What's In Your Suitcase?

I pride myself on my packing skills and can pretty much go anywhere with just a carry-on. Over time, I've learned how to edit so it's just myself and a bag on a plane. When I see people in the airport with an entire luggage train, I wonder, what could they possibly be carrying?

On a recent Friday night, one of my favorite wine stores, Le Du, hosted a last minute tasting of Burgundy wines from producer Benjamin Leroux of Maison Benjamin Leroux and Comte Armand.  Apparently, he was in the country for a visit and had a ton of wine with him - did the shop want to host a tasting? Forget the extra pairs of shoes, that's the kind of overpacking I want to do.

When we arrived, the tasting was well underway and a crowd bunched around a table lined with 11 wines. Seven of the wines were available in the store plus four "bonus" wines, two of which were  premier crus.  I wasn't able to note all, but below are some highlights.

Maison Benjamin Leroux Auxey Duresse Blanc 2010
Pale yellow in the color, the nose showcased some citrus fruits, slate, minerality and a twee bit of oak.  With the first sips, the wine showcased a moderate acidity and similar flavors to the nose.  The slight bit of oak persisted, which I personally found a little off-putting. However, it was restrained enough to not be confused with a California chardonnay.

Maison Benjamin Leroux Chassagne Montrachet Abbaye de Morgeot 2010
With this wine, lime is the name of the game:  lime fruits and limestone notes dominated the glass. There was more minerality in this one than the Auxey Duresse and the oak was absent. Again, the wine expressed a moderate acidity and was wonderfully balanced; here's a beautiful example of a white Burgundy.

Maison Benjamin Leroux Volnay Mitans 2010
Black cherry, strawberry, violets and bit of ash were immediately noticed when we smelled the wine and after sipping through, the fruits came through again.  It was traditionally light bodied structured with moderate tannins.  This was a very elegant wine - a real pinkie lifter.

Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru clos des Epeneaux 2010
"Purple" was the first word that came to mind with this wine.  Black cherry, plum and violets joined green pepper, rosemary and other herbaceous notes in the nose.  On the tongue, the fruits burst with bing cherry, blueberries and super-ripe plums.  The herbs planted themselves back into earthy notes and  you could taste the all the vineyard components with each sip.  Truly a stunning wine.

Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru clos des Epeneaux 1999
This is the oldest Burgundy I have ever consumed and was a prime example of how a wine ages.  Fruit was almost nonexistent in this wine and instead earth, tobacco, ash and a muskiness pervaded. An odd scent of sour milk also wafted through, though it was muted. On the tongue, I had to dig around for a bit to find traces of violets and overripe plums. The noticeable tannins gave this wine quite a bit of structure.  Crazy-complex and a good indicator of what its younger sibling is going to taste in a few years.

Keep tasting, friends...

Opera Lambrusco Hits High Notes

I could riff endlessly with puns about the Opera Lambrusco di Modena 2011.  It's a beautifully harmonious wine that just sings in the glass.  It sets the stage for a great meal.

Ok, I'm done.

In all seriousness, I'm finding Lambrusco to be a great wine when I'm feeling indecisive about what I'm in the mood to drink. It's multiple juxtapositions in a glass:  Chilled like a white but red; frizzante but not overtly bubbly; sweetly juicy but not dessert-like.  It satisfies multiple cravings at once, like chocolate-covered pretzels.

Let's take a recent Saturday, for example. My friend was visiting from Boston and after we did a few obligatory errands in the freezing cold, we decided the best course of action was to grab a glass of wine.  (Apparently, everyone else in NYC had the same idea; it took visits to 3 different wine bars to find one that could accommodate us.)

Safely ensconced in the warmth of Gottino, our attention turned to the wine list.  The thought of white wine left me feeling even chillier than I already was, but a warm red felt a bit heavy for early afternoon.  Bubbles had a brunch-like appeal, but traditional white sparklers weren't calling too me.

Viola!  Lambrusco!

