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)!

A Practice in Pairing

Had a chance to get back into the kitchen this weekend in Paso!!! Am trying to apply some stricter wine and food pairing regimes to my meals, and it turned out pretty damn well.

The thing about food pairing is that there are simple rules that are meant to be broken. The traditional idea is that you pair based on the intensity and qualities of a dish. Big tannic reds go better with fattier red meat, but leaner cuts of beef should be paired with more delicate red wines because you don't HAVE to "cut" the fatty quality of the steak. Acidic and/or off dry whites pair well with spicy food to balance the heat of the dish. You can even match flavors, such as big buttery chardonnays from California with butter poached lobster. By these rules, Napa cabernet sauvignon pairs perfectly with a rib-eye, a Burgundy pinot noir with filet mignon, a riesling with smoked salmon, and Napa chardonnay with butter poached lobster in cream sauce. I know I used that analogy twice in two lines...but its just so undeniably standard.

As any wine rule ever written, this is also a malleable, or even breakable rule. On the other edge of the pairing sword is the ability to match more minor qualities in a dish to wine, which can often be surprisingly wonderful. Now this is not to say you would pair an oaky, tannic cabernet with a spicy dish. That rule should not be broken due to the natural ability of tannins to add petrol to the already burning fire on your palate. I tried it in class. Don't do it. It's just not worth the amount of milk you may have to drink afterward. Instead, think about unique aspects of a wine or a dish that are shared, and disregard the "classic" rules. This is harder and a more finnicky business than following the traditional rules, but can be more fun and thought provoking. After all, the whole point is to take your guest or yourself out of your other busy life affairs and bring them into the present through the experience of dining.

ALL THIS BEING SAID: There are foods that pair horribly with wine, just because. Eggs, asparagus, vinaigrettes, artichokes....their never going to be easy nor an "ultimate pairing." Lowering the standards there is key.

My throw together dinner in Paso was a little more traditional, but I did what I could with a small wine selection and time span.

First course was a smoked salmon, boiled artichoke heart and creme fraiche salad paired with a Kabinett (dry) Riesling. Salmon and Riesling are a great pairing, but artichoke is a toughie. I thought it would add interesting texture and flavor to the plate, but due to a compound called cynarin, artichoke is actually famous for making other things, particularly wine, taste flat, or flabby. High acid wines are encouraged in pairing...and Riesling definitely fits that bill.

The second course was a whole trout, stuffed with citrus (grapefruit, lemon) and fresh sage sprigs. I rubbed the outside in olive oil and placed on the grill to cook (very quickly, I may add). I made a grapefruit vinaigrette and tossed in watercress to serve underneath the fish, and that was pretty much it. Very easy, very yummy (but not as good as my branzino....). I didn't have a lot of wine to choose from for this, but ended on a Lieb Cellars Pinot Blanc from North Fork Long Island. It worked perfectly fine, but might have opted for a Sancerre or Pouilly Fume Sauvignon Blanc to match the kind of earthy, fishy, grapefruit flavors of the dish. Even a Sevre et Mains Muscadet Sur Lie might have been nice, with a salty, briney, stoney quality.

Had a great time exploring the Adelaida Road vineyards down there, including Tablas Creek, Halter Ranch and Dau. Dau was a little snooty for my taste but the views were unbeatable. 

Until next time, Vin Jaune is really gross....

(I know I'm supposed to be objective...but man it is just rank)