So What Are You Waiting For?

Way back in the year 2000 (which was either the last year of the 20th century or the first year of the 21rst, depending on who you ask) Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher who wrote the Wall Street Journal's wine column got tired of hearing people with a fantastic (and expensive) bottle of wine somewhere in their house refuse to open until an undefined "special occasion" that never seemed to arrive. So they did exactly what you would do in that situation--they created their own holiday. "Open That Bottle Of Wine Night", where the "special occasion" would be opening that wine. They scheduled it for the last Saturday night in February (which means of course that we missed it--but hey, I've only been doing this blog for less that two, weeks cut me some slack). It's a great idea but I don't think it goes far enough, every night is open that bottle of wine night. Hmm, maybe that goes a bit too far--not that I'd be averse to everybody buying a bottle of Duckhorn Vineyards Three Palm Vineyard Merlot 2001 $99 (one of my favorite wines in the world) every night after work, especially if they bought it from me, but what I mean is that people a messing up the price value ratio when they are talking about wine.

Say you you and three or four friends meet a bar or restaurant for couple of drinks to sit around and talk. Each one of you can easily spend 10 or 20 bucks on two or three glasses of wine or mixed drinks. for that kind of money you guys could have bought a bottle Duckhorn and sat around in someone's living room talking with your friends and drinking the best wine any of you have every tasted. Heck for less than $15 dollars per person you could try Chimney Rock Napa Cab. The purpose of wine (kinda like life) is to create memories. And aren't you going to create better memories at someones house drinking a spectacular wine then sitting in some booth somewhere drinking generic beer and eating chicken wings underneath a stuffed moose head that's wearing sunglasses? Well aren't you. So what are you waiting for?

By the way, I am aware that I'm not a disinterested observer in this as I am actually selling the wine we're talking about. But seriously, how many times have you balked at buying a $15 bottle of wine and the next day paid $10 dollars for a glass of wine at a restaurant? Add it up, I think my point will remain valid.

Sbragia Home Ranch Chardonay 2008 $25.99****

Whoa...is this ever a good California Chard. I mean really good. Most California wineries are moving away from the old fashioned oaky style that so many people complain about. But not Sbragia. For a while there is seemed like wineries were competing to see who could make the oakiest, most syrupy, most unbalanced Chardonnay. And people got sick of it and so wineries started changing styles. Well. Sbragia reminds us why that nonsense started--why lesser wineries started too much oak. They were trying to get the opulence, honey and honeysuckle flavors. The difference is those other wineries fail at it while Sbragia succeeds magnificently. 92 points Wine Enthusiast, 92 points Wine News, 92 points Wine Spectator. On sale for $20.99.

Maker's Mark Announces Their First New Product in 50+ Years

I can't wait.

What's New

It's Friday again and we are doing our weekly Friday wine tasting and this Friday we have brand new wines to taste:

Shaya Old Vine Verdejo 2009 $14.99, 90pts. WA---A traditional Spanish white with refreshing minerality and dry fruit notes making this a perfect summer wine.

Botani Moscatel Seco 2008 $17.99, 90pts. W&S---The Moscatel (also known as Muscat) is a grape you may have heard of and tried but only as a sweet desert wine. Botani is not that wine. Oh, it has residual sugar but instead of being sweet it translates into a heavy mouth feel but with reserved citrus notes and a wonder spiciness that lends itself pairing with food wonderfully.

Venta Morales Tempranillo $9.99---An pleasantly inexpensive Tempranillo from Spain (La Mancha to be exact) rich, ripe, and what I like to call "gulpable"---order a pizza, pour it into a water glass and have a great great evening.

Tarima Monastrell $9.99---Did I say pleasantly inexpensive? Well, Tarima is insanely inexpensive. Because this wine is AWESOME. If you've never had a Monestrell (and you should have had a Monastrell before because I push Jaun Gil ($17.99 91pts. WA) on just about anyone that comes into the store. Tarima is just a good and only $9.99! Dark violet notes rich chocolate and one of the best price to value ratios in the store.

Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale 1pt 9.4oz. $11.99 ***

The New York Time had an article the other day about a new trend in craft brewing under the headline "Sour Beer is Risky Business, Starting with the Name" This, just two weeks after I brought in a Flemish Sour Ale that I was just blown away by (Ladies and Gentlemen it is official,...I am a trend-setter). Of all the Sour Ale's I have Monk's Cafe is without a doubt the best. Admittedly, of all the Sour Ale's I have tasted Monk's Cafe is without a doubt the only one I've tasted. Still, having tasted Monk's I am really excited to taste my next one. This just a great and unique style of beer.

