Decatur Wine & Food Dude

Burgundy, Burgundy: A Couple from 2007

2012-02-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

I've posted several times recently about needing to be more in touch with most wine consumers and not so focused on wines that most people can't, won't, and don't ever drink. That being said, I do occasionally have to send some love to the wine I love most, Pinot Noir from Burgundy.

Now for the geeky stuff: the 2007 vintage is not a particularly noteworthy vintage in Burgundy. Considering both 2008 and 2009 have been hyped as great vintages, it's easy to forget an easy and early drinking vintage like 2007. The nice thing about less-heralded vintages if you can often find good deals on them as bandwagon jumpers clamor for the more well-reviewed (read: often over-hyped) vintages.

I've had several really tasty 2007s recently, mostly from the Beaune region, and the two above are from Volnay to be specific.

The 2007s show real finesse, they are pretty wines, ready, in many cases, for drinking now. Sure, they may shut down a bit, only to emerge brilliantly once again in 10 years, but there are some that are right tasty now. I've also had numerous 2007 Village and Bourgogne level wines that were also really tasty early on. If you see a bottle around town in your price range don't be afraid to give when a shot now.

Decatur Eats: Big Tex Decatur

2012-02-08T14:22:00.001-05:00

I spend a good bit of time eating at Big Tex Decatur, just off the west side of the square in Decatur. That being said, I've never done a blog post Big Tex. No reason for that, really, as I like the place quite a bit. It has more to do with the fact that it's usually pretty dark inside and I never get good pics...and I don't like to do blog posts with nothing but narration...but here goes.

Recently, Big Tex turned out a new menu with a renewed focus on Texas/Southern-style home cooking while dropping the "Mex" from their original Tex/Mex concept. My wife was not happy. A boycott ensured, but I digress. What's left on the menu now is less Tex/Mex (gone are the killer brisket tacos and West TX style stacked enchiladas) and more Texas/Southern-inspired comfort food (chicken fried steak, cheeseburgers, and fried chicken)

On my last visit I tried the fried chicken. I'm no fried chicken connoisseur, but I thought the fried chicken was very good. The crust was airy and crispy, and not at all doughy or soggy. The meat was moist, but lacked a bit of flavor despite the claim of a 24 hour brine. I didn't get much of a punch from the flavor of the chicken. Other current favorites are the carnitas and the Terlingua cheeseburger, a damn tasty burger topped with brisket chili.

The numerous sides at Big Tex are really an area of strength. Smoky collards, decadent and creamy roasted corn, brisket chili, and the pinto beans are all serious winners. And you certainly get your money's worth at Big Tex as the portions are rather huge, which almost guarantees that you'll leave with your next morning's breakfast all set. Provided, that is, you like carnitas and cold fried chicken for breakfast.

Is Your Wine Corked?

2012-02-02T08:40:00.000-05:00

Have you ever opened a bottle of wine and found it smelled like a wet dog? Or wet cardboard...or a moldy basement? Your first reaction might be, 'huh, this must be a French wine,' but cork taint is a real phenomena and effects around 1% of all wines produced. That may not seem like a big number, and it isn't, really. However, that fact does not make one feel any better when you open a bottle of corked wine and must dump your wine down the sink.

What causes cork taint? Well, I'm no scientist, but it goes something like this: Cork taint is the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA, a chemical compound that arises from airborne bacterial interacting with chlorinated phenolic compounds ), and/or 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA, a chemical compound derived from bacterial interaction with wood material) which has been transferred from the cork. In almost all cases of corked wine the natural aromas of the wine are reduced significantly, and a very tainted wine is quite unpalatable, although totally harmless if you do consume it.

While the human threshold for detecting TCA is measured in the single-digit parts per trillion, this can vary by several orders of magnitude depending on an individual's sensitivity . Some people, can drink mildly corked wine without a problem. There is a theory that claims that pouring corked wine in a decanter with a wadded up piece of saran wrap will help alleviate the effects of corked wine. I've tried the saran wrap method; it does help remove some of the corked odor, but the wine still felt rather flat as TCA also effects vitality of fruit and acidity in wine over time.

I recently opened another corked bottle of wine. No one likes a corked bottle of wine, but when that corked wine is a Grand Cru Griotte-Chambertin, Dude is not a happy guy.

Cocktail Time

2012-01-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

Since I posted last week on my new favorite beer, Heavy Seas, I figured I'd continue on the non-wine theme and give equal time to the hard stuff. I've spent some time recently, no doubt to do the influence of ThirstySouth and others, exploring cocktails a bit more.

