Not a Pedicure, But Not Bad: Barefoot Refresh

A little dizzy, a little fizzy.

Sometimes you have to appreciate a wine for what it is instead of what it isn’t.

Lauren at Hunter PR asked if I’d like the chance to preview a new line of wines – Barefoot Refresh. I said that I’d be happy to try them, albeit with a little bit of trepidation. Most of you out there are probably familiar with Barefoot – the value-priced, easily available line of California wines, both still and sparkling.

Barefoot is clearly taking the “moscato boom” to heart. In addition to white, red, and “pink” versions of moscato as both sparkling and still wines; the Refresh “Sweet White” is moscato blended with pinot grigio and the “Summer Red” is a pinot noir rosé and moscato mix. The “Crisp White” is a Chenin Blanc/Riesling concoction.

Over the years, I’ve tried a number of their wines and realized that I probably wasn’t their target demographic. “Pink moscato” is not usually my first choice. Still, a new series of wines deserves an open-minded view, so I popped them all in the fridge. All of their labels state “Best Served Chilled,” which usually makes me dubious. Chilling wine to fridge temperature usually kills the flavor. So, I braced myself, cracked the screwtops, and poured.

I was pleasantly surprised. For what these wines are – they’re not bad. All are light bodied and have a slight effervescence. The effervescence makes these wines go. All of them are blends. They’re all low in alcohol – right around 9% -- marketed as “a lively and light style of wine made with a unique process that enhances the wine’s flavor, lifts the fruit intensity, and gives it a signature fizz.” All of these non-vintage wines will retail for about $7. My thoughts about each:

Barefoot Refresh (NV) Crisp White –A simple, easy to drink, made-for-summer wine. I found a nose of grapefruit and melon, flavors echoed on the palate, along with some zippy citrus towards the finish. The slight effervescence makes the finish live up to its name. I imagine this would be a reasonable choice for a meat-and-cheese-plate picnic. Bubbles and acidity will cut through fatty and creamy flavors, especially on a warm day.

Barefoot Refresh (NV) Sweet White – I hadn’t looked up the aforementioned blends before I tried the wines, and my note says, “Reminds me a lot of Moscato, but in a good way.” It’s not as tooth-numbingly sweet as many of the American, particularly Californian, versions, and the little bubbliness makes it more reminiscent of Moscato d’Asti. I found lots of peach on the nose, which also shows up on the palate along with some tangerine flavors. The finish is leaner than many other Moscato, which I think is a good thing. The bubbles prevent it from getting overly cloying. If you’re a Moscato d’Asti fan, this is a nice alternative. I’d imagine the varied flavors of brunch would be a good match.

Barefoot Refresh (NV) Summer Red – I had an odd progression of opinion with this wine. At first taste, I simply didn’t like it. It reminded me a lot of those non-alcoholic sparkling grape juices you’ll see in the supermarket that sometimes get opened as “alternative beverages.” The flavor was similar to a cranberry-and-strawberry spritzer. That said, something about this wine rang my memory bell. It hit me later that evening – it tasted a lot like Lambrusco – the inexpensive, sweet Italian jug wine which I never cared for much – unless it’s with shellfish. I was planning to make some herb-roasted peel-and-eat shrimp for dinner, so I tried it alongside. You know what? Sometimes “Not bad” is good enough. Afternoon shrimp cocktail or some such with this wine would be workable.

Are these the best wines in the world? Nah. But for a brunch with or a summertime pull-and-pour, you might them worth a try when they become available in your area.

(Originally published on 11/20/12)

The Alphabet Soup Project – “N” is for “Nero”

Quick quiz…I say “Nero.” What pops into your head?

This guy?

Teenage Wasteland!

No? Maybe this guy?

"Ambassador Spock will be joining us at our next wine tasting."

Nah…how about these guys?

OK, now we're talking!

Nero d’Avola is an Italian, predominantly Sicilian, wine grape varietal. As you probably remember, most Italian wines draw their name from the location they’re grown rather than the actual varietal of grape. Nero d’Avola eliminates the confusion by including both.

In Italian, “Nero d’Avola” translates as “The Black [Grape] of Avola” – Avola being a town at the southernmost tip of the island of Sicily near the city of Syracuse. The varietal is less commonly referred to as “Calabrese” – meaning “from Calabria,” the Italian province straight across the Strait of Messina from Sicily.

Nero d’Avola grows best in hot, Mediterranean climates. Sicily certainly falls squarely into that definition. Grapes that thrive in warm weather regions tend to yield wines with stronger fruit flavors and higher alcohol content, and Nero is no exception. Its dark, tannic juice has long been sought as a blending grape to add depth and color to lighter wines on the mainland. Advances in winemaking technology have improved the single-varietal quality of these grapes markedly. Sicily is currently third in overall production among Italian wine regions – with the skyrocketing production of Nero d’Avola bolstering the already ample yield of the ubiquitous Marsala grape.

What’s Nero d’Avola taste like? The best parallel I’ve seen out there is Australian Shiraz, although I find The Black to be more tannic in general. As with most high-tannin wines, it usually takes a couple of years for the tannins to calm down and mesh with the other flavors, so if you’re looking on the shelves of your local quality wine retailer, don’t be afraid to pick up a bottle with a couple of years under its cork. Nero d’Avola also has aging potential, so if you find one you enjoy, don’t be afraid to stash a few bottles in the ol’ cellar for a little while. Nero d’Avola is also sometimes made into rosé for summertime consumption.

Sicily, being the volcanic island that it is, has great variation in altitude and soil content with microclimatic regions all over the place. The flavor you’ll find can vary markedly from producer to producer and from town to town. You may need to do a little independent research to see where your palate’s sweet spot is with this grape. (But that’s half the fun, ain’t it?) It also can pair with a broad variety of foods – from earthy vegetables like roasted eggplant to tomato-based pasta sauces to lamb and chili. Here are a few that I enjoyed recently:

Poggio Anima 2010 “Asmodeus” Nero d’Avola – Asmodeus, as any owner of the original Dungeons and Dragons “Monster Manual” can tell you, is the Lord of Hell. I doubt the terroir for this wine is quite that intense, largely because brimstone is not part of this wine’s big, bright flavor. My first impression was of blackberry and cherry on the nose and palate. It’s medium-to-full body, but it’s not as “sticky” as a similarly bouqueted Shiraz would be. Instead, the finish leans out, turning first to a nice tannic dryness and then into that mineral character that many Italian wines possess. I thought it was a wonderful food wine. We had this next to a penne pasta with wilted arugula, diced tomatoes, and goat cheese, topped with roasted pork (recipe here). There are worse wines to accompany any number of sins, gluttony being the top of the list. $13.

Regaleali 2008 Nero d’Avola – Under other, more blindfolded circumstances, I might have mistaken this for a Bordeaux. (And certainly more like a Bordeaux than a Rhone, which I’d have expected with a “Shiraz-like” grape.)  My first thought on spinning this was, “Wow. Funky!” There’s a real whiff of earthiness on the nose, coupled with a nice bit of cherry. I’d call it medium bodied, in line with the aforementioned French doppelganger. Good dark fruit on the tongue with some gradually-building tannins. There’s plenty of  length on the tannic, chalky finish. We had this with leftovers from the same meal we made for the Asmodeus. The flavors of the pasta had blended into a nice yumminess, and the extra earthy characteristic in this wine made it an even better complement. Another great, though very different, food wine. $15.

