From a wine lover's perspective, how often do you get the opportunity to meet an Italian winemaker, taste some of his wines and follow it up with some great Italian food.  Thanks to Tre Trattoria (one of the Jason Dady family of restaurants in San Antonio),  Ang and I plus our friends Michele and Robert got that chance recently.

The winemaker, Antonio Sanguineti, is part of an interesting group of wine importers call Small Vineyards.   Their goal is to introduce the family-owned, small wineries from Italy (soon to add some from Spain and Greece) to the American wine drinking public.  Without Small Vineyards, these wines would slip under the radar.  As we know from many boutique wineries in the US, they are small, but have a great product to offer.  

I readily admit that I'm often at a loss when it comes to Italian wines.  I know something about the grapes and regions, but have much to learn about the who's who.   It's nice to have an organization doing some homework for us, finding and presenting a good product at a price often below the bigger wine importers.

For the price of admission this night, we got to taste four wines (or in my case, three plus a repeat).  Antonio's wines represent Tuscany well and are all based on the Sangiovese grape.  First, I tried the 2003 Vino Nobile di Monteplulciano. It had a cherry and slight earthy nose, medium body and good acidity.  Tanins were smooth. My second taste was his Super Tuscan.  The term Super Tuscan came about when producers in the Chianti region wanted use grapes other than those authorized by the Government regulating body.  The could not call their wine Chianti.  Antonio's 2005 Super Tucsan (Nessan Dorma) is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 30% Merlot, and 20% Syrah.   This wine has some spice notes, dark berry flavors and very silky tannins.  The Merlot reals softens the mouthfeel.  My final pick ( I actually used my fourth ticket for a second look) was the 2003 Brunello di Montalcino. It was my first Brunello.  At first, the nose was too tight, having just been opened.  At I furiously swirled to get air into it, the wine started to open in the glass and big black cherry emerged as well as a hint of chocolate.  I would love to try it after an hour or more of breathing.  I believe it would be a great wine with food.

The wine was great, but we also got to sit down with Antonio and Jay Hutcheson, the Small Vineyards Regional Sales Representative.  They went out of their way to talk with everyone who showed up for the tasting.  With all the questions about wine and wineries running through my head, we talked about traveling to Italy instead.  We would love to tour Tuscany before I get to the age where I don't remember if I'm wearing pants or not.  Anyway, it was fun hanging out with the guys for awhile.  They treated everyone as a favored guest.

Following the tasting, we settled down for a great meal of roast golden beats, gnocchi with gorgonzola, and the Tuscan marinated rig eye. The food capped the perfect evening out for the wine and food enthusiast. 

After a great Russian River Pinot a couple weeks ago, I decided start exploring more from the left coast (no political pun intended....ha ha, well maybe just a little).  Anyway, Angie suggested we do some Pinot and food pairings.  Our first exercise put Cambria Julia's Vineyard 2006 with roasted pork tenderloin, creamy Gruyere grits and a tomato, red pepper relish.  Like a baseball player, it's great to hit one out of the park on the first try.

The wine earned an Editor's Choice and 93 points from Wine Enthusiast (December 2009).  The author called  it "the best Pinot Noir at that price on the market."   Given some breathing time, the wine really evolves in the glass with cola, cherry, strawberry, and spice aromas.  Flavors of tart cherries leads to a nice long finish.  The color is lighter like a French Pinot, garnet with some hints of brick red.

Cambria Estate in located in Santa Barbara Country on what is called the Santa Maria Bench.  With cooling breezes from the Pacific Ocean (17 miles away), the Pinot Noir grape thrives here. This particular vineyard is named after the owner' youngest daughter.  

The meal was to die for.  Angie rubbed the pork tenderloin with rosemary, thyme, olive oil and a little mustard and roasted it to perfection.  Now for someone born north of the Mason-Dixon Line, grits is a bit of an oddity.  I remember Cream of Wheat on a cold Illinois morning with butter and sugar.  A dish with similar consistency served with cheese was alien to me for some time.  Angie cooked the grits with gruyere cheese and cream. I'll never add sugar again!  To top it off, she made a relish with basil, parsley, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, olive oil and white balsamic.  The pork, grits, and relish presented different but complementing textures and flavors.  The wine enhanced it all.

After this meal and wine, I hope we haven't set the bar too high, but it's will be fun trying...

