The Accidental Wino » Wine Tasting

Eating Well: Slow Food Napa Valley’s Potluck Brunch @ Ehlers Estate Winery, St. Helena

The Accidental Wino — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:40:35 +0000

The dining area outside Ehlers Estate.

Slow Food Napa Valley hosted a pig roast and potluck on Sunday, September 11th, in conjunction with Ehlers Estate in St. Helena. The following photos highlight the event, which provided a forum for SFNV members to discuss the future of SFNV, and how they can help to increase interest and awareness of the Slow Food movement. Naturally, the brunch was amazing. Please click on any photo for a full-screen view.

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Pig cracklins, up close.

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CIA instructor Patrick Clark carves the Mulefoot Hog, which was provided by Michael Fradelizio of the Silverado Brewing Company and Beer Belly Farms.

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Michael Fradelizio (left) and Patrick Clark (right) remove the pig from the Caja China roasting box. A hungry crowd gathers.

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A look at the just-finished pig inside the Caja China.

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The Mulefoot hog, just a couple hours into cooking.

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The Ehlers Estate line-up. Delicious.

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Ehlers winemaker Kevin Morrisey (far left) talks shop with SFNV members.

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The Ehlers Estate tasting room, built in 1886.

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Debbie Fradelizio (left) and Corrie Beezley (right) greet SFNV members as they arrive for the potluck with baskets in hand.

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One very impressive apple pie.

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A beautiful honeycomb and cheese platter from Marshall's Farm.

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Heirloom tomato platter.

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In Ehlers Estate's BioDynamic vineyard.

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Flowers outside the Ehlers Estate tasting room.

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Platanos con Dulce de Leche @ Tacos La Playita, Napa

The Accidental Wino — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:27:54 +0000

The definition of golden brown, and obviously not from a bag: Platanos con Dulce de Leche (Plantains with Sweetened Condensed Milk) @ Tacos La Playita, Napa.

Sometimes simplicity is the best, but only if the ingredients can stand alone. Based upon its ripeness, the humble plantain will usually fall into two distinct categories: Starchy and bland, or sweet and delicious. At Tacos La Playita in Napa, the platanos definitely fall into the latter category, especially when dressed with dulce de leche. These plantains, pictured above, are actually a recent discovery to me, even though Tacos La Playita had ranked as my favorite for Mexican food when I first moved to the Napa Valley six years ago. I’ve since switched allegiances, although I do return to TLP every now and then with certain friends, or just for the familiar taste of their enchilada plate. The thing that began to bother me about TLP — the reason why it’s fallen lower on my list over the years — is that they stopped frying their tortilla chips in-house. It’s just a bit disappointing. Even though the chips and salsa at TLP are free, I still view store-bought chips as culinary sacrilege, at least within a restaurant setting. Frying chips is incredibly simple, and yet the character difference between a fresh chip and a bagged chip is enormous (in theory, I ‘d probably prefer a fresh chip and a jar of salsa, over a bagged chip and a house-made salsa). Even when I worked as a short order cook in a low-rent Los Angeles dive bar, we still fried our own chips for the nachos. Plenty of other Mexican restaurants in Napa also fry their own chips. And they also serve them for free. More than anything, the extra effort of frying chips demonstrates a level of craftsmanship and concern that, as a cook, I feel is important. So much so, that whenever I make guacamole, I always buy the freshly-fried tortilla chips from Rutherford’s La Luna Market as the accompaniment. I’m sure as hell not serving my guacamole with a damned Tostito. Maybe that’s just me.

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Book Review: “Riesling Renaissance” by Freddy Price

The Accidental Wino — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:19:12 +0000

“Coffee’s for closers only.” Anyone who has seen 1992′s “Glengarry Glen Ross” might recall this line from the film’s first act, when Alec Baldwin delivers one of my all-time favorite movie monologues. The scene marks Baldwin’s only appearance in the film — a scant seven minutes — but his abusive tirade establishes the movie’s tone, and it sets up the second act perfectly. In “Glengarry,” Baldwin plays the character of Blake, an über-alpha real estate salesman, and a role that was written specifically for Baldwin by playwright David Mamet (as great as it is, Baldwin’s “Glengarry” monologue was not part of Mamet’s original 1983 stage play). During his brilliant rant, Baldwin espouses the acronym “ABC” — short for “Always be closing” — a hard-boiled sales mantra that he imparts to an ensemble of A-listers, including Jack Lemon, Ed Harris, and Alan Arkin (with Al Pacino and Kevin Spacey rounding out the cast, just for good measure). As someone who’s seen “Glengarry” dozens of times over, I’m always reminded of Baldwin’s monologue whenever I hear someone use the acronym “ABC” within the context of wine.

