|
|
|
written by nikitas magel (to view article against white background, click small printer icon above)
|
|
Page 1 of 2
-
rethink pink!
-
Embracing the Allure of Rosé Wines
 Memorial Day, for many, is the unofficial start of summer. And although here, in San Francisco, we're gearing up for our coldest season, everywhere else the warm days are fast approaching. Few things beat the summer's high heat quite as well the crisp refreshment of rosé wines. But lest you grimace at the mere suggestion, know that many of today's rosés bear little resemblance to your mother's "blush" wines. You know the ones — crouching low on the bottom of supermarket shelves, sporting faux-fancy names like Almaden or Franzia, basking in the long-extinguished light of a bygone era that gave us frozen fish sticks and canned potatoes. On the contrary; a good deal of today's rosés are often something special! Devoid of the cloying sweetness typified by yesteryear's tutti-fruity abominations, rosé of today is being made progressively in the same dry style as those found all over the Mediterranean, where we often find some of the finest archetypes.
Read more...
-
boxed in
-
This isn't Your Mother's Boxed Wine
 Boxed Wine. There, I said it… er, wrote it. That wasn't so bad, right? Okay, wine snobs: stay with me, it's not what you think. Wine dummies: pay attention, this could be the start of an enduring love affair. First of all, let's be honest: good wine is expensive. And while the definitions of 'good' and 'expensive' are completely relative, the reality is that wine is not necessary for sustenance, and so anything you spend on it is purely disposable income, like music, art, or a great pair of shoes. But unlike those other things, a bottle of wine, once consumed, can never be experienced again. If you're an enthusiastic wine consumer, you know how easy it is to spend a great deal on wine. But it doesn't have to be that way. Enter, the Boxed Wine.
Read more...
-
label mabel
-
The Pitfall of Tracking Down Wines
 One thing I'd noticed quite frequently during my stint in wine retail, and continue to overhear as a customer in wine shops, is the very specific request for a particular wine: "Do you have the so-and-so wine by the so-and-so producer?" Oftentimes, a consumer experiences a wine as a patron in a restaurant or as a guest in someone's home, and soon thereafter embarks on a mission to find that very same wine. Have you ever done that? Have you ever had a really great wine somewhere, committed the label name to memory, and then decided you absolutely had to find it the next time you happened upon a wineshop?
Well, stop it. You're wasting your time and energy.
Read more...
-
plugged & twisted
-
Screwcaps and Synthetic Corks
 More and more, we're seeing wine bottles sealed with closures other than the natural cork we've come to associate with them. There are several reasons for this, depending primarily on the type of closure and style of wine. One type of cork alternative is known as the synthetic "cork" – a piece of rubbery plastic that stoppers a bottle much in the way that a traditional cork does, and must also be removed using a corkscrew. This type of closure is usually used in lower-priced wines meant to be drunk soon, since over a long period of time the synthetic material fails to ward off oxidation nearly as long as natural cork and can actually impart off-flavors to a wine. The main reason for using synthetic corks for cheaper wines is that they're a lot less expensive than natural cork; producers of such wines are wanting to cut productions costs as much as possible. The wine inside a bottle with this sort of closure isn't necessarily low quality, but simply one that's meant to be drunk soon after release (such as most whites and lighter reds). That of course means you'll never find such a cork on a higher quality wine that's crafted to keep for some time after release (such as heavier whites and reds aged in oak barrels).
Read more...
-
culinary cabernet
-
The California Cabernet Society's 2008 Library Wines Dinner
 Immediately following the California Cabernet Society's 2008 Spring Barrel Tasting Event was the Library Wines Dinner, which took place in the Wine Museum of the Culinary Institute of America's Napa Valley landmark location. Prepared by Special Events Executive Chef David Thater, it was a creative and delectible way to feature an example of the institute's culinary talent as well as demonstrate how beautifully a number of the member wineries' Cabernets paired with food.
Read more...
-
contrarian vegetarian
-
Part 2 of a Series on Pairing Wine with Food: Vegetarian Fare
 Early in my journey of discovering wine, I single-handedly (and perhaps somewhat arrogantly) concluded that it was impossible for a vegetarian to fully appreciate wine as a meat-eater could. I felt that there was no way for someone who abstained from animal fat to enjoy the rich and powerful red wines I had come to love and establish in my mind, naïvely, as the point of reference for wine in general. But that was then; my perspective is more nuanced now, as a result of having learned a great deal through tasting and formal study. And although I still don't believe a vegetarian can fully appreciate the synergy of a full-bodied red wine well-matched with food, I do acknowledge the plethora of wines that actually beautifully complement vegetable or grain dishes.
But there's a catch to pairing vegetarian food with wine.
Read more...
-
the emperor's new clothes
-
Part 3 of a Series on Pairing Wine with Food: Chocolate
 I'm a person of strong opinions, which I frequently take pleasure in expressing. But when it comes to wine, I try to exercise caution with that tendency, because I feel that the appreciation and enjoyment of wine is a very personal experience that should only be sparingly pre-empted or tainted by 'expert' advice. However, very much like art and design, even among variations of tastes, styles, and approaches, there are still some universal, often fundamental, 'rules,' if you will, about which elements work together and which ones frankly do not.
Red Wine and Chocolate do not work together.
Read more...
-
lemonade & chocolate chips?
-
Part 1 of a Series on Pairing Wine with Food: Taste Harmony
 Try something. Try pouring a glass of lemonade and set it next to a chocolate chip cookie. Now pretend this is an actual snack you're having: take a bite of the cookie, savor it; then a sip of lemonade, and savor that. Hmm… no? Now, I'm guessing you probably don't even have to go through this charade to wonder how this could possibly be considered even remotely a good idea. And if you don't have that reaction, then by all means, try it. Now once you're past that little exercise (either virtually or in real life), push aside the glass of lemonade, and pour yourself a glass of milk and drink that with your chocolate chip cookie. Ahhhh… a little more appetizing? A bit more palatable? Mmm, hmmm… yeah! But you knew that, already. Okay, long story short: lemonade and chocolate (or cookies) do not go together. Why? Well, I could probably go on and on, pontificating on the reasons, touching on principles of food chemistry and taste physiology, but… honestly, not of that is necessary and might even be considered overkill. The point here is, that certain tastes, together, simply aren't compatible in our mouths.
Read more...
-
bubbles & fins
-
Part 4 of a Series on Pairing Wine with Food: Sushi
 This past weekend, my friend Michael and I went to a sushi restaurant in our neighborhood (Hayes Valley) that I had never tried before, but have been curious and intrigued about since its opening almost two years ago: Sebo. Living in a city where sushi is ubiquitous, I've developed an intolerance over the past few years for the typically brightly-lit sushi joint whose tables sport tacky color photo-tents of everything on the menu and whose rear bathroom areas are cordoned off with the tell-tale pair of Japanese-inscribed fabric panels hanging from the ceiling and extending only a foot below eye-level. I can only guess that that's considered aesthetically pleasing in some parts of Japan. Thankfully, Sebo is a small and intimate, yet stylish, space that absolutely blew me away with their raw fish offerings. Once again, in a city where this cuisine is all-too-easy to find, it takes a lot for sushi to stand out… and I have to say, the food there is a phenomenal example of how complex and sophisticated the taste of raw fish can be. Worthy of note is that a great deal of it is flown in fresh from Japan.
Read more...
|
|
|
