October 14, 2009
Some wines I didn't drink this week
Many thanks to Dale Cruse over at Drinks Are on Me for this month’s wine task. The Negress had been in a Zinfandel mode of late (see this post for when it didn’t go so well) so what better wine to try than a Primitivo? It also happened that the Negress was in New Orleans indulging in sensory and humidity overload. There had been meals upon meals, most notably at August where a 2007 Vidal-Fleury Muscat de Beaume de Venise Reserve slid down the throat like nectar. I was singing a chorus or two of “Muscat Love” (Willis Allan Ramsey would have been proud ) as I lilted back to my hotel.
Anyway, back to the Primitivo. After eating enough food at the Association of Food Journalists to consider becoming a part-time bulimic, I headed to Beard award winner Donald Link’s Cochon for dinner my last night in town. While I was waiting for an old friend and his partner, I tried a glass of 2006 A Mano Primitivo. What struck me about the A Mano was its earthy rusticity. The Lodi Zin I had quaffed most recently was plummy and over-the-top fruit forward. That kind of sensory overload is fun on occasion, but the A Mano struck me as a more agreeable everyday wine. It would be kind to food and not deliver a headache beyond belief. The A Mano also had more notes of blackcurrant and blackberries than the 7 Deadly Zins, which pushes it sensual satin in your face with a hint of sugar. You could easily say that 7 Deadly Zins is cheap satin while the A Mano is more like raw silk.
Our take home message? The Primitivo is worth seeking out when you want a wine that’s a little less belligerent than some of the California Zins. I’ll admit some nights I’m up for that knockout punch, but the Primitivo’s rugged caress is a lovely alternative.
Posted in Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged August Restaurant, Muscat, Primitivo, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »
October 13, 2009
The Negress was educated and entertained at much of the AFJ conference, and some of the food was sublime (dinner at Cochon and this dish with candied bacon, which may just be the best thing on earth). Also featured at this Sugar Baron’s dinner at Houmas House were bisque of curried pumpkin with craw fish and corn, lacquered duck breast with whipped sweet potatoes and chocolate mousse filled crepes with mint julep cotton candy. All of this was delicious (I gave away the cotton candy), but one part of this dinner really stuck in my craw. Judy Davis, one of the tour guides at the plantation, had favored our group with the song from”Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte” since the movie was filmed at the house. Many of the food editors (all attendees but moi were white) loved her singing and her ebullience. I was glad to hear she was a history major, a divorcee with three kids and a plan to get a nursing degree. Some in our group touring the home (which defies description with a doggie wedding dress under glass and stuffed monkeys on one of the antique beds) hope Davis would sing at dinner.
Well, Davis did. She has a nice contralto voice not unlike many heard in gospel choirs across the land most Sundays. She did “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” and a few other numbers. Sounds OK? Well, picture Davis dressed in slave clothing (baggy shirt and ankle length skirt) singing for the white folks at the plantation.
How can you go wrong with candied bacon
Now you might understand why I was totally creeped out. There were other African Americans in the room, but besides Davis singing for our supper and me eating that supper, the rest were serving the supper. What made this particularly galling was coming to dinner after spending time at the LSU Rural Life Museum, where director David Floyd told us their mission was to talk about what went on behind the big house and that more places in Louisiana were following suit. I guess word didn’t reach Houmas House. I hope somebody lets them know soon. By the way, Beringer wine was served at dinner. Nothing to write home about, agreeable with all courses but not exactly memorable.
Posted in Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged Houmas House, Suagr Baron's dinner | Leave a Comment »
October 13, 2009
nectar and food
Although my main reason for being in New Orleans was to scope out the Association of Food Journalists convention (you can view my official version of events here), I also wanted to be seduced by the Sazerac, one of the city’s trademark drinks. Leave the tourists in the French Quarter sucking down Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s. Post-Katrina, doesn’t that just seem icky, no? I was in a rye mood. So upon settling into my cozy hotel room, I got on the Canal Street streetcar and rode off in search of the Roosevelt hotel and its Sazerac bar. The hotel just got a $148 million face lift and its interior is luxurious but subdued. Before I got there I overshot the mark on the streetcar and ended up at the corner of North Broad and Canal Street in an area known as Mid-City. This part of town is more likely to be featured on post-Katrina disaster tour rather than any list of must-sees for out-of-towners. The streetcar stop was populated with the usual array of hard-working people and some stragglers waddling over from a nearby Burger King. The convenience store across from the stop was selling po’boys, but the traffic at Burger King made me suspect this was not a good place to try one. While I was waiting for the return street car, I was treated to one young man who could have stepped out a Lil Wayne video, lighting up one of those flavored cigars that usually masks the presence of its marijuana filling. Another short young man with locks tried to sell a transfer to all assembled at the stop except me (wearing shades is an excellent way to avoid eye contact). He seemed intoxicated, but maybe his drug of choice was stupidity. He approached Latino man with his transfer offer and the man ignored him. Our hero let out a string of invective about the (terms of service) Mexicans taking over the (terms of service) city. The moment was sad and silly simultaneously, and it did whet my appetite for a drink. I found the Roosevelt on the return trip after a guy in a Goodwill T-shirt spotted me my missing 25 cents and a woman fainted. I eased into the dimly lit Sazerac bar and ordered the drink. It involves rye, Peychaud’s bitters, Herbsaint and a touch of sugar.
