Grey Matter

Today, I’m going to write about Pinot Grigio.  Or Pinot Gris.  Or …. Grauer Burgunder? Well, it’s all the same thing.   You see Pinot Grigio just about everywhere.  Even red–and-white-checker-board table cloth restaurants which carry few or limited bottles of vino have a Pinot Grigio or two listed.  However, I think there are few wines which foment as much confusion as this variety.  For one thing, the wine is universally considered a white wine, but the grape from which it originates has bluish grey skin.  To the layman looking at it on the vine, you’d think the grape yielded a red wine. 

Bluish grey Pinot Gris/ Grigio grapes

The other thing which may not have a lot of logic to it is the fact that the wine is called Pinot Grigio in Italy and also a great deal in California, where its popularity has led many wineries to produce “Pinot Grigio” in more the Italian style.  However, in France and in Oregon it’s called almost exclusively “Pinot Gris.”  Oregon’s Pinot Gris is the most popular grape variety grown in the State after Pinot Noir.

The variety of names and making styles has led to many surprises in my wine tasting experience.  Like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.  Recently,  during dinner at a local trendy restaurant, I was offered a rose colored Pinot Grigio produced in Santa Barbara, California.  I couldn’t believe it was the wine variety the waiter told me it was.  I asked to see the bottle.  Then, it made sense.  If you ferment the juices in their own darker colored skin, the wine will definitely have a pinkish hue.   It was actually quite good, too.

I kid you not. Rose colored Pinot Grigio.

Pinot Grigio, in the classic Italian style, is a citrusy wine, with a lovely gold color.  The nice balance of citrus fruit, minerality and acidity makes it a very good pairing with creamy Italian pastas, where the tartness cuts through the creaminess of a pasta sauce.  Fetuccini with clam sauce almost makes pairing with Pinot Grigio compulsory.

Pinot Gris, particularly from Oregon, is quickly becoming one of my favorite white wines.  King Estates makes a textbook Pinot Gris for $13.99, with a slightly lighter color than its Italian sibling and an aroma of lemon blossoms, pears and vanilla.  There is less acidity and more smoothness in a typical Pinot Gris.  On the palate, there is a textured mouthful of apple, honey and marmalade.   Pinot Gris begs to be matched with seafood.  White fish, shellfish and sushi, alongside a glass of Pinot Gris, will make for a very successful dinner indeed. 

King Estate from Oregon offers a textbook delicious Pinot Gris

Interestingly, the Pinot Gris from France, where its produced primarily in the Alsace region alongside more sweeter varieties like Riesling and Gewurztraminer,  has a distinctly darker yellow color and a yeasty funkiness to the taste.  Though no less as appealing with a seafood dinner, but it’s not quite the fruit-forward wine we might expect from the same grape grown in other parts of the world.

 

“Petite” In Name Only

There is one variety of red wine which I’m predicting big things for in the near future.  Petite Sirah.  The name of this grape is probably its biggest downer:  who the heck gave it this name?  This is a big tasting, hefty wine.  Certainly not “petite” or “tiny” by any stretch. Interestingly, this grape variety has a different name, which it goes by primarily in areas outside the U.S. – “Durif.”  Yawn. Okay, it’s not exactly a marquee quality name, but it may be a better name than “Petite Sirah” for crying out loud.

What bothers me about the name is that the grape wine is neither “petite” nor “Sirah” (or Syrah).  The “small” aspect of this name probably comes from the size of the berry.  When fermented, there is a higher skin to juice ratio, which gives the wine a more tannic quality.  But it’s more than just tannicity – there is a punch of green grass, dark berries and chocolate when you smell it.  The taste has an amazing, muscular charm – if you’re concerned whether a particular meal you’re making is too flavorful to match with wine, consider Petite Sirah. 

A good analogy to give you an idea of the unique qualities of this wine is to think of it as the red wine version of Sauvignon Blanc.  Just like Sauvignon Blanc is a wild, tropical wine, Petite Sirah is a woodsy, dense, lush wine, with a bit of a gamey and herbaceous taste. 

I think Petite Sirah matches very well with spicy Mexican or Thai food. However, I think anything which has a strong meaty or gamey flavor will match well with this wine.

There are three geographic focal areas for Petite Sirah:  California (the largest and best), Israel (up and coming) and Australia (where it’s known as “Durif”).  Here are the ones I tried recently which I thought were memorable:

Guenoc Lake County, CA- I’ve found this wine producer to be synomous with Petite Sirah.  The average bottle costs about $12, and you can expect your texbook variety here: a color as dark as ink, lots of herbaceous qualities on the nose and dark berries on the palate.

