Barbaresco at Firenze Osteria

I feel like I may have mentioned Firenze Osteria before. It's our new favorite restaurant in the valley where finding decent food is the biggest challenge. Top Chef contestant Fabio is the owner and chef. It's very cute and reminds me of restaurants we dined at in Tuscany. The food is pretty solid with some hits and misses in the pasta category, but light years above every other Italian restaurant in the area.

Today, we grabbed a bottle of Pio Cesare Barbaresco 2001 and headed out to our new favorite haunt. The wine was showing beautifully - right in its window of happiness! This is hardly a profound wine, but it is textbook Barbaresco. I have blind tasted this wine and nailed it down to the vintage. Bricking at the rim, rose petals and chalk on the nose with candied cherry fruit. Grippy, but only from the varietal character. It's pretty spot on right now!

It worked wonderfully with the Burratta and Bacon Crostini we had as a starter. And even better with the Orechiette with Sausage and Spinach. This was an awesome pairing! I ate the whole dish myself and didn't really share much with Kara. But she was much happier with the Butternut Squash Ravioli in the Brown Butter Sauce, even though it was not that great a wine pairing.

A quick note on how restaurants recover from bad experiences, because this was the real highlight of the day: They have this really awesome olive focaccia at Firenze Osteria. Kara dug in as soon as it hit the table and was about to take a bite when she saw that one of the olives was actually a dead fly. She quickly notified the server who apologized. The manager came by shortly thereafter and apologized, informing us the least they could do was take care of our lunch. What a recovery! As a restaurant manager, I don't expect this kind of response. We're the easy guests to deal with because we've been there a hundred times on the other end of it. But it reminded me how good it feels and how important it is to come back hard when a guest has a bad experience in your restaurant. The "recovery" from something like that is so important! I already liked this place, but now I know that if anything ever goes wrong, they've got my back! And I will definitely be telling my staff about how this bad experience was turned into an amazing one. Great work, guys!

So - another fantastic day in the world of food and wine. Hope you're drinking some good juice as well!

33rd Birthday Celebration

After our party the night before, Kara and I were a little slower getting started the morning of my birthday than we'd hoped. But, we eventually got our act together and jumped in the car to head down to Disneyland. Kara is convinced that I'm at my happiest when in Disney theme parks. What better place to spend the birthday? Bill and Beckie were meeting us down there with Callie (their daughter) to spend the day.

The park was a blast, as usual. California Adventures serves wine, beer and margaritas as well. So, I had a Karl Strauss Oktoberfest with my chicken soft tacos for lunch at the Pacific Wharf. Then, with a full stomach and fading hangover: off to the Paradise Pier Roller Coaster to start the day!

After a day full of festivities and rides (including the re-screening of Captain EO with MJ!!!), Kara and I snuck off to the Napa Rose Restaurant in the Grand Californian hotel. I'd never been, but had been wanting to go for a long time. We got in without a reservation. The atmosphere is okay: Kara said it had a "cafeteria"-feel to it, but also made her not feel so bad about wearing a tank top and sandals. There were elements that infiltrated from the theme park that made it a little tacky. But the food and service were top notch.

After cocktails, I ordered a bottle of Abazzia Barolo 2004. Incredibly young, I know! But a great vintage and it was one of two Barolos on the menu (the list is very heavy in California, as one might expect). After a quick decant, we dug into it along with our Rabbit Meatloaf and Quail Egg, Red Pepper Ketchup and Fava Bean Salad. After this course, we knew it was going to be an awesome experience. The Barolo was perfect with the rabbit cutting the firm tannin and showing off some more spice notes and florality. Kara was most impressed with the Red Pepper Ketchup.

For dinner, Kara ordered a Roasted Duck with Goat Cheese Stuffed Cherries. I ordered the Braised Short Ribs in Zinfandel Jus. We accompanied that with a Truffled Orecchiette and Cheese (Mac and Cheese!). The Duck was the best pairing of the night with the Barolo, I must say. It just sung. The Short Ribs, while awesome, were a little heavy for the wine, but dang were they good! Their Truffle Mac is pretty awesome as well. Everything on the table was excellent and we were totally happy.

We had to run off immediately to get back to see the new water show called World of Color. This show was absolutely spectacular! A must see! Words can't really do it justice - even trying to explain the concept or technical aspects will make it sound lamer than it is. You just have to see it.

This was one of the most fun birthdays I've had in years. Granted, after working most of them, having the day off was a plus. But I can't thank Kara enough for showing me such a great time. Can't wait 'til next year!

On the Eve of 33

I don't usually "get into" my own birthday. I'm pretty sure I've worked for the past ten of them of so. Even my 30th! But, I figured I was crossing a boundary this year into the wild world of Middle-Agedom (closer to 35 than to 30 - ) so why the heck not?! And I was about due to celebrate a birthday for a change. So, we started celebrating on the Eve of 33!

