The Wine Cyclist Starts a’Rollin’

Comment now » // Posted May 1st, 2009 in General

So let me tell you… nay, let me show what has kept me so busy recently. I was going to wait a bit before really launching this, but fortune has smiled on me, and I get to start earlier than I had planned. This blog is probably done. I may come back to it someday, but I’ve a grand new project and a grand new adventure to take all my attention. This is what I while be doing for a while now…

I give you… The Wine Cyclist

Mea Culpa — Blogging Break

Comment now » // Posted April 2nd, 2009 in General

Ack. OK. So I know I’ve been mister lazy blogger for over a month now. Things have been mind-boggling crazy lately. I probably won’t be able to get back to this for a while, unfortunately. A couple things, quickly:

Go to Notacon!

I’ve got some really, truly awesome, amazing, spectacular blogging in the works coming your way in June. I’ll will probably be off of here until then, but I’m not kidding. Stuff that’ll knock your socks off. Keep your eyes peeled.

Sampling A Few Oregon Pinots

2 Comments » // Posted February 22nd, 2009 in Wine, Wine Tasting

On Friday night we had a little gathering to sample a handful for pinot noirs from Oregon (Jay also brought a Cali pinot, pictured on the far left). The four Oregon wines we sampled (in tasting order, not picture order) were the Belle Vallee 2006, the Montinore Estate 2006 Reserve, the Oak Knoll 2006 and the Willamette Valley Vineyards 2007.

Of course we’re not going to drink this much wine without some food. Despite the cold, we lit up the grill for some havarti-filled portobello mushrooms, some salmon burgers and a nice grilled peach in raspberry sauce for dessert.

The Belle Vallee had strong dark fruit up front balanced with some nice spiciness in the middle. The finish was a touch too mild for me, but not bad. the Montinore Estate (probably my favorite of the four) was much richer and earthier than rest (and that is my calling card for wine). It was a touch hot at first, but opened up nicely after about 30 minutes in the decanter and some nice dark cherry came through.

The Oak Knoll was strong with the cherry and spice up front, and had a subtle earthiness throughout that gave it a nice mouthfeel. The finish however was fairly weak. Good with the food, but not as good on its own. Finally, the Willamette Valley Vineyards had, without actually being sweet, an almost Dolcetto-esque illusory sweetness about it mixed with it strong plum flavors. It managed to go surprisingly well with our dessert for the evening.

Sadly, I neglected to take good notes for the evening, so I leave you only with those quick hits about each one. Hopefully we’ll do this again sometime soon.

February Wine Tasting at Visible Voice

Comment now » // Posted February 19th, 2009 in Events, Tremont, Wine, Wine Tasting

These things keep getting better! Let’s hope that trend continues.

With over 40 people through the door at last month’s wine tasting, the folks at Visible Voice Books are definitely excited about keeping this thing going, and so am I.

This month, we’re featuring six Italian wines (3 white, 3 red) predominantly from the Veneto region. So join us on Friday, February 27th at 7pm and for $10 you can sample these delicious Italian wines.

As always, Visible Voice is open until 10pm on Fridays. Peruse through some new and used books while sipping on some tasty wine.

Visible Voice Books is located at 1023 Kenilworth Ave in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.

PHONE: 216- 961- 0084
www.visiblevoicebooks.com

WBW 54: A Passion for Piedmont

2 Comments » // Posted February 18th, 2009 in WBW, Wine, Wine Tasting

Whew! I thought I wasn’t going to make it this month. Work’s been keeping me quite busy lately, and I was worried I wouldn’t have the time to pick up a wine for this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, hosted by the ever excellent David McDuff of McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail. I was actually able to make it out of work at a decent hour, and so I swung over to Martin’s Deli in Rocky River to peruse their wine selection.

They had several Piedmont wines to choose from. I ended up selecting this 2004 Langhe DOC Nebbiolo from Fratelli Ferrero (the Brothers Ferrero) that you see pictured to the left here. It rang up at $19.99 at Martin’s Deli. While I was there, of course, I picked up a few other things (these things happen when I go wine shopping), but let’s focus on this now.

