Daily Loaf

I love truffles. Not the gooey chocolate delicacy but the delicious yet expensive mushroom that I’d sell myself on the street to pay for. Few people are enamored or familiar with my favorite fungus. Only elite culinarians are hip to them — much like the chenin blanc grape. Truffles are to food as chenin blanc is to wine, a white that only wine geeks seem to appreciate.

It’s no wonder. Chenin blanc (shen’n BLAHNK) is the freaky Sybil of grapes. It can be sweet or dry and either austere and acidic, or lush and aromatic depending on where it’s grown, how it’s tended and the winemaker’s mood. In France’s Loire Valley, where chenin blanc was first canonized in 985 A.D, it’s camouflaged behind the Vouvray label. There, it tastes luscious, slightly to very sweet, and displays a fruit soup of peach, nectarine and lime – perfect grog for people who shun bone-dry wines. However, finding quality Vouvrays – and rare dry versions from Anjou or Savennières, two other Loire Valley regions – is like wild truffle-hunting: exasperating. Grab them if you see them, and also be on the lookout for incredible (and remarkably cheap) Crémant de Loire chenin-based sparkling wines.

But in new world regions — South Africa, Australia and the U.S. – this chameleon transforms. Read the rest of this entry »

My cabinets overflow with wine glasses of every shape and size. We manage to break one weekly, but the brimming collection strangely never dwindles. The cheap, logo-emblazoned ones are like indestructible cement, but the pricey ones regularly fall in battle. Unique to my house? I think not, because people often ask if the half-paycheck glasses are needed or if the $1.99 cheapies will suffice. The European Riedel and Spiegelau crystal manufacturers want you to believe that imbibing wine from their stemware results in an ethereal experience. Don’t believe all the hype. Read the rest of this entry »

This week, life threw a massive curve ball at Creative Loafing Media. Taken over by the NYC-based hedge fund to whom we owed a ton of money, each employee processed the news in a different way: sadness, optimism, relief. Me? I got shit-faced. On great wine. I figured if my family’s legacy is going down [my parents founded Creative Loafing and my brother was CEO until last Tuesday], I should consume voluminous amounts of quality juice. Fast. However, the questioned remained … which ones? So many choices, so little time to race and get to the promised land.

Obviously, I needed something high in alcohol. These sorts of wines emerge from hot areas, where the grapes grow fat with sugar and the resulting wine has more punch (sugar converts to alcohol in fermentation). Napa, Sonoma, Barossa Valley (Australia), Washington State (yes, there are areas where it isn’t miserably rainy), and a host of other delicious choices for the perfect Zen state of non-thought. Read the rest of this entry »

When I was a kid, I compared myself to everyone. One teacher called me “other-directed” and it wasn’t until my twenties that I realized that wasn’t a glowing compliment. I carried a bit of this into adulthood, and perhaps it shows up in my voyeuristic sneak peeks at what wine drinkers are sipping. As a wine writer, it’s good to have my sights on the scene, so I ask bars, restaurants and wine retail shops from time to time to reveal what you’re drinking.

It appears that you guys, after an Anything But Chardonnay run, are migrating back to this classic white. Rathbun’s in Atlanta sees plenty of action in its Edna Valley Chardonnay. But co-owner Cliff Bramble reports an educated price variance in what people are choosing – in the under-$40- per-bottle category, people order a “chardonnay,” whereas in the upper price tier, customers request selections from specific wine regions – aka AVAs – like Carneros or Russian River. Same goes for other varietals like pinot noir or malbec, as in the delicious Terrazas Malbec from Argentina they pour by the glass.

Vinocity Wine Bar in Atlanta constantly scours for quality, underpriced wines. Owner Ian Smith’s best sellers are Poppy Pinot Noir, Plungerhead Zin, Bloom Gewurztraminer and one of my favorites, Quivira Sauvignon Blanc. Looking pretty good there.

In Tampa, Bern’s Fine Wines and Spirits and Mise en Place Restaurant echo the chardonnay boon but Read the rest of this entry »

This column should have perforated edges so people can tear it out. It answers the #1 wine question I receive: What’s really tasty and affordable right now? Ever since this recession withered wallets around the world, it’s been my quest to find the best deals.

My top ten.

Kim Crawford 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough (New Zealand) This reliably charming wine is thankfully available everywhere, and capped with a screwtop, no less. Its green grass aromas give way to bracing acidity, ripe Granny Smith apples, zingy lime and plenty of refreshing grapefruit. The 2008 trumps previous vintages. Sw=1. $13. 5 stars.

