Happy Halloween...

...but remember: don't drink and fly. (click on the photo to enlarge)

A Toast to Catavino--and Their Good Taste

Over on Tom Wark's blog Fermentation, he's been profiling wine bloggers. These posts give you a better sense of the bloggers behind the blogs that you might read, and the latest "Bloggerview" interview was with Ryan and Gabriella, the folks who bring you Catavino.

Regular readers of the blog know that one of my new year's resolutions was to get to know Spanish wine, and I've done a pretty good job fulfilling my resolution so far--thanks to Catavino. My growing knowledge of the wines of the region has been largely the bi-product of their great reviews and writing. Recently, they hosted WBW #38 on Portuguese wines, and now I'm committed to learning more about them, too. Once again, Catavino to the rescue. They put together a 3-pack of recommended Portuguese wines for domaine547 and I popped the cork on my first bottle the other day.

The wine in question was the 2006 Caves da Cerca Vinho Verde Famega (retails in most markets for under $10; included as one of the three wines in domaine547's $50 Catavino pack).This was my first vinho verde and I loved the way it opened up with the gentle fizziness that vinho verde is known for. Sometimes, however, the travel time from Portugal to the US takes some of the fizz out, which is (frankly) not as much fun. Pouring it into the glass, it also had the pale green-gold color that is also associated with this young wine. It had aromas of crisp pears and citrus, and I tasted these in the flavors, as well. They were accompanied by a doughy, yeasty note. Still, the overall taste impression was fresh and clean. At only 9% alc/vol it is a very nice appetizer wine, but it would also go well with peel and eat shrimp or fish and chips. (image from ethmar.com)

Drinking this wine was a great way to toast Catavino, their great taste in wine, and the help that they've given me this year as I learned about Iberian wine. Thanks, Ryan and Gabriella. Cheers to you!

Food and Wine Pairing: It's Not Rocket Science

As we approach the hysteria that is Thanksgiving, it is always good to remind oneself and those you love that food and wine pairing is not rocket science.

It should be a highly pleasurable process of trial and error that no one can really do for you because taste is a subjective thing. You may love pizza with chardonnay, even though this breaks almost every "food pairing rule" that I know. I don't; but you just might.

If you still fee that wine and food pairing IS rocket science, there is a new company that wants to help you: Wine That Loves.... Their lineup of wines that love grilled meat, pizza, salmon, chicken, and pasta promise to solve your wine and food pairing dilemmas for all time--provided of course, that you are serving one of these dishes and can manage to master the eye-catching graphics that lead you to the right wine for tonight's dinner. Each wine has been carefully selected to pair with a certain food by a sommelier, and is priced at $12.99 to make it affordable for everyday drinking. Ralph Hersom, who has the distinction of being the former wine director for New York's Le Cirque 2000 restaurant, is the sommelier who figured out which wines would love which dishes.

While this may cut some anxiety in the grocery store, I remain skeptical of this approach to something as marvelously fun and fabulously imperfect as wine and food pairing. Call me a cynic, but if you believe that a) wine pairing is not rocket science and b) part of the fun of wine is figuring out what combinations taste good to you then this lineup will actually keep you from learning about good wine and food pairings. I was not able to figure out what varieties of grape went into any of these wines, as it was not clear from the website or the labels, but I sure hope that they tell you on the back because otherwise how will you be able to apply the knowledge gained from knowing what wine loves pasta to the wine store, the restaurant, or your own kitchen after you pop the cork on one of these bottles?

Taste is subjective. Celebrate your own unique taste buds. Drink red wine with fish. Break rules. Practice wine disobedience. Learn things. Do some wines taste better with certain foods? Absolutely. The search is on. Discover your wine and food bliss. And if you want a real education in these matters, check out Dr. Vino's periodic impossible food and wine pairing challenges. They are wonderful evidence that there is no perfect food and and wine pairing--except for your tastebuds.

Ghosts of WBWs Past: a Biodynamic Wine from the Languedoc-Roussillon

It's been a while since two of my favorite WBW themes: biodynamic wines (hosted by Jack and Joanne at Fork and Bottle) and value wines from Languedoc- Roussillon (hosted by Dr. Weingolb). Months later, I still find myself on the lookout for biodynamic and Languedoc-Roussillon bottlings, which is the true sign of a successful WBW, in my opinion. Other bloggers sometimes call these the "ghosts of WBWs past," because they, too, find themselves going back and reading the roundups and following up on some of the great reviews and finds that fellow bloggers bring out in the open. Just in time for Halloween I had one of these ghostly WBW experiences.

The 2003 Domaine Olivier Pithon Cotes du Roussillon Villages "Saturne" managed to cover two WBW themes in one bottle, since it's a biodynamic wine from the Cotes du Roussillon ($19.50, Red Carpet Wine Shop; available from other merchants for between $20 and $30). Like many wines from the south of France, this Pithon bottling was made from a blend of grenache, carignan, and syrah and had a deep, inky purple color. Either because it was made biodynamically or because it was from the Languedoc-Roussillon, I didn't find it was as aromatic as a Rhone wine made with these varietals. Still, there was loads of plummy fruit and some anise on the palate with a decided streak of minerality. This is what I associate most with biodynamic wines: a long mineral note that extends from the aromas through the last drops in the glass and beyond. Good QPR, especially for the price that I paid for it, though I would have liked it to have a little more balance between the fruit and the mineral notes.

If you are not living in LA (where it was 92 yesterday) then you may be thinking about stews, and this wine would be a good match with beef stew, or a roast chicken that sat in the oven just long enough to warm and perfume your house.

This wine has been positively reviewed recently by the LA Times, where it was included in a list of chic and affordable wines. Domaine Olivier Pithon has an excellent website, where you can learn more about their biodynamic farming practices and their line of wines, so I encourage you to head over there to learn more if you are interested.

Fall in the Wine Country

October in the Santa Barbara Wine Country: the El Jabali Vineyard at the Sanford's Alma Rosa Winery.

Sorry for the lapse in posting. I've been in Santa Barbara tasting wine and visiting vineyards. I'll catch you up on all the news, soon!