[wine] Ngon TONIGHT - 799 University

Warren has us set up at Ngon Bistro for tonight (Wednesday). If I-94 is a parking lot: Concordia (aka the south frontage road) is one way east, rolls well. 280 to Kasota becomes Energy Park Drive becomes Front, south (right) on either Lex or Dale. River Road to Lake St, becomes Marshall, to Lex or Dale. Left/north. I'm a bit out of the loop on the names and the numbers. Best follow Warren's advice and check the wine list. Several of my "possible choices" are on the list of 15 or 20 whites and 15 or so reds. Wine prices are fair, so you could opt to "buy off the list" if you happen to bring something they have. Note: Extremely bad form for us to open a wine that is on their list. Hey gang, how about kicking off December with a Wednesday at Ngon Vietnamese Bistro on University Ave. +in St Paul? Hai, the owner says Wednesday is better for them than Thursday. No corckage. Reservation for 10 @ 6:30, Wednesday December 10th. Ngon Bistro is located at 799 University Ave, St. Paul, (the cross-street is Avon). 651-222-3301 The menu is on line at ngonbistro.com Wine theme? How about "wines you feel will go with the food". The Ngon wine menu is on line as +well. You can use that as a guide to how broad the relationship of wine and Vietnamese bistro +fare is. RSVP to gregory.warren(a)yahoo.com hope to see you there. Warren Warren/Ruth Bob Alicia Anderson and John Jim ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:42:27 -0500 (EST) To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: Rediscovering Dolcetto From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> X-Sender: <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> X-Greylist: IP, sender and recipient auto-whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu [128.101.142.227]); Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:41:28 -0600 (CST) X-Spam-Score: 0.412 () WHY_WAIT X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.57 on 128.101.142.227 THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008 ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSOR * HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS FROM WINE LIBRARY This holiday season Wine Library has dozens of gift ideas ... and we're not just about wine! Click here to view our top holiday gift ideas for 2008! http://winelibrary.com/show_special.asp?section=giftideas ________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * REDISCOVERING DOLCETTO Let's turn to a hearty Dolcetto today as we devote this month's Wine Focus to the fine red wines of Piemonte. * HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS FROM WINE LIBRARY This holiday season Wine Library has dozens of gift ideas ... and we're not just about wine! Click here to view our top holiday gift ideas for 2008! * DOMENICO CLERICO 2005 "VISADI" LANGHE DOLCETTO ($15.99) A Dolcetto in a fruit-forward style, but dusty minerality and smooth tannins keep it on the pleasantly rustic side. * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ REDISCOVERING DOLCETTO Let's turn to a hearty Dolcetto today as we devote this month's Wine Focus to the fine red wines of Piemonte, the Alpine foothills in Italy's northwestern corner around Torino. If the adjective "hearty" attached to Dolcetto made you stop and wonder because you've thought of Dolcetto as a light, Beaujolais-like quaffer, it miht be a good idea to review my last sermon on this topic from a couple of years ago in the Nov. 22, 2006 Wine Advisor: In one of the many enduring myths of wine appreciation, Dolcetto is often described as a light, fruity wine, akin to an Italian Beaujolais. Perhaps this confusion arises from its name, which might be loosely translated as "Little sweetie." In fact, that moniker apparently relates to the taste of the ripe, black Dolcetto grapes at harvest, but not to the wine it makes, which isn't particularly light and certainly isn't sweet. You'll most often find the name of the grape Dolcetto linked on the label with the name of one of the Piemontese villages where it's grown: Dolcetto d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Asti, Dolcetto d'Acqui or Dolcetto Dogliani. Like its neighbor Barbera, Dolcetto is usually a wine of good value, an affordable alternative that can be drunk with enjoyment while it's young, while waiting for the region's more pricey and ageworthy Nebbiolo-based Barolo and Barbaresco to mature. (Vine growers like it, too, because its early ripening nature makes it a natural for vineyards in cooler microclimates where Nebbiolo won't thrive.) While Barbera is usually sharply acidic, Dolcetto is relatively lower in acid but perceptibly tannic, an earthy flavor profile that shows best in company with food. And in its one aspect that does bear some comparison with Beaujolais, Dolcetto - in spite of its tannins - is best drunk up within a few years of harvest, before the fruit fades and leaves the astringent tannins alone. Today's featured wine, Domenico Clerico 2005 "Visadi" Langhe Dolcetto, is an export by Marc de Grazia, who's generally reliable