MWWC#24: Pleasure

Posted on April 11, 2016 by thewineraconteur

“Ya got pleasure Folks! Right here in River City, pleasure with a capital ‘P’ and that rhymes with ‘V’ and that stands for Vino.”

It is certainly a fact that Meredith Wilson did not write those words for Professor Harold Hill, but we have another entry for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge. The last Challenge was won by Ted who contributed an article for The Drunken Cyclist and  as his reward he has suggested the next theme and that theme is “pleasure.”

wine-stain Monthly Wine Challenge

If there is anything I know about is the pleasure of enjoying wine. Not to blow my own horn, but anyone that has endured my writing for any period of time will realize that is all I write about. Some may even question the sanity of my writing, as I meander around and finally get to the wine. If I was writing newspaper articles, I would probably be fired, because as they say “I tend to bury the lead.”

The majority of my writing is about the pleasurable times and how wine adds to the festivities. It is all I write about; there are holidays, birthdays, dinners and almost anything gathering of friends or relatives that are not enhanced by the addition of wine to the moment.

Trouble

Wine that glorious beverage that has been around for centuries and has even been suggested to have been created by my ancestors of yore. Wine in any form, to me, makes the occasion more pleasurable. I have had enjoyable moments with bulk wines, boxed wines and even sometimes the nectar of the Gods, those fabulous wines that every wine writer wishes to associate themselves with.

After the Challenge is announced, I usually ponder what I can write about. I thought of rehashing earlier articles, which I have done at times, and I realized that wine and pleasure go hand in hand with all of my writings. I also realized that I tend to be all over the board with wines and my arcane asides, which only please me. I think of some of the cast of characters that I sometimes allow to invade my writing, because I can vicariously indulge in the pleasures that they confide in me about the wines that they have discovered. I may give them Damon Runyanesque or Dashiell Hammett nom de plumes, but that is my way of creating a mystique for some of my friends.

Aisle in the Cellar

Even my Bride is my Bride and I think of how she has evolved and she finds more and more pleasure from wines. When I first met her, she only drank white wines, when she wasn’t enjoying a Scotch and Water, while I would order a Whiskey Sour, and invariably the server would hand me her drink. As she slowly immersed herself into the wines that I would introduce her to, she discovered the pleasure of wines from all parts of the world. In fact I enjoy the fact that she now will want Cabernet Franc as her first choice, if she can get it.

When I was a youth drinking with my friends at the park with (God) forbid a bottle of Boone’s Farm, and if you are of a certain era like me, you can remember with a smile. Thankfully I discovered real wine during those days and I have not left that road since. Every bottle is a learning experience and another pleasurable moment and I realize that there are many bottles of wine that I have had, that will never be written about, until that moment that reminds me of another story, for that is what a Raconteur does.

Far Wall in Wine Cellar

The conceit of a Raconteur is to spread pleasure with his stories, sometimes with his tongue-in-cheek. This Raconteur has eschewed technicalities and for the most part, the wine jargon that is the stock and trade of the industry. Sometimes the color, the nose or even the terroir that one encounters from the particular wine may get a brief mention, because I tend to get stuck in the story and not how great I am for having a certain wine.

Once again I have meandered all across this article, because pleasure is where one finds it, and sometimes one has to see beyond the bottles to realize that one has found pleasure. I have found pleasure in so many ways; from building my own wine cellar that is now too small to the wonderful moments of dinners, tastings and tours. Though the real pleasure of wine is to be able to share the moment, sometimes just with my Bride and other times with a crowd. Family and friends are the vessel that makes the wine pleasure.

Corks for Trivet

 

“Ah sweet mystery of life, at last I found you”

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Of Tweeting and T-Shirts

Posted on April 9, 2016 by thewineraconteur

I will grant you, that the title of this piece is not as elegant as “of cabbages and kings.” This is a fluff article, which I do once in a while, if something catches my eye or interest regarding wines. Let’s face it, if pushed I could probably find a “hook” that would tie wine to almost any subject, similar to the way Mr. Portokalas can make any word derive from the Greek language.

