Wines
I have had several very good wines in the last 2 weeks.
Domaine Du Cayron, Gigondas 2006 Really enjoyed this wine. I was a gift. Probably around $20. Gigondas is a Rhone wine from France. This wine is a blend. Good fruit but not overly grapey. The bottle disappeared quickly.
Melville Pinot Noir 2008 Estate Verna's $25 I ususally like Melville wines. We once visited the winery which is outside of Sant Barbara, CA. Lately I have been down on their Pinot Noirs because of very high alcohol levels and that hot taste that goes with high alcohol sometimes. This wine was superb. Terroir, complexity, nice fruit but none of the ordinary Pinot Noir cherry soda flavor. 14.1% alcohol was just fine. Savored this wine.
Allegrini 2005 Palazzo Della Torre Veronese; $15 Italian from the Venice area. A favorite. These wines are ususally grapey but good. This wine was probably over the hill; it lacked sparkle. We had with pizza at our local pizza place. It was OK but I would still try other more recent vintages.
Codorniu Cava, Spain $8, Classic cava. Love it. Good fruit but not sweet. Nice bubbles and low alcohol. The critics only write about small cava makers. Codorniu is one of the largest so it is not a critic darling. Trust me, it is very good, well priced and goes well with lots of food or drink with cheese and other snacks.
Just bought the following wines at the Wine Library;
Spice Route Chakalaka $16 South Africa-- Rhone blend that I have had before and love it.
Au Bon Climat 2010 Pinot Noir, CA $17 ; This wine has received some favorable press. The wine maker is controversial. The Wall Street Journal had an article about the winery. Supposedly a Burgundian style of California Pinot Noir.
Borsao 2011 Spain Still $6.39 The fav.
Chateau Dallau, 2009 Bordeaux $12; Second bottle, let's see if if it still good.
Segura Viudas Brut Reserva cava Spain $6.98 ; A usually decent cava. The store did not have Codorniu which is my fav.
Bibi Graetz Casamatta $8.98 Sangiovese, Italy 2011. The Wine Spectator gave this a 90 so I decided to give it a try.
BelleVue 2003 Bordeaux $11 The Wine Library had a great deal on this wine. It is an older Bordeaux that had a good Parker rating when it came out. Review on Cellartracker are not that kind. I was intrigued. Will let you know.
NYC
Recently went to NYC ate in Chinatown at Nom Wah Tea Parlour. Second time to this place. Did not like this time. The dumplings tasted tired and frozen. Some other pork dish we had was not to our taste. Place is very reasonable and the meal cost $20 with tip.
After Chinatown I changed tradition and skipped Little Italy and we went to Payard Patisserie on West Houston Street. Love this place. We bought a chocolate tarte with salt, caramel and almonds, pistachios and walnuts?, a chocolate terrine pastry and and apple pear pastry with lots of fruit. Also bought ice cream sandwiches which were 2 for the price of 1(2 for $5) The chocolate sandwich is awesome. Also had chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream.payard.com
I was in a chocolate mood so we then went to Jacques Torres Chocolate and bought some chocolates. Great stuff.mrchocolate.com Store is on Hudson St near Houston. Best bargain dark chocolate disks for $14 for 2 pounds, Shh.
See how my mind works. Bad Chinese food equals overkill for dessert.
Enjoy the fall. Go Yankees.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Recent Wines; More Pacific Northwest
Recent wine purchases
I wanted to buy some inexpensive, lighter wines for nights when we do not want to finish a bottle.
Louis Jadot Macon Village 2010 $12 2010 was a good year in Burgundy.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2011 $14 I have had this wine before and it is very good. Fruity but with more structure than most New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.
Borsao Red 2011. $6.39 The perennial favorite.
Chateau Dallau 2009 Bordeaux Superiore $12. Trying another 09 Bordeaux. Drank this wine and it is a winner. Good fruit and yummy.
Chateau Nardian 2009 St Emillon $12 Trying another 09 Bordeaux. Drank this wine and it is OK. More structure than the Dallau but not as much fruit. It will probably age well. Still a good wine.
Chateau Parenchere Blanc 2010 $12 Tried a Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion blend. The WS loved this wine; I did not. Alcohol with little fruit.
Pacific Northwest
Day 3 We left Victoria by boat for a 3 hour trip to Seattle. It was a foggy day and we did not see much. The ride was not very exciting. We walked to our hotel, a Marriott on the waterfront in Seattle. The hotel was nice and we had a small balcony overlooking the harbor.
The hotel was a short walk but up a steep hill from Pike Place Market pikeplacemarket.org, Seattle's food heaven. Luckily the hill could be navigated by taking an elevator 3/4 of the way up. We walked around Pike Place Market and found a place to eat. I had my first Dungeness crab. It was good and not cheap around $25 for a half of a crab.
