Back to Grape Street

Posted on February 13, 2017 by thewineraconteur

A little free time while in Las Vegas we went to Downtown Summerlin which is a quaint outdoor shopping mall anchored by some large department stores and the usual mix of specialty stores that one can find anywhere in the country, which is one of my pet peeves, there are hardly any independent stores left, let alone independent restaurants. It can be difficult to find experiences that are singular to one city. I know you will say that Las Vegas is singular because of the flash and glitter that one associates with it, but if you actually look at all the chains, it is very similar. We like to walk around to get some exercise and I like to look at the stores, not that I have a need to buy anything, but after years of being a retailer, I just find it interesting.

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We found ourselves having a light lunch at Grape Street Café, Wine Bar & Cellar once again. The name explains it all and why they are celebrating nineteen years of business. The wine shop had some interesting labels, the bar was extensive and I even noticed that they were also getting into the craft beer trend as well. The décor is brick walls and industrial components visible from the rafters, but my favorite is that all the tables are paneled with end crates from wine cases and there were many wines that were old friends. My Bride had the Orange Chicken Salad of mixed field greens, Mandarin oranges, roasted red peppers, wontons, peanuts and a Sesame Ginger dressing. I also went for a salad, but mine was the Steak Salad of iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry hot peppers, pepperoncini, red and green onions, shave Parmesan and a Lemon-Oregano dressing.

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Of course, we had to have some wine while we were at it, and picking wines for salads can be a bit trickier because of the dressings. My Bride went with Miner Family California Viognier 2015. The Miner Family Winery is celebrating their Twentieth year of vintages and while they are located in Oakville in the Napa Valley, they own no vineyards, but have long-term buying agreements to make their wines. The wine that my Bride had was pure Viognier, but a blend of sixty-two percent from the Steinbeck Vineyard in Paso Robles and thirty-eight percent from Naggiar Vineyards in the Sierra Foothills and hence the California appellation. I was excited to see that some of the fruit came from Naggiar Vineyards as it is the first chance for me to give a “hello” and a salute to another blogger that I follow and enjoy reading and that is Danielle who goes by DWDirwin. The wine was aged in Stainless Steel and that allowed the wine to show off its crispness and its unique scented nose. I on the other hand had a red wine to go with my salad and I thought something basic to work with the dressing. I enjoyed Ontanon Rioja Reserva 2005 which was a blend of ninety-five percent Tempranillo and five percent Graciano. In Rioja, the rules for a Reserva wine is a minimum of one year in oak and then in glass for three years before release, and this wine was aged for twenty-four months in American and French Oak (a mix of new and old) and then a period of twenty-four to twenty-six months in glass. It was just what I expected from a Rioja Reserva and I have been enjoying them for decades. After lunch, it was time to get back to the hotel and get ready to be with the families again, after the grandchildren did their homework.

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Marche Bacchus

Posted on February 11, 2017 by thewineraconteur

Marche Bacchus is a wine shop, a wine bar and a French Bistro that overlooks a small lake populated with black swans in a residential section of Las Vegas, which is in the middle of the desert. Since we were trying to maintain some semblance of Michigan time while we were visiting the children and grandchildren, an early dinner was around our lunch time, because we were saving our dinner times to spend with the family. It is amazing how we sometimes could sneak in an appreciation of wines during our days, while waiting for the grandchildren to get out of school. Since we were staying at a casino in the Summerlin district of Las Vegas to be near the families, we made a short trip north about ten minutes away and ended up in the Desert Shores community and I really thought that we had made a mistake. We drove into a residential area and made a turn and there was a small office complex and our destination.

