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