In Chinon with Matthieu Baudry - August 2008

The third and final of my three visits to Loire vignerons would be at Domaine Bernard Baudry in Chinon. After leaving Olivier Lemasson, I toured parts of the Loire and arrived in Chinon in the early evening. After checking in to the two star Le Lion d’Or Hotel, I took a walk around the compact village scouting out a place to dine. After spending the last few days in tiny villages, Chinon (8,712 pop.) seems downright metropolitan.

Eventually, I chose Au Chapeau Rouge, a charming restaurant with an authentic Loire menu on a small, quiet square. I had the mid-range €38 menu Saveurs which started with medallions of jellied and smoked eel, a specialty of the region. The main course was a perfectly cooked fillet of bar (sea bass) over mixed steamed vegetables and potato with a delicate saffron sauce. The meal concluded with a selection of Loire goat cheeses and a dessert that featured different peach preparations. The wine was a Plouzeau Bonneliere Chinon, of course. Excellent dinner. Over the last two weeks I have been gorging myself on mostly German food, so it was nice to have an elegant meal. After a pleasant walk about town, I turn in.

The next morning, August 27, I wander out for a quick pain au chocolate and café before driving a couple miles to the Baudry home. The patriarch, Bernard is out of town so I am met by his hospitable son Matthieu who is also heavily involved in the winemaking.

The entrance to Domaine Baudry.

Domaine Baudry is in a walled and gated compound just outside the village. Early into our tasting we are joined by a couple visiting from Montreal, Quebec. This couple is very fortunate, as they will be sampling more than they expected.

The Loire Valley’s best known red wines are made from cabernet franc and Chinon is the most recognizable name. Baudry offers five bottlings of cabernet franc from a manageable 30 hectares (72 acres), 60% situated in the valley by the river and 40% on hillsides. There is the youthful Le Grange made from vineyards on the sandy valley soil. Their Le Domaine offers a more complex yet approachable blend of older valley vines with 30%-40% from the hillside vines.

Les Grezeaux comes from the oldest vines on gravel from the foothills between the sandy valley and clay-laden hillside. A more full-bodied and dense style that is tight when young, but ages well.

Le Clos Guillot comes from vines of ten to seventeen years old and are on the hillside which is clay over limestone. The wine is more concentrated, but with a bright, fresh, red fruit profile.


Here is an example of the Chinonais landscape from an adjacent property.
Here you have the lower valley floor vineyards on the bottom,
then the foothill bench, followed by the hillsides on top.


Finally, La Croix Boisée is their most serious wine for aging. Also from the clay over limestone hillside vineyards and from vines up to 40 years old. At about thirty days, the fermentation is around twice as long as the others and a bit longer in the barrel to tame the firm tannins. Like all of Baudry’s wines, the aging comes from used barrels to mellow the wine without imparting the taste of wood.

Back in the tasting room we taste through a 2005 Grezeaux, a 2006 La Croix Boisée, a 2007 Les Grange, a 2006 Le Domaine, and a 2006 Clos Guillot.

Next, Matthieu takes us to the tank room, situated in a modern climate controlled building. Instead of the usual stainless steel tanks, there is a row of about four or five newer wood fermentation vats opposing a uniform line up of sleek, sealed concrete tanks enrobed in crimson. They are empty right now, but will be in use within weeks for the upcoming harvest.

Seemingly out of place and sitting next to one of the concrete tanks is a single cylinder inox tank that is used to make their miniscule quantity of chenin blanc. I asked for a taste as I was not even aware they made any and it was delicious. Supple, smooth and a balanced essence of peach and apricot fruit with a hint of beeswax made in a style that offered just a trace of off-dry character. We also tasted a 2007 La Croix Boisée from the barrel awaiting to be bottled.


The entrance to the Baudry cave built into the hillside next to their compound.

The finale is a tour of the adjacent cave built into the limestone hillside. The cave is full of dusty unlabeled bottles. Matthieu grabs a couple bottles to open just outside on a barrel used as a table. First is a 2002 La Croix Boisée which showed subtle, fresh, floral scents dominating over a layer dried flowers with earthy red berry fruits and a remarkable, gentle texture. This was followed by a 1989 Les Grezeaux which showed a bricky color with a light rim in the glass. Dried flora and red fruits, hints of green bean aroma, but still ripe. Elegant acid – not flabby. Earthy mineral flavors over dried red fruit with a rich texture.


