2003 Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel

Vintage: 2003
Winery: Bogle
Grape: Old Vine Zinfandel
Country: California
Region: Clarksburg

The significance of "Old Vines" is spiciness. This wine is spicy. A Zinfandel made from 35 year old vines is just starting it’s journey into becoming spicy. A 100 year old vine doesn’t produce a lot of grapes, but the product is very spicy. The problem is lack of regulation as to what qualifies as "Old Vine". Additionally, Old Vine Zinfandels are often blended with grapes of various ages before bottling to produce an appropriately spicy wine. Bogle states the vines used to make this wine are between 40 to 80 years old.

Although it is true you should never buy a wine for the label, I really like the Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel label. The painting of the gnarly old vines on a background of Autumn hues gives me a Pavlovian response.

Dark burgundy with a crimson halo, this wine has very intense fruit, including blackberry, blueberry and prune with a black pepper and balanced tannic finish.
If you like spicy wines, this wine is very good for the money. It is also, as its label suggest to me, perfect for drinking as the days of summer pass into Autumn.

2003 Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon

Vintage: 2003
Winery: Concha y Toro
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon- Marques de Casa Concha
Country: Chile
Region: Maipo Valley, Puente Alto Vineyard

A friend of mine, call her Posh Monkey, requested I provide her with information on a good red wine. This review is especially for her. Although she only asked for a good red, the wine under review is a VERY GOOD wine at under $15! Although I usually do not rate wines with points, I would say this wine hovers around 89.

Concha y Toro produces an entire spectrum of wines, but is often remembered for the less expensive wines of which many are familiar. I was remarking to a connoisseur, you know, the kind who constantly makes allusions to Château Pétrus, that Marques de Casa Concha is one of my favorite wines for the price. "Concha y Tora?" he asked. I told him to try it, but could tell he would not without some prodding. I brought him a bottle from my personal collection, and gave it to him. The next time I was at this friend's home, I saw several boxes of Marques de Casa Concha in his "cellar" area. He commented that he has shared this wine with several connoisseur friends who also like it.

Now, I had noticed that the price had gone up lately, and kicked myself for not buying more. I went from paying less than $10 to about $14 per bottle. I couldn't help but wonder if my blabbing about good inexpensive wine helped make the price go up. Or maybe several blabbers like me made the price go up- you know, all that supply and demand stuff. Anyway, it is still a bargain considering the quality, and you should try it, or the 2004 if it is more readily available in your area.

The delicious full-bodied wine is very bold with heavy oak flavors, striking but very drinkable tannins and red currant, fig, and cherry flavors. This wine is a pleasure, I mean a pleasure to drink, and I believe over time will become even more balanced. (Although I have seen the suggested peak projected to be 2007!) What makes it all the more pleasurable to drink, is that it is under $15. Despite the price, the taste is like you might expect from a wine of about $30. Hooray for Chile!

Le Repas Français (d’invitation)

I absolutely adore to eat dinner the French way. The Anglophile way of eating is to bring everything to the table at once. I ate this way my whole life until I visited France. The first time I ate dinner with a French family, approximately six hours after arriving in France for an eight month stay, and a plate of cold cuts was brought to the table, I thought for sure I would die of starvation. I did not realize that meals are brought to the table in courses. In short, I thought cold cuts was dinner.

Another reason I thought that was the whole dinner, is that the French actually take the time to sit together and talk. There is usually what seems to be an inordinate amount of time for the Anglophile between each course. Although dinner is by no means timed, I provided educated guesses at the length of time that might be spent per course to give you an idea. A typical French dinner consists of an apéritif, followed by hors d’œvre, a plat principal, salade, fromage, dessert, café. When guests are invited, they do not generally know what will be served, and do not find out until that course is brought to the table. That is part of the magic. The full French dinner goes something like this :

1. Apéritif
2. Hors d’œvre/ Entrée
3. 1er Plat Principal
4. Trou Normand
5. 2ème Plat Principal
6. Salade
7. Fromage
8. Dessert
9. Café
10. Digestif

Let me break it down for you :

1. Apéritif

This could be a lot of different things. In an informal setting, the apéritif often takes place in a living room around the coffee table. Often times a selection of liquor is offered including Martini & Rossi, whisky, cognac, etc. A modern take on the apéritif is to drink champagne. Amuses-bouche usually go along with the apéritif. In an informal setting, this may be nuts, processed cheese such as La Vache qui rit, or sausisse seche. Formally, canapés, or other fancier appetizers may be served.

