Art Ensemble 40, Ars Nova 10

Date: Mon, Mar 8, 2010 Wine Tasting

Saturday night's performance by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the fourth and final show in the Ars Nova Workshop's Anti-Jazz Series, proved to be fittingly climactic. Once through the first couple of minutes of tuning in and finding their rhythm, the band was on — and in a seriously powerful groove — for the duration of their gig, putting on what was for me by far the most completely enjoyable show of the series. Even though my photo (above) sucks from a technical perspective, I kind of like the way it captures the energy of the show — very circular and vibrational, with a hum that you could feel all the way through your body if you just closed your eyes and let it take you.

The show was a fitting finale to the series from a benchmark perspective, as well. As the Art Ensemble, founded in 1969, has just entered its fifth decade of active musical artistry, Philadelphia's Ars Nova Workshop is poised to celebrate its own ten-year anniversary. Ars Nova's official 10th anniversary show is coming up in just a little over a week. Whether or not you make it to that performance is a moot point. Ars Nova promotes an amazing array of shows, with a nearly non-stop schedule. I won't go so far as to say there's something there for everyone; however, if you live in the Philadelphia area (or plan to visit) and are into creative music and cutting-edge jazz, you need to keep a regular watch on the Ars Nova event schedule.

As for last Saturday's show, I wasn't quite sure what to expect but was obviously pleased. It had been the better part of 30 years since I'd last seen the Art Ensemble — an early '80s show at the Wax Museum in Washington, DC, just a year or two at most after the video you can watch and hear below. Though founding members Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors are no longer with us, Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moyé and the newer additions to the group are still bringing it. If presented with the chance, catch them while you still can.

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On the Barbera Trail

Date: Fri, Mar 5, 2010 Wine Tasting

As promised a few days ago, and at the kind request of the estimable Dr. P., I've contributed a guest blog post, written from my perspective as a wine retailer, for the Barbera 2010 project. Here's an excerpt to whet your collective whistles:

"It's the wines that capture Barbera's innate rusticity and display its ease at the table that I find myself leading people to time and time again.

Take the wines of Roberto Ferraris, a grower of Barbera d'Asti whose nine-hectare farm is nestled in the hills of Agliano Terme. Ferraris is not a producer on many people's radar but I kind of like it that way. It removes any pretense of selling his wines based on a name. The focus instead is entirely on quality, and Roberto delivers just that, from his entry-level Barbera d'Asti through his vineyard designated wines...."

To read the whole story, head on over to my post at the Barbera 2010 blog. Thanks for having me, y'all. Buon viaggio!

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MFWT Turns Three: What to Open?

Date: Thu, Mar 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

MFWT has its third birthday today. It's been a quick three years yet somehow it also seems like I've been at it much longer than that.

On the eve of my bloggiversary, I considered celebrating by opening something above and beyond my usual Wednesday night selection but, given that I was dining alone, I decided against it. In the spirit of ascetic relativism, I opted to save that "special" bottle to share with friends and loved ones and instead popped open an everyday value from, you guessed it, the Loire.

I've been meaning to write-up this wine ever since Jim Budd of Jim's Loire mentioned to me that he'd never seen or heard of it, in spite of having visited with Vincent Ricard at Domaine Ricard on multiple occasions. So, this one's for you, Jim....

Touraine Sauvignon, Domaine de la Potine (Vincent Ricard) 2008
$12. 12.5% alcohol. Composite cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Domaine de la Potine is an eight-hectare property situated on hillsides overlooking the Cher, not far from the village of Thésée yet separate and distinct from the main property at Domaine Ricard. This is the only wine produced from la Potine, 100% Sauvignon from 20-25 year-old vines planted in clay and limestone (argilo-calcaire) dominated soils, farmed to yields of about 55 hl/ha. Unlike at Domaine Ricard, where everything is harvested by hand, about 30% of the vines at Potine are machine harvested. To prepare for what the machines can't see, Vincent and his team pass through the portions of the property destined for machine picking about two weeks prior to harvest to remove any rotted or otherwise less than perfect fruit.

