Enjoying Italy

I was privileged to have the opportunity to taste through many wines at wineries, oenoteccas (wine bars) and restaurants while in Piedmonte, from some tremendous producers like Rinaldi, Ratti, Marchesi di Barolo, Bovio, Chiarlo, Gaja and Pio Cesare. I have really fallen in love with their complexity, purity of flavors and fine balance. The reds make terrific pairings for many foods with their accentuated acidity, especially as we look towards the fall and the earthy, rich flavors that come along with that season.

I was also hosted by Angelo Fornara at Batasiolo Winery for a magnificent line-up. Here are some notes from my favorites of the tasting:

Arneis 2009(white) slight copper hue, tremendous minerality, fresh, green melon, almond and surprising length on the finish. I really love this grape varietal and it is not particularly well known in the US. We have one at Slightly North of Broad, and I’d encourage you to try it next time you are in the restaurant. The mineral element really pairs nicely with some of our Southern style seafood dishes.

Barbera d’Alba “Souvrana” 2008 took me by surprise. It had a lot more body and depth than I am used to with this varietal. This surely has a lot to do with the fact that it is aged in 30% American oak which lends a real breadth and almost sweetness to the wine as well as the more expected toasty notes. I thought this was a real winner.

Barolo 2005 along with the Barolo Reserva 2004, Batasiolo also makes 4 single vineyard (cru) Barolos. This is their regular bottling and largest production Barolo by far. I found it young, ripe and powerful. Typically Barolo requires at least five years of age and some 10 or even 20 years before they really show their true potential because of the high acid and tannins found in the Nebbiolo grape. Typical flavors for this wine are tar, rose petal, licorice and an earthy, dry intensity all of which were present.

Vigneto Barolo “Bofani” 2004 this was wine from the vineyard where I stayed in the guest house and it might sound crazy, but the wine really reminded me of the place. Serene, pretty, softer and more feminine, the juice was more elegant with herbal tarragon notes on the finish.

Vigneto Barolo “Cerequio” 2004 this was more in a middle type of style. Generous and giving even at this early stage with a touch of green, dry pot pourri, sawdust and violets.

Vigneti Barolo “Boscareto” 2004 this was very different, much bolder and tighter in need of some aging with spice and hints of soy sauce. Definitely has some tremendous potential.

Vigneti Barolo “Corda della Briccolina” Serralunga d’Alba 2001 this was really special to try the 2001 and see where these wines can go. Beautifully balanced and persistent, it was like a long note held in harmony. Roasted tomatoes, truffles, leather, balsamic vinegar, mint and then an anise, fennel quality came to mind on the finish. Bravo!

Batasilo's Beautiful Tasting Room

Learning About the Wines from Angelo

Cheers,
Patrick

I am struck by the sheer natural beauty of this place. Green, lush hills contrast with the red terracotta tiled roofs. The crisp mountain air makes it feel very pristine; cool in the shade and very warm in the direct bright sun. Everywhere one looks there are grapes being grown. It is the season for “veraison” when the grapes start to ripen and turn red. I am completely surrounded by immaculate vineyards. There is a good reason for this, too. The international popularity of wines from this region have made the area very wealthy. One hectare (just over 2 acres of land) of planted vines would cost around $3 million. It is, however, a moot point as there are no prime vineyards for sale and the majority of landholdings have been in the families for generations.

Typical Barolo Street

The best place to see the region is from the town of La Morra at the very top of the hill. Looking down one can see a line of small villages within the valley that have become famous for the wines they produce: Verduno, Serralunga, Diano, Castiglione Falletto, Grinzane Cavour, Barolo, Monforte and so on.

View from La Morra

If you get caught up in the world of tasting wines from the Barolo and Barbaresco regions, beware. Nebbiolo can become a very expensive lifelong habit. It is fascinating to see the subtle differences that a wine from one town has from its neighbor. Of course, there is a lot of variation that stems from the winemaking techniques themselves from different producers, but I found there are distinctive differences between some of the villages too. La Morra seems to produces lighter wines with a zingy nervousness (almost similar to a fine Burgundy) whereas the wines from Serralunga have much more power and intensity of expression. Soil, aspect, vine age, vintage, etc. all make up for these subtle differences.

More to come…

Cheers,
Patrick

It is the light.  Beautiful, glorious streams of light pierce through the broken clouds and reflect off of the glistening airport tarmac.  This is the most striking thing that I notice upon arrival in Milan, Italy. 