The Opera Lambrusco di Modena 2011 had a bit of cotton candy, plum and raspberry on the nose.  On the palate, the same flavors appeared along with some bing cherry and red licorice.  What really made this wine notable were the frothy, foamy bubbles that rose up like meringue in the glass.

My interest in Lambrusco continues to grow and I foresee myself gravitating to them when they appear on wine lists.  When will this fascination end, you ask?  It ain't over till the fat lady sings (sorry, couldn't resist one more).

Keep tasting.....

Shame On You

Here's a story about bad wine. As discussed in my Presidential Inauguration post, wine is not just about what's in the glass but the experience of drinking it; even average wines become special in the right context. Conversely, wines can be ruined if the situation is mired in negativity.  A prime example of this was the Slow Wine event in NYC on January 28th.

Slow Wine is a branch of the Slow Food movement, which, according to slowfood.com, is defined as follows:

Slow Food stands at the crossroads of ecology and gastronomy, ethics and pleasure. It opposes the standardization of taste and culture, and the unrestrained power of the food industry multinationals and industrial agriculture. We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to the pleasure of good food and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our association believes in the concept of neo-gastronomy - recognition of the strong connections between plate, planet, people and culture.

Good, Clean and Fair

Slow Food's approach to agriculture, food production and gastronomy is based on a concept of food quality defined by three interconnected principles:

GOOD a fresh and flavorsome seasonal diet that satisfies the senses and is part of our local culture;

CLEAN food production and consumption that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health;

FAIR accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for small-scale producers.

The movement started in 1986 in Piedmont, Italy, one of my favorite wine regions.  During a vacation there a few years back, I was imbued with these values with every meal I ate and every vineyard I walked through. I gained a deep appreciation for their work and what they are trying to achieve on a now-international level.   For weeks after, I couldn't walk by a McDonald's without throwing it a dirty look and hissing under my breath.

 (Piedmont Landscape - how beautiful is that??)

(Vineyards in Piedmont)

Wine is a natural part of the movement as terroir, an integral element in great wines, encapsulates many of these principles.  Needless to say, I was very excited for this event.

However, the Slow Wine event went downhill very, very quickly.  Upon arrival, about half of the tables were empty; many of the distributors ran out of inventory during the daytime sessions and vacated their stations.  For the remaining tables, their portfolios were severely depleted and only had a couple of offerings to pour. Tickets were oversold for the venue capacity and a game of bumper cars ensued trying to move from table to table.  Finally, those promised hors d'oeuvres?  They were just tired platters of stale crackers, sweating cheese and soggy mini sandwiches, for which the queue rivaled the bread lines of Communist Russia.

I was able to pluck a few "best of show" wines out of the bunch (grape pun alert!), but alas, no pictures due to the high bump-to-spillage risk ratio.

Best Sparkler 
Barone Pizzini Franciacorta DOCG 2009, Lombardy
This chardonnay/pinot nero blend was a beautifully soft and creamy mouthful.  The bright acid kept the wine from going flaccid in the mouth and sang with bits of apricot and straw.  I'm becoming increasingly intrigued by Franciacorta, a sparkling wine from the Lombardy region.  I feel a new project coming on.

Best Red
La Gironda Barbera Superior 2009, Piedmont
Ripe plum, bing cherry and an earthy soil appeared on the nose.  In the mouth, the same flavor profiles followed suit and were given a bit of structure through the noticeable acid and moderate tannins.  Medium bodied and easy to drink, this was one of the best reds I sipped on all night.

Best Sweet Wine
La Gironda Moscato d'Asti, Piedmont
Classic moscato notes of orange blossom, peach and candied apricots wafted up immediately from the glass.  On the tongue, the same light sweetness burst in each frizzante bubble.  Not as complex as my favorite La Spinetta Moscato d'Asti but still a nice option.

However, these few bright spots were tarnished by the disorganization and chaos that swirled around them.  As an event planner, nothing infuriates me more than a badly executed event.  Coupled with my personal vested interest in Piedmont, I was roaring with disappointment.  This event did such a disservice to Slow Food that all I can do is scold them.  Shame on you.