Zin Shirt

As I have mentioned in the past, I was and still am a clothier, when I will be ninety, if I am still around, I will still be dressed probably in a French cuff shirt with my corkscrew cuff-links. I recently saw two T-shirts and one sport shirt that had wine motifs, in fact two of them had corkscrew as the featured item. They are very fun and witty, though you will never catch me in a T-shirt, perhaps if I were built like Victor Mature, then perhaps. Let us say, that rather than vanity, I will claim “age appropriate.” The other shirt that I saw was a traditional short sleeve sport shirt that would have the ability to disguise my “maturity.”

Warm up T                                  Clock T

The other thing that I want to mention is that I just discovered that I have five hundred followers on Twitter, and I have no idea what I am doing, when I am there, half the time. I think that they need a primer like Twitter for Dummies on their website. I mean half the time that I want to add in to the fun, all I end up doing is “retweeting.” I am so lost on that site, but to be truthful, I am still learning about Blogging, but then most people would agree on that. I think that I shall do what I do best and just go and relax with a glass of wine.

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Whiskeys on the Water

Posted on April 7, 2016 by thewineraconteur

The other day I ventured into a new restaurant that opened in Wyandotte, Michigan called Whiskeys on the Water. It was what one would call a “soft” opening, as they did not even have signage for the establishment up. The building I presume from the edifice was at one time a bank, later had become a theatrical and costume shop and later for a while had become a restaurant called Lions, Tigers and Beer, which you have to admit is a great name for a watering hole in the Metropolitan Detroit area. The commonality of most communities is that most retailing potential storefronts are now becoming restaurants and taverns, and though part of me misses the local retail environment, I do look forward to local eateries as compared to the chains that are so prevalent these days.

Dark Horse Merlot 2016

As I said this was a very “soft” opening of the establishment, and the menu was at the time a one page computer generated menu, and it was mostly sandwiches. This made sense to me, when one figures that they were opening up, testing the staff and the kitchen before finalizing the menu. Considering that Whiskeys on the Water had no signage on the façade, the restaurant was really jumping and I was there for a late lunch, when most workers would be back toiling at their jobs. Since the menu consisted at the moment of only sandwiches, it was quite easy to make my selection and I went with Roast Beef and Cheddar and it came with the usual French Fries. The sandwich was generous and sated me and I did nibble on the French Fries, which I normally would not order as I find them bland, but these were spiced well. My only complaint, if it is, and I understand the philosophy of “bar food” was that the French Fries were very salty, but that encourages an extra drink or so, I guess my Bride has made me eat too healthy, as in the old days I may have not even noticed the extra salt, but since they were in the testing period, I am sure that it may change.

MI Whiskeys on the Water Interior

The beverages were still being worked on, and from later conversations with some of the people affiliated with Whiskeys on the Water, I discovered that they have not even received all of the Whiskeys that they want to carry, which is a category that is becoming trendy in its own right. The wines I understand will also be in three tiers, the “house” brands, a selection of moderate priced wines and then a top tier of wines by the glass. All of the wines were being decided on, I am sure to accommodate the choices of dishes that are soon to appear, as they do not wish to rely just on sandwiches. The wine I tried with my sandwich was The Original Dark Horse Merlot 2014, which will be part of the “house” wines category. The Merlot wine is the latest of the selections being produced by Dark Horse Wines of Modesto, California and the winery has become a good seller across the country because it offers a good product for a good price. While the wine is listed as California AVA, the fruit basically comes from Lodi and the delta area of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. I was impressed from my first visit, and from what I hear, it is Standing Room Only at dinner time, so I shall have to make a second trip there and see what the menu and the wine carte looks like when the dust is settled.

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Easter and Birthdays

Posted on April 5, 2016 by thewineraconteur

Easter is one of the major holidays for families, especially in this household, and it was also a way to tie in the birthdays of the month for some of the clan. We had a couple of milestones for birthdays as we had one celebrant that turned twenty-one and another celebrant that turned the Big Fifty. We also had the luxury of having our one son and his family in from Las Vegas, so we got a double shot of time with them.

