----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 15:32:15 -0500
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Current Fr. Whites, Zins at Oddfellows
Greetings,
This week, we're doing Rhone Wines at Oddfellows.
Your choices include whites, reds and of course "ringers".
(Ringers. Wines the approach the style of the day in the glass, but
do not fully fit the criteria. e.g. Rhone style wines not from France)
The Wine Enthusiast Vintage Chart says the bigger reds from 1997 and older
are ready to drink (e.g. Hermitage, Ch Neuf du Pape, etc.) 2002 wines may
also be ready. Smaller wines (Cotes Du Rhone) from more recect vintages
are probably ready.
Oddfellows is one block east of Surdyks on Hennepin.
These are mostly guesses. Tables are small, so
make the reservation for two more than we expect?
Reminder that we go to Five next week. We're down for 10 people,
but we want to provide Joyce and the rest. w/ an update by next Tuesday.
Surdyk's Heart Healthy Sale is Th-Saturday. All wines are 20% off.
Betsy
Bob
Lori
Annette
Nicolai
Jim/Louise
Russ/Sue
Cheers,
Jim
January 22, 2003
A Rhone With Substance, but No Pretense
By FRANK J. PRIAL
C�TES DU RH�NE is looked at as the poor relative of the great Rhone wines like Hermitage, Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape and C�te R�tie. It is thought of in France as an inexpensive, unpretentious bar wine; ask for a glass of red in a cafe and very likely you will be served a C�tes du Rh�ne. The millions of gallons of it produced each year by dozens of anonymous cooperatives do little to change that opinion.
To their credit, C�tes du Rh�ne producers rarely try to fool anyone. While C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages may sell for $20 or more, most ordinary C�tes go for about $10, with some in the current market as low as $6.
The Dining section's tasting panel had a pleasant afternoon sampling 26 C�tes. Going into the tasting with the preconceived notion that these could be tough, harsh and cheap wines, we left it thinking that this was one of the more enjoyable groups of wines we have encountered since this panel began its explorations.
Our panel consisted of three regulars . Amanda Hesser, Eric Asimov and me . along with Sam Perkins, executive editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine. We limited ourselves to wines from the 1999, 2000 and 2001 vintages with one orphan, a 1998.
Mr. Perkins called the wines in our tasting "not complex, but interesting." Mr. Asimov said he was "pleasantly surprised."
"These wines were almost amazingly consistently good," he added, while Ms. Hesser found them to have "a great range." And at times, I thought this was a Ch�teauneuf tasting.
The vast Rhone Valley is divided into two regions, north and south. Most simple C�tes du Rh�ne wines come from the softer, warmer southern Rhone, although a few of the best, like Jaboulet's famous Parall�le 45, come from the north. Those from the northern Rhone are mostly C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages.
The Rhone Valley has 17 different appellations. C�tes du Rh�ne is by far the largest, stretching 60 miles north and south and 30 miles east to west. In all, 24 different grapes can be used to make C�tes du Rh�ne, although usually a dozen or fewer are used. Only four red grapes can be in the Villages wines. Chief among the red grapes are grenache and carignan. The best reds may also include syrah and mourv�dre.
Because the C�tes du Rh�ne area is so large and varied geographically, vintages are less meaningful than they would be for smaller appellations. In his book "Rhone Renaissance" (Wine Appreciation Guild, 1996), Remington Norman says of C�tes du Rh�ne: "In the main, vintages follow Ch�teauneuf and Gigondas." That being the case, 1999, 2000 and 2001 were all good years.
The least expensive wine in our selection was $8, the most expensive $28, and 11 of the C�tes were $12 or less. Five of them were $20 or more. All in all, we considered them bargains.
Assembling a list of the top 10 was not easy, as our overall scores were mostly in the two- to two-and-a-half-star range. Thus a healthy bunch of wines with two stars missed out on our chart, but I would not hesitate to buy any of them.
Our No. 1 choice was a 2001 St. Cosme Les Deux Albion, at $18. Mr. Asimov had a series of complimentary words for it: "fruity," "spicy," "meaty," and I, too, thought it was substantial. Seven wines scored two and a half stars, including our best value, the 2000 Paul Jaboulet A�n� Parall�le 45, at $8. Mr. Perkins called it "mouth-filling, a wine that grew on me," while Mr. Asimov referred to it as "classic southern Rhone wine." The 2001 Belleruche from M. Chapoutier, at $8, was third, which meant that none of the top three were from the higher Villages appellation, and only three of the top 10 were C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages.
Two of the wines on our chart came from the Perrin family, who own Ch�teau Beaucastel in Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape: the 2000 Coudelet de Beaucastel, at $28 the most expensive wine at our tasting, and the 2000 Perrin R�serve, at $9 one of the least expensive.
A few wines we thought highly of, but that missed the list, included a Domaine St.-Gayan, C�tes du Rh�ne-Village Rasteau ($14); a Domaine du Jas C�tes du Rh�ne ($11); an Eric Texier Br�z�me Vieilles Vignes C�tes du Rh�ne ($20), all from 2000; and a 1998 Domaine les Goubert Beaume de Venise, C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages, $15.
For the most part, this was a remarkable group of wines. They were rich, intense and, for wines supposed to be almost rustic and one-dimensional, actually both smooth-textured and complex. Everyone commented on the delightful spiciness many of them showed. The word peppery appeared in several of the critiques.
