Dinner at Mission Point

Posted on September 15, 2019 by thewineraconteur

It was a rare event that we were traveling to a resort for a business meeting and we didn’t make any side business trips.  My Bride had a meeting to attend a meeting at two in the afternoon, so we left pretty early in the morning, because it is almost a five hour drive from our house to Mackinaw City and hope that we catch a ferry across the Straits before they start running every hour, instead of every half hour.  One of the wisest things was when they raised the speed limit of the interstate to 75mph when you are away from metropolitan areas.   It also helped that we took a secondary route for part of the trip to avoid seeing the official state flower of Michigan in full bloom, the orange pylons that indicate road construction, as it was, we still were able to enjoy an eight mile stretch of them.  When we arrived at the ferry service, we split into two teams, one to unload the luggage and get it tagged for the right hotel, because who wants to schlep luggage for about a mile?  The other went to get the passage tickets and the parking on the enclosed lot for the weekend right outside of the luggage pavilions for the return trip.  We made it with time to spare, and ran into some others on the same boat trip, and the water was looking rather choppy, so we ended up on the lower level of the hovercraft in the glass enclosed section of the boat, the brave ones up above enjoyed the bracing temperatures of the Straits. 

Arriving in the downtown of Mackinac City is always a unique event, as everywhere you look there are people walking about, as well as watching your step to avoid the deposits left by all of the horses that handle the delivery trucks and taxi services on the island.  There are also plenty of places to rent bicycles if one wants, and I have never been on a hovercraft where there haven’t been personal bicycles being transported along with the luggage.  The hardest part was keeping my Bride on the straight and narrow to get to the resort, as she had to pass by many boutiques and fudge shops, as we knew that there would be plenty of time for her to shop.  The best news was that when we got to the hotel, they had a room ready for us, there was no luggage yet, as we made better travel time than the horse drawn wagons, but I could work on my computer, while she attended the meeting.  Our laptops were the only item that we carried with us from the boat.  This was the first time I got to really see how big the main structure was and it seemed like the corridors went on for miles, afterwards we discovered a short cut, back to the main entrance. 

That evening there was a wonderful dinner event waiting for us, in a part of the resort that we had never been to before, overlooking the water.   There was a private bar, very well stocked and a big appetizer table set up for noshing with an assortment of finger foods to get the taste buds rolling.  The dinner started off with a nice salad, but I was able to request early enough a salad without cheese and some Italian dressing, and the Italian dressing may have been the most used dressing on our table.  We had a choice of an entrée from whitefish, airline chicken or a small filet, and all the dishes were plated with the same potatoes and vegetables, I guess for ease in the kitchen.  My Bride of course had the whitefish, and it was such a large piece that so did I, and I had the filet, and I shared it with her, so we had our own version of “surf and turf” and both dishes were cooked perfectly, which is quite an accomplishment considering the size of the room;  I might also add that the people that had the chicken were raving about how well it was cooked as well.  For dessert there was cherry pie and chocolate cake, set up as help yourself, so most took a little bit of both.  While the majority of the imbibers were enjoying cocktails, there were some beer drinkers and yes, there were some wine drinkers as well.  Several people had asked me, if I was going to take photos of the wines, and I told them that I did it early when we first got there, so as not to impede the flow of traffic at the bar.  The choice of three wines for the evening were all “house wines” as they carried the Mission Point label.  The Mission Point Mackinac Island Cabernet Sauvignon and the Mission Point Mackinac Island Chardonnay, both carried a California AVA.  They both said on the back “Cellared and bottled by Free Run Wine Company, St. Helena, California” I could find no information about this winery, other than a web page, and I sent a letter requesting some information, but I never heard back from them.  I could presume that perhaps they do a bulk wine and then do limited private labels for different restaurants and hotels.  I will say that the two wines were very drinkable, we started off with the Chardonnay and finished with the Cabernet Sauvignon.  Just for the sake of a complete report, I had a glass of the Mission Point Mackinac Island Special Selection Late Harvest Riesling produced by Black Star Farms on Old Mission Peninsula in the Traverse City area of Michigan and I have written about Black Star Farms quite a bit recently.  I was expecting a much sweeter wine, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was off dry, even though it said “late harvest” and even my Bride didn’t mind it.  The weekend was off to a great start.

