Europe Part 2 (Food and Wine)

Day 1. Our first meal was lunch in Courmayeur. Pizza, salad, wine and local wine and Peroni beer. The pizza was 4 euros and was large and  good. After lunch tried my first real gelato and it was amazing. We had cantelope and peach. The flavors were intense and prices were very reasonable- 2 euros for a small cone.
We had dinner prepaid at the hotel. Mistake. 3 courses of nothing special although I had a decent vitello tonnato which is one of the specialities of the region. Thin slices of veal with a scoop of tuna sauce. Apparently there are a number of ways to prepare it. Courmayeur is in the Valle d' Aosta section of Italy. Had a glass of local red wine which was light and fruity.

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Day 2. Had breakfast at hotel. Buffet with fruits, meats, cereal, breads and one could boil an egg. Lunch was at a roadside restaurant. We ate outside and had roast beef, 2 kinds of quiche, salad, and french fries. It was the lunch special. The Aosta area is a mix of french and Italian.
Drove to the hotel Castello Di Sinio.hotelcastellodisinio.com
The hotel is owned by an American, Denise Pardini, who is also the chef. Dinner is in a beautiful room of the castle. We started with a Prosecco rose then were served an amuse buche of pea soup. We then had quail and fig salad, tagarin - thin pasta with local bra sausage ( a local specialty), leg of rabbit in tomato sauce, and lobster tail and beef. Dessert was strawberries with merangue layers and petit fours. For the wine I settled on 2 half bottles -- Pio Cesare 2007 Barolo and Pio Cesare 2007 Barbaresco. 26 euros each. The wines were a revelation.

Apparently Barbareseco is considered the more feminine wine and Barolo the more masculine. The 2007 vintage is not widely available in the US yet. It is an excellent vintage. The fruit and balance of the 2 wines was unlike previous Barolos that I had tasted. I do not remember previously having a Barbaresco. Apparently the 2007 vintage is more accessible early in its development than many other vintages. Both wines were superb although we liked the Barbaresco more. The dinner was beautiful and we met several other couples at dinner. When we  were ready to leave we could not believe that we had been there for over 3 hours. This meal was our most expensive of the trip and with wine cost over $220.

Breakfast the next morning was good. We had very good breakfasts everywhere.

Day 3- Our next stop was Le Case Della Saracca in Monforte d' Alba saracca.com. This is a small B&B type place with 5 rooms in an old building on a very steep hill in town. Guilio our host was great. He has a wine bar in the lower portion of the building. The wine bar is a rambling space with many rooms and alcoves over 3 floors. There are wines and tables everywhere. We met Giulio for a drink of prosecco and helped us plan our day. He suggested that we go to the town of Barolo and he made reservations for us at his friends winery at 5pm.
We drove around the area and went to Barolo. We tried to eat in Barolo but nothing clicked although we wanted to visit the wine museum. We tasted some Barolo in a small shop. It was good and then we went to La Morra for lunch.
The wineries in the Barolo area are generally small and there are lots of them, over 350. Some are located in people's houses. So one has the ability taste a tremendous amount of wines.
Walking in La Mora we came  upon an osteria that was busy. We had lasagna and ravioli with black truffles shaved over it. The ravioli was small and very delicate. We had a glass of Dolcetto D Alba which was light and fruity.
We went back to Barolo and visited the museum.
It was now time for our appointment at Podere Ruggeri Corsini. http://www.ruggericorsini.com/ It was down a side road and then a turn off to a dirt road. We arrived 20 minutes early and no one was around. We left and came back 15 minutes later and we met Loredana. She was delightful. We tasted about 6 of their wines and she served us some cheese and  bread.
wines tasted were ( I don't remember all of the vintages):
Langhe bianco DOC- white wine 50% Arneis, 30% sauvignon blanc 20% chardonnay
Dolcetto D'Alba DOC - 100% Dolcetto
Barbera D' Alba Superiore DOC "Armujan"
Langhe DOC Pinot Nero "Argamakow" 100% pinot nero"
Barolo DOCG "San Pietro' 2007 100% nebbiolo $25
Barolo DOCG " Corsini" 2007 100% nebbiolo $34
The wines were excellent. I bought a bottle of each Barolo. The Corsini is from older vines.Loredana handled the wines with great care. She poured a small amount into a glass and swirled the wine around the glass. She then poured that small amount out and poured a small tasting.

