Drinks Are On Me

An excerpt from a recent Playboy 20 Questions interview:

PLAYBOY: “What’s something a restaurant owner never wants a customer to know?”
RAMSAY: “That customers should complain more. You know, food is expensive nowadays, & these fucking sommeliers come along with their thousand-page wine list & practically throw it in your lap. They know customers will be intimidated & buy something overpriced. I say you should always put them on the spot: ‘Come back to me with a red wine at $30 or $40. Come back to me with a choice. Don’t give me an encyclopedia I have to bury my head in for 20 minutes while I’m trying to entertain guests. That’s your job.’”

Photograph Michael Muller.

I liked Joe Dressner from the moment I met him.

Moments before a tasting of his wines in October, 2010, at The Wine Bottega in Boston’s North End, Joe walked in, took one look at me, & said, “Hey, I know you!”

“You do?!” I thought. I was so dumbstruck that a person whose work as a wine importer I knew so well would recognize me, a guy who’s done nothing in the wine world except empty a few bottles.

“Yeah, I know you,” he said. “You’re on the Internet. You’re Internet famous!”

“Internet fame” is a specious thing. It’s superficial: It’s not real.

But what is real is the fact that I lack what Joe had in spades: Fame & admiration in real life. Joe’s work as one half of Louis/Dressner Selections is almost without peer. By championing small, handmade wines, that man changed the wine world.

On Friday, I learned that Joe had died at age 60, cancer finally overcoming him. I miss him already.

They say you’re famous as long as someone remembers your name. And based on the hour or so I spent with him, I’ll always remember Joe Dressner.

I don’t know if Harpoon UFO unfiltered pumpkin ale is the best beer in the world, but with my best girl, delicious Indian takeout food, & the New England Patriots on television, it was the best beer in the world tonight. And that’s something no 100-point scale can ever measure.

I offer this one, excerpted from Terry Theise’s “Reading between the Wines”:

“This dramatic wine has the burnish of torched sienna, that hint of Tuscan chicken, perhaps even pullets, that gamey, feathery aroma; a dishy first impression of guppies spawning & bracken roasting in the Castilian sun, & the high wind blowing from offshore when a garbage scow has recently run aground, not exactly fresh passion fruit, but passion fruit after it has been chewed by a horse that’s just run through a heathery dale, you know, sort of sopping wet fetlocks & old dogs; & the finish, oh, just a portrait of nasturtium, or shuttlecocks dipped in quince jelly, or the stench on a fox’s muzzle after he’s eaten a number of small rodents or the ice caked in a refrigerator in a Paris apartment, or like new sandals, especially if the feet in them have been soaked in a bromide solution - & revisiting the nose is all rotty mulch sluicing out of a bilge pipe in a fetid stream of sweetly blooming hawthorn in a flighty perfume of freshly starched uniforms of a flight attendant in the first-class cabin in a manly swill of gassy medicinal opaline mordant porcine gratuitous acetate begonia-laden air freshener or like the fannings from a fire of souchong tea or….”

Even after all that, I don’t know if the reviewer likes that wine or not!

Google’s recent inclusion of Life Magazine’s entire archive in its Google Books feature details the rich tapestry of American life in the 20th Century. From 1936 to 1972, Life published 1,860 weekly issues & now Google has made them available for free.

You’ll find Richard Meryman’s famous last interview with Marilyn Monroe & Alfred Eisenstadt’s famous photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on VJ Day. But what you’ll also find are more than 500 articles on wine life in America, from tasting notes to pairings, how to serve it, & much, much more. At the dawn of Life’s inception, America was slowly waking from the long national nightmare of Prohibition. During the magazine’s lifespan, American GIs returned from World War II in Italy & brought home countless bottles of straw-wrapped Chianti. It’s a time when Thunderbird was the most popular wine in the country. These events occurred before Robert Mondavi convinced us that wine could be good for us, before the Tasting of Paris, & before the rise of the uber critic Robert Parker.

Here are a few highlights from Life’s pages over the decades:

“I am amazed,” reports Mrs. Basil Rathbone in the Sept. 11, 1939 issue, “how many of my guests now prefer wine”! The master of stage & screen is portrayed at a formal dinner with his wife & another couple - all enjoying both white & red wines - poured by a servant, of course.

In the Dec. 15, 1941 issue, “The Old Wine Master” cheerfully advises to, “Be your own ‘expert’ in choosing a wine” by learning to “trust your taste.” This sounds quite a bit like the line certain very vocal members of Generation Y the Millennial Generation scream at us today. The adage “old wine, new bottles,” has never been truer, apparently.