Monna Lisa 1999

Needless to say there were some extra busy times in the kitchen for all of the extra people for Easter Sunday. My Bride was preparing ham, turkey and Fettuccine Alfredo as well as sides and salads, and everything else. She was extra happy that I decided to make by Sauce Bolognese and it is good that I made it, when she wasn’t home as she claims that I am OCD and that I make unnecessary messes and dirty more plates then needed, because of all of my prep work. I decided to have fun with it, and even announced that I was being creative on Social Media, and I even had two friends that followed my tedious step by step production, but that was all done in “messenger” format, rather then boor everyone on my site, not to mention to give away my secrets, as if I know what I am doing. Though I did post a photo of myself in a white Chef’s coat (it is amazing the crazy items that we have in this house) and one friend who is a Chef gave out an audible moan, and another “friend” being funny thought I looked like a dentist. There is no recipe and I do make my Bride a villain with the butchers, as I require a certain cut of meat, which then has to be ground. I also at my Bride’s request have to make enough to feed a small town, because she freezes some of it, because I complain if I have to have imitation pre-made sauce, if she is in a hurry to make a dinner.

Chef JAT

For years my secret ingredient for making my Sauce Bolognese was Molson Canadian Beer, as it gave a distinct nuance to the sauce, but one day when I was making it, I discovered that I had no beer in the refrigerator and I used wine (which we are never out of in this house). So when I got to the point where the wine should be added, I went to the cellar to search for a likely candidate. It has been told to me often that while I should not use top notch wine for cooking, I should never use wine that I would not actually drink, and that has been a good lesson for me. I was looking for the wine to use and was wondering if perhaps some of the wine may have been stored too long, which can happen in my cellar and I am sure that it happens in other cellars as well. I saw a bottle of wine that was given to me as a gift, because people know of my collection of wine labels that I have wall papered my cellar with. The bottle of wine was Cantine Leonardo da Vinci Monna Lisa Sangiovese Toscana IGT 1999, and of course the label depicted the famous Mona Lisa. The question to me that I pondered as I went back to the kitchen was, will the wine be over the hill? As I removed the foil cap, the cork look fine, and it came out intact without any difficulty and no crumbling, which were all good signs. Then the final and most important test came, as I poured some into a wine glass. The color was soft, as was to be expected for a seventeen year old wine, and the nose was soft, as some aged wines get, and then the taste proved that with proper storage, this wine had made the trip successfully. It was a very mellow wine, not a lot of nuance, but totally fine for the sauce and for me to have as I watched the progress of the pot. I venture to say that I may have enjoyed the wine at this stage more, than I would have, if I had opened right after receiving it. Trying to discover a bit more about the wine, as it only listed Sangiovese on the front and back label, but it carried the Toscana IGT designation, I had to do some research and as best as I can discern this wine was a blend of Sangiovese and Merlot, hence the Sangiovese Toscana IGT labeling, as Sangiovese is the grape of choice in Tuscany. I do feel that it made the day more interesting as I made my mess in the kitchen.

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More New Wines

Posted on April 3, 2016 by thewineraconteur

I am finally writing about the new wines that I received from my wine club A Taste of Monterey. Everyone that belongs to the club, probably received the wines a couple of weeks ago, but I asked that they delay shipping the wines, as it could be impacted by our recent trip to Las Vegas, and the club willingly obliged. I just enjoy great customer relations and service. As always the wines come with a pamphlet that contained an article about the varietal Pinot Blanc, an article about Stilton cheese, a recipe and a well written article about the passing of Richard Smith of Paraiso Vineyards, one of the “founding fathers” of Monterey County Wine. I have some wines from Paraiso Vineyards that I have mentioned from other shipments, but as of yet, they are still resting in my cellar, for future articles.

Pelerin SLH Pinot Noir 2012

The first wine that I received is Pelerin Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2012. I have received other wines from this winery and I have tried some as well, and so far I have been pleased with the wines. I am becoming quite a vocal fan of the Pinot Noir wines from Monterey County and especially from the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. The aging potential for this wine is suggested as seven to eight years. Since I am not a winemaker, but from all that I have read, this varietal is very temperamental and is extremely hard to grow successfully, but not from this area; so I am looking forward to trying this wine.

Cima Collina Meritage 2010

The second bottle is Cima Collina Meritage 2010 from the San Antonio Valley AVA and I have to admit that the San Antonio Valley AVA is new to me. The fruit for this wine all came from the Lockwood Oaks Vineyard and this is the third Meritage wine produced by Cima Collina. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The wine was aged in both French and American Oak for fourteen months and the aging potential is eight to ten years. This will be the third wine from this winemaker for me as I have received a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay from them.