Time : Up to an hour to sit, talk, snack, and drink. Then the party normally moves to the table.

Friends share champagne, and American dishes learned during their time as exchange students.

2. Hors d’œvre/ Entrée

This can be anything from soup, to a slice of smoked salmon with capers, dill, and crème fraîche, crudités, or the plate of cold cuts I mentioned above. It is usually a small portion. If champagne was served for the apéritif, it is often carried into the hors d’œvre/ entrée. Another option is to serve a wine which will carry over into the 1er Plat Principal.

Time : About 15 minutes to eat, and 15-30 minutes down time while the chef prepares the next, and first large course.


3. 1er Plat Principal

This is the first large course. I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule about what must be served, but it seems like it was usually seafood. For example, Stingray with capers (to die for), sauce, potatoes with butter and parsley. Of course, baguettes are served sliced on a bias, and it does not seem to be rude to sop up the sauce with the baguette. Of course, if seafood is served, a white wine such as Sancerre would be served.

Time : About 20 minutes to eat, and 20 minutes to sit and talk.

Paella

4. Trou Normand

The Trou Normand is a shot of eau de vie that is taken between two large courses. I am told that it helps when one is stuffed to the gills by helping digest what is in your stomach to make room for the next course. Traditionally Calvados is drank, but I have seen other eau de vies. The modern twist on the Trou Normand is to pour a shot of Calva on apple sorbet. When I ate with young Parisians, the sorbet Calva combination was almost always served. When I ate with people of the older generation, or people in small villages, it was often times a shot.

Time : About 15 minutes. At this time, some dinner parties I went to even pushed the furniture aside and danced for about an hour before moving onto the 2ème Plat Principal.

5. 2ème Plat Principal

This is the last large course of the dinner. Again, . I don’t think there is a hard and fast rule about what must be served, but in my experience, it was usually a red meat dish, such as Tournedos Rossini, again in sauce, with some type of vegetable dish on the side. I also saw pork, lamb, or even a second seafood dish such as langoustines served. Unless seafood was again served, a red wine such as a St. Emilion would be served.

Time : About 20 minutes to eat, and 20 minutes to sit and talk.

Poule au Pot

6. Salade

I thought this was very strange the first time I experienced it. I was so used to eating salad at the beginning of the meal, and thought it strange to eat it at the end of the meal. I am told that the French believe eating salad after the meal helps with the digestion, whereas if it is consumed before the other food, it cannot "help the food pass." After many many meals in France, I believe salad should be at the end of the meal.

Time: 15 minutes.

Fresh is best

7. Fromage

At this point, a plate of different cheeses are brought out. One can take as many different cheeses as one wants, and as much as one wants, but it is considered rude to leave it on your plate. For this reason, my practice was to take only a sliver of unfamiliar cheese, then ask for seconds if it pleased me. The rule when eating cheese is start with the least strong and make your way up to the strongest. Of course, the French eat their cheese with red wine, and baguette slices, never crackers.

Some of the cheese will linger on the palate for a long time after consumption. A sip of red wine will recall the stronger cheeses over and over. It is for this reason that the French say, "a real eater of cheese stays with his cheese." Translation : "No dessert for me please.

Time:15 min. There is often a pause between fromage and dessert.

Farm Cheese

8. Dessert

However, I have heard that saying every time I ate dinner, but rarely saw anyone refuse dessert. A dessert at a daily dinner would consist of whatever fruit is in season, and yogurt. At a full meal, it could be a tart tatin, a crème brulée, pears poached in red wine, well, you know all the classic French desserts.

Time: 20 minutes.

9. Café

This is served in a very small cup, but is still very strong coffee. Coffee is not usually served with the dessert.

Time: 15 minutes.

10. Digestif

The final drink of the night. Usually something strong like cognac, whiskey, brandy, mirabelle eau de vie, etc. Myself I prefer Grand Marnier.

Time: Up to several hours.

