Rhone Gang – Hold Up 2007
July 12, 2011
Grapes
30% Grenache 70% Pinot Noir – kind of a crazy blend, but you could have guessed that something about this wine isn’t right by the label…
Facts
In case you were wondering, the wine doesn’t come with its own stick-on moustache, but what a genius marketing idea! I should patent that!
The Hold Up is a new project by the self-proclaimed Rhone Gang: Louis Barroul from Chateau St. Cosme, Paul Chaudiere from Chateau Pesquie, Rodolphe de Pins from Chateau de Montfaucon and Arnaud de la Chanonie from Avitus Wine Merchants. None of them have moustaches in real-life.
Top 10 Strange Alcohol Laws
July 11, 2011
1. Ohio – It is illegal to get a fish drunk.
2. Alaska – In Fairbanks, AK, it is illegal to serve an alcoholic beverages to moose. I’m pretty sure Sarah Palin had nothing to do with this law…
2. New York – According to the New York State Liquor Authority, you can buy wine, wine glasses, wine stoppers and corkscrews at a liquor store, but the state of New York prohibits them from selling wine gift bags. Sell a gift bag to a wine buying customer and you’ll be fined $10,000.
Posted in Facts, Funny | Tagged Funny Alcohol Laws, Strange Alcohol Laws, Weird Alcohol Laws | Leave a comment //Trinitas Carneros Pinot Noir 2009 Paired with Cedar Plank Sockeye Salmon
July 7, 2011
Oh, this was a good one!
Last week I picked up a small bundle of cedar planks from the Riverside Arts Market here in Jacksonville; kind of an impulse purchase really since I’ve never actually cooked anything using cedar planks.The recipe I selected to test out my newly acquired planks was admittedly the first one I found after throwing “Cedar Plank Salmon” into Google. Luckily it panned out!
The recipe itself is very simple; just soak your cedar planks in salted-water for a couple of hours, then after removing the skin from your salmon (I chose Sockeye), place it on the plank, season with salt and pepper, spread with Dijon mustard and a little brown sugar, then place on the grill for 20-30 minutes. Et Voila! You’ll be eating your dinner off a plank of wood in no time at all!
Another impulse purchase! Green Man Gourmet is a fairly new addition to the Avondale high street here in Jacksonville. A small independent gourmet-food retail shop, it’s the kind of place I wish we had more of here in the River City, and certainly the type of place I’m all about supporting. When I was last down there (about 2 months ago) I picked up a few small packs of Black Truffle Salt, Hickory Smoked Salt and Murray River Salt. So far, the latter is the only one that I haven’t pretty-much burned through.
Murray River salt is light and very delicately flavored, and therefore I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to test it out on seasoning the salmon. The salt itself actually comes from the Murray River region of Southern Australia, a region I know only through countless hours of studying Australian wine region maps!
Posted in Pairings | Tagged California, Carneros, Cedar Plank Salmon, Meritage Resort, Napa, Pinot Noir, Salmon, Trinitas, Trinitas Cellars | Leave a comment //Everything You Wanted to Know About Oak (and Probably Some Stuff You Didn’t).
July 6, 2011
Oak plays a bigger role in winemaking than I think most people realize! The color, flavor, tannin and texture of a wine can all be influenced via oak contact; either during the fermentation or aging of wine.
When it comes to white wines, oak is often viewed as “fruit killer”, and should never be allowed anywhere near the juice. However for the longest time, those with this opinion could been viewed as a small minority.
It used to be that producers around the world were over-oaking their wines; this in order to disguise cheap/bad grapes. Over the past few years, a consensus seems to have formed amongst the wine drinking population that oak-influence (at any level in a wine), should always be frowned upon.
To some degree I can get on-board with this statement. This doesn’t in any way mean to insist that oak in wine is always a bad thing; but think of it the same way you would of salt and pepper in cooking. A little will bring the dish alive. Too much and it will completely kill it.
The nuances of vanilla, spice, nuts, caramel, cream, toast, butter etc. that oak can give to wine, can enormously increase the wine’s complexity. Don’t say a wine is "too oaky" just because you can taste a slight oak character in your glass of Chardonnay. Say it’s too oaky if all you can taste is oak! If drinking that glass of Chardonnay it’s like chewing on a toothpick!
Wine Lingo – Chewy
July 6, 2011
“Chewy” when used as a wine-descriptor often refers juice which is rich, dense, intense, and full-bodied in character. Chewy wines are usually red, and give a mouth-filling impression that make them seem almost thick enough to chew. The terms fleshy and meaty can also be used.
Gary Vaynerchuk’s Daily Grape Feature – 2009 Domaine Gilbert Picq Chablis 1er Cru Vosgros
July 3, 2011
Wine:
2009 Domaine Gilbert Picq Chablis 1er Cru Vosgros
Grape:
100% Chardonnay
Rating:
90+ points
Price:
$27 MSRP
Posted in Reviews | Tagged Burgundy, Chablis, Chardonnay, Domaine Gilbert, France, Premier Cru, Vosgros | Leave a comment //← Older posts Newer posts →
