The event was marked by a dinner (which while reasonably tasty when viewed thru the prism of feeding five deluxe course to about 300 plus people) punctuated by a dizzying array of selections from Saint Émilion- from basic wines thru older vintages of Figeac, Clos Fourtet, and indeed Cheval Blanc. The wines were quite delish but the pairings were not so well thought out-in my humble opinion.

Saint Émilion with Foie Gras with a slightly sweeted reduction- ouch.

Saint Émilion with a scallop topped with an oyster tartare- double ouch.

Saint Émilion served with a mousse of aged Comte chees- triple ouch.

And finally, aged Saint Émilion served with a sweet chocolate bombe like thing- ouch, ouch, ouch, and ouch.

While I railed on the pairings to my sommelier tablemates, one wise somm said something that made me take pause and upon reflection made total sense. The Chinese love their Bordeaux. The Chinese love their fancy meals replete with foie gras, seafood, and decadent cheeses and desserts. They really could not care less that they do not go together at the table. There within was more wisdom explained in a few sentences, than anything I had heard in my many trips to Asia. I had all but given up on trying to convert people to food and wine matches that worked, when their values and priorities are simply different than my own.

Wow…that explains so much.  If you are ultimately uninterested in creating happier pairings at the table because it’s simply not that important to you, you have solved an Asian rubric that has frustrated so many for so long. I will think twice now when preaching the gospel of aromatic whites, off dry options, and juicy and tannin light reds for Asian fare, and swallow my conventional wisdom in ‘western parings’ when people don’t choose to share similar thinking on food and wine. Amazing the power of the words of a young but honest Chinese sommelier.

Time to get off the soapbox?

Now before other countries and their equally talented female winemakers get angered by my singling out Chile, it should be acknowledged how large a percentage they are. Interestingly enough, when I was tasting with Andrea León, the brilliant young winemaker for Casa Lapostelle’s Clos Apalta, she brought to my attention that it hadn’t always been that way. Close to twenty years back when Andrea’s ‘boss’, Alexandra Marnier LaPostelle founded the winery that bears her name, it was clearly a macho world. She was (and is) brave, visionary, and courageous. As are a host of subsequent generations along with Alexandra’s peers- the ‘true pioneers’. It is said that Chile leads every country, except the United States, in the number of women at every level of winemaking and marketing. Thirty-five percent of the enologists, or winemakers, in Chile are women. And those numbers carry over into the Chilean university system, where approximately a third of enology students are women. In Argentina, her neighboring wine producing powerhouse, only 5 percent of the winemakers are said to be women.

The true pioneers- including Cecilia Torres (of Santa Rita and Casa Real), Mariluz Marín (of her own eponymous Casa Marin), Maria del Pilar Gonzalez (renowned consultant for Chocalan and others), and Adriana Cerda (of Meli)- inspired a generation of gifted believers including Irene Paiva (I-Latina), Ana Maria Cumsille (Altair), Laurence Real (Las Niñas) and Carolina Arnello (Portal del Alto). It can’t be understated how this middle generation has taken the torch and paid it forward to encourage the young female talent that is evident in Cecilia Guzmán (Haras de Pirque), Macarena Morandé (Pablo’s daughter and now winemaker of the family winery), Viviana Navarrete (Viña Leyda), Constanza Schwaderer (Bravado Wines), Evelyn Vidal (Kingston), Ximena Pacheco (Viňa Casablanca), Tamara Baeremaecker  (Concha y Toro), Joana Pereira (Bisquertt), Daniela Gillmore (Gillmore) and many more!!!!

If you can read Spanish, Andrea León provided me this very good article that profiles many of the female stars of Chile’s industry.

At least we know when a young girl says she wants to be a winemaker in Chile, her family doesn’t discourage her! Brava Chile.

With that framework explained, bottomed line is I base my thinking on the metrics of a given wine’s structure (sweetness, sourness, tannin, oak, and alcohol) and understanding how a wine’s unique DNA of those five elements lends itself towards food. I call the simple process ‘wine mapping’. Food, of course, has its own prioritization of key elements/ingredients, methods of cooking/preparation, and accompanying sauces/condiments. Personality filled side dishes. Once you understand which of those priorities is the ‘alpha male’ of the dish, matching a wine to that priority becomes the goal. In theory, straightforward but in practice, a question of exactly that- mega practice coupled with experience and…guidance.