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A Tale of Two Hotels

Posted on September 13, 2019 by thewineraconteur

By the time you read this, we will be back from another trip to Mackinac Island, one of the most unique resort areas in America, and not just Michigan.  Mackinac Island is located in the Straits of Mackinac and between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan and alongside of the Mackinac Bridge which spans the two peninsulas.  Probably the most unique aspect of the island is that there are no automobiles, other than a police car, a fire truck and an ambulance, but there is an airstrip for private planes, but no fueling or service facilities.  The three modes of transportation on the island is by foot, bicycle and by horse.  It is very odd to see a UPS truck on a barge off of the marina, and the truck is unloaded onto horse drawn drays for the final part of the delivery.  Tourism, hotels, bed and breakfast inns, restaurants, bars all await everyone once they either use the commercial hovercrafts or have a private boat in the marina, though I did see the cruise ship that now plies the Great Lakes anchored off of the marina as well.  I guess I should mention fudge, there are more fudge manufacturers on the island, than anywhere else I have ever been to.  My Bride goes there for business and I get to tag along and we seem to stay at two different hotels at opposite ends of the downtown district and they are also the two biggest to handle the business requirements for most meetings that tend to want to have a resort setting.

Mission Point has a storied life on the island as it was founded by Jesuit priests only fourteen years after Plymouth Rock.  There was a Mission House, a church, a school and a hotel there over the years.   There were a couple of different colleges that were there, in fact most of the original dormitories, now house the seasonal employees that work in all of the businesses.  There was even a film studio there, but just for a short period.  Now Mission Point is a sprawling complex of hotel rooms and suites, banquet and business rooms, restaurants, bars, putting greens, a theater, a pool and spa, shopping and I am sure that I missed some of the other amenities.  

                                                                                                                 The Grand Hotel was originally a joint venture of three transportation companies and the hotel was opened in 1887 and has since been formally recognized as State Historic Building, then placed on the National Register of Historic Places and finally a National Historic Landmark.  The hotel is famed for having the largest porch and offers a grand view of the Straits, and it was on the porch that Thomas Edison first presented his phonograph. The hotel actually charges non-guests a fee to wander the hotel and the porch, and some complain, but I think they are showing compassion for their guests.  It is also the only establishment on the island that requires gentleman to have a coat and tie for dinner in the main dining room, a lovely tradition and they will also remind men to remove their headwear upon entering the same room.  If someone doesn’t want to dress for dinner, there are several other restaurants on the grounds that are not that formal, and they also serve a high tea on the grounds of Fort Mackinac.  I have written about many of the restaurants at The Grand Hotel.

When we were on board the ferry getting to the island, I was excited to hear that Mission Point had a wine bar, but I guess that was premature, though The Grand Hotel does and it is called the Audubon Bar and they have an excellent wine list at the hotel.  I have never seen a complete wine list for Mission Point, but I have encountered many different wines while we have been there.  Both of the hotels also feature “house wines” that one encounters for group events.  At the Grand Hotel I have encountered a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon made by Trinchero Winery of California.  A Semi-Dry Riesling by Chateau Grand Traverse and a Blanc de Noir Sparkling wine by L. Mawby Winery all from Michigan.   I found a Mission Point Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay made by Free Run Wine Company of Napa Valley, but the wines carried a California AVA.  I also found a Mission Point Late Harvest Riesling made by Black Star Farms with a Michigan AVA.  I might add that we found all of the House Wines enjoyable.  This time we stayed at Mission Point. 

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Two from Black Star Farms

Posted on September 11, 2019 by thewineraconteur

We were away for a little trip and my Bride got an email that a package was coming to the house that would require an adult signature.  She was perplexed, trying to figure out what was coming, since most deliveries are just dropped off on the porch, she wasn’t sure what she had ordered.  I said that it was probably wine, and since it was on her email, I was sure that it was from Black Star Farms.  When we were at the Inn at Bay Harbor, one night we had a chance to try a couple of glasses of wine from Black Star Farms, that we were so impressed with the wines, that we decided to make a detour on the way home to buy some of the wines that we tried.  Black Star Farms has facilities on both sides of Traverse City, one on Old Mission Peninsula and the other on Suttons Bay on the Leelanau Peninsula.  We experienced such exceptional service and attention from our attendant that we bought a club membership for four wines to be delivered quarterly.  The winery has three series; the premium Arcturos, A Capella and the Leorie Vineyard labels for sparkling and fruit wines.

