A Taste of Monterey; A Wine Club

Posted on December 13, 2012 by thewineraconteur

Well I was labeling and storing all the wine that my Bride had bought for the holidays and all of the dinners that she either prepared in the last weeks or so, or soon to be.  She likes to buy crowd pleasers.   While unpacking all the cases that she bought; I also found the carton that came from our wine club.

Boete Cheval Rouge Reserve 2008

On one of our trips to Carmel by the Sea, we took a side trip to the city of Monterey, which is not a far drive at all.   We were going to have dinner at a famous restaurant, but that will be another story to come.  While in Monterey we were the obliging tourists and walked the shops and bought gifts, some major and some minor as is my Bride’s wont, though I have to admit I am probably to blame for any major purchase that upsets the piggy bank.

 

Lucienne Pinot Noir 2010

While we were wandering we came upon a shop called A Taste of Monterey, and a fine time we had there.  We did a tasting of the wines that they were featuring at the moment and discovered that they had a wine club, and even more important, they would ship to our state.  Some of the laws regarding wine shipments are crazy, as far as I am concerned.  Years earlier some of the wineries explained a loop-hole that I could use for my own purchases when I sent myself some sixteen cases of “olive oil.”  My one brother-in-law can have no wine shipped to his house, even wine that he has bought at auctions.

Wrath Syrah 2010

 

A Taste of Monterey at that time offered two different wine clubs.  One was two bottles of wine each month or a quarterly club offer of three wines at each delivery.  We thought about it, and even at that time we were not seeing a lot of wines here locally from the Monterey area, we figured the popular price wines would eventually start appearing here eventually.  We opted for the better package and we have not been disappointed.  I thought I would mention the new shipment that I just placed in the cellar, though we have not tried them.

 

The first wine is a Pinot Noir from the Lucienne Winery, the Lone Oak Vineyard with the Santa Lucia Highlands designation.  Through the years we have had other wines from this winery as well as from the Santa Lucia Highlands and have enjoyed all of them.  The Pinot Noir wines from this area have been wonderful, at least the better priced wines that we have had.

 

The second wine is a Syrah from the Wrath Estate Winery of Monterey, and they list the San Saba Vineyard as the source of this particular bottling.  We have also had wines from this winery in the past of different vintages and have also enjoyed them as well.

 

The third wine in this package is a blended red wine called Cheval Rouge Reserve from the Boete Winery and all of their fifteen acres in the Carmel Valley.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes.  I have had one other wine from this winery and it was excellent, and I am looking forward to trying this wine, perhaps sooner than later.

 

So here is my early report, and I look forward to telling you about the wines at a later date, with hopefully a good story to go with it.

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Chuck & Harold’s

Posted on December 12, 2012 by thewineraconteur

One never knows when one will see a memory from home.  While we were still in Palm Beach my Bride decided that she wanted some ice cream and we had saw a shop after we had crossed the causeway bridge to get onto the island.  It was a nice stroll from the Breakers and we were walking by some shops.

FL Chuck & Harolds MB

The aroma from this restaurant near where the ice cream shop was so enticing that we decided to have lunch.  All of the tables outside were taken so we went indoors to dine.   The restaurant was Chuck & Harold’s and they were very busy.  We sat down and looked at the menu and decided that a light lunch was in order.  We selected some fresh fish of the day and decided on a Pine Ridge Dijon Clones Chardonnay 2000 to accompany our meal.  The wine was very pleasant with a buttery finish and went well with our fish and we were enjoying the time.

Pine Ridge Dijon Clones Chardonnay 2000

Jokingly we were discussing how we had been to some other restaurants in our trips and noticed how some of the restaurants were parts of a chain, with no real immediate logo branding.  After dinner, I stepped away to look for some matches for our collection, looked at the match box and chuckled and then saw a huge photograph on a wall, that made me think of home.  When I got back to the table, my Bride was smiling as well.  The bill for the dinner had arrived and when she looked at the invoice she had made the same discovery that I had.  This restaurant was part of the Chuck Muer group from back in Michigan.  I don’t know if it was the moment, but we found this restaurant to be much finer than any of our local ones and we laughed to our inside joke as we were leaving.  We were so sated from the meal that we passed on the ice cream that had brought us there in the first place.

