Monday, July 20, 2009
Black currants and chicken
One of my most spectacular failures in recent cooking was making a black currant sauce to accompany chicken breasts. Now, mind you, I was actually combining a recipe I found online for this dish and one for black currant sauced duck breast, so I felt pretty good going into the dish. But, for some reason, the dish became very bitter and unpleasant. And, mind you, both Julie and I like black currants, as a matter of course. But this one was bad enough to require procurement of alternative food. Not good.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Red Currants
Red currants make a wonderful sauce for pork chops. Who would've thought? Tonight, I cooked some up in butter wtih a bit of honey, paired it with stove-top cooked pork chops. Nice, tasty, acidic. Not bad at all. In addition, we added quinoa and wax beans to round out dinner. A schuerebe wine from closeout at Wednesday group paired decently, but was a bit too sweet for the meal.
Northern Michigan, Day III
This was a shorter day, spent near Traverse city, and driving back to Ann Arbor. One winery, one restaurant, one hippie coffee shop.
Lunch: At Trattoria Stella, in the old mental institution, which is being converted to a series of shops. This was the best meal of the trip, hands down. We did an appetizer plate of seared beef, greens, olives, raspberries, strawberries, pickled ramps (man, they were garlicky!), hazelnuts. Yum. I did a cheese stuffed pasta in yellow tomato sauce--amazing--as my main. Julie had a gussied up nutella type sandwich with fruit. It was also good, though not to my taste. Dessert was amazing--I had gelato--a mix of blackberry and rhubarb, and Julie had panna cotta. We each did a glass of L. Mawby Talisman with lunch--a great pairing for everything.
Left Foot Charley: Modern tasting room, also at the institution, very knowledgeable, friendly staff, really good wines.
2008 Pinot Grigio: Strong acid, moderate pear and lemon fruit, some minerality, but a bit hot.
2008 Pinot Blanc - Island Vineyard: Amazing wine with great acid, minerality, green apple, lemon. Wow!
2008 Rose of Cabernet Franc: Classic cab franc notes of tobacco, herbs, with strong cherry fruit. well made, would compete with Chinon.
NV Murmur: Blend of pinot grigio, riesling, traminette. rather fruity and floral, a tad sweet, reminiscent of Alsatian Edelzwickers.
2008 Riesling Medium Dry. Floral and white peach notes, hints of sweetness, great balance.
2007 chardonnay: oaked, but not overly so.
2008 Riesling Seventh Hill Farm: Great dryish rielsling, balance of acid and fruit, substantial complexity, apricot; should age
2008 Riesling - Longcore Vineyard: Sweeter, has acid to balance. Not as much to my taste, but well-made.
2007 Red Blend: Mostly cab franc: Classic cab franc notes, but NOT overproduced; has good fruit, tobacco, but not over tannic, overoaked. Pleasant drinking wine.
In all, we had a great trip. Tried dozens of wines. Liked many of them, learned a ton about what Michigan wines are all about. And, at long last, the blogging on this is done!
Lunch: At Trattoria Stella, in the old mental institution, which is being converted to a series of shops. This was the best meal of the trip, hands down. We did an appetizer plate of seared beef, greens, olives, raspberries, strawberries, pickled ramps (man, they were garlicky!), hazelnuts. Yum. I did a cheese stuffed pasta in yellow tomato sauce--amazing--as my main. Julie had a gussied up nutella type sandwich with fruit. It was also good, though not to my taste. Dessert was amazing--I had gelato--a mix of blackberry and rhubarb, and Julie had panna cotta. We each did a glass of L. Mawby Talisman with lunch--a great pairing for everything.
Left Foot Charley: Modern tasting room, also at the institution, very knowledgeable, friendly staff, really good wines.
2008 Pinot Grigio: Strong acid, moderate pear and lemon fruit, some minerality, but a bit hot.
2008 Pinot Blanc - Island Vineyard: Amazing wine with great acid, minerality, green apple, lemon. Wow!
2008 Rose of Cabernet Franc: Classic cab franc notes of tobacco, herbs, with strong cherry fruit. well made, would compete with Chinon.
NV Murmur: Blend of pinot grigio, riesling, traminette. rather fruity and floral, a tad sweet, reminiscent of Alsatian Edelzwickers.
2008 Riesling Medium Dry. Floral and white peach notes, hints of sweetness, great balance.
2007 chardonnay: oaked, but not overly so.
2008 Riesling Seventh Hill Farm: Great dryish rielsling, balance of acid and fruit, substantial complexity, apricot; should age
2008 Riesling - Longcore Vineyard: Sweeter, has acid to balance. Not as much to my taste, but well-made.
2007 Red Blend: Mostly cab franc: Classic cab franc notes, but NOT overproduced; has good fruit, tobacco, but not over tannic, overoaked. Pleasant drinking wine.
In all, we had a great trip. Tried dozens of wines. Liked many of them, learned a ton about what Michigan wines are all about. And, at long last, the blogging on this is done!
Northern Michigan, Part II
Day two was Leelanau Peninsula. The peninsula is a lot bigger than Old Mission, and accordingly, has more wineries, if a bit less dense development.
1. We started the day at Chateau de Leelanau. The tasting room is removed from most of the rest of their operation, and is part of a building with other shops and hte local Chamber of Commerce. It was a rainy, cool day, and we were the only ones there, and the staff person was very friendly, if not all that knowledgeable about the wines. They were pouring a number of rather old wines, which may or not have been particularly age-worthy wines. Of note:
2004 Sur Lie Chardonnay: Lot of fruit and acidic, still fairly fresh for the age, surprisingly enough.
2004 Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay: Oak. All oak, and nothing but the oak.
