Anatomy of a Wine Dinner

A big wine dinner looks easy enough. Snag a winemaker looking to show his wares, book a restaurant on a slow night. Come up with a menu that delivers enough panache to entice the buyers. Send out an email, do some publicity and voila. Everybody shows up, enjoys some good wine and some good food and goes home happy. Maybe even some wine is sold. As one might expect, there's a lot of work putting it all together.

 

Monday night a sold out room enjoyed a magnificent evening of great wines and great food to welcome Jean-Guillaume Prats, managing director of the great Bordeaux estate Cos d'Estournel to Dallas. The amazing food was prepared by Chef Bruno Davaillon and Sous Chef Eric Brandt of The Mansion on Turtle Creek.

One of the perks of my job is that I get to work these dinners. Work? You might ask. Yes, work.

I showed up about 4:30 to find that Randy Mclaughlin, one of the masterminds behind the event was already opening the bottles. It wasn't as complicated as the big Bordeaux dinners we host in the fall, but that just meant we were able to pay more attention to the preparation of the wines.

Randy handed the job of opening the bottles over to me and he began the tedious task of double-decanting 32 bottles of wine. Double decanting involves splash pouring the wine into a decanter and then carefully pouring the wine back into the original bottle. Splash pouring puts bubbles of air into the wine. The double pouring exposes the wine to air twice. The surface area of the bubbles combined with the double pour pulls the aromatic and flavor molecules to the surface and increases perception of the fruit characteristics of the wine. (Here's a link to a scientific study of this process as it relates to champagne.)   We double decanted all the younger wines three hours before they were poured. The 1995 was carefully decanted and served from the decanters.

Of course sediment is the other reason to decant. The 2006 and 2007 wines were pretty clean. The 2001 threw a lot of clunky sediment. So much that we had to rinse all the bottles before they could be refilled. The 1995 appeared to have been stored upside down! The necks contained a sticky sediment which stuck to the corks. Pouring these was tricky indeed. The good news was that each decanter of the '01 had a little wine left in the bottom. Hmm. It didn't take much ingenuity to aggregate the dregs into one decanter. We wound up with enough for two small glasses. A nice reward for a couple of hours of tense and tedious work.

Oops! Not yet. More work to be done. We lay out the menus and wine lists. Then check each place setting, making sure the glasses are clean and no stray glasses have made it onto the tables and that they are arranged correctly so every place setting is identical. 

Now we can sit for a minute and enjoy the wine. The 2001 is magnificent.

Then, back to work. Randy meets with the wait staff and I start opening the white wines. It's the first time I've seen a bottle of white Bordeaux from Cos. The label is the familiar Cos label, but where you expect maroon ink, it's pale green. Interesting. The aromatics are tart and redolent of lime.

By now guests are starting to show, so it's on with the jackets and on with the show!

Dom Ruinart 1998 Blanc de Blanc Champagne is poured as hors d' oeuvres are passed. The pale gold wine is still in the glass, but lively on the palate. The silky mousse delivers citrus oils and honeyed hazelnuts with a touch of lemon right on the finish. Goes beautifully with the Gougeres stuffed with goat cheese and the skewers of lobster tempura with tamarind sauce and a bite of watermelon.

John Rector, who pulls these evenings together, welcomes everyone and introduces our guest, Jean-Guillaume Prats. Jean-Guillaume is just in from a tasting in Shanghai with Angelo Gaja and Opus One and is "happy to be back in civilization." They both lament the absence of the 2009 barrel samples that had been bottled for tonight's tasting. Jean-Guillaume had personally consigned them to the air carrier, but the Iceland volcano intervened and the samples have yet to arrive in Dallas. Nice. It's not everyday that you can legitimately use a volcano as an excuse!

The 2006 Cos d'Estounel Blanc is poured with the Tuna Tartare and Chilled Pea Soup. The wine is produced from grapes grown at the very northern tip of the Medoc where the Gironde meets the Atlantic. 2006 was just the second vintage the wine was produced. The wine is crisp and voluptuous simultaneously with lime and guava notes. It's fantastic with the bright green fresh pea soup and the curry seasoned raw tuna. (Sorry, no photos of the food, it just seemed too rude. But the dish was spectacular in the big white bowl!)

