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New wines from Chateau Serilhan, Bakus, Domaine Roses Camille, Cantina Giuliano, and TDS Toscana tasted at IDS’ offices – May 2022
As stated I was in Paris in May, and the first tasting I had on the trip was at the offices of Les Vin IDS. I know I said I was done with asides but this one is about wine. Remember that my QPR standard means Quality to Price Ratio! Well, the price fluctuates with currency. Most of us do not think about it but it does! We are all feeling it now with inflation but a very nice aside, at least if you are using US Dollars in Europe is that the US Dollar has almost reached parity with the Euro, and that made for a wonderful trip!
All my purchases were discounted by the Euro and that made the QPR scores a bit better but overall I stayed with either the Euro or the US dollar prices (AKA US prices). More on that below.
So, with that aside, let us get to the second part of the IDS tasting.
Tasting
The tasting was a two-part wine event. The first part featured IDS wines while the second part featured wines that Ben Sitruk of Wine Symphony brought to taste. This included wines from Ari Cohen’s new wine business Bakus, wines from Chateau Serilhan (M. Marcelis), wines from Domaine Roses Camille, some wines from Cantina Giuliano, and the Toscana from Terra di Seta. The first post focused on the Le Vins IDS and this post will cover the rest of those wines. I will start talking about the wines in the order they were tasted.
Bakus Wines
When I heard that Ari Cohen started to make some kosher wines I looked forward to the moment I got to taste them. They are from Spain and while I adore Elvi Wines, my last post was on their new wines, most of what we get from Spain has not been enjoyable. The wines tend to be overly oaked or overly ripe and not as balanced as I desire. They do work for folks who like that style but for me, they were too unbalanced to work.
They had potential, the wines were made from the Montsant region and one was from the Toro region. The varietals were varied blends, including Tempranillo, Carignan, Grenache, Macabeo, and Grenache Blanc. In the end, the wines were a bit too oak driven and too ripe for my taste.
I was having this conversation over Whatsapp with a few folks and it is truly bewildering how Spain continues to give us fewer kosher options that are enjoyable, while Italy is just blowing the doors off. An interesting thought to think about, thankfully, we still have Elvi Wines.
Cantina Giuliano
Whenever you sell Chianti you are going to be putting yourself under a microscope, as eventually, you will be compared to the original winery of the year, Terra di Seta. Cantina Giuliano has come a long way from the first time I tasted them many years ago. They are still not getting QPR WINNER scores, for their red wines, but they are getting closer.
The white and rose wines were OK, this year they were not as good as previous vintages, but still nice enough. The red wines were a OK as well, just not great, IMHO.
Chateau Serilhan
I loved the 2012 vintage of these wines and I was looking forward to tasting the 2014 and 2015 vintages. Thankfully, they are now released and they are equally enjoyable, though the 2015 Cru Ducasse does not live up to the lofty expectations I had for it after the incredible 2012 vintage blew me away. These wines are not officially here in the USA, but I hear they may make an entrance soon. The 2014 vintage was not available when I was there but I hope to taste it soon.
Domaine Roses Camille
I got the chance to taste the two new DRC wines both in San Jose and in Paris, a few weeks apart and they were absolutely the same, which is good! DRC continues to be one of the true stalwarts of Pomerol and shows the power of the right bank! The 2016 Echo de Roses Camille and the 2018 Clos Lavaud both showed very well and they both are QPR superstars!
Read the rest of this entry
2015 Terra di Seta Riserva, Chianti Classico – QPR superstar of Italy, 2016 Chateau Royaumont, and others
This past Shabbat I enjoyed the latest release from Terra di Seta, the 2015 Terra di Seta Riserva (PLEASE STOP spelling it Reserve), and yes it was sold out, but now it is back in stock, but I would buy ASAP as you cannot keep these darn wines in stock. I have a new idea for Terra di Seta, produce double the quantity going forward because we can never get enough of any of it!