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I have to say that the wine shop was very impressive and I could have gotten totally carried away and spent all of the money earmarked for the trip and then some additional funds. Thankfully I had the keeper of the treasury alongside of me and she knew what was going through my mind. I mean there in one of the wine cellar lockers were bottles of Lafite and even a Petrus, that one bottle that always calls my name, as I never had the chance to try it, and the odds are at this point in my life that I will not. As I meandered around the bins of wine, I discovered that for a corkage fee of ten dollars, I could take a retail bottle into the restaurant and have it with dinner, but we refrained, and that Petrus was like a Siren calling me for the grandest lunch in my life. We were seated for lunch at a window-side table to enjoy the lakefront and my Bride was trying to figure out, if we could afford to move here, and I don’t think so, much to the chagrin of the families in town. We got down to more realistic goals and decided to begin our meal, by sharing an order of roasted Foie Gras with poached fruit, arugula and a Port wine reduction. I guess we may have been the first customers that ever-ordered Foie Gras from our waitress, as she had no idea that the restaurant had Sauternes, because it was not on the regular wine carte, so I had to ask for a dessert menu to find a wine to pair with our appetizer. I must say that, believe it or not, we were trying to eat “light” for lunch and my Bride ordered grilled Rosemary Chicken and Asparagus Salad with oven-dried tomatoes, olives, bacon, red onions with a Citrus Vinaigrette. I looked at the menu and decided that I had to try something that I hardly ever have, as most of the time they tend to disagree with me, I was going to have a hot dog. Now I grew up in Detroit, the world center of Coney Islands, and for me there is only Lafayette Coney Island and I don’t even get a hot dog there, so this was a major decision. Of course, my selection was a Snake River Farms Kobe Beef Wagyu “Haute Dog” with house pickled slaw, Truffled Mozzarella Black Pepper Aioli on a fresh baked croissant with a side of Caesar Salad, and it didn’t seem like that much of a gamble. I was even magnanimous to share some of the “Haute Dog” with my Bride, and to be truthful, it was wonderful and I am sure that I could have even ordered several more of them, they were that great. There will always be more trips to Vegas.

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The wines for lunch were equally enjoyable, after we showed our waitress that there was Sauternes available by the glass. With our appetizer, we enjoyed Chateau Gravas Sauternes 2010 a delightful amber glass of pure “Nectar of the Gods” from Bordeaux. It is just amazing how Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend so harmoniously in Sauternes to deliver such a pure drop of sunshine to pair with the richness of the Foie Gras. My Bride chose a glass of Pazo Senorans Albarino 2015 to go with her salad. This wine is from the Rias Baixas district of Spain and to carry this designation, the wine must be at least seventy percent Albarino, but this wine was one hundred percent Albarino. This charming wine spent four months on the lees in Stainless Steel vats which gives it the crisp and youthful taste. I am always cautious of wine with a salad because of the dressing, but the crispness of this wine and the light dressing worked perfectly. For my “Haute Dog” I had to select a wine that would have been incongruous for a hot dog, but paired perfectly with my culinary treat. I had a glass of Albert Bichot Mercurey Premier Cru Champs Martin 2014 from their Domaine Adelie. Albert Bichot was established in 1831 and they now have four estates in the Burgundy region to handle all of the different wines that they produce; they have an estate in Pommard, Nuits-Saints-Georges, Chablis and Mercurey. The estate in Mercurey, which is one of the five communes in the Cote Chalonnaise is Domaine Adelie. There are thirty Premier Cru designations in Mercurey and of course the grape is Pinot Noir. This wine was so smooth with my dish, that it was actually making me think of ordering a refill of both, as I really didn’t want to leave this idyllic setting. I guess the Petrus will just have to wait.

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Dracaena Wines

Posted on February 9, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I was thinking about a Weimaraner dog and Cabernet Franc in my preparations for the trip to Las Vegas. That may sound like an odd combination, but I contacted Lori Budd to see if she and her husband Michael had representation of their wine in Las Vegas, because they do not ship to Michigan. She did not, but she could ship wine to Nevada, so I had to ask if she could ship a three pack to my daughter’s house and that was affirmative. I was in Seventh Heaven and so was my Bride when I told her what I was up to.  The funny thing is that this wine has been haunting me now for a couple of years, because I could not get it, which only makes one try harder, at least for me.   Dracaena Wines only offers one wine and it is a Cabernet Franc and they are so smitten with that particular grape that they even started a movement of a Cabernet Franc Day. I have been a fan of this grape from the first time that I tried it.

