Coming soon...A Day in the Kitchen

Restaurant Impossible

     For a long time, I have dreamed of opening a restaurant.  The obvious problem is how, with kids getting ready for college and bills to pay, do you attempt something that has a 50% failure rate and, frankly, a tight profit margin.  Additionally, while I love to cook and entertain my friends, would I love or be able to work in a professional kitchen day in and day out.  

     I worked in a kitchen for a summer right before I started law school.  It was a great experience, but I know that with the passage of time, I've glamorized my experiences and have, likely, forgotten those things I disliked about working as a cook in a hot cramped kitchen.  That said, I love losing myself in different aspects of cooking.  Prepping dishes.  Knife work.  The pace.  The artistic side of plating dishes.  The fact that after I put any self-doubts aside, I know I'm a really good cook.  I also find the whole kitchen thing incredible soothing.   

     As a lawyer, I spend every day running around dealing with other people's problems. Often, with peoples lives/futures more or less in the balance.  I know that sounds overstated and melodramatic, but it's also true.  What I do and how I do it may result in someone going to jail, losing their home, their family, frankly, everything.  When I cook, none of that matters.  I'm able to focus on the task at hand.  There's a relaxation in the rhythm of the kitchen... of cutting vegetables in a perfect julienne or brinouse.  Of hearing the right sound when you put a protein (cook speak for meat, fish or poultry) into a properly heated pan.  When I worked in a kitchen as a cook/chef, I took direction and was responsible for my small part of that little world.  There's a purity in that that I miss.  Plus, if I mess up a dish, I can always re-make it.  At my real job, that's not always possible.  It's more of a humpty dumpty kind of a thing.  Sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I can't put the pieces back together. 

     Here's the other thing.  The pressure is more of less the same.  As a criminal lawyer with my own practice, I am generally frenetic and stressed from about 8:30 am to about 1:30 pm..  Then I get back to the office and go through the routine of calling people (many, annoyingly don't want to hear what I'm trying to tell them) and working through the paperwork that is part of a legal practice.  As a chef, I imagine the opposite.  You spend the beginning of your day prepping for the rush that occurs when the customers arrive and then, around 5-6 pm, you are slammed until about 9pm or so until you lapse back into a more sedate pace as the night wraps up.

......OK.  It's been about a month since I started writing this...  A few days ago, Susan and I went out to dinner with friends to a restaurant we've been hearing and talking about for a while.  51 Lincoln  Not surprisingly, the address of the restaurant is 51 Lincoln St., Newton, MA.  The food was ridiculously good....As was the service.  The chef/owner came up with this thing that I thought could never be really good.  Grilled watermelon steak.  Sounds both good and awful at the same time.  Well, after braising  watermelon flesh for about 3 hours in shallot and sherry cream and then flash grill it, you wouldn't believe how good it could be.  Then there was the charcuterie, which is all made in house and is simply incredible.  Finish up with the best ribeye I've had in a while all done in a farm to table kind of way and you have a great restaurant.  Frankly, just the kind of restaurant I'd love to own.

     Here's the thing.  As we were leaving, we struck up a conversation with a couple at the bar.  Turns out to be the chef/owner and his wife.  They were great and very fun to talk to (I hate ending a sentence with a preposition).  I told him how much I loved his place.  The feel, the vibe and most importantly, the food.  He offered me the opportunity to come in and check out what it's like in the kitchen.  He gave me his card and told me to get in touch.  For whatever reason (me being me), I didn't really follow up.  I figured he was just being polite and I didn't really want to impose.  About 2 weeks later, Susan and I were having dinner at the bar and the Chef, Jeff Fournier, came up to us and during the conversation, asked, more or less, why I hadn't gotten in touch and followed up.  It became clear that he was serious.  So I decided I'd put whatever reservations I had and take the plunge.  We went back and forth but couldn't get a date in the books.  A few weeks went by and Chris Harding and I were there for dinner.  Jeff came out and gave me a wave.  A few minutes later he was standing next to me with his phone and we were putting a date in the calendar.  

     Here's the scary part...what if I what if I suck at working in a real kitchen.  What if I don't have what it takes.  What if I get there and the real people who work in kitchens realize what I fear when I doubt myself...I'm just a poser and I don't belong in their kitchen.  I've got a pretty health ego and I'm pretty confident of my abilities as a home cook, entertaining and turning out excellent food for the people who come to my house.  But what if I can't do it for real?

     Well, here's the thing.  I'm going to find out on April 26th.  That's when I show up at 51 Lincoln and see whether I can hang.  I'm not looking for a special experience.  I want to be treated like everyone else, just like. sh*t... That should mean whatever scut work they have for me.  I'm not looking to work an actual station.  I'm just looking not to be treated like a some rich lawyer who's playing at being a chef.  I want to see if I can really do this.  Who knows, if it works out maybe I will...

I'll keep you posted after....

In Velo Veritas

With life as busy as it is, I've clearly slacked on adding anything of real note at any point in the recent and not so recent past. With that in mind and without completely abandoning the focus of this blog, I've decided to use it for a different vehicle (no pun intended).