One of my new favorites, thanks again to ThirstySouth for the recommendation, is The Boulevardier. The term Boulevardier was first used in the late 19th century to describe men who frequented the hip Parisian boulevards. The Boulevardier cocktail dates back to the time of prohibition and is basically a straight-up mix of bourbon (or rye), vermouth, and an aperitif like Campari or Aperol. As you can see from the pic above, I used Aperol and rye. The Rye I used is a small-production Rye from 1512 Barbershop out of San Francisco that is very aromatic and makes a tasty cocktail.

Another standby cocktail of mine is the Manhattan. I know, not terribly original, right? However, I recently tried the Redemption High-Rye Bourbon, and Fee Brothers Whiskey-Barrel aged bitters in my Manhattan. At 38% rye, the Redemption high-rye bourbon approaches the threshold for rye in a liquor that can still be classified as a bourbon. The rye and the whiskey-barrel bitters add a nice, dry-spicyness to a classic Manhattan. The Redemption (a nice buy around $20) and Fee Brothers bitters (at $10, double the price of traditional bitters) can be found around town at Tower or Toco Giant in Druid Hills.

Drinking Like the 1%

2012-01-24T09:11:00.000-05:00

Browse these fine French wines today.

Considering I recently posted on proletariat drinking, I figured I should give equal time to drinking like the 1%. I'm not going to spell out what drinking like the 1% means, you can use your imagination. On this night, we were actually probably drinking like the .001%, but that's another story.

This drinking was occurred recently when I got together with some of the usual local suspects for an evening of homemade 'clean-cycle' pizza and some really great wines. Several of the wines were truly exceptional; I feel lucky to drink such wines from time-to-time. As was stated in recent comments on my buddy EatItAtlanta's blog, I don't know if there is much use in posting about the wines in my post here. The truth is, these are wines that most people would probably never spend the money on, nor are these wines readily available even if one wanted to buy a bottle.

That being said, it is fun to share wines with wine geeks that have access to and appreciation of sublime wines. It says something when the 1989 Aldo Conterno Barolo pictured above is just another wine on our Tuesday night. An embarrassment of riches? Perhaps. But, you only get to do this ride once, might as well drink good wine occasionally.

The pizza was pretty damn good, too. You can make pizza like this at home, too. Just break the locking mechanism on your oven door and cook the pizza on the clean cycle, which will get the oven up around 850-900 degrees. Be careful, though, that's hot, and a even a drop of sauce or cheese at that temp will shatter glass and burn you real good. One taste of the pizza, though, and you'll probably consider it worth the risk.

Beer Time: Heavy Seas

2012-01-20T14:59:00.000-05:00

I don't do much posting about beer, outside of recognizing the genesis of a Decatur beer like Wild Heaven, and appreciating the local Growler craze of 2011. However, I do enjoy a good beer and was prompted into this post by a new favorite brewery of mine, Heavy Seas. Heavy Seas is brewed in Baltimore by Clipper City Brewing and has been cranking out beer since 1994. They have a rather extensive portfolio of brews, from full bodied ales, to stouts and pilsners, as well as numerous limited distribution seasonal brews.

A couple of my favorites right now are from the Pyrate Fleet. The Small Craft Warning Uber Pilsner, a lighter bodied, but very complex pilsner that is easy drinking, but matches well with rich and spicy foods. I'm also growing to really like the Peg Leg Imperial Stout, which is a full-bodied, winter beer that goes well with hearty dishes and even chocolate desserts. This one clocks in at 8% abv.

The Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA is pretty popular these days, too. It's a full-bodied, hoppy IPA that any craft IPA fan would like. Heavy Seas beers are widely available around ATL at shops like Tower Wine & Spirits and Greene's.

Home Cooking: Bo Ssam

2012-01-15T08:23:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to do a better job of posting about my home cooking in 2012. I often get caught up in cooking and neglect to take pics or reflect on what I do in the kitchen.

This weekend I made some Bo Ssam, riffing on the recipe in David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. While I've made many of the recipes in the Momofuku book over the past year or so, Eat It Atlanta turned me on to the Bo Ssam dish when we made it as part of our Rock Out with Your Stock Out party back in November. Ssam is a Korean dish; the word ssam translates literally to "wrapped."

Bo Ssam is traditionally a dish of slow-roasted pork wrapped in green, leafy lettuce and topped with various condiments. Chang's recipe includes topping it with his ginger-scallion dressing, spicy bean paste and kimchi. You can kewpie mayonnaise as well, though, I did not this time around.