Since I was finally trying the 2015 Terra di Seta Riserva I thought I would taste it side by side with other Italian wines. Sadly, none of them came close to the TDS’s quality. Two of them tasted like oxidized date juice while the 2018 Cantina Giuliano Chianti may well be the first wine from this winery that I would buy, it was close anyway. I also tried an Israeli wine that GG (Gabriel Geller) kvelled about and sadly I cannot join him in his praise.
Finally, I once again opened a bottle of the 2016 Chateau Royaumont and WOW is it fun, it is a bit ripe but it really is well balanced.
What can I say, Royal Wines keep on killing it with QPR options that are top-notch! The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2016 Chateau Royaumont – Score: 92 (QPR Star)
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. This is perfume heaven, this is what I want from Merlot, bright fruit, ripeness that is under control, with rich minerality, and lovely earth. The nose on this wine is lovely, ripe, bright, controlled, Merlot perfume, with the green and tart notes of the Cabernet Franc, bringing this nose altogether, with dark plum, graphite, earth, and loads of black fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has it all, the ripeness is there, get over it, but it is so beautifully balanced, with great acid, loads of mouth draping, elegant, and coating tannin, followed by blackberry, dark plum, rich mineral, lovely earth, tart, and juicy strawberry, with green notes, forest floor, and foliage/garrigue. The finish is long, green, ripe, balanced, with tart juicy fruit, elegance, lovely mushroom, smoke, and hints of tar. WOW! Bravo!! Drink from 2021 until 2030.
2015 Terra di Seta, Riserva, Chianti Classico – Score: 92 to 93 (QPR Superstar)
The nose on this wine is pure heaven, showing floral notes, dried mint, oregano, with more herbs, mushroom heaven, forest floor, and earth, with red and black fruit galore, wow. The mouth on the beautiful full-bodied wine is what I want from all wines, a clear game plan, fruit-focus, rich acidity, clear fruit, and an overall mouthfeel that is draping, elegant, and yet breathtaking, with so much acid it will take your breath away, with blackberry, dark cherry, cassis, and hints of currants and raspberry, with loads of more mushrooms, all backed by gripping tannin that is a bit harsh to start, with smoke, and bramble. The finish is long, green, earthy, mineral-driven, and acid backed, with crazy tobacco, herb central, and coffee all working together, with green notes that linger forever. Bravo!!! Drink from 2021 until 2028. Read the rest of this entry
The latest crop of Kosher QPR wines and some losers
It has not been long since I last posted a new list of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Kosher wines. But I am always looking for more winners, and I am sure some of these will be on the QPR wine list of 2019.
To me, Terra di Seta continues to prove that Italian wines can go mano-a-mano with the rest of the kosher wine world. They continue to excel in delivering QPR wines and they continue to prove that you can create impressive to great wines for less than 40 dollars. I have yet to taste the 2015 Terra di Seta Riserva and sadly I was not a fan of the ALWAYS QPR worthy 2017 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico. The 2017 Elvi Rioja Semi, another perennial QPR winner was not my cup of tea but the 2018 vintage is a ripe wine, Mevushal, but still nice and QPR winner.
Another of those QPR superstars, in the sparkling wine world, is, of course, the Yarden Winery. Gamla is their second label behind the Yarden label, but when it comes to bubbly, the Gamla label is always well accepted. Of course, the stupid spat between Yarden Winery and Royal Wine means that we have a single wine called Gamla in Israel and Gilgal here. Why? Because these two wine businesses cannot make nice long enough to come to their senses and figure out a way to be civil with each other. I am so surprised that this is still going on today. The Gamla label, a wine made by originally by Carmel in Israel for this label in the USA, and now who knows who makes it, either way, it is not a wine worthy of this bickering, but sadly, here we are.
Now, back to the wine, I wrote about the new Gilgal Brut back in January, and the wine has moved beyond its insane acid lemon trip and it is now rounding out a bit, with some added complexity and richness.
Domaine Netofa was always on my QPR list, but sadly that was just for Israel, but thankfully Royal and Kosherwine.com have combined to bring the entire line back to the USA! I hear it is going well so get on these before they disappear!