Background

I've been an avid recreational cyclist since about 1987 (kind of). Back then, motivated by a cute girl in spandex who rode a lot, I bought a used Shogun road bike, bike shoes (Diadoro road shoes), bike shorts and strapped into the toe clips to ride early morning loops around the Charles River with her. In a theme that would repeat itself too often in the future, I spent as little as possible on the bike and then proceeded to spend a small fortune ungrading and modifying it into what I really wanted - kind of. Although my attention span for this girl was relatively short, the same cannot be said for my love of cycling. Early the next year (the fall of my second year of law school), I spent the ungodly sum of $500 on a Cannondale road bike. It was one of the first aluminum bikes with Cannondale's distinctive oversized aluminum tubing. With a combo of Campagnolo and Suntour components, Look clipless pedals and Cinelli bars, it was an incredibly stiff, quick and fun to ride.

Back then, I was in pretty good shape and used to ride all around Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Lexington and Cape Cod. I road my first century on it and would've ridden it when I rode from Montreal to the Cape with my father, brother and uncle, but it was totaled when I was hit by a car near Boston College, in Cleveland Circle (thankfully insurance replaced it, just not in time for the ride from Montreal). During summers on the Cape, I would ride in the morning and head to the beach. For 2 1/2 weeks in July, I would leave the beach early to get home to watch coverage of the Tour de France. Although some of my friends, by that time, probably knew who Greg LeMond was, I can assure you not one could tell you who the hell Pedro Delgado or Laurent Fignon was - and forget about the greats like Bernard Hinault or Eddy Merckx

For reasons unknown, I stopped riding from about 1991ish (Susan?). My Cannondale gathered dust and cob webs until around 2003 when I hopped back on my "new" Cannondale and went for a ride with a friend who is a serious cyclist. Half-way through the ride (which was probably only about 18 miles), I thought I was going to die. I was completely out of shape and the stiffness of the bike (and maybe an extra 25+ lbs) made me feel every pebble in the road and pray for the end of the ride. Despite that ride and many other painful rides, I wanted back into cycling. I went to Belmont Wheel Works and started looking for a new bike, ending up with a bike I've loved to ride for the past several years -- a K2 Mod 5.0 Aluminum and Carbon Fiber frame with Shimano Ultegra Gruppo and Speedplay Zero pedals (great bike!).

I road 6 Pan Mass Challenges and countless miles around Wellesley, Needham, Dover, Natick, Concord, the Cape and Vermont. A month ago, I retired the K2 and moved into the 21st century with a 2009 Cervelo RS (love this bike even more!!) - all carbon, Ultegra gruppo (I wanted Campy Chorus, but opted not to spend the extra $ - something I'll likely regret when I upgrade to the Campy later this year or next once my afore mentioned penchant for buying "low" and then spending more to get what I wanted in the first place takes over).

The Challenge:

I'll never run a marathon. I HATE running. When I do, it is a complete and utter chore. I wear an iPod and run from telephone pole to telephone pole (you know the feeling... "just one more and then you can stop...ok, really, at the next one you can really stop", until the 2-3 miles is over). On the other hand, I love being on a bike. While I can find any number of reasons to procrastinate and/or nap instead of ride, once on the bike, I absolutely love it. Whether with others for the banter, speed and fun of a group ride, or (maybe my favorite) alone, quietly working by myself....in my own private Idaho.

For the past several years a number of my friends have been riding the Harpoon B2B - a 147.2 mile 1 day ride from the Harpoon Brewery in Boston to the Harpoon Brewery in Windsor, VT. I doubt I'll be able to keep up with some of them but, this will be my marathon. Centuries (single day 100 mile rides) are relatively easy. It's just a matter of sitting on the bike and spinning for long enough to finish. The B2B, like a marathon, is a sufferfest. At around the 90 mile marker you begin a 7 1/2 mile climb called "The Leviathan" -- enough said. Around the 110 mile marker (as I'm told) you get to a dark place psychologically and the ride takes another of its many upward turns for another long pull uphill. Your body starts to break down at about mile 120, but you still have 27 miles to go. So here we go. Sounds like fun.

Right now I weigh about 200 lbs. Weight is not a good thing on a bike. -- ever look at a professional cyclist? -- this is especially true when you're climbing the hills/mountains necessary to finish the B2B at an average overall speed of not less than 16.0 mph for the entire 147 mi. I want to drop about 15-20 lbs. and, for the winter months, average at least 100-150 miles a week, inside on a trainer and outside on my cross bike. I just subscribed to dailymile.com to keep track of my progress.

I'll still, maybe, add a wine post or 2, but I think the rich, red meat focus to my diet has come to an end as my focus for the near future will be training for the ride....

So much for coming tomorrow...

Well, it's only been about a year and a half since I sat down to write something here. Not to say that there's been nothing to write, nor any good (or bad) wines to write about. Just been tied up with life, kids (hockey, bar mitzvahs, bass lessons), work, and trying to ride my bike (pedal not moto) more.

I still have tasting notes and stuff to get out here and maybe I'll start up again. Anyway, I think I the next post will be about the wines I drank with friends on Labor day -- some great 2000 Bourdeauxes (Alter Ego, Beychevelle, & Ducru Beaucaillou). Great wines!!! Then maybe on to other wines and some Bourbons.

