President's Day Weekend

Grreat Weekend. Friday night made veal scallopine with baked clams and sauteed shrimp. We drank the Chalone 2006 Pinot Noir Estate, one of my favorite wines.

Saturday we went to NYC and saw How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel. It won the Pulitzer Prize about 15 years ago. We saw it at the Second Stage's theater on 43rd street. It stars Norbert Leo Butz who is one our favorite actors. Check him out if you get a chance. He was just in Catch Me if You Can on Broadway and won a Tony.

Anyway, How I Learned to Drive was OK. Norbert was great but wasted in this play. The man can sing, dance and has a comic gift. Oh well.

For lunch we went to Amy's Bread and had sandwiches -1) tuna and 2)brie with apples and ham. We also bought 3 cupcakes and an oatmeal ,pecan, raisin bread. Everything was excellent and it all cost $20. Amy's is at 46th street and ninth ave.

We had dinner at home. Saturday night in NYC is not for me. I made salmon in a sauce. Saute leek, shallots and ginger in olive oil. Julienne zucchini and add to the mix. Then add white wine and cook down. Add some cream and saffron and some chopped tomatoes. Add anything that will add intensity to the mixture. The cut up salmon fillet into 1 inch wide strips and take off the skin. Poach in the sauce for about 6-8 minutes. I also added some chopped snow pea pods. Serve over linguine. Add  parmigiano cheese if you like even if this may not be Italian. One of my wife's favorite meals. For dessert we shared one of Amys' chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

We drank a Rosenblum Rousanne 2007 Fess Parker Vineyard. California. A white wine. It was a revelation. Fragrant with some acid. Not sweet. Tasted like a dessert wine that was not sweet. It had some weight to it. It went great with the Salmon. Rousanne is usually a grape used to blend wines of the Rhone.

Sunday we went to the Food and Wine Weekend at Alba Vineyards in Milford, NJ.albavineyard.com Milford is in central NJ near the Delaware River. Not much around there and GPS is not very accurate out there. The winery is in the Musconetcong River Valley and is quite pretty. For $15 each we got a commemorating glass and entre to the wine tasting and food tasting. It was very crowded but it was a beautiful day for mid February in NJ. I tasted many of the their wines. All wines were Alba wines although several of the wines were not from grapes grown in NJ. I ignored those wines. They make from NJ grapes a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Dry Riesling, Chambourcin (an east coast grape that I had never tasted), and a Cabernet Franc. They also make some dessert and other fruit based wines which we did not try.

The Dry Riesling was good and we bought a bottle. The Pinot Noir was OK. I liked the cabernet Franc, which can be very hard to make. The Chambourcin was also very good and we bought a bottle. Still not sure how it will drink over an entire bottle.

The only problem with the Alba wines is the price. The are pricey. The Chambourcin was about $14 and the Dry Riesling was about $16. The Pinot Noir $20 and the Cabernet Franc $25.

We took a tour of the winery and it was fascinating. The person in charge of the winery operations and farm lead the tour. They hand prune all vines. It is a 10 month a year job. They have about 100  acres with vines. They have put alot of money into the venture. They have a full time winemaker. They use only french oak barrels for the wine and they have their own bottling machine. We were very impressed. They still need to get some more age on their vines.

Obviously the weather in NJ is an issue. Rain is a bigger problem than sun so they prune accordingly. They want to produce all of the great grapes of the world. It is a work in progress. The wines that we liked have done better in the Northeast than the more traditional vinafera grape types. Apparently 2010 was a great year weather wise. Only the white wines from that year were available. The chardonnay did not impress. The oak was somewhat bitter. I would rather see a more Chablis type wine.

They also had someone from Bobolink Farm at the event. Diane Pindar from Donna Toscana (Donna & Company) was also there. Bobolink is a really cool operation also in Milford. They sell food at farmers markets and at their farm. cowsoutside.com Very good cheese and bread. They also sell beef and pork and give baking and cheese making classes. Their cheeses are good but I must say that 3 of the 5 cheeses available were what I would describe as extreme cheeses. Tastes and smells way too much for my taste. I bought their mild cheese and it is pungent. Again prices are an issue. The cheeses are $24 per pound and the bread is not cheap. They had a number of breads. They are very dense, flavorful and will not go stale. We bought their rustic bread.

I must once again sing the praises of Diane and her chocolates. She has as innate knack for combining flavors and is continuing to expand her repertoire. The box of chocolates that we bought included strawberry mint,espresso lemon, caramel balsamic, banana, olive oil and sea salt, lemon Basil and chestnut nutmeg among others. Her chocolate is definitely worth the price.