Pike Place Market was quite interesting. Amazing flowers at very reasonable prices. $15 gets you a bouquet that will suffice at your wedding. The berry season was almost over but we bought some cherries and some peaches that were juicy beyond belief.
We did the tourist thing in Seattle and went up the Sky Needle. It was pretty cool. It is in a park that also has a rock n roll museum designed by Frank Gehry. The views from the top of the needle were great.
Seattle did not really impress me. We did not spend much time there but I did not get a great vibe. There are many homeless people and they are much more aggressive than in NY. For dinner we went to Wild Ginger.wildginger.net The food is Asian fusion and it is a very large restaurant. The food was good and not overly expensive. They have a large wine list although they did not tell me about it. Apparently they 2 lists; the regular one and the special one. No one mentioned the special one until we were leaving and I struck up a conversation with a waiter.
We ordered glasses of Washington rieslings(the restaurant was featuring rieslings) and a half bottle of an Elk Cove 2010 Pinot Noir $27 from the Willamette Valley. This was our first Oregon Pinot Noir on the trip. I thought that it was light but my wife enjoyed it. Later on in the trip I began to realize that I liked the wine more than I had initially thought. We enjoyed our meal.
Day 4 We checked out of the Marriott and picked up our rental car. First we made some stops at the market and picked up food for lunch later in the day. We had fairly long ride to the Willamette Valley.
After driving for a while we exited the interstate and a found a Millersvania State Park for lunch. We were still getting acclimated to the beautiful sights wherever we were in the Pacific NW. Mount Rainier dominates Seattle and the park we chose for lunch was scenic. It had a small lake for swimming and we found some picnic tables.
We ate our lunch which hit the spot and we continued on our way to Oregon. We took another exit on the interstate and headed towards Mt St Helens. We reached a information center and found out it was a long drive to the mountain. We decided to skip the drive and continue on to Oregon. We did have a great view of the mountain or what is left of it, from the info center.
We reached the outskirts of Portland and hit traffic at 3:30 in the afternoon. Apparently the traffic in the Portland area is ridiculously heavy. We were headed to Carlton which is the middle of wine country - the Willamette Valley (rhymes with dammit). It took more time than we expected to get to Carlton. The road had lots of 4 way lights and everyone followed the speed limit. ugh!
See my posting on Oregon wines for the details on our 2 night stay in Carlton (evening of day 4 and day 5) and wineries visited.
Had some very good wines recently at a friend's house. I cooked most of the meal.
2010 Ken Wright Shea Vineyard Enjoyed this wine. Ken Wright makes big wines and the 2010 vintage is OK. This wine was very good since it is a big wine in a light vintage but nowhere near as big as the 2008 wine which was more California to my taste.
2010 Benton Lane Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Very light and not my cup of wine.
2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia Great stuff.
Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse 2009 I expected more. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend but no Petit Verdot. I think this wine will age beautfully but now is is somewhat austere especially when compared to some of the other 2009 Bordeaux wines that I have tasted.
I made raspberry sorbet and the plum crostata for dessert.
Enjoy the fall. Had my first apple cider of the season. As my grand mother always told me -- An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
2010 Bordeaux wines are next on the horizon. Let me know if you have tried any.
I wanted to buy some inexpensive, lighter wines for nights when we do not want to finish a bottle.
Louis Jadot Macon Village 2010 $12 2010 was a good year in Burgundy.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2011 $14 I have had this wine before and it is very good. Fruity but with more structure than most New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.
Borsao Red 2011. $6.39 The perennial favorite.
Chateau Dallau 2009 Bordeaux Superiore $12. Trying another 09 Bordeaux. Drank this wine and it is a winner. Good fruit and yummy.
Chateau Nardian 2009 St Emillon $12 Trying another 09 Bordeaux. Drank this wine and it is OK. More structure than the Dallau but not as much fruit. It will probably age well. Still a good wine.
Chateau Parenchere Blanc 2010 $12 Tried a Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion blend. The WS loved this wine; I did not. Alcohol with little fruit.
Pacific Northwest
Day 3 We left Victoria by boat for a 3 hour trip to Seattle. It was a foggy day and we did not see much. The ride was not very exciting. We walked to our hotel, a Marriott on the waterfront in Seattle. The hotel was nice and we had a small balcony overlooking the harbor.
The hotel was a short walk but up a steep hill from Pike Place Market pikeplacemarket.org, Seattle's food heaven. Luckily the hill could be navigated by taking an elevator 3/4 of the way up. We walked around Pike Place Market and found a place to eat. I had my first Dungeness crab. It was good and not cheap around $25 for a half of a crab.
We ordered glasses of Washington rieslings(the restaurant was featuring rieslings) and a half bottle of an Elk Cove 2010 Pinot Noir $27 from the Willamette Valley. This was our first Oregon Pinot Noir on the trip. I thought that it was light but my wife enjoyed it. Later on in the trip I began to realize that I liked the wine more than I had initially thought. We enjoyed our meal.
