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| | The Complete Grape Growers Guide. |  | | A Complete Guide For Growing Grapes. Converts Very Well At A Reasonable Price! Growing Grapes And Making Wine Is A Very Popular Topic Right Now.
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| | Fool-Proof Wine Values. | | | Learn How To Easily Find Wines Of $50 Quality For $10 Or Less. Impress Friends With Your Expanded Wine Knowledge. Eliminate Your Dependence On Wine Salespeople. And Take The Hassle Out Of Buying Wine.
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| | Making Wine From Home. | | | A Fun And Very Informative Book On Home Wine Making. The De Facto Standard For All Home Wine Enthusiasts With Recipes, Advice And Tricks.
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| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Oil Slick | |  images by Suzi Q. Varin BUYING AND STORING OLIVE OIL
Choose containers that keep out light: dark glass, ceramic, even metal. With pricey oils, taste before you buy, and look for seal-of-approval initials such as DOP (Italy), DO (Spain) or COOC (California). Keep your oil tightly sealed; store it in a cool, dark place; and use it within two years (some say 18 months) of harvest, or one year after opening. Oh, and that plastic Jug O? Oil from the C word? Don?t go there. There?s inexpensive, and then there?s swill. WHAT?S YA FLAVA?
Fruity, peppery, buttery, appley, grassy, herbal, nutty? You?d think you were talking about wine. There?s actually similar flavor chemistry going on in olive oil and wine. Early-harvest olive oils taste greener and more pungent, like an herbaceous sauv blanc. The longer the hang time, the riper the fruit, the smoother the mouthfeel, the mellower the flavors. Late-harvest oils come across more like a full-tilt chard. Both can be great; it?s just a matter of what you like and how you plan to use it. (Uh, you are gonna use it, right? You want to decorate your kitchen counter, buy a bonsai.) GOT AN EXTRA VIRGIN?
The terms ?virgin? and ?extra virgin? really are more than just sexy sounding hype: they measure the percentage of harsh-tasting oleic acid in the oil (lower is better), which can translate to quality. ?Extra virgin? oils must have less than 1 percent acidity (many clock in below .5 percent) and require as much care in growing and production as boutique wines. Oils with up to 2 percent acidity earn the ?virgin? tag. Forget the sluts, er, oils over 3 percent. And also forgo ?light? olive oil: the only thing it?s low on is flavor. IN THE KITCHEN, AT THE TABLE, ALL AROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH
There?s a reason for the large variety of oils: different oils suit different purposes. Think basic wine pairing: match light with light and heavy with heavy. Use subtle oils on mild salad greens or as bread dips, or drizzle a bit on fish, chicken or simple desserts like fruit salad, pound cake or biscotti. Big oils can stand up to red meat - try the Tuscan trick of finishing off a thick grilled steak with a slosh of spicy, robust oil. Better yet, brush the oil on with a rosemary branch while the steak sizzles. Sometimes the best cooking is no cooking at all. There?s nothing simpler or more satisfying than setting out three or four bottles of oil at the dinner table, along with your chosen vino, some good bread and a cheese or three, before, during and/or after your meal. (If everyone wears black you can feel really superior and Eurotrashy.) TIPS FOR TASTINGS
Tasting olive oil is a lot like tasting wine: you can stick to one country (Spain, Greece), one region (Tuscany, Sonoma), or one varietal (manzanilla, arbequina) and compare six or eight side by side. Or you can taste a random assortment, and maybe throw in a flavored oil that has citrus or herbs blended in. Add some cubes of chewy bread, little bowls or paper/plastic tasting cups and some easy-drinking wine. Kick back. Speak to each other in Spanish. Wait for Penelope Cruz to show up. FOR MORE INFO
Check out The Flavors of Olive Oil by Deborah Krasner (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and the Web sites of the International Olive Oil Council (http://www.internationaloliveoil.org) and the California Olive Oil Council (http://www.cooc.com). Or just Google ?olive oil? and click around the 50 million or so sites that come up.  OLIVE OIL TASTING NOTES | | XX. Antara 
100% Arbequina Olives
Tarragona - Spain $16/750ml