Keep tasting, friends.....

Inauguration Weekend

I think this sums up the Inauguration weekend in DC perfectly.

I'm sure Jose Andres was referring to the terroir and the history of the wine in his remark above, but wine can be transportive to a place in one's memory. Almost none of the wines I had that weekend were particularly spectacular or of note, but because of the context in which I drank them, I will relive these incredible moments when I see one of the bottles.

We started the weekend off with dinner at Bobby Van's on Friday night. With a good portion of their wine list half-price on Friday and Saturday nights, it made sense budget-wise to order a bottle (not like it really takes that much to convince me to order a bottle). We went for a Jean-Luc Colombo Croze-Hermitage Syrah 2006.  It was a very traditional Rhone Syrah, with notes of plum, black pepper, tobacco on the nose and similar spicy and herbaceous notes following suit on the palate.  Medium bodied and structured with medium tannins, it made good friends with our filet mignons.

Saturday brought us to the DC Armory for National Day of Service.  The air vibrated as thousands of people turned out to help and the rainbow population of volunteers melded together in camaraderie to create kits of grooming essentials for overseas troops.

(volunteers)

(Dr. Jill and Vice President Joe Biden making a speech at the Armory)

We spent the remainder of the day walking around the National Mall and playing tourist until it was time to get ready for the Kids' Concert at the Convention Center.

Come on now, when you hear Kids' Concert, don't you think of choirs of children singing their little hearts out?  We did, and we were wrong. So, so wrong.  Our first inkling came when Usher opened the show.  By the time the closing act, Katy Perry, sang her last song to the cheering 4-ft-tall-and-under crowd, all we could think was, damn, feels good to be a kid.

Hungry and thirsty, we ended up at Tony Cheng's for Chinese.  Prosecco seemed like a good match for the Asian cuisine and with a group of 20+ people it worked as a crowd-pleaser, so we went with Lamarca Prosecco. The lightly yeasty notes mingled with hints of peach, apricot and other orchard fruits.  The mild bubbles gave it a good mouthfeel without overwhelming our food.

Sunday found us at brunch with my college friend, her husband and new baby.  Their awesome blog, www.DMVDining.com, has been gaining quite the following and it was invigorating to talk shop (and food!) with them.

(Kennedy Center from the Georgetown Waterfront)

After, we wandered Georgetown for a bit until it was time for dinner at one of my favorite DC restaurants, Zaytinya (home of the opening blog picture).  However, after trying to coordinate with 15 people at a tapas dinner, I needed a drink - badly.  Unfortunately, I can't accurately report back on my glass of wine; I ordered an Assyrtiko but what I received lacked the stony flintiness and minerality normally associated with the grape.  Most likely, I received my neighbor's Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon/Assyrtiko blend as I noted pineapple and tropical fruits in this glass.  Still delicious, though.

Then (drumroll please)..................

Inaguration Day!

6:15am and we're downstairs, bleary-eyed but ready to start the day.  After security checks, we headed to the Capitol Building.

Everyone has been asking what it felt like to be there and the best I can say is, I felt like an atom, a tiny floating particle in a large moving object.  I was a part of something much bigger than I, but this grandness existed because of each of us present. The crowds flowed, swelled and crested with each speech and with each oath.  Never in my life have I ever felt so singularly alone yet an integral part of something.

(see the teeny-tiny monument in the background?)

(crowds)

(stage right)

We were next driven to our viewing spot for the Inaugural Parade:

(on your right, the presidential viewing box)

 (our view behind bleachers, oh yeah)

(I can't decide if I felt safe or scared with all those rifles)

Finally, onward to.... The Ball! 

(main room)

(I really wanted to show off my shoes)

(Katy Perry doing her thing)

(Dupont Circle VIP room)

So, what did we drink at The Ball?  Patriotic event = domestic wines.  Black tie event = sparkling wine.  Put those together and I'm drinking Woodbridge Brut sparkling wine from California.  It was simple and accessible: a little peachy, a little yeasty, small bubbles. But, as I'm drinking it at the Inaugural Ball, it's the finest champagne. 