We discussed the wine business and how her wine is distributed in the US.  Our tasting confirmed that he 2007 vintage is producing wines that we found appealing.
She then showed the celler where the wine is made and stored. Barolo is fermented in large barriques and small barrels depending on the winemakers preference. There is a modern and traditional style of Barolo. the wines of Podere Ruggeri Corsini are available in NY and Washington state. She told me that DePalos in Little Italy in NYC carries her wine. I will be checking it out. BTW Decanter magazine just rated their 2006 San Pietro Barolo their number 1 wine in rating of hundreds of Barolos.

We then went back to the hotel and decided to eat dinner at Giulio's wine bar. We ordered pasta with a large shrimp in the shell and large roasted pork shank with roasted potatoes. We had an 07 Barbaresco from Boccalini to start and we had an 05 Barolo and a 1998 Insieme which was a blend of cabernet, merlot and nebbiolo. All of the wines were excellent although  I noticed that we were enjoying Barbarescos more than Barolos and we were really liking the 07 vintage. The wines that we were drinking were much better than the Barolos that we had at home and I don't believe it was a local ambiance effect.

Day 4- We had this day to explore since we were staying at Giulio's place another night. We went to Saluzza, a medieval town and Manta, which has a castle. Saluzza was a waste of time and the castle at Manta was closed on Mondays. My wife was not happy when I failed to read the sign at the bottom of the hille and we walked up a steep hill to then find out the castle was closed. We had lunch at a pizza place that ripped us off.
We went back to Monforte and decided to go to the food and wine places off the plaza. I owed my wife some nice wine after our morning ride. We stopped in a wine bar and had a glass of Pio Cesare Gavi 2010 and a glass of Elio Grasso chardonnay. The glasses of wine were 2.5E  Also had an apple cake/tarte. The wines were refreshing. We then walked around the town and stopped in a bakery and got an assortment of cookies. The cookies were not that sweet and we enjoyed them. We then went back to the wine bar and bought a bottle of the Gavi for later.

We later stopped in Giulio's wine bar since he was going to recommend a place for dinner. We suggested Trattoria della Posta, a mile out of town. trattoriadellaposta.it He made reservations for us. We had some arneis (local white wine) with Giulio and went off to dinner.

The restaurant was in a pretty location. We ate outside. We decided to order local specialties. We had vitello tonnato, onion stuffed with cheese, spinach ravioli with goat cheese, tagarin, strawberries and meringue for dessert again. We liked this version better. All the food was very good. For the wine I wanted to have a half bottle of Prunotto Nebbiolo d Alba and a half bottle of Parusso Langhe Nebbiolo. They did not have the Prunotto so we had the Parusso and then ordered a glass of Barolo and a glass of Barbaresco. The Nebbiolo was very nice but the wines by the glass were not good. The Barberesco was funky. Anyway I recently read an article by Antonio Galloni in the Wine Advocate issue 187, where he basically came down hard on the way restaurants in Piemonte store their wines. He recommends not even ordering an older wine in a Piemonte restaurant. Food for thought. The meal cost us about $120.

Day 5  Next stop Milano. Note- I am not trying to be pompous in some of my spellings of European cities and places but why have we change Milano to Milan, Piemonte to Piedmont, Italia to Italy etc. We drove to Milano and stopped in Alba for a  snack. we found a bakery for cookies and a small bar for prosciutto sandwiches.

We found our hotel in Milan. BTW my wife was our GPS unit for the trip. We went off to figure out the trains and to find a restaurant for dinner and find the Duomo.

European Trip Part 1;Northern Italy Switzerland and Germany

Just returned from our trip to Italy, Switzerland and Germany with short drive thru France and a change of planes in England.
Itenerary:
Day 1 Landed in Geneva and drove to Courmayeur, Italy. Here is the view from our hotel.

Day 2 Drove to Sinio, Italy. Piemonte region of Italy; home of Barolo and Barberesco wines. This is our hotel in Sinio. Castello Di Sinio.

Day 3 Drove to Monforte D" Alba in Italy. 10 minutes from Sinio. The town of Monforte.

Day 4 Stayed in Monforte.
Day 5 Drove to Milano. The Duomo in Milano

Day 6 Stayed in Milano.
Day 7 Drove to Zurich via Lake Como and Lake Lugano. Lake Como, Lake Lugano and Zurich at night.

Day 8 Flew to Munich. The Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

Day 9 Stayed in Munich
Day 10 Flew back to US via London.

We had a great time and had a chance to sample some amazing Italian and German wines.

Summer is in full bloom

Had a Brunello di Montalcino last night. Brought it to BYOB restaurant, Arturos in my town. It was a Scopone 2003 and I enjoyed it. Brunellos are expensive and need time to develop. I have not had many of them. This one seemed to die halfway thru the bottle.  My wife did not think it was anything special. The meal was good. We had kale caesar salad. It was original and good. The kale was tender. We also had fire roasted zucchini and a margherita pizza. The pizza is baked in a wood burning oven and was really good. This place has perfected it.