Feudo Arancio “Stemmari” 2010 Nero a’Avola – The least expensive ($8) and most

straightforward wine of this particular sampling. It’s a simple, uncomplicated table wine – and this is not a fault in the slightest. The major flavors are cranberry and cherry, both on the nose and on the palate. The real winning piece of this wine is the balance. As I said, there’s nothing complex here – but the flavor, minerality, and tannin are in real harmony, making this a very pleasant and food-friendly quaff. We had this alongside a rustic bean, barley, and wilted green soup, and I thoroughly enjoyed the pairing. (I also discovered that our going-to-seed lettuces made great soup greens!)

If you’re a fan of sturdy, fruity wines and you’re looking for a changeup this weekend, trundle down to the end of the “Other Italian Wines” section and snag a couple of these. After all, once you go Black…

The Yellow Springs Secret -- Brandeberry Winery

“It’s a great job for an old engineer. I get to create things and tinker all the time…”            -Jim Brandeberry

I’m sitting across from Jim Brandeberry in the tasting room of his namesake winery. After delivering that quote, he pauses for effect as I watch a grin spread across his face. He chuckles briefly before musing, “…but it’s definitely not the way I imagined my retirement!”

Sharon & Jim Brandeberry

Brandeberry Winery sits adjacent to the home of Jim Brandeberry on Jackson Road in Enon. The winery and tasting room were built in 2008…just in time for a natural disaster.

“We finally had everything done,” Jim said, “We had the tasting room built, we had the tanks installed, and we were all ready to go. The weekend we were going to open – along came Hurricane Ike.” The wind drove a tree through the roof of the building and killed the power for over a week. All the while, he had an unstarted tank of Seyval grape juice ready to go. He decided there was no harm in fermenting what was there. The result was one of Brandeberry’s first big sellers – a dry table wine he dubbed “Windy Ike.”

Not long after, the Brandeberrys rescued a stray cat, who they named after the hurricane. The feline Ike spent a couple of years as “official greeter” at the winery until he was, sadly, hit by a car. They dropped the “Windy” from the name. The crisp, lemony wine is still called “Ike” and bears a picture of the critter on the label.

While Brandeberry’s intellectual pursuits now tend towards the oenological, ‘twas not always thus. Brandeberry moved to Dayton in 1969 to take a position at the Wright State in computer science. (As I’m a former tech geek, we spent a nice chunk of time reminiscing about the joys of FORTRAN programming. He honed his early punch card programming chops on an IBM 650 “drum computer” at the University of Toledo.)  In the 1985-86 school year, WSU established the stand-alone College of Engineering. Brandeberry served as Dean for 19 years until his retirement in 2005.

In the early 90’s, Brandeberry and his wife, Sharon, were driving to visit family in New York City. They’d stopped on the way in the Finger Lakes region. Jim said that he “saw a sign for the Cayuga Wine Trail” and they spontaneously decided to winery hop for awhile. In one of the winery gift shops, Jim spied a “Winemaking for Beginners” book. “It was only a buck!” exclaimed Jim.

The winemaking bug bit hard. Jim (the “Li’l Olde Winemaker,” according to his nametag) had been making cider from the apple trees on his property for years, so he started with fruit wines. After the apple came peace, pear, and strawberry wines. The jump was short from fruit to grapes. “I started by buying juice from Valley Vineyards (in Morrow) to make five gallons of wine at a time. After his two horse-riding daughters grew up and moved out, Jim converted his pasture into his first vineyard.

Through his engineering contacts, Jim became friends with Chris Joshi, president of Universal Energy Systems, a Dayton tech company. After making wine together, they decided to increase production to 50 gallon batches. “I’d built some racks in our basement to hold the wine. Well, those racks kept getting bigger and bigger. Before long, we were at capacity – 200 gallons per year. We just gave the stuff away to friends and coworkers at first – and people seemed to really like it -- so I started the process of getting the proper permits to start a winery so we could sell what we made.”

 

The Berry Monster!

Brandeberry Winery produces around 20 varieties of wine.  “A lot of the wines I make are sweet, because that’s what people want. Some of them are accidents – things that I hadn’t really thought about – but they end up selling like crazy.” One of his recent accidents was a wine called “Berry Monster,” with a label drawn by his 9 year-old grandson. Berry Monster was born when he accidentally pumped 50 gallons of substandard blackberry juice into a 200 gallon tank of raspberry. “We sold it all in less than a year. People are chomping at the bit to get more.”

On the “estate,” Jim currently grows Seyval, Vidal, and Cayuga – all white varietals. He says that he’s still searching for the right red grapes to grow on the property. He grows a small amount of a red varietal called Noiret (no-RAY), although it’s “sufficiently different from what people are used to that it’s not a big seller for me,” said Jim.

He sources the raw material from various places around the country. Much of his juice comes from vineyards near Cleveland – although he reaches as far as Lodi, California for his Syrah. He also still makes a number of fruit wines, including his best seller -- one of the aforementioned “unplanned wines” – a blackberry wine, He says that his blackberry accounts for about 20% of his total sales. “I had a guy in here today who was buying a bottle of blackberry. He told me…that it was his grandmother’s favorite wine while she was alive and that – when she passed -- he’d bought a whole case so that the family could all toast her with it.”

"The Li'l Olde Winemaker" at work.

Jim has swapped his computer lab for a sophisticated, albeit somewhat cramped, winemaking operation, located behind the Tuscan-themed murals on the tasting room walls. Instead of stainless steel, Jim makes his wine in 250-gallon plastic tanks. “The plastic doesn’t impart any flavor to the wine, it’s easier to clean, lighter to handle, and it’s made in such a way that it a little bit of oxygen can penetrate – which is necessary to the process.”

His tour of the setup was educational and informational. I’ve suffered through a number of bad winery tours. Jim’s clear pleasure while sharing a simple story about why his crusher/destemmer (which he calls his “Lucille Ball Machine”) that morphed into a history lesson about the practice of grape stomping was a refreshing change. At his “mad scientist station” where Jim adjusts the composition of his various creations, Jim asked for my opinion on his upcoming pinot grigio release, which I thought was greatly improved with the addition of a small amount of the traminette grape.

On the way back to the tasting room, I asked Jim what sort of wine he liked to drink when he wasn’t sampling his own. Jim said that he’s not personally a big fan of sweet wine. “I like dry reds like Sangiovese. Left to my own devices, I’d probably have made dry wines, served them out of my garage, and gone out of business in a hurry. Thankfully, Sharon and my daughters convinced me that I needed to make sweet wines and put together this tasting room. They clearly knew what they were talking about.”

At the tasting room bar, I met Jim’s vivacious daughter, Kelly. She began pouring samples of some

Kelly Brandeberry in the tasting room.

Brandeberry creations after brushing some hay from Jim’s shoulder. (“He must have been feeding the goats earlier,” she quipped.) Several of the wines are state-award winning and/or bearing an “Ohio Quality Wines” designation, meaning 90% or more of the content is from in-state fruit. Like Jim, I preferred his drier selections, especially his dry Vidal Blanc. (He also makes a semidry version of the Vidal, which wasn’t bad either.)

While not my usual proverbial cup of tea, I thought Brandeberry’s sweet wines were actually drinkable. Many local wineries’ “sweet” offerings are cloyingly thick, syrupy messes closer to Kool-Aid than wine. Jim took a more evenhanded approach to these wines. They’re still sweet, but they’re not heavy. Even their sweetest wines, the Cayuga/cherry blend called “Pink Passion” (Kelly’s favorite) and the top-selling blackberry, have some balance, structure, and flavors beyond sucrose.