Vinum Cellars ”PETS”  Clarksburg, CA – Inky, dark blue color, a nose of cedar, nuts, vanilla and dried fruit.  A nice balance of dryness, tannicity and fruit.  This is the wine to break out for the summer, with grilled meats, short ribs and carne asada.

Lolonis Orpheus Petite Sirah, Mendocino, CA – A bit more refined for this variety. Think Eliza Doolittle at the gala ball.  the typical characteristics of the variety are enhanced by additional chocolate and spicy notes.  $30.  

If Petite Sirah isn’t on your wine-purchasing radar yet, it will be.

 

Toasting the Teacher

Yesterday, I learned with sadness of the passing of Peter Brown, the instructor who taught my first wine extension course at University of California, Irvine.  A few days before Christmas, Peter was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer and given at most a couple of months to live.  An e-mail he sent out to his friends at the time he learned he’d been stricken with cancer showed to me how courageous and accepting he was of what had happened.  In addition to saying that he wasn’t going to give up, he signed off by saying that he would try to respond to all of his e-mails.  That typified Peter, in a way, and reminded me of the qualities which made him so memorable an instructor.  Approachable and personable to a fault, just like in class. Even though he was dying, he would try to make time to get back to you!    

I enrolled in two different classes with Peter over the span of about six years.  I took a “Wines of the World” class with him during Spring Quarter, 2001.    His excitement and enthusiasm in the subject  matter was infectious.  After that 2001 class, I never looked back.  I wanted to know everything about the topic of wine, food and pairing both. My second class with Peter was a food pairing class taken during Summer 2007, with an emphasis on summer dining. 

The Wines of the World wine class was really my first introduction into a language which I hadn’t been previously familiar with.  It was the first time I had ever tried Australian Semillon, Alsatian Gerwurztraminer,  New Zealand Pinot Noir and Greek Robola.  Peter carted in for each class some dishes he had prepared which he planned to match with the wines.  Here are just some of the food and wine pairings we enjoyed in the classes he taught:

Blue Cheese and Walnuts –

Castle Rock, Monterey County Pinot Noir

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Mushroom and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Tapenade –

Trinchero Family Santa Barbara County Sauvignon Blanc

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Casserole of Pork and Noodles with Herb Sauce –

Columbia Crest Two Vines Columbia Valley Shiraz

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Beef Lasagna –

Catena, Mendoza Cabernet Sauvignon

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Passion Fruit Cake –

Andrew Quady Essensia Orange Muscat

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Flowerless Chocolate Cake –

Warre’s NV, Heritage Ruby Porto

As was customary with Peter, final class sessions took place at a local restaurant, where he would bring the wine to pair with a lavish five course dinner created by a chef.  I ate some of my most memorable meals of my life at those events.

I came away from that 2001 class quite impressed by Peter’s joie de vivre.  He split his time between his home country of New Zealand and California.  Every six months, he would travel to one country or the other.  Hence, he never spent a fall or winter in either country! 

In the six and a-half year time span between the two classes, I had learned quite a bit more about wine.  I regret it now, but I recall being quite jaded when I took his food pairing class in 2007 and blithely writing off the quality of some of the wine we were tasting in class.  I remember he often played this game of “Price Is Right,” in class asking us to guess the price of some bottle of wine he had just poured. Not being blown over by a particular Chilean red he was showcasing, I shouted out “$2.50!”  He looked at me with a slanted smile and half-closed eyes. “Get real!” he blurted back with his booming Kiwi voice. It was a seven dollar bottle! 

I suspected that Peter by the time of my second class had probably grown a little tired of the routine of carting in food and wine into a classroom filled largely with young professionals on the prowl for a date.  (Admittedly, I was in that group back in 2001 – but by 2007, I was married!)  But Peter’s strongest quality as an instructor never wavered:  he encouraged class participation and was always – always  – open, approachable and generous with his time.  If you asked Peter a question, it was the most intelligent question ever asked about wine.  If you offered an opinion about whether a certain wine would match a particular dish, he would study what you said like it was offered by the most learned authority of the subject.  That ultimately is what increased my interest in the topic of wine.

The best way I can honor Peter’s memory is to keep spreading the word about good wine and good food.  This blog in a way is part of his legacy, by me sharing what I learned from him.  Some day I’d even like to teach a class similar to the one Peter taught.  In the sea of my twentysomething students, there may be an individual or two who will be inspired to take on a further interest in wine! 

