What If?

Posted on February 10, 2015 by thewineraconteur

While we were in Las Vegas, there was some free time, because the grandchildren were attending school, and their parents had work. What does one do in Las Vegas when one has free time? We shop and we dine and look for wine, the first two endeavors are endorsed by my Bride, while all three endeavors are pleasant for me, though the last option can cause concern for my Bride. My Bride is the Exchequer of the funds and she is always trying to keep me fiscally responsible, which truth be told, is a full time occupation even when we are on holidays. Since neither of us gambles, the main Siren call of Las Vegas has never had an affect on us.

Loimer Lois Gruner Veltliner 2013
We were checking out a beautiful new shopping district called Downtown Summerlin. This is a totally created downtown environment that has the look and feel of a downtown for a medium size community and without the glitz and glamour of The Strip and the shopping that is found there. After we had shopped for a while, we thought of having food and of course a glass or two of wine, perchance to even share a bottle, if we could find something interesting. We wandered into a little bistro that is a part of a chain run by a notable name in the culinary field. Since I ended up a bit addled and I forgot what we had,  lunch was not all it could have been (and that is all my fault), I will refrain naming the restaurant or the food that we had. I will say that we did enjoy a bottle of Fred Loimer “Lois” Gruner Veltliner 2013 and it was very enjoyable. This was a trocken or dry wine from the Kamptal Valley of Austria and Gruner Veltliner is the signature grape varietal for the country, and it has only been in the last couple of years that we actually tried some of these wines.

Pinot Noir Wine List
The “what if?” of this article, is that I was going to drive my Bride crazy, because I was looking at the wine list, in fact, I tend to look at this carte, prior to looking at the menu. There was a wine listed that immediately caught my attention, much to my Bride’s consternation. There in the listing for the Pinot Noir wines was “Chezeaux Vosne-Romanee 2009,” at a very low price even for a restaurant. Now I have to admit, that my first thought was that this was an error, because I had never heard of “Chezeaux” and I immediately thought of Echezeaux, a Grand Cru from the village of Flagey-Echezeaux, which is often lumped in with their far more famous neighboring village of Vosne-Romanee in the Cote de Nuits of the Burgundy region of France. The village was actually first known as Vosne, but with the famed notoriety of the cru La Romanee, that appended that plot to the town’s name. Now you can understand my excitement that I thought that they had forgotten to type an “e” at the beginning of the word “Chezeaux,” and my Bride was getting worried that I was going to go overboard on the price of our lunch. Alas, they could not find the wine and we settled on the bottle of “Lois” which was a good choice with our lunch. If you asked my Bride about this she will say that I must have lost my mind; though I have to admit that I mentally belabored and lamented the thought about missing the chance to get a bargain priced Echezeaux. I kind of pride myself that I have most of the villages of Burgundy memorized, as well as most of the Grands Crus and the Premiers Crus, just in case a situation like this falls into my lap. After doing some research after the meal, when I was more serene and at peace with the world I discovered that there is a negociant in Burgundy Jerome Chezeaux and they have a Vosne-Romanee 2009 and he was under the radar for me. Every day is a new day to try some wine, and more important to learn about wine.

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Capo’s Restaurant & Speakeasy

Posted on February 8, 2015 by thewineraconteur

Mulligan: All right, Charlie; that the joint?
Toothpick Charlie: Yes, sir.
Mulligan: Who runs it?
Toothpick Charlie: I already told you.
Mulligan: Refresh my memory.
Toothpick Charlie: Spats Columbo.
Mulligan: That’s very refreshing; what’s the password?
Toothpick Charlie: “I’ve come to Grandma’s funeral.” Here’s your admission card.
[He gives Mulligan a mourning armband]
Mulligan: Thanks, Charlie.
Toothpick Charlie: Now if you want a ringside table, just tell ’em that you’re one of the pallbearers.
Mulligan: OK, Charlie.

Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre Veronese IGT 2010
Here we are in Las Vegas taking the families out and we walk into a restaurant, where we had to look twice where the entrance was. We walk in the front door into a small vestibule that has no doors, plenty of photographs on the walls, and an old pay telephone on one wall. All of a sudden a small little door on one of the walls opens up out of nowhere, and a fellow looks and asks “what’s the password?” Then he looks at me and says “oh, it’s John, come on in.” It turns out that the fellow checking for passwords that evening is one of the myriad of cousins to my children out in Las Vegas. A door appears where the payphone is mounted and we walk into the restaurant. The restaurant looks impressive from what you can see, because even though there are chandeliers all over the place, it is really dark, as we are escorted to our table for the evening. Neither of my children or any of their families has been here before, so it was a treat for all of us. We walked by a side room that should have been perfect for our large group, it must have been the “Godfather” room, as all of the photographs and posters were of the films, and there was a video screen that was running the movie when I looked in. Instead our crowd with all of the kids in tow was seated at a long table along a wall, and I shall call it the “Chairman of the Board” table, because there were several framed pictures of Francis Albert Sinatra; I felt at home sitting at the end of the table. We also enjoyed listening to “Saloon Singer” crooning all of the standards of another era.

NV Capo's Restaurant
I did mention that the restaurant was dark; in fact all of the menus had a small flashlight on a string, so that the patrons could read what was available. Even taking pictures was difficult, it was that dark. The menu dishes all had taglines from assorted films and television shows about the underworld. Some of the dishes were called “Angels With Dirty Faces,” “Fredo’s Wise Guy Alfredo” and “Rat Pack Pesto” to name a few. My Bride and I both ordered “Scarface Shrimp Scampi” as she had never had it, and had always heard me talk about the dish, alas this dish had jumbo shrimp instead of prawns, but it was very well executed anyways. She started off with “Tony Duck’s Soup” also known as Pasta Fagiole and it was wonderful, while I had the Creamy Garlic salad dressing and it was one of the best versions of this long missed dressings that I have had for some time. My children and their children all ordered dishes and everyone was enjoying dinner, as you can tell, because the kids were not acting up.
As I was scanning the wine list with the flashlight, our waitress mentioned that they just received some bottles of what she called a “Baby Amarone” and my ears perked up. I had never heard that expression used and how bad could a wine like that be? So I ordered a bottle of it for dinner, and I know some would grimace with the thought of an Amarone with a shrimp dinner, but with all of the pasta hair, butter and garlic in the dish, I thought why not. The bottle of Allegrini Palazzo della Torre IGT Veronese 2010 soon arrived and it had everything that one could expect from the description. The wine was a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Sangiovese varietals and thirty percent of the grapes were done in the Ripasso method (Amarone) where the grapes are air dried before making the wine. The Allegrini family traces their wine making back to the Sixteenth Century and that would cover a lot of wine. In case you are not film buffs like I am, the quote at the beginning of the article is from “Some Like It Hot” and I immediately thought of this exchange of dialogue when the peephole door opened when we were in the door-less lobby when we entered.

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Lunch With My Son

Posted on February 6, 2015 by thewineraconteur

The purpose of all the trips to Las Vegas is to visit the children and the grandchildren that live out there; at the expense of gambling and nightlife. Of course we also have to work around the work schedules of the children, as work schedules in Las Vegas are more elongated and mostly oblivious to holidays, let alone the concept of weekends. I was very fortunate to have lunch with my son, while my Bride went off with the girls to have Sushi. We went to a restaurant near the casino we were staying at, and which we have gone to a couple of times before. We went to View Wine Bar & Kitchen in the Tivoli Village complex and over the years I watch the progress of this complex, until completion and now I am watching the second phase of construction.

