LIFe as a wine consultant

This blog is about to take a new form. I started work as a wine consultant at the wine library in springfield, nj on tuesday. i am most definitely the most inexperienced person who works there and im afraid that it shows. of course, it doesnt help that i am also probably the most self conscious and introverted. i think so much it totally messes with my game. anyway. what i mean by saying that "this blog is about to take a new form" is that i am going to use it as part diary part wine log. i guess thats what a blog really is, right - a practical approach to pouring your emotions and thoughts out into a semi-private form of documentation.

i want to start by recording the wines that i have tried since beginning work.

luigi bosca reserva malbec 2006
grieve sauvignon blanc
2006 escoces volante papa luna - mostly garnacha, some syrach, lil monastrell. (70,20,5)
---> the monastrell (mouvedre) softens and gives garnacha structure, has a wild, gamey, or earthy taste. garnacha typically lacks tannin and acid, and is soft on the palate, berry dominated.
2005 chateau la negly cote rouge - 40% grenache, 40% carignan, 20% syrah
---> it is believed that when blended with grenache and syrach, carignan is softened, creating a wine with rustic fruit and perfume. the wine is "slightly cooked", lush, and full. finishes slightly sweet but with full tannins and warmth". i find it to be mineral and earthy.
2006 perrin christins vacqueyras - my favorite of the focus wines.
---> my own tasting notes report that it smells slightly spicy, it is fruit driven, complex, has a good structure, is herbacion with notes of rosemary. mineral, fruity, and spicy.

Old World Wines - France vs. Italy

I have not written in a while, that i because I got a job and now feel tired when I am not there.

Lately I have been interested in Italian and French reds. However, it is hard for me to tell what I find different between the two. This may be incorrect, but I like to look for generalizations that can be applied to wine regions, grape varietals, winemaking techniques, etc. It helps me to take the next step; which would be, of course, developing more specific wine criticism techniques.

Note: A wine distributor came to work last Thursday to give us a little crash course on wine and introduce some new reds. He said that the most important thing is to first determine whether you like a wine. Well, unfortunately, this step doesn't apply to me, as I enjoy just about every wine I try, some to a lesser degree.

In an attempt to generalize differences between French and Italian reds, I will (a bit shamefully) copy and paste a blurb about Italian wines provided by About.com. (I will later mention my opinion on Italian reds - chianti vs. super tuscan vs. sangiovesse vs. nero d'alaba, etc). About.com says that Italian wines are seperated into two categories - table wines and higher end wines. To this conjecture, I elaborate that "table wines" are those which are a blend of grapes from all over the country, whereas "higher end wines" are those which are specific to a particular region. "Table wines are often fruit-forward wines, that can lean a touch on the sweeter side, some are sparkling, most are light-medium bodied and are very compatible for first time wine drinkers. Lambrusco is likely the Table wine that comes to mind; for better or for worse. Lambrusco, a dry, red wine with a touch of 'frizzante,'(an Italian term for slightly sparkling) has had a reputation for focusing on quantity with a lackadaisical eye placed on quality. However, Lambrusco times have changed and many producers are upping their quality standards making this an ideal time to give it a try. Which to try? If you are looking for something beyond the 1970's famed Riunite Lambrusco, then check out Ca de Medici Terra Calda Vino Frizzante Rosso priced around $10 a bottle. A super wine to pair with everything from spaghetti and meatballs to backyard BBQ fare." The website continues to rank Italian grape varietals, reporting that chianti is considered a table wine, chianti classico not so much, and

"Super-Tuscans, comprised of mostly Sangiovese, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot or Syrah, typically quantify quality, and are thus on the upper end of the price spectrum (ranging from $25 - $100+). Due to unique blends and varied growing terroirs , Super-Tuscans cannot be easily pinned to one style or stereotype. Super-Tuscan producers to scout for include: Viticcio , Antinori , and Tenuta dell'Ornellaia.

Barolo and Barbaresco Wines

Good Barolo and Barbaresco wines, derived from the noble Nebbiolo grape are typicaly reserved for Sunday dinners or celebrations. These wines can range in price from $35 - $100+ depending on the vintage and producer.

Amarone Wines

The vast majority of Amarone wines come from the Valpolicella area, in Italy's northeast corner. They are typically considered one of Italy's big, bold red wines, Amarone has fruit-forward flavors of cherry, raisins, plums and spice. They are made from grapes that have been partially dried and historically have had higher alcohol contents (14-16% range). Top Amarone producers to consider are: Masi, Speri, and Allegrini."

