Wine Blogging

Yesterday, on the way out for dinner, we stopped at Putnam, one of our two wine stores (Putnam and Saratoga Wine Exchange) to get a taste of whatever they had open and browse for a bit.

They only had one bottle open, but it was good, so we bought it. I'll write that up later, after we have it for dinner. As we browsed, I noticed they had two new brands in alternative packaging.

I am always on the lookout for good box wine, because it shouldn't be that difficult to make a decent one, and sometimes we want to take wine places that don't allow glass (like the Saratoga Racetrack for my annual Alabama Party), for example.

I asked the guys for an honest assessment, and they both said the wines were good at their respective price points. C'mon, you gotta give me more than that! Last year I bought two different boxes for the track party, and no one wanted to drink them. The white I wound up loading with fruit to make a sangria, and the red, well, I drank it because it was there.

These guys didn't work there last year, so they didn't know which boxes I meant, but they were confident that wouldn't happen with either of these. I picked up the 1-liter malbec at $12.89, or $9.66 per 750ml. $10 should guarantee a "good" wine, as discussed in the comment thread here. And it was good. Only the second time I've been happy with a box/carton wine, and I'll have no problem buying more and bringing to the track next year. Now, I've had better malbecs, and cheaper too as Argentina is a great region for bargains, but this wine was solid. Add the fact that it's organic to the alt-packaging, and you have a great "green" wine, which makes the price premium palatable.

Check Y&B out here. Here's another good link about box wine. The difference in environmental impact between a shipping container or truckload of box wine vs. bottles is enormous, and developments like this should be encouraged with our shopping dollar. There may be nothing like bringing a dusty bottle of good wine out of the cellar to pop and pour with a good dinner, but for regular consumption, we should all be drinking out of these in 10 years.

Memorial Day Weekend Wine and Food Blogging

We had to skip the Rusch's annual party this year, for the first time I can remember. Way too many projects to get done if we're going to get this house on the market for an open house on June 6th.

But, all work and no play makes us dull children, so good food and wine are in order. Our little reward system, if you must.

I don't even remember Friday's dinner, we probably just winged it with some eggs or something. But the wine... oh! the wine. The Colonial Estate Explorateur Old Vine Shiraz, Barossa Valley, 2005, $35. Wow.

The pour: very very dark. We settled on garnet. Nice clarity with very slight rim variation. Long, long legs.

Nose? You want nose?! Quick, go to your fridge, open up a jar of blackberry jam, and stick your schozz right in there. Then double it. And add some cherry jam, some wood, and some pepper. Huge! The taste followed suit. Thick mouthfeel, spices and fruits pinging every taste bud, the roof of your mouth, the back of your throat. Big, big wine. 8 points.

The weekend's menu was greatly enhanced by Erica's trip to the farmer's market. She brought home some just-picked arugula (elitist!), blue potatoes, bok choy, and lamb chorizo.

Saturday's menu:
Breaded catfish, rice, and bok choy. I make my own breadcrumbs most of the time, and there's no fixed recipe. Just toast the hell out of some not-so-fresh bread, and put it in the food processor with garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and whatever the hell else I feel like at the moment. For this meal, I added some bacon/horseradish dry rub to the crumbs. Dip the fish in eggs, batter thoroughly, and pan-fry in olive oil. The rice was basmati, to which I added nothing, because it would get the sauté liquids. The bok choy I had to research on the internets, and after checking out 5 or 6 preparation methods, settled on a 10-second boil in highly-salted water, followed by an immediate transfer to ice-water, then on to paper towels to get the water out of it. In a pan, I started up a sauce of olive oil, soy, sweet-n-sour, black pepper, and garlic. When the fish was almost done, I did a quick sauté of the bok choy in that sauce, just to get it back up to temperature.

No idea which wines we had. Oops.