We went home and I made quails stuffed with cous cous, sausage and fruits. It is a wonderful dish created by Pierre Franey. As you may remember Pierre Franey is one of my food heroes. He died several years ago. The recipe is simple, elegant and fantastic. Cumin, cinnamon, garlic, shallots and other great flavors. It takes about 35 minutes to make. For dessert we shared another of Amy's cupcakes.

With this meal we had a 2003 Chateau Haut Gardere. $19 This a Bordeaux and I bought it a few years ago and have a few more bottles remaining. It was OK .We like Bordeaux wines and this one is from Pessac Leognan. The wine is Cabernet Sauvignon based. It did not sing but we enjoyed. I keep hoping that each bottle of the wine that I open will have that something extra quality but not this time.

BTW 2009  Bordeaux's are appearing everywhere and the vintage is getting raves from everyone. The latest Wine Spectator is all about the vintage. I have had a few of the wines and they are good. I am also seeing some excellent potential buys for under $25 and some as low as $15. Check them out.

If you get a chance, see the movie A Separation.(Iranian and with subtitles) Let me know what you think.

Also tried Cal Siscon 2004 Old Vines; Montsant, Spain $11 40% Granacha, 20% Carinena, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. $11. Decent wine with nice fruit on the edge of getting old.

Enjoy.

Giants win Superbowl; Almost Valentine's Day and winter wine

Wines of the Week

Seghesio Barolo 2007 $25 Italy - Barolos are my new favorite wine especially 07. This wine needs more time and was somewhat disappointing. The fruit was masked by tannin.
Gruet Blanc Di Noir, New Mexico $12 -- Nice sparkling wine with strong bubbles when poured but quickly disappated. Flavor was good but I am not a fan of this wine. Wine Spectator loved it.
Summers Knights Valley Andrienna's Cuvee cabernet sauvignon 2007 $16 -- Nice cabernet bouquet, no depth, decent fruit but I found it oddly sour on the finish; We did not finish the bottle; Highly rated by the Wine Advocate.
Roccalini Barbaresco 2007 $29-- This was a Cindy deal. Loved this wine. Perfumed bouquet, great balance of fruit and tannin, just a great wine; it will develop even better over time.
Nicolas Potel Chambolle-Musigny 1 er Cru les Hauts- Doix 2006  Burgundy $20 I found this wine light, some bouquet, tannic and not impressive; Maybe I had to be more patient with it. It had terroir.
Condado Da Haza Ribuero Del Duero Spain 2006  Drank at a restaurant and really enjoyed it. It had good flavor, depth and nice mouth feel. We had 2 riojas before it and this wine impressed.
Crios Torrontes 2011 Argentina ; Susan Balbo winemaker; $11  White wine that was fruity, floral, not heavy but not watery, really enjoyed with fried fluke fresh from NJ. BTW since Argentina is in the Southern Hemisphere the 2011 harvest is being sold.
Charles Smith 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington, Drank at restaurant, usually enjoy this wine but this bottle tasted flat, it had a chocolate taste which is something I don't usually say about a wine. it was OK.

Loved the Giants win over the Patriots. We had chicken wings, nachos and some interesting beers from all over.

Try to find some good chocolates for Valentine's Day. No Russell Stover, Godiva etc. If you can't find anything locally made, bake some brownies. Do you feel co-opted into doing something "romantic" on Valentine's Day. Do you feel that you must buy or receive overpriced roses? Just curious. My wife would be upset with me if I bought roses for Valentine's Day. I love flowers and buy them all of the time but I don't like being manipulated by the stores and the media.

We went to one of my favorite food places yesterday -- Delicious Orchards in Colts's Neck, NJ. deliciousorchardsnj.com We bought apple pie, brownies and apple crumb cake. Hit the Yum factor.

What are you doing for food on a plane? Are you buying the food that they sell or  are you bringing food on the plane. I try to bring a sandwich, some fruit and dessert. I don't drink when flying but there is usually nothing that I would want to drink, even on domestic first class. International first class is another story but I have only been on that once. (the Italy trip).

Went to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC last week. While they suggest paying them $25 to get in; the price is really whatever you want. Two for $4 works. They have redone the American Wing and the Middle Eastern/Islamic galleries and they are wonderful. Tiffany, Washington Crossing the Delaware and Frank Lloyd Wright.

We then went off to Chinatown and tried 456 on Mott Street. Shanghai style. Very good. We had soup dumplings with the soup inside the dumpling and fried thin noodles with veggies, pork, chicken and shrimp. Total bill $17 and enjoyed it. Of course we went to Ferrara's for dessert. We also stopped at DiPalo's and spoke with the owner. This time we had a  good conversation about Monforte d' Alba in Piemonte.

Ciao!