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The Breakers at Palm Beach, Florida

Posted on December 11, 2012 by thewineraconteur

“By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea,” are the words I think of each time I think of the Breakers.  I have always presumed that this was the hotel that the movie “Some Like It Hot” was supposed to be set at, even though it was filmed in San Diego.  This is one of the legendary hotels of the country and is on the island of Palm Beach, and what an island it is.  Somewhere in our piles of pictures is one of a Rolls Royce taxi cab that works the island.

FL The Breakers MB

From the retail section of the downtown on the island to the hotel is a good walk or a short drive and our rental car looked so out of place on the island.   The retail area was filled with very exclusive shops and some very unique shops that must cater to some unique collectors.  Some of the shops reminded me more of museums, rather then retail establishments.

After a hard day of shopping we were at the Breakers to dine.  One does not eat there.  There was a beautiful dining area overlooking the beach that was exclusive for the guests only, but we were a bit overheated from our walks and the climate controlled area of the dining room was perfect.  Feeling like royalty is the best way to describe the experience from the china, silverware, and crystal to the pampering that the staff treats you with.  I remember having a hearts of palm salad that was so light and flavorful, and I do not make a fuss over salads.  While I enjoyed a filet, my Bride enjoyed her salmon, and you may have noticed that we are pretty consistent in our dining.

Vosne-Romanee 1'er Cru-Les Chaumes Arnoux 1998

We enjoyed a fine bottle of a first growth red Burgundy wine.  It was a Vosne-Romanee “Les Chaumes” 1998.  I am very partial to red Burgundy wines, and when I see one that I think is priced fairly, it is ordered.  The first growths of this region are just angelic for a lack of a better word.  If Bordeaux is King, Burgundy is the Queen with a royal finesse that is not found in the Clarets.  This was a wonderful way to spend a day in paradise.

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A Gift for Me

Posted on December 10, 2012 by thewineraconteur

This will be a short entry, but I do wish to thank one set of our dear friends, whose wife attended for the first time at my Bride’s Ladies Christmas Party that I wrote of yesterday.  The next morning as I was reading the paper and relaxing with a cup of coffee, my Bride brought a gift bag to me.  She had just found the gift, as my benefactor had not wanted to make a big to-do of the gift.  The gift was from a dear couple that we have had many a great dinner together with, even once meeting in San Jose, California as we were leaving Carmel and they were just arriving to make the same trip.  Her husband  must also be chided as he will occasionally text me with a question as to which wine I would select for a dinner they are enjoying with out us.  I must say I really enjoyed it when I saw it and I do have to share it with my readers and I do hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.  Though I have to say, that I hope to never have to know find the answer to the question that it poses.

How Much Whine

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My Bride’s Annual Ladies Christmas Party

Posted on December 9, 2012 by thewineraconteur

Long before I came on the horizon my Bride has had a Ladies Christmas Party.  Some have been attending since the first one and that is several decades ago.   It is a pleasure watching her drive herself to a frazzle to make sure that everything is just right.  She has her invitation list, her records from the year before, and a scrap book that grows and evolves from each prior affair.

Coppola Chardonnay 2011

 

 

The ladies all bring a dish to share, whether is an appetizer, salad, entrée and on to dessert, and everything is spread out for the others to enjoy.  Each lady also brings a wrapped present to place on another table, and as they arrive they are given a number that they select from out of a bag; which determines their turn to select one of the wrapped gifts.  They also from what I have gathered over the years, reveal their personal goals and/or aspirations for the following year, and they also have to hear read back to them what their last years goal was, and they have to reflect upon their achievements or lack of.   There is plenty of laughter and good camaraderie, as there are new members added to the mix.

Barefoot Pink Moscato

 

I normally make an appearance, greet all of the guests as an unofficial host, make a plate from the bounty of dishes that are there and then I go to my office and hide.  I make an occasional return trip, because it must be that the evaporation level is high in my office, as I have to keep replenishing my wine glass.  This year, since the debut of The Wine Raconteur, I made it a point to try a sample of the assorted wines that are also brought to the party.

