May 2005
May 30
One of the songs I can’t identify is a beautiful swaying between a simple vocal round and total anarchy. Valerie Price and Brenna Whittaker have utterly satisfying voices, rich in any octave. It’s fantastic and haunting.
One of the last songs of the day is, once again, unknown to me, at least in this form. Valerie continues to emote as the song dies away, Lydia (accordionist) and Brad whispering light chords and just as our collective breath was to be taken away by the silence and then a drumstick scratching across the edge of cymbal (that came next), an ice cream truck drove by.
All the musicians were smiling.
May 29
With war as the theme, Brad has a piece partially penned in Mandarin. He translates (and my memory is fuzzy), “The Noble Leader thinks. He continues to think. He is still thinking.” And so on till the end, “The Noble Leader realizes that he can not only have poor people fight the war, he can also make them pay for it.” Snickers all around.
May 28
Brad Cox is a fantastic pianist and composer who lives at present in Kansas City and we are the richer for it. An afternoon concert for the Memorial Day weekend and Brad has assembled one of his large scale bands, tenor sax, baritone sax, flautist (also piccolo), drummer, stand-up bass, a gifted accordionist who plays with a band here called Tango Lorca, and three singers.
Part of the afternoon is given to re-tooled gospel tunes. As usual with Brad, there are songs I should recognize but can’t. He twists a Zeppelin tune into a signature changing nightmare. Or dream.
Brecht and Weill’s Alabama Song is delightfully recognizable. The three singers trade the verses about; it’s wonderful and silly. Since the theme of the show is war, they do a version of Randy Newman’s Let’s Drop the Big One Now.
May 27
I had two Riscal Ruedas recently: the 2004 showed lots of apples with orange and a note of lime leaf; it was a barely warm bowl of apples. The mouth was apple laden as well, with notes of orange and melon, soft and creamy, simple but very pretty.
I found a bottle of 2002 Riscal as well. And it wasn’t aging particularly well. Well, I take that back. It was really pretty, with some barrel hints leading to truffle and mushrooms notes. But it was already slipping, and I’d like to think that Verdejo has better longevity than that.
Yllera Vina Cantosan 2004 Rueda had a very bright and pretty lime laden nose. There were complexing notes of orange, lemon, melon, white pepper and red apple. The mouth was more of the same, good and classic Verdejo (apple, melon, and orange) with some white pepper and basil mint hints at the end.
May 26
Marqués de Riscal virtually invented modern Rueda. It was a place of ancient styled dessert wines, and Riscal rescued the Verdejo grape from its interminable grave. Unfortunately, at least to my way of thinking, Riscal noted a similarity to Sauvignon Blanc, or so the story goes, and planted that as well. Sauvignon Blanc features in a number of Ruedas, and I love the Verdejo grape so much that I regret Sauvignon Blanc’s annoyingly vocal presence.
May 25
One of my favorite unheralded grapes on the planet is the white grape of Spain’s Rueda area, just abutting the region of sexy, showy Tempranillo, Toro. Aura Verdejo 2003 has a very full nose of orange, baked red apple, melon and baked lemons; the mouth continues the theme with melon, lemon, cinnamon, baked and green apples and a hint of white pepper. Friendly and layered and happy with rich dishes.
May 24
Vionta Albarino 2004 was pretty as well. This Albarino has a floral touch but it’s more about orange, green apple, the cinnamon hint we associate with red apple, with much the same flavors in the mouth: orange green and red apple, but even more melon with some lemon. It’s round, soft, simple, and a bit floral and spicy in the end. I had it with grilled scallops and we drank the whole bottle.
May 23
Another version of the more generous style of Albarino comes from Pazo Pondal near the Portuguese border. The 2004 has a pretty floral and even slightly earthy note on a nose of round and creamy apples with an orange hint. The flavors are round, soft, easy, showing creamy apple with a cinnamon hint, red apple, apricot hints, and some lemon zest.
Pazo de Senorans 2004 has a very generous nose of apricot, flowers, earth hint, and bright orange; the mouth is round, the flavors are very orange, with hints of baked green apple; there is a soft, floral end with touch of cherry, ripe, bits of leaf, and baked apple hints.
May 22
Condes de Albarei winery in the Val do Salnes in Galicia is always offering fun Albarino. The 2004 shows a soft and floral nose with orange, apricot, baked apple with earth hints. The wine carries a round, but tart pear and apple finish, with baked green apple pie. Its tartness screams for shellfish.