Now I'm going to have to pause a moment and agree with the NYT that the word "sour" is problematic when trying to sell this beer to Americans who have never heard of, much less tried the style before. Were I the PR flack for the world brewing industry I might advise them to use the word "tart" instead. But since that isn't a real job much less on I am qualified for I guess we are stuck with "Sour". But anyway "sour" is the traditional word in Belgium and Monk's Cafe is a traditional Belgian ale. Did I mention I was blown away by it? A blend of old and young ales light bodied with an amazing apple cider vinegar aroma and long, very refreshing, sweet and sour (I mean "tart") finish. If you are a beer nerd, TRY THIS BEER.

The Pickleback Cont.

Okay, I'm back and I tried a Pickleback. And it's......not bad. In fact it's actually almost...pretty darn good and really surprisingly (if oddly) refreshing. I tried first the way it was invented as a shot bourbon with a shot of pickle juice as a chaser (also known as a "back", hence the name). Now normally when I drink whiskey neat I do not bother with chasers, first I tend to avoid what is know as "rot gut" so I don't want to obscure the flavors of good spirits and second, I am also quite good at drinking "rot gut" so the whole chaser thing is unnecessary (What can I say? Practice makes perfect). But in the cause of science I changed my normal pattern.

The pickle juice was surprisingly enjoyable, and the salt and herbs of the juice complemented the wood flavors of the bourbon very well. And if I found myself in funky bar in Brooklyn (where it seems to have been invented) I could see myself having quite a few of these. But as I said I'm not much on chasers but, like Max Watman, I do like the occasional cocktail and that's what I was interested in. Max calls it Bourbon and Brine but quite frankly I think Pickleback is such a cool name that I'm just going to keep using it to refer to the mixed drink too (Max is not the boss of me!).

So, here's my recipe:

two parts...bourbon

one part..pickle juice

on the rocks

fantastic

Okay, it's not going to be my new favorite cocktail. But it sure as heck is not going to be my last one either. Try it. You will be surprised how much you like it. And how refreshing it is. This is definitely going into my Summer cocktail rotation.

The Pickleback

I am definitely going to have to try it. I'll report back when I do.

Apropos of Nothing

If you happen to come by for a wine tasting and you just happen to taste my new favorite summer white wine, don't make a face and declare it "Too sweet". First, it's not sweet, there is hardly any residual sugar at all. Second....it hurts my feelings.

How To Open Wine.

Unscrew the cap. Really. Hear me out on this people. Corks stink. Sometimes literally. It's call cork taint it's caused by a fungus and it makes around 10% of all wine that use a natural cork smell like wet dog. As you can imagine it doesn't do much for the taste either. If only they would invent some sort of closure that wouldn't ruin so much wine. Yeah, well, they did...it's called a screw cap (okay, for wine it's technically called a stelvin closure). The objections come fast an furious, but they usually boil down to two basic ones---aging and aesthetics.

The theory of wine aging is that over the years a little oxygen seep around the cork and slowly oxidizes the wine changing and (if the wine maker knows what they are doing) improving the wine. And if no air can get past a screw cap the wine won't age properly. But really, the theory is actually more of an hypothesis because frankly, no one really knows. We're not even really sure how much, if any, oxygen can get around the cork over the years. After all, for generations now Champagne has been aged while being closed with bottle caps and people still think it's pretty good. And anyway when is the last time you personally aged wine? How a wine will age over the next 10-15 years is nothing but a purely academic exercise for everyone except an exceedingly small number of wine nerds. Personally, when I buy a bottle of wine the only reason it makes home un-opened is that Maryland has strict "open container" laws.

That leaves the aesthetic argument. Oh wait,...before we get to the aesthetics of the whole let just address some of the inchoate free floating hate out their for the screw cap. It all began way back in the twentieth century, most American wine was cheap garbage and I mean garbage, the kind of stuff I would not wash my feet with much less drink (and honestly I'm willing to drink most anything, remember--I'm a connoisseur not a snob). This cheap garbage was always, always closed with a screw cap. Hence everybody who was alive in the 1970's now associate the screw cap with garbage. But times have changed cheap...excuse me, I mean inexpensive american wine has improved tremendously and anyway those wines are always closed with a cork because it's really important that no one associate them with wine from the '70s. Right now, only interesting wine comes in a screw cap now.

But what about the ritual? The history? the tradition? Okay, fine. You got me. I'm as much a traditionalist as anyone. And I suppose the last time I was at a restaurant and had a bone in ribeye (just) medium rare with an awsome bottle of 2007 Caymus Cabernet (I wasn't paying), I would have been a tad disappointed if the sommelier hadn't gone through the whole rigmarole. But really how often does that happen? Wine is a daily drink (at least for me) ritual is not really all that important and why risk buying a bottle of bad wine? (end rant)

Update: I realize I used an excessive amount of italics and parenthesis in this post (but that's just how I roll).

Yasa Macabeo Old Vine Calatayud 2009 $10***+

Have you ever had a Macabeo? I love asking this kind of question because it always starts a great conversation because the answer is invariably, "no". And what that means is I get to talk about a varietal that they have no preconceptions of. Here we have a refreshing Spanish white wine with bright peach pair and melon flavors yet still crisp and dry. The Wine Enthusiast gave it 90 points. Now at this point, I usually receive an unsure look and they say something along the lines of "I didn't really plan spending a lot."

