A Handy Gift for Me

Posted on September 8, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I sometimes torment my poor readers, if there are any left, with some of the most hideous examples of wine labels available.  When I first discovered wine, the labels would soak off a bottle with no effort and they were pristine, unless I dripped wine on them from pouring.  Nowadays, a lot of wineries use a contact label, similar to the labels produced by the Post Office for stamps, which defy one to remove the item once it has been affixed.  I have belabored this point on occasion, as I have attempted to save every wine label of every bottle of wine that I have drank.  I also attempt to show just the removed label, as actual proof that I have had the wine, in hopes that nobody would think I have a fertile imagination and just created a memory.

 Peter Michael Les Pavots 2000

They were first saved in a scrap book, and then once I decided that I was getting serious, I saved them and they became the “wallpaper” in my wine cellar.  I thought this was a very cool idea.  As a side note, I have been collecting the corks as well, and as soon as I can get motivated they will be the crown molding in my cellar, some times I am crafty, in an arts and crafts type of crafty.  All this is an introduction to a product that I have seen once or twice, but for some reason, I have never purchased it.  Then the other day, one of my Bride’s oldest and dearest friends who attend estate sales, saw this product and bought it, thinking that I could use it.  The product is called “label-saver” and it is from The Wine Enthusiast group.  It is for labels 5”x 6” though the picture shows a Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982 label being removed from the bottle, but I know that particular label is bigger than the dimensions of the product that I have just tried.  I shall have to look to see if they offer different sizes.  This “label-saver” is placed over the wine label while it is on the bottle and then when one pulls it back, it actually splits the paper from the glue that remains adhered to the bottle.

 Peter Michael Les Pavots 2000 Label

I have a couple of cases of empty bottles in my garage of wines that I have enjoyed, but the labels either have defied my removing them, the color dies of the label bleach out from the hot water, or I have just been afraid to try some of them.  One example that I will show was from a bottle of Peter Michael “Les Pavots” 2000, a wonderful “Bordeaux” style wine from Calistoga, in the Napa Valley.  As one can see, I attempted to remove the label, in my traditional method and stopped when I saw that I was not having any success.  This was going to be my first attempt with the product, and I am happy to say that I am thrilled with the success of it.

 Marilyn Merlot 2000

The second bottle that I tried it on was a Marilyn Merlot 2000, while not in the same category as the Peter Michael, it is a wine that I have thoroughly enjoyed over the years, and I have to say, that I love the portraits of Marilyn that they use.  The problem that I have encountered with these labels is that the colors fade in the hot water that I use to loosen the glue, and they come out as poor examples of what the original looked like.  Now the Marilyn labels are larger than the “label-saver” so I did an experiment and positioned the “saver” the other direction, then what the instructions advised.  As you can see from another scan, the label did not come off as well as the Peter Michael label did.  I can only surmise that the glue and paper have a directional affinity, and does not work against the grain.

 Marilyn Merlot 2000 Label

I am happy with the initial test, and I now realize that there is a limit to the size label that I can remove at the moment, so some of the bottles will still continue to reside in my garage, until I can find another alternative.  I am a patient man, and that reminds me that I need a glass of wine at this moment, as I ponder my next article.

Label Saver

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Hooray for Hollywood

Posted on September 6, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I was out in the garage getting some empty wine bottles to soak off the labels for my scrap book of references.  Of course the men that handle the recycling tubs must think we throw some great parties or we are really winos.  For some odd reason there are always more bottles then I can do at one session, but such is life.

 Short Ends Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

One of the bottles that I grabbed, alas, I cannot soak off the label as it is printed right onto the glass, and I gave the bottle a second look and smiled as I remember that it was brought to us, by one of our guests at a dinner party.  The wine is made by Hollywood & Vine Cellars of Napa Valley.  It was a bottle of Short Ends Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2008.  The advertising blurb on the back of the bottle says “When making a movie and there’s not enough film left in the camera for another take, we replace the magazine and call the left over film stock; “Short Ends.”  Similarly, after crafting our Hollywood and Vine “2480” wines, we often have a little wine left from each of our world class vineyard sources, and we blend those “Short Ends” into this remarkable and uniquely delicious Napa Valley wine.”

