Wine Harvest

Hello Wine Lovers!
Here it is Sunday and so far I have survived my birthday weekend, it was a little "touch and go" last night after dinner, but I pulled through. My family goes out of their way to make me feel special and this year was no exception! My two kids came over yesterday afternoon to help Mom with another superb four course extravaganza and between courses I started to think what it took to get the bottle of wine, my daughter so graciously gave me for my birthday, to the table. As you know from reading this blog, I write about $10 or less wines and I am always amazed how a bottle shows up at a wine shop for that price range considering what it goes through! Harvest is just around the corner and I thought I would point out a few items to get you thinking "How can they do this for $8?"
Wine can be traced back to over 8000 years ago and there are thousands of different varietals. The price put on a bottle of wine is as much perception as it is business, in other words, what will the market bear and will the consumer think it is a good enough wine for the money?

Price also plays into the perception of value, said Vic Motto, a senior partner at Motto Kryla Fisher, a wine industry consulting company in St. Helena, Calif. ''If I made the best wine in the world and charged $1 for it,'' he said, ''no one would believe it was the best. They'd say it's a great bottle of $1 wine.''
But there is much more to the cost of a bottle than the wine inside. To start with, the retail price on the shelf is generally twice what the winery sold the wine for. That means a $100 wine was $50 when it left the winery and $50 was added by the distributor and the retailer.
Wineries, of course, also like to make a profit. A $100 wine that cost $50 when it left its maker may have cost as little as $25 to produce. For wines in the $7 to $10 range, the margin is far less, because the makers make money on volume. But coming up with a precise number is hard because overhead like electricity,staff costs, the cost of the bottle, cork, labels, equipment, and lets not forget the price of an acre of land! It is like anything in our great big world we live in, what is it worth to you? If I open up a bottle of 1961 Cheval Blanc and you taste it and don't like it, that bottle is certainly not worth the estimated $3000 price tag to you. On the other hand you open up a bottle of $9 Cabernet over looking Niagara Falls with your sweetie on a perfect sunny day, and that bottle has a lasting memory of one of your favorites! Whether it is a car, a home, a designer, a dentist, a clothing store, whatever it is, it is what you are willing to pay for a good or service. Value is the key!
Wow, now that's out of he way... let's talk about a wine! Santa Julia Reserva Malbec, from Argentina for $7.99 at the Wine Discount Center. (I believe Binny's has it too)
This wine is loaded with cherry and ripe fruit with a nice bright finish of light tannins. It is dark in color and has a nose of licorice and spice. This wine pairs well with grilled meats and hearty sauces. Again, how the heck do they get this wine to market for well under $10 is beyond me!
Cheers!
J