Now, I also wanted to add a list of losers as people have been asking me what I thought of some of the newer wines and here is my response, so I have a QPR list and a NOT so QPR list.
I wanted to keep this simple, so the wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2017 Domaine Netofa, Red – Score: 91 (QPR Superstar)
This wine is now exclusively imported by Kosherwine.com and I hope they are selling well. This has really stabilized now. It is a bit fruity still, but it also has some nice old-school style and swagger. The nose on this wine is nice and smoky, with great control and roasted animal. The fruit is blue and black and lovely. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is layered and with nice blueberry, blackcurrant, great acid, and great control showing earth, raspberry, root beer, that give way to spice, vanilla, and loads of dirt. The finish is ribbons of mineral, charcoal, graphite and bitter coffee, Solid!! Drink by 2021.
2017 Domaine Netofa Latour, White – Score: 91 to 92 (QPR)
Crazy Oak nose with yellow pear and apple, quince and rich saline with hay and dry herb. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is crazy good, layered, extracted and richly round, but tart, and saline bomb, with lovely tension and rich herb, and lovely sweet spices and sweet Oak. The finish off long, green, with vanilla, herb, and mint, and lemongrass, with tart lemon curd and spices. Drink by 2023.
2017 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: 91 (QPR)
The 2017 vintage is less austere than 2016, it is more accessible now and will still hold. The nose on this wine is really nice with rich black currant, blackberry, and blue notes that give way to smoke, Oak, toasty notes, and lovely tar. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is super tart and really bright, with great acid, blackberry, blueberry, black currant, with garrigue, sweet but well-balanced note, with mouth-coating elegance and layers of concentrated fruit and earthy notes, with chocolate and sweet spices. The finish is long, bright, tobacco, mineral, pencil shavings, with tar, and root beer. Lovely! Drink now until 2022. (To be released soon I think)
2016 Domaine Netofa Latour, Red – Score: 92 (Crazy QPR)
This wine is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Mourvedre. The nose on this wine is lovely, ripe and balanced, with sweet oak, blueberry, boysenberry, with bright fruit, and loads of dirt. This wine is really still very young, showing great potential, with incredible tannin, great acid, rich layers of blue and black fruit with great aging potential, loads of chocolate and rich spice, dark fruit, and herb, all wrapped in a plush yet elegant mouthfeel. The finish is less green than past vintages, showing a more ripe fruit profile, but still clearly balanced, with foliage, tobacco, mint, and sweet spices and herbs. Bravo!! Drink from 2020 till 2024.
2018 Ramon Cardova Albarino, Rias Baixas – Score: 92 (QPR Superstar)
The 2018 vintage of this Albarino, in its second vintage, shows less tropical and ripe than the first vintage, 2017. This bottle also had the thermal active label, and it shows up when the bottle is at the proper drinking temperature. My only REAL and serious complaint is the cork, why would Royal waste the money and my money of a real cork? Use a Diam or any other amalgamated cork, like almost everyone else is. I really hope I do not hit a bad cork for the wines I have.
The nose on this wine is better than the 2017 vintage, Lovely nose of rich mineral, with loads of straw, with which salinity, and lovely peach and dry pear, with honeysuckle, gooseberry, along with green notes galore. Lovely! The mouth on this lovely green and acid-driven wine, has a more oily mouthfeel than the 2017 vintage, showing rich salinity, green olives, with lovely dry quince, green apples, more peach, green apple, but also with lovely lime and grapefruit, no sense of guava or melon-like on the 2017 vintage, with a tinge of orange notes. The overall mouth is lovely and it comes at you in layers. The finish is long, green, with gooseberry, tart fruit, with an incredible freshness, and orange pith, slate, rock, and incredible acidity lingering long. Incredible!! Bravo!! Drink until 2022. Read the rest of this entry
Four solid red wines from Bordeaux, Italy, and California, with two QPR
The good news wine parade continues with four more solid QPR red wines. This time they are from Bordeaux, Chianti, and California. The last post had a bunch of obscure white varietals, check it out if you missed that one. This post’s varietals are some of the most well knows red varietals on planet earth, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, and the less famous Petit Verdot.