Stored bottles in the cave.


After a round or two of re-tasting and conversation with Matthieu and the Canadian couple, I part company to see one of the other neighboring cab franc villages, Bourgueil.

Matthieu Baudry pouring the '89 Les Grezeaux.

A Visit with Olivier Lemasson of Vins Contes - August 2008

 Vin Contes was the second of the three vignerons in the Loire that I had arranged to visit following a tour of Germany with importer Rudi Wiest in August 2008. Finding Vin Contes proved to be more difficult than expected. Not so much the town of Chitenay itself, which you could drive through in less than seven seconds and which is tucked into the countryside in the Touraine region of the Loire valley, but the route de Seur, the street where proprietor Olivier Lemasson’s facilities are situated. I drove through the town about four times before finally finding route de Seur.

Now comes the puzzle of trying to find the actual address. Again, I am reduced to driving back and forth on this small two lane road. I must have looked like a dog trying to find a lost tennis ball. Finally, I see the wooden nameplate next to a driveway, partially hidden by a shrub. The “Vin Contes” sign is about the size of a large, theater sized candy bar and well worn at that.

Now, like an intruder, I’m driving around the grounds, peeking around buildings, trying to figure out where he’s located.

Olivier Lemasson’s winery, Vin Contes, is nestled in the rear of a shared structure in the back of a farmers property. There is various farm equipment scattered about, some belonging to the farmer, some belonging to Lemasson.



Olivier (at left) directing the cleaning of the equipment.

 As I approach, he is supervising two young men in the cleaning of some equipment. Looks like pressing gear and associated items in preparation of the upcoming harvest. After providing the men some instruction, Olivier takes me into one of two modest rooms that make up his empire. The first is accessible via a large sliding garage door. This room contains a storage area for his equipment and a counter built against the wall with some stools, which is his office.

No receptionist, no sign-in at the offices of Vin Contes

Behind another door is a climate controlled room which holds a number of barrels and remaining boxed inventory. A rather unassuming amount as it doesn't take long to sell out. Aside from the air conditioning, this is very old school.

Olivier pulls out a few bottles to sample, including the "les Puits" sauvignon, "Algotest" aligote, "Les Rosiers" romorantin, "le Petit Rouquin" gamay and "Cheville de Fer" cot. I’m disappointed to learn the "Pinor de Soif" pinot noir is sold out and not available. Not even Lemasson has a spare bottle. I can’t say enough about Lemasson’s wines. They are natural, distinctive and just irresistibly delicious.

After the tasting he offers to take me to the vineyards. Approaching his car, it is the complete opposite of your Napa Valley Range Rover. It is a well worn Nissan coupe in oxidized black. The doors creak like an old man’s knees and when you close the door the rattle continues like a voodoo dance chant. It’s a great ride!

Following Olivier into the vineyard.

Lemasson, himself, is dressed for work. His soiled t-shirt and jeans give the appearance that he had just been wrestling an alligator in the dirt. Please, don't take this as a slight for this is a high compliment. It is nothing less than exhilarating to see the owner of a wine label actually getting into his work as opposed to one that enjoys the fruit of others labor, perhaps while covered with a cashmere sweater tied over their shoulders.

His modest five hectares of vineyards are about a mile away down the road. The impression I take in is how sparse the vineyards are. Sections instead of whole fields. A small island of vines in an ocean of sunflowers, wheat and fallow land. His vineyards more resemble a large home garden than the expansive fields of most commercial wineries. The soil on this day is dry and clumped, but during this 2008 season, there are signs of too much rain resulting in mildew damage. The soil is largely clay with some silex mixed in.

Back to his office, I basically hang out for awhile while enjoying some more of the Cheville de Fer on this sunny, comfortable Loire day. I’d rather be doing this than sitting by a hotel pool in a tourist destination any day.

T. Oliver Meek with Olivier Lemasson.

I’ll admit that there was a bit of shock at the modesty of his winery and of the man himself, but it represents everything I love about the Loire and this type of wine making. There is another level of comfort knowing Lemasson is in the good hands of the principled Louis/Dressner importer and an appreciative distributor like David Bowler and his staff.

As a parting gift, Olivier offers me a 1.5L bottle of his Cheville de Fer. This size is not sold by his U.S. importer and while it’s a load to carry around, it will be proudly served at Thanksgiving a year later.