Coming soon? Maybe a sidebar compendium of tasting notes with prices. Stay tuned, even though I think the only one reading this is me.

Coming Tomorrow

Colorado wine breakdown -- Tomorrow, I'll list out the wines we drank in Colorado before we got to Larkspur. Some great wines and great deals!!!

Larkspur and Kunin Wines

I just got back from skiing in Vail and I'm having a little trouble getting back into work mode so I thought I'd add a long overdue post. I was in Vail with 3 friend and we had a great time (what's not to love...mountains, sun, skiing, good friend, etc). Two of the meals we cooked in (which were great). In preparation for the trip, I had pre-positioned a mixed case of wine which, by the end of the 3 day stay was all but gone.

For our last night, we went to a great restaurant named Larkspur (http://www.larkspurvail.com/). The Sommelier, Kevin Furtado, was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in providing us with excellent wines at very reasonable restaurant prices. While waiting for our table, we waited at the bar and ordered the suggested wine, a great rhone syle wine from Kunin Wines (http://kuninwines.com/). The 2005 Kunin Pape Star Rhone Blend ($58/btl) is almost like a California pinot noir with its explosive fruit and bright berry flavor. The difference comes in the mouth feel which is silky with just enough tannin and weight to stand up to and be paired with everything we had (from salads to veal scalopini or lamb). This is a great everyday drinking wine which I highly recommend (and am currently on the hunt for)! Furtado went on and on about Kunin's winemaking and philosophy. After tasting his wine, I understand why. The grapes are purchased from the best vineyards in the Central Coast area of California and crafted in a way that clearly maintains and takes full advantage of flavors the grapes he uses to make his wines. So, since leaving, I've been on a Kunin hunt. Living in Massachusetts can really be difficult when it comes to finding excellent, small production wines. Seth Kunin's wines are clearly that. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any of his wines yet, but I will.

After finishing a third bottle of Kunin, we moved on to a 2003 Beringer Private Reserve, which I thought was an unbelievable bargain at $80/btl. Even after the other bottles of wine (and some tequila), it was outstanding. The Beringer was typically in the style of other Beringer Private Reserves I have had, a big, solid fabulous Cal cab fruit bomb.

I guess, after drooling over the wines, I should talk about the food which, in a word, was fabulous. I started with a pork belly dish that had so many flavors and was so good it was criminal. For a main course, I had veal scalopini and my friends had a Colorado Rack of Lamb that, as good as the veal was, I wish I had! The food, service and decor was all fantastic and put the perfect end to 3 (well, 2 for me) days of unbelievable Rocky Mountain weather and skiing. Anyone going to Vail, eat at Larkspur. Anyone drinking wine....find some Kunin!!!

New Idea

I've been thinking about the lack of posts here and decided to try something a little different. Maybe it will get me here more often. What I'm thinking is to do more tasting notes and less verbiage...at least for a little while. It will also be a good way for me to catelogue the wines I taste and keep track of what I like and more importantly, what I don't. I'll keep you posted...

It's Been Awhile....

OK, so it's been awhile since the last post...several months to be slightly more precise. So here goes. Last night I went to a friend's house. Whenever we go there, one thing can be assured, the wine will be great. I fried a turkey (which if you've never tried, you have to...no other way to eat the bird, except maybe smoking it) and he supplied the grape.

When I fry a turkey, I always brine it. Brining adds great flavor and moisture to the turkey. For a 15 lbs. bird, I use 2 gallons of water, 2 cups diamond crystal kosher salt (different kosher salts weigh different amounts, so if you use morton's, for example, you need to adjust the amount of salt downward), and 1 cup of sugar. For this particular turkey/brine, I also added about 1/2 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce (much better than Tabasco). The length of time you brine depends on the weight of the thing being brined (actually, thanks to my son Jake, I now know that it isn't really the weight, but the mass). For a 15 lbs turkey, you brine for the maximum amount of time, 8 hours.

After you finish brining, dry well coat the skin well with salt, pepper or your favorite rub and fry in 35 lbs of peanut oil (3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes). Pull it out, let it rest and eat....

The Wine:

2004 d'Arenberg The Dead Arm - McLaren Vale Shiraz. (RP95) Like most Australian Shiraz, the "Dead Arm," is not shy on color. It's inky purple, almost blackish, with a great nose. When you stick your nose into the glass and breath in, it's almost like inhaling wine perfume. Blackberry, black cherry and vanilla with pepper, spice and a little bit of petroleum (believe it or not). The wine itself does not disappoint. You almost have to close your eyes when you taste it. The wine has great mouth feel with solid velvety tannins and all the flavor I smelled plus chocolate (and more that I couldn't place) and a great finish. This is a great wine, expensive and worth the $55-65/bottle price.

I Made the Big Time!!!

My friends know that even though I pretend not to be, I am something of a narcissist. With that in mind, I think that everyone should go to the New York Times (on line) and check out the article that mentions lil ole me.

click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/business/smallbusiness/09webshift-1-backf-biz-34-43.html?ex=1341806400&en=559a8dcbda52d07c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Wine Library TV

Unfortunately, Time Magazine beat me to the punch and revealed my newest dark secret.... I, like many others, can now come out of the closet and admit to family, co-workers and friends my addiction. No longer do I need to hid or skulk in the shadows as I hunt for a fix. I can now admit, "MY NAME IS MIKE BRENNAN AND I AM A WINE LIBRARY TV ADDICT".