Well, there you have it. The top QPR of the four wines is sadly sold out already in the USA, the 2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico. Some stores will probably still have bottles of it. The other QPR wine is the 2014 Chateau Leroy-Beauval and it should be widely available on the east coast at a reasonable price. The other two wines are nice enough but given the prices, I cannot give them the QPR moniker.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2014 Chateau Leroy-Beauval – Score: 90+ (QPR)
Another QPR winner from M & M Importers. This is a well-made wine, a wine that out of the box is lovely, but with time opens to a really fun wine indeed. The nose on this wine shows a bit of age though it has legs on it, with dark to black currant, cherry, smoke, tar, and nicely tilled earth, with garrigue, and herbs. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is nice, a bit ripe, with more of the notes from the nose, with plum, dark cherry, nice smoke, mushroom, loads of graphite and roasted herbs, mint, oregano, and nice sweet tobacco, all wrapped in sweet mouth-coating tannin and an overall nice balance. The finish is long, green, and ripe, with more sweet herbs, blackcurrant, sweet dill, and black fruit, lingering long with mineral and green notes. Drink by 2021.
2016 Chateau Hauteville, Saint-Estephe – Score: 91
This wine is a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine starts off really chunky and green, but with time, the wine turns smoother and rounder with lovely tannin and extraction. In previous vintages this wine was OK, but nothing great, this vintage is truly another step up and makes it a 90+ wine. This wine needs a good 6 to 8 hours in an open bottle or maybe 5 hours in a decanter. After the wine fully opens the nose on this wine is redolent with dark cherry, black fruit, followed by lovely loam, earth, with green notes galore, tobacco, foliage, and hints of the forest floor. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is rich, layered, and extracted with good complexity, showing nice earth, blackberry, cassis, with loads of mineral, graphite, tar, all balanced well with mouth draping tannin, great acidity, and rich saline. The finish is long, green, earthy, and black, with raspberry notes on the finish, with more tobacco, mineral, and earth. Bravo! Drink from 2021 until 2027.
2016 Shirah Bro-Deux, Red – Score: 89
The nose on this wine is ripe, the ABV says 13.7, but wow, this is a candied ripe wine. The more I sit with it, the more I realize that the sweetness I am perceiving is not fruit sweetness or ripeness but rather oak, the oak is so pervasive that it adds a sweetness to it that makes it unbalanced.
The nose on this wine shows bright and yet ripe, with sweet and candied black and red fruit, followed by a Cali-style juicy Cherry candy, that is wrapped in mint, oregano, and some smoke. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is layered, ripe, and sweet, with ripe blackberry, plum, and hints of strawberry, that give way to layers of oak and tannin that linger long, with sweet notes of blue fruit in the background, all wrapped in sweet oak, and herbs. The finish is long, sweet, green, and herbaceous, with sweet Tobacco, and mineral lingering long, with sweet fruit. Nice. Drink by 2023.
2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico – Score: 92 (QPR)
The nose on this wine is pure joy, as always, it starts off a bit sweet, do not worry, all is fine. The nose is filled with classic Chianti notes, of dark cherry, raspberry, loads of herb, followed by smoke, roasted herb, and white pepper. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is packed with layers of concentrated fruit, loads of baby fat that will relax with time, the layers of fruit gives way to black plum, saline, black olives, with lovely loam, tilled earth, and rich mushroom, that gives way to mouth coating and still searing tannin, lovely acid, so classic to Chianti, and incredible unctuousness, that is balanced well with more roasted herb, oregano, mint, and garrigue galore, green dill, and a big fat Cuban cigar. Bravo!! Drink until 2025.
Tasting of kosher wines from Italy and Italian varietals
This past week the gang gathered at Josh Rynderman house, many thanks to MR for hosting us! I brought a few bottles of Italian wine, and so did others, while some brought non-Italian wines, and in the end, we made it into the wine event I have been waiting to have – as it was time to get down and write up my Italian wines.