Crios de Susana Balbo 2007 Malbec Rosé Mendoza (Argentina) I wallowed in this wine like wrestlers in a kiddie pool and hardly paid for it the next day — an excellent sign of a well-made wine. Heady with strawberry and candied cherry, but with an earthy, almost smoky flavor on the tongue. Full-bodied and serious, yet lively with tartness and a finish of ripe raspberries. I’m thirsty. Sw=2. $12. 5 stars. Read the rest of this entry »

The snooty side of food pairings preaches “No Wine with Salad.” I fed on this falsehood for years, following the widely-held mantra like an evangelical wino. Then one day, a miraculous salad and vino combo made me rethink my reliance on traditional not-so-wisdom.

Not that I was always so cool and contrarian. Before my re-awakening, I lapped up all the drivel wine magazines and writers spit out. But, like a rebellious teenager, I slowly realized it wasn’t adding up. Salads are simply another dish with sauce slathered on it. Match the sauce with the wine and you win. To give tradition some credit, back in the day salad dressings mostly contained robust vinegars like distilled white or cider that rendered wine lifeless and dull; it made sense to teach wine-with-salad avoidance. Times have changed, however. Now that less acidic rice or sweeter balsamic vinegars and lime and lemon use are common, wine and dressing can snuggle up and make sweet, tart love.

Since we’re dealing with delicate, cold food, it makes sense to choose wines that fit a similar profile: whites and rosés. The ideal salad partner is sparkling wine or Champagne — their refreshing acidity equals the body of a salad, bringing new meaning to friends with benefits. But if bubbly is out of budget, here are other suggestions for salad and wine hookups. (See a list of budget sparklers) Read the rest of this entry »

After my annual July 4th party, the recycling bin brims with a mountainous pile of wine bottles. I imagine the recycling guy considers me a lapsed Friend of Bill, but hell, our nation’s birthday is the day to enjoy everything. In honor of America’s independence, here are some creative tips to prepare for the celebration.

Introduce the Box
Ignore the naysayers who might not be hip to the newfangled wine-in-a-box. Once derided as an outlet for the worst vinous swill on the planet, wineries now sell good juice you squeeze from a bladder – the plastic sack housed inside the box. Within each three-liter “cask” (the box’s cool Aussie nickname) are four bottles of wine, hermetically sealed for your fresh drinking pleasure. Once liquid is drawn out, the bladder compresses to avoid exposure to oxygen — the element that ruins wine — so the wine stays drinkable longer (up to nine weeks). Good for a party, it’s inexpensive, unbreakable, sits handily on your countertop for easy serving, and requires no dangerous-when-drunk corkscrew. Seek out Hardy’s and Black Box selections. (Read more about boxed wines)

Read the rest of this entry »

The six-month dream job of Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent at Murphy-Goode Winery has been blowing up the blogosphere. $10,000 per month to live at the winery in Sonoma Valley, write, and ride the social media wave. It’s a sweet gig for whoever gets it. (See all the Tampa Bay candidates here). 

And I threw my glass into the ring.

Initially, I learned about the opportunity from my father-in-law who lives 9,167 miles from home, in Australia. Hell, if there’s ever been an example of social networking efficacy, it’s this one. He exclaimed through a Facebook post: “This is something you should consider!” I smiled to myself, then laughed it off.

At the Loaf offices the next day, the news was everywhere. This was groundbreaking (at least for wine geeks). Traditionally, the wine industry hasn’t been a stewpot of cutting-edge marketing, and the urge to blog about this overtook me. Post-blog, one friend commented on Facebook, “I can’t believe you’re spreading the word about this… you’d be perfect for that job.” After four others shared similar sentiments, I listened. Read the rest of this entry »

Like the violin I misused as a tot, wine requires practice. I don’t read many books about it, although I definitely should; I don’t study it much anymore, although that might make me sound smarter. But I drink. A lot. Not to alcoholic levels – though the thought has fluttered in my throbbing, hungover head — but enough to become intimate with countless grapes. It’s important since habitual tasting trains the tongue to decipher chardonnay or riesling and, with practice, you can discover what makes music in your mouth.

Each month for the past eight years, I’ve invited an eclectic group to practice their drinking in my home. We blind taste 12-15 bottles at one sitting and the attendees have mostly an untrained yet keen interest in wine. From this base camp I’ve personally converted dozens into wine geekdom; some have even moved on to California winemaking. Sure, I could taste the wines alone – Husband and I make regular progress through the bottle stash – but how much fun would that be?

Not much, but it’s not just fun. Tasting with this group allows me to uncover what average consumers enjoy so I can tailor my writing. More often than not, they prefer the really fruity, new-world-style wines. Like California chardonnay.

For a recent tasting, I saved up four single-vineyard wines from the same producer (Patz and Hall), same varietal (chardonnay), same vintage (2006) but from different vineyards. This “appellation vertical” tasting — as I coined it — allowed me to teach “terroir,” an elusive yet critically important tenet in wine appreciation. It explains the grape’s soil and climate blend and why fruit from one vineyard can taste completely different in another.

