Storm Chasers--Wine Cellar Restaurant

As March turns into April, Mother Nature is supposed to be having beautiful spring showers that grow lovely May flowers…expect if you live in the Black Hills!  This spring sprouted major blizzards and snowstorms leading to many road closures and poor driving conditions! In between weekly storms, my husband and I found a day that the weather slightly cooperated (but my migraine headache did not), and we made a much anticipated trip to the Wine Cellar in downtown Rapid City. Of course, any restaurant called the Wine Cellar would have piqued my interest.  I also started following the Wine Cellar months before on Facebook, and the great daily specials and pictures of food made me pray (even more) to Mother Nature to let our drive take place to finally get to experience this establishment. 

Warm, intimate ambiance of the small seating area.



            Since we visited the Wine Cellar on a Friday night (and the seating area in the venue is quite small and intimate), I called ahead to make reservations.  The staff member who took our reservation was incredibly friendly, and we were greeted in the same friendly manner when we arrived.  We were given a menu filled with absolutely mouth-watering choices and also handed the wine menu to peruse.  I was immediately impressed with the by-the-glass options on the wine list:  over 20 different wines to choose from—which is uncommon for a restaurant of this size.  The by-the-bottle options were also very nice.  We ordered the Vero Pinot Noir from Burgundy, deciding that it would pair well with whatever food items on which we decided.  (My only wish is that restaurants in general would NOT push for patrons to order wine before patrons know what entrée they are choosing; instead, restaurant staff members need to be trained to wait for the food to be ordered before having patrons order wine, thus allowing for a better food-wine pairing.) 

Some of the by-the-glass options.

Our Pinot Noir

            The winter seasonal menu was still in use, and it was filled with multiple items I would have loved to try, both small plates and large plates.  However, the Facebook special that I had been dreaming about all day was the butternut squash lasagna, so I went with my gut instinct (pun intended) and ordered this.  I was not disappointed!  The lasagna with a slightly sweet cinnamon sauce was even better than I had imagined all day.  My other half ordered the beef special for the night, a filet with the most scrumptious garlic butter!  I really love that the chefs here do seasonal menus.  I enjoy going back to an establishment multiple times and having different options from which to choose.  Today’s Wine Cellar Facebook post stated that the spring menu will be available shortly; I look forward to returning to try it. 

The "back alley" seating area.

            After our lovely food and wine, we did have some room left for dessert, and the Wine Cellar doesn’t disappoint here either.  We were told about their signature flourless chocolate cake, but we opted for the apple cheesecake.  Oh so good!  We were too full to have coffee or dessert wine, but both were options on the menu—again, another reason to go back soon.

            Though we were forced to dodge storms to get there, the Wine Cellar is a great little jewel in downtown Rapid.  The warm, ambiance of the intimate atmosphere started a pleasant experience that was sustained through good food, quality wine, and tasty desserts.  I hope this summer the weather is less of an issue, and it is an easier attempt for me to try my taste buds on the spring/summer menu!

An Indestructible Bond--Someone's in the Kitchen

Food and wine, wine and food--the relationship between these two is so close, it is impossible to separate them.  My favorite part of a good meal is the wine, and my favorite part of a good wine is thinking of the meal that would pair perfectly with it.  Someone’s in the Kitchen in Rapid City takes this relationship between wine and food to a whole new level of enjoyment for all who enter, including me.

First, I must admit that I am a kitchen store and kitchen gadget queen, so I absolutely love kitchen stores.  Even with this slight obsession, there are kitchen stores, and then there is Someone’s in the Kitchen (SITK).  From the moment customers walk in, they are surrounded by the best and latest in all things food and food preparation.  From coffee and tea, to seasonal cookery, to food products, to cutlery, SITK has everything.  I love the La Creuset cookware and all the new colors for spring:  yellow, green, and purple.  (I will soon be the owner of the La Creuset line since I plan on building my collection piece by piece—in the original red color.)  My other favorite areas are the pet area, olive oil containers, and BBQ staples and supplies. 

The newest KitchenAid mixers in the best colors!

Olive oil containers...oh the oil I could infuse.



BBQ supplies galore!



The newest Le Creuset colors; I will have red!



SITK doesn’t just give you the tools for great cooking; this store gives you the instructions for great cooking as well.  SITK offers classes in fall and spring sessions.  The offerings include so many possible cooking and baking topics:  gluten free, La Creuset, Cinco de Mayo, crepes, low carb, dutch oven, knife skills…the list goes on and on.  My first experience at SITK was about five years ago when a friend and I took a sushi class, which still ranks as one of my favorite chef experiences. 