The first bottle that I pulled out of the carton was the Black Star Farm Arcturos Sauvignon Blanc Capella Vineyard 2017.  The Capella Vineyard is on Old Mission Peninsula and it is acclaimed for its mineral rich soil.  Sauvignon Blanc should be a nice crisp wine that evokes grapefruit and lemon zest, and the best deliver refreshing acidity and a mineral terroir.  There were no production notes, so I will presume that this wine was aged in Stainless Steel.  The cooler climate of Michigan should produce a nice dry Sauvignon Blanc that should be enjoyed for about two years. 

The second wine that I pulled out, will make my Bride very happy, as it has become her favorite grape.  I know that she will get excited about the Black Star Farms Arcturos Cabernet Franc 2017.  This wine carries a Michigan AVA, because the fruit was harvested on both peninsulas and was first bottled by Black Star Farms in 1998 when the varietal was not as known or popular as it is now.  The best of the Cabernet Franc wines will deliver dark red fruits and spice, depending on the aging period and if it was new oak.  I think that they have enough experience producing Cabernet Franc that I think this wine could easily be cellared for five to ten years.  There will be further reports, since there two bottles of each wine shipped. 

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A “Critic” Discovers Downriver

Posted on September 9, 2019 by thewineraconteur

I am a dinosaur and I admit that, I still try to enjoy reading a newspaper daily.  For years there were three newspapers in Detroit, and then there were two, and now the two are in a joint association for production costs.  I read the morning paper, out of tradition, though since so many of their “journalists” now think they are more important than the event that they are covering they have to interpret the news for the uneducated masses that they must write down to; I want to form my own discussion from the facts, not from what they deign to tell me.  The paper got a new restaurant “critic” several years ago, and if he could he would only write about restaurants that are along Woodward Avenue as the rest of the Tri-County region doesn’t exist and then he prefers to write about restaurants that have Social Media consequences for good press.  As a retired clothier, I also find that he goes out of his way to look like a train-wreck even if he is going somewhere nice, but I come from the old school that one can always be overdressed, instead of being underdressed for an occasion. 

The poor “critic” was introduced to several locations in the Downriver section of the Detroit area, and I guess, because it is an area of working people and first, second and third generation Americans it isn’t worth the ink to write about.  He was reluctantly taken to nine establishments and discovered that not every restaurant has to be cutting edge to deliver quality food.  Out of the nine locations, I have actually written about six of them.  One is a surviving “house bar” in Wyandotte, and unless I was going with someone else, I don’t normally just walk into neighborhood bars, one I think of more for beer (and I write about wine) and the last one which I have tried to go to several times when meeting friends and though I have suggested this place, I have usually been outvoted. 

The first two are tried and true, and have become institutions for fine dining.  Sibley Gardens I first learned about back in the Sixties and though the front door stares at a rotted-out steel factory, it is the food that people go there for.  A steakhouse that doesn’t have to rely on gimmicks and over-priced entrées to get the people to return constantly.  I know that it sounds unusual that I would feel comfortable in an old-fashioned real steakhouse.  Another restaurant that makes me at home is Moro’s with the waiters in Tuxedoes and tableside service.  I love old-school and I really enjoy when you see people get dressed up for date night with their spouse, just like it should be.  When one thinks of Downriver, the Hungarians from Delray along with the Armenians, Poles and Italians all resettled and The Rhapsody is the best for Hungarian cuisine.  I would make a wager, even if one had never had Hungarian food, after dining at the Rhapsody, one could easily claim those dishes as comfort food.  While one may not think of the Downriver as Hellenic, don’t say that to the Greeks and the Auburn Café brings back the glory days of Greektown when it was really Greek and not a cartoon version of the old days.  I am sorry to say, that I was not even aware that this gem was around and I had to be told about it, and I am happy that I was.  The last two that I went to are both in Wyandotte, the first being Portofino that has a wonderful location on the Detroit River with plenty of glass, so that all the diners can appreciate the view.  I think of Portofino for seafood, which is appropriate and a nice wine list.  The last of the group is R.P. McMurphy’s and the “critic” thought he was going into an Irish pub, if he was a bit more literate in theater and cinema, he would have realized the R.P. was for Randall P. McMurphy and some of the other dishes have names honoring other individuals from the same play/movie.  While still maintaining the feel of a speak-easy, instead of having bar food, the bar serves real dishes that don’t have an over abundance of salt to have you keep drinking, like most sport bars do, and even a well selected wine list.   I was very happy to see that the area was recognized, even if begrudgingly because it was not on the Woodward corridor and I wrote about all of them without prodding, because of the wine and the moment, I guess the hallmark of my articles. 

