The California Conundrum

So a lot of people have found it difficult to believe me when I tell them that the "New World" unit has been my most difficult so far. The assumption is that complex, foreign units, such as Italy and France, with thousands of rules and exceptions, would be the largest hurdle in wine school...but unfortunately I find them much simpler.

I think this issue is two fold...and important for people studying for the Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Exam. The first issue is completely a personal hurdle. I love Europe, I love European wine, I lived in Europe, I DRINK European wine. Despite living in California and being a full blown American patriot, Old World mystifies and captures my imagination on an unparalleled level. Not only does my proximity take away some of the Californian exoticism, but it just seems a bit drab in comparison to the grand chateaus of timeless terroir...

This is not saying that I dislike Californian wine...but I'm an earthy wine freak, and tend to steer clear of fruit driven California style of Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons. And when it comes to chardonnay....let's just say I was the kid that always ordered sour patch kids instead of buttered popcorn at the cinema.

I think my greatest academic hurdle, and perhaps one shared with many others, lays in the lack of strict sub-regional regulation of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). When studying the Old World, I find enormous amount of varying detail to be an advantage. Each small village has unique terroir, different permitted grapes, and strict, localized regulation. This creates a network of thousands of distinctive stories, which trigger memory for me easier than the standard "list" memorization. I can tell you all about different grand cru vineyards in Burgundy because one was bought to lay dormant for five years, one was completely replanted, one was just scandalously purchased by LVMH, and one is the oldest vineyard tied to Cisterian monks in the middle ages.

In California, and all over the United States, relatively loose regulations (compared to France, Italy and Spain) are intended to give wine makers the freedom to take advantage of a variety of difficult viticultural regions. It encourages enological creativity and viticultural experimentation, which can be good and bad. The fact that there are no quality regulations enforced through the AVA system means that the consumer must be greater educated as to producers and regional typicities.

Even when tasting, although regional styles can be quite synonymous, enological manipulation can create flavor profiles deceptive to the origin of the original vineyard.

There's a particular example I like to use to explain my difficulty studying California compared to France. I've never been a name person...and generally have had to ask people their names several times before committing it solidly to memory. Don't get me wrong...I listen and can tell them all about their grandmother's apple pie and gimpy french bulldog, Steve....but not their name after first meeting. With this in mind, studying the Old World, such as France, is like walking into the first day of class and meeting a classmate each from a different place, different backgrounds, and unique stories. I may not remember their names the first time, but stories such as their background, race, language, and hair color will help me remember it the second time. When I study California, I feel like I'm walking into that same classroom, except every person in the room is identical (aside from eye and hair color, perhaps).

Although there are unique qualities about each sub-AVA, these qualities are often similar across many. In cooler climates, pinot noir and chardonnay are almost always grown, where the hottest climates are generally reserved for thicker skinned varietals such as cabernet sauvignon. There are extinct volcanoes speckled along the coast, resulting in great amounts of volcanic bedrock in many of the regional AVAs. Higher elevations, generally, produce more rustic wines, where valley floor AVAs, generally, produce more elegant and supple examples.

Buckling down, doing ALL of the reading, and sleeping with my flashcards is certainly in my future. When you get to California, there's no way around it than Top Ramen and light-sore eyes from staring at the computer screen. On the plus side, they speak American!

Single life has me bound to celebrate Valentine's Day with copious amounts of pink bubbly, my pajamas and maybe some pink colored Italian flashcards...maybe I'll give them a cute Italian name like Francisco and Guiliani.......

Stay tuned for posts on cooking with sparkling wine...which seems to be in excess around here since the service exam is daunting!

Until next time, Chin-Chin!

Birthday Carnage: Sea Urchin, Duck and Cheese!

After a long day of shopping in NYC, it was time to suit up for dinner.

For the starter, I wanted to do a light but fresh sea urchin dish. I had never done sea urchin or anything of the sort before, so I used Bobby Flay's recipe for raw sea urchin bruschetta. It was a simple mix of the tongues (the meat of the sea urchin looks just like a tongue!), lemon juice, dry sherry, olive oil, cilantro, and diced yellow onion. I served it over bread fried in olive oil, with a lemon wheel for garnish. Was VERY light and delicious. The sea urchin was extremely tender!

For the second course I made duck breast fillets, pan roasted in oil, and served them over a wilted watercress, caramelized pear, spring onion, and garlic salad. I wilted the watercress in sherry and olive oil, and caramelized the pears in a generous helping of butter.

On top of the duck I made a salsa of shallots, blood oranges, pomegranate seeds, golden beets, lime juice and cilantro. It was delicious on the duck...orange flavors always go so well.

The duck was superb and the salads were just enough. I had to slice the entire breasts into thirds because the whole breast was gigantic. A very sharp knife did the trick.

For dessert I put together a cheese board with a selection of one creamy blue cheese and one aged french, along with a collection of macaroons and salted caramels. So yummy. And light!

Drank a divine bottle of Chateneuf du Pape last night that went so well with the duck. We had a bottle of Domaine Carneros by Tattinger sparkling wine with the sea urchin. 