2008 Dry Riesling: This was their standout, with petrol hints on the nose (Yes, this is a good thing), along with apple, lemon, pear, and great acid.
2005 Pinot Gris: Pleasat enough, not a stand-out.
2007 Bianca: Not a grape with which I'm familiar, was quite fascinating, if not stellar. Tropical fruits, includin mango.
2003 Semi-dry riesling: Cloyingly sweet, honeyed, floral perfume notes.
2005 Rose of cabernet franc: Tons of strawberry and raspberry, a bit over the hill at 4 years old.
2005 Pinot Noir: Surprisingly nice, fruit driven, with tobacco and pepper from judicious barrel time.
2004 Cabernet Franc: usual tobacco, tar, herbal notes, rather stemmy, tons of tannins. Lacked fruit to hold up to barrel time.
2005 Select Harvest Riesling: Tons of sugar, moderate fruit, low acid.
2. Willow Vineyard: Not a producer we were familiar with, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the trip. Really a neat producer on a hill overlooking West Bay that has the best view imagineable. Wonderfully landscaped, great knowledge of the wines.
2007 Chardonnay: Oaked, but not heavily, rather burgundian in style, remarkable minerality.
2008 Baci Rose of Pinot Noir: Stellar pink. Reminded me of the subtlety of French Sancerre rose. Lovely wine.
2007 Pinot Noir: Great balance of fruit and oak, a tad sweet, cherry, tobacco notes.
2007 Pinot Gris: Hints of swetetness, big fruit, pear, peach.
3. L. Mawby: Focuses exclusively on sparkling wines in two lines. The first, and arguably better, are marketed as L. Mawby, produced in tradition champagne style method. THe second, M. Lawrence, are less expensive as a whole, less complex, and use a less traditional production method. They're intended to be fun, and a bit more "mass market", with names like "Sandpiper", "Sex", and so on. We mostly tasted from the traditional L. Mawby line, and were quite impressed. The tasting room staff was knowledgeable, able to accommodate everyone from the "fun" casual wine drinker to geeks like us, and were friendly and fun about it. Yay!
The wines:
Sandpiper: moderately sweet, good fruit, not to my taste.
L. Mawby Talisman: The best of the lineup in my mind. From vignoles, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot gris. Quite dry, very complex, toasty notes, some fruit, huge, long, minerally finish.
L. Mawby Cremant Classic: From vignoles. Rather one-note in nature, well made, but not to my taste.
Jadore: Some age, a sweeter version than the others, balance of sweet fruit notes and acid.
Blanc de blancs: 80% chardonnay, 20 pinot gris. Light, minerally, lemon and acid, some steely notes. Well made.
Blanc de noirs: from pinot noir. Strong berry notes, fruit, cherry, not as austere as blanc de blancs. Well made.
Conservancy: "everything" blend, a bit sweeter and more complex than above two. I thought a bit muddled and undistinctive, but still well made.
4. Shady Lane: Rather busy, young staff, not particularly attentive or knowledgeable. We sampled two for free, and decided against staying to try more.
2007 semi-dry riesling: cloyingly sweet, lacking acid to back it up.
2006 pinto noir: Decent wine, oak a bit strong for my tastes.
5. Black Star Farms: One of the larger and more corporate operations. Friendly and knowledgeable if over-extended staff. Wines didn't impress as a whole.
2007 Bedazzled: Sparkling from chardonnay and pinot noir. Sweet fruit notes, somewhat flat, bubbles large, due to forced carbon dioxide rather than traditional bottle fermentation.
2008 Pinot Noir rose: Dry berries and minerality.. Not bad, not great.
2007 Pinot Gris: Crisp acid and minerality, one of their best wines.
2008 Arcturos Riesling: easy drinking, crisp acid with some residual sugar.
2008 Sur Lie chardonnay: Not bad, not distinctive, crisp notes, not malolactic.
2008 Barrel Age Chardonnay: Too much oak.
2006 Arcturos Pinot noir: Well-balanced between oak and fruit
2004 Isidor's Choice Pinot Noir: Fruit driven, rather over done.
2007 Cabernet Franc: Rough drinking without the complexity to make it worhtwhile.
2007 Isidor's Choice Terrace Red: Cab Franc, Regent grapes. Remarkably pleasant, but not all that good of value. Tobacco, fruit blend.
6. Chateau Fontaine. These guys weren't supposed to be open, but I called, and since it was rainy, they were working in teh tasting room and had opened it up. The room is run by the owners and winemaker, so we got to talk to the source. That matters a lot. It was VERY busy, but the owner managed to keep up with everything very well indeed. Really a fun place.
2007 Pinot Gris: Harsh, unpleasant finish
2007 Chardonnay: Hints of oak, but good fruit, some minerality. Not outstanding, but decent.
2008 Woodland White (Auxerrois): This is their best wine, by far. Crisp acidity, citrus, floral notes, very well made. Impressive, award winning wine.
2007 Gewurztraminer: Honest gewurz, floral notes, some lychee, subtle.
2007 White Riesling: Moderately sweet, perhaps not enough acid for balance.
2006 Pinot Noir: Fruit, showing very little oak, not bad
2006 Woodland Red: Cab Franc, cabernet Sauvignon, merlot, and syrah. Bizarre that cab sauv and syrah, in particular, produce this far north. The wine suggests that perhaps it's a stretch.
Cherry wine: NOt bad--off dry, well made, pleasant, FOR what it is.
2008 Off-dry Riesling: Great balnace of acid and fruit, lemon and apricot notes.
7. Bel Lago: A nice tasting room, friendly and knowledgeable staff. Good line up of wines. Got to try both 07 and 08 vintages of two of their white wines, and recommend the 08's highly!
