Edible Arts on the Road

30 Wednesday May 2018

Today we leave for a month in Italy. Wine Blog Daily will be on hiatus for the month. Other blog posts will depend on my Internet connection and inclination.

We will be in Florence for 3 nights before embarking on a glorious wine and food tour of Tuscany, organized by The Wine Vault and Bistro, a local San Diego restaurant.

Then we spend 10 days in Piemonte figuring out Barolo, 7 days in Valpolicella sipping Amarone, and 3 days in Friuli with a side trip to Slovenia.

I will try to post regularly from Italy when time and circumstance permit but I didn’t inherit the journalist gene so we’ll see.

Ciao!

Here’s the Beef: Texas Food Traditions

25 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Contemporary Food Culture, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Barley Swine, Cooper's Old Time Barbeque, Knife, Texas Food

Texas is a big state with lots of food traditions. But somehow they’re all about beef.

Texas is best known for smoked brisket. Unlike Kansas City-style brisket, Texans don’t drench it in sauce. In fact, at Kreuz Market in Lockhart, perhaps the best-known barbecue joint in the country, they only started offering sauce two years ago. This place is about as old-school as you can get. The meat is served on butcher block paper and with a knife. The forks are plastic, for eating their German potato salad.

Where’s the best barbecue in Texas? Kreuz Market has the history, having been in business since 1900, but I found their brisket too dry, even with the sauce. Franklin in Austin has the current big reputation but they had a fire and were closed when we visited. My favorite was Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Q in Llano. Just the right ratio of crispy crust on the outside and tender melting beef on the inside and with an outstanding pepper based sauce to rival the best in Kansas City. When you arrive you line up at the pit and pick the piece of meat you want.

Texas Chili is another beef obsession. Texans insist that beans in chili are an abomination. And you know what? They’re right. Beans are a distraction when you’re looking for pure beefy essence. Tolbert’s in Grapevine, north of Dallas, has a good Texas chili.

For pure Texas excess, its hard to beat John Tresor’s monster 240-day aged Ribeye at Knife in Dallas (pictured above). It tasted like it was basted in gorgonzola, a little funky, but there’s nothing wrong with funk.

Even Texas peasant food is beefy. Chicken-fried steak is an art form at Hill Country Cupboard in Johnson City, where self-deprecation is taken to a new level. Their sign says “Best Chicken Fried Steak in the World (over 3 dozen sold)”. It’s tender with a crunchy crust, and a creamy gravy packed with cracked pepper.

And at Chris Madrid’s in San Antonio their specialty is the macho tostada burger. The burger rests on refried beans, onions and tortilla chips topped off with a mountain of melted cheddar. But in the burger sweepstakes I think my favorite was the chili burger at Alamo Springs Café near Luckenbach, just because the beef was of high quality.

And of course Tex-Mex cooking is all about the beef. Beef enchiladas, beef-stuffed chile rellenos, beef guisado. It’s hard to find a dish without beef. They probably put beef in their fish tacos.

So what do you do if you don’t like beef? Well, they will condescend to serve you pork if you insist. For porky goodness skip the Tex Mex and look for south-of-the-border Mexican food. Mi Tierra in San Antonio is known for their Carnitas Michoacan. And at upscale Barley Swine in Austin, a sophisticated Carnitas is usually on their small plates menu. But for pure porky goodness, it’s Cooper’s again. They serve a mammoth pepper-crusted chop that just might make you forget about beef, even in Texas.

Texas Wine: On the Cusp of Greatness?

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Travel, Wine Culture

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

High Plains Wineries, Hill Country Wineries, Texas Wine, Texhoma AVA

Farmhouse Vineyards, High Plains Texas

Among all the U.S. wine regions we have visited, which includes most of the country by now, Texas is closest to the West Coast in overall wine quality. The High Plains near Lubbock, where most of the Texas fruit is grown, boasts fertile, sandy loam soils that drain well, hot summer days and cool nights due to their elevation that encourage both ripeness and good acidity, and generations of farmers who understand row crops but need a more profitable product than their traditional cotton crop. As prices for commodity crops like cotton stagnate and a declining aquifer makes the future of thirsty cotton less attractive, many farmers in the High Plains are converting their cotton fields to grape vines. Add to that a large population increasingly interested in local wine and an attractive, vacation destination in Hill Country just west of Austin and you’ve got all the ingredients for a successful wine region. All of these virtues are attracting talented winemakers trained in Europe or California seeking the expansive opportunities of an emerging wine region.

The pretty face of Texas wine is Hill Country AVA. It is the second largest AVA in the country in terms of territory and according to some measures the fasting growing as a tourist destination. Blessed with rolling hills, picturesque ranchlands, and the charming town of Fredericksburg teeming with restaurants and German- themed shops representing the heritage of the early settlers here, these attractions support a very accessible wine trail, all just a short drive from the cosmopolitan city of Austin. It’s no mystery why the area is growing as a destination. There are now over 52 wineries in the AVA and the number grows each year. However, what you won’t find in Hill Country is lots of grapes. Most of the wineries here grow some grapes on estate vineyards but the real engine of Texas wineries is the High Plains about an 7 hour drive northwest of Austin near the New Mexico border. About 80% of the Texas grapes used to make wine in Hill country come from the High Plains according to January Wiese, Executive Director of the Texas Hill Country Wineries association. Wiese reported that acreage under vine in Hill Country is growing. “We had something like 202 acres 4 years ago. That’s grown to around 850 acres.” Yet, she explained, Hill Country features high land prices, ranchers with large tracts of land who prefer cattle to vineyards, and a more humid climate exacerbating disease pressure. Thus, Hill Country is likely to remain a minor player in terms of grape tonnage compared to the High Plains which now has about 3500 acres under vine .

There are limitations to this arrangement. The High Plains are flat and the weather quite uniform throughout the region. Thus, there are few microclimates to produce individual expressions of terroir although soil mixtures are diverse helping to maintain some differentiation among vineyards. There are a few wineries near Lubbock but, although a thriving city, it’s well off the tourist track. Thus, the relationship between Hill Country and the High Plains is likely a permanent feature of the Texas wine industry.

Therein lies one of the real challenges that Hill Country wineries face. Most winemakers, at least those who care about quality, like to walk their vineyards and get to know their vines. Especially as harvest approaches they need to taste grapes and chew seeds everyday, with one eye on the weather, to plan their harvest schedule. That’s tough to do when you’re almost 400 miles away. Drone images and Google Docs for reporting stats help but there is nothing like the personal touch when it comes to grape quality. Add to that the need to find enough clean trucks with chillers to get the fruit to the winery in Hill Country during the deluge at harvest, and the problems associated with geographical distance have a direct impact on wine quality. The solution is more tank farms and crush facilities on the High Plains all of which are in the works according to people in the region. What is likely to take some time and persuasion is developing a culture committed to quality. Those farmers who have grown commodity crops for generations have a tough time getting their heads around the idea of dropping fruit to get lower yields, especially if they’re paid by the ton. The folks in Hill Country claim it’s hard to get enough quality fruit from the High Plains; the folks in the High Plains think there’s plenty of grapes if you do your research. So, you see, there can be some tension there although it all seems to be working out in the end. Because the wine is pretty damn good.

Most varietals will ripen on the High Plains although there is a good deal of controversy over the value of some popular grapes. Late season cold spells and rain can make ripening Cabernet Sauvignon a dicey proposition, but in good vintages the quality is quite high. Some folks say it’s too hot for cool-climate-loving Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc but some wineries do a nice job with both. Many people say Texas can’t grow Pinot Noir but one of the best wines we tasted in Texas was a Pinot Noir (from Pheasant Ridge winery in Lubbock). Varieties that bud early, such as Chardonnay, are threatened by late spring frost. Frost damage will also limit the age of vines so you will seldom see really old vines here. Hail throughout the growing season is always a threat and, as Katy Jane Seaton, Executive Director of the High Plains Winegrowers Association told me, “we have every disease and pest known to mankind here”. Thus, success is not guaranteed and vintage variation can be significant. All of these challenges make Tempranillo a good choice since it ripens earlier than other big reds, produces good yields and uniform clusters that are relatively easy to harvest, and features a thick skin less susceptible to disease. Despite these advantages, the consensus among winemakers and association reps that we spoke with is that there is no reason to specialize. “Texas should take advantage of its diversity” notes Seaton.