Sunday's menu:
Sirloin steaks, mashed blue potatoes, sautéed arugula, and home-made bread. Very simple, but oh so tasty. I do my steaks in a cast-iron pan which I heat the hell out of for a nice sear, and then turn the flame way down to let residual heat take care of the rest. Just pepper and Greek sea salt, people. If you need to use A1, you're eating a bad steak. Basic mash on the potatoes: boil, then beat in the KitchenAid with tons of butter, fresh garlic, and half-and-half. They were so tasty. Must buy more. The bread was the hit of the day, though. I've been experimenting a lot with the bread-maker, because the recipes in the book always result in too dense a loaf. Tasted great, mind you, but I want my bread light and fluffy inside, with lots of bubbles. This was probably the best attempt yet. We nibbled at it all afternoon, and by the time dinner came around we had finished more than half of it. Plain, with butter, with gouda, plain, with olive oil, etc. Perfect. Just the right sweetness as it dissolved in our mouths. Mmmmmm.

The wines: a Mondavi Fume Blanc that I wasn't too fond of, but Erica enjoyed. I thought it was too grassy and raw. So I stuck with rum over ice, sipping slowly throughout the day. Very minor buzz, just enough to take the edge off the sheetrock and spackle and paint and putty and... Then, with dinner, Terra Única Tempranillo-Monastrel Reserva, Valencia, 2002, $9. Very nice wine, good spices, a definite hint of Spanish terroir. We forgot to take notes, unfortunately. Well worth it, if not spectacular. 7 points.

Monday's menu:
Who knows? I've got another loaf of bread going, and a turkey in the oven, but that's mostly for having food around during the week. Erica had mentioned grouper, so I might pull some of that out of the freezer. Leftover blue mash, maybe, and some more experimenting with the arugula.

The wines:
Our first bottle today, a McGregor Vineyard Pinot Noir Rosé. Perfect for a hot day. Crisp, with a nice mineral finish. Part of our membership package, it's not available to the public. Probably just didn't make enough.

Second up, McGregor Rosé de Cabernet Franc. Very tasty, and again, a perfect complement to the hard work and hot weather.

Third, an old Amarone di Valpolicella I rescued from the cellar. It was pricey 4 or 5 years ago, as all Amarones are, and I didn't want it to go bad. Also, the less wine we have to move, the better. Rich and fruity, with just enough tannin left to keep a balance. I love Amarones, but understand how they're too much for some palates.

No formal dinner, after all. We nibbled on turkey as I carved it, attacked the bread I made today, and I polished off the leftover catfish with some blue potato mash.

All in all, a very productive weekend. Four or five projects scratched off the list, and a few more started but not finished yet.

Thursday is the big day, when carpet gets put down in 4 rooms, and I start to tear apart the master bath.

Phew. Good fucking night, people.

Wine blogging

By popular demand! And by popular, I mean the 8-10 lushes that join us for Sunday football blogging at Toast's place.

First up: Falanghina Dei Feudi Di San Gregorio, $15

We've had a long week, as evidenced by the post below, so no cooking for us. The Wife suggested sushi, and I'll never argue with that call. While she was waiting for the order, she popped next door to one of our two wine shops, and asked for a recommendation. The main issue being, of course, that not many wines can stand up to wasabi (we like our soy dip hot to VERY hot) and/or don't go well with the raw ginger.

This was the guy's suggestion.

Thank. You. Sir.

Visual: high clarity; pale yellow fading to clear at the edge

First nose: TW said peach, pear, and banana. I said apple and peach and what was either oak or malolactic fermentation.

(NOTE: These things are highly suggestible, so we keep our impressions to ourselves until we decide we both have something to share. If one person just says "APPLE!" out loud too soon, the other tends to have trouble smelling anything other than apple.)

Second nose: She didn't get my apple, I didn't get her pear, but I did get her banana.

Does that sound dirty?

And I also decided on malolactic over oak. They confuse me sometimes, but made a decision here.

Taste: thick, rich, creamy, and dry on the finish. After tasting, all TW could say was "banana cream pie." I had to agree. Though I still got my apple.

Anyway, I was right about the malolactic (further research confirms stainless/malolactic fermenting). The cream just gave it away.

It went very well with the sushi/sashimi, and gamely held its own vis-a-vis the wasabi and ginger.

$15 isn't exactly in the "every day" budget range, but well worth it for a nice Friday splurge.

Now, to decide on a ratings scale...............

0-5 is fine for music and movies, but I have to go to 0-10 for wine. Just too much variety.

8 points.