For anyone, like me, who has an interest in learning about wine and doesn't buy into wine snobbery, please check this out. Every day, more or less, there is a new wine tasting to which we are now all invited. The site is run by Gary Vaynerchuk, who runs his family's business, Wine Library in NJ. (http://www.winelibrary.com/). His irrational and logic-defying love of the NY Jets, hasn't seemed to affect his palate and wine knowledge. I've found that I've agreed with the reviews where I had actually tasted the wines. The Wine Library's prices and selection are both reasonable and impressive. Unfortunately, until the Massachusetts legislature pulls their collective heads out of their asses, you can't buy their wine on-line and ship to MA.

In the past, I have fallen into the "more expensive means better" pitfall. I know this isn't true and my daily fix of Wine Library TV gives me something to think about and makes me think a little more about QPR. Whether your looking for old world wines or new world fruit bombs, WLTV has something for everyone. After a long hiatus, I even started drinking white wine again after 2 recent episodes (one about Reislings, which, if you haven't tried, you really need to).

Bottom line, this site is one of the greatest gems of the wine world. Find it. Subscribe to it. Watch it. Join the revolution. "Because YOU with little bit of me, we're changing the wine world aren't we........"

Beehive Restaurant and Bedell Cellars 2005 Taste Red

We went to a new and allegedly hip new restaurant last night in Boston's South End called the Beehive. It's located on Tremont Street at the BCA. Only opened two weeks, the service was good, the seating cramped, the food OK and wine list limited.

Our reservations were at 7 pm and we were seated promptly (so far so good). The waiter was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable (also good). The cocktails were also good. The waiter suggested a surprisingly good wine from, of all places, Long Island, NY.

"2005 Taste Red" is made by Bedell Cellars, which I believe is on the North fork of Long Island, this is a small production wine that tasted very much like a left bank Bordeaux. The wine is 55% Merlot 25% Cabernet Sauvignon 10% Cabernet Franc, and (here is the difference) 10% Syra. It's aged for 15 months in new French Oak barrels. Again, for what I was expecting, it was very good. It smelled of barnyard and ripe fruit and had a very forward blackberry fruit and currant taste and firm tannins. For a younger wine, it was well balanced and well structured. The upside, I thought it was worth $50 at a restaurant, but looked on-line and found it for as low as $24.00, but retails for $30ish. For $30, I can buy 2-3 bottles of either fabulous Spanish reds, Southern Hemisphere reds or even French reds (e.g., Chateau d'Oupia ).

All in all, Beehive didn't remotely deliver on the hype and towards the end, things went from pretty good to really pretty bad. The place showcases bands and because it was a Saturday night things were busy. A little after 9:00, the waiter (on instructions, I'm sure) came over to let us know that there was another party waiting for our table. We weren't offered dessert, coffee or after dinner drinks. It was basically, "thanks for coming. See ya". To quote my friend Sarah, who we went with, the place was "big on attitude and not much on gratitude."

This place hasn't been opened long enough to cop an attitude like that. If you're looking for a hip/scene kind of place, I'm sure you can find better, hipper and tastier places with a more extensive wine list.

Bordeaux Bargains: 2003 Chateau Greysac

By guest contributor Adam L. Sisitsky

Forgive me lest I sound the snob but I really enjoy a good Bordeaux. Whether it's a Quatrieme Cru from Saint-Julien or a Bordeaux Superieur from the Medoc, there really is something to be said for the notion of terroir and the chance to enjoy the depth and complexity of a wine beyond just "the fruit." Don't get me wrong: if you can't appreciate the flavor and aroma of an explosive, jammy Australian Shiraz (see Mike's prior post on the recent Mollydooker wines which are just tremendous) then there must be something wrong with you. But (forgive the analogy) as much as I like the action and entertainment of a flashy Tom Cruise movie, or the zippy, make-you-cringe humor of the next Will Ferrell film, there is something special about the cinematic experience of a Roberto Begnini picture (or whatever the latest sub-titled art-house film that gives you something to think about). Thus the beauty of Bordeaux. The good ones give you something to think about. Of course, there is always the issue of cost. And as much as I don't think Napoleon III was giving much thought to "marketing" when he tasked the various French wine regions with coming up with classifications for their wines back in 1855, that certainly has been one of the profitable after-effects realized by the old Châteaux Bordelais. When you start ranking things that people buy - whatever those things may be - the higher ranked ones generally end up costing more. Whether it is justified or not.

That's why as much as I enjoy a good Bordeaux, I especially enjoy a good value Bordeaux. Let's face it, unless you run with the Hedge Fund Crowd that my buddy Mike usually hangs with (simple country lawyer, my ass!) most of the truly special Bordeaux wines are out-of-reach cost-wise, or at the very least reserved for that rare special occasion when one can somehow rationalize dropping a few-hundred dollars on a 750ml glass bottle filled with a blend of fermented grape juice.