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How Many Wine Days Are There?

Posted on September 7, 2019 by thewineraconteur

There are days when I think that I must be the worst wine blogger on the internet.  And you know what, I could possibly be.  I remember the first couple of years trying this approach and that approach, in hopes that I would find my voice.  I think that I have found my voice, I know that I have found my conceit in writing (and I use conceit, not in a vain way), as I view myself having a tete a tete with another person while we are having some wine, and some munchies.  All you have to do is look at me, and realize that I may be over doing the munchies part, but that will have to change soon. 

There is the National Day Calendar which has been used since I can remember by DJ’s, if you can remember Disc Jockeys who used to use the “national celebrated days” as filler for their patter, between playing music on the radio.  You know that I have always had a soft spot for the colorful writings of Dashiell Hammett, Damon Runyon, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond because they always created fascinating characters that really should be lauded and to have their own day.  By now, you are used to my rambling on and on, and going off on tangents, but that is how my brain works.  If I was logical, I would have probably been an actuarial, an accountant or God-forbid an attorney, but I am me and sometimes I dawdle and go all over the place. 

I will try to get myself back on track, if possible.  One year, I attempted, and it was a rather pitiful attempt at writing articles about every “wine day” both domestically and internationally, I thought it would make me sound like one of the big boys.  I am not one of the big boys, and I am glad that I am not, because some of them turn me off, because I think they are too busy trying to impress the world that they get free wine “to review” and I have had it happen to me a couple of times, but I really just go on my own, being my own individual.  I happen to have my own voice, that kind of goes along with my own look, as I could never disappear into the wallpaper in a room of people and rather than show wine, I will show my low key appearance.  So, the odds are, that I may no longer write about this day or that day, and trust me, some are much more benefitting to be celebrated than others, and I may hear from my Bride that I didn’t write about a day that celebrates some of her most popular grapes or wines. And if you noticed, I never answered my own question.  I never seem to be without stories to write about, without being part of the crowd, and the crowd does it much better than I.  Now if they ever have a day for “one legged lady jockeys” …

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Beni di Batasiolo Barolo

Posted on September 5, 2019 by thewineraconteur

Have you ever felt that you have done something and it turns out that you haven’t?  I recently had this feeling and I could have sworn on a stack of Bibles that I had.  I recently changed my cellular phone that has been problems for the last year, but that is several stories that will probably never be related.  My Bride and I were going to meet at a restaurant and she got there about an hour earlier to me, so she spent some time nursing a Negroni at the bar and talking to the help and a patron.  She has been to the restaurant several times with her lady friends, but this was the first time that we had been there together, even though I was the one to tout her about the restaurant.  The first time that I had been there was just before my son left to live in Las Vegas, and then I have been there a couple of times since then, but I have only written about it once before.  It was funny, because I was talking to the wife of the chef/owner and had mentioned that I had written about the restaurant a couple of times and that I even had shown a matchbook, showing how long ago, since I first started going there.  Well I couldn’t get my cell phone to work adequately, otherwise, I would have realized that I had only the one article, and no matchbook to be seen.  I may be getting senile, but I realized that I was wrong about the article, but in my mind’s eye I can still see the matchbook, so it must be sequestered somewhere in this house, because between my Bride and myself, we have plenty of souvenirs. 