The strength of that diversity is evident when you taste through Texas wine. Tempranillo and Viognier may be the most consistently exceptional; the Bordeaux varietals are excellent in good vintages; other Rhone varietals such as Mourvedre and occasionally Syrah make elegant wines in the right location; Italian varietals, especially Sangiovese and surprisingly Montepulciano are consistently good. Although Texas is hot during the summer, the growing season is limited by frost and rain, and when the weather is too hot the vines shut down slowing down the ripening process. Thus, Texas wines are not massive fruit bombs. The typical style here is ripe but elegant with many bottlings showing considerable delicacy and finesse.

There is a lot of mediocre wine served to tourists in Hill Country, much of it using west coast grapes to meet the high demand. If a label says “For sale in Texas only” that usually means the grapes were purchased out of state and the finished wine cannot be returned for sale in that state labeled with the appellation in which the grapes were grown. In other words, no Napa-labeled wines made in Texas can be sold outside Texas.That doesn’t make the wine bad but it does mean there is pressure on supplies which can sometimes mean quality is compromised. Weather variation from year to year and the constant threat of disease means that consistency from vintage to vintage is difficult to achieve, and in some years (such as 2013) Texas is able to produce very little fruit making it necessary for wineries to import grapes to have a product to sell. As Katy Jane Seaton noted, “to protect yourself from low yields, you have to be able to import”. Nevertheless, the best wineries, especially those committed to using Texas fruit, are producing excellent wine. With massive acreage suitable for wine grapes in the High Plains, a thriving tourist destination in Hill Country, a large, thirsty urban population, and the capacity for producing quality grapes, there is probably no limit to the potential of Texas as a wine region.

We visited three wine regions in Texas– Hill Country AVA west of Austin, Dallas and the Texoma AVA north of Dallas, and the Texas High Plains AVA. This is far from a comprehensive picture; Texas is a big state and there are wineries throughout. But we tasted through a representative sample focusing almost exclusively on wines made from Texas grapes. It’s worth mentioning that if you’re searching for wine quality, don’t ignore the region North of Dallas. While we didn’t find a lot to love in Dallas/Fort Worth proper, the region about 1 hour north near the Oklahoma border has several wineries producing real quality. And Lubbock is interesting as well—it is after all where the grapes are grown and the wine culture there is sophisticated yet down-to-earth catering for the most part to locals interested in wine.

We visited several top wineries in Hill Country in 2015, which we did not have time to visit on this year’s trip. They include Pedernales, William Christ, Infield, and Last Draw all which belong in any discussion of wine quality in Texas. See our review of these wineries here.

Below are the best wineries we discovered on our 2017 visit:

Hill Country

Perissos Vineyards

Perissos may be the only winery in Hill Country using exclusively estate-grown grapes. Overall these wines were among the best we tasted. They feature a gorgeous Viognier, a rich and satisfying Tempranillo (see my full review here) and an award-winning, lovely, complex Montepulciano. Their Sangiovese is plump yet rustic and earthy, and the semi-sweet Fiore Secco Orange Muscat is explosively aromatic with excellent acidity. A comfortable venue with seated tastings.

Kuhlman Cellars

A relatively new winery having opened in 2014, winemaker Bénédicte Rhyne brings remarkable blending skill to the Hill Country wine trail. Using a palette of several Rhone varietals supplemented by Sangiovese and Malbec, her red wines are all about texture and elegance. The 2014 Alluvé, dominated by Sangiovese and Carignan, is billed an everyday drinker but is gorgeous. (See my review here). The Barranca (Mourvedre, Tempranillo and Malbec) was soft, refined, yet juicy with a scintillating mineral core. The Kankar, using California Malbec and Petite Sirah, was big and still a bit blustery, a good candidate for some bottle age. On the white side, a lovely Viognier, an award-winning Roussanne deserving of its accolades, and their signature “Calcaria” blend all had the characteristic textured mouthfeel and finesse. Tastings are accompanied by thoughtful food pairings that highlight the wine’s charms.

Spicewood Vineyards

Spicewood is one of the wineries doing a great job with grapes not usually associated with Texas. Their 2016 Sauvignon Blanc blew me away–crisp with great minerality, expressive peach aromas and a long, briny finish. This is one of the best white wines we tasted. Their light, elegant 2014 Mourvedre, a winner of many awards, had lovely raspberry aromas, a standout as well. As we get into the more structured reds, the 2015 Bordeaux-style blend called Independence, available only in good vintages, and their estate Tempranillo were both powerful and intense. They also make a semisweet Cabernet Claret with 1% residual sugar to pair with Texas chili.

Ron Yates

Ron Yates, the owner and winemaker at Spicewood, has opened a new winery on the Rte. 290 Wine Trail featuring different wines than are poured at Spicewood. The Sauvignon Blanc here was also quite good but the Albarino was a standout. It featured ripe peach on a lush, medium bodied frame, intense aromatics and a lovely texture. Two 2016 rosés, one from Sangiovese and the other from Cinsault were terrific, crisp and refreshing but with Yates’ trademark textural depth. On the day we visited they also poured a memorable soft, elegant Tempranillo from the 2014 vintage.

Calais Winery

Frenchman Benjamin Calais came to the U.S. to work in the tech industry but the lure of the grape was irresistible. His wines made from High Plains fruit have a deft, old world touch but with unmistakable new world heft. The spicy, silky white Rhone blend made of mostly Roussanne called Cuvee de la Source was sumptuous and lovely but the focus here is on Bordeaux varietals. Despite the difficulties of getting Cabernet ripe in cool years, the 2015 Cabs had plenty of fruit power. The Cuvee de l’Exposition Lehay Vineyard was laden with savory spice notes and understated elegance. The bottling from the Newsome Vineyard was rich with cedar and graphite and very firm tannins. Both wines were young but expressive. The 2015 Cuvee d’Elme a Bordeaux-style blend from Newsome Vineyard, was pretty and balanced with an intriguing delicate personality. (See my full review here). Tastings are by appointment only at the winery which from the outside looks like an abandoned shack. But the tastings are in depth and among the most informative in the region, often conducted by Benjamin himself.

Lewis Wines

One of my pet peeves is that wineries often sell wine in their tasting rooms before it’s ready. Not Lewis. In 2017 they were pouring their 2012 and 2013 vintages. This is an expensive proposition for wineries but the consumer is getting a wine with some development. They make several Tempranillos sourced from various vineyards, all full of flavor with big spice notes, glorious minerality and emerging earth notes from the bottle age. Their 2013 Mourvedre was a show stopper—a rich palate with lots of earth and their trademark mineral core. And the 2012 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo was also compelling spending 30 months in second use French and some American barrels. They currently have several Portuguese varieties planted in their estate vineyards which should be ready soon.

Duchman Family Winery

Duchman, located on a charming destination property just outside Austin, is committed to making wine from 100% Texas grapes. They specialize in Italian varietals including compelling Trebbiano and Vermentino bottlings, a light weight Sangiovese, a spicy, flavorful Montepulciano and a structured, powerful Aglianico. The non-vintage Progression is a blend of the Montepulciano and Aglianco. This is a robust wine with rich, deep aromas, pleasing earth and herbaceous notes and a long, rustic finish. Their Grape Growers Blend brings together the Montepulciano, Sangovese, Aglianico with some Syrah for a smooth, medium bodied daily drinker. These wines combine new world ripeness with some of the rusticity we associate with Italian varietals. One of the larger producers in the area at 25,000 cases and widely available in Texas.

Solaro Estate Winery

Located in Dripping Springs just west of Austin, Solaro pours wines made from their Estate grapes as well as fruit from West Coast vineyards and several wines made by the Solaro group in Italy. Their rich assortment of wines include Bordeaux, Rhone, and Italian varietals. We tasted a creamy, unoaked Chardonnay from Washington State fruit, a spicy Montepulciano from estate grapes making creative use of a bit of volatile acidity, and Tempranillo and Malbec from Washington State.