The Ellen DeGeneres of olive oils - easygoing, smooth and slightly nutty. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Nunez de Prado
Extra Virgin
Family Estates Crop; Baena - Spain $24/500ml
Chris Rock hosting the Oscars - dark, intense and zingers start to finish (but you know what you?re gettin?). |
| | XX. Caroliva
Extra Virgin
Estate Grown and Bottled; Andalusia - Spain $20/500ml
Think a big, buttery chard on steroids. Rich gold color, soft, round and juicy. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Columela
Picual and Hojiblanca Olives
Andalucia - Spain $19/500ml
Gael Garcia Bernal?s eyes - big, deep and dark. Touch o? pepper on the finish. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Gasull
Arbequina Olives
Catalonia - Spain $22/500ml
Cool deep-green bottle with a long slim neck. Purrs like Scarlett Johansson in a Ferrari: soft and elegant with a long, smooth finish. |
| | X. Jordan
Hand-Picked, Extra Virgin, From Italian Varietals
Alexander Valley - Sonoma $25/375ml
Kind of a bait-and-switch: starts out sweet and fruity, then morphs into a porcupine by the time it smacks your tonsils. Close to XX. |
| | X. L?Estornell
Extra Virgin, Organic Arbequina Olives
Catalonia - Spain $15/375ml
Like Erica Christensen in most of her movies: all sweetness and light in the opening scene, but she grabs you by the throat in the last act. Close to XX. |
| | X. Molino de Leoncio Gomez
Extra Virgin, Unfiltered, Picudo and Hojiblanca Olives
Cordoba - Spain $11/500ml
Gotta hunt for the flavors at first, then they do the Big Bang in the back of your mouth. Close to XX. |
| | XXX. Pons
Extra Virgin, Arbequina Olives
Catalonia - Spain $16/473ml
Yo-Yo Ma playing a cello concerto - rich, deep and resonant. Pale gold, medium body, with layers of fresh apple, almond and spice flavors, and a nice little kick on the finish. |
| | XX. Poplar Hill
2005 Extra Virgin
Spring Mountain - Napa Valley $20/375ml
Light, airy, silky, delicate and balanced; buttery, hazelnutty and smoooooth. An obvious late-picked oil (check the harvest date!) that deserves nothing more than a chunk of good bread and a pinch of salt. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Skipstone Ranch
Melina?s Harvest, November 2004, Extra Virgin
Alexander Valley - Sonoma County $25/375ml
Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby - brawny, punchy, ends with a surprising knockout. |
| | XX. Soler Romero
100% Picual Olives
Andalusia - Spain $18/500ml
Why does this taste like nectarines, white pepper and grass? Starts fruity and sweet, then turns tangy on the finish. Slather some on sliced oranges with red onion slivers, lemon juice and salt. |
| | X. Unio
100% Arbequina Olives
Siurana - Spain $16/750ml
The NZ sauv blanc of olive oils - spicy and green start to finish. Makes a great pesto with basil, anchovies and good parmigiano reggiano. Close to XX. |
| | X. Zoe
Extra Virgin
Castilla-La Mancha - Spain $9/1-Litre Tin
A tad rustic and rough, but a good value. Great for stir-frying veggies. Close to XX. |
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| [03/31/2008, 12:00] | Shadow Stevens and the Wines of Scott Paul | | 
Scott Paul Wines is a boutique winery dedicated to producing ultra-premium Pinot Noirs from the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Proprietor and winemaker, Scott Paul Wright, came to winemaking as a second career. For thirty years, he had a career in the radio and music industries. As a disc jockey, his handle was “Shadow Stevens” and those of you from the East Coast remember him well. His financial success in the music world allowed him to cellar and drink good wine from an early age. As the music business became more and more a corporate-driven industry, Scott lost interest in continuing in that field, and left to learn winemaking. Under the mentorship of Greg Le Follette and others, and taking inspiration from Burgundy, he developed his winemaking skills. After ten vintages in Oregon, he is now very comfortable with his career change. For more info on Scott Paul Wines: www.scottpaul.com Sponsor: The Beaches of South Walton: www.beachesofsouthwalton.com Click Below to Play the Show: | Show #195
(44:53 min 32 MB) | | | |
| [12/23/2007, 03:21] | December 22, 2007. Christmas time is here | | 
It's hard to believe that a year has almost gone by and Christmas Time is here. In getting into the holiday rhythm, I went looking for some music only to find most of it unsatisfying (surprise, surprise). There are exceptions, and here I think is one of them.
