Greetings, Bayport Am. Cookery was fantastic, although it did make for a long Monday. This week, we've been invited to Muffuletta Muffuletta Cafe St. Anth. Park 2260 Como St. Paul, 55108 651-644-9116 Style du jour is French other than Brdx or Brgndy. Loire, Rhone, Langudoc, Cahor, Gigondas, etc. Plenty of good white options, but am guessing the tilt will be towards red (as usual) Yes/Guess Warren/Ruth Bob Bill Lori Betsy Nicolai Jim Russ/Sue 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 washingtonpost.com Made for Each Other By Ben Giliberti Wednesday, April 13, 2005; Page F07 The perfect pairing of wine and food is an art. When done well, both the wine and the accompanying dish taste better, a classic example of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. While there are many excellent pairings, the match of Sancerre wine and Crottin de Chavignol cheese is one that comes close to perfection. The wines of Sancerre and its neighbor, Pouilly-Fume, are the ultimate expression of the sauvignon blanc grape. Although this variety is grown in California, New Zealand and Bordeaux, nowhere does it achieve more raciness, complexity and breed than in France's Loire Valley. Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, which are produced on opposite banks of the Loire River, are considered the region's best sauvignon blancs. Sancerre is a bit racier and brighter, and Pouilly-Fume tends to be deeper and denser, but only a brave soul would try to distinguish them in a blind tasting. In quality, they are indistinguishable. Crottin de Chavignol cheese springs from the same region of the Loire as these two wines, and is an official "label of origin" goat's milk cheese. Although it originated in the village of Chavignol, which also produces Sancerre, it is now also made in five nearby towns: La Charite-sur-Loire, Pouilly, Donziais, Cosne and Cher. Many consider it France's most distinctive goat cheese. Pairings of a region's cuisine and wines such as this are often felicitous. For example, Piedmontese wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco go famously with the musky wild truffles of the area; the minty, cedar notes of Pauillac wine are a splendid match with the locally raised lamb. The terroir, or combination of soil, climate and culture of certain regions, seems to imbue the food and wine with a special affinity. But compared with even the best wine and food pairings, the harmony between the tangy goat cheese and the spirited wine of the Loire is quite remarkable. They share a mineral, lemon-thyme note that is both distinctive and delicious. One explanation is that the Alpine goats of the area forage on grasses and brush that have picked up the chalky notes of the limestone soil, which is similar to the soil in the better vineyards. Wild thyme is also prevalent here, and goats everywhere are known to feast on such herbal brush. Matching Chavignol with Loire sauvignon blanc is fascinating. Crottin de Chavignol is meant to be enjoyed at different stages of maturity -- which is common for wine, but relatively rare for cheese. Fresh from the cheese vat, it has a creamy texture and a mild, nutty taste. At this point, somewhat paradoxically, the best match is an older Pouilly-Fume or Sancerre, both of which also develop mellow, nutty notes four to five years after the vintage. About four months later, when the cheese reaches full maturity, it develops a dense, often crumbly interior and a delectably robust, slatelike flavor. This strength makes it a perfect foil for young Pouilly-Fume and Sancerre, vibrant wines that burst with assertive character. At intermediate stages, the wine and cheese can be enjoyed in any combination. This is also a good time to serve the cheese warm and grilled with toast, or in chevre salad. Both wines and the cheese are available locally. The 2002 and 2003 are excellent vintages for Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume and predominate in wine shops now. Young Crottin de Chavignol, which along with other good goat cheeses has become quite popular, is flown in weekly to better cheese and grocery markets in the Washington areas. The following are my favorite Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumes from recent tastings. While both wines can sell for $50 or more, many examples are more modestly priced and offer excellent value for wines of this caliber. Approximate prices are in parentheses along with the distributor in case your wine store needs to order them. Domaine Girard Sancerre 2003 La Garenne ($18; Louis/Dressner Selections /Wine Partners): This delectable wine is from a family estate in the village of Chaudoux, directly north of Chavignol. This cuvee is from the estate's best vineyard, La Garenne, a 5.5-acre plot with chalky, limestone soil that lends a distinctively flinty, mineral note to the wine. In 2003, La Garenne's well-drained slopes allowed the grapes to achieve exceptional ripeness, yielding a wine with aromas of spring flowers, mandarin orange and herbs, followed on the palate by intense flavors and a brisk finish that cries out for goat cheese. Domaine Thomas & Fils 2003 Sancerre "La Crele" ($21; France); Domaine Thomas et Fils 2003 Sancerre "Grand Chaille" ($24; Kacher Selections/Washington Wholesale); Vivacious and loaded with exotic, tropical fruit aromas and flavors, the La Crele bottling slightly out-pointed the estates' new, more expensive Grand Chaille in my tastings. Both are excellent. The chief difference is that the La Crele emphasizes freshness and liveliness of fruit, while the Grand Chaille weighs in with classic, mineral tones. Francois Cazin Cheverny 