The 2003 Chateau Greysac is precisely the type of good value Bordeaux that I love to find. I'll admit to being a Parker fan (even more so since he signed Bordeaux aficionado Neal Martin to his team this year), and although I try to follow his tasting notes more than the actual scores, I think it is significant that Parker gave this vintage an 88 -- the highest score he's ever given a Greysac.

Located in the Medoc region of Bordeaux, Chateau Greysac lies to the north of Saint Estephe, near the towns of By and Begadan. Its vineyards are comprised of about 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. The average age of the vines is 30 years. Classified as a "Cru Bourgeois" since 1978, Greysac produces approximately 45,000 cases per year. With a new ownership group that came in 1973, the Chateau has since made great strides in updating and renovating its facilities and has brought in a series of renowned wine-making consultants to assist with improvements.

While I agree with Parker's assessment that the 2003 is a tasty "medium-bodied" wine (albeit a deep, ruby-hued one), I find it to be more on the "fuller" side of "medium." The cherry/berry flavors jump out for sure, but there is definitely enough tannin, smoke and texture to let you know where this wine comes from. There is Bordeaux terroir to this wine for sure (along with a nice textured finish). And at about $14 ($13.95 at www.capitalwine.net) it is priced at a point that I can open a bottle on a week-night and not feel guilty about it. Well, regardless of guilt, at least I can truthfully tell my wife how much I paid for it without provoking one of "those looks." In sum, if you're looking for a Bordeaux that won't make you recoil when the credit-card statement arrives, but that still captures the taste, flavor and feel of what one comes to expect from this special part of France, give this wine a try.

28 Degrees

28 Degrees is located in Boston's trendy South End. They offer valet parking ($16) and a pretty good menu and wine list. The restaurant is a great people watching space with comfortable booths that surround a pretty "cool" bar area where the hip young beatiful people hang out (I am neither young, hip, nor beautiful, so I don't know what I was doing at the bar, but I was there). Although the restaurant offers a great drink menu (the frozen peach bellini martini was really good), the menu is fairly deceptive. It looks like a regular menu, but is really intended to be eaten by groups, family style. The waiter described that the restaurant is self-described as a tapas style restaurant and suggested that we order accordingly. That information in hand, the menu made more sense.

Being a tapas restaurant, we ordered Rioja and the sommelier did what many restaurants now do (which I find really annoying), they brought out a different year (More in a later post). The rioja we ordered was a 2000 Riserva, but were given a 2001. Now, frankly, I don't know if we were being given the deal of the century or getting screwed, but I want to read a wine list, make a choice and get what I ordered or be informed that they don't have year "x" but can still offer the wine in year "y". Instead, as so many other restaurants now do, they try to pawn off the bottle like its the same thing and look at us crazily if we mention the fact that the listed wine if for a different year. That said the wine and food was reasonably priced and pretty good.

Bordeaux - A Beginners Guide to French Wine

The Red wines from Bordeaux are primarily blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. White wines from the region are usually blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. To really understand Bordeaux, it’s is important to understand a little about the history of France. If you don’t want to learn that much about France, it’s enough to know that French wine, unlike the wines of other places are named for the places they are grown/made. Bordeaux is always and only from Bordeaux. Médoc wines only come from the Médoc area of Bordeaux. Champagne is only from Champagne and similar wines are not Champagne, but are sparkling wines.

Bordeaux is divided by the Gironde River and understanding this is the key to understanding Bordeaux. It tells you where the grapes are from, which usually will tell you the dominant grape and, therefore, style of wine (remember the wine guy at the store describing a particular wine as either left bank or right bank as you nodded your head cluelessly? I do.)

The Left Bank (Médoc/Haut-Médoc)

This area of Bordeaux is located on the northern tip of Bordeaux on the left bank (west) of the Gironde River. South of the Médoc is Haut-Médoc, which includes the villages of St-Estèphe, Moulis, Listrac, Pauillac, St-Julien and Margaux.

Here, as they say, Cabernet is King. During great years, wines produced here can be aged for years or even decades. When wine drinkers think of Cabernet, they think of Bordeaux and that means left-bank. There wines are always blends, but the dominant grape is cabernet sauvignon (which I just learned was produced by a making a hybrid of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, go figure). Most of the left bank cabs I have tasted have been on the more austere side, but, when done right these wines are powerhouses with intense flavors or very reserved with a great amount of elegance.

The Right Bank (Pomerol & St. Emilion)

To the east of the Gironde estuary (Right Bank) are the Chateaux of Pomerol and St-Emilion. In addition to these more well-known appellations, the right bank includes Lalande-de-Pomerol, Lussac-St-Emilion, Montagne-St-Emilion, Puisseguin-St-Emilion and St-Georges-St-Emilion. The dominant grape here is Merlot which thrives in clay rich soil and produces a softer, rounder, more fruit-forward wine and tends to be a little more drinkable for regular old wine lovers than the sometimes more powerful wines of the left-bank.