It was also quite clear that with the exception of the Parall�le 45 and the Perrin R�serve, both exceptional bargains, price did make a difference, according to our taste buds. The $15 to $18 wines showed the extra care that went into making them. Unlike Bordeaux and California wines, where high prices are often related to hype, these wines showed that extra touch of finesse that comes with the winemaker's skill and devotion.
Almost any of our top 10, served in a decanter, would be mistaken for something much higher up the price scale, particularly Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape. Wine prices are tumbling everywhere; perhaps the prices here will, too. But these wines are good buys at their present levels.
Tasting Report: A Wine That Finishes What It Sets Out to Do
St. Cosme Les Deux Albion C�tes du Rh�ne 2001 $18 ***
Spicy, intense wine that reminded Eric Asimov of a good Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape. Big and chewy, Amanda Hesser said, while Frank J. Prial called it substantial and balanced with good fruit. But Sam Perkins found it green.
BEST VALUE:
Paul Jaboulet A�n� Parall�le 45 C�tes du Rh�ne 2000 $8 ** 1/2
Elegant and harmonious, Prial said, and Asimov called it meaty and a classic southern Rhone wine. Perkins found it mouth-filling yet not too big, and he called it classy, while Hesser liked the finish.
M. Chapoutier Belleruche C�tes du Rh�ne 2001 $8 ** 1/2
Nuanced and interesting, Perkins said, with aromas of dried berries and plums. What you look for in a C�tes du Rh�ne, Prial asserted. Hesser found it delicate, while Asimov thought it improved in the glass with exposure to air.
Domaine Alary La Jean de Verde C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages Cairanne 2000
$27 ** 1/2
Rich and full-bodied, with an elegant finish, Prial enthused. Asimov found it complex, with a long finish; Perkins, too, remarked on the finish, and found sour cherry aromas. Hesser felt it improved with exposure to air.
Coudoulet de Beaucastel C�tes du Rh�ne 2000 $28 ** 1/2
Spicy and lively, Hesser said, with aromas of anise and tobacco. Perkins surprised himself by detecting the aroma of oatmeal. Asimov liked the herbal aromas and flavors, and Prial found it dry and peppery.
Tardieu-Laurent Guy Louis C�tes du Rh�ne 1999 $24 ** 1/2
Hesser was put off by the oak. Asimov, too, found it oaky but liked its complexity and herb and olive aromas. Prial liked the wine a lot, feeling it was burly enough to carry the oak. Perkins enjoyed the berry aromas.
Olivier Cuilleras Vieilles Vignes C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages Visan 2000
$16 ** 1/2
Big, intense and concentrated, with lots of fruit, Asimov said, and Prial called it flamboyant with good body. Perkins found it balanced and elegant, but not a blockbuster. Hesser liked it but detected some funk.
Ch�teau des Tours C�tes du Rh�ne 1999 $15 ** 1/2
Prial found it spicy and very attractive. Integrated, was Hesser's description. Perkins tasted lots of fruit but felt it was thinnish. Asimov also tasted an abundance of fruit, but thought it was almost over the top.
Perrin R�serve C�tes du Rh�ne 2000 $9 **
Short but well balanced, Perkins said. Prial found it solid, with spice, fruit and richness, while Asimov found it round and rich. Hesser called it well-balanced but said the fruit was hidden.
Domaine les Aphillanthes Cuv�e des Galets C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages 2000
$18 **
Prial loved the richness and long finish. Perkins liked the balance, and called it plummy. Hesser found it a very simple, straightforward wine, and Asimov described it as earthy and rustic . in a good way.
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Mostly an update, and an article on half glasses of wine.
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 16:39:24 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Bordeaux Style Grapes from Anywhere at JP's
Greetings,
Great food, interesting wines at Vincent. Thanks Annette for getting us in.
Thanks to Dave T. for the Dujacs (2!).
Heading to JP's this week. Vin du juor is Bordeaux style
grapes (Sauv. Blanc, Cab Sauv., Cab Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot,
and a couple of others) from anywhere.
Varietals and Blends, although I suppose blends are more in brdx character.
A rough estimate of the vintage charts is that most anything from
1997 or older is drinking well now. Dial that forward to 2000 or '01 for
Washington and Australia. For California, it's 2000, 98 and 94 and older.
Thursday Brdx grapes from anywhere at JP's
JP's American Bistro
JP Samuelson
2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300
9 Confirmed:
bob
lori
ruth
Russ/Sue
jim/louise/susan_hickman
Anette S.
4 likely suspects.
Christopher
nicolai
karin
bill
Cheers,
Jim
Progressive Sale at the Cellars. Not sure how many of Brian's wines
are still being stocked or are in stock.
The Half-Glass Makes a Splash
By Candy Sagon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 25, 2006; F01
Is the glass half-full? Yes, it is -- and that's a good thing when it comes to wines by the glass at several young, energetic restaurants in the area.
Instead of offering the typical choice of a glass of wine or a bottle, these wine-serious places think customers should be able to order an even smaller serving (for a commensurately smaller price).
The half-glass, or taste, as some restaurants call it, is 2.5 to three ounces of wine -- just enough to sip with an appetizer course and then, perhaps, order another half-glass of a different wine to enjoy with an entree.
