Blog | AOC Fine Wines

Grand Vintage 2010; Sydney Delivers – by Brad Hickey

Posted by Brad - 03/10/10 at 03:03:11 pm

We are settling into what looks to be a grand vintage in McLaren Vale. The Gods have cooperated and kept the extreme heat at bay. Thorpe Wines has picked all the fruit off its “Pelion Block” and it looks healthy, fresh, and delicious. However, many growers here are hurting, and looking for somebody, anybody, to buy their fruit. Contracts aren’t worth the paper they are written on, and $300 per ton is not an uncommon figure, where the district average was once over $1000. Rumor has it that next year will be even more brutal with many a grower leaving more fruit on their vines, since there’s no point in picking something you can’t sell. Recently there was a suicide up the hill by a grower that was feeling the pinch. One never knows the ins and outs of these tragic actions, but we hope that it isn’t to be a recurring theme. Farmer suicides due to the drought inland have become a major worry, and I have never seen anything like it. I do live in a beautiful, albeit harsh, country.

We trod on, and sometimes try to celebrate the harvest. A harvest lunch at Alpha Box and Dice winery with wine educator Gill Gordon-Smith tasting Italian varietals helps distract us. This lunch/tasting was the first of three on offer this season; check with her bottle shop in the Vale, Fall From Grace, for more info. It’s a great chance to try some fantastic European wines matched against their Australian counterparts. Her superb and relatively new wine shop on the Main Street in McLaren Vale focuses on European wines from thoughtful, small producers and is offering tastings and all sorts of educational activities. It has become a great reference point for local winemakers and winelovers alike. And for me it is like being back in NYC again, since many of the wines Gill sells are impossible to find in Oz and were stalwarts on the winelists in places where I once worked.

There is a nice rhythm to the vintage this year, according to our viticulturist, Peter Bolte, unlike last years all at once blitz due to the heatwave pounding on the fruit. Thorpe’s winemaker, Tim Geddes, is crushing fruit now like nobody’s business, as is par for the course, but fortunately it’s coming in waves. Unlike the last few years when it was all over the place, or all at once, this year has a steady calm to it. Thorpe Sign The subregions around the Vale are harvesting in a timely fashion. As I get to know this terrain, it’s interesting to watch how different districts perform. One thing for sure is that the harvesters and semis loaded with grapes are working thru the night now. Transport specialists, like Sully here, are kicking long hours to get the juice moved from point A to point B. Of course, he always has time for a quick ale after work when pressed.

A quick junket to Sydney took me to 3 of the cities best spots: Quai, Est, and The Bentley. I’m still wondering how I made it home in one piece. Great rooms, superb sommeliers, and really nice food. The Bentley is chef Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt’s place and it just opened after a 6 week renovation. It is also home to ‘wunderkind’ Glen Goodwin, who keeps a low profile here. Glen ran the wine program at WD50 and worked on the all-star wine crew at Cru Restaurant in NYC for years before returning to Sydney to surf, readjust to a sense of normalcy, and marry his American sweetheart. The Bentley is the kind of place you want to go to all the time. In fact, it is where the sommeliers from Quai and Est go on their nights off. Enough said. Sit at the bar, pick thru the genius international list, and be served.

Food culture in Sydney is advancing at a fast clip. For the first time I met real talent in the restaurants I ate in. Ironically, most sommeliers here dream of going to NYC and doing the hard yards in the “center of the universe”. If only I could warn them; it doesn’t get much better than balmy Sydney, guys. Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one. Granted, NYC is the greatest city in the world, so I can see where they are coming from.

“It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts… For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.” Patrick Henry, US Lawyer and Patriot (1736-1799)

Recipe for Chateau Tour des Gendres white wines

Posted by Yoann - 03/09/10 at 05:03:05 pm

The following recipe will be great with these wines:

• Chateau Tour des Gendres White
• Special 30 years FASNY – Chateau Tour des Gendres White

Striped Bass Filets with spinach and oyster mushrooms

4 filets with the skin intact

1 lb of spinach, washed and de-veined

1/3 pound oyster mushrooms, washed and cut in half, or quarters if large

1 lb white mushrooms

6 Tbs butter

3 Tsp olive oil

½ cup Fish stock or vegetable broth

1 Tsp chives washed and minced

Salt, pepper

Simmer the Oyster mushrooms in 2 Tbs. water, 1 Tbs. butter and a pinch of salt for 10 minutes

Save the liquid and the mushrooms separately

Blanch the spinach 2 minutes in boiling water then rinse with cold water and drain

Sauté the white mushrooms in 1 Tbs. butter until dry, then add half of the liquid from the oyster mushrooms and 1 Tbs butter

In a separate pan, sauté the fish filets skin down in olive oil. Salt and pepper lightly while cooking (3-4 minutes)