Lesser Appellations

The less prominent appellations of Bordeaux are certainly worth knowing about. This is where you can get great French wine for a fraction of the price of the wines listed above. In previous postings, I have mentioned Chateau D’Oupia and other inexpensive (NOT cheap) French wines. Many came/come from the areas listed here: Just west of Pomerol are Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac. Further north are the Premières Côtes de Blaye and the Côtes de Bourg, producing mostly red wines. To the east of St-Emilion are the Côtes de Castillon and the Côtes de Francs.

On the east bank of the Garonne, the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux is better known for sweet wines, but it also produces dry wines, both red, white, and rosé.

Sauternes

While on vacation last summer, I read a fantastic book about French wine and history of French wine industry. The title of the book, Noble Rot, refers to a fungus (Botrytis cinerea) which infects the grapes and increases their sugar content and allowing sweet wines like Sauternes and Tokays to be made. These wines are often very expensive because of they are supposed to be very labor intensive to make. Some of the better producers also hold back stock making the wines more expensive due to a lack of supply.

Having said that, these delicious dessert wines with tastes of honey suckle, ripe apple and pear are found on the west bank of the Garonne, south of Graves. Within Sauternes is the commune of Barsac, which also contains a number of top properties. Interestingly, wines from Barsac may be made from grapes form either the Barsac or Sauternes appellations.

Bordeaux Wine Classifications

In 1855, in preparation for Napolean III’s University of Paris Expo, the Gironde Chamber of Commerce requested that wine producing estates of Bordeaux be classified or ranked to accompany its display of fine wines for the visitors from around the world. The Bordeaux Wine Brokers Union devised the rankings that are still in use today. Essentially what they did was to rank the Chateaux of Bordeaux from best to worst. In doing so, they came up with a five-class ranking system of the red wines from the Medoc region, with the exception of Chateau Haut-Brion (which is from Graves), because it was widely recognized as an exeptional wine. Included in these rankings were the white bordeaux of Sauternes and Barsac. They were placed into a two-class ranking (except for Chateau d’Yquem, which was classified as Premier Cru Supérieur. It is the only wine, red or white to receive that classification, which means “First Great Growth”).

While these rankings often do not mean that a top ranked chateaux wine will be better than a lesser chateaux, it does add to the cache of the wine and, usually, the price and availability of the wine at market.

*The following is a list of the original 1855 Classification of Medoc wines:

First Growths (Premiers Crus) Commune

Château Lafite-Rothschild (Pauillac)
Château Margaux (Margaux)
Château Latour (Pauillac)
Château Haut-Brion Pessac (Graves)
Château Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac)

Second Growths (Deuxièmes Crus) Commune
Château Rausan-Ségla (Margaux)
Château Rauzan-Gassies (Margaux)
Château Léoville-Las Cases (Saint-Julien)
Château Léoville-Poyferré (Saint-Julien)
Château Léoville-Barton (Saint-Julien)
Château Durfort-Vivens (Margaux)
Château Gruaud-Larose (Saint-Julien)
Château Lascombes (Margaux)
Château Brane-Cantenac Cantenac (Margaux)
Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron (Pauillac)
Château Pichon-Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac)
Château Ducru-Beaucaillou (Saint-Julien)
Château Cos d'Estournel (Saint-Estèphe)
Château Montrose (Saint-Estèphe)

Third Growths (Troisièmes Crus) Commune
Château Kirwan Cantenac (Margaux)
Château d'Issan Cantenac (Margaux)
Château Lagrange (Saint-Julien)
Château Langoa-Barton (Saint-Julien)
Château Giscours Labarde (Margaux)
Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry (Margaux)
Château Boyd-Cantenac Cantenac (Margaux)
Château Cantenac-Brown Cantenac (Margaux)
Château Palmer Cantenac (Margaux)
Château La Lagune Ludon (Haut-Médoc)
Château Desmirail (Margaux)
Château Calon-Ségur (Saint-Estèphe)
Château Ferrière (Margaux)
Château Marquis d'Alesme-Becker (Margaux)

Fourth Growths (Quatrièmes Crus) Commune
Château Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien)
Château Talbot (Saint-Julien)
Château Branaire-Ducru (Saint-Julien)
Château Duhart-Milon-Rothschild (Pauillac)
Château Pouget Cantenac (Margaux)
Château La Tour-Carnet Saint-Laurent (Haut Médoc)
Château Lafon-Rochet (Saint-Estèphe)
Château Beychevelle (Saint-Julien)
Château Prieuré-Lichine Cantenac (Margaux)
Château Marquis-de-Terme (Margaux)

Fifth Growths (Cinquièmes Crus) Commune
Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac)
Château Batailley (Pauillac)
Château Haut-Batailley (Pauillac)
Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste (Pauillac)
Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse (Pauillac)
Château Lynch-Bages (Pauillac)
Château Lynch-Moussas (Pauillac)
Château Dauzac Labarde (Margaux)
Château Mouton-Baronne-Philippe (Pauillac)
Château du Tertre Arsac (Margaux)
Château Haut-Bages-Libéral (Pauillac)
Château Pédesclaux (Pauillac)
Château Belgrave Saint-Laurent (Haut-Médoc)
Château de Camensac Saint-Laurent (Haut-Médoc)
Château Cos-Labory (Saint-Estèphe)
Château Clerc-Milon (Pauillac)
Château Croizet-Bages (Pauillac)
Château Cantemerle Macau (Haut-Médoc)

