Today's Boston Globe contains the results of their annual Plonkapalooza, a compilation of 50 value wines that cost $12 or less.
Each year, the Globe asks five different wine retailers to nominate 6-8 red and white wines that cost $12 or less and that represent exceptional value. From those nominations, the list is winnowed down to 25 reds and 25 whites. Those selections are then evaluated blind by a panel of sommeliers.
The list of participating retailers included Bin Ends of Braintree, OurGlass Wine Company in Saugus, Menotomy Beer & Wine of Arlington, Panzano Provviste e Vino in Southborough, and Brookline Liquor Mart. The tasting panel included Nicole Bernier, general manager and wine director at Rendezvous restaurant in Cambridge, Kelly Coggins, wine and beverage director at Rialto Restaurant & Bar in Harvard Square and Cat Silirie, wine director for the No. 9 Group. This is a panel of people that definitely know wine. Stephen Meuse, the wine columnist for the Globe, rounded out the tasting panel.
In the article, you can read their top five red and white wines selections. You can also see the entire list of 50 wines. Most of the 50 wines (34 out of 50) came from France, Italy, Portugal or Spain). France had the most white wines (7), Spain had the most red wines (7) but Italy had the most overall wines (12). There were only 3 US wines, 2 from California and 1 from Washington. It does not seem that retailers are seeing California wines are being great values of $12 or less. There were a few scattered single choices, from India, Hungary, South Africa, Austria and Germany.
It is an interesting list, and worth checking out to see what value wines are recommended and locally available.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
2007 Bodegas Guelbenzu Red
Last evening I stopped by Salem Wine Imports for their weekly Tuesday evening wine tasting. The stand out of the tasting, as well as being something a bit more uncommon, was the 2007 Bodegas Guelbenzu Red, an inexpensive Spanish wine.
This wine is a "Vinos de la Tierra" meaning that it is a category below the usual Spanish D.O. It is roughly equivalent to the French Vins de Pays. Sometimes Vinos de la Tierra is a temporary stop on route to D.O. designation. Others cherish this designation as it allows them more creativity in their wine making. This wine is from the Vinos de la Tierra of Ribera Del Queiles, a relatively new area which covers none municipal districts in Aragon and seven in Navarra. Bodegas Guelbenzu was the spark that led to the creation of this Vinos de la Tierra. I have never had a wine from this area before.
The 2007 Bodegas Guelbenzu Red is a blend of 45% Merlot, 30% Syrah, 18% Tempranillo and 7% Graciano. It sees no oak and is made in a more international style, so it is supposed to be more fruit forward. I did find it to be easy drinking and smooth, with plenty of red fruit flavors as well as hints of herbs. It had a bit more exotic flavor than a pure Merlot but also differed from a more dominant Tempranillo blend. This is a good pizza or burger wine, an easy quaffer that is sure to please.
Don't be afraid to try wines from new and different regions. You will never know if you like a wine until you actually taste it. Expand your horizons and seek the less common, the more unusual. Experiment with different wines and hopefully find a new favorite.
Salem Wine Imports
32 Church St.
Salem, MA
Phone: 978-741-9463
This wine is a "Vinos de la Tierra" meaning that it is a category below the usual Spanish D.O. It is roughly equivalent to the French Vins de Pays. Sometimes Vinos de la Tierra is a temporary stop on route to D.O. designation. Others cherish this designation as it allows them more creativity in their wine making. This wine is from the Vinos de la Tierra of Ribera Del Queiles, a relatively new area which covers none municipal districts in Aragon and seven in Navarra. Bodegas Guelbenzu was the spark that led to the creation of this Vinos de la Tierra. I have never had a wine from this area before.
The 2007 Bodegas Guelbenzu Red is a blend of 45% Merlot, 30% Syrah, 18% Tempranillo and 7% Graciano. It sees no oak and is made in a more international style, so it is supposed to be more fruit forward. I did find it to be easy drinking and smooth, with plenty of red fruit flavors as well as hints of herbs. It had a bit more exotic flavor than a pure Merlot but also differed from a more dominant Tempranillo blend. This is a good pizza or burger wine, an easy quaffer that is sure to please.
Don't be afraid to try wines from new and different regions. You will never know if you like a wine until you actually taste it. Expand your horizons and seek the less common, the more unusual. Experiment with different wines and hopefully find a new favorite.