Grape Creek Vineyards

This is a large production winery on an attractive estate and a frequent stop for tourists along the Route 290 wine trail. It’s a destination with a fine-dining restaurant on premises and a large, busy tasting room. They source fruit from their estate vineyards as well as from the High Plains. However, with an annual case production of 55,000 cases mostly sold out of their winery, they must import some fruit which gets blended with fruit from their Texas vineyards. It’s a bit hard to tell from their tasting menu which wines are from Texas but the tasting room staff can help sort things out. Nevertheless the wine here is quite good and worth a stop. Their Cuvee Blanc is a Viognier dominated blend of several varietals. It’s aromatic yet delicate and elegant on the palate, a lovely wine as was the soft, elegant Cabernet Trois, a blend of Cabernet Sauvingnon, Cabernet Franc and Ruby Cabernet. The super-Tuscan style Bellissimo, a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot was structured with great depth, although the tannins need time to settle down. Mosaic, a Bordeaux-style blend also impressed with its rich mid-palate.

Texhoma

Brushy Creek Vineyards

Located about 80 miles north of Dallas, charming, rustic Brushy Creek was the first winery in this area since prohibition. Les Constable has been making wine from Texas grapes since 1991, opening his commercial winery in 2000. His tasting menu is full of gems. Brushy Creek is the only Texas winery making wine from the Eastern European white grape Rkatsitelli, worth a stop in itself. (see my full review here) Lovely Carignan and Mourvedre, a light, delicate Sangiovese, a stunning, powerful Tannat, and several delicious Tempranillos in the Reserva and Gran Reserva styles fill out the lineup. And talking to Les is a real education in Texas winemaking.

Arché Vineyard and Winery

Long time grape growers in this region, Howard and Amy Davies started making their own wines in 2007, with winemaking chores now handled by their son Grayson. They advertise “wines as big as the state of Texas” but in fact their wines are elegant, subtle, and polished, overall among the best we tasted in Texas. The Chardonnay, the white blend of Chardonnay and Roussanne, called “True Friends”, and their Roussanne are explosively aromatic, round and full in the mouth, yet crisp and delicate. Ryan’s Red, a Cabernet/Syrah blend is smooth and charming, the Tempranillo tasty, and the gorgeous Syrah the closest thing you can find to Cote Rotie without travelling to Southern France. (see my full review here) Most of the grapes are estate grown; only the Tempranillo is made from High Plains fruit.

Blue Ostrich Winery and Vineyard

Come for the ostrich; stay for the wine. Yes, they have two ostriches roaming the fenced-in space in back of the winery on property that was formerly an ostrich ranch. But the wine is good as well. A clean, fresh estate Viognier and a spicy, floral estate Tempranillo opened our tasting. Their 2014 “Bruder” Reserve Tempranillo was smooth and velvety, quite impressive, and the 2015 Empty Sea estate blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and Merlot was flavorful but will benefit from some time in the bottle to soften the tannins. Solid winemaking and a charming place to while away an afternoon.

The High Plains

Pheasant Ridge Winery

Pheasant Ridge has one of the more compelling stories we discovered in Texas. An early grower and advocate for Texas wines, the legendary Bobby Cox lost his winery in the early 1990’s due to financial setbacks but thanks to the efforts of Bingham Family Vineyards who acquired the property via an auction, Mr. Cox is back in the saddle. Some of the wines currently being poured were made by the previous owner. But Les pulled out one of his wines from the early days—a 1993 Pinot Noir that was absolutely stunning. The best wine we tasted in Texas, a wine region where Pinot Noir is only occasionally grown. (See my full review here) 2016 is the first vintage with Bobby back at the helm and his Chenin Blanc from that vintage is excellent. With several wines now in barrel looking ahead to a 2018 release date, this is a winery to watch.

Llano Estacado Winery

This is the oldest commercial winery in the state and now one of the largest, producing about 170,000 cases annually with distribution in several states as well as outside the country. With production that large, most of the grapes are purchased from vineyards around the state and elsewhere. However, the wines distributed to their wine club are from 100% Texas grapes. The tasting options in the tasting room are enormous. We focused on their premium list made from Texas grapes. The Mont Sec Sauvignon Blanc was excellent, one of the best white wines we tasted. The Dry Chenin Blanc and Viognier well-done. The THP Montepulciano was very spicy and rustic. A soft, elegant Malbec and representative Texas Tempranillo prepared the way for two blockbusters. The award winning 2014 Sangiovese/Cabernet blend called Viviano was stunning, beautifully integrated and utterly harmonious. The 2015 1836 (a reference to Texas’ independence from Mexico) is a proprietary blend with a distinctive nose of leather and floral notes, really quite unique. If you stick to the premium tasting menu, there is excellent quality here.

McPherson Cellars

An urban winery in downtown Lubbock, McPherson Cellars is a monument to Texas wine history. Winemaker Kim McPherson’s father along with Bob Reed from Llano Estacado founded one of the first post-prohibition wineries in Texas in 1976. McPherson Cellars was opened in 2008 to keep that legacy alive. This winery is notable for its affordable approach. We didn’t find any blockbusters here but every wine is well-made and won’t break the bank. The winemaking aims at pure fruit expression, with reds lightly oaked and whites, crisp and refreshing. The 2015 Dry Muscat, the 2015 Vermentino, and the white blend “Les Copains White” were focused and luscious. Each were under $20, all excellent values. The 2015 Cinsault had wonderful fruit quality as did the Les Copains Red Rhone-style blend.

Trilogy Cellars

This is an interesting project. Three long-time grape-growing families in the High Plains, who sell much of their fruit to Hill Country vintners, have banded together to sell wine to enable the local population to “taste what they grow”. The wines are made by Llano Estacado and include: an elegant, minerally Pinot Grigio; a scrumptious, sweet Gewurztraminer; a rustic yet robust Sangiovese/Merlot/Malbec/Montepulciano blend called Intersection; a beautiful Reserve Malbec with lots of perfume and an elegant evolution on the palate; and the 2015 Relentless, a Merlot/Malbec blend that was quite good. Their comfortable tasting room is in the small town of Levelland. This is a very small production operation, around 1200 cases per year, so they will often be out of specific wines.

11 Most Memorable Meals for 2017

28 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Contemporary Food Culture, Restaurant Reviews, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Alinea, best restaurants

Bocadillo at Alinea

Because top 10 is so played out don’t you think? Our travels this year took us through Southern Oregon, Southern Idaho, the Upper Midwest, Wisconsin and then south through Chicago, Kansas City, Texas and points west. When not tasting wine we’re seeking out either regional cuisines or creative cooking. Here’s a list of the meals that left the most favorable impression.

1. Alinea, Chicago

Well, it’s one of the best restaurants in the world for modernist cuisine. Grant Achatz is about as creative as one can get in the kitchen. I can still taste the wood-smoked veal cheeks in a coating of fried wild rice. Here is my comprehensive review.

2. 5 Fusion Bend, Oregon

James Beard Award semi-finalist Joe Kim, is creative in a different way seamlessly blending Asian and European flavors. Toro with Italian truffle, Unagi (eel)/ oatmeal cookie nigiri, Sweet and Sour Tortilla Soup made with tonkatsu bone broth, Raman Carbonara with tonkatsu broth, pork belly and a quail egg, Seared Foie Gras with raisin puree and granola, and Beef Bourguignon Be-Bim-Bap. It all worked. (See my review of fusion cuisine in Bend here)

3. New Sammy’s Cowboy Bistro Talent, Oregon

Inspired by Chez Panisse, this iconic farm-to-table mom-and-pop restaurant had only four items on the menu for lunch but they were scrumptious and the wine list is quite amazing. A total commitment to quality. (see my review here)

4. Gib’s On-The-Lake Kewaunee, Wisconsin

This is a supper club on Lake Michigan. Supper clubs are a Wisconsin thing—high quality, made-from-scratch, traditional dishes in a convivial atmosphere where patrons hang out for the entire evening. Gib’s served an outstanding lasagna, delicious broasted chicken, and poutine made with local cheese curds. Traditional fare in a unique setting. (My review of Wisconsin regional cuisine is here)

5. Knife Dallas, Texas

You really shouldn’t visit Texas without ordering a big steak. When I heard about this 36 inch Ribeye dry-aged for 240 days I just couldn’t resist. Yes, it tasted funky, but good, but good. (the review is here)

6. Lorella Ashland, Oregon

A genuine farm-to-table restaurant, they served one of the most interesting dishes I had this year–Grilled Celtuce with Braised Frisee, French Lentils, Sauce Gribiche and Grilled Bread. Distinctive, original and very tasty. (see my review of Southern Oregon food here)

