Wine and Walnuts

Posted By Kimberly Houston on March 6, 2010

I went to a political meet-and-greet last night where there was the obligatory wine and cheese spread.  Now, I’ve been to many, many, many of these events in my previous incarnation as a hawker of political candidates/party operative/campaign manager, etc., and I know the drill:  there isn’t much money to spend on food and drink for these events, and in any case, in a campaign you spend money on things that get votes, not refreshments for your meet-and-greets. You’ve got to refresh as many guests as you can, as cheaply as you can, hence the cheese and cracker trays from Costco and the large bottles of Yellow Tail Merlot.

Since this was a political event, it got me to thinking . . . .

Yellow Tail is the political equivalent of the well-financed incumbent in a race:  tons of name recognition and a big war chest, which means lots of $$$ to spend to get the message out. Which is why people know it, and buy it.  It’s everywhere, the label is ever-recognizable, memorable, and animal-cutesy. It’s easy to digest the brand, and people respond to that.  

Value wines, on the other hand, are the like the grassroots candidates in a race: they don’t have as much money, but work harder than everyone else, practicing retail politics as if their lives depended upon it.  Better value wines are more nuanced than Yellowtail, have more to offer in the way of finesse and flavor, and are way more interesting as a result.  Like grassroots political candidates, if you could only let more people know about these value wines, they would prefer their taste, and express that with their wallets.

That, friends, is what cheap (well-financed) wine has in common with politics:  it can be less than good, and still sell like hotcakes, because there are bags of cash available to spread the message, while the lesser-known and better choices are left out in the cold unknown, unless you’re willing to put in the time to do some research.

But back to our wine selections:  I ask you, when there is so much decent value wine out there to be had for not more than the cost of a big ass bottle of Yellowtail, why not spend a couple more bucks and get a couple hundred times more flavor and finesse?

Just sayin.’

For example, if you’re going to serve a lower-priced red, why not try Alamos Malbec from Argentina, Banfi Centine from Italy, La Vieille Cotes du Ventoux from France, or a Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot or Cabernet from Washington State?

Or if it’s white you want, Argiolas Vermentino from Italy, Babich Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, or a Chateau Ste. Michelle Pinot Gris, Riesling, or Sémillon from Washington State? (Or just get yourself a mixed case of Chateau Ste. Michelle reds and whites, for maximum versatility and taste.)

So, for any of you out there who are or will be thinking about what inexpensive wine to serve at a large event, political function, etc., don’t default to Yellowtail — do some research on value wines, or get in touch with me — I’ll help you find something inexpensive AND good.   : )

Category: Wine | No Comments »
Tags: buying wine for big events, cheap wine, good value wine, wine and politics

Posted By Kimberly Houston on March 4, 2010

Now here is a place I’d never heard of, let alone been to.  I don’t venture too much out of the confines of Wilmington proper when it comes to having dinner out, and I declare today that I am getting out of that rut!  You heard it here first.

What got me here was the monthly dinner of the Dine Wilmington Foodies Group I belong to. If not for this dedicated group of fellow foodies, I’d likely have gone a very long time before enjoying the Pesto Almond Encrusted Salmon I had here, which was very nice.

The meal we had was prepared especially for our group, so the entreés we enjoyed aren’t on the current menu, but with our special dinner this good, you’re sure to find something you can love on the regular menu. 

Which is rather extensive.  Entreés include Flounder Stuffed with Shrimp, Scallops, and Crabmeat, Fresh Yellowfin Tuna Filet Wrapped in Prosciutto and Seared, Fisherman’s Stew with Fresh Clams, Jumbo Shrimp, Black Mussels, Fresh Fish, Calamari and Scallops in Plum Tomato Broth, a Catch of the Day, and a Seafood Platter.  For you non-seafood lovers, there are the obligatory steak, chicken and pasta selections.

They also boast a full bar and fresh seafood market. 

One little thing, and it really is a little thing, about the wine list, or rather, one particular wine’s freshness.  I ordered the 14 Hands Merlot by the glass, and both myself and the friend I sat next to who ordered the same thing, felt like the bottle had been open just a wee bit too long.  It had that “off” taste. 