Salem Wine Imports
32 Church St.
Salem, MA
Phone: 978-741-9463
The Beehive: Día De Los Muertos
The Beehive, the South End restaurant and live music venue, invites patrons in for their "Dia De Los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) celebration on October 31. Día de los Muertos is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage (and others) living in the U.S and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died.
With a decidedly more festive angle, The Beehive will celebrate with live Latin sounds from Grupo Fantasia beginning at 10:00PM, food and drink specials, psychics to reach those from the great beyond and several other surprises!
The Beehive will serve several traditional dishes as additional specials to their regular menu such as:
The Beehive’s Pan de Muertos ($8) or “Bread of the Dead." In celebration of Mexico's Day of the Dead, this bread is often shaped into skulls or round loaves with strips of dough rolled out and attached to resemble bones.
Picante Chicken Tamales, Black beans & Rice ($18)
Fresh Guacamole & Tortilla Chips ($9).
The Beehive will open for dinner at 5:30pm and dinner reservations are always an excellent way to assure a seat to the evening’s festivities. Live music begins at 10:00PM and as always there is never a cover charge.
The Beehive
541 Tremont St.
Boston, MA
Phone: 617-423-0069
With a decidedly more festive angle, The Beehive will celebrate with live Latin sounds from Grupo Fantasia beginning at 10:00PM, food and drink specials, psychics to reach those from the great beyond and several other surprises!
The Beehive will serve several traditional dishes as additional specials to their regular menu such as:
The Beehive’s Pan de Muertos ($8) or “Bread of the Dead." In celebration of Mexico's Day of the Dead, this bread is often shaped into skulls or round loaves with strips of dough rolled out and attached to resemble bones.
Picante Chicken Tamales, Black beans & Rice ($18)
Fresh Guacamole & Tortilla Chips ($9).
The Beehive will open for dinner at 5:30pm and dinner reservations are always an excellent way to assure a seat to the evening’s festivities. Live music begins at 10:00PM and as always there is never a cover charge.
The Beehive
541 Tremont St.
Boston, MA
Phone: 617-423-0069
Stoneham Sun: Wines of Portugal
My new column of "A Passionate Foodie" can be found in the October 15 issue issue of the Stoneham Sun newspaper. This is a weekly column that concentrates on reviews of local restaurants though it may also touch on a few other food and wine topics.
The new column has been published today and will soon be available online. The new column talks about the Wines of Portugal, and why they are a good buy right now. I even provide recommendations for three specific Portuguese wines.
If you have any questions or comments about my column, feel free to add them here.
Dine with passion.
The new column has been published today and will soon be available online. The new column talks about the Wines of Portugal, and why they are a good buy right now. I even provide recommendations for three specific Portuguese wines.
If you have any questions or comments about my column, feel free to add them here.
Dine with passion.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol--Part 2
This is the second part of interesting facts and anecdotes I found in Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol by Iain Gately.
Pulque was the fermented sap of the agave plant and very popular with the Aztecs. Pulque had a mother goddess and a group of immortal guardians called the Centzontotochtli ("the 400 Moon Rabbit Gods of Pulque"). Pulque brewers abstained from sex during fermentation as they thought sex might make the brew sour. A person who broke abstinence might be possessed by an angry rabbit god. (p.97)
The Aztecs had some of the strictest drinking laws of almost any culture. In general, only Aztecs over the age of 52 could drink pulque whenever they wanted. If you broke this law, you might be executed. Luckily, there were some exceptions to the law. The nobility, warriors, pregnant women, pulque brewers and some priests could drink pulque wih varying degrees of freedom. (p.98)
There was one Aztec festival where everyone was actually required to drink pulque. This was the Pillahuana ("Drunkenenss of Children") festival, held every fourth year. Even babies were made to drink pulque at this festival. Imagine an entire community all drunk at the same time. (p.98-99)
The Aztecs also believed certain people who cursed by the stars to drink. If you were born on the day of Umetochtli ("2-Rabbit"), then you were considered destined to be a drunk. Their drunkeness was considered an alibi for any crime. Though they still bore a stigma as they were generally hated by everyone else in the community. (p.99)
The famous Mayflower was originally a claret ship that transported Bordeaux wine from France to England. (p.122)
In early eighteenth-century New England, the most popular alcoholic drink, in terms of volume, was locally produced cider. Throughout much of this period, cider served as a currency. It was used to pay salaries and product prices could be quoted in barrels of cider. (p.152)