With the 2010 New World Wine & Food Festival taking place in and around San Antonio this week, we had to pick at least one event to attend.  The closest venue won out: Sip, Savor and Shop at The Shops at LaCantera.   I tried to downplay the "shop" part of the title but was the ladies just laughed at me.

The event was a lot of fun.  For your entrance fee, you were given a plastic glass and unlimited tasting of the available wines and samplings of some great food.  I'm convinced we got our money's worth.

There were some more well known gems in the wine selection such as a Franciscan Magnificat (Bordeaux Blend), Robert Mondavi Merlot, and Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon.  However, tastings give you the opportunity to try something new; so, we did and then some.   My favorite new wine of the event:  A-Mano Primitivo.  This Italian from the Puglia region (heel of the boot) was full of red fruit flavors and soft tannins.  It went well with the pizza from Grimaldi's Pizzeria.  Another interesting wine was the Seven Daughters red blend.  Imagine a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Carignane, and Sangiovese.   There were both red and dark fruit flavors with a peppery finish.  Not to disrespect white wines, Angie and I both enjoyed the Fall Creek Sauvignon Blanc.

Among the food items that stood out was a crab bisque from the restaurant at Nordstrom's, a Fortina sausage courtesy of Magianos, and a knockout macaroni and cheese from the Yard House. We joked about going to dinner after the tastings, but we were all pretty full.  The generous food samples were more than a single bite that one would expect from this type event.

I wish we could have attended a few more events this year, but I'm very pleased we chose this one.  And as for the shopping...Ang says, "Thanks Free People for the 15% discount on the earrings!"

Since Angie would be spending Mother's Day with her mom, I decided to take her out for dinner on Saturday evening. I already earned some points with the roses...(Good husband, eh?)  The choice was Bohanan's.  We always talked about going there, and now was our opportunity.  We had a great time.

Bohanan's is located on Houston Street in downtown San Antonio (right across the street from the Majestic Theater).  The service at this restaurant is incredible.  From the attendant opening your car door at the curb through a big thanks for visiting from our servers and the manager, you couldn't ask for more. Jose and Shaun really took care of us during dinner and made us feel special.

The food is fantastic.  Some of you may remember the Mike Myers character on Saturday Night Live, Coffee Talk, always saying something was "Like butter." That was what is was like cutting into the filet.  We don't order steak very often, but it is a specialty at Bohanan's and it was obvious from the first bite, they know their stuff.

The meal also marked a first for me, oysters.  Our ticket got mixed up in food prep, and we had to wait a little longer than normal.   To make up for the delay, we were presented with French grilled oysters.  At first, I told Ang they were all hers, but she insisted I try them. I'd never had the slightest interest in that fare.  I was soon to reverse my stand.  The light breading, a squeeze of lemon juice and a slight amount of cocktail sauce and "Wow!"   

And, by the way, they have a great wine list.  They were recognized by Wine Spectator (Best of Award of Excellence) more than once. Granted, a lot of the bottles are way out of my price range, but there were some gems on the affordable side.  One item of note for the wine snob in all of us, the server pours your wine into a decanter.  From what I could tell, this is a standard practice here regardless of how much or little the bottle costs.  

 This evening, I picked the 2004 Amici Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  You need a big cab with a big steak, right?  In this case, yes you do.  The winemaker let the 2004 vintage have an extra year and a half aging in the bottle before releasing it late in 2008, and it paid off.

The slight delay in the main course arriving worked out for us.  When the steak hit the table, this wine was ready.  The balanced tannins and acidity with gorgeous blackberry, black currant flavors grabbed my taste buds and took them for a big ride.  Add a bite of delicious filet and I was in my happy place. If you find this wine locally, I highly recommend you pick one up for the ole wine fridge.  

One another note, my wife was right as usual. She said we would most likely see some members of the Phoenix Suns at the restaurant. They are in town to take on our beloved Spurs for the second round of the 2010 NBA Western Conference playoffs.  Saturday was an off night.  Sure enough, Grant Hill walks right by our table, followed shortly thereafter by Channing Frye and his party.  

Well, thanks to Bohanan's, Jose and Shaun for the fun evening, and if the Suns could find a way to blow a 3-0 lead, that would be real special...