We reached the outskirts of Portland and hit traffic at 3:30 in the afternoon. Apparently the traffic in the Portland area is ridiculously heavy. We were headed to Carlton which is the middle of wine country - the Willamette Valley (rhymes with dammit). It took more time than we expected to get to Carlton. The road had lots of 4 way lights and everyone followed the speed limit. ugh!
See my posting on Oregon wines for the details on our 2 night stay in Carlton (evening of day 4 and day 5) and wineries visited.
Had some very good wines recently at a friend's house. I cooked most of the meal.
2010 Ken Wright Shea Vineyard Enjoyed this wine. Ken Wright makes big wines and the 2010 vintage is OK. This wine was very good since it is a big wine in a light vintage but nowhere near as big as the 2008 wine which was more California to my taste.
2010 Benton Lane Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Very light and not my cup of wine.
2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia Great stuff.
Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse 2009 I expected more. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend but no Petit Verdot. I think this wine will age beautfully but now is is somewhat austere especially when compared to some of the other 2009 Bordeaux wines that I have tasted.
I made raspberry sorbet and the plum crostata for dessert.
Enjoy the fall. Had my first apple cider of the season. As my grand mother always told me -- An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
2010 Bordeaux wines are next on the horizon. Let me know if you have tried any.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Pacific Northwest and More 09 Bordeaux
Day 1 We flew to Vancouver. Flying over the Canadian Rockies was quite a sight. From the Vancouver airport we took a bus that went on a ferry from Twassen(outside of Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (20KM from Victoria). First we had some doughnuts from Tim Horton at the airport. Tim Horton's is big in Canada. The doughnuts were good.
After a 30 minute bus ride, the bus drove on the ferry. It was obviously a very large ferry. The ride was over 2 hours. The scenery during the second half was spectacular as the boat navigated between several of the Gulf Islands on to Vancouver Island. The geography in the area is fascinating; lots of islands, wilderness and water. Vancouver Island is over 300 miles long and there is not much development except for Victoria on the southern tip.
We landed and the bus continued on to Victoria. Our hotel was easy walk from the bus station. The hotel was a very nice Marriott (Inner Harbor) and the room was about $200 per night.
Victoria is a fun city with a good blend of old and new and the inner harbor makes thing special. There are boats, seaplanes, water taxis and restaurants. Victoria is a good walking city; it also appears to have a good bus system although we did not use it.
The first night we ate a the Flying Otter, a casual place on the Inner Harbor. The beer was good as we had Phillips, a local beer and the fish was fresh. We had a halibut wrap and a halibut and avocado
sandwich. Phillips is one of the local beers and we had 3 different bottles.
Day 2 We decided to rent a car for the day. Butchart Gardens is the must see in the area.butchartgardens.com I was skeptical, a Levine tradition on famous sights,but my wife insisted. I then found a brochure touting British Columbia wineries. To my amazement there are over 20 wineries on Vancouver Island. Our day was set.
Right before the Gardens there was a sign for berries. We took a small detour and came to a farm where we bought blackberries. These were the most amazing tasting blackberries. A complex flavor that we had never tasted before.
We went off to Butchart Gardens and it was pretty special. It was well organized at the entrance but not Disneylike. The Gardens have been developed a family for a long time and they change the plantings by the season. It is open all year round and the Christmas show is supposed to be awesome. They have huge greenhouses where they start all of the plants.
The pictures don't capture the true splendor.
We then found a few wineries. The first Church and Street has a large, modern, beautiful building. We tasted their wines and they were OK. Apparently the thing about BC wineries is that they grow most of the grapes in central BC and have wineries and tasting rooms on Vancouver Island for the tourists. The wineries try to make the big name grape wines but they are not the best. We generally enjoyed the whites - pinot gris, pinot blanc. However Church and State churchandstatewines.com seems to specialize in red wines. They were OK but the prices were very high. I can't see paying $35 for a Bordeaux blend from British Columbia when I can get a very good 09 Bordeaux for under $20. Wine economics do not make much sense to me. The restaurant kitchen at Church and State.
The next winery was de Vine Vineyards devinevineyards.ca. It was a beautiful winery on top of a hill with great views of Mt Baker in Washington. We tasted a number of wines and liked their whites. We bought a 2011 Pinot Blanc for $18. The whites are austere but have enough fruit to make them enjoyable.
We next made a stop at Victoria Spirits. victoriaspirits.comThey distill gin and vodka. It started as a winery but they found it a tough business so they switched. We toured the small distillery and tasted the products. The gin is expensive and probably is very good but I am no expert.
Wines of the week
Chateau Meyney 2009 Bordeaux $33 I can't stop loving the 09 Bordeaux wines. This wine started slowly but it has a nice bouquet, good middle and great finish. Really enjoyed this wine. Drank it with an 09 Haut Bergey also from Bordeaux. The Haut Bergey had a great first sip but the finish was not as long as the Meyney. Both wines were excellent.