My Favorite "Wine" Movies

Hello Wine Lovers!
This wondrous morning after a run, breakfast, dog walking and a little gardening I decided to take a little time for myself and slip in a movie and light up a cigar and enjoy. The movie I put in the player was "Dr. No" the 1962 Jame Bond flick, which I feel is the best Bond film. But at any rate it made me think of my favorite movies with wine in them. Not movies where wine is the focal point, but movies where
it clicks: Wine plays a significant role, the filmmakers get the wine parts right, and the movie is a pleasure to watch. So using this criteria here is my list with a little antidote about each one. Grab your sweetie, make some popcorn (hint: a buttery Chardonnay from California goes really good with buttered popcorn) and watch one or all of these movies. Pay attention to the wine scenes!
#1 Casablanca:
Champagne is the wine of choice in this famous epic and Claude Rains, as the jolly French policeman Capt. Renault, specifically orders 1926 Veuve Clicquot, "an excellent French wine," for the Nazi Maj. Strasser. Rains and Henreid also enjoy Champagne cocktails. Champagne's finest moment comes during the flashback to Bogart and Bergman's romance in Paris, when they're drinking bubbly in a small cafe. As Bogart's faithful friend Sam plays "As Time Goes By" on the piano, Bogie says to the cafe owner "says to finish this bottle and then three more. He says he'll water his garden with Champagne before he'll let the Germans drink it."
#2 Notorious:
Only Alfred Hitchcock can make it nerve-racking to watch people drink Champagne!Bergman stars as the title character, a "notorious" woman whose father is convicted of treason for spying for the Nazis. Bergman also once loved current Nazi spy Rains, and is now a hard drinker accused of promiscuity.
Grant plays an American spy who manipulates Bergman into flying to Rio de Janeiro and back into Rains' arms in order to see what he's doing now. Grant suspects that the Nazis are hiding a substance used to make radioactive weapons in wine bottles. He and Bergman poke around in the wine cellar of a mansion, opening bottles, while the Nazis throw a big party. If someone finds them down there, they'll be killed.Meanwhile, the high-society guests are drinking huge amounts of Champagne. All the while, we know that if the Champagne upstairs runs out, someone will be sent to the cellar to fetch more, and Bergman and Grant will be shot. Once again, the suspense of Hitchcock will keep you on the edge of your seat!
#3 Dr No:
James Bond has always been a sophisticated drinker, with much more of a taste for Champagne than the vodka martinis he's now most famous for.However, the moment that establishes Bond to audiences as more than a well-trained assassin, but a well-polished gentleman as well, involves Champagne.Invited to dinner while held captive by Dr. No, Bond grabs a bottle of Dom to use as a weapon."That's a Dom Perignon '55," says the evil yet cultured Dr. No. "It would be a pity to break it."Bond shrugs, puts the bottle down, and says, "I prefer the '53 myself." Now, think of when this movie was released and American audiences had to think he was a complete wine geek to know what year was important! You can judge how good a Bond film is by the vintage of Dom he orders. In the entertaining film "Goldfinger", Bond enjoys a bottle of the '53 Dom with a beautiful woman. But in "Thunderball", he orders a bottle of the '55 he once scorned! I rest my case, Thunderball was not as good as Goldfinger!
#4 The Earth is Mine:
Filmed at what is now Rubicon Estate, in Napa Valley,with workers appearing as extras, this film is a portrayal of the issues that divided Napa Valley in the 1930s still seems prescient today, and some of the gender-preference innuendo in Hudson's dialogue is pretty interesting even now. In this steamy version of Napa life, marriages are arranged to bring desirable vineyard property into the family. Affairs of all types are never out of the question. Hudson's mother, played by Anna Lee, says at one point: "Andre is thinking of selling Stags Leap. Cutting it up into little parcels. Selling it off to all the riffraff that come flooding in here because the price of grapes is high." Rains plays a noble character, believing that wine grapes are a gift from God. "The grape is the only fruit that God gave the sense to know what it was made for," he says. The film gives simple-to-understand descriptions of both the winemaking process and how to taste and appreciate wine. If you pay close attention, it is like "wine 101"
#5 Sideways:
About a trip through California's wine country with one character getting married and the other a failed writer with a passion for Pinot Noir, and wine in general. It is fun to watch Miles teach his friend about wine. He hates Merlot and Cabernet Franc and there is a great scene outside a restaurant you won't want to miss. Even though he hates those 2 grapes, his favorite wine in the world is made up of them both, yet the director doesn't throw it in your face. If you know the wine, you will know what I am saying!
#6 Disclosure:
Demi Moore sexually harasses Michael Douglas and a key point to the film is her special ordering him a 1991 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay which later is a point of guilt on her side. There is not a lot of wine drinking but the movie did put the Chardonnay on the map!
This should keep you occupied for a few Sundays with your sweetie!
Enjoy!
J

Argentina Malbec

Hello Wine Lovers!

Another week has gone by here in the latter part of summer in beautiful Chicago which translates to beautiful lake front walks and BBQ on the patio! Which leads to Malbec, the perfect wine for summer! Today I am talking about Andes Crossing (Top 10 Whole Foods wine) for $8.99 and Don Miguel Gascon Malbec also for $8.99 at Binny's. Both wines are form Mendoza Argentina which means both are grown at high altitude in the Andes Mountains. Lets talk about Andes Crossing first. You will find this wine dark in color (typical of Malbec) with wild red fruit flavors and violet tones with a long smooth finish and well balanced tannins. Quite a mouthful for $9!

