The Borrowed Penguin Wine Review

Thinking Outside the Box

When it comes to food and wine pairing there are certain starting points or general practices that can be great tools. Salmon and Pinot Noir, dark chocolate and Port, spicy Thai food and sweet Rieslings...and the list goes on. These well-known pairings have become so familiar for a very good reason: at a broad level they tend to have qualities that work great together. But don't ever let the basic principles or "rules" of pairing preclude you from exploring a new possibility.

Yesterday there was wine person in my store that I respect a great deal, and we were trying some wines. One of the wines we tasted was the 2003 Domaine de Galets des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape "Tradition" a gorgeous wine made of predominately Grenache with a bit of Syrah and Mourvedre mixed in. This wine is meant to be drunk at a young age, and it has wonderful fruits and spice with a supple structure and flavor that is truly amazing. The grapes are not de-stemmed, the wine is never fined or filtered, and is unoaked. It is a breathtaking rush of fruit, spice, and lusciousness.

As we were tasting it my friend said this was the perfect wine to pair with spicy scallops. Well, I have a girlfriend who loves scallops, loves spicy food, and loves Southern Rhone wines. Obviously this was something I would have to try out.

Of course, the general rule is "white wine with seafood, red wine with meat." This is one of those things where you need to step forward and try something new. The results were amazing. I used U-10 scallops that I seasoned with light salt and pepper, and then with a reasonable dose of Cayenne Pepper. I turned the oven to broil and heated a pan, then melting a little bit of butter. I seared the scallops for about ninety seconds on one side and then flipped them over and seared the other side for around a minute. I then turned of the burner and put the whole pan in the oven for another minute and a half.

To serve the scallops on I cooked a little bit of rice (okay, actually I had my girlfriend cook the rice) and chopped up some baby bell peppers. I sautéed the bell peppers in a chili oil flavored oil and then mixed in the rice and stirred it up for a pilaf. I then poured it into a bowl and placed the scallops around the edge. We then sat down to eat.

Now I should point out that my girlfriend really likes spicy food; in general it might be wise to be a bit more restrained with your spices than I was. But when the food was but with the wine is was sensational. The oil and richness of the large scallops stood up to the Grenache, and the flavors worked perfectly. Bright fruit rolled across Cayenne and the earth of the Mourvedre couple with the white pepper spice of the wine produced a lingering finish that was wonderful (remember: spicy food should have flavor, not just spice).

I'm not saying that will always work. I have yet to find tenderloin preparation that works well with Riesling. But it illustrates the fact that there are countless amazing food and wine pairings that exist, and plenty of them exist outside the realm of standard and accepted guidelines.

Get Over It Already!

First, sorry. I'm a bad blogger. I apologize. It's been busy.

Last week I finally received a special order we made for my store about a month ago: two 6-liter bottles of 1998 Chateau Duhart-Milon-Rothschild. They both arrived in nailed shut wooden boxes and looked every bit as regal as you could hope. One of them was already sold, and my boss went ahead and decided to get a second one. The one bottle that was already sold was a gift that wasn't going to be opened until a child's 21st birthday down the road, so we were going to leave it in the sealed wooden box for effect.

One of the boxes looked a lot nicer than the other, so my wine geek curiosity took over and I grabbed the crowbar to crack open the other box. All fired up I popped the wood lid open and looked inside. I was heartbroken.

The label was completely stained, and the leakage had been so bad it had stained the wood collar holding the neck of the bottle in place. The bottle was horribly ruined. Out of fear, I opened the second box as well. I couldn't see any obvious signs of seepage, but when I ran my hand along the bottle is stuck noticeably at one point. I followed a trail of stickiness up the side to the capsule where I could see signs of corrosion and leaking, albeit much less than on the first bottle.

The end result: I made a call to my distributor and have had both bottles rejected and picked up (special note: my distributor was great and very helpful, and additionally there is no way anyone in the chain of command could have known about this since both bottles have been in sealed wooden boxes since probably the day they were bottled). To say it was frustrating would be a horrible understatement. People always talk about how "unromantic" screw caps are. Well, how unromantic would it have been to buy that bottle of wine, wait more than a decade, and then at a major party open the wooden box or the bottle to find a very expensive bottle of vinegar?

I recognize that for many people part of the attraction to wine is the refined aura of it, and I admit a screw cap can destroy that. Put if you are really going to enjoy wine then you can get over it. Especially since using a screw cap vastly increases the quality and enjoyment of your wine.

Let me make this very clear: there are lots of people who drink corked wine and never realize the bottle is flawed. When wine goes bad it doesn't just magically go from being enjoyable to horrible. Over times any number of things slowly erode the quality of the wine. TCA, the compound most responsible for corked wine does have a very distinct and powerful aroma that is impossible to miss in the most extreme examples. But at much lower levels it simply dulls the fruit and flattens a wine. I have no doubt that there are bottles I have had in restaurants that I didn't send back that were corked. My impression wasn't that the bottle was bad; I just left with the impression that the wine itself wasn't all that good. That benefits no one.

The wine industry is making strides in this area. More and more winemakers are finally becoming comfortable with screw caps, and more and more people who sell wine are speaking up about the advantages. Additionally, the cork industry is making improvements regarding the quality of their product. Wine is a big business, and fortunately plenty of people are now working to improve all areas of it.

Just remember, the most important thing is the juice in the bottle (or even the box as that segment of the market gets better every day). There are still certain wines that command unjustified prices based simply on the label, and that's something we will probably never overcome. But to this day I see people who have a solid appreciation of wine snuff wonderful wines at all prices simply because of the closure system. Please don't be the person who closes off such a wonderful variety of wines simply because of an ill-conceived pre-conception.

