2002 Saintsbury Reserve Pinot Noir

When I dined at Porchai, I brought a bottle of 2002 Saintsbury Reserve Pinot Noir ($40). I knew I would be eating duck and prefer a Pinot Noir. I have long been a fan of Saintsbury Pinots. The 2002 Reserve is the last vintage to bear the "Reserve" label. Saintsbury will now create a Vineyard series of specific vineyard bottlings, hoping to capitalize on different terroirs in the Carneros region.

I found this wine to be superb. This was a darker Pinot Noir than many and reminiscent of a more Burgundian style. There were great fruit flavors of raspberry & cherry. But there were also nice spicy components. The wine is complex and well balanced, with a lingering finish. It is a silky smooth wine that is pure decadent pleasure. It was a great match to the duck. Though this is a wine you could easily drink alone, savoring its intricacies.

A highly recommended Drink & Buy.

Candy Apples

I got my candy apple last night. I stopped by the Stoneham Summer Festival (which ends today) at the Redstone shopping center. I found one vendor who had candy apples and they were actually making them at the time. The were not selling candy apples that had been prepackaged or been sitting around all day. They had both red candy and caramel apples. I got a couple of the red candy apples with coconut. At $3 each, they were not cheap.

The candy shell was very good, that hard sweet redness, but there could have been more coconut on the exterior. The apple was good, fresh and firm. Overall, it was a good apple, though not great.

Porchai: Dinner

So I couldn't wait to try the duck!

Last night, I made a trek back to Porchai for dinner.

We began with the Pot Stickers which were just as could as the previous evening. We also had the Thai Wonton Soup ($3.50). This is described as shrimp & pork in wontons in a light clear broth. This is not fully accurate as the broth also contains cabbage and scallions. There were three wontons in the soup, which seemed to be to resemble oversized shumai. They were filled with meat and very tasty. The broth has a fishy flavor and was good as well.

We did bring a bottle of our own wine. And there was no corkage fee at all. They provided a couple of nice wine glasses and a cork screw. Being able to bring your own wine, and not having a corkage fee, certainly makes the evening more affordable.

For our entrees, we ordered two different duck dishes, the Siamese Ruby Duck ($18) and the Centre St. Crispy Duck ($18). The Siamese is in a red wine sauce and the Centre St. in a lemongrass sauce with white wine. Both dishes contained a large amount of duck with some accompanying vegetables. They certainly did not skimp on the portions of duck. The duck was meaty, with little fat, and the skins were cooked very well. The red wine sauce was delicious and nicely complemented the duck. The Centre St. duck had a nice crispy skin and its sauce was also very good too. The duck comes with rice, white or brown. Both dishes were excellent and I would order either of them again.

So, my second visit Porchai made a good impression on me as well. I do recommend Porchai for some good, and reasonably priced, Thai.

Porchai
19 Centre St.
Wakefield, MA
Phone: (781) 213-9933

Come Learn About Wine!

On Saturday, August 4, at 3:00pm, there will be a Wine Education class at the OurGlass wine Store in Saugus. I am collaborating with OurGlass on this fun and informative event. The class will be about "Off The Beaten Track" Whites. Many are familiar with Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Riesling. We shall try wines you may not know, such as Albarino, Godello, Torrentes, Vernaccia, Vermentino, just to name a few. Cost is $25 per person, which will include cheese and breads as well as special Tasting discounts. This is a great opportunity to taste some new and different wines and meet other local wine lovers in the area.

You must call OurGlass to book your reservation. Please do so as soon as possible as space is limited.

OurGlass Wine Co.
124A Broadway (Rt. 1 N)
Saugus, MA
781-941-8068

Poll #1 Results

Our first Poll has ended and here are the results.

What is Your Favorite Summertime Drink?
With 24 votes, the favorite was Sangria (9 votes) though it was close. #2 was White Wine (7 votes) and #3 was Rose Wine (6 votes).

So, time for a new Poll. The new question: What is your favorite BBQ grilled meat?