2007 Pinot Grigio: More acidity and crispness than most PG's from NoMi.
2007 Auxerrois: Good fruit, floral hints, minerality
2008 Auxerrois: As above, but on steroids--crisp minerality, tons of complexity, wow!
2007 Semidry riesling: Good balance for vintage between acid, fruit, sweetness.
2007 Gewurztraminer: Lychee on nose, palate runs rather hot.
2008 Gewurztraminer: Again, as above, but on steroids, except not hot. Great perfume, lychee, classic!
2006 Pinot Noir: Pepper strong on nose, apparently from Dijon Clone 777. Reasonably well balanced.
NV Bel Lago Red: Cab Franc, merlot, regent, dornfelder, maruette, gamay, anything else tey can find. Core is 2005, a great red year, and it shows. Fruit driven.
2005 Tempesta: High end wine, intended for aging, cab franc based. Lots of tannins, but integrated already.
We did dinner at Tuscan Bistro. It was a disappointment. The carpaccio was acceptably good, and the homemade pasta was nice, if not spectacular. Our server was not terribly knowledgeable about wine, so we were on our own for figuring out pairings and so on. I had a chianti classico with a pasta bolognese, which worked ok, although the wine was rather new world in style, and Julie had a pinot grigio with a cheese stuffed pasta, again an OK pairing. Neither wine stood out.
1. We started the day at Chateau de Leelanau. The tasting room is removed from most of the rest of their operation, and is part of a building with other shops and hte local Chamber of Commerce. It was a rainy, cool day, and we were the only ones there, and the staff person was very friendly, if not all that knowledgeable about the wines. They were pouring a number of rather old wines, which may or not have been particularly age-worthy wines. Of note:
2004 Sur Lie Chardonnay: Lot of fruit and acidic, still fairly fresh for the age, surprisingly enough.
2004 Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay: Oak. All oak, and nothing but the oak.
2008 Dry Riesling: This was their standout, with petrol hints on the nose (Yes, this is a good thing), along with apple, lemon, pear, and great acid.
2005 Pinot Gris: Pleasat enough, not a stand-out.
2007 Bianca: Not a grape with which I'm familiar, was quite fascinating, if not stellar. Tropical fruits, includin mango.
2003 Semi-dry riesling: Cloyingly sweet, honeyed, floral perfume notes.
2005 Rose of cabernet franc: Tons of strawberry and raspberry, a bit over the hill at 4 years old.
2005 Pinot Noir: Surprisingly nice, fruit driven, with tobacco and pepper from judicious barrel time.
2004 Cabernet Franc: usual tobacco, tar, herbal notes, rather stemmy, tons of tannins. Lacked fruit to hold up to barrel time.
2005 Select Harvest Riesling: Tons of sugar, moderate fruit, low acid.
2. Willow Vineyard: Not a producer we were familiar with, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the trip. Really a neat producer on a hill overlooking West Bay that has the best view imagineable. Wonderfully landscaped, great knowledge of the wines.
2007 Chardonnay: Oaked, but not heavily, rather burgundian in style, remarkable minerality.
2008 Baci Rose of Pinot Noir: Stellar pink. Reminded me of the subtlety of French Sancerre rose. Lovely wine.
2007 Pinot Noir: Great balance of fruit and oak, a tad sweet, cherry, tobacco notes.
2007 Pinot Gris: Hints of swetetness, big fruit, pear, peach.
3. L. Mawby: Focuses exclusively on sparkling wines in two lines. The first, and arguably better, are marketed as L. Mawby, produced in tradition champagne style method. THe second, M. Lawrence, are less expensive as a whole, less complex, and use a less traditional production method. They're intended to be fun, and a bit more "mass market", with names like "Sandpiper", "Sex", and so on. We mostly tasted from the traditional L. Mawby line, and were quite impressed. The tasting room staff was knowledgeable, able to accommodate everyone from the "fun" casual wine drinker to geeks like us, and were friendly and fun about it. Yay!
The wines:
Sandpiper: moderately sweet, good fruit, not to my taste.
L. Mawby Talisman: The best of the lineup in my mind. From vignoles, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot gris. Quite dry, very complex, toasty notes, some fruit, huge, long, minerally finish.
L. Mawby Cremant Classic: From vignoles. Rather one-note in nature, well made, but not to my taste.
Jadore: Some age, a sweeter version than the others, balance of sweet fruit notes and acid.
Blanc de blancs: 80% chardonnay, 20 pinot gris. Light, minerally, lemon and acid, some steely notes. Well made.
Blanc de noirs: from pinot noir. Strong berry notes, fruit, cherry, not as austere as blanc de blancs. Well made.
Conservancy: "everything" blend, a bit sweeter and more complex than above two. I thought a bit muddled and undistinctive, but still well made.
4. Shady Lane: Rather busy, young staff, not particularly attentive or knowledgeable. We sampled two for free, and decided against staying to try more.
2007 semi-dry riesling: cloyingly sweet, lacking acid to back it up.
2006 pinto noir: Decent wine, oak a bit strong for my tastes.
5. Black Star Farms: One of the larger and more corporate operations. Friendly and knowledgeable if over-extended staff. Wines didn't impress as a whole.
2007 Bedazzled: Sparkling from chardonnay and pinot noir. Sweet fruit notes, somewhat flat, bubbles large, due to forced carbon dioxide rather than traditional bottle fermentation.