The 2006 Chateau Goulee 2006 is from the same area. It is good solid wine with notes of black fruit and cassis leading to a gently gripping finish of vanilla and spice. It doesn't overwhelm the rich delicacy of the braised veal cheeks, which just melt in the mouth.

A rare slice of Kobe beef with Duck Fat French Fries came with the 2006 and 2007 Cos d'Estournel's. The 2007 was silky smooth with round juicy fruits. The '06 was much more powerful and structured and was a great match for the rich sticks of potato.

A spectacular trio of cheeses chosen from the cheese case at the Sigel's Addison store accompanied the 2001 and 1995 vintages. I've heard the story from both Rector and Monsieur Prats of the discussion of elevating the quality of Cos d'Estournel after the 2000 vintage, so it must be true. It was a fateful breakfast when John gave his blessing to the reduction of yields (and increase of price) to transform Cos from very good wine to great wine. 2001 was the first vintage to reflect this change in vineyard management and the proof is in the bottle. While the wine is ripe, concentrated and built for the long haul, it sure is fun to drink right now with its exuberant dark fruit and seamless integration of powerful flavor and powerful tannin. 

Tonight is the second time I've had the '95 at a Cos dinner and both times I've been surprised by the blend. 50% Merlot. The most ever. The wine is maturing. The color is showing some notes of amber and the aromatics are powerful and complex, dominated by cedar and dried fruits and flowers. It's like opening an old chest full of exotic smells.

Dessert was accompanied by a rich 1996 Chateau Coutet. We were to open  the wines after the entree, but when I was getting up to go, Randy was standing by my the table, looking exhausted. He had already opened the wines. All the corks had crumbled under the pull of the corkscrew and had to extracted piece by piece.  He then carefully decanted the wines. I remembered the dinner I'd worked last fall. Randy was feeling bad that night and went home after opening the wines. It was my first time opening wines solo at a big event and the corks had crumbled. I was crumbling as well, but managed to keep the wine clean, pour it back into the bottle and everything was fine. Moments like these can shake your soul!

Finally, the guests have left. We pack up the unopened bottles and the ever generous staff helped load the cases into Randy's car.

10:30. Time to go home.

Following Dreams: Robert Craig and Tor Kenward

I'm not sure when it was that I realized I was not going to do something else when I grew up. That this is it. The pinnacle. End game. Thirty-five years ago a series of decisions inadvertently landed me in the packaging industry. After being down-sized ten years ago, I answered a want-ad in the newspaper and became a wine consultant. Bingo! And here I am. Not a bad gig really. I taste wines and then sell them.

Robert Craig and Tor Kenward took a slightly different path and wound up with significantly different end games. Theirs would truly be considered pinnacles as they have small family wineries producing extremely high quality wines.

Tor developed a passion for wine and moved to Napa, where he spent 27 years working for Beringer. Most of those years were spent working with Ed Sbragia and Bob Steinhauer developing and marketing the Private Reserve program, wines which have one of the longest track records in Napa for quality, style, and aging.

Together, these men walked vineyards and tasted grapes both in California and Europe in pursuit of quality. And made the wines. For twenty years, Tor's bonus was that he got to make a barrel of wine for himself. That's a lot of wine-making! And when Beringer did their deal with the Australians, Tor sold his stock and retired. And now he makes his own wine, in small lots, a few barrels at a time.

Robert Craig came from the Texas coast. With a degree in accounting, he joined the Coast Guard to serve his then required time in the armed service. Which took him to San Francisco where he discovered wine country and his passion. The only problem was that the only way he could crack into the biz was to have been born into the action or be a field worker. So he became a banker and started putting together land deals in Napa. He sold Donald Hess vineyard land on Mount Veeder and that was his ticket. He built Hess Collection into the Napa winery it is today. And now he makes his own wine.

I knew a guy thirty some odd years ago who dropped out of law school and eventually started selling wine for Sigel's. He had a passion for wine then as he does to this day. John Rector is now Executive Vice President for Sigel's and he's the guy that brought Tor Kenward and Elton Sloan, Robert Craig's Managing Partner to the Greenville Avenue store last week for a portfolio tasting. A huge enthusiastic throng of passionate wine-loving customers showed up to taste and buy the wines produced by these men who had spent their lives following their passion.

