Napa Valley Dreaming ...

We had a Napa Valley theme going this week at Balaban's.
On Wednesday, Scott K had a Cabernet Sauvignon tasting, most of which were from Napa Valley.
And on Thursday, my newsletter focused on 4 Napa Valley Cabs.
As much as I love Napa, I probably won't be going back any time soon. There are just too many other wine regions to visit on my "bucket list", and I've been to Napa several times. Oregon, Washington, Paso Robles and Italy are all on the "to do" list before Napa gets another visit.
Even though Napa has changed immensely over the years, I still strongly recommend it as a wine touring destination. The countryside is gorgeous, the weather is usually perfect, there are restaurants galore, and then there's all that amazing wine.
Be aware of a couple of things though: If you go during the Summer or Fall over a weekend, prepare yourself for major crowds. My favorite time to go is during the off season in January or February. You may have to deal with a day or two of bad weather, but the whole experience is much more manageable. You're also more likely to meet wine owners and winemakers in a more laid back atmosphere.
The second thing to remember is to bring money - lots of money.
Lodging, dining, gas and souvenirs are all expensive, and just about all of the major wineries charge for their tastings - some as much as $50 or more per person.
And then, once you're there, and all caught up in the moment, you're going to buy wine and probably join a few wine clubs.
That's just what happens.
One last thing: don't "wing it". Plan your dining and wining destinations in advance. While it's always fun to spontaneously pull into a small winery you never heard of and taste their wine, many of the wineries, and certainly the best restaurants will require appointments and reservations.
Here are three of my favorite wine tours - all require appointments in advance:
Schramsberg: start your day with a tour of the caves, learn how great Champagne style sparkling wine is made and then taste some of the best domestic sparkling wines made.
Anderson's Conn Valley: wander through the caves with either the owner or winemaker tasting wine from the barrels. Then, sit in the tasting room to sample great Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet blends.
Chappellet: Stroll through the vineyards on Pritchard Hill sampling wonderful, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and much more.
Have a great weekend!

Tom

Wine Critics - What Are They Saying?

Zesty, racy, sensual, sexy, voluptuous,  extravagant, exotic, sky-scraper like. 
These are some adjectives critics use to describe wines they are tasting and writing about.
Then you have the the descriptors for the nose and palate. Along with the fruit, you also find crushed rock, forest floor, graphite, damp earth, pencil shavings, mint, wet steel, raw meat, bacon fat, and on and on.
I get it. These guys are trying to make the wines they review sound exciting. It's much better than reading: "this red wine is pretty tasty".  I'm sure there's some competitiveness going on between the critics too. Who is the best, most flamboyant and most followed writer. And, of course, this translates into who makes the most money from their magazine or website. I have my favorites in terms of style, but I can't say there is one critic I agree with 100% of the time. 
Some times I just have to shake my head and laugh.
Tonight though, I'm having myself a glass of some "sexy" red wine with dinner.

Tom

Robert Parker - Wine Critic

Wine and Fast Food? You bet!

I wish this incredible idea was mine, but alas, I have to give credit to sommelier, Dini Rao (??), for pairing 9 classic fast food meals with wine. The link is provided below if you want to read the whole article, but here are a few examples:
Burger King Whopper:  Cru Beaujolais
McDonald's Filet-o-Fish and Fries:  A sweeter Riesling
KFC Fried Chicken:  Cotes du Rhone
Arby's Roast Beef: Cabernet Sauvignon
So this got me thinking. I don't really do fast food, except for White Castle maybe a couple of times a year. And I've never had wine with my WC sliders.
Let's analyze this: nondescript salty, greasy meat flavors with mushy consistency, dominated by what should be "supporting" flavors of grilled onion and dill pickle. Doesn't that sound good?
Bubbly.
Although I've never had it, I bet dry sparkling wines or Champagnes, either white or pink, would go great with White Castle sliders - as long as you don't get them with cheese. You should NEVER get sliders, at least White Castles, with cheese. They shouldn't even offer cheese as an option.
Fries are fine. 
So, the dilemma is, do you really want to spend $20 or more for Sparkling wine with your $5 White Castle meal?
Tough call.
Beer works too.