Relax Riesling

 

I normally refrain from trying some of the wines; perchance perhaps because I am a wine snob, though I don’t feel that I am I do have preferences that have kept me from trying different wines in the past.  This year, I thought that I would be more egalitarian and sample a bit of each wine to see, if I may have missed something due to my preconceived opinions.

Sterling Chardonay 2010

 

The first wine I tried was a wine I normally have refrained from as I am not a fan of sweet wines, but in the nature of this blog I tried.  It was a bottle of Barefoot Pink Moscato from California and as the label stated it was “deliciously sweet,” and I did find it to be drinkable, but much too cloying for my own taste, but I could see how it would attract a fan base as it is an easy drinking wine.  The next wine I tried was from a dark cobalt blue bottle called Relax Riesling which was to my surprise a Qualitatswein from the Mosel region of Germany, but a non-vintage blend.  It was mildly sweet with a certain balance of acidity, not a great wine for food as far as I was concerned, but I think it would be very agreeable on a hot summer day.   The next two were Chardonnay wines from California.  The first that I tried was a Sterling Vintner’s Collection Chardonnay 2010 from the Central Coast and it was a very straight forward Chardonnay with a classic crispness, but not much of an aftertaste.  The surprising wine was the second of the two which was a Coppola Diamond Collection Chardonnay 2011 from Monterey County.  When we were at the Coppola Estate in Napa Valley, I found most of the wines that I tried to be mediocre, but I was very impressed with this wine with a slight buttery finish to it.  I shall look for this wine again.  I then tried the two red wines that were on the bar area in our library.  The first wine was the Melini Chianti 2010 that I served and wrote about on our second day of Thanksgiving feasting.  This wine was originally brought to my attention by The Winegetter, a fellow blogger who usually waxes poetically about German white wines.  I found that trying this wine a second time gave me the same pleasure as the first time, and quite a few of the ladies asked where they could get this wine.  I doff my hat again to my friend Oliver.  Finally I tried a glass of Sterling Vintner’s Collection Meritage 2010 from the Central Coast of California.  I found this to be an enjoyable wine in the classic form of a good Claret or Bordeaux blend.  Outside of the Chianti wine, all of the other wines were brought by the ladies to share with each other, and the one interloper.

 

Melini Chianti 2010

 

It was a fine affair for the ladies who all seemed to have a good time, as some of them stayed until midnight or beyond.  They were all good sports as well, because later on in the evening the entire house was clean, dishes were washed and we could have had another party.  My Bride does have excellent friends and family, and I did the best I could to stay hidden so that they could enjoy themselves.

Sterling Meritage 2010

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Maison & Jardin, Altamonte Springs, Forida

Posted on December 8, 2012 by thewineraconteur

We spent a week in Florida once, being nomadic going from one hotel to another.  We started in Orlando and we had a wonderful meal and wine in a suburb of Orlando Altamonte Springs and the restaurant was named Maison & Jardin.  We met a friend of ours and planned on having a great night out.  I found this restaurant in the Wine Spectator Magazine during their dining issue and they had an ad, that stated they had the largest wine selection of wines in central Florida.   What a reason for trying it out.  They were so wine oriented that even the match book had a vintage chart printed inside of the book.  At the time I also found out that they were the “power” restaurant for the Orlando area.

FL Maison & Jardin Vintage Chart MB

 

 

When we arrived we were seated in the “wine cellar” room of the restaurant.  We had a great waiter who informed us immediately that our dinner was to be enjoyed and not rushed.  We had selected our dinner for the evening and the wine as well.  We enjoyed our first two courses, and the waiter suggested that we now take a tour of the gardens before the total evening settled in.  So we went and walked around the grounds, which I think made the evening that much more enjoyable.   There were paths and a wooden bridge and just a beautiful setting.  When we returned our entrée plates were brought out, and what a dinner it was.  The restaurant was known for their Beef Wellington in a classic presentation, and how could I resist such a great dish.  My Bride and our friend both enjoyed fish dinners.  Then we settled on a couple of desserts so that we could all share in the evening’s dinner even more.

FL Maison & Jardin MB

 

For the wine I opted for a Chateau Fonroque 1976, a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru wine, which I knew would pair exquisitely with the Beef Wellington, and since the ladies were having “meaty fish” I did not feel that they would be served an injustice.  Especially since I mentioned often that my Bride enjoys a red wine with a firm fish dinner, and if you haven’t tried a red wine with says a salmon, or a shark filet, you should try it; I don’t think that you will be disappointed.

Ch Fonroque Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 1976

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Petunias a Restaurant in New Orleans

Posted on December 7, 2012 by thewineraconteur

My Bride and I have the same dentist, and one time when we were at our bi-annual check up, we were saying that we had another trip planned for New Orleans.  Our dentist said that he had just returned from the French Quarter, as he and his wife had attended a conference.  He asked us if we had ever eaten at Petunias.  We both responded with a negative reply, and then he went on to rave about the food and the service.  So we decided that we should try Petunias when we got to New Orleans.

 

LA Petunias MB

 

Pink is what struck us immediately upon arriving into the restaurant.  The French Quarter is a rather stark area, great for people watching, but the folks at Disney did not design the streets.  Everything was pink, the walls, the décor and even the match boxes which I collect.  Even with the color shock, the restaurant itself was rather low key, and not the rich tapestry of fabrics that one encounters in some of the grand old guard venues in the Quarter.

 

We started with some gumbo, to get into the mood with a little bit of spice.  Then we both had crepes for dinner, as this seemed to be the specialty of the house.  These were not little crepes, but monster crepes, that we really could have shared, but we did not know that in advance, and really did not pay attention to the other tables and what was being served.  We both had different seafood crepes for the evening that had rich sauces blended with assorted delicacies of shrimp, crab, scallops and crawfish.  My dentist was right on with his suggestion and not nearly as expensive as some of the other restaurants that we have been to in New Orleans.  We finished the meal by sharing a Bananas Foster Crepe made table side with all of the theatrics of the flambé.

 

La Vignee Bourgogne Chardonnay 1999

 

The wine list while not extensive as some of the other restaurants had a Chardonnay from the Burgundy region of France.   As I explained to my Bride, this Chardonnay would be different from most of the wines that she enjoyed from California, but should pair well with the seafood crepes and the sauces that they came with.  When looking at a wine list, I try to select a wine that is price and quality appropriate for the meal, and I try to find something new and unique.  I have had some of the Grand Cru White Burgundy wines, but this was not a dinner that called for something that grandiose.  The La Vignee Bourgogne 1999 was, as far as I am concerned, an excellent choice and value.

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Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Posted on December 6, 2012 by thewineraconteur

I am not sure if that is the actual quote by Groucho Marx, but it is close.  After finding a recent box of mementos from one of our trips to New Orleans, I am going to branch off to stray a bit to discuss some of the other libations that I have encountered.

LA Margaritaville MB

 

Strolling around the French Quarter we had lunch one day at one of the few commercial chains in the old section.  Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  There are several of these located around the country and this is as close to fast food as I really want to venture.  It was a fun destination, the food was good and of course we chose Margaritas instead of wine for lunch.

LA Pat O'Brien's MB

 

Another place we stopped at was Pat O’Brien’s, a famous drink establishment in the Quarter.  We were there in February just after the Mardi Gras and the evenings get chilly.  Pat O’Brien’s instead of using heat lamps for the patio has fountains that are on fire and it is a great way to warm up, along with their infamous house drink the “Hurricane.”

LA The Bombay Club MB

 

We also stopped for a quick bite once at The Bombay Club which is “veddy” English in a Gunga Din way.  The establishment looks like a cinematic version of an old British Men’s’ Club in India.  My Bride was excited as she could order a drink, that she was very fond of years ago called a Pym’s Cup.   She is very partial to this drink, but seldom finds a place to get one, as it is not a common drink anymore.  I succumbed to a more hedonistic drink that was more of a New Orleans romanticist’s choice.  I ordered a glass of Herbsaint, which is the modern version of Absinthe.  This “green fairy” that has been written about both positive and negative for years.  It was at one time banned in most of the world because of the wormwood that was vilified as a hallucigen.  It has been recently been reformulated with out the wormwood and is very similar to other anise flavored drinks like Anisette and Ouzo.  It is produced in New Orleans by the Legendre Company.  As they say “when in Rome…”  Tomorrow more wine memories and thank you for my self indulgent sidetrack.