Oh yeah, John sold me a few bottles of wine through the years as well. And here I am. Passionately selling wines.

Just a Friday Night: Pizza and Wine (but special!)

We finally made it out to Il Cane Rosso last Friday night for the first night of celebration for significant birthday for my wife Susan. We started with a trip to Love Field to pick up our eldest son Travis (her first surprise of the weekend) and then onto the pizza.

Il Cane Rosso is a guerrilla attack on Dallas' notions of pizza started by Jay Jerrier. Jay had a wood-burning oven made in Italy and then had it mounted on a trailer so he can pull it from location to location. Having a really big party? Give him a call. 

Three nights a week, he sets up in the parking lot front of the Chocolate Angel at Preston and Forest in North Dallas and uses their dining room. Voila! Table Service. And best of all: NO LIQUOR LICENSE!!! They totally encourage BYOB as long as you don't linger at your table while people are waiting. (Just kinda not in the spirit of the place...) Pizzas are one size and are strictly Neopolitan.

Now Travis has spent the last few years in Brooklyn conducting intense investigations into the state of Pizza in New York City and qualifies as an expert. As he perused the list of pies, he noticed many references to New York pizza culture. Notably Paulie Gee (noted fanatic who just opened his own place.) So why was I taking Travis to eat pizza in Dallas, of all places? Because Il Cane Rosso is getting serious notice on NYC pizza blogs. Check out the dialogue between Jay and Paulie here on Slice, a most influential NYC blog.

The place was hopping, but service was friendly and welcoming. We ordered a series of pies, starting with basic tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil and then moving on to artichokes and mushrooms. We finished with the Super Mario, featuring the chef's choice of ingredients, usually involving multiple meats and usually spicy. All the pies were spot-on. Very correct and quite delicious!

The oven is wood fired, and gets to 900 degrees. The thin pies cook in around two minutes which gives some char to the crust and melts the cheese. There's not a lot of bulky, stringy masses of cheesy glop to hold  the heat, so they cool quickly and it's a rush to eat the pie while it's still hot. Tough to do! Everyone wants to talk about how good they are, but there is no time. The pies came quickly, allowing just enough time to have a little wine, savor what you just ate and get ready to move on.

Oh. The wine. Yes we did have a bottle of wine. The 2007 Rosso di Montalcino from one of my favorite producers, Casanova di Neri. I posted a note about the Brunello in February. The Rosso is all Sangiovese and usually comes from younger vines and from vineyards not used in the main estate wines. Required aging is just a year and the wines, while complex, are not as austere and structured as the Brunello's. Still, the wine's savory dark cherries with hints of soy punctuated the cheeses, toppings and the char of the crust and primed the anticipation of the next pie.

Until the middle of the third pie, when we started to slow down. But not much, no. We finished.

Travis had noticed bags of marshmallows under the table of ingredients. Turns out the dessert pizza is a S'mores Calzone. Good not-too-sweet chocolate folded with marshmallows inside a pizza crust and baked until slightly charred and gooey. And yes. It was every big as good as it sounds.

At the end of the evening, our waitress had mentioned to Jay that he had a customer who had been to Paulie Gee's in Brooklyn, so Jay came over and we had a good visit after dinner. Even if there had been doubts, they were erased. This guy is serious about his pizza. Thanks for a great evening.

I'm sorry, the overall rush was so great I forgot to take pictures. What you see was taken from the Il Canne Rosso Facebook page. Check 'em out!

But come by the store. I'll fix you up with some good Italian wine before you go!

Pizza and Carmignano? No.... Crabcakes and Viognier!

We had planned to finally make it to Il Cane Rosso for their guerrilla restaurant quick-fired Neopolitan Pizza, but Mom called and said she was making crab cakes. 

'Nuff said! 