Brandeberry Winery hosts live music every Saturday. Cookouts are regular weekend occurrences in the summer and fall. Wine is available for visitors both by the taste and by the glass. Light appetizers are also available for purchase, as is the official “Berry Monster” artwork t-shirt. The Brandeberrys also host an annual “Dogtoberfest” fundraiser for the Clark County Humane Society. This year’s Dogtoberfest master of ceremonies will be the winery’s newest official mascot, Mingo, an adorable 40-pound mutt who bid me farewell from the estate with many kisses.

Kelly with Mingo, winery mascot.

For directions to the winery or for more information, see http:///www.brandeberrywinery.com

This story originally published in the Dayton City Paper.

The Naked Vine Does Naked Wines

Not long ago, my father-in-law sent me a voucher for “$100 off a case from Naked Wines” that he’d received in one publication or other. A Benjamin off a case? A name that already makes me feel like a cousin? Sure. I’ll bite. I wondered what the catch might be – but still…what’s the worst that can happen? I plopped myself down, opened up the ol’ browser, and got to work.

(In case you’re wondering…no, the worst didn’t happen.)

Naked Wines is an interesting online “wine club” of sorts. Rather than the typical wine club model where a customer receives a shipment every so often, paying along the way – Naked Wines works on an escrow model. The process goes something like this. If you become one of the “Naked Angels” club members, you agree to put $40/month into an account with them. You then can use this money at any point to purchase a quantity of wine via their website.

According to the site, the idea is to fund independent winemakers. In return, the club member receives wholesale pricing on the wines on the site, most of which are exclusively sold through Naked Wines. Seems like a good setup, potentially. (Although if the wines are generally not available for retail purchase, there’s no retail middleman to cut out in the first place…but I digress.) The discounts can be quite steep. The most expensive wine on the site “retails” for $75, but club members get it for $30. Club members also get $1 sample bottles with each case and free tastings if you’re lucky enough to visit one of these wineries.

You don’t have to become a Naked Angel to order from the site, though. You can use a voucher, as I did, or you can use a Groupon when one becomes available. You just pay the “retail” price, less whatever your voucher’s good for.

I decided to order one of their mixed cases – the “All American Highest Rated Wines” selection. This case “retailed” for $165, with an “Angel Price” of around $100. Still, $65 for a case of wine is a deal I’ll take. I have to give them high marks for promptness. The wine arrived within a week. Over the course of a month or so, we worked our way through the various bottles. Here’s what I thought:

Da Da Da 2011 Lodi Chardonnay – I thought this was a very nice wine, especially for the price. It’s very light bodied for a California chardonnay. I thought it was relatively refreshing flavorwise, with a restrained bit of oak. I also don’t expect a lot of mineral character from  California wine, but this sure had some. ($10, Club Price $6)

Da Da Da 2011 Lodi Merlot – Like its white cousin, the merlot is also well-constructed. This isn’t a fruit bomb by any stretch of the imagination. It gives you pretty firm, balanced tannins with ample amounts of blackberry on the palate. I found leather flavors throughout and a very dry, lasting finish. A well-balanced, not overly heavy concoction. ($10, Club Price $6)

Cockamamie 2011 Calaveras County Syrah – For a California syrah, this one’s made in a fairly lean style. Good flavors of dark fruit with a layer of graphite on the finish. Although it is relatively light in body for a syrah, it hangs in through the finish reasonably well. At least I thought it did when I opened it. I had some left over, and I remembered liking it much more the first day. When I tried it the second time, I wasn’t overly impressed. ($25, Club Price $15)

Matt Iaconis 2010 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir – Our old chocolate Labrador, Jessie, went to obedience lessons once during her puppyhood, which turned out to be an exercise in futility. Upon “graduation,” her instructor remarked “Jessie…wants to be good.” Well, this pinot wants to be earthy. It ends up more on the smoky end of things, and it’s a decent drinking wine. It’s not out of this world as a pinot (especially considering the pinots that we’ve laid in from Oregon), but it’s certainly a nice choice for a food-friendly red that you can serve with a quality meal. We had this with bone-in chicken breasts roasted with dried red pepper and marjoram. It was a tasty meal, and the wine was a fine accompaniment. ($24. Club Price $14)

William Henry 2012 California Riesling – This wine absolutely needs some air, but once it gets a few spins in the glass and a warms a tad, the nose really changes from green apples and flint to melon and honey. The nose belies the body, which actually has very little fruit to speak of other than little bit of lemon backed with a whole lot of mineral, which follows on the finish almost to the point of being metallic. It’s certainly an *interesting* wine. On its own, I don’t know if it would be for everyone. I liked it well enough. I had the rest of the bottle with a New Orleans barbecue shrimp – and it was downright tasty. ($11. Club price $6.50).

There were two other bottles in the case, neither of which I really took notes on -- F. Stephen Millier Angel’s Reserve Viognier ($10, club price $6) and Ken Dies 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($40. Club price $20). Both wines were solid but unspectacular.

So, what’s the bottom line? The “retail” prices of the wines are obviously set artificially high to make you think you’re getting a good deal if you become one of the “naked angels.” Once you’re at “angel prices,” some of the wines become very good deals. That said, the notion of escrowing $40 a month to get wines of similar quality that you could get in a good wine store doesn’t exactly appeal to me. I’m lucky to have several very good wine stores within a small radius of my domicile. If you live in a locality where extensive wine selections aren’t readily available and you want a steady supply of decent juice, Naked Wines might be a good option. Otherwise, you’re probably better off with your handy brick-and-mortar store with a wine salesperson you trust.

You can check out Naked Wines at http://www.nakedwines.com. They currently ship to AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, KS, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NH, NY, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OR, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WV, and WY.

Libra Wines

 

The sun’s setting on the last day of our Oregon vacation. I’m sitting on the back deck of the home of Bill Hanson with a fat glass of Libra Wines’ 2008 Momtazi Reserve. Bill, the owner and winemaker of Libra, looks out over the vineyard as sunset approaches and cracks a little smile.

“Yep. Livin’ the dream.”

Our long, twisty road from the baggage claim at PDX to Bill Hanson’s back deck began at Oregon Wines on Broadway in downtown Portland. One of the wines in their pinot flight was the Libra 2009 Willamette Valley Reserve. We absolutely loved it. Rich, perfectly balanced, and flavorful without being too heavy. We asked the fun-loving folks at OWOB if Libra had a tasting room. They said no, but indicated that they thought he showed his wines at the Carlton Winemaker’s Studio.

When our travels led us to that end of Willamette Valley, we discovered the aforementioned studio was a dead end. No Libra. They told us that he’d been working as the winemaker at Panther Creek and they sometimes poured Libra in the tasting room. We thanked them and moved on. At Panther Creek, we discovered that Bill and the higher-ups had had a parting of the ways. Thankfully, the Panther Creek pourer gave us Bill’s phone number. Which was disconnected. However, the pourer let Bill’s wife, Linda, know that we were trying to get in touch with them – and gave them our number, which we’d left at the tasting room. After a couple of phone tag calls, we were able to set up a tasting for the end of the last day we’d be there.

We made our way out into the Yamhill countryside, following directions which included, “take a hard left onto the dirt road… I’ll try to remember to leave the gate open for you,” which, thankfully, he did. We exchanged a few pleasantries before discovering that Bill and the Sweet Partner in Crime were both born in Danville, Illinois.

The ice officially broken, we made our way to the deck to enjoy a gorgeous afternoon and sip Libra’s selections. Not long after we headed outside, Linda joined us the porch, followed by their precocious smile-and-mop-of-dark curls Lily, both back from an afternoon trip to the local pool. Lily, a country music aficionado, came bearing a bowl of peanut-butter filled pretzels for noshing. She said that the best thing about waking up each morning and looking at her own vineyard is “knowing that we all did this together.”

