Thanksgiving Wine Thoughts

My good friend Jeff Bauman asked me for some help on old world wines to include in his Thanksgiving wine blog. As usual, I went overboard and gave him more than he needed. I thought it would be a good idea to repost the whole write up I gave him and a link to his blog. Here goes:

Thanksgiving is one of the most over-thought wine pairings in the culinary universe. Ask 10 people for a recommendation and you’ll get back 15 answers counting those that change their minds immediately after their initial response. To help de-boggle the mind a bit, I offer a couple of guidelines which have always worked for me and additionally, a few examples. I try to go sparing on the guidelines since I really hate rules so I limit myself to 3.

First, Acidity is always a good gauge of food friendliness when it comes to Thanksgiving. There are so many rich and diverse flavors on the table that you want something with the acidity to cleanse the palate between bites. For instance, switch from green bean casserole to a candied yam (Yes I live in the South). A tannic merlot will be lost in the middle but an acidic red like Beaujolais will dance on your tongue and add pleasure to the transition.

The second consideration, as I have already alluded to, is Tannin. With so many sweeter foods in the mix, tannin can be perceived as bitter or sour. Avoid highly tannic wines with the food and instead save those for after the meal while you listen to all your uncles snore through the big game.

The final consideration? COST. Yep, when you have to buy enough to support even the “once every 5 years” Irish uncle…you don’t want to break the bank.

And most of all, add wine to the long list of things for which you need to be thankful. It just makes every meal somehow better.

With that in mind, I offer suggestions which fit nicely into each of these Guidelines. You should be able to stop into any decent wine store and ask for help with specific wines of the following types:

Valpolicella Ripasso – Dry Red Italian Wine – Ripasso means “repassed”.  The unpressed grape skins from Amerone production are added to the already blended and fermented Valpolicella. This adds an incredible amount of body, character, and style to the typically simple wine.

Beaujolais Villages AOC – This is the intermediate level of Beaujolais between the basic Beaujolais and the top Cru Beaujolais. It is quite inexpensive and light to medium bodied with very little tannin and high acidity. Beaujolais is widely consumed throughout the world and considered to be the drink of choice in Burgundy while one waits for the Pinot Noir to age. Beaujolais is supposed to be consumed  young and fresh within the first 2 years after the vintage date.

Pouilly Fuisse  – Pouilly-Fuisse is a dry white wine made from Chardonnay. White burgundy tends to show more minerality, acidity and fresh fruit than chardonnay from the new world.

Cava - Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine made in the traditional method of the French sparkling wine, Champagne. The primary grape varieties used in its production are Macabeo, Parellada and Xarello. It tends to be more steely and acidic than sparkling wines produced from Chardonnay.

And the link to Jeff's blog:

http://thewestcoastwinologist.blogspot.com/

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!!

Wedding Tasting

So, Saturday night my wife and I hosted a tasting with a not so simple goal: choose the wines for a 10 case wedding order with a $10/btl limit.

This picture was taken afterward and omits one wine. Obviously the ones in the front were not on the $10 list...those were consumed after the "tasting"

Full write up and results coming in the next few days.....

Atlanticville Restaurant, Sullivan's Island, SC

Over the July 4th weekend, we joined some very good friends at Wild Dunes near Charleston, SC. If you have never been to the resort I would highly recommend it. It is the perfect vacation spot for families: 2 golf courses, several pools, tennis, boardwalks with live entertainment, and 2 beaches with perfect layouts for beach bocce ball!

Wild Dunes is on Isle of Palms near the historic city of Charleston, SC. While there are plenty of wonderful places to dine in Charleston, it's great to know you don't have to go into the city for good grub. Sullivan's Island is just south of IOP by about 15 minutes. There are several places for good food and some outstanding people watching. Poe's is an old favorite for great burgers, cold beer and some serious NACHOS!

On this trip, we fell in love with a new (to us) place; Atlanticville 2063 Middle Street, Sullivan's Island, SC 843.883.9452 Owner and GM: Drew Harris 

http://www.atlanticville.net/

Most of you know that I like to take my own bottles from my cellar to restaurants to enjoy without having to do any of the cooking myself. I never do this without taking a look at the wine list to be sure I don't bring something they sell. I consider it bad form to bring something they offer.