Once again I learned about a great new wine thanks to a waiter's recommendation.  Last night we were at Cypress Grill in Boerne, and Angie, Michele and I all decided on non-red meat entrees.  Since I've been on a Pinot kick lately, I suggested we go that way instead of a white.  I checked the wine list for something in my price range from a winery or region I was semi familiar with.  I quickly spotted a Russian River Valley Pinot from the Gary Farrell Winery. I'd not had a chance to try it before, but I remembered reading a favorable review.  As our waiter took my order, he asked if I may like to try another Pinot from the same area.  He went on to mention that one of the owners, not a Pinot fan, really liked this particular wine and bought all the sales person had.  It was only a few dollars more and with an owner/chef's recommendation, how could I go wrong?

I was not disappointed.  The 2008 En Route Les Pommiers is a great food wine.  I had the Chilean Sea Bass with shrimp, and lima beans in a light green curry sauce.   A bite of food and a sip of wine and I was in a winer/foodie paradise.  It worked equally well with the tuna and chicken dishes.

The owners of EnRoute have a great pedigree; they also own Nickel & Nickel, Dolce, and Far Niente wineries.  They chose the Russian River Valley to produce a great Pinot, and my first taste left me wanting more.

The day after, I got online to find where I could buy a bottle or two.  The first stop was their web site, and it was also the last.  This wine is produced in very limited quantities.  It is only sold at restaurants, fine wine stores and online through the winery.  To buy it from them, you join their wine club.  The club allows you to buy a 3-bottle pack of the current vintage, if not sold out.  Then, for each new vintage, you are allocated three bottles, but you chose whether to buy it or not.  There are no automatic shipments.   I vowed not to join join another wine club, but, hey!  It's only a once a year purchase.  At least, that's how I explained it to my wife...

Easter has come and gone, but we will always remember the last one as the time we had Easter dinner at 12:30 AM.  Why so early?  We have friends and a nephew that work until around midnight Saturday evenings.  So, we decided to have the meal and fun after they left work. 

Saturday started with a trip to the Pearl Brewery Farmer's Market.  The brewery is no longer active, but is getting a facelift with a Culinary Academy, restaurants, shops, and the Saturday morning market.  At 9:00 AM, a young lady walked through the crowd, ringing a bell.  It was "Shoppers start your engines!" 

Ang and I purchased fennel, beets, carrots, artisan bread, goat cheese, and a strawberry plant.  Everything was fresh and folks selling it were Texas friendly.  We also got to sit in on a cooking demonstration.  Tom Stevens and Paul Thompson from The Cypress Grill in Boerne (one of our favorites) showed us how to make the tastiest sandwiches consisting of lamb, beets, strawberries, arugula, there own special Champagne dressing on fresh made rolls.  Whoa..... 

After the market we hit the HEB Central Market for more ingredients for the feast.  It was here that I decided on the wine theme for the evening, Pinot Nior.  Like a kid in the candy store, I like to wander up and down the wine aisles.  I look for wines I've read about or in this case, I check out those that the store's wine folks like.  You know the little signs that say something like, "Bobs, Pick." 

This day I wanted to try different styles of Pinot.  The first choice was  Machard de Gramont Domaine de la Vierge Romaine 2006, a French Burgundy with a price I could justify.  Next, I wanted an Oregon wine.  The Bethel Heights Vineyards Estate Grown 2007 Pinot Noir was my number two.  Finally, I skipped to California's Central Coast and Lucas & Lewellen 2006 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir.  The French wine was the driest; the California least dry, and the Oregon somewhere in the middle. All were good and helped make the feast.

Ang slow cooked a ham most of the afternoon that had our dogs drooling.  She added a frittata with fresh vegetables and a delicious beet salad.  Michele created a midnight table setting on our deck and prepared the Easter egg hunt;  I was in charge of schlepping, dish washing and keeping the critters out the ladies' way.  I also decanted the wines so they were ready by the time company arrived.

It was a gorgeous day and everything ran like a Swiss watch all day; we even got a nap.  If I was going to stay awake past midnight, a nap was a must.  At around 12:25 AM, we were ready.  I took  the dogs outside for a potty break right before the guests arrived. While standing out in the still warm night, I felt a light misting rain starting up.  <Expletive deleted here> 

As a group, we decided that we had invested too much work into the meal and setup not to eat outside, so there we sat, and ate and drank and had a great, if not slightly wet time in the light Easter rain. It was a memorable early morning spent with good friends .  We may have started a tradition here, but next year we may pay a little more attention to the weather forecast....or not...

