Accents, Mexican Food and Wine

Posted on January 30, 2013 by thewineraconteur

There was an out of the way Mexican restaurant called Accents, which was in a converted house, that you could pass by, if you weren’t paying attention.  The building was painted black and recessed among some other businesses, so it hardly stood out on a busy road.  If you discovered it, then you had found a unique restaurant.  Most restaurants of this genre are more Tex-Mex or as I like to say Mexican food for Americans.

MI Accents MB

 

Accents was a different experience for a Mexican restaurant, and you had better like spices, because they had a heavy hand using spices.  They also liked the heat turned up in their dishes.  Starting from the salsa and chips that were brought out, almost every dish had hot spices.  They also had some of the greatest mole sauce we had ever encountered.  Mole sauce is made with Mexican chocolate, but do not think that it is sweet, if it is made well, there is fire in that sauce.

Longevo La Mancha 1991

 

Consequently because of the “hotness” of certain dishes, most people drink Margaritas or beer with this type of cuisine.  We discovered a Spanish wine that was extremely pleasant with the food we always ordered.  It was simply labeled La Mancha Red Table Wine by Longevo.  La Mancha is the largest continuous vine growing district in the world.  There are over 300 wineries licensed to be listed as Denominacion de Origen, which is the Spanish regulating system.  By law the wines can be Cencibel (also known as Tempranillo), Garnach, Moravia, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.  As you can see there is a wide range of tastes that can be found in La Mancha wines.  This wine worked very well with the spices and made the dinner all that much more enjoyable.

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L’Escoffier in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Posted on January 29, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Ann Arbor is known as an academic center in the state, being the home of the University of Michigan.  The university is located right downtown of the city, and right off of the quad of the university is the Bell Tower Hotel.  This gracious old world style hotel offers sixty rooms of comfort with in walking distance of the university and the very cosmopolitan downtown with an assortment of restaurants and shopping.

MI L'Escoffier MB

We once dined in a wonderful restaurant that was located in the Bell Tower Hotel called L’Escoffier, a beautiful establishment featuring Continental Cuisine.  The French influence of the menu was very apparent, especially when you consider that the restaurant was named after a much heralded chef in this own rights Georges Auguste Escoffier who is credited with updating classic French culinary arts in the Nineteenth Century.  He is also known for his collaboration with Cesar Ritz at the Savoy Hotel in London, and from there the two men changed the hotel industry.

 

 

At L’Escoffier we had a wonderful dinner that displayed the Continental touch.  Starting with seared Foie Gras and then a charming salad, the dinner experience began.  My Bride had a salmon dish that was prepared with a marinade and spices and I enjoyed medallions of beef with a very rich sauce and both dishes were not only presented perfectly, but prepared perfectly as well.  We finished off with a fine dessert that we shared with some wonderful coffee.

Beaune Clos de la Mousse 1999

 

We had with our dinner a Premier Cru wine from Beaune in the Burgundy region.  The particular wine Clos de la Mousse 1999 is from Domaine Bouchard Pere & Fils, a monopole for this particular wine.  There are many monopole wines in the Burgundy region, left over from the time of Napoleon.  These are wines that are estate grown and bottled by a single concern, instead of the use of a Negociants.

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Water Club

Posted on January 28, 2013 by thewineraconteur

This was more of a neighborhood restaurant with fancy touches; it is a shame that they suffered the same fate as so many other restaurants do.  John Cleveland’s Water Club had a nice selection of fresh fish and several choices of meat.  They were not all over the board trying to be something for everyone.

MI Water Club MB

 

I guess the biggest problem they may have had, was trying to decide if they were going to be an upscale or more of a neighborhood favorite.  While all of the dishes were very well prepared and presented, there was a marked swing in the price of some of the dishes, which in the end may have caused confusion for their clientele.

 

 

Over the course of a year, we dined there several times, enjoying some very good fish and seafood dishes.  The dishes were not “knock-outs,” but good quality plates of food.  There were no memorable dishes, though there was never a dish or service that caused us to stop going there.  One day we drove over there and the lights were off.

Woodbridge Chardonnay 1999

 

I think the problem we had, was that the wine selection was not well thought out.  There were no stars, just workman like selections that were popular retail wine choices.  When we go out, we do like to try a new wine, and it was where we could not experiment.  We would usually get a bottle of say a Woodbridge Chardonnay 1999 by the Robert Mondavi family of wines.  This is a workhorse of wine, which can be found in most retail establishments.  While a very safe and dependable wine coming from an established corporation, it really was not what we hoped for when dining out.  When it is the best wine in its classification, then that is what you order.

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Vallado Douro 1999

Posted on January 27, 2013 by thewineraconteur

There are days that I write several articles at a time, and as anyone who has ever written a blog knows, there is plenty of preparation time.  In my case there is collating a venue with a certain wine or wines.  Sometimes if I am writing about a certain district or commune like Pauillac; checking the assorted strata of the classification list.

 

 

Then there is the scanning of the assorted memorabilia and labels, and then balancing the picture to make it as clear as possible.  There is the research and then the writing, then I use two different sets of tools to make sure that grammar and spelling is correct.  Then there is the process of getting the article and the images together and schedule when the article is to be published.

 

 

Why am I talking about all of this?  When I am writing, trying to please my personal Muse, I get thirsty.  What will make The Wine Raconteur happy, while he is trying to please his Muse?  He goes down to the cellar and selects something that looks interesting that will be pleasant with some cheese and crackers.  I also get the munchies on occasion.

Vallado Douro 1999

 

The last couple of days I have been enjoying a bottle of wine from Portugal.  I opened a bottle of Vallado Douro Vinho Tinto 1999.  According to the back label the first mention of Quinta do Vallado dates back to 1716.  This wine has been family produced by the same family since 1818 on sixty hectares of vineyards.  The wine is a blend of Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Amarela.  In 2002 The Wine Spectator listed this wine in their list of the best wines for the year with a score 91.  It placed as number 78 out of 100.

 

 

This was a wonderful little wine to savor as I did my blog work.  It was lighter in color then I expected, but part of it may have been its age.  The tannins had mellowed and it was just an easy drinking wine.  I was also surprised at the amount of deposit that developed as it aged in the bottle.  All in all I enjoyed the wine and I really enjoyed it in a casual atmosphere.  It also was pleasant with the chili that my Bride made the other day.

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The Sardine Factory in Monterey

Posted on January 26, 2013 by thewineraconteur

After a leisurely afternoon in the Cannery Row District of Monterey, we were looking forward to a great dinner.  We were going to the Sardine Factory Restaurant that has not only a DiRoNA Award, but the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award for its wine cellar.  We were pre-sold on this establishment.

CA Sardine Factory MB

We had a reservation and they brought us to our table with the menu and one of the finest wine lists I have ever seen.  I needed my classic Vermouth Cocktail while I studied this tome, which was handed to me.  It could have been the telephone white pages for a small community.  As I waded through the list, and reading aloud some of the great wines offered, all I could think of was where is that money tree; I have always heard about and never saw.  I was a kid in a candy store, with only a dime in his pocket.

Restaurant Row-Sardine Factory Restaurant

We ordered a seafood oriented dinner, which made the wine selection easier as it was only about a third of the wine list.  We had ordered an appetizer of sardines, with the name of the restaurant and the fact that this is hardly ever offered, we went for it.  They brought out a platter, about the size I use at Thanksgiving for the turkey that I carve filled with what seemed like an endless row of skinless and boneless sardines.  The platter also had hard boiled eggs, capers and onions.  We were amazed and glad that we did not order two different appetizers.  By the time we finished sharing this plate, we could have been done, but we still had each ordered an entrée.  To be truthful, I remember the food being excellent, but both my Bride and I can not recall the rest of this dinner, the sardine appetizer tray has been etched permanently in our memory cells.

 

I do remember the wine that we enjoyed from Domaine Laroche Chablis Premier Cru “Les Fourchaumes” 1995.  It was exquisite and seemed to pair with the meal, which we cannot recall.  Even though Chablis is considered part of the Burgundy region, this white wine is much more crisp and dry with more of a mineral taste compared to the classic white wines of the Cote de Beaune.

Domaine Laroche Les Fourchaumes Chablis Premier Cru 1995

After our dinner and before we enjoyed coffee and dessert, our waiter took us on a tour of the restaurant.  We saw the different rooms for the diners and each room had its own décor and ambiance.  He also took us in the back of the restaurant to the glass-domed Conservatory.  I had never been to this restaurant, but this room created a sense of deja-vu for me.  There must have been a movie that I remember from my youth that was filmed in this room, but to this day I cannot remember the film.  Our waiter then took us down into the cellar and showed us a special dining area with a table so long and large, that he explained that it was actually made in the room.  He also led us through the huge wine cellar that had entranced me just from reading the wine list.  It was wonderful to be so close to so many great bottles of wine.  This restaurant should be on your “must do” list if you get a chance to go to the Monterey area, as it is a once in a lifetime place

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Pacific’s Edge in Carmel Highlands

Posted on January 25, 2013 by thewineraconteur

This is a restaurant that we have eaten at twice and loved it both times.  Pacific’s Edge is just around the corner from Carmel-by-the-Sea in Carmel Highlands.  It is located in the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Hotel high up on a bluff.  It overlooks the Big Sur coastline of the Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Edge 2 Carmel Highlands, CA

 

The restaurant is very unique in that the tables are set on what I would call stadium tiers.  Each level is high enough that every diner gets a beautiful view of the ocean.  We called early enough to guarantee a table for two, right along the windows.  The restaurant itself is cantilevered (for a better term) out from the bluff and suspends itself over Highway One.  You cannot see the cars or the traffic, but you get a stellar view of the ocean and the setting is very romantic, and the service of the staff is five stars.

CA Pacific's Edge MB

 

The two times we went there, they had a very unique price structure for dinner, as well as a prix-fixe dinner.  They had a set charge for three, four or five choices.  A diner could order three salads, three appetizers or three entrée dishes or what ever choice of plates one desired.

CA Park Hyatt Carmel MB

 

The first time we were there, we each picked three choices so that we could share and savor as many tastes as possible.  I have the menu from this first time, with the dishes indicated for either my Bride or myself.  My Bride had Marinated Tuna and Hamachi with Yuzu, Mustard Oil and Opal Basil, Sautéed Day Boat Scallops with Fingerling Potatoes and Truffle Vinaigrette and then Braised Beef Short Ribs with Whipped Potatoes and White Truffle Oil.  I ordered Butter Braised Maine Lobster with a Saffron Reduction, Yellow Pea Tendrils and Sweetbreads, “Duck, Duck, Goose” which was Duck prepared two distinct ways and Foie Gras, with Seasonal Flavorings and then a Seared Prime Beef Tenderloin with Lacquered Bacon and Onions, and Creamy Rice Beans.  We then shared a special dessert, coffee and a glass of Twenty year old Port.

Morgan Chardonnay Monterey 2000

 

We enjoyed two different bottles of wine that evening.  First a Morgan Winery Monterey Chardonnay 2000 that was very buttery and flavorful, it was rich enough to go with the early part of the meal.  Then we had a bottle of IO Winery IO wine.  The winery is in Santa Barbara in the Central Coast area.  The winery and the wine are named after a nymph in Greek Mythology.  The winery has modeled their wines after the great wines of the Rhone Valley in France using Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre grapes.  This particular bottle was of a 1997 vintage and we ordered it after talking about the wine with the sommelier and it was an excellent choice.

IO Central Coast 1997

 

Each time we were there, we finished the evening dancing to the music of a combo of live music.  We finished our wine and the evening listening to beautiful music looking out on a starry night.

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Robert Talbott Vineyards

Posted on January 24, 2013 by thewineraconteur

My Bride and I after seeing the manufacturing facility of Robert Talbott and having a lunch drove over to the tasting room of Robert Talbott Vineyards.  I have to thank my contact person at the factory for calling ahead to announce our arrival, as she probably said something like watch for a guy in a hat with a woman.

Talbott Logan Chardonnay Monterey 1996     Talbott Logan Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow 1997

Robert Talbott Vineyards originally started making Chardonnay wines, and later started doing the very tricky Pinot Noir wines as well.  They have three different vineyards; The Diamond T Estate, Sleepy Hollow and Kali Hart.  They have four different designations as well Kali Hart, Logan, Case and Cuvee Cynthia; which are the names of four of the children of Rob who started the winery and now also runs the family’s clothing empire as well.

Talbott Chardonnay Kali Hart Vineyard 1997     Talbott Chardonnay Kali Hart Vineyard 1999

The lady that oversaw our tasting room experience was truly wonderful and furnished me with labels for all the wines we tasted, which is a good thing, because the glue that bonds the labels to the glass sometimes does not release no matter what I attempt to do and I have ruined many a wine label from this company, in my attempts.

Talbott Chardonnay Cuvee Cynthia Monterey 1996     Talbott Chardonnay Cuvee Cynthia Monterey 1998

Talbott Chardonnay Cuvee Cynthia Monterey 1999

We tasted so many wines during that session, it was a bit of overkill, but is sure was fun and interesting.  We had two different Logan Chardonnay wines, and one was from the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard.  We had two different Kali Hart Vineyard Chardonnay wines as well.  Then we tried three different Chardonnay wines from the Cuvee Cynthia collection.

Talbott Chardonnay Diamond T Estate 1995     Talbott Chardonnay Diamond T Estate 1998

Talbott Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow 1999

Then we had three different offerings of the classic Talbott Chardonnay wine.  One was from the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard and then two different vintages of the Diamond T Estate wines.

Talbott Logan Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow 1996     Talbott Logan Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow 1998

After all of the Chardonnay wines, we were then introduced to the Pinot Noir wines that they offer.  We enjoyed two of the Logan Pinot Noir wines and two of the Case Pinot Noir wines and all four were from the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard.

Talbott Pinot Noir Case Sleepy Hollow 1996     Talbott Pinot Noir Case Sleepy Hollow 1997

All in all we had a great day with the Robert Talbott family of businesses and I might add that not only did we buy a lot of wine from this tasting, but we also bought a lot of clothing as well, even getting my Bride some beautiful clothes from the Audrey Talbott collection.  Not only did we have to go to a third party shipper for all of our wine purchases, we also had to ship all the new clothes we bought as well

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Robert Talbott and my Introduction to their Wines

Posted on January 23, 2013 by thewineraconteur

As I have stated before I was a buyer in the men’s wear business.  I started off in furnishings which would be shirts, ties, hosiery, belts and other accessories.  Later on I started buying in other categories as well.  One of the lines that I started carrying for my former company was from the Robert Talbott Company.  A very fine purveyor of hand made ties and quality shirts.  The company has two flagship stores one on Fifth Avenue on the upper East side of Manhattan, which I have been to.  The other and I believe the original is in Carmel-by-the-Sea, which I made a point of visiting on our first trip there.  I guess you can say that it was a busman’s holiday.

Robert Talbott Flagship Store 2, Carmel, CA

The company began with Mrs. Talbott sewing fanciful bow ties in a spare bedroom of their house and Mr. Talbott then selling them to merchants, and the rest is history.  They now make ties, shirts, belts, jewelry; pocket squares, outerwear and have even licensed a clothing line as well.  I always looked forward to my Christmas card each year written and addressed personally by Mrs. Talbott, as she sent them to all of the buyers across the country.  I had the good fortune to meet her during our tour of the factory and watched as they made ties and in another area they were making shirts.  I had never watched garments being made up front and personal.

Talbott Tie Open Box

Rob Talbott, the son started a winery in the Carmel Valley and that was another inducement for us to go to Carmel, as if we really needed a reason.  After the tour of the factory we went and had lunch at a local bistro and enjoyed some free range chicken and a bottle of the Talbott Chardonnay Diamond T Estate 2000, which up to that point was only the second bottle from the winery that I had tried.  The first bottle that we ever had was the Talbott Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard (Monterey) 1994.

Talbott Chardonnay Diamond T Estate 2000                   Talbott Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow 1994

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Bernardus Winery and Marinus Restaurant

Posted on January 22, 2013 by thewineraconteur

On one of our day trips, we were very over dressed to visit some of the wineries in the Carmel Valley.  The reason being, we planned on having the last wine tasting at Bernardus Winery.  Not that you have to be dressed up for the tasting room, but the tasting room was on the grounds, which also contained the Bernardus Lodge and Spa, and at the Lodge was where we were planning on having dinner that evening at Marinus Restaurant.

Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc Monterey 1999    Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc Monterey 2000

The grounds of the estate were beautiful; you could see the winery spread out in the back.  The Lodge and Spa were very enticing and made you feel that you were somewhere special.  When we went into the tasting room, we told them that we dinner reservations at the restaurant afterwards and all of a sudden we felt like royalty, with the attention lauded unto us.

Bernardus Chardonnay Monterey 1997  Bernardus Chardonnay Monterey 1999                                                          Bernardus Chardonnay Monterey 2000

We started off with a wine that they were quite proud of a Marsanne varietal grown on the estate in Carmel Valley, that was very refreshing and different in taste then other white wines that I had tried up to that time.  Since then I have had a few other bottles of this varietal, but this particular bottle has a special place for me.

Bernardus Cabernet Sauvignon Carmel 1998   Bernardus Marinus Carmel 2000

Then they offered us a couple of other white wines and allowed us to try a couple of different vintages, which I found very impressive.  The next two wines that they poured were made from vineyards in Monterey County.  The first was a Sauvignon Blanc and they we tried both a 1999 and a 2000 vintage.  Then they offered us tastes from three vintages of their Chardonnay wine, a 1997, a 1999 and a 2000.

CA Bernardus Lodge-Marinus Restaurant BC

We then tried two different red wines.  We had their estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 which was very enjoyable.  The last two wines that they poured for us were the best, as far as I was concerned.  They next poured us a 2000 Marinus which was also an estate wine.  This is a proprietary red wine that they make and it was excellent.

Bernardus Marsanne Carmel 1997

We finished the tasting, and bought a mixed case of wines, put that in our trunk and then proceeded to the Marinus Restaurant.  We had an excellent dinner from appetizers to dessert with out missing a course in between.  I can not, unfortunately recall our dinner as my mind was sidetracked this evening over other events.  I do recall that we started with a Bernardus Marsanne Estate 1997 and then we enjoyed a Bernardus Marinus 1997, which we did not have the pleasure of tasting earlier (or of having a chance to buy any of this vintage for our cellar).  We both recall having a wonderful dinner at Marinus and a great afternoon at the Bernardus Winery.

Bermardus Marinus Carmel 1997

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Casanova Revisited

Posted on January 21, 2013 by thewineraconteur

On our return visit to Carmel, the first restaurant that we had to dine at was at Casanova.  The memory of our first dinner there was like a Siren calling us back.  The memory of our first night there was still etched in our brains.  After a day of window shopping at the art galleries and boutiques we looked forward to our dinner.

CA Casanova MB

We started off with a ravioli appetizer and then we both ordered the Free Range Chicken as we both wanted to relive that moment.  When it arrived, we were both happy that we had ordered it, as it was just as good as we remembered it from the first time we were there.

CA Casanova Band

One unusual and sad note was, when our waiter brought out the knives for our dinner entrée, the Laguiole steak knives were not presented.  A more pedestrian model was presented, albeit a fine steak knife was in its place.  When I mentioned it to our waiter, he said that if I would like to have them, that they still have the service, but they had so many stolen, that they stopped using them as a regular item.  We were both appalled when we heard that.  To think that such a fine establishment with a presumed quality clientele base would have this problem.

Georis Merlot Le Sangluer Carmel 2002

I had asked our waiter if there was a wine the restaurant was very pleased with, and he suggested the Georis Estate Merlot ‘Le Sanglier’ Carmel Valley 2002.  I said that is fine, and he went to get us a bottle.  When he returned I mentioned that we had a bottle of Georis wine the last time we were there as well, and he said that the principals of the restaurant also are in the winery as well.  We got to talking about wines, and after dinner our waiter took me on a tour of the wine cellar of the restaurant and I was in Nirvana.  It was a good size room that felt small because there were so many bottles of wine in the racks.  I had cellar envy, but that occurs often because a well filled cellar is a wonderful sight to behold.

After I returned from the tour, my Bride and I had coffee, dessert and some vintage port to finish another fine meal.  Then we walked back to our hotel room and looked forward to the rest of our vacation.

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