Matty, Bill, Beckie and their daughter Callie all dropped by on Monday night for a low-key hang. Kara had tried to organize an official party, but just couldn't get everyone together on a weeknight. So, we got some pizzas from our favorite local joint and just popped some corks while Callie was entertained by one of my Tom and Jerry DVD's in the background.

The line-up:

We started out with a Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 1995. Rob Sweeney (part owner of Vine Cliff who we ate with at Redd recently) had been saying that this was one of their better wines. I just happened to have a bottle that I picked up with a '94 last year and thought we might give it a shot. The '94 we drank earlier this year was going vegetal and was definitely past its prime. Tangy and green - not a good showing. This '95 however was far more structured and dark, with dusty/chalky tannin and still showing good black fruits. It seems it may have a few more years ahead of it even. While not a profound wine, it was very good for a fifteen year old California Cab and better than I expected from it. And I picked it up for about $30 after shipping off Wine Commune. I think I just saw a couple close at $25 this weekend on that site. Pretty awesome deal!

Next, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I pulled out a Lewis 'Mason's' Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 for Bill. I've written this wine up recently so I won't bore you with the tasting notes again, but this was clearly the favored wine of the evening. Bill was one of my bartenders when I was the GM of Sterling Steakhouse in Hollywood. We poured this by the glass as our premium Cab, but I'm fairly certain we drank more than we sold. Still great and instantly gratifying and it has never disappointed anyone I've poured it to or myself for that matter.

I let Bill pick the next wine out of the "Guest Cellar". He selected the Berronia 'Gran Riserva' Rioja 2001. Well, while I think this wine is a terrific value and I do like it, there was no way this was going to follow up the Lewis. Dirty baby diaper, coffee and plum/cherry fruit with dill are always a disappointment after a big ole jammy Cab. So, we corked that back up and I dove down into the real cellar to pull something to redeem myself.

I pulled a Barrel Sample of the 2003 Phelps Insignia. A good friend who worked at Phelps gave us this bottle when we visited a number of years ago when the 2003 was still in barrel. We never did get around to trying it so it became sort of a collector's piece: useless! So, I popped it for fun. Interesting: it definitely wanted a heavier dollop of oak than it had, which I know the final product did. There was a prickle to the mouthfeel still, even after years in the bottle. But the fruit was beautiful and pure Insignia. This was a cool experiment and I'm kind of glad I kept this bottle and finally chose to open it.

Before we even finished the Insignia, I pulled a bottle of L'Aventure 'Optimus' 2003 because Bill has five of them in his own cellar he is saving. He loves the winery. I thought I'd open my last one so he can check in with it to see how it's drinking. It was good, but not as good as bottles I've had in the past. The fruit seemed a little less pronounced (tired, perhaps..?) and while still showing structure, that youthful vivacity that is so joyful in his wines seems to have passed. I personally am glad this is my last bottle, but I will be interested to retaste this over the next day or two.

So - a hearty thanks to the gang for coming over to celebrate with me. These events are always better spent with friends.

Chateau Lassegue and Wellington

Just looking at this picture makes me SO happy. I adore Beef Wellington and I've become something of an expert at making it as a result. It's like my obsession with the Club Sandwich: I'm disappointed more often than excited so I simply have to make them at home to ensure satisfaction. A Club seems so simple that anyone could do it, right? But good bread is quintessential, as is the quality of the turkey and the crispness of the bacon. Every piece of the puzzle is integral to the quality of the final product. Such is the case with the Beef Wellington!

So, let me get off my soap box to talk about this spectacular dining experience and the wine that accompanied it:

I use a good Bleu Cheese and wild mushrooms instead of Foie Gras on my Wellington. I think it creates the same earth tones, but adds more complexity. And it's sort of more fun to pair a wine to! The side dish was actually from a local restaurant that we discovered recently: Osteria Firenze. This is their "Naked Spinach Dumpling" which seems to be just a ball of spinach and cheese. It was sort of disappointing when it arrived as an entree in the restaurant, but the leftovers made a badass side dish for this dinner.

To pair, we opened a Chateau Lassegue St. Emilion Grand Cru 2004. This is a project run by Jess Jackson (yes - of Kendall Jackson...) and made by Pierre Seillan, who also makes the highly touted Verite wines domestically. I must say, for what I paid for this wine, it was really quite wonderful. It's definitely a more "New World" style of Bordeaux. But as California can not create the terroir of France in its wines, Bordeaux can not seem to hide the terroir that is inherent even when dolloped with 80% new oak. The wine was showing a lot of youthful character still and seems to have a significant life ahead of it. Rich, youthful and dark fruit mixed with lots of oak character and mineral/earth. Solid stuff. And much better than his Tuscan wine of the same cepages (Arcanum) which we tried recently as well. There is no question that Tuscany's Bordeaux blends have nothing on the "real" Bordeaux.