7. Chez Panisse Berkeley, CA

This was my first visit to the restaurant that arguably kicked off the food revolution in the U.S. It didn’t disappoint. Nothing too fancy or original, just perfect execution. The grilled lamb chops and braised shank dressed with yoghurt and mint sauce, accompanied by crisp, smashed then fried potatoes and greens, was the epitome of the up-dated, French country cooking for which Chez Panisse is known. (See my review here)

8. Gates Bar-B-Q Kansas City, MO

In KC I go for the burnt ends, and Gates had the best in town. They have the right ratio of crispy, burnt pieces and fatty, succulent pieces. (See my review of Kansas City barbecue here)

9. Basque Market Boise, Idaho

Friday at lunch the Basque market cooks up an authentic seafood paella outside in a traditional paella pan accompanied by the best croquetas and other pintxos this side of the Atlantic ocean. (see my review of Boise Basque cooking here)

10. Solly’s Grill Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Leave it to Wisconsin to discover how to get more dairy products on your plate. Butter burgers are an institution invented by Solly’s in the 1930’s. They slather about a quarter cup of butter on a hamburger bun which melts when the hot burger is placed on it. It is as decadent as it sounds. (My review of Wisconsin regional foods is here)

11. The Boiler Room Fargo, North Dakota

I mention this place because it transforms the hot dish into something delectable. A hot dish is a cheap casserole with tater tots and meat held together with mushroom soup. The Boiler Room transforms it by caramelizing the onions, and using lightly breaded sweet potato fingers in the shape of “tater tots” playing the role of starch, all bound together with sausage gravy, bacon and some quality cheddar cheese. Delish. (See my review of upper Midwest regional dishes here)

Home Cooking with Bittersweet

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in The Ethics of Eating, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Today we arrived home in San Diego after 6 months on the road, just in time to see the sunset over San Diego Bay out our back window. After 10,000 miles, over 100 winery visits, several regional cuisines explored, a few extraordinary fine dining experiences, two wine-related conferences, and lots of poking about in unfamiliar places, I’m craving some home cooking.

Of course, I carry my kitchen with me when I travel along with a deeply appreciative food and wine companion (my wife Lynn). I’m never far from my pots and pans. But when traveling, cooking takes a back seat to exploration and managing the logistics of mobility. Only when stationary does the time for preparation, planning, and availability of ingredients conspire with the presence of a wider network of friends and family to make cooking the most important activity of the week. Home cooking is not about where your kitchen is; it’s about whom you share your food with. I’m really looking forward to a few months of stasis.

The paradox is that while I long for home when we’re traveling, when at home I can’t wait to hit the road again.

Dissatisfaction is the spice of life, which is at its best when bittersweet.

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Kansas City Barbecue

11 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Contemporary Food Culture, Travel

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Arthur Bryants, barbecue, Kansas City

Although they have many fine restaurants, Kansas City is best known for its distinctive barbecue–they take it very seriously. Real smokehouses, a tomato-based sauce thickened with molasses, and featuring burnt ends as their specialty, KC is one of a handful of places in the U.S. where you can earn a barbecue Ph.D. if you’re so inclined. Is there a higher aspiration? Truth be told you can really find lots of different styles of barbecue here, from Carolina pulled pork to Texas brisket, but why eat those interlopers when you can have the real deal?

During my recent visit to KC, after a hard day of wine tasting, I would seek to earn credits toward my degree by seeking the best barbecue in Kansas City with a special focus on burnt ends. But it turns out there are really two styles of KC barbecue and several sauce options. Some restaurants serve a traditional style that apparently hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Others serve what is known as competition barbecue which grew out of barbecue competitions where creativity scores points.

The birth of the Kansas City barbecue scene is usually traced to Henry Perry who served smoked meats to garment district workers in the early 20th Century. Perry’s sauce was likely made of vinegar and pepper and was described as “harsh and peppery”, not the thick, sweet sauce we now associate with Kansas City. Arthur and Charlie Bryant took over the business when Perry died in the 1940’s and added tomato to the sauce to sweeten it, and the rest is history, as Arthur Bryant’s has become the best-known KC barbecue brand. In 1972 renowned writer Calvin Trillin, a native of Kansas City, wrote in an article for Playboy that Bryant’s was the best restaurant in the U.S. in part because that gave away the charred edges of the smoked brisket:

The counterman just pushes them over to the side and anyone who wants them helps himself. I dream of those burned edges. Sometimes, when I’m in some awful, overpriced restaurant in some strange town, trying to choke down some three-dollar hamburger that tastes like a burned sponge, a blank look comes over me: I have just realized that at that very moment, someone in Kansas City is being given those burned edges free.

Trillin was an influential food writer, so the endorsement of burnt ends as a delicacy was sufficient to make it Kansas City’s iconic dish and putting Kansas City on the food map. Needless to say, the burnt ends are no longer free. For the uninitiated, burnt ends are the crisp, charred, fatty ends of the brisket, too short for slicing, that are chopped into chunks and doused in sauce, returned to the smoker for more flavor, and usually served on bread slices. Truth be told, the demand for burnt ends is so great they are no longer made exclusively from the well-marbled “point” muscle but are cut from the whole brisket. The key is they must be both crusty and fatty—it’s a texture thing.

But burnt ends aside, Kansas City is one of those places in the U.S. where the differences between grilled meats and barbeque is a catechism. You grill if you cook meat quickly over a direct flame. By contrast, barbecued meat is cooked very, very slowly over an indirect, wood-stoked fire, allowing that wood smoke to deeply penetrate the meat. If it’s not smoked, it’s not barbecue. Any restaurant that doesn’t get the difference will be laughed out of town. It is alleged that Kansas City’s 100 or so barbecue joints in the Metro area constitute the largest concentration of barbecue in the country, although locations in Texas or Kentucky might dispute that.

Unlike Texas, where barbecue sauce is often optional if not frowned upon, the sauce is essential to Kansas City barbecue. The traditional dry rub tends to be simple—pepper, salt, sugar, and garlic—with stylistic differences focused on the sauce. Most folks of the carnivore persuasion know about Kansas City Barbecue Sauce thanks to the ubiquity of Kansas City Masterpiece found everywhere on supermarket shelves. But genuine Kansas City sauce is more complex. Most restaurants offer a sweet, thick, tomato and molasses-based sauce. But Arthur Bryant’s original sauce was vinegar-based and less viscous as was the original sauce from another iconic brand, Gates Barbecue. It’s the thinner more savory sauce that is historically more authentic. Today, most restaurants offer several styles ranging from thin, sour, and spicy to sweet and sticky.

As to current trends, for the past several decades, the barbecue scene has been influenced by competitions where chefs try to present something distinct and innovative in order to attract the attention of judges. Better cuts of meat, the use of babyback ribs, more complex spice rubs, and new sauce recipes have made Kansas City a genuinely eclectic barbecue town incorporating influences from the other U.S. barbecue styles.

I didn’t visit all 100 barbecue joints in the week I spent in KC, but eight isn’t bad. (Yes. I did get tired of barbecue, a condition that lasted about a week.) Here’s the list in roughly my order of preference.

Gates Bar-B-Q

You come to KC for the burnt ends, and Gates’ burnt ends top my list. They had the best ratio of crispy burnt pieces and soft, fatty, succulent pieces, all well distributed on the hoagie roll. Their traditional sauce was savory, not too sweet, and also among my favorites. The only problem was their ribs are overly salty.

Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue

Housed at the end of an old gas station (pictured above), Joe’s has acquired a great reputation with a line out the door if you go at lunch or dinner. I went at 4:30 to avoid the crowds. They made their reputation by winning competitions, so Joe’s represents the new school of KC barbecue. Burnt ends are served only at lunch on Tuesday and Saturday so I didn’t get the opportunity to try them. The brisket was very smoky and tender with a layer of fat to keep it moist. Fall-off-the-bone ribs with great bark and a complex rub with sweet and savory elements make them stand out. Joe’s original sauce was sweet and spicy, very well balanced, and they offer several unusual menu items such as the Z-man sandwich ( brisket, provolone cheese, and onion rings with sauce on a Kaiser roll)and Kansas caviar, a tangy salsa of fresh vegetables. Yup. Health food at a barbecue joint. Go figure.