However, don’t think for a minute that food is the only focus of SITK.  Wine has a special place in the heart of this establishment.  SITK has the newest in wine accessories, with everything from colorful wine bottle openers, to fun wine glass and bottle charms, to beautiful crystal stemware.  SITK also goes a step beyond in the area of wine, too, as it has offered wine-inspired classes from area experts for years.  I was lucky enough to be considered one of the “experts” last year, when I taught my first class, Food and Wine Pairing.  I have moved on to teach other classes there, including my French Food and Wine class last weekend.  By saying I taught the class I am giving myself too much credit.  I teach the wine section and choose wines for serving; SITK chef Kirsten does all the food.  She finds the recipes, helps pair with wine, preps all the food, and instructs how to make the individual dishes during the class.  In other words, Kirsten makes my job so easy because she does so much work!  I also can’t forget the SITK staff members, including Roberta, chef assistant extraordinaire (who also teaches her own cooking classes).  These women are part of a well-oiled machine that I am so lucky to get to be a part of several times a year. 

Wine backpacks with travel glasses and corkscrews.  

Fun wine accessories.

So many wine openers from which to choose!



Beautiful stemware.

Kirsten working her magic on the cooktop for French Wine and Food.



Wine and food, food and wine…two of my favorite things!  I love both individually, but when a business makes it so enjoyable to put two of my favorite things together, I am in heaven.  I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to get to be a part of this promotion of my much-loved hobbies (dare I say obsessions???).  I also look forward to going back next month to do an Introduction to Wine class as SITK continues to be a supporter of the culture of wine and food.

http://someonesinthekitchensd.com/index.php

Sunshine and Wine

The beautiful aqua blue water beckoned me.  The heat of the sand between my toes warmed me inside and out.  Everyone around me ordered a margarita.  However, I asked for the wine list!  Our recent trip to Cancun might have seemed an odd place to be looking for wine, yet I wasn’t disappointed.  Margaritas and pina coladas may have been the rage, but for me, it was still a wine adventure!

The first night we arrived, I, of course, had to have a margarita (on the rocks, with salt, please).  It just so happened this ONE drink was the size of my head!  After that, I was ready for a glass of vino.  The hotel sports bar had a wine list:  house red and house white.  Yes, that was the entire list.  My companion and I were quite fearful about ordering the house red, but when the server brought out a bottle of Tempranillo and beautiful Schott Swiesel stemware, we were very pleasantly surprised!  Night one:  wine mission accomplished!

 

 

Night two was pizza, pasta, and vino night at the hotel buffet.  Still basking in the glow from my lucky wine break the night before (and the tan I was working on from eight hours on the beach), my family and I decided to enjoy the buffet.  Again, I was very impressed with the wine list, which included a decent variety and number of bottles.  We choose the Casa Madero 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon.  This reasonably-priced, one-hundred percent Cabernet was from the Baja region of Mexico--on the western side of the country--from the Parras Valley.  It was filled with cherry, currant, and cedar.  Though not as bold as a California Cab, I enjoyed the wine with homemade pesto from the pasta bar.  Night two:  wine mission accomplished!

 

 

Night three found us experiencing a wonderfully, upscale restaurant: Harry’s Prime Steakhouse and Raw Bar, on the lagoon side of the Hotel Zone in downtown Cancun.  The food, the wine, and the service were all impeccable.  This was a wonderful experience!  From Kobe beef to sushi to seafood, Harry’s was such a special treat.  My family ordered sizzling steaks cooked perfectly (medium rare for us:  red, warm center).  I had the crab cakes as my meal with truffle mashed potatoes; my mouth is watering again just thinking of the potatoes!  The wine list was equally impressive.  I could have ordered anything from the U.S., France, Mexico, Spain, or anywhere in between.  My choices ranged from half bottle to magnum in size, and the price was from the very reasonable to the very expensive, like a Petrus, a Mouton Rothschild, or an Opus One. This evening we sipped another Mexican wine:  L.A. Cetto 2009 Nebbiolo.  I am a Nebbiolo lover, and this bottle (about twenty dollars, U.S.) from the Ensenada region of the Baja area was an interesting Nebbiolo.  Aged for 14 months, it was more tannic and not as smooth as a typical Italian Nebbiolo; however, it was a beautiful ruby red, with spice and leather exploding from the bottle.  It was not the best pairing for my crab cakes, but I ordered the crab knowing this.  That being said, the bite of steak I snagged from my husband’s plate was a much better match for the tannic red.  After the meal, and wine, and dessert (for the teenage, growing son) the server brought a HUGE pole of cotton candy, a fun and functional way to end the meal with sweet on the palette! Night three:  wine mission accomplished!