We were at Cariera’s Cucina Italiana and trying to decide on what to order.  I mean I just adore Italian food, and the more old school it is, the more I get excited.  I am not sure if my Bride totally shares my enthusiasm, but she does enjoy the cuisine, though once she finds something at a restaurant, she is usually happy to always continue ordering it.  We started by sharing some Steamed Muscles in a White Wine Sauce.  My Bride had Pollo Marsala, chicken breasts sautéed with mushrooms in a creamy Marsala Sauce.  I as a creature of habit tend to order veal, only because we have never attempted it at home, so I had Vitello Aragosta, Veal Scaloppini sautéed with asparagus, roasted red peppers and lobster served in a blush cream sauce.   We were very pleased with our meal and could have used a walk. 

I think my Bride was all in the mood for a nice wine, after enjoying her Negroni at the bar, which has become her new cocktail of choice, so much so, that she has even stockpiled the necessary ingredients at the house.  I found an interesting and affordable wine, even at restaurant pricing to order.  We had a bottle of Beni di Batasiolo Barolo DOCG 2014.  Beni di Batasiolo is located in the northwestern region of Piedmont and was formed by the Dogliani brothers in 1978 after the purchase of the Kiola winery, which had been established in the 1950’s.  The Dogliani family has a long history in the Piedmontese wine industry since the late 1800’s and they were one of the first companies to sell Barolo in the United States.  The fruit is manually harvested and destemmed and the initial fermentation is done in Stainless Steel on the skins for about eleven days.  It is then aged for two years in Slavonian Oak casks, followed by another year in Stainless Steel and then aged in the bottle, before being released.  The wine had a deep garnet color and that big taste only Nebbiolo can produce under loving guidance.  A balanced tannin wine that is just so easy to drink with a delivery of dark red fruits and a nice long finish.  As far as I am concerned, who needs a dessert when one can have an extra glass of this wine after dinner with a nice conversation. 

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The Cheese Lady

Posted on September 3, 2019 by thewineraconteur

Remember when we were kids and they wanted to take our photo, they would say “say fromage,” and I have family throughout Ontario in Canada and we always said “cheese.”  Cheese is often associated with wine and most people are absolutely perfect with that concept.  I am sorry to say that I am the worst cheese eater, you may ever meet.  I am not sure where it occurred of if it is just my taste buds, but I am lucky if I can tolerate cheese made from cow’s milk.  I have tried cheese from buffalo, goat, sheep and I am sure there must be others and none of them work for me.  Goat cheese for some odd reason, always tastes like chalk to me and Romano cheese tastes like soap to me, so I have given up.  Bleu cheese that is everyone’s favorite, we won’t even go there.  All of which is probably good for me, as I have a history of kidney stones and dairy products are a no-no for me, and that is a good medical and technical term.  The funny thing is that I still like the taste of certain cheeses.  I would never be able to be John Cleese in the old Monty Python skit about the “Cheese Shop” with bouzouki music in the background, as I don’t know if I can ever pronounce all of the cheeses that he recites in an inquiry. 

All of which is a prelude to an independent shop that we recently visited, because it was touted by our dear friend The Wine Raconteur Jr.  My Bride has always brought up a cheese shop that we enjoyed visiting every time we have been to Carmel-by-the-Sea, and I have to admit that it was the most impressive shop that I have been to, though I am sure that there are others, but we normally don’t wander into cheese emporiums.  The Cheese Lady totally reminded my Bride of that shop and she was agog.  Of course, they did not have just Swiss cheese, she had to get fancier in her pursuit and I was kind of giggling on the inside, but that does sound mean of me.  She kept ordering types of cheese and they would wrap up one cheese and then go and unwrap another cheese, and prior to slicing a wedge they would make a wide sliver with a special cheese tool, and would break the sliver in half, so that both of us could taste the cheese.  Then she asked if they sold that tool, because she has always been told that they were not for sale, here they said yes and she bought two different sizes of them.  She also saw these beautiful marble versions of the cheese mandolin that they were using to slice the hunks of cheese for us.  I can see that there will be some cheese paraphernalia that some people will receive for either Christmas or Birthday gifts, she was on a roll.  While they had mandolins, I did not see a bouzouki.   As she was getting ready to make her purchase, she saw the bargain remnants of cheese, beautifully wrapped and the sales tag also described the cheese that was inside, and several of those were picked up as well.  There is an old expression in retailing that purchasing is infectious, and though I refrained from all of the fancy prepared foods, though I was tempted, another trip is called for, though I did find a chink in my armor, Dark Chocolate coated Marzipan from Germany, actually it is more like Krypton for me.