Heller Estate Malbec 2012

The last bottle in the shipment was Heller Estate Malbec 2012 from the Carmel Valley AVA. I have written and tasted several of their wines over the years, as we have even visited the winery on one of our trips to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Heller Estate is an organic winery that was certified in 1996 and one of the pioneers of this approach in the Monterey area. I am looking forward to this wine, but I may wait as it also has an aging potential of eight to ten years. My Bride and I have been very happy with the selections that we have received over the many years, since we have joined this club.

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Dessert at Le Cirque

Posted on April 1, 2016 by thewineraconteur

All good things come to an end, and so did our meal. The dessert course was the harbinger that we were going to get ready to pack up and go home and for my Sister-in-Law and her husband that were going to have a couple more evenings in Las Vegas, including another meal at one of the other restaurants at Bellagio. I guess the dessert course is always bittersweet especially after a fine meal.

Dows Late Bottled Vintage Porto 2009

 

 

Our table was evenly split with the women having Chocolate Soufflé, while the men were ordering the Crème Brule. Since the women had ordered the Chocolate Soufflé it required an additional time for preparation and allowed us a few more minutes after dinner to soak up the ambience of the room and to have some more time to chat and enjoy the wonderful coffee that was also brought out to the table. The last time my Bride and I had dinner at Le Cirque we enjoyed a Bombe, but that was not one of the options. My Bride lamented that the soufflé was not Grande Marnier and the Chocolate Soufflé was not as exciting. On the other hand the Crème Brule was magnificent, as everyone at the table opined, because of course there was plenty of sharing and sampling through out the evening of all the different dishes.

Le Cirque Chocolate Souffle

The wine that was paired with the Crème Brule was Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Porto 2009. The wines used to be called Port, but since the advent of other wineries years back, especially in America offering tepid imitations called Port, the great Port houses of Oporto renamed their wines Porto and the Porto wines are legendary fortified wines. Most of the grand Port houses have a British name, which shows how much the British valued these fortified wines. Dow’s is over two hundred years old, and has changed hands, but the quality and tradition has been maintained. Dow’s was the first house to receive Royal Assent and was allowed to maintain their own armed shipments of the wine to Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. Dow’s also owns four famed vineyards in the Upper Douro Valley and these are considered great vineyards and allows them to make all the different versions of Port wines, including when deemed proper, a vintage year; as not all years are declared a vintage year. The grapes used to make Port wines are a mix and perhaps not even the winemakers can agree on what is the actual percentage of each grape used. The most common varietals are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz (more famous and recognizable as Tempranillo), Tinto Cao and one can also find Souzao, Tinta Amarela and Mourisco Tinto. Fortified wines like all Porto wines can be cellared for years, and fine old ones must be decanted, as this wine was relatively young it did not require decanting.  Late Bottled Vintage Porto wines are a relatively new type of wine, in that it is made every year, whether a Vintage Year has been declared, and it is aged for about six years before release.  At the end of meal when we all had to leave, sadly, the women were given little personalized Le Cirque boxes with two house made truffles to enjoy later on.

Le Cirque Creme Brule

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Dinner at Le Cirque

Posted on March 30, 2016 by thewineraconteur

What a great way to spend an evening away and to celebrate a birthday at the legendary Le Cirque in the wonderful Bellagio Hotel. The glamour and the richness of the evening were just beginning. We were all doing the three course prix-fixe dinner and we had made our selections and enjoyed our wine, the Amuse Bouche and a wonderful selection of fresh baked breads; and to please my Favorite Daughter there will be more “food porn.”

Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszu 2008

For the appetizers we pretty much agreed on the same dishes. My Bride and my Brother-in-Law both had the Lobster and Avocado Salad with Haricot Verts and Black Truffle Vinaigrette. My Sister-in-Law and I both ordered the Sautéed Foie Gras with Apple “Tatins”, Cabbage Croquant with Calvados and Cider Sauce. Cabbage Croquant is the French way to say “crunchy cabbage.” There was sharing of the dishes going on I might add, but the Foie Gras was the winner as far as I was concerned, and I think it was rather unanimous.