 

 

Alas, our time in the sunshine had to end, and our travels home began.  We faced an incredibly long layover in Houston, at the George Bush International Airport.  We found our gate and sat reading and napping after having breakfast in the airport.  Just before the three hours was over, we decided to go for a short, pre-flight walk to stretch our legs, and just around the corner from where we sat (for three hours…did I say this already!) was the cutest little wine bar, Le Grand Comptoir.  It was such a site for sore eyes; yet, at this point there was only about fifteen minutes left until our boarding time for the flight, so I didn’t get to sit, sip, and enjoy the fabulous selection of wines teasing me from the front window of the establishment.  I spotted Opus One, Louis Jadot, and other reputable producers. I was truly disappointed at being so close, yet so far from one more wine experience on our trip!  If there ever is a next time I layover in Houston, Le Grand Comptoir will be my FIRST stop.  Day four:  wine mission failed.  (Insert sad face here.)

 

 

Though most travelers go to the beautiful beaches of Cancun to have their toes in the water, their “rear” in the sand, and a margarita in their hand, I went for the beautiful beaches, pristine water, Mexican sun, and any unique wine I could find.  I am proud to say, Cancun lived up to my wine standards! 

Wine on the Horizon--Fort Collins Wine Fest

The temperature was dropping, and large, wet, white snowflakes had just started drifting slowly from the sky.  In the distance, the beautiful white-topped Rockies could be spotted hovering over the brown grass of the plains.  However, it was not the snow or those beautiful mountains with ski slopes we were rolling into Fort Collins to enjoy…it was wine, the Fort Collins Wine Fest to be exact!  This was our third consecutive year of enjoying the festival, which is a wonderful fundraiser for Fort Collins’ Disabled Resource Services.  We have greatly enjoyed every year, and one of the special treats is an amazing private wine tasting put on before the actual festing and feasting starts.  This year’s private tasting was as amazing as ever, with a mix of wines from all over the world that were as majestic as the Rocky Mountains on the horizon! 

Wine one:  Marc Hebrart Brut Rose non-vintage Champagne—This sparkler from a small producer was a beautiful baby pink with strong yeast and strawberry aromas.  The mineral and crisp bite was a pleasure, and the incredibly long finish was even better.  This bubbly was a mix of the classic champagne grapes of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinto Meunier and was a classic tasting beauty!

Wine two:  Domaine Bouchard Pere & Fils Mersault “Les Clous” 2006—This white Burgundy ages quite well, and though this ’06 could still cellar a few more years, it had a great mineral aroma.  With some butter on the palette from the old oak yet a crisp, citrus finish, I enjoyed this single vineyard Chardonnay, especially with the soft cow’s  milk cheese provided by the local cheese mongers at the Welsh Rabbit in FoCo. 

Wine three:  Prince Florent De Merode Corton Renardes 1990—From the excellent 1990 vintage, the Corton is slightly cloudy, with baked cherry, anise, and leather flavors and scents.  I am a sucker for a good Pinot Noir, and this Noir from the Cote De Beaune was a great example of a Burgundian Pinot. The fact that this bottle would retail for $350 a bottle had nothing to do with the how much I enjoyed it! 

Wine four:  Tondonia Gran Reserva 1994—Talk about a special wine!  This Rioja was produced in 1994, but not released until 2012.  No, I didn’t do the math incorrectly there (though as an English teacher by day, you all have the right to question my expertise with numbers).  This wine is aged in cask (in French and American old oak) for nine years and then in bottle for nine more years.  I love the Tempranillo grape, and this blend of 75% Tempranillo, 15% Garanche, and 10% other was filled with supple and smooth fruit.  An excellent wine and value for the aging time (at around $100 a bottle), Robert Parker gave this very high 90s scores (not that we go by Parker necessarily; however, it does show the respect for this wine). 

Wine five:  Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Bricco Bussia Vigna Colonnello 1989—By far my favorite wine, the Barolo was bursting with baked fig, as if there was a Fig Newton in my glass as I sniffed.  Of course, I love, love, love Nebbiolo, and this beautiful brick-red colored wine cemented that love once again.  From an excellent, “old school” producer and a great vintage, I would have loved to drink this entire bottle to myself (over the course of several days though, of course)!  The $400 price tag?  Yes, that is always my luck; I seem to have very expensive tastes! 

Wine six:  Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2003—From the Puac in Medoc, this Bordeaux blend starts with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the remaining a blend of Cab Franc and Petit Verdot.  On the nose, the 2003 showed hints of earth, currant, green pepper, and smoke, and on the palette fresh berries.  Though this wine has already aged for ten years, it could still cellar two or three more and be a great example of a red Bordeaux.  (Retail?  A cool $500!)

Wine seven:  Caymus Special Edition 1992—My emotional favorite, I actually bought a bottle of this last year at the wine fest because it was a 1992, the year my daughter was born.  My husband and I opened the bottle on her twentieth birthday last summer and toasted to her and our parenthood!  It is a classic California Cabernet (blended from Cab grapes from eight of Napa’s sub appellations) with an aroma of spice and earth and tastes of berry, spice, and cedar.  It was perfectly aged and timed exactly to drink.