Guidance in food and wine can come from a litany of sources. You own body of culinary experience not withstanding (and that may indeed be enough), we often seek out the opinions of others. Could be your sommelier in a restaurant, or your wine and food savvy friend(s). Might be the bullet recommendations accompanying a recipe in a magazine or it could be a bonfide food and wine book, such as one of mine but surely not limited to mine. I am constantly looking to see what others are doing- out of curiosity, the ongoing desire to learn and perfect my own skills, and examine other approaches. The two that have stood out in recent years have been “Papilles et Molecules” (Tastebuds and Molecules) by Francois Chartier, a brilliant look and approach with a tip of the beret to molecular gastronomy and “The Flavour Thesaurus” by Niki Segnit. If you are an avid participant in this epicurean arena, you should have both.  I was glancing through Niki’s book the other night and found myself enthralled by her manner of pairing that I have historically downplayed- that of flavor and/or ingredient matching. Now it’s not that I disagree with this approach, however without guidance it’s dangerous and scary- how many flavors/ingredients are out there in the world? OK, let’s begin abalone, almond, anchovy, apple, apricot, etc… you can see where I am going with this exercise, no? That need to know and pair thousands of flavors is what scares the bejesus out of most. When it works however, it’s sublime.

Orange with chocolate, red pepper and tomato, or added to soy-

Lime with cheesecake, white chocolate, butter, or combined with ginger-

Mint in toffee, fudge, whipped cream, or added to peas-

May I (again) recommend that you go out and snag a copy of Niki’s book which does this far better than any other I have seen? It will provide you with endless ideas…and  some wine recommendations to boot.

Your approach toward pairing?

I recently fell out of my chair as I read a story about the release of a new line of wines called VineSmoothie, the brainchild of Clever Imports, the same folks who brought you ChocoVine, chocolate wine.  VineSmoothie—a French Chardonnay-based fruit-cream wine- launches in the spring selling for around $10, the same price as ChocoVine. The 14%-abv brand will start with four core flavors: Peach, Berry, Pineapple Coconut and Strawberry. Majority owned by the Netherlands’ De Kuyper Royal Distillers, VineSmoothie is targeting 250,000 cases in its first 12 months.

Is it just me? Now, I get it for vodka- by definition, a flavorless spirit that speaks to an inherent fear of flavor. That said, people who want flavor opt for other spirits or more and more dabble in ‘flavored’ vodkas, a huge percentage of today’s mix. That I get….but flavoring and adulterating wine? If you want something other than wine, geez, order something else. According to the folks at Clever, ChocoVine grew by 22% to 550,000 cases last year, almost all that volume in the grocery trade, and in 2012 plans to go…god help us….on-premise.

And if you think it’s a blip. Well, others are taking note. White Rock Distilleries has a new Chocolate Valley Vines label, and E&J Gallo is test-marketing a brand called ChocolatRouge. So, what’s a sommelier to do? Well first off, I don’t think that there’s anything here that suggests an ‘Occupy Your Chain Grocer’ movement. And the most ‘glass half full’ folks might even argue that it’s a category that could transition people to…gulp… ‘real wine,’ though that’s a stretch at best. In the end, it is what it is. Frankly, the folks that make Bailey’s, Carolans, and Starbucks Cream Liqueur have the most to worry. I just have to shake my head and become more tolerant I guess—become a wine moderate as opposed to a conservative. I don’t have to drink it or buy it. Nor do you…

Unless you are one of those restaurants targeted in 2012 for ChocoVine’s on premise rollout! Now what do you pair with….

Is it just me?