Saw Swan Lake at the American Ballet Theater last week. The music and dancing were great. I find the ballet very calming. We saw the last performance by Jose Manuel Carreno. He is retiring. If he can dance Swan Lake at 43 then Derek Jeter can still play baseball at 37. After the ballet we ate dinner and went to Greenwich Village for desert. We bought pastries at Francois Payard Bakery, which is  small pastry shop/cafe on Houston Street. They make rolls of sponge cake with flavored creams that are superb. We had the hazelnut and espresso mocha. Payard is on the short list of best bakeries in NY and it is very reasonable.  fpbnyc.com

Was in Clearwater Beach, Florida several weeks ago and stayed at the Hyatt Regency on the beach. The hotel was very nice although I am no fan of the Gulf. It was 87 degrees in mid June. Not refreshing. However the hotel had a really good pastry chef who made interesting things for breakfast and lunch. There was banana bread,  a peach tart and guava empanada. It is always good to see that large hotels employ pastry chefs. I have no idea if the person was a recent culinary school graduate or an experienced pastry maker.

I need to stock up on wines this weekend. I need some light reds and interesting whites. I will be looking for Beaujolais, Sancerre, Albarino, some sparkling wines, maybe some Italian reds that are light in alcohol, rieslings. Places of interest for wine will be Chile, Argentina, Spain, South of France, South Africa an maybe some California. Stay tuned. Let me know your favorite summer wines.

Recently had the Provenance 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from California. No oak and it was very good. I bought it for $11 but that was very cheap. Nice fruit and good structure.

Also had an Edna Valley 2006 Paragon Syrah. It has held up and is spicy like a Syrah should be. I got it for the ridiculous price of $4.50. Very good wine.

Also had a Chapoutier Cote Du Rhone Belleruche 2007. Excellent bottle and I think I paid about $10.

Had to change planes in Chicago around dinnertime a few weeks ago and had about 3 hours to kill at O'Hare. I found a Japanese restaurant in the concourse area between Terminals 1 and 2. Had a great salad with a light dressing. The salad was topped with 4 huge shrimp perfectly cooked. It cost about $18 which I  think was an amazing bargain in an airport.

I have been cooking  with quinoa (keen-wa) lately. It is a grain that looks like cous cous. I under cook it slightly which makes it chewier. Cook with with chicken stock, low salt preferably, and then after cooking add sauteed onions, dried fruit, pine nuts, something crunchy like kohlrabi or jicama and you have quinoa salad. Hot or cool it is good. I added some seared scallops on top of a scoop and it was delicious.

Just bought the first fresh sour cherries of the season. It may also be my only chance for fresh sour cherries. I will be making my sour cherry tart this weekend. One of the best things on earth. Details at a later date. Hint - cherries and almond flavor go together like a horse and carriage.

It is summertime so you have no excuses for eating non locally sourced foods. My zucchinis are almost ready to eat. I have already harvested lettuce, arugula, string beans, sugar snap peas and some not too great radishes. Also local corn is out and I have been cooking it and using it fresh off the cob for salads. Blueberries from NJ are also very cheap and good this weekend. Blueberry pancakes, blueberry coffee cake and blueberries in cereal are all staples for me this time of year.

Keep eating and drinking or drinking and eating if you prefer.

June travels

I had an opportunity to try the 2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia at a recent dinner in Ft Wayne, Indiana. The wine was great. While it had complex flavors, it had a pure and focused taste that made it special. However the real highlight of the experience was sharing the wine with 2 friends. Wine is meant to be shared. This wine is not secret and was very highly rated by the Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate.

Also tasted 3 wines- Franciscan cabernet, Cain Cuvee and Merryvale cabernet. Not sure of the vintages but I think they were 2005. The restaurant did not put vintages on the wine list. We had to ask the waitress to check the vintage of every wine that interested us. The waitress was very accommodating but it was a slow process. None of these wines merit further drinking. They are examples of poor California cabs.

I am still trying to fill in the blanks for the trip to Europe.We are staying in Courmayeur, Italy on the first night. This town is in the Alps at the base of Mt Blanc. I love the Michelin Red guidebooks. However the Red guide for Italy is only in Italian. This makes things more interesting since my Italian is not good. To be continued.