So how does it taste? Well, imagine someone you adore smokes menthols and has just taken a swig of rye. Then they kiss you and the smoke, menthol, and rye blend sends a shiver of delight all through your body. It’s something like that and I don’t even smoke. The taste lingered through a steak dinner and two glasses of nifty Spanish wine at Rambla. One was a 2006 Atalayas de Golban Tempranillo from Ribuera del Duero. The other was 2007 Altos de la Hoya Olwares, a Monastrell from Jumilla. The latter was more earthy than the former, but both were delightful.
However, my extensive research into the Sazerac wasn’t done. The next night after we played second liners in a street parade over to the Southern Museum of Food and Beverage, I encountered another Sazerac from the loving hands of bartender Michael Greenberg of the Swizzle Stick bar at the Loew’s Hotel. It also had all the notes of that mentholated, smoke rye kiss. I had three or four just make sure I was tasting what I was tasting. I was. Yes I was. Yes Yes Yes (apologies to Molly Bloom).
As in life and love, a nasty breakup ended my Sazerac relationship. My final night in New Orleans I met up with some of my fellow conference attendees at the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. This Sazerac was a travesty of a mockery of a sham. It was riven with Herbsaint , tasted like turpentine and smelled like spirit master fluid. The concoction was, happily, nasty, brutish and short. I did not order another and fled the premises to meet old friends for dinner.
Posted in World Travelling | Tagged New Orleans, Roosevelt Hotel, Sazerac | Leave a Comment »
September 29, 2009
One night while preparing to slave over a book proposal (if you look down the right side of the page, you’ll see a new link to a different kind of book club), I decided to pour a glass of 2007 7 Deadly Zins. I had also recently sunk my teeth into the 2007 St. Francis Old Vines Zinfandel and felt like having some of that jammy, luscious goodness at a slightly lower price point. Most of my Trader Joe’s wine was gone and my palate enjoyed recovering with some big and structured, not weak and nondescript. So more Zin. Well, as I plopped down on my ergonomic enhancement brightly colored Ikea cushion, an errant hand flew into the globe and most of the Zin drowned the keyboard, and poured like an inky waterfall under the monitor, across the glass desktop (easy to clean), down the white wall into the white landlord carpet. Wads of paper towels later, the writing mood had evaporated and the room smelled like a boot. I drank a full glass of the 7 Deadly well away from the keyboard, and felt a little crabby (Sis is improving and Mom is now receiving hospice care which may explain explain some of the crabby). Some extra cash had arrived thanks to the Princeton Record Exchange people’s love of my small collection of 45s and flexidiscs I had sold them. I took the wounded keyboard — it had dried out but was spewing at least four characters for each keystroke like it was still drunk – to a local computer wizard. The Wizard was blunt. Keyboards do not get resuscitated. You buy new ones, he said, and sent me off to Micro Center. I am typing this on a lovely, responsive keyboard in Raiders’ colors (I am doomed to love that football team for life). I also raised up my monitor and finished cleaning up the wine so the office no longer smells like boots. I have been working away like a fiend on the proposal and hope to share some of the writing here on a separate page. In the meantime, I’ll be headed to New Orleans next week for the Association of Food Journalists conference. I’ll post more once I recover from what the city has to offer.