http://blog.zagat.com/2012/09/fast-food-wine-pairings-sommelier-dini.html#utm_source=ztwitter%26utm_medium=twitter

Tom

St. Patrick's Day Wine

As I walked into Balaban's yesterday I thought that I would see some type of special featuring corned beef.
And Chef Scott didn't let me down. There it was on the special sheet, corned beef and .... colcannon.
Colcannon?
As they say, you learn something new every day.
For those of you who are like me, and have no clue what colcannon is, it is a blend of mashed potatoes and cabbage. You can also spice it up with onions, ham or bacon. It's delicious.
So I call my personal chef (and wife), Judy, and ask her if she would make colcannon with our corned beef Monday evening. She made hers with the bacon.
But I'm rambling here about colcannon, when I should be talking wine.
Corned beef is a challenge to pair with wine. It's fatty, salty and funky tasting. Then you have the earthiness of the potatoes and the "I don't know what" of the cabbage.
Why do you think beer is the beverage of choice on St. Patrick's Day?
But, I'm up for this challenge.
First, no big, tannic reds.
Second, no oaky, buttery Chardonnay.
I think those wine styles would clash horribly with the meal.
My short list is Pinot Noir, Champagne and Riesling.
I always choose Pinot Noir when in doubt, so scratch that.
Champagne always does well with salty foods, but Judy isn't as crazy about bubbles as I am.
So Riesling gets the nod.
I just did a newsletter on a great Riesling from Washington State, so that's what I select:
2012 Long Shadows Poet's Leap Riesling - $22.
It was one of the best corned beef dinners we've ever had, and the wine went perfectly.

Tom

PS: I'm so ready for baseball to start!

      

This is going to be a year of great wine

The 2012 vintage in California, Washington and Oregon had nearly ideal growing conditions.
Producers are excited and major wine critics are rating the vintage from 92-97 points.
And not only was quality high, so was the quantity.
So that means there's going to be lots of great wine at all price levels for us to enjoy.
The Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are being released now, and I have yet to taste a wine of questionable quality.
I imagine we will see similar quality from the wines that spend a little more time in the barrel and bottle, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Owner/winemaker, Adam Lee of Siduri visited Balaban's about a month ago with 9 different bottles of his Pinot Noir.
We tasted one outstanding wine after another and just gushed with excitement over how good everything was.
Geez! What a bunch of wine geeks.
I imagine the wines will only get better with some bottle age, but they are certainly excellent in their youth.
Here are a few 2012's that are new to Balabans:
Treasure Hunter Chardonnay, Russian River Valley - $17
Beringer Luminus Chardonnay, Napa Valley - $35
A to Z Pinot Noir, Oregon - $20
Siduri Sonatera Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma County - $42 (one of my favorites from the tasting)
So, stock up on these 2012's. It looks like the 2013 and 2014 vintages will be a bit more challenging.

Tom

Wine geek Adam Lee

French Wine 101 - Unravelling the Mysteries

I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Understanding all there is to know about French wine is a daunting task. I could learn something new about French wine every day, and still feel pretty ignorant.
Entire books have been written about the major French wine regions, so you can really get into this if you want
But, here are a few of the basics that will get you well on your way to talking the talk of a true Franophile.

Burgundy: Grapes not on label (most of the time); Price: Under $20 to over $10,000 per bottle.
Red Burgundy: Pinot Noir
White Burgundy: Chardonnay
Also within Burgundy:
Chablis: Chardonnay
Beaujolais: Gamay

Bordeaux: Grapes not on label. Price: Under $20 to over $2,500 per bottle.
Red Wine: Blend (usually) of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and sometimes Malbec.
White Wine: Blend (usually) of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon

Rhone: Grapes not on label. Price: Under $20 to over $2,500 per bottle
Rhone is split into two major regions with sub-regions within those regions.
Northern Rhone red grape: Syrah; Northern Rhone White grape: Viognier
Major Northern Rhone regions: Hermitage, Cote Rotie, St. Joseph, Cornas and Condrieu (white).
Southern Rhone red grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan and Cinsault.
Southern Rhone white Grapes: Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Rousanne.
Major Southern Rhone regions: Chateauneuf du Pape (red and white), Cotes du Rhone (red and white) and Gigondas.