At another dinner in Ft Wayne (800 degrees Wood fired Pizza) the wine list was not good and they would not let us bring a bottle. However the beers were great. They had 6 beers on tap. They gave me tastes in shot glasses to make my decision. I tried Dog Fish Head Poppa Skull. It had 10% alcohol. I did not like it. I also tried the Tyranena Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter. It was intriguing. I also tried the Stone Ruination IPA, 7.7% alcohol. It was OK but I settled on the Two brothers J Series Resistance IPA, 6.9% alcohol. I enjoyed it and it was the cheapest. $3 for 16oz. pour. Interestingly they charge by the alcohol contnent of the beer and you also get less of the beers with higher alcohol content. BTW the pizza was good.

Recipe of the Week
I started with a dozen clams in their shells. Put them in a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil and covered the pan on medium heat. I added thin slices of garlic, half a clove, and fresh herbs - oregano and rosemary. I then added 2 chopped scallions and a zucchini diced up. Added a little more olive oil. At the end I added a chopped up a shitaki mushroom.

In a separate pan I seared 6 sea scallops and I prepared a wide noodle pasta, pappardelle. The clam mixture generated a beautiful broth from its own juies. When the clams are fully opened the dish is ready, about 10 -15 minutes. To serve - pasta in bowl with a touch of olive oil, top with clam mixture and top with 2 or 3 scallops. I am now getting my seafood from the jersey seafood guy at the farmer's market. Served with a green salad. BTW I always use extra virgin olive oil.

Any interesting white wine goes with the meal. I had Schiopetto Blanc Des Rosis 2007 13.5% alcohol from the Venezia area of Italy that I had in my cellar. I paid about $14 but it usually sells for more. Not sure of the grape but a full bodied white that we enjoyed.

Ft Wayne is also home to one of the most amazing chocolate shops to be found anywhere - DeBrand Chocolates. http://www.debrand.com/. They have several locations in Ft Wayne. The shops are elegant and have very nice seating areas where you can enjoy chocolate and they have a huge selection of chocolates to take home. They make a hot fudge sundae that is a definitive statement and sets a very high bar for hot fudge sundaes. I had vanilla ice cream in a dark chocolate cup with hot fudge, caramel and pecans. OMG. See above.
Ciao. I am practicing.

Prelude to Summer

I am still looking to eat my first NJ strawberry of the year. Wegman's was selling some but I did not buy them. They are not easy to find these days but they can be great. They are much more delicate than the commercial strawberries that we usually get. The season is very short.NJ blueberries are also comin soon. I am also patiently waiting for fresh sour cherries. Visions of sour cherry tarts are in my head.

I'm planning a trip to France, Italy Switzerland and Germany. It sounds like we are doing lots of travelling but the distances are quite reasonable. Will be going to Piemonte region in Italy home of Barolo and Barberesco wines. In preparation I have trying some Piemonte wines. Had a Dolcetto d' Alba which was very good. The grape is Dolcetto. Medium bodied with nice fruit and tannin. Pira Dolcetto d' Alba 2009 $12.

Also tried rosso from Langhe by GD Vajra in Barolo 2007, Nebbiolo grape, about $14. It was OK. Decent flavor nothing really exciting. The Wine Spectator gave it an 88 but we would not be that positive about the wine.
We will be ending the trip in Munich where the beer is excellent. We are looking forward to drinking beer in the beer garden in the center of the old city. We have been to Munich before and really enjoyed the city. It is amazing to see a waitress carry 5 or 6 liter mugs of beer in 1 hand.

My favorite farmer's market starts this Sunday. Located in Summit. I will be able to get fresh fish from NJ which is amazin. NJ has some of the best tuna that I have eaten. The scallops and the clams are outstanding.

Last week we drank a malbec rose from Susana Balbo Crios. It was 2010 and cost $12. The wine looks like cherry juice but it completely dry and has more body than most roses. It is high in alcohol but very enjoyable.When buying a rose, buy the most recent year that you can find. They usually do not have a long shelf life.

Tried a new cava this week. Kila Cava 2008 from Spain, $8. The importer is Jorge Ordonez, Temprinillo Imports. He specializes in spanish wines. A good way to buy wines is look at the importer. Most good importers work with the winemakers to get the best possible wines for their portfolios. Since I love cava from Sant Sadurni D'Anoia this wine had all of the right stuff on the label. It was a very good sparkling wine with all of the fruitiness that I love with cava.

Springtime

We are finally getting some warm weather in NJ. This has triggered thoughts of farmers' markets, fresh produce and working on my garden. I have expanded my garden this year and now have room for some different vegetables. I usually plant tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, string beans, herbs and sometimes watermelon or some other more exotic plants. Any thoughts on what I should plant this year.

