Categories
Drinking The Chef Wine

Pret-a-Boire

As a wine director, working at a restaurant affords me the luxury of tasting several wines from different importers whose portfolios reflect a certain sensibility towards winemakers. Often I have a chance to taste older vintages which can prove useful in understanding how wines evolve with time. This is especially important in wines such as Barolo or Gran Reserva Riojas which require extensive cellaring.

One very large negative as a wine director is that I go out to restaurants less and less. The opportunity is just not there, and I often prefer the comfort of a home cooked meal than the same old scene. When I do choose to go out, I am ready to drink some serious wine, eager to see what my fellow wine directors are putting on their lists.

Herein lay the pitfalls of knowing too much. Wine is directly responsible for the financial stability of a restaurant, especially today. Almost no money can be made from the food, because chefs today use very high quality ingredients. All the profit is pinned on the alcohol, and as a consumer you should understand that. Rather than lamenting that a twelve dollar bottle has been marked up to forty-two, round out the cost with the entire package. If the atmosphere, service, and food met or exceeded your expectations, the mark up was well executed.

The problem arises when you know the price of a bottle and there is veritable price gouging. Just recently I scoured a list at a high end Madison Avenue Spanish restaurant and found a bottle of wine selling for fifty-two dollars. I serve the same wine at the restaurant for twenty-four dollars. I know what we both paid for the bottle. What’s up with that? It’s an insult and an abuse.

For the most part, wine directors offer some values on their lists. Even if you have no idea how to navigate a wine list, just ask the sommelier where the values are. Sommeliers are supposed to be helpful, and wine directors love to sneak in great deals like programmers like to include secret codes. If that fails, just ask your server, who undoubtedly has favorites as well.

Finally, beware of the younger vintages. The great thing about an extensive wine list is the opportunity to try hard to get wines, wines that are summarily snapped up by collectors before it ever reaches your local wine shop. Just order a 1964 Barolo to understand exactly what I mean. You have to pay for this, of course, but at least this is an available option to you as a foodie and wine lover. All too often great wines are offered on lists, albeit too young. For instance, I have been noticing on more Spanish wine lists the inclusion of the 1998 R.Lopez de Heredia Vina Bosconia. I have tasted this wine on several occasions this past year, and this wonderful effort from the Rioja Alta is a superb value, except for it being absolutely not ready to drink. Yet it is popping up on lists everywhere. What gives?

The same is true for many wines, like CDP’s (Chateau-neuf du Papes) which should not be uncorked for at least seven years after release. And barolos, brunellos, barbarescos, bordeaux, gran reserva riojas. The list goes on and on. Why do restaurants offer these wines?
These wines offer prestige to a list. Caché. A degree of excitement to the wine lover.

Another solution is that the wine can be decanted and aerated, thus exposing the young volatile juice to oxygen, promoting the aging process at your table. Is this a substitute to bottle aging? Quite frankly, the answer is very often a resounding no. My good friend el capitan uses a technique he learned from a Barolo master. Uncork the wine four hours before drinking, and transfer the liquid from decanter to decanter to promote accelerated aeration. Repeat several times. Something you would never do with the older vintages. I’ve seen this work with my own eyes and palate, but I’m not convinced just yet.

One thing you can do if you have an established relationship with the sommelier is to call ahead and ask him/her to decant it for you in advance. If there is a fee involved, this is well worth it, and if needed provide your credit card for insurance. That way when you arrive to the restaurant, all of your wine is prêt-a-boire (ready to drink). This may seem like obsessive planning, but it will be worth the effort, especially for young, tannic, closed wines.

Next time you scope a wine list for the treasures, be careful, ask a lot of questions, and drink the best wine you possibly can afford for the meal. Remember, life is too short to drink bad wine.

Categories
Drinking Wine

Spanish Mazel Tov

The quality of kosher wines has improved steadily over the years, although the options for good, quality bottles have remained limited. This holiday season opt for the Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Flor de Primavera 2003. Cellar Capcanes has been quietly growing old vines garnacha (Grenache) in the northeastern Montsant appellation of Spain, next door to the prestigious Priorato region since 1933. This cooperative was petitioned by the Jewish community in Barcelona to create a kosher wine, a task the Catholic winery was unequipped for, according to strict Jewish code. An enormous upgrade and consultation by rabbis brought Capcanes up to code, resulting in a magnificent effort regardless of religious denomination. Flor de Primavera means spring blossom, but don’t be fooled by its dainty name. Aged in French oak for over one year, this wine boasts a ton of black fruit, smoky aromas and juicy spice. This wine exudes the true finesse and power of Spanish wine.