Here they provide faithful readers with a grape growing region map http://wine.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=wine&cdn=food&tm=3&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p830.0.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.italianmade.com/wines/home.cfm

multipurpose blog

Lately, discussion over health care debates and outrageous wall street bonuses dominate car radio and newspaper headlines, as such was the case Saturday morning on our way to Windham. I forget the particular company, but it's staff bonuses given this year were in the billions, numbers that I truly cannot comprehend. I kept saying to my father, rather ignorantly, that there must be some justification given for allocating such outrageous sums of money. That brought my dad to a story he heard a couple mornings before, about the case of a prison in southern Florida. Apparently, this particular prison is extremely overcrowded and thus came up with a plan that allowed inmates awaiting trial who could not afford bail in the meantime to, instead of remaining in jail and becoming damaged in the intervening period, qualify for house arrest and be monitored via electronic device. This has been in effect for at least a year, proving highly successful. Successful not, however, for the bondsmen whose business was beginning to deteriorate. So, what else to do but pay lobbyists to pay off the gov't to retract this system and force all inmates back to jail? The system has been dismantled and it is back to business as usual for the bondsmen. The point is that the corrupt nature of this country will make it impossible for health care to ever be passed, as insurance companies would be destroyed and they'll do anything in their (financial) power to prevent this from happening. Same goes to investment bankers receiving billions in bonuses, challenge this set-up and they're done. And, they're paying off government officials in the meantime. Who's to trust? Wouldn't want to hurt them, would we? --->
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.1callbailbonds.com/images/LOCKED.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.1callbailbonds.com/&usg=__D0-Fskaf_uUgN4uSfWt2TE_BvmQ=&h=340&w=500&sz=67&hl=en&start=6&sig2=Uhy7Br38lawOCfqwko0FKA&um=1&tbnid=PgyUPNI0d8UOwM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbail%2Bbonds%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26um%3D1&ei=xtJdS_qNI6Pe8AaRk9CcAg

On the road....

This morning my dad and I embarked on what Stef called "a surprise ski trip!". Unfortunately, this "quote" is far more amusing when I say it to myself than when I see it typed, as Stef is one of those people that can make otherwise mundane things actually brilliantly funny. Also, this was said to me face to face in her bed, the morning after a wild night of sriracha-coated popcorn and black cherry vodka sodas! Woo! Anyway, my dad and I had not even discussed this ski trip but it was one of those things that I had kind of decided, or, expected, rather, was going to happen. We went to Windham Mt - a hefty 2.5 hr drive from home. To start things off on truly brilliant note, I dropped my mitten the first ride up the mountain! There's nothing quite like watching something you're fond of just fall oh-s0-slowly out of reach. Of course, the damn mitten fell within the realm of the barely traversed and taped off whistler, and after a 45 minute bout to get back the mitten was gone. And, in the process of slowly taking each mogul one by one, some NY doucher yelled to me from the lift chair above "IMPRESSIVE!" What pissed me off more than this dumb, insulting comment was the fact that the 1.5 second period I had to say something clever back passed before I had so merely responded with a half assed smile. A SMILE! Rob is right, I need to speed up my game!

SO, I skied all day with a bare right hand. My dad offered to buy me mittens, but I am hoping that someone returns the thing and the nice folks at Windham get it back to me. Perhaps I'm living in a fantasy world. but new gloves wouldn't have been cheap and it was a mild day on the slopes. In the past 4+ years I have skied in VT, at Whiteface, and Chile. Needless to say, Windham didn't exactly blow my mind. I am not the greatest skier and got really thrown off by the crowds and icy trails. Also, while I am bitching, I'll throw in that I'm not a fan of the party-like atmosphere that is Windham mountain. I really don't need to have John Mellencamp blasting accompanied by some mountain DJ making announcements about "supporting our troops" and the "wounded warrior" program. Oh well, I am too critical. Thas fo sho. It was a very nice day, as it always is with daddy-O. And....dun dun dun-a!....we ate at Santa Fe in Tivoli, NY, for dinner, the restaurant that my lovely best friend Danielle works at! As I put it, it certainly was a hoot.

And, I suppose, this is where I'll tie it all to wine - always in search of Bacchus, right?

We started the meal off (aside from wolfing down red, white, and blue tortilla chips, of course) with margaritas served up. Dad had his with salt, mine without. yummy stuff. ill skip descriptions of the food, as I am super tired and ... yeah. For such a nice place, I wonder why they neglected putting good wines on the wine-by-the glass list. What's the deal with "bad" wine, anyway? I had a glass of Shiraz, figuring it would by best bet at avoiding flat, single dimensional, overly velvety, even chalky, wine. It wasn't bed, but incredibly generic. I feel that it's just laziness on the part of the restaurant to not buy better wines - which I know you can get at price points of $8 or around that. What the dilly, yo.

Alcohol is so fascinating.

Yesterday I had a slight mental breakdown about not having a job, decided to hop the next train to Short Hills, and made it to the Wine Library by 4:30. Only to find out that they are no longer hiring!!! Just hired 3 or 4 people. Just my luck. I gave the guy a very brief auto-B and feel that I made some sort of impression, so I Think I'll get my shit in asap anyway. I would love to work there. Aside from being a mega store of fantastic wines and people who know what their talking about, the food section is mind-blowing! I tried http://www.gourmet-food.com/gourmet-cheese/bettine-grand-cru-cheese-102430.aspx - voted best cheese in the world 2006!!!! so good. Wine library tv is awesome, too. http://tv.winelibrary.com/

ok, feels like all im working with is MY portal to an empty head!! must sleep!

