Holiday Sumptuaries - Gifts of Christmas Past
Egg Nog and Plum Pudding: Recipes and Memories
French Christmas - Oysters and Mendicants
The Book Shelf
Books we hope to get for Christmas (and others)
Oversights and Additions:
Wines you can get your hands on -
Following Up on Spending Up
Evesham Wood Tempranillo 2006
Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 2004
Cantina del Pino Barbaresco 2004
Promises, Promises
Special Wines - for Special Times and for the Basement
We just bought two bottles of a wine that are a steal. And as of 2:00 PM Sunday, there are at least 4 bottles left at Vinopolis - 1025 SW Washington (503.223.6002) - and they are worth the trip. We will not be able to determine until later in the week if and where there are others to be had.
The 2005 Stockade is a 1,000-case cuvee of 100% Shiraz that spent time
in neutral French oak. It exhibits a deep ruby/purple hue, an opulent,
fruit-forward personality, plenty of blackberry and smoky notes, a
ripe, heady mouthfeel, and a nicely defined finish.
- Robert Parker, Wine Advocate
Rudsen Stockade Shiraz, 2005, Australia, Barossa Valley - 100% shiraz, deep red color, bright, currant and cherry overtones
Alcohol: 14.5% Bouquet: Ripe, dark fruit
Price: $17.50 Quality/Price Ratio: Very High
Spending Up
Two weeks when we recommended wines for Thanksgiving dinner, we broke our rules about recommending wines that cost more than $20-$25 a bottle. Above that price, the wine had better be good, and most generally are - so the business of recommendations, in our judgment, is best kept in the affordable range.
Thanksgiving in particular is a special case because wine and turkey are an uncertain pairing. But any holiday or celebration is an excuse to spend a little bit more. So go ahead, every now and then, splurge.
Another, maybe better, reason to spend up for a bottle of wine is to put it in the basement for a while and forget about it. Many wines improve significantly with bottle age - a lot of bottle age. 10 years is only the beginning for some varieties - cabernet sauvignon, nebbiolo, tempranillo, syrah - from places like the Napa Valley, Walla Walla, the Piedmont region of Italy (Barolo, Barbaresco),Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley in France, and the Rioja region of Spain. Even our beloved pinot noir fares better over time.(Though we think French Burgundy may age better than Oregon pinot, but we're not sure.)
Buy and Hold:
Think about it as an investment. Every so often, put a bottle or two away, forget about it for as long as you can, and watch what happens. The caveat here is that you have to buy a blue chip - a wine known for its ability to age gracefully, and blue chips don't come cheap. You will probably have to spend upwards of $40 per bottle (or more). But when you got to reap your investment it will have more than doubled in value. You will then have a real excuse for celebration - whenever you need it.
The other caveat concerns the basement. Wine is ideally stored at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Small fluctuations ( + or - 5 degrees ) will not make much difference. But years at room temperature will not serve the wine well. Also the wine must be stored on its side.
Because of our oh so temperate weather, Oregon basements, except for a few days here and there in August, are ideally suited to store wine. You do not need a special wine cellar. A closet or storage rack - one that is generally dark - will do just fine. We have been storing wine in a basement closet for years and are very pleased with the results.
Affordable Oregon Pinot
We have tasted as many 2006 Oregon Pinot Noirs as we could find. This is our advice: Get'em while you can! This is our report:
( Russ Raney at Evesham Wood, photo by Bertrand Celce )
With a few exceptions, all of the Pinot we drank, and we drank a lot, was good, fun and easy to drink. As Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher ( wine reviewers at the Wall St. Journal ) put it in A Wine Lover's Everyday Dozen, "We'd probably spend about $20 or so on a California or Oregon Pinot Noir...because these days, there are few wines as reliably food-friendly and delicious.
To our taste these are the four stand outs. Each of them improves with a little time -in the glass and the bottle. Each of them compares favorably with wines which consistently impress us, but cost significantly more.