Categories
The Chef Wine

Spanish Picnic

Just before you head up to the attic to bring out those fall sweaters, Mother Nature has left us just enough sunshine to enjoy a scant few picnics at one of the big apple’s many parks. Barbecue if you can, but as many a Texan will chide you with a stiff upper lip, most New Yorkers mix up this religious practice with grilling. A trip to Despana store on Broome St. for some jamon y queso is all that you require, and of course a proper bottle or two of wine.

Start with a rosé, move on to white, and twilight in style. This summer, time and time again, I reached for a Spanish wine, as Spanish winemakers are in the midst of a renaissance. More and more producers are stepping up to the plate, led by trailblazers such as the Palacios brothers. My favorite rosado (rosé) this summer has been the Artazu Artazuri, a dry, crisp, clean 100% garnacha (Grenache), full-bodied, versatile and yet another example not to dismiss rosés. Jean Leon of La Scala fame continues to produce world class wines. Try the Muscat blend, with parellada and a touch of gewurtraminer. This honeysuckled wine gives tickles and surprises.

The indigenous Spanish whites have also seen better production. Albarino, the famous grape from Rias Baixas, has always been the pride of Spain for white wines. Don Olegario crafts a delicious albarino which is easily the best I’ve tasted here in the U.S. market. Verdejo, from Rueda, is also making a splash. The wines are crisp and apply, with plenty of acidity, making it easy to pair with all types of seafood. Bodegas Nieva produces a baseline blanco and a complex Pie Franco, easily the best white wine I’ve tasted this summer. The vines are ungrafted and are over 100 years old. For a comparative blend, pick up Las Brisas from Bodegas Naia, a mixture of sauvignon blanc, verdejo, and viura. This summer sipper delivers aromas of citrus.

Palacios turns in the Placet, a 100% viura that’s just summer peaches. The wine is organically crafted and elegant. If you are looking for a more serious white wine, pick up a bottle of As Sortes, a Chablis-like wine with minerality, racing acidity, and broad-textured balance.

So bid farewell to the summer with a proper glass of wine, a good spread, a memory of the sunset, and a loved one(s) next to you.

Categories
Drinking Eating Experiences Wine

Memorial Day

Under the guise of Memorial Day, recently at my friend Dr. L. & Y.’s, we gathered to have dinner with his folks, an unofficial pre-birthday celebration for his dad, even though the actual date is June 24th. I am a big fan of this practice, as birthday celebrations should be drawn out and rejoiced, especially milestones such as number 65.

Dr. L. prepared a steady flow of perennial favorites including N.Y. strip steaks, lamb chops, and a chicken from Quebec. As usual, the wine pairing was very important, and what a glorious chore this became when we found out his dad was eager to share a recent birthday gift in the form of a 1989 Haut-Brion. This is the time one might flaunt Parker scores, in this case a solid 100.

We started dinner with cheese and salumi, whetting our palates with a 2000 chardonnay from Movia, the cutting edge master winemaker of Slovenia. The Quebecois roasted chicken was luxurious, curiously accented by fennel seed, crushed clove and juniper berry, garlic and olive oil. Sugar snap peas were thrown in for good measure. I brought an old standby, a wine I feel can stand up to many others more than twice the price, the Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé.

There is a reason why rosés and rosé champagnes are making a strong comeback. The quality has improved 150%. The other night at Fatty Crab I enjoyed a Lagrein Rosé from the Alto Adige by a good producer, Suditroler, which was so balanced and delicious it rivaled the food on my plate. The sweet champagne rosés and rosés still exist, but there are so many dry, crisp, fabulous wines being made to counter this former trend.

Having tasted several vintage champagnes over the years, my money rides on this bottle.

It is a real wine, full-bodied, not bready or sweet, dry and balanced revealing complexity and restrained fruit. My choice for a straight up proper rosé is the 1995 Lopez Heredia de Tondonia Rioja Rosado. This wine will have you swooning about rosés in your dreams.

