Petrolo Wines at Tavern

I had lunch today at Tavern in Los Angeles with Luca Sanjust, owner of Petrolo winery in Tuscany. He was showcasing the pre-releases of his 2008 Torrione and Galatrona, in addition to some current and library wines. Having only tasted one or two of his wines in the past, I jumped at the opportunity.

The lunch began with some Ostertag Sylvaner (I didn't catch the vintage...) just to wet the whistle and prime the palate. We quickly moved into the 2007 and 2008 Torrione, which is predominantly Sangiovese. Luca's father was originally a Chianti producer, but they decided to ride the Super-Tuscan wave at Petrolo. The Torrione, while pricey for a Sangiovese, is actually still quite a good value for itself. Especially when considered against wines like Tignanello. The 2007 was firmly structured and seems to be built for the long haul. The 2008 is drinking better today and likely will over the coming years while the '07 comes into its own.

We moved on to the 2008 Galatrona which is 100% Merlot. They planted this Merlot back when it was trendy. I wonder if they regret the decision now... Regardless, the wine is nothing short of wonderful. We followed that with the 2005 and 2006 vintages. I must say that, despite critical reviews, I preferred the 2005. It's showing more complexity and aroma, more generous fruit and, all-in-all, seems the better wine of the three for drinking tonight. The 2006 is in need of some serious time and the 2008 is, obviously, still very primary, but looks to be one that will be drinkable fairly early as well.

These wines are fairly pricey for what they are, if you consider that they are just IGT wines. However, they exemplify all the character of Tuscan wines (which I believe is most important to Luca) and compete in a world format as well. If you happen to find an extra hund-y laying around, spring for a 2005 Galatrona. I don't think it would be a disappointment.

Fried Chicken and Carillon

I've been on a deep-frying kick. I'm decidedly OCD and when I get going on something, I tend to beat it to death. I had some extra buttermilk in the fridge and decided I was going to make fried chicken. After soaking some chicken breasts in the aforementioned buttermilk for 24 hours, I was ready to fire up a vat of oil and get to work.

I must say that this has been Kara's favorite dinner in a long time, which is actually saying a lot. I prepared a simple Caesar salad, the Buttermilk Fried Chicken and a good old-fashioned box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. The buttermilk/flour combo created an amazingly delicious crusty skin on the chicken breasts and was crisped to perfection. There is something so amazing about good homemade fried chicken. It takes me back to my childhood when my Tennessee-born grandmother would fry chicken for our long road trips to Ohio.

So, to go along with the chicken, we opened a Louis Carillon 'Les Champs Canet' Puligny-Montrachet 2001. Critical reviews put this as well past its prime, but it's drinking beautifully and Kara noted it as the best white Burgundy she's ever had. Balanced acidity, strongly present minerality and integrated oak flavors all come together in this beautiful portrait of what Chardonnay should always be. And this is not a great vintage for them...

In the following days, we ate a lot of fried chicken: wings, legs and more. Needless to say, we are due for a little cut-back on the calories so I think we're aiming for a weeklong diet in the coming days.

Dinner with Cheree and Josh

I always neglect to take pictures of the food at these onslaughts.





Our good friends Cheree and Josh attended one of the legendary dinner parties at our place last night. It had been awhile since we'd seen them and they'd been wanting to experience the madness since the first time we did this. So, with a long weekend at hand, I set forth to build another wine-paired menu for the four of us.

We began at their arrival with some bubbles, of course: Andre Robert Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc from Le Mesnil sur Oger. 100% sustainably-produced Chardonnay from Grand Cru vineyards and a reserve blend of three vintages. At the price, this is really amazing a terrific value. Probably retails for about $40-ish. Lots of minerality and, as it warms in the glass, the ginger, orange marmalade and lemon rind comes out. Great chalkiness in addition to the standard toast and ginger flavors. Definitely my new "house" Champagne!