The grapes are crushed in a pneumatic press, the must racked off the skins and moved into steel tanks for a three-week fermentation at controlled, relatively cool temperatures, followed by four-to-five months of aging on the fine lees before the wine is bottled. As with all of Vincent's wines, the farming at Potine is organic with the addition of selected biodynamic principles, fermentation is conducted on the ambient yeasts and sulfur use is kept to a bare minimum.

Year in and year out, Potine is a solid value, delivering simple pleasure via direct citrus fruit and fresh-mowed flavors and crisp, refreshing acidity. For those that love their Sauvignons to burst with primary fruit or to serve as an easy-drinking aperitif, the '08 may have been at its peak during the summer and autumn months. It has now grown leaner and shed some of its sweeter-fruited flavors, bending more to a firmer mouthfeel and an herbal, slightly bitter, more table-oriented flavor profile. Last night's bottle was showing grapefruit pith and jalapeno, in particular. Though not quite as ripe or mineral as "Le Petiot," the entry-level Sauvignon from Domaine Ricard proper, at $12 a bottle, "La Potine" delivers a pretty solid expression of Touraine Sauvignon.

Now, what to open for the official bloggiversary night...?

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Marcel Lapierre Vin de Pays des Gaules

Date: Wed, Mar 3, 2010 Wine Tasting

Given the comic nature of the artwork by Siné coupled with the good-spirited script on the label at right, one could be forgiven for thinking that Marcel Lapierre was indulging in a bit of Gallic wordplay with the release of his "country wine of the Gaules." That was my initial reaction upon first seeing Lapierre's new wine hit the US market earlier this year.

In actuality, though, Vin de Pays des Gaules is indeed a relatively new (about three years-old now), official (yet not widely approved of) addition to the INAO's short-list of large, regional VdP designations. The area covers Beaujolais in its entirety, plus, if I'm interpreting the map correctly, fringe portions of the Mâconnais and the Northern Rhône. Like most other VdP designations, it's much more forgiving/inclusive of grape varieties than the AOC system. Vin de Pays des Gaules allows for as many as 19 varieties, Syrah and Viognier among them, along with the more obvious Chardonnay and, of course, Gamay, which alone constitutes upward of 95% of the plantings in question.

The primary objectives of the new Vin de Pays des Gaules designation, as with the similar and simultaneous creation of Vin de Pays de l'Atlantique for the greater Bordeaux region, are two-fold: to reduce the overall quantity (theoretically thereby raising the overall quality) of AOC wines being produced in the region and to create a category of simpler, easier to drink, less expensive wines. In two regions where the market is already awash in inexpensive, innocuous and often sub-par quality wines, though, I'm not sure the creation of these new VdPs does anything more than further muddy the already murky waters for those faced with marketing largely unwanted wines to an ever-increasingly competitive world market.

In the case of Lapierre's wine, though, I'm not going to argue with the results.

Vin de Pays des Gaules, Marcel Lapierre 2008
$15. 12.5% alcohol. Stelvin. Importer: Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, CA.
I've already seen retailers succumb to the temptation of referring to Lapierre's Vin de Pays des Gaules, which is varietal Gamay by the way, as "Morgon Junior." Who could blame them, I suppose. But in practice, Lapierre has actually captured the spirit of simplicity that's idealistically intended by the new VdP. While I've never had any problem drinking (as opposed to "tasting") Lapierre's Morgon, this is even more eminently easy-drinking wine. Vin de Pays de Gulpable, if you will. Crisp, light and snappy, it lacks the depth of the Morgon but is still full of flavor, with early season raspberry fruit laced with bright, refreshing citrus zest and herbal nuances.

It's unmistakably the product of carbonic maceration and fermentation, yet, as with all of Lapierre's wines, the grapes are fermented on their native yeasts, so there's no trace of the telltale banana aromas so oft associated with carbonic wines. It's hard to imagine a more uncomplicated pour that's still wine-y rather than grape-y. Great served with a stiff chill, this would make for a great summertime BBQ and/or porch wine. For now, it goes down just as easy with a good old Monday night pizza.