Andeluna 1300 Torrontes 2013

We started off with a Charcuterie plate for two and it was a mix of Prosciutto, hot copa, olives, pickles, pesto and an assortment of mustards. We then we ordered a couple of sandwiches that we split between the two of us. One of the sandwiches was a grilled Beer Bratwurst with Cotswold Cheddar and it was excellent. The other sandwich was hot Pastrami with sautéed onions and garlic, Red Dragon cheese on a toasted Brioche, and it was great as well. We were just catching up and having some good conversations and we were full by the time the lunch was over.

Lamarca Prosecco NV

Alas, for my son, he had to go to work after our lunch, so he was not able to partake in a cocktail, beer or a glass of wine. I on the other hand started of with a glass 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. The other wine that I had during lunch was a glass of Andeluna 1300 Torrentes 2013, a charming white wine. There is the potential of this wine being a blend of three different Torrentes grapes of the region; Torrentes Sanjuanino, Torrentes Mendocino and Torrentes Riojano. Torrentes is becoming the signature white wine of Argentina and especially Mendoza, which is the largest wine region in the country. I was sad to see the lunch end, and my Bride told me that she would have preferred having lunch there, than the Sushi that she had.

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Embers in Summerlin

Posted on February 4, 2015 by thewineraconteur

Our first night in Las Vegas and we were trying to get together with our children and grandchildren, and since we were staying in Summerlin we went to a restaurant near all involved. Embers is wonderfully close to where we were staying, since it was basically kiddy-corner from our hotel and a shopping area that we go to every time we are here. We almost had everybody together this evening for dinner and the grandchildren I am glad to say were glad to see us and were quite animated; though I would be hard pressed to think of a time when they aren’t animated.

Demure Red Wine 2011

Embers had a good selection of dinners and even several dishes that were suitable for the grandchildren as well. They were able to have a table of ten for us without a problem, and that is always a good start with youngsters in tow. My Bride ordered an Ahi Tuna dish and she also enjoyed a side of Gruyere French Bread Pudding and I do believe that she enjoyed the side even more than the entrée. I went with a house entrée of Rigatoni where the meat sauce was a combination of veal, pork and beef and there was a good flavor, since I am quite fussy about my sauces. The good news is that even the food ordered for the kids were finished, and there was very little need for “doggie bags.”

Zonin Prosecco DOC NV

I started off with Zonin Prosecco DOC NV, which is an easy way to get started for the evening. Casa Vinicola Zonin SPA is Italy’s largest privately held wine company. They also have the largest Glera/Prosecco vineyards in Italy. Since the new DOC laws in the Veneto area, Prosecco can only be used in the proper area, otherwise the older varietal name is used of Glera, and I am sure that it is a great marketing tool for the wineries that have that edge. We also enjoyed a red wine afterwards, Desparada Demure Red Wine 2011 from Paso Robles. This was a delightful blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, Grenache and Sangiovese and worked very well with my dish, as well as some of the orders on the table. Onward and upward with more meals and adventures with the family.

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“How Lucky Get One Guy Be?”

Posted on February 2, 2015 by thewineraconteur

Of course now I will be singing this Dean Martin song for the rest of the day to myself, and “aint that a kick in the head?” By the time this is published I will be back to the more normal grind of life back at home, but for now I am back in Las Vegas visiting our children and grandchildren that live over here. Our other son chides us for staying the week in Summerlin and off The Strip, but since the children have houses in Summerlin, it makes sense, and after all we can always drive down to The Strip. I have been coming to Vegas since the Seventies, and I have seen the changes over the decades, and for me the old days were better.

Tiny Bubbles

In the old days Vegas was glamorous and one dressed up to the nines for a night out on the town. There were not as many hotels on The Strip as there are now, but it was exciting. The shows were wonderful, but you went to see a celebrity, not a canned show that can run for years, and the cast can be changed and no one would realize it. I mean if they changed Frank Sinatra, you would know immediately. The casinos had magnificent orchestras backing the headliners, and even the opening acts were stars. Years ago I remember being sung to at my table by Bernadette Peters in a wonderful evening gown and she was opening up for Rich Little. I remember waiting for my car, and I was standing next to Sammy Davis Jr., who was doing the same thing, and I had just seen him the night before. There was even the time that I got a bottle of bubbly, because I ended up on stage with Don Ho, the “Dean Martin” of Hawaii.