Mix broth with the remainder of the liquid from the oyster mushrooms and bring to a boil

Remove from heat and add 2 Tbs. butter

Warm the spinach in 1 Tbs butter, then add both kinds of mushrooms

Serve each filet on a bed of vegetables, covered lightly with the sauce and a sprinkling of chives

Recipes for Chateau Tour des Gendres Red wines

Posted by Yoann - 03/09/10 at 05:03:09 pm

The following recipe will be great with the following wines:

• Chateau Tour des Gendres Red
• Special 30 years FASNY – Chateau Tour des Gendres Red

Roast chicken on a bed of Swiss chard with sautéed new potatoes and black olives

1 small roasting chicken, 3-5 lbs.

½ cup Nicoise (small black) olives (or more as desired)

1 lb. new potatoes

2 bunches of Swiss chard

½ cup chicken stock

2 branches of parsley

Salt, pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Season the chicken inside and out then brown in butter or olive oil with the liver and other innards in an oven-proof casserole, then transfer to the oven and roast for 1 ½ hours

Boil the potatoes in abundant, salted water for 15 minutes, drain

When cool enough peel the potatoes, sauté in olive oil then add olives, keep warm

Blanch the Swiss chard in boiling salted water, then rinse with cold water, and drain.

When the chicken is done, remove from the pan then gather the juices in the pan by adding the chicken stock. Bring mixture to a boil then pour through a fine sieve, set aside.

To serve, reheat the Swiss chard in 1-2 Tbs butter and distribute to plates.

Cut the chicken into serving size portions and place on the chard with the potato/olive mixture on the side.

Add sauce and chopped parsley

What makes a wine a particular color? – Tell me wine TV

Posted by Yoann - 03/09/10 at 03:03:28 pm

Today’s question is from Julie in Soho who asks Tell me wine TV “What makes a wine a particular color?”.

Original post: http://www.tellmewinetv.com/2010/03/09/what-makes-a-wine-a-particular-color-tell-me-wine-tv/
Website: http://www.tellmewinetv.com

Is Malbec only from Argentina? – Tell me wine TV

Posted by Yoann - 03/09/10 at 03:03:20 pm

Today’s question is about Malbec and Art from Bedford asks Tell me wine TV “Is Malbec only from Argentina?”.

Original post: http://www.tellmewinetv.com/2010/03/08/is-malbec-only-from-argentina-tell-me-wine-tv/
Website: http://www.tellmewinetv.com

Food & Drink – The Best in Vancouver a CNN iReport

Posted by Yoann - 03/06/10 at 07:03:04 pm

We were announcing last week the arrival of new wines from British Columbia (see A taste of the Olympics: new wines from British Columbia!).

Rasoul, the representative from the two sister winery is being interviewed by CNN iReport and provide interesting information on BC wines and pair his wine with food (video number 9).

The Bordeaux labels – Tell me wine TV

Posted by Yoann - 03/06/10 at 03:03:08 pm

Today’s question is from Mardy in Soho who asks tell me wine TV about the wines from Bordeaux.

Original blog post: http://www.tellmewinetv.com/2010/03/06/the-bordeaux-labels-tell-me-wine-tv/
Website: http://www.tellmewinetv.com

Corks VS Screw tops / Screw caps – Tell me wine TV

Posted by Yoann - 03/06/10 at 03:03:32 pm

Tell me wine TV today’s question is on Corks VS Screw tops! You are a lot to ask me in Greenwich (and I’m sure it is the same in the other stores) if corks are any better than screw tops. Jeremy gives you here an answer I hope you will find helpful:

Original blogpost: http://www.tellmewinetv.com/2010/03/05/corks-vs-screw-tops-screw-caps-tell-me-wine-tv/
Website: http://www.tellmewinetv.com

The Burgundy Grapes – Tell me wine TV

Posted by Yoann - 03/06/10 at 03:03:31 pm

Tell me wine TV answered a question on the Burgundy grapes today:

Original blogpost: http://www.tellmewinetv.com/2010/03/04/the-burgundy-grapes-tell-me-wine-tv/
Website: http://www.tellmewinetv.com

Introduction – Tell me wine TV

Posted by Yoann - 03/06/10 at 03:03:58 pm

Tune into Tell Me Wine TV , a daily podcast with host Jeremy Kaplan and many special guests.

These very brief daily presentations will tackle questions related to wine, great or small, submitted by readers, consumers, and you!

One entertaining minute a day about wine; take a look –you’ll probably learn something, and it’s fun.

To have your question answered, click on the link at the bottom of the podcast page!

Original blogpost: http://www.tellmewinetv.com/2010/03/04/introduction-tell-me-wine-tv/

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