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We had the champagne tasting party at last! Everyone enjoyed themselves quite a bit.
I kind of overdid the buying of champagnes for the party. In the end, we drank less than 12 bottles from a total of above 20. The food was also a big hit. I cooked up a storm over the 3 days before the party. I wanted to make sure everyone had enough to go with all the champagne I was planning to serve!
The wines we sampled were:
- Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut
- Gloria Ferrer Blanc de noirs
- Duval-Leroy NV Brut
- Pierre Peters Gran Cru NV Blanc de blancs
- Nicolas Feuillatte NV Rose
- Ruinart NV Rose
- Egly-Ouiret Vignes de Vigny
- Rosa Regale Brachetto (for desserts)
The vast majority of people liked the first one (much to my surprise). The reviews painted this one as a "not for everyone" type of champagne. I picked it up to make things interesting. It is very dry, since it has no dossage. It goes very well with some of food items I didn't think it would work with. I paired with popcorn, which is a very easy food to pair with sparkling wine. The choice went quite well.
The G-F is a very easy to drink choice. Good amounts of acidity, a very nice berries nose and a very smooth finish. I heard nothing bad about it. It was my second time tasting this wine, and I think that it is a very good value for the dollar($19).
Duval-Leroy is an old favorite of mine. I've mentioned it before. For some guests, it was the first time they've tried it, and they loved it also. It was a good pairing with the truffle oil risotto.
Pierre Peters is a new discovery for me. It is a very good example of a blanc de blancs from a "grower" house. Citrus and pineapple nose with a pleasant notes of bread and light lemon. Beautiful finish. Great for an appetizer or sushi. It's a little pricey these days ($55), but still well worth it.
The N-F Rose is a good rose for the money, and it pairs good with food. People liked it, but didn't love it. I have to admit: I felt the same way. This might offend some pundits, but I find Rose wines to be uninteresting. Sparling rose are all the rage now, and I think they're overrated. I still enjoy traditionally blended sparklers more.
Most of the guests didn't get to taste the Ruinart. They were starting to leave by the time I opened it. I had such high hopes for this bottle (since I almost visited the house on my trip to France), but I was disappointed. The bottle wasn't bad, but it had no great characteristic. It was average at best, compared to the other wines we had. The few guests that had it pretty much agreed. When you pay about $70 for a bottle of bubbly, "uninteresting" is not the quality you want to get out of it!
Lastly, the Egly was a nice surprise. One of the guests told me they were going to bring it. I researched it, and found it to be intriguing. It's 100% Pinot Munier, which is a "balance" grape with a grassy taste (as normally used for blending). This grower over-ripens the grape, which eliminates most of the grassy flavor. The wine had a subtle floral nose that was very unique. Nothing over-powering, but nonetheless present. The taste was more on the lines of light pears and mild biscuit. It was noticeably sweet compared to the other wines we had, but still delicate. The finish was a little short, but I didn't mind. I do not know the cost, but I think it is around $50. Not an everyday item, but very interesting indeed.
The day after the party, I opened one of the wines we never got to serve. It was a Pierre Gimonnet 1er Cru Blanc de blancs. I was a recommendation from a vendor I visited while seeking Pierre peters. It is a decent example of a blanc de blancs, but nothing exciting. I would rather have the Pierre Peters any day. This is also a pricey bottle at $55, so I would not go out of my way to have this again.
The labels for most of them are here. Some of them don't like the harvesting process, so they might look a little faded.
I discovered Spanish Grenache wine (granacha) sometime before the holidays. My first one was the Bodegas Zabrin Atteca 2005 old vines. I would characterize it as a "new world" style wine with loads of upfront fruit. Very intense flavors of cherry, blackberry, and I found a light note of toffee. I think Robert Parker gave it a 90 score, so the stuff flew off the shelves. I managed to score about 5 bottles. I have seen the 2006 around 15 bucks, which is a good buy.
