "bar" that looks into the hot part of the kitchen. We were seated directly in front of the expediter, and got to watch plate after beautiful plate being assembled within arm's reach.

This is as close as I've ever been to a working line going full bore - it was the rush, and the cooks were really busting ass. Perhaps the most amazing thing was the consistency of their work. Their grill man in particular is a remarkable craftsman; there was a pork loin on the menu that was served sliced and fanned out. Every one of the dozen I saw was cooked perfectly (except the ones ordered well-done which went out perfectly over-cooked).

Oh yeah... the wine. Rosso di Montalcino is the baby brother of the fabled Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello is a strain of Sangiovese grown near the hill town of Montalcino in southern Tuscany. The Rosso di Montalcino has less stringent requirements on composition and aging, so it's a lot cheaper than Brunello.

This bottle was very floral, I immediately got the scent of lavender that marks the presence of Cabernet Franc (wine people typically name this fragrance "violets"), which I was surprised to learn is sometimes added to Rosso di Montalcino. Beyond that it was very fruity - concentrated, not light. All in all, a perfect accompaniment to a lovely evening.

Garbel Prosecco - NV

This bottle has been rolling around in the back of my fridge since last Thanksgiving, when I traditionally serve prosecco as an aperitif. I made pasta yesterday, so a little Italian sparkling wine seemed appropriate.

For those unfamiliar, Prosecco is a grape grown in Italy's Veneto region. It is sometimes used to make still wines, but is usually made sparkling. This bottle was quite dry, with tart green apple flavor. The label says that it has "Zucch. 13 g/l." I've no idea what the range is, but 13 grams per liter must be a rather low sugar content.

2005 Cline Red Truck

$9.50 from Metro Market. Funny. A year ago I was totally happy drinking red truck. Since then I've developed a habit of going to McCarthy and Schiering at the top of Queen Anne Hill, where I ask them to put together a case for me. When they ask how much, I say "Under $12, though you can throw in one special bottle." They wander around the shop picking inexpensive bottles they like, describing them in varying detail until we've come up with a dozen, and then I'm off.

Tasting these wines, combined with the exercise of writing these reviews has (I think) sharpened my appreciation of different wines, perhaps to my detriment. I really used to like red truck, but no more. In Jenny's words, "It's uninteresting." I find it very fruity, and a more than a little harsh on the palate.

Would I say the same if served it in a blind tasting, where someone told me it was some spectacular new Sonoma red? Maybe, though I certainly wouldn't bet on it, especially after the experiment where snooty wine people couldn't tell the difference between red wine and white wine dyed red.

That said, I think the facts are that there are far superior bottles to be had for just a dollar or two more, or maybe the same price if you're willing to hunt a little. And even when all you're having for dinner is leftover pizza, a pleasant bottle of wine is a welcome comfort.

Update: For a spectacular experiment on the importance of context when appreciating beauty, see Pearls Before Breakfast, wherein the impact of "one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made," is judged in the context of a DC metro station.

San Quirico - 2006 Vernaccia di San Gimignano

$12 at Metro Market. Yesterday as I was getting ready to leave work, I decided to make the spring vegetable risotto in this month's Cooks Illustrated magazine. I made out my shopping list, which included a bottle of dry white wine.

I walk by the Metro Market on top of Queen Anne Hill on my way home, and so stopped there for groceries. I fully intended to pick up the first cheap Pinot Grigio I saw, but as I scanned the shelves, this bottle popped out at me.

When Jenny and I were in Italy last year, we went to San Gimignano, a beautiful and ancient hill town in Tuscany. We had an excellent lunch there, but I don't recall the wine at all (I suspect it was a mezzo of the house red). Unable to resist the wine of a place I recalled so fondly, I set off for home with a couple leeks, a pound of asparagus, some peas, a chunk of parm, and of course, my bottle of dry white wine.

The risotto came together very well... not quite as rich as restaurant risotto, but they probably add double the butter that I do. The wine was delicious. Complex and full bodied, it is easily the equal of the white Burgundies that I enjoy during the summer months, and well worth the $12.

The Wine Lover's Companion says that the Vernaccia di San Gimignano grapes are thought to be of Greek origin, other sources say they may have been brought to the region by the Estruscans (ca. 800 BC). This region was the very first to recieve DOC status when Italy began implementing its wine classification system in 1966.

This was the last bottle of the San Quirico they had at Metro Market, I'll make it a point to explore the Vernaccia di San Gimignano grape more as the opportunity rises.

Naia 2006 Rueda

$11 McCarthy and Schiering. I'd never heard of Rueda before reading Eric Asimov's recent column in the NY times. I don't like being one of those foodies that just does what they're told: "You must go to this restaurant." "This wine is the hot new thing." But I was intrigued by the article and so I stopped by the wine shop on the way home.

Bracing myself, I timidly asked if they had any Ruedas on hand. As expected, they mocked me (good naturedly), "Rueda huh? I wonder where you heard about that." We chatted a bit and they confirmed that every time Asimov writes a new column, hordes of people come in looking for whatever it is he's talked about. I might easily have been the 100th person to ask for Rueda that day.

Anyway, this bottle was one of Asimov's top picks. I certainly like it. The back of the bottle says that grapefruit is one of the classic flavors of the verdejo grape, and I certainly get that flavor. My book says that wines based on verdejo from Rueda should be full bodied, but I find the Naia to be light and refreshing.

I need to explore Ruedas some more, but it might become this summer's Gruner-Veltliner, and this bottle is a strong contender.

Chateau d'Oupia - 2006 Minervois

$12 from McCarthy and Schiering. Complex and full bodied, well worth the $12 price tag. Nice balance of fruit, acidity and tannins.

Minervois is an apellation in France's Languedoc-Rousillon region. The wines are primarily from Carignan, Cinsault, and Grenache, with some Syrah and Mourvedre added to increase quality.

I plan to buy more of this.

New blog about wine and whatever else comes to mind

Jenny and I drink a bottle of wine nearly every night with dinner. For a long while, we bought the first bottle we found under $10 with an attractive label at the grocery store; we drank them with a similar level of thoughtfulness, which is to say, not much.

This strategy yielded many mediocre bottles, but from time to time we'd run across a truly great bargain. Sadly, we'd inevitably forget about the great ones in a day or two, which proved terribly frustrating.

To remedy this problem, some months ago I resolved to take a photo of every bottle of wine I drank, and write a capsule review of it. This has forced me to really taste the wine I drink, and to learn about different grapes, regions, styles, etc.

As I told friends about this new strategy, I started emailing them my reviews. As of today the list of people I send my reviews to has become large enough that it's easier for me to simply start this blog, posting my reviews for all to see.

For now, this blog will primary play host to these mini-reviews of the wines I drink on a regular basis, but it is by no means limited to that topic, I plan to write about whatever strikes me as interesting from time to time.

Thanks for reading; I hope you find it interesting.