She does ethereal minimalist cakes! Just beautiful crab meat with just enough mayonnaise to bind. Chill, pack crushed saltines on top of the cake and then into a hot saute pan (crust-side down). While the cakes are browning she packs more crushed saltines on the cakes and after initial browning, she loosens the cakes from the bottom of the pan and lets them finish cooking. Tension is high as she manages to turn them over. I don't understand why in the hell they're not sticking, but the cakes are a little loose and maintenance of shape is somewhat tenuous. Somehow they come out of the pan onto the plates and then it's straight to the table. (I look longingly at the browned stuff in the bottom of the pan and say a prayer for the unborn sauce...) 

Served simply. A little tartar sauce, Meyer Lemon wedges. Crispy potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes and mozzarella.

I took a bottle of Melville Viognier. The wine's rich flavors of honeysuckle, peaches and Meyer lemons set the sweet crab on a pedestal and the long mineral finish let all the flavors fade into a beautiful sunset.

BT #4: Port-Mortem

I don't think we've had as glorious a day with clear blue skies and warm gentle sunshine since the last gathering back in October. The big windows at Dali Wine Bar let in the sun and gave us a great view of the Dallas Arts District. Thanks to Paul Pinnell and his generous staff for putting up with us for the afternoon. The food was delicious and extremely wine friendly. And, as always, thanks to Scott for putting this event together and coordinating everyone's schedules.

When I arrived the table was jam packed with bottles in brown bags and we jumped right in. Readers of the blog might have noticed a recent tendency to shy away from straight tasting notes, but with a day like today, I will just run through the wines. No back stories today! I made the (seemingly) astute remark that it seems like we never have white wines, but boy was I wrong. The spring like weather brought out some beauties. 

#1   A pale gold with hints of green on the edges exploded from the glass with grapefruit, guava and minerals and shouted "I am Sauvignon and I am New Zealand!" Matt wanted to say with all his heart that it was from somewhere besides Marlborough, but sadly, could offer no alternatives. Spy Valley 2008.

#2   As this pale, copper-tinged salmon wine was first poured, I was writing down Domaine Tempier, but when I felt the tall riesling style bottle, I knew I was sunk. Slightly sweet and redolent of creamy strawberries, floral perfumes and hints of honey, the wine was simultaneously bright, crisp and silky. Guesses start popping: Tavel? Grenache? France? No. Italy? No. Slightly sweet, pink? Bradley isn't bothered. He's just sitting back texting, the rest of us are stumped. The answer? Kessler Spatburgunder Rose 2007. Pink pinot noir rose from the Rheingau? Give me break! Rachelle arrives as we are starting the next wine, takes a sip and says. "Pinot Noir." Just like that.

#3  Yet another pale golden straw colored dry white. Lean, with very reticent aromatics. Slightly salty on the palate, flavors begin to emerge. The wine is getting interesting with very subtle notions of grapefruit emerging both on the nose and palate. Matt makes a bold declaration, "If anyone guesses the variety, I'll buy them lunch here for a year!" The guessing game starts again. France? No. Italy? Much discussion here, but finally, no. Portugal? No, but you're getting there. Finally the salt triggers my brain, "Tchakialokolioli, or whatever!" Close enough. I got the appellation (sorta) but not the variety. Hondaribbi Zurri (Chris forgive me, how could I forget?)  Txakolina is the correct spelling. Itzas Mendi 2007 is the wine.

#4   Pale, golden (what was that I said about no white wines?) but exotic aromatics. The perfume is so intense and so familiar. It's pure honey! Perfumed floral aromatics infuse the honey and the palate shows hints of residual sugar and anise. Italian? Yes! Piedmont? Yes! But not moscato (maybe) or arneis (not so much). Cortese! But this is not the dry, minerally wine of Gavi, it is a light and delicate wine. L'Aurora Cortese 2007,  from Icardi.

#5   The table arrives at immediate consensus on this wine. 2000-01 Left Bank Bordeaux, Saint-Julien or Margaux, a low classified growth. Definite. Final Answer. No discussion necessary. Then the question is asked, "Laura, what do you think?" "I think it's delicious! With long lingering notes of black cherries..." Oops! The wine is revealed. Chianti Classico Nippozano, 2004 Riserva!  Arms jerk to raise glasses in a rush of rapid, rampant revisionism. Damn, scratch that Sangiovese blog I've been meaning to write.....