I think this retails for about $60-ish. I don't know if it's worth that much. But they've been discounting it to move out the old vintages so you might find a good deal. At $30 it's be a good steal!

Teaching the Monkeys 2: The US

The staff at Jar have traversed their way through the unit on France, fairly successfully I must say. The scores on the exam were very good and it was obvious who put a little effort into their study. Good thing we didn't use a bell curve because Cheree got a 100%.

This week we are throwing the gauntlet down again with the wines of the United States and the flavor profiles of major grapes. It's another unit with a lot of information, but all of great importance. It touches on what AVA's are and the bottling regulations, major AVA's on the west coast, and the common flavors found/tasted in varietal wines.

I hope that this unit improves their tasting ability and vocabulary a little bit. Having a textbook list of flavors for each grape was always helpful to me in the early stages. My recommendation was that they think of all the potential flavors as ingredients in a dish that would be cooked together, rather than thinking of each fruit individually. The combo of blackberry, cassis, eucalyptus and licorice is different than just thinking of if the wine tastes like any of those things individually.

Study hard, Jarheads! Your next exam is written and awaits the fruits of your efforts!

All in Good Fun

This idea has been a year in the making. We've just never been able to get our act together to shoot it. Finally got it done last night! We had better takes than this one, but there's something I really like about the "realness" of this one. As well as the brilliant performances!

And I must say that I have nothing against the winery. It just wasn't as funny with any other name...

Napa - Day 4 "The Sonoma Side"

We rolled out of bed and hopped in the car to race over to Sonoma for our last day in the valleys. Sojourn, a relatively new Pinot Noir producer, was hosting us at their guest house. It was gorgeous - right in the middle of their "Home Ranch" vineyard (from which they have just begun bottling a new Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2007 vintage), as well as on the Sonoma Country Club golf course.

In continuing with our "laid back" MO, we found a cute little oyster bar just off the Sonoma Square called Meritage. We started with a delicious martini that used Hendricks, Lillet Blanc and cucumber. A dozen oysters and the party was started! For the Sage/Speck Mini-Pizza and Steak Sandwich, we moved over to the Italian Margarita which used a floater of Tuaca - very cool layer to the classic. The server informed us Happy Hour was from 3-6 and all the oysters were 1/2 off. We immediately began making plans to come back in a mere three hours.

We walked the Sonoma Square which is adorable and eventually made our way into Sojourn to taste the current lineup. Very good wines, in general with a couple of standouts. The Rodgers Creek Pinot 2008 (which Spectator slammed with a score of 78) was actually quite good, but very herbal. It might not be for everyone, but Kara and I selected it as our favorite of the Pinots, which also featured the Sonoma Coast blend and Russian River blend. Then, the three Cabernets which are new this year, of which our favorite was the Spring Mountain. The Howell Mountain was also good, but showed some rubber and tar. The Sonoma Cab was chalky and restrained, but also a good representation.

We returned to meet my folks at Meritage again, powering down a bottle of 2007 Araujo Sauvignon Blanc with four dozen oysters, two orders of mussels, fried calamari and truffle parmesan fries. I also tried their Dirty Cougar martini which used Citrus vodka, St. Germain, grapefruit and Lavendar Honey. It was fairly sweet, but very unique and a real crowd-pleaser.

We drug the folks back to the house where we had a half-bottle of the Dana Estates 'Lotus' 2007 which has the distinction of not being released yet and was awarded 100 points by Robert Parker. We were all sort of let down by this wine, but with 100 points in tow and a $300 pricetag, there are a lot of expectations. It was fat and inky, very dominant in alcohol, and fairly one-dimensional. Fun to try, though, and with the score behind it, I'll likely try to make a few bucks on buying it.

Dinner was at Cafe La Haye where we drank a 2007 Seven Stones Cabernet against a 2000 Pichon Lalande. The Pichon was certainly more my speed, but still VERY young and primary. It has a ways to go, but the nose is just beautiful right now with plenty of mineral and youthful, ripe black fruits. The Seven Stones was good, but way overpriced at $175 retail. The food was really great! I highly recommend this cute little spot, but make ressies because it is tiny!

And so ended the trip! Whenever I leave wine country, I always think that I'm going to need a week off from drinking, but I know I'm going to want a glass of wine the night I get home because I'm going to miss the valleys. The best thing is that each glass of wine transports me back there, and that's one of the things I love about wine. It's like a mini-vacation in a glass!