One of the things I’m happy about when doing a wine review is the fact that I usually have some familiarity with the varietal/blend, or I know someone who does.  That way I come across as someone who’s schooled, knowledgeable, wine-savvy, and has a clue. Not the case here!

The review actually began with an early evening phone call from Rod, the Wineaux Guy.  Instead of the usual sweet nothings, he started off with a “What do you know about Mourvèdre?”

“Uhh…   Not much.”

As it turned out, he had opened up a bottle of 2007 Hug Cellars Santa Barbara Highlands  Vineyard Mourvèdre – Santa Barbara County, and it had thrown him just a bit.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be smelling or tasting,” he explained.  ”It’s so different.”

OF COURSE I had to open up my bottle of Mourvèdre – a few days later, that is – and try it for myself.  This wasn’t a one-time, in-one-sitting tasting.  This turned out to be a three-day adventure for him and a nearly identical adventure for me.  And most of it’s ’cause we don’t know everything we should know about Mourvèdre.  But we do know just enough to be dangerous.

… Continue Reading

Pouring wine at Elements

It was a great evening at Elements Kitchen & Martini Bar located on the southeast corner of Rainbow and Tropicana, here in (fabulous) Las Vegas.  It was the second time that a few of the Vegas Wineaux Wine Club members had met there for their quarterly wine dinner and this time was as special as the first.

Elements is a pleasant and very eye-appealing small restaurant with a foodie-centric attitude.  Owned by chefs (yes, both of them) Catherine and Jean-Luis Pawelek, it is a tribute to their many years of cooking and experience in the world of hospitality.  It is a yummy formula that works.

This particular wine dinner focused on the wines of Italy with some interesting and delicious accompaniments.  The title was “Elements presents A Tour of Italy Wine Dinner.”  It consisted of an appetizer, five courses, and dessert.  And, rare for a wine dinner, I was full – very full – when I left.

The first item on the menu was an Amuse Bouche of hand-passed Pizettas (little pizzas) topped with duck breast, sundried tomatoes, eggplant, caramelized onion, and smoked mozzarella.  The wine was Caposaldo Prosecco, fresh and sparkly. You will rarely see me do any kind of review on sparkling wine.  It’s sparkly, and therefore I like it.

The first course was Buttnernut squash ravioli in a brown butter sage sauce.  OMG. That was incredibly delicious.  The wine was 2008 Bibi Graetz Casamatta, a light, delightful, and uncomplicated red.

The next course was Pappardelle topped with a Rabbit Ragu, braised pancetta, rosemary, carrots, onions, celery, and plum tomato.  The wine paired with this dish was my wine of the night, a 2005 Masi Campofiorin Ripasso, a rich and earthy red.  Now I will be the first to admit that I know little about Italian reds and can only go with what I like.  This particular wine (I understand) is made in a style similar to Amarone, except with no residual sweetness and food-friendly acidity.  It had fragrances of earth, dark spices, cocoa, and dried fruit, and I could have stopped right there and had that wine only for the rest of the night.

The next course was unusual in that it was a romaine lettuce salad topped with radicchio, endive, black olives, and tomato and tossed with a mandarin citrus vinaigrette. The “unusual” part was the Asian spoon heaping with a Campari-citrus sorbet as a palate cleanser.  Quite unusual and quite tasty.

The next course was Risotto Pesto topped with shaved Parmigiana Reggiano and a single large wood-grilled tiger shrimp.  While I was so-so about the Risotto (I am so-so about every Risotto I’ve ever had), the shrimp was a thing of beauty.

It was served, interestingly enough, with a 2006 Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia.  Rich, red, and 100% Sangiovese, I was only surprised because it was served with seafood.  But the seafood was so rich in flavor from being wood-grilled, that it did not fade under the bright flavors of the Chianti.  I’m glad that I didn’t stop at the Ripasso because this Chianti was out of this world; it was one of the best I’ve had in years.

Risotto, Shrimp & Chianti

The fifth course was a Veal Chop accompanied with Cipolini, haricots verts, baby carrots, and topped with an aged fig Balsamic glaze.  Now this was the first oops of the night.  I prefer my chops still mooing (or bleating or baa-ing, whatever the case may be).  For my taste, the veal chop was overdone. Now here is an important distinction: it was not overcooked.  It was overdone. That means that it “rested” probably a few minutes too long to catch it at just that right peak of flavor and it lacked a little in juicy texture as well.  The accompaniments were delicious and I was fascinated with the glaze.  I was also rapidly approaching full!