2003 Le Petit Chambord ($12: Louis/Dressner Selections/Wine Partners): This excellent value offers an intriguing alternative to the 100 percent sauvignon blanc wines of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume. By law, wines from Cheverny, which is located west of Sancerre, must be a blend of varietals. Le Petit Chambord is 81 percent sauvignon blanc and 19 percent chardonnay. Because the soils are a bit heavier than in the Sancerrois, chardonnay ripens well here; its inclusion adds a note of light honey to soften the steely intensity of sauvignon blanc. Philippe Raimbault 2003 Pouilly-Fume "La Montee des Lumeaux" ($21; Country Vintner): This refined sauvignon blanc wine offers a deft balance between delicate floral notes and firm, flinty fruit. Bright citrus notes enliven the palate, and brisk acidity extends the fruit through the distinctive finish. Quite fine. ALSO RECOMMENDED (in order of preference): Patient Cottat 2003 Sauvignon Blanc ($9; good value); Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2003 ($20); Herve Seguin 2002 Pouilly-Fume ($21); Vincent Delaporte Sancerre Chavignol ($21); Merlin-Cherrier 2003 Sancerre ($22); Patient Cottat 2002 Domaine des Berthiers Pouilly-Fume ($18); Henry Natter 2002 Sancerre ($25); Pascal Jolivet Pouilly-Fume 2003 ($20). � 2005 The Washington Post Company ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Monday, June 6, 2005 ________________________________________________________________________ THIS WEEK'S EDITIONS I'm traveling in France, so there'll be no Wednesday or Friday edition or Thursday FoodLetter this week; we'll return to regular publication the week of June 13. However, I'll update the WineLoversPage.com Front Page with occasional trip reports and photos this week if time and connections permit. TODAY'S SPONSOR: * CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Summer is finally here! http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers ________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * FIRST TASTE: '04 LOIRE In a quick note from a Paris bistro, we check out the just-in new vintage from Sancerre and Chinon. * CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Summer is finally here! * THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM Talking about French Sauvignon Blanc on the Wine Lovers' Discussion Group. * LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor archives. * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ FIRST TASTE: 2004 LOIRE Greetings from Paris, one of the world's great capital cities, where you'll find great works of art and architecture, historic and cultural institutions and more fine museums than you can shake a Matisse at. I love Paris, and I really do admire it for all those reasons. But there's no use trying to fool fellow gourmets and gourmands like you, is there now? Of course we're here for the food. And the wine. And, sure, for all that other stuff too. But let's not lose perspective. (In fact, I'm here for our annual group tour of a French wine region with our friends at French Wine Explorers. Early tomorrow we'll head for Lyon, then Condrieu and finally Avignon, tasting and dining at wine producers and top restaurants along the way. As noted at the top of today's column, we'll put the remaining editions of this week's 30 Second Wine Advisor on hold, but I'll make every effort to post occasional trip reports and photos ... watch the WineLoversPage.com Front Page and Wine Lovers' Discussion Group for updates.) I arrived a couple of days early so I could enjoy Paris, meet friends and, of course, check out a little of that high-tone art and culture. Artful wine and food culture, anyway. And a fine dinner we had on Saturday, no gluttonous blowout but a relaxing evening of Chef Michel Rostang's imaginative dishes at his relatively new restaurant, L'Absinthe, at 24, Place de March� Sainte Honor�, which is not far from the Louvre and the Tuileries gardens. This is a wine publication, not a restaurant review, so I won't go into detail except to note that Rostang, like a number of other of Paris' top chefs recently, has opened a constellation of relatively casual, reasonably affordable bistro-type restaurants in addition to the high- end, multiply-starred and very pricey restaurant Michel Rostang. L'Absinthe, one of the newest in the group, looks much like a random Parisian cafe from the street, with its outdoor tables set up across the front of the building, with a black awning bearing the restaurant's name. Inside, though, it's stylish and modern - it's been described as a blend of Paris and New York - with a menu of innovative, slightly Asian- accented French dishes. Our group of four enjoyed a fixed-price menu including appetizers, main courses, desserts and two bottles of wine and walked away for 50 Euros each. This is not a bad way to enjoy a Saturday night in Paris, and I recommend it to your attention. (For more details, see the Rostang Website, http://www.michelrostang.com, an artful movie- style show in your choice of French or English, a show that, unfortunately, essentially requires both the Flash plug-in and high- speed Internet access.) For this travel-week edition, let's focus on the wines. As the headline above suggests, a few spanking-fresh 2004 vintage Loire wines had just fallen off the truck, so recently acquired that the L'Absinthe wine list had been updated with carefully handwritten "2004" notations placed over the old 2003 listings. I haven't seen any 2004 Loires in the U.S. yet, but if these two are representative, I'll be happy to see more. Both were deliciously fresh and fruity, but seemed