This adventure started in the usual way: I called to get the wine list and wound up on the phone with the owner, Drew. A quick conversation with him told me he is a wine lover like myself...curious and always learning more. He promised the wine list via email and then explained to me that there are several wines which do not go on the list. He explained that he preferred to meet people in person and talk about the other offerings. This personal touch seals the deal for me. I love a restaurateur who has passion around his wine offerings. It immediately creates a sense of bond for me.

The wine list arrived as promised and I found the selection to be very good and the pricing to be on the low side of fair. I was really impressed to see rose wines from Txakolina Spain. Anyone who knows South Carolina heat and humidity will appreciate rose and those from Ameztoi are great examples though they are misspelled on the menu. Out of respect for passion in wine, and the fact that they will change regularly, I will not name the wines which were offered off the list. Suffice it to say that there were many great wines available and half the fun would be to have the chat with Drew.

Rather than go through all the food consumed, let me just say that everything was fantastic! One small nit and honestly the only one all night was with the mussels in green curry sauce. No chef should allow a mussel which remains closed after cooking to exit the kitchen. That said, the dish was killer! I sopped up the sauce with the bread like it was my last meal. In the party of 4 there were 3 tile fish specials and 1 braised lamb shank special. Everyone was happy and full! I haven't had lamb shank that good since visiting Nancy Oakes at Boulevard in San Francisco. After dinner we retreated to the covered porch in typical Southern fashion and enjoyed more beverages including some of the finest coffee I have had in ages. The vanilla bread pudding was sinful. Drew was an impeccable host and joined us for more conversation on the porch. This place is now my favorite restaurant in South Carolina. It is the Fig Tree of Sullivan's Island! (Most of you know Fig is my favorite restaurant in Charlotte hands down.)

And one final note on dinner...Drew made the experience. He knows that service is king. After the restaurant was winding down for the evening, he sent me an email thanking us for coming in and sharing the wines with him to taste. Wine is best when shared with friends. I have a new friend in SC. Thank you!

To quickly cover the wines I brought for the evening:

2005 Lucia Pinot Noir by Pisoni (Santa Lucia Highlands, CA) - Gary, Mark and Jeff Pisoni are magic! Buy all you can get your hands on. On the way to Atlanticville we stopped off at The Boat House for fried oysters and the sunset over the water. Beautiful location, decent oysters and a sunset topped off by dolphins swimming out back.

2005 Ambullneo Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley, CA) - This is what I call a Chateauneuf du Pape lover's Pinot. Paired perfectly with the Mussels and Oysters....yes, dammit, more oysters! I love'em!

Finally 2005 Quilceda Creek Columbia Valley Red (Columbia Valley, WA) - Always amazing, the Quilceda wines are notoriously long lived. The 2005 was finally starting to open up when I had my last glass....oh well!

Welcome!

Well, I finally got around to creating a blog for all those random thoughts I have around wine and life in general. Hopefully this outgrows the email Vino list I created several years ago. For those of you who are just finding me, let me introduce myself....

My name is Brian and I'm a vinoholic. Early in my life I was a chef and fell in love with the magic that Wine brings to a meal. I wanted to know all I could about wine and began buying everything I could get my hands on, both for drinking and for reading! I talked to other wine lovers and quickly realized that the true magic of wine is in the act of sharing it. Wine can turn a meal into an experience and a casual conversation into an act of bonding. It brings people together and creates a sense of family among those who love it. Of course some people just drink it. That's fine. But for those of you who take just a little initiative and try to understand and appreciate it beyond the buzz, your efforts will be rewarded with a lifetime of vinous enjoyment.

I will use this space to address many different topics as the mood hits. I'll recommend value wines and sometimes pairings. I'll answer questions sent to me and pose some to you. Nothing is off the table so ask anything you like. I do believe that NO questions are too dumb to ask. I am eternally grateful to all those people along the way who helped me with my wine knowledge and only snickered a little bit when I lobbed in a "stupid-bomb"...

How often will I update? Dunno. Just check in with me occaisionally and see what's new. Please click on "Follow This Blog" on the right side of the screen and you'll be emailed whenever I update.