Now granted, she and I could have shared a bottle and avoided that problem, but sometimes you just want one glass. (Ok, not that often, and not for me, but I’m sure some people just want one glass.)  Although I didn’t want to switch to white, I figured I’d have better luck there, and chose a Sauvignon Blanc next, which was perfectly lovely and refreshing, and paired nicely with my salmon. 

The owners here — Donald and Cathy Boltz — were kind and hospitable, and did everything they could to make us feel well-cared for. They could not have been more welcoming. It’s obvious they care — A LOT — which makes this a place you surely want to try.

Fish Bites Seafood Restaurant and Fresh Market
Between Carolina Beach and Monkey Junction
(Masonboro Landing)
6132-11 Carolina Beach Road
Hours:  Monday – Saturday 11:00-9:00
910.791.1117
Beer, Wine, Full ABC Permit
fishbitesseafood.com

Category: Wilmington Eats and Drinks | No Comments »
Tags: seafood, seafood restaurant with full bar, seafood restaurants, wilmington nc seafood restaurants

Posted By Kimberly Houston on March 3, 2010

When I opened my New York Times headlines e-mail today and clicked on the Dining and Wine section, my heart began to race.  That’s because Eric Asimov’s The Pour column in today’s section is about Ridge Vineyards.  Ridge Zinfandels are my very favorite, the top of the tops, and Paul Draper, winemaker, is a rock star, in my humble estimation.  The guy’s been making excellent wine for over 40 years, and all with no formal training.  Yeah.  If you can make wine of that quality that people have loved to drink for 40 years, with nothing but your passion and some on-the-job training, you rock.

I’ve never known the Ridge backstory, but here it is, in a nutshell, from Eric Asimov:

“The winery was founded in 1959 . . . . Four scientists from Stanford Research Institute bought 80 acres on Monte Bello Ridge, including an abandoned winery and a mature vineyard. Without training, they made wine and liked the results so much that they went into business.

Mr. Draper, born in the Midwest and educated at Choate and Stanford, had served in Army intelligence in Italy, where he developed his taste for fine wine and food. After his discharge and further work for the government, Mr. Draper and two partners began an economic development project in Chile. Among other things, they had the idea of creating a model winery, making first-class wine that could be exported for hard currency.

When the partners determined that the political climate in Chile would not support a profitable enterprise, Mr. Draper returned to California with the cabernet he had made. The Ridge partners, impressed by its quality, invited Mr. Draper to join them.

Mr. Draper had no formal training, either, so he took as his guiding light an 1883 manual written by E. H. Rixford, who coincidentally planted a cabernet vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains that became legendary as La Questa.”

To read more about Paul Draper and Ridge, check out Asimov’s piece in today’s New York Times, “Letting a Grape Be a Grape.”

And if anyone wants to make a pilgrimage to Ridge sometime in the not-too-distant future, let me know, I’m game.  : )

Category: Wine | 1 Comment »
Tags: Paul Draper, Red Wine, zinfandel

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 28, 2010

Category: Wine | 2 Comments »
Tags: cabernet-sangiovese blend, wine from Mexico, wine regions of Mexico

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 25, 2010

This is the third value-priced Pinot I’ve opened this year.  As I’ve written before, it’s not easy to find a value-priced Pinot Noir that’s delicious and drinkable, especially one from California.

The Poppy Monterey County Pinot Noir 2007 is light, with bright fruit flavors and supple tannins. It would make a fine accompaniment to a weeknight dinner.  I’d likely pair it with a rotisserie chicken or a nice piece of salmon, or for my vegetarian friends, a simple pasta with veggies.  But then again, I’m not sure I’d buy it again.  It’s perfectly pleasant, but overpriced in my market, I think. Which has to do with the cost to the retailer, not the retailer mark-up itself.

I paid $18.99 for it in the Wilmington, NC market.  Now, true, we are pretty much at the end of the map (seriously, look us up on a map!) when it comes to distributor hubs, but I’ve seen this wine for $10-$12 retail all over the “Internets.”  So I’m feeling a tad violated to have paid nearly twice that for it. (Again, my wine shop of choice is not to blame for this!) At $10-$12, however, I’d most likely buy it again.

On the plus side, in the course of researching for this post, I came across a website called Prince of Pinot, which discusses and reviews only Pinot Noirs, as you might gather. Pretty handy, I’d say.