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Follow the Barbera Boys

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010 Wine Tasting

Oh, to be in Piemonte. The magical region in NW Italy has been beckoning me back since my first and last trip there... amazing to think it's been four years ago, already.

Though it won't exactly make up for my disappointment in not being able to join the group that's headed there next week, I'm looking forward to following the exploits of my friends and wine writing cohorts on the Barbera 2010 trail. Jeremy "Doctor DoBi" Parzen has gathered a select group of North American wine witers, bloggers and restaurateurs to travel to the prime growing zones of Alba, Asti and Monferrato for a concentrated blitz on the world of Barbera from March 8 through March 11. You can follow along with them, just as I will, at the official Barbera 2010 site as well as at the various blogs and websites of those that are, unlike myself (sob...), able to make the trip.

Even though I won't be there for the main event, I'm due to do a little warm-up guest blogging at the Barbera 2010 site in the next couple of days, so check it out, bookmark it or subscribe, and stay tuned. I'll post a reminder here when my contribution is alive and kicking.

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Victory Meets DiBruno's at Avalon Restaurant

Date: Fri, Feb 26, 2010 Wine Tasting

It was dark and raw, the skies dumping torrents of rain on the streets of Philadelphia, slowly washing away the piles of snow, the promise of more white stuff to come looming large on the horizon. It was a Tuesday night in the middle of February, and I had to ask myself why I was getting into the car and heading out for an hour's drive at the peak of the evening commute. The answer, dear readers, was simple. Sustenance. The promise of good cooking, beer and cheese, to be more precise.

I'd been invited by restaurateur John Brandt-Lee, chef/owner of Avalon Restaurant in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to attend his first ever guided beer and cheese pairing dinner. (Full disclosure: dinner was John's treat.) For the last few months, John has been offering a complimentary beer and cheese pairing to diners on Friday nights; this event was a chance to take things to the next step, more fully exploring the interaction between beer, cheese and a multi-course meal built around the rustic yet modern Italian cuisine that forms the basis of the menu at Avalon.

The evening's presenters were Emilio Mignucci, owner of the Philadelphia-based cheese and specialty gourmet shop, DiBruno Brothers, and Bill Covaleski, brewmaster and co-founder of Victory Brewing Company, located in nearby Downingtown, PA. Brandt-Lee had reached out to Mignucci, from whom John sources the cheeses served at his restaurant. Emilio, in turn, suggested teaming up with Covaleski, with whom the folks at DiBruno's often conduct beer and cheese oriented events. And thus the triumvirate was formed.


To make it all work, John conceptualized a menu for the night and then worked with Mignucci to select the appropriate cheese(s) for use in each dish. Once their work was done, Covaleski, drawing from his own knowledge, instinct and experiences with food (much as do I when selecting wines to match a menu), chose one of Victory's brews to pair with each course. Here's what they all came up with:


"Cravero" 24-month Parmigiano-Reggiano Gelato with Truffle Honey
paired with Victory Lager
Apparently a staple at Avalon, our first course is often served as a complimentary amuse-bouche. To make the "gelato," Brandt-Lee blends cream and finely grated parmigiano in a double-boiler; the liquid mixture sets to a custard-like texture when cooled. The musky intensity of the truffle honey was a touch distracting but the dish was otherwise delicious, the creaminess of the cheese offset by the crunch of candied nuts, and contrasted by the subtle spice and sweetness of poached pears.


Mignucci made a point of letting the crowd know that he prefers his Parmigiano young to middle-aged, when it's not as piquant and sharp as an ultra-aged example and still shows the complexity of its seasonal milk sources. For this dish, he chose a 24 month-old example selected and matured by Giorgio and Giacomo Cravero in their curing facilities in the town of Bra, located in the Roero district of Piemonte. While Covaleski could easily have chosen his benchmark Prima Pils for our first pour, the rounder, slightly richer yet still brisk and refreshing feel of the lager proved a harmonious match.