After a leisurely cocktail hour, I strapped myself in for the cooking process. We began with some oysters: Shygokus from the Pacific which are reputed to be somewhat rare. They were very clean tasting with significant brine. Only slightly larger than Kumimotos, they were packed with delicate flavors. I served these two ways: traditionally with no decoration and also as a "Chesapeake Bay Shooter". The shooter included vodka, olives, shallots, garlic and lemon zest. I'm a purist, myself, so, while the shooter was fun, I totally dug the pure oyster. And especially with the Pascal Cotat 'Les Monts Damnes' Sancerre 2008. The wine was crisp and citrus-y, but also leaning into some tropical notes aromatically. Wonderful old-world minerality that clings to the palate. Terrific oyster wine and should be interesting to taste again with some age as I know these wines can go the distance.

The second course was a real hit: Pad Thai served with the Weinbach 'L'Inedit' Riesling 2006. I love Pad Thai, in general, but this recipe rocks my world. Not overly saucy or overly sweet and very fresh and integrated flavors that come together like a beautifully balanced wine. Which can also be said for the Riesling. The 'L'Inedit', in my experience, is always so delicately put together and offers so much flavor and substance in a bold package, but without feeling overblown at all. It's like watching a really great action movie that has really well-written dialogue and a well thought-out story. When does THAT happen...?

Next, we ventured into a Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing and a Goat Cheese Cake on top. I love this salad. Bacon is the great equalizer with wine pairing and this course allowed me to break into red wine, despite it being a salad course. I paired a Russian River Pinot Noir from Arista winery 2005 called 'Longbow'. The wine was balanced and drinking at its peak with solid red fruits and moderate body. Not overly complex, but servicable with the salad. This was my least favorite wine and pairing of the evening, but nothing at all to complain about, by any means.

For the main course, I broke out the Beef Wellington and some Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts. We've done the Wellington before, but it's always a hit. As I often do, I eliminated the foie gras and substituted a mushroom and bleu cheese mixture inside the puff-pastry. It was an excellent bridge to the funky earthiness of the Cos d'Estournel 2001. Cheree smelled it and immediately said, "barnyard poopy". I love that! Though an off-vintage, I've been loving this wine over the years. Still youthful, it has a significant life ahead and I will abstain from popping another cork for probably five more years, despite how well it is drinking now. Lots of rich black fruits, plenty of earth and dirt, Brett and florality.

As usual, no one ever makes it to dessert and I'm quickly learning to always have one ready in the wings, but to not go to any extra efforts. I hade some of my homemade vanilla ice cream prepared and I picked up some bananas to have a Bananas Foster. Kara and I were kind of excited about it so we made it anyway about an hour after company had left. It was absolutely the best I've ever made this dish and we both devoured it. There's nothing better than homemade ice cream and the caramel sauce and dark rum were just taking it to a whole other level.

All-in-all, another successful dinner extravaganza and everytime it gets smoother, faster and easier to execute. A perfect way to spend Sunday evening with friends!

Zind-Humbrecht and TCA

I don't want to get up on the soap box or anything, but I really felt compelled to share this:








I attended a lunch with Zind-Humbrecht probably about two years ago now. If you're not familiar with the wines, they are one of the most famous producers in Alsace. I'm not personally a HUGE fan of Alsacian wines, but I keep pushing myself to find my way in to loving them.

At this lunch, the topic of TCA (corkiness) came up and our host revealed that he had found the way to avoid corkiness in his wines. His theory was that corkiness was caused by the chemicals and pesticides found in the ground. The rains would splash these chemicals on to the cork trees where the cork is harvested and TCA is thereby introduced into the wines. Sounds like an interesting and reasonable theory...?

The Solution: Zind-Humbrecht only purchases cork harvested from six feet and higher on the cork trees. Thereby, avoiding the chemicals and pesticides...

The Result: The 2009 Pinot Gris I opened last night... Corked.