"Everyone loves having another option. It lets them try things they've never had," said Danny Boylen, general manager of Notti Bianche, which opened in May near the Kennedy Center and offers 18 wines by the half-glass.
At 6-month-old Sonoma on Capitol Hill, servers will even offer customers a splash of wine to sample if they're having trouble deciding among the 15 whites and 25 reds offered by the half-glass.
It's an even tougher decision at Tallula in Arlington, where all 76 wines offered by the glass are also available by the half-glass, or at Grapeseed in Bethesda, which boasts 95 half-glass choices.
Dino, an Italian restaurant and wine bar that opened in Cleveland Park in July, takes another tack. Nine reds and seven whites are offered in two sizes: a three-ounce pour called an ombra and an eight-ounce carafe called a quartin , which can easily be shared by two people.
"This is the traditional way they do it at the wine bars in Italy," said service director Justin Guthrie. The response from customers, he adds, "has been fantastic. We change our wines by the glass pretty frequently, so this is an opportunity to try a lot of things in quantities you wouldn't normally get."
People also like being able to taste an expensive wine without having to spring for an entire bottle, said Jeff Heineman, Grapeseed's chef-owner. They might balk at spending $70 on a bottle of wine they've never tried, but they're willing to spend $17.50 for a glass or $8.75 for a taste.
"Customers really embrace the tasting thing," he says. "It just works to let them try more kinds of wine."
Here's a sampling of restaurants in the area offering a generous selection of wines by the half-glass and the glass. A half-glass pour is about three ounces; a traditional glass of wine is about six ounces. (A standard bottle of wine contains about 25 ounces, or enough for about four glasses of wine.)
Sonoma, 223 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, 202-544-8088.
Troy Bock, general manager and sommelier: "We first began doing half-glasses at our sister restaurant, Mendocino, in Georgetown. For this location, we wanted the list to have more Italian wines to go with the food we offer."
Wine list: 15 whites, 25 reds by the half-glass.
One to try: Ajello Furat ($7 half-glass, $10 glass). "It's a Sicilian wine, a blend of Nero d'Avola, merlot and syrah and a little cabernet. It has a full-bodied flavor with a little spice."
Perfect match: "The Furat with the Muscovy breast of duck, parsnip puree, mini bok choy and balsamic jus. It's a natural match with the wine's fruit and slightly spicy finish."
Tallula, 2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington, 703-778-5051.
Josh Radigan, general manager: "People like to create their own flights, like ordering three half-glasses of different cabernets and comparing them."
Wine list: 76 wines by half-glass.
One to try: Ayles Garnacha ($3.50 half-glass, $7 glass). "It's from Spain, made from the grenache grape. It's medium-bodied with aromas of cranberry and a little spice. It's a very versatile wine."
Perfect match: The Stolleis Trocken Kabinett Riesling ($3.50 half-glass, $7 glass) with the duck confit appetizer. "The confit is served with sausage and beans. It's an Alsatian dish that was just made for this dry Riesling. The wine cuts the heaviness of the food."
Sette Osteria, 1666 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-483-3070.
Raimondo Russo, general manager: "People like to pair half-glasses with each course. Or they order a glass with dinner and a half-glass to enjoy while lingering after the meal."
Wine list: Italian wines only. Six whites, 12 reds by the half-glass.
One to try: Le Volte, Ornellaia ($6 half-glass, $12 glass). "A modestly priced wine from a famous winery known for its expensive super-Tuscans. It's a blend of sangiovese, cabernet franc and merlot."
Favorite match: The Lacryma Cristi del Vesuvio ($5 half-glass, $8 glass), with any of the pizzas. "The wine is made from grapes grown in the volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius, and the combination with our stone-baked pizza crust is fabulous."
Notti Bianche, 824 New Hampshire Ave. NW, 202-298-8085.
Danny Boylen, general manager: "People tell us they like ordering a half-glass when they're going to the theater and don't want to get sleepy."
Wine list: Eight reds, eight whites, two sparkling by half-glass.
One to try: The Grappler ($5 half-glass, $10 glass). "It's by Twenty Rows, and it's a red I adore. The staff loves it, too. It's a big, round zinfandel softened by some syrah and cabernet. It's a gentle giant."
Perfect match: Cla ($6 half-glass, $12 glass) with the stuffed rack of pork with white bean puree and braised kale. "Cla is medium-bodied and rich with a little pepper on the finish, which complements the prosciutto stuffing and the kale."
Grapeseed, 4865 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 301-986-9592.
Jeff Heineman, chef-owner: "People don't always want two full glasses of wine with a meal, but two half-glasses are perfect."
Wine list: 95 wines by the half-glass, plus 12 dessert wines and 11 ports.
One to try: D'Arenberg Hermit Crab ($4.50 half-glass, $9 glass). "It's an Australian white. The winery always has these strange names for their wines, like Dead Arm. This one is a great blend of viognier and marsanne that works with a lot of different foods."
Perfect match: Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage ($7.75 half-glass, $15.50 glass). "From Day One, everyone has loved this wine with the filet mignon we serve with oxtail-mushroom ragout and horseradish mashed potatoes. The salinity of the wine goes really well with the rich sauce."
Dino, 3435 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-686-2966.