LC’s Bar-B-Q

We’re back to old school here. You enter this dark, smoke-filled den wondering if there might a fire in the backroom that the staff hasn’t notice. The burnt ends were thick hunks of meat, some fatty, some dry, with a little bark that lacked crunch. That’s probably because they open the door of their smoker occasionally and spray it with a garden hose. The sauce was a balance of sweet and peppery and the beans were outstanding with bits of burnt ends in the mix.

Arthur Bryant’s

The icon is still going strong with their original downtown location and one at the Speedway. Their burnt ends have plenty of flavor but are too dry. I love their paprika-laced original sauce, and the fries are to die for—I imagine they’re cooked in lard.

Q39

Upscale, competition Barbecue with full table service, and a complete bar. The bar is a feature for me since the only beverage that really, really works with sweet barbecue sauce is Kentucky Bourbon. The brisket and burnt ends were fine but didn’t jump out as extraordinary. They have an interesting menu; I regret I wasn’t able to try their smoked, fried chicken.

Woodyard Bar-B-Que

Out back is a wood yard that supplies wood for other barbecue joints in town. This place has a great funky vibe, a nice rub on their ribs, and great house made sausage.

Tin Kitchen

I include Tin Kitchen on the list because it’s outside the city near the airport in the charming, small town of Weston. Very good barbeque if you’re north of the city.

Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue

With several locations around Kansas City, this full service restaurant has a corporate feel but the barbeque is quite competent. The offer pork and lamb ribs, “sausage burnt ends”, and have a mail order service if you live in the diaspora.

Stags’ Leap Winery: Sometimes Big is Beautiful

13 Monday Nov 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Travel, Wine Culture

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Treasury Estates, wine business

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you know I’m most interested in small wineries making unique, distinctive wines. I also indulge in some criticism of large industrial wineries and their tendency to make homogeneous wines that taste alike. But when “big wine” does something right they ought to be praised for it.

Treasury Wine Estates is by any measure a large company. According to Wine Business Monthly, in 2016, Treasury’s U.S. sales of 15,000,000 cases put them in 6th place in the domestic market. Yet, Treasury in recent years has put a lot of emphasis on their luxury brands, one of which I had the opportunity to visit recently, and I was pleasantly surprised, not only with the overall quality of their wine, but with their distinctive approach which sets them apart from what might be called a “typical” Napa flavor profile. (More on that profile in a moment)

Thanks to the 2017 Wine Blogger’s Conference, we were able to visit the Stags’ Leap Winery Estate, one of Napa’s iconic brands with a storied history. To avoid potential confusion, note the placement of the apostrophe in the name. This is not Stag’s Leap Cellars (singular possessive) founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 whose Cabernet beat out several 1st Growth Bordeaux at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. This is the other Stags’ Leap (plural possessive), a 240-acre estate founded in 1893 by Horace and Minnie Chase. It later became one of Napa’s most important resorts, hosting some legendary bacchanals in the early 20th Century, until falling into disrepair. (During Prohibition, it featured a speakeasy, hiding below a trap door in the floor, and included the local Sheriff among their guests to ensure they were unmolested by police raids.)

Revitalized as a winery in 1970, it was later purchased by Beringer which was in turn purchased by Treasury in 2011. The original buildings are still intact and maintain a semblance of rustic charm beneath the polished refinement of an estate once visited by the monied elite of San Francisco; the grounds and tasting room are lovely.

Stags’ Leap, at one time, made a lot of wine, over 100,000 cases in 2013, although Treasury’s recent focus on the luxury segment of the market may have dialed that back a bit. (I don’t have current overall production figures). But the key to quality at Stags’ Leap is the uniqueness of their estate vineyards as well as the deft hand of winemaker Christophe Paubert. The vineyard enjoys cool breezes from the southern end of the valley but is nestled against the craggy peaks of the Vaca foothills that radiate heat. Thus, the vineyard itself has several microclimates that give the winemaker many options when deciding on the final blend.

Winemaker Christophe Paubert grew up in the wine industry in Bordeaux and brings that restrained, old-world sensibility to winemaking in the new world. His wines do not taste of the overly-concentrated, hulking opulence we’ve come to expect from Napa Cabernet. He of course endorses the reigning ideology that quality is found in the vineyard, and the winemaking should not cover up the expressiveness of the grapes. But there is an elegance to these wines that shows a remarkable understanding of the inflection points where continued maceration will make the wines feel too heavy. Despite aromatic intensity and a juicy introduction, each wine has a weightless, almost ethereal mouthfeel, and a languorous evolution and finish that will seduce you for an entire evening. The estate cuvee yields about 7000 cases annually and it is clearly a labor of love. Christophe says he checks in on each barrel every day.

The take away point is that high production wineries can produce distinctive wines if they have distinctive vineyards and choose to invest their resources into maintaining that distinction. Most don’t because it is not economical and the corporate demand for efficiency encourages cutting corners. Treasury Estates is to be commended for letting Stags’ Leap be Stags’ Leap.

Here is a brief rundown of the wines I tasted:

2016 Chardonnay Napa Valley

The only wine not made of estate grapes, this is a distinctive Chardonnay in that it undergoes no malolactic fermentation. It is fresh and lively with crisp fruit and scintillating acidity.

2014 Bock 20 Merlot Stags Leap District Estate Grown

Simply beautiful. Really one of the best Napa Valley Merlots I’ve tasted. Aromatically complex with earth, minerality and fruit sharing the stage, the layered textures and sultry finish are unforgettable.

2014 Twelve Falls Red Wine, Stags Leap District, Estate Grown

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and a little Merlot, this wine was lush and juicy with distinct Petite Sirah, berry character showing through. Surprisingly soft on the finish given the blend of grapes.

2014 The Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, Estate Grown

A complex nose with generous earth notes supplementing the dark cherry and cassis, this is medium bodied and slightly austere on the palate. Very well-integrated and balanced, with, once again, a characteristically elegant finish.

2014 Ne Cede Mais Petite Sirah, Stags Leap District Estate Grown

These grapes are from a fascinating vineyard block. Classic head-trained, California Sprawl, the vines were planted in 1929 and are mostly Petite Sirah with 15 other varietals, including some white-skinned grapes, mixed in. So this is a field blend. It is unusual to find Petite Sirah that is so soft on the finish, a testament to the magic of old vines. Very spicy and floral with prominent blueberry.

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Kansas City Wines: To Vinifera or not to Vinifera? That is the Question

25 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Travel, Wine Culture

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Kansas City, Kansas Wines, Missouri Wines

The Missouri River as seen from the Bistro at Les Bourgeois

Sandwiched between the South, the East, and the Midwest, Kansas City is a crossroads, a city split in half with one side in Missouri and the other in Kansas. This is a recipe for an identity crisis. Even its deservedly famous barbecue can’t quite make up its mind what it wants to be. Like Texas, Kansas City loves brisket, but Carolina-style pulled pork and pork ribs are just as common. And the South’s sweet tooth shows up in their barbecue sauce which can be a thick, molasses-infused confection. But almost all barbecue restaurants also offer a thin, peppery sauce that is a cousin of Eastern North Carolina’s vinegar-based sauce. It’s no wonder they cling to burnt ends, which many non-KC pitmasters discard or toss in their beans, as the heart and soul of KC “Q”.

So when it comes to wine, it’s not surprising that Kansas City has identity issues. In the case of wine, the question is should they grow what is easiest to grow in Kansas City’s climate—non-vinifera and hybrid varietals. Or should they grow what consumers are familiar with and endure the challenges of maintaining a suboptimal grape crop?( V. vinifera is the species of wine grape from which familiar wines such as Merlot and Chardonnay are made. Vinifera grapevines are damaged by cold winters and the grapes are susceptible to disease in humid climates. But non-vinifera varietals, although cold hardy and disease resistant, have distinctly different flavor profiles and structural characteristics that many consumers don’t prefer.)

