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)!

What goes with Champagne? A New Year!

It's been an absolutely ridiculous year. I abandoned my aspirations to be the female incarnation of James Bond and replaced it with a more liquid aspiration (of sorts!). I left Washington D.C. for New York, and very shortly after was re-routed an extra three thousand miles west. Since getting to California I have met so many supportive and wonderful people, I definitely have started on the right foot (whether its a three month or more permanent one!). Maybe it was the almond I got in my porridge on Christmas...ha!

ANYHOW. To ring in the new year of two thousand fifteen I combed through my Provence cookbooks for lots of little small dishes. I feel like New Years is such a marathon that an assortment of "mis en bouche" over the course of the whole evening is a better layout than a sit down dinner. Also...I don't want to miss a second of Kathy Griffin harassing Anderson Cooper live on CNN because I'm sitting at the dinner table............that's just me. I also may or may not have dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle with my brother..........#Rafaelforlife

I did air on the "funkier" side with my assortment of hors d'oeuvres. Lots of anchovies, sardines, capers, olives. In the end, a pairing with a red wine would probably have been ideal (I'm horribly afraid my MS instructors will read this and harass me for questionable food and wine pairing) but....CHAMPAGNE GOES WITH EVERYTHING, OKAY?!

I made three tarts, and few extras with some leftovers from Christmas. Everything was low stress, easy to make, with accessible ingredients. The menu ended up being as follows:

1. Caramelized Onion, Olive and Anchovy Tart

For this I caramelized onions in a fair amount of butter and white wine, stirring in some anchovies and capers halfway through, and whole black olives right at the end. I filled the tart crust (pre-baked) with the mixture and laid extra anchovy filets over the top. It was like a sweet tapenade style start...soo yummy and actually fantastic with the champagne.....I don't care what the MS's say!

2. Tomato, Blue D'Auvergne and Herb Tart

This is a classic, almost a take on pizza. I prefer to use rocquefort but blue d'auvergne works too. It is STINKY though. Not for the cheesy faint of heart. Place thinly sliced fresh tomatoes on an oiled tart dough (pre or partially pre-baked) and sprinkle with blue cheese and herbs. The whole thing does not have to be covered, just a good even sprinkle.

3. Spicy Tomato and Smoked Sardine Tart

For this dish, I simply made a spicy tomato sauce and filled the tart. I laid the smoked sardines over the top (in a circular fashion for presentation) and voila! Easy.

4. Caper and Anchovy Pastries

This was largely a use for leftover puff pastry, anchovies and capers. I cut small rectangles out of the remaining dough, and brushed with a blended mixture of olive oil, capers, and anchovies. They were a little salty, I think next time I would dilute the mixture with lemon juice for balance.

5. Caviar and Smoked Salmon Blinis

The classic. Blini, creme freche, caviar, lemon juice, done.

6. Olive Tapenade

Some people like their tapenade different than others. I like to use black olives, good amount of lemon and garlic, capers, a couple anchovy filets, and GOOD olive oil. All in a food processor and voila. Served it with a little rustic baguette.

7. Caprese

Basic, easy, delicious. Mozzarella, Thinly slices heirloom tomato, rock salt, basil, GOOD olive oil. I'll do a post on my favorite oils at some point......

8. Goat Cheese Stuffed Cherry Peppers

Two words, palate cleaner. The hot cherry peppers have that sweet, spicy acidity to clean the palate in between the relatively pungent dishes on the table.

That's about it! The caramelized onion tart was my favorite, but the sardine tart seemed to be everyone else's. I used my cookbook from Provence for inspiration. Great recipes, and the whole fun is in translating it from french! 

We had an assortment of bubbly over the course of the night...trying different things. I love the Sparkling Pointe Seduction Reserve with all its toasty and leathery bits. Taittinger is also my go to Brut Champagne. Anything above ten grams dosage flirts a little too much with off dry for me. 

Anyhow, I'm off to the vineyard! I'm sure I'll be posting soon with all of my tales from my first field trip :)

Until next time, Happy New Year!!!

(I know it's a little late but shhhhhhh)