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We were having a casual night at my son’s house and we picked up three assorted pizzas and other goodies for the night and my daughter brought my package of wine to me. That evening I could care less about eating, but we were both looking forward to the wine. I opened up a bottle of Dracaena Cabernet Franc 2014 and it was wonderful.  For a young fresh new wine, the color was impressive, the nose was there and it reminded me of some other great Cabernet Franc wines that I have had over the years and it may even been   more velvety smooth compared to even some of the wines that I have had from the Loire Valley.  It is a mixture of ninety percent Cabernet Franc and ten percent Petite Sirah from the West Side Ranch in Paso Robles, and it appears that they only make about one-hundred-fifty cases a year.  The wine was aged for two years in one year old French Oak barrels, and while I knew that I was drinking this wine way too young, I wasn’t concerned, because I knew that I had two more bottles to place in my cellar for additional aging and I think that five to eight years before I even try it again, if my Bride will let me cellar it that long without trying another bottle.  I even knew that the shipping carton with all of its protection would fit into one of our suitcases for our return trip.

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I really wanted to try the wine and sometimes I am like a little kid. When I first started writing, and my first year of articles as I look back were not that impressive, not that I am getting any better, but Lori was one of the first to “like” what I was doing, and I really wanted to repay her for her kindness and her attention. My Bride who watches me like a hawk as she thinks I can get crazy buying wines, at the expense of our near future plans of retirement, but she didn’t complain at all, since it was for Cabernet Franc.  I may have to do this end run game of ordering in the future.  In case you were wondering why I mentioned a Weimaraner dog earlier, it was their first dog Draco that adorns their label.

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Symphony’s Restaurant

Posted on February 7, 2017 by thewineraconteur

After having finished our second wine tasting in Nevada and while still at Pahrump Valley Winery, we walked around the corner and had dinner at Symphony’s Restaurant. A very pleasant white linen restaurant on the grounds of the winery. The restaurant is named after their Gold Medal winning wine.  We worked up an appetite, because wine tasting is such hard work.  The restaurant was very elegant and their only caveat was that men should not wear sleeveless shirts, hats or flip-flops; well I did have a hat, but I take it off indoors and since it was in the forties outside, I don’t think that they had any worries about the other requirements.

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We were taken to a table that overlooked the vineyards and the staff in the restaurant was much more attentive and professional, especially when comparing to the hostess that handled our wine tasting. We were just having a quick lunch as we were going to meet our children and grandchildren later for dinner. We were also quite hungry since we were still on Michigan time which is three hours later. We started off with a bowl of soup, my Bride had the Lobster Bisque laced with Crème Sherry and I had the Steak Chowder. Since she eats much healthier than I do she followed it up with the Lump Crab and Avocado salad on field greens and their Symphony wine vinaigrette. I had the Sirloin French Dip sandwich and we both refrained from having any dessert.

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The restaurant offered the wines from the winery and that made total sense. My Bride had a glass of the Charleston Peak Sauvignon Blanc 2015 and the wine was from Lodi, California. Most of the wine was aged in Stainless Steel, but a small batch was barrel aged and then the two were blended together for a nice crisp wine and the way we both prefer a Sauvignon Blanc. I had a glass of the Charleston Peak CZS “Vintner’s Red Blend-Barrel Reserve” 2013. This was a delightful blend of Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Zinfandel and paired very well with my sandwich. Our lunch redeemed the winery and we left very happy; and for those inquisitive minds, we still did not make a side trip to the Chicken Ranch.