The only thing that I think has improved over the years is that now Vegas is an epicenter of cuisine. In the old days dinner was usually included with a show. One would have “surf and turf” and watch some great entertainment. The whole concept for the casinos was to keep the patrons in the complex, so the rooms and dinners were underwrote by the profits of the casino; nowadays the hotel, the bars and the restaurants all are on their own to make their own profit. This has brought some of the greatest chefs and great restaurants all to open up somewhere on The Strip. Imagine dining on the creations that were originally from Yountville, Manhattan and New Orleans just to name a few. Not only that, but you can have dinner in the Eiffel Tower one night, and then dine alongside the canals of Venice the next; Disney in the desert.

I think that my biggest gripe is that since corporations have taken over the city, the city now appears dirty. If you walk along The Strip you are accosted by individuals trying to entice you for all sorts of entertainment, but the worst part of it, is that the street is littered with all the paper advertisements that they hand out. In the old days there was none of this, and the walkways were much cleaner. I recently discovered what I consider the demise of the old guard, when I read about the film Casino on the film site imdb.com; “Dick Smothers’ character, Senator, is partly based on Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who was chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. The scene in which Sam Rothstein is denied a license by the Nevada Gaming Commission is based on a December 1978 hearing when Harry Reid was the commission’s chairman; some of Reid’s statements are used in Smothers’ dialogue. The scene was shot in an actual courtroom in the Clark County Courthouse, which was later closed in 2005.” This was the end of one era, and the start of another era.

NV Stardust MB

On the bright side, there is much more wine and quality wine available now out in the desert, but it can be very dear in price. There are those that win at the tables that would rather spend the winnings on a spectacular meal and bottle of wine, and of course sometimes those winners are “comped” by the casino, of course I don’t have to worry about that, since I don’t gamble. Since we now go out to dinner en masse with the families, the days of fine dining aren’t as plentiful, but there is still time to discover some wines to write about during our stay.

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“The Caller” Calls Again

Posted on January 31, 2015 by thewineraconteur

One of my favorite recurring characters that I tend to mention is “The Caller,” which is a great sobriquet that a fellow Blogger “The Winegetter” dubbed him. While I was doing some mundane work at the house, I received a series of text messages letting me know that I was missing a fine night of wining and dining. I always have to smile that he wishes to let me know if he has found some wines of interest. When I asked him where he was dining he let me know that he was in Grand Rapids at the Ruth Chris restaurant that is the Amway Grand Hotel. Not only was he letting me know that I was missing some wonderful wines, he was also having a great steak, he is really such a nice guy.

Belle Glos Pinot Noir 2013

I knew that the steak dinners would be excellent, and he did not have to expound on that aspect of the night. The first wine that he texted me a photo of was a bottle from Tooth & Nail Winery, The Possessor 2012 from Paso Robles, which is becoming one of my favorite areas for wine. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Malbec and has been aged for sixteen months in oak (both old and new). He was very happy with this first wine.

The Possessor 2012

A little while later, I received another photo and texts letting me know that they were enjoying a second bottle of wine, and it is a good thing that he and his wife were spending the night at the hotel. The second bottle of wine was Belle Glos Pinot Noir 2013 and from the Clark & Telegraph Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County. Joseph Wagner named this collection after his Grandmother Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, one of the cofounders of Caymus Vineyards. Now I have had wines from Caymus Vineyards and I have written about Belle Glos, but this is a much better wine than I have had from them, so far. Of course there is always time and I must thank “The Caller” to give me a heads up for a couple of new wines.