Sherry (and dining with it) is a cultural icon of this area. Though there are robust tapa cultures in Madrid, Barcelona, and San Sebastian, the foundation is Andalusia. According to the heralded culinary tome, The Joy of Cooking, the first tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian bars used to cover their copitas (glasses) between sips as a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry. Traditionally the meat was ham or chorizos, both of which are very salty and stimulate thirst. Noting this phenomenon, which resulted in more sherry sales, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve (and grow their sales of sherry) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Fast forward to 2011 and Beltran and I noted how few local people, Andalusian Spaniards, were conquering sherry in the neighborhood bars. Yes it was hot and a cool beer (caňa) or soda is refreshing but what about those copitas or bottles of chilled Fino or Manzanilla sherry that I recalled from previous visits? Sigh, even in its native home, fewer and fewer people are drinking the local beverage. Too bad, as it’s so good with food, often lighter in ABV than many modern day steroid table wines, and traditionally relevant. My good friend Steve Olson, along with the Wines From Spain, does an admirable effort in the states with their collective sherry and food efforts but alas, like the polar bear in a time of global warming, it appears only to be staving off the inevitable for so long. Sherry is on the endangered species list and unless you want to see if vanish, you need to do your share.

Besides drinking more, enjoy it with food. Whether a simply plate of salted marcona almonds with paprika (pimentón) or flash grilled tuna served with onions and olives….you’ll find magic at table. Or you could try and track down a copy of Beltran’s amazing book which includes a section on pairing sherry with food: El Jerez y Sus Misterios: Cata y Degustación (published by EH Gatstronomia). In any case, help sherry stave off the real possibility of becoming extinct.

Love Sherry like me?

I say American wine, you say…California. And well you should as the Golden State does represent almost nine out of every 10 bottles of wine made in the USA. But if I ask you to think beyond the obvious, most will reflex respond the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington), then likely NY state, and from there some will say Virginia and others likely Texas. The fact of the matter is that all 50 states do indeed make and sell wine commercially in America and many are making better and better wines all the time. Add into the mix that increasingly good bottles are emanating from Canada (the Okanagan Valley and greater Niagara area of Ontario) and Mexico (hello Guadalupe Valley) and it’s easy to understand the excitement surrounding the North American industry.

Several years back I had the fortune of vacationing in Michigan’s Traverse City area, renting cabin along Torch Lake in the state’s Lower Peninsula (or Lower P as it’s called), and tasting in the adjoining Leelanau Peninsula and the Old Mission Peninsula wine regions. I was blown away by the quality and the emerging excitement. Well, that was close to ten years ago. And now…

According to a recent survey I read from Michigan State University, Michigan is now ranked as the fourth largest grape producing state (after California, NY, and presumably Washington) and has seen grape growth of 500% since 1973, back when the state was known more for grapes for juice than wine. Grape growing now comprises 14,600 acres of which 2,000 are dedicated specifically for wines made by close to 90 wineries which vinify about a million gallons of vino per annum. Add to the mix that 800,000 folks visit Michigan wineries annually and that the mix of wine grapes now ranges from the Michigan “classics” (Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Cabernet Franc…and, of course, cherry and apple) to better and better Chardonnay, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. We may soon say wines, as often as we do cars and music, when we cite what products for which the state is known.

The Leelanau Peninsula and the Old Mission Peninsula have around 30 wineries in the aforementioned northwest section of the state’s Lower Peninsula. Another wine region is the lower west section of the state where the Lake Michigan Shore area has over 20 wineries. There are other wineries that are located around the state and there are four wine trails that run through these regions including: the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Trail, the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula Trail, the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail and the Southeast Michigan Pioneer Wine Trail, the latter being an easy day trip from Detroit.

Some of my faves: Left Foot Charley Winery, Black Star Farms, L. Mawby Sparkling Wines, Old Peninsula Cellars, and Chateau Grand Traverse…but there are many more.

And you thought the recent excitement was all about the Chevy Volt!

Your experiences with Michigan wines?

Recently, I was having a heated discussion with a foodie friend who is a self-anointed gourmand of the highest order. He loves to eat, eat with zeal, and embraces copiousness! We agree on many things but the subject of when less is more came into play and we had major disagreement. The difference of opinion centered on highly coveted foods and how they are best implemented in dishes. While there were some elements that we agreed on (great osetra and beluga caviar for example—never too much!), there are others where we were divergent.

Can you have too much of a good thing like say—saffron or truffle oil/salt…or, for some, even truffles themselves? I think at answer is absolutely YES. While expensive and coveted, too much saffron in any recipe can take away from the greater dish and, as a wine and food person, can bring out a distinctive metallic character in any wine. Truffles and truffle salt too are OK (if of high quality and we know that they aren’t all created equally) until the point where they either overpower or, again, takeaway from the dish. And for me, well the modern ‘better living through (molecular) chemistry’ is fun for a dish but an entire meal of it…not for this boy.