It is no new revelation, that my palate has moved more old-world in style. Yes, I still enjoy Four Gates wines (which have moved new-world in style over the past few years), along with Herzog wines, Hajdu wines, mostly white Hagafen wines, and yes, Shirah wines as well (even if they think I do not love their wines). However, I was never a huge fan of Italian wines, even if in the non-kosher world, they make TONS of old-world style wines. Sadly, the issue is that there were few to none that impressed me other than the Falesco wines from 2005 and 2006 and the 2010 Moncheiro. However, recently, things are changing. First is the release of wines from Terra di Seta that I really like, (the original all-kosher winery in Tuscany). Next, is the fact that Hajdu is releasing lovely wines made from Italian varietals. Finally, there is a new all-kosher winery from Tuscany, Cantina Giuliano, who released three new wines, along with the 2014 Chianti he had last year. The 2015 Chianti from Cantina Giuliano is for sale in Europe, but it is not yet available in the USA.
Let me start with answering questions people will have before I start with this article. This may offend some, but hey, what can I do. No, there was no Bartenura wines, why? Simple, I am not a fan. What about Borgo Reale wines and Cantina Gabriela? Well, I like the two top line Borgo wines, the Brunello and Barolo, but the Borgo Reale Barolo pales in comparison to the Paulo Manzone Tenuta Moncheiro Barolo 2010, even though it sells for the same amount of money. The 2010 vintage in Barolo was one of the best in a long time, I would love to try the Paulo Manzone Tenuta Moncheiro Barolo 2010 again in a few years, like 5 or so. We did not taste these three wines at the tasting, but I have added the notes of the Paulo Manzone Tenuta Moncheiro Barolo 2010 below. Sadly, I cannot find my notes for the two Borgo wines I liked.
A bit of background on Italy’s four wine classifications:
(1) Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) – This classification denotes the highest quality recognition for Italian wines. There are only 20 or so wines meriting this classification. (2) Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) – This is the same classification as the French wine classification, Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC). Wines that fall under the DOC classification must be made in specified, governmentally defined zones, in accordance with particular regulations intended to preserve the wine’s character. There are some 300 or so wines in this classification. (3) Indicazione di Geografica Tipica (IGT) – These table wines are often ubiquitous wines, grown in specific geographical growing regions. (4) Vino Da Tavola (VdT) – This designates wines that reside firmly on the “low end” of the totem pole. Comprised of Italian table wines, these products must meet the sole criteria of being produced somewhere in Italy. Read the rest of this entry
2013 Jewish Week kosher wine tasting at the City Winery in New York City
As I stated in my previous post, my heart was in the Shabbos but my mind was on my trip that I was taking to New York. All the thinking did not help make the trip any less miserable. Once again I have proven to myself that flying to New York is hard enough, doing a stop in between is miserable and downright idiotic. Lets take a step back here and explain the situation. The Jewish Week holds a wine tasting every year, showing of the top kosher wines they thought made an impression to the wine judges. This past year, they tasted through some 400+ wines and came up with a long list of wines, many of which I like and some I did not like. Anyway, the tasting was this past Sunday, the 3rd of March, 2013, at 1 PM. To get there from the west coast, it would mean either sleeping in NY for Shabbos (not an option), or flying out Saturday Night.
I LOVE Jet Blue, but they canceled flying out Saturday night from San Jose airport, and now only fly out Saturday night from SFO – AHHH!!! So, the only other option was Delta, which I should never have done, because it meant a stopover in Atlanta. The idea was to fly out by 10:45 PM, have an hour in Atlanta and hop on the 9 AM flight to NY. That all sounded OK, no storms in the forecasts, no crazy storm trackers or watcher on the news – so it looked like I was in the clear! Not so fat, turns out that there may not be Godly reasons to not fly – but Delta is more than capable of creating man-made disasters – all by itself!
