Happy New Year

Looking forward to 2012.

Christmas Day menu repeated Thanksgiving. Turkey and all of the sides. Loved it! We had a 2007 Seven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Seven Hills Vineyards Walla Walla Valley $27 from Washington state. Enjoyed it. Not a fruit bomb, good structure, nice tannins and it tasted like a cabernet. Followed it with an Italian dolcetta d' alba which was a mistake. It was much lighter and did not stand up to the cabernet.

We opened the keg of HB Oktoberfest beer and it was great. We finished it much faster than I expected. This is the way to drink beer.

We did not do a big wine swap with family at Christmas but I received a bottle of Plumpjack 2009 merlot. It has received some good ratings. Will open at a later date. I gave out a  Calera 2009 pinot noir and a Summers 2007 cabernet sauvignon. I have not tried either but I have added them to my list. They sound like excellent wines.

We did our traditional Chinatown, NY take home thing on New Year's Eve day. My son and I went to the Peking Duck House on Mott Street and bought a whole Peking duck with all of the trimmings. $45. The price has gone up over the years but it is still a bargain. We then went to NY Noodletown and bought a roast duck and spare ribs. $9 total. Great NY Noodletown is great little place on the Bowery. The prices are low and  the food great.Cash only.
We then went to Nice Green Bo Village on Bayard. for dumplings. Green Bo is Shanghai style and has new management as of late. We ordered vegetable dumplings and little pork buns.$9 total. We then went 456 on Mott Street. This is a fairly new restaurant and is Shanghai style also. The woman working there previously worked at Green Bo, a good sign since she made Green Bo hum.We ordered soup dumplings and scallion pancakes. $6 total.

We then went to Ferrara's bakery on Grand Street in Little Italy and ordered rainbow cookies(rich in marzipan), these are great cookies. Also ordered a cannoli and sfogliatelle ( crisp wheat with ricotta filling shaped like a clam). Ferrara's is not as good as it was 40 years ago but it is still good and a family tradition. Although I will never forget or forgive them for no longer selling swiss rolls and rainbow ends.

Santa gave me a bottle of 2002 Dom Perignon for Christmas. This champagne is very highly rated and is a wine we love but don't have very often. The plan  was to drink it for New Year's Eve but my wife was not feeling great so we switched to a Charles  De Cazanove brut Champagne from Reims. It was a good medium bodied wine. Good flavor and not much oak. I generally like some oak in my champagne as it adds a vanilla overtone to the wine.

I also tried this week a bottle of Moosbader Lager beer from Germany. Liked it alot. A typical flavorful but not heavy Bavarian beer. It goes down smooth.

Also tried the 2010 Deboeuf Morgon beaujolais. It was a typical beaujolais with decent body and good flavor. Not as much fruit as I expected.

Also tried the Kirkland Champagne. It was delicate with good flavor. Not the strongest bubbles.
I have noticed that I like Champagne at a warmer temperature than in the past. As with any wine, cold can mask flavors. I am guessing that maybe 45 degrees is right for Champagnes whereas most refrigerators will keep the wine at around 37 degrees.

My friend had to cancel for our paella party so we put it off for a few weeks.

Planning a trip to Anguilla in January. More on that at a later date. Anguilla has beautiful beaches and some very expensive hotels. We have picked a very reasonably priced  hotel and I found a good airfare on Continental/United. The merger has not thrilled me.

There have been a number very good wine deals over the past few weeks. Barolos continue to appear at reasonable prices. However I was disappointed this week in an attempt to locate the 06 Podere Ruggeri Corsini Barolo. After Ferraras I went across the street to DiPalo's wine shop, the place where my Italian acquaintances from my trip spoke fondly about. DiPalo is also the only place I know that has wines from Podere Ruggeri Corsini in Monforte d' Alba. We visited the "winery' on the Italian trip and spoke for some time with the owner and winemaker. DiPalo had the 04 Barolo and it was $62. The store was staffed by a bored young women who knew nothing about the wine. When I asked the price (many wines did not have a price), she had to call the boss to find out. It must be a hot selling wine. Moreover the 06 and 07 vintages should be available. Anyway it got me thinking again about becoming a wine importer so that some great wines get proper distribution. Wine importer is going on my 2012 things to do list.

Anyone catch the Honeymooners on TV the last few days. Norton!

Here's to 2011. Bring on 2012!