Baked "Montchevré" Goat Cheese with Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Black Olive Crisps
paired with Victory Helios Ale
Along with the later meat course, this course seemed most clearly to epitomize Brandt-Lee's approach to cooking simple, rustic dishes that combine a lack of fussiness with a focus on rich flavors and quality ingredients. Francophile that I am, at least when it comes to wine and cheese, I was a bit surprised that Mignucci selected an American goat cheese, from Wisconsin producer Montchevré. No matter, though, it worked just fine.

Here, Covaleski eschewed the typical pairing of wheat beer with goat's milk cheese in favor of the wilder, grassier flavors of his Saison-style Helios Ale. Helios undergoes both its primary and in-bottle fermentations using a select strain of Brettanomyces yeast, one that brings on subtle earthiness rather than imparting intense funk or sourness. A great match, particularly given the zestiness the black olive tapenade brought to the dish.



Escargot with Caramelized Onion and "Sur Choix" Cheese Agnolotti
paired with Victory St. Victorious Doppelbock
Is it just me or are snails one of those things you just don't think of cooking at home? Assuming you're not going out to forage for them, they're actually simple enough to prepare, yet I only seem to eat them in restaurants. Of course, the same habit tends to apply to hand-rolled and hand-stuffed pasta.... So there you have it, the dish I'd most like to eat on a regular basis but am least likely to prepare for myself.

For the cheesy component of this course, Emilio and John chose another US-produced take on a European classic. "Sur Choix" is a Wisconsin-made Gruyere-type cow's milk cheese that provided a nutty, fondue-like, belly warming touch that worked quite nicely with the snails. Escargots don't exactly scream out for cheese, so Mignucci treaded carefully, being sure to choose a cheese that was cave-aged for its inherently musty, earthy flavor profile.

St. Victorious Doppelbock is a limited production, seasonal dark lager, brewed in the tradition of German monastic brewers who made similarly hearty styles of beer to drink during their periods of fasting. It's produced using a labor-intensive technique called decoction mashing, in which the malt is boiled to the point that the barley kernels explode, giving a robust breadiness to the finished beer.





"Baltic Thunder" Braised Beef Short Ribs, Blu di Pecora Polenta
paired with Victory Baltic Thunder
Given the event's theme, it could be argued that this was the most complete course of the night, both beer and cheese playing integral roles to the overall execution of the dish. It was also just right for a cold, rainy night -- very soul-satisfying.

I'm not a huge fan of the all too ubiquitous pairing of beef and blue cheese, as particularly pungent blue can easily steal the thunder from the meat, which really should provide a dish with its main focus, whether grilled or braised. I get the sense that John and Emilio may feel the same way. They intentionally selected a particularly mild example of Blu di Pecora, a sheep's milk blue from a Gorgonzola producer in Lombardy, for subtle blending with the creamy polenta that served as backdrop to Brandt-Lee's succulent beer-braised ribs.

Baltic Thunder is a rich, British-inspired porter, very sweet and malty with a loamy richness to its palate attack. Its dry, slightly bitter finish, provided by malt tannins rather than hops according to Covaleski, helped to balance the beer's richness and, in turn, provided the backbone necessary to stand up to the richness of braised short ribs.



Intermezzo: Rooibos Tea "Sphere"
The chef's quick nod to molecular gastronomy in the form of a palate cleanser: refreshingly herbal rooibos tea, bound into spherical gel form using agar-agar and brightened up with a few shavings of lemon zest. If this is destined for regular appearances at Avalon, flat-bottomed Japanese-style soup spoons would make for a worthwhile investment.



Cheese Board: Délice de Bourgogne and Pecorino Toscano
paired with Victory Golden Monkey
If simplicity was the overriding theme on the evening, Emilio captured it with his cheese course. Two cheeses with minimal adornments, each with plenty of personality. Most of the Delice de Bourgogne I've found on the local market has been young, milky, decadently creamy but extremely mild. This example had obviously been aged a bit longer, yielding a salty, intense flavor at the rind and a runny, unctuous pate; not advanced to the point of ammonia development but really full-flavored. The Pecorino, on the other hand, was deep, nutty and eminently satisfying, the kind of cheese you could sit back and eat way too much of. Chef John's housemade mostarda provided a welcome kick without packing overpowering mustard heat.