Clos Roche Blanche and Chateau Chenonceaux - August 2008

After finishing my ten day marathon tour of German wineries with importer Rudi Wiest and seven other peers in August of 2008, I set off on my own by auto from Frankfort to France. After a brief visit in Alsace and the Macon/Beaujolais regions of Burgundy, I advanced to my primary destinations in the Touraine region of the Loire Valley.

The first of my three visits to Loire vignerons would be at Clos Roche Blanche in the small village of Mareuil sur Cher and run by Catherine Roussel. The winery is named after the house built by her great-great grandfather in 1901. Wine making at Clos Roche Blanche was merely a pastime until Catherine’s father took over. Catherine now works with her partner, Didier Barrouillet, who handles the winemaking and vineyard affairs.

The day of my arrival in late August, 2008, was a sunny and mild summer day kissed with comforting breezes. The materials used to make their house gives you an indication of what lies beneath the clay and flint specked soil. It is an impressive structure of white limestone.

The one and only Clos Roche Blanche.

After greeting the host, Catherine introduces me to her border collie, Maggie and Maggie's offspring, Pif. As Catherine, Pif and myself begin the walk up the knob of a hill behind the house and to the vineyards we are joined by an uninvited kitten. She’s never seen the stray feline before, but the cat follows us around like a dog. I found out later that she named the cat Seccotine after a popular brand of glue.

Pif leading the way in the vineyard.

Roussel’s twelve hectare plot contains sauvignon, gamay, cab franc, côt (malbec) and small lots of cabernet sauvignon and pineau d’aunis. Clos Roche Blanche looks to grow organically and make wines with minimal intervention. These are some of my favorite wines on the market for being so pure and true to their varietal and terroir. These are the kinds of wine that rule with food and are a pleasure to drink on there own and I try my best to show these to customers.

The then un-named Seccotine trying to keep up in the vineyard.

Because I’m always looking to try new wines, I infrequently drink the same wine twice in a year. However, in 2009, their Cuvee Gamay had dinner me at least five times. Delicious red berry fruit with an irresistible mineral tang that you can’t put down.

Back in the vineyards, Catherine explains that while doing some vine maintenance, she’ll come across a sea creature fossil embedded in limestone debris. There are also wild mushrooms on occasion that she will bring home to the kitchen.

Maggie and Pif with Catherine at the entrance to the cave.

Above and behind the house is an access to the cave in the hillside where they will dump the harvested grapes to the presses and begin the winemaking process.

Inside the cave, with Pif and Seccotine still in tow, she shows me all the equipment and stored cases from past vintages. Here we take time to taste the sauvignon, cot, cabernet and pineau d’aunis with Didier, who is clearly taking a liking to the new cat.

Pif and Seccotine in the cave.

Le caveau.

Before I leave, Catherine presents me with a couple of limestone fossils imprinted with former sea life to take home and makes a phone call for a reservation for me at the terrific four star hotel and restaurant Auberge du Bon Laboureur in the enchanting village of Chenonceaux, a mere stroll to Chateau de Chenonceaux.

A view from the room. A section of the hotel

on the left and the village of Chenonceaux.

The hotel oozed old world charm and the restaurant offered an outstanding six course €85 Menu Gourmand dining experience that started in the gorgeous courtyard with a glass of sparkling Touraine served with an amuse bouche before being escorted and seated in the main dining room. The hotel’s fee at €125 was certainly more than the normal two star tourist hotel I would typically stay at, but was first class all the way and really, about the same price as a modest chain hotel in an average American city.


Chateau Chenonceax on the Cher river.

It was a luxurious night and offered needed rest before moving on to my next destination in Chitenay with Olivier Lemasson and his winery, Vin Contes.

A Xmas Eve Treat

While out shopping on Christmas eve I stopped at my closest Wegman's market which happens to be in Cherry Hill, NJ. and about 10 miles away from my Philadelphia home. Conversely, the closest Wegman's in my home state of Pennsylvania is in Malvern and 27 miles away. For the unfamiliar, Wegman's is an upstate New York based, family run supermarket that has transformed itself into a regional "lifestyle" shopping superstar. The stores are enormous, oddly yet seductively under-illuminated and hugely popular. They are the best regional supermarket in the country in my opinion.