One of my favorites is Lusco Albarino; their 2004 shows a friendly sweet orange and apricot nose, brightly floral almost like jasmine. The wine has some great layers of orange zest, lemon zest, green pear, green apple. The finish offers red pear skins, almost a roasted pear hint with banana.
May 21
Maior de Mendoza Albarino 2004 is from a more northerly, cooler area that typically offers an Albarino that is very focused upon tart notes. This has red apple with orange and apricot tinges, with a touch of earth and cinnamon; the mouth is red and green apple, lemony, tart, almost intense, like lemon dipped green apple slices, with pleasant length. It’s capable of handling far more dishes than one might think, because of its tangy acidity.
May 20
Martín Códax Burgáns 2004 - A pretty note of spice to an otherwise floral nose, with orange and apples of all type: very tart apple, red apple, granny smith, and ripe pear hints, it ends soft and crisp with white pepper and some melon. Very well balanced and capable of a few years in the bottle.
And the slightly more expensive Codax bottling of Martin Codax Albarino 2004 was just as impressive, with lots of pretty layers of apple, melon, orange, barely floral, some generous notes that almost show mango or papaya. The wine was friendly, soft, and creamy, with apple, orange, melon and a hint of white pepper; it has lovely balance and some few years ahead of it, if you don’t get thirsty first.
May 19
A pair of Valdemor wines: Valdemor Albarino 2004 with a bright orange, mango, and apricot nose with hints of wet cinnamon and wet nutmeg, as well as baked green tart apples; this is full and fun, with apricot, mango, and red apple, and showing some length.
And Valdemor Albarino Barrica 2002, which showed plenty of barrel fermentation smells, but they tended only to enhance the apricot, mango, and apple notes with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. The flavors were lemony, with red apple, mango and orange notes growing under black pepper, cinnamon and clove hints. Since it had some barrel time, it had good length, and was friendly and fun, with crisp fruit at the end. But at the end of the day, I remain a bit ambivalent. I think it ought to be treated as a complex aromatic white wine, like a Riesling, and not like the Chardonnay most would assume it resembles.
May 18
Albarino di Fefinanes 2004 from Bodegas del Palacio de Fefiñanes was a strange animal. The wine looked mature, even old, but had fresh fruit smells of apricot and peach slices with notes of lemon and green apple. There were pretty notes of honey and wet nutmeg, and the mouth was round, clean, and pleasant with baked apple, honey, and lemon. Still, I can’t imagine it has a lot of time ahead of it, and I’m sure it wants simple foods.
May 17
A slew of Albarinos to report as well, starting with Terras Gauda’s Abadia di San Campio 2004 - A nose of lime and apricot, and an almost orange fizzies zing to it, this shows a note of sweetness in its round, red apple and pear mouth. The pretty fruit character doesn’t mean it can’t handle virtually any fish or shellfish; it can and did with some grilled grouper.
May 16
Freixenet has a number of interesting brands coming out of Spain that are not Cava from the home base in Penedes. One is Creu de Lavit 2003, made from the Pansa Blanca’ grape (it’s called Xarel-lo in Cava country) and the grape strikes me as the most interesting grape in Cava. On its own in this bottle, it’s pretty cool as well.
The 2003 has a fresh and full nose with light florals (lavender), lime leaf, lime zest, orange zest, lots of green apple, and lemon zest. While fairly short, the wine is round and friendly, with sweet Meyer lemon, a touch of allspice, orange meat, and decent length with a little touch of dried herb at the end. I’m sure it needs to be consumed fresh, but it has real texture from the brief time in oak, but never sacrifices fresh fruit character for the oak texture.
May 15
What may be bewildering to people reading this is how the bottle of Tio Pepe they tasted five years ago was so different from my description. Let me help you with that problem. My bottle was FRESH. Freeeeessssh. It makes all the difference. If your bottle was open for a few weeks and sitting on a back bar at a restaurant, you haven’t really tasted Tio Pepe.
If you’re a restaurateur reading this, and you own that bottle half full sitting on the back bar for the last two months, do everyone a favor. Throw it away. Or cook with it.
May 14
Fresh Tio Pepe is bracing. And it’s an icon. The salt and the tang are all tied up together in the lemons, limes, oranges, green apples and almonds. It finishes with dried apple skins.
May 13
My fresh bottle of La Ina had intense and slightly heady flor smells, with almond meat, lemon, apple, lime leaf, and some orange. The mouth was crisp, clean, nutty, focused, and had a nutty/lemon pith end, with a touch of orange, lemon curd, red apple, even some fig. Sound complex? It was. And it showed delicacy, even at 17% alcohol.