I arrived to the airport with an hour to go, and by the time we took off, I was in the airport for some 3 and a half hours! AHH!! Yep, you guessed it Delta screwed up and lost a tire on landing so the plane could not take us to Atlanta. By the time they fixed the plane, the man fixing it broke another part and we had to deplane and get on another plane – a gate over. By the time that plane was fueled and had everyone’s bags repacked – we were two+ hours behind. I slept like a baby on the plane, but by the time we arrived in Atlanta – I knew I was cooked. The connecting flight was 5 terminals over and the “plane train” could not get me there in time to save my bacon. So here comes the best part – I arrive at the gate and the plane was not departed, but the man would not let me on – no matter how much I screamed and begged. However, he gave me a printed ticket (I have not sen one of those in years) and told me to run to the next terminal where the Laguardia flight was boarding. I ran like a mad man, and in the interim broke my hand luggage! One thing after another – I know! Anyway, as I get to the gate the lady tells me that there is no such flight, I say what – the man told me there was a plane boarding now! She says – oh sure – that is one gate over, the dude gave me the incorrect gate number! Anyway, she walks me over and I start talking to the gate agent who tells me – once again – sorry the gate is closed and the plane is leaving. This is when the other gate woman turns into SuperWoman! She says – OH NO – this poor man has been through enough. She swipes her card, opens the gate door, walks me down the jetway – and bangs on the plane door! Seriously! She screams – open this door!
Now – let me please recap, I have a ticket – printed ticket, for JFK. I am trying to board a plane for which I have NO TICKET – none whatsoever! Actually I have a ticket for a totally different airport! Think of me as one of those lost souls dropped on a plane. That was me! Of course, I have no checked luggage – for two days, but still, this is COOL! The unflappable stewardess, behind a massive closed door replies; the door is closed. The gate attendant is equally unflappable, and she fires back (sorry bad use of verbage) open the door, you forgot this guy! Will you believe – the stewardess blinked and opened the door! Heck these folks were half way through the security demonstration! I was told grab any seat – we need to move. I grabbed the first window seat I could find, and promptly went back to sleep! WOW!! By the time I land in Laguardia, I had two hours to go and once I finished davening, I hopped in a taxi and found my way to the City Winery. Read the rest of this entry
Kosher European Wines, Hagafen Wine, Kosher Meat Lasagna, White Bean and Kalamata Soup, Vegetable Kugel
This past weekend we had a bunch of friends over to the house and we were so happy to celebrate the good health and recovery of a dear friend of the family who honored us by coming on over for the meal. It is starting to feel a bit chilly around here, so we thought it would be great to try some lovely White Bean and Kalamta Olive Soup. The link to the recipe was the best I could find on the web. The one I use is from Mollie Katzen’s cookbook, which I have no right to place on my blog, please buy her book she is a genius!
The soup is simple to make, and I follow her recipe to the tee, short of adding in a wee bit more wine than her recipe calls for. Personally, that is the ultimate compliment, using someone’s exact recipe, with little or no change, because it is perfect as it is.
We then cooked up meat lasagna. I have modified the lasagna many times, as I am constantly looking for the perfect lasagna that is not too dry or too runny. I think I have finally done that! This past week the lasagna was killer, very tasty, and it was solid without being the least bit dry. The recipe is a change from another cookbook I use, but I have modified this one to not worry about sharing it. Also, I wrote a lot about the process, so the recipe looks long, but I am just adding in my years of struggle with these recipes to make sure you do not. Overall a pretty easy recipe:
Meat Lasagna Recipe: (Makes two pans of lasagna)
2 Tbsp. Oil
2 chopped onions
5 garlic cloves smashed (or just use the frozen garlic)
2 lb. of ground meat
1 sliced green pepper
1 sliced orange or yellow pepper
3 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce
12 oz. of red wine (more acid and tannin the better)
4 to 5 Tbsp. parsley
2 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. of basil
salt and pepper to taste
16 oz. (18 pieces) of dry lasagna noodle (normal pasta that needs to be cooked)
1 LARGE eggplant sliced 1/2 inch thick
In a large Dutch oven or tall walled pan, heat up the oil until shimmering and then throw in the chopped onions and cook them till they are close to being browned. Then throw in the crushed garlic and as soon as it starts to smell garlicky, throw in the ground meat. Be careful never to burn the garlic, as that is nasty! Move around the meat and make sure it nice and browned. Now throw in the sliced peppers and lets cook until tender. Then throw in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, herbs, salt and pepper. Now mix the pot around a fair amount until the wine color disappears and the tomato color is bright. Keep cooking the sauce until it reduces by 20% or until the sauce looks nice and thick. This step is VERY important, so do not skimp on this, it takes time but you will be generously rewarded.