The Libra Wines Crew -- Linda, Lily, and Bill

Bill caught the wine bug in, of all places, a community college Geography class. “[My teacher] really got me, as an 18 year old kid, fascinated with wine. When I was waiting tables at 18, I started learning about wines from all over the world, and I was just fascinated. I wrote papers comparing the climate of Oregon to the world’s other great wine regions. I was hooked. I got into it when I was 20 and I’m 49 now.”

Bill’s first job in the wine world was at Eola Hills’ Hidden Springs Winery in 1985, followed by a stint at Mendocino County’s Parducci. He decided to try the sales end of things for awhile, but the vineyard kept calling him back. He became assistant winemaker back in Oregon at Matello in 2002, then moved on to (and now away from) Panther Creek. He and Linda started Libra in 2007 and made wine from their first estate grapes in 2009. “I always wanted to live on my own vineyard and make wine,” Bill said, “And I just love being around wine people – from consumers who love wine to growers and producers. It’s a great feeling to be able to do what I love.”

Libra’s tagline is “Balanced Wines,” a hat tip to Linda’s Zodiac sign. Libra’s origin story also references the Greek goddess Persephone, who spends six months of each year in Hades’ timeshare, causing the changes in the seasons. “Bill originally had the idea for the Persephone tie in, he did a lot of research and the story really resonated with him,” said Linda, “the whole cycle of the seasons thing… the symbol of balance, and of course we all know how finicky Pinot Noir is to grow and to make.”

Bill says that he tries to craft wines as each vintage demands. “We just try not to get too crazy as far as doing ultra-low yields or overcropping. We’re more interested in flavor development than sugar development, although we hope they come together,” Bill explained. “This year, Mother Nature did a lot of our thinning for us. We don’t want too much alcohol. We just try to run with what Mother Nature gives us. We’re L.I.V.E. (low-input viticulture) certified sustainable.” Linda echoed Bill’s view: “Each of those plants are like one of his children! We do both love the land and firmly believe in only putting into the earth things that will not harm it. Even in my vegetable and flower gardens…we love the end result, a beautiful, natural product which you helped produce--your touch each step of the way had a hand in how it turns out.”

Libra's Lineup

Run with it they have. Bill started us with his Willamette Valley Pinot Gris, full of sunlight, citrus, and tropical fruit. We went from there to back-to-back tastings of his 2009 and 2010 Willamette Valley Reserve. These wines, a mixture of estate and Valley fruit, were completely different. The 2009 tasted fruitier, higher in alcohol, and (in Bill’s words), “a little slutty.” The 2010, thanks to cooler temperatures, had much more complexity. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful wine, even young.

From there, we moved on to Libra’s Umpqua Valley Tempranillo, sourced from the , and finally to his Momtazi Vineyard Reserve. The tempranillo was good stuff, full of chocolate and tobacco flavors. The Momtazi was nothing short of a rock star – smoky, sultry, and special. The most expensive wine in the Libra catalog is the Momtazi. At $35, it absolutely blew away many of the wines we tried on the trip that retailed for twice as much. After that, we retasted a few things – but we weren’t paying a lot of attention by that point. We were soaking up the sun, good conversation, and good company.

I asked Bill what it was like using his deck as a tasting room. You could hear genuine appreciation in his voice: “It’s awesome. It really helps us appreciate what we have. I mean, we are really living the dream out here, but sometimes the dream can be a lot of work! Having folks over, sharing our wines and good conversation with them – it’s fun! And it helps us remember just how much of a blessing this is.”

Bill said that his goal is to “keep it simple.” His hope is to produce more and more of the estate wines, eventually getting the production to 600-800 cases per year – in addition to doing some more vineyard specific wines like the Momtazi and Ribbon Ridge since they’re “big fans of that fruit.” He said that he’ll also keep crushing pinot gris because “you’ve always got to have some white wine around, you know?”

Libra’s a limited distribution wine, so it will likely be difficult to track down in local stores. The best way to find it is to order it straight from the source: http://www.librawines.com -- trust me, you’ll be glad you did. And if you happen to be in the Willamette Valley, give Libra a call. Bill will leave the gate open for you.

(Originally posted on October 18, 2012)

Naked Vine Double Barrel -- Le Drunk Rooster

I received a couple of sample bottles from Bourgeois Family Selections of a French tipple from the Languedoc–Roussillon region called “Le Drunk Rooster.” The wine’s moniker stems from an interesting cross section of symbols. The “state bird” of France is the rooster. (The Latin word for both “France” and “rooster” is “Gallus,” interestingly enough.) One of the winemakers that crafted these creations enjoys a good dance after imbibing. Alas, he apparently has (in a phrase I’ll steal from my mother) “more enthusiasm than rhythm on the dancefloor.” His style is, according to the information sheet, “the French version of the Chicken Dance,” hence the name.

How were they?

Le Drunk Rooster 2011 Chardonnay – This wine is in a light-bodied, lean style. No surprise, considering the region. After a little air opens it up, a considerable amount of oak starts to emerge. I’m not talking Meridian Chardonnay levels of oak – more like a Mersault from Burgundy (although it’s not creamy like a Mersault). It’s got a tart, green apple character on the palate with a lasting oaky finish. Even as light-bodied as it is, the backbone allows it to stand up firmly next to some pretty hearty fare. We poured this with a chicken and Italian sausage casserole, and it worked just fine. I thought it was a pretty solid food wine.

Le Drunk Rooster 2011 Grenache-Syrah – We opened this one during the midst of our kitchen remodel. Our first bottle of the evening had run dry, and we needed something to sip on as the evening wore on. I knew it was from the southern Rhone, so I figured it would make a decent sluggable. Turns out it was slightly better than that. If you’re a fan of peppery wines, this one will grow on you. This blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah isn’t overly heavy, it’s got a good, strong blackberry backbone, followed up by a spicy “tailfeather.” It’s pleasantly smooth, medium bodied, and even on the tannins. We didn’t have this with food – but it was reasonable with evening chocolate.

Both wines retail for $10-11. Worth a try.

Cracking Open the Good Stuff – New Kitchen Edition

While the thrust of The Naked Vine is largely inexpensive wines, I’ll admit that I don’t “live on bread alone.” I have a wine cellar, although it’s not some cavernous 3,000 bottle temperature-controlled, hermetically-sealed, heavily-fortified safe room. My closet down in “Le Bistro Below”does provide protection, though, for a few bottles that fall outside my typical price range. While every day wine is good for every day, once in a while, you’ve just got to dig into that special stash…

Nine weeks.

That’s how long the kitchen remodel took. Nine weeks made manageable by the seating area in the Bistro and a makeshift kitchen that we cobbled together using the washer/dryer as a countertop, the utility sink, a steamer, a microwave, a single-element burner, a slow cooker, and the grill. Honestly, we ate pretty well, but we were plenty ready to cook on an actual stove again.

For comparison's sake, a few "befores..."

And what a stove we now have. A big thumbs up to The Howland Group for doing such a wonderful job on the remodel. They were as professional, organized, and on task as we could have wanted. The final product was (at least so far!) everything we wanted.

So...without further ado...

(Pretty cool, no?)

Celebration time, then! We cooked a few meals in the new kitchen to get a feel. Like any new restaurant opening – chefs need to get used to their new equipment, right? It didn’t take long. The Sweet Partner in Crime had done a wonderful job designing placements for our utensils, pans, and prep stuff. Everything in easy reach, especially with the new island. We worked out the kinks and decided to have our “grand opening” meal.