#6  Deep, dark and redolent with vanilla and smoky blueberry pie, Brad and John both jump on this right out of the bag! Archaval Ferrer? Yes!  "Finca Altamira?" asks Masseto Man. Yes, but this time it's the 2007. The 2006 was one of the crowd's favorite at BT 3. And so this wine becomes one of our first to taste in two vintages!

#7   The light ruby colored wine shows notes of cherries, raisins and prunes with hints of leather. The flavors aren't quite in sync with the color and a guessing game ensues as we chase the wine from Burgundy to the Rhone Valley and Spain, then finally to Italy. But not to the Veneto! Oops again. 2003 Tommasi Amarone.

#8   Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as we have a wine that offers familiar footing. Blackberries and cassis drive this wine with authority. It is Napa Cab 06. We try to get it closer. The intense dark fruit speaks of mountains, the midpalate speaks of Oakville. Were we right? I don't know. The wine is Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2006.

#9   The color moves from brick to pale ruby, aromatics move from tar and creosote to cherries and delicate notes of anise. First ideas start in Burgundy, but as the wine opens in the glass, thoughts go South to the Rhone. I was surprised that it was not an older Chateauneuf du Pape. I was even more surprised to find it was a Cotes du Rhone, it was way too sophisticated and complex. The wine was an intricate jewel box of nuance and delicacy. Oh, but of course, it's Chateau Rayas Fonsalette, Cotes du Rhone 2004.  Old school and spectacular in a very un-modern way.

#10  More big red wine. The onslaught is underway, batten down the hatches, we're back on the highway. Cabernet? Yes! Italy? Yes! Super-Tuscan? Yes! Sangiovese? Yes! One more grape gives us a pause. Finally, petite verdot. But which wine?  Who knows. The answer: Brancaia, Ilatraia 2005.

#11   Wow, the nose is arresting. TCA? Definitely NOT! Brett? Maybe. Menthol? Definitely, Espresso? Definitely. Bordeaux? Yes. Big, gritty tannins. 2005? Yes. Left Bank?  Yes again. Chateau Rauzan-Segla, Margaux, 2005. This wine has a long, long life ahead of it! Mr. Parker suggests that you start drinking it in 2017!

#12   The brick rimmed dark garnet wine offers notes of roses and tar and Brad quickly calls Barolo. The tannins are tight and gripping and the wine is reluctantly giving up intense notions of soy, black cherries and hoisin and more tannins. The youth seals the vintage. Brad calls it one more time. He's obviously feeling it today, the move from amateur to the pro ranks has certainly made a difference! The wine was the 2004 Barolo Brunate from Macarini. Another old school wine that could have lasted for a long, long time, but instead we enjoyed it today.

#13   Wow! Nothing reticent here! Explosive wild cherries, plums and a melange of red fruits jump from the glass amid heady the heady perfume of rich, super-ripe Pinot Noir. Exotics acids, minerals and sweet integrated tannins keep the long finish lingering on the palate. Hirsch Vineyards, 2006 Estate Pinot Noir. A rare treasure from this tiny Sonoma Coast grower.

#14   Ok, get down, bring on the FUNK! This is some dense stuff here!!  There's a touch of amber on the rim to suggest a little bit of bottle age. Some of the funk blows off the glass and layers of soy, spice, black tea grudgingly reveal glimpes of dark cranberries and black cherries at the heart of the tannic core. Older Brunello? Maybe Riserva? Close. La Poderina 2001 Brunello di Montalcino.

#15   Ashland Park, California Red, 2005. I missed the backstory on this low-priced jewel, but I gather it's mainly Sonoma County Cab and Merlot and apparently it is going fast at Binny's in Chicago. I've never seen the label in this market. Some internet sites suggest it has a history as a controlled/private label. This release would fly out of the store at the price John's been paying!

#16  Coho 2007 Napa Red. This meritage blend is big and rich, with with massive servings of rich blackberry cobbler and smoky vanilla aromatics.

Is that all? I don't think I missed a wine this time. As always, a good time was had by all. The evening crowd was beginning to filter in and um, I think we were starting to get a little rowdy. I wonder why?

Time to head to the Ginger Man, where no notes were taken.