Show Your Work

I'm now officially part of two tasting groups. For those of you that are skeptical I want to make it clear that these can in fact be quite serious and helpful from a professional standpoint and aren't necessarily just an excuse to get together and drink a bunch of different wines. Tasting groups can just be fun and light-hearted, but that doesn't mean they aren't sometimes more than that.

The overwhelming majority of my friends enjoy wine, and if I ever just want to relax and have a class I live with a wonderful, intelligent, beautiful young lady who is as perfect a companion as I could ever wish for to have a glass of wine with, so on tasting groups I'd like to really have some focus and get a bit of development out of it. So what does it take to have a serious tasting group that is actually helping people?

First, you need good tasting conditions. That would be clean glassware, spit buckets, decent lighting, and a setting where people can actually pay attention and focus on the wines. Second, you need a good group of people and access to a reasonable amount of wine.

Once get those things the most important element is good planning. The group should have a stated purpose and everyone involved should have a reason for being there and their own personal objectives. That isn't to say everyone needs to be at the same level and working towards the same goal. The new group I've joined was just formed to help two people here in town practice for the upcoming sommelier classes where they will be going for the advanced certification. The main purpose is to help them get ready for the very rigorous tests they will have this summer. But not everyone in the group is at their level. Some are like myself: people with a reasonable foundation of wine knowledge who are looking to develop tasting skills and learn about new wines. Others are people who would like to learn more about wine and the technical aspects of it to help them in their careers. Personally I'm also looking forward to getting to do much more tasting in a structured setting. So much of my experience has come from informal setting and self-teaching that I really need to refine the more technical aspects of tasting.

Whatever the motivation, everyone has a reason for being there and is excited. Also, we can all accomplish our own goals while helping the others. In fact, I like having a variety of experience levels present. Enthusiastic people who are excited to be there will often times ask questions and take chances that more advanced tasters will avoid. Despite the best of intentions nobody wants to look like a dunce in front of their companions. Having people who are comfortable being at the bottom of the food chain (so-to-speak) helps everybody relax. It's important to never talk down to people, but the real goal is to be able to explain and describe a wine in a way that everyone will understand.

That brings us to the final point. The real focus of this group is to blind taste the wines following the detailed analytical analysis used by the professional sommelier groups. The goal is to obtain all the objective details you can about a wine and describe its inherent qualities. We're not talking about what we like or dislike about the wine-we're identifying its key traits and how they are working. The simple term for this is "showing your work" and it is much more difficult than just picking up a wine and after one taste trying to peg what it is. It's also a much more useful practice and I'm excited to have an environment where I can hopefully improve my abilities.

In the Southern Valley

I have to admit that at the moment there is one region that I'm attracted to far more than any other. Right now I'm just much, much more excited about Rhone Valley wines than anything else. Part of it is personal taste, but more to it, it's the opportunity to explore so many different things. Because of my girlfriend's tastes I'm certainly looking more at the Southern Rhone stuff, but to be honest the higher cost of Northern Rhone wines would probably steer me down south anyway.

The Southern Rhone relies heavily on the Grenache grape, which will comprise the majority of pretty much all the wines from the region. Grenache is a fairly versatile grape with bright fruits and spice and the ability to distinguish itself in many different ways. I personally consider Grenache to be a noticeable step down on the ladder from Syrah in terms of its strength and body, but having said that I think people should also realize just how rich and powerful Grenache can be. If you've ever had quality Chateauneuf-de-Pape you understand what I mean.

The Southern Rhone consists of five AC's that I would consider to be "major" although the confusing Cotes du Rhone Villages classification makes the discussion quite confusing. It is safe to say that Chateauneuf-de-Pape is the most famous of the appellations with Gigondas coming in second. Both regions are capable of producing exceptional wines, although the name recognition does come with a price. In my experience the overall level of quality in Chateauneuf has been higher than in Gigondas, which is not to say every Chateauneuf is a standout or to say you can't find spectacular Gigondas.

Beyond these big two are the appellations of Vacqueyras and Rasteau. Neither of these have anywhere near the name power of other Rhone appellations, yet they are consistently turning out first-rate wines that are available at fractional prices of what you pay for top French or California wines. Additionally, these wines often have solid structure and the ability to age for a handful of years up to a decade. People often come in looking for wines they can by a case or half-case of and actually age without spending a ton of money. Right now I can thing of now better wine to try this with than quality Southern Rhone wines. Vacqueyras and Rasteau can sometimes be had for under $20 a bottle and are some of the rare finds that actually warrant being given the chance to age and improve at that price.

The last appellation of note in the Southern Rhone is Tavel, which serves as the benchmark for top quality dry Rose wines. These crisp and refreshing wines are standard bearers and proof that anyone who runs when they see pink wine in the glass should be scolded. They take a little extra effort to find but are well worth it.

There are several more appellations within the Southern Rhone. The two you should know are Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Rhone Villages, which together account for over 90% of the production. This can be a bit confusing as some regions within the Cotes du Rhone Villages are allowed to list the actual commune the wine comes from but must also retain the "Cotes du Rhone Village" label (Rasteau is one of these). Good Cotes du Rhone should run no more than $15 a bottle, and good Cotes du Rhone Villages wine should be no more than $5 more. A few the specific villages may go higher, but not by much.

Finally, I absolutely love white Rhones. They are almost universally composed of varietals you haven't heard of (Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, or Clairette Blanc, anyone?) and have a certain honeysuckle element that I find mind-blowing. With bright acidity, strong flavors of citrus, and often times enchanting aromas, these are some of the most magical wines out there as well as some of the most versatile when it comes to food pairings. I know I'm already pushing the envelope with Vacqueyras and Rasteau so I'll stop for now. But I know this is an area I'm going to keep coming back to.