Recipe of the week
From Bon Appetit and adjusted by me. -- Preheat oven to 425. .
After a 30 minute bus ride, the bus drove on the ferry. It was obviously a very large ferry. The ride was over 2 hours. The scenery during the second half was spectacular as the boat navigated between several of the Gulf Islands on to Vancouver Island. The geography in the area is fascinating; lots of islands, wilderness and water. Vancouver Island is over 300 miles long and there is not much development except for Victoria on the southern tip.
Victoria is a fun city with a good blend of old and new and the inner harbor makes thing special. There are boats, seaplanes, water taxis and restaurants. Victoria is a good walking city; it also appears to have a good bus system although we did not use it.
sandwich. Phillips is one of the local beers and we had 3 different bottles.
Right before the Gardens there was a sign for berries. We took a small detour and came to a farm where we bought blackberries. These were the most amazing tasting blackberries. A complex flavor that we had never tasted before.
We went off to Butchart Gardens and it was pretty special. It was well organized at the entrance but not Disneylike. The Gardens have been developed a family for a long time and they change the plantings by the season. It is open all year round and the Christmas show is supposed to be awesome. They have huge greenhouses where they start all of the plants.
We then found a few wineries. The first Church and Street has a large, modern, beautiful building. We tasted their wines and they were OK. Apparently the thing about BC wineries is that they grow most of the grapes in central BC and have wineries and tasting rooms on Vancouver Island for the tourists. The wineries try to make the big name grape wines but they are not the best. We generally enjoyed the whites - pinot gris, pinot blanc. However Church and State churchandstatewines.com seems to specialize in red wines. They were OK but the prices were very high. I can't see paying $35 for a Bordeaux blend from British Columbia when I can get a very good 09 Bordeaux for under $20. Wine economics do not make much sense to me. The restaurant kitchen at Church and State.
The next winery was de Vine Vineyards devinevineyards.ca. It was a beautiful winery on top of a hill with great views of Mt Baker in Washington. We tasted a number of wines and liked their whites. We bought a 2011 Pinot Blanc for $18. The whites are austere but have enough fruit to make them enjoyable.
We next made a stop at Victoria Spirits. victoriaspirits.comThey distill gin and vodka. It started as a winery but they found it a tough business so they switched. We toured the small distillery and tasted the products. The gin is expensive and probably is very good but I am no expert.
That night we ate at Canoe Brewpub canoebrewpub.com along the river in Victoria. We ate outside and had a good time. The beer was good and the food nicely prepared. It got cold sitting outside at night, around 50 degrees, but if was refreshing after the heat we have had in NJ this summer. The restaurant had a good chocolate cake with cherries for dessert which hit the spot.
Chateau Meyney 2009 Bordeaux $33 I can't stop loving the 09 Bordeaux wines. This wine started slowly but it has a nice bouquet, good middle and great finish. Really enjoyed this wine. Drank it with an 09 Haut Bergey also from Bordeaux. The Haut Bergey had a great first sip but the finish was not as long as the Meyney. Both wines were excellent.
Recipe of the week
From Bon Appetit and adjusted by me. -- Preheat oven to 425. .
- Cut up around 8-12 plums depending on size. Take out the pits and cut into 1/8 ths. add lemon juice, sugar to taste(around a 1/2 cup) and a teaspoon of cornstarch and mix with plums in a bowl.
- Make a pie crust and roll it out to a 12 inch circle. Place crust on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Pour plums on the middle of the pie crust leaving a 1-2 inch border.
- Fold the border over the edge of the plums and brush the border with a beaten egg. Sprinkle sugar over the egg wash.
- Bake in the oven. Start checking at 25 minutes. It should look nicely browned and the plums should be soft.
- Take out and let cool.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Labor Day Weekend; Pig Island; Tennis and Wine
Recent wines
Montgras Reserva 2010 Sauvignon Blanc $10 Really like this wine. Great bargain if you can find it. Not a light wine but good fruit and structure.
Andrew Rich Prelude 2010 Pinot Noir -Tried a glass at a Thai restaurant in Ashland, Oregon. Good basic, Oregon Pinot Noir. About $20 per bottle.
Segura Viandas Reserva Cava- Dependable cava and a real bargain at $6.99.
Sterling Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 . I was lucky to get a case of this years ago. It is drinking wonderfully. I wish California would make wines like this today. $15
Archery Summit Vireton Pinot Noir Rose 2011 $20 - We loved this wine. Forget the color, it is full flavored good wine. Lots of fruit but nice balance.
Dubeouf 2010 Beaujolais Villages $9.00 A dependable wine. We love beaujolais and this was a good one.
Edna Valley 06 Syrah Another one of my bargains. I think its time is over. Did not like this bottle. Past bottles have been very good. I have one more bottle to test.
American Syrahs are good values these days.
Chalone Pinot Noir Estate 2006 $8-- A crowd pleaser. Another one of my bargains and house fav. Great balance with nice fruit and spice.
