Thursday, November 29, 2012

For Your Next Visit to Monaco

A short film about the wine cellar at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, courtesy of Michelin.  Not for the 99%.



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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sitting In Judgement

I’ve said it before: finding a perfect match of wine with food is an elusive thing.  But it’s a challenge that sommeliers and foodies love to pursue.  It’s the motivation that drives members of both groups to sign up for the Wine and Food Matching course at Algonquin College in ever larger numbers.

For the final exam of this course, teams of students prepare a food dish and match it with the wine that they think works best.  The teams submit a paper that describes why they chose the food dish, how they chose the matching wine, and why they think this match is the best.

The final exam isn’t just a paper exercise.  The teams must prepare the food dish, either at home beforehand or in the kitchen at Algonquin's Restaurant International, and serve it with their chosen wine to a panel of judges, a la Master Chef.

When the course instructor – Liam Doody – again invited me to be a judge for the final exam on Monday evening, I happily accepted.  (You can read about my previous experiences here.)   Working your way through 15(!) different wine and food matches, put together by teams of students, is a great way to spend a Monday evening.

In return, I only have to offer an opinion, together with my fellow judge, on the merits on each match and award a medal to deserving participants.  My judging partner this time around was fellow sommelier, Éva Nagy, who hangs out at sit. sip. savour. and has a few other irons in the fire.  (My sincere thanks to Éva for supplying a couple of the photos shown below.  Sometimes I get so absorbed in the wine and food that I forget to take a picture!)

After tasting each dish with its matching wine, we awarded "medals" based on the following criteria:
  • Gold:  The wine and food pairing adds to the enjoyment of the wine AND the cuisine.
  • Silver:  The wine and food pairing adds to either the enjoyment of the wine OR the cuisine, but not both.
  • Bronze:  The wine and food pairing does not add to, nor detract from, the enjoyment of either the wine or the cuisine.
  • No Certificate:  The wine and food pairing detracts from either, or both, the enjoyment of the wine or the cuisine.
Many things have to come together to receive a gold medal.  The food has to be well prepared.  The wine has to show its best features.  It's not meant to be easy.

Here are the interesting food and wine matches that we sampled and upon which we rendered our verdicts.  Congratulations to all!  (And my apologies to one team of students for which I failed to capture a photo of their entry.  As I said before, sometimes the photos get overlooked in the excitement of judging.)





















 
Guacamole with Domaine de la Chanaise Morgon 2010 
The goal was to fire up the effect of the chilies in the guacamole. 
Mission accomplished.
 
 
 
 
(no photo, sorry)
Crostini, Chèvre, Prosciutto with Bisol Credi Brut Prosecco Valdobbiadene Superiore NV
Here's a match where texture is everything.  The Prosecco has initial green apple acidity (matching the salty tang of the prosciutto) but finishes with a creamy texture (harmonizing with the creamy chèvre texture).  So absorbing you forget the damn camera!
 
 







 














 
Mushroom Crostini with Kim Crawford Pinot Noir 2011
A classic Old World match with a New World twist.  It's an Earthy Kit.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cheese Plate (Brie, Cheddar, Parmigiano Reggiano, Danish Blue)
with Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
The contrasting cheese textures and flavours made for a challenging match.




 

















 
Icelandic Lobster Soup with Cave Spring Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Northern Exposure.  A recipe brought back from a recent trip to Iceland (easily the bravest food attempt of the evening) paired with a crisp Niagara white.




 


















 
Potato Leek Soup with House Wine Company Vidal Moscato 2011
When you just gotta have wine with soup.
Soup's earthy flavours meet up with an off-dry fruity white.  Success!




 

















 
Curried Prawns with Pierre Sparr Gewürztraminer 2010
A classic match.  The off-dry, oily-textured wine calms the spicy heat of the food.  Just what the doctors ordered.




 
 
















 
Mac + Cheese with Trius Sparkling Brut NV
Mac + Cheese...you've come a long way baby.
Underused with food, this shows just how versatile sparkling can be.  Brut strength!