I rubbed my butt(!) per Chang with brown sugar, granulated sugar, kosher salt, and smoked paprika (the smoked paprika is my twist) and put it in the fridge overnight. I then cooked the butt on my Big Green Egg for 8 hours at around 235 degrees.

Pork Butt at 8AM

Pork Butt at 3PM

Pork Butt at 6 PM

This is stuff is really addictive. You get the smoky-fatty pork with its crisp exterior and the bright ginger-scallion dressing and the kimchi adds a nice refreshing crunch. It's great for sharing around a table with folks who don't mind getting their hands dirty tearing into some tasty pork.

Proletariat Drinking

2012-01-09T09:17:00.000-05:00

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I lament from time to time that I cannot drink like a 1%er all the time. This was made quite clear to me recently as 2012 greeted me with some unexpected expenses. Perhaps I needed a little reminder that I am of the 99% and this should be reflected in my drinking. As much as I love Grand Cru Burgundy, and I do, I really can't afford to drink the stuff regularly. Hence, my 2012 started with some proletariat-style drinking.

What is proletariat drinking? It's drinking the wines of the people. I made that phrase up, but it means something to me. To me, wines of the people are working-class wines that are usually from less heralded wine regions, and hand-crafted by farmers who don't have expensive pr firms or distribution channels. They are not trophy wines, they are wines that are made for drinking, not chasing. These are wines you can buy for $15-$20.

Recently, I've been finding my wines of the people in the wines of the Loire Valley. The Catherine and Pierre Breton Chinon Beaumont is an excellent, earthy and funky Cabernet Franc from Chinon regardless of your political or philosophical leanings. As is the 2009 Domaine du Moulin Cheverny, another wine that tastes like the earth. I would recommend these wines highly to anyone interested in tasting some real wines that aren't mass-produced and overworked. They fact that they are relatively affordable is even better.

Road Trip Eats: B-Spot in Ohio

2012-01-03T14:42:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm back. Despite an insane Monday that included just missing a 30 car pileup in Lexington, KY, and then abandoning our car in the midst of an ice-apocalypse in the Smoky Mountains outside of Knoxville, TN, we arrived home today after spending some time in northeast Ohio visiting family for the holidays.

While in Ohio, paid a visit to a couple of good restaurants, including a B Spot. The ubiquitous Michael Symon, Cleveland's gift to the culinary world (sorry Ruhlman!), is the mind behind the four B-Spots that are fixtures around NE Ohio these day.

What is a B-Spot? It's a burger joint. On steroids. Not unlike Atlantan Richard Blais' Flip, Symon's B Spot aims at upping the ante on the modern burgers, fries, and shakes shack. Sorry for the not great pics, I left my daughter in charge of photos this time. She's a foodie-in-training.

The Lola Burger. Cooked medium rare topped with bacon, sunny side up egg, red onion, mayo.

Chicken wings in a rich, creamy garlic sauce topped with Parmesan. The should come with a warning from the American Heart Association.

Chili cheese fries.

Pickle Bar

Some of the stuff, like the onion rings and fries, were run-of-the-mill, but tasty. Good judgment kicked in and I passed on the vanilla bean, apple pie, and bacon milkshake with bourbon. Though, my kids loved the fresh mint and chocolate chip shake. Everything else was tasty, in a clog your arteries and swear-you-are-going-to-detox tomorrow kind of way.

Year End Musings, 2011 Edition

2011-12-26T10:30:00.000-05:00

As 2011 winds down, I figured I'd look back at some of the things I've learned about food and wine in 2011. More specifically, perhaps, this is a list of food that spoke to me, and wines and drinks that were memorable. So here's my list, in no particular order. Once again, my list goes to eleven.

1. The soft-boiled soy egg at Miso Izakaya. Visited Miso for the first time this year and I loved just about every bite. The soft-boiled egg over crispy fried rice is a $3.00 masterpiece. I dare you to eat just one.

2. Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, FL. The first rule of Bern's is you don't talk about Bern's. That's right, there's no link to one of my old posts, and no pics. Bern's is no ordinary old-school steakhouse. Over the past 50 years, Bern's has acquired the largest wine cellar of any restaurant on the east coast. It's a mecca for wine lovers everywhere as you will literally find wines here that you won't find anywhere else. I spent a few nights at Bern's in July with the likes of Rowdyfood, EatItAtlanta, and a couple other local Legends. We drank Burgundy and Bordeaux wines older than us, our parents, and probably our grandparents. That's all I can say. Anybody else drink 1937 Bordeaux this year?