Posted in Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged 7 Deadly Zins; Lodi Zinfandel; St. Francis Old Vines Zinfandel;, Princeton Record Exchange | 2 Comments »
September 16, 2009
When I lived in New Jersey, I visited the vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island as often as time and cash would permit. My visits to New Jersey wineries were deeply unsatisfactory. My recent move to Maryland hasn’t left me enough time to explore the local vintners, but I will get to Black Ankle soonest. Anyway, this month’s WBW assignment was to drink a wine at the winery with the winemaker thanks to Lenn Thompson over at Lenndevours. If you’ve read the preceding post, you can easily see why this month the Negress couldn’t make this happen.
However, on one of her last visits to the North Fork last year, she went to a barrel tasting hosted by Charles Massoud of Paumonok Vineyards. We were in the barrel room surrounded by a tasty array of cheese and charcuterie as Massoud used a wine thief to dribble samples of their Cabernet Sauvignon and other reds into our waiting glasses. The atmosphere was so agreeable that my friend, who normally avoids red wines as a migraine trigger, actually tried some of these. Massoud also talked about some wines in the works, including one of the first attempts at Chenin Blanc on the North Fork. The 2007 was still in the tank, but would be released in March 2008. Well, I seized the opportunity and invoked the name of Lauren Bernadini, who had consulted for Paumonok and co-taught a class the Negress took with Andre Immer Robinson. In very little time at all, I had charmed my way into the tank room where Massoud drew off some of the unfinished Chenin Blanc for me to try. The grey liquid was cloudy and yeasty, but the bones of what it would become were evident. Massoud mentioned that maybe the release should be accompanied by an oyster shucking. I nodded. It was a memorable moment for me because it was the first time I was aware of my palate’s ability to project from an unfinished must how the wine would turn out. A few months later when the wine arrived at my home after taking a circuitous journey through NYC to get to New Jersey (I could insert another screed about wine shipping laws but that’s an old irritation), it was peachy, honeyed with a touch of minerality. I can’t eat oysters but could see this wine with scallops and other seafood. It could also be quaffed quite well on its own.
The visit to Paumonok crystallized some things about winery visits for me. One, a lot of winemakers are all hat and no cattle when it comes to making their wines “readable.” Massoud didn’t talk at all about growing practices or sustainability or any other hot button locabore topics. He let the wine speak for itself and the enthusiasm of the barrel tasters was all he needed to know how to proceed. Lastly, whenever I buy any wine, either from a honking conglomerate or a small producer, the Negress tries to remember that the winemaker’s intent was to do good, not harm, to palates everywhere.
Posted in The Chronic life, Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged Chenin Blanc, North Fork Long Island, Paumanok, Wine Blogging Wednesday # 61 | 1 Comment »
September 14, 2009
The drinking, living, selling of distant homes and family matters prevented more timely updates here in Negressville. But, more or less in order, here’s how it’s been of late:
About two and a half weeks ago, myself, my cousin and her fiance Chef Charley headed to the Trader Joe’s in Falls Church or somewhere so we could stock up on value wine. The Negress mostly agrees with her pal Time Lemke over at Cheap Wine Ratings that most of the value wines at Trader Joe’s are an exercise in futility, but we did like the Chalk Moon Viognier and Gewurztraminer well enough but not enough to drive back to Virginia (Do not get the Negress started on the Maryland wine laws). I did like a 2008 Black Mountain Sauvignon Blanc, which was pushing $8 a bottle (just about everything I got was either an 07 or an 08). There was also a fruity Alsace Gewurztraminer (2008 Laugel Cuvee Michel Leon) that wasn’t terrible either. I had stocked up on wine during my last visit to New Jersey (comparison 2007 Can Blau is $13.99 in NJ, $18.99 when you can find it in Maryland) so all set there.
However, two days after that run, I get a call on my cell phone from my sister, who lives with clinical depression, informing me she had been evicted for not paying her rent (it usually works that way, no?) I drive across DC to help her salvage what we can fit in the car. Her telecom had been turned off for nonpayment in June (it could have been earlier; the silence on each end can be deafening) but I had been e-mailing her assuming a Brandeis graduate would go to the library to check that. Never assume logic with crazy people. She seemed surprised I was in DC. I tried to restrain the urge to kill her, but we headed for dinner at Chef Charley’s and cousin so she could store some of the bigger stuff she saved in their garage. She has entered the maze of social services and emerged with food stamps, a Medicaid application (I sent her a paper one back in March but she’s phobic about mail) and is on lists for housing. I teeter between rage and pity but also know I am not a parent.