The most important question, of course, was what wine to have. We figured we’d be able to put together a menu around it. We descended to the catacombs and came up with:

Roederer Estate 2002 L’Ermitage Brut

We’d picked up this bottle of bubbly on our 2010 trip to Mendocino County. It ran us around $50 and we intended to open it at New Year’s as a “10 year vintage bubbly” thing, but there was too much Mod Oz tastiness lying around. We decided we’d make it our “next special occasion” wine, and this event certainly qualified.

Late afternoon last Friday, while taking a break from our annual college hoops overdose, we put together a little appetizer plate of items that go well with quality Methode Champenoise sparkling wine. (“Methode Champenoise” is the method for making Champagne…real Champagne…and other high-quality sparklers. Read more about that here.) We had some very salty Parmesan-esque cheese, toasted almonds, some crackers, and some caviar. Yes, caviar. Like I said, it’s a special occasion.

We popped the cork and poured a little. The Roederer is one extremely delicate sparkler. The flavor was feathery and creamy, with a little toasted almond and apricot. Honestly, that’s as far as I’m going to go into the tasting note. It was good. Just really, really good. With our little small bites – I expected it to go well with everything, and it did. But honestly, we thought it was better appreciated on its own.

At least at first.

Emboldened by the new Bosch cooktop, I wanted to overcome one of my personal failings as a cook. I absolutely adore seared scallops, but I’ve never been able to do them particularly well. I can be a pretty impatient denizen of the kitchen, honestly – and I have an irrational fear of burning things. Seared scallops are so tricky. Undercooked scallop isn’t appealing and overcooked scallop tastes like Firestone. I was bound and determined to create a great entrée for the remainder of the bubbles. And with that magical blue flame crusting the little guys perfectly, I felt like Mario Batali’s scrawny second cousin.

Alongside the scallops, I’d put together a can’t miss side – my mushroom risotto. My ancestry may be German & Swedish, but I make as mean a pot of risotto as any non-paisan out there. A little truffle oil, a little of that grated salty cheese, a dash of this, a smidge of that, and a whole lot of stirring yielded one of my best batches ever.

To the table we went, bubbles in hand, lights low in the new kitchen. Gazing at the new architecture, we dug into the little feast, sipped a little bubbly and…

…

…

OK. Well, I’m supposed to describe this now? Best I can come up with, although I’m going to sound like a total square referencing a movie made wayyyyyy back in 1994:

We watched Pulp Fiction (yes, it came out in 1994…feelin’ old, buckaroos?) the other day. Recall the scene where Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) goes to the bathroom in Jack Rabbit Slim’s to…er…”powder her nose?” Do you remember her quote when she raises her head?

"I said god DAMN!"

Yeah, it was something like that. I mean, minus the cocaine. It is a pretty bad ass kitchen. And it was a pretty kick ass meal.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming…

The Adventure Mom Mailbag

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of Seasons 52, one of Cincinnati’s newest restaurants. I had the good fortune that evening to be sitting next to the lovely and talented Nedra McDaniel, better known around the Internets as Adventure Mom. Nedra says that her blog, where she documents her love of “living like a tourist” – is her attempt to inspire people to step outside their comfort zones. From Broadway shows to trapeze classes to underwater hockey, Adventure Mom’s got ideas for new and interesting experiences in spades.

Nedra asked me if I’d be willing to take some questions from she and her readers about wine and wine related stuff. I realized it had been quite a while (a couple of years, actually!) since I’d done a proper mailbag, so without further ado – here’s a sampling of what folks wanted to know:

Adventure Mom: I would like to know the best way to store wine once it's open.

The Naked Vine: The best way to store wine once it's open, honestly, is in the fridge. Wine turns to vinegar through oxidation, and cold slows that process down. Now, if you don't like your red wine cold -- you can just pour it and then patiently stare at it until it gets to where you like it...or (just don't let anyone see you), pop your glass in the microwave for5 seconds and swirl. No kidding. Those VacuVin sealers can work as well -- but not as well as refrigeration.

Raising2tweens: What wine do you suggest for a mom who has had a rough day with a 13 year old girl and an 11 yr old boy? LOL Seriously though... I only like red wine. Can it really go with all meals?

The Naked Vine: There are red wines that go with almost any sort of food -- you just have to be aware of styles. If you're making baked chicken, you probably don't want a big honkin' glass of Australian Shiraz. But a glass of a light red (especially with a little chill on it) would work just fine. In a case like that, an Italian Valpolicella or Chianti -- or a French Beaujolais would be good choices...

Khrys C.: I am really dumb regarding wines. Is there a class I can take that will smarten me up a bit so I can at least have an intelligent wine conversation and know how to choose one I'd like from the vast amount of different wines out there?

The Naked Vine: There are lots of wine appreciation classes out there if you want to get out and about. My personal suggestion (no surprise) is working your way through the Wine School series of articles that I wrote (http://www.thenakedvine.net/2006/04/wine-school-index.html)  as a way to get yourself started.

Daniel V: My wife and I just had our first child and I wanted to order some bottles of wine that I can age and give to her when she turns 21.  So my question is, what kind of bottle of wine would you recommend that will age 20 years and still be good? I was thinking a French Bordeaux like a 2009 Chateau Gruaud-Larose or Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste. Would you recommend either one of those for this idea or should I consider something else?

The Naked Vine: Now that sounds like a heck of a gift! I think there are a number of ways that you can go with that. Your idea about the Bordeaux is a very good one. A quality Bordeaux should easily age for 20 years, and if that's the sort of wine that you like, then you can definitely go that route.

Some other ideas -- Sauternes and Riesling can age practicially indefinitely. Amarone and Barolo practically need 20 years just to make it to their prime drinkability window. There are, of course, other late harvest style wines that will also last awhile. California cabernet also has a lot of aging potential.

Bottom line -- what sort of wine is your favorite? What will you likely be letting your daughter sip at dinner over the next 20 years, so when she gets to have this little cornucopia for her own -- it's not going to be a total shock to her system. I would think of it more as a time capsule of your current palate that you get to share. I think it's a great thing you're doing!

Daniel V (followup): I live in South Texas (San Antonio) and like most houses here, we do not have basements or cellars. How do I properly store wine (like the present for my daughter) so it doesn’t get ruined over time?

The Naked Vine: Hmm...now this is where it gets a little bit complicated. There's a difference in storage for a couple of years and 20. The enemies of wine are heat and light -- so obviously you want somewhere dark and relatively cool -- and also relatively stable, temperature wise. It's big swings in temperature that really kill wine, so you want somewhere stable. Now, if you're keeping wine for a relatively short period of time (say 5 years or less), an interior closet that has a stable temperature and is dark will work just fine. Fridges will work, too -- but they are notoriously expensive and can be unreliable. I went through three of them before I put my cellar in.

Since what you're planning for your daughter will require decades of storage -- you might be better off investing in an underground cellar. It doesn't have to be fancy, big, or, honestly, even climate-controlled as long as it's not below a place that will be in the sun. The natural insulation from the earth will be enough. You just need a small underground space that you can access easily.

Failing that, there are self-storage places that have climate controlled wine storage. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

Got questions of your own? Send them to Mike at thenakedvine@gmail.com or at http://www.facebook.com/wineadvicefortherestofus

Back to the Biltmore

I’ve written about wines from Biltmore Estate Winery once before. Back in July, I went to a conference in Asheville, North Carolina – home of the aforementioned Biltmore Estate. When I returned from the trip, I found samples of their “Century Red” and “Century White” waiting on my doorstep. While I didn’t have a similar crossing of paths this time around, I recently snagged some samples of their “sweet sipping” collection.