Unfortunately for me, there are only opening new stores in large shopping arenas in wholly high-end demographics. There will be no Wegman's coming to my inner Center City neighborhood of high-rises soon. Not even to the wealthiest inner suburbs. Not enough room. I don't mind making the occasional trip over the Delaware River, but the four dollar, return-penalty bridge toll keeps the trips limited and carefully planned. Keeping mind that my idea of carefully planned is in the same method that a squirrel inventories its acorn burials.

It is during this holiday excursion, that I set off to bring home something interesting from Wegman's well stocked, clean and fresh seafood selections. In recent years, I have made seafood a focus of pre-holiday meals. Now I usually like to have Dungeness crab before New Years (more on that next week) and I have done lobster twice recently, so after a moment of thought and inspection, I decide to hand pick a dozen oysters from a iced bin set up next to the seafood case.

A half dozen Malpeques and six mysterious Glidden Points, as two of the markets seafood casemen gave separate hometowns. It was either from Nova Scotia or New Jersey? I suppose I could have gained a tie-breaker by asking a third party, but then what would have happened if I was given a third destination. I later found out at home the Glidden Points were from Maine.

After I finnished culinary school in San Francisco, I worked for a very helpful chef who had won contests for shucking oysters and I had opened some for service only a few times, so never became prolific. However, I'm not trying to open a sunken sea chest. It's just an oyster. I believe eve an otter can do with relative ease, though I've never seen an otter work in a raw bar.

As long as you have a good oyster knife and dish towel, it's not that complicated. I start by cleaning the oyster with a brush. This helps to clear away any grit and find the backend joint where you give a firm but controlled turn with the tip of the knife. Once cracked open, clean the knife on the towel and slide the knife across the inside of the top shell to cut the connecting adductor tendon then cut the bottom tendon. At the raw bar they would flip the flesh over to expose the cleaner side.

Here is Part A - the Malpeques with the La Pepiere Muscadet.

I paid special attention to opening them cleanly, not allowing shell bits to fall in the cupped side and to not spill the precious oyster "liqueur". These are the two keys to professional oyster service. As far as devouring them, I am purist in that I prefer just lemon wedges as a condiment, though will occasionally, at raw bars, use the vinegar, shallot and fresh crack black pepper based mignonette.

The night's special wine buddy was the pure shellfish classic pairing of Muscadet, the bright, crisp, lemony, minerally white wine from the Nantais region of the Loire Valley, adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean in France. Muscadet, aka, melon de Bourgogne, is the grape itself. Most mainstream Muscadet is generally a decent, dry white wine. That's why I made sure to take home one of the best on the market. Mark Olivier's Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet from his Clos de Briord vineyard. The intense minerality of this particular wine is a stellar compliment to the briney, minerality of the two oysters.

Oysters are a healthy choice and raw bars are a fun dining option. Now with a little planning, they can be a new holiday tradition for you like I have made them for myself.

The Return of "Real" Lambrusco

Sometime around 2006, I bought a bottle of Italian wine with the type of topper that would indicate that it would contain some bubbles. A bulging head of the cork braced with a metal clasp. The label identified the bottle as Grasparossa di Castelvetro, which I was not familiar with and I assumed it would be a pleasant tipple like the lightly sweet and frizzante red Brachetto d'Acqui. So, with my mind wrapped around that thought, I was soured, literally and figuratively, by this dry, frothy, red wine with essence of wild fruits. It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting. Actually, I didn't know what to think of it.

And there, was my first introduction with "real" lambrusco and like most consumers, I was faced with a lack of knowledge that grasparossa is the most common variety of the lambrusco grape, the unappreciated cousin to vitis vinifera, the noble wine grape. Forward a couple years later to 2008 while I was the wine director at a large South Jersey wine and spirits store. With that initial lambrusco experience and the curiosity to find it again, I went on a determined search for it. However, hunting for "real" lambrusco became more like trying to find a UFO with a raccoon tail attached to the antenna.

Then one day while browsing through a wine wholesalers product list, I found some. Since the importer, Frederick Wildman, is a quality supplier, I gave it a shot and bought a combination of all four available products from Cleto Chiarli to bring in the store and open for a public in-store tasting where I could evaluate them as well as gauge customer reaction. I was like a kid with a new toy and the customers were curiously delighted.

Market Time: London's Borough Market

I am absolutly an avid, perhaps rabid, food tourist. And one of my favorite places to visit are public markets, the caverous halls of food type. Among my favorites have been the St Lawrence Market in Toronto and the Mercat Boqueria in Barcelona. However, to date, the one I'd most like to return to is the Borough Market in London. The following is an exerpt from my travel journal of time spent in a planned layover in London before moving on to vineyards in France and Germany via the Eurostar a few years ago. The market won me over from the get-go with an bacon and egg sandwich.