December 1965, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was aired and became an instant standard. Most people will remember the Charles Schultz cartoon along with the catchy tunes. Upon listening to the recent 2006 re-master of this album by Fantasy records, I was amazed. This is so much better than coming out of a 14 inch mono TV. Arranged & composed by Vince Guaraldi, there is an underlying quality of happiness and cheer to the music. Perhaps it brings back happy memories of my childhood but I think it is intrinsic to the music. Guaraldi to me, has the lyrical qualities of Bill Evans together with the rhythm and swing of a Dave Brubeck - it is a shame he died of a heart attack at an age of 47 between sets at a jazz club. Thought I would share this one with you, the album code is FCD-30066-2 in case some of you are interested.
Merry Christmas, good health, peace on earth and may joy come over the world. | | | |
| [05/02/2008, 23:38] | Still Not working | | I'm still having domain issues. It was briefly sorted out on Thursday night but by Friday morning it was back to the squatting page. You can't leave comments but you can email me on pinotgrisATgmailDOTcom
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| [05/11/2008, 14:19] | Maryland Festival - Wine in the Woods | | 
May 17 & 18, 2008 from Noon-6pm
Located in Columbia,Maryland at Symphony Woods.
It?s their 16th Year! Celebrate the charm and character of an event that has aged to perfection! Sample Maryland's finest wines from a souvenir glass; make food purchases from an abundance of high quality, distinctive restaurants and caterers; sharpen your palette by attending wine education seminars; enjoy exceptional works offered by invited artists and craftspersons; and revel in continuous live entertainment on the jazz and main stages. Ask about the designated driver program.
Volunteers are needed; please call 410-313-4624. Advance purchase admission: A wristband will be mailed with your receipt; take your wristband to the gate for admission. Online registration requires an approved online account. To purchase admission for more than one person, change the quantity and update the cart. Advance purchase ends Wed., May 7. Walk-in purchase only May 8, 9 and 12-16.
On-line ticket sales begin March 6, 2008. On-line ticket sales end Wed., May 7th to ensure that tickets are received before the event.
Advance (walk-in) ticket sales begin March 6, 2008 at these locations, and end Friday, May 16th.
General Admission Gate Price is $25.
Advance tickets & Designated Drivers $20. | | | |
| [02/05/2008, 14:22] | Notes from a dinner | | 1992 Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz
Cherry, raspberry and some leather and earthy elements to the nose. There is a delicious sweetness to the palate that is well countered by savoury nuances. Very enjoyable.
90/100 2000 Besserat de Bellefon Grande Tradition Champagne
Cheesy and toasty nose. Rounded mouthfeel. Lacks depth and finishes short.
83/100 2002 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling
Lemon, orange peel and some toast aromas starting to develop. The palate is long and full, with incredible intensity. This wine holds so much future potential.
93/100 1978 Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion
Tobacco, bramble, ash and smoke on the nose. The tannins are fully resolved, leading to a medium bodied palate with soft fruits and good aged character. Very pleasant to drink wine at its peak.
89/100 1996 Chateau Léoville-Poyferré
Youthful nose of blackberry, spice, cassis and cedar. Intensely tannic on the palate, but the structure is good and this is going to improve greatly once the tannins soften and it takes on additional complexity. Needs time.
90/100 1981 Chateau Musar
Cherry/kirsch, smoked meats, earth and honey. The palate shows amazing fruit sweetness that is balanced superbly by aged earthy, spicy characters. Complex and long. If this was deconstructed too much you may be able to pick out many faults, but amazingly all mixed together they have achieved harmony.
94/100 2000 Hochar Père et Fils
Horsey, with earth, raspberry and a touch of VA. The palate is sweet and soft, it is quite drinkable but looked very simple in comparison to the older Musar had before. Will probably show better given time.
87/100 1995 Antinori Tignanello
Cocoa, blackcurrants, graphite and cedary nose. Lovely medium bodied, savoury palate with excellent balance.
91/100 1991 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon
A bold nose, with tobacco, cassis and blackberry. The youthfulness of the wine is evident on the palate as well, with primary fruit still dominant. The tannin structure and overall build of the wine is such that I think this has the potential for greatness.
92/100 2004 Gangloff Côte-Rôtie La Barbarine
Must be close to 10% viognier in this, but it did not bother me as it did some others at the table. Very pretty nose, with lifted fragrant floral notes, apricot and pepper. Long and rich in the mouth with some spice evident. A little bit young still tonight, but very nice anyway.