The veal’s wine was Prevostini Sforzato Albareda, a fruity red wine that was loaded with cocoa, dried flowers, cherry and offered light herbaceousness, balanced acidity, and firm tannins.  In other words, a wine for grownups.

By this time I could have been rolled out in a wheelbarrow.  And then Catherine announced dessert. I groaned.

Dessert was Zabaglione made with Spinetta Moscato with fresh strawberries.  There were mini cannolis filled with ricotta, mascarpone, and mini chocolate chips.  There was a dark chocolate and raspberry mousse topped with shaved chocolate and raspberries,with  a white chocolate decoration. And I can’t forget the tiny biscottis!  The dessert wines were Spinetta Moscato Bianco, a still white dessert wine, and Brachetto d’Acqui a fizzy red dessert wine.

I was done. There was nothing left. I cried uncle.  Generous servings along with delicious wines had done me in.

You can be sure that I will be there at the next quarterly wine dinner, which will be on July 26.  Look for our table!

Several of the members of Vegas Wineaux Wine Club are regulars at Elements.  They always have seasonal specials; for instance, currently they have three-course dinners on Monday nights for $19.00 through the summer, and until the end of June, Tuesday night is Osso Buco night for $24.00.

The prices are great, and the food is incredibly fresh and very well prepared.  As I mentioned earlier, both of the owners are chefs! The quality shows that, and the flavors tell you that there’s nothing out of a box here!

So next time you’re in Vegas and want to try tasty cuisine, delicious drinks, and the good company that only a local restaurant can provide, consider Elements Kitchen and Martini Bar.

Elements is located at 4950 S. Rainbow Blvd., Las Vegas, NV.  For more information or reservations, call them at (702) 750-2991.

See the Slideshow!

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2009 Hug Cellars xoxo Rosé

I was originally going to review a budget-priced French Rosé, but couldn’t do it.  Let’s just say that initially it had what you’d expect from a Rosé – beautiful rosy pink color and fragrances of berries and watermelon.  The flavor on the other hand, while it would appeal to those who think White Zin is da bomb, was somewhat problematic. As expected of a Rosé, I found flavors of strawberries, watermelon, pink peppercorns, and – uncharacterically – a soupçon of Manischewitz.  Ew.  It tasted sugared, and it just didn’t appeal to my (admittedly snobbish) palate. But, to paraphrase the “it’s five o’clock somewhere” t-shirts, *someone* somewhere will like it.

That someone would not be me.  I needed a Rosé that acted like it was older than a high-school coed, with personality, charm, and strength. A grownup.

And since I was in the mood for a Rosé, I grabbed one of my bottles of 2009 Hug Cellars xoxo Rosé. Hugs and Kisses. Get it?

In word, Yum.  And not just from the taste.

Let’s go through this one point at a time.

First of all, the eyes are pleased with what they see in the glass.  A captivating deep fuchsia rather than a more everyday pink, the color is immediately arresting.  Unexpectedly, it almost lumbers (for a Rosé) around the glass, leaving beautiful legs on the sides. The legs telegraph the 14.5% alcohol level, which is hefty for a Rosé, but not unexpected in a wine with this much structure and body.

The nose is equally appealing, with the characteristic berries, rose petals, watermelon, strawberries, and interesting touches of green tea and minerals.  On the tongue, it is crisp, with good food-friendly acidity that adds to its character. The taste reflects the nose, with a long, dry, minerally finish.  This is most definitely a food Rosé.  As in red meat or mushrooms type of food.  You need more than a salad with this one.

Truly enjoyable, it is both complex and simply refreshing.  It can be a peruse wine, or it can be a quaffer, although I don’t recommend the latter.  Enjoy it, have it with food, or have it out on the patio – slightly chilled – on a sunny summer day.  Don’t drink this Rosé refrigerator-cold however; you’ll lose too much of its character.

Here comes the bad news – unless you’re a wine club member or visit the winery, it’s not available, not even online. However, I will strongly encourage you to contact the winery directly at info (at) hugcellars (dot) com.  Augie and Raquel are wonderful people, and I’ve found that begging will sometimes work wonders!

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This is a repeat of one of my favorite posts from last year.  I was having a bad day and decided to share my opinion about stuff.  Surprise, right?  Enjoy this blast from the (not too distant) past!