For folks like me, those who are devoted to drinking and exploring Napa wine, “ABC” usually means “Anything but Chardonnay.” This quippy, yet dismissive critique of Napa’s most prominent white wine may seem surprising to some, especially since Chardonnay still enjoys both pedigree and popularity the world over. However, the “ABC” philosophy does have some merit in regard to local wine. On one hand, the Chardonnay alternatives are few and far between here in the valley; for most Napa wineries, Sauvignon Blanc represents the only other local option for white wine (Chardonnay accounts for almost two-thirds of Napa’s total white wine production, while Sauvignon Blanc accounts for about one-fourth). But for the “ABC” camp, it’s not so much the fact that Chardonnay dominates the white wine landscape — it’s more the idea that California Chardonnay, despite its overall popularity, simply lost its taste appeal to many wine drinkers.

The local backlash against California Chardonnay began to build in the late 1990s, following an era when many local producers used to treat Chardonnay with a heavy regimen of new oak, coupled with heavy malolactic fermentation (often referred to simply as “malocatic” — or even “ML” — this secondary “fermentation” is actually bacteria-based, and isn’t a true yeast-based fermentation). With Chardonnay, heavy oak plus full ML typically results in the oaky-buttery style that many folks still enjoy (Rombauer Vineyards is the poster-child for this particular approach, and Rombauer will probably always bear the oaky-buttery torch). In the 1980s, this heavy-handed style became the vogue for many (perhaps most) Napa Valley winemakers, and the result was that Chardonnay eventually began to taste less and less like the grape, and more and more like the process. Taste, of course, remains subjective, and inherently, this particular style of winemaking wouldn’t necessarily present an issue, except that it began to make lots of Napa Chardonnays all taste the same.

Indeed, Chardonnay is widely known as “the winemaker’s grape,” a canvass that can lend itself to plenty of tweaking and manipulating in the cellar. As author Freddy Price acknowledges in his brief introduction of “Reisling Renaisance,” the Riesling grape is the complete opposite of Chardonnay. Classically, Riesling is rarely aged in oak barrels and the use of ML is non-existent. As Price also points out in his introduction, Riesling expresses its terroir more clearly than any other wine. Terroir, or what I would colloquially call” the taste of place,” is the notion that no grapevine grows within a vacuum. For better or worse, nature’s elements are bound to have an influence on the vine, and farming techniques are also bound to play a role in a grape’s flavor development. For serious wine drinkers, this idea of terroir is what allows experts to identify a wine’s origin simply by its taste, smell and appearance.

“Reisling Renaissance” is invaluable for anyone who wishes to gain a deeper insight into the world’s Riesling production. Price has spent more than 50 years pursuing his passion for the grape, and his knowledge of Riesling certainly shines. The book is divided into regional chapters, leading off with the most important, Germany, and then delving into sections on France, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. “Riesling Renaissance” features great maps, concise and insightful histories, and lists of the top Riesling producers for each wine-growing region. Unfortunately, here in the Napa Valley, Riesling is all but absent, even though the grape was extremely popular before Prohibition, and also during the 1960s and 1970s (today, Riesling accounts for a little more than 1% of Napa’s total white wine production). To be fair, however, Napa is generally too warm to grow world-class Riesling on a large scale (Washington State has since become the domestic leader in Riesling production).

“ABC” has become a tough bet for Californians who wish to drink locally, but a few wineries have continued to produce Riesling with some success. Among the California wineries in consideration, Price highlights Bonny Doon, Greenwood Ridge, Navarro Vineyards, Smith-Madrone and Trefethen. Although it is noteworthy to point out that Bonny Doon sources its juice from Washington State and Germany’s Mosel, the other four wineries do grow and produce a true California Riesling. Trefethen and Smith-Madrone are the only Napa representatives on the list, although personally, I would also add Stony Hill Vineyards, since they’ve been producing an admirable dry Riesling in Napa Valley for more than 50 years now.

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Photo Purge: Scenes from the California Bay Area and Beyond

The Accidental Wino — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:14:03 +0000

Gateway Market, Emeryville: Adorned with a fantastic mural alongside its parking lot, the Gateway Market is tough to miss on San Pablo Blvd. The artwork has a definite graffiti vibe, but the details are fantastic. Luckily, it hasn't been tagged over. The "W" in Gateway is pictured above (each letter has its own theme). Click on the photo to reveal all of the great flourishes.