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Pahrump Valley Winery

Posted on February 5, 2017 by thewineraconteur

A short six and a half miles from Sanders Family Winery and there was Pahrump Valley Winery and in one morning I had the chance to visit fifty percent of the wineries in Nevada. What a difference that six-mile drive was for the attitude of the person behind the tasting counter. While the first was gregarious, the second winery was in the midst of ennui, it felt. The winery had a huge room displaying all of the awards with a bottle of each wine with the awards. Pahrump Valley Winery produces about ten-thousand cases of wine per year and most of the wine is sold within the state on Nevada. The winery had three brands featured. The first brand was Pahrump Valley Winery for “fun, fruity, friendly” wines and there were four different labels. Their Charleston Peak line were touted as “carefully crafted classic” wines and they offered twelve different wines for tasting. The first two brands either carried California or American appellations. The last brand that they offered was Nevada Ridge which the claim of “making history” and all seven wines had a Nevada appellation.

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We were each offered seven tastings each, but we ended up only trying nine different wines. My Bride wanted to taste two of the Charleston Peak wines and I wanted to try all seven of the Nevada Ridge wines. My Bride tried the Charleston Peak Pinot Grigio 2015 with a California appellation and it was a soft Pinot Grigio. The other wine that she wanted to try, as she is always looking for wines to give as gifts to her friends that are really not wine drinkers and the wine she chose was Charleston Peak Sweet Melody NV a blend of a red wine and dark chocolate; very similar to wines of this ilk that we have tried at other wineries.

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The other wines that we tried were all from their Nevada Ridge line and they all carried the Nevada appellation. The Nevada Ridge Mourvedre 2014 was the first bottling of Mourvedre in Nevada and it was on the thin side, perhaps the vines need a few more years of maturing. The Nevada Ridge Barbera 2014 had eighteen months of barrel aging and was a bit more interesting, and easy to drink. The Nevada Ridge Primitivo 2014 had eighteen months of aging in both French and American oak and was a bit sweeter than I expected, but it was fuller tasting. The Nevada Ridge Tempranillo 2014 was also aged for eighteen months in French and American oak and showed more style, but a lighter relative of what one could find elsewhere, but it has been one of their highest award winners for years. The Nevada Ridge Zinfandel 2014 was the first “Estate Grown” wine and it had a higher alcohol count and was done in a jammy finish; this wine was also aged for eighteen months in French and American oak and reminded me of a California Zinfandel. The Nevada Ridge Silver State Red 2014 was a blend of nine different varietals; as our hostess related they were Ruby Red, Merlot, Mourvedre, Primitivo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Barbera, Tempranillo and Syrah. This wine was also aged for eighteen months in French and American oak and I thought it was the best of the lot of wines that I tried. The last wine that I tried, the Nevada Ridge Syrah 2014 was also “Estate Grown” and it also was aged for eighteen months in French and American oak. This wine also exhibited some eucalyptus from the eucalyptus trees that were growing adjacent to the Syrah vines, which imparted a unique taste.

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Sanders Family Winery

Posted on February 3, 2017 by thewineraconteur

The last time I was in Las Vegas, I tried to get some Nevada wine to try with no success and I thought it would be interesting to try some wine from this state. So, before I left for Las Vegas, I did some research and found that there were two wineries about an hour away from where I would be staying, so off for an adventure.

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Sanders Family Winery is the first modern winery in Nevada not far from the California border and in full view of the mountains. We actually got to the winery before anyone else and then we were greeted by the owner Jack Sanders. When we started talking, it turns out that he actually lived about a mile from our house, so he is an old Michigander and in a prior life he was in the local television media of Detroit and he discussed past events and local luminaries of that time. He said that there are four wineries in Nevada, two in Pahrump where he is and two near Reno, Nevada. He said that there is a movement to get Nevada some appellations and that at the moment the winery carries an American NV listing. The winery at the moment grows Petite Sirah and Zinfandel and purchases other fruit from California. The winery was established in 1988.