Wine eight:  Joseph Phelphs Insignia 1998—Another classic California Cabernet Sauvignon with a beautiful, almost-black, undertone, the Phelphs smelled like baked cherry and fig.  The very fruit-forward wine would age well for three-four more years since it is from an excellent producer.

Wine nine:  Elderton Command Shiraz 2004—As the only Australian wine represented in our tasting, the Shiraz made Australia look good!  From the Barrosa Valley (and from a very good vintage), the wine was filled with scents of green pepper, spice, and earth.  On the palette, this was a berry bomb with a wonderfully, long finish.  The style of this wine is exactly what Robert Parker likes, and he liked this one; he gave it a 98!

Wine ten:  Barros Vintage Port 1997—Though Ports are not my favorite (because hard liquor burns my throat—see my feelings about whiskey several weeks ago), I have learned to appreciate Port on several levels.  This Port was very special, since only two percent of Ports are actually vintage, and after the initial heat of the brandy, the lovely raisin taste was incredibly smooth.  I imagined my chocolate pot de crème recipe as I sipped this final wine. 

The beautiful and wondrous Rocky Mountains make a superb backdrop for some beautiful and wondrous wines.  Though the picturesque snow storm caused some road blocks to the event and weekend, there was nothing blocking the ten wines we were able to enjoy.  This tasting was just the beginning of a great night filled with three of my favorite things:  wine, food, and shopping!  Look for the explanation to that coming soon…

March Madness--Keg and Cork

Yes, March Madness directly relates to basketball, but in my life, the month of March is just plain crazy!  Luckily, this craziness often lets me blend together a basketball schedule and wine fun!  When in Casper a few weeks ago, getting bleacher butt from the basketball madness, I took time out to relax while enjoying some wine.  My first stop was my favorite wine establishment in Casper, Vintage.  I have reviewed them before and just love the ambiance, food, and wine.  However, I also decided to visit the newest wine and beer establishment in Casper, Keg and Cork.

See my previous blog post about Vintage here:
http://thesweetsommelier.blogspot.com/2012/11/worth-wait.html

When I stopped the second weekend in March, Keg and Cork had only been open for a few weeks.  The owners of this new business also own another of Casper’s popular watering holes, Galloway’s Irish Pub on the other side of town.  I had heard about both spots, and I stopped in for a quick lunch on a Saturday afternoon, thinking the bar would be fairly quiet and slow.  As I walked in the door, I was surprised to see the door sign say no one under 21 could even enter.  In Wyoming, children are allowed to go in establishments that sell liquor as long as the children are with parents and it is before a certain time in the evening.  Keg and Cork wants to keep up a certain vibe, so no children at all are allowed.  It is an interesting philosophy, and I can see how it would be attractive to many customers.  When I opened the door I saw how wrong I was in believing Keg and Cork might be slow because it was a Saturday.  The bar was packed with people eating, drinking, and watching sports. 

I sat at the bar and was quickly offered a food menu and asked for a wine menu.  The food menu read basic pub fare.  I ordered the chef’s salad and was not disappointed as the meal came out in a bowl the size of a trough for a barnyard animal.  The wine list was adequate.  Many of the choices were identical to Vintage, and though this bar specializes in both beer and wine (and is on the other side of town from Vintage), I would have liked to see some different vino options.  (Not sure if this was coincidence or the work of the same distributor through the state working for both establishments.  I could help remedy this problem quite easily! Wink, wink.) 

Though I would have loved to see more “cork” in Keg and Cork, “keg” does come first in its title, and avid beer drinkers will not be disappointed.  There are 28 microbrews available, plus the old standby options. There are also 9 beers from the state of Wyoming, which I really appreciated.  I originally thought that Keg and Cork was brewing its own beer and am just so surprised that no place in Casper--Wyoming’s second largest town at over 55,000 people--does this on a large scale.  (I’m told the Wonder Bar in downtown Casper has the ability, but doesn’t brew.)  Microbrewing is such a huge (and fun) culture right now, I would love to see Keg and Cork, or anyone, take this on for Casper consumers. 

The service was very friendly and quite brisk for the busyness of the bar.  I sat and visited with my neighbor at the bar whose burger looked and smelled delicious.  I was also able to meet and give my card to the manager (again…I could remedy the wine list issue…wink, wink), ending my overall experience at Keg and Cork in a very pleasant way.  I would love to revisit Keg and Cork this summer when my life is filled with much less madness—I’ve heard the outdoor seating area there can hold up to 150 people, and I’m a real sucker for a glass of wine on an outdoor patio!  Good luck on your new endeavor, Keg and Cork.  You helped my March Madness with a glass of wine and a good meal.  I will be back when I can have some summer stillness. 

Move Over Wine…Wyoming Whiskey

Bring on the whiskey!  Shocking, to hear me say that, I know, but for a short period of time this past weekend, I became a bourbon whiskey connoisseur.  True, it was for a VERY short time, but while I was touring Wyoming Whiskey in Kirby, Wyoming (population 92, thank you very much) I was loving whiskey!