The Prince in question describes the Poppy Pinot like so:

“13.5% alc., $10. Slightly confected strawberry aromas wrapped in sweet oak with a touch of funk. Decent, but dilute, black cherry flavors with an oaky edge. Supple dry tannins make for easy drinking.”

For my money, though, I most definitely prefer the Sean Minor Napa Valley Carneros 2008 Pinot Noir, and it only set me back $15.99.  I’m also loving a value-priced Pinot Noir from Argentina these days, the Alfredo Roca Pinot Noir 2008, clocking in at around $12 a bottle.  Here in Wilmington, you can find all three of these wines at Temptations Everyday Gourmet in Porter’s Neck.

Cheers to ya!

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Tags: Alfredo Roca Pinot Noir 2008, California Pinot Noir, Sean Minor 2008 Pinot Noir, value-priced wines

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 23, 2010

The name of this place has been in the air lately.  Someone in my Wilmington Foodies group mentioned it recently, then there was overheard conversation around the water cooler, then a friend called me up on Saturday afternoon and asked if I wanted to go get a drink at “this new Irish place downtown.”

It’s a great place to have a couple pints on a Saturday night, because it’s non-smoking — yay!! — and the crowd are 30- and 40-somethings and up. I Iove the 20-somethings, I do, but it’s nice to have a place to go for drinks that contains adults of your own age, and, as an added bonus, where you have the ability to hear your dinner and/or drinking mate’s conversation!  There’s nice live music, but it’s background-y, meaning, you can still carry on a conversation with ease, a real plus.

The space is lovely, with dark, gleaming wood, mirrors, and white tablecloths, but don’t let that put you off — the place is casual and welcoming.

There’s a full menu, as well.  On Saturday night, I had the Beef Braised in Guiness, described on the menu thusly: sirloin tips in a guiness reduction sauce, served with potatoes and fresh root vegetables.  See the bright orange stuff in the pic?  That’s a combination of carrots and rutabaga, mashed, like potatoes.  I’m not at all a fan of carrots, so I left that little addition on the plate.   My friend and I also shared an apple tart with vanilla ice cream, very good.  That was the highlight of the meal for me. 

Afterwards, we grabbed a couple more drinks from the bar, listened to the music, and watched an older man do a little jig.  That’s what I mean — this place is friendly and fun, check it out.

For interior photos and more menu info, check out Liz Biro’s take on The Harp over at the Port City Foodies blog.

 

Restaurant Details:
1423 South 3rd Street, Wilmington, NC 28401-6111
(910) 763-1607‎
Cuisine:  Irish, Pub Food
Fun Atmosphere
Reservations:  Not Required
Non-smoking, Delivery Features
Casual Attire

Category: Wilmington Eats and Drinks | No Comments »
Tags: downtown Wilmington, Irish food, pubs

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 20, 2010

I get lots of wine e-newsletters, about half a dozen a week, at least.  It’s one of the ways I’m constantly exposed to new trends in the wine world, and other wine-related things I wouldn’t ordinarily know. If you’re trying to learn more about wine, I highly recommend this practice. What you do is, you spend some time checking out online wine purveyors, then sign up for their newsletters.  Sure, they’re trying to sell you something, but the amount of information you get in the process is kind of astounding.  That’s because many of the newsletters contain a wealth of useful information on a particular wine, or wine region, or wine trend, etc., before you even get to the “we’re trying to sell you some something” part.

For example, last week the Wine Access e-newsletter was all about Malbec, also know as “the hottest category in the marketplace.”  What I learned that I didn’t know:

· Argentine Malbec is the hottest category in the marketplace. (just said that, didn’t I?)

· Because of this, lots of Argentinian Malbec is “just along for the ride,” according to the Wine Access newsletter. Meaning, out of 100 Malbecs the WA folk tasted, only about a dozen are truly good.  The rest are riding the coattails of the Malbec trend.

· The secret behind the top wines of Mendoza is that the vines used are “old, often ancient. The sandy loam soil is light, imparting a certain vibrancy to the wine.”  These vines produce less than 2 tons per acre, and that old vine fruit is pretty stunning stuff.