Justin Guthrie, service director: "Ninety percent of our wines are Italian, but occasionally I throw in a California or Oregon and a few French."
Wine list: 22 wines in three-ounce and eight-ounce sizes.
One to try: Costanti Brunello ($7 half-glass, $18 glass). "You definitely won't see this offered by the glass at other restaurants. Brunellos are big wines and this one, from a small winery in Montalcino, is a particularly elegant example."
Perfect match: Ciacci Piccolomini Rosso di Montalcino ($5 half-glass, $13 glass). "This is 100 percent sangiovese from just south of Chianti. It goes well with our beefsteak with salsa verde or our pappardelle with wild boar because the wine is from the same area as these recipes. They have each other in mind."
� 2006 The Washington Post Company
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings,
Great food, interesting wines at Vincent. Thanks Annette for getting us in.
Thanks to Dave T. for the Dujacs (2).
Heading to JP's this week. Vin du juor is Bordeaux style
grapes (Sauv. Blanc, Cab Sauv., Cab Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot,
and a couple of others) from anywhere.
Varietals and Blends, although I suppose blends are more in brdx character.
A rough estimate of the vintage charts is that most anything from
1997 or older is drinking well now. Dial that forward to 2000 or '01 for
Washington and Australia. For California, it's 2000, 98 and 94 and older.
Thursday Brdx grapes from anywhere at JP's
JP's American Bistro
JP Samuelson
2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300
No idea who's/how many are coming. Here are 10 likely suspects.
bob
bill
lori
ruth
jim/louise/susan_hickman
nicolai
karin
Cheers,
Jim
Progressive Sale at the Cellars. Not sure how many of Brian's wines
are still being stocked or are in stock.
January 18, 2006
Wine Talk
Rolling Out Those Chewy Behemoths
By FRANK J. PRIAL
IN a series of articles in The New Yorker beginning in the mid-1930's, the writer Frank Sullivan set out to do battle with the inane and the banal in popular writing. He created a clich� expert, Mr. Arbuthnot, and made him the scourge of triteness.
Mr. Arbuthnot turned up intermittently in the magazine into the 1950's, well before wine writers began to impose themselves on the reading public. Because they are everywhere now, it seemed appropriate to resurrect Mr. Arbuthnot and query him about wine and writing.
Q. Mr. Arbuthnot, do you consider yourself a wine expert?
A. No, I am a clich� expert, but I have looked into the literature and have concluded that my expertise is needed even if I can't distinguish a Bordeaux from a Burgundy.
Q. How so?
A. Let me start with the word "nose." Poking into current wine literature, I found "brilliant" noses, "subtle" noses, "off" noses and "troubling" noses. Some wines, I learned, are said to have memorable noses while others, it is claimed, have no noses at all.
I quickly determined that a wine's "nose" is not a gross physical appendage but its bouquet or aroma. Even so, constant repetition has made a clich� of the word, one of the worst sort because constant use has debased it into argot.
Q. Are there other wine words that upset you as strongly?
A. Indeed there are - if you can call them words. I refer to "chard," "cab" and "zin," nicknames as it were for important grapes. Are the words chardonnay, cabernet and zinfandel so difficult to pronounce? Did Baron Rothschild ask, "How much cab have you planted?" when he bought Ch�teau Lafite? Is the great white wine of Le Montrachet actually derived from something called chard?
Q. You have forgotten zinfandel.
A. No, it warrants special consideration. The zinfandel appears to be a fine, robust grape that lacks some of the charm of cabernet and chardonnay. For this it has suffered a worse fate than either of them. Its often obstreperous fans delight in referring to it as "zinful" and joke about "mortal zin."
Q. Anything besides wine books you find troubling?
A. The worst offenders are often the winemakers themselves and their spokesmen. They no longer make wine, they "craft" it. "We craft our wines," they write, or "these wines were crafted," or, worse still, "hand-crafted." How else would you "craft" something than with your hands?
>From what I gather, winemaking has become a high-tech (another clich�) process and, as the procedure becomes more complex, the language describing it becomes more fanciful.
I found, too, a phrase borrowed from the business world: "roll out." A new wine is no longer introduced, offered or announced; it is rolled out, like an 18-wheel truck. The phrase has nothing to do with barrels, which of course, can be rolled around in a wine cellar. It refers to new airplanes being rolled out of the hangars where they were built to go on display. Does one "roll out" a delicate wine? I hope not.
Q. What about the wines that aren't delicate?
A. Some, it would seem, are anything but. They are "behemoths," "mammoth," "stupendous, large-scale, full-throttle" and "blockbusters." They may have "husky mouth-feel" and can display "massive quantities of fruit, glycerin and alcohol." They can be, as one writer described a California cabernet: "Opulent, as well as tannic, with huge chocolaty, roasted herbs, cassis aromas, magnificent flavor concentration, a big graceful richness on the palate and stunningly focused components that coat the palate with viscous flavors and superlative purity of flavor." All that and "food friendly" too?
Q. And what about Champagne?
A. Some writers refer to all sparkling wines rather childishly as "fizzies," others desperate for another word for Champagne use "bubble" as a noun, as in "a bottle of the bubbly." But the most overworked Champagne clich� is "vintage." Once, vintage Champagnes - wines from a single harvest - were rare. Blends from two, three or more years were the norm. Now almost every year is a vintage year, and the term "vintage Champagne" has become mostly a clich�.