One of these samples was my second go-round with the Century White. The others were a Riesling and a sparkling wine. I’ve not had much of a wine-related sweet tooth these days, but I was bound and determined to give them a fair shake. So, let’s take a little trip to Carolina in our minds. (Perhaps we can swing by the Dean E. Smith Center, where the wailings of demoralized UNC-CH fans still echo through the rafters a after their basketball teams’ twin weekend demolitions by the Devils from Durham…)

Biltmore Estate (NV) American Riesling – My favorite Rieslings are typically those from the French region of Alsace. Alsace Riesling typically has lots of minerality, light body, lean fruit, and a slight alkaline flavor in its dry finish. American and German Rieslings tend not to have those particular qualities, as they’re generally made in a “heavier” style. This offering from Biltmore is a pleasant exception. I found that this wine had plenty of those Alsatian characterics, except they’ve left a little residual sugar to make it more…interesting to the American palate.

The result is a very quaffable, yet still complex white. It’s got some nice floral aromas and a little sweetness on the palate that gets calmed down by an interesting minerality. Melon and peach flavors abound, followed by and a semi-sweet finish. It’s OK on its own, but I tried it with both a spicy Thai chicken soup and a flavorful turkey chili. Both pairings were quite nice. I’d think it would be a nice choice to go with almost anything spicy. ($11)

Biltmore Estate (NV) Century White Wine – My reaction to this one was a bit different the second time around. The last time I tried this blend, I thought it made a pretty decent glass. This time, it wasn’t nearly as friendly with the ol’ palate. I discovered that they’d changed the grape blend. Last time, Gewurztraminer was the primary grape. This time around, it’s Muscat Canelli, which often creates a heavier, sweeter still wine. I thought it was cloyingly sweet and very heavy on my tongue. There’s fruit, fruit, fruit and sugar, sugar, sugar. As our neighbor Minnesota Marlene put it, smacking her lips, “This has got lots of apricot,” and that’s it. (If Marlane ain’t talkin’, it ain’t workin’.) It’s a substantial wine that works with spicy cuisine well enough, but is too heavy to be enjoyed on its own. If you like really sweet wines, perhaps give it a try. Otherwise, give it a pass. ($16)

Biltmore Estate (NV) Pas de Deux Sparkling Wine – Pink is the dominant color of the packaging and there’s a pair of ballet slippers on the label. The back label promised a wine that’s “slightly sweet,” and I saw that it was made from 100% Muscat Canelli. I mentally braced myself for “tooth aching levels of sugar” as I prepared to pop the cork. Sweeter sparkling wine usually says “brunch” to me. As a result, The Sweet Partner in Crime and I decided on “breakfast for dinner” to go alongside: a scrumptious “trout benedict” concoction.  We plated it up, poured, let the bubbles settle – and the Pas de Deux caught me completely off guard. It’s downright tasty. Yes, it’s a little bit sweet, but not overly so. I thought it exhibited some really nice tropical fruit flavors with a surprisingly crisp finish. It reminded me of a more highly carbonated Moscato, and this is not a bad thing in the slightest. I thought it was a fun wine and I’d consider giving it another run for brunch sometime. Nice work. ($19)

Greetings, Cincinnati!

Howdy!

Hello to all my new friends from Cincinnati.Com! I'm Mike Rosenberg, Sommelier for the Common Man, and I'll be your host, guide, and regular cause for eye-rolling here at The Naked Vine.

I've been pecking away at this little corner of the web since a fateful 2006 conversation at the Beer Sellar where my friend Scott made the offhand comment, "You know, it's easy to find a good $50 bottle of wine. I want to know where to find a good $10 bottle of wine."

The recovering English major side of me kicked in, and The Naked Vine was born. I've been fortunate enough to land myself in a variety of print and online forums -- but like the stuff often sloshing around my glass, it's only now that I've managed to swirl my way home. I'm so pleased to be able to share my adventures with my fellow Cincinnati-area wine lovers.

My goal is simple and I state it right up there in the tagline: Wine Advice for the Rest of Us. If you're looking for 100 point scales and tasting notes playing up the glories of "forest floor," "saddle leather," and "cold steel" -- you're in the wrong place. What you will find are easy to understand reviews of wines and useful bits of wine knowledge. Food and I go way back, so I always try to provide some good culinary pairings. Heck, I'll even throw in a recipe or two from time to time.

Basically, my hope is that after reading the Vine, you'll be able to stroll confidently down the aisle of the wine store of your choice, peruse a good restaurant's wine list, or belly up at your favorite watering hole and say with a grin, "I want THAT."

If you're new to wine, I recommend that you start with my Wine School series. (You obviously want to find more recent vintages of those wines if you taste them.) It'll give you a basic background on the major wine grapes and how to approach them. If there are certain wines that you're looking for, check out my tasting index. If you have wine-related questions, comments, or suggestions for what you'd like to see -- please feel free to shoot me an email. I'd also invite you to "like" the Naked Vine on Facebook or follow me at @thenakedvine on Twitter.

I look forward to having you along with me for the good times on this continuing journey. Grab a glass and come along...

Cheers!

Busken and Bubbly (or, “Mmmm….donuts -- and Champagne!”)

One cold February morning, I opened the ol’ inbox to find an unexpected message from Micah Paldino, PR Director for Busken Bakery. He had an interesting proposition for me. To wit:

We have a new 140 calorie donut, it's called the Lite-Hearted Donut.

I know that your blog covers wine/spirits, but I was wondering if you have ever tried a sweet fried donut with a glass of champagne?

If you are interested, let me know, would love to see what you think. I'll provide the donuts ;-)

Donuts and Champagne? My eyes glazed. I’d discovered a hole that needed filling. My mission was ‘clair…er…clear. I snagged a couple of bottles of bubbly, tucked them away in the fridge, and headed to Busken where my box of deliciousness awaited.

So, what the story with this “Lite-Hearted” donut? Well, first off, according to the (ahem) nutritional information, a standard glazed donut contains about 300 calories with 16 grams of fat. Each of the “Lite Hearted” donuts apparently contains only the aforementioned 140 calories, 2.5 grams of total fat, and no saturated or trans-fats.

"There is no such thing as a bad donut."
-- H.J. Simpson

The first thing most people will notice, however, is that these donuts are cutely heart-shaped. Sizewise, it’s about 10% smaller than a “standard” glazed donut. There’s also no glaze on the bottom, which probably trims a few calories.

How’s it taste? The biggest difference I could find between the Lite Hearted and a regular donut is the texture. The “meat” of the donut has a very similar flavor, but it’s a little drier and cakier. The glaze tastes like glaze. All in all, especially considering how most “diet” foods taste, I thought it was pretty daggone tasty. I took some to work with me where some of my coworkers “reluctantly” agreed to test them with me. The feedback was universally positive. I’d get them again without hesitation.

But what about the main experiment – the bubbly pairing? Much as I would have loved to pop the bottles and test these sweet fried morsels of deliciousness out that morning, I impatiently waited until I got home from work so I could make these little hearts into an appetizer. As I’ve said on numerous occasions, there are few more food-friendly wine options out there than sparkling wine, mainly because it goes so well with almost anything that has some fat in its construction. KFC, pizza, potato chips, cheese, paté…you get the idea. Donuts fall firmly into this category.