The evening culminated with a private dessert reception at the Biden residence.  More wine, hors d'oeuvres, dessert, a dance floor, live band....

(our gracious after-party host)

....and a late-night performance by Darren Criss from Glee.

I'm grateful for wine.  I'm grateful because serves as another source of memory.  Beyond seeing pictures, beyond hearing songs, it's another sensory experience that can bring me back to this particular moment in my life.

Keep tasting....

Wine Tasting Event Tomorrow!

It's a private party, though, so I can't share deets.  Sorry, kids. But, I'll be sure to fill you in on all the tasting notes after.  But, for your reading pleasure, here's the How to Taste Wine 101 worksheet that all guests will be receiving. Enjoy!

How to Taste Wine

by: Shana Speaks Wine

Taste doesn’t just happen in your mouth - you also taste wine with your eyes and your nose!

Eyes

Is the wine clear?

What color is the wine?

How light or deep is the color?

Nose

How intense are the aromas?

What are some scents you detect?

Mouth

Is the wine sweet or dry?

How acidic is the wine? (the mouthwatering effect)

What’s the body of the wine? (does it feel watery?  heavier?)

What are some flavors you detect?

How strong are the tannins? (with red wines)

Tongue Receptors

Shana Sokol 

Shana Speaks Wine 

 shanaspeakswine.blogspot.com   

shana_sokol@yahoo.com

Follow me on Twitter: @ShanaSokol  

Like me on Facebook:  facebook.com/ShanaSpeaksWine

Goldilocks and the 3 Bubblies

Once upon a time there was a girl named Goldilocks.*  One evening, close to New Year's Eve, the fair-haired maiden was invited to a party. Full of excitement and merriment, she donned her favorite party dress, glossed her lips and curled her hair in the most fetching manner.  She was just about ready to go but one thing was missing: a gift for the host.  Knowing she could not show up empty-handed, Goldilocks set out to find the perfect present.

Chocolates?  She wondered.  Flowers?  Our heroine wandered the chilly night pondering her options.  Just when she started to despair, the glowing lights of a wine store appeared in the distance.

Of course!  She would bring a bottle of bubbly.  With glee, she entered the shop.

Our leading lady first tried Clement Klur Cremant D'Alsace, a sparkling wine (but not champagne as it was not from the Champagne region) from France.   It was yeasty and toasty, with some notes of sour cream and green apple on the nose.  On the tongue, it was very dry and the baking bread tones again appeared.  But oh dear!  The bubbles felt like soda carbonation! "These bubbles are too harsh!" she declared.

Next, she saw a beautiful pink Cleto Chiarli Rose Spumante Brut de Noir Lambrusco from Italy.  Delicious strawberry, raspberry and rhubarb appeared right away on the nose.  On the tongue it was slightly fruity up front, rather toasty on the finish, dry and contained a decent amount of acidity.  Hmmm, she thought, this is very nice, but, alas, it was only lightly frizzante.  "These bubbles are too soft!"  she cried.

Our heroine was overcome with hopelessness, but just as she was about to leave, the kind shopkeeper brought out one more, a  Marc Hebrart Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagne.  "Oooooh," she thought, and her eyes widened with the first sip.  Toast and yeast were prominent on the nose, along with pear and some yogurt/dairy tones.   The palate was similar in flavors, refreshingly dry and the refined, moussey bubbles danced on Goldilocks' tongue.  "This is just right!"  she announced.

With a twinkle in his eye, the shopkeeper wrapped up this treasure and our heroine skipped off into the night.

*These characters are a work of fiction and any resemblance to real-life people is purely coincidental.  Trust me.  The last time I tried to style my hair with a curling iron I ended up burning my ear.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone much joy and happiness in this upcoming year and looking forward to all the opportunities the future brings!