90/100 2004 Tyrrell’s Shiraz Cabernet Vat 8
Earthy, with some raspberry notes as well. Bright, red fruited palate with some earthiness coming through in the background. Tannins are bold, but should settle with time.
88/100 1998 Pfeiffer Tokay Auslese
Caramel, toffee and apple aromas. Medium body and sweetness. Ready to drink now, it could do with some more complexity but I don’t think it has the structure to age much more.
85/100 1998 Müller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese
Passionfruit, spice, peach and pineapple aromas. Lovely, lingering sweetness to the palate and it just has the acid to keep it fresh and balanced. This style of wine is right up my alley.
93/100 1995 Hétszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos
Honey, coconut, pineapple and maple syrup. Rich, honey like palate, but with excellent complexity and acidity. Fantastic length, this was a great wine to finish the evening with.
93/100 | | | |
| [05/14/2008, 15:30] | Organic Wine Week, Part 2: Pinot Noir | |  My second organic wine pick for this week involves Pinot Noir--which still seems to be everyone's favorite red variety. There's a lot to like about it, so it's not surprising. They're flavorful, rich without being heavy, and pair well with a wide variety of foods.
So when the folks at Cooper Mountain asked if I'd like to try their latest vintage of Pinot Noir I said yes. Cooper Mountain Vineyards are in the Willamette Valley, perched on the slopes of an extinct volcano in Oregon. Robert and Corrine Gross started the vineyards in 1978 and began bottling their own wine in 1987. Robert Gross always explored alternative methods of treating his medical patients--he's a psychiatrist, a homeopath, and an acupuncturist--and his fondness for the road less traveled in his career can also be seen in his wine work. Within a few years, Gross became interested in sustainable, alternative farming and began to convert the vineyards to organic methods. They were certified organic in 1995 (the second vineyard in Oregon to achieve this status), and four years later received their biodynamic Demeter certification.
The wine I sampled, the 2006 Cooper Mountain Vineyards Cooper Hill Pinot Noir, was a light bodied, cheerful wine with excellent QPR. ($15-$17 through online merchants) Made with organic, biodynamic grapes, the wine tasted very pure to me, with lots of cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors that were intense and lively. The wine had Pinot's distinctive silky character, and after you swallowed down all those fruity flavors there was a nice fresh taste in your mouth that reminded me of the smell of a wet garden. Like most Oregon Pinot Noirs that I've tasted, this wine is not opulent and rich but cool and restrained--like Grace Kelley. It's a young wine, with refreshing acidity at its core and I found that the cherry had turned to black cherry and the raspberry to blackberry after I recorked it and left it on the counter for 24 hours. This suggested to me that this is a wine that will continue to develop with age. But it's delightful right now, so you shouldn't wait to try this one. And the price is amazing for a wine that is organic, small production, and so darn tasty.
We had the Cooper Mountain Pinot Noir with some BBQ shrimp and cheese grits made with shrimp tossed in some homemade red sauce with bourbon and spices and some creamy grits laced with extra sharp cheddar cheese. The acidity really cut through the red BBQ sauce, and the purity of the fruit flavors didn't clash with the spices. This summer, if you've got plans to BBQ, get yourself some of this wine.
Cooper Mountain makes a wide range of organic, biodynamic wines including Pinot Gris, Malbec, and several different Pinot Noirs. If you want confirmation from another blogger that Cooper Mountain is a winery to watch, check out Jeff Lefevere's review over at Good Grape. This is a winery that may not be on your radar screen, but it should be. Their wines are further proof of the numerous affordable, delicious choices that are out there if you would like to make organic and biodynamic wine choices.
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| [05/13/2008, 03:40] | Marquis De Chasse 2005 | | 
Remember I said to buy any 05 Bordeaux and give it s shot; there will be some real bargains to be found from this supreme vintage. This blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon is a cranberry jelly colored wine with a bouquet of fruity wood, and chocolate covered cherries. Nice.
In the mouth it is steely, a little tart tightly wound on opening and full of mineral flavors. BREATHE!
Really nice bouquet of ripe plum and a touch of cinnamon and pipe tobacco.