You will find the Gascon Malbec slightly more elegant with a full body and soft tannins with flavors of blackberry, blueberry and dark cherries with a hint of chocolate at the end. Here is a few notes from the winemaker, Ernesto: "The 2010 growing season in Mendoza was characterized by a slight delay in ripening, lower alcohol potential and higher acidity, compared to the previous one. A late-season frost in 2009 prevented normal bud formation in the spring, resulting in lower yields. January and February saw unseasonably warm weather throughout the region, and consequently, veraison occurred earlier than normal in most areas. Sugar accumulation arrest in the berry was delayed and led to lower potential alcohol levels in the fruit than in 2009. Throughout the summer, the weather remained both hot and dry, resulting in generally thick skinned fruit with very concentrated flavors. The fruit also maintained excellent levels of natural acidity, lending freshness and vibrancy to the grapes. Overall, the dry season combined with lower yields resulted in fruit with intense color, exceptional levels of concentration and complexity". There ya have it! (That is his picture)

I was visiting a friend last week who had a bottle of red wine in their refrigerator (Due to the fact he did not have a cellar or wine fridge) and it reminded me of the 20 / 20 Rule for serving wine. It goes like this... take a bottle of white out of the fridge for 20 minutes before serving and place a bottle of red in the fridge for 20 minutes before serving. This will get both wines, white and red, close to the proper serving temperature. Whites show best at around 45 degrees and reds show best at around 56 degrees. Use this rule when serving your wine and you won't go back to "room temperature" red wines or white wines that are 40 degrees or less ever again!

Cheers!

J

Concannon Petite Sirah

Hello Wine Lovers!
Today I thought I would talk about a wine that has certainly started many debates over the years, some may even call them arguments... but what the heck, that's what I'm here for. One of the reasons you are reading this blog (I assume anyway) is to learn something as well as confidence when choosing a wine for the evening's dinner or party or BBQ, or wedding or... oh the list goes on and on!
The wine, Concannon Petite Sirah from California available at Binny's for about $7.99, and my lovely Bride found it at our local Jewel store for $8.99! Anyway, back to me...
You will find this wine loaded with fruit, blackberries and cassis with a kiss of vanilla and a finish of tobacco and spice and a long lingering mouth feel. Perfect for the weather and outdoor fun!
But lets talk about what has sparked all the fuss! You will sometimes find labels with Petite Syrah VS Petite Sirah and this my friends is what causes all the fun! Briefly, Petite Syrah is a smaller grape from the world renowned region of the Rhone Valley in France, small intense berries packed with flavor and know for it's quality. Petite Sirah is actually known as Durif in the US and Israel, over 90% of the wine produced in these countries with the label Petite Sirah is Durif. It was named after François Durif, a botanist at the University of Montpellier. It was in a Peloursin vineyard near the university that he discovered the unique vine that he named for himself in 1880. The DNA fingerprinting at the University of California, Davis in 1997, Syrah was identified as the source of the pollen that originally crossed with Peloursin flowers.The grape's high resistance to downy mildew encouraged its cultivation in the early 20th century although the relative low quality of the resulting wine caused the grape to fall out of favor with local wine authorities. Today, it is almost nonexistent in France. Most winemakers use this grape to blend and few will produce a wine made up of all Petite Sirah grapes.
Now you know...
Here is another recipe my Bride and I prepared last week from Giada. Not only is it simple but it is really packed with flavor and the citrus is so "right on" with the hot summer weather!
Cheers!
J

Ingredients
Salsa:
2 large oranges
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 scallions, finely sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salmon:
Vegetable or canola oil, for oiling the grill
4 (4 to 5-ounce) center cut salmon fillets, skinned, each about 3-inches square
2 tablespoons amber agave nectar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
For the salsa: Peel and trim the ends from each orange. Using a paring knife, cut along the membrane on both sides of each segment. Free the segments and add them to a medium bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, scallions, mint, capers, orange zest, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Toss lightly and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For the salmon: Put a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush the grilling rack with vegetable oil to keep the salmon from sticking. Brush the salmon on both sides with the agave nectar and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the salmon to a platter and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Spoon the salsa verde on top of the salmon or serve on the side as an accompaniment.

Bordeaux

Hello Wine Lovers!
Last night my wife and I had the pleasure to cook dinner for some very dear friends (Actually my wife's x sister-in-law and her husband) and we shared a couple of very nice French wines. One red and one white. The red was a Bordeaux, Chateau De Segur and the white was Domaine Des Cassagnoles from the Cotes de Gascogne Region in southwest France. We cooked a wonderful Bobby Flay Monkfish recipe which you will find at the end of this entry. First the Bordeaux... a Bordeaux Rouge which basically means the wine is meant to be consumed when it is young and fresh. True to it's heritage, this wine had a nose of clove, a bit of cocoa and cinnamon with a mouthful of cassis and blackberries with mineral notes and cedar on the finish. This wine will impress your friends and will only set you back $7.99 at your neighborhood Binny's! Since most of you know where Bordeaux is located I will get into a little info on the Cotes De Gascogne Region.Côtes de Gascogne is a wine-growing district in South West France. The designation Côtes de Gascogne is used for a Vin de Pays or "country wine" produced in the Armagnac area. Most of the white grapes grown here is Columbard and much of it is used to make Armagnac. Columbard is believed to be related to Chenin Blanc which is why the high acid. You Will find this wine to be herbaceous and lots of mineral notes, rather similar to a New World Sauvignon Blanc. The palate is also quite full and honeyed yet crisp with a bit of chalk feel at the end. Also at Binny's for , are you ready... $7.99 a bottle. For this money, if you don't like it put in your windshield wiper fluid container! As promised, here is the recipe that is definitely worth the time and effort. Just remember to drink a little wine while cooking.