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Brass Pointe and a Surprise

Posted on January 29, 2015 by thewineraconteur

I often talk about my dinner club, including my prior article, as we meet at different restaurants the year round. One of the restaurants that we have been going to for years is the Brass Pointe in Farmington Hills, Michigan. This restaurant is more of what I would call a family restaurant with a bar, but the critical point for our club is that they have a private room that will hold forty members. We always have a good meeting there and the food is classic American fare, the greatest asset as far as I am concerned about the Brass Point is the service. There is one waitress that has been handling our group since we have been going there, and she is wonderful; by the time I get my coat and hat off and start arranging my part of the evening’s business, she has a Whiskey Sour at my side, without my even having to tell her what I would like. I would venture to say that she has about sixty percent of the membership’s favorite drink in her memory bank.

Rockbrook Shiraz 2011

As is our custom there is usually three different choices for our entrée, but at the Brass Pointe they are very accommodating to our hosts and offer us six choices. We had our choice of barbequed chicken, roasted chicken, spare ribs, cod (either broiled or fried) and barbequed salmon. Of course some of the men ordered barbequed salomon, as this is how it was typed up on our special menus courtesy of our waitress’ son, which got a chuckle or two. I opted for another dish that several people have ordered over the years and that was there “burger” which covers two pieces of their “Texas” garlic toast with cheddar and grilled onions and it was quite the meal.

MI Brass Pointe Logo

Even though as I stated that I was drinking Whiskey Sours that evening, I noticed on the blackboard as I entered the restaurant that they were touting a new Shiraz wine, and normally I do not have wine at this establishment, but I thought I would try a glass during dinner. I figured that even a mediocre wine with a burger would work, and I was surprised at how even and mellow this wine was, even though I knew in my heart that it would not be a top shelf wine. The wine that they were touting as new for them was Rockbrook Shiraz 2011, a California wine. This wine is basically a Shiraz with a “proprietary red blend” and it was very drinkable. Rockbrook is one of the wines from the Bronco Wine Company that has many wines and affiliates and is one of the largest wine companies in California. It is owned by the Franzia family with a 120 year winemaking tradition, and they are not related to Franzia Boxed Wines. I will have another of these wines or maybe try something different the next time the club meets here again.

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The Botsford Inn

Posted on January 27, 2015 by thewineraconteur

As I am getting material ready for one of my dinner club meetings, I remembered a place that was one of our former secretary’s favorite places to have a meeting on the west side. We would meet at the Botsford Inn; the Inn was established in 1836 and was restored and furnished by Henry Ford in the 1920’s. Mr. Ford was keenly interested in historic buildings, and if you have ever been to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, you can see all of the buildings that he actually had moved and restored to this setting. The Inn was situated on one of the old Indian trails from Detroit across the state, and became a stop during the wagon transportation, before we became the Motor City. There is a marker on the grounds testifying to the historic importance of the building.

Graves B&G

The Botsford Inn was a famous location for lodging and dining especially after the restoration of the building. It was very popular for their business lunches and dinners, not to mention that it was the site of many wedding receptions back in the day. The antiques and the framed quotes were just something that one would stop and admire on the way to one’s table. One of the famous dishes that they were known for was their turkey and stuffing served either for lunch or dinner throughout the year. They also would have as a regular part of the menu Poached Dover Sole stuffed with crabmeat, Chicken Cordon Bleu, a Short Ribs Casserole, Frog Legs sautéed in wine, and Calves Liver with bacon or onions. Those were pretty much staples of what restaurants offered to business men back in the day, for those that were looking for American Cuisine as opposed to Continental offerings. I remember having had most of those dishes over the years there, when we would all meet there.

MI Botsford Inn Logo

The beverage of choice back then was more of cocktails and beer (as that was what men drank back then, some of the members would chide me, when wine was not as common). I remember having white wine with a lot of the dishes, and one of the most popular wines back then was from the wine negociants of Barton and Guestier, commonly known as B&G. I am sure from a business perspective that this made a lot of sense, instead of trying to maintain a wine from a certain chateau, that a good dependable regional blend was the way to keep from changing the wine list that often. Graves was considered the birthplace of Claret wines, and while the red wines from Graves can be legendary, the area is now associated with a lot of people with a slightly dry white wine that is made primarily from the two different varietals Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The name Graves has nothing to do with cemeteries or the mortuary arts, it refers to the gravely soil that is found there from when the glaciers crossed the area and left deposits of quartz, which from the finer wines, you can encounter this particular terroir in the wines, both in the red and the white.

