Twas the week before Christmas

Listening to Freakonomics radio which is from a blog http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/ Very interesting and somewhat humorous report on whether expensive wines are better than cheap wines. Let me know your reaction to the story.

Are wines good gifts for Christmas? Sure especially if the recepient loves wine. Instead of one expensive bottle try giving 2 or 3 inexpensive wines that have a theme such as the same grape, one country etc. A wine lover might also appreciate a subscription to the Wine Spectator or the Wine Advocate.

A holiday tradition of mine is to host a party for my tennis partners. Usually there are 3 or 4 of us. I play tennis every week during the winter. The menu is caesar salad, paella, sour cream walnut apple pie and Champagne. The menu selections originated with our original group of doubles players over 20 years ago. One friend made caesar salad as his specialty, another friend was not a cook but lived in NYC. His favorite pie was the Little Pie Company's sour cream apple walnut pie. Paella was one of my favorites and I had always used the recipe from the NY Time International cookbook by Craig Claiborne. Champagne was chosen because of the holiday and because we loved it.

Now I make all of the components of the meal except the Champagne. Sometimes I make chocolate mousse for dessert and there have been times when we had chocolate covered macadamia nuts. We also top the meal off with tastings of cognacs and/or rums. I had collected rums from all over the world but  few years ago, one of my sons decided to try my rums and put an end to my collection. Oh well.

Shopping, cooking and cleaning can be demanding. Without my wife's assistance I could not pull it off. Also agreeing on a date that works for all is a pain. Sometimes maintaining a "tradition" can be tough but I believe it is well worth the effort.

Wines of the week.

Had a Tohu pinot noir 2006 from New Zealand. It was light, spicy with nice fruit. We had it with Indian food and I thought it went great with the food. I got a great deal on the wine when I bought it ( I think I paid about $8) but I believe that more recent vintages are more expensive. New Zealand pinot noirs can be good values and that is not easily said about pinot noirs.

Also had  2009 Cartagena sauvignon blanc Estate Grown, Lo Abarca from the San Antonio Valley in  Chile. It was $12. We enjoyed the wine but I can't say it had any outstanding characterics. I find the sauvignon blanc wines from Chile to be OK wines that are reasonable priced and food friendly.
                                     -------------------------------
A number of wine stores are deeply discounting wines these days. There are lots of great values out there. More at a later date.

Beaujolais Update

I tasted a 2009 Beaujolais Domaine Dupeuble Pere et Fils.$11.99  It was very good; fruity. This is a small grower. Looks like the hype over the 2009 Beaujolais wine may be warranted. No need to look for this specific wine, try any 2009 Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages or one of the many villages that are part of Beaujolais such as Moulin a Vent, Morgon, Regnie, etc.

Quick recipe. Center cut pork chops -- bone-in. Whole Foods has great pork chops. Salt and pepper the chops to taste. Sear the chops in a frying pan using olive oil to coat the pan. In a separate pan gently toast some bread crumbs mixed with olive oil and dry sage. Place the seared chops in an aluminum baking dish and place some of the bread curmbs on top of the chops. Bake in a 375 degree pre-heated oven for 10 -15 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops. Check for doneness by cutting into the meat near the bone. Let the chops rest for 5 minutes before serving. Great stuff.

Sparkling Wines and Beaujolais

I love most sparkling wine, especially Champagne - sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France. Most Champagne is non-vintage - a blend of wine from several years. Champagne is ready to drink when it is bottled but opinions differ on aging Champagne.

How do you know how old the bottle of non-vintage champagne that you just bought is? Until recently it was almost impossible. Now many Champagne bottles have a disgorgement date on the back label. This is the date of bottling. Look for recent disgorgement dates when buying Champagne. You never know how a wine has been stored.

Just had a bottle of Moutard Champagne. Excellent bottle  with a May 2010 disgorgement date. $28. This wine has lots of flavor especially some vanilla overtones from oak. I like this style of Champagne, which is usally described as a big yeasty style. These days you can get a very good Champagne for $25 to $30. Champagne is about 12% alcohol. The Wine Spectator described it as follows: A firm Champagne, lightly chalky, driven by a smoke note that wraps around preserved lemon, chamomile and quince hints. This is a bit chunky right now and could use a little time to put it all together. Bright and fresh, with a honey-laced finish.
Judge for yourself.

There are sparkling wines from all over the world. I really enjoy cava - sparkling wine from Spain. They are usually in the $8 to $15 range. The are light and fruity. Codorniu is one of the largest producers. Their cava is excellent and sell for under $10. As with everything there are more expensive cavas that are vintage or have some other "exclusive" selling point. Don't waste your money. Good cava is reasonably priced, fresh, fruity and fun to drink. Feel free to mix it with orange juice for a mimosa.

Tip of the day. Look for 2009 Beaujolais. They are getting some good press. I will be trying some in the next few days. Truthfully, I have been disappointed in Beaujolais the last few years. BTW Beaujolais is from France and is made from the Gamay grape. It is a light and fruity wine. Let me know your thoughts.