I picked up a couple of dry sparklers of similar price ($12-14) for a side-by-side comparison. You know, for science:

Gérard Bertrand 2010 Cremant de Limoux Brut

Zèfiro (NV) Prosecco Triviso Brut

Now, as you can see, neither of these are technically “Champagne,” since that term is limited to the bubbles from that particular region of France – and because we’re still in the throes of the kitchen remodel, I (like most folks) couldn’t afford to go with a bottle of White Star here.

[Note: I’d also picked up a third bottle – Friexenet Brut Cava, but I couldn’t justify opening three bottles of sparkling wine in one evening – even with dinner – and the donuts were gone before I could test that alongside…]

Both these wines were crisp. The Bertrand had the distinct yeasty aroma that many French sparklers share along with a restrained green apple flavor. The Zèfiro had more tropical fruit flavor flavor and wasn’t carbonated quite as strongly. The shared opinion of Vine HQ was that the French bottle was more pleasant to drink on its own.

On the actual Busken/Bubble amalgamation – we had a split decision, although we agreed  that either bottle was a workable match. The Sweet Partner in Crime enjoyed the Prosecco more with the donut. The sweetness of the donut meshed better with the Prosecco’s fruit, she said. I thought the French bottle was the better counterpart. The yeasty character of the wine lined up better for me with the cakey texture, and I just liked the combination better.

So, returning to Micah’s challenge – now that I’ve had one of these tasty confections with some sparkling wine, I’d suggest that if you want to add some sweetness to a weekend brunch, pick up a few of these to have on the table beside a bottle of bubbly, some fresh fruit, and the entrée of your choice. Or if you’re just craving some glazed, fried dough and don’t want to feel as guilty, I think you’ll not be unhappy…

Naked Vine Double Barrel: The Mondavi Wine Fairy Returns

I certainly welcomed a fortuitous visit from the Wine Fairy during our culinary deconstruction/reconstruction. (And thanks again to Folsom & Associates for the shipment.) The most recent included a pair of bottles from Robert Mondavi’s Napa Valley collection, which was the second time this brand of lightning has struck. You may remember I had the opportunity to try the Napa Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in October. After this latest shipment, I have only the Mondavi Napa Valley Merlot to try to hit for the cycle.

Here’s how these two – the Fumé Blanc and the Cabernet Sauvignon – shaped up:

Robert Mondavi 2010 Napa Valley Fumé Blanc – To help avoid confusion, the fume blanc label actually includes the helpful note “A Sauvignon Blanc.” When Mondavi grew the first Sauvignon Blanc grapes in California back in 1968, they called the wine “Fumé Blanc” as a hat tip to Pouilly-Fumé, a French version of Sauvignon Blanc. (Other French Sauvignon Blancs include Sancerre and whites from the Touraine region.) The Mondavi version is 94% sauvignon with 6% Semillon blended in. The description said that this sauvignon blanc “reflected Napa Valley” – which I took to mean that it would be made in a richer, less acidic style.

My suspicions were confirmed. While citrus is certainly the order of the day, the acid level is considerably lower than, say, one of the aforementioned French versions. The dominant flavors run more to the melon end of the spectrum than the grapefruit end. It’s full bodied, reasonably complex and a bit creamy. I thought it was quite nice. Alongside a foil-pack fish with tomatoes and herbs, served over some couscous, it complemented a very workable meal which we enjoyed down in our cave. At $20, perhaps a bit pricey, but if you’re looking for a California white that’s subtle and flavorful, it’s a good option.

Robert Mondavi 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – I was really looking forward to giving this wine a try, especially after the positive experience I had with the Napa Valley Pinot Noir. Sometimes during a major construction project, you’ve gotta treat yourself. The Sweet Partner in Crime picked up some filets at the store. We deserved a good dinner to rise above the chaos, and I thought this Cabernet (a little over 80% Cab Sauv, with the balance as Merlot, Cab Franc, and Syrah) was a potentially great accompaniment. Cabernet Sauvignon was, after all, the grape upon which Mondavi built its reputation, so signs seemed positive. Steaks were grilled, mushrooms were sautéed, etc. I opened this bottle, decanted, poured, and...well, in so many words -- Meh.

Maybe I’d raised my expectations too high. This certainly isn’t a *bad* wine. It’s a perfectly serviceable cabernet. Flavors are in the right place, medium body, not hugely tannic – but nothing really jumped out. This wine seemed restrained. I know I talk about “balance” in wines a lot. Whether a wine is big and tannic or light and fruity, I think of “balance” as a chorus. Some individual voices may be louder (or flavors may be stronger) than others, but they all work together in harmony. With this wine, the flavors are more reminiscent of people conversing in a waiting room, consciously keeping their voices down so they don’t stand out. With dinner and with chocolate, it wasn’t bad – it just didn’t add much, in my opinion. At $28, I think I could find a wine that better suits my tastes.

Seasons 52 Fresh Grill -- Slick, Tasty, and Lean

Deep in the throes of the ongoing kitchen remodel, I didn’t expect to find myself tucking away deliciously seasoned strip steak and quail, but there I was last Tuesday. I received a fortuitous invite to a “media wine dinner” at Seasons 52, a soon-to-be-opened restaurant on Edwards Road just across the street from Rookwood Commons. Seasons 52 is an upscale casual dining restaurant based around a “fresh grill and wine bar” concept. I was joined by a collection of other friendly media types from the area, including a TV producer, a couple of Enquirer editors, and Nedra – better known as erstwhile local blogger “Adventure Mom.” 

We had a quick tour of the contemporarily decorated restaurant before the meal began. Seasons 52’s distinguishing architectural feature is the stone split-face mosaic walls which closely resembled one area of our kitchen-to-be. The restaurant had lots of mahogany, warm lighting, and high ceilings throughout. The patio (which will look much better when it doesn’t open onto a construction site) and several private dining rooms available for meetings, receptions, etc.

The open kitchen was interesting to me because of what wasn’t there. There’s no fryer. I learned no butter is used in the preparations. The hook of Seasons 52 is that no item on the menu, including desserts, contains more than 475 calories. The menu changes seasonally and leans heavily on mesquite grilling, brick oven cooking, and caramelizing. I asked about the portion sizes at one point. Most entrees apparently run 6-8 ounces of protein plus a vegetable and a starch. I wondered how an 11 oz. steak could be that calorically miniscule. The answer, apparently, is a particularly lean stock of Piedmontese bovine.

Would you buy a wine pairing from this man?
(Short answer: Yes.)

Our tour ended at the long piano bar where different live musicians play 7 days a week. Our pianist for the evening played an eclectic mix. (I’ll admit I’ve never heard Weezer’s “Sweater Song” done quite that way.) At the bar, we met George Miliotes, our emcee for the evening. The affable Miliotes (one of the world’s 180 Master Sommeliers, apparently) started us with a glass of Chartogne-Taillet Champagne to go alongside samples of a pair of appetizer flatbreads – one an artichoke and goat cheese, the other chipotle shrimp with roasted poblanos and feta. I enjoyed both as Miliotes gave us some background on the restaurant and introed the wine list, which includes 65 wines available by the glass – any of which are also available as a 1 oz. sample for experimentation purposes.

After a few minutes of get-to-know-you and bubbly, we adjourned to our table where we met Clifford Pleau, Season 52’s executive chef. He and Miliotes have worked together for the last 20 years, as some of their banter indicated. We wasted little time getting to the meal itself.

We started with a crab and avocado amuse bouche – which reminded me of a crab quesadilla, minus the tortilla. A Vinho Verde alongside served as a nicely crisp aperitif.