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Big Bear Lodge in Brownstown

Posted on January 25, 2015 by thewineraconteur

For the most part, families tend to live in the same geographic district as the rest of the family, but there are always exceptions to this rule. Here in the Detroit area, it is basically divided between the East and West side of the metropolitan area, though there are a few that try to make an argument for North and South. My Bride and her family are from the East side and she ended up on the West side, maybe the grapes grow better on the Western slope, but I digress. Well the family all had to meet, as occasionally happens away from all of our stomping grounds, unless you mix in Hockey games into the equation. We all ended up in Flat Rock, Michigan which is about an hour away for some of the family members, and for us it is still a good half hour or longer. As is the norm, when groups get together, the concept of where shall we eat comes up, and we all agreed on a restaurant that we all passed, even though we came from divergent areas of Metropolitan Detroit.

Carnivore Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Big Bear Lodge is a rather unique looking structure for the greater Detroit area, as it looks like a log cabin or a rustic hunting lodge, but of rather a large size for the average log cabin. Everyone kind of agreed that it looked like a venue one would find up North, near the Traverse City part of the state, but since we had all seen it, it would be easy to meet there for dinner. My Bride has actually been to this restaurant a couple of times in the course of her job, so she was touting the choice, which also made it an easier decision yet. Not only does the building look like a log cabin from the outside, but on the inside as well, and not to mention all the outdoor activity props that are mounted on the walls and anyplace that they could find an open space. The menu was for the most part American comfort food, with some of the great outdoors added to zing up the menu. While being eclectic in the food offerings from Nachos and pizzas to pasta to Angus steaks, there was some buffalo, ostrich and elk dishes, so one had to study the menu for a couple of minutes as the eight of us did. My Bride had what she has always gotten at the restaurant a grilled salmon salad that had mixed greens, roasted corn, black bean relish and topped with crunch onion strips. I was all set to order some St. Louis style ribs, because from the moment I had entered into the restaurant I could smell them cooking, but I decided to try something a little different. They had Buffalo Meatloaf on garlic mashed redskins also topped with crispy onion strings. The dish had very good flavor, though it was a bit heavier then I had anticipated, since most buffalo dishes that I have had were on the lighter side, but I did finish my dinner. I was surprised at how quickly we were seated since there were eight of us, but then I looked around and noticed that there were quite a few large tables and all of the tables were busy, so they do a very good business, which is always great to see.

MI Big Bear Lodge Logo

They even had a good selection of assorted beverages; one of the woman ordered a drink called a “Flannel Blanket” which was hot cocoa with Baileys and Grand Marnier and she said it was wonderful. The beer list was international and it contained all of the most popular choices that most people know. I was surprised as the depth of the wine list, while they were no spectacular wines listed on the carte there was a good choice of many different varietals, plus house wines, all listed as from dry to sweet, and from light to full bodied. While my Bride enjoyed a BV Chardonnay, I tried a Merlot, but it was a bit lighter than I anticipated. To accompany my dinner I ordered a glass of Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, which is made by E. & J. Gallo Winery and carries a California designation. It was a decent glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, not a lot of nuance, but good color and tannins, and it tasted like a Cab should for the money. Alas after dinner, I notice a placard on another table that showed that they also had at the moment a Cline Syrah, and I would have probably ordered that to go with my dinner, but my drink did suffice. All in all, we enjoyed our time together as well as our dinner and drinks. If I am ever out that way again, I may stop there again.