And in wine? Well, I am a firm believer in balance and what I refer to as the ten fingers-ten toes rule of wines. A wine that has too much tannin, oak, or alcohol, for example can well be the vinous equal of having 13 fingers or 12 toes. Wines need to be contextually in balance with the apropos amount of all of the building blocks- acid, alcohol, oak, sugar, and tannin- based on their varietal(s) make up and the provenance of the wine. Not only do they threaten being poor tablemates when imbalanced but they also risk aging with far less grace and far more risk than they would if they were in harmony.

That said, as with the caviar exception alluded to above, there is an exemption too for wine and that would be in the realm of acidity. Now a wine that’s far too sharp for its own varietal well-being or has been acidified poorly (or over acidified), well, not much you can do except vote by not drinking or purchasing it. But a wine that’s quite high in acid can be the key to a food pairing or just what the doctor ordered to add a long complex finish and/or age worthiness. Even if it makes the wine seemingly unpleasant to drink at the time (or by itself), I will always opt for too much acid than not having enough. Kind of like I do with caviar!

And your thoughts on overindulgence at table or in bottle?

It was with great interest that I read an article from the Wall Street Journal touting Japan’s recent eclipsing of France as the king of Michelin three-star restaurants. It has been percolating for some time and this year the Japanese surpassed ‘les Français’ with 29 such establishments in comparison to France’s 25 in the new 2012 publication.

According to the article’s authors, Mariko Sanchanata (Japan), Katy McLaughlin (LA), and Max Colchester (Paris) this news has sparked great controversy within the international culinary community with scores of culinarians weighing in. The just published 2012 edition rated a dozen restaurants in the Kansai region, the bastion of Japanese cuisine that encompasses Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, and in doing so gives the three-city zone more three-star ratings than any place on the planet, ahead of Tokyo’s 11, Paris’s 10 and New York’s five. WOW?

Needless to say, the reactions are emotional and all over the place with fingers pointed, and accusations levied. To read more, follow this link: Michelin Stars Draw Shots

Who is right and who is wrong? Well that all depends on your level of emotional partisanship, your kainotophobia (fear of change), and your level of cynicism. The Japanese have long been great lovers of haute-cuisine and I vividly recall working in Paris kitchens in the late 1970’s with far more Japanese apprenticeship/stagiaires than Americans or any other nationality. And many French haute-cuisine benchmark restaurants, like Taillevent, went east first instead of (or before) they ventured west. It’s not surprising that in their pursuit of excellence, the Japanese have arrived in their culinary quest for excellence.

Contrary to what some of you may think, according to the articles authors, “…Many Japanese chefs, especially in the Kansai region, say they never courted this attention. Even a single Michelin star can be seen as a curse by the Japanese: Their restaurants are for their customers.” …. “It is, of course, a great honor to be included in the Michelin guide. But we asked them not to include us”, says Minoru Harada, an affable young Osaka chef. His Sakanadokoro Koetsu, a fish restaurant with a counter and 10 seats, just earned a single star, its first. Loyal customers have sustained the restaurant over the years, he says, adding: “If many new customers come, it is difficult.”

So sour grapes? Maybe…When Ferran Adrià first burst on the scene leading the Spanish epicurean charge, a 2003 Sunday New York Times Magazine cover asked, “Is Spain the New France?” From seemingly that moment, the iconic Adrià and Spanish modern cuisine were propelled in the gastronomic stratosphere accompanied by doubters and critics who did not really understand what was going on in Spain. But, since Spain’s culinary ascendancy, directly due to the rise of Chef Adrià and others (Juan Mari Azrak, Martin Berasategui, Andoni Luis Aduriz, etc..), a new genre of modern food was birthed–including modernized traditional cuisine – attracting a steady stream of international chefs, food writers and food fanatics to Spain, illuminating many that Spanish cuisine was some of the best food on the planet.

In a different guise…..Déjà vu all over again?