Les Grands Marechaux 2009 $18 - This was my second bottle. I thought I liked the wine more but this second bottle has me thinking. I have a few more to try. A little grapey but it opened up after a few minutes.
Le Volte 2009 Tenuta Dell'Ornellaia IGT- A delightful wine that is a blend of Merlot, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Balanced and easy drinking. A crowd pleaser. $70 in a restaurant probably $25 in a store.
Spice Route Chakalaka 2009 $16 A great wine. I discovered this wine in the Cayman Islands. This was the first bottle that I have found in the US. A Rhone like blend of many grapes, it is balanced with nice fruit but not grapey like alot of Rhone wines.
Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Reserva 2006 Enjoyed this wine. It is tannic but it went well with pizza but it has more complexity going for it.
La Maialina Chianti Classico Reserva 2007 $16 This wine impressed at a tasting but I was not impressed with my first bottle at home. It drank better the second day which is not a ringing endorsement. I have more bottles to try.
Louis Jadot Macon-Villages 2010 $11 Another very nice Chardonnay without too much oak. A good value for a Burgundy. I have not been impressed with Macon Villages wines over the past few years but this wine is a winner.
As you might notice from some of my comments there appears to be lots of bottle variation in wines. It maybe the wine or it could be my taste.
Pig Island
This Saturday, September 1, Governor's Island in NY is turned into Pig Island. A number of top chefs will be cooking 80 heritage pigs in all different styles. We are attending. pigisland.com I will let you how it was. One price for all afternoon of food and beer.
US Open Tennis
I attended the first day of the event. Aside from a little rain it was a fun time.Food prices are all over the place and typical for a sports event. However water at $3.75 a small bottle and Gatorade at $5 a bottle is a bit much for an outdoor summer event. Moet Chandon Champagne at $24 a glass at number of Moet stands is cuckoo.
Chinatown, NY restaurant of the week -- nom wah Tea Parlor, 13 Doyers Street, NY 10013. We had assorted dim sum at very reasonable prices. The food was not greasy. The sweet and sour ribs were good. Not too much sauce and the ribs were breaded pork chops with the bone- in. Also had steamed shrimp with greens dumplings. nomwah.com
Found a fun German style beer hall in Jersey City. Zeppelin Hall Restaurant & Biergarten. http://www.zeppelinhall.com They have big outdoor and indoor spaces with a number of beers on tap. We had Spaten and HB Munich beers. One minor complaint, the mugs are plastic.
More on the Pacific NW in the next few posts. I am looking forward to lots of food, wine and sports this weekend. The tomatos are coming in nicely. Everyday I get a few more cherry tomatoes. Chinese eggplant is still doing well. Have a great weekend.
Montgras Reserva 2010 Sauvignon Blanc $10 Really like this wine. Great bargain if you can find it. Not a light wine but good fruit and structure.
Andrew Rich Prelude 2010 Pinot Noir -Tried a glass at a Thai restaurant in Ashland, Oregon. Good basic, Oregon Pinot Noir. About $20 per bottle.
Segura Viandas Reserva Cava- Dependable cava and a real bargain at $6.99.
Sterling Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 . I was lucky to get a case of this years ago. It is drinking wonderfully. I wish California would make wines like this today. $15
Archery Summit Vireton Pinot Noir Rose 2011 $20 - We loved this wine. Forget the color, it is full flavored good wine. Lots of fruit but nice balance.
Dubeouf 2010 Beaujolais Villages $9.00 A dependable wine. We love beaujolais and this was a good one.
Edna Valley 06 Syrah Another one of my bargains. I think its time is over. Did not like this bottle. Past bottles have been very good. I have one more bottle to test.
American Syrahs are good values these days.
Chalone Pinot Noir Estate 2006 $8-- A crowd pleaser. Another one of my bargains and house fav. Great balance with nice fruit and spice.
Les Grands Marechaux 2009 $18 - This was my second bottle. I thought I liked the wine more but this second bottle has me thinking. I have a few more to try. A little grapey but it opened up after a few minutes.
Le Volte 2009 Tenuta Dell'Ornellaia IGT- A delightful wine that is a blend of Merlot, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Balanced and easy drinking. A crowd pleaser. $70 in a restaurant probably $25 in a store.
Spice Route Chakalaka 2009 $16 A great wine. I discovered this wine in the Cayman Islands. This was the first bottle that I have found in the US. A Rhone like blend of many grapes, it is balanced with nice fruit but not grapey like alot of Rhone wines.
Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Reserva 2006 Enjoyed this wine. It is tannic but it went well with pizza but it has more complexity going for it.
La Maialina Chianti Classico Reserva 2007 $16 This wine impressed at a tasting but I was not impressed with my first bottle at home. It drank better the second day which is not a ringing endorsement. I have more bottles to try.