I knew the wines wouldn’t suck. Patz and Hall – a smallish, esteemed, wallet-crunching winery based in Napa — makes first-rate stuff. To craft these chardonnays, they bought fruit from well-respected growers all over California and used almost identical winemaking techniques. All things were equal except the grapes, so this line-up fit my terroir bill. The vineyards represented were Zio Tony Ranch in Russian River, Alder Springs in Mendocino, Dutton Ranch in Russian River and Hudson Vineyard in Carneros.

For chardonnay, everything from the grape clone to the forest which birthed the oak barrel influences the juice in the bottle. But as any winemaker will tell you, good wine starts in the vineyard. This grape requires a cooler climate to develop all the peach, pear and apple flavors inherent in the variety, and these four vineyards enjoy less heat than most. But it’s the soil and location that makes these wines distinct. For instance, Zio Tony’s reddish, sandy soils are rich with deep iron deposits, yielding fruit that struggles for water and thus develops personality, complexity and minerality. By contrast, the Hudson Vineyard has loam soil and an unusually cool, hillside location which allows the grapes to ripen longer on the vines, building up more flavor and sugars. The only variation in the winemaking? Zio Tony’s fruit sees ten percent more new French oak. But they taste drastically different from one another.

The group agreed. In fact, they were somewhat flabbergasted by the vast diversity in the wines. Did everyone love all of them? No, but now they know the influence of terroir on chardonnay. With wine, as with all other things, practice makes perfect. (Read about terroir).

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Wine Recommendation

Patz and Hall 2006 Chardonnay Zio Tony Ranch (California) Layered with flavor and full-bodied with toasted coconut, soft vanilla, pear, creamy peach custard, refreshing acidity, iron-like minerality and a chalky aftertaste. Sw=2. $60. 4.5 stars. 

Patz and Hall 2006 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard (California) Lean, medium-bodied and bright with green apple napped in butter and pumpkin-pie spices. Fantastic, lingering acidity that complements the roasted hazelnuts, fresh peaches and caramel flavors. Sw=2. $45. 4.5 stars.

Sweetness (Sw) rating: 1-10. Star rating: 1-5. Reach Taylor at taylor.eason@cln.com, on Twitter @tayloreason, and on Facebook.  

Stains are the mundane bane of many red wine drinkers. Inevitably, juice dribbles down the shirt, drips on the carpet, or spills on the clean — mostly likely new — white tablecloth. It’s inevitable and a buzz kill. One of my cream-colored couches, which I bought long before wine controlled my life, is now dotted with pinkish splotches, whispering tales of half-drunken accidents that weren’t mopped up. But my spill knowledge has grown and I’m ready to share my expert spotty advice on remedying red wine messes.

Preventative Measures 

• Buy a mylar pouring disc from the wine shop — they’re thin, bendable and slide into the bottle opening to fashion a wine spout. The pros use them because they prevent dripping and facilitate easier pouring control. This disc is also reusable if you don’t put it in the dishwasher like I did once. Read the rest of this entry »

Street food in Beijing – Photos by Scott Eason

Listening to the pre-trip food-poisoning, bug-eating horror stories, I expected to lose weight. But far from the miracle Dexatrim solution I’d envisioned, my recent vacation in China proved to be an incredible culinary adventure.

China is far more modern, clean and sophisticated than I ever imagined, at least in the cities. Its citizens are warmly hospitable and enthusiastically curious about Americans. But they don’t drink wine. Beijing and Shanghai had wine bars, but I didn’t spy many Chinese filling the seats; beer is the alcoholic vice of choice. Since you can’t drink the water and many restaurants on the tour (we opted for a guided trip) offered it gratis, I downed more beer in two weeks than I have in a year. Tsingtao mostly, but the city of Chongqing brews an eponymous wheaty grog that I miss. Read the rest of this entry »

Shit, people will be here in an hour, and I still haven’t showered. The husband is mesmerized by Battlestar Galactica and probably wouldn’t be much help anyway. This in-home wine tasting will be the death of me, but I always seem to have fun … probably too much fun actually, since tomorrow will likely hurt. But with more water and more food tonight, here’s hoping.

Glasses out? Check. They don’t match but does anyone really care about that kind of thing anymore? Certainly my friends won’t notice. We break the nice matching glasses as fast as I buy them and the cheap glasses printed with various logos are indestructible. Hey, if I use those I don’t have to pull out the wine charms to keep track of glasses. Cool. There’s one with the Einstein on Wine logo, Paso Robles Wine Festival, Oregon Pinot Noir Festival. Yeah, that works. Makes me look worldly and experienced. Or like a lush? Read the rest of this entry »