At this point, bring a very large pot of water to boil and then place the lasagna noodles and cook them 1 to 2 minutes before al dente. We do this because we want them to finish in the oven. NEVER TRY the already cooked or NOT cooked pasta – it does not work. Cook the pasta and you will get the lovely texture that is not available any other way. Once cooked, pour out all the water, and put in some cold water in the pot to keep the pasta from drying up. Read the rest of this entry
Lentil Rice Pilaf, Lemon & Pepper Roasted Chicken, and Borgo Reale Chianti Classico Vespertino
On the week of 5/28/2010 we were again staying low, after having had a previously hectic week. So when lying low, we always go for lemon roasted chicken and rice. However, like I stated in my previous post, I had bought some pilaf mixture at a spice store in the famous Jerusalem shuk of Mahane Yehuda. The mixture (from what I can tell) was made up of olive oil, raw lentils, dehydrated raw onions, and a couple of spices. The spices were not initially obvious, but the ones I could pick out were curry, cumin, paprika, and maybe cloves or ginger, though I could not be sure.
This time I poured the rest of what I had (a cup or two) of the pilaf mixture and two cups of brown rice into a pan. I let the lentils and rice soak up the oil that was in the pan, and then hit it with a cup of white wine, and three cups of water. The rice came out nicely, and we had a fresh green salad to go along with it.
I was in the mood of a red wine, so we went with the Borgo Reale Chianti. I must say that when looking for kosher Italian wines there are really only two options; Borgo Reale and Cantina Gabriella. They are both fine wine procurers and are almost always have a high QPR (Quality to Price Ratio). The wine was a bit weird I must say out of the bottle, but with time it got better. I would recommend opening the bottle and trying it, and then making sure to have drunk enough to lower the level below the shoulder (wide part of the bottle), let it air for a few hours or more and try it again.
The wine note follows below:
2006 Borgo Reale Chianti Riserva, a lovely parve Spaghetti Bolognese (san fromage), and the Brunello di Montalcino story
Two weeks ago saw us laying low and the weather was turning cold and wet. It was also the night before Halloween (Hallows Eve’s). We love when the kids come around the house and we get the chance to hand out candy. This week after shabbos was over, we handed out Halloween pencils and it was a ton of fun. It was even more enjoyable because last year was a train wreck. You see Halloween fell on Friday Night last year, and since we cannot hand out food or anything else on shabbos, we were not able to share stuff with the families that came by. So given the situation, we went with Spaghetti Bolognese (san fromage), which we have had a few times in the past. A quick aside, we almost exactly copied the past attempt, without even trying – which is cool! Anyway, to pair with this dinner, I chose a bottle of wine that I have been looking forward to trying, because I love Chianti and it is Mevushal, and further, it is a Chianti Riserva. You see Italy defines its regions and regulations through an older and somewhat maligned group called the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) and the more reputable Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). The DOCG was created after many in Italy’s food industry started to raise serious concerns over the DOC’s “loosey-goosey” denomination that it seemed to give to anything that was not moving.