Wyoming Whiskey’s beautiful, multi-million dollar facility towers high above all other rooftops as one drives into Kirby.  The outer façade of the building is only the beginning of the impressiveness of this business.  Founders of Wyoming Whiskey wanted a product that would wow, so David DeFazio and Bradford Mead (brother to current Wyoming governor Matt Mead) looked for a distiller who knew what he was doing.  They lured Kentucky master distiller Steve Nally out of retirement (after distilling and retiring from Maker’s Mark) and to little old Kirby to begin producing bourbon in the Equality State.  Next, every master distiller needs a still, and Wyoming Whiskey doesn’t have just ANY still.  This still is a 38-foot-tall, vertical still made of copper by Vendome that was the first of its kind in the country.

That is a still we are standing with:  the Vendome vertical still.

To produce the whiskey in this state-of-the-art equipment, all the raw materials come from within one hundred miles of Kirby.  The corn, wheat, barley, and water don’t have far to travel.  The yeast is specifically chosen, and the barley travels the farthest to be mashed—to our neighbor state, Montana.  All of these ingredients ferment to produce a raw “beer” type of liquid.  (Not actual beer, but closer to beer at this point than whiskey.)  Getting to see this fermentation process up close was very interesting.  I paid special attention to similarities with wine but also enjoyed learning the differences.  It was a special treat when one of the vats of fermenting mash started to boil up from all of the heat and carbon dioxide being released.  It was like a living organism as it foamed and mulled around (which, I guess, it kind of is).  One could feel the heat, and when a nose was put close enough to the surface, the fumes of the CO2 gasses singed the nose hairs and burned the eyes!

The Wyoming ingredients used to make Wyoming Whiskey.

The CO2 gasses burning their noses!



The fermenting liquid.

This fermented liquid is put through the still, and then is turned into “white lightening,” or moonshine whiskey.  To become bourbon, this whiskey must be aged in new, American oak barrels for a minimum of two years.  Once the whiskey is in the toasted oak barrel, the barrel is branded and numbered, then taken to the “rick” house for aging.  Within the rick house, barrels must be turned and rotated over the course of the aging years to ensure balanced contact and aging in the oak.  Once ready, the bourbon is bottled on site, and then sent to the Wyoming State Liquor Division for distribution and sale.  The very first release of Wyoming Whiskey sold out from the state warehouse in about three minutes!  The second release is expected to go as fast, with pre-orders and the limited quantity available.

In the barreling room.

Once done with the very informative tour, our group went back to the gift shop for a sample.  This is how quickly my life as a bourbon connoisseur lasted:  until the liquor hit the back of my throat and burned all the way down!  In Wyoming Whiskey’s defense, I am not a hard liquor drinker; I am a wine drinker.  The 12-15% alcohol I am used to experiencing in the average wine I drink could not prepare me for the 44 proof bourbon!  On the tip of my tongue, the whiskey had a very pleasing taste though.  I also thought the amber color of the liquid was beautiful.  However, I am not a whiskey drinking lady, so I will stick with my wine.  That said, those drinkers that enjoy bourbons and whiskeys, please try Wyoming Whiskey…if you can find a bottle for sale!  It is a hot commodity, and I look forward to seeing how many drinkers out there will say, “Bring on the Wyoming Whiskey!”

To Aerate or Not to Aerate?

Yes, I went there with the clichéd reference to Hamlet’s famous soliloquy written by William Shakespeare.  I have two great reasons though:  1—remember, I am an English teacher by day, and I just finished teaching this play; and 2—I really have been asked this question a lot lately!  My answer is not a question of life and death (like Shakespeare’s famous speech), but it can be an important answer to the life of a wine.   

1.       What is aeration?  Aeration is literally the process of circulating air through or mixing air with another substance.   In this case, the substance is wine.  The market today is flooded with aerators in almost any size, shape, or price.  What these cool-looking gadgets do is let the wine run through or over an object to inject more oxygen. 

2.       Not all wines need aeration.  Most white wines would not benefit from aerating.  The point of aerating a wine is to increase the contact between oxygen and wine.  For many wines, this increased oxygen is a good thing.  Air in the wine helps to bring out the aromas and flavors of a wine.  Oxygen can also soften the taste of the tannins. Red wines gain more from this process.  Many white wines that are very light bodied and delicate anyway would actually lose smell and flavor if aerated. 

3.      Only some red wines need aeration.  It is generally a personal preference if you would like to aerate a red wine.  Red wines that are very young and tannic can be softened to pair better with foods if they have been aerated.  Also, if any wine drinkers enjoy softer wines with fewer bold tannins, aerating can help make the wine more drinkable to this type of palette. 