My heartfelt thanks, Mr. Brown.  You showed me that it’s possible to aspire to a life of year-round summers.  Moreover, good wine can enjoyed no matter what the price point!

 

New Year’s Resolutions- Version 2.0

Well, that was quick.  Less than four weeks into the New Year 2010, I need to start over and make some resolutions which will not fail so easily.  Oddly enough, I’m presented with a predicament when it comes to this blog.  My biggest obstacle to blogging about food and drink pairings in 2010 is the New Year’s resolution I made on December 31^st – which was to lose ten pounds and fit back into the pants I wore six years ago when I was a bachelor.  With all the interesting food and wine I’ve had lately, this resolution is admittedly looking like a bit of a joke.

So it’s time for New Year’s Resolution 2.0.  This time I mean it.  Time to slim down.  Pack that gym bag.  Pizza and ribs?  Maybe in a few months.  Maybe.  

I can’t help but feel that going on a diet and losing weight are the enemies of this blog.  Doing a quick inventory of the drinks I blogged about over the past year, all – with the exception of sparkling water – contain a decent amount calories.   Here is a brief inventory: 

Type of Drink	Amount of Calories	Grams of Carbohydrates	“Weight Watchers Points”
One 4 oz. glass of red wine	100	3	3
One 4 oz. glass of white wine	85	3	3
One 4 oz. glass of sparkling wine	91	1.2	2
One 12 oz. can or bottle of regular beer	150	12	3
One 8 oz. can of soda pop	110	15	2

 

With my new attitude in mind, my grocery list this weekend comprised of putting together a spicy, vegetarian Moroccan-style stew.  The ingredients would have made a heath-guru proud:  chickpeas, turnips, carrots, green onions, spinach, spices and garlic.  Here is what it looked like in the pot:

Delicious Moroccan-Style Vegetable Stew With Carrots, Turnips, Garbanzo Beans, Spinach, Garlic and All Kinds of Good Spices

The drink of choice was a Sancerre, which is a wine from the Loire Valley in France made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes.  I bought a 2007 Gerard & Pierre Morin “Vielle Vignes” for twenty bucks.  Minerally – a nice aroma of wet pebbles.  Tart – think orange, lemon and lime peels on the nose and tongue.  Subtle- a little bit of vanilla on the finish.  Ultimately, with the flavors in the stew, the wine was a bit quiet.  Kind of like Charlie Watts having to sit next to Mick Jagger during an interview.  Its charms more or less began to unfold after the bowl of delicious stew was about empty.  In retrospect, a Gerwurztraminer, with its deep golden hue and cinnamon notes, would have been a better pairing. 

2007 Gerard & Pierre Morin "Vielle Vignes" Sancerre - 100% Sauvignon Blanc

I digress.  To really be able to reconcile dieting with writing about food ‘n drink, I’m going to have take on the research – namely the eating and drinking – in moderation.  Even tonight, as wonderful as the dish was, we saved quite a bit of it for left overs.  And the bottle of wine, as enticing as it was to finish then and there, was capped and put in the fridge for later drinking.

So the “new” New Year’s resolution is to lose weight decreasing the portion sizes.  That way I’ll try to get more (mileage for the blog material) for less (calories).  Wish me luck!

Moroccan-Style Vegetable Stew With Couscous and Just A Little Bit of Wine! Trying To Be Good In 2010

 

Smoke Signals

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.  God forbid it’s on a hillside outside your window. 

Where there is good smoke, like the kind wafting from a barbeque, there is also smoked food.  And consequently, there is hopefully a delicious beverage waiting to be paired tableside. 

I don’t know the first thing about how to smoke a piece of fish or meat.  I ought to learn, it doesn’t look terrifically hard.  For now, I leave that up to the gourmet chefs, seafaring cultures with centuries old traditions or master BBQ’ers.  I know that the process involves several hours of salting and brining before it’s ultimately put to the smoking. 

Yesterday, I picked up a pound of delicious trout, the meat auburn colored and smoked to perfection at a local Whole Foods Market.  I flaked it into small pieces to put in a smoked fish chowder which I made for dinner. What to eat with a smoky dish is an interesting topic.  My experience is that smoked fish or meat typically shows up as an appetizer on a menu, or as the featured component of a barbeque restaurant’s preparation of ribs.   

