Page 56 - Blog

With the ever growing craze for older wines, I have to say that I am loving older Rhones! I have been searching recently for back vintage wines from the Rhone region and have been picking up and drinking as many as possible to further understand and taste the greatness Syrah and Grenache can offer.

Last week when I was out to dinner at a local steakhouse, I had the chance to enjoy a Chateauneuf du Pape produced by Beaucastel, which is one of the great Rhone producers. Robert Parker has said, "...Beaucastel represents the highest level of serious, artisanal winemaking...Beaucastel is the most atypical wine of Chateauneuf du Pape, so different, it almost deserves its own appellation." - Robert Parker

This wine was from the 2000 vintage, and it was absolutely amazing! When you think about a wine drinking in its "prime," this is how I felt about the Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. Cherries and red fruits encompassed the nose, but not before the Asian spice took its

Yesterday, a few of our lucky staff members attended the UGC tasting (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux) held in New York City, a tasting of 2009 Bordeaux, which have finished aging in barrels and are now bottled. The UGC is an association of over 130 Grand Cru Bordeaux estates who strive for top quality in their wines.

As many of you may recall, 2009 was praised as one of the greatest vintages in history by world renowned wine critics and the winemakers too.

There was so much hype and frenzy around this vintage, so we were excited to finally taste these wines in bottle. Robert Parker said, "...for some Medocs and Graves, 2009 may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux." That's a big statement from one of the world's most prominent wine critics. With the 2009 vintage, Parker had also done something he hadn't before - he assigned asterisks (*) to a select group of wines that the thought was the finest of all offerings

Wine: 1990 Moet Chandon Dom Perignon
Region: Champagne
Sokolin Price: $289/btl
Rating: 96 RP

Wine: 1988 Sassicaia
Region: Tuscany
Sokolin Price: $449/btl
Rating: 97 WS

So on a cold and rainy winter evening last week, we happened to visit one of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan, the Union Square Café. We are always greeted with smiling faces and get a fabulous table upstairs with plenty of room for the wine we bring along. The staff is amazing, and the food is even better. 

After the proper amount of chilling for our legendary 1990 Moet Chandon Dom Perignon in the ice bucket, we popped the cork and let the evening begin. The DP had an amazing bouquet of fresh garden flowers, toast and incredible hints of apples and pear. On the palate, the Champagne still had a crisp and bubbly dose of pure elegance

This lamb dish was actually on our menu last year, and it is one that I love! It's our version of the classic French Stew. Christopher Kiegiel offers the perfect wines to enjoy this hearty dish with, and all are priced under $30! A great winter dish to enjoy during the cold months.

Yield: 4 servings

Dried white beans, soaked overnight - 2 1/2 C
Onions - 1 ea.
Cloves - 1 ea.
Garlic cloves - 2 ea.
Thyme sprigs - 3 ea.
Parsley sprigs - 2 ea.
Bay leaf - 1 ea.
Pork belly, skin on - 4 ozs.
Boneless lamb shoulder - 4 ozs.
Lamb racks, 12-14ozs ea - 4 ea.
Olive oil - 2 ozs.           
Duck fat - 1 oz.
Garlic sausage - 1 1/2 ozs.
White wine - 2 ozs.
Plum tomatoes, seeded & diced - 2 ea.
Tomato paste - 1 tsp.
Duck

Syrah: the noble grape varietal with roots in the Northern Rhone, loved by Rhone Rangers of California, and fondly called Shiraz in Australia. Often we find him showcasing his power as a solo leading role, occasionally backed by a touch of the white varietal Viognier for exotic flair. Or quite often he can be found in a cast as a faithful sidekick to his fellow Grenache, with buddies like Mourvedre or Cinsault. Tonight, I had the pleasure of enjoying two wines with a slightly different casting call, with Syrah as the star, and the other red varietals loaning support.

First up was the 2010 Badenhorst Family Wines Secateurs Red Blend, composed of nearly 2/3rds Shiraz with the remainder Cinsault, Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre. This South African wine is made on a farm in the Paardeberg area of the Swartland appellation, so its Wine of Origin is Coastal Region, part of the Western Cape. The name Secateur pays respect to the pruning shears used to shape the old bush vines during

Recently, it seems that I've been drinking wines from every other region except Bordeaux. It is though one of the best regions in the wine world, if not the best, so as I was planning my dinner last weekend, I made it a point to pull a bottle of Bordeaux for dinner.