In the Oct. 12, 1953 issue, there’s an ad encouraging Americans to “taste California wine tonight” & includes an image of an instructional pamphlet titled “California Wine Selector” that bears a striking resemblance to today’s Wine Spectator magazine.

The magazine trumpeted wines from then-little-known production areas such as New York’s Finger Lakes in the Oct. 21, 1966 edition with an ad extolling the virtues of the virtually unknown Great Western Pink Catawba grape.

The Feb. 4, 1972 issue includes a review of a brand new book called “The World Atlas of Wine” by “Hugh Johnson - an astonishingly knowledgeable Englishman of 34.”

This archive is a treasure trove detailed how America grew up with the fruit of the vine. It’s worth uncorking a bottle of something domestic to pair while reading. Both Life & wine are good to the last drop.

Text originally published Oct, 27, 2009.

Recently I rediscovered my first wine diary. It was a simple book I used to use to capture labels & tasting notes as I tried wines for the first time years ago. It’s an amazing trip down memory lane to see what I was sampling in my wine infancy. So many of these wines helped me form opinions I carry to this day, but there are also a few exceptions.

The first time I smelled Salice Salentino, I thought it smelled like feet - & not in a good way!

Perhaps the most embarrassing memory is a page devoted to 1998 Amberhill Vineyards Chardonnay. I recall tasting this wine with my companion at a lovely local restaurant and pairing it with duck! My tasting notes consist of two words: “Really buttery!” Yeah, no kidding! Take a California oak bomb Chardonnay and pair it with something it totally doesn’t go with & of course it’s not going to taste good! What was I thinking?! Though embarrassing, this marked one of the first times I was really paying attention to the smells & tastes in my glass.

I know another young wine writer who recently paired scallops with Zinfandel & that doesn’t sound good either. We’ve all had embarrassing pairings & I’d love to hear about yours.

This post originally appeared Oct. 15, 2009. When I moved to Tumblr, it was lost in the move. It’s my pleasure to resurrect it & say cheers to all my fellow Wine Blogging Wednesday peers.

It’s been my pleasure to participate in the now time-honored tradition that is Wine Blogging Wednesday but this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure to host!

“A Grape By Any Other Name” is a semantic challenge to wine drinkers, thinkers, & linkers. Grape varietals often have more than one name & the aim is to taste wines labeled with their lesser-known varietal synonyms. Writers are encouraged to stretch & really find new varietals they’ve never tasted before. I’m awarding extra points for trying BOTH the traditionally named grape & its alternative. And you deserve extra geek cred for the most obscure grape review!

I’ll kick things off with my review, but first I want to encourage everyone who enjoyed this challenge to continue trying new grape varieties & stretching their palates. Not only might you find your new favorite, you could also earn yourself a membership in the Wine Century Club by tasting at least 100 varieties. I’m proud to be a member & encourage you to become one too!

This post will constantly evolve with new tasting notes as they roll in, so check back often!

Lexia/Muscat of Alexandria

Muscat of Alexandria (also called Moscatel, Moscatel Romano, Moscatel de Málaga, Muscat Gordo Blanco, Hanepoot, Lexia, Moscatel, Gordo, & Zibibbo) is used for sherry, moscatel or muscatel wines, Moscatel de Valencia, Muscatel Passito & other Muscatel liqueurs & also as a raisin & table grape. I had a half dozen sample bottles of Alice White wine sitting in my fridge forever, untouched. I cracked this 2007 South Eastern Australian Lexia open & after tasting it, I couldn’t wait to pour it down the drain! Seriously, it was crap. Don’t waste your money on this. Honestly, friends don’t let friends buy this wine. It’s that bad. I sampled it with a simple chicken pad thai, as recommended on the bottle. The floral fragrance fooled this fellow! It was light & sweet & not much else. I’m fine with a sweet wine if it’s refreshing, has some depth of character, & makes me smile. This bottle strikes out by going zero for three. Full disclosure: This wine was sent to me as a sample.

Blaufrankisch/Lemberger

Lenn Thompson, my pal & creator of WBW, not only taught us about two underrated grapes, he managed to drink local while doing it!

Tom Mansell gets extra credit for tasting both grapes & drinking local while he’s at it!

Bonarda/Charbono

Jason Mancebo is still trying to decide which of his grapes has the more obscure name!

Breton/Cabernet Franc

Greg Dyer schools us on the differences between Cab Francs in the Loire Valley in France.

Cannonau/Garnacha/Grenache

Jim Wilkerson started us off right by tasting a 100% Cannonau from Sardinia.