The soup I made was paired with a Monterey County Roussanne. I like this wine with fish.   The grape is a secondary blending grape used in white wines in the French Rhone region.  It’s finicky nature makes for a difficult grape to grow on its own.  However, some California wineries have done a really good job of bottling it.  Good Roussanne has a fairly distinct nose of flowers and brewing tea.  I have typically experienced a structure on the palate which has a nice balance of minerality and a viscous butteriness.  The taste picks up floral, honey and tea notes. 

Roussanne is reputed to be a difficult grape to harvest and bottle even at the most technologically forward wineries.  This may explain why it’s a secondary white wine, not as favored on restaurant menus as Riesling, Chardonnay or Viognier to pair with fish.   Still, it’s worth a taste. Try it if you find it on the wine list at your local seafood bistro.

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Here are some suggested pairings for you, depending on whether you’re going by sea or land to your plate of smoky bliss:

Smoked salmon (salmon gravlax) –  You see it when eating breakfast or bunch or as palate-stimulating appetizers.  Champagne or sparkling wine (with Chardonnay as the exclusive grape or the primary blending grape) is my favorite pairing.  Also try dry unoaked Chardonnay or a vodka cocktail.

Smoked trout – All signs point to white wine.  I’ve blogged before about the joys of pairing trout with Chenin Blanc (French Vouvray in particular).  The Roussanne I had last night wasn’t bad.  The slight hint of oak and flowers made it a nice complement to the bowl full of smoky chowdery deliciousness.   You also can’t go too far astray with either a Viognier or Oregon Pinot Gris.

Smoked turkey – this is very casual fare. I’d go for lager beer or a fruit-forward white wine like Riesling or simple red wine like Beaujolais or Merlot.

Smoked meat or pork   – Again, you can’t go wrong with good beer.  Amber, lager or stout.   Also, a sweet, viscous Riesling or Gewürztraminer will be amazing with it.  On the red side of the spectrum, if you’re having your meal slathered in BBQ sauce, I’ve tried and liked Zinfandel or South American Cabernets – as long as there is some ripe fruit there, it’s a winner.

 

I Drink (Cream Soda) Alone

There has to be a good reason why they call it “cream soda.”  The modern version of the stuff, which is the kind you find in most grocery stores, doesn’t have any cream in it as far as I can tell.  Just a second – allow me to pick up a recently emptied bottle of Henry Weinhard’s Vanilla Cream and read the ingredients:  okay, the usual “caramel color” and “high fructose corn syrup” as any other soft drink. But wait, there’s more.  Pure vanilla bean extract, honey, botanical extract and “natural flavors.”  No cream.

In fact, cream soda historically never had cream or dairy as an ingredient. Early incarnations of cream soda contained egg whites, which turn frothy and meringue-like when whipped. It appears that the name derived from the accompaniment of a dollop of ice cream on the carbonated soda as a children’s dessert drink.  I’m used to the color of it being this pale, topaz color, but as a kid growing up in Canada, I remember drinking a pink version of it. 

It’s a great little treat to drink on its own for dessert.  If you can find good cream soda with real cane sugar, rather than the corn syrup additive, it’s even better.  The Henry Weinhard I drank containing vanilla extract and honey, passed my taste test.  However, Thomas Kemper remains my favorite, because it has pure cane sugar.  Jones Cream Soda also has sugar, but there are other weird unknowns on the label which I can’t figure out (“natural and artificial flavors”). 

The ones I tend to avoid are the cream soda powerhouse A & W (mostly because it has caffeine) and IBC Cream Soda. Both have a one-note taste to them, which may satisfy the kids at a backyard birthday party. However, this blogger has been there and done that. While I won’t refuse a can of Dr. Brown’s if it’s offered to me, I must say, regretfully, that this much storied drink of the East Coast delicatessens is pretty much your run-of-the-mill soft drink when it comes to containing the typical corn syrup and “vanilla flavoring” ingredients.

There are both obvious and surprising food matching options with cream soda.  Traditionally, it is a mainstay of the New York-style deli and Philly cheese-steak stands.  It is sweet, and makes more lighter fare than a milkshake.  I’ll also stick my neck out a bit and tell you that cream soda can go decently well with some sushi rolls at your local Japanese restaurant.  Good cream soda brands have a frothy, almost beer-like quality which does not clash with the starchiness of rice, the sweetness of teriyaki, the yeastiness of soy beans or the pungent quality of ginger.

 At home, I’m resigned to drinking cream soda alone.  My wife is usually indifferent to it.  Although today I caught her pouring one into a frozen beer mug!