This wine is not easy to find, but worth seeking out, like any Roumier. I could get only one case, we now have 11 Bottles left.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Roumier-The master of elegance
Nina & I drank an 04 Roumier Bourgogne Rouge last night. It was incredible. If you have ever seen my wine list at Swoon you know I am a HUGE Roumier fan. I think he is making some of the purest, most elegant & beautiful Burgundies of any winemaker today-Period! The 04 Bourgogne Rouge is a baby Chambolle Musigny-where Roumier is based and his heart is centered. The nose-dirt, wet stones, cherries & plums(fresh plums not stewed plums like some over ripe pretentious Carneros pinot). Fabulous in the mouth as well, starts w/ spicy earth & fruit, rounds out mid palate w/ decent weight for a Bourgogne Rouge, and finishes long w/ great minerality.
Monday, November 5, 2007
What Happened to the Martini as a Cocktail/Aperitif???
Tonight I start a new "Label" that will allow me to express my opinions on drink, which are at least as strong as those on food. A Martini has long been a great aperitif, but in recent years it has become not an aperitif or even a cocktail, it's straight chilled alcohol, be it gin or vodka. If you order just a "Martini" in a restaurant these days there is no vermouth it's just booze shaken or stirred w/ ice. This is not a cocktail or an aperitif , it's a chilled shot in a martini glass & usually way too big, the supersize me, Sams Club mentality has even taken over the cocktail. What's the point of a 14oz Martini if its warm by the time you are half way through?? & at $13-$14 a pop? why not a traditional portion at a more reasonable price, that is still cold on your last sip? I enjoy a proper Martini as an aperitif before dinner. My Vermouth of choice is Vya, it is made by Andrew Quady, a California winemaker best known for his sweet wines. This Vermouth BLOWS AWAY Martini & Rossi or any other high production-mass market vermouth out there. Vya's floral & herbal notes bring the martini back to the aperitif it was meant to be! Don't worry it's not sweet, it's not cloying, it has FLAVOR-Depth & Finesse. Try a Proper Martini I think you will enjoy it as much as I do!
It doesn't hurt to have a little Neal's Yard Stilton & crusty bread to go with it!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
A Few Highlights From The Weekend
Here are a few of the plates I got a chance to shoot over the weekend.
Our version of a Green Tomato "BLT"
Tuna Tartare, Seasoned w/Harissa & Tangerine, Local Celery Broth
I know tuna tartare is totally over done, but this is fuckin delicious & sells great.
House Cured Gravlax, Pickeld local baby beets, cucumbers & creme fraiche
Nothing innovative, a nod to the Eastern Europeans.
My Favorite Entree of the weekend
Pan roasted Monkfish, w/ squid, chickpeas, merguez & celery leaves
Monday, October 1, 2007
Rhone Wine Dinner
Wine Tasting Dinner with Jean-Paul Autard & Dominique Courbis
Reservations Required$75/PersonSunday, Oct. 14 5 p.m. ~ Sharp
Swoon Kitchenbar340 Warren StreetHudson, New York
Call for reservations:518-822-8938
We are truely honored these great winemakers are joining us in Hudson to share their wines and wisdom.
Winemakers Jean-Paul Autard (Domaine Paul Autard) and Dominique Courbis (Domaine de Courbis) are two of the most celebrated wine makers of the Rhone Valley. Meet them as they showcase their stunning 2005 vintage at our October 14 winetasting dinner.Please join us for an unforgettable 5 course meal, paired with 9 exquisite Rhone Valley wines.
Don't miss this opportunity to taste the fantastic 2005 Rhone Valley releases of Domaine Paul Autard and Domaine de Courbis, as well as a selection of older vintages from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Saint Joseph, and Cornas.
Hope to see you there
Reservations Required$75/PersonSunday, Oct. 14 5 p.m. ~ Sharp
Swoon Kitchenbar340 Warren StreetHudson, New York
Call for reservations:518-822-8938
We are truely honored these great winemakers are joining us in Hudson to share their wines and wisdom.
Winemakers Jean-Paul Autard (Domaine Paul Autard) and Dominique Courbis (Domaine de Courbis) are two of the most celebrated wine makers of the Rhone Valley. Meet them as they showcase their stunning 2005 vintage at our October 14 winetasting dinner.Please join us for an unforgettable 5 course meal, paired with 9 exquisite Rhone Valley wines.
Don't miss this opportunity to taste the fantastic 2005 Rhone Valley releases of Domaine Paul Autard and Domaine de Courbis, as well as a selection of older vintages from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Saint Joseph, and Cornas.
Hope to see you there
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Street & Company
We were in Portland Maine last week for a couple of days. Portland is one of our favorite eating destinations on the east coast, lots of good restaurants-tons of fresh seafood.Street & Company is the smaller sister restaurant to Fore Street-a Portland institution.
The bar is the place to be, beautifully designed with polished concrete and an ice trough built in to house the oysters and tended by friendly knowledgeable bartenders. Our new friend Blue pictured above.
We drank Chateau La Roque, a Kermit Lynch wine, from the Languedoc, w/ our oysters and other seafood. It was perfect, great acidity & enough body & funk to make it interesting.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Summer's here, I'm for that
Summer is here, in full glory, which means the farm van is full of natures goodness.
The farm stands are chockfull of all the summer bounty we've been waiting for.
Sweet corn from Holmquest Farm has flovored our risotto, been pair with bacon & onion rings in a salad, and cook with chanterelles as a ragout with duck.
Sweet corn risotto w/ olive oil poached shrimp & cherry tomato sauce.
Montgomery Place is the source for the greatest variety of heirloom tomatoes!
They, like the corn are everywhere on the menu right now.
Maine "Peeky Toe" Crab Saladwith heirloom panzanella & tomato water
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
New Zealand Wine and Local Food
There is nothing like a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc on a hot afternoon in the dog days of summer. As I watch the condensation roll down the outside of my glass, it takes me back to our trip last January to the wine country in New Zealand. I thought I would depart from our usual topic of local food from farm to plate, to talk about my favorite wine to have with these great meals.
Now, the basic and only rule of wine is that if it tastes good, it is good. Which wine goes with what dish can be a great source of fun experimentation. However, if you are not into experimenting the staff at Swoon Kitchenbar takes great pride in helping you find a wine that will complement the food you want to eat. Some pairings can astonish you, which is why Swoon holds regular wine tasting dinners. Wine tasting dinners give you the chance to learn and experience food and wine together in a relaxed atmosphere, and they give Swoon a chance to extend its culinary artistry in ways you might not otherwise see.
Last January, Kathy and I went to Australia and New Zealand on a three week vacation. We have been wanting to go to the down under wine country since an experience we had at a wine tasting event held before the annual Tanglewood Wine and Food Festival (this year on Saturday, August 11). A distributor of wines from New Zealand partnered with Old Chatham Shepherding for a joint wine and cheese tasting, pairing different wines and cheeses. We had our first taste of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and we were hooked after many years of drinking Italian Pinot Grigio. What we saw and tasted after we arrived in Australia and later in New Zealand was far beyond our wildest dreams.
We toured the Hunter Valley just outside Sydney with our mate Haley who taught us the words and music to the theme for the TV show "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" and tried to get us to have some Vegemite. (By the way, they are as repulsed by peanut butter and jelly as we are by Vegemite) Haley also clued us into the local slang created by just saying enough of a word to get the meaning. So Sauvignon Blanc became a Savi and the cooler for the beers is an Eski (from the brand name Eskimo Cooler). We spent more time in New Zealand than in Australia, so we have more work to do on Australian wines.
After a brief stop in Auckland, NZ, we spent several days in Marlborough, NZ, which is at the North end of the Southern Island. We took advantage of another tour, and we enjoyed the local knowledge provided by the guide. We also enjoyed being able to let someone else drive among the wineries and then get us back to our hotel!
Marlborough is renowned for its white wines, most notably in the U.S. its Sauvignon Blancs, which have a characteristically citrusy flavor. The wineries we visited were the smaller artisanal wineries that do not bottle enough wine to be viable as exporters. Most of them wanted us to try their Pinot Gris and other wines so that we would have a broader view of them as wine producers. The tastes of the people in Australia and New Zealand for sweets is dramatically less than the tastes of the people in the U. S. and their wines showed the difference. The desert wines in New Zealand were quite different from desert wines from other regions. Marlborough is also starting to grow Sangiovese grapes and might soon challenge Italy as they now do France with their Pinot Noir.
If Marlborough is for white wine then the Otego Valley outside Queenstown, NZ, is for reds. The Pinot Noirs and other reds we tasted the the Otego Valley were outstanding. This area is on the Southern part of the Southern Island and is the mecca for skiers in June, and other extreme sports all year round. Keep in mind that in this part of the world, the further South you are the colder it gets.
Again, we toured the smaller wineries that take great care and pride in producing their wines, but don't produce enough to make shipping to the U.S. a viable option. So wines from Chard Farm or Gibbston Valley that we loved while we were there might only be found rarely in the U.S. There is one other issue that comes up often with wines from New Zealand and Australia, and that is the screw cap closure. Some people have an emotional attachment to cork. A distributor for New Zealand wineries told me that he regularly lost 20% of the wine he imported from New Zealand due to TCA cork rot. Screw caps have come a long way from the 1960s gallon jug of Gallo wine. They seal the bottle better preventing oxidation and taint, and reseal better after opening without the need for a vacuum stopper.
On several occasions while traveling on business I have been chosen to pick the wine for the group at dinner. I almost always pick a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and get rave reviews. In fact last night we opened the last bottle of NZ Pinot Noir we had left over from our wedding a year ago. Come on, unscrew a cap and give it a try.
David Jackson
Now, the basic and only rule of wine is that if it tastes good, it is good. Which wine goes with what dish can be a great source of fun experimentation. However, if you are not into experimenting the staff at Swoon Kitchenbar takes great pride in helping you find a wine that will complement the food you want to eat. Some pairings can astonish you, which is why Swoon holds regular wine tasting dinners. Wine tasting dinners give you the chance to learn and experience food and wine together in a relaxed atmosphere, and they give Swoon a chance to extend its culinary artistry in ways you might not otherwise see.
Last January, Kathy and I went to Australia and New Zealand on a three week vacation. We have been wanting to go to the down under wine country since an experience we had at a wine tasting event held before the annual Tanglewood Wine and Food Festival (this year on Saturday, August 11). A distributor of wines from New Zealand partnered with Old Chatham Shepherding for a joint wine and cheese tasting, pairing different wines and cheeses. We had our first taste of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and we were hooked after many years of drinking Italian Pinot Grigio. What we saw and tasted after we arrived in Australia and later in New Zealand was far beyond our wildest dreams.
We toured the Hunter Valley just outside Sydney with our mate Haley who taught us the words and music to the theme for the TV show "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" and tried to get us to have some Vegemite. (By the way, they are as repulsed by peanut butter and jelly as we are by Vegemite) Haley also clued us into the local slang created by just saying enough of a word to get the meaning. So Sauvignon Blanc became a Savi and the cooler for the beers is an Eski (from the brand name Eskimo Cooler). We spent more time in New Zealand than in Australia, so we have more work to do on Australian wines.
After a brief stop in Auckland, NZ, we spent several days in Marlborough, NZ, which is at the North end of the Southern Island. We took advantage of another tour, and we enjoyed the local knowledge provided by the guide. We also enjoyed being able to let someone else drive among the wineries and then get us back to our hotel!
Marlborough is renowned for its white wines, most notably in the U.S. its Sauvignon Blancs, which have a characteristically citrusy flavor. The wineries we visited were the smaller artisanal wineries that do not bottle enough wine to be viable as exporters. Most of them wanted us to try their Pinot Gris and other wines so that we would have a broader view of them as wine producers. The tastes of the people in Australia and New Zealand for sweets is dramatically less than the tastes of the people in the U. S. and their wines showed the difference. The desert wines in New Zealand were quite different from desert wines from other regions. Marlborough is also starting to grow Sangiovese grapes and might soon challenge Italy as they now do France with their Pinot Noir.
If Marlborough is for white wine then the Otego Valley outside Queenstown, NZ, is for reds. The Pinot Noirs and other reds we tasted the the Otego Valley were outstanding. This area is on the Southern part of the Southern Island and is the mecca for skiers in June, and other extreme sports all year round. Keep in mind that in this part of the world, the further South you are the colder it gets.
Again, we toured the smaller wineries that take great care and pride in producing their wines, but don't produce enough to make shipping to the U.S. a viable option. So wines from Chard Farm or Gibbston Valley that we loved while we were there might only be found rarely in the U.S. There is one other issue that comes up often with wines from New Zealand and Australia, and that is the screw cap closure. Some people have an emotional attachment to cork. A distributor for New Zealand wineries told me that he regularly lost 20% of the wine he imported from New Zealand due to TCA cork rot. Screw caps have come a long way from the 1960s gallon jug of Gallo wine. They seal the bottle better preventing oxidation and taint, and reseal better after opening without the need for a vacuum stopper.
On several occasions while traveling on business I have been chosen to pick the wine for the group at dinner. I almost always pick a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and get rave reviews. In fact last night we opened the last bottle of NZ Pinot Noir we had left over from our wedding a year ago. Come on, unscrew a cap and give it a try.
David Jackson
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