"Ten bucks."

"Oh." their eyes get wide. "I'll take two."

Do You Like Light Beer?

HEY...... you're not supposed to like it, it's light beer. Okay, that too harsh. It's long been my contention that everything has it's place even.....ahem.....light...uh...beer. The pros an cons of light beer go something like this:

Con: It's flavorless.

Pro: It's thirst quenching!

Con: It's flavorless.

Pro: It's low calorie!

Con: It's flavorless.

Pro: You can drink a lot of it without.........oh, heck you get the idea.

The thing is, the pros are right (of course so are the cons)---it is thirst quenching and low calorie and there are time where that actually counts for quite a bit. For instance I love Guinness, but let me tell you after I finish mowing the lawn (or maybe just before) stout is not what I'm aching for. A little extra water in your beer may be just what the bartender recommends. Admittedly, you could just a non light beer and and add some lemonade and make a traditional English shandy. But, really that's a different post, don't you think?

Las Colinas Del Ebro Granacha Blanca $11.99 ***++

The new Granacha Blanca's here! The new Granacha Blanca's here!! The new vintage of Las Colinas is back baby!!! Okay......(deep breath)......chances are you are not quite as excited about this as I am. But you should be. Because this wine ROCKS!!! Wait a moment....(another deep breath)....alright, I'm calm now. Now you may ask what the heck is Granacha Blanca? The short answer is, it's Granache. You know, the grape that makes the red wine? It's the the exact same grape, white and red wine to be made from different grapes. They don't have to be. For the most part, the grapes are the same color it's how the wine is made that changes the wine. In red wine the wine is fermented with the skins in and in white wines the wine is fermented without the grapes skins. Normally Granache is made into red wine but Las Colinas has made it into a white wine and it is wonderful. A very Spanish white dry and austere but full of mineral and tropical fruit flavor a darn near perfect white wine. ***++

Bordeaux is Wasted on the Young

At least according to the New York Times. Actually I think their point is well taken. Almost nobody comes into the store asking for Bordeaux. And nobody is interested in the under thirty dollar Bordeaux. The good stuff is just over $30 and that's that. It's also a problem. Bordeaux is a very specific style of wine. Remember, "Wine is an acquired taste" to quote a great writer about wine*. And learn to appreciate a wine style you need to start somewhere. And no-one wants to start at $30 a bottle that they might not like the the first five or ten times you try it.

*Me.

Husch Chenin Blanc 2009 $13.99***

Have you thought seriously about Chenin Blanc? Don't bother replying, I already know the answer--plus, I can't hear you I'm not blogging live you know. Of course you haven't thought about Chenin Blanc and why should you? It was never one the varietals that dominated new world wines. And when it does show up it becomes obvious the wine makers haven't settled on a style, resulting in someone finally trying a Chenin Blanc and they don't happen to like it that particular bottle they then decide that they don't like the grape. Which is totally unfair to the grape not to mention that it makes my job harder. Because Chenin Blanc can make fantastic wines in a bewildering number of styles. Case in point, Husch Chenin Blanc. it's off-dry which means that they leave in enough sugar to bring out the fruit flavors and give a nice heavy mouth feel but not enough to taste sweet. The lemon zest flavors play with honeydew notes making it a very refreshing and full flavored Summer wine.

Spike Your Juice

That's what it's really called "Spike Your Juice". Basically it's a a few packets of yeast and an airlock. With OJ and a couple of days you have yourself some alcohol. I can't imagine that it tastes particularly good, so frankly I'm not worried about the competition.

Man Tries to Exchange Stolen beer Because it Was Warm

Obviously a beer connoisseur.

Leftover Wine II

Lifehacker has an article about what you can do with leftover wine---other than try and drink it. I've pointed out before that leftover wine is not really an issue for me (an open bottle around me tends to evaporate fairly quickly) but really, I quite like in the idea of making my own vinegar.

We Sold The "Bakon" Vodka

No, we will not be getting in anymore.

Van Ruiten Vineyards, Old Vine Zinfandel 2007 ***++ $15.99

Zinfandel was considered to be unique to the the U.S. and "America's vine and wine" at least until someone figured out that it was in fact the same grape as Italian Primotivo and then they started looking around Croatia and.....look why don't you just read about it on Wikipedia where there is a long article on it that is just fascinating (at least to me). In the mean time we can talk about Van Ruiten "old vine" Zinfandel. Voted best Zinfandel of 2009 by the Wall Street Journal and given 90 pts. by Wine and Spirits Magazine this is a rich and intense blackberry jam with a long lasting black pepper spice finish. perfect for grilled meat or simply sitting and drinking by itself (my favorite way to drink wine).

I'm Back

Did you miss me? No? Well, then..........I'm glad I didn't bring you back any souvenirs.