For red wines, Missouri has staked its fortunes on Norton, a native American, disease-resistant , non-vinifera varietal with a storied history of winning competitions with European wines in the 19th Century. Most wineries in and around Kansas City have some Norton on their menus. But as Cory Bomgaars of Les Bourgeois Winery told me, sales of Norton are not exactly taking off. The grape presents challenges for the consumer as well as winemaker. For the consumer, very high acidity and odd nutty, vegetal or earth aromas can be off-putting unless the wine is very well-made. In the winery, Norton has a difficult chemistry with high acidity and high pH requiring very complex acid adjustments. Bomgaars has made Norton for many years and he and his staff are still experimenting, now pressing off 20% of the juice and re-blending it after the skins are removed to get a consistent flavor profile with proper tannin development. Bomgaars prefers Chambourcin, a popular French/American hybrid with flavor profiles approximating lighter, vinifera varietals such as Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir. But Chambourcin also has very high acidity along with poor tannin retention and thus it lacks the size and weight that some people want in a red wine. Decades of experimentation have paid off for Les Bourgeois which features a line up of very impressive wines. But the quest for a big, red wine that can rival Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot is far from over. And so the most recent trend in the wineries near Kansas City is to attempt the impossible—grow vinifera in Missouri and Kansas. The traditionalists say its too cold in winter and too wet all year round to grow vinifera; the renegades say “don’t tell me what I can’t do.”

Amagoni’s Tasting Room

One of those renegades is Mike Amigoni of Amigoni Urban Winery in downtown Kansas City. After consulting with viticulturists at Virginia Tech, he was convinced he could grow certain vinifera varietals on the right site in Missouri. That site turned out to be a 10 acre farm in Warrensville about 30 miles east of Kansas City where he now grows Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Viognier, Mourvedre, Petite Verdot and Malbec. The vineyard began producing commercial fruit in 2000 and they have been making their own wines since 2007. “There was no one producing vinifera in significant amounts when I started”, Mike said. Now, 50%-80% of his 4000 annual case production is vinifera from his vineyard, depending on the vintage. When his yields are too low or if he wants to introduce a new varietal he can’t grow he imports fruit from California. I asked him if he aspires to make only Missouri wines in the future. He said, “No. My main goal is turn our local customers on to new varietals like Touriga Nacional and Tannat. Our yields are too inconsistent to depend entirely on Missouri grapes. In bad vintages I need those relationships with vineyards on the West coast.”

So what is the secret to growing vinifera in Missouri? As they say in real estate, location, location, location. Mike Amigoni thinks the key to his site is the black and white limestone that sits about a foot under his topsoil. He speculates that the hard limestone promotes lateral development of the roots promoting better water distribution. Whatever the explanation is, the battle in each vintage is always with disease pressure. Although Missouri gets hot enough in the summer to ripen vinifera, the inconsistent distribution of heat and the wet climate make every vintage a dicey proposition. Producing disease free fruit requires the constant monitoring of vineyards for the first signs of rot, and if sour rot hits his Chardonnay there is not much he can do. “There is no spray that will knock it out”, Mike laments. Winter kill is another threat. In severe cold he builds hills of dirt around the trunk of his vines but the first buds will be ruined even if the plant is saved. That is a lot of work, worthwhile if you love vinifera and want a European-style wine, but probably too much effort and heartbreak for everyone.

Holy-Field Vineyards and Winery

Given all these challenges, most of the wineries in the region are sticking to the non-vinifera varieties. Michelle Meyers, co-owner of Holy-Field winery, the oldest winery in Kansas still in operation, said she tried growing vinifera years ago but gave up. “They just are not cold hardy enough” especially because, unlike Missouri vineyards, most Kansas vineyards lack proximity to a river that would help moderate the effects of winter cold and spring frost and provide hillsides formed by the river valley to help with drainage. As Michelle notes, most grape farmers in Kansas didn’t buy land for its vineyard potential. “Whatever success they had just came from Midwestern ingenuity.” The challenges on the Kansas side are similar to those in Missouri. But the industry is less developed in Kansas in part because the local population was less sophisticated about wine in comparison to Missouri residents, especially those in the East near St. Louis where winemaking has long been established. When she first started in the mid-1980’s, Michelle’s mother who manned the tasting room would get calls from people asking what people did at a winery. Run-ins with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union were also a feature of the winemaking life in Kansas in the early days.

All that is changing in part because of the efforts of people like Michelle who have a rigorous commitment to quality. Kansas now features about 35 wineries and when new aspirants come to Michelle for advice, she pleads “just don’t make bad wine.”

As to the decision to plant vinifera, the solution to an identity crises is to let a thousand flowers bloom, embodying Walt Whitman’s paean to diversity: “Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.” Kansas City vintners don’t have to choose between vinifera and non-vinifera. The can do both. Their position as a crossroads makes this a fascinating wine region, an embodiment of the rich diversity of American wines.

On the white wine side, matters are bit clearer if only because some of the hybrid grapes make really satisfying wines. Although Chardonel remains controversial because it is often hard to grow and lacks the depth of its parent Chardonnay, Vignoles and Traminette make beautiful, aromatic wines albeit usually in a sweeter style. Vignoles shares many characteristics with Riesling and the spicy Traminette can be a dead ringer for Gewurztraminer. Seyval Blanc and Vidal Blanc are versatile varieties covering the light, fruity spectrum and are sometimes made in a dry style. The new star on the horizon is Valvin Muscat, a relatively new hybrid varietal that combines the Muscat family’s stunning aromatics with moderate disease and cold resistance. Several winemakers expressed great enthusiasm for this newcomer. Truth be told the Midwest still needs a white wine that can excel as a dry white with the potential to develop complexity. But with a local population preferring some sugar with their acid I detected little urgency on this issue.

The wine industry here is growing, not in leaps and bounds, but steadily as befits a region where vintage variation can seriously impact the availability of fruit.

Two years ago I visited several wineries in the Eastern part of Missouri. (See my article here) On this trip I focused on the Kansas City area. Here is a list of the most intriguing wineries I found. Many of these wineries make wine from both local fruit and fruit imported from the West Coast. In my tasting I focused almost entirely on wines made from Missouri and Kansas grapes:

On the Missouri side:

Les Bourgeois Vineyards

It’s a 2 hour drive from Kansas City but this is one of Missouri’s iconic brands. They’ve been open since 1985 and are now #2 in volume in the state producing around 60,000 cases annually. The views of the Missouri River from their Bistro are gorgeous and a fitting backdrop for their wines. The crisp Solay, a blend of Chardonel and Vidal Blanc, is a lovely everyday white and the Norton rosé ideal if you like rosé with some texture and substance. A very Gewurz-like Traminette and a luscious, semi-sweet Vignoles rounded out this impressive white wine list. And if you think good sparkling wine cannot be made with non-vinifera grapes, think again. Their Brut, made from 100% Missouri Vidal Blanc and aged on the lees 12-18 months was excellent.(See my full review here.) I tasted only one red, the soft, vibrant, Jeanette Rouge, a Chambourcin, Syrah, Zinfandel blend, with the vinifera grapes imported from California. A chocolaty Norton Port was exceptional as well.

Amigoni Urban Winery

His winery located in an historic building in downtown Kansas City, Mike Amigoni is a pioneer, the first to grow substantial quantities of v. vinifera grapes for commercial use in Missouri. The tasting menu features a large selection of wines, some from Missouri grapes, some from California-grown grapes, and some a mixture depending on the yields from a particular vintage. Amigoni is unique in Kansas City in that all the wines here are from v. vinifera grapes. I found all the wines to be well-made, especially the 2014 Urban Cepages, an elegant, medium-bodied blend of Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon that features a lovely nose of raspberry and pepper. The 2014 Urban Vaquero, made from mostly Tempranillo was well done as well, but my favorite was the 2014 Cabernet Franc made from grapes sourced from his own Missouri vineyard. It features spicy red fruits, an elegant midpalate and structured finish with very fine tannins. (See my full review here) Amigoni is living proof that fine vinifera-based wines can be made from Missouri grapes. But inconsistent yields from local fruit and his stated desire to introduce customers to less familiar varietals means that he will always be using a mix of Missouri and West Coast fruit.

Van Till Family Farm Winery

This winery has the distinction of pouring the best Norton I have ever tasted, a 2011 that had been lurking on the back shelf forgotten for several years. Unfortunately it wasn’t for sale but it is indicative of what Norton can be when made well and bottle aged. This is a small, family run operation with no distribution, selling their entire production out of their tasting room. It’s a destination about 1 hr. northeast of Kansas City that features farm-to-table cooking from their pizza oven each week and some excellent wines. The Vignoles was refreshing despite being semi-sweet and they feature a unique sur-lie aged Chambourcin Rose with interesting herbal aromas and great structure. A soft, pretty 2016 Chambourcin with an interesting licorice finish was a fitting introduction to their signature Norton bottlings, a robust, minty 2016 just recently released, and a lovely 2013 Norton Reserve. I’m not a big fan of Norton, but Van Till does it well. Several of their wines are double-oaked meaning they are placed in barrels, then filtered and then oaked again, sometimes in barrels and sometimes using oak chips.