Le Cirque Foie Gras

The wine that was paired with Sautéed Foie Gras was a bit of a surprise, but it worked very well. Rather than a Sauterne or a Barsac the wine was Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszu 2008 from The Royal Tokaji Wine Company, in the old days of Hungary this wine was produced by the State Monopoly and it was known as Tokay.  The Aszu refers to the special grapes that have the “Nobel Rot” as in Sauternes and the wines of Germany and are placed in special containers known as Puttonys, the plural being Puttonyos, and “5” is the highest designation of Puttonyos that is added to the regular Tokaji wine. The wine is made from Furmint, Harslevelu and Muscat de Lunel grapes. If you notice that the label is accented with red, and that is for the American market, the rest of the world gets labels that are accented with blue.

Le Cirque Lobster and Avocado Salad

The pairing for the Lobster and Avocado Salad was Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2014 from the Upper Loire from the Loire Valley in France. Sancerre is considered one of the two best villages in the Loire Valley for producing white wine and the varietal is Sauvignon Blanc. While Sauvignon Blanc produces great dry white wines in Bordeaux, in Sancerre the wine is much more nuanced and vibrant and can hold its own against full bodied foods, as well as a great compliment to the famed goat cheeses that are also produced there.

Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2014

The next course was our entrée dishes and here there was much more of an assortment chosen. My Sister-in-Law ordered the Atlantic Turbot with warm Eggplant Salad, with a Coriander and Saffron Sauce. Her husband ordered the Dover Sole Meunier with glazed vegetables and a Lemon Beurre Blanc, and he had just had Dover Sole a couple of nights earlier in Louisville. It is one of his favorite dishes, and he proclaimed that it was the finest serving that he had ever had. My Bride ordered Potato Crusted Mediterranean Sea Bass with Braised Leeks and a Pinot Noir Verjus. I ordered the Cervena Venison with Poached Bosc Pear and Cacao Nibs with a Chocolate Espresso Sauce. I might add that I think that I had the finest meal of the night, in my humble opinion, I enjoy a fine plate of Venison and I like to order it when ever I see it offered. The Cervena Venison is from New Zealand (after I did some research on it) and it is farmed deer that is three years or younger, free range and grass fed with no hormones or steroids added to the feed. Even though I had no knowledge of the pedigree of the venison, it was the finest cut and cooked perfectly and I was so sad to finish the last bite; and as a side note, I always asked that the venison be prepared to the temperature that the chef thinks it should be done.

Le Cirque Sea Bass

One of the intriguing aspects of the meal was that I noticed that my Bride’s dish of Sea Bass was prepared with a Pinot Noir Verjus, and one usually thinks of fish with white wine. The wine that was paired with my Brother-in-Laws Dover Sole Meunier was Bethel Heights Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir 2013. This wine is from Eola-Amity Hills which is in the center of the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Eola-Amity Hills is a relatively new AVA as it was established in 2006. It was a great wine and I am partial to the Pinot Noir wines of Monterey and of course Burgundy and it held its own extremely well.

Le Cirque Cervena Venison

I was really curious as to what was going to be paired with my venison and it was Rocca di Frassinello “Le Sughere di Frassinello” Maremma Toscana DOC 2012. This wine hit all the right chords with me as it is a blend of 25% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Sangiovese. That this area is doing wine properly can be noted by the fact that for years Maremma Toscana carried an IGT designation and now it is DOC. By this time I was in Seventh Heaven and so were the rest of us at the table.

Bethel Heights Estate Pinot Noir 2013                                  Le Sughere di Frassinello 2012

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Le Cirque at the Bellagio

Posted on March 28, 2016 by thewineraconteur

Our last night in Las Vegas for this trip and we went to dinner without the children or the grandchildren, but we did go with family. My Sister-in-Law and her husband came out to Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday and we all got together for dinner, and what a meal it was, and bear with me, because this will be another three part adventure. I also said that I try not to repeat restaurants, but since our other couple had never been there, it was totally do-able. I also don’t think that I gave the restaurant enough glory and exposition in my first article and so this is my “Mulligan.”

