A couple of weeks ago several VWWC members and I went to hang out with Charlie Peters of Grape Expectations Nevada School of Winemaking in Henderson.  We went nuts and bought a barrel.  But more on the “what was I thinking?!?” moment later.

We all arrived at just about the same time … and Charlie was waiting for us, bottles of wine at the ready.

Grape Expectations is located in an industrial park in Henderson – an unlikely place for a winery – but somehow, it all seems to work. There was no doubt that this was a winery; there were barrels from the floor nearly to the ceiling.

Charlie was, as expected, informative, gregarious, and generous. Because the winery is located in what is essentially an oversized garage, the “tour” part was limited, but the information part was not.  Charlie shared his incredibly interesting story and showed us what a little American ingenuity can do.

I guess you can compare the laws about having a winery to the laws about having a brothel. You can’t do what you really want with too many people around.  Kind of.

Having a “winery” in the truest sense of the word in Nevada is illegal if the county has more than 100,000 people.  Just like a brothel.  See the connection?  Well – except for possibly the good-feeling part – that’s pretty much where the similarity ends.

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Sometimes I even add it to my food!

There’s an old adage that you never cook with a wine you won’t drink.  And for the most part, we (serious) cooks and wine aficionados follow that recommendation. Mostly.

Let’s face it.  We will often open up two bottles of wine when we’re cooking with wine.  The one we actually cook with and the one we drink.  Both good.  But the one we’re drinking is always better.  Isn’t that true?

Well I decided to try a new recipe (one I made up) for braised lamb shanks.  As do most recipes for traditional(ish) braised lamb recipes, this one called for the requisite red wine.  The wine I chose is one I had in my large cooler and hadn’t done anything with.  It was a 2007 Barnwood Grenache – Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard.  I mean, I *like* Grenache, but it’s not my favorite.  That would be Pinot Noir.  But I knew it was a good wine – Barnwood is one of the second labels of Laetitia Winery – and figured that Grenache’s earthy qualities would be ideal for what I had planned.  Syrah/Shiraz would be a little too fruity for my needs.

When it came time to deglaze the pan, I poured some of the wine into a glass, and then freely poured it into the pan.  After scraping the fond and setting the flame to a lower level so that the wine could reduce, I sipped a little out of the glass.

Damn.  What have I done?

Wow that wine was delicious! I can’t use this for, well, *cooking*!

Too late!

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Lamb *is* a red meat, isn’t it?

Good. Let’s start.

I had to ask because generally speaking, lamb goes great with a variety of red wines.  Depending upon the preparation, lamb pairs well with Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet, Merlot, and Malbec.  When these wines are well made, they can be a marriage (“made in heaven”) with lamb.

Well, maybe not Cabernet, which, in my opinion, is a wine made with a moo.  But I digress.

The reason this is important is because I decided to try lamb chops with Rosé.  What?!?

The lamb chops were prepared simply because I wanted to try them with the pink.  Generally, lamb will easily overwhelm the lighter, more delicate structure of a Rosé wine.  This lamb was from New Zealand, which has a slightly stronger, more gamy flavor than American lamb.

Some people think that’s a bad thing.  I don’t.

When lamb – like most animals that are a part of our food chain in America – is “finished” with grain, it diminishes the natural, distinctive flavor. Lamb tastes like beef tastes like pork tastes like turkey…you get the drift.  As an example, venison is now being farm-raised, and therefore, it can be presumed, grain finished.  Wave good-bye to the luscious, natural wild venison flavor! Let’s go for American Bland!

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I’ve had a few questions from (Friends? Fans? Admirers? Stalkers?) asking why do I blog? And why, for goodness sakes, would I focus on such a narrow niche as wine etiquette in Las Vegas?

Assuming that these questions come from a place of really wanting to know – as opposed to trying to get me to stop – I can think of only one answer.

Passion.

I’ve always *liked* wine.  Just like many other Boomers, I started with Mogen David or Boone’s Farm. Hey! It’s a start! And it’s wine … kind of.

My journey to so-called “good” wines took a couple of decades, and it was the man to whom I’m now committed who introduced me to my first wine of substance.  I can still see that experience as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.  The expectant look on his face which turned to a broad smile as I “got it.”  It was a rich and luscious port, and the layers danced on my tongue.  I was hooked.

It was many years and many false starts later before I hit my stride.

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You’re probably wondering “why in the world is Irene dragging up these old posts? STEELES isn’t even open any more!”

Patience, patience. As you may expect, there’s a real reason why I’m doing this. Remember, this is a review of a restaurant that was already reviewed under a different name. And there’s a brand new update waiting in the wings!

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About a year and a half ago, some dining companions and I had what could charitably be called the worst dining experience – at least in terms of service – ever in the history of Las Vegas.  Okay, maybe not the *worst,* but it certainly was the worst experience I had ever had in a “fine dining” establishment.

And, as a result, I ripped them to shreds.  Unfortunately, they continued to thrive, in spite of other, less-than-stellar reviews.

Happily, they eventually closed. Apparently, bad service – no matter how great the food – was the karma that blessed Sweet Water.  In its place, however, rose STEELES, an eclectic fusion steakhouse.  Whatever that means.  When I found out that Steele was also the last name of one of the owners of Sweet Water, I was ready to jump in and review it.  In spite of my somewhat hostile tone (Sorry. But that’s how the miserable experience affected me), I was hoping for a positive experience.

The only thing that seemed to bother me is that several people went to the restaurant and when I asked them what their experience was, I received a collective yawn.  Not bad, not great.  Somewhere between Denny’s and McDonald’s was my impression.

But what about the wine?  Apparently, they hadn’t completely learned their lesson from before.  One person visited and noted that a wine that retailed for about $9.99 was going for $36.00 on the Steeles list.  Hmm. That would probably explain their never putting their wine list online.

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