The starring libations, in order of appearance.
The final beer? Victory Golden Monkey, a Belgian-style strong golden ale. Golden Monkey's balance between an herbaceous, floral front-palate (coriander is used in the brew) and lingering, subtle sweetness made for a very cheese-friendly libation. It worked in much the same way as a demi-sec Vouvray, one of my preferred wine choices for the end-of-meal cheese course, with the role of Vouvray's natural high acidity replaced by the beer's gentle edge of bitterness.

The final verdict? A very enjoyable evening. I'll need to check out Avalon on a "normal" night sooner rather than later. And I'm already looking forward to round two of the Victory/DiBruno's mash-up, hopefully with wine adding a third element on the next occasion.

Avalon
312 S. High Street
West Chester, PA 19382
(610) 436-4100

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On Wine Closures: Guala Seal

Date: Wed, Feb 24, 2010 Wine Tasting

It appears there's another new alternative closure solution on the market, at least one that's new to me: the AS Elite, produced by a company called Guala Seal (also known as Ardea Seal). According to its manufacturers, the AS Elite is "probably the best stopper in the world." While that remains to be seen, I will say that it does seem to present some potential advances over other plastic/polymer type closures.

Shorter than a good quality traditional cork, the Guala Seal is tapered at its business end and is smooth enough to allow for fairly intricate print/logo detailing. An injection molded "shield" made of an inert polypropylene compound fits over the tapered end of the cork. Frankly, it looks like someone's put a little condom over the tip of the cork. Though not the most aesthetically pleasing device, in practice it's meant to keep the wine free from direct contact with the main plastic/elastomer component of the stopper and thus keep the wine free from plastic tainted flavors.

The other advance claimed by the Guala Seal's manufacturer is the use of a rigid polypropylene "chassis" that serves as a frame around which the thermoplastic elastomer bulk of the stopper can be formed. In addition to serving as a guide for the corkscrew, this frame prevents the stopper from elongating or stretching, both over time and when compressed for insertion into the bottle. Again in theory, this should help to provide a better contact seal with the neck of the bottle and to prevent oxidation, something that's been a frequent problem with earlier generations of synthetic stoppers.

I was recently surprised to find a Guala Seal stopping up a bottle of Burgundy, not a Passetoutgrain, mind you, but a $30ish sub-regional red Burg from a reputable estate-based producer in the Côtes de Nuits. I've never known this producer to utilize any type of non-cork closure in the past and was a bit perplexed that they chose a mid-level rather than entry-level wine for its introduction.

In summary, I'm less than thrilled with the look and feel of the AS Elite. I've never particularly liked the aesthetics (or performance, for that matter) of any of the plastic/elastomer family of stoppers, but this somehow manages to look even more artificial. From a performance perspective, though, I'll try to keep an open mind and will be curious to see how the Guala Seal stands the test of time.

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On Obscure Vines: Elbling

Date: Mon, Feb 22, 2010 Wine Tasting

Story has it that Johann Peter Reinert, most of whose estate is situated in the town of Kanzem along Germany's Saar river, travels by tractor along the main road from Kanzem to the Upper Mosel in order to work a small plot of vines he owns on the hillsides above the town of Igel. It's his only plot of vines not situated in the Saar. Traffic backs up for miles, all in the name of keeping an old, increasingly rare tradition alive.

The chalk based soils in Igel are inhospitable to Riesling, which won't properly ripen. Reinert instead makes the long, slow drive to tend his tiny plot of Elbling, a vine that has been planted there since Roman times yet today wallows in relative obscurity — as Jancis Robinson describes it in her Guide to Wine Grapes, "a [vine] to appeal to viticultural archivists." Outside of the Upper Mosel, Elbling's only other major plantations are to be found in Luxembourg, where it is known as Räifrench.