TerraVox

For wine geeks TerraVox (aka Vox Vineyards) is the most interesting of the Kansas City wineries. TerraVox is committed to cultivating American Heritage varietals, native North American species genetically related to varietals that were first discovered and studied by the famous grape breeder T.V Munson in the late 19th Century. Most of these grapes have never been planted commercially or have fallen into obscurity. Jerry Eisterhold founded TerraVox in 1996 and set out to discover which of these varietals can be grown in Missouri soils. They also produce Norton and Traminette. Albania is a dry wine showing floral and mint notes, very crisp with lots of minerality. Unlike most wineries here, TerraVox makes a dry Traminette which was quite lean but very aromatic with floral and pepper notes. The Heritage Red is primarily made from the Carmen grape. This had a beautiful nose showing some unusual tropical notes for a red wine. Very dry and lean on the palate with soft, reticent tannins. And finally, Lomanto is a red grape with blackberry and prominent spice notes, tart, with robust, medium-grain tannins. For unusual flavors and new discoveries it’s hard to imagine a more intriguing place than TerraVox whose tasting room occupies a corner of a creamery in Weston, Mo.

On the Kansas Side:

Holy-Field Vineyards

Michelle Meyers and her Dad Les started this winery in 1985, long before there was much of a wine industry in Kansas. They were #5, 1-4 are now gone making this the oldest winery in Kansas. All that experience goes into some charming wines. A crisp, minerally Seyval Blanc, a beautifully aromatic Traminette and the plump, generous Valvin Muscat (see my full review here) , set the tone for her delicious Late Harvest Vignoles. The reds included a spicy, lush Chambourcin, a stalwart Norton, a flavorful, sweet red blend called Tailgate (best used for, well, tailgating) and a stunning Port made from Norton and Marachal Foch and aged in neutral barrels for 5 years. Norton makes a very serious port and this one, which is in between a ruby and tawny, may be the best I tasted in Kansas/Missouri. Listening to Michelle regale you with stories about the old days in Kansas winemaking is worth the short drive from Kansas City.

Bluejacket Crossing Vineyard and Winery

A small farmhouse winery with very consistent, well-made wines. The Seyval Blanc, Vignoles, Vidal Blanc and Vignole/ Traminette blend called Aromé all had a touch of sweetness but were finely balanced and full of flavor. For their reds, they make St. Vincent, a French/American hybrid that is not often seen as a stand alone varietal. This one had simple but charming red raspberry notes and subtle nutty aromas on a medium frame with robust acidity. Their award winning Chambourcins are show stoppers. Their 2014 Estate Chambourcin was earthy with a pleasing mineral seam but the award-winning Veritas from Chambourcin grapes harvested from a Missouri vineyard was outstanding. (See my review here) Campfire Red, a robust Norton, was also quite good.

Somerset Ridge Winery

Amigoni is not the only winery in the region growing vinifera varietals. Somerset Ridge grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and the first Riesling grown in the region as well as several non-vinifera varietals. Their Chardonel was among the best of this variety I tasted with great intensity and a long crisp finish. The Riesling is made in an off-dry style with 1% residual sugar and features floral and peach aromas on a medium plus body. Cabernet Franc figures in several of their wines, appearing in a crisp, dry, nicely-structured rose, and also appears along with Marquette in their easy-drinking Flyboy. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin make up the Ruby Red, another everyday wine with pleasing aromatics, a soft midpalate and a persistent finish with some grain. But the most interesting wine here is a new varietal called Crimson Cabernet. A cross of Norton and Cabernet Sauvignon, combining some of Norton’s ability to survive cold weather and resist disease with Cabernet’s flavor, Somerset Ridge was one of the first wineries to produce wine from this grape. It features dark plum and spice notes on a full body with persistent yet soft tannins. The wine is a bit edgy but intriguing and as winemakers and viticulturalists gain more experience with it, it may become an important component of tasting menus in the Midwest.

Mission Accomplished

19 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Travel, Wine Culture

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Today we close out the agenda we set for ourselves when we hit the road in June visiting emerging wine regions in Southern Oregon and Idaho, learning to taste cold-hardy grape varietals in Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and expanding our understanding of Missouri, Kansas, and Texas wines. We visited about 100 wineries with the best reputations, sampled well over 1200 wines, and talked winemaking and viticulture with countless experts.

It’s time for a break from winery visits as we leave Texas and head west toward Northern California and a season of conferences and holidays in a wine region now tragically transformed by fires.

Although this was our 4th year traveling the U.S. in search of quality American wines, we are still finding new experiences and discovering wines we never knew existed. This is a vast country, wine has infiltrated every nook and cranny, and it is different in every locale. Some of it, even outside the storied regions of the West coast, is approaching world class quality.

After a rest, we look forward to next year’s trip.

Is Alinea the Best Restaurant in the U. S.?

05 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by Dwight Furrow in Contemporary Food Culture, Edible Art, Philosophy of Food and Wine, Restaurant Reviews, Travel, Uncategorized

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aesthetics of food, Alinea, food and emotions, food as art

For the 12 years it has been in existence, Grant Achatz’s Alinea, located in a utterly non-descript building in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, has been at the top of best restaurant lists. It earned its 3rd Michelin star in 2010, is consistently rated in the top 20 restaurants in the world on S. Pelligrino’s top 50 list (although it fell to 21 this year) and is widely recognized by other publications as the best restaurant in the U.S.

Is it really the best in the U.S.? I have no idea how to answer that question, having sampled only a small portion of the candidates for such a list. Furthermore, lists and rankings give the illusion of commensurability. They assume that there is a set of easily comparable standards and a single scale along which restaurants can be ranked. But when comparing restaurants that strive for originality, there is no such scale. What is the relative worth of innovation and creativity, authenticity, accessibility, and sheer deliciousness? There is no clear answer to that question.

A better question to ask is whether Alinea achieves its artistic aims with something left over that exceeds artistic intention, that uncanny “something” that great art possesses. The answer I think is not quite, although the experience was surely enjoyable and unforgettable.

In 2016, Alinea was at the top of its game when Achatz decided to close for several months to remodel the restaurant and retool the menu. After all, if your entire reason to exist is to be on the cutting edge of culinary art, stale familiarity is the kiss of death. Alinea is not really a restaurant. It’s performance art and artists are in the business of creating the new. The decision to revitalize seems inevitable when contextualized as a move within an art world. Chef Grant Achatz the patron saint of modernist cuisine in the U.S. has no tradition to which he’s beholden, no constraints other than the outer limits of what his patrons will accept, and he has an obligation to test those limits. At Alinea diners have no choices; you put yourself in the hands of a chef who has always relished disrupting expectations and challenging assumptions. Like a well curated art museum, at Alinea it’s the allure of surprise and fascination that brings success. In that light, the logic of shutting down for several months in order to create new experiences seems unassailable.

The former Alinea offered one, 16 course menu for all. The new Alinea features three experiences: for the Gallery menu downstairs there are two 16-18 course seatings each night replete with a communal introductory course, a visit to the kitchen while the dining room is transformed into more private spaces, and lots of emotion-invoking aroma and musical theatrics to accompany the food. [The cost is around $300 per person]. Also downstairs, there is a single group table enclosed in a glass box with a view of the kitchen that could be reserved only for groups at least when I was securing my reservation. [$385 per person]. And then there is the Salon upstairs which offers a paired-down menu of 10 courses similar to the Gallery menu but with fewer theatrics, for about $200 per person depending on what time in the evening you want the reservation.

To dine at Alinea has been a goal of mine for many years and I was lucky enough to score reservations this year as we meandered through the upper Midwest heading toward Chicago. Reservations are difficult but not impossible to secure if your timing is right. Tickets for the upcoming month are released on the 15th of the current month at 10:00 A.M. If you’re at your computer at the appointed time and have a generous range of acceptable dates and times, you will likely get a suitable reservation. Unfortunately, even with my good timing I could not get a reservation in the Gallery during the short window of time allotted for our visit to Chicago. (I suspect VIP’s had the opportunity to book before tickets were available to the public since many slots were already filled at 10:00 A.M.)Thus, I had to settle for the Salon reservation and opted for their standard wine pairing ($135 per person).