The next morning, Saturday, I got up early and took the tube to London Bridge station on the south bank of the Thames to the Borough Market, London’s premier farmers market open on Friday and Saturday. London Bridge station is a tube and train stop with a great deal of activity. The market is across the street and looks like a large train shed, open to the elements except for a roof and some side sections.

The hypnotic smell of bacon drew me to a small stand for my first meal of the day. The stand featured a griddle with sizzling English style bacon, sausages and eggs. They offer a sandwich with either bacon or sausage with egg for £2.50. I opted for the bacon and egg with its deep golden yolk on the kind of soft, doughy roll that’s covered with white flour that covers your hand, but you don’t notice or care because the sandwich is so good. It was intoxicating with smell of bacon and the velvety texture of the egg all comfortably lying in the roll like a cat buried in a down comforter. I was really tempted to get another, but wanted to save my appetite for other culinary surprises.

The market has phenomenal small producer meats from England, Scotland and Wales, beautifully fresh seafood and gorgeous produce. There were also flowers, cheese, pastry and wine stalls. A fish stall had jellied eel which seemed popular and skate cheeks which looked enticing and made me wish I had an apartment kitchen in town so as to cook some of these items. A little down the street was a branch of Neal’s Yard Dairy, a well known source for top cheeses from Britain. Absolutely stellar.

Mary's Fish Camp

The lobster roll is a cherished New England delicacy and during some recent trips to New York, I had enjoyed a couple at Ed's Lobster Bar on the Lower East Side. While Ed's roll was good, I had no barometer of what's exceptional. After some internet research I found that New York Magazine had a useful write-up on lobster rolls. It seems Mary's Fish Camp, a small, well worn corner shop in the West Village offers a top rated roll.

Mary's menu is scripted on a large blackboard hung from the ceiling that along with some metal racks and tables separates the kitchen from the crescent shaped stainless steel counter and a smattering of tables. The menu descriptions and preparation are a simple and fresh. When I inquired about an appetizer of lobster knuckles, I was curious whether it was a proprietary name for a cleverly prepared lobster dish. No. It was steamed lobster knuckles.

The market price lobster roll ($30) came on a classic white diner plate. A heap of creamy mayo dressed lobster sprinkled with chives on the proper top-cut, butter toasted hot dog roll. This was outstanding. The lobster was cooked to perfection and the dressing was generous without being sloppy, keeping the the nuggets of meat together, the roll soaking up any excess without allowing any messy dribbles. The plate was garnished with a pile of unusual shoestring fries. Mandolin-cut like a flat noddle. They were decent, though a bit greasy. Though fries are the classic garnish, I'd rather see some green beans.

The lobster roll with glass of gruner veltliner.

Besides the roll, I was really impressed with the wine list. I'm a firm believer that small restaurants are better suited to having a tidy wine list that features quality/value over quantity. This makes even more sense when there is a severe lack of storage space. Mary's has about fourteen wines, mostly white of course and ones that make sense for a fish house. I had a pour of gruner veltliner from Setzer, a stellar producer from Austria, a varietal that I always felt was a good match with lobster.

I could have easily have picked the Corea godello, a frothy Xarmant Txakoli or sparkling Raventos Cava from Spain, Coleman pinot gris from Oregon or a delightful gamay rose from the Cote Roannaise in France. A juice glass substituted for a traditional wine glass. Though not a preferable vessel, I thought this was fitting for such a casual fish joint. Unfortunately, there were no taps for beer, but again, a well thought out selection of mostly craft brews.

While I arrived late in the lunch session when things were quiet, service was attentive and friendly. I now look forward to trying out Mary's other seafood dishes. Mary's is located at 246 W. 4th Street on the corner of Charles Street in New York's West Village. Go with the roll and rock with the wines.
http://www.marysfishcamp.com/2010/marys.html

Ibanez Plevin Offerings @ Their Office

IPO (Ibanez Plevin Offerings) is a relatively new importer/distributor of small estate producers that have put together an exceptional portfolio. One that includes top importers like the established Kermit Lynch and rising star, Jon David Headrick.