While I am processing all this, the buyers send a list from their lawyer with about 20 things they turned up on their inspection that are typical for a 140-year old house. I get this information after spending several days in a Jersey City Marriott (no girl TV so I catch up on Design Star — yeah Antonio! — and other such stuff when I return). I go to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Nominating Committee meeting and a good time is had, followed by drinks and dinner with some of the participants. I spend Thursday morning with my realtor going over our response to the screed from the buyers. Then I head to Princeton, sell $120 worth of CDs and leave some 45s behind for appraisal for sale.
Adding some background radiation to this backdrop was a phone call at 2:30 a.m. Monday informing me that my mother (diagnosed with dementia about five years ago) was hospitalized for dehydration and gastric bleeding. Interleaved with everything else I have mentioned are phone calls giving consents for various endoscopies, anesthesias, ultrasounds and what have you. She’s on her way back to the nursing home, and the Negress has successfully avoided putting her on a feeding tube.
So it’s no surprise that on Saturday night I inadvertently finished an entire bottle of Smoking Loon 2008 Viognier while watching as much mindless TV as I can stand. Meanwhile my sister reads cat mysteries and Flashman books, oblivious to how unsettled she is making me. Meanwhile, I am also still looking for work.
Posted in The Chronic life, Wines of the world in danger | Tagged Cheap Wine Ratings, depression, Design Star, Gewurztraminer, Smoking Loon Viognier, Trader Joe's | 1 Comment »
August 16, 2009
The Negress has been ensconced here in and around Washington DC for nearly a month. Resumes are out, some old friends have been contacted (lovely dinner of homemade pizza and Corey Creek Rose in Virginia catching up with someone who has known me since I was 21), burglar alarms have been tripped (sorry cousin) and miles have been driven. I found out my Dad’s old turntable is on the fritz, so I bought a new one so I can listen to my Mink DeVille records one more time (RIP Willy DeVille, a Cadillac of a man). I have spent some evenings drinking Yalumba Viognier and Momo Sauvignon Blanc, but I’m feeling slightly dependent so I’m trying not to drink every day. I’m still agog at how much everything has changed as though I also stood still for 33 years and expected everything else to do so as well. My Dad’s old office building at the Census Bureau has been torn down. Silver Spring has a “downtown” (I knitted there at a wine bar recently. Had fun but it’s still a bit strange). My uncle’s old house with the pool and fabulous slate roof was demolished to make way for three or so MacMansions. My cousin salvaged the signpost but that still stings. My old homestead of Suitland has become a place where babies catch bullets in car seats. I have plans to reconnect with my Texas self by going to see Lyle Lovett in November. With any luck, I will have a job by then. Happily, I already seem to be having a life.
Posted in The Chronic life, Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged Corey Creek Rose, Knitting, Momo Sauvignon Blanc, Washington DC, Willy DeVille, Yalumba Viognier | Leave a Comment »
July 22, 2009
I am sitting in the Stockinette Cafe, using their WiFi. I took all my telecom modems and cable boxes back to Comcast this morning after I watched the Tour de France. I had my last burrito (Tex Mex Fajita of course) at Bubby’s Burritos. I did my last load of laundry in the venerable Maytag Neptune in the basement. i went for drinks at Bar Majestic for the first time on a night when drinks were full price. I ate my last meal at Ox before my birthday. Ox is now closed so that’s a true last. I updated the last place online for the address change and made my first Amazon order for shipping to the new address. I made my last cup of tea using a pot to boil water on the stove so you can probably guess what the order from Amazon might be (electric teakettle). I threw out two mysterious frozen things from the freezer. That is not a last unless I start putting dates on things with a Sharpie. I am going to French class for the last time tonight. I have gathered up some basic clothing and cleaning items to be loaded into Mazzy Star come morning. I have put up “No parking” signs for the move. I have had what will probably be my last decaf iced latte at the Stockinette. I will have finished my last bottle of Bedell 2007 Cabernet Franc tonight. I will also need to pack up the rest of the wine tomorrow. it’s going with me in Mazzy Star. I am leaving Jersey City, something I would have never thought would have happened. But it’s making a lot of sense. I have a job interview next week I am excited about (part-time but immensely up my alley). I have Calle 13’s new one in the car CD player and XM at the ready. I guess it’s time to go.