Now on my way into the city for a dinner by other people. We have three stops to make so will be a good bit of hopping around. 

Until next time!

Egeszegrede: Hungary From the Barrel

This is an oldie but definitely a goodie. It always surprises me when people are surprised to hear that I did a wine trip to Hungary. The Magyar state has quite an old wine tradition, but a rocky history considering the negative effect of the Soviet Union on all things that were not designed for mass production. I spoke with several wine makers there who described their families as six generations of wine makers with a three generation gap in the middle. Land redistribution caused many families to lose large portions, if not all of their vineyards and ethnic/racial deportation in the 1930s and 40s also significantly impacted the ability of small agricultural communities to produce.

Anyhow, I thought I would do a little piece on my trip to Hungary to highlight the GLORIOUS nature of Hungarian wine and gourmet culture that has blossomed since the fall of the iron curtain and why everyone should go there and relish it!

I organized my trip through company called Taste Hungary. Gabor and Carolyn (who met in Washington D.C., of all places!) are absolutely the most charming pair, and run culinary and wine tours of the entire region. Gabor acted as our personal foodie/wine-o extraordinaire, who hit the nail on the head with EVERY recommendation. I heard a little rumour that Anthony Bourdain spent a little time with them....**squeal**

The two Hungarian wineries Gabor took us to were called Jandl (Sopron) and Hernyak (Etyek). We had told him that we really wanted to enjoy smaller, family owned wineries so that we could get a sense of the wine but also the family tradition and people themselves. He did EXACTLY that. At both Jandl and Hernyak we were invited into the homes of the winemakers and taken through their cellars. We had respective lunch and dinners around their family dining tables while we tasted wines and chatted about a multitude of subjects. The warmth and generosity of the families and the history we learned around their tables were just the most enriching and memorable experiences.

At Jandl, the head of the house informed us that he came from six generations of wine makers, but with a gap in the middle during the Soviet occupation. The history of Hungarian wine is greatly tied to the Soviet history of the relatively young state. He told me that when he regained control of his vineyards, he not only had to relearn his family tradition, but re-create the quality of the vineyards that had been reduced by years of Soviet mass production.

At Hernyak, our hosts took us to their cellars to taste every stage of their process, tasting the newly barreled wines, the unfiltered aged wines, and the final filtered (pre-bottle) wines. They also shared with us the interesting new developments in Etyek in sparkling wine, as it had been determined the soil bares similarities with that of Champagne. Many of the wineries there now work with Champagne wine makers in the development of their own Peszgo.

Unfiltered chardonnay, straight out of the tank!

The winemaker and my Papa

Barrel Tasting in the cellar

The Hernyak House aka The Family Living Room

Gabor and the gang

While we were there, we did some eating as well. Gabor and his wife have written two books on food and wine touring Budapest, which was extremely useful! It was full of helpful words and phrases in Hungarian as well for people who like to eat and drink. I was lucky to be given both as a gift from them as a birthday present while I was there (along with a bottle of dry Tokaj white wine). One of the restaurants we visited was BOCK bistro (along with a bottle of dry Tokaj white wine). One of the restaurants we visited was BOCK bistro (Erzsébet körút 43-49) in Pest, which was probably the highlight meal of the trip. The food was so impeccably (and beautifully) presented and the service was excellent. We washed everything down with a generous amount of what is certainly my favorite Hungarian red blend, bikaver. Bikaver, meaning bull's blood, comes largely from Eger and is a blend that used to be associated with pond-water table wine during the Soviet era, but has been turned into something so much more. Jammy, gamey, thick, and full bodied. 

I mentioned Tokaj before, on the white wine front a dry Tokaj is certainly my favorite when it comes to Hungary, but is harder to find. Tokaj is extremely famous for its sweeter dessert wines, which are UNREAL. 

Roman Ruins in Vienna

We also did a short jog up to Vienna on this trip, but I guess that's a story for another blog. This is an extremely abbreviated summary of my trip, I might come back and revisit parts of it in more detail later! 

Just a quick shout out to my grandfather, who made this lifestyle so real to me. I definitely would not be in culinary school right now, nor would I be as in love with this amazing place if not for him. Thanks Gramps!

Until then, Egeszegedre!

(Cheers in Hungarian)

When Color's Worth A Thousand Words

Color is a huge factor when blind tasting a wine. Color is hue, intensity, clarity...the whole gamut. This is a short post, but an interesting one for those who want to do more than just taste...

Color hints at may aspects of the wine, including age, winemaking, and grape variety. Clarity can range from opaque, to cloudy, to clear. Hues include purple, magenta, pink, garnet, ruby, orange, and more.

Without too much technical detail, it is extremely important to pay attention to these details when assessing wines. More delicate varietals such as pinot noir can be so clear that you can read through them, whereas some wines, such as Napa cabernet sauvignon or Northern Rhone syrah, can be so opaque that you can hardly see your finger through the glass.