What to do about the Haut-Brion? Decant it? For how long? What about the sediment?

In my memory I compared the experience to the time we had the 1986 Lafite. But the Lafite was in an Imperiale format, built to last, and 1989 was a different year altogether.

Upon concensus, for some reason I felt that we should decant it just before serving, so as to take the journey of evolution with the wine. Sometimes old wines disappear and change too quickly when decanted, and I certainly didn’t want that disaster. I even suggested that we chill it for five minutes, because the room temperature was humid.

As it transpired, the moment of truth was ecstatic. We poured out one glass and passed it around the table. The aromas were at first vegetal and then wildly, savage, full of smoke, earth, herbs and spices. We sniffed and swooned for several minutes. Then we tasted, sipping slowly, carefully swishing it around to get the full effect. Wild raspberries and licorice created a luxurious feel in the mouth, sexy, unctuous velvet, that distinct perfume reminding us of its terroir. It was a bit closed at first, but over the course of the next hour blossomed beautifully. We decided to decant the rest due to the sediment.

The boneless N.Y. strip steak was expertly prepared in Fredo (Dr. L.’s cast iron skillet) and a darling match for the wine. The lamb chops ensued and proved a bit fatty, a less suitable partner. Despite a solid fruit and cookie course, we went through the motions, having been quite fulfilled by that Haut-Brion.

John is a folk singer, and played two of his recordings on his latest CD release Frontiers for us. One of his songs is titled “Remember Me” and was written to commemorate war-time vets. I have several things to remember about this evening, among them great food, close friends, a clever white, a dandy of a rose, and the inimitable Haut-Brion.

Categories
Drinking Wine

Air Time

There are so many rules about wine drinking, that sometimes I switch to beer so I can give my mind a rest. Decant it. Don’t decant it. Serve it slightly colder than usual. Pump the air out before storing it in the fridge. White for fish, red for steak. Sniff the cork at the table. Don’t sniff. Pop a champagne cork with noise. Remove the cork silently. The rules go on and on. It’s nice to know some basics, but more than often a wine comes along and challenges etiquette. Which means that there really are no hard and fast guidelines to rely on. Wine, like poker, is situational. The way you play pocket rockets must be adapted to each situation. The factors are different each time. Because wines are individuals, each terroir extends nuances to each particular wine. A wine may have a similar flavor profile, but still express itself.

Recently I bought a half case of Artadi Vinas de Gain, a Rioja from Spain, vintage 2003, an atypical year for Rioja. I sensed upon first attempt that the wine was young, and perhaps needed time. I compared the wine to other young, highly concentrated reds and figured that a few hours would help open it up. So I opened the bottle three hours before serving and rested on what I thought was sound judgment. Boy was I wrong. The wine was a hot, tannic monster. What made it worse was that the Remelluri I purchased for back up was drinking exquisitely. I cellared the remaining bottles to try several years later when critics surmised it would be “ready.”

For a Friday night dinner I went to Oppenheimer’s (upper west side butcher shop) and bought the short cut, which is the top of the sirloin. I find it juicier than the sirloin, and reasonably priced compared to the pricier cuts. The Artadi popped into my mind. What if…? This time I would use more cunning strategy. Okay, I admit that I tried the same thing at first, and the Artadi did not relent. So I left it in the decanter and untapped a Chimay. The Artadi remained in the decanter. One day passed, two days. And on the third day, I retasted. The Artadi displayed well integrated tannins, plush fruit, good acidity, long finish and overall balance. By my estimation, it could have matured for two more days. Easy.

Why did this happen? Some wines age better than others, for one. Exposure to air acts as an aging agent. Three days of open air were needed to simulate years of bottle aging. Would this be the same for a young Barolo? Probably not, as the wines are completely different. You can overdo it though. A little too long and you have astringent vinegar. You should check a wine’s aging potential with a critic you trust. Ultimately, I had faith in that Artadi. I believed it would show its true colors under the right circumstances, with the right pushing and prodding.

I guess the moral of the story is to experiment with different wines in terms of how long you should leave it exposed to air or how long a wine can last in the fridge or decanter so as to continue to improve. This is part of the fun of wine enjoyment, and many wines will give you varied results.

Of course, if this appears too heart wrenching for you, pick up a beer instead.