I decant it and pour myself a small glass. Give it a swirl (aren’t we classy?). Strong, bright fruit on the nose. Plum, and perhaps cherry. The surprising thing is it then hits the front of the mouth with a mellow, warm sensation, like the fruit is style trying to make it’s appearance. Fairly oaky and tannic on the finish, but it doesn’t last too long. Let’s see how this does after some time in the decanter.

I’m rocking out to Putamayo’s “Music from the Wine Lands” compilation and definitely digging it. It’s got that European cafe feel to it. Almost a Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday” feel to it. One track (notably from an Italian artist) kinda stands out, though. Vinicio Capossela’s “Si è Spento il Sole” has more of Jim Jarmusch film thing going on, kind of a Tom Waits goes to Italy sound. Interesting. So, back to the wine.

About half an hour into it, the nose is much more subtle, richer, and perhaps a little earthier. There’s a lot of complex fruit (still with the plum and dark cherry) up front. A bracing acidity hits you in the middle, but then it tapers off with a weaker version of the tannic oakiness from before. No staying power yet, but I hope it develops more of a finish as time goes on.

I’ve been munching a bit for dinner tonight. Dipping some rosemary bread in some olive oil. Simple yet tasty. If I recall correctly, however, the food of Piedmont tends to be richer. Perhaps I should grab a bite of the chicken Parmesan out of the fridge. Let’s see how that goes with this nebbiolo.

This wine is definitely much nicer after about an hour in the decanter. It’s showing some nice structure now, and is becoming much more well balanced. The mid palate acidity from before has diffused itself over the rest of the tongue. The finish, though more pleasant now, is still a bit weak. I guess that doesn’t matter so much if you have some food covered in a rich tomato sauce headed for your mouth immediately afterwards.

I’m certainly into this month’s WBW theme (granted, it’s not hard for me to get into most of the themes — any excuse to drink wine). This month especially because I’ve been meaning to learn more about Italian wines, especially outside the Tuscany and Verona/Venice areas. I don’t really think this is my year for learning Italian wines, but I’m always up for grabbing bits of knowledge where I can.

I’ve not much more to add to this wine after two hours in the decanter. It’s still very tasty with some rich, dark fruit, some nice acidity, but still kinda weak on the finish. While decent on its own, this is definitely a wine to have with food. Still, at only $20, it’s a nicely priced wine.

And now, for your listening and viewing pleasure: Vinicio Capossela’s “Si è Spento il Sole.” The video is even stranger than the song.

Wine That Tastes Like Bacon!

2 Comments » // Posted February 11th, 2009 in Wine, Wine Tasting, Winemaking

Now that I have you’re attention… but seriously, I kid you not. I have discovered a wine that tastes like bacon! First, the lead-in…

Yesterday was the midterm for the Intro to Winemaking course that I’m taking through UC Davis Extension online. All told, I think I did fairly well on the exam. I know I got a couple questions wrong, but I think I managed an A. We’ll see soon enough. The course itself is going rather well. There’s a lot of information I’ve covered before in my own interest to learn more about winemaking, but there’s enough new information to keep me interested, so yea for that!

For my *ahem* “lab/practical” portion of the exam, I went over to La Cave Du Vin on Coventry afterwards with some friends. I decided to try a glass of the Rock Point ‘07 Pinot Noir from Rock Point, OR (along the Rogue River near the Cali border). With all the encomium that the Willamette Valley gets, it’s interesting to see a wine from southern Oregon about these parts.

The waitress mentioned that it was very smoky. Enjoying a nicely smoky scotch every now and then, I thought this would be interesting. She then mentioned it tasted like bacon. I inquired if I might be able to order it by the gallon.

The glass arrived. I shove my nose in the glass. No doubt. Overwhelming. Bacon! Smoky, spicy bacon. Good bacon at that. Applewood smoked bacon with pepper on it. That kind of bacon.

This. This right here is what I should’ve had with the biscuits for WBW 53. What those biscuits needed was bacon, and this wine is happy to provide.

The flavor upon hitting the tongue was no disappointment after the awesome aroma. The black pepper hits right up front, with a touch of dark fruit hidden beneath it. It gets nice and earthy, like a free-range hog in the middle of the mouth, and finishes with an awesome Talisker (single malt scotch) like finish: smoky with a hint of campfor to so pleasantly numb the back of the mouth.