Posted in Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged Bedell cellars Cabernet Franc, Calle 13, Ox jersey City, Stockinette Cafe | 2 Comments »
July 6, 2009
The bar at Clobar
The Negress is in her cousin’s dining room after having found (and hopefully getting) a good apartment in a great building in North Bethesda. Before coming down here on Sunday, she headed out on a goodbye trip to some of her favorite places in New York. First stop was the Whitney Museum for Claes Oldenburg and Dan Graham. You can’t go to the Whitney without a pumpkin muffin and a omelet at Sarabeth’s so that was required. Then it was a few blocks over to the Met on Fifth Avenue. Took a leisurely stroll through the Francis Bacon centenary exhibit, then headed over to an ’80s images show featuring some of my old faves like David Salle, Robert Longo and early video of Eric Bogosian. Finished up with the Model as Muse fashion exhibit, which was like a nice dessert after it all.
My MOMA membership is inexplicably paid up through through next May, but I wasn’t in the mood. However, the bar at The Modern is always convivial and it’s right next door. So I stopped in for a couple of glasses of Momo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a decaf latte. The server recommended a book (Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer) and only charged me for one of the wines. Only in New York.
Before heading to my evening French tutorial, I stopped in at the Time Warner center to visit Clo, a wine bar with a serious gimmick. All the available wines (and one or two that aren’t available any longer) are projected on the bar, which has a motion-sensitive screen you activate by moving your hands and fingers. I had a Malbec and a Rhone and could easily have spent more but wisely stopped. Once you find your wine, the bar babes take your credit card and give you a swipe card with the bar logo. You stick this card in the wall in the bank where your wine is located, and take the glass they’ve given you and it gets filled for you. One of a kind experience but human bartenders can often be more generous methinks.
I also took one of my favorite bike rides along the waterfront in Liberty State Park in Jersey City. I stopped for a few pictures to remember the place. When the breeze blows off the Hudson and everyone is out flying kites, fishing or hanging out, it’s lovely.
Well, goodbye to this and hello North Bethesda. Wine tonight at Chef Geoff’s in downtown DC with an old friend.
New Jersey's view of the ass end of Liberty
Posted in Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged Clo, Malbec, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Sarabeth's, The Modern, Whitney | Leave a Comment »
June 30, 2009
Things are happening and leaving little time for writing them down. The Negress will post later about a truly fabulous Italian wine dinner some months back. So let’s catch up. On June 7, The Negress took the Foreign Service exam, which includes, sections on pop culture, English usage, biographical information and a written essay. Even using the full 30 minutes allotted for the written essay, the Negress was finished with the exam in an hour and 40 minutes. All this on an empty stomach. The Negress gets the official results in about two weeks, but is feeling pretty good about her chances. The rest of the selection process can take as long as a year. To make that easier, the Negress is moving to the DC area is and heading down to pick a place to live next week. Her home is spotless and up for sale. There is now a 5 by 8 storage space somewhere in Hudson County crammed with everything the Realtor made me take out of the house. It’s a very weird feeling, like my home is now some elegant bread and breakfast. The Negress keeps expecting homemade muffins to turn up on a doily in the kitchen some morning. It hasn’t happened yet.
To keep the stress of moving at acceptable levels, the Negress has been breaking out the white wines. We loved a 2008 Crios Torrontes that was crisp and fruit with a soupcon of sweetness. The Negress also felt virtuous quaffing 2008 Step by Step Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. Each bottle boasts that a portion of the sales price goes to health care for the vineyard workers. Oh, and the wine is tasty, with the expected citrus on the palate but a calm citrus, not a spiky, aggressive puckering citrus. We also broke out a 2006 Crauford Sauvignon Blanc we hadn’t had in a while, and it was also delightful, with a nice balance of fruit and acidity. Another surprise was the 2007 Smoking Loon Viognier, which was lush and playful. The Negress sometimes refers to Viognier as the unruly teenager of grapes. Well, the Smoking Loon was more of a teen dressed for prom night, posing quietly for the parents’ camera.
It’s not like we’ve gone off reds entirely. We loved the 2007 Bin 91 Zinfandel, which was pleasingly jammy but delightfully restrained. We also went back to an old value favorite, the 2007 Wolftrap Mourverdre Syrah Viognier blend, which is one of favorite summer reds.
Posted in Wines of the world in danger, World Travelling | Tagged Bin 91 Zinfandel, Crauford wines, Foreign Service, Smoking Loon Viognier, Step by Step Sauvignon Blanc, Torrontes, Washington DC, Wolftrap Syrah Mourvedre Viognier | 1 Comment »