While looking for it, I saw the Las Rocas 2005, which is cheaper than the Atteca, and pretty close to it in my opinion. The bonus being that it is pretty readily available. I had some tonight with grilled steak tips and vegetables, and it worked very good.
Notice a trend? it's like I'm behind the ball on these things! I guess it is because I tend to know what I like, and I stick to it for as long as I can. I'm trying to venture outside of the comfort box, and it's bringing me to these little discoveries.
By design, the whole St. Valentine's thing is such a farce. It's pretty much a commercial "day" designed to make you shell out your money. If you truly love your special someone, you don't need a day dictated by someone's balance sheet to show it. I was laughing inside watching all the fools at the store picking up cheesy cards and flowers at the last minute. I guess I feel bad for both: The guys because they feel like that's the day they have to "express" how the feel (or else), and the ladies because they have been conditioned to expect this non-sense. Heck: if you think a once-a-year expense on flowers, chocolate, and who knows what else is a good measure of how much he really cares about you, I got news: It shouldn't and it most probably isn't.
I decided (for once in a loooong time) to play along for a bit and do something nice on V-day for a change. I decided to prepare a nice meal and enjoy our time together.
We love French cuisine, so I went around looking for a crispy duck recipe. I found several, and most were very good. I settled for a crispy duck with pears and green peppercorns recipe, and it was a great hit. I took the potato cakes from another recipe and paired them with a garlic aioli (from yet another recipe), and it was pretty good. To celebrate, we decided to finally drink a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee that we bought a long while back to celebrate another occasion. It was the first time I've had a oak cured champagne, and it was very good. Definitely a different experience from the normal champagne fare, but certainly worth it. The chardonnay grape loves oak, and this pretty much proves it. It had a beautiful deep golden color and hints of honey, apple and citrus that worked well with the pear and the apple from the duck dish. The potato cakes didn't compliment much the champagne, but that was pretty much expected. The meal was great, nonetheless, and I got a new wine refrigerator/cellar anyways, so I'm happy! 
If you like duck, I highly recommend the recipe. It is simple to make, and it is a wonderful hit. Duck breast is easy to obtain these days, and there's nothing to do for the preparation. Follow the recipe, and save the duck fat. That stuff is gold!
Well, I hope you had a great Valentine's as well-and for the right reasons!
Sometimes, life throws stuff at you, and you become so involved with the "stuff" that you cast other things aside. For me, one of those things was skiing. Last year, I didn't ski once. The year before, I think I went 3 times. Compare that to the previous 8 years that I used to go skiing about 10-12 times on average. Sad, isn't it.
This weekend my lady and I went to visit a friend of mine that has invited us to his ski place for over 2 years. The ride was long, and on the way up, I was second-guessing myself. I got to the slopes sometime around noon, and went skiing. I was very apprehensive about getting back to the slopes (although I wanted to go down the hardest trail on the first pass), but after two runs, it all came back. It was so much fun! Almost like finding an old friend. I skipped lunch (which in retrospect was a bad idea) because I didn't want to stop. Naturally, I ran out of steam after about 5 or 6 runs in the span of about 2.5 to 3 hours. My boots were also punishing me for not using them in such a long time, so that didn't help either. I did do the aforementioned run, btw. That was a leg killer! I wanted to go back once more, but my older, more reserved self cautioned me against pushing too much on my first time. Leaving on the meat wagon would have been a big buzz-kill...
Needless to say, we had a great time at the slopes, and during apres-ski. I was a great feeling that (as I mentioned) I had completely forgotten. After this weekend, we are definitely going to try to get out and ski more often!
I was very happy today. I managed to get a pair of bottles of the wine I had for our anniversary.
I decided to splurge on our anniversary dinner and get a really nice bottle of Burgundy wine. I got really interested in Burgundy wines after hearing a few podcasts from Grape Radio about the wines, the makers, and the complexity of the Pinot Noir grape. I'm usually more of a Meritage-style wine kinda guy, but I was intrigued by what I heard.