Louis Jadot Macon-Villages 2010 $11 Another very nice Chardonnay without too much oak. A good value for a Burgundy. I have not been impressed with Macon Villages wines over the past few years but this wine is a winner.
As you might notice from some of my comments there appears to be lots of bottle variation in wines. It maybe the wine or it could be my taste.
Pig Island
This Saturday, September 1, Governor's Island in NY is turned into Pig Island. A number of top chefs will be cooking 80 heritage pigs in all different styles. We are attending. pigisland.com I will let you how it was. One price for all afternoon of food and beer.
US Open Tennis
I attended the first day of the event. Aside from a little rain it was a fun time.Food prices are all over the place and typical for a sports event. However water at $3.75 a small bottle and Gatorade at $5 a bottle is a bit much for an outdoor summer event. Moet Chandon Champagne at $24 a glass at number of Moet stands is cuckoo.
Chinatown, NY restaurant of the week -- nom wah Tea Parlor, 13 Doyers Street, NY 10013. We had assorted dim sum at very reasonable prices. The food was not greasy. The sweet and sour ribs were good. Not too much sauce and the ribs were breaded pork chops with the bone- in. Also had steamed shrimp with greens dumplings. nomwah.com
Found a fun German style beer hall in Jersey City. Zeppelin Hall Restaurant & Biergarten. http://www.zeppelinhall.com They have big outdoor and indoor spaces with a number of beers on tap. We had Spaten and HB Munich beers. One minor complaint, the mugs are plastic.
More on the Pacific NW in the next few posts. I am looking forward to lots of food, wine and sports this weekend. The tomatos are coming in nicely. Everyday I get a few more cherry tomatoes. Chinese eggplant is still doing well. Have a great weekend.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Oregon Wines
Oregon Wineries
Returned from the Pacific Northwest last week. Had a great time. There are an amazing amount of wineries in British Columbia. In the next few weeks I will get into lots of information on the trip. We had good food and saw some impressive sights. Here are some notes on the Willamette Valley. It's Willamette, dammit.
We stayed 2 nights in the Willamette Valley wine country which is 40 miles outside Portland. BTW the traffic in the Portland area is terrible.
We stayed in Carlton, a small town with about 12 tasting rooms. We stayed in the Winery Lofts 119 West Main St, Carlton, which has some affiliation with Ken Wright who makes Ken Wright wines and Tyrus Evans wines. The lofts were across the street from the Ken Wright tasting rooms.
The first night we went to Mcminnsville. We wandered around town and found a tasting room for chocolates and a winery called Twelve. The tasting room was closed but the owner of Twelve twelvewine.com, Linda Lenyo, opened the door and when we told her we were from NJ, she let us in. She was also from NJ.We tasted her 08 Pinot Noir. It was $25 per bottle and was very good. We also tasted her 2007 reserve Pinot Noir 144. This was also very good. We bought a bottle of the 08. Parker and the Wine Spectator have both given good ratings to the wine She did not charge us for the tasting.
We ate at Nicks, nicksitaliancafe.com an Italian restaurant and ate in their back room. We had several small dishes. One dish, ribs roasted in their oven with salt and olive oil was great. We also had pizza which was very good. The crab lasagne was OK. We had the Stevenson Barrie 2008 Pinot Noir for about $50. It was good. The fruit wasn't as pronounced as I like it. We were beginning to understand Oregon Pinot Noirs. BTW 2008 was considered the vintage for Oregon Willamette Valley wines.
The next day we planned to spend all day tasting wine. We started at Anne Amie Vineyards anneamie.com. This winery surprised me. I had never heard of it but it produces a significant amount of wine. The winery was beautifully situated ( although most of the wineries we visited were located in very nice geographically located.
At Anne Amie, we tasted a number of wines. Tasting were $10 for a flight. 2011 Pinot Gris; 2011 Estate Dry Riesling; 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; 2009 Annahala Veneyard Pinot Noir , which was made with grapes from California; 2009 Amie Late Harvest Muller Thurgau Dessert wine; 2009 Prisme Pinot Noir Blanc. All of the wines were very good. Their style is balanced wines that were not fruit forward. This to me is the typical Willamette Valley style although we did find many different styles of wine in our tastings. We bought their 2010 Pinot Blanc $20, which we did not taste. However Pinot Blanc has more fruit than the Pinot Gris and we like Pinot Blancs.
Our next stop was Archery Summit archerysummit.com. This was another exquisite winery with prices to match the environment. We tasted a number of wines here.We tasted the 2010 Premier Cuvee Pinot Noir, 2011 Vireton Pinot Noir Rose, and several other Pinot Noirs. We found their style to be more California in that the wines were fruitier and had more alcohol than other Oregon wines. We like the 2010 more than the 09's.Their wines are very well rated and very expensive. The cheapest Pinot Noir was $48. We bought a bottle of the Rose for about $20.