May 12
Having a bottle of Domecq Manzanilla at the dinner table brought out a curious synergy. It had the usual salty, nutty nose with red apple and crisp citrus aromas. The mouth was classic Manzanilla: the light, tangy, and juicy notes of grapefruit, orange, lemon, almond meat and red apple. Good length.
But the interesting part was how it didn’t, as is so often presupposed, enjoy salty foods as much as it did oily foods. Almonds, olives and the like went limp. But with calamari, with oily sardines, oivay como va!
May 11
Joan Sarda Cava Brut - This is distinctly toasty and dramatic cava that wants simple foods to strut its stuff. Layers of fruits such as orange, peach, cherry and red apple, with many of the same notes at the mild and pleasing end.
May 10
Mont-Ferrant Brut Rosé - Very attractive rosado cava, with strawberry, raspberries and other red fruits in a tangy red cherry and raspberry soft ending. The yeastiness is present but underlies the fruit, and it finishes clean and dry.
May 9
Agusti Torello Kripta 2000 - An impressive and balanced effort, with orange, lemon, pear, and nuttiness on the nose, and flavors of orange pear and a honey-dipped green apple slice at the end. Complex bubbly like this can be great on its own, or with light appetizers.
May 8
A wealth of delicious Spanish wines to review including a few pretty cavas. Agusti Torello Mata Cava Reserva 2002 - A very attractive nose with some yeastiness, toast, lemon and creamy green apple, the mouth is full and round but dry, with a little floral note and lemon zest at the finish. By itself, or with light foods, this is very stylish.
May 7
Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc 2003 Horse Heaven Vineyard is the product of one of Washington's greatest and coolest vineyards. In most vintages, Horse Heaven is not a sure thing, even with a variety friendly to cool vintages such as Sauvignon Blanc.
But two things have changed: the vintages are no longer so cool in Washington, and Ste Michelle seems to be getting a real handle on the grape. Despite the Bush administration's ostrich act, global warming is real and cool vineyards are nearly hot. This is laden with white pepper, notes of green pepper and nutmeg, cooked pears and apples and notes of orange and grapefruit. Lengthy, weighty and crisp.
May 6
SoloRosa 2004 California Rose - pink wine is not for very everybody, I know. It’s just that most people like it, and the wine press likes to ignore these wines despite that fact. Strawberry, raspberry and red currants flavors in a soft, somewhat simple finish. But simple isn’t bad when it comes to pink wine. Austere is bad, dull is bad. This is none of those.
May 5
I can’t recommend enough Mark Kurlansky’s books. A Basque History of the World is fascinating. Salt is great. Cod is required reading. The story of cod fishing is the story of mankind’s past, present and future. If you read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel and were transfixed, these books don't have the power and depth but have the research and are far easier reads.
May 4
In the middle of the film is an astounding portrayal of tuna fishing eighty years ago. The men stand alongside the boat, knee deep in the ocean, and pull the tuna out off handpoles. They’ve thrown out sardines to bait the tuna and they’re pulling out tuna at about three to the minute. And these are the kind of tuna you only catch in nets anymore, two hundred pounders.
The world of fishing hasn’t gone high tech because people were greedy. The world of fishing has gone high tech because there are far fewer fish today. It’s not that the fishermen got greedy. Okay, sure, some countries got greedy. But the problem is there are too many fishermen out there. Fish like the tuna are part of the mass species extinction that humans are creating.
May 3
The celluloid shark tale probably began with 1932’s Tiger Shark starring Edgar G. Robinson. The tough guy gangster is now a salty old Portuguese bachelor fisherman pining for a girl; any girl will do. Meanwhile he fights off the sharks; seemingly every fishing trip is a battle against sharks.
May 2
My friend Damon Ornowski gives me a bottle of Lungarotti Rubesco Torgiano Riserva Vigna Monticchio 1995. I’m pretty excited so I open it that night. At first, it’s plump and youthful. Then some cinnamon starts showing up, like the wet cinnamon note of New World Sangiovese.
Then the TCA shows up. It’s corked. The fruit recedes like a turtle’s head in harsh light. I hate corks.
May 1
Last night I drove back to SF and headed straight to Tommy’s. Okay, we had dinner first. Nice Venezuelan place and then we drank everything Julio put in front of us because we are smart about tequila and he is smarter.