Loire: Grapes not on label. Price: Under $20 to over $1,000 per bottle.
Major Loire regions and grapes:
Vouvray - Chenin Blanc.
Sancerre and Pouilly Fume - Sauvignon Blanc.
Chinon - Cabernet Franc

Champagne: Grapes not on label. Price: Under $40 to over $2,000 per bottle.
Grapes used to make white and rose' Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Alsace: Grapes are on the label. Price: Under $20 to over $500 per bottle
Riesling
Pinot Gris
Gewurztraminer
Muscat

Sauternes: Grapes not on the label. Price: Under $30 to over $500 per bottle
These are very sweet dessert wines made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blends.

Languedoc: Grapes not on label. Price: Under $20 to over $100
Languedoc is the largest producing region in France in terms of overall volume. Most of the wines are value driven.
The two regions you will encounter the most are Cotes du Languedoc and Cotes du Roussillon
Languedoc is just south of Southern Rhone and uses the same grapes, but will also use Chardonny in their whites and Cabernet Sauvignon in their reds.

I hope this helps with your understanding of French wine.
If not, forget about understanding it and just start drinking the amazing varieties of French wines that are available.

Tom

Weird Wine Words

So, I pop open a bottle of Chianti for a customer to try and tell him: "that wine is going to be a little closed since I just opened it". 
One of my colleagues here at Balaban's comments: "do you know how totally ridiculous that sounds, except maybe to a bunch of wine geeks"?
Well, now that I think about it … yeah, that does sound kind of goofy.
Goofy. Now there's a word I haven't used in long time.
"Goofy" is actually one of my favorite Disney characters.
But I digress.
It's true. I suppose just like any other industry, the wine world has its words and phrases that can cause some head scratching.
Take, for example, the word "disgorgement".
No, this is not something that occurs in your bathroom after a night of raucous drinking and nasty eating.
Disgorgement is actually a process in making Champagne and other sparkling wines whereby sediment - specifically dead yeast cells -  is removed from the bottle to make the wines crystal clear, and well, "sparkling".

If you are interested in more information on "disgorgement" check out the link below:

Have a great weekend!

http://www.thekitchn.com/wine-words-disgorgement-177889

Tom

BYO Wine Etiquette

Restaurants make a good profit on their wine and other alcohol offerings, yet, most St. Louis restaurants are gracious enough to let their customers bring in their own wine in exchange for a "corkage" fee, typically between $10 and $25 per bottle, with $15 being about the average. 
I have no problem with corkage fees. After all, the waiter opens the bottle, pours the wine and provides the restaurant's glassware.
There are a few more things to remember though:
Call ahead and make sure the restaurant supports BYO. This will avoid an embarrassing situation for you and the restaurant.
If possible, check the restaurant's wine list to determine if the wine you're planning to bring is also on their list of wines. You really don't want to be bringing in a bottle of wine that you can purchase at the restaurant. It's poor "BYO etiquette".
Next, try to buy a beverage from the restaurant. This could be a cocktail or glass of wine before dinner, or an after dinner liqueur with dessert and coffee.
Finally, always offer a taste of the wine you bring to your waiter and the restaurant manager or owner. They will usually decline, but not always - especially if it's later in the evening.
Remember these few tips, and you're sure to be welcomed with open arms from your favorite restaurant when you BYOW.
Here at Balaban's, there is absolutely no reason to BYOW.
Why?
Well, we have a fantastic selection of wines at all price levels.
We have a library of amazing "aged" wines.
We sell you the wine at retail - not restaurant prices which are typically double the retail price or more.
And finally, we only charge an $8 corkage fee. On Monday's, there is NO corkage fee.
So there's my Balaban's commercial for today.
Stop by soon and have some great food and wine.

Tom