[wine] [jellings@me.umn.edu: Zins at Sapor]

An update and an article on matching eggs with wine. ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:18:42 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Zins at Sapor ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:45:04 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Zin/Primitivo at Sapor tomorrow Been a while since we've been to Sapor..... Stay Dry. Cheers, Jim Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:25:05 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 16:12:23 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com We're going to Sapor at 6:30 on Thursday. Style du jour is Zinfandel $5 per person in leu of corkage. Part of their wine list is on their web site. If you happen to bring something that's on the list or the shelf (easier than you might think. Ask Russ about a split of something obscure he'd bought at a winery that was on their shelf as well.... ) we'll just save it for another week. We're never short of wine. http://www.saporcafe.com/ 428 N. Washington, Mpls 612 375 1971 Yes Ruth Bob Lori Nicolai Josh Karin if her cold gets better Sapor is very close to Sam's Wine Shop (closes at 8:00 M-Th). ----- End forwarded message ----- The Precarious Balance of Oak and Yolk By Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg Wednesday, March 28, 2007; F07 Wine isn't the first thing that might come to mind when you think about eggs. After all, it's bad form, not to mention a warning sign of alcoholism, to drink before noon. But since egg-based dishes, despite their breakfast connotations, play so well in other meals, especially this time of year, the question arises: What wine should you drink with them? Joshua Wesson of the Best Cellars retail chain once told us memorably: "Wood and eggs are an awful combination. If you want to make someone suffer, serve them barrel-aged chardonnay with an egg salad sandwich!" Of course, then we had to taste the combination of a particularly oaky chardonnay and egg salad for ourselves. It struck us as a cross between tinfoil and one of Harry Potter's more distasteful Every Flavor Beans. Our tongues still haven't forgiven us that research. In general, savory egg dishes such as omelets, frittatas and quiches are well-matched by a dry champagne, especially blanc de blancs (that is, 100 percent chardonnay), or sparkling wine. Chardonnay -- unoaked or very lightly oaked, of course (as if you could forget) -- works, too. A general rule of thumb for identifying an unoaked chardonnay: The lighter the color and the lower the price, the less likely it is to have spent time in expensive oak barrels. More important, check the label. While some indicate the wine is "unoaked" or "oak free" (as does the smooth-textured St. Supery Estate Oak Free Chardonnay), wineries sometimes have fun with their wording. For example, Trevor Jones christens its unoaked chardonnay "Virgin," and Four Vines describes its own as "Naked." Let the dominant flavors of the dish guide you, as eggs fade to the background when matched with vegetables and herbs, both of which suggest a lightly oaked or unoaked sauvignon blanc. Or, if the egg dish is heavy on breakfast meats, such as a bacon-laden quiche Lorraine or a ham omelet, consider a dry Alsatian pinot gris or even a light-bodied red, such as Beaujolais. At an elegant brunch, we once enjoyed a delicious lobster omelet that was magically elevated by its pairing with a white Burgundy. Sweeter egg-based brunch items such as custardy French toast are well matched by sweeter sparkling wines. Look to demi-sec (semi-sweet) or doux (sweet) champagnes, or the sweet Italian sparkler Moscato d'Asti. (We're fans of Marchesi di Gresy Moscato d'Asti La Serra.) If your French toast is topped with fruit such as berries or bananas, it would be delightfully complemented by Brachetto d'Acqui, a sweet red sparkling wine. If all you have on hand is dry sparkling wine, which will wilt under the sweetness of your dish, consider adding a compatibly flavored fruit juice, such as pear or litchi, to create your own mimosa. Few people celebrate eggs with as much gusto as do natives of Spain, where they are eaten at all times of the day. Eggs not only are served up in the ubiquitous Spanish tortilla or fried in olive oil for dinner, but also are commonly featured after dinner, in the form of creme Catalan and other custard-like desserts. We turned to Spanish native Antoni Yelamos of Jaleo Wine Shop in Crystal City, who also selects wines for award-winning chef Joséndrés restaurants, and he recommended a few of his favorites. Dry Spanish sherry, such as La Gitana (a favorite we share with Yelamos), is one ideal accompaniment to tortilla. You'll want to drink sherry chilled and fresh, as it doesn't store well. The Spanish sparkling wine cava is another perfect match, and Yelamos recommends one called 1+1=3 Cava Brut. "Its depth of flavor brings it very close to champagne," he says. For fried eggs, too, he sees cava's mix of acidity, freshness and bubbles as the ideal accompaniment. A purist, he recommends cooking the eggs soft, not hard, allowing full appreciation of the way the bubbles cut through the richness of the yolks. Sweet sherry can be a lovely accompaniment to a custardy flan-like dessert. We're longtime fans of oloroso sherry, but Yelamos turned us on to Bailen oloroso, which starts sweet with notes of chocolate and caramel but finishes dry. "It's a very nice balance to flan's richness," he enthuses. The old American oak barrels (called butts) used in the making of sherry are much larger than regular wine barrels, by the way, so far less sherry comes into direct contact with the oak. That, plus the butts' age, means that far less oak flavor is imparted into the sherry -- or into the eggs you drink it with. Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, award-winning authors of "What to Drink With What You Eat" and several other books, can be reached through their Web site,http://www.becomingachef.com, or atfood(a)washpost.com.