I am gearing up for a journey that will take me through some of the greatest wine regions on this planet and I am excited.  A fairly terrifying three hour drive to the south west on the autostrade culminates with my arrival in the city of Barolo.  The suggestion of 110 km/hour acts more as a minimum requirement than a speed limit.  I fly past the famous towns of Asti (where the popular bubbly Moscato d’Asti is made), Alba (famed for its hearty wines made from Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo grapes) and Barbaresco (the revered, slightly more feminine style of Nebbiolo).  I am searching for the winery of Batasiolo near the town, but road weary, hungry (and thirsty), I cannot find the Bofani vineyard guest house anywhere and it is starting to get dark. 

Miraculously, I find the number for my contact and host Angelo, and through a mixture of mutually decided upon, massacred French, we agree to meet in the main square of Barolo.  Somehow, he tracks me down and guides me to the winery’s guest lodging; a converted 12^th century nunnery.  I assume (correctly) that they have since all moved on.

Me in Barolo

With the fading sunset bathing the valleys of vines in an earthy terracotta red, we venture up the hills to one of the famed communes of the Piedmonte region, Grinzane Cavour.  A little unsure if this is our destination at first, we park outside a 11^th Century castle, but I follow Angelo’s lead and start to climb up a series of stone circular staircases.  Halfway up, we push aside a large red curtain, and there, in the middle of the Castle, is a stunning restaurant (Ristorante Castello di Grinzane) framed in stone with arrow slit windows.

Famous Tower of the city of Barbaresco, Piedmonte

This was truly a breath-taking introduction to the beauty of this gem of an area hidden in the hills of Piedmonte  (literally “foothills” of the Alps).  The relief of arriving, accompanied with my first flavors of the region – Veal capparcio, polenta wafers, salamis, prosciutto, cingale (wild boar), truffles, ragout, fresh taglietelle pasta, porcinis, and tastes of white wines from Arneis, Chardonnay, Gavi di Gavi, reds from Dolcetto, Barbera and single vineyard Nebbiolo based Barolos from 1997, 1999, and 2001 (all tremendous vintages), have me mesmerized, satiated and excited for more…     

Cheers,

Patrick

Good God can it get any hotter?

Like all good Englishmen I enjoy talking about the weather as much as anyone, but really, this summer has been out of control, crazy heat. Durban, South Africa is the only place that I have been that is comparable to Charleston for the shear heat and humidity.

At home, my AC unit struggles to keep the temperature around 87 degrees running all day and night. We have survived on cereal and salads for weeks now living in fear of turning on the stove. I only turn on the cold tap for the shower and that is still pretty warm. I crossed the street today and my shoe got stuck in the melting tarmac and I almost got run over by a trolley.

What to do? Well, in my profession we recommend drinking as a method to cool off. (Cold beer seems to work pretty well for me.) As a sommelier, there are a few tricks that might just help you cool down during the next couple of months when you are drinking and selecting vino.

Go Light
Wines that are lighter in style tend to be more refreshing. Also wines that are not aged in oak barrels will brighten you up. Cool climate regions like Burgundy or New Zealand tend to produce lighter styles of wine. Cooler regions can sometimes struggle to get their grapes fully ripe, which leads to an impression of higher acidity and lower alcohol in the wine. Both of which are key to overall refreshment. (I assume most of us are not drinking 16% alcohol Zinfandel right now.) There are so many fun wines like Txacoli, Verdejo and Albarino from Spain, (Alvarinho in Portugal), Arneis, Soave, good Pinot Grigio (as opposed to most of it) from Italy, Assyrtiko from Greece, Great Mosel Riesling from Germany, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet from the Loire Valley in France which leads me to…

Go Bubbly
Champagne!! Hard to beat when you are looking for instant refreshment. Extra Brut and Brut Champagnes work wonders because of their dry, searing acidity in the mouth. Blanc de Blancs (literally white of whites) made from 100% Chardonnay tend to be lighter on the palate than sparkling wines made from Pinot Noir. Also you can extend the chill on Champagne down to about 45 degrees without compromising the flavor. Many other wines will completely lose their taste when served that cold. Less expensive alternatives like Cava from Spain and Prosecco from Italy can also do the job of cooling you down beautifully.