Q. Dare I ask for your closing thoughts?
A. My brief exploration into the wine world leads me to believe there are almost as many clich�s as there are wines.
There are catchphrases that are also clich�s. Like "excellent value for everyday drinking" or "perfect now but will last 10 years or more" or "great wines begin in the vineyard."
And lest you think hackneyed stuff is all of recent vintage, here, from Alexis Bespaloff's "Fireside Book of Wine," is the legendary Andr� Simon, writing in the 1930's on a 1905 Margaux: "The 1905 was simply delightful; fresh, sweet and charming, a girl of 15, who is already a great artist, coming on tiptoes and curtseying herself out with childish grace and laughing blue eyes."
Q. Thank you, Mr. Arbuthnot and do come back. With wine clich�s, it appears that we've only scratched the surface.
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings,
Yet another reason to "Just Say No To Yahoo"
(Recall they're working w/ the Chinese government to censor the internet.)
Thanks to Carl for the DIY to keep Yahoo from tracking your every move.
Note that you need to opt out on every machine and every browser! Truly evil!
In Europe, privacy is automatic. The use/sale/sharing of Web beacons,
driver's license data, credit card data and most any other
invasion of our privacy would require that we explicitly "Opt In".
(they also get 5 or 6 weeks of vacation, but I digress.)
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com -----
Date: 19 Jan 2006 13:51:47 -0000
From: phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com
To: phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [phc-club] Digest Number 959
There is 1 message in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. FW: Yahoo is watching you - ALWAYS
From: "off_peak_brewing" <ceidbo(a)i29.net>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:19:09 -0000
From: "off_peak_brewing" <ceidbo(a)i29.net>
Subject: FW: Yahoo is watching you - ALWAYS
If you belong to ANY Yahoo Groups - be aware that Yahoo is now
using "Web Beacons" to track every Yahoo Group user. It's similar
to cookies, but allows Yahoo to record every website and every group
you visit, even when you're not connected to Yahoo.
Look at their updated privacy statement at
http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy
About half-way down the page, in the section on cookies, you will
see a link that says WEB BEACONS.
Click on the phrase "Web Beacons." On the page that opens, find a
paragraph entitled "Outside the Yahoo Network."
In that section find a little "Click Here to Opt Out" link that will
let you "opt-out" of their snooping. Be careful! NOT to click on the
next button shown. It is an "Opt Back In" button that, if clicked,
will UNDO the opt-out.
Note that Yahoo's invasion of your privacy - and your ability to
opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific.
That means you will have to opt-out on every computer (and browser)
you use.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phc-club/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phc-club-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Re: [wine] vincent
----- Original Message -----
From: Warren Gregory<mailto:wrcgregory@qwest.net>
To: Annette Stadelman<mailto:mandastad@msn.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: [wine] vincent
HI,
Here's the final group of 12:
Yes:
Bob
Roger
Jim
Louise
Bill
Betsy
Russ
Annette
Chris
Warren
Ruth
Dave ?
No:
Lori
Fred
Thanks,
Annette
HI Annette,
Warren and I will be coming on Thurs. See you then
Ruth
Hi,
We're confirmed at Vincent for this Thursday in the private upstairs room. I've made the res. for 12 but we can up that if need be. I will need an exact head count by Wed..
So, I'm assuming it will be Burgundy...
Should be a fun, new, experience!
Annette
Mostly an update, and some fodder for the mill on
the restaurant business from the NYT.
Also a bit on Petite Syrah. Not sure if they grow
any of that in Australia.
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 15:12:28 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Aussie at Muffies
Greetings, Happy New Year, Bah-Mitzvah!
Had some truly fantastic food at Alma. The three course, $39, prix fixe
was the order of the day for most of us. Alma tasting option is unusually
flexible. Diner's are able to pick "one form each column". That is
any starter, any primi/pasta and any entree. Local pheasant and
the risoto were very good.
This week, we've been invited to Muffuletta.
Muffuletta Cafe
2260 Como St. Paul, 55108
St. Anthony Park
651-644-9116
Style du jour is "Australian".
Yes
Warren/Ruth
Betsy
Bob
Russ
Lori
Jim
Louise is a maybe...
Guess:
Nicolai
Karin
Directions: Take Hwy 280 to Como, go east up the hill and then to the
second light (Carter).
Alt: Take Snelling to Como, West to Carter.
Cheers,
Jim
January 11, 2006
Critic's Notebook
Creeping Up on Diners: Stealth Charges
By FRANK BRUNI
IF you want some red wine with dinner at the opulent new restaurant Gilt in Midtown Manhattan, your options typically rise from a minimum of $20 to a maximum of $1,000, with a median of $55 and an average of $246. That range is about what you would expect, but for this: It's not for red wine by the bottle.
It's for red wine by the glass.
And while Gilt's pour may exceed the usual, this munificence is a matter of only a few droplets, judging from a $24 glass of 2004 Cakebread sauvignon blanc I had recently.
I could have chosen a lesser sauvignon blanc for the veritable pittance of $18, the cheapest alternative among nine whites and the only alternative under $20. But I also could have spent up to $225.