Herbsaint

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The Red Room in New Orleans

Posted on December 5, 2012 by thewineraconteur

What can you say about a restaurant that is built upon part of the actual structure of the original Eiffel Tower?  I have never been to Paris, but my Bride has, and we have dined in a restaurant that has simulated the part of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas.  The cab dropped us off at the foot of the Red Room, and there was a huge red staircase that you could walk up to the restaurant or you could take an elevator, which we did, because of the killer humidity that is New Orleans, I mean why get all wet before dinner, when you are all dressed up?

LA Red Room MB

 

Upon entering the restaurant there was a huge floral centerpiece of maybe five or six dozen roses splayed out, and almost lost to the background.  Everywhere you looked was the same red as in the roses.  The walls, the carpeting, the draperies and all the accessories that accompanied the room were red.  I joked that even the finest brothels in New Orleans could take lessons from the décor.

 

 

The Red Room was not only a restaurant, but a night club as well.  It was a throw back to the old night club that is now only seen in movies.  There was a hat check lady, a cigar/cigarette hostess with a tray, and a young lady selling solitaire roses for your date (of course it was de rigueur that you bought one).  There was a society orchestra of about seventeen pieces playing music during dinner.  Then a “torch singer” came out in a white gown, white fur stole and elbow length white gloves to sing lamented love songs.  Later the star of the evening came out reliving the likes of Louis Prima and Harry Connick Jr. singing ballads for the evening.

Dom Perignon '92

 

We had turtle soup to start with, then my Bride had Crawfish Etoufee and I had a duck dinner.  We finished with a banana soufflé.  The evening was so festive that we enjoyed a creamy, buttery Dom Perignon ’92 which is made by the Moet et Chandon firm in Epernay in France.   There is something very unique about vintage Champagne that I find is so different from the Champagne wines offered from the same house.  The firms claim that they do not like to issue a vintage, because they like to maintain sameness year after year, but each vintage Champagne that I have had is so much smoother and creamier than the basic house offering.

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Updates on Prior Articles (like Joey’s Stable’s)

Posted on December 4, 2012 by thewineraconteur

As I was searching for some records from other trips, I found another box of mementos, and yes I am a pack rat, at least it is good for this current endeavor.  What to make of this find?  There will be a few articles from this small box that I found, but there were also items that I knew I had, but had misplaced from past writings.

MI Retro fitted bar from Joey's Stables

First, let me begin by noting an article in the real estate section of this past Sunday’s Detroit Free Press.  There was an article about a horse ranch for sale in Metamora, which I almost didn’t read until I noticed the photograph at the bottom of the page.  It was the bar from Joey’s Stables in good old Delray/Detroit.  It turns out that the gentleman that owns that house that is now for sale had bought the bar, had it dismantled and rebuilt in his home.  From the picture I could not tell if the fable booths with the carved horse heads and bits were also acquired by him.  I am glad to see that part of this great restaurant had been saved and not far from its home.  I wrote about Joey’s back on 9 October 2012, and I guess that I am not computer savvy enough to figure out how to make hyperlinks to past articles (so please bear with me).

LA Commander's Palace MB                 LA Restaurant Antoine MB

There were also some matchbooks from our trips to New Orleans that I did not show:

Commander’s Palace           28 July, 2012

Antoine’s                             29 July, 2012

Galatoire’s                           30 July, 2012

Arnaud’s                              31 July, 2012

Court of Two Sisters           1 August, 2012

LA Galatoire's MB                LA Court of Two Sisters MB

LA Arnaud's MB

On a sad note, I have also read that the Caucus Club, which I wrote about on 17 September, 2012 is closing.

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