The 1855 Official Classification of SAUTERNES – BARSAC

First Great Growth (Premier Cru Supérieur) Commune
Château d'Yquem (Sauternes)

First Growths (Premiers Crus) Commune
Château La Tour-Blanche (Bommes)
Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey (Bommes)
Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey (Bommes)
Château de Rayne-Vigneau (Bommes)
Château Suduiraut (Preignac)
Château Coutet (Barsac)
Château Climens (Barsac)
Château Guiraud (Sauternes)
Château Rieussec (Fargues)
Château Rabaud-Promis (Bommes)
Château Sigalas-Rabaud (Bommes)

Second Growths (Deuxièmes Crus) Commune

Château de Myrat (Barsac)
Château Doisy-Daëne (Barsac)
Château Doisy-Dubroca (Barsac)
Château Doisy-Védrines (Barsac)
Château d'Arche (Sauternes)
Château Filhot (Sauternes)
Château Broustet (Barsac)
Château Nairac (Barsac)
Château Caillou (Barsac)
Château Suau (Barsac)
Château de Malle (Preignac)
Château Romer-du-Hayot (Fargues)
Château Lamothe-Despujols (Sauternes)
Château Lamothe-Guignard (Sauternes)

* Remember, just because a wine is listed a 5th Growth or a Bordeaux Superior, doesn't mean that it's not an amazing wine. Like all things created by French bureaucracy, take the classifications with a grain of salt.

Wine Lover's Glossary of Terms - UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Once I started getting into wine, I realized that if I wanted to move beyond the jug o' Gallo (joke) or buying only what someone else told me to get. To do this, I needed to understand more about the language behind the wine. What I began to realize was that, as I have already implied, oenophiles have their own language and when you know the buzz words, I think it helps to de-mystifies wine-speak and wine in general.

Please feel free to add your own terms/definitions to this effort. If you have any questions, here's where to ask.

This is a work in progress, so please be patient and thanks in advance for the help.

I hate when my real job interferes with my fun job - More to Follow....

Bistro Night - 1993 Cheval Blanc & 1998 Guiraud

On Friday 13th, we had some friends over so I could try out some "Bistro" recipes. The menu included French Onion Soup, NY Strip Streaks in a Chantrelle Brandy Cream Sauce, Potatoes Au Gratin, Haricot Vert & Creme Brulee (can't you just hear and feel the cholesterol attaching to your veins & arteries?). Being my own worst critic, (I am know tranforming my persona into the Whine Defender) I thought the food was good, but certainly not as good as I wanted. The soup needed more cheese and less time under the broiler, the steaks were cooked perfectly (thanks to Mark), but were not sufficiently seasoned; the cream sauce, again, was good but not great. The potatoes and the creme brulee came out as planned and I thought were good, but the potatoes didn't set up quite as much as I wanted.

With that bit of whinning out of the way, we did have some really good wine. I had scored some 1998 Pontet-Canet (against the advise and to the confusion of my friend Adam), my last bottle of 1997 Mouton Rothschild and some 1998 Guiraud Sauternes. Mark, one of the guests, brought 2 bottles of 1993 Cheval Blanc.

As we opened the Cheval Blanc, which was not easy due to some dry cork issues, Mark made me promise that I would be honest when I wrote about the wines and not to worry about trashing a guest's wine if that's what I wanted to do. So here goes: I've never Cheval Blanc before and after watching Sideways, always wanted to... I thought that the wine was very good. I think it was on the decline (past its prime), but had really good body and depth (as compared to the Pontet-Canet which did not) and delicious flavor or soft velvety black cherries and vanilla. This is a St. Emilion wine so is Merlot based, and in classic merlot fashion, was more of a fruit-bomb than left-bank wines tend to be. To sum up, while this wine was really, really good, it definitely was not a great Cheval Blanc.

The Mouton was also really good and this bottle was the best of ones I bought. I've found that the '97 Moutons to be a little thin and without a tremendous amount of character. I like the wine and really enjoy the taste, texture and flavors, but it's not worth the $100/bottle price point. Frankly, I liked the initial taste of the Pontet-Canet, but that wine has, as many previous reviews have noted, no mid-palate. There is a good nose and flavor and an OK finish, just in the middle, when you swallow, there's an emptiness to the flavor of the wine.

We finished up with the Guiraud Sauternes, which I thought was very good. It is a reasonably priced Sauterne and is definitely drinking now. Like all good sauternes, there is that great honey taste with really nice fruit nectar flavor that really tends to linger. I really like this wine with the creme brulee because it pairs nicely (no pun, given the pear flavor in the wine) with the silkiness of the custard and the grand marnier in the recipe I used.

Bottom line, good food, great wine, great company, great time!