Is Gilt an aberration? Yes and no. You'll find few New York restaurants at which Bacchus is such a bully and a snob. But you'll find more and more with tactics, which sometimes seem like tricks, for making a meal costlier than it first appears to be. With add-ons that stealthily add up. With menus like minefields, financially perilous to anyone who strays broadly and heedlessly across them.
At Gilt, an extreme case in point, an advertised fixed price of $92 for two savory courses and dessert turns out to be fiction, even apart from the wine. When I dined there, three of eight appetizer options entailed supplemental charges, and those supplements weren't paltry, ranging from $18 to $28. One of seven entrees had a supplement of $16, while another had a surcharge of $18.
When I dined at the new restaurant Telepan on the Upper West Side, I spent $15.50 on roasted cauliflower with a special herb oil and crushed heirloom shell beans. Granted, the cauliflower came in three kinds and colors, and it was exceptional cauliflower, undoubtedly artisanal cauliflower, for all I knew the Kobe of cauliflower, hand-massaged and moistened hourly with atomized Evian.
But still, it was cauliflower. And as noteworthy as its price was its placement on the menu in a category of "Mid Course" dishes, which was printed after the appetizers and before the entrees and planted the suggestion that a diner who wanted to experience the restaurant fully needed three savory chapters, with respective average costs of about $13, $17 and $27.
The structure of the menu at Telepan, which opened in December, recalls the structure of the menu at Thor, which opened in September.
Like Telepan, Thor points diners toward two courses prior to the entree, dividing what other restaurants might label appetizers into distinct categories called "Cold Plates to Start" and "Warm Plates in the Middle." Thor has yet another category called "From the Market on the Side," which is where items like roasted or pur�ed potatoes lurk, entailing surcharges of $6 each.
Thor's chef, Kurt Gutenbrunner, said in a telephone interview that despite the semantic cues "to start" and "in the middle," the menu is not some culinary bait-and-bait designed to fatten checks by persuading diners to order a little from here, a little from there and, while they're at it, some quark spaetzle or fennel and figs from way over there.
Like other architects of today's increasingly segmented menus, Mr. Gutenbrunner said his goal was to give diners more options and control.
"When people are going out, they know exactly how much they're going to spend the minute they walk out the door, and they're not going to spend more," he said. "And if you somehow make them, you've lost a long-term customer."
But what if it's only a little more?
Vicki Freeman, one of the owners of Cookshop, which opened in Chelsea in September, said the existence on its menu of an appetizerlike category for "snacks" has not prompted the diners who order snacks to forgo conventional appetizers, which still have their own category. It has prompted them to explore both categories, and a check for a table of two is $5 to $6 higher as a result.
The broadening presence of snacks on menus - Taku, which opened in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn in June, also has them - provides just one example of rampant category inflation.
A few blocks north of Cookshop, at D'or Ahn, which also opened in September, there are four savory categories ("raw," "cold," "hot," and "side") for modestly portioned dishes, in addition to a category for entrees.
Italian restaurants all over the city separate the crudi from the appetizers and the verdure, or vegetables, from the salumi, and before you know it, your $15 pappardelle has become a $50 production.
Restaurant consultants and industry observers say that actual prices of appetizers, entrees and fixed-price multicourse meals at upscale restaurants haven't been rising as fast as inflation. But perhaps because of that, they say, some surprising surcharges have popped up.
When I ate lunch a few months ago at Bann, a new Korean restaurant in Midtown, the lettuce and miso paste that other Korean restaurants consider a complimentary accouterment to barbecued meat entailed an extra $3.
Over the last year, I've been struck by how cunningly many servers push bottled water, asking diners if they want "still" or "sparkling" without ever mentioning a less taxing possibility. In restaurants, apparently, "tap" is a four-letter word.
I've had servers wordlessly replace finished bottles of water with new ones, so that my companions and I realized only when the bill arrived that we'd had five bottles at a cost of $60. That's insidious, and that's insane.
But it's indicative of the sneakiness at loose upon the restaurant landscape.
Sneaky is a fair word for Gilt (where, it should be noted, wines by the bottle aren't as shockingly expensive as by the glass). Gilt opened in December in a series of sumptuous rooms inside the New York Palace Hotel, replacing Le Cirque 2000.
While other fixed-price menus have dishes with supplemental charges, I have not seen another New York menu on which the percentage of those dishes is so high. Or on which the charges seem so odd. There's no supplement for lobster, but there's $16 for lamb and $18 for a portion of Dover sole that, when I sampled it, could be consumed in fewer than 10 bites.
Gilt may present itself as comparable in price to Jean Georges and Le Bernardin, both of which charge $95 for three savory courses and dessert. But tack on the surcharges and a glass or two of white - at Jean Georges you can get one for $9, at Le Bernardin for $13 - and Gilt has lofted you to unexpected stratospheres of spending.
It's hardly the only New York restaurant these days that takes you there.
THE CHRONICLE WINE SELECTIONS
California Petite Sirah
- Linda Murphy
Thursday, January 12, 2006
There is nothing petite about Petite Sirah. This black grape, grown throughout the warmer regions of California, produces teeth-staining, brawny wines with dark berry and plum fruit, a grind of spice (usually black pepper) and sturdy tannins. Once considered a rustic wine, California Petite Sirah has become softer and more polished in recent years, as winemakers have learned to tame the tannins and astringency with various techniques in the vineyard and cellar.