Cheers!
J
Ingredients
Green Curry-Roasted Corn Sauce:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons green curry paste
• 4 cups clam stock
• 2 corn husks, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup roasted corn kernels
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add wine and cook until reduced by 3/4. Add the curry paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the clam stock and corn husks and cook until reduced by 1/2. Strain the sauce into a clean medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the cream and corn and cook to a sauce consistency. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and add the cilantro
Roasted Corn Relish:
• 1 cup roasted corn kernels
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 ancho chile, seared in a hot pan until pliable, seeds removed and finely diced
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes before serving.
Monkfish:
• 2 (1 pound) monkfish tails
• Olive oil
• Ancho chile powder
• Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Preheat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Brush monkfish with olive oil and season with ancho chile powder and salt. Sear on both sides until golden brown. Transfer to the oven and continue cooking for 8 to10 minutes, until just cooked through. Ladle the sauce onto a platter, slice the fish into 3/4-inch thick slice, drizzle with more of the sauce and top with the corn relish and chopped cilantro.

Chile Cabernet

Hello Wine Lovers!


Sorry for missing an entry last week, I was on holiday and just could not squeeze in the time to write! I did make up for it with the amount of wine I consumed though! Here goes another Cabernet. Take note that many of the Cabernets I am writing about are not from Napa Valley... it is way more difficult to find Cabs under the $10 rule from California! With the cost of an acre well over $1 million dollars, who could blame them! So, here is another entry from Chile, Errazuriz Estate Cabernet from the Aconcagua Region. This wine will cost you $8.99 at the Wine Discount Center, for that price but all you can fit in your car, you won't be disappointed! Speaking of the Wine Discount Center... the downtown location on Elston Ave is having a huge blow-out sales next Saturday, Don't miss this event... you'll be sorry!!
You will find this wine to be full of jammy dark berries with hints of oak and vanilla. Enough acid and tannins to withstand grilled meats and heavy rich red sauces. I could not believe my taste buds when I first took a sip... at $8.99! Wow... now a little about the area where it comes from.
A hundred kilometers north of Santiago the Aconcagua river flows through the Central Valley from east to west. The river rises near the mountain of the same name, an almost 7000 meter high peak, and flows into the Pacific Ocean close to Valparaíso. The Mediterranean climate of the valley provides hot days and cool humid nights, near perfect conditions for viticulture. Its soils are sandy and rocky, rich in minerals and in organic river sediments. Since 1870, wine has been cultivated in the region. If you get the chance, visit this region, the people, the food and the wine, I believe you will find to be outstanding!
Cheers!
J

Santa Rita Cabernet Reserva

Hello Wine Lovers!
I know, I know, what am I doing writing about another Cabernet? You would think I am turning into one of those persons that only drink Cabernet and think if anyone drinks something other than the grape of choice doesn't know a darn thing about wine! Well just don't get your panties in an uproar... I just happen to find this a very worth while entry! So there! You will find this wine at Binny's or the Wine Discount Center for $9.99 a bottle. If you don't find this to be absolutely brilliant and alive for this price then I suggest you make an appointment with your doctor and have yourself checked out!
This estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Alto Jahuel, located in Chile’s famous Maipo Valley, one of the finest wine producing regions in the world. The result is a well balanced and complex wine. On the nose you will find ripe, black fruit, plums and herbs, gracefully combined with vanilla, cloves and fragrant spices. In the mouth you will find it complex with soft tannins and a long rich textured finish. This wine has been aged up to eight months in American oak barrels. This is a perfect wine to match with grilled meats and vegetables during a nice evening on the patio with the grill fired up and them stars above!

Cheers!
J