A few weeks ago, we were in the midst of a water leak at the house and decided we needed a night out to fuh-git-aboud-it (I'm part Italian).   We picked the Silo restaurant off 1604 for dinner; we hadn't been there since the 2003 vintage of Sequoia Grove's Cabernet.  Yes, a wine geek tends to associate dining experiences with vino.

As Ang, our friend Michele and I looked over the menu and wine list, a gent appeared at the table with a bottle of wine.  "Hi, I'm the Wine Steward," he said and then proceeded to offer us a taste of one of their featured wines.  "Do you like Spanish wines?"  I held back the urge to reply with the colloquialism about the bear in the woods.  "Yes, we do," I replied for the table.  Mama told me something about life, a box of chocolates and it not being polite to refuse free wine.

The featured wine was a 2001 Beronia Gran Reserva from the Rioja area.  A Grand Reserva is only made in good years and is aged 60 months before release. Of the 60 months, 18 must be in oak.  Bodegas Beronia says theirs are kept in oak for 24 months.  The taste was enough to order a bottle with dinner.  

Our waiter brought our bottle to the table and offered me another taste to ensure it was like what the Wine Steward poured.  With occasional cork failure and previous shipping, handling and storage, two bottles of the same vintage may not taste the same.  It was just as good.

It only took a few swirls to bring out the nice aromas of red fruits. The flavors were rich with a hint of balsamic in the background.  I tipped the glass to look for brownish tinges (the sign of a mature, and sometimes past it's peak wine).  I couldn't tell, but the lighting in a restaurant isn't the best place for this experiment anyway.  It was obvious though, the wine was ready to drink immediately on pouring and didn't really need to breath much at all.   

Ang chose the special, lamb chops.  Michele and I went with the beef tenderloin, garlic spinach, and bleu cheese gnocchi (the deciding factor for me).  Needless to say, the wine paired equally well with each dish.  Speaking of the food, it was outstanding.

So, what did we learn?  Even if you have wine knowledge and are familiar with a restaurant's wine list, don't hesitate to talk to your waiter or the wine steward about what to choose.  We were very happy with the Spaniard.

When cooking at home, we try to prepare just enough to avoid leftovers.  Leftovers seem to hide in the fridge until they are beyond hope and kinda stinky.  Well, Ang occasionally plans two meals using the same main ingredient.  Today's leftovers become center stage a few days later.  This week it was eggplant:  two meals, similar ingredients, different styles, different wines.

The first meal was a salad consisting of grilled eggplant slices, toasted pine nuts, chopped parsley, mint, basil, crumbled goat cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  We had a partial bottle of Pinot opened, but the balsamic overpowered it.  Our wine club this month included a Ironberry Western Australia 2008 Chardonnay Viognier.  The Chardonnay wasn't a big buttery California one, and was actually like the second fiddle to the Viognier. This wine was much better match; the bright floral notes and apricot flavor stood up to the balsamic.

Meal number two was grilled eggplant pizza.  Ang took the same herbs from the previous meal with a little olive oil and pine nuts to make a pesto.  She spread the pesto on a whole wheat Naan with leftover eggplant slices, goat cheese and some balsamic reduction sauce.  Wow!  I think I now have a new favorite; I'll never eat Pizza Hut again.  

The wine choice was a "Well, I just opened a Merlot, let's give it a try."  The Merlot is a 2008 Reserve from Becker Vineyards.  To me, it's a classic Merlot with blueberries and chocolate on the nose and dark fruit flavors.  It's somewhat dryer than the average Merlot, but it's another Texas wine that can stand up to the California brands. It was magic with the pizza.  The balsamic reduction is somewhat milder that the vinegar so, that was probably a key to the matchup.  A bite of pizza, a bit of the wine, and I needed to be alone for a little while.

Well, the next time you dive into the abyss of your refrigerator, searching for the those pesky, spoiling leftovers, stop and think about what they could have been in a second meal.  Of course, don't forget the wine...

During our recent Wine 101 tasting course dry run, someone made a comment about screw tops and wine.  One of the bottles we were using for the double blind tasting experiment had such a stopper.

It's true that to even the casual wine connoisseur, screw tops conjure up the misspent youth experiences of foul liquid called "wine" consumed purely for the alcohol buzz.  So, the question is "Are screw tops for only the cheap and quickly forgotten wines or do they have some merit?"