Las Rocas and Las Rocas Vinas Viejas (Old Vines)

I was turned on to this little gem a few years ago by a friend (Tim at Post Road Wine in Wayland, MA). The 2 best things about this wine are the 1) the taste and 2) the price. The Las Rocas sells for about $10.00 and the Old Vines (made from 100 year old vines found at the vineyards highest altitudes) for between $15-18.00 per bottle. The wine is 100% grenache and is great for beef, lamb, pizza or any kind of BBQ. Whether your drinking the highly regarded and reviewed 2001 or the 2004, you'll love the beautiful dark ruby color and spicy, bold berry taste. This wine tastes great and smells great too. When you inhale, you can distinctly smell fruit, vanilla and pepper. When I first bought this wine a few years ago (it was the better 2001 vintage), Tim kept telling me to "buy it/try it" and that "I wouldn't believe how good this wine was." I recently turned another friend onto this wine and she buys it for every party and gathering.

You can serve this wine anywhere and almost anytime. It tastes like a wine that costs more like $40/btl than the $10 I spent....and as good as the Las Rocas is, the Vinas Viejas is even better. Trust me, you won't believe how good Las Rocas is.

2001 Antinori Tignonello & 2001 Fanti Brunello

Last night we were at a great party. I brought along an 2001 Antinori Tignonello and my friend Jeff brought a 2001 Fanti Brunello. Fortunately for us, 2001 was a great year in Italy and both wines were phenomenal! The Tig is the Italian version of a fabulously big Left Bank Bourdeaux. It's a Cabernet based wine and is silky and very full bodied with soft smooth tannins, rich berry taste with tobacco and leather. Because this wine also has hints of herbs, it will pair well with basil, thyme, rosemary or parsley rich dishes.

I'm not sure whether I liked the Tig or the Fanti better. The experts suggest that the Fanti really won't be really ready for another 3 or so years and will continue to age beautifully long after that. Having said that, and keeping in mind that this was a relatively young brunello, this wine was amazing. It is a massive effort that will only get better with age. Rated #23 on this year's Wine Spectator Top Wines List, it is a chewy, rich, huge wine with lots of berry and cherry fruit taste.

Bottom line, once you start to drink these wines, you just don't want to stop.

Marco Restaurant - North End

It's pretty boring to write or talk about a place that it just - from beginning to end, from the front end to the kitchen - fantastic. There are only so many ways to say that this dish or that thing is "perfect", "fabulous", "great"...well, you get the point. That's my problem with this post and the only problem with Marco Restaurant, where we went with friends last Saturday night. It was absolutely amazing. Located in a small second floor space on Hanover Street in the North End, you feel like you're eating in someone's home and, I think, that is exactly what owner Marc Orfaly (owner/chef of Pigalle as well) and Chef de Cuisine Matt Abdoo are striving for. The menu is great, the wine list is limited, but good, the Chef is outstanding, as were the knowledgeable servers. The pastas, cured meats and cannoli are all made in-house, and all are delicious. Adding to the experience, are the cooking classes offered on the first Monday of every month. I went to one last Monday and had a great time learning how to make both sweet and savory ravioli from Chef Abdoo.

On Saturday, as we looked at the menu, we couldn't decide what to get because there were too many things we liked. The waitress suggested we just have the Chef cook for us and that's what we did (many good restaurants will do this, you just need to ask). Each course was delicious. We started with a caesar salad, fried calamari, pizza and stuffed clams (are you full just from reading this?). The Caesar salad had a great traditional dressing, large shavings of parmigiano reggiano cheese, and was served in a rustic wooden bowl that my wife wanted to take home. The calamari were perfectly fried in a light batter and served along with red and green hot Italian cherry peppers (in my opinion, the best way to have fried calamari). Shortly thereafter, the pizza arrived made with gorgonzola, figs, prosciutto and greens. In general, I'm not a fan of bleu cheeses; but this was done perfectly. They way the pizza was made fused all the flavors and the figs and prosciutto mellowed and complimented the gorgonzola beautifully. Finally were 4 Clams Origanato (baked with bread crumbs, lemon and parmigiano). These were also delicious.

The pasta course was next and by the end I thought I might explode. All 3 dishes (orecchietti with sausage and brocioli rabe, gnocchi in a cream/cheese sauce and mushroom risotto with truffle oil) arrived at the same time, all also delicious. The risotto was cooked al dente and there was just the right amount of truffle oil, which if not used correctly, would've overpowered the dish.

The main course was a baked sole and a mixed grill of sausage and flank steak. This may come as a surprise to those who know my carnivorous leanings, but, as good as the sausage and steak were, the fish, which was baked and topped with a wonderful gremolata, was just amazing.

Complimenting this grastronomic pigfest was a 2003 Cantina Terlano Lagrein Porphyr Riserva, which was suggested by one of our servers. The wine went very well with everything (even, more or less the sole). It had a really lush berry fruit smell and taste, was well balanced with low acidity, soft tannins and a great finish. This was a very tasty wine that went well with the bold flavors we were overeating.

We finished off the meal with cappuccino and mini canolis, which are made, shell and filing, at the restaurant (one of only a few North End restaurant that make their own canoli shells).

Needless to say, at the end of the night I rolled down the stairs, waddled to the car, which was, thankfully, parked about 1/2 mile away. Although clearly suffering from a food coma, the walk made me feel almost human as I dozed off on the ride home.

This restaurant is my new favorite. The food, setting, chef and staff are as unpretentious as they are outstanding. This place is just a pleasure to go to and you'll leave well fed, well taken care of and with a big smile on your face. Go! Please, just don't take my reservation.