Richard scored bonus points by sampling both a Garnacha blend & a 100% Cannonau.

Michelle Lentz combined WBW with Drink Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness & Research & sampled a Garnacha Rosado!

Kori Vorhees gets extra credit for sampling both a Grenache & a Garnacha. Sounds like the latter edged out the former.

Fume Blanc/Sancerre/Sauvignon Blanc

Matthew Horbund scores extra points by sampling both a Sancerre & a Fume Blanc - & getting his fiancee Robin to join the fun!

Johannisberg Riesling/Riesling

Michael Gorton, Jr. undertook not only the WBW challenge, but (like Lenn) also managed to drink local!

Monastrell/Mourvèdre

Tom Johnson gave us some great background & tasting notes on a Spanish red he dusted off from his cellar.

The BrixChicks are total overachievers this month by not only sampling both Mourvèdre & Monastrell - but tasting a total of three bottles. Nice!

Pinot Noir/Spatburgunder

Mary Cressler reminds us that German winemakers sometimes grow grapes other than Riesling.

Primitivo/Zinfandel

The Chronic Negress traveled to New Orleans to sample the “rugged caress” of Primitivo.

Gwendolyn Alley’s mom almost forgot to tell her that her Primitivo arrived in the mail!

Sauvignon Vert/Tocai Friulano

Victoria Gutierrez’s entry sent me straight to Wikipedia to confirm she’s right that Tocai Friulano is another name for Sauvignon Vert.

Schiava/Vernatsch

David McDuff turns us on to what might be the most obscure grape varietal that anyone’s come up with this month!

Shiraz/Syrah

Sonadora sampled a Washington state Syrah with bacon & chocolate syrup on the nose!

Time Magazine republished their entire collection of articles dating back to 1943. Now, for the first time in decades, we wine geeks can read the 359 words that shocked the world in 1976. Here is George M. Taber’s landmark reporting from France.

Judgment of Paris

Monday, Jun. 07, 1976
link

Americans abroad have been boasting for years about California wines, only to be greeted in most cases by polite disbelief—or worse. Among the few fervent & respected admirers of le vin de Californie in France is a transplanted Englishman, Steven Spurrier, 34, who owns the Cave de la Madeleine wine shop, one of the best in Paris, & the Academic du Vin, a wine school whose six-week courses are attended by the French Restaurant Association’s chefs & sommeliers. Last week in Paris, at a formal wine tasting organized by Spurrier, the unthinkable happened: California defeated all Gaul.

The contest was as strictly controlled as the production of a Chateau Lafite. The nine French judges, drawn from an oenophile’s Who’s Who, included such high priests as Pierre Tari, secretary-general of the Association des Grands Cms Classes, & Raymond Oliver, owner of Le Grand Vefour restaurant & doyen of French culinary writers. The wines tasted were transatlantic cousins—four white Burgundies against six California Pinot Chardonnays & four Grands Crus Chateaux reds from Bordeaux against six California Cabernet Sauvignons.

Gallic Gems. As they swirled, sniffed, sipped & spat, some judges were instantly able to separate an imported upstart from an aristocrat. More often, the panel was confused. “Ah, back to France!” exclaimed Oliver after sipping a 1972 Chardonnay from the Napa Valley. “That is definitely California. It has no nose,” said another judge—after downing a Batard Montrachet ‘73. Other comments included such Gallic gems as “this is nervous & agreeable,” “a good nose but not too much in the mouth,” & “this soars out of the ordinary.”

When the ballots were cast, the top-soaring red was Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ ‘72 from the Napa Valley, followed by Mouton-Rothschild ‘70, Haut-Brion ‘70 & Montrose ‘70. The four winning whites were, in order, Chateau Mont-helena ‘73 from Napa, French Meursault-Charmes ‘73 & two other Californians, Chalone ‘74 from Monterey County & Napa’s Spring Mountain ‘73. The U.S. winners are little known to wine lovers, since they are in short supply even in California & rather expensive ($6 plus). Jim Barrett, Monthelena’s general manager & part owner, said: “Not bad for kids from the sticks.”

Face it: we all love mac & cheese. Hot carbs with melted cheese holding it all together. Hell yeah, what’s better than that? Add a little meat & this comfort food becomes Guy Food. Add some good meat like chorizo & you can eat like a rockstar. Make it all from scratch & you can impress the ladies too. Dude, bonus.

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni
1 pound chorizo, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon good mustard
4 cups milk
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
1 pound sharp cheddar, shredded
2 teaspoons kosher salt
fresh black pepper

Topping:

3 tablespoons butter
1 cups panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pan, fry thinly sliced chorizo until slightly crispy along the edges.