2008 Pinot Noir rose: Dry berries and minerality.. Not bad, not great.
2007 Pinot Gris: Crisp acid and minerality, one of their best wines.
2008 Arcturos Riesling: easy drinking, crisp acid with some residual sugar.
2008 Sur Lie chardonnay: Not bad, not distinctive, crisp notes, not malolactic.
2008 Barrel Age Chardonnay: Too much oak.
2006 Arcturos Pinot noir: Well-balanced between oak and fruit
2004 Isidor's Choice Pinot Noir: Fruit driven, rather over done.
2007 Cabernet Franc: Rough drinking without the complexity to make it worhtwhile.
2007 Isidor's Choice Terrace Red: Cab Franc, Regent grapes. Remarkably pleasant, but not all that good of value. Tobacco, fruit blend.
6. Chateau Fontaine. These guys weren't supposed to be open, but I called, and since it was rainy, they were working in teh tasting room and had opened it up. The room is run by the owners and winemaker, so we got to talk to the source. That matters a lot. It was VERY busy, but the owner managed to keep up with everything very well indeed. Really a fun place.
2007 Pinot Gris: Harsh, unpleasant finish
2007 Chardonnay: Hints of oak, but good fruit, some minerality. Not outstanding, but decent.
2008 Woodland White (Auxerrois): This is their best wine, by far. Crisp acidity, citrus, floral notes, very well made. Impressive, award winning wine.
2007 Gewurztraminer: Honest gewurz, floral notes, some lychee, subtle.
2007 White Riesling: Moderately sweet, perhaps not enough acid for balance.
2006 Pinot Noir: Fruit, showing very little oak, not bad
2006 Woodland Red: Cab Franc, cabernet Sauvignon, merlot, and syrah. Bizarre that cab sauv and syrah, in particular, produce this far north. The wine suggests that perhaps it's a stretch.
Cherry wine: NOt bad--off dry, well made, pleasant, FOR what it is.
2008 Off-dry Riesling: Great balnace of acid and fruit, lemon and apricot notes.
7. Bel Lago: A nice tasting room, friendly and knowledgeable staff. Good line up of wines. Got to try both 07 and 08 vintages of two of their white wines, and recommend the 08's highly!
2007 Pinot Grigio: More acidity and crispness than most PG's from NoMi.
2007 Auxerrois: Good fruit, floral hints, minerality
2008 Auxerrois: As above, but on steroids--crisp minerality, tons of complexity, wow!
2007 Semidry riesling: Good balance for vintage between acid, fruit, sweetness.
2007 Gewurztraminer: Lychee on nose, palate runs rather hot.
2008 Gewurztraminer: Again, as above, but on steroids, except not hot. Great perfume, lychee, classic!
2006 Pinot Noir: Pepper strong on nose, apparently from Dijon Clone 777. Reasonably well balanced.
NV Bel Lago Red: Cab Franc, merlot, regent, dornfelder, maruette, gamay, anything else tey can find. Core is 2005, a great red year, and it shows. Fruit driven.
2005 Tempesta: High end wine, intended for aging, cab franc based. Lots of tannins, but integrated already.
We did dinner at Tuscan Bistro. It was a disappointment. The carpaccio was acceptably good, and the homemade pasta was nice, if not spectacular. Our server was not terribly knowledgeable about wine, so we were on our own for figuring out pairings and so on. I had a chianti classico with a pasta bolognese, which worked ok, although the wine was rather new world in style, and Julie had a pinot grigio with a cheese stuffed pasta, again an OK pairing. Neither wine stood out.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Northern Michigan, Day 1
Julie and I are on vacation in the northern part of Michigan. To be precise, we're staying a couple days in Traverse City. Now, this area is known for a few things. A lot of water, massive tourism, a Cherry Festival, and, important to us, a lot of Michigan's best wine. As it turns out, our trip is largely centered around tasting wine. And taste we have. Yesterday, we went up Old Mission Peninsula, a strip of land maybe 15 miles long and probably no more than a mile wide. On the peninsula, there are probably 8-10 wineries. We visited five. This trip is a real way of seeing just how variable wines of a small region are, and just as important, how their producers approach not only making, but also selling, wine. So, here's a run down of the day's wineries:
1. Brys Estate: Their tasting room, rather pretentious, was peopled with a sort of "faux friendly" staff who either didn't know all that much about wine, or didn't want to talk about it. Their wines were a mixed bag--some good, some OK, and a few not so much. Unfortunately, they charge for tastings, and make you pick from among their wines to taste, so we didn't get to try nearly all of their wines. Here are some impressions:
2008 Pinot Blanc: A good example of p.b. from Michigan. Floral and mineral notes, some apple, quite charming.
2008 Pinot Grigio: Decent acid, moderate fruit, a rather bizarre finish that was a bit "salty" in nature.
2007 Rose of Pinot Noir: Decent minerality and creamy raspberry notes, the wine drank rather hot, especially toward the finish.
2007 Dry Riesling: One of their best efforts, petrol on the nose, tons of acid, lemony notes. Probably the best of their wines.
2007 Pinot Noir Reserve: A lot of oak, some fruit, decent peppery earth tones. Too oaky for my tastes.
2007 Late Harvest Riesling: One of the least impressive rieslings we tasted, for what it was supposed to be. This should have been comparable to an Auslese or so, I figure. Well, to its credit, it had decent acit, but it was just plain thin, without the fruit that should have been there to credit it as a late harvest. I got the sense they picked before they really should have, based on what they were trying to do.