Inglenook CASK 2011

Le Cirque began in 1974 at the Mayfair Hotel in Manhattan, then they moved to larger facilities at the Palace Hotel, and finally they moved to the Bloomberg Building. All the while under the careful and watchful eye of the founder Sirio Maccioni and his family and they are now international in scope with their famed restaurant. One of the great chefs that I have had the honor of dining at two of his restaurants Daniel Boulud worked at Le Cirque in Manhattan. Le Cirque means the Circus in French and the charming dining room at the Bellagio hotel evokes the vibrant colors and electricity of the Circus, but be assured that there are no clowns lurking, and on the other side of the windows is the famed water show fountain that most people only see from The Strip. You know that it is my kind of place, especially the original location, because they have a posted “Dress Code: Gentlemen, jackets are required for the restaurant and kindly suggested for the Café. Shorts and open shoes are not permitted. No hats allowed. Ladies, dressy and elegant. Thank you.”

Inglenook Back Label

As we sat down, the wine tome was handed to me, and I graciously handed it over to my Brother-in-Law, as I have drooled over all of the pages the last time I was there. I mean he blurted out as he was looking and said “what restaurant needs verticals of Petrus, Latour, Cheval-Blanc and Mouton?” Indeed, and I agreed, but that is the charm of the Le Cirque and their legendary wine cellar. We ended up ordering a bottle of wine for the table, and he and I also decided to go with the pairing selection for our meal. The ladies were happy with the bottle of wine, and it was a fine bottle. We had Inglenook CASK Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 2011, and I am glad to say that Francis Ford Coppola has acquired and restored the old Inglenook Estate under his Niebaum Coppola wines. The CASK wines were originally offered from 1934-1964 and represented the best of winery, and it has been resurrected again, first as Rubicon and now as CASK. While the wine is labeled Cabernet Sauvignon it is only eighty-five percent, the balance being twelve percent Cabernet Franc and the rest is Merlot.

Amuse Bouche

Also bear with me, as I will be posting some “food porn” and I do hope that I do it justice, as I have enough trouble photographing wine labels, but my Favorite Daughter asked me to, for this dinner. After selecting the wine and the dinner, our waiter brought out the Amuse Bouche, which is a fancy term for a small complimentary appetizer that showcases the ability of the Chef. It was about three bites of Smoked Salmon covered with Panna Cotta, a dollop of Caviar topped with Edible Gold. The Panna Cotta is sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and usually found in desserts. The Edible Gold intrigued me and I found out that it is “biologically inert” meaning that it passes through the digestive tract without being absorbed. I also found out that it is usually 22 – 24 K, as it is made with the least amount of impurities. The meal was off to a fine start.

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A Brunch in Vegas

Posted on March 26, 2016 by thewineraconteur

This last trip to Vegas, I broke some of my own rules about not repeating restaurants, which I have already done and I am doing it again. When we were having dinner at Echo & Rig, the manager of the restaurant mentioned a couple of times to us that we should try their Brunch. We could walk across the street from our hotel, so that was easy, and if the Mimosas were good, it would be a very good idea to walk. Writing this blog, breakfasts are an easy item to gloss over, as there have been some excellent places, but I find it a hard item to write about. The best I have ever had was at Brennan’s in New Orleans, the Fontainebleau in Miami and in the Detroit area there is the Beverly Hills Grill.

Wycliff Brut NV

We enjoyed our dinner so much a couple of nights earlier, that we thought that we should try their Brunch. They were so busy in the evening, as well as one afternoon that we had walked by, knowing that we did not have a reservation that we decided to get there as soon as they opened up, which in Detroit time was around lunch time. The restaurant was open, but they were not ready to seat anyone, so I walked over to the bar to inquire about the sparkling wine that they use in the Mimosas, and to take a photo of the label. After that they came and took us upstairs and we sat out on the porch over looking Tivoli Village. My Bride ordered Blueberry Buttermilk pancakes with house made Blueberry syrup. I naturally went big time and chose their featured item on the menu and how could I resist since it was a butcher shop as well as a restaurant. I had Short Ribs Hash and I love Short Ribs and these were Prime, with Yukon Gold potatoes, Bell peppers, Shallots, two Poached eggs and Smoked Hollandaise Sauce. I am sure you would have ordered them as well, and it was delicious and not an ordinary breakfast dish.