 

















 
Mac + Cheese Baconator with Nicolas Maillet Macon-Verzé 2009
Acidity of a Bourgogne Chardonnay cuts through the creamy cheese texture while matching the smoke of bacon.
 Doubling down on Mac + Cheese...am I back in university?




 

Photo courtesy of Éva Nagy
















 
Thai Curry Meatballs with Flat Rock Cellars Riesling 2011
Sommelier Secret Revealed:  Riesling is THE most food friendly wine and this match shows one reason why:  fruitiness calms the curry spice just enough and fits the coconut milk, ginger, and cilantro flavours like a glove.  Excellent!




  










 


 


Beef Stew with Bonterra Zinfandel 2010
It's a classic stew with a spicy tomato kick that could overwhelm many wines, but not this organic Zin.






















 
Curried Lentil + Vegetable Stew with Pelee Island Gamay Noir Zweigelt 2010
It's the herbal aromas and flavours in both the wine and the food that makes this match work well.  This lighter-style stew also fits the light-bodied red wine.  An ideal autumn dish.




 
 
















 
Pear Apple Ginger Tart with Woodbridge Moscato 2011
Here's a wonderful tree-fruit flavour match:  pears and apples from the tart, peach from the off-dry wine, and spicy honey elements in both.  Delicious and light!



























Torte Caprese with Amabile Degli Angeli Recioto della Valpolicella Classico 2007
    OK, full disclosure.  Both judges worked at DiVino Wine Studio as sommeliers-in-training but at different times.  So seeing this rarity (Recioto) wins us over immediately.  Ah, but the match is wonderful, matching 2 Italian classics:  flourless chocolate almond cake from Capri in the south with the medium sweet cherry and chocolate marvel from the north.  Fantastico!







Photo courtesy of Éva Nagy

    


















Bittersweet Chocolate Brownie + Raspberry Port Sauce with Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel 2010
20 years ago, the rage was chocolate matched with California Cab.  I was never convinced.  But last week I tasted a Douro red with a chocolate dessert.  And now comes Zinfandel with chocolate...makes delicious sense!

 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

When Andrew Jefford Talks...

One thing of which there seems to be no shortage is wine bloggers.   There are even conferences for wine bloggers:  one in North America (next year in Penticton) and one in Europe.   I’m not sure why so many of us who appreciate wine feel the passion to write about it.  Perhaps it's the wine that primes the creative pump.  As the ancient Greek poet Cratinius said, "No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by water drinkers."

With so many wine writers out there, it’s easy to find writing to admire.  One of my favourites is Andrew Jefford, who writes a blog weekly, published on Mondays, for the Decanter website.  It’s a must read for my Monday mornings.  (And so it must be for many others, as Andrew won the Online Wine Writer of the Year Award at the 2012 International Wine Writer’s Awards.)  It certainly helps that I find myself nodding in agreement with his opinions…and shaking my head with envy at how clearly he expresses them.

Andrew recently gave the keynote address at the European wine bloggers’ conference (aka Digital Wine Communications Conference).  You can read it here and if you’re a fellow wine blogger, consider it compulsory.

My takeaways from Andrew’s keynote address:
  • Traditional short-form wine writing is dead.  It’s all digital now.
  • Making money from wine writing alone is difficult and getting more so.  (Any blogger can tell you that.)
  • You must tell a story well.  That’s the challenge.  Fortunately, there’s no shortage of source material.
  • Be distinctive.  Keep faith with whatever it was that ignited your passion to write about wine in the first place.
  • If there’s one thing lacking in wine writing, it’s irreverence and humour.   And since bloggers don’t answer to a publisher, that’s where we come in.  (I agree.  But just as most actors think that comedy is the most challenging, I think that humour writing is the most challenging form to do well.  It’s why I think that David Sedaris is a genius.)
But this is said much more eloquently by Andrew himself.   Reading it is time well spent.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

My Picks: Vintages Release ─ November 24 2012


The emphasis on holiday extravagance continues this week at Vintages, with the second of what should be 3 consecutive releases with lots of expensive - and often overpriced - offerings.
 
As always, your faithful servant has scoured the catalogue for worthy choices that meet the criteria for My Picks.  Not surprisingly, only 6 wines made the cut and all 6 come from Italy and southern France.  Even so, just 2 wines are less than $20. 