Our next stop was Sokol Blosser sokolblosser.com, which was close by. We had hoped to eat lunch here but the offerings were slim. We tasted their 2009 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, 2009 Estate Cuvee Pinot Noir, 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris, 2011 Rose of Pinot Noir, Evolution 15th edition, which is their blended white wine that is less expensive than their other wines. They also make a red Evolution.
We enjoyed their wines. Their 2009 Pinot Noir was more austere than the 09 Archery Summit. We really liked the 2009 Estate Cuvee at $60 a bottle. Despite the price I bought a bottle. I was on vacation! We did not like the Evolution wines.
A note on buying wines at the winery. It is usually a rip-off. Sometimes you can get very good deals like I received at the next winery Domain Drouhin but usually you can buy the wines much cheaper at good wine shop. Thus I usually stick to buying wines at the winery that are not available in stores.
We stopped at a small olive oil farm to get lunch.
My wife was somewhat annoyed because as I was brousing in their store a woman splattered olive oil all over my shorts and sneakers. I got a "sorry". The cheese and meat plate was fine.
The next winery that we visited was Domaine Drouhin domaineDrouhin.com. I had made an appointment to take their winery tour which include a tasting of their Oregon wines with their French wines. Drouhin is a top Burgundy negociant and make a number of excellent French wines. The tour was great. We heard their story of how they bought land in the Willamette Valley around 1985. They made their first wine in Oregon in 1988. The winemaker is Veronique Drouhin who also makes their wine in France.
We then toured the winemaking area and the wine storage area.
We then finished the tour at a table that was beautfully set. We tried a number of wines with some cheese. The wines were 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Rose $20; 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $40; 2008 Laurene Pinot Noir $65; 2010 Willamette Valley Chardonnay $30, 2009 Maison Joseph DrouhinVaudon Chablis Premier Cru (France) $35; 2009 Joseph Drouhin Savigny-Les - Beaune Clos Des Godeaux $48; 2001 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $75.
The wines were excellent. We really enjoyed comparing the French and Oregon wines. I liked the Oregon wines a little more. The 09 Chablis, which is usually one of my favorites, was oakier and fruitier than I was expecting. The Oregon wines held up beautifully. 09 was a very good vintage in Burgundy.
The deal was that the tasting and tour was $25 per person. If we joined the club, the tasting were free and we received a 25% discount off all of the wines. This made the wine purchase very competitive with stores. They also can now ship to NJ which was a big plus. NJ recently changed its laws and not all wineries have their process set-up to ship to NJ. We bought 3 bottles of the 08 Laurene Pinot Noir, 3 bottles of the 2010 Pinot Noir; 3 bottles of the Rose and 3 bottles of the 2010 Chardonnay. They will ship the wines when the weather is cooler.
Everyone at the winery was great and our tour guides made things fun.
The last winery of the day was Ken Wright kenwright.com who also owns Tyrus Evans. The tasting room was across the street from our apartment. We tasted a number of wines here. Ken Wright is an iconic winemaker in the area. He sells his wines as futures and then raises the prices each year. They are sold by the case although at the tasting room they will sell 6 at a time. 2011 futures are being sold at 6 bottles for $300 with a 2 6-pack minimum. 2008 6-packs are being sold at $350. He makes a number of single vineyard wines and gets very good reviews from the WA and WS.
We tried the 2010 Chardonnay; 4 single vineyard 2008 Pinot Noirs, Carter, McClone, Meredith Mitchell and Savoya; the 2010 generic Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; and some Tyrus Evans wines. The Tyrus Evans wines are made from sourced grapes from southern Washington and are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syah, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.
The Ken Wright 08 are more California in style. Fruit forward, big wines. They are good wines but not wines that you want to drink frequently. However I have never had a full bottle of Ken Wright wine so it is hard to project a tasting to a bottle. The 2010 generic wine was more austere and more to my liking. In general, we warmed up the 2010 Pinot Noirs and really like the wines wherever we tasted them.
The Tyrus Evans wines were not my favorites. 2007 Ciel de Cheval Claret $37 was one wine. My palette was tired when I tried them and I was not prepared for Bordeaux styled wines in Oregon. However they were all quite expensive in the mid $30 range. For the price I would stick to the 09 Bordeaux.
To end the day we had dinner at the Painted Ladythepaintedladyrestaurant.com. I read somewhere that it was the best restaurant in the Portland area. It is a small house in Newberg, which is in wine country,. They have a price fixe menu. We ate outside and had a fun time.
The wine, Horsetail Pinot Noir was made by a small producer. The owners are related to the winemaker at Beaux Frere, the Oregon winery run by Robert Parker's brother in law and partially owned by Parker. The wine a 2010 vintage was excellent. Light, balanced with fruit and acid for all.
More on this meal in the next report.
Enjoy the end of summer. It can be a great time of the year. US Open tennis and football are on the horizon.
Returned from the Pacific Northwest last week. Had a great time. There are an amazing amount of wineries in British Columbia. In the next few weeks I will get into lots of information on the trip. We had good food and saw some impressive sights. Here are some notes on the Willamette Valley. It's Willamette, dammit.