Shiraz vs. Cabernet

Last night my dad and I went to dinner at new place (for me, at least) in town, Indigo Smoke. While I prefer my salmon a bit less well-done, the food was fantastic and I can't wait to return. (On a bit of a snide note, I do hope that they change their menu fairly frequently, as I can see myself growing bored with the options in a month or two). Chazbo (my dad) ordered the Seafood Stew, with a very delicious broth, the perfect balance of creamy and acidic. The menu claimed that the stew came with 5 types of fish, but I am only able to recall 4- calamari, tillapia, shrimp, and mussels. the 5th was some sort of overly rough/hard cornbread hush puppy. He had a glass of sauvignon blanc, which I regrettably did not taste. I guess I made the ignorant decision that I would not enjoy the assumed to be average SB. My dish was fennel crusted salmon, served with grilled onion (my favorite part of the meal), fire roasted grape tomatoes, and a potato pancake (which I found to be not crispy enough and too thick). Okay, so before blabbing on about the wines I had, I will admit that my dish should have been paired with a white wine, perhaps an Italian white or something along the lines of chard or gewurtz. However, I am a red wine freak! So, I first had a glass of Little Boomey shiraz which I did not much care for and then a glass of Benziger Cab Sauv. i didn't like the shiraz because it seemed flat, overly fruity, not nearly tannic enough, and barely contained that subtle spiciness i expect from a shiraz. when i reported that i didn't care for it (in an admittedly overly blunt manner) my dad, as he so often does, shared words of wisdom with me: "....don't let perfect get in the way of good." agreed, but this wine nearly flat lined with its single dimensional makeup of cherry, cherry, and more cherry. Now, on to the can sauv. While I tend to dismiss California reds as being overly big, bold, ripe and fruity, this one was very nice. I could smell additional oaking prior to taking a sip, the toasted oaking I associate with notes of vanilla, tobacco, and berries. the cab was far more structured than the shiraz, having an acidic base rounded out by the plushness of the berries and oak. i would recommend this wine to diners and winos alike.

My search for Bacchus

Hello! Welcome!

I have decided to start this blog in an effort to record everything I do that has anything to do with wine. Why? Because I am 22 (going on 23), unemployed, and after a very recent move from my lovely apt in Burlington, VT, am living at home with my (wonderful) parents. I graduated May 2009 with an Anthropology degree from UVM, only to find myself working at a wine vineyard and wine shop, slowly but surely becoming fascinated by and enthralled in the world of wine. Now, back in the NYC area, I am struggling to find a position in wine retail. I thought that perhaps blogging about my adventures in the world of food and wine would help me to learn a thing or two while documenting what I consume. Let's start by delving into a tuna dish I cooked the other night, quite simple and very delicious. After defrosting two albacore tuna steaks, I marinated them in a concoction of olive oil, lemon juice, chopped anchovies, oregano, LOTS of garlic, salt and pepper. Letting the steaks marinate for about 30 minutes, I proceeded to make the fish's sauce - chopped celery, tomatoes, kalmatta olives, capers, and lemon juice. I sauteed these ingredients on med-hi heat for about 10 mins while grilling the tuna on a grill pan for roughly the same amount of time. In my attempt to be somewhat original, I decided to saute broccoli in another sauce creation, consisting of grapefruit juice, white wine vinegar, hot sauce (i used Tabasco, but would have much preferred the floral qualities of a specialty habanero sauce), and honey. Upon completion, this meal was extremely satisfying and tasty. In my typical state of "enough is never enough without more," (Thank you, Ani Difranco), I quickly toasted half of a whole wheat pita and finally sat down to eat it all accompanied by sun dried tomato hummus. I drank a glass of Riesling with the meal, but recognize that a lighter, more acidic white wine would have been a better choice. I am not going to bother mustering up an Italian white that might have paired nicely with the Sicilian Tuna, as I am disturbingly unfamiliar with Italian varietals, but instead suggest a nice Spanish Albarino or Argentine Torrontes. I am particularly fond of Albarino, characterized by its mouthwatering aroma similar to that of a full bodied, spicy yet floral Gewurztraminer, followed by a delightfully crisp, delicate body and citrus meets floral flavor. An idea just came to me while writing this admittedly mediocre blog - as I mention wines that I've tried or that I'd think would pair well with particular foods, I will follow this mention with a detailed yet brief history of the grape varietal itself. Albarino: Where? Northwestern Spain; the Galicia region; in the lower inlets (Rias Biaxes), also sparingly grown in California in regions that are believed to share similar climatic conditions to those of Galicia; generally cool, windy, and rainy, furthermore vines are trained high, allowing winds to dry them out and avoid rot, mildew and other fungal diseases. Notably, albarino grapes develop thick skins, contributing to their intense aromas. Tasting notes: Typically, wines made from Albarino are very aromatic, often described as having scents of almonds or apples, peaches, with flavors of citrus and grass. The acidity of albarino makes the perfect wine for a seafood dish, ESPECIALLY one dominated by olives, capers, and lemon juice! Yum....