In France in the latter half of the eighteenth century, there was a monopoly on the retail of spirits and it was held by the master lemonade-makers of Paris. (p.175)
In the U.S., during the eighteenth century, a still was the largest, most complex and valuable man-made object carried west by settlers. (p.216)
After the Civil War, lager beer replaced whiskey as the drink of choice of the workingman. This was due to many factors, including a lower price for lager, as well as a surge in the quality and availability of lager. (p.315)
British ships that traveled to India during the nineteenth century often carried lots of beer. But the journey crossed the equator twice and exposed the beer to extreme variations in temperature and motion. To survive, it had to be brewed in a specific style, which came to be known as India Pale Ale (IPA). The recipe for IPA was based on the traditional English October Ale, a strong, heavily hooped brew, matured in the barrel for a year and then aged in the bottle for up to ten years. (p.329)
The Japanese concept of jogo is the "tendency to change character when drunk." There are three categories of jogo: rai-jogo ("happy drunk"), naki-jogo ("lachyrmose drunk"), and neji-jogo ("nasty drunk"). (p.446)
Until the 1970s, Hong Kong had little place for Western alcohol. But, then they became passionaye about luxury French Cognac. By the mid-1980s, they were the heaviest per capita consumer of Cognac in the world. Why? The Hong Kong Chinese felt it was a social duty to show their wealth. Cognac was the most expensive form of Western alcohol. Cognac was also though to help the male sex drive. plus, its amber color appealed to the Chinese who thought it looked expensive, rather than colorless vodka or gin. (p.448-450)
Pulque was the fermented sap of the agave plant and very popular with the Aztecs. Pulque had a mother goddess and a group of immortal guardians called the Centzontotochtli ("the 400 Moon Rabbit Gods of Pulque"). Pulque brewers abstained from sex during fermentation as they thought sex might make the brew sour. A person who broke abstinence might be possessed by an angry rabbit god. (p.97)
The Aztecs had some of the strictest drinking laws of almost any culture. In general, only Aztecs over the age of 52 could drink pulque whenever they wanted. If you broke this law, you might be executed. Luckily, there were some exceptions to the law. The nobility, warriors, pregnant women, pulque brewers and some priests could drink pulque wih varying degrees of freedom. (p.98)
There was one Aztec festival where everyone was actually required to drink pulque. This was the Pillahuana ("Drunkenenss of Children") festival, held every fourth year. Even babies were made to drink pulque at this festival. Imagine an entire community all drunk at the same time. (p.98-99)
The Aztecs also believed certain people who cursed by the stars to drink. If you were born on the day of Umetochtli ("2-Rabbit"), then you were considered destined to be a drunk. Their drunkeness was considered an alibi for any crime. Though they still bore a stigma as they were generally hated by everyone else in the community. (p.99)
The famous Mayflower was originally a claret ship that transported Bordeaux wine from France to England. (p.122)
In early eighteenth-century New England, the most popular alcoholic drink, in terms of volume, was locally produced cider. Throughout much of this period, cider served as a currency. It was used to pay salaries and product prices could be quoted in barrels of cider. (p.152)
In France in the latter half of the eighteenth century, there was a monopoly on the retail of spirits and it was held by the master lemonade-makers of Paris. (p.175)
In the U.S., during the eighteenth century, a still was the largest, most complex and valuable man-made object carried west by settlers. (p.216)
After the Civil War, lager beer replaced whiskey as the drink of choice of the workingman. This was due to many factors, including a lower price for lager, as well as a surge in the quality and availability of lager. (p.315)
British ships that traveled to India during the nineteenth century often carried lots of beer. But the journey crossed the equator twice and exposed the beer to extreme variations in temperature and motion. To survive, it had to be brewed in a specific style, which came to be known as India Pale Ale (IPA). The recipe for IPA was based on the traditional English October Ale, a strong, heavily hooped brew, matured in the barrel for a year and then aged in the bottle for up to ten years. (p.329)
The Japanese concept of jogo is the "tendency to change character when drunk." There are three categories of jogo: rai-jogo ("happy drunk"), naki-jogo ("lachyrmose drunk"), and neji-jogo ("nasty drunk"). (p.446)
Until the 1970s, Hong Kong had little place for Western alcohol. But, then they became passionaye about luxury French Cognac. By the mid-1980s, they were the heaviest per capita consumer of Cognac in the world. Why? The Hong Kong Chinese felt it was a social duty to show their wealth. Cognac was the most expensive form of Western alcohol. Cognac was also though to help the male sex drive. plus, its amber color appealed to the Chinese who thought it looked expensive, rather than colorless vodka or gin. (p.448-450)
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