I was lucky to be in Europe on holiday a few weeks back, Paris and Madrid, bookending a lovely and delish ten days in Andalusia’s Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, and, of course, Jerez. While I cringe at the thoughts of my soon-to-arrive credit card bills, the trip was well worth it on so many levels. The experiences, the family time, the food and within the food….the cheese. I am a sucker for all cheeses from cows, sheep, goats, water buffaloes and any mixes of same. Hard or soft, fresh or aged, washed rinds or blues, they all make me swoon. High on my bucket list is a cheese trip through Western Europe with wine as the sideline and not vice versa. In the meantime, I will comfort myself in knowing that there’s a lot that you can get close to home—in your store and increasingly on your local cheese maker trail. And you don’t need to be in Europe to partake.

When my good friends buzz in from out of town, I will help them make their winery visits and, from time to time, accompany them- schedule and such permitting. Today, I increasingly insist that they take the time to explore our other artisanal products—from abounding and high quality farmers markets, to epicurean epicenters like San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Building or its cousin, the Oxbow Public Market in Napa, and to sample the freshly shucked oysters and shellfish at Hog Island Oyster Farm in Marshall to heading a touch north to visiting and tasting with the gals at Cowgirl Creamery. Being a cheese guy, I make sure my friends are aware of the many options abounding in Marin and Sonoma Counties to our north.

On any given day you can visit over ten different cheese makers, and taste and tour just as you would hop up and down the Silverado Trail on your quest of Cabernet perfection. Marin County boasts such gems as the aforementioned Cow Girl Creamery in Marshall, the quaint Marin Cheese Company in Petaluma, and the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company in Point Reyes Station. Venture northeast more towards Southern Santa Rosa and beyond, and you can add to that list Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastapol, Bodega Artisan Cheese in, of course, Bodega, and the Achadinha Cheese Company again in Petaluma. Make the effort…you’ll be glad you did. But do call first as most will require appointments.

And while you’re at it….taste a few wines (wineries and cheese makers tend to be in close range of one another).

Here’s a good way to get started: Sonoma County Wine and Cheese Guide

With the goal of hearing about your creating your perfect cheese plates and wine matches, I leave you to the table. Let me know what you discover.

]]> http://www.winecouch.com/fullcircleblog/?feed=rss2&p=272 http://www.winecouch.com/fullcircleblog/?p=271 http://www.winecouch.com/fullcircleblog/?p=271#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:01:10 +0000 evan http://www.winecouch.com/fullcircleblog/?p=271 Sometimes I have a very hard time believing what I read. It might be the sheer inanity of the headlines of a supermarket tabloid staring me in the face as I wait to pay for my groceries. Or it could be the taglines rolling by on the bottom of the screen on some of the networks. And of course we all know that every assertion made on the internet is true, right? But among the worst is picking up a journal from your own profession, eyeballing a quoted study, and then really scratching your head. Case in point follows.

A Napa Technology study (cited in Nation’s Restaurant New’s ”Counter Service” column on June 27^th) pointed out a few intriguing factoids.

73% of 150 sommeliers, wine directors, and restaurant/hotel operators say rare wines would sell well by the glass and, the same study finds that eight in ten say wine by the glass spending in increasing.

Now for the head scratching… First off, if we explore those two statements, they are as vapid as their source when we try and grasp the baselines for making them. Statement one doesn’t delineate how the study defines a “rare wine”. I was cleaning out my cellar recently and found a few bottles of clearly dead, over the hill wines that I couldn’t believe that I still had; such as an eight year old dry French rose, a six year old bottle of inexpensive Argentinean Torrontés, and (really true) a ten year old bottle of Beaujolais Villages. Ok, I now know that I need to clean out more frequently since I still have those wines, but you could argue that they are indeed rare. If, for no other reason, there aren’t many left and must we presume (and hope), that 73% of those responding to our above mentioned survey believe they would sell well BTG. Ouch… not the kind of rare I suspect is meant, BUT without more qualifiers, my oldies-but-goodies are technically rare wines.

The second statistic is the more galling of the two: eight in ten say wine by the glass spending is increasing. Now that may in fact be true but from what to what? In all or only certain price segments? And is that across all wines? Imports? Domestics? Bubbles or still or indeed… EVERYTHING? Even if it is true, it’s irresponsible to make such a nebulous statement without parameters for the claim.

I hope that these statements are indeed true. But then what’s the definition of true according to ‘a San Francisco based sommelier’?

Is it just me or are you shaking your noggin too?

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