4.      There are some wines to never aerate.  Wines that have been cellared for an extended period of time should not be aerated.  Aged wines become more delicate, and if a very old wine is aerated, the smells and flavors might actually be lost completely.  Depending on the wine, I wouldn’t aerate anything over 10-15 years aged in the bottle.  Think how disappointing it would be to open up a beautiful bottle of perfectly aged wine to spoil it by using an aerator.  (Now keep in mind, this would be different from just decanting and letting the wine sit to open up.) 

5.      Do what you like.  Ultimately, it comes down to what every individual likes to drink.  I often go through periods when I will aerate wines very often, just so I can use my fun wine toys.  I also like to drink a wine one night without aeration and then the next night with aeration, taking notes on both tastings to see which I preferred.  I also like to show friends and wine students the difference aeration makes, so I will often pour them an ounce with no use of an aerator and then an ounce with the use of an aerator.  It is fun to witness wine novices experience the difference that can be made in some wines when more oxygen is present. 

6.      What aerator to use?  This is probably the trickiest question of all!  As mentioned, aeration of wine is big business right now.  There are small gadgets for just one glass or large contraptions to aerate an entire bottle.  There are even wine glasses that do the aeration themselves!  I don’t have a particular preference, but again, it depends on the circumstance. 

This large aerator is very beautiful and makes a statement.  I like to use it at parties or get-togethers where there is a large group and beautifully aerating an entire bottle of wine for all to see is a must. 

 

 

The decanter and funnel is another beautiful, yet traditional, way to aerate an entire bottle at once.  The decanters available today are even more magnificent than the aerator selection.  One can also spend a little or a LOT (see some of Riedel’s new decanter designs).

 

 

 

This individual glass style of pourer is also a great way to let people aerate their own glass as they pour.

 

 

 

This one-glass-at-a-time aerator is a fun invention and is interesting to have set out so individuals can decant their own as they pour a glass. It is the one I keep on the edge of my wine room shelf to easily grab if I think I want aeration for that night’s wine.

 

 

The aerator that goes inside the wine bottle is very popular right now due to its reasonable price and its ease of use.  I liked and used mine often, until I used it at a class and gave it away to someone who complimented it.  I have wanted to replace it, but I just haven’t.  Mainly because I have so many other styles I can use to aerate!

 

 

 

So whether you aerate wines as often as Shakespeare killed off a main character in his tragedies, or whether you look at aeration with distrust like an “adder fanged,”  it can be useful to many wine drinkers.  Aeration is popular to the masses right now; let’s see if it stands the test of time like a great Shakespeare play. 

 

What do you think of aeration?  Do you have a favorite that you use? 

From Coast to Coast—Style and Wine

“Fad—noun—a temporary fashion, notion, or manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group.”  I dare say I don’t generally follow wine fads; yet, I do have my own fads of wine that I seem to follow…usually against the crowd instead of with it. Yes, I fell in love with Pinot Noir, but it was not because of the 2004 movie Sideways, even though that was the time period when my love affair started.  Pinot Noir was my style of wine for quite a period of time (and I still love--and crave--a good Pinot Noir).  Then I moved to a different fad:  Cabernet Sauvignon.  Then my next wine craze was to taste anything different I could get my hands on, and the more unique the better.  Because of this trend, I learned that I also loved Malbecs, Tempranillos, and, most recently, Merlots.  Just as the aforementioned movie Sideways didn’t make me drink Pinot Noirs, it did not make me steer clear of Merlots; however, the rest of the country and world can’t necessarily say the same.  It was reported that from October 2004 until January 2005, Pinot Noir sales in the U.S. jumped 16%; in California alone sales jumped 34%.  At this same time, Merlot sales dropped 2%.  This trend was similar in other wine consuming countries like the United Kingdom, as well.  Merlot has seemed to bounce back from its slight drop in consumer sales; it has also stayed in my favor as a wine I like to sip when I can find quality samples.  This is what caused me to open my fridge yesterday and realize I had three Merlots at one time:  two already opened and one just received from a wine club shipment.  I knew what I must do with these wines:  have a coast-to-coast faceoff tasting of Merlot.

 

 

Wine one—Dr. Konstanstin Frank 2010 Merlot (Finger Lakes Region, New York)

            Sight:  a lighter bodied, slightly translucent garnet color—very pretty.  Smell:  the ten months oak aging was evident from the smoke and cedar aromas; there was also ripe fruit.  Sip:  chocolate covered cherries with the cedar taste; smooth with a nice balance between the acids and the tannins.  An overall great example of a cooler climate Merlot.

 

 

Wine two—Balistreri Vineyards 2011 Little Feet Merlot (Colorado)

            Sight:  slightly heavier bodied, with an opaque, inky maroon color.  This wine undergoes no fining or filtering, and it shows in the deep color.  Smell:  the smell is like sticking my nose in a juniper wreath.  Very much an evergreen forest!  Sip:  the evergreen, juniper forest continues in the taste.  The overpowering green is all I get on the first attack.  There is a bit of a hot taste of alcohol, though the wine is not overly high in alcohol.  It has a very pleasant, mixed berry finish.  I love the premise of the creation of this wine.  Children at the Colorado Festival Italiano stomp the Colorado-sourced Merlot grapes that are fermented for this wine.

Wine three—Columbia Crest 2008 Horse Heaven Hills (H3) Merlot (Washington)

            Sight:  medium-bodied, opaque garnet color.  Smell:  sweet floral, almost perfume like fragrance, hint of vanilla.  Sip:  oak, earth, leather, and green pepper with slight fruit.  Smells fruitier than it tastes.  A well balanced, fairly traditional Merlot.  With a price under $15.00, depending on where it is purchased, a great value!

The “Winner” of the Latest Wine Trend:  Coast-to-Coast Merlot Tasting

            My favorite wine was the Dr. Konstantin Frank.  I loved the aromas and the flavors.  It is a wonderful sipping wine.  My two-ounce pour just was not enough; I wanted more!  I tried not to be biased by the fact that I recently visited the Finger Lakes and Dr. Frank’s winery, and loved both.  Having said that, the 2008 Horse Heaven Hills was a wonderful Merlot, and if I thought about price, this would definitely be the better wine for the money, as it is sold for under $15.00 and the Dr. Frank retails for closer to $20.00.  Ranking the Little Feet Merlot as my third choice does not mean this is a bad wine—quite the contrary.  When drinking it in direct comparison with the other two wines, it was a little too green for me and seemed less balanced.  However, I will say that when I visited Balistreri Vineyards this fall, the Little Feet was my favorite wine of the 20 wines I tasted from the winery.  It is a less traditional style Merlot than the other two, but still worth buying a bottle to enjoy…especially if you knew some of the “little feet” used to produce the wine!

            Yes, styles, fads, and fashions come and go, in clothing and in wine.  Though movies like Sideways may create trends in wine, I hope you will all keep tasting to create your own wine fads!  And when you do find wines you like, taste them, test them, and compare them; it is a great way to expand the palette and decide what styles you like…from east to west, you will find what you like best. (Wow, I just sounded a bit like Dr. Suess J…after he had a glass of Merlot!)

By the Book

           The smell.  The feel.  The weight in one’s hands.  The sound as a page is turned.  The hardbound cover.  The dog-eared page where one last stopped reading.  From the title on the front cover to the plot synopsis on the back cover, I love all parts of books.  Books of any kind: fiction, non-fiction, mystery, thriller.  (Okay, so I’m not a huge romance fan, but other than that…).  I love books, and I love to read!  In the summer, especially, I am rarely found without a book close by.  I am such a veracious reader, that one year I made a personal goal to read 50 books in a year.  And I did it.  Beat that goal, actually, by reading 52 books in a twelve month period.  Because of this love of reading, it should come as no surprise that I have attempted to start my own small wine, reading library. 

            The first books I added were nothing but fun mystery novels by Michele Scott, set in California wine country, featuring tasty recipes with possible wine pairings throughout the plot of the book.  I read the first three in quick succession several years ago—Murder Uncorked, Murder by the Glass, and Silenced by Syrah.  Now Scott has seven total books in this Wine Lovers Mystery Series that wine, mystery, and recreational reading lovers will adore! 

            The next book I added to my collection reflected my growing love for wine and special occasions marked by wine:  Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion by husband and wife team Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher.  In this book, these two writers for the Wall Street Journal focus on special wines, but also wines made special because of the occasion when these wines are consumed.  I truly enjoyed this book because I mirror the authors’ thoughts that wine can make any event an extraordinary time, and many wines are made more extraordinary because of the special occasion.  The short chapters are pleasant to follow and leave a wonderful “finish” in the mouths and minds of readers.

            As my interest in wine became more serious, so did the wine books I chose.  After hearing so much about the history of California’s wine country in the 1970s due to the Judgment of Paris, I thought I needed more information on this subject.  Of course, the movie Bottle Shock imparted a partially fictional view of the judgment (I could do another blog about great wine movies); however, reading the book Judgment of Paris:  California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine by George Taber, who not only attended the tasting but researched the back stories of the wines and winemakers of the quintessential moment in American wine history, is a very important book to understand the U.S. wine industry.  The book is well written and informative.  Though not a narrative text, readers can follow the story as if it were.

            The next book important for wine lovers to read is The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace.  This real-life mystery has so many plotlines and characters that tell the complex story of the most expensive bottle of wine ever purchased and whether or not this wine was even worth a cent!  I enjoyed the very-early American wine history and the information about the French wines that Americans (especially Thomas Jefferson) loved.  I also really did enjoy the mystery plot about counterfeiting wines.  The many characters involved in the plot and the different time periods covered do make this book difficult to follow at times.  However, it is a story worth understanding.  I also look forward to a movie that may someday be made from this book, if the complicated legal battles can ever be settled. 