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There were three white wines that we tried. Sanders Chardonnay NV was a pleasant and crisp Chardonnay that was aged in Stainless Steel and Polyethylene vats. The fruit for this wine was from Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara in California. The second white wine was Serenity NV and is a blend of Symphony (a cross between Alexander Muscat and Grenache developed by UC-Davis) and Riesling and French Colombard from Monterey County. This was an easy drinking wine with some sweetness, but not cloying. The last wine was a Rosé called Harmony NV, which was his “Proprietary Blend” which Jack said meant at most places meant a way to get more money as he said with a twinkle in his eye. Harmony NV was a blend of his Estate Zinfandel and Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and it was another very easy drinking wine.

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There were three red wine plus a dessert wine made at Sanders Family Winery. The Sanders Merlot NV was made from fruit harvested in Lodi, California and was aged for ninety days in lightly toasted oak barrels and it was very easy and a light red wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon NV also had fruit that was harvested in Lodi and aged in Stainless Steel and it had a spicy taste to it. The last red wine was Burgundy NV for those who don’t like red wine as Jack said. He said that he called the wine Burgundy for the color and not to evoke the area in France. The wine was a blend of sixty percent of the Estate Petite Sirah and the other forty percent was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. While the label was not enticing as it evoked memories of the old jug wines that said Burgundy from when I was a kid, the wine was very pleasant and easy to drink.

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The dessert wine that Sanders makes is his Ruby Port NV and is made from the Estate Petite Sirah and fortified with Grappa, also made from his Petite Sirah. This was very enjoyable and was very enjoyable even that early in the morning, of course we were still on Michigan time, so it made it easier to taste the wines. After we had the Sanders Ruby Port NV, Jack then poured some more of the wine in the glass added some Ginger Ale, ice and a wedge of lime and made us a wonderful glass of this Ruby Red Slipper, this wine really won over my Bride.

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This Raconteur may have met his match as we regaled ourselves with different tales and the wine tasting lasted about an hour and a half. Jack Sanders also had a special wooden three pack case from his original products. The three-pack showed his earlier venture with the winery that he sold, before he opened this one and there was Pahrump Valley Vineyards Dessert Blush, Charleston Peak White and Sunset Rose. While my Bride was not keen originally on this day trip, she was totally won over by the time the tasting finished and we bought some of his wines. As we were getting ready to leave, he mentioned what Pahrump was famed for and it was not the wines, and he gave us directions if we wanted to take pictures of the infamous Chicken Ranch the legal brothel of Nye County of Nevada. We skipped the photo op, but left with Sanders Chardonnay, Serenity and Ruby Port.  So if you are in the Las Vegas area, I would strongly suggest visiting Jack at his winery, you will be glad that you did.

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Off to Vegas

Posted on February 1, 2017 by thewineraconteur

We have been going to Las Vegas for decades and I have written about many of the trips and memories. Now-a-days we avoid the glitz of The Strip, because we are visiting our children and grandchildren. A week or more in Vegas is a unique experience, but it is easier because we stay in Summerlin, which is a distinct area of Las Vegas proper, created by Howard Hughes and it is still a living and growing entity.

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On the plane, I passed on having a couple of glasses of wine and we decided to have some mixed drinks. I really think the Flight Attendant was trying to get me into the spirit of Vegas early. Traditionally I get one of those small plastic glasses with some ice, a miniature bottle of Bacardi Rum with the cap removed and a can of Coca Cola, but this time the bottle of rum was poured into the small glass with ice and then just a touch of cola. I was not expecting a drink like that, but they finally got me a chaser of cola, to slowly dilute the drink. That was quite a potent drink to have with the small nibbles that are now distributed on flights, I guess the airlines will be happy when the old dinosaurs like me are not around to remember the dinners that they used to serve.