Americana

I have heard many times "Americans have no culture." It is true that in general terms American culture does not promote fashion, haute couture, or gastronomy. Instead, it promotes a cultural philosophy that is rugged, practical, and reeks of the idea that we must live for today because you may be gone tomorrow. Well, I love the part of American culture that some have deemed "Americana." Here are a few photos of what the concept "Americana" means to me:

Settlers bring Old World knowledge to the New World

Gotta love the Rodeo!

Old homesteads abandoned for new cookie cutter homes.

No, the last photo is not meant to suggest irony due to the current price of fuel. Instead it is a photo that may be reminiscent of your childhood visits to the gas station. If I had a photo of a quilt I would have also thrown that in the mix.

2003 Concannon Petite Sirah

Vintage: 2003
Winery: Concannon

Grape: Petite Sirah

Country: California

Region: Livermore Valley

I believe this dark purple, almost black wine has real promise. However, as it stands right now, it is VERY tannic! I absolutely love tannins, and it is rare I have difficulty imbibing a wine due to strong tannins. However, it was difficult. I tried decanting the wine, which helped a little, but not a lot. The wine had a wonderful, full mouth feel, but it was hard to identify flavors or other characteristics, because the tannins were just so pronounced.

I let the wine sit in the decanter for 24 hours, and tried again. Although it was much better, it was still unbalanced. I believe this wine would be better in a couple more years. I finished the bottle despite myself.

Honig goes 100% solar

Well, it has been so hot I have not been drinking much wine this month. Yesterday, however, I received a postcard from Honig. The front of the card is very cool, and has a retro feel to it. It features people affiliated with the winery sunbathing. Some are holding what appears to be newspapers, but on closer examination, they are solar panels, or at least represent solar panels. The caption says, "Honig's gone solar!"

The back of the card has the caption, "Solar energy system: $1,000,000; Last month's energy bill: $1.19; Reduced carbon emissions: Priceless; HONIG; Sustainably farmed, (100%) solar powered."

Finally, it identifies the players on the front of the card as, "Back row: Steven Honig, Michael Honig, Natalie Morrison, Alesha Clarke, J.T. Valdez, David Cruz. Front row: Regina Weinstein, Tony Benedetti, Jenny Petschek, Kristin Belair, Elaine Honig."

I know I mentioned it before, but I LOVE HONIG. I also mentioned I felt it has been too hot to drink wine, but contradictorily I mentioned in my previous entry about Honig, that the Sauvingnon Blanc is perfect for a hot summer's day. The postcard, although intended to let me know that drinking Honig helps to sustain the environment, has actually reminded me how good a Sauvingnon Blanc can be on a hot summer's day. Tonight I will drink Honig. Aah, advertising told me what to do, and I am doing it!!

Beyond the wine itself, I definitely think it is making a bold statement to go solar. I also think wineries make a bold statement by using methods of viticulture that avoid chemicals that are harmful to humans, animals and the environment. I am a huge believer that what goes into the ground, goes into the produce, and finally goes into the body. My belief has only been strengthened by the recent revelations of E. coli tainted spinach, Salmonella tainted peanut butter (I had a jar of it, and can no longer stomach peanut butter), and Hepatitas A flavored onions, to name a few.

In France, food, nay, cuisine is of utmost importance. It is a cultural institution not to be toyed with. The importance of biologique (organic) foods is very high. The battle against Frankenfoods has reached colossal proportions. Folkheros such as José Bové have been born (although it doesn't seem to be an important political issue. When Bové ran for president he only received a little more than 1% of the popular vote amongst 11 candidates.) In France it is even normal to go to a supermarket, and obtain such specific information as what ranch a piece of beef came from. (That is not to say France is without its problems with the food supply, but rather, to illustrate the difference in attitudes between France and the U.S.)

In the United States the attitude seems to be different. You can still have a choice, although producers do not have to reveal the source of their produce, nor the methods with which they are produced. The only thing we have to go on, are producers who are claiming they do the right thing, and reveal their practices to their target audience that will purchase their products on that basis. Obviously those that don't use environmentally sound practices will say nothing. You can choose to purchase products from producers who claim to use environmentally sound practices, such as Honig for wine, Silk brand soymilk

This does not mean I will not eat or drink products that are made using unknown practices, but Honig is my favorite Sauvingnon Blanc, and a wine I regularly purchase. Maybe, just maybe it is due to the attitude and care taken in its production.