Of course, I found out after the fact, that there was wine at the shop as well and that they have periodic wine tastings.  Junior thought that Senior might do well to attend and perhaps I can, the next time I hear of a tasting.  A very small collection, but well thought out for some interesting wines for them to sell, that are not found all over.  I mentioned to the people that were helping us out about missing the wine tasting, but they told us that they had a wine open that they were giving people a taste of.  We tried Cantina Pedres “Brino” Vermentino di Gallura DOCG 2017 from Sardinia, Italy.  The Mancini family has been in wine production in Italy since the late 1800’s and in 2002 they released the first wines of Cantina Pedres featuring the best of the grapes from Gallura, Sardinia.  Vermentino is also known by other names like Pigato, Favorita and Rolle and there is quite a bit of discussion of where the grape originally came from, but that is out of my realm as a raconteur.  Vermentino di Gallura is Sardinia’s only DOCG appellation and covers a large area in the north end of the island.  It was originally DOC in 1975, but was conferred as DOCG in 1996 recognizing the uniqueness of the wine.  The wine is aged for around four months in Stainless Steel to maintain the fruit, and it is a nice straw-colored wine that offers floral notes and finishes with some acidity and minerals.  I am glad to say that even as we finally left, there was no bouzouki strings in the background, and we will be back.

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Celani Family Vineyards Vincenza Rosé

Posted on September 1, 2019 by thewineraconteur

It was a much quicker return to Rocky’s in Northville, then I had expected, but otherwise I was thrilled.  I mean it is a restaurant that my Bride and I have been going to, since from the time that we were dating, and that is about when they opened.  Of course, this evening was with my dinner club and I guess three of the members were impressed enough to go with Rocky’s.  As I have stated before, this club has been around since the late 1800’s, but like all clubs, it is having problems getting new members.  There was some concern, about a future meeting still in the current fiscal year that is going to short one-member host, and we had an emergency discussion and everyone may have to divvy up some money out their wallets for the next meeting.  I prophesized that a couple members that are always complaining about the rules of club and the expenses, will probably avoid attending the next meeting.  Alas, the club was always a gentleman’s club and I am sure that the original members and even those members that were in the club during the Great Depression would be aghast at the behavior and attitudes of some of these newer members.

As always, we had to walk past the big bear that greets everyone as they enter the main room and bar of the restaurant, and our group was meeting in the back, by ourselves and that is how we prefer having it.  Everyone remembered the hot house-made bread with scoops of soft butter in ramekins that was just waiting to melt.  The house salad went beyond just lettuce and a tomato that we sometimes encounter and the house-made dressing was Raspberry Maple Vinaigrette.  We had a selection of three entrées for dinner to choose from; a Breast of Chicken Piccata with Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce, Rice Pilaf and fresh vegetable, Broiled Whitefish with Rice Pilaf and fresh vegetables and a New York Strip Steak, Red Wine Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and fresh vegetables.  Followed by coffee and Hot Fudge Sundaes.  I decided to go with the Whitefish, a Michigan staple and widely acclaimed especially if it is prepared properly and I knew it would be, as my Bride often times will order it, while I get something more hedonistic. 

Since some of our members rebelled about paying for drinks, drinks are now payable by each member, at first, I thought it was petty, but I found a silver lining to this problem.  A few of the members, when they were not being hosts would order exotic Scotch or Bourbon or even Cognac, but I always would just get a “well” Whiskey Sour or perhaps if they had something decent a glass of wine.  Now that it up to each member, two of us chip in and get a bottle of something really interesting like the Celani Family Vineyards Vincenza Rosé 2018.  I did have to do some selling to get this wine approved, because the initial thought was that is was “girly,” and we wine drinkers know better.  Vicki and Tom Celani are from Detroit, own the winery in Napa, and are regarded as philanthropists for certain charities in the Detroit area, and I have written about some of their wines at an event I attended some time past.  Tom Celani’s grandfather came to America and first found work at a mill in Pennsylvania and then moved to Detroit to work at Ford Motor Company.  One of his sons and then his grandson Tom ended up with a beer distributorship and it became one of the largest Miller distributors in the United States.  Tom’s first introduction to wine was helping his grandfather make wine at home, but then he discovered a true appreciation for wine, both overseas and domestically.  It is no surprise that he eventually found and bought a Tuscan-style estate with seventeen acres of grapes and one-hundred-twenty olive trees in the foothills of the Vaca Mountain range.  The wine was an estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé that was mouth watering with its refreshing taste.  Strawberries and rose petals wafted up to tempt the nose, after studying the deep pink color of the wine, and the wine delivered in spades, essences of strawberries, cranberries and red fruits with a layer of mineral terroir to make this wine an excellent dry finish and so satisfying.  In fact, I left my last share of the pour, to take home to let my Bride taste it, and she was as happy as she could be, since she was not with me for the dinner. 