Petite Sirah -- intentionally misspelled "Petite Syrah" by some producers -- is the same as Durif, a workhorse grape of southern France. Petite Sirah is also related to "regular" Syrah; Syrah is Petite's father, Peloursin the mother. Despite their common genes, Petite Sirah and Syrah are very different wines -- the "petite" son has more muscles and hair on his chest than Dad.
Here are our favorites from the 65 Petite Sirahs tasted for today:
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Chiarello Family Vineyards Roux Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($50) Napa Valley chef and Food Network star Michael Chiarello produces this wine, which despite its somewhat high 15.2 percent alcohol, tastes balanced and bright with crisp acidity. Racy raspberry, blackberry and cassis flavors are enhanced by black peppercorn, black tea, mocha and toast notes. If Petite Sirah can be pretty, this is it.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Concannon Central Coast Limited Release Petite Sirah ($15) Sweet vanilla and black-fruit aromas lead to a ripe, blueberry- and black cherry-filled wine. It's spicy and toasty, yet refreshing thanks to brisk acidity.
TWO STARS
2003 Foppiano Vineyards Estate Russian River Valley Petite Sirah ($23) While toasty oak dominates the nose, the palate delivers rich, ripe wild blackberry and black plum flavors and an intense black-pepper spice. There is a slight mid-palate dryness, though a burst of juicy raspberry fruit and crisp acidity plumps up the finish.
THREE STARS
2004 Michael-David Earthquake Lodi Petite Sirah ($28) This is the big one, with massive, jammy fruit (blackberry, black cherry and pie cherry), powerful tannins and a Richter-scale 15.7 alcohol content. Rarely are wines of this size balanced, yet Earthquake maintains its equilibrium and offers fine complexity in its toast, smoked meat, cola, vanilla and white-pepper notes.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Mitchell Katz Ruby Hill Vineyard Livermore Valley Petite Sirah ($16) Yes, Virginia, the Livermore Valley can produce great wine, and here's proof. This wine is incredibly smooth and fine-textured -- full, rich and concentrated in its blackberry, blueberry and cassis flavors with vanilla and black pepper accents. It has great balance, firm acidity and a lingering finish that does not taste hot, as the labeled 15.4 percent alcohol might suggest it would. Great price, too.
THREE STARS
2002 Quixote Panza Stags' Leap Ranch Napa Valley Petite Syrah ($40) Carl Doumani, who made Petite Sirah fashionable in Napa Valley when he owned Stags' Leap Winery (he was also the first to purposely spell it "Syrah" on the label), now makes the varietal at his Quixote Winery nearby. His 2002 effort, sealed with a screw cap, is inky-purple in color, toasty in aroma and tastes intensely of black fruit. There are also hints of blueberry, spice, coffee and chocolate, wrapped in supple tannins.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Quivira Wine Creek Ranch Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah ($24) Black never goes out of style, as demonstrated by this blackberry/black plum/black licorice-loaded wine. While it's deep and dark, there's no brooding here, as the juicy fruit, peppery spice, gentle toastiness and moderate 14.2 percent alcohol content give the wine a sense of elegance not often found in Petite Sirah.
THREE STARS
2003 Rosenblum Pickett Road Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($28) Lush blackberry and blueberry fruit, black pepper and licorice notes, rustic earthiness and big, chewy tannins make this the powerhouse that Petite Sirah aficionados seek. Despite its size, the wine has wonderful balance and palate-cleansing acidity. The alcohol is a heady 15.6 percent, yet there isn't a lot of heat on the palate.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Rosenblum Rockpile Road Vineyard Rockpile Petite Sirah ($36) Deep purple and intensely fruity -- almost Port-like -- this wine pushes the envelope with its very jammy blackberry and black plum fruit, yet has enough acidity, peppery spice and worn-leather complexity for balance. At 15.4 percent alcohol, it packs a punch.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2002 Vina Robles Jardine Vineyard Paso Robles Petite Sirah ($26) Stop reading if you don't like big, hedonistic wines, because this one is huge, loaded with wild, brambly blackberry fruit, black pepper, espresso, toast and vanilla flavors. The tannins are muscular and the palate is ripe, with a touch of residual sweetness.
TWO STARS 2004
Vinum Cellars Pets Clarksburg Petite Sirah ($14) "Pets" is what some producers call Petite Sirah, and this wine is as easygoing as the family golden retriever. It's packed with juicy blackberry and blueberry fruit and notes of spice, chocolate, saddle leather and vanilla, with medium tannins. A portion of the sales proceeds go to the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Key:
FOUR STARS Extraordinary
THREE STARS Excellent
TWO STARS Good
Page F - 3
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/12/WIG74GL8G71.DTL
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings, Happy New Year, Bah-Mitzvah!
Had some truly fantastic food at Alma. The three course, $39, prix fixe
was the order of the day for most of us. Alma tasting option is unusually
flexible. Diner's are able to pick "one form each column". That is
any starter, any primi/pasta and any entree. Local pheasant and
the risoto were very good.
This week, we've been invited to Muffuletta.
Muffuletta Cafe
2260 Como St. Paul, 55108
St. Anthony Park
651-644-9116
Style du jour is "Australian".