The official tasting notes from the winery mention dark cherry, earth, spice and toasty oak. They say nothing of bacon. I suppose some (poor, deluded souls) may frown on it, but I think they’re selling themselves short by leaving that detail out. It retails around here for about $18 a bottle, so I think I’m going to have to track down a case of this stuff.

Post Script

Michael J Nelson (the creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000) is eating nothing but bacon for the entire month of February: a noble, if difficult goal. Follow his efforts for month-long bacon over on blog.rifftrax.com

Bistro On Lincoln Park

Comment now » // Posted February 7th, 2009 in Dining Out, Reviews, Tremont, Wine

Having heard so many wonderful things, Peg and I dropped in this surprisingly warm February evening to check out Bistro on Lincoln Park (where Sage used to be on W 11th).

This place has a very nice atmosphere. It’s calm and more relaxed than many restaurants in Tremont (I’m looking at you, Fahrenheit). We arrived for an early dinner around 6pm. A decent crowd was already present, but it was a bit early for the real dinner rush.

As usual, we perused the menu online beforehand, but of course that never helps when it comes time to actually make a decision. The opening basket of bread was nice (I often find that the best indicator of how good a restaurant is going to be is found in how they do their bread). A few tasty rolls, and some very interesting crispy flatbread sticks with some herbs and sea salt. It’s a minor detail, but it would’ve been nicer had the butter (also with sea salt) been a little warmer and easier to spread.

Expecting, as is usually the case for us, to order a wonderfully omnivorous meal, I selected a bottle of the ‘05 Chateau La Grange Clinet from Bordeaux. Predominantly merlot, this was wonderfully rich and full. It took some time for this wine to open up in the glass (it still wasn’t fully there when our appetizers arrived), but once it finally did, it proved quite excellent. The nose was predominantly blackberry, with the slightest touch of vanilla. It opens on the front of the tongue with an excellent spiciness (that paired very well with the food, but more on that in a bit). Dark fruit dominates the mid-palate with impressive yet somewhat understated strength. The finish lingers a bit with a well-balanced and appropriate amount of tannin, but it does not overstay its welcome.

Starting off our meal with some excellent appetizers, Peg had the onion soup gratinée while I went with the Hudson Valley foie gras. I know a lot of people get uppity about foie gras, but you know what? It’s damn tasty, and no more cruel to animals than that chicken ceasar salad you just ate, so stuff it (you can tell PETA and I get along really well). Goose liver is delicious. This was no exception served over sesame tuile with glazed pears. The gratinée was deliciously thick with its venison broth and scalding hot raclette melted in.

To cleanse our palate after this already very filling and quite rich appetizer course, we shared a verts aux lardons salad. The baby dandelion greens were, as expected, quite bitter, but that was well balanced by the thick and delicious chunks of bacon as well as the poached egg on top. It would be interested to see how the greens would do wilted over the bacon grease; I think that would be quite tasty.

Just as the Chateau La Grange Clinet was hitting its peak, our main course arrived. Duck confit for Peg and a venison bolognese for me. The duck was perfectly prepared and so tender that it practically fell right off the bone. This, overtop truffled potatoes, bacon lardons, and a mushroom fricassee made for an excellent culinary combination. It paired well enough with the wine, but not quite as well as my braised venison over fettuccini. The spiciness of sauce complimented the spiciness of the wine ever so perfectly; it would be hard for me to ask for a better pairing.

We took a quick peek at the dessert menu, but declined in the end. While some selections seemed tasty enough, nothing really stood at as worthy enough to risk stomach explosion after our quite sizable main courses. I finished up instead with a cup of coffee, which was unimpressive, but I suppose fairly standard restaurant coffee. One would think that restaurants would pay more attention to the coffee, seeing as it’s often the last flavor a patron experiences before departing. One would be mistaken, however. I never understood why restaurants don’t seem to bother putting the same effort into coffee selection and preparation as they do the rest of the menu, but I suppose that’s a rant for another day.

So here I am, reclining and recounting the experience enjoy some coffee of my own (Costa Rican beans from City Roast, medium ground and brewed in my stovetop espresso pot), with some Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on the stereo. It’s a surprisingly warm weekend here in Cleveland, but as the night rolls on, it’s time to lounge about doing absolutely nothing.