The palate is a bit tannic but this is a solid wine; give it two hours to air out and buy a couple for the under $10 price and put another year of age on it. | | | |
| [09/11/2007, 08:23] | Weekend in Macau | | | I scraped myself up and out of Hong Kong to go grab the ferry to Macau. I later found out that helicopters are also available and a lot faster, although the boat trip wasn?t that bad, lasting only an hour. The ferries leave from Hong Kong every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, and [...] | | | |
| [04/23/2008, 17:57] | Dobermans, wine characteristics, and a new staff member | |  Recently Tom Wark posted a piece on Fermentation titled On Dogs, Wine & God that compares wine characteristics to the traits that are bred into dogs. Quoting one of his commenters, wine blogger Arthur Z Przebinda of Redwinebuzz, Tom says: "What makes a Doberman a classic example of the breed? The way it best displays the traits and characteristics that define the breed," then goes on to point out that over time dog breeders have bred out or in certain characteristics based on evolving breed standards, that the same thing has happened with wine, and that's perfectly OK.
The Doberman is a perfect example, since the Dobes of today are bred to be companions more than the protector that German tax collector Louis Dobermann created in the late 1800s. Today's Dobes are bred to retain all the qualities Herr Dobermann was after ? intelligence, power, speed, and ease of mainenance ? but with a more tractable temperament suitable for a family dog. Similarly, some wines that were previously unapproachable or challenging have been changed so that they can be enjoyed by a larger segment of the population. In each case, there are curmudgeonly traditionalists and those who embrace the new style, and their viewpoints are equally valid.
This seems like a good way to segue into an introduction to our newest staff member here at WineCanine, a 10-month-old Doberman named Hobbes. Hobbes came to us through Southwestern Ohio Doberman Rescue, which had him in a foster home in Louisville, Kentucky. Hobbes was named Sirius by SWODR and apparently had been called Buster at one time, judging by the name on the leash that he came with. We had originally gone down to meet a red Dobe named Calvin, who, with his long tail and natural ears, looked quite a bit like our Red, who passed on in late March. Calvin was nice, but this young, fawn-colored fella turned out to be a Weim lover. So, we went down to look at Calvin, but ended up with Hobbes.
Hobbes has been very interested in learning about everything in the kitchen, so after a brief training period he will assume the position of WineCanine's official ChowHound. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | The Wine Trials | | Published on May 1st and just delivered to my doorstep via Amazon.com, The Wine Trials by Robin Goldstein enlivened (inflamed?) the wine blogosphere before anybody cracked the cover. The striker to the matchbook? Eric Asimov, a seasoned journalist for the New York Times, wrote a post based on reading a Newsweek article about the book. You would not expect a journalist to comment on another piece of print media, especially without having read the book, but I guess this is the blogosphere and we are all guilty of seeking inspiration outside of traditional journalistic boundaries, but what ensued in the comments section of the post when nobody had read the book was truly sociologically interesting. After a 65 comment explosion, Asimov wrote a follow-up after receiving a pre-release galley copy of the book and that post incited 31 comments. Sequentially, the original post can be found here and the follow-up here. Interestingly, the book is only, initially, available on Amazon.com. And, yes, you guessed it. Amazon is currently backordered on the book. Somebody is interested … Piqued by all of this, I did what anybody would do with all of that content on Asimov’s blog—I cut and paste into a Word document with .5 margins and 10 pt Trebuchet font. 36 pages and 17,000 words later I am more confused than before I started. And, with no small amount of irony, the 17,000 words has to exceed the actual content in the book, which is 2/3’s wine listings. Here is the net-net version with this book: the author did a blind tasting of many wines with large number of tasters (some 500 +) and the result was that numerous inexpensive wines (under $15) bested wines that are more expensive ($50 +) based on the panel of judges. Pragmatically speaking, you do not have a book if people preferred more expensive wines to the less expensive wines so there is some room for question because the study, presumably, was set-up with an end conclusion in mind and not a hypothesis, but just the same it’s a fascinating book that makes for good arm chair reading over the course of a couple of hours. With 58 introductory pages and the balance of the book being wine listings of the 100 wines under $15 that bested the $50 - $150 wines, it’s a light read. The majority of the blog comments about Asimov’ posts on the book were centered on the division of small expensive wines and large grocery store wines. This is an old ideological argument and more analogies were employed to explain the difference in art versus culture. Variants cropped up about wine appreciation versus simpleton quaffers, etc. Ugh, wake me when this tired old song is over with. We get it. Get over it. Yes, there is a cultural difference between NASCAR fans and those that attend the symphony. By God, both of these groups of people enjoy wine, too. Nested within all of this debate is the essential truth by Asimov. He states: I am not saying wine is the equivalent of art. I do say that wine can be appreciated on many different levels, but that nobody should ever feel obliged to appreciate wine on any level. In the end, the book seems to divide wine consumers into the casual buyers who are pushed this way and that by forces they don’t understand, and the wealthy conspicuous status seekers who also are not quite aware of capitalism and marketing. Unacknowledged are the serious wine lovers who are knowledgeable, experimental and passionate, and who, yes, are in control of their own destinies. The book may speak to the first two groups, but not to the third. As a member of the third group, the “serious wine lover” I can say unequivocally that I occasionally drink inexpensive wine and, natch, this book is an interesting take and a welcome addition to the pantheon of wine studies and a nice guidebook to the maze of choices at your grocery store for a through the week glass. For additional reading at the source research study that led to the book, see this white paper. | | | |