For whatever reason, I’m feeling particularly cranky and curmudgeonly (yes, that’s a word) today and feel like sharing my opinion – and I always have one – on different wine stuff. If you have a pet topic that you don’t want to see kicked in the teeth, then read no further. If you’re like me and have a morbidly sick curiosity, continue on.

Corks

Thanks to those who sent great ideas on things to do with corks. Cork, being a natural product with all kinds of potential, has the capacity of being a lot of things! It is the best closure for wine, stelvin notwithstanding. Of course, you can do all kinds of stuff with screwcaps, such as …. uhhh….. Well, anyway, they make great closures for soda pop, Boone’s Farm, Arctic Vines, MD20/20, and wines from New Zealand. Or anything else you’re going to open, pour, and not care about the ambiance. If you don’t care about ambiance, then be my guest. Go unscrew.

As for me, I prefer to use something that is not only classy, but also will actually become a part of the ground again if it’s thrown away. No recycling to keep it out of landfills needed. Stelvin screwcaps aren’t so “pop and pour” so to speak. They require that the plastic liner be removed from the metal cap in order to be reused after recycling. I’m thinking that folks are finding that it’s just easier to toss them into landfills.

Not green at all.

The families in Portugal are working like crazy to make sure that their cork is free of TCA, and the improvements have been astounding. There are companies (more on that on a later post) that guarantee that their 100% cork products will not cause TCA contamination.

So I prefer cork because it’s just, well, *better.* For the environment, for business, and for my romantic evenings.

Unoaked Chardonnay

While there are a few unoaked Chards that are actually quite good, it’s a wine that’s still pretty much in the novelty category for me. Frankly, if I want a nice unoaked white wine, I’ll grab a Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier (one that’s made correctly), Riesling, or any other of a number of truly delicious whites that were never meant to be oaked.

In my opinion, Chardonnay was made for oak. It’s pretty hard to top a well-made Chardonnay that’s been kissed with just enough oak (“just enough” being in the eye of the beholder, of course) to impart that characteristic creaminess and smoothness that’s made Chard the number one white wine in the US for decades.

Question: In Burgundy, are the winemakers even allowed to make white Burgundies without oak? I await your responses.

I will admit that some Napa Chards have exceeded the idea of balance in favor of the overdone (“What was that vintage? 2006 Louisville Slugger? Yum!”) With that being said, I’d rather have an overoaked Chard than one that tastes like lemonade laced with pineapple juice. I want WINE, not a melted popsicle.

Stemless Wine Glasses

I look at stemless wine glasses as a CSI lesson. Want to see fingerprints, epithelials, body oils, and sweat? Then just take a look at a stemless! Made for forensic education, it sucks as a serious wine glass.

A couple of years ago, I met with a group and brought a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc to share. Unfortunately, the only glasses available were stemless. So during the course of the hour (or so), I witnessed the evolution of the lovely, crisp, slightly chilled Sauvignon Blanc to a warmed-up, flabby shadow of itself. The heat of my hand had turned it from a wine that should be drunk chilled to one that was, in a word, uninteresting. I was quite annoyed. Okay. *More* than annoyed. I was pissed.

While these glasses are great for spirits such as Scotch or brandy, they do a great disservice to wine. Of course, if you’re chugging your wine down without tasting it, then I guess it doesn’t matter. Otherwise, why bother risking damaging a good wine? If someone can give me a good reason for using these (a *good* reason, not a *convenient* reason), I’ll post it here. Promise.

Where the Hell’re the 375s?

Okay, this is less of a rant than a request. And maybe somebody can tell me why this is not practical.

I live with my roomie, Cooper (Wineaux Guy lives in California ) which means that when I want wine with my dinner, I’m stuck with either opening up a full-size 750 or having a beer. And, after all, this *is* Vegas Wineaux, not Vegas Beer Garden (oh…wait…) I would love nothing better than to be able to pop the cork on a 375 to have with my meals, especially on those wines that are reasonably priced (cheap) and just don’t last past a day or two, no matter what preservation methods I use. Or how about when he wants a red wine and I want a rosé? Then there’re those evenings when there’s company who will ONLY drink white wine and I’m serving steak. Gimme a Cab.

So is this feasible? Or am I dreamin’?

I feel so much better now! I still have more stuff to rant about, but they will have to wait until I have the rant page back up on the new (improved!) website.

Thanks for listening.

Stay tuned!

For those of you who may be wondering, Cooper’s my Bernese Mountain Dog. He doesn’t care if a wine has a cork or stelvin closure. With no opposable thumbs, he can’t open any of them.  And he doesn’t drink.