Yes
Warren/Ruth
Betsy
Bob
Russ
Jim/Louise
Guess:
Lori
Nicolai
Karin
Directions: Take Hwy 280 to Como, go east up the hill and then to the
second light (Carter).
Alt: Take Snelling to Como, West to Carter.
Cheers,
Jim
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To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu
Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: Que Syrah, Sirah
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THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006
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IN THIS ISSUE
* QUE SYRAH, SIRAH Our interactive wine-education forum, Wine Tasting
101, reprises one of last year's most popular topics.
* HAYMAN & HILL 2002 MONTEREY COUNTY "RESERVE SELECTION" SHIRAZ-VIOGNIER
($11.99) A whack of oak dominates the nose, but bright and sunny Syrah
fruit comes through in this robust California wine's flavor.
* LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor archives.
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QUE SYRAH, SIRAH
Syrah, Shiraz, Sirah ... what's the difference? Historically, it's been
simple enough, if a bit confusing, to sort out these similar grape
names:
* SYRAH is the great French red-wine variety of the Rhone Valley, a
grape that legend traces to the Crusaders but that in reality goes even
farther back, probably brought to Gaul by the Romans some 2,000 years
ago.
* SHIRAZ is the name that the Australians gave Syrah, perhaps inspired
by that same Crusader legend, which holds - romantically if inaccurately
- that the French knight Gaspard de Sterimberg brought the first vines
home to his Hermitage vineyard in the Rhone from Shiraz in Persia.
* SIRAH-with-an-I - Petite Sirah - is a California grape most likely
named by 19th century marketers to evoke the real Syrah. Known in France
as Durif and long thought to be unrelated to Syrah, it's now known to be
a direct descendant of Syrah, a cross between true Syrah and another
little-known French variety, Peloursin. This lineage is further
complicated by the fact that some old California "field-blend" vineyards
of mixed vines have traditionally been misidentified as Petite Sirah.
All three sound-alike grapes can make similar wines, peppery and robust,
but those wines span a considerable spectrum from soft, fruity and
slightly sweet to big, tannic and ageworthy. Australia's Shiraz often
pushes the limits of fruit-forward, jammy and powerful, while the most
memorable Syrahs of the Northern Rhone - Hermitage, Cote-Rotie and
Cornas in particular - although big wines also, tend more toward the
structured and tannic, astringent but muscular, requiring cellar time.
Grown in warm New World climates (or unusually hot European summers),
Syrah shows a boldly fruity red-berry nature and may well be vinified
with the free-handed use of oak; look for a signature fragrant black-
pepper character and plenty of astringent tannin in cooler-climate
Syrah.
California Syrahs can go either way, and in an intriguing complication,
an increasing minority of the Golden State's Syrahs - including the
Hayman & Hill featured in today's tasting report - are labeled "Shiraz"
these days, perhaps as a marketing ploy aimed at capturing some of the
critical buzz that surrounds the version from Down Under.
Petite Sirah, meanwhile, has won a loyal corps of fans, even if some
Syrah aficionadoes diss it as second-rate. At its best, "P.S." makes a
hearty, ageworthy wine that earns its reputation the old-fashioned way.
This month in our Wine Tasting 101 forum, we reprise one of last year's
most popular topics, "Que Syrah, Sirah," sorting out the differences
among these familiar names. You're encouraged to taste the Syrahs,
Shirazes and Petite Sirahs of your choice, then drop in to WT101
http://community.netscape.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&folderId=4&webt…
to share your tasting reports, ask questions and talk about your
impressions.
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Why "Shiraz"? Perhaps because the Hayman half of the partnership is an
Australian. Hayman & Hill is a venture between two principals of
California's Blackstone Winery, Hayman (senior vice president of
operations of giant Constellation Brands' Pacific Wine Partners, which
owns Blackstone and other properties), and Dennis Hill, Blackstone's
chief winemaker.
HAYMAN & HILL 2002 MONTEREY COUNTY "RESERVE SELECTION" SHIRAZ-VIOGNIER
($11.99)
Spanning three continents in its marketing if not its style, this
California wine adopts the Australian name "Shiraz," while emulating the
practice of the French Northern Rhone by using a splash (7 percent) of
white Viognier to "lift" the hearty red with the white grape's aromatic
flavors. The result, sadly, is a bit spoiled by a whack of new oak that
brings to the nose an unfortunate impression of freshly sanded wooden
floors. Inky blackish-purple with a day-glo violet edge, the wine's
woody, almost resinous oak aromas are less than appealing, but the
flavor redeems the wine with bright and forward red-berry flavors and
crisp acidity, with oak present only as a spice. (Jan. 3, 2006)
FOOD MATCH: A rare pan-seared flatiron steak helps bring the wine
around, showcasing its fruit while diminishing that markedly oaky aroma.
VALUE: Apart from its excessive reliance on wood, it's a full-bodied,
robust wine with recognizable Shiraz-style Syrah character, and it's
reasonably priced against the competition at just over $10.
WHEN TO DRINK: Its heft and forward fruit should hold it for a year or
two on the wine rack, but I don't see it as a wine for longer-term
cellaring.
WEB LINK:
A page about Hayman & Hill appears to have been removed from the Pacific
Wine Partners' Website, which has its home page here:
http://www.pacwine.com/
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Hayman & Hill on Wine-Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Hayman%2bHill/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=WLP
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Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Copyright 2006 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