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Bigalora in Plymouth

Posted on August 30, 2019 by thewineraconteur

It was kind of like having two worlds colliding when we just decided that the dust had settled enough to try the latest location for Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina.  I mean we could almost be called stalkers, because we have been following Luciano Del Signore from his early days at Font D’Amore in Livonia to his breakout restaurant Bacco Ristorante.  Luciano is a dynamo, once his creative juices are pumping and he decided to break into the crazy world of the Detroit pizza scene, but not as a copycat, but with his own Pizzeria Biga, which later became renamed to Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina.  The word “biga” if you are a Scrabble player or a crossword fanatic refers to the starter for making bread or in this particular case pizza dough; flour, yeast water and time.  There are now five locations for Bigalora, six I guess if you call the seasonal location at Ford Field for when the Detroit Lions are playing or anything other type of performances at this venue.  I might also add that he entered in the hot food truck industry and offers catering and parties on almost any site and the trucks are fitted with the same Italian wood fired pizza ovens as he has at the restaurants.  Very shortly he will be opening up another restaurant where he will partner with the famed Japanese chef Takashi Yagihashi at the new Pernoi in Birmingham, Michigan.  It can be a full-time job, just dining at all of his locations. 

We ventured to his fifth location in Plymouth, Michigan which is one of the quaintest communities in the Metropolitan Detroit area with a great downtown and the center of the downtown is a big park.  The new location is where the old Box Bar was in Plymouth and it was an institution, they had remodeled the Box Bar some time ago and then some years later they decided to retire.  I am sure that part of the delay was just good old small town city politics, especially from some of the other restaurants; especially in the games being played out because of parking, but because he was adding a craft brewery as part of the business, there were even less tables and seats compared to the old Box Bar.  The dust settled at the new location and we decided to have dinner there, even though it was difficult to find parking, not just because of the patrons, but the City of Plymouth probably has forty of the fifty-two weekends with activities in the Downtown area.  We got in and got a table and ordered our food.  We started off with the Fried Shishito peppers done with sea salt, and even though they are fried, I would really call them roasted, because there is no oil and they are just great finger food while waiting for the pies and we had it with some of the Focaccia bread  which is the Bigalora dough, garlic infused oil, rosemary and sea salt.  We each ordered individual pies, which is what is offered and then split the pies.  One was the Bacco Sausage with house blend mozzarella, roasted onion, hot peppers and house made sausage.   The other was the Napoletana with house blend mozzarella, anchovy, capers and oregano.  The only let-down, and it really is not, is that my Bride always asks if the seasonal soup is the old Eggplant Soup from Font D’Amore, which I always called the Garlic Soup, because it was a puree of roasted garlic and roasted eggplant, and she is single-handedly trying to resurrect that dish back on the menu. 