NV Echo & Rig BC

The restaurant had “Bottomless” Mimosas and that is why I was at the bar earlier to check out the wine. The bartender not only showed me the label, but he poured me a “taste” in a large water goblet and it was good and tasty. Then he poured a second water goblet full of the wine for my Bride and filled up my glass as well, and then poured just enough fresh orange juice to give the glass some color, my kind of Mimosa. When we went upstairs, I noticed that the other diners had normal flute glasses for their Mimosas, so right of the bat; we were having at least two to one, a great way to start the day. I never expect anything great from a Mimosa, but I have to say that I enjoyed the Wycliff Brut California Champagne NV from the William Wycliff Winery. This winery is under the large umbrella holdings of Gallo Wine and I am sure that the term California Champagne must be legal or it would have said Sparkling Wine. The wine was not Methode Traditionelle and the label read Charmat Method Sparkling Wine, Secondary Fermentation before Bottling, which is the more affordable method of creating Sparkling Wine. The normal grapes used in making “Champagne” are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier and I must presume at least two if not all three of them are used for this wine. We were both enjoying the wine during our Brunch, and I noticed that the bottles were “twist off” caps, and that still did not affect the merriment of the moment. I may not write about the Brunch at Echo & Rig again, but I guarantee that we will stop and enjoy it again the next time we visit the family.

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Grape Street

Posted on March 24, 2016 by thewineraconteur

Another beautiful day in Summerlin during our trip to Las Vegas and of course in the morning hours our grandchildren were in school; so what to do? There is always shopping to do and we found ourselves in Downtown Summerlin, which is really an outdoor mall that rather meanders around different major chain department stores and the usual collection of specialty stores that are found in most major malls across the country. It is the homogenization of America, as there are very few stores that are unique to any city any more. The same can be said for the selection of restaurants, as one finds the same chains where ever one travels to. For all intents and purposes, Las Vegas is a created city, so one does not really look for a certain type of cuisine that can be identified as local.

Balletto Rose of Pinot Noir 2014

As we were wandering around we saw an outdoor patio adjacent to a restaurant, which is not that uncommon, but the name of the restaurant caught my eye. Grape Street Café Wine Bar & Cellar was intriguing, and we went in and discovered that we were in not only a restaurant, but a retail wine establishment as well. One could buy a bottle of wine for fifty percent off the restaurant wine price, or could buy a case for sixty percent off. As we were led to our table I also noticed that several of the tables had been recycled and were paneled with the end crates of wine, like Far Niente and Domaine de la Romanee-Conte. The tables were expensive. We just wanted something light to eat and of course a glass of wine, and the menu was very impressive; and there would have been many different directions we could have gone off for, if we were in the mood. Since it was a Friday during Lent, my Bride would not eat meat, so she selected a Caesar Salad and she asked if it could be topped with salmon, instead of shrimp or chicken, which they obliged to on the spot. Of course I may never get used to her ordering Caesar Salad when I think that she makes the best in the world, so I usually never order it out, out of deference to her ability. I ordered a Steak Salad and it was with Flank Steak, but what really sold me on it was the mixture of ingredients, as I dislike when a salad appears with just some lettuce and dressing. This salad had red and green onions, cucumbers, cherry hot peppers, pepperoncini, tomatoes and lemon-oregano dressing. My only request was to hold the Feta Cheese and our server suggested white cheddar instead and that sounded great. When the orders arrived, we were surprised at the size, we could have ordered one salad and split it between ourselves, but I have to admit that we did finish them, in spite of the size and we were very happy.

Morgadio Albarino Rias Baixas 2014

The wine carte was very nice and it was a challenge to settle on just two wines. My Bride since she has discovered Albarino decided that was what she wanted and she had Morgadio Albarino Rias Baixas 2014. Albarino is the star of Rias Baixas in Spain, as it accounts for almost ninety per cent of the wine production in the area and the varietal is grown in Spain, more than any other part of the world. Her wine was delightful, especially on a sunny day and it was one that I would have enjoyed drinking as well. I wanted a lighter wine as well, since I was having a salad, and I found something that sounded interesting. The glass of Balletto Rose of Pinot Noir 2016 from the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County and it was kind of a red wine to compliment the meat in my salad. It was a very good choice, as it was a nice crisp Rose without the sweetness that one can find often and I attribute it to the Pinot Noir. The color was pretty, maybe a bit frou-frou for me, but boy did it hit the spot during that lunch. Grape Street offered us a nice break from shopping, but it resumed after lunch.

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