Well, first we have to discuss why cork is the preferred bottle stopper.  Cork is the best natural material found that can be compressed to fit into a bottle and at the same time elastic enough to uncompress and seal the bottle.  It is also fairly easy to retrieve with the occasional exception.  Synthetic material can be produced to provide a complete seal, but then retrieval would create a problem.  It would be like that scene from the movie "Bottleshock" where Bill Pulman (playing Jim Barrett) opens a bottle of Chardonnay with a sword.  I've seen a live demonstration; it's not for the feint of heart or slightly uncoordinated.
 
Unfortunately, cork can suffer from TCA (trichloroanisole) or cork taint.  Cork either naturally or through the production process can develop fungi that produce TCA. The wine gets tainted as the liquid in the bottle makes contact with the cork.  It's estimated that 5% of the wine stoppered with cork feels the effects.  A low level may not be detected by the average consumer, but more than that will disturb your palate.   A corked wine will smell musty or like wet cardboard (kind of like those old magazines your grandfather kept in the basement for decades).  

The only answer for completely preventing TCA appears to be using alternatives to cork.  There are a variety of synthetic corks including those that contain actual ground up real cork and those made of plastics.  Other methods of sealing a bottle include glass and metal toppers that don't actually penetrate the bottle like corks.  

The biggest difference between cork and alternatives is a combination of the terms oxidative and reductive.  After fermentation, wine is no longer a big fan of oxygen.  To continue it's development in the bottle, it still needs a very small amount to continue the chemical changes toward maturity. Too much, and everything accelerates and wine eventually spoils; it's considered oxidized.  In reds, you may detect prune and raison aromas.  Cork allows the correct amount of oxygen (unless it dries out) where the synthetic types permit a little more than optimal.  In other words, the synthetic cork is not used for wines expected to mature for a long time.  

Enclosures like screw caps, pretty much eliminate any air from entering the bottle.  However, you then must consider the reductive (absence of oxygen) effects on a wine.  In the anti-oxygen environment, the wine may develop other compounds that could affect the flavors.  in extreme cases, that could result in barnyard or rotten egg odors.

What the answer?  There hasn't been enough testing on how long a wine can be cellared using other than cork.  Also more testing is required in the area of how much oxygen is actually needed to allow an age-worthy wine to reach it's peak.  If you don't plan on keeping a wine more than a year or two after it's released, then you shouldn't worry about the corking device.  Pay more attention to who produced the wine.  Now if you are considering buying that $2000 bottle of Chateau Petrus......


Sources:  The Science of Wine: 2005: Jamie Goode, The Oxford Companion to Wine Third Edition: 2006: Janice Robinson

We have been on the run for the past couple weeks, so it was nice to have that quiet dinner at home last Thursday.  Angie had picked out a couple of recipes for chicken and fennel from her favorite magazines and decided to work them together.

I'd been meaning to try our bottle of Joel Gott 2008 Sauvignon Blanc for some time.  It was a selection of our Wine 101 club a few months back.  It sorta got lost in the shuffle of our two wine refrigerators.  They always seem to stay fairly full for some reason or other.

The first thing that caught my eye on this particular bottle was the phrase "Cellared and Bottled by Joel Gott Wines, Oakville, California."   Notice, it didn't say produced and bottled, so, the natural conclusion is negotiant.  Negotiants are the folks who don't own vineyards and may not own their own wineries.  They buy grapes or finished wine and find someone to make, bottle and possibly age it for them.  Joel is a winemaker, however and is part owner of a custom crush facility in St. Helena.  One can assume the wine was made in one location and bottled/stored in another.

The bottle lists the fruit origin as simply California.  The grapes could have come from anywhere in the state, but actually were grown in Monterey, Napa and Lake Counties.  By blending, the wine can take advantage of each area's characteristics.

Regardless of where it came from, the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is an excellent wine.  It has the classic Sauvignon Blanc herbaceous/grassy nose with citrus notes. The flavor steered toward lemon and grapefruit with a good acidy finish.   Angie also gave it two thumbs up and even requested that we pick up a couple more for down the road.

A good wine deserves a good meal and this one was a knockout.  Ang roasted the fennel with parmesan cheese and sauteed the chicken in olive oil and butter.  The sauce was her own creation and it was the glue that married everything together.  She deglazed the pan with white wine; added chicken stock and let it reduce.  To this mixture, she added butter and heavy cream, topping the resulting deliciousness with fennel fronds.  I could have rolled in the sauce, but there were no leftovers...