Off the Beaten Track

White

TORRE ROSAZZA FRIULANO 2010, DOC Colli Orientali del Friuli (Italy); #289520; Price $19.95; 13.0% ABV
100% Friulano.  Fermented in steel.  Aged on its lees for 4 months in stainless steel.  Look for tree fruit and floral aromas with minerality.  Excellent as an aperitif, the winemaker bravely recommends matching it with eggs and asparagus!


Reds

DOMAINE MICHELAS ST-JEMMS SAINTE EPINE 2009, AC Saint-Joseph (Northern Rhone); #296772; Price $31.95; 13.5% ABV
100% Syrah.  Hand harvested.  Aged 12 months in oak.  Family-owned.  Not too expensive for a northern Rhone wine.  Try it with beef or game.

Up next, a couple of Southern Rhone reds, great with braised lamb.

DOMAINE GRAND VENEUR CLOS DE SIXTE 2010, AC Lirac (Southern Rhone); #76349; Price $22.95; 14.5% ABV
A blend of Grenache (50%), Syrah (35%), and Mourvèdre (15%).  Fermented in stainless steel vats with 18 days of maceration.  Family-owned.  Most Lirac producers, including this one, also produce Chateauneuf-du-Pape on the other side of the Rhone River.  But Lirac doesn’t carry the same cachet…or the same price.  Needs another year in the cellar.

PIERRE AMADIEU ROMANE MACHOTTE 2010, AC Gigondas (Southern Rhone); #17400; Price $23.95; 14.5% ABV
A blend of Grenache and Syrah.  Hand harvested.  30-day maceration.  Aged for 12 months, partly in two-year-old oak barrels and partly in larger oak casks.  Family-owned.  Look for dark fruits and dried herbs on the nose.

SALCHETO 2006; DOCG Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Tuscany); #685180; Price $24.95; 13.5% ABV
100% Prugnolo Gentile (aka Sangiovese).  Fermented in large Slovenian oak casks.  Aged partly in those Slovenian casks (18 months) and partly in French oak barrels (6 months), then another 6 months in bottle.  Despite that, this is one of those mystery bottles that turns up every so often at Vintages.  2006, where’s it been?  The winery is working towards being 100% energy self-sufficient, upping the cool factor.

MUSELLA VIGNE NUOVE 2009, DOC Valpolicella Superiore (Veneto); #205757; Price $15.95; 13.0% ABV
A blend of Corvina and Corvinone (70%), Rondinella (20%) and Barbera! (10%) from very young (5 and 10 years old) vineyards.  Maceration and fermentation for 12 days, followed by Malolactic conversion.  Aged for 12 months in 225-litre and 500-litre barrels “of various origins and essence”. Extremely versatile with food.  BEST VALUE!


Honourable Mentions


DOMAINE SPIROPOULOS 2011, PDO Mantinia (Greece); #710970; Price $14.95; 11.5% ABV
The grape variety is Moschofilero, organically grown in Mantinia, which gives the wine a faint pink colour (thanks to short maceration).  Family-owned.  Look for floral aromas (roses, lemon-blossom, bergamot) and crisp acidity.  Organic.
 
PEWSEY VALE RIESLING 2011, Eden Valley (Australia); #686600; Price $19.95; 12.5% ABV
Look for citrus fruit, white flowers, and minerality.  A taste of paradise.
 
EWALD GRUBER HUNDSPOINT GRÜNER VELTLINER 2011, Weinviertel (Austria); #298299; Price: $17.95; 13.0% ABV
Gruener Veltliner, the signature white grape variety of Austria.  Known for tree fruit and white pepper flavours with fresh acidity.
 
CICCHITTI EDICIÓN LIMITADA MALBEC 2008, Mendoza (Argentina); #260893; Price $24.95; 14.0% ABV
Malbec, the signature red variety of Argentina.
 
DAMALISCO CRIANZA 2008, DO Toro (Spain); #306589; Price $16.95; 14.0% ABV
100% Tinta de Toro (aka Tempranillo).  Aged 10 months in oak.


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