well balanced between fruit and acid in a more classic style than those typical of the super-hot summer of 2003. Pierre Riffault 2004 Domaine du Carrior Perrin Sancerre (27 Euro/restaurant price) - This clear, pale brass-color Sauvignon Blanc is so fresh that it's almost like drinking fresh-squeezed, grapefruit juice, if grapefruit could ever be as brilliantly clear and fragrantly complex as this. Crisp citric aromas carry over intact on the palate, with a distinct but not overbearing "grassy" quality that's the trademark of the grape. Balanced and refined, bone-dry over zippy citrus-fruit acidity that lingers in a very long finish. A perfect match with a moderne appetizer, tumblers of cold fennel cream soup topped with an artful swash of asparagus oil. Domaine Bernard Baudry 2004 "Les Granges" Chinon (27 Euro/restaurant price) - Very dark reddish-purple in color, rather dark for a Chinon. Ripe and juicy strawberry aromas, fresh and true, lead into a load of fruit, fresh red berries built on a good, balanced framework of snappy but not overwhelming acidity. Fruit-forward for a Chinon, perhaps the result of its youth and freshness, but hints of that characteristic Loire minerality lurk just below the surface, especially in its long, fresh finish. Excellent pairing with veal onglet juste roti, bite-size cubes of tender rare veal with an intense confit of sweetly caramelized little shallots. ________________________________________________________________________ PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE Here's a simply formatted copy of today's Wine Advisor, designed to be printed out for your scrapbook or file or downloaded to your PDA or other wireless device. http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/print050606.html ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you'd like to ask a question or comment on today's topic (or any other wine-related subject), you'll find a round-table online discussion in our interactive Wine Lovers' Discussion Group, where you're always welcome to join in the conversations about wine. http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid=62115&mi… If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit. ________________________________________________________________________ CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB: SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE! Taste the warm California sunshine in a glass from The California Wine Club with this month's selections. Paraiso Vineyards, located in the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County, has captured lush tropical fruit flavors that hallmark this region in their 2001 Chardonnay. This four-star winner is currently sold out at the winery. It is paired with a gold-medal, 90-point showoff Syrah. Here you'll find berry, plum and spice mixing harmoniously with vanilla and oak. In the accompanying color magazine, Uncorked, read all about Paraiso Vineyards and try their recipe for Seared Jumbo Tiger Shrimp! Just $32.95 plus shipping. Call 1- 800-777-4443 in the U.S., or visit online, http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers ________________________________________________________________________ THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM Here are links to some of our recently published articles that I think you'll enjoy: * WINE LOVERS' DISCUSSION GROUP: Advice on French Sauvignon Blanc A reader seeks advice and gets back quite a variety of good recommendations. Check them out, and please feel free to add your own suggestions to the discussion, at this forum link: http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid=62041&mi… ________________________________________________________________________ LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns: * Vernatsch, natch! (June 3, 2005) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa050603.phtml * German wine: Old vs. new (June 1, 2005) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa050601.phtml * Wine-shipping battles still to come (May 30, 2005) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa050530.phtml * Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml * Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Seared tuna Japanese-style (June 2, 2005) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tsfl050602.phtml * Wine Advisor Foodletter archive: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/foodlist.phtml ________________________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: * WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/rss/ * 30 Second Wine Advisor, daily or weekly (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/index.shtml * Wine Advisor FoodLetter, Thursdays (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/foodletter.shtml * Wine Advisor Premium Edition, alternate Tuesdays ($24/year) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/premium.phtml ARCHIVES: For all past editions: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml CONTACT US E-mail: wine(a)wineloverspage.com SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com ________________________________________________________________________ ADMINISTRIVIA To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, switch from weekly to daily distribution, or for any other administrative matters, click to http://www.wineloverspage.com/admin.php?id=20970&cs=7d1109b668af1f87d36… We welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. 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. Sunday, June 5, 2005 Copyright 2005 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 *