| [03/22/2008, 16:53] | Small New Zealand Wineries Part 2 | | Clos Henri is a relatively new entrant to the Wairau valley of the Marlborough wine growing region. This property is also located close to Renwick and is actually opened by the Bourgeois family from the Sancerre region in France. The first vines were planted in 2001 with emphasis on bringing out the terroir. There are a multitudes of soils here but they essentially are either clay based or rocky riverbed. Their "Bel Echo" offerings of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir show definite minerality and bely the rocky riverbed soil which it was planted on. The "Clos Henri" series on the other hand definitely is more earthy, rich and deep being planted on predominantly clay. Of all the wines tasted in this region - these wines strike me as the most "terroir transparent" I have tried so far.
Their vine planting densities are some of the highest around here of around 5000 vines per hectare. I have high hopes for this property in the future as their vines begin to acquire age and more experience is gained each year on the boundaries of each specific "terroir".
There is definite potential here for these wines - give the vines some age, more experience with the soil and LOWER YIELDS. If there is one sticking point it's the yields which tend to be on the higher end. At ~50 Hl/Ha, this is just too high to produce anythng worthy of the "ultra-premium" status and certainly world class. To get there, we are going to have to drop fruit yields by 30% or more so let's watch this space - it's a great start.  | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Mussel Beach | |  Mussel Beach Mussels on the half shell are as exotic and flavorful as they are inexpensive. (serves 6) 6 basil leaves
2 T fresh thyme, remove and discard stems before measuring
2 T fresh tarragon, remove and discard stems before measuring
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot(s), minced
3 lemons, 1 * zested, 1 /2*juiced, 1 - 1/2* cut into wedges and reserved for garnish
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley sprigs, remove and discard stems before measuring
1/2 t celery salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
3 T butter at room temperature
1 lb. cultured blue mussels, rinsed, and debearded with a quick tug 1. . Mix all ingredients except the butter and mussels in a small food processor or blender or dice finely and mix by hand in a small bowl. 2. . If using a processor or blender add the butter. Otherwise, add the butter to the mixture in the bowl and blend thoroughly with a spoon. 3. . Place a vegetable steamer in a large pot and add 1 inch of water Bring water to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and steam for approximately 40 to 60 seconds, or just long enough for the shells to open (this is the sole object of the exercise). Remove opened shells and continue steaming any closed shells for I minute. Discard any mussels that have not opened by this time. 4. . Allow the mussels to cool. Remove the top shell. 5. . Set the mussels on a baking sheet (facing up) and spoon 1/4 teaspoon of the butter/herb mixture over each. 6. . Place the pan under the broiler on the level closest to the element or flame. Broil for about 2-1/2 minutes, or until butter is melted and the mussels just begin to brown. 7. . Serve on the half shell. le secret. .Do not oversteam or overbroil mussels. the adventure club . .Add a few droplets of Pernod (a licorice-flavored liqueur) to each mussel just before cooking. garnish . .Lemon wedges. suggested accompaniment . .A martini. alternatives . .i) Butter may be replaced with an equal amount of olive oil. ii) This recipe also works with oysters, but you will have to pray for a pearl in order to finance the difference in price. notes . .Buy the mussels from a reputable fishmonger on the day of the dinner. Select only mussels that are closed. ii) Keep mussels refrigerated. iii) Mussels are best washed and cleaned just before using. They begin to dry out once the beard is removed. iv) Don't worry if you are missing any one of the herbs. v) If you open a mussel and it looks questionable, give it the smell test. guest assignment . .Mussel debearder. hints for advance prep . .The butter mixture may be prepared days in advance and refrigerated or frozen. cooking apparatus . .A baking sheet, a large pot, and a vegetable steamer. serving apparatus . .A large serving plate, a plate for the empty shells and cocktail napkins. prep time . .Thirty minutes. cooking time . .Five minutes. * Double for 12 servings |
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| [08/19/2007, 22:29] | The physiology of wine tasting | | I just finished reading a very interesting book. Sensi DiVini is a tiny 80 page treatise on how our brain deals with tasting wine. It is a collection of short essays written by various experts in their fields. It is quite technical, and while I love all things techie, there can be no doubt that some of it was completely over my head.