Out of pure luck, I picked a bottle of Nicolas Potel Clos Saint Denis Gran Cru 2003, and I knew I had made a great choice when the sommelier complimented the choice. I've been to this place before and I trusted the sommelier's opinion. The wine worked great with everything we ordered! From the Foie Gras to the dessert, everything paired so good with the wine. We were both very happy with it. To top it off, I finally gave my lady a diamond ring, so the night was very special for both of us.
I tried getting the wine locally to no avail. 2003 Burgundy (apparently) is tough to get because the year wasn't that great, so the quantities are limited. After much searching online, I fond a place that carried it and shipped to my place. I got two bottles - not surprisingly for less than I paid at the restaurant - and they arrived today.
Tonight, my lady and I had a great dinner and we had one of them. Just as lovely as I remember it. Loads of fruit, lovely tannins, and a beautiful finish. It worked great with the reduction sauce on the steak and with the chocolate cake. Although not as good as with the dessert we had for our anniversary dinner. I searched around and found that the '03 was rated very high by the usual suspects.
I just saw that the '05 is supposed to be superb. If you can splurge, I'd suggest you try it. The guys from Berkeley Wine shop apparently have the '05. Let me know what you think.
After playing the game to completion, I believe it was very good. I feel that I got my money's worth.
The weapon/plasmid concept was almost reminiscent of an RPG, but with the fast pace of a shooter. The idea of the camera and baddie research makes it almost a side quest by itself, which was cool. Towards the end, the game dynamic is a little repetitive, but that's a typical issue with FPS games. It doesn't really bother me that much.
The story line was very well developed, and my only regret was that they didn't "run with it" as far as they could have. The end gives you a feeling that there's more to come from the story line. Let's hope it is true.
Now, back to COD4 online!
A little before the holidays, I started to pay more attention to champagne.
Like most people, I paid attention to the usual suspects. My favorite used to be Veuve Clicquot NV yellow label, which is what most people know from the maker. About 2 years ago, I discovered a (then) mostly unknown maker called Duval-LeRoy, which immediately became my favorite. Today, they're getting very good publicity and fantastic reviews, so I don't think they will stay under the radar too long.I started reading and learning about "Grower Champagne", and I was intrigued. I heard about three that were very well regarded. All of them Blanc de Blancs:
Gaston Chiquet
Pierre Peters
Jean Milan
I haven't been able to find the Gaston Chiquet. The grower has a very small operation, so the amount of bottles that come in as very small. I managed to find the standard (blended) type, but it is nearly as good as the Blanc de Blancs. I had the Pierre Peters, and it was as good as the reviews implied. It has a light citrus smell with a little hint of yeast. The taste is one of mild pineapple and citrus, and the acidity is perfect. The only bad thing is that the prices are set to jump about 30% this year due to all the "usual suspects" like a weak dollar and high fuel prices.
I have found a few other grower Champagne makers, but I haven't tried them yet. The plan is to have a tasting party and break them there. I hope they're as interesting as the ones I've had to this point.
One thing that became very obvious to me is that Champagne is a much more versatile drink than I thought. Blanc De Blancs pair very well with dishes that go with high acidity wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. After all, Blanc de Blancs are pure Chardonnay. Rose and Blanc de Noirs are great for a mid-weight meal like grilled chicken with a mild sauce as well. Based on a recommendation, I tried the California Gloria Ferrer NV Blanc de Noirs, and it was much better than expected. I found later that it has been getting great reviews. For about 20 dollars, it's a great deal.
My last bit is about dossage. For those that do not know, most sparkling wine making that follows the Methode Champenoise do a sediment purge after the first fermentation, and they usually have to add a small amount of wine to compensate for the lost volume. Most makers add a bit of sugar with the wine to trigger a second fermentation. The amount of sugar added is what is called the dossage, and it is a volumetric measure. Each class (Brut, Demi-sec, Dux) has a range, and most makers use different amount within the range. I have found that for most people, the amount of sugar almost dictates how much they like the wine when they do not know the brand they're drinking. I would think that makers would publish this information on the bottle, and in the end it would help sales. That's just my 2 cents :)