In a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour & mustard & keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it’s free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, & paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes & remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt & pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix & stir in the chorizo. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan & toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni mixture with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven & rest for five minutes before serving with a good red Rioja wine.

Breakfast like kings: We had four different types of salami, Babybel cheese, goat cheese with fennel pollen, olives, cornichons, crusty bread with sesame seeds, Granny Smith apple, a goat cheese medallion with fig jam, & two bites of dark chocolate.

If you’re in the Boston area (or will be) through the end of August & want to enjoy remarkable wines the caliber of the 1979 Mouton Rothschild & 1983 La Mission Haut Brion for less than $50 each with dinner, hit me up in the comments.

It happened again. I went to a party this weekend & when some guests found out how often I drink bubbles, they hit me with a barrage of questions I’ve heard endlessly:

“Why is Champagne so expensive?”

“Isn’t Cava sweet?”

“What about Prosecco?”

And, as always, “What’s your favorite Champagne?”

After a quick round of, “It’s considered a luxury product & luxury products cost a lot,” & “Not usually,” & “It’s tasty but the price is ticking upwards,” I always leave extra time to answer that last question about my favorite. It’s always fascinating to discover who’s going to ask it.

Frankly, I think it’s a lazy question. It doesn’t invite a conversation. And, most importantly of all, it detracts from the real question: “Why are you doing this?”

Sure, I have brands I like more than others & I vote with my wallet. But drinking sparkling wine all the time isn’t the point of drinking sparkling wine all the time. Instead, the point of drinking sparkling wine all the time is to celebrate every single day. Bubbles - especially Champagne - represent celebrations & the good life. And who doesn’t want those?

Here’s hoping that next time someone will ask me a really great question like, “I’m having a party. Would you like to come?”

If you live in Massachusetts, here’s your chance to grab some terrific Champagne on sale for up to 45% off!

Starting June 3, Bin Ends in Braintree is blowing out the following bottles:

• Non Vintage Camille Saves Brut Cart Blanche - was $54 - now $30 - save 45%
• Non Vintage Camille Saves Brut Rose - was $68 - now $40 - save 40%
• Non Vintage Serveaux Brut Blanc de Noirs - was $66 - now $38 - save 42%

Here’s what you have to do to get these special values: Sign up for the Bin Ends newsletter & watch your email first thing in the morning. As soon as the announcement goes out, jump on it! There’s a case or so of each of those Champagnes left & when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Note: I volunteered to post this - the folks at Bin Ends didn’t ask me to. I plan on buying some bottles & want to give local readers the opportunity to do the same. If this goes over well, I’ll consider doing this again when other wine shops have Champagne on sale. Contact me if your wine shop wants to participate.

Bin Ends is located at 236 Wood Rd. in Braintree, Mass. Hours are Sunday & Monday from 12-6pm & 10am-8pm Tuesday through Saturday. In-state shipping is available.

Good Lambrusco doesn’t have to be an oxymoron.

Back in the 1970s, Riunite was the most popular Italian wine in America. Of course, then we were also listening to disco, caring for pet rocks, & reading Irma Rombauer, so what did we know?

Today we drink Lambrusco in much the same way we drink Pabst Blue Ribbon: Served with a heaping side of irony. But unlike a PBR tallboy, our pal Lambrusco has grown up, gotten serious, & actually improved with age. Shave off that outdated Mike Brady haircut - modern-day Tom Brady’s the one in fashion now.

That’s nice that we no longer feel the need to drink Riunite on ice. We’ve finally realized this artisanal effervescent red wine is just plain tasty without adding anything else. But pair a little Italian cheese or salumi (or preferably both) & a rough & ready 8% alcohol fizzy one like the Romain Paire “Bulles” from Cote Roannaise, France, & you & your friends can kick off your platform shoes while you chill at your crib. Serve it lightly chilled & you’ll find it to be more frothy than bubbly.

My favorite place to find rockin’ Lambrusco these days is at The Wine Bottega at 341 Hanover St. in Boston’s North End. Owner Kerri Platt is no square: She’s smart enough to stock her shop with amazing modern examples of Lambrusco like Venturini Baldini Lambrusco dell’Emilia, Lini Lambrusco Rosso & more. In fact, Kerri calls the Bulles, “THE PERFECT WINE! A little pink, a little frothy, a little dry, a little sweet, this is just so much fun to drink it’s not fair.” Right on! Can you dig it?

Photo by The Kitchn.