We stayed 2 nights in the Willamette Valley wine country which is 40 miles outside Portland. BTW the traffic in the Portland area is terrible.
We stayed in Carlton, a small town with about 12 tasting rooms. We stayed in the Winery Lofts 119 West Main St, Carlton, which has some affiliation with Ken Wright who makes Ken Wright wines and Tyrus Evans wines. The lofts were across the street from the Ken Wright tasting rooms.
We ate at Nicks, nicksitaliancafe.com an Italian restaurant and ate in their back room. We had several small dishes. One dish, ribs roasted in their oven with salt and olive oil was great. We also had pizza which was very good. The crab lasagne was OK. We had the Stevenson Barrie 2008 Pinot Noir for about $50. It was good. The fruit wasn't as pronounced as I like it. We were beginning to understand Oregon Pinot Noirs. BTW 2008 was considered the vintage for Oregon Willamette Valley wines.
The next day we planned to spend all day tasting wine. We started at Anne Amie Vineyards anneamie.com. This winery surprised me. I had never heard of it but it produces a significant amount of wine. The winery was beautifully situated ( although most of the wineries we visited were located in very nice geographically located.
Our next stop was Archery Summit archerysummit.com. This was another exquisite winery with prices to match the environment. We tasted a number of wines here.We tasted the 2010 Premier Cuvee Pinot Noir, 2011 Vireton Pinot Noir Rose, and several other Pinot Noirs. We found their style to be more California in that the wines were fruitier and had more alcohol than other Oregon wines. We like the 2010 more than the 09's.Their wines are very well rated and very expensive. The cheapest Pinot Noir was $48. We bought a bottle of the Rose for about $20.
We enjoyed their wines. Their 2009 Pinot Noir was more austere than the 09 Archery Summit. We really liked the 2009 Estate Cuvee at $60 a bottle. Despite the price I bought a bottle. I was on vacation! We did not like the Evolution wines.
A note on buying wines at the winery. It is usually a rip-off. Sometimes you can get very good deals like I received at the next winery Domain Drouhin but usually you can buy the wines much cheaper at good wine shop. Thus I usually stick to buying wines at the winery that are not available in stores.
We stopped at a small olive oil farm to get lunch.
The next winery that we visited was Domaine Drouhin domaineDrouhin.com. I had made an appointment to take their winery tour which include a tasting of their Oregon wines with their French wines. Drouhin is a top Burgundy negociant and make a number of excellent French wines. The tour was great. We heard their story of how they bought land in the Willamette Valley around 1985. They made their first wine in Oregon in 1988. The winemaker is Veronique Drouhin who also makes their wine in France.
We then toured the winemaking area and the wine storage area.
The deal was that the tasting and tour was $25 per person. If we joined the club, the tasting were free and we received a 25% discount off all of the wines. This made the wine purchase very competitive with stores. They also can now ship to NJ which was a big plus. NJ recently changed its laws and not all wineries have their process set-up to ship to NJ. We bought 3 bottles of the 08 Laurene Pinot Noir, 3 bottles of the 2010 Pinot Noir; 3 bottles of the Rose and 3 bottles of the 2010 Chardonnay. They will ship the wines when the weather is cooler.
Everyone at the winery was great and our tour guides made things fun.
We tried the 2010 Chardonnay; 4 single vineyard 2008 Pinot Noirs, Carter, McClone, Meredith Mitchell and Savoya; the 2010 generic Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; and some Tyrus Evans wines. The Tyrus Evans wines are made from sourced grapes from southern Washington and are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syah, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.
The Ken Wright 08 are more California in style. Fruit forward, big wines. They are good wines but not wines that you want to drink frequently. However I have never had a full bottle of Ken Wright wine so it is hard to project a tasting to a bottle. The 2010 generic wine was more austere and more to my liking. In general, we warmed up the 2010 Pinot Noirs and really like the wines wherever we tasted them.
The Tyrus Evans wines were not my favorites. 2007 Ciel de Cheval Claret $37 was one wine. My palette was tired when I tried them and I was not prepared for Bordeaux styled wines in Oregon. However they were all quite expensive in the mid $30 range. For the price I would stick to the 09 Bordeaux.
To end the day we had dinner at the Painted Ladythepaintedladyrestaurant.com. I read somewhere that it was the best restaurant in the Portland area. It is a small house in Newberg, which is in wine country,. They have a price fixe menu. We ate outside and had a fun time.
The wine, Horsetail Pinot Noir was made by a small producer. The owners are related to the winemaker at Beaux Frere, the Oregon winery run by Robert Parker's brother in law and partially owned by Parker. The wine a 2010 vintage was excellent. Light, balanced with fruit and acid for all.
More on this meal in the next report.
Enjoy the end of summer. It can be a great time of the year. US Open tennis and football are on the horizon.
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