As I was searching the wine fridge for the perfect Bordeaux, I stumbled upon one of my favorite Chateaux - Calon Segur. Two of the best wines I've ever had were a '61 and '82 Calon Segur, but that's beside the point as I have neither vintage in my fridge! The bottle I did have was from the '03 vintage, which as you may remember was an extremely hot year in Bordeaux, so it wasn't a smash hit across the board. There were probably 20-25 Chateaux that made some spectacular wine, but due to the heat, production was down 30-40 %. Calon Segur was definitely one of the winners from the vintage, as it received 94 points from Robert Parker & 95 points from Wine Spectator.

Calon Segur is a third growth from

I'd like to take you through an un-planned dinner that turned out to be one of my all time favorites for two reasons: 1) it cost under $35, which included the wine and food & 2) if I wasn't running low on groceries, I would've never paired these two together.

Wine
2009 Jean Paul Droin Chablis Vaillons has been ignored in my wine fridge for weeks - and you can guarantee that'll never happen again! During my first sip, an energetic plethora of lemon zest, wet stone and citrus fruit danced together on the palate. It had great minerality as with most Chablis, thanks to the unique terroir. Not overly toasty but just the right amount of oak lingered. The richness flowed through the glass like saline or lamp oil. I thought back to an Aligote that I drank frequently last summer and associated the quenching characteristics. You just couldn't stop sipping.

Last weekend, we had a few out of town guests in for the evening. Before they arrived, we carefully chose the wines from our cellar, which has to be one of the most exciting things, as many of you with cellars know first-hand. Choosing from a treasure trove of great wines is so much fun! And when our guests arrived, they were excited to see two bottles of back-vintage Cali on the counter ready to be consumed! Front and center was a bottle of 1987 Dominus and a bottle of 1990 Heitz Martha's Vineyard. We've been on a back-vintage Cali kick lately and thus, the pattern continued with these two Cali icons.

We started off with the 1987 Dominus served with a selection of imported cheeses. The 1987 Dominus was a great year for Dominus, and at 25 years old, it had quite a bit of life in it, but we'd probably say that it's in prime drinking mode. This high-scoring wine (96 points from Robert Parker) had

While Malbec has a history in France prior to the 20th Century and even the United States prior to Prohibition, Argentina now is the country most tied to Malbec. Specifically, the Mendoza province is known for their highly rated Malbec wine and is the largest wine producing area in South America.  Mendoza is also known for their olive oil.

I recently decided to try one of our new arrival wines, a high value Malbec from the 2010 vintage - Cobos Malbec El Felino (Mendoza, Argentina): $15.99/bottle and 91 points from Wine Advocate December 2011. This wine is 100% Malbec. Interestingly, it is also the product of a collaboration between the highly regarded California winemaker Paul Hobbs, and winemakers Andrea Marchiori and Luis Barraud. The talented Paul Hobbs is owner of Paul Hobbs Winery and is well known for his Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Cabernets.

Upon opening this wine, I noticed subtle hints of rose. The texture is the first thing I realized

This bisque recipe incorporates sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem Artichokes), a tuberous vegetable of the sunflower family native to North America. It's a fairly unfamiliar vegetable that I've found diners really want to know more about after they have it. It is at its best during the winter months, and I thought its earthiness might pair well with the end-of-season sweet Maine shrimp. 

Yield: 4-6 servings

Shallots, minced - 3 each
Garlic clove, minced - 1 each
Sunchokes, peeled, diced - 3 pounds
Chicken stock - 24 ozs.
Heavy cream - 8 ozs.
Sweet Maine Shrimp, peeled - 12-18 ea.
Pancetta, diced and sauteed - 6 ozs.
Olive Oil, Extra Virgin - 6 ozs.
Chives, minced - 1-2 T

1. Sweat garlic and shallots until lightly golden
2. Add sunchokes and sauté lightly
3. Add chicken stock to cover and bring to simmer
4. When sunchokes are tender,