3. Cakes & Ale--What else to say? My favorite restaurant in Decatur, and it just keeps getting better. The move to the new space and the addition of David Sweeney lunches has elevated Cakes & Ale to rather rare air. Sweeney's quinoa salad above is the stuff of foodie dreams.

4. No. 246--No. 246 is a welcome addition to the Decatur dining scene. I've enjoyed multiple visits in the last few months since they opened. Not many misses, mostly hits, and a thoughtful, seasonal and evolving menu that hits a lot of good notes for me. My kids loving their spaghetti and meatballs coupled with $10 corkage = WIN.

5. Burgundy--I adore the wines of Burgundy. See here. And here. And here. And here... Some bottles from this year in the pic below (with a nod to EatItAtlanta).

6. Duck--Duck has become one of my favorite proteins to work with. This year, I made some duck prosciutto, and duck pastrami, and I also continued to fool around with various treatments of confit and cassoulet.

7. Bourbon--I started the year with a post on Pappy Van Winkle 15 year bourbon. Fittingly, as Pappy is the reigning poster child for great and rare Bourbon these days. But, there are others this year that were also excellent including Elijah Craig 18, Prichard's Double Barrelled, and my old stand by, Basil Hayden's. Should also point out that if yo want to try a variety of Bourbon's, head on over to Mac McGhee's in Decatur where you will find an extensive list of diverse and rare Bourbons, Scotch, and Whiskey available for sampling.

8. Loire Valley Wines--One of my discoveries this year is the wines of the Loire Valley. There are many producers of red and white wines from the Loire valley that are usually all of the following: affordable, able to age, biodynamic, and made with non-interventionist practices.

9. Champagne--Another thing I realized this year is that I love good Champagne. That's Champagne; made in France, not generic sparkling wine. Champagne is a versatile wine that pairs well with just about anything and shouldn't be just a special occasion beverage. An...it's a great match with fried chicken!

10. Growlers--Thanks to the 2011 arrivals of Ale Yeah and The Beer Growler, Decatur is hopping with Growlers. If you are still drinking beer out of a 12oz. bottle (or can, god forbid!), you need to get on with a Growler.

11.Reading List--A few of the books I turned and returned to this year for research and inspiration.

Cakes & Ale Recognized Again

2011-12-23T09:34:00.000-05:00

I've done my share of heaping praise on Cakes & Ale over the last three years. However, I'm just a dude who likes to cook, eat, and drink who happens to have a blog to pontificate on things I probably don't know enough about. So, it's only fair that I point out when a place I dig gets recognized by the folks who get paid to write about restaurants.

John Kessler of the AJC recently bestowed 4 stars (out of 5) on the "new" Cakes & Ale. The praise is well deserved. Timely, for me, as I was impressed once again with dinner at Cakes & Ale last Friday night. I didn't take a lot of pics, but this carrot-two-ways salad with roasted carrot and carrot puree was right in the groove.

Funny to get excited about a carrot salad, perhaps, but not when it's a Cakes & Ale salad. We also had several other tasty dishes including the farro and veggie bowl with wood-fired farm egg, a decadent broccoli and kohlrabi soup, quail over black lentils, and the culotte steak with beets, horseradish cream, frisée, sunchoke chips, aged balsamic vinaigrette. Wow. That steak dish kicked ass.

As Kessler notes, Cakes & Ale has, since opening 4 years ago, been a Decatur hot spot for dining. It is now deservedly one of metro-Atlanta true dining destinations. I won't rave on in this brief shout-out about the brilliance of lunch at the Bakery, though Kessler did in his review. My take is here. If you are a food lover and have yet to spend time at Cakes & Ale then shame on you!

Home Cooking

2011-12-20T12:04:00.000-05:00

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Sea bass, spinach, creamy parsnips, vanilla-saffron reduction

Did some cooking this with my brother and his wife in town this weekend. Saturday night we made a few courses and drank some really nice wines. The sea bass above and the beet salad below were riffs on recipes from The French Laundry cookbook. We made some other tasty stuff, too.

We started with truffle butter and Parmesan popcorn with a the terrific N.V. Agrapart Les 7 Crus Blanc des Blancs Champagne.

I also made a Le Bernadin-style Tuna Carpaccio with Foie Gras. As you can see, I got the Foie from D'Artagnan.

Foie medallion spread thin and topped with tuna pounded paper thin.

This dish is really decadent. It was incredible again. Though, to my brother's point, I should have gone with Foie without truffles as the truffles totally overpowered the delicate flavor of the tuna.

This red and golden beet salad with goat cheese and balsamic reduction is always tasty.

We drank some wine, too...it was a good Saturday...