in his selections of Italian wines ... provided you calibrate to his palate, which tends to favor big, fruit-forward and oaky selections in the "points-chasing" style. Not surprisingly, the Domenico Clerico is big and fruity, still showing a blast of blueberries in the aroma along with an earthy, "dusty" minerality that says Dolcetto. The wine manages to be both fruit-forward and rustic, a bit on the rough side for sipping cocktail-style as a glass of red wine but fine with food on the table. Dolcetto's no ager, and with two newer vintages already in the retail pipeline, I wouldn't count on much more life out of this 2005. But it's fine now, and easily demolishes the notion of Dolcetto as a light and lively little sipper. My tasting notes are below. I hope you'll bring your Dolcettos - and your Barberas, Barbarescos, Barolos and other Piemontese wines to our Wine Focus forum. It's easy to participate: Simply bring your tasting reports and your questions to our WineLovers Discussion Groups, http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewforum.php?f=18 The discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system, using your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D". Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums. ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSOR HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS FROM WINE LIBRARY If you've never subscribed to Wine Library's daily service before, you're in for a treat. This is your window into the best wine deals around ... highly rated wines from all the top critics, hard-to-find producers, and more... all at the best prices PERIOD! We work tirelessly to create outrageous wine deals--if you're even a casual wine drinker, WLD will help you identify outstanding wines and save you tons of cash. Click here to sign up today! http://winelibrary.com/wld.asp This holiday season Wine Library has dozens of gift ideas ... and we're not just about wine! We've once again assembled Gourmet Gift Baskets, available while supplies last. The baskets contain an array of high end gourmet products. Click here to watch a video depicting the contents of these beautiful baskets! This year the baskets are available with Free Shipping! Baskets will ship during the second week of December. Click here to view our other top holiday gift ideas for 2008! http://winelibrary.com/show_special.asp?section=giftideas Bottom line, we offer the lowest prices, the largest selection, lightning fast shipments and the greatest customer service in the industry! Winelibrary.com is your one-stop shop for everything wine ... so what are you waiting for? Log on to winelibrary.com today! ________________________________________________________________________ DOMENICO CLERICO 2005 "VISADI" LANGHE DOLCETTO ($15.99) Inky dark, almost black, with a clear garnet edge. Marked scent of blueberries backed by blackberries and plums. Dark berry fruit, mouth- watering acidity and a boatload of smooth but perceptible tannins with a whiff of dusty minerality. Alcohol content rational at 13.5%. Not a bad Dolcetto by any means, but rustic and a bit rough; it certainly needs food to come into balance. U.S. importer: Vintner Select, Mason, Ohio; A Marc de Grazia Selection. (Dec. 8, 2008) FOOD MATCH: Pork or poultry or red meat; it was excellent with a pan- seared, oven-roasted butterflied free-range chicken. VALUE: The prices of Dolcetto have been rising in recent years, but the mid-teens is an entirely appropriate neighborhood for this one. WHEN TO DRINK: The robust structure and tannins might suggest cellaring, but in my experience, Dolcetto does not age well, losing its fruit and leaving only dust and mud behind. No immediate rush, but I would consume this 2005 over the next couple of years. (Note, too, that this retailer carries old stock: The 2007 vintage is already available in the U.S.) WEB LINK: Here's exporter Marc de Grazia's fact sheet on Domenico Clerico, from which you may also click to tasting reports on the 2006 and 2007 Dolcetto. http://www.marcdegrazia.com/mdg/ing/scheda_produ.jsp?KProduttori=12&lin… FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Find vendors and compare prices for Domenico Clerico "Visadi" Langhe Dolcetto on Wine-Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Clerico%2bVisadi%2bDolcetto/-/-/USD/A?ref… ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you have questions, comments or ideas to share about today's article or wine in general, you're always welcome to drop by our online WineLovers Discussion Group. This link will take you to the forum home page, where you can read discussions in all the forum sections: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village Everyone is free to browse. 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We do not use this list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail to anyone. All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry. Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Copyright 2008 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *