2006 Hangtime Bourgogne/Minneapolis

On occasion, I suffer from bouts of irrational exuberance and poor judgement calls. Which is the case with this wine. A 3$ bottle of Burgundy? I've got to try that...actually, I wish that I hadn't. This is possibly the worst wine that I've ever had. Stay away from it at all costs. You would be better off drinking Listerine. It tastes better. Nose of funky, unripe strawberry. Oak and non-descript red fruits in the mouth, along with unbalanced, stinging acidity. Absolutely terrible. Plonk. Stay away at all costs. This wine will haunt me for years to come. F

In other news, I had to go to Minneapolis this week for work. Since I ended up having a lot of time to kill due to flights, I got to check out the city, which seems all right. It's bigger than I thought that it would be, and the weirdest thing is that so much of the city is inside. Due to the cold winters, a lot of the buildings are connected by sky bridges...which if you ask me, is kind of strange. It also has the effect of "hiding" a lot of the city. Even though everyone seemed to be outside because it was so nice, I felt like I missed a lot of it. Just like LA, there's a lot that you might miss out on if you're not a local.

I got to go to a couple of good restaurants, which were both good. The first, 112 Eatery, is owned by chef Isaac Becker, who has won a couple of James Beard Awards for Best Chef. Great atmosphere; I didn't feel uncomfortable in jeans, sitting at the bar reading a book. I had a few dishes: scallops with oyster mushrooms and truffle oil (perfectly cooked), Berkshire Pork Tenderloin with a Chipotle Cream Sauce, Asparagus with a crawfish sauce, and a Butterscotch Budino. The food was flawless, and well done, if perhaps a little "dated." I guess that food in general is never really new, just riffs on old ideas, but still, scallops and truffle oil are very 2004. They were tasty though, so I'm not complaining. I think I'm just jaded. Amusingly enough, the bartender recommended the Butterscotch Budino to me...but had never heard of Mozza, which at least for me, is the contemporary birthplace of the budino. Given that the menu calls it "Nancy Silverton Butterscotch Budino," chef must have had this in mind too. Good, but not as good as the Mozza one, and missing the key--the rosemary cookies. Also had a very pedestrian and not too great Rioja (2007 Viña Herminia), which was missing all the snap, acids, and earthiness of a great example...it was flabby and one-dimensional. The glass of Montes Malbec was better. Nice and peppery. Overall, a good restaurant, and let's face it--for 93$ with tax, tip, food, etc, it's a bargain. In LA, I'm guessing the same caliber would have been about 20-30% more.

The second restaurant that I went to was the Chambers Kitchen, where the menu was created by Jean-George. Minneapolis also has a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, called 20.21. Who knew that Minneapolis was the newest destination for celebrity chefs? Anyways, the Chambers was a cool space, if perhaps trying too hard to be cool. Lots of throbbing house beats, white leather, you get the picture...anyways...the food was excellent. Joshua Nudd is the actual chef (come on, let's be honest, it's says Jean-George, but you don't really think he's there do you?). I had a warm beet salad with hazelnuts, lemon, and yogurt, and roasted salmon with a pea puree, fennel, and a yuzu butter sauce.


The salmon was perfectly cooked and delicious. Same with the beet salad. The cooking was refined and elegant. The plating of both dishes was great. Had a very nice glass of 2008 Willamette Valley Riesling by Dr. Bergstrom too. Definitely less expensive than LA. Great bread, nice macaroons to end the meal and a bargain at only 48$. Of course, since I was there on work, I got to expense it (same with 112), so it was basically free (I guess I did have to spend two days in Minneapolis).

Lastly, I came across these products in Target, and well, I don't know why they would name them like this. I just had completely different thoughts.

2008 Bandol Rosé, Domaine Le Galantin

I got this wine from K&L, and honestly, it's a bit on the pricey side for rose. In my mind, this is ridiculous expensive for rose. My go to bottles are always less than 10$, probably because what makes rose great is that it isn't supposed to have a lot of pretense and is primarily something to cool down with. Not that rose can't be well made and intriguing, and not that rose isn't an awesome accompaniment to all sorts of food, it's just that most of what makes rose great also makes it cheap. This rose is from Bandol, which is basically the place for rose in France, so I'm willing to let the cost slide for the sake of education. It was 19$ but is sold out now.

Salmon colored. Strawberries, minerals, wet stones, and I think I smelled some herbs in there too. A lot of racy acidity to balance out the stony finish. This is well made and delicious, but for my money, there are similar bottles for around 10$ or 12$ from Spain or the Rhone that are just as tasty. B- (this could be an A at around 10$, but it's pricey at 19$.) I drank this wine with some heirloom tomatoes covered in olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, and basil(is there really anything better about summer?? It's probably one of my top 3 favorite things to eat) and some pate (it's amazing how long a small thing of pate will last...I guess because it's so rich). While I was at it, I watched a surreal 1970 film from the Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky. "El Topo" is a surreal Western a la Fellini. Fellini never did a Western, but if he did one, it would look a lot like this. A strange, weird, graphic, gory, and wonderfully fucked up movie. It you're a fan of Fellini, it's a good thing to check out. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

2003 Côte Rôtie Domaine de Bonserine "La Sarrasine"

The recession isn't all that bad. Especially if you have a job, don't have any debt, and can save some money. In a way, I'm all for it. I'm young, I rent, and frankly, in Southern California, even though I have a good job (and save a lot of money each month), prices for housing are still a little bit out of reach. Renting is a bargain for the time being. The recession is bringing an inflated bubble back a little closer to reality--and into reach of a new generation of home owners. It also has a silver lining, in that apparently, wine that is over 25$ isn't moving all that well. You always have to take these "proclamations" from the media with a grain of salt, but I have been seeing a lot of crazy deals out there, and this wine is one of them. I don't think that I have ever seen a Cote-Rotie that is less than 40$, much less a single vineyard designated wine. And this wine got a 93 from the Wine Spectator. WTF? It was $18.99. Someone, due to the recession I'm guessing, is having trouble moving through this wine. Or actually, I should say was...because K&L is out now. But not before I picked up a few bottles. I figured that at 19$, even if it wasn't that great, it was something good to have around.

I drank this wine with my neighbor (who also happens to be my landlord), and his wife. (Yes, that's how I spend my Thursday nights...I'm so cool that I hang out with my 60 year old landlords). He happens to be a bit of a Bon Vivant and is a great cook. I've eaten better at his place than at quite a few restaurants. He smoked line-caught coho salmon in a smoker, and then topped it with a mustard sauce (which was pretty great), fried up some fingerlings, and made a salad with green beans, walnuts, fresh tomatoes, and a goat cheese dressing. We also had a cheese plate, and some chocolate that he made. Let's just assume that this was a lot better than whatever I was going to make (and I'm no slouch, just not as refined as him). Great meal. So how was the wine?

The wine was a bit on the austere side (and in my neighbor's words, "Burgundian,") which is funny, because 2003 was a super hot year in Europe. This wine takes a while to open up and then gains additional depth and complexity as it opens. The nose is all blackberries (maybe plums and blueberry too), coffee, mocha, and twinges of herbs. On the palate, the wine has a lot of blackberry character, but it's well-supported by more savory elements. The wine is smooth, with juicy acidity, and just a bit of edge from the tannin. The wine has a fair amount of weight too, but is made in an elegant style. This wine was drinking very well right now. If you're more a fan of California though, it's a more reserved style of Syrah. B+/A-

We also had some of the 2006 Adelaida Version Red Blend, which was an interesting counter-point to the more austere Cote Rotie. This wine was juicy and fruity, with good structure, and a nose of spices and cherries. It was on the sappy side, but not an over the top fruit bomb. I was digging this wine; it was great. Still probably a bit pricey compared to some of the stuff you can get out of Spain for the level of quality, but enticing to drink, and at a price of free, you can never complain. B/B+

2003 Batasiolo Arsigà, Dolcetto d'Alba

This wine is 7$ at K&L (if you're in a wine club). You normally don't see Dolcetto's that are this old, and I was pretty surprised when it showed up in the wine club. Dolcetto's normally require some form of sustenance to really enjoy, and since my girlfriend is out of town, I drank this wine over 2 nights, with a few different things. Surprisingly, especially since the "conventional" wisdom is that Dolcetto's are to be drunk young, the wine needed some time to open up. This went well with pate, but also went well with a grilled vegetable pasta. The wine has a lot of bright cherry flavors and some earthiness. There's a lot of acid, and a lot of tannin. Definitely an edge to this wine, but a good edge, especially with food. The tannins at the end turn sweet, with just a bit of vanilla on them, which I'm not really all that into. At 7$ though, this makes a good food wine, and goes with a lot of stuff. I don't think that you can really complain too much. It's got a lot of rustic character. B-

Clams

I am fortunate enough to have a Grandfather that lives on the Hood Canal in Washington. One of the cool things about this is that he lives right on the water, and there are these amazing clams that you can get by walking out his back door.
You can also get oysters (they actually farm them in the cove he lives off), and they're fantastic too. Having this amazing luxury has ruined getting shelf-fish almost anywhere else. Not only are these as fresh as possible, but they're 5$ a year (for the shellfish license).

2007 Syncline Subduction Red

Picked this wine up for 18$. It's a Rhone style blend from the Columbia Valley in Washington. It's a new world style wine; reminds me of a richer Cotes du Rhone in a lot of ways. The nose has lots of raspberries and pepper, and picks up some spicier notes as it opens up. The wine is plush, and has a distinctive vanilla note on the finish. This wine was okay, but at the price, you can do way better. I find a strong vanilla note to be off-putting...This wine is a little unfortunate, because what I generally like about Washington is that it's a good mix of New World fruit forward style and Old World styles--call it a happy medium. Although this wine still maintained it's acidity and fruit, I think they took it too far on the modern spectrum. C-

2008 Kung Fu Girl Riesling (Charles Smith)

I picked this up for about $11 (I've seen it in California for cheaper). Charles Smith is the winemaker behind K Vintners, and he has a whole bunch of labels that are kind of goofy like this one. The label is a cool piece of design...Anyways, this wine is tasty and refreshing. It thought it was completely dry at 12.5%, but it isn't(it has 1.5% residual sugar), with a nose of peaches, limes, and apricots. Once it's in your mouth, it's got nice structure, and a zingy acidity. I enjoyed it quite a bit. B+/A-