2. Two Lads: One of the newest and smallest producers on Old Mission, they only had three wines to taste. But the winery is an ultra-modern, somewhat "green" facility. Their staff was mostly family, and they genuinely cared about the place and their wine. That showed through not only in the experience iwth them, but in the wines. That said, all of their wines are a bit "over-produced" in my view. They were talking about how their wines were "only" 13.5 or 14% alcohol. Personally, I don't want my pinot gris or rose to be at those sorts of alcohol levels, especially from Michigan, and I honestly don't quite know how they got the fruit so danged ripe. The run-down:
2008 Pinot Grigio: Well made, but I really wasn't sure I wasn't drinking a sauvignon blanc when I first tasted it. It was herbal, grassy, gooseberries, even a bit of cat pee (in a good way, believe it or not).
2008 Rose of Cabernet Franc: This isn't your granny's white zin, nor is it as subtle as many fo the beautiful french roses. The cab franc tobacco, and even tar, came through, along with orange notes. A bit big by my standards, rather alcoholic.
2007 Cabernet Franc: Big, tannic, I thought a tad overmade. Lots of oak.
3. Bowers Harbor: The best, most enjoyable winery of the day. Quite large operation, with a slightly rustic appearing tasting room. The staff was uber-friendly, quite knowledgeable of their products and processes, very willing to share information and passion with folks tasting. First free tasting, too. These guys make especially great rieslings, of a most impressive stature. The rundown:
2008 Block II dry riesling: Tons of petrol on the nose, minerals, crisp acidity, tons of complexity, a lot going on. I can see why it won a lot of awards already, and is promising for 2008 rieslings up here.
2006 Montana Rusa Riesling: Also some petrol, more well settled and rounded out than the newer vintages due to age, fruit not as big as the acid.
2006 Pinot Noir: Too much oak, some sour cherry notes. 06 wasn't a great year for reds up here, and the oak didn't help. Their weakest wine.
2005 Cabernet Franc, Erica Vineyard: Classic tobacco and tar of cab franc, well made, impressive already, could age.
2006 2896, Langley Vineyard: Blend of cab franc, merlot, and cab sauvignon. The cab sauv is amazing to me, as i didn't think it'd ripen well up here. Lots of chewy tannin, minerality, fruit, decent balance, will need age.
2005 Block II off-dry riesling: Great balance of acid and sweetness, lots of citrus notes. SHould age some still.
2007 Riesling Langley, off-dry: Floral notes pronounced, not as acidic as some others, probably too much fruit relativ to acid levels.
2006 Gewurztraminer Icewine: One amazing wine. Lychee, trop fruits, huge long finish, plenty of acid to cut the fruit and floral notes. Should age well. Not sure it's worth the huge price tag, though.
Blanc de Blancs Sparkling wine: 80% chardonnay, 20% pinot gris. Nice if not stellar sparkling, a lot of acid, toasty notes, some nuttiness. Well made.
Cherritage: A cherry wine, 2:1 ratio of tart to sweet cherries. More appealing than I expected, not that sweet, pleasant.
4. Chateau Grand Traverse: The mass-market NoMI winery. Staff not terribly knowledgeable, lots of visitors, little attention or discussion. Not worht the visit, in my opinion. Almost none of the wines were worth writing much about, and were rather unimpressive. But I will note three interesting wines. Surprisingly, their reds were really good news, particularly when they didn't "try too hard".
2007 Gamay Noir "Limited": I really doubt there was much limited about it, but it's an honest fruit-driven gamay with classic fruit notes and some pepper hints. Could've been a simple beaujolais.
2006 Pinot noir: Not bad, almost all fruit driven, some oak for balance and complexity.
2006 Gamay Reserve: This was one of the most disturbing wines on the list. They managed to make it both sweet-fruity and overoaked, all at once. Truly bizarre experience, and not at all pleasing.
5. Peninsula Cellars: Tasting room in an old one-room schoolhouse, great staff, friendly, moderately knowledgeable. Awesome tasting room, fun quotes and themes, reflected a lot of effort. Again, no tasting fee.
2007 Pinot Blanc: Floral, acid, pear and apple. Not bad, not great. A bit too floral for my tastes.
2006 Chardonnay: An amazing amount of acid, not so much on the fruit.
2006 Gewurztraminer: Petrol, some lychee, reserved
2006 Manigold Gewurz: Tons of expressive floral notes. Too much so for my liking.
2006 Dry Riesling: Lime and floral notes, strong acid.
2006 Semi-dry Riesling: More complexity than above, lot of floral notes, some apricot.
2007 Pinot Gris: peachy, very long minerally finish. NOt what I would expect for a P.G.
2006 Pinot Noir: Good balance of fruit and oak. Well done.
2006 Select Riesling: An auslese style that was made well. Complex, apricot, peach, sweetnees balanced with good acid. Their highlight!
NV "Homework" rose of pinot noir. Sweet, cloying, not so desirable
2005 Cabernet Franc: Has honest cab franc notes of herbs, tobacco, cherry fruit, not hugely complex, but good.
2005 Cabernet Franc Reserve: Much more complex than above, a bit overdone, perhaps, needs age still, oak, smoke, minerality. Interesting.
In all, good wines and wineries, not too many disappointments, a lot of nice people.
We went for dinner at Amical, a french bistro downtown Traverse City. I'd rate this as a very good, solid restaurant, with a few "issues". The good: Nice, friendly, moderately knowledgable staff. Fun atmosphere with eclectic art. Creative menu that reflects effort and thought. The not so good: The wine list was rather unusual, and not in a particularly complimentary light. It was a strange mix of good and bad, New and Old World, Michigan wines, and it was unclear how they fit together for coherence. My real beef, though, was with the "by the glass" list--which to their credit was pretty extensive. Not so good--they didn't list vintages. Now, if you have drunk much wine, you know--vintage matters. So, list it, dammit!