 Rubicon

As I read this, it made me think of films that I have seen about wines, the most notable being “Bottle Shock” and “Sideways,” but there are others.  Then I thought about some of the people from Hollywood that have either granted rights to their name from the estates or actually make wines.

 Raymond Burr Vineyards

The most notable would be Francis Ford Coppola, the author and director with a collection of Academy Awards to his credit.  I think his finest wine is his Rubicon that I first tasted at the vineyard and winery of his Niebaum-Coppola.   Then there is the Raymond Burr Vineyards, as well as the Mac Murray Ranch, which was originally a ranch, and replanted as a vineyard by the daughter of Fred Mac Murray.

 MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River 2010

Then I can think of two actors that the estates must have allowed the use of the names.   I have bottle of Korbel Sinatra Champagne.  And I have several bottles of wine that I have enjoyed over the years by the Marilyn Merlot group, they also have a younger Merlot called Norma Jean, and a Champagne, a Sauvignon Blonde and a Meritage that features the famous Playboy pinup poster with a printed plastic cover for displaying the wine in shops, which covers that famous pose.

 Korbel Sinatra

I am well aware that there are many other “celebrity” wines and wineries, but I kept this story to the ones that I have enjoyed over the years.

Norma Jean Merlot Napa 2006

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Celebrating the September Birthdays

Posted on September 4, 2013 by thewineraconteur

As I have written before, we get together once a month to celebrate all of the birthdays for all of the members of the extended family.  It makes it easier then trying to get multiple dates that are good for everyone to attend.  There was some question as to where the venue was to be held, and it eventually fell to one of my Sister-In-Law’s home, so that the kids could go swimming as well, as there is not a lot to do at our house for the youngsters.

 Santa Rita 120 Chardonnay 2012

My Bride started making the preparations for the party on Saturday, as she was meeting one of her oldest friends to make a day of it at the Eastern Market, which if you are not a Detroiter, is a huge series of warehouses where Farmers bring their goods to sell to the public, during the week, it is more for the wholesalers and the restaurants to go and buy fresh products.  There are also many businesses in the Eastern Market area, so one can make a day of it, and have lunch as well, from the many eateries that are located there.  My Bride tends to be the caterer for all of the parties, which is good, as I believe she is the best of the cooks of her family, here in town, her other sister in Louisville is also an accomplished cook as well.  While she and her girlfriend walked the Market, she was designing the dinner that she would make the next day, and she also bought a couple of bottles of wine at a wine shop that is located at the market.

For the dinner, there were many appetizers that were brought by other members of the family; these were mainly salsas, dips, cold cuts and the likes.  My Bride served fresh corn that she had bought, as well as Brussels sprouts that she had sautéed with bacon and onions.  She also made pork tenderloins that she had a marinade of orange juice, soy, garlic and sesame oil, as well as some chicken breast that had a marinade of sesame sauce, both of which were then grilled on the barbeque.  She also made her Caesar Salad, and she made “Birthday Brownies.”  Some of the other invitees brought salads and deserts as well.

 SeaGlass Sauvignon Blanc 2012

She wanted to try the two wines that she had bought.  The first wine was a Santa Rita 120 Chardonnay 2012 from D.O. Valle Central Chile.  Valle Central or Central Valley is one huge designation in Chile, which encompasses many areas, elevations and terroir.  There are some inner designations of the Valle Central, so if you are using this as an indicator, you may get many different tastes from the same varietals, because of the large land mass involved.  I must say that this wine is un-oaked, and had a crisp taste, but there was a definite flint or metal taste to it, which may have been a surprise to some that tried the wine, but very good for the summer.  The other bottle of wine that my Bride bought was SeaGlass Sauvignon Blanc Santa Barbara County 2012.  While the Seaglass Wine Company is located in Napa Valley, this wine was from the Santa Barbara County.  It is a very light wine both in the nose and the acidity.  To me it is a classic California Sauvignon Blanc, not noteworthy but a nice glass of wine on a hot day, with a slight fruit aftertaste.  It was not as crisp as the earlier Chardonnay, and perhaps it should have been the first wine to open as I think it would have been better with the munchies before dinner.  All in all, it was another fine dinner by my Bride, even with the logistics of moving everything to another kitchen.  Bravo.

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A Carafe of Wine

Posted on September 2, 2013 by thewineraconteur

When I first started going out for dinner and drinks on dates as a teenager, I used to try places that were off the beaten track.  One of the reasons was that I figured there would be fewer problems about being asked for proof of age.  I knew that I was a scofflaw, but it was fun and I figured the worse case scenario would be that I would have to drink a Coke with dinner.

 Wine Carafe

By the time I went to the Blue Danube Restaurant and Tavern in Windsor, Ontario I was already in college, so I may have been of age or not, as I cannot quite remember the year that I was there.  This was a Hungarian restaurant that was getting some good reviews even in Detroit, and I was acquainted with some of the Eastern European dishes from growing up in my old neighborhood.  This was a place to get Chicken Paprikash and dishes of this type, nothing fancy, but the food would sate a young man with a voracious appetite.

 ON Blue Danube MB

As for the wine, I remember getting a carafe of red wine.  Nowadays this would be a warning signal to me, but then I was not as sophisticated, if I ever really got sophisticated.  Now I would think that a carafe is a way to dispense jug wine and it probably was then as well, but I can not pass judgment at this time.  For those of you, who have no idea was a carafe is, it is a large open mouth glass decanter that held about a Liter of wine and it would be accompanied usually with two small all purpose wine glasses.  A carafe was a very common site in restaurants at the time.  The wine is not identified, and I was too naive to inquire, as it was wine and I was being served.   I still remember that this was a rather common way to get “wine” years ago, but I am thankful that it is not the norm today.

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A Memory of Toronto

Posted on August 31, 2013 by thewineraconteur

When I was growing up, even though my Father came from Canada, we never went to Toronto.  My Father used to refer to it as “Cow Town” and that may be because it was a much smaller city when he was a youth, and Detroit, was a bustling metropolis back then.  He spoke very highly of Ottawa, but not of Toronto, so hence my early memories of Canada were of Windsor, Hamilton, St. Catherines and Kingsville.  I only went to Toronto, or as my relatives called it “TO” after I got a driver’s license.  The first time I was there , was probably just after Toronto started blossoming as a major international city, and now it is so cosmopolitan that it needs just it’s name, without a province or a country, and yet everyone knows the name.

   Ch Montrose 1969

One of the places that I remember was Barberian’s Steak and Lobster House, and it was touted because it was owned by a successful Armenian restraunteur.  At that age, going to a restaurant was a bit daunting, because of the limited knowledge I had of food and preparation.  Let me say that we always ate extremely well growing up, but the scope of food was more pedestrian, and a “steak house” was in my realm of comfort.  There is something to said about the old days and dressing to the nines for dinner because no quality restaurant ever seemed to ask for proof that I was old enough to drink.   I remember getting what I thought was a very sophisticated dinner at the time, and let me say that it was a very good dinner, and I have probably ordered this dinner many more times in my life with out any remorse.  I started out with a Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, and then had French Onion Soup, as even back then, I was not very partial to salads.  I had a “Surf and Turf” dinner, way back when it always meant a filet mignon and a lobster tail on the plate, and I remember ordering Béarnaise Sauce to seem more grown up.  I also remember ordering a Chocolate Mousse for dessert, because I thought it was just a fancy name for pudding, so much for my sophistication.

ON Barberian's MB

I remember splurging on the wine, and it was one of the wines that I could afford, nowadays I might have to think twice about it.  I had a bottle of Chateau Montrose 1969. It is a Second Growth wine from the Medoc Classification and comes from Saint-Estephe, and I was really big time with that selection.  I remember it being wonderful at the time, even though it was not a highly regarded year for Bordeaux and was rated “adequate” by those in the know.  To me it was heaven sent, but then how many Medoc wines had I enjoyed at that time, I would say it was safe to say not that many.  Though looking back I still think that I made a good call.

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Another Club Meeting

Posted on August 29, 2013 by thewineraconteur

My dinner club had another meeting and we met at the Plymouth Crossing in Plymouth, Michigan.  This is an historic building with a background that I have discussed before, when I mentioned another dinner that I had there with my Bride.  This evening with my club, we were seated in a back room they maintain for parties or groups around thirty-five people or so.

 A to Z Pinot Noir Oregon 2011

This was one of the nights when we have a “Dutch Treat” or we each pay our own way for the night, as the norm is, when we meet three members act as host for the evening.  We still maintained the classic format of three different entrée offerings which were Atlantic salmon, Chicken Marsala and the “Crossing” Rib eye steak with appropriate sides, as well as a salad and dessert.  The only downside was that there was only one waiter for the room, and the dinner portion of the meeting was elongated because of this factor.

 MI Plymouth Crossing Menu

A friend and I decided to order a bottle of wine, which was not part of the wines by the glass that the restaurant was serving.  We ordered a bottle of A to Z Oregon Pinot Noir 2011 with their copyrighted tag of “Aristocratic Wines at Democratic Prices.”  In keeping with that tag line, the bottle had a screw cap closure, and on the back label had a circle with a corkscrew in the center with a diagonal bar across it, an emblem that I had not seen or at least noticed before.  The wine was made for immediate drinking instead of for storage, in my humble opinion, as it was very fruit forward.  This surprised me, as I had never had a bottle of Pinot Noir that had such a strong shift of this nature, at the first taste of it, if I had been offered this glass of wine without seeing the bottle, I do not know if I could have identified it as a Pinot Noir wine.  After breathing a bit, it did smooth out a bit, but it was still heavily fruit forward, which I found to be not the best pairing with the steak, but I think it would have been fine with the Chicken Marsala.  So there are days, like this that I call a learning experience.

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A Busy Day

Posted on August 27, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I was under the weather for about a week with a nasty bug, which really curtailed my passion for friends, food and drink.  Some time I wonder, with all the medicine (wine) and garlic in my diet, how does a germ get through?  Needless to say, it happens on occasion and I missed out on a couple of good times.  My Bride though was a trouper and she handled the day with her usual brio, so this is a second hand report.

 Mionetto Il Prosecco NV

First off, she went to visit her cousin and celebrated her birthday with her husband, and they had a quiet lunch with a spread of cold cuts and good conversation.  Some of my Bride’s first cousins may as well be her sisters, as she has such a good bond with them.  She knows that her cousin enjoys a slightly sweeter wine, then we usually drink, but she obliged none the less, and picked up a bottle of Mionetto “Il” Prosecco from the Veneto region of Italy.  This wine is billed as “ “The” Gentle-Sparkling Wine”” and it is made in the Charmat Method, also known as “cuve close” which is where secondary fermentation rather than in the individual bottle is done in large pressure sealed stainless steel containers and then after fermentation is poured into the individual bottles.  While not as nuanced as classic bottle of Champagne, one gets a very pleasant glass of sparkling wine, without the loss of bottles and wine that is common in the Champagne region of France.  The closure on the bottle is also different, it is neither cork, plastic or screw cap, but like an old fashioned beer or soda pop bottle cap, with a D.O.C. banderole attached from the bottle to the cap.   Another unique aspect about this wine is that it is made of a grape varietal Glera, which if you are going after the Century Club designation, this is another grape variety to add to your list.

 MI Lathrup Village Glass

After the birthday get-together she drove over to one of her friends and picked her up to go to the City of Lathrup Village for their Sixtieth Anniversary.  The city was celebrating with a pig roast, hula dancers and a fire dancer with a theme of a luau.  Afterwards they had a dance band performing and I did get a couple of calls about what a wonderful event that I was missing, as well as the dancing that I could have been enjoying.  Alas she did not take pictures of the wine, as she said that she was drinking Woodbridge Chardonnay, which is part of the Mondavi family of wines of California.  She felt that it wasn’t necessary, and I guess everybody is an editor at times, especially when they do not have to do the writing, just the enjoying of the event.  All in all, she had a great day, while I was in recuperation mode, and she would not been able to enjoy the day as much with an ailing spouse, so I do thank her, for having a grand time.

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That Canvas Poster and Grace Kelly

Posted on August 25, 2013 by thewineraconteur

About 1994 we were on a trip to Chicago and we had some free time and we were walking and shopping.  We ended up in a gallery that featured posters, not the glossy paper reprints that can be found anywhere; these were canvas like, for exterior use like being glued onto a kiosk.  We found a delightful poster that was offered in three different sizes, the largest was just too large for a wall in a house, so we settled on the medium sized one.  The gentleman that was helping us at the gallery kept alluding that the rumor was that it was Grace Kelly that was lady in the black evening gown in an advertisement for Taittinger Champagne.  I could not ascertain if it was Grace Kelly, but the story was good, the canvas poster was well designed and it was relatively affordable, until we got home and had it framed.

 L'Instant Taittinger

I never really thought about it much after we hung it up on a wall, until I got off on this tangent of art and wine memories.  So I tried to do some research, though mostly what I found were paper copies of this poster offered at all price ranges, and all proclaiming Grace Kelly and Taittinger Champagne.  When we made the purchase I had presumed that perhaps she had modeled for this advertisement prior to her being discovered by Hollywood.  It appears that this promotion began in 1988, so the poster was not as old as I had imagined and was created by Claude Taittinger and that there was a paper poster version of this made to be given out with each case of Taittinger Champagne.  Not to mention that this artwork was used in print advertisements for periodicals and rotogravure sections of papers.

 Taittinger Brut NV

Taittinger Champagne is one of the fabled houses of Reims, and they were founded in 1734.  The two main grape varietals that are used to make Champagne are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  This discourse is not the time to discuss the many steps required to make Champagne, and most Champagne that is purchased is of a non-vintage blend, that the houses all make year after year all with the intent of keeping their “taste” similar, and on occasion when there is such a spectacular harvest they will declare a vintage issue.  I have only had Taittinger Champagne once in all of the bottles of Champagne that I have had that I can recall, or I have only been able to save one label for proof.  I still find this a wonderful story each time I look at the poster hanging on our wall, and I still relate the romantic story that I was told when we purchased it years ago.

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Memories from Our Honeymoon

Posted on August 23, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Every morning as I go downstairs to have my morning breakfast and coffee, I get to wander by some art work, which always reminds me of our honeymoon.  We both had never gone on an ocean cruise, so that is what we opted to do.  We thought of Caribbean sunsets, romance, dancing, fine food and fine wine.

 Laboure-Roi Pommard 1993

After getting situated on board our ship, we decided to check out a Champagne Art Auction that was to be held that afternoon.  We went thinking that perhaps we could find a piece or two for our new home, and to start the trip off right with some champagne.  We went to the auction and enjoyed some house champagne and looked at the art work that was available, and we also found out that an auction would be held each day of the trip, so we knew that we would have a stop to make daily, if time permitted.  We eventually ended up with three pieces that we won during the week, and on the last auction, there was one piece that we had fallen in love with, but the price was very dear.  When it did not sell, I approached them with a private treaty offer for the piece and it was accepted, we were elated and much poorer from the experience.

 Martiro's Mixed Media

Another memory I had was that when we had booked our trip, we were assured that we could have a table for two, since; after all we were on our honeymoon.  The first night when we went for our table, we found out that not only did we not have our private table, but we were not seated with other honeymooners, because of our age, we were to be seated at a table where the other diners were the ages of our parents.  I then recalled that they had discussed during our orientation of a private dining room at the top of the ship, that was more for intimate dining, and the only proviso, was that there was a mandatory three dollar per person gratuity required, which did not sound so outrageous, so we made a bee line there.  The room was more like a fine restaurant instead of the large cavern that dinners were held in, and that instead of an hour and half that was allotted one could spend as long as they desired having dinner.  We had found our location; we figured that we could spend about three hours for dinner and still make it to the shows and events for each evening.

             Lady in Red                  Oriental Lady on Handmade Rice Paper

Our waiter, from the outset, informed us that he was going to spread out our dinner, because he claimed that “Americans” ate much too quickly, so he made each evening last for at least three hours.  While our dinners were not the event styles that one hears about on a cruise, they were excellent dinners, and we ended up trying almost every dish on the menu by the week’s end.  There were hot and cold appetizers, with some of the best escargot that I have had to this day.  The Caesar Salad was so impressive and it was made table side, that my Bride, tried to make copious notes of each step, but our waiter said that it was not necessary and brought us out a card with the recipe that he used, and we still use that recipe, and my Bride always gets rave reviews for her salad.  The entrées that were served were varied, some pasta dishes, veal, steak, chicken and of course sea food and fish.  I kept one of the menus as a souvenir and I am glad that I did.  There were also several desserts offered each night and served with some wonderful coffee.

 Modern Art Mixed Media

We enjoyed a different bottle of wine each night with our dinner, but alas this was when the “new” glues were just started to be implemented by the wineries, both domestic and foreign.  Each night we asked to have the label soaked off of the bottles and only one bottle of wine was successful and we were not going to try to carry seven empty bottles back with us, along with all of the duty free purchases we made and were bringing home as well.  The only label that I have to show for the trip was a Laboure-Roi Pommard 1993.  This is one of the famed villages of the Cote de Beaune in the Burgundy area of France, and a fine bottle of wine it was made from the Pinot Noir grape varietal which is the grape for the area.

Norwegian Cruise Line MB

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Wyandotte Art Fair

Posted on August 21, 2013 by thewineraconteur

The term “raconteur” means a story teller, and as “The Wine Raconteur” I can look at an item and relate it to a story about wine.  The late comic Morey Amsterdam was known for having a joke file in his brain, and if one gave him a word, he could use it in a joke.  I am not equating my ability with a fabled comic, but I feel that I can humbly achieve a similar consequence.  There was a period when my Bride enjoyed going to art fairs, some were small and others were quite large, as in the Wyandotte Art Fair which encompasses the majority of the downtown streets.

 Iris Print 1

At that point we were in an acquisition mode for our new home and we were looking for art that we both could appreciate and hang on our walls.  We met after work and went to walk the show in anticipation of finding something, and I remember that it was one of the hottest days of the summer, and since we were both in business attire, we were sweltering.  As we walked past booth after booth of arts and crafts and other sundry items that are the hallmarks of these shows, and I might add that this show carries awards and is up in the pecking order of these art shows;  my Bride espied our next purchase.  There were two numbered litho prints by one of the artists and they both had a depiction of irises.  Now let me explain that one of the criteria when we were shopping for a new home was a formal dining room, and that room has served us well over the years.  The wallpaper in the dining has a very subtle pattern of irises, and these two pictures were going to go into our dining room.

 Iris Print 2

Now here is where the wine comes into our story.  After purchasing the two framed pieces of art, we decided to go and have a bite to eat, and to get out of the heat and humidity.  Suffice it to say, that neither of us care for the food that is associated with art fairs, so we went to a tavern that has served downtown Wyandotte for years called RP McMurphy’s.  Now if you are movie buff, that name might ring a bell, it was the lead character’s name from the play and later film “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”  The establishment reminds one of an old speakeasy from the Roaring Twenties, and its appearance has not really been altered probably from that period.  They make some great sandwiches and great bar food, and that is what I chose, my Bride being much more health conscious than I had a big salad.  I can not tell you for sure what brand of wine we had that evening, other then the request for “cold” chardonnay and they kept coming, until we finished our meal and we had beat the heat.

MI RPMcMurphy's MB

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