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MWWC #13: Tradition

Posted on January 23, 2015 by thewineraconteur

“At three I started Hebrew school; at ten I learned a trade.
I hear they picked a Bride for me, I hope she’s pretty.
The Sons. The Sons.
Tradition!”

“You’ve either got or you haven’t got style.
A hats not a hat, ‘til it’s tilted.
A flowers not a flower, if it’s wilted.”

wine-stain Monthly Wine Challenge

It is that time again for another Monthly Wine Writers Challenge and this is the thirteenth challenge, and the theme was suggested by Duff’s Wines, and the theme is “tradition.” You will have to excuse me, but each time I looked at this word, those two songs kept popping into my head and a couple of the other more creative Wine Bloggers that I follow would have had some great videos inserted into the article, but I guess I am a bit technologically challenged.

Ch Pichon Lalande 1964

I have been steeped in tradition of all types. My nationality has many traditions that I try to uphold, and even have tried to instill into my children. My neighborhood that I grew up in also had some new traditions; one could say that also shaped my outlook. Then there were the traditions that I acquired from literature, and of course someone of my age also grew up with traditions handed down through the Silver Screen of Cinema. I am probably a walking encyclopedia of tradition for the clothing industry as I remember some of the vaunted names of the past, and not to mention some of the great rules that governed men’s apparel. To give you just one example and it may be my favorite rule of tradition “a gentleman never wears a wrist watch with a tuxedo, because time does not matter when one is formal.” I guess a wristwatch was considered gauche, but one could always wear a pocket watch with a tuxedo.

Grands Echezeaux 1967

Now the problem is that in my era, I also grew up with Non-Traditional ideas as well. My generation learned a new “tradition” from the Anti-Hero. From the swagger of a Rhett Butler, to the cynicism of a Rick Blaine or a Sam Spade; and then there was the Rat Pack, which turned a lot of traditions upside down in those “ring-a-ding” years. The cool guys had a bit of rebellion in them. In my day who was cooler than Steve McQueen? Even when he was the epitome of tradition of style and grace, he was still the perfect rebel in “The Thomas Crown Affair” and he was elegant in his beautiful wardrobe.

CoteRotie1967

So what does all this rambling on and waxing poetic about clothes and social mores have to do with wine and more importantly about tradition? My readers of any length of time know that I live with a rebel to one of the great traditions of wine. My Bride loves red wines with her salmon. One of the long traditions of wine is that red wine goes with red meats and white wines go with white “meats” and fish is generally considered a white “meat.” Through trial and error one can always agree that a full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or a Bordeaux blend pairs wonderfully with a steak or roasted beef. As the meat lightens in color, so do the wines. I enjoy a Merlot with venison, Pinot Noir with duck (anything else is sacrilegious to me), Grenache and Syrah with pork. With a wonderful filet, a Pauillac is Heaven sent. A Cote Rotie can be perfect with almost any other red meat, including a filet. Fish on the other hand usually requires something lighter so as not to overpower the delicacy of the dish. Is there anything more harmonious in life than a glass of Puligny-Montrachet with a perfectly prepared dish of fish?

Pommard AlexisLichine 1966

Enter my Bride into the picture and her enjoyment of a red wine with her salmon, which is probably the fish she prefers the most, followed closely by a great filet of Ahi Tuna. When we are dining I always try to see what my little “rebel” is going to order, so I can order something for myself, and then find a wine that we both can enjoy together. Usually I go for a Pinot Noir or sometimes a Merlot, because to me these are the more feminine or softer wines and I can always find a wine that will make me happy.

Puligny-Montrachet clos du cailleret

So tradition be damned at times (did I just say that?), especially if it makes you happy. Without a doubt every time my Bride rebels against tradition, I also think of that great dialogue from another anti-hero hero Sean Connery as Bond, James Bond:

“Red wine with fish. Well that should have told me something.”

“You may know the right wines, but you’re the one on your knees. How does it feel old man?”

Posted in Monthly Wine Writing Challenge, Wine | 8 Comments