Words of wisdom

Frank Schoonmaker's Encyclopedia of Wine, 6th New Revised Edition (1976) provides this hilarious entry for the word dull:

A dull wine is like a dull person--perhaps honorable and sound, but not very interesting and certainly not much fun. Such a wine may be dry, full-bodied and have other qualities; it should certainly be cheap.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006 Château de Puligny-Montrachet Monthélie

This delightful Pinot Noir shows an exotic spiciness along with red fruits and earth followed by a nice touch of acidity, smooth tannins and a long finish. Delicious. On Monthélie (map):

Monthélie is the smallest village on the Côte de Beaune, with Volnay to the northeast, Meursault to the south and Auxey-Duresses to the west. The monks from Cluny planted the first vines here around the year 1000, but traces of human settlements go all the way back to Gallo-Roman times and beyond.

The Monthélie premier crus were extended as recently as 2006; going from eleven to 15 in number when Les Clous, Le Clos des Toisières, Le Clou des Chênes and La Barbière were promoted from village status to premier cru. Nine of the premier crus are located east of the village; being an extension of the Volnay premier cru Clos des Chênes. The Monthélie wines are often described as lesser Volnays, but at more reasonable prices. Most of what is produced in Monthélie is red; white wine only accounting for four or five percent.

This would be perfect with the spices often seen at Oleana (BostonChefs.com on Oleana), where Theresa Paopao has assembled a great wine list.  My choices for the evening:

• NV Sparkling Gruner Veltliner, E. Gruber ‘Punkt Genau,’ Weinviertal, Austria
  
• 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault (plus another Rhone varietal), Chateau Musar, Bekka Valley, Lebanon (My first Lebanese wine!  Have you ever had Lebanese or Israeli wine?  Please share in the comments.)
  

Right now, I'm thinking of the delicious fried mussels with hot peppers and Turkish Tarator sauce--the crunchy romaine lettuce underneath worked great from a textural standpoint with the sparkling Groovy--and also THE LAMB steak, cooked rare with fava bean moussaka...yum, especially delicious with the Chateau Musar.

Thanksgiving Wine

Affordable wines, as recommended by The Second Glass, for Thanksgiving.  If you have time, you might want to check out their Crash Course events.

As for his recommendations, I must say, great choice with the Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco, this easy drinking sparkler consistently receives acclaim from critics.  That being said, it's ultimately up to you to decide whether you like a particular wine.  Wine critics are guides, not prophets.

Thanksgiving Wine

In preparation for the season, Gary Vaynerchuk makes his Thanksgiving wine recommendations.  More on that subject later. 

2005 Clos de la Coulée de Serrant

This delicious, absolutely hedonistic chenin blanc is truly worthy of having it's own AOC within Savennières.  This wine is magnificent (and it's been open for several hours, long before my first glass).  I'm buying a case.

Sweet aromas of honey with an essence of quince. Finishes dry with great balance.  Lovely sweet notes move into fruit and then finish dry;a monumentally long finish, 2+ min.

Stay tuned for a review of an older vintage of this.

Also tasted that night was 2006 Auxy-Duresses White Burgundy, Deux Montille; and 2001 W. Gisselbrecht Gewurztraminer VT.

From the Archives: 2001 Rocca delle Macie "Primo Volo"

I tasted the 2001 Rocca dell Macie "Primo Volo" on 1/11/2008 alongside several other wines.

This wine brings together three different powerhouse regions: Tuscany, Piedmont, and the Veneto. Made of equal parts Sangiovese, Barbera, and Merlot, with an additional 10% from the best region for that particular vintage.

In the case of the 2001, an additional 10% Sangiovese was included in the batch, making the final composition 40/30/30 respectively. It's a unique wine because it's the debut vintage and it's not classified; it's table wine. Story has it that the winemakers met on a plane and began talking, and probably drinking, together...by the end of the flight, they'd decided to make a wine together. This is the product of that collaboration. The barbera adds acidity and the merlot provides backbone to the delicate brawn of the sangiovese. 2001 was a great year in Tuscany.

Brilliant ruby colors with aromas of flowers and fruit; on the tongue flavors of cherries, plums, blueberries, and spice with nice acidity and a gracefully lingering finish.

More on the collaboration and process:

Sergio Zingarelli of Rocca delle Macie contributed the Sangiovese, Andrea Faccio of Villa Giada contributed the Barbera and Giordano Emo Capodilista of La Montecchia contributed the Merlot. Each batch was vinified separately at their respect place of origin and aged in French oak for 12 months before blending and bottling.

On Vodka: Belvedere & Chopin

Found an old slice of paper that's now resting in my recycling bin. It's from a "training session" back in the day over the differences between Belvedere & Chopin Vodkas. Knowing what I know now, or should I say, who I know now, could probably go on for days about the different flavors and types of vodka. In fact, that might be a great idea for a guest blog post. He'll be opening up this place (Woodward Tavern in the Ames Hotel), next Friday. He's what I like to call a Liquid Chef, AKA mixologist. Go see him: English Bill.

Belvedere
Presidential Palace in Poland
Century-old distillery in the small town of Zyrardow, just west of Warsaw
Handcrafted in small batches to ensure superior quality
100% Dankowskie Gold Rye, only successfully grown in Mazovia, Poland
Unusually high percentage of starch, 65% by volume
2.2 pounds of Dankowskie Gold Rye go into every 750 ml bottle
Water used is drawn from their own artisan wells providing great purity
Distilled 4 times
Filtered 3 times
Bottles cleaned, filled, and inspected by hand
Every bottle goes through 33 quality control tests

Chopin
Named after Frederic Chopin, Poland favorite son
Distillery located near the town of Kzresk in the heart of the Podlasie (po-LASH-ee), region of Poland
Podlasie potatoes from small, practicing-organic farms of 250 acres or less that use only natural growing , fertilization, and harvesting methods
Most potatoes contain 12% starch; Podlasie contains 17-25% resulting in a richer, more flavorful vodka
Approximately 40 potatoes go into every 750ml bottle of Chopin, it's gluten and carb free
Water is pulled from 300 ft. deep artisan wells at the foot of the distillery
Distilled 4 times
Filtered 5 times