I was thinking of doing a special on the Baia Estate Wines from Leelanau Peninsula that along with Arbor Brewery are two other businesses that have partnered with the dynamic Luciano Del Signore, but I think a discussion of his house wines may require a separate focus.  My Bride began with a split of La Marca Prosecco DOC NV. The wine is named after the La Marca Trevigiana zone in the heart of the Prosecco region of Italy. This wine was listed as being one of the “Top 100 Wines of the Year” by Wine Spectator magazine in 2007. Since this wine is from the Prosecco DOC region it is listed as using the Prosecco varietal, instead of the other name of Glera.  I snuck a wine in under her radar as she had missed it, but as this type of wine was being touted by another wine blogger that I respect, I thought we should try something different, and since Luciano had it on his menu, it was worth ordering a bottle of it, and my Bride like it better than her choice.   We were enjoying a bottle of CVNE “Monopole” Blanco Rioja DOCa 2017.  CVNE is the acronym for Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana and one sometimes sees it printed or referred to a CUNE, I guess for ease of pronunciation. CVNE was founded in Haro in 1879 and has been family owned ever since.  The estate has one-thousand-three-hundred-fifty acres of vineyards, but that only accounts for half of their production, the balance comes from long term contract growers.  The wine is pure Viura and is done in Stainless Steel to keep it fresh and floral.  Viura is the local name in Rioja for Macabeo, one of the workhorses of Spain and is one of the main grapes used for Cava, and it is found in small quantities in the Roussillon region of France where is offered both as sweet or dry.  This wine was very fresh and offered flowers and citrus both in the nose and in the nice finish.  We were both pleased with the wine and with our dinner.

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The Last Night with the Vegas Crowd

Posted on August 28, 2019 by thewineraconteur

It was a bittersweet night for us, as we met up with our daughter and two of her boys before they went back home.  We finally made it work for El Barzon, as the first time there was a black out in that part of the city, and that night it was interesting to see if “Driving in Detroit” would honor a blinking red-light intersection as a four way stop corner.  It kind of worked, but one had to be careful of the extra “half car” that was going to push their way through the intersection, because they were more important than the other drivers on the road.  I still kind of get amazed that this restaurant is now considered part of Southwest Detroit, because when I was growing up, that area was not considered it at all, but I know that I am splitting hairs, but boundaries have always been up for gerrymandering.  The last night it worked and we were going to have dinner there.  My thought was that I knew that they liked Italian food and I knew that they like Mexican (Tex-Mex) food, so it was a win-win situation. 

El Barzon is a very unique restaurant just from the cuisines offered.  The chef/owner came from Mexico with some of the great dishes from his region and he was a chef at one of the finest Italian restaurants that was in the Detroit area for some time; so, consequently he is excellent in both types of foods and that is what he offers.  I really figured that my grandsons would go with the Mexican dishes, because they like that so much when we are visiting them, but they decided to go with the Italian side of the menu.  Of course, my Favorite Daughter can rewrite any menu out there, and I kind of cringe to think how coddled she has made the boys in regards to the food offered in the real world, thankfully the odds are that I will not be taking them to the French Laundry.  My Bride and I made it a bit easier on our waitress with orders that had no substitutions, though I have to admit that I have made some menu alterations over the years.  My Bride had Spaghetti Puttanesca with Anchovies, Black Olives, Capers, Onions and a Tomato Sauce, while I always try to have a veal dish, because it is something we have never made at home; so I had Scaloppini al Barolo e Porcini, a Veal Scaloppini sautéed in a sauce of Barolo wine and Porcini Mushrooms.   The youngsters all had room for dessert afterwards as well.

As you may imagine, a thirst developed at least for my Bride and myself, as my Favorite Daughter was having pop, and probably something stronger later that evening when she got with her friends.  I selected a Nebbiolo from the Piedmont, namely Renato Ratti Marcenasco Barolo 2013.  Renato Ratti began by making Vermouth and Sparkling wines in Brazil, before going back to his homeland and purchasing property in the Piedmont in 1965 and now has eighty-five acres of vineyards in his estate, spread over different properties.   Renato Ratti Winery offers three different single-vineyard Barolos all with cru status and they are Marcenasco, Conca and Rocche dell’Annuziata.  The first vintage for the Marcenasco Vineyard was 1965, so, by now the vines have maturity to them, but there are ancient records showing that Nebbiolo was planted and growing in the Marcenasco region since the Twelfth Century.  The wines from this vineyard are aged in oak for two years before being bottled and I think the sweet spot for opening a bottle would be eight to ten years.  Just a nice heady wine that delivered some terroir and a little licorice in the finish.  One doesn’t have to be a genius to select a Nebbiolo based wine to go with a fine Italian dinner.  It may be awhile before we see the Las Vegas clan for a while, as we may be going later, as there is a rumor that some Bride wants to throw a graduation party for our oldest grandson next year. 

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