Most of the approximately 1,100 hectares of Elbling planted in the Saar is destined for inclusion in sparkling wine, where its natural tendencies toward high yields and high acidity serve both economically and structurally useful purposes. It takes dedicated farming to turn out still wines of any character from Elbling and the effort yields little in the way of financial return. As a result, very few producers make the effort. Reinert is one of a tiny handful doing so; only six are listed on CellarTracker and I doubt there are very many more. For Reinert, though, working his plot of Elbling is something of a labor of passion. The vines came to him through marriage from his wife's side of the family and he perseveres with production of his Elbling trocken to produce a "summer wine" evocative of his wife's childhood memories.

Mosel Igeler Dullgärten Elbling trocken, Weingut Johann Peter Reinert 2008
$14. 12% alcohol. Diam. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.
Light as mineral water in the glass, with just a bare suggestion of green-gold hue. The nose is at first a little grapey, then give up scents of white peaches, followed by a dash of szechuan peppercorn and fresh-ground ginger. First and foremost, this is refreshing wine, driven by a raspy, mineral-faceted texture and a very dry, slightly tart finish. With any but the simplest, mild flavored food — I think this would be at its best with filets of trout sauteed in butter, nothing else — the subtlety of its fruit is more or less washed away, leaving behind a vigorous, entirely refreshing mineral wash.

In its second day, the wine took on a little more flesh, showing some green pear fruit, but at the expense of diminished vigor and minerality. A background whiff of egg-y sulfur that I hadn't noticed on day one emerged and it also became clearer, perhaps too due to a slightly warmer serving temperature, that 12% alcohol was a bit heavy for the wine's wiry frame. In both cases, though, these quibbles were not so strong or obvious as to render the wine unpleasurable. Indeed, though much simpler and more direct than Reinert's Saar Rieslings, his Elbling is quite the satisfying thirst quencher. Just right for ice-cold summer quaffing. Of course, I chose to drink it on a couple of ice cold nights in February....

On a related note, I couldn't help but notice that Reinert's Elbling was sealed with a Diam.

Reinert also alternates between using natural corks and the Vinolok for his various Rieslings. I couldn't think of many if any other producers that — various qualities of cork aside, and not including sparkling wine stoppers — are using three entirely different closure systems. The fact that he's working with so many closure types while farming a total of only 4.2 hectares of vines makes me wonder if he'll eventually choose to stop with natural corks entirely or, conversely, to move exclusively to either the Diam or the Vinolok for his alternative closure of choice.

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Hit the Mall

Date: Sun, Feb 21, 2010 Wine Tasting

Even if "Hit the North" is about the poppiest song ever performed and recorded by The Fall, it was still a freakish (if welcome) experience to hear it playing in a retail clothing store while out for a Sunday afternoon of outlet shopping. As if a Sunday afternoon of outlet shopping wasn't freakish enough on its own....

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The Color of Corked

Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the business end of a TCA-infected or otherwise corky stopper sometimes not only smells off but also looks off?


The above picture might not do it clear justice, but when I pulled that little plug of tree bark from a bottle of 2004 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru En Caradeux "Clos de la Croix de Pierre" from Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot last night, I was greeted not just by an unmistakable stench but also by a very muddy looking scene, as if the biz end of the cork had been dipped in a slurry of wine and gray modeling clay.

I've no hard science to back up my observation, just many years of first-hand experience. While there have been plenty of corked wines where the stopper looked normal, I don't think I can remember an instance where the cork had this particular muddy appearance and wasn't also tainted.

Your thoughts on the matter would be most welcome.

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Art for Wine's Sake

Date: Tue, Feb 16, 2010 Wine Tasting

Car art, to be specific....

It's not often that I post in response to any of the gazillion press releases I receive on a weekly basis, but then it's not often that one hits so many of my sweet spots.

