Jes' Wine

Tonight we sampled the modest ($8) Black Swan Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003, a putative "Best Value" according to Wine Spectator, whose experts surely have tasted more wines than I (the bastards), and surely know more than I. About wines, anyway. Although palates vary. I suspect friends and couples do best when they share similar palates. My friend Leeser and I are palate pals: We both love big garlic and big wine that has some spunk to it, like Zins and some Syrahs. Also basil and mushrooms and bleu cheese and pecans. When we taste dishes we're cooking, we usually agree on what's missing, what's overdone, what needs to be tweaked.

The Black Swan Cab didn't do much for me, or Leeser, or Andie. Not the first time around, anyway. We moved on, helping my sister Kelley with her bottle of Nobilio Sauvignon Blanc (the 2003, I think). I don't drink much white wine, but this one was terrific. Grapefruit nose, which Lisa calls "cat pee," and wonderful muted citrus flavors. I think the label was touting gooseberry and passion fruit, but I have no notion of what those might be. The New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs from the Marlborough region are just flat out GOOD. They often have a grapefruit and lime nose, and they're wonderfully refreshing. Those of you who don't like heavily oaked wines, and are tired of Chardonnays, have a wonderful surprise in store if you try these winners from Down Under. (Is New Zealand Down Under, like Australia? I mean, of course it IS "down under," but does one only use that to refer to Australia and not its more progressive, much smaller neighbor?)

And they go terrifically well with Thai food. Lisa, long may she wave, swung by the Westport Thai Place and picked up veggie pad Thai, coconut shrimp, basil chicken wings and spring rolls for our weekly L Word fest. Food review: good pad Thai, very good spring rolls, so-so chicken and "eh" shrimp. Television review: I'd rather have seen more Alice/Dana action, but at least Dana mustered the cojones to kiss off her icky, cat-killing fiance (who'd already moved on for Melissa Rivers, as it happens. Hee-hee! This season, the writing seems much better. And let's drink a toast to Jenny's new haircut!).

Lisa had a Nobilio tucked in her fridge, but we opted for the screw-top Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2004, another Marlborough/New Zealand SB. Once again, grapefruit and cat pee nose, and some pear. It was lighter/less distinctive in its fruitiness, and although it costs more and usually rates higher, none of us liked it as much as the Nobilio. Which is not to say that we didn't drink it. I drank it, actually. Way too much of it. Had a headache that lasted most of the night. Hydrate, Kim, hydrate! That's the problem with white wines -- they go down very easily. I'd never have slurped three glasses of red with dinner. One glass does me just fine -- and I remember to drink water.

A follow up note: The Black Swan Cab was MUCH better the next night, when I sipped it solo, with soup. I think it needed to breathe. As do we all. . .

March Madness

The Burning Bowl Ceremony


We broke in the fire bowl this weekend, setting the patina on the copper with a great little blaze out under the apple tree. And in case you're wondering, the wine we chose to salute the flames was a modest 2000 R.H. Phillips EXP Viaje Syrah. Smacked a bit of sour cherry, as I recall. With over-and-undertones of wood smoke.

I love a good fire, especially outdoors. It's like the hot tub, more enjoyable under the open sky. Although maybe I feel that way because my own fireplace has been rendered nonfunctional and I'm too lazy/cheap to have it fixed. I have two towering chimneys and a beautiful mantle/fireplace from 1910 -- but I've never had the satisfaction of kindling a flame in the hearth. Not in this house.

We had ourselves a regular weinie roast, we did. Okay, feta and chicken sausages, from free-roaming, vegetarian hens. Oh the irony. Stuck the sausages on sharpened sticks and thrust them into the flames. They emerged. . . edible. To make sure they were SAFELY edible, we nuked 'em a bit afterwards. Next time I'll fire up the little charcoal grill alongside the copper bowl, so we can have satisfying flames AND satisfying food.

I'm just grateful we could enjoy an evening outdoors. In February. In Kansas City.

March Madness

Whether I'm sunk in a will-winter-never-end depression, or still stunned by the loss of my baby Brandyn, this past month has just SUCKED for any sort of productivity. Oh, the kitchen is largely painted (still needs the trimwork), and thanks to D. the dead redbud is no longer threatening to take down the north fence -- but I haven't been able to write, not even to blog. I'm as paralyzed as those boxes of clutter in the computer room that just sit there, month after month, defying my glares and groans of helplessness.

There's always wine. Thank the gods (Bacchus?). Which is why, Sunday evening, I prevented Leeser from pouring the entire 2000 Lake Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon on the 'shrooms (she has a heavy hand with wine when it comes to mushrooms). Turns out this Cab was better than what the birthday girl had selected for our pasta, a 1999 Reserve Chianti Classico from some winery that features a unicorn on the label. The CC was a bit thin, lacking structure. Ah well. Insipidity happens.

Like I had this godawful boss who defined insipidity. And pettiness. And incompetence. The only way to celebrate her nasty life would be with a bottle of White Zinfandel. Across the bow of her sinking ship.

March wine tip: Somebody at Costco rated the 2001 Blackstone Syrah a lousy 83 points. I'd tack some points on that, and recommend it as a good everyday wine. Some cherry, some blackberry, a bit 'o pepper, a splash of oak. And a great nose.