Most of these pictures have never appeared on this site, although a couple did appear a few years ago, long before I sharpened my photo-editing skills. Many readers have emailed me about my approach to photography, and I must confess, my only real secret is to simply seek the best lighting possible. Truthfully, I’ve never had any formal photography training, but I did develop an eye for proper lighting while I was working (briefly, almost 15 years ago) as a grip in Los Angeles. Any moviegoer who has bothered to sit through the credits may have wondered what function a grip serves. In a nut shell, the grips help to manipulate the film set’s lighting, based upon the director of photography’s instructions. The “key” grip is the lead grip, while the “best boy” grip is second in command (I was never either of those, obviously). Much like cooking, gripping is long, laborious work with odd hours. However, if you pay attention on the job, you can also learn a few things along the way. Who knew that a summer of gripping would’ve ever become useful?

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Uni with Caul Fat on Crostini @ Marea, NYC: Long before Anthony Bourdain developed his upcoming show, The Layover, which premieres November 21st, I used a four-hour window at JFK to jump onto the subway and eat a seven-course lunch at Marea (top that, Tony). David Koon, my old CIA roommate, was in the kitchen at the time, so I received the VIP treatment, and fast. Coincidentally, Dave opened up his own restaurant, Chuko Ramen, just two days ago in Brooklyn. He said the 35-seat dining room turned out more than 200 covers on its first day, which is an insane number.

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Highway One, Near Salt Point State Park: I was driving up California's North Coast to forage porcinis when I spotted this old fellow gazing out over the Pacific Ocean. He was laying near the edge of the grassy cliff, apparently in total zen mode. Unfortunately, he stood up when I approached to snap a picture. After a two-minute stand-off, I gave up and left him to his meditations. Sorry, buddy.

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Philo Apple Farm, Philo: This large painting adorns the small shopping area at Philo Apple Farm, which is owned by Don and Sally Schmidt, the original owners and founders of Yountville's French Laundry. All purchases are based upon the honor system (at least every time I've visited), and the farm itself is Demeter-certified.

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Nopalito Restaurant, San Francisco: I really like the artwork on this ice-cream freezer outside of Nopalito.

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Five-spice Pork Belly over Rice: This is one of the very first pictures I published on this blog, back at a time when I was publishing recipes. My format has evolved over the years, and at this point, I save all my recipes for the annual Project Food Blog competition, which is coming up again this year (I finished in the Top 12 out of almost 2,000 contestants last year -- just saying).

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Mandina's Restaurant, New Orleans: My sentimental favorite in the Crescent City.

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The Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA: This mural was a work-in-progress during my visit to Pennsylvania a couple years back. I'm sure it's completed by now. I liked where it was headed.

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Boonfly Cafe, Napa Carneros: I spotted this little VW in the parking lot of the Boonfly Cafe one morning. I'm not sure if it belonged to a purveyor or to a guest. Pretty cool whip, regardless.

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Cookie Fortune @ China Village Restaurant, Albany: I think.

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Lunchtime Eats: The Back Rib Sandwich @ Solbar, Calistoga

The Accidental Wino — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 06:21:28 +0000

Try a Little Tenderness: The Back Rib Sandwich @ Solbar, Calistoga.

I’ve cooked plenty of baby back ribs in my day. When I worked at Houston’s Santa Monica (many moons ago), I prepped the restaurant’s pork ribs on a nightly basis. It went something like this: At the end of the night, the ribs were rubbed down with a mixture of sugar, Kosher salt, and spices, before spending about eight or 10 hours in a 250°F Alto-Shaam. In the morning, the now-tender ribs would be carefully dipped in bacon fat and wrapped in plastic. At this point, the back ribs could be chilled until needed. At service, the ribs were unwrapped and re-heated on the wood-fired grill, where they would be mopped with barbecue sauce. People really loved those ribs, and they continued to sell even after they were removed from the menu (a by-request item only, but insanely popular). I’m not exactly sure how Solbar prepares its ribs for its back rib sandwich, pictured above, but the tenderness is all there, along with the succulence and everything else (the pork bones seem to have been easily removed from the meat). It is, perhaps, the best pork sandwich in the Bay Area. So recommended.

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For Wine Geeks Only: Exploring Napa Valley by the Numbers

The Accidental Wino — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:01:12 +0000

It’s usually surprising for most people to learn that, by volume, the Napa Valley accounts for just 4% of California’s total wine production (in total wine revenue, Napa would earn a much larger percentage, though I don’t have the specific figure for this category). Still, as one of California’s most important wine regions, it’s interesting to learn some of numbers that shape the Napa Valley. At my last board meeting with Slow Food Napa Valley, one of our members distributed copies of Napa County’s 2010 Agricultural Crop Report, which is published by the Department of Agriculture and Weights and Measures. The pamphlet features about a dozen charts and graphs that spell out the details of Napa’s winegrape production, as well as its production of secondary crops. Here are a few key stats about Napa wine country, keeping in mind that these numbers pertain to Napa’s winegrapes more so than its wine:

• In total acreage, Napa’s red grapes outnumber its white grapes by a little more than three to one (specifically, that’s 33,060 total acres of red grapes versus 10,208 total acres of white grapes).

• Napa Valley is planted to 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by 15% Chardonnay, 14% Merlot, 6% Pinot Noir, 6% Sauvignon Blanc, and 3% Zinfandel (the other 13% is comprised of dozens of other varietals, including Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petite Sirah).

• Among all the white grapes planted in Napa Valley, about 65% are Chardonnay; among all the red grapes planted in Napa Valley, about 56% are Cabernet Sauvignon.

• In 2010, Napa’s red grapevines produced an average of 2.86 tons per acre, while white grapevines produced 4.13 tons per acre. More specifically, Cabernet produced an average of 3.03 tons per acre, while Chardonnay produced an average of 4.04 tons per acre.

• Napa’s total acreage for Cabernet Sauvignon outnumbers its total acreage for Chardonnay by almost three to one (that’s 19,557 acres of Cabernet versus 7,000 acres of Chardonnay). This scenario was much different 20 years ago — in the early 1990s, Cab and Chard each had plantings of just over 10,000 acres apiece (Chard plantings have declined since the mid-1990s, while Cab plantings began to surge about 10 years ago).

• Last year, red grapes accounted for 80.5% of Napa’s grape-farming revenue, versus just 19.5% total revenue for white grapes (the average price per ton for red grapes was $3,782, while white grapes earned just $2,906 per ton).

• In 2010, the average price per ton for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon was $4,453, while Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc earned $5,236 per ton and $4,919 per ton, respectively. Keep in mind, however, that Cabernet Sauvignon from a prime Napa vineyard can fetch upwards of $15,000 per ton, easily making it the priciest grape on the market.

• On average, the Rousanne grape earned the highest reported price per ton for any varietal, at $7,000. This figure might be a bit misleading, however, since Napa Valley only has 15 acres of Roussanne in total. Obviously, scarcity seems to have been a factor in this case (the only two Napa Valley bottlings of Roussanne that I’m aware of are produced by Kongsgard Winery and Truchard Vineyards).

• Among the winegrapes listed on Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste, Napa contains 52 acres of Charbono and just 19 acres of Napa Gamay. My favorite Charbono is produced by Summers Estate, although I have also enjoyed the other Napa versions of Charbono — it’s definitely a grape worth seeking out. As for Napa Gamay, the only version I’ve ever encountered was the Melange by Vincent Arroyo Winery, also worth a taste.

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Eating Lunch Up Valley: Napa’s Best Taco Options

The Accidental Wino — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:27:18 +0000

Al Pastor Tacos @ La Luna Market, Rutherford.

When I was working as a wine educator in Rutherford and Oakville, quick lunch options were unusually scarce. Aside from an occasional Dean & DeLuca sandwich, Mexican food was the only feasible option up valley — not that I ever complained all that much. Being a native of California, Mexican food will always be a staple for me, and the tacos on this page represent literally hundreds of past lunches, especially the tacos al pastor at La Luna Market, pictured above. Conservatively, I’ve eaten over one thousand tacos at La Luna (at an average of about eight tacos per week for over three years, you do the math). Of course, with that many visits to one taqueria, I’ve sampled La Luna’s entire menu several times over, but at this point, I’ve distilled my go-to selections down to just two choices: their tacos al pastor, or their carnitas (extra crispy) super burrito.

I’ll save the burrito discussion for another time, but La Luna’s al pastor tacos are quite good, if a bit uneven sometimes. At their best, the ground pork has been rendered enough to have a few crispy bits, with the red sauce providing just enough piquant heat. Now that I’ve returned to professional cooking, my trips to La Luna have lessened significantly, but the hopes of on-point al pastor will still lure me up to Rutherford. On the other hand, if I’m in the mood for carne asada, I’ve found that the shrewd move is to drive a bit further to the north, up to Azteca Market in St. Helena. Azteca and La Luna are similar in the sense that both taquerias operate within small convenience stores, although Azteca’s carne asada is superior to that of its Rutherford counterpart. Pictured below, Azteca’s carne asada tacos feature a delicious salsa verde, though my only complaint is that sometimes the meat could be chopped a bit smaller.

Carne Asada @ Azteca Market, St. Helena.

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Deep-Fried FTW: Scenes from the Sonoma Square Farmers Market

The Accidental Wino — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:17:46 +0000

Always mustard, never ketchup: The Cajun Corn Dog @ Uncle Bill's Gourmet Corn Dogs, Sonoma Square Farmers Market.

The best things in life are fried: I learned this simple mantra very early on, when I used to work the fryer station at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. We fried lots of delicious foods at K-Paul’s, including oysters, shrimp, soft-shelled crab, green tomatoes, duck skins, and of course, plenty of potatoes (K-Paul’s didn’t serve french fries, however. Instead, our potatoes were baked, halved, and then scooped. Once prepped, the skins and the “meat” were fried separately, with the little nuggets of fried potato “meat” being tossed into a rich cheese sauce, then spooned back into the fried skins. And in case you didn’t think it could get any better, this enemy of the arteries was the standard side item for the cheese-stuffed pork chop, which was blackened to perfection). Okay, where was I again?

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Today, a couple deep-fried items highlighted another perfect summer afternoon at the Sonoma Square Farmers Market. On the savory side, there was the Cajun-style corn dog, pictured above, from Uncle Bill’s Gourmet Corn Dogs. In this era of turkey dogs and, even worse, tofu dogs, someone’s got to fight the good fight on the corn dog front, and Uncle Bill’s offers up a substantial, top-heavy corn dog, fried to order, with a batter that’s remarkably light and fluffy. Highly recommended.

Dogs dipped in grease.

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Cinnamon and Sugar Donuts @ Harvey's Gourmet Donuts, Sonoma Square Farmers Market.

The first time I ever had a fresh donut, I was in high school. My best friend worked at a mom-and-pop donut shop in Lodi, which I would frequent quite a bit for some free donuts. One day, I happened to stop by when the baker was working, and I was blown away by the character of a truly fresh-from-the-grease donut. For me, the difference between and fresh donut and an hours-old donut is analogous to the difference between a garden-fresh tomato and a supermarket tomato (in fact, I’d probably rather eat an hours-old donut than a supermarket tomato). Freshness, of course, is the key selling point at the Harvey’s Gourmet Donuts booth, where mini donuts are offered by the dozen and topped with anything from powdered sugar to maple glaze with bacon bits. I actually prefer these donuts in a more simplified format, with cinnamon and sugar, pictured above.

Harvey: Master of Donuts.

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At the turn.

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The Lahmajune @ The Kitchen Door, Oxbow Market, Napa

The Accidental Wino — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:43:50 +0000

Anti-Gyro: The Kitchen Door's "Fold-and-Eat" Lahmajune.

One thing that I eventually learned about Napa when I moved here six years ago was that there’s no place in town to get a good gyro. Granted, I could only try the one option that was available here at the time — I won’t name the restaurant, but it’s the most obvious guess — and quite honestly, that gyro was so dry and depressing that the memory of my disappointment has remained with me over the years. It failed royally, and the fact that I’m even venting about it now should say quite a bit: I do try to veer away from negativity with this blog, and to focus primarily on recommendations (you can get your fill of potshots and sniping at Yelp). So anyway, that leads us to the Kitchen Door’s lahmajune, pictured above, which boasts some very appealing, gyro-like qualities and comparisons (like the gyro, the Armenian lahmajune, or lahmacun, has its roots in Turkish cuisine). The spiced lamb, the yogurt sauce, the oven-fired flatbread: They’re all there in delicious harmony. So much so, I’ll go ahead and name the Kitchen Door’s lahmajune as the best gyro in Napa.

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Inside Napa Valley: Yountville’s Cantinetta Piero closes, abruptly

The Accidental Wino — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:16:28 +0000

I learned something interesting about Cantinetta Piero tonight at Pancha’s of Yountville (which happens to be located right across the street): Apparently, all of Piero’s employees learned just yesterday that their last night would be Wednesday, July 6. Upon posting this news, I received some clarifications today from Jennifer Tomaro, Marketing Director of Moana Hotel & Restaurant Group:

“The owners of Hotel Luca have retained the two principles of Solage (Tim Harmon and Robert Watson) to help direct the operations of the hotel and restaurant. The hotel is still open and there are no changes planned at this time. As you know, the restaurant was closed last night. There is no definitive plan in place for the restaurant as the team is using this opportunity to evaluate the operation, but the goal is to have it reopened by the end of this year. Please note that we do not have plans to make this a Solage-branded hotel / resort.”

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