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After picking up our rental car, we decided to get some minor groceries for our room as there is always time for munchies in the room, because who needs to call for room service all the time. I went to a wine shop for an important purchase for the room, while my Bride got some basics at the market, of course the market that we usually go to was no longer near our hotel. The first bottle was Josh Cellars “Josh” Chardonnay 2015 by Joseph Carr. This winery was founded in 2007 and they dedicate themselves to raising money for volunteer firefighter organizations. This bottle carries the appellation of California, the fruit basically comes from Mendocino and Monterey, but their website also claims that the fruit is harvested from across the state. This wine was a bit flabby. The other wine had more butter or oak and was more enjoyable, but very little that I could find about the wine. The other wine was Press Run Sonoma County Chardonnay 2014 and I bought it, because my Bride is partial to Chardonnay wines from Sonoma County and it was already chilled. There will be plenty of wines to discuss during our visit with our children and grandchildren.

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The Rhapsody

Posted on January 30, 2017 by thewineraconteur

Where I was born, and grew up there was a mix of different nationalities. The “borough” of Delray in Detroit was home to immigrants of Armenian, Hungarian, Italians and Polish descent and each group had their own church to further bolster their identity, though they all strove to become Americans. As I look back to those early days where most of us were either first or second generation of new Americans I can remember how the parents and the grandparents stressed the importance of speaking English first and their Mother tongue second. No one wanted the stigma of being a D.P. (Displaced Person) and most of them had come to America to start a new life after The Great War looking for the “streets paved in gold.”

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A wonderful Hungarian restaurant arrived in the Detroit area long after my original memories of the old neighborhood, but The Rhapsody followed the migration of the original Hungarians as they populated the Downriver suburbs as they discovered the American dream. Some families had lost the family traditions of old country dishes, but there were restaurants that could maintain the aromas and tastes that did not disappear from memory. Here was a restaurant where one could find Kolbasz, Palacsintas, Kaposztas Teszta, Paprikas, Goulash and other dishes known to the Magyar. Big hearty helpings of dishes with rich sauces and spices to feed the soul, as well as the stomach. This is a restaurant where the diners line up to get a table to enjoy food with gusto, not a place to photograph a perfectly plated dish, just like the old days. A place where they run special evenings for duck or for goose dinners and special nights when one can be serenaded by Romany violinists. A place where no matter how much you ate, you still had to make room for some rich desserts afterwards.

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As the saying goes “when in Rome…” so why not try a Hungarian wine. Of course, one night that I was there I may have had a Hungarian wine, but it was of a French varietal, as wine grapes have become international. One night we had Balatonboglar Winery Duna Merlot 1991 from the Balatonboglar Region. While winemaking has been in Hungary for ages, the Balatongoglar Region on Lake Balaton is a relative newcomer. Hungary is noted for big wines like the classic Tokays and Egri Bikaver, strong wines with some sweetness and this Merlot was in the same style. At first I was taken aback because it was not a Merlot in the style that I had known, but it paired well with the rich dishes on the table, and that is what a wine should do.

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I Like Italian

Posted on January 28, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I guess a running theme that I tend to write about is Italy. I like Italian wines and I like Italian food. In my little ethnic ghetto that I grew up in in Southwest Detroit, beyond my own extended family of Armenians, the next biggest nationality that I was surrounded by were the Italians. Growing up, there were no Armenian restaurants, but there were plenty of Italian restaurants and I learned to discern the good from the bad. To this day, I still dislike ethnic restaurants that pass themselves off as caricatures of what Americans perceive to be that ethnic group’s style of food. As I so learned first-hand from all of the different families and friends, what I should expect from different types of foods, and it is from these early days that I have kind of sequestered myself to certain comfort foods, that I still find how to break out of.