Even while plowing through descriptions of the various parts of the brain I could immediately understand the relationship of the material to my experiences with tasting wine. The book even gave some scientific insight into why we enjoy elaborate feasts such as my famed seven course dinners.
It has been explained many times in the past, even by me, that taste is nothing without smell. We can only taste 5 things (it used to be 4, but there is a new one now). Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and the newly recognized sensation, umami. Umami has been described as our ability to taste ?savory? but the scientific description is more to the point, it is the taste of proteins.
It is the first three taste sensations; sweet, sour and bitter; that come into play in wine. The other ?tastes? in wine are due to aromas. We may only be able to taste 5 sensations, but our ability to ascertain individual aromas is seemingly endless.
From a mere 300 aroma sensors (mice have 1000) we can distinguish grapefruit from lemon, bing cherries from maraschinos, and pleasant aromas from nasty ones.
It was the need to distinguish edible from less edible foods that helped us evolve this complex interplay of flavors and aromas with recognition and selection or rejection. If it tastes good we enjoy it, and we eat it. If it tastes nasty, we spit it out, sometimes even involuntarily as with a gag reflex.
The sense of aroma is almost directly tied into the brain, making smells one of most primal senses. It is for this reason that a smell can so easily conjure a memory. We also use visual and gustatory senses when tasting, and even the sense of somatosensory (touch). These other senses combine with aroma to form recognition and pleasure through a process referred to as binding.
Binding is taking the information from several parts of the brain and creating a single unifying experience. A great example from the book is when we watch tennis. We recognize the ball as a shape, we recognize the yellow of the ball as a color, and we recognize the movement to allow us to follow its trajectory.
I have long known that I taste more effectively when I am a little hungry. This follows the research that shows that our impression of flavor (which for this discussion is a combination of taste and aroma) is highly regulated by our current level of satiety for that flavor or even nutritional value.
We are not really good at craving specific nutrients, so instead our mind equates textures, shapes and colors along with flavor, as broader nutritional needs. This is why some foods sound more appealing to us at any given time than other foods.
Once you have been eating a specific food your ability to derive pleasure from it is reduced, as is your ability to recognize the intensity of the flavor or aroma. You may be satiated from one flavor, but a new different one has all the intensity and pleasure potential you got from the first item at the start. This is the scientific reasoning behind courses or even having more than one food on your plate.
I have long held that education of any subject increases your enjoyment of it. This is especially true of wine, and the entire rationale behind my given vocation. It turns out there is some empirical evidence to support this.
Sesi DiVini recounts a study wherein wine experts and wine novices where each placed in an MRI and given tastes of wine, and of course a control solution of glucose. The wine experts had much more activity in the brain, especially in the pleasure centers. Because the experts were analyzing the wine and the novices were not, the experts ?got more out of tasting wine.?
I am not exactly a book reviewer, and this is not exactly a book review, but it is a look at a subject that I have never seen handled so scientifically. I had to write away to Italy to get the book, but they are looking into why it isn?t on Amazon any more. If you are intrigued and want a copy of your own, you can get it here.
Eating and drinking are rewarding in of themselves. Knowing how the brain reacts to flavors will probably not bring you more joy when you eat and drink, but knowing more about what you are eating and drinking will. As always I challenge you to get more out of your life by experimenting with food and wine at every opportunity. Taste something new today, it turns out the experience may even help you enjoy your old favorites all that much more. | | | |
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Defenders of Wildlife yesterday, May 14, 2008, welcomed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (
I have been drinking quite a lot of 1996 Penfolds 407 recently and maybe that colours my impression of t