This tasting was held at their office on the eighth floor of a vintage office building on 23rd St, close to the Garment District. I realized that a tasting in the office of a small company would likely be small, and it was, but I admire this company's wines and looked forward to sampling anything from them.

Of the ten producers featured and twenty-six wines poured, the highlight was the pair of Paul Bara Champagnes made from Grand Cru fruit from the village of Bouzy. These Kermit Lynch imports had been sold through distributor Winebow in the past, but apparently have been moved to IPO. It has been years since I last sampled these wines and didn't have any positive recollection. Today I did. The Reserve Brut offered a brilliant tang of stony mineral over crisp tree fruit, frothy mousse and balance texture unhindered by any wood influence. The rose had the same mineral snap only with an elegant hint of red fruit and spice.  

The Hispanic Offerings from T. Edwards

Today's host is T. Edwards, one of those specialty importer/distributors that I enjoy doing business with. The focus of their second of three scheduled events this fall is their collection of wines from the countries of Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay and is headlined by one of the top importers of Spanish wines, De Masion Selections.

Andre Tamers (left) of De Maison

Aside from some usual favorites like the Jelu torrontes, a fabulous value white wine from Argentina and the D. Ventura line of reds made from mencia in the Ribiera Sacra denomination in Gallicia was a newcomer to the portfolio. Bodega Edetaria in the Terra Alta D.O. in Catalonia. A pair of excellent garnatxa blancas and garnatxa based reds.

The tasting was held at Locanda Verde, a very attractive and authentically rustic looking restaurant located in the Tribeca section of Manhattan and just a block away from Tribeca Grill, a common venue for wine tastings. Cudos to the kitchen for putting out some satifying bites, especially the sweet, creamy richness of the fresh goat-milk ricotta that was spooned on raspy grilled bread. I will have to put this establishment down in my list of places to dine.

Puro Wine

On the day that the world was focused on the rescue of Chilean miners being brought to the surface of the Earth, I was attending a wine tasting in New York that featured wines from Chile. Afterwards, as if to keep in the theme of the day, I stumbled upon a unique wine store. Puro Wines, located in a trendy area of the Lower East Side at 161 Grand Street at Centre Street.

Big Brands at The Mansion

Every state is dominated by a handful large wine/liquor distributors whose share of national brands has become more dominante due to consolidation. One of the big four in New Jersey is the family run Opici Wine Group and their distribution arm, American BD (beverage distribtibution), the host of this regional product tasting event for South Jersey at The Mansion in the bedroom community of Voorhees.

While I am inherently more interested in the growing availablity of fascinating small producers, I still like to attend these big shows to keep in touch with the popular brands that inevitably reach the mainstream customers at chain restaurants, major grocery stores, big box beverage centers and common liquor stores. Its the only way to legitimaly gauge of worth of products. In addtion, these large distributors also offer the chance to sample popular liquor brands and items new to the market.

David Vincent Selections at Craftbar

After being in NYC the day before for a wine tasting, I return again to check out the unfamiliar portfolio of David Vincent. The rigors of back-to-back travel from Philadelphia and tasting is rather fatiguing, but I hate to miss out on a new supplier and an worthy venue.

David Vincent offers a tidy selection of about seven-five wines, modest by any standard, but one of quality over quantity. Vincent's goal is to find small producers primarily from Italy and France that adhere to a more natural sense of winemaking resulting in wines that are expressive of the terroir or wine people like to say - mineral driven.

Initially, I would have expected to complete this tasting in a couple of hours, but I was so intrigued that I stayed for the duration of four hours tasting and re-tasting. While Vincent's wines are available in the NYC metro area, throughout New Jersey and in Pennsylvania, these are wines that will most likely find a successful place on the wine list of a savvy restaurant or retail shelf. It will, indeed, be a challenge to find these labels elsewhere and that's unfortunate. David Vincent Selections is another example of why it is relevant for consumers to inspect the name of the importer.

Inspecting the color hue and clarity of a sample.

The venue for this event was at Craftbar, part of celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's empire and a place that a friend and classmate from the California Culinary Academy was once the chef before moving on to his own restaurant.    

Osteria Morini Romagnola

After a NYC wine tasting event I strolled about the Lower East Side neighborhood until I came across Morini. Just last week I had walked by this restaurant, but it was still being prepared its grand opening. This time it is open, albeit only their second day of operation.