1996 Maison Louis Jadot Vosne Romanee Les Petits-Monts; 1996 Domaine Lambrays Clos des Lambrays; 2005 Michel Neillon Chassagne Montrachet 1er Les Champgains

Thursday

2011-12-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

So, my brother and his wife are in town for a bit of a surprise visit this weekend. Some reflections on how we spent our Thursday.

Lunch at No. 246, where I had this tasty meatball sub and garlic fries.

Then over for a visit to the Bakery at Cakes and Ale to pick up baguette, olive stecca, crazy good lemon-infused pound cake, and espresso.

Stop by The Beer Growler Avondale for some Southern Tier XXIPA...

Then, home to eat some of my Keller-meets-Bourdain-style Cassoulet.

Oh yeah, drank some wine, too.

Not a bad Thursday.

The Plight of Premox in White Burgundy

2011-12-08T10:09:00.002-05:00

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Premox.
Without even knowing to what it refers, you can almost tell, just from the sound of it, that it's not a good thing. Premox, in wine nomenclature, is short for premature oxidation, a problem that has been manifesting itself in the Chardonnay wines from Burgundy. Premox was first noticed in 2004 as bottles from the mid-to-late 90s began showing signs. It appears that wines bottled prior to 1995 are not effected by the problem.

Chardonnay, from the best vineyards and producers in Burgundy, should age effortlessly for 10, 15,or even 20+ years. When they do age well, they can transform into truly sublime wines, like the 2000 D'Auvenay Bize-Leroy Puligny Montrachet en la Richarde, one of the greatest white wines I've ever tasted (thanks, Rowdy).

However, when a wine is effected premox, what you get is an insipid, tired white wine that often looks and tastes something like Sherry. My personal recent examples of this plague were the 2001 Louis Jadot Meursault Les Perrieres pictured above, and the 2000 Maison Leroy Montagny 1er Blanc pictured below. Both wines showed a deep gold, turning to tan color, and a lifeless, flat taste on the palate.

What is perhaps most frustrating about the plight of premox is that many producers in Burgundy have turned a deaf ear to the problem. What is frustrating for consumers is that many of these great wines are not $25 wines. Imagine spending $100 on a special bottle of Burgundy only to have to dump it down the drain with no recourse. You can't return, you can't exchange it, you simply have to feed it to the garbage disposal. Over time, that is a costly and frustrating problem.

Burgundy scholars such as Allen Meadows and Clive Coates, have all weighed in on the possible reasons. Theories as to the cause of premox propose everything from faulty corks and low levels of Sulphur Dioxide to overripe fruit as a result of global warming. There is even an Oxidised-Burgs wiki devoted to tracking the problem by vintage and producer.

You would think with the risk involved in opening a cherished (and expensive) bottle of white Burgundy only to find it oxidized, many fans of white Burgs would simply give up. Some have, some persevere, despite the gamble. Don Corwell's oxidised Burgundy wiki referenced above has a frequently updated list of producers that have been most and least affected with oxidized bottles. If you are going to take the risk of buying white Burgundy, it is worth the effort to do some research to try to lower the odds that you will lose the high-stakes premox gamble.

Le Caveau Fine Wines in Chamblee

2011-12-05T10:19:00.002-05:00

I don't regularly recommend shops for wine buying around ATL, but it occurred to me recently that maybe I should. So here it goes...Le Caveau Fine Wines opened its' doors in July of 2011 in an area of downtown Chamblee that has experienced a commercial and residential rebirth of sorts. Le Caveau is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and a place I would frequent more often if I lived in the area.

One of the best things about Le Caveau is that they focus on interesting wines from around the globe, with a nice focus on smaller production, and biodynamic wines from the old world. In other words, the shelves here are not full of mass-produced "supermarket" wines. There also numerous wine accessories and wine-themed gifts available, so head on over and do some holiday shopping for wine lovers you know.

As for the wines, Le Caveau offers a great selection of biodynamic wines from farmers in Burgundy, and the Loire and Rhone valleys. Below are a few of the wines I've picked up at Le Caveau over the past couple of months.

The 2009 Clos du Tous Boeuf La Butte is a Loire Valley wine of the people. This Gamay is made by the somewhat legendary personality in the world of biodynamic wine, Thierry Puzelat in Cheverny. This wine is loaded with acidity, earth, and lean red Gamay flavors. For $20, It's an intellectual wine that takes time to grow on you, but if you open it for wine geeks, they will love you for it.