I was in Palm Springs, California a few weeks ago right before Coachella. The desert landscape can be wonderful with the muted colors and interesting lighting effects at sunrise and sunset. I can't say that I had anything great to eat but I did manage to find a few local restaurants that were quite good. I have always found it interesting that it is not that easy to find good California wines in California.I stayed at a big Marriott resort and they did not offer any wine worth drinking. Even the small local restaurants did not have wine lists with wines worth mentioning here. I drank beer.

Recent wines of note.
2009 Deboeuf Morgon Jean Descombes - France $14 -- enjoyed the bottle with grilled chicken. I have mentioned this wine before. I find it to be a very reliable wine to drink year after year. The 2009 beaujolais' are finally starting to impress me. Light and fruity with good finish.
Crios Torrontes - 2010 Argentina $12. Very floral white wine, fruity but dry with some flavor complexity.
Chalone 2006 Pinot Noir, California. I had a chance to get several cases of this wine at a very reasonable price. I have tried 1 bottle so far and it has good fruit. It is a big wine with 14.5% alcohol. There is also a spiciness to the wine. I like the wine but will be able to discuss it better after I have tried a few more bottles. I tend to like the Chalone Pinot Noirs. The wine usually sell for over $30 but I obtained it for under $15.

Recipe of the week
Cut boneless chicken breasts in to 2 inch cubes. Marinate for 10 minutes in olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and thyme. Put on skewers and grill until done. Do not overcook. Serve with cous cous and pita bread. Add some hummus and a salad and you are set. White or red wine works well. How about some baklava for dessert.

Aruba

Went to Aruba last week. Interestingly the weather was rainy. Locals told us that they have had lots of rain since October. We stayed at the Tradewinds Club at the  Marriott hotel. The wine list was poor and expensive. They didn't even have the local beer on tap. I met a consultant to Marriott in the elevator and complained about the wine and some other things at the Club. We had free drinks and wine at the club lounge but the wines were cheap $5 bottles while the liquor was fancy brands. Why are wine drinkers an afterthought at such club lounges. Next thing we knew there was a bottle of wine in our room complements of the hotel. It was a Mondavi cabernet. It was the Private Select 2008. It sells for $8.40 in NJ. It was OK and certainly better than other affordable wines at the hotel.It was also a very nice gesture by the hotel.
Our dilemma was where to drink our wine. We wanted to have it with dinner. So I went to one of the Marriott restaurants and asked if we could bring our wine to dinner since the hotel had given us the bottle. The wonderful hostess said OK. It made for a nice evening. We sat outside and enjoyed their excellent buffet with our wine.
Another night we went to an Italian restaurant. I checked the wine list and on the last page low and behold they had an Argentinian Malbec from Finca Flichman - Misterio 2010. It was $20 and we drank it and it was very good. I found that South American wines were better values in Aruba probably because they are so close to South America. Wine list tip - go with what looks like the best local deal. Do not focus on familiar wines that may be very overpriced.
BTW the Aruban people we met were great. Herminia, who was in charge of the Tradewinds club portion of the beach  was delightful. She made our stay fun.
We ate at a restaurant call Wacky Wahoos. It was in a small strip mall and had about 20 tables. It was cute but noisy. The fish was awesome, I had wahoo and my wife had swordfish. Best fish we have had in a while and we eat lots of fish. It was pan sauted Aruban style and the sides - plaintains, yellow rice, steamed veggies and corn meal polentalike cake that was a local thing - were great. We really enjoyed although again the wine list was a joke -- poor and overpriced. I had a Heinekin and my wife had a glass of wine.
Overall the food was pretty good and not that expensive and the wine was overpriced. I did get to one supermarket and checked the wines. They had some excellent reds from Spain at very cheap prices. Next time.

Wines of the Week

To give some idea of the wines I buy, this week I bought:

Wyatt Chardonnay 2009 California $10. Highly recommended by Parker. Love their pnot noir. This chardonnay was ok. A little heavy and unbalanced but decent fruit.

Bodegas Lan rioja. Spain $10 . 2006

Zenato Valpolicella. Italy 2008. $11.

Guigal Cotes Du Rhone 2007. $10. A classic and very good bottle year in and year out.

Cupcake Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand. $8.  Really good white. Typical New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - fresh and fruity. Big bargain.

Terre Do Lobo Godello 2009. Spanish white. $12. Interesting white. Rated 92 by Wine Advocate. OK but I guess the Godello grape makes it special.

Lauverjat Sancerre 2009. Loire Sauvignon Blanc, France . $15.

Paso a Paso Verdjo 2009. Spanish white.$7. Another interesting white from Spain.