Morini has an authentic look about it, as if they had dismantled a restaurant in Emilia-Romagna and reassembled it on Lafayette St on the Lower East Side. Morini is another restaurant from the partnership of chef Michael White and restaurateur Chris Cannon that includes the roughly year old and highly acclaimed Marea and others. In a nugget of a feel good story, Morini is named after White's mentor, a chef he worked under in Emilia-Romagna, Gianluigi Morini. Now one would easily assume that if your going to name a restaurant after your Italian mentor, then attention to detail will be found.

Omni Wines - Fall 2010

On a tip from a NYC based friend, I first heard of Omni Wines, an importer of Italian wines, last fall. I attended that show and came away impressed with the overall portfolio. So, when I heard of a fall tasting for this year I made sure to be there. It was an added bonus that the event was being held in the Lower East Side, at the Openhouse Gallery. This gallery is located at the crossroads of an exciting area where Little Italy, SoHo, Chinatown converge.

The main gallery bathed in natural light.

Omni's portfolio is chock full of several interesting value wines, which are of strong interest these days, as well as a treasure of varietals and obcsure locations that make a pleasant diversion from the many palid mainstream pinot grigio's . A good example is the Torre del Falasco garganega, a little seen grape from the Veneto region.

Omni also offered a handful of excellent Italian aperitivo and digestivo products from Distilleria Bianchi. These types of pre-meal and after-meal spirits are becoming evermore common at tastings as their popularity increases.

Items from Distilleria Bianchi

Tempranillo Inc.

Tempranillo Inc. is a pioneer of Spanish wines featuring the selections from heralded importer Jorge Ordonez. Before Tempranillo came on the scene about ten years ago only a handful of familiar names were available to the market. I first dealt with them shortly after my first trip to Spain and considered them a treasure. The market for Spanish wines has gotten condiderably broader with several recent importers, thankfully, but TI has been and continues to be a prime source.

TI doesn't always have a regular spring/fall tasting event schedule so I make sure to be a part of this one situated at the stylish BLT (Bistro Laurent Tourondel) Prime, itself of prime dry-aged steaks. However, today the tables are moved to open space for wine bottles. While the typical tasting event has a table set up with an assortment of cheeses, bread and maybe even some cured meats, Tempranillo gets a gold medal for having a whole leg of aged jamon serrano being expertly hand cut - with the grain in small slivers - as it is done in Spain. A special treat for our palate.


  

David Bowler Wines - Fall 2010

Wine distributor, David Bowler, always offers a number of interesting wines and has now raised the roof with the acquisition of my favorite importer, Joe Dressner. Bowler makes regular use of the restaurant Tribeca Grill, usually taking up the entire dining room, however this time the tasting is confined to the upstairs banquet room for a more focused product selection.

The space is a bit cramped and hard to get to some tables which I had to bypass and a very warm late September day has a habit of making this south-facing room too hot for the wines and the wilting participants. Nevertheless, I would never miss a Bowler event.

Afterwards, I travel to the Lower East Side where I dined last week to check out Ed's Lobster Bar located on Lafayette St near Kenmare St. across from tiny Petrosino Square, an odd crossroad connecting Little Italy, the Bowery, Chinatown and SoHo in an exciting, bustling neighborhood.

I found the concept of a New England style seafood restaurant that featured lobster to be interesting. The place is about a wide and long as a bowling alley except for a enlarged area with tightly packed tables in the back. Aside from the narrow space, there is a long white marble bar with beadboard behind the seats and exposed brick - both whitewashed, behind the bar.

The counter of Ed's Lobster Bar which

holds about 60% of the seating.

While Ed's offers a nice selection of oysters, clams and mussels, the lobster is the show and the featured lobster roll is the head banging headliner. A heaping mound of tail, knuckle and claw, dressed with a deft touch of mayonnaise is mounted onto a butter-toasted, top-sliced hog dog bun and plated with crunchy golden brown fries and house-made pickles at market price ($27). I was sceptical that I was getting all lobster when I saw what might be red pepper, but it was actually the coral tinged knuckle meat. Excellent sandwich. 

The lobster roll plate from Ed's

Ed's offers four quality draught beers including the crisp, refreshing Gaffel Kolsch, a good compact selection of wines and classic cocktails.

September Tripleheader

The fall tasting season gets seriously heated up this day with three viable venues.

I decide the tasting of Terry Thiese Champagnes is best done with a fresh palate a head to City Winery, a unique combination of urban winery, music stage and restaurant. Theise's renown Champagne, German and Austrian imports have been sold through Michael Skurnik Wines for some time and these featured Champagnes are always one of my favorite attractions of the season.