Similarly, the 2009 Jean Francois Merieau Le Bois Jacou is another old vine Gamay from the Touraine area of the Loire Valley. It's an old school, working class wine that any Marxist farmer would love. It's earthy, dirty in a good way, and loaded with Gamay personality. It was (sorry, all gone now) a steal at $13.

Also, sitting on the shelves is this beauty of a Cru Beaujolais that is drinking perfectly right now. I'm a fan of Cru Boo from Morgon was turned on to this particular bottle when Rowdyfood brought a bottle over a few months ago. Le Caveau still has a few bottles on the wall at $25. Highly recommended bottle here.

Le Caveau also has a deep and diverse selection of higher end wines from Champagne, Burgundy, Italy, and the U.S. It's well-worth a visit to this part of town to do some wine shopping. Also, as Brad Kaplan pointed out recently in Creative Loafing, Le Caveau is right next door to Maison Robert, so you can get your eat on after you pick up some wine.

The Hospices de Beaune

2011-11-30T09:43:00.000-05:00

I recently participated in an online tasting hosted by Tastelive, and featuring the wines of Bacchus Selections. One of the wines tasted was a wine grown and bottles for the Hospices de Beaune auction. The Hospices auction is an annual charity auction began in 1851 where lovers of Burgundy gather every November in Beaune to celebrate Burgundy wine will raising money for the hospices. Domaine des Hospices de Beaune is a non-profit organization which owns 150 acres of donated vineyard land. Each year, the wine grown from these vines is sold as Hopsice bottlings to raise money as part of the auction.

The bottle I tasted was the 2006 Hospice de Beaune Cuvee Brunet with elevage and bouteille by Maison Champy. What can I say about this bottle that I haven't already said about Burgundy? To be honest, this wine was too young for ideal drinking. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable bottle of pinot noir grown and bottled for a good cause.

Inspirations

2011-11-24T08:23:00.000-05:00

So, it's Thanksgiving time; a time for reflecting upon those things for which we are thankful. I am fortunate to have many things to be thankful: healthy and talented kids, an equally healthy and talented wife, and supportive family. As I wake this morning to a turkey soaking in this brine in the fridge and a pumpkin tart that I hope sets, here are few other things that inspire me and for which I am thankful:

Friends, such as ThirstySouth, EatItAtlanta, and Rowdyfood that inspire me to be a better cook, eater, and drinker.

The wines of Burgundy. Especially wines like the 1995 Bourgogne from Robert Groffier pictured above. A simple, regional Bourgogne that I drank last weekend. At 16 years of age, it showed better than many Premier Cru wines I have this year and probably cost $15 on release.

And finally, The Grateful Dead. Especially, this version of China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, which I've been digging lately:

Here's to an enjoyable and inspiring holiday season. Be sure to reflect upon those things that get you out of bed each morning and for which you are thankful. Cheers.

I Just Bought Beer on Sunday!

2011-11-20T14:11:00.001-05:00

In case you hadn't heard, with the vote on Nov. 8, fifty-one Metr o-Atlanta jurisdictions voted YES to Sunday alcohol sales. As someone who has a decent-size wine cellar in my basement, I've never really found myself wanting for alcohol on a Sunday (and is it really that hard to plan ahead?) Nonetheless, Sunday Sales is a victory for those of us actually living in the 21st century and not pretending it's still 1952.

The Beer Growler in Avondale Estates got permission from their mayor to be one the first shops in the state to start filling growlers today at 12:30. Figured I'd play the heathen and pay them a visit, even though I had plenty of booze 'round the house. Seems I wasn't the only the one excited about Sunday Sales as there were more people crammed into The Beer Growler than I'd ever seen before. I waited about 20 minutes to get my growler full, but, it was worth it. And...now I'm off to get my Sunday drink on.

Rock Out with My Stock Out

2011-11-18T10:39:00.001-05:00

Rock Out with My Stock Out may sound like a familiar title for my blog post. Seems I was beaten to this post by my buddy EatIt,Atlanta who coined the title (I actually liked his third choice for a title better, but it was rather politically incorrect). What is Rock Out With My Stock Out? Well, it involved spending a Saturday doing the following: drinking a good bit of beer, bubbles, and wine; watching college football (including watching Oklahoma State & Texas Tech miss the over by 3 points...doh!); eating oysters and Momofuku-style pork butt Ssam; all the while making one hell of a good demi glace.