            Though California, Washington, and Oregon are still the heavy hitters in the American wine market, knowing about up-and-coming wine regions is also incredibly important.  New York State, particularly the Finger Lakes area, is an exciting part of the U.S. wine market today and has been an important part of U.S. wine history in the past.  Summer in a Glass by New York journalist Evan Dawson tells the past, present, and future of Finger Lakes wines in such a way that readers want to keep reading…and keep sipping New York wines!  True, I bought the book while I was vacationing in the Finger Lakes area, so getting to visit some of the wineries written about by Dawson was a treat.  However, the book is truly so well written that the stories of important and quality wineries leap off the page and into the hearts of readers.  (At least that is what happened for me!)

            I love the smell, the feel, the weight…not only of a good book, but also of an excellent glass of wine!  You will still often find me with a book in my hand.  Today, it is most likely to be a book about wine in one hand and a glass of wine in the other!  So cheers to reading.  Cheers to reading books about wine.  And cheers to toasting a great glass of wine while reading.  Both bring joy to hearts and minds!

Other wine books I recommend:

Wine and War by Donald Kladstrup and Petie Kladstrup
The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil
A Vineyard in My Glass by Gerald Asher

Other wine books on my “to-read” list:

A Vineyard in Napa by Dough Shafer, Andy Demsky, and Danny Meyer
The House of Mondavi by Julia Flynn Siler
Rock and Vine by Chelsea Prince

What books do you recommend for me? 

Wyoming and Wine—We’re a Frugal Bunch

Catherine Pulsifer once said:  “Being frugal does not mean being cheap!  It means being economical and avoiding waste.”  This saying applies whole-heartedly to the recently released Wyoming Liquor Division list of top wines sold in the state last year. 

Focusing on wines sold in 2012, twenty-two of the top fifty-one were box or jug wines.  Franzia was number one with its Chillable Red, with over 5,000 cases sold!  Franzia had seven of the top fifty-one wines sold in Wyoming in 2012.  Peter Vella, another boxed wine, had four of the fifty-one.  Carlo Rossi jug wine and other box wine producers Black Box and Bota Box were also represented with two each.  The state Liquor Division lists Hornsby’s Crisp Apple Cider as the second best selling wine in the state…even though hard ciders aren’t wine at all, but would belong more in the beer family.  A second hard apple cider by Angry Orchard ranked twenty-ninth in sales. 

Now, if you are reading this list of best selling, cheap, low-quality wines as proof that Wyoming has incredibly poor taste in vino (like I did at first, before I tucked away my inner wine snob), I decided to quit looking at the glass as half empty and look at the glass as half full…and maybe the bottle as half full, too!  My first silver lining to the wine sales stats was the placement of the Folie a Deux Manage a Trois Red as the number six wine.  This reasonably priced wine with its oh-so-racy name is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes; it’s a dry, tannic red wine, and it impressed me that Wyoming drinkers are drinking this more “serious” wine.  The next pleasant surprise was Apothic Winemaker’s red blend.  This does not have a risqué name, but does have a super-cool red and black label and super-serious grapes:  Merlot and Syrah.  Apothic is a bold, tannic red and was the number nine seller in the state!  Yes, there was the dotting of many different producers of white Zinfandel on the inventory; however, Wild Vines Blackberry Merlot was number twenty-three.  (This was a huge victory in my eyes, as this is the “wine” that the largest number of non-wine drinkers request from me at fundraising and open house events.  I always direct them to a Moscato d’ Asti or another sweet wine.)  I was also heartened to see three Pinot Grigios, five Chardonnays, four Merlots, and two Cabernet Sauvignons in the top fifty-one wines sold.  Though these wines were all from less expensive producers like Woodbridge, Cupcake, Fish Eye, and Barefoot, it shows that Wyoming palettes may be beginning to like some dryer and more acidic wines, not just the box wines.  The fact that only two Moscatos and one Riesling made the list also shows that once Wyomingites get past the box and jug wine craze, they seem to be moving past these two, what I consider to be, gateway wines—wines consumed by novice wine drinkers that allow those wine drinkers to move on to other wines. (Riesling was my gateway varietal into the wine world more than a decade ago!)

All of this data taken together makes me have great hope in Wyoming’s wine drinkers.  Yes, they still buy more box and jug wine than anything else, but this seems to be more frugality than just poor taste in wine. When buying wines that rarely cost more than fifteen dollars, they are being economical and avoiding waste while drinking dryer reds and acidic whites made by the well-known producers of quality but less expensive wine…not necessarily just cheap!  I hope Wyoming winos (dare I spell wineaux) will continue to try the new producers of reasonably priced wines, all while being the sensible spenders they have proven to be!  Expand those palettes, Wyoming winos!