A table of wine from Skurnik at City Winery.

I first came across Theise's selection of small producer Champagnes in 1998 while working at a top wine retailer in San Francisco, about the same time they first appeared on the scene and have been a big fan ever since. For the past few years I have been tasting these Champagnes three of four times a year. They are spectacular and unique.

Part two of the days three tastings is just a short walk to Skylight, an 18,000 sqft special event gallery for Winebow which features the Italian portfolio of Winebow's founder, Leonardo LoCascio's  as well as a broad market of popular brands and an excellent group of mostly French wines from top importer Kermit Lynch. Being a regular attendee of Winebow I am very familiar with the offerings and just poke through a modest amount of samples just to stay on top of the portfolio.

Winebow at Skylight.

After a brief lunch of bruschetta at the tiny wine bar, Ino in the West Village, I make way to the Path train to Newark and the short walk to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the host for R & R Wine Group a major wine/liquor distributor in New Jersey. Here I am able to get re-acquainted with several major brands and to see what's hot in the spirits category. It was a good experience and ran into a friend that now works for R & R.

NJPAC offers a main floor plus three levels of display.

The major distributors usually offer a large selection

of items to sample - both wine and food.

I started the day on the road starting at 8:30am and make it home around eleven o'clock. A long, but rewarding day. 

Frederick Wildman 2010 Fall Event

For the third consecutive year Wildman held their event at Gustavino's, tucked away under the Queensboro Bridge at 59th Street. I like Gustavino's for its spaciousness. Sometimes these events can get quite crowded and one can end up jostling for position. Not here.

Wildman's portfolio is diverse with a little bit of everything from everywhere. The highlights for me were the quality Austrian selections from import partner Monika Caha. Every session she seems to add something exciting and new. While the Austrian grape, gruner veltliner, has made its way into American retailers and onto better wine lists, they are still unrecognizable to most. Too bad. Gruner has become one of my favorite white wines and easily one of the most adaptable to dining and social situations and Monika has a bunch of exceptional ones at popular prices.

At table 34, I revisited the unique wines of Cleto Chiarli. This is an old family name of producers of real lambrusco in Emilia-Romagna, not to be confused with the cheap sweet lambrusco's popular in this country. While not classic wines, in that they are not made from vitis vinifera grapes, but they are indeed classic in that they are remarkable pairings with food and the sparkling rose is spectacular.

A pleasant surprise were the Champagnes from Besserat de Bellefon situated in Epernay. I know I've seen this label before, but during this tasting I came away very impressed.

After the tasting I zipped south on the 6 train to the funky Lower East Side. I went to check out  a new place called The Meatball Shop. All meatballs, all day. Typical of many places in this part of town the space is small with only thirty-nine seats including the modest bar where I am. It has a retro look harkening back to pre-WWII with old photos and a collection of meatgrinders on the wall. The open windows in the front gave it a more open, breezy atmosphere with a view of the sidewalk tables and the street scene. If I turn to the left I have a grand view of the open kitchen which seems to have more staff than necessary in a symphony of organized chaos.

The bar/counter at The Meatball Shop.

The basic formula is to order a type of meatball (beef, spicy pork, chicken, fish or special) paired with a sauce then the option of either on the side of or on top of a starch (mashers, risotto, polenta, spaghetti or rigatoni). There are also subs and single sliders or just plain naked. I selected the special meatball, jambalaya, four balls made of pork, shrimp and speckled with rice placed on top of risotto and lightly sprinkled with aged cheese. I also selected a side garden salad and a draught Pironi for a total pre-tax bill of $20. While I didn't order a classic dish, these balls were right on. Good flavor and texture. The risotto was acceptable, but can be hard to pull off in this kind of setting. Better off with mashers or a pasta, though the creamy polenta sounds good for next time.

The Meatball Shop menu.

The staff was helpful and reasonably attentive though the place doesn't develop a queue until about seven o'clock, about two hours later than my arrival. They stay open until 2am and to 4am Thursday-Saturday. The menu is covered in plastic with a glass of marker pens to check off your selections. The classic green rimmed diner plates and vintage mis-matched silverware are all in line with the cuisine and decor style. Well thought out I thought. Aside from the Pironi there are two other draught spigots, a well thought out bottled beer selection and a tidy, yet solid wine list.