· Then there are the imitators, which the WA folks divide into two categories:  traditional and sloppy, and new wave and cynical. The traditional and sloppy are producing wine from old vine fruit, but the wines have off-aromas, some are prematurely oxidized, and others have “aromatics that aren’t clean.”  (I’m not going to lie, I don’t even know what “unclean aromatics” are. If anyone wants to enlighten me, please feel free!)

· The new wave and cynical, on the other hand, are producing wine with “bright, fruity noses, but the mid-palate belies the aromatics. While your nose tells you one thing, your tongue senses another, and as you wait for the wine to fill out — poof — it does an about-face, leaving you with a subdued nose, thin flavors and a simple, acidic finish.”

Well, OK then, the wine industry/agribusiness is cashing in on a market trend, and consumers are along for the party.  So I guess pay careful attention to your local wine purveyors advice and input when buying your Malbec.

I don’t drink tons of Malbec, but of what I have had, Susana Balbo is my favorite producer. 

If you want to read the Wine Access article about Malbec in it’s entirety, check it out here.

Category: Wine | 6 Comments »
Tags: learning wine, Susana Balbo, Wine Access

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 17, 2010

Hello dear readers, who I love enormously. 

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time to delve into our favorite newspaper food section, today’s NY Times Dining and Wine section, and see what we can find. Some Wednesdays, there’s not one thing in there that piques my interest, but today’s section was lousy with interesting reads.

First up, a gossipy piece on New York’s chef scene and the use of Twitter and Facebook as outlets for both promotion and flame wars, called “If You Can’t Take the Heat, Don’t Read Me on Twitter.”  It details how chefs are going online to confront customers, rival chefs, suppliers, critics, and sometimes, their own bosses. Fun stuff, this!

Then there’s our old friend, Mark Bittman, with his weekly video and recipe, and this week he shows us how to make Creamy Polenta with Parmesan and Sausage.  I love this guy more and more each week.  Anything you can both explain and make look easy in a 3-minute video is something I’m going to try.  Scroll down to the bottom left of the article for the video.

Then there’s a piece called “Try the Red: Napa Learns to Sell,” on the predicament in Napa:  oversupply of wine and backed up inventory. In 2009, sales of wine $25 and over dropped 30% nationwide, and Cali wine shipments fell for the first time in 16 years, which means that much of the 2010 harvest will have nowhere to go. The crisis has meant a changing attitude towards marketing and sales among some, such as an increased focus on direct-to-consumer sales, but what’s way more interesting to me, a conscious effort to adopt and use social media as a marketing platform to alleviate the glut. 

(A funny story:  Mike Grgich, founder of Grgich Hills Estate, for years insisted on handwritten accounting. But, according to the article, “No more. At 87, Mr. Grgich recently bellowed to his staff: ‘We have to upgrade everything! Get me Facebook and Twitter!’”  Right on, Mr. Grgich!)

And in Eric Asimov’s “New Zealand Youths With Promise,” 20 New Zealand Pinot Noirs are tasted and rated. He discusses the profusion of styles, from “sleek and graceful, light and elegant,“ to “big, dense and concentrated.”  The tasting panel is thus left with the impression that NZ Pinot Noir is still trying to “find itself,” to use some old 70’s lingo I had lying around.

Lots of good stuff there today, check it out.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Eric Asimov, Mark Bittman, New York chefs

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 14, 2010

“Where’d all those songs come from?”
“Life, unfortunately.” 

What does the movie “Crazy Heart” have to do with food or wine or eating/drinking/cooking, and why am I writing about it on this blog, you may ask?  Well, I’ll tell you.  For one thing, there is a lot of drinking in this movie, as you can probably gather if you’ve seen any previews, read any reviews, or have any inkling of the subject matter.  (The spirit of choice:  McClure’s Whiskey.) And, for another, Bad Blake is a bad-ass biscuit maker in the film.  Among other things. 

That may be it for the eating and drinking connection, slim reed though it is.

Still. I saw it last night and can’t get it out of my head, and in a funk of food and wine writer’s block, here I am, writing Crazy Heart filler.  Not that the movie is in any way, shape or form “filler,” mind you.  It is not.  It is heartfelt and real and poignant, and, for the record, full of kick-ass music.  (I am going for the soundtrack tomorrow.)