A demi-glace, you say? Demi glace is deep, rich brown glaze made from a reduction of veal stock and Espagnole, one of the five French mother sauces. Since we couldn't get veal bones at YDFM (always fun to confuse the hell out of the staff at YDFM by asking for "special" items!), we settled on 20lbs of marrow bones. You can see what 20lbs of marrow bones look like in the pic at the top of the post. We roasted the bones until golden and dark (see above), then painted them with tomato paste, added the chopped veggies, and roasted for another hour, before deglazing the pans with red wine, potting up and covering with water to begin the reduction. Below are a few pics from the day:

I froze my gallon of demi-glace in ice cube trays and then popped them into ziploc bags for future use. Now, whenever I needed to add a little richness to a sauce or dish (beef bourguignon, anyone?), I just grab a couple blocks of demi from the freezer. The demi will keep like this in the freezer for months.

It was a fun way to spend a Saturday that wrapped up around midnight after our final reductions. Oh yeah, there are even more and better pics over at EatIt,Atlanta.

Napa Valley Film Fest Highlights Part I: Robert Mondavi Wines

2011-11-14T16:44:00.000-05:00

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You may recall from my last post about the numerous tastings I was invited to join in conjunction with the Napa Valley Film Festival last weekend. The invitations came via the good folks at Tastelive and CellarPass, the two entities that organized the blogger tasting along with Alan Kropf of Mutineer Magazine.

The Opening Night Gala was held at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville. Mondavi was kind enough to provide two of their flagship wines to the bloggers that participated in the tasting. The 2009 Fume Blanc Reserve and the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve were provided as samples for the tasting. The Fume Blanc was a very tasty Sauvignon Blanc that echoed Loire Valley with its crisp acidity. The Cabernet Reserve, long seen as the epitome of California Cabernet, was equally impressive, yet so young (2008).

The live tasting including a video stream in which Mutineer's Alan Kropf and Carl Jaeger, the Estate Director at Robert Mondavi Winery, took questions from bloggers while discussing the wines. It was an informative event as the Mondavi empire has for many years been the face of California wine; Robert Mondavi almost single-handedly creating and defining the California wine industry in the 20th century.

The Inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival

2011-11-10T10:08:00.001-05:00

I was fortunate to be invited by the good folks at CellarPass and Tastelive to participate in interactive tastings coinciding with the inaugural 2011 Napa Valley Film Festival. Rather than follow the festival model of starting small and building on success, the inaugural Napa event will encompass four towns, 12 screening venues and 112 films. The event brings together great filmmakers, films, wines, top chefs, and food during the weekend of November 9-13.

Several wine bloggers were invited to participate in online tastings throughout the weekend hosted by Editor-in-Chief Alan Kropf of Mutineer magazine. Kropf offerd the following about the events: “We’ll be producing five shows in three days. Along with our scheduled line up, we’ll be inviting talent off the red carpet for spontaneous interviews, and responding to questions posted by our blogger panelists. It’s going to be a bit of a thrill ride that should deliver some sweet surprises.”

I will be participating in four tastings during the weekend beginning with the Opening Night Gala at Robert Mondavi winery in Oakville. Anyone interested in following along with some the festivities can join the conversation at Tastelive. I'll be posting recaps on all the events over the next week or so. For now, on to the wines.

Tasting Kunde Wines

2011-11-08T08:46:00.000-05:00

Last week I participated in an online interactive tasting with other bloggers around the country and the folks at Kunde wines. The tasting was lead by Kunde winemaker, Zach Long, and owners Jeff Kunde and Marcia Kunde Mickelson who joined the conversation via video on Ustream. Other bloggers in attendance include 1WineDude and Gonzo Gastronomy.

Kunde, located in the heart of Sonoma valley, produces 100% estate grown wines with a commitment to sustainability and ethical farming. Kunde has been making hand-crafted, terroir-driven wines for five generations. We tasted three wines during the tasting, including the 2009 Estate Chardonnay, 2008 Zinfandel Reserve, and 2008 Red Dirt Red. The wines all showed a terrific upfront acidity. I'm a fan of natural acid in wine; a good acid presence tends to give wine an inherent energy, and it that also bodes well for aging.

My favorite wine of the tasting was the 2008 Red Dirt Red, a blend of Barbera, Syrah, Zinfandel, and a touch of Sangiovese. The wine tasted almost Gamay-like (Cru-Boo heads, take note), and was certainly leaning old-world overall. There was a good dose of acidity to go with the ripe berry fruit and iron. A wine that would go well with pizza, roast chicken, or grilled meat. A nice buy at $25.

This tasting event was especially interesting as we got to converse in real-time with the people making the wines. It was an informative experience learning about the history of Sonoma valley, organic farming, sustainability, and wine.