Specific food: We started with soup--Julie had a tomato soup iwth a bread crust over it. Amazingly good, and a HUGE crock of soup--too much food, but tasty as can be. I had an Asian chicken soup with cabbage and mushrooms--the cup was a great appetizer side, and pretty tasty. Not great, though. Entrees: I had a lamb shank braised in beer with a honey-beer reduction sauce and herbs de Provence. Very tasty, perhaps a bit too sweet. Pairedw ith a 2006 Bastide Cote du Rhone. Not a bad wine, good pairing. Julie had a veal puttanseca with spaetzle. Good taste, the puttanesca was awesome. The veal was overcooked, though, and the spaetzle was a weird pairing with the dish. IN all, a good restaurant, and a place I'd recommend, if not in the most glowing terms possible. Solid place.
1. Brys Estate: Their tasting room, rather pretentious, was peopled with a sort of "faux friendly" staff who either didn't know all that much about wine, or didn't want to talk about it. Their wines were a mixed bag--some good, some OK, and a few not so much. Unfortunately, they charge for tastings, and make you pick from among their wines to taste, so we didn't get to try nearly all of their wines. Here are some impressions:
2008 Pinot Blanc: A good example of p.b. from Michigan. Floral and mineral notes, some apple, quite charming.
2008 Pinot Grigio: Decent acid, moderate fruit, a rather bizarre finish that was a bit "salty" in nature.
2007 Rose of Pinot Noir: Decent minerality and creamy raspberry notes, the wine drank rather hot, especially toward the finish.
2007 Dry Riesling: One of their best efforts, petrol on the nose, tons of acid, lemony notes. Probably the best of their wines.
2007 Pinot Noir Reserve: A lot of oak, some fruit, decent peppery earth tones. Too oaky for my tastes.
2007 Late Harvest Riesling: One of the least impressive rieslings we tasted, for what it was supposed to be. This should have been comparable to an Auslese or so, I figure. Well, to its credit, it had decent acit, but it was just plain thin, without the fruit that should have been there to credit it as a late harvest. I got the sense they picked before they really should have, based on what they were trying to do.
2. Two Lads: One of the newest and smallest producers on Old Mission, they only had three wines to taste. But the winery is an ultra-modern, somewhat "green" facility. Their staff was mostly family, and they genuinely cared about the place and their wine. That showed through not only in the experience iwth them, but in the wines. That said, all of their wines are a bit "over-produced" in my view. They were talking about how their wines were "only" 13.5 or 14% alcohol. Personally, I don't want my pinot gris or rose to be at those sorts of alcohol levels, especially from Michigan, and I honestly don't quite know how they got the fruit so danged ripe. The run-down:
2008 Pinot Grigio: Well made, but I really wasn't sure I wasn't drinking a sauvignon blanc when I first tasted it. It was herbal, grassy, gooseberries, even a bit of cat pee (in a good way, believe it or not).
2008 Rose of Cabernet Franc: This isn't your granny's white zin, nor is it as subtle as many fo the beautiful french roses. The cab franc tobacco, and even tar, came through, along with orange notes. A bit big by my standards, rather alcoholic.
2007 Cabernet Franc: Big, tannic, I thought a tad overmade. Lots of oak.
3. Bowers Harbor: The best, most enjoyable winery of the day. Quite large operation, with a slightly rustic appearing tasting room. The staff was uber-friendly, quite knowledgeable of their products and processes, very willing to share information and passion with folks tasting. First free tasting, too. These guys make especially great rieslings, of a most impressive stature. The rundown:
2008 Block II dry riesling: Tons of petrol on the nose, minerals, crisp acidity, tons of complexity, a lot going on. I can see why it won a lot of awards already, and is promising for 2008 rieslings up here.
2006 Montana Rusa Riesling: Also some petrol, more well settled and rounded out than the newer vintages due to age, fruit not as big as the acid.
2006 Pinot Noir: Too much oak, some sour cherry notes. 06 wasn't a great year for reds up here, and the oak didn't help. Their weakest wine.
2005 Cabernet Franc, Erica Vineyard: Classic tobacco and tar of cab franc, well made, impressive already, could age.
2006 2896, Langley Vineyard: Blend of cab franc, merlot, and cab sauvignon. The cab sauv is amazing to me, as i didn't think it'd ripen well up here. Lots of chewy tannin, minerality, fruit, decent balance, will need age.
2005 Block II off-dry riesling: Great balance of acid and sweetness, lots of citrus notes. SHould age some still.
2007 Riesling Langley, off-dry: Floral notes pronounced, not as acidic as some others, probably too much fruit relativ to acid levels.
2006 Gewurztraminer Icewine: One amazing wine. Lychee, trop fruits, huge long finish, plenty of acid to cut the fruit and floral notes. Should age well. Not sure it's worth the huge price tag, though.
Blanc de Blancs Sparkling wine: 80% chardonnay, 20% pinot gris. Nice if not stellar sparkling, a lot of acid, toasty notes, some nuttiness. Well made.
Cherritage: A cherry wine, 2:1 ratio of tart to sweet cherries. More appealing than I expected, not that sweet, pleasant.
4. Chateau Grand Traverse: The mass-market NoMI winery. Staff not terribly knowledgeable, lots of visitors, little attention or discussion. Not worht the visit, in my opinion. Almost none of the wines were worth writing much about, and were rather unimpressive. But I will note three interesting wines. Surprisingly, their reds were really good news, particularly when they didn't "try too hard".
2007 Gamay Noir "Limited": I really doubt there was much limited about it, but it's an honest fruit-driven gamay with classic fruit notes and some pepper hints. Could've been a simple beaujolais.