The good folks at Triage Wines, distributors of some of the finest natural, small-farm wines available in the Pacific Northwest, are putting out the call for wine savvy (and wine hungry) artists in the Seattle and Portland areas to spruce up Triage's fleet of delivery vehicles. In Triage Marketing Director David Baer's own words,

"[Triage] is looking for artists to help the company express the portfolio's specific focus in an artistic and memorable way. While our logo is lovely and all, we want people to know that our business is about promoting natural wines, often farmed by organic or biodynamic methods, which are hand made and express the heritage and specificity of the place from which they come. The logo simply doesn't say all of that - but we think there are some wine-loving masterful artists out there who can!

Interested artists can apply to design and paint one of five vans, transforming it into mobile art. In addition to having their work selected, each artist will win $350 worth of wine from the Triage portfolio and will receive a $100 stipend toward materials. Interested artists can submit sketches via email to baer [at] triagewines dot com. All applicants must include their name and phone number as well. Only applicants in the Seattle and Portland metro areas will be considered. Entries must be received no later than March 15, 2010, and work will take place between April and September 2010.

Full contest details... can be found at http://www.triagewines.com/vanpaint."

I'm not sure it's what Baer has in mind, but I'm picturing something along the lines of the vehicle shown above, the rooftop insect replaced, perhaps, by a plow horse and a huge bottle of Pet-Nat; the van walls emblazoned with murals of dry-farmed vineyards and old foudres; and a grill/hood ornament based on the label design used by the Club Trésors de Champagne. Seeing as I don't live in the PacNW corridor though, feel free to borrow liberally from my vision.

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Jolly Pumpkin's Oro de Calabaza: More (Slightly Less) Sour Ale and the Question of Natural Beer

Date: Mon, Feb 15, 2010 Wine Tasting

It's not often that I send text messages. I'm definitely a late adopter when it comes to alternatives to actually looking someone in the eye and having a real conversation. Heck, I barely even knew what a blog was until I started writing this one.... It's even rarer that I stop midway through a meal or a glass of wine or beer to text someone about it, but that's exactly what I did a couple of nights ago.

My wife and I were hanging out with friends at Teresa's Next Door in Wayne, PA, one of the great bastions of beer in the Philly burbs. (Actually, their wine list is pretty respectable, too, but that's perhaps a story for another day.) Started out with Cantillon's Lou Pepe Kriek on draft then moved from tart to bitter with a pint of Racer 5 IPA, pulled from the beer engine. As tasty as they both were, it was the next beer that really fired on all cylinders: Oro de Calabaza from Dexter, Michigan's Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. I've really enjoyed everything I've tried from Jolly Pumpkin but this bottle took it to another level. Hazy, pale gold in the glass; slightly funky, slightly sour, just enough richness, redolent of honeysuckles (my friend Pete nailed it) and showing a subtle oak influence. Really well balanced. A complete, beautiful, killer beer.

Oro de Calabaza is a strong golden ale made in the bière de garde tradition. At 8% alcohol, it's not a session beer (JP makes their Bam Bière for that), more a beer to sit and contemplate AND to unabashedly enjoy. Like all of Jolly Pumpkin's brews, it's fermented in open vats, availing itself at least partially of naturally occurring wild yeasts, aged in old oak casks and then bottle conditioned before release. This bottle was from "Batch 409."

Drinking it, I was reminded of a question my friend Cory Cartwright had casually asked in a recent post at his blog, Saignée: "What are some good natural beers? Any non-Belgian stuff you’re digging (because everyone will say Belgian)?" I was inclined to answer right away with, "Jolly Pumpkin. Try anything they brew." Instead, I ended up texting him, mid-meal and mid-beer, about a week later. He probably thought I was nuts but, hey, I was inspired.

Aside from a less immediate sense of inspiration, the reason I hadn't responded to Cory's question sooner is that it raised, for me, much larger questions. Questions that I've been pondering ever since.

What is natural beer? And is there even such a thing?

I don't think the exact same parameters used to describe natural wine can be applied, because beer making is perforce a more manipulative endeavor than wine making. Are we simply talking about spontaneous, wild yeast fermentation or should the answer go beyond that to include farming and overall production techniques?

I'm not sure I have a clear answer to these questions. But I'd be happy to hear yours.