From there came a cedar plank roasted salmon filet with a grilled sea scallop skewered on a stalk of lemongrass. The salmon was fresh, moist, and flavorful. The scallop was divine. The wine pairing was a medium-oak Central Coast California chardonnay, which played off the seafood and the grill char.

Cedar plank salmon.

Next up, the salad course. The salad, comprised of organic field greens, grilled mushrooms, toasted pistachios, and truffle dressing was served (as are most of their salads) in plastic tubes and shaken out on the plates to present more aromatics from the dressing. Truffles. Yum. I wouldn’t have thought Carneros pinot noir with a salad course ordinarily, but with truffles? Why the heck not!

From there, we had goat cheese ravioli, roasted garlic, and shredded basil in an organic tomato broth. My ravioli might have been a bit undercooked, as it had soaked up much of the broth by the time the plate arrived and was still a little bit dry. Still very flavorful. The wine pairing here was a Cabernet Franc from Bordeaux. It was a very solid choice, but I would have leaned towards a light Italian red as is my usual preference with such flavors.

The “main” course was a mixed grill of Piedmontese strip steak and Manchester Farms quail, mashed sweet potatoes, and red wine sauce. For me, this was the highlight of the meal. The strip steak was done a delicious medium rare and had no fat that I could see. The quail took a little surgery to get at the tender, scrumptiously seasoned meat, but it was worth it. We had two wine pairings here – a Cabernet blend from South Africa, which was quite tasty, and a Spanish Garnacha, which was full and almost creamy. The Garnacha was an especially enjoyable pairing.

We finished up with “mini indulgences.” These are small desserts served in square “cordial style” glasses. At the end of a big meal like that, however, I usually don’t want more than a few bites of something sweet. I went with the key lime pie. Other options included carrot cake, pecan pie, rocky road, chocolate peanut butter mousse and various others. The dessert wine, a luscious German Riesling Auslese, was dee-lish.

The "mini-indulgences"

Now, I fully understand our little media gaggle was getting a special preview of this establishment, so I expected everything to be really good. It was. For this type of restaurant, I would heartily endorse it for the flavors alone. However, I had one major unanswered question –cost. The restaurant website (http://www.seasons52.com) lists the complete food and wine menu without prices. I’m normally of the “if there’s no price listed, you don’t want to know” school.  Kelly McMillan, field manager of the Cincinnati location, was happy to provide the local menu.

You know what? It ain’t overly painful. Wines by the glass range from $6.50 to $18. (The most expensive we had was the Champagne, which would have been $14.) The flatbreads were $8-10 for a generous size. Small salads run $6-9, while entrée salads were $12-16. The most expensive item on the menu was a bone-in strip steak at $28. The “mini indulgences” are $2.50 each. Not cheap, but less expensive than I expected.

The Cincinnati location opens today, Monday, February 4. I’d say it’s certainly worth a try if you’re a fan of restaurants like P.F. Chang’s, J.Alexanders, and other upscale casual options.

For a different (and more photographic!) view of the evening, here's Adventure Mom's review.

[Seasons 52 is part of the Darden group of restaurants, which also includes the Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, LongHorn, the Yard House, Eddie V’s, Olive Garden, and (believe it or not) Red Lobster.]

Remodeling Camelot

Returning to work after our break, I found a late holiday gift from the wine fairy in my office. Tiffany at Balzac kindly sent along four samples from Camelot Vineyards. Camelot is a readily available, inexpensive line of wines made from grapes sourced from several locations in California. All four wines – a cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, and chardonnay – retail for around $7.

The arrival of these wines was fortuitous and a bit poetic. The Sweet Partner in Crime and I are in the process of a full castle…er…kitchen remodel. I retrieved the samples just before the demolition was scheduled to occur. Trust me, a foodie of any sort without accoutrements for a goodly length of time needs a stock of vino for mental health reasons. The sampling started over our final weekend with cabinets and an operational stove…

Camelot (NV) Cabernet Sauvignon

Camelot (NV) Merlot

One of our last meals prepared the old kitchen was a pot roast, recipe courtesy of Albert Burnetko at Deadspin. One of the key steps is to “return the meat (and any juices it discharged during its exile) to the pot, turn the heat back up, and pour an entire goddamn bottle of cheap red wine on top of the whole fucking mess.” He also suggested eating the roast with another bottle of said wine. Thanks to the wine fairy’s fortuitous delivery, we had a couple of bottles to choose from. We decided to taste both the merlot and the cabernet. Winner gets drunk with dinner. Loser becomes dinner.

We poured small tastes of both. The merlot was actually pretty decent. For an inexpensive merlot, it had decent structure, some good flavors of cherry, coffee, and chocolate, and a pretty good balance. The cabernet, on the other hand, didn’t fare as well. In the SPinC’s words, “This is a really watery cab.” It was certainly on the lighter side and no interesting flavors popped out. Our decision was clear. We poured the cab atop the roast, hoping to send it forth to a higher calling.

Hours passed. We were watching the NFL playoffs during this time, and we ended up wanting a beverage. The merlot was convenient and, most importantly, open! As a quaffer on its own while focused on other things, it was decent enough.

Then came the roast – the glorious, perfectly browned and cooked hunk of deliciousness. The braising liquid, made from the cabernet, thickened into a delightful gravy with the help of a little bit of cornstarch, imparted an absolutely fabulous flavor to the pot roast. The meal itself was nothing short of incredible. We did keep a splash of the merlot to try with the roast, and it was fine – albeit a bit overshadowed by the utter awesomeness of the roast itself. (We did open a bottle of Libra pinot noir as well. That fared a bit better.)

Camelot (NV) Pinot Noir

The next day, we were packing up what was left of our kitchen. We came across some leftover garlicky, Italian-styled cabbage, sausage, and white bean soup in the fridge – a soup which calls out for a light red. I would have ordinarily looked a bit askance at a $7 pinot noir. The first sips of it, honestly, were quite tight and acidic – like cherries picked a couple of weeks early. (Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if the wine’s grapes were harvested a bit short of peak.) The body was light and the finish was a bit smoky. As the Sweet Partner in Crime put it, “This is a California pinot?”

But once we got the soup reheated, the wine did just fine. The individual ingredients in the soup aren’t the easiest to pair with, but the Camelot made a nice accent. This turned out to be a perfectly decent table wine once everything was said and done – especially if it’s your second bottle of the evening.

Camelot (NV) Chardonnay

The Kitchenpocalypse Begins.

Home from work the following Monday, I walked into the first floor of a house resembling an episode of Breaking Bad. Floor-to-ceiling plastic tarps, exhaust fans running, and an absolutely demolished kitchen. No appliances, no cabinetry. Nothing. The “archaeological dig” aspect of the demolition was fascinating. For instance, we discovered the original wallpaper, buried beneath layers of plaster and tile, was patterned with cute little teapots. Most notably, our first floor was missing a wall. The Howland Group crew got an impressive amount of work done their first day here.

Still, we were a little shocked by the sight and decided wine was in order. The Camelot was in the fridge (which currently is resting comfortably in the living room), so we cracked it to have an “Egads, what have we done?” drink. You know what? It was perfectly serviceable. It’s certainly on the low end of the “buttery” spectrum, boasting a little more acidity. There was oak present, but not in an overwhelming sense. All in all, the Camelot chardonnay is a perfectly inoffensive, sluggable bottle of wine. I could see it as a crowdpleaser at a casual party or some such. My expectations were exceeded, honestly.

I hope we can say the same about the kitchen when all is said and done. Cross your fingers for us.

See? Cute little teapots!