The Wines of Masion Louis Jadot

2011-11-03T20:23:00.000-04:00

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Over the past few years I've tasted a pretty sizable amount of wine from Maison Louis Jadot. There are several reasons for this. One, as a negociant, Jadot makes a lot of wine. A lot of wine. Second, Jadot makes so much wine that you don't have to go far to find some. Lastly, Jadot wines deliver excellent quality in relation to the price and truly interesting wines can be found without totally breaking the bank. This is especially true for wines from Burgundy, which, as many of you know, can be very expensive.

The Maison has producing quality wines for over 150 years since its founding by Louis Henry Denis Jadot in 1859. Today, Jadot is one of Burgundy's largest negociants, producing wine from over 380 acres of vines in Burgundy, which is a staggering amount for a Burgundian producer. The stable of wines from Louis Jadot reaches from numerous regional Bourgogne and Beaujolais bottlings all the way up to the very finest Grand Crus like Montrachet and Musigny. As I mentioned above, due to the vast number of bottles produced at various levels, Jadot's regional, village, and premeir cru wines are usually fairly easy to find.

A couple notes on some recent Jadot wines I've opened. The 1995 Beaune 1er Couchereaux, from the upper slope of Beaune's Premier Cru vineyards, showed terrific energy for a 16 year old Premier Cru from a less than stellar vintage. I also opened several bottles from the 2006 vintage to see how they were coming along.

The 2006 Beaune Greves was really drinking well for a young Beaune 1er with its deep, smoky cherry nose. Framed by some sweet oak, and sappy red fruit. Good wine, in a good space believe it or not.

The 2006 Gevery Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques was not quite ready for prime time, which should be expected based on this terroir. I got hints of what this wine will become, but it really needs 5 more years to begin to show its beauty.

Considering that Jadot makes up the largest percentage of Burgundy wines in my cellar, this probably won't be the last time you see me writing about Jadot. Good thing, for me especially, is that there's even better stuff to come. Stay tuned.

Ad Hoc Fried Chicken and Champagne

2011-11-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

This weekend I made Thomas Keller's Buttermilk Fried Chicken from Ad Hoc, his cookbook of family-style recipes that are more tailored for the casual home chef than his complex French Laundry recipes. This fired chicken is great, plain and simple. However, I'm not a connoisseur of fried chicken. I'm a Yankee by birth; I don't have great stories about my southern grandma's fried chicken. That being said, Keller's chicken is just tasty. The thing that sets Keller's fried chicken apart to me is that the chicken is bathed in a lemon, spice, and salt water brine for 12 hours before being soaked in buttermilk and fried. To see a more detailed report on the Ad Hoc fried chicken process, see the post from a couple years ago by my buddy at EatItAtlanta. This is really tasty chicken with a seriously crunchy crust and juicy chicken that is loaded with flavor.

With this tasty fried chicken I drank a very nice bottle of N.V. Champagne from Godme Pere et Fils. Champagne may seem like too noble a drink for fried chicken, the dish of humble origins that is part of the foundation of Americana. However, the crips acidity and effervescent bubbles of good Champagne is a great match for the salty, fatty, and greasy goodness of fried chicken. It's a pairing you should try some time. This Godme is a great little Champagne. It will cost you $40, but it's worth it. Remember, Champagne goes with everything, and it's not just for celebrations.

Wines from The Loire Valley

2011-10-27T11:25:00.000-04:00

I recently started paying more attention to wines of the The Loire Valley in France. The Loire Valley is a rather diverse wine area with a history of producing crisp, fresh, and often unadulterated wines that speak of a place and taste like the land. The most prevalent Loire Valley wine varietals are Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc for white wines; and Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Gamay for the reds.

Recently, I opened both the 2009 Vouvray "Le Bouchet" from Francois Chidaine. The village of Vouvray white wines are exclusively Chenin Blanc, and they can vary from bone dry to sparkling to dessert-like sweet wines. This one from Chidaine was rather sweet and viscous upfront, but showed a decent amount crunchy acidity. A wine that can for a long while in bottle.

I also recently tried a Pinot Noir/Gamay blend from Domaine du Moulin, produced by Herve Villemade, who makes biodynamic wines from grapes crushed the old fashioned way: by foot. The 2009 shows even more depth than the 2008 right now, depsite its youth. A truly interesting and vibrant wine with and energy and audacity that will make you swear off mass-produced, over-oaked American supermarket wines in a hurry. Oh yeah, it costs about $15.

The nice thing about many of the Loire Valley wines, both reds and whites, is that they are very good, age-worthy wines and can be bought for around $20. If you have not tried Loire Valley wines; you must.