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Whenever there is a time when we are to meet other people and the restaurant is undecided, I will usually suggest an Italian eatery, from a purely selfish point of view. I can also do this, because no matter the potential location, there will be an Italian restaurant; and on top of that, there may be a couple of different price categories, so as not to make the others squirm if they deem one too expensive. Over the course of years, I have found that the local Andiamo chain to be quite safe and dependable, though I have not tried their location in “The D” in Las Vegas. I have found that certain of the locations are better than others, but I can always expect to find something that will make everyone happy about in the dishes. My Bride and I may not order pasta as a main course, but there are always dishes like Osso Bucco alla Milanese that will work. Braised veal shanks over some fettuccine is always safe, and in fact I tend to prefer ordering a veal dish, because it is something that we have never even tried to do at home. I always try to order something that we normally do not make at home and anything braised requires such long periods of preparation that it is probably best to let the restaurants do it. My Bride is always happy and can find something, usually will order something much healthier, even if it is something that she will make at home and then we will split the orders between us.

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The other nice thing about going to an Italian restaurant is that they will usually have some interesting Italian wines. The fancier the restaurant, or the fancier they think they are, the better odds of getting something different. I have found that the restaurants in the mid-price range will offer a couple of stellar wines, that I will avoid, because I am sure that they do not turn over their stock of these and I always am concerned at how much consideration is given for the storage of these wines. I also, if I get a chance I will pass by the house wines as I figure there is not much nuance or structure, only a great profit margin for the house. I will select a wine like Villa Antinori Toscana IGT 2001 for dinner. The Antinori house is huge with a great selection of wines and most of them are affordable even with a restaurant mark-up and they are easy enough that even non-wine drinkers can appreciate. The Antinori family has been in the wine making business for about six-hundred years, so they have a good track record. This particular wine from the Tuscany region carries an IGT designation, because most of the great recognized DOC wines that are red rely on the Sangiovese grape with some other indigenous local grapes for blending; whereas these new “Super Tuscan” wines as they are billed on the wine carte have been blended with “foreign” varietals as this wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese. I have found that most of the mid-range “Super Tuscan” wines are well made and easy to drink without breaking the budget and I think that makes everyone happy when one goes out for dinner.

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A Label Made Me Think of Pizza

Posted on January 26, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I have been going through all of my wine labels of wines past and sorted them by decades, and I think that I need a life. Writing this blog has altered some of my pack rat status into new avenues. If I get ambitious I might even try to get them arranged by years, but that might be too much of a chore. As I was doing the sorting I found a wine label that made me think of the pizza, and since our plans for the evening called for more mundane activities, I ordered a pizza, and alas it was rather mediocre.


The pizza that I remembered from the wine, was much better. When I was a kid, the best sit down pizzeria in my old neighborhood was Roman Village and they are still going strong to this day. In fact, when I have gone back to eat there, they are still mobbed and they are located in an out of the corner area, but when the food is good, people remember. The family that owns Roman Village have opened several more Italian a bit more upscale compared to the original, but still the same food and the new restaurants are called Antonio’s Cucina Italiana. I am just a purist when it comes to pizza and I like it loaded with toppings and extra cheese and don’t forget the anchovies. Every time that I try something novel for a pizza, I usually get disappointed, but that is just me.

MI Antonio's BC
I find that pizza is very egalitarian when it comes to pairing with wine, even with the spicy styled pies that I prefer. We don’t go out that often just to have a pizza, but when I do, I like to look for something different in a wine. Pizza is not expensive and I try to get a popular priced wine to pair with it. The label that caused me to ramble on was La Chiara “Figini” Gavi di Gavi 1999 and it is a white wine from Italy. Gavi di Gavi is from the southern part of Piedmont and it has its own DOCG and the wine is made from the Cortese grape. This wine shows the terroir of the area, as the wine is very crisp and what I would call flinty, and God knows that I am not big on descriptors. To maintain this crispness this wine is aged in Stainless Steel for five months and if you can find a wine from this area, it is a wine that I would recommend drinking it during its youth, as I do not think it is one for aging. See what happens when I start a new project.

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