When it comes to age, reds get lighter and whites get darker with age. Clear, straw colored young chardonnay will transform to a rich golden, almost brown color with age (if it's really brown its usually too old...). Reds in youth will be more purple, with age transforming violet hues to more ruby, and eventually garnet (red/orange brick) colors. Older wines can also tend to absorb more light, and sometimes even become dull...

The wines shown in the photo show the difference between a Beaujolais Nouveau and an aged Burgundy Pinot Noir. Beaujolais Nouveau, on the left, is extremely young wine, undergoing carbonic maceration, to produce youthful purple and magenta tones (the pinkish magenta is very common for wines going under carbonic maceration). The Pinot Noir, on the right, not only shows its typical varietal clarity, but shows age with subtle rim variation, as an orange-ish rim can be seen around the edge of the wine in the glass. This is a tell-tale sign of age, and is considered a solid garnet hue.

Color can sometimes be a product of oxidation, not age. Extensive oak barrel ageing or intentional oxidative viniculture styles can result in advanced color development without advanced age. Nebbiolo is the primary example of this, as young examples often display solid garnet, bordering orange hues.

Until next time, sip responsibly :) 

(It is Friday after all!)

If Your Cat Pissed In The Glass...

The title of this post is probably not the most appealing to the reader. For those of you who have never owned cats...it's a pretty horrible thing, cat piss. It might be the most pungent and unappealing smell in the domestic world of animals....but I digress.

This evening it was raining cats and dogs (reference was certainly intended) and so what is one car-less wine student to do?! Drink a lot of wine (duh). And so my California V. France comparative was born.

France and California pretty much represent the essence of Old World and New World rifts. Strict regulation versus encouraged vinicultural experimentation, earth versus fruit, medium versus high alcohol, the emphasis of terroir versus winemaker's personal style....I could go on, but why bore?

California is the PREMIER New World producer, as a state (alone) producing the fourth most amount of wine after France, Italy and Spain. The 1976 Paris Tasting put Napa on the map, and the rest is history. The California Northcoast AVA is center and leading force in New World wine, with nearby UC Davis acting as the leading researcher in vini/viticulture outside of Europe.

As much as I could go on about how far California has come, France remains the example for quality wine, regardless of style. With thousands of years of wine production behind them, tradition suits them well. The terroir is arguably the best on the planet, with many (if not the majority) of New World varieties originating from France. If California is the prodigal child, France is still Big Papa.

So back to the liquid stuff, I compared two sauvignon blancs. From France, I opened the Domaine de la Pauline Sancerre 2013, from the Central Vineyards in the Loire Valley. From California, I opened the Round Pond Estate Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2013. From both wines I got the varietally common factors of white grapefruit, cat piss (absolutely UNMISTAKABLE), grassy notes, and minerality. My tasting notes were as follows...

Domaine de la Pauline Sancerre 2013 
Aromas of white grapefruit with subtle kiwi, papaya and passionfruit. Reminiscent of catpiss, fresh green grass, white blossoms, chive and blanched asparagus. On the palate, candied grapefruit with hints of pineapple, apple pith, kiwi skin, freshly cleaned cantelope and dehydrated mango. Earthy, bitter grass with floral daisy, jalapeno, chive and floral stems, followed by a chalky minerality on the finish. The wine is bone dry and unoaked with solid acidity. I would love to pair with proscuitto wrapped cantelope, tropical fish dishes, or creamy cheese. Higher in acid and more delicate in flavor than its Californian cousin, I would try and match the more delicate flavors in the wine to aspects of a dish.

Round Pond Estate Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2013
Cat piss is evident on the nose, as well as waxy aromas of starfruit, oxidized apple, dried pineapple and overripe pear. Aromas are also reminiscent of a dusty chalkboard (when you get in trouble in school and are supposed to clean it...), leading me to call a dusty, chalky minerality. On the palate, a bitter honeydew melon, especially the rind, is on the front, followed by waxy, yellow grapefruit rind, grapefruit pith, underripe guava, and "pear sauce" (is that what you call apple sauce but with pears?). Dry grass, if not hay, is certainly present with (again) a floral stem flavor, with sandy, fertile earth and preserved, salty Morroccan lemon on the finish. This is a dry wine with solid acidity, but certainly more bitter in flavor than its French counterpart. I would pair this with a dish including honeydew melon, or a morroccan dish with preserved lemons as an ingredient. Alcohol was significantly higher than the French example, so I would consider full bodied and pair it with slightly heavier dishes.

Passed my French test this last Wednesday, thank goodness! One of the hardest blinds I have ever done, but the learning experience was well worth it. Halfway through the New World unit, and cannot wait to get to Australia and New Zealand at the end of next week.

Stay tuned for a lot more wine stuff...I can't afford to cook fancy food with these wine bills!!!! Please don't mistake that as complaining....life is good!

Made friends with the pastry chefs this weekend and got invited into the chocolate lab to taste all of their new confections. Definitely one of the most delectable cocoa experiences I have ever had...my favorite being the corn flake truffles!

Three cheers to all the amazing chefs and pastry chefs who keep my belly happy :)

Until next time, here's to natural irrigation (we sure needed it out here)!