Anton Bauer Pinot Gris 2006

Generally I'm pretty skeptical of Austrian and German whites – too many are just too, too sweet – but it's a nice sunny day and the Bauer was knocked down from top-line to bottom-line price at Wine Bar, so I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did – nice little acidity in the nose and to start, leading to a super-smooth but not overpowering vanilla tone and lovely rounded finish, always just the hint of sweetness balanced by acidity. Great glass of wine.

Angove's Nine Vines South Australia Viognier 2006

Picked this up on sale a while back, intrigued by a) the low price, b) the grape (increasingly a fan of Viogniers) and c) the ABV - 15%, which I don't think I'd ever seen in a white before. I finally had occasion to open it the other evening and was glad for it – lovely full body, nice vanilla tones and sweet but not sickly so, and a nice clean finish. Great mouthfeel, and paired well with the tamarind shrimp and spicy kim chi. Definitely worth remembering and picking up.

Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry

I've been a fan of Manhattans for a while now, and in the last two years have even come around on Martinis and a range of other similar mixed drinks. But even as I've experimented with a wide range of whiskeys, vodkas and gins (home-infused and not), and gone so far as to make my own bitters (I'll get around to posting on that one fo these days...), the vermouth has remained the standard off-the-shelf variety. Mostly, because that's about all that's available.

But on a recent visit to 3Cups, I overheard Matt S. extolling the virtues of their (recently-added) AOC Vermouth, Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry. Intrigued, I interrogated further and learned that the staff had done a taste test with the Vermouth, on ice, by itself – and that it'd passed with flying colors. Say no more! I picked up a bottle of the Dry and of the Blanc (sweet and white – never even heard of such a beast before) – they were out of the Rouge – and prepared to give them a test-run that evening when B. and S. came over for dinner.

First, tasting straight-up, chilled.

Round 1: Taste Test

Dry: incredibly delicate and tasty, herbal with a nice bitter finish but not parched. Really does make a great apertif.

Sweet: fuller palette,  still nice herbal flavors but pops a little more without being saccharine in the way your normally think of sweet vermouth.

Round 2: Cocktails

Lately, Perfect Manhattans have been my cocktail of choice and this seemed like a perfect (ha!) opportunity to really put these vermouths through their paces.

Perfect Manhattan a la Carrboro

Ingredients

2 oz. Pendleton Blended Canadian Whisky
1/4 oz. Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Dry
1/4 oz. Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc
Dash herbal-citrus bitters
Dash Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters

Procedure

Add to shaker over ice; shake vigorously and strain into glass

Verdict


Maybe the best Manhattan I've ever had: balanced, delicate, flavorful with herbal, caramel, vanilla tones all melding together in an absurdly smooth drink. Obviously I can't speak highly enough of the Dolin – totally converted, and can't wait to pick up a bottle of the Rouge.

Domaine du Jas D'esclans Côtes de Provence Cru Classé 2008

A lovely white wine: full-bodied, nice vanilla flavor, a bit of acidity and fruit. Went exceedingly well with scallops and garlic – definitely recommended. Also, check out that saucy wolf logo!

2005 Cloudline Oregon Pinot Gris

Nice sharp nose, comes on a bit acidic with a full grapey body and a not-too-dry finish. Nice enough but doesn't stack up to the Four Graces.

Fresh Summer Dinner: Baked Cod with Basil, Tomato and Garlic on Pesto Pasta

Cod was incredibly on special this week at the Teet ($4.99/lb.!) so I stocked up. A day of tropical-style rainstorms had the world smelling green and my front yard smelling of basil, so it needed to be eaten. And it was, in two ways.

Roasted Cod and Tomatoes with Basil and White Wine

Ingredients

• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 thick cod fillets, about 4 to 6 ounces each
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
  
• 1 tbs. fresh, chopped basil
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry white wine

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place the tomatoes in a large baking dish (large enough to eventually accomodate the cod fillets in a single layer). Drizzle the tomatoes with 1/2 of the olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast the tomatoes in the oven until they are very soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and turn the oven down to 350°F. Transfer the tomatoes to a small bowl, add the garlic and basil, toss to combine and set aside.
4. Season the cod fillets with salt and pepper, drizzle them with the remaining olive oil and place them in the baking dish.
5. Pour the tomato mixture and wine over the fish. Cover the dish with foil and place it in the oven.
6. Cook until the fish is just cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Pesto was the family fave, Marcella Hazan's food processor pesto (I did a half-batch on whole wheat pasta).

Marcella's Pesto

Ingredients

2 c. packed basil leaves
1/2 c. olive oil
3 tbsp. pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before processing
salt to taste

after processing above:

1/2 c. grated parmigiano
2 tbsp. grated romano
3 tbsp. softened, room temp butter (add last and hand mix in)

when adding pasta:

use a couple tbsp. of the hot water to dilute and soften the pesto before putting pasta into bowl with pesto.

Verdict

Incredibly delicious. A winner of a recipe on the cod.

Wine

J.W. Morris California Gewürtztraminer 2007: Well, fine. Not terrible but definitely pretty sweet and none of the dry finish of an actually good Gewürtztraminer. But it's $4 and as a sweet wine on a hot day, totally fine.

The Four Graces Dundee Hills Pinot Gris 2007

I wish I were feeling more articulate about this wine, because it's an excellent one. It's a very archetypal mid-high-level Wilamette Valley Pinot Gris: dry, a bit tart, full of flavor and only a bit sweet. It's an excellent wine, and a very good pickup at the $15-a-bottle level. Drink it.

2006 Domaine Meyer-Fonné Pinot Gris Réserve Particuliére

I'm generally much more of a red wine fan than white, but I have a real fondness for pinot gris, due to its being generally a tasty but not-too-sweet white, with a dry finish. So when I had a chance to pick up the Meyer-Fonné on sale for $10 (usually a $20 bottle) at 3Cups the other week, I leapt at it. And it's certainly a nice wine, and very much worth it for me at $10. But... I pretty much echo Stephen Tanzer's thoughts on the 2005 - this probably could have used a little more time, as it was pretty sweet (almost Chardonnay-y, even), fruity and didn't finish particularly dry. Tasty though, with a nice sharp mineral character in the nose and the body, but if I'm going to pay full price for a pinot gris, I'm definitely going to go with one of the incredibly reliable and delicious Oregon marques.

Cserszegi Fuszeres Woodsman's White 2005

Another dry Hungarian wine, this a white from the Neszmely region, the Woodsman's white presents with a simple, perfume-y grape nose and doesn't get much more complex - but doesn't get bad, either. It goes down smooth, not too sweet and mostly dry with a bit of sulfite edge, it finishes as simply as it starts.

Espiral Vinho Verde

Another entry in the wonderfully long Trader Joe's $4 bottle of wine list, the Espiral Vinho Verde has been described elsewhere as "[s]pritzy and lemony with some killer acidity," and I wouldn't disagree. Like many of the $4 TJ wines, it is not a thoroughly complex experience, but is neither unsatisfying for it - a generically Champagne-y nose, with a bright young taste and a dry, fine finish. Adam M. says, "If you were at a large party and it were served by the case, you wouldn't feel bad about either drinking it or pouring it on your fellow partygoers."