2006 Pinot noir: Not bad, almost all fruit driven, some oak for balance and complexity.
2006 Gamay Reserve: This was one of the most disturbing wines on the list. They managed to make it both sweet-fruity and overoaked, all at once. Truly bizarre experience, and not at all pleasing.
5. Peninsula Cellars: Tasting room in an old one-room schoolhouse, great staff, friendly, moderately knowledgeable. Awesome tasting room, fun quotes and themes, reflected a lot of effort. Again, no tasting fee.
2007 Pinot Blanc: Floral, acid, pear and apple. Not bad, not great. A bit too floral for my tastes.
2006 Chardonnay: An amazing amount of acid, not so much on the fruit.
2006 Gewurztraminer: Petrol, some lychee, reserved
2006 Manigold Gewurz: Tons of expressive floral notes. Too much so for my liking.
2006 Dry Riesling: Lime and floral notes, strong acid.
2006 Semi-dry Riesling: More complexity than above, lot of floral notes, some apricot.
2007 Pinot Gris: peachy, very long minerally finish. NOt what I would expect for a P.G.
2006 Pinot Noir: Good balance of fruit and oak. Well done.
2006 Select Riesling: An auslese style that was made well. Complex, apricot, peach, sweetnees balanced with good acid. Their highlight!
NV "Homework" rose of pinot noir. Sweet, cloying, not so desirable
2005 Cabernet Franc: Has honest cab franc notes of herbs, tobacco, cherry fruit, not hugely complex, but good.
2005 Cabernet Franc Reserve: Much more complex than above, a bit overdone, perhaps, needs age still, oak, smoke, minerality. Interesting.
In all, good wines and wineries, not too many disappointments, a lot of nice people.
We went for dinner at Amical, a french bistro downtown Traverse City. I'd rate this as a very good, solid restaurant, with a few "issues". The good: Nice, friendly, moderately knowledgable staff. Fun atmosphere with eclectic art. Creative menu that reflects effort and thought. The not so good: The wine list was rather unusual, and not in a particularly complimentary light. It was a strange mix of good and bad, New and Old World, Michigan wines, and it was unclear how they fit together for coherence. My real beef, though, was with the "by the glass" list--which to their credit was pretty extensive. Not so good--they didn't list vintages. Now, if you have drunk much wine, you know--vintage matters. So, list it, dammit!
Specific food: We started with soup--Julie had a tomato soup iwth a bread crust over it. Amazingly good, and a HUGE crock of soup--too much food, but tasty as can be. I had an Asian chicken soup with cabbage and mushrooms--the cup was a great appetizer side, and pretty tasty. Not great, though. Entrees: I had a lamb shank braised in beer with a honey-beer reduction sauce and herbs de Provence. Very tasty, perhaps a bit too sweet. Pairedw ith a 2006 Bastide Cote du Rhone. Not a bad wine, good pairing. Julie had a veal puttanseca with spaetzle. Good taste, the puttanesca was awesome. The veal was overcooked, though, and the spaetzle was a weird pairing with the dish. IN all, a good restaurant, and a place I'd recommend, if not in the most glowing terms possible. Solid place.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Vegetarian Restaurant
Tonight was the start of "restaurant week" in Ann Arbor, and we decided to try out Seva, a veggie restaurant here in town. Now, typically, I find vegetarianism annoying and generally unpleasant, but I do think that some veggie cooking can be good, and this restaurant had a really innovative, well-aged wine list on their website. With a 3 course meal on a 2 for 1 deal with $25, this seemed a good idea. Well... the results were mixed, in my view.
The food itself was decent, even good. My spring roll was tasty, and Julie's cheese with honey and pistachios was downright amazing. We both had cheese-stuffed ravioli as our main, with a side salad of carrot and apple. The salad was good, with a nice ginger taste. The ravioli was OK, but rather lacking in flavor--it would've been amazing with a bit of pancetta on there. Both the sorbet and vanilla ice cream were a nice finish. So, decent points for food. Good, not great. And, the wine we ended up with, a 2002 Selbach-Oster Spatlese Riesling was well-aged, nicely made, and showing well. And, it was at a great price--only a couple bucks over retail. Indeed, the wine list attracted me to this restaurant more than anyting else--a bunch of older (5-20 year old) wines at really good prices.
Now, the problems begin. When we arrived, they had my name wrong on the reservation. Now, how hard is to spell "Lake"? OK, we figured that out. Then, I look at the menus, and they didn't bring out a wine list, only had the drink menu with "by the glass" wines. I asked the waitress for the wine list, which led her to point out the few "by the glass" wines. Now, this was not her fault in the least--she just had not been trained well enough to know this wine list existed. Bad restaurant management. Then, she finds it, brings it out, with a warning--the list may be a bit out of date, and they may not have everything. OK, that's horrible management--keep your damned menu up to date. So, we pick a bottle, which they don't have, but to the credit of the waitress, she suggests a different riesling (she called it a Weingut, which is equivalent to "Domaine" on a French wine, so again, crappy training) from the menu (but it was a 2006, a vintage I find lacking in complexity). Fortunately, there were 3 other rieslings on the "reserve" list, so I suggested they try that. Meanwhile, our apps hvae arrived. Now, the manager comes over with the two rieslings they could find--one of which was the spatlese we chose. Bizarrely, the wine goes back to the back for another five minutes until the waitress comes back with it and glasses. Again, just weird. Now, at the end of dinner, we had some wine left in the bottle--not a lot, not enough to take home, not enough to even get a mild buzz. So, I asked our waitress, who was a wonderfully friendly, attentive person, if she'd be interested in trying the wine, as I figured these probably didn't get opened real often. Knowledgeable staff would, presumably, make for a better sales staff, right? She was very interested, appreciative, but went to ask if it was OK. Apparently, this was seriously against the rules, and staff simply couldn't taste wine at work. So, what's the moral of the story? Great people working the floor, good food. And, at least tonight, the ability to show a complete lack of ability to manage a restaurant successfully. These guys advertise online a serious, aged, great value wine list. But they don't bother to do what they need to keep up the inventory, maintain an accurate list, or train their staff in what that wine is, or, for that matter, even anything about its existence. It's really a disappointment. I also am a bit amused at some of the list--there are 10 year old barolo, barbaresco, cabs, even a 20+ year old bordeaux. These are serious, great wines, and they're BIG. They go exceptionally beautifully with meat. I don't know that anything in the vegetarian menu works with that sort of wine. So, again, I'm not convinced that the management has thought through their list with their menu in mind, but my mind is open, and I'm impressed by the list still.
