Domaine Lucien Crochet

We had the great pleasure of meeting Gilles Crochet, expert wine maker of the benchmark Sancerre estate Domaine Lucien Crochet. We have caried Lucien Crochet's Sancerre's on our list since the day we opened. Gilles stopped by Swoon last week as part of his Up-state/Berkshires tour. He brought with him all his current releases. Domaine Lucien Crochet has always been the standard bearer of what Sancerre should be-in my opinion anyways, a nose of chalk and citrus, bracing acidity, and a roundness in the finish that few others can achieve. The most remarkable of all the wines was the 2002 Vendange du 19 Octobre. This is not a typical late harvest wine.This wine is picked just 2 weeks after his normal bottling and fermented completely dry. The extra 2 weeks on the vine add such a greater richness in color and flavor. A must try, if you can find some. The regular Sancerre bottlings were as great as always with the La Croix de Roy, exhibiting surprising depth and the 05 Le Chen showing off it's trademark muscular minerality.He brought 2 reds with him as well the 05 La Croix du Roy Rouge, an elegant quaffer for any meal as well as the 03 Sancerre Rouge Cuvee LC, which had that trademark 03 ripeness, combined with the acidity and balance that is Gilles style.
What a fun afternoon, to be able to drink the wines of and speak with one of the great winemakers today here at Swoon was fantastic.
Thank you Gilles for stopping by.

Like visiting a friend

Martinborough, New Zealand is one of the only places in the world outside of Burgundy that makes Pinot Noir worth drinking. Ata Rangi is my favorite. The nose shows real terroir, a dusty, fruity, freshness and a little stinky--kind of like the sheep that cover the landscape.
Its not Burgundy and its not trying to be. The fruit is ripe. Not over ripe though. It's juicy, not over extracted and not stewed. Instead, it is a bright red, with great acidity and a long finish across the entire palate. And it's in that finish, that the minerality and slight funk (the terroir), return and finish each sip with a sense of place.

In January of 2001, Nina & I went to New Zealand for a few months of adventure and a journey through the different Kiwi wine regions. By mid-March, we hit the south end of the North Island and in Martinborough, scored a couple weeks work at Ata Rangi. We plucked leaves to let in the sun, pulled fencing staples, ran irrigation lines and all sorts of other farm labor. We were just happy to be in such a great place and be outside in the warm sun in March. So naturally, I have a bias toward this wine. Clive Patton, the owner and wine maker at Ata Rangi was fantastic to us. He went out of his way to spend time with us, talking about the growing and wine making process - over a beer or two of course. The 01 is our vintage. We sweat on those grapes-maybe that's what some of the funk is in the nose??? A sniff, a sip, takes us right back to that beautiful land on the other side of the planet.

Pork Belly Goodness

Pork belly-fresh bacon-whatever you want to call it, is probably one of the most decadent cuts of meat there is. Layers of tender meat and unctuous fat, stacked on top one another and when braised very slowly, for hours, these layers seem to join in one happy unison.

But the rich decadence of the belly was not enough for us, so we decided to wrap it in a sheet of fresh pasta with a little swiss chard, sauce it with a smokey bacon & parmesan cream and top it all with an egg yolk, which we basted with the hot cream until almost "over easy".

Pork belly "Carbonara" -it might stop your heart, but you will have a smile on your face when it does.

Happy New Years Eve

All hands were on deck for New Years Eve. We created 4 & 6 course menus for the night with multiple choices available for each course. That meant A Lot of prep work from all of the kickass crew.

We had BIG lists. We eventually got most of it checked off.

There was seared foie with a beet & red wine syrup & curried quince.

Nantucket bay scallop ceviche w/ baby fennel, tangerine & black olive puree.

We even pulled out the crispy duck neck terrine w/ raisin chutney & pickled winter vegetables

This was our white on white study.Citrus risotto w/ warm Maine crab & pink peppercorn cream.

If you weren't there you were square.

Happy 2008

Bounty of the Season

Though the local farm production has just about come to a halt, this time of year brings a few treats on its own. The cold waters to our Northeast produce some of the most decadent, delicious morsels of the year. The tiny pink sweat shrimp from Maine and the plump little perfect Nantucket bay scallops. We are getting these beauties less than 24 hours out of the water-they are so awesome that when they first arrive I just get a little soy sauce and snack for a minute-how could I not?

Pristine bay scallops, can you still see them twitching?

Pan seared with Jerusalem artichoke puree, sauteed beet greens

and a bacon mustard vinaigrette

Raw Maine Sweet Shrimp

Crispy deep fried-tossed with Urfa Bibier, Smoked Paprika & other goodness.

Squeeze the lime and eat them whole! Unbelievably great

A 31 Year Old Beauty

Nina & I had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of 76' Giscours the other night. Nina had bought it for me as a gift a few months back, and we finally had the right night to relax and enjoy it.
For a 31 year old 3rd growth, with a messed up label-looking like hell, it sure drank great. When we first opened it the nose was young, tight almost, full of leather, wet earth and ripe fruit. The palate was rich and lush, drinking beautifully, long finish of tobacco, chocolate & licorice. Over the hour or so that we drank it, the fruit softened, deepened and the finish became more focused, great minerality.

We ate Osso Bucco with baby brussels sprouts, onions, tomato & pasta. An awesome 1 pot meal.

Highlights from the past week

My fish monger Dan, in Portland Maine, sent me these beautiful wild oyster mushrooms. They were foraged just outside of Portland and were huge & meaty. They smelled like Maine also, a hint of pine and a sea water freshness. We simply roasted them whole and deglazed the pan with a little mushroom stock afterward for the sauce-a real treat.




A new addition to our pate roster is the duck neck terrine. Jamie came up w/ this one and it's great. We confit the duck necks, then pull the meat and press it w/ brandied raisins & wrap it all in the neck skin. Served with pickled beet greens, and a raisin chutney.

The charcuterie plate has been chock full lately as well. Seen here with house cured coppa, lomo, duck prosciutto, as well as our country pate, and a lamb/hog head cheese.
Perfect Maine day boat cod, served with baby fennel, fingerlings, escargot and a herb fumet.

Nina newest addition to the dessert menu. Polenta quince cake, pomegranate granita & creme fraiche with fennel pollen.