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Domaine de la Tournelle's Ploussard de Monteiller

Date: Fri, Feb 12, 2010 Wine Tasting

Here's a wine I've been wanting to try ever since reading of its vanquishing a small but stellar field in Brooklynguy's roundup of a blind tasting of Arbois Ploussards. I finally did, just the other night. Popped the cork and poured it to go with one of my favorite Poulsard pairings: poultry pot pie (and no, it's not just about the alliteration). Truth is, I didn't love it, at least not right away.

Arbois Ploussard de Monteiller, Domaine de la Tournelle (Evelyne et Pascal Clairet) 2004
$24. 12.5% alcohol. Cork. Importer: Jenny & François Selections, World Wide Wine, New York, NY.
First, a little techno-background info. Monteiller is a lieu-dit vineyard with gray marl soils and southwest exposure, farmed to yields of about 40 hl/ha. The Ploussard is hand-harvested from the Clairets' naturally farmed vines and is completely destemmed before being lightly crushed. The wine ferments on its natural yeasts in open-top vats for 10-20 days depending on vintage character. It's then put in cuves for the malolactic fermentation, followed by aging in old oak foudres for anywhere from 8-18 months, again depending on the traits of the growing season. The finished wine is bottled without filtration and with no added sulfur dioxide (a small amount of sulfites do occur naturally via the wine's fermentation process).

The resulting wine is extraordinarily pale, pale even by Poulsard standards, like an orange-tinged tea of rose petals. It's so pale you can read through it. The burnished, slightly reductive aromas when first opened blew off after about fifteen minutes, letting the wine's more delicate purity emerge. There's at best a whisper of tannin; instead, the naturally uplifting acidity of Arbois Ploussard is all that's really needed to give balance to the wine's ethereal structure. The fruit, too, is very delicate and restrained. Think of wild cherries and baked orange but more of the sense of taste you get from smelling them, not from eating them. Again, think in whispers and you'll get a sense of the wine.

Twenty-four hours later, not surprisingly, the wine showed even subtler intensity. I noticed a lean wood influence, or at least a woodsy flavor, that I hadn't registered a day earlier. There was even a sneaky little suggestion of sweetness near the rear palate, just beofre the wine finished with a cascade of sour minerals. There was something vaguely metallic, too, though I don't believe it was Brett. What I do believe is that this is really puzzling, really provocative wine. It's not the type of wine that scores hedonism points or that screams out for attention, more the type that you overlook at first sip but are then drawn back to, full of mystery, raiser of questions. In the end, I still didn't love it. But I am looking forward to the next bottle.

Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

You'll find a beautiful set of pictures from a day spent at Domaine de la Tournelle at the increasingly photo-centric site of The Wine Digger.

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Teaser Alert: Wine and Chocolate with Éclat

Date: Wed, Feb 10, 2010 Wine Tasting

This Friday night, gods of weather and authorities of the road permitting, I'll be teaming up with chocolatier Christopher Curtin to deliver a pre-Valentine's Day double-header wine and chocolate "social" at Curtin's shop, Éclat Chocolate, in West Chester, PA.

Chris and I have been threatening to team up for a little chocolate and wine pairing fun ever since our path's first crossed at a wine tasting event I conducted last year, and I'm jazzed to see our plans finally put into fruition.

Friday's event — two ninety-minute sessions, each for 16 guests, held in the intimate retail space at Éclat — is already sold-out, so today's post is a bit of a tease. Assuming all goes well, though, we'll be repeating and building upon our efforts at additional sessions in the months to come. To be notified of our future events, please drop Chris a line at info at eclatchocolate dot com and ask to be added to the Éclat e-mail list.

I don't want to give away too much of what we have in store for our guests but I can tell you that one of Curtin's newest creations will almost certainly figure into Friday's tastings. In the video below, you'll see Chris demonstrating the production techniques of that new chocolate, a rose-infused white chocolate heart, and catch him improvising his way through power-less and scissor-less moments, all aired live last week on Philadelphia's NBC-10.



Hope to see some of you on Friday.

Éclat Chocolate
24 South High Street
West Chester, PA 19382
610-692-5206

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