OK Masseto Man, I did miss a wine. But I did get to taste it, unlike the wine I missed totally at the last event. And while we have had many bottles of Bordeaux and Pinot Noir and now 6 (count 'em, SIX) Italian wines, Syrah is woefully under represented.

#17   Especially when the wine is like the Rockblock Reserve Syrah 2006. Made by famed Oregon pinot producer Domaine Serene from Walla Walla fruit, this wine had rich full body with deep red and black fruit and just a hint of the dark side. So smooth, so easy to drink yet so complex. Everybody loves Syrah's when they taste 'em, but nobody wants to buy 'em! What a shame.

Delicious Left-Over Riesling

Saturday was BeerFest at the store. A massive tasting with 30 different Craft and Belgian beers featuring a number of new releases and seasonal offerings. It's always well-attended and we sell a lot of really good beer. It's a fun day, but it's a lot of work.

So I went home suffused with notions of hops and malt. Susan had been to the store and bought some pork chops for me (the cook) to fix for dinner along with some apples, potatoes and some brussels sprouts. I'm thinking about how to work some beer into the meal. I was wishing I had some of the new Samuel Adams Noble Pils when I saw the bottle of riesling. More to the point, two-thirds of a bottle of riesling, left from a tasting at the office two or three weeks ago. It's just been sitting in the fridge with just a cork, no vacuvin, no wine-saver, nothing. A long time for a half-empty bottle of wine.

Which was a shame, it was a fabulous wine, a 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese Riesling from our new supplier 90+ Cellars. (They buy lots of wine that have been rated 90 points and release them under the 90+ label at very competitive prices.) But surely it would taste great in the bottom of a skillet with browned chops and apples, so I grabbed the bottle, pulled the cork, and took a swig right out of the bottle.

Wow! Fabulous! The wine had changed, but the degree of oxidation had just accelerated the aging curve of the wine. Where it had been sleek and crisp, all apples and green pears, it now showed notes of apricot, brown sugar and baked apple pies.

"Susan! Bring wineglasses, NOW!!!"

Well, some of the wine did end up in the pan and the chops and apples in their riesling/butter pan sauce was quite delicious indeed. And I shouldn't have been surprised at how good the wine tasted. Sugar and acid are both preservatives and really good Spatlese's have plenty of both.

I never did get around to drinking that beer!

Whither Tasting Notes, for Kim

Kim Pierce, a frequent contributor to (and mainstay of) the Dallas News' food and wine coverage called the other day to ask about tasting notes. More specifically to ask about taking tasting notes on wines and keeping track of them. And even more to the point, there are apps for smart phones. Does anybody use them?

I had seen her fishing for information on the subject on Facebook, but had not responded. My answer was somewhat embarrassing. No, most of the time I don't take notes. And at our regular staff tastings, I don't see many of my colleagues taking notes either. Why is it that? (One might ask.)

My first response is my standard line, that if wine guys were diligent organized individuals we would have big jobs making big money. But I think the truth is that one of reasons we are wine guys is our ability to analyze and  remember flavors. Most of our staff tastings are visiting new releases of familiar producers, so there is a context for storing the information. The information has to be in our heads in a fluid system of logic so we can recall the information when talking with customers. NO NOTES ON THE SELLING FLOOR!!!

Where I do see notes being taken and coming back into the store is when guys go to big portfolio tastings where there are wines and producers which are either new or significant. So notes are taken. Are they stored? Well, they're usually on a desk or in a pocket.

Readers might be relieved to know that I have been a little more diligent about note-taking since I started writing this blog. But as far as storage, it's nice that I have the blog! When I started in the industry, my mother (a bookbinder) made a beautiful book for me to take notes. I took copious notes on a trip to France. Some are legible. At Mas Carlot in the Costieres de Nimes, a dog knocked over my wine glass with his tail and spilled wine on my book. From then on I recorded the color of every wine by controlled spillage. Sort of a Jackson Pollock approach to note taking. (Can't do that with an app!)

Alas, diligence flagged on the return home. Every now and then I drag it out and think I will make more notes. Yeah, it's a sad and sporadic journal.

I did tell Kim about a customer who takes pictures on his phone of every bottle of wine he drinks. When he comes into the store he shows me the ones he liked. He's an older gentleman, a friend of my father's. She was going to give him a call.