Achatz is one of the more prominent proponents of what has come to be known as modernist cuisine (aka molecular gastronomy)—the use of food science and technology to break down food molecules and recombine them in surprising new forms. The rap against modernist cuisine is that it’s idiosyncrasy for its own sake, dishes that are interesting without being satisfying, pleasing to the chef who can display virtuosity but not necessarily to the diner who is confronted with unfamiliar mash-ups of incongruous flavors. However, I found none of that idiosyncrasy and innovation for its own sake on Alinea’s new menu. There were no dishes that failed, and none seemed just odd with no other purpose behind them except novelty. If fact I was surprised by how traditional the flavor combinations were. Each course consisted of flavors typically found together in the region of the world from which the dish originated, but always with a twist that made the dish seem innovative. And of course there was always something about the form of presentation that was surprising and unexpected.

I had never dined at Alinea so I can’t speak to earlier menus. But in recent interviews, Achatz claims that in the reinvented version there is plenty of molecular gastronomy going on but it is disguised with ingredients appearing in their natural form with less manipulation than in its previous incarnation. Some of the dishes were in fact quite simple in appearance although flavor complexity was always present. Achatz’s current style is to play with form but leave the content in tact. There was less flash than I expected, less eye candy and more focused, robust flavor and clarity.

The other feature of the meal that stood out is how weightless and delicate each dish felt. The bold, often earthy flavors were conditioned by ethereal textures, tender, melting, and ever evolving in the mouth. In almost every dish, flavor contrast was achieved through the judicious use of fruit that contributed to the impression of buoyancy.

Why then do I claim the experience is only partly successful? In interviews with the press, Achatz has said that he’s interested in the capacity of food to evoke emotion. He wants diners to feel surprised, intrigued, nostalgic, exhilarated, puzzled, etc. That is all well and good. But food is ephemeral, not a stable object like a painting but an object that is consumed, disappearing relatively soon after it appears. Grasping its point crucially depends on memory and reflection. If we just eat without thinking, without mindful attention, the experience is gone before we can fully understand it. The problem with our meal is that it felt rushed. We barely finished a course before the dishes were whisked away and a new course appeared on the table. We had little time to discuss the dishes, ponder the feelings they evoked, or think about their meaning. The experience was like standing before a painting in an art gallery and being told you had only a few minutes to enjoy it before moving on. This is in contrast to tasting menus I’ve experienced in Europe where the pace is more leisurely. I get that restaurants need to turn tables to make money. But if chefs such as Achatz are serious about food being art, restaurants must provide the opportunity for reflection on what you’re eating. Savoring happens not only when the dish is in front of you but afterwards when memory and thought performs the crucial task of clarifying feelings, sorting though confusion and contradiction, and synthesizing random thoughts.

On a related note, we were told we would be given a list of dishes served after the meal. But the descriptions on the list turned out to be too perfunctory to be particularly informative. Thankfully I took photos, a practice which Achatz used to ban, and a few notes to help reconstruct the meal and remind me of how ingredients in the dishes were related.

Here is a blow by blow account of the meal with commentary where appropriate:

Two amuse buches led off the proceedings. The first was a spear of romaine lettuce filled with avocado and garlic flowers, the second a banana pancake perched on a lime and filled with Osetra caviar. The contrast between the aggressive spear and the soft, comforting avocado had some emotional resonance. The caviar and pancake was paired with a textured, bready Bollinger Brut Rose Champagne—the only emotion it evoked was pure delight at the classic, perfect pairing.

The first main course was one of the highlights of the evening. A rich, unctuous, umami-infused seafood and caramelized tomato broth was poured into a bowl containing a gelatin sheet of langoustine that formed a noodle when hydrated and then slowly melted into the broth. Called bouillabaisse on the menu, this bold, intensely flavored broth was accompanied by seaweed encrusted nori wrapped around a filling of creamy, spicy rouille, a chile and saffron sauce traditionally served with bouillabaisse in the the South of France. A melding of Asian and French flavors, the presentation was dark in color, the flavors deep and impenetrable like the sea, set off by the cheerful, encouraging rouille. This was paired with a Rouilly Premier Crus (Chardonnay) from a region in the south of Burgundy.

Next up was one of the reversals for which Achatz is famous. The dish is called Bocadillo which is the name of a Spanish sandwich often filled with jamon and cheese. In this case, the gossamer-like crisps forming the sandwich contained the flavors of jamon and cheese; the filling was essentially a viscous, liquid bread (pictured above). The large fruit basket in front of us was drizzled with liquid nitrogen, the “smoke” pouring forth laced with aromas of orange, mingling with a deconstructed gazpacho salad of heirloom tomatoes, frozen sherry and orange, marcona almonds and gooseberries (salad not pictured). As noted above, these are all traditional flavors commonly found together but radically transformed. It was paired with a Rhyme Vermentino from Carneros.

Our trip to Spain was then erased by a pan-Asia dish with Thai and Japanese inflections. A coconut broth surrounds a simple piece of black bass and mussels obscured by a garden of flowers, passion fruit, grapes, kaffir lime leaf, and dehydrated yuzu accompanied by compressed melon. An explosion of flavors and textures, the briny, plump fleshiness of the seafood was continually foiled by sweet fruit. The relentlessly, sunny joy of this dish was tempered by the mysterious black pot of flames set on the table as a centerpiece without explanation. Only a Riesling would pair with this dish—a lovely Weingut Brundlmayer “Heiligenstein” from Kamptal Austria.

This visually gorgeous dish was entitled Glass, referring to the stunningly-hued sheets of blueberry blanketing earthy, maitake mushooms and foie gras, in a sauce inflected with the Chinese tea, lapsang souchong. Once again, Achatz achieves a seamless marriage of French and Asian flavors with fruit providing acid and sweetness to give the dish a lifted, delicate countenance, an impression encouraged by the cool-climate, acid-bomb Syrah by Peay from Sonoma Coast.

And now we finally discover the reason for that mysterious burning pot in the middle of the table. It contains a bed of salt concealing a buried potato. Just a potato, but cooked sous vide for 12 hrs. and kept warm by the burning embers. After digging out the potato, the waiter crushes and mixes it with butter, crème fraiche and black truffle puree. This is rich enough to buy a yacht. One might complain about being served a mere spud but this was a soul-stirring spud, the humble potato proudly dressed to the nines by the velvet truffle.

The last savory dish may be the best single dish I have ever eaten. And it was quite simple. Wood-smoked veal cheeks in a coating of fried wild rice—very Midwestern—and served with a puree of vanilla flavored beef jerky, pineapple and hearts of palm. The contrast between the exterior of crunchy rice and the melting, almost fluid, yet deeply concentrated veal was one of those magical moments of sheer beauty, a fitting end to the savory portion of the meal. These last two dishes were paired with the standard but always reliable Argiano Brunello.

For me desserts are an after thought. The sweet potato, chocolate, miso dish called Rock was sweet, crunchy, and gooey, great fun even if desserts aren’t your thing. And finally the dish called Nostalgia was essentially bubblegum ice cream and cake. Even as a kid I wasn’t a huge bubblegum fan so this didn’t resonate. But that’s just me.

Finally, the only dish that survived from the earlier incarnation of Alinea was the grape-flavored balloon filled with helium that ends the meal. When eaten it does the helium thing to your voice. When I read about this years ago it sounded gimmicky—it was.

So in the end I think Alinea richly deserves its reputation. The dishes are thoughtfully conceived and just delicious. Buoyancy, a delight in surprise, a healthy respect for tradition, and a sensibility for how Asian and European flavors and textures can be combined define Achatz’s current cooking style.

And if you make yourself available for the emotional resonance of the dishes, they do acquire added meaning. If Achatz succeeds at making us more aware of the subtle almost imperceptible feeling states that are continually regulating conscious experience and are expressed by the food we eat, he will have greatly expanded our enjoyment of food and life.

The next time I’m passing through Chicago it will be hard to resist the temptation to discover what’s cooking at Alinea.