Sure, some reviews mention how we’ve all been here before:  awesome musical talent succumbs to alcoholism, bad marriages and bad luck, and ends up playing the worst of possible stages:  a bowling alley in Clovis, N.M., as a sign of just how far he’s fallen.  Other less-than-stellar venues follow.  Said talent meets good woman, gets redeemed by love, gets sober, gets happily-ever-after.  Except, that’s not exactly how it happens.  In any case (and I would say this even if Jeff Bridges weren’t my favorite actor of all time), Bridges’ performance is a thing of absolute f**king beauty.  No matter what you think of the story itself, it’s his transcendent performance that holds the film together at its core and keeps you mesmerized. 

Most beautifully rendered and heartbreaking scene:  after Bad gets sober, he returns to Santa Fe to see Jean, single mother of Buddy, and his love interest, after he’s done something terrible involving she and her son while still drinking, to apologize and tell her about his sobriety.  She’s happy for him, but doesn’t want him in her life anymore.  He tells her how much he loves she and her son, saying, “But I love you both so much,” and she says something like, “If that’s true, then you’ll leave us alone,” and shuts the door. In the quietly devastating moments after, when the camera lands on Bridges’ face for what feels like an eternity, you see and feel the very specific anguish of love lost.  I’ve never seen a finer or more nuanced expression of this particular kind of pain. You can fairly feel his heart breaking. My heart was breaking for him.

Still, it’s not a sad movie; it’s complicated and real and there is redemption, just not of the cliché love-conquers-all variety.  It’s actually a rousing good time, with great acting and great music, and a few good laughs along the way.

I love this actor and I love this film, and while neither of those things have much to do with the subject matter of this blog, that’s where my heart is tonight, so that’s all I got.  That, and I think you all might want to see this film.

Them’s my thoughts.  : )

Category: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Tags: Jeff Bridges, movies

Posted By Kimberly Houston on February 10, 2010

 

So I learned something new today. You know how, if you read lots about wine and food pairing, you’re forever reading about how difficult it is to pair wine with chocolate? A few years ago before I knew what I know now, I assumed wine and chocolate were the easiest of pairings, and did pair them, often, without fear of doing it “wrong.” And, guess what? I lived to tell about it! But apparently, according to the fine folks at Wine Spectator, there’s A LOT more to consider than just grabbing a bottle of wine and a hunk of chocolate and calling it done.

In this week’s edition of Sips and Tips (a free e-newsletter from Wine Spectator), I learned that dry wines usually don’t do well with desserts — the wine has to be sweeter than the dessert, otherwise, the wine can taste bitter, or the dessert doesn’t taste as good as it should. (I knew there was some pairing advice regarding wine and dessert I needed to pay attention to, I just couldn’t remember what it was, since I don’t often pair them.)

But chocolate is different, especially if you have high quality chocolate, because very high quality chocolate has very little sugar, which can work well with a young red wine with a lot of fruit character. High quality chocolate is not really sweet, but it’s also not bitter because the chocolate and the cacao balance each other (sort of like lovers are want to do, and ain’t that sweet on Valentine’s Day?)

In the video linked below, Harvey Steiman pairs 3 or 4 good quality chocolates with a young Syrah from Washington State, Doyenne 2003 Syrah from Delille Cellars, which he calls “rich, with youthful fruit and a beautiful balance.” The chocolates range in sugar content from 8 grams up to 15 grams. Given what we learned above about sweetness and dry red wines, the higher the sugar content of the chocolate, the more difficult it is to pair with such a wine. The chocolate with higher sugar content emphasizes the tannins in the wine, the same effect as pairing a dry wine with dessert, and makes the wine more “austere.” While this might be old news to a lot of people, this is the first time it’s actually sinking into the old memory bank for me!

So, pairing wine and chocolate is very simple, and what it boils down to is this:

1. Pick a youthful red wine that has some good fruit character and has a nice balance to it; you don’t want a mature red that has more spice and earth and other stuff going on, you want a wine that emphasizes the fruit.

2. Look for a chocolate that has enough sweetness to balance the bitter, say, at least 60% cacao or more, and 13/13.5 grams of sugar or less, and you’ll be good to go.

If you want to have Harvey explain it all to you, you’ll find him enjoying his wine and chocolate here.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Hope it’s swell.

Category: Food and Wine Pairing Ideas | No Comments »
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