In many ways this is all quite ironic and sad, because the very accusations that were levied on the DOC are now bearing down on the DOCG, like a freight train down the Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Incline Railway (sorry I got caught up with Tennessee – watching the CMAs). For the better part of three years the DOCG’s reputation has been under fire because of an allegation against some of the top red wine producers in all of Italy, the famed wines of Brunello di Montalcino. These wines were given the coveted DOCG recognition in 1980, and quickly became one of the best red wines in all of Italy. But in September 2007, the wine world was shell shocked by acquisitions that one or more percent of the Brunello wineries and some major ones as well, were substituting grape varietals for the requisite Brunello Sangiovese grape! The very same accusations that were leveled on the DOC were being brought down on the DOCG in late 2007. But the story only gets better! A month or so after the accusations were leveled, the consortium of Brunello producers voted to keep Brunello 100% Sangiovese. To put perspective on this, say U.S. orange juice producers (who placed a label of 100% orange juice on their containers) were to be accused of not using oranges for their juice, and so the USDA started pulling the orange juice containers from the store shelves. So what contrived answer would they come up with? Why that is obvious of course, we will just change what 100% orange juice means! AHH!!! Are you kidding me! What a joke! Well, thankfully, they all voted to keep things status quo, but to me, just the vote alone shows the corruption and ineptitude that riddles the DOCG and the DOC. Well, if you thought that is where it ended, just you wait! Man we need to make a movie out of this stuff! If there were not enough bureaucracies (DOC, DOCG, Siena public prosecutor, etc.), involved in this mess, the USA had to way in! Yep – we always need to stick our noses where it does not belong. Under the guise of consumer protection the TTB has demanded that all Brunello bottles have a label reassuring consumers that the Brunello bottles sold here in the USA are 100% Sangiovese. Well, after two plus years of investigating, the Italian authorities have come back, and have stated that they have magically closed the case. So, you would think it would be riddled with accusations, charges, fines, etc. – NOPE! No real data at all. So in a game of chicken, the TTB has come out saying that they will not play these games, and require a real answer and continued labeling until they have more answers, and as of this pointing it is still the case. Even if the consumer is not the real story, we have to be happy to see the TTB strut their stuff, and try to get to the bottom of this mess.
So where does all this leave us? I saw a wonderful posting by Tom Maresca, and it does have its points. Still, I have serious issues with what lies below the surface. We as a nation and a country are slowly becoming more and more desensitized to wrong doers. We are also willing to let things go when they are actually not such a light subject. You see, the real issue here my friends is that if the DOCG and the Brunello producers were serious about their jobs, and prideful about their history and artistry, they should either fess up to what they really are (or are not) or just admit that they are not doing their job. The DOCG should maybe rethink their name FDOCG (Forse Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) or DOCG? Come on, The DOCG cannot guarantee anything it is not scientifically or conceptually enforceable. It is the classic story of trying to sell yourself as more than you are. The DOCG should not be selling themselves as more than what they are – an organization that defines the rules, but not one that can or should be attempting to enforce them. If there is a closing line to this whole thing – I would go with a small Brunello producer, who under a veil of anonymity, spoke with Jeremy Parzen, and came up with an awesome line and story.
As a small producer, we have been treated like we had nothing to say. We felt absolutely NOT represented by the Consortium, neither protected. DOCG means that our Appellation of Origin is Controlled and Guaranteed. This was the only supposed role of the Consortium. None of these things was provided by them: obviously NOT the controls, NOT the guarantee and, sometimes, NOT even the origin. So I am asking myself what is the reason of the Consortium to be. Right now, the Consortium is just a cost for a small producer, and it’s giving no advantages at all. Many people will soon leave, I am sure.
I could not have said it better myself! I hope I have brought a different angle to this madness and I hope you have enjoyed it. The wine notes for the Chianti follows below:
2006 Borgo Reale Chianti Riserva – Score: B – B+
The nose on this dark ruby to garnet colored wine is initially hot but blows off soon, rich cherry, raspberry, roasted herbs, and heavy vanilla. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is soft and mouth filling without it being mouth coating, the tannins are integrated nicely, and give the wine a slight lift, along with cherry, raspberry, and plum. The mid palate is brightly acidic, along with coffee and vanilla. The finish is medium long with bright red fruit that lingers long on the palate after the wine is gone. The wine need to be drunk ASAP, it is throwing sediment, and does not last long after the bottle is opened. I opened the bottle Friday night and by Saturday day it was astringent and most of the fruit is gone.
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