The food itself was decent, even good. My spring roll was tasty, and Julie's cheese with honey and pistachios was downright amazing. We both had cheese-stuffed ravioli as our main, with a side salad of carrot and apple. The salad was good, with a nice ginger taste. The ravioli was OK, but rather lacking in flavor--it would've been amazing with a bit of pancetta on there. Both the sorbet and vanilla ice cream were a nice finish. So, decent points for food. Good, not great. And, the wine we ended up with, a 2002 Selbach-Oster Spatlese Riesling was well-aged, nicely made, and showing well. And, it was at a great price--only a couple bucks over retail. Indeed, the wine list attracted me to this restaurant more than anyting else--a bunch of older (5-20 year old) wines at really good prices.
Now, the problems begin. When we arrived, they had my name wrong on the reservation. Now, how hard is to spell "Lake"? OK, we figured that out. Then, I look at the menus, and they didn't bring out a wine list, only had the drink menu with "by the glass" wines. I asked the waitress for the wine list, which led her to point out the few "by the glass" wines. Now, this was not her fault in the least--she just had not been trained well enough to know this wine list existed. Bad restaurant management. Then, she finds it, brings it out, with a warning--the list may be a bit out of date, and they may not have everything. OK, that's horrible management--keep your damned menu up to date. So, we pick a bottle, which they don't have, but to the credit of the waitress, she suggests a different riesling (she called it a Weingut, which is equivalent to "Domaine" on a French wine, so again, crappy training) from the menu (but it was a 2006, a vintage I find lacking in complexity). Fortunately, there were 3 other rieslings on the "reserve" list, so I suggested they try that. Meanwhile, our apps hvae arrived. Now, the manager comes over with the two rieslings they could find--one of which was the spatlese we chose. Bizarrely, the wine goes back to the back for another five minutes until the waitress comes back with it and glasses. Again, just weird. Now, at the end of dinner, we had some wine left in the bottle--not a lot, not enough to take home, not enough to even get a mild buzz. So, I asked our waitress, who was a wonderfully friendly, attentive person, if she'd be interested in trying the wine, as I figured these probably didn't get opened real often. Knowledgeable staff would, presumably, make for a better sales staff, right? She was very interested, appreciative, but went to ask if it was OK. Apparently, this was seriously against the rules, and staff simply couldn't taste wine at work. So, what's the moral of the story? Great people working the floor, good food. And, at least tonight, the ability to show a complete lack of ability to manage a restaurant successfully. These guys advertise online a serious, aged, great value wine list. But they don't bother to do what they need to keep up the inventory, maintain an accurate list, or train their staff in what that wine is, or, for that matter, even anything about its existence. It's really a disappointment. I also am a bit amused at some of the list--there are 10 year old barolo, barbaresco, cabs, even a 20+ year old bordeaux. These are serious, great wines, and they're BIG. They go exceptionally beautifully with meat. I don't know that anything in the vegetarian menu works with that sort of wine. So, again, I'm not convinced that the management has thought through their list with their menu in mind, but my mind is open, and I'm impressed by the list still.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Salmon and Rose
I am a fan of good fish, but finding it here in Michigan is not so easy. Busch's, our local grocery chain, usually has salmon and other fish, but alot of it is "fresh," meaning it is, in fact, often rather fishy and stinky by the time we get to enjoy it. So, paradoxically, the best fish is often that which has been vacuum-packed and flash frozen right on the fishing boat. Such was what we found this week--it was a side of wild-caught Pacific salmon--with beautiful color, still frozen and vac-packed. I broke it dow to four filet portions, and cooked up two, simply seasoned with salt and pepper. With some orzo and on a bed of sauteed spinach, and a squeeze of lemon juice, it was quite tasty. No fishy flavors, good classic oily salmon taste. Yum!
Best of all, though, we paired it with a Sancerre Rose wine. Now, a lot of people think of white zinfandel when they think of pink wines. Well, what a disservice to the beautiful old world roses! This, made from pinot noir, is a mix of strawberry, cherry fruit, with some floral notes, with a stark minerality and strong acid notes. It is an amazingly complex, fully dry, tasty wine. In no way is it the sickly sweet, nasty white zin we think of. So, don't fear the pink!
Best of all, though, we paired it with a Sancerre Rose wine. Now, a lot of people think of white zinfandel when they think of pink wines. Well, what a disservice to the beautiful old world roses! This, made from pinot noir, is a mix of strawberry, cherry fruit, with some floral notes, with a stark minerality and strong acid notes. It is an amazingly complex, fully dry, tasty wine. In no way is it the sickly sweet, nasty white zin we think of. So, don't fear the pink!
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