Blame it on Rioja

Much as I love beer in the summer, especially Belgian summer ales enjoyed outdoors at d.b.a. around the corner, BBQ lunch today with the boys up at Maxim Radio, substituting a couple of bottles of Rioja Crianza in place of the cold brewtarskis usually served with ‘cue, was an exceptionally rewarding pairing experience. “Maxim Lounge” Producer Laura, who celebrates a birthday tomorrow, asked me to come up to the Maxim studio at Sirius Satellite Radio headquarters in Midtown to talk about Rioja and help her celebrate. To help illustrate the food-pairing merits of Rioja, I also brought along some dynamite BBQ from Daisy May’s on 11th Avenue, and man alive, was it good. Former Chanterelle line cook Adam Perry Lang deserves a giant fruit basket for his cooking over at Daisy May’s. His Memphis Dry Rub Pork Ribs and Carolina Pulled Pork were slamin’, especially when mixed together on the plate with Cole Slaw and Baked Beans with Burnt Ends. We tasted a Puerta Vieja 2002 Rioja Crianza from Bodegas Riojanas (a classic style, aged in American oak) and the more modern-styled LAN 2003 Crianza, and both wines’ fruity and slightly earthy liveliness turned the wines into seamlessly integrated liquid condiments to the smoky-sweet-spicy porky wonderfulness of our lunch. Producer Laura, Bower, Scooter, Laura Leu, and I passed around plates of food and bottles Rioja on air and chatted in between bites, as a way to give the Maxim crowd an alternative to brew with ‘cue (and maybe help them find a great way to impress the ladies in the process). I think we managed to lift the food even higher than beer would have. All the joy without the beer gut.

Conspicuously missing from this already truncated list are two Long Island vineyards that at one time or another have been represented on the Chanterelle wine list: Schneider Vineyards and Wolffer Estate, whose Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay, respectively, have enjoyed critical accolades for years. Wolffler, located across the Peconic Bay near Sagaponack, was just too far away for us. And according to the extremely helpful map and leaflet put out by the Long Island Wine Council, Schneider is not open to the public, although their wines are available for sampling at the Tasting Room in Peconic.

Averages were taken of the points awarded by each judge for each of the five categories: wine (40pts), service (20), facilities (20), value (10), and crowd (10). The final score is the sum of those averages. (more…)

The wines of Long Island are not, for the most part, mood-altering studies in humankind’s ability to harness great soil and microclimates to make wines of great character; to my taste, Long Island wine is too often underripe, over-oaked, and lacking in the structure–the “oomph”–to merit its inclusion among the world’s greatest wines.

Still, we must remember that Long Island winemaking is still in its infancy, especially relative to long-established traditions found in Spain, France, and Italy. All along the North Fork, a narrow peninsula on the eastern tip of the island with hundreds of acres of unspoiled farmland and easy access to mind-quieting coastal headlands, are vineyards occupying land that not so long ago yielded potatoes rather than juice to quench the thirst of city weekenders. I can think of very few places within three hours’ driving distance of Manhattan that offer such a soothing combo of serenity and eco-sensitive agricultural ambition. (more…)

Two nights ago, I dropped by Mercat, a new Catalan restaurant in the neighborhood, with my good man Mike Gitter, and found the atmosphere eminently convivial and the front-of-the house staff solicitous and polished, quite a feat considering that it was the Bond Street eatery’s first night officially open for business.

Not at all fair to go into great detail about what I thought of the food, given that the place is so spanking new, I still have to give a nod to one dish that definitely worked: a grilled skewer of snails, chorizo, and cioppolini topped with salsa verde, an unlikely combination of textures and flavors that must be enjoyed all at once, with one slide of the skewer, to get its full effect. An inspired creation that’s part of their house menu (as opposed to traditional offerings).

Even more surprising were the two house Riojas by the glass, the “Orobio” white and red from the house of Artadi, famous for their blockbusting new-generation wines. Priced at a fraction of the cost of its flagship red, “El Pison,” the new “Orobio” white and red are meant to be, according to the website of American importer Eric Solomon, “fresh, fruity wines of easy consumption,” and I would say that that’s exactly what they are. The red, a 2004 with six to ten months in French oak, not enough oak age to qualify as a Crianza, goes down super-easy, but still has a well-integrated tannic structure and plenty of acidity, a balance that invites food.

The white, though, is the real stunner. Half of the 100% Viura grapes are barrel fermented in French oak, the other half in stainless steel; the blend is utterly enticing in its aromatics (thanks to the oak) without being punch-you-in-the-mouth tropical fruity; the wine’s acidity is absolutely bracing. Mike and I dropped another $100 ordering two bottles of Spanish whites we thought might outdo our aperitif Orobio whites, and both choices were outgunned by this affordable spring beauty.

A couple of days ago, Babbo wine director Colum Sheehan and I were preparing for a class we’d be co-teaching at Murray’s Cheese later that evening. As we were verifying our proposed wine and cheese matches at Babbo, Colum would occasionally go online in search of practical information - precise grape blend, aging regimen, etc. - on one of the obscure high-elevation Italian wines he’d picked for our event. (My job was to find matching cheese.)

“This is so frustrating,” he said to me at one point, his laptop stalling at the opening page of one winery’s website. “It’s taking forever to load these graphics. Just give me the facts, please!” he yelled at his computer. (more…)

A friend working on a screenplay, uninitiated in the music of Bob Dylan, recently asked me for recommendations on what she do to change all that, and I wrote back saying that I have been waiting my whole life for someone to ask me that question.So, to test my theory that people passionate about wine are usually also passionate about music, and in the ecumenical spirit pioneered by Neal Martin over at www.winejournal.com, I decided to post my response to Ally here at BIOR. (more…)

My friend Valerie Dumova recently turned me onto Posh Nosh, a brilliant but sadly short-lived BBC parody that, in a series of ten-minute shorts that aired in the U.K. between 2003 and 2004, mercilessly skewered the bloated world of the television chef.

Created by (and co-starring) Arabella Weir, written by Jon Carter, and directed by Chris Langham, Posh Nosh owes a large measure of its greatness to the extraordinary comedic gifts of co-star Richard E. Grant, who plays the Hon. Simon Marchmont, the pompously refined and not-so-latently homosexual husband of the hapless Minty Marchmont, played by Ms. Weir. Together, they own a restaurant called the Quill and the Tassel, venture abroad frequently to buy ingredients at the source, and tackle a new recipe in each episode. (more…)