Go Rosé
I know I keep bashing on about it (See my previous blog on Pink wines), but Rosés are the red wine drinkers’ perfect summer choice. They are made from red colored grape varieties but only spend a little time sitting on their skins which is where the color in red wine comes from. They are lower in tannin and alcohol than most red wines too. If you want drink red, pick a Gamay from Beaujolais, or Pinot Noir from Germany or Italy (they tend to be lighter) and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes before you drink it.

It might surprise you but I also recommend throwing an ice cube in the glass. Makes sense to me.

Good luck out there and stay cool.

Cheers,
Patrick

I recently had the opportunity to compete in a gin cocktail competition.  The parameters were pretty straight forward – make the best original drink that you can using Bombay Sapphire gin as the base liquor.  Last year I was lucky enough to win a trip to Las Vegas to represent Charleston in the national mix-off competition.  After spending three days at the Palms hotel and literally soaking in the stuff, I thought that I would never be able to smell gin again. However, with professional determination and my English heritage intact, sure enough I was back at the wheel experimenting with all sorts of herbs, spices and botanicals.

Bombay Sapphire Competition

Gin – or as modern day mixologists may prefer to call it – “botanically infused Vodka” – has a checkered past. Quality issues and bad fermentation techniques literally ruined the health of the poor London population in the 19^th Century in much the same way that too much moonshine here turned you blind or insane (or both).   The name gin comes from the Dutch “Jenover” who invented it, but as with so many other things, the British “borrowed” it and made it their own in the form of London Dry. 

Neutral grain spirit produced in Scotland or France, normally wheat-based, is infused with various botanicals, primarily juniper berry, to produce the aromatic liquor.  Bombay Sapphire utilizes spices from around the world – Cubeb from Java, Grains of Paradise from West Africa, Coriander from Morocco, Angelica, Cassia Bark, Almond, Lemon Peel, Licorice, and Oris (Iris root), to make a splendidly smooth, balanced, perfumed (and strong) gin.

Classic gin cocktails such as the Negroni, Collins, and French 75 have recently come back into fashion after years of being overlooked by the vodka craze.  How many more flavor infusions can they keep coming up with?  Recently I’ve been presented with an Acai flavored Vodka… what’s next?

At the competition there was no end of invention from the Charleston bartenders who used ingredients like red pepper coulis injected with a massive syringe, beets, cilantro, papaya, green tea, eucalyptus and many more ingredients to add to their vision of the perfect gin cocktail. 

My drink used the dessert wine Royal Tokaji from Hungary (5 Puttonyos) with lavender syrup, lemon juice and a champagne float. The martini glass had an aromatic rim of crushed coriander and star anise (Maybe I was over thinking this one just a little bit – I did not win!)  The recipe was as follows if you’d like to give it a whirl:

 Sapphire Essenzia

Add:

1 1/4 oz Bombay Sapphire

1/2 oz Royal Tokaji (Hungary)

1/8 oz of lavender infused simple syrup

 Squeeze of 1/4 fresh lemon 

 Lightly rim martini glass with ground star anise and coriander dust

 Shake and serve up in a martini glass

 Top with ½ oz of Champagne

 Add fresh lavender sprig for garnish

On reflection, sometimes the simplest things are the best.  Some of my favorite memories involve a beach chair, a sunset on Cape Town’s 4^th beach, and an ice cold gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, naturally.

Cheers!

Quality, consistency, creativity….. and value! For years at Slightly North of Broad we’ve been on a quest to source beef solely from outside the industrial food chain. We tried Argentinean grass fed beef in the late 90’s (ahead of the curve but the quality was ultimately lacking), and now all the beef served at the restaurant is either grass fed local from Stevenson Place Farms in Hodges, S.C. (burgers and corned beef for the Reuben) or from Carolina Beef Distributors in Gaffney, S.C. (tenderloins).

However, when it comes to a big, fat, juicy rib-eye or NY Strip, the local grass fed might not meet your expectations. For those cuts we have been serving groovy upscale Meyers rib-eye from Montana whose claim to fame is humanely raised, hormone and antibiotic free, genetically pure Red Angus that is fed an all grass and grain (not corn) diet . Whew, that’s a mouthful, tasty too! The Meyers beef is very similar to what we have come to expect from industrial corn fed beef, but it ain’t cheap.

My question to you is — does it matter? Are you willing to pay more (an additional $3 – $5), for no hormone, antibiotic free, etc., or would you prefer to spend a few dollars less for industrial beef?

Thanks, Chef