In order from balanced to bold:
2006 - Evesham Wood - Willamette Valley
2006 - Harmonia - Quercus Wines
2006 - Lange Winery - Willamette Valley
2006 Westrey – Willamette Valley
For more information. see Pinot Noir Tasting Notes
"How can anyone be expected to govern a country with 325 cheeses?"
- Charles de Gaulle
Aged Boerenkaas
Rogue Creamery Reserve
Bandage Wrapped Cheddar
Barely Buzzed
Mopsy's Best
Sunset Bay ,
Petite Bonheur
Fenacho
Following de Gaulle, the view from the The Wedge, Portland's first homegrown cheese celebration, suggests that Oregon, while not in jeopardy of becoming ungovernable any time soon, is at risk of becoming somewhat unruly.
The Wedge was great fun and first among the many unexpected surprises was what to our taste was the best cheese at the show - an Aged Boerenkaas made by Willamette Valley Cheese Company. 'Boerenkaas' is Dutch for farmers' cheese' that has been hand-made on the farm using pure unpasteurized milk from the farm’s own herds. Willamette Valley's regularly available, award winning Boerenkas is a raw milk Gouda like cheese aged for a minimum of 4 months and is very good. The specially aged ( 18 months ) and unfortunately unavailable Boerenkaas ( even if you drive to the farm ) was amazing. The cheese is hard, almost brittle with caramel colors and flavors that sparkle across your mouth.
Jeffrey Roberts' Atlas of American Artisan Cheese lists 14 Oregon artisan cheese makers. If we expand our concept of 'Oregon' to include the territory covered by the Wedge ( Northern California, Washington, Utah, Oregon ), more than 25 cheese makers showcased their cheeses and the promise of good taste and small scale sophistication bodes well for the future of the northwest.
Others cheeses of note, that are available, included, inevitably Rogue Creamery's release of their incredible, Reserve Blue Cheese ( aged for 1 year, soft, creamy, intense, a little salty ), Fiscalini's Bandage Wrapped Cheddar ( aged for 18 months, very sharp, fruity, complex, even grassy ), winner of the Wyke Farms Trophy for the best extra mature cheddar in the World. This is the first time in the 20 year history of the WCA that this trophy has been awarded to someone outside of Great Britain.
In the completely out-of-the-box and delightful category was Beehive Cheese Company's Barely Buzzed promontory cheddar - hand rubbed with a Turkish grind of Colorado Legacy Coffee Company's ( the cheesemaker's brother ) "Beehive Blend" coffee ground with lavender buds, suspended in oil. ( aged, firm, full bodied, nutty ).
We loved Black Sheep Creamery's Mopsy's Best, a British style,raw sheep's milk cheese ( aged 3 months, hard, caramel color with multiple flavors that "wake up and roll over your tongue.") and sincerely hope that cheese maker and farmer Brad Gregory never goes back to his day job.
Chevre ( French for 'goat') or Goat's milk cheeses admirably populate the Oregon artisan cheese scene and of these we discovered two soft cheeses from Rivers Edge Chevre - Sunset Bay their featured cheese for October, which stands out by the fiery orange line of Spanish pimenton praprika running through its center, complementing the ash rind and the dense, creamy freshness that only 3 week old chevre can give, and their Petite Bonheur, a bloomy rind, surface-ripened cheese with a heart full of pink peppercorns.
In the last but not least category, Fenacho, from Tumalo Farms, a 2007 American Cheese Society Blue Ribbon winner, is a cheese that confounds our expectations. It is a very hard pasteurized goat's milk cheese made with fenugreek seeds ( rhombic yellow to amber colored fenugreek seed, commonly called Methi, is frequently used in the preparation of pickles, curry powders and pastes and is often found in Indian cuisine ). The seeds are sprinkled in the body of the pale yellow cheese imparting a sweet, oniony flavor and a crunchy texture.
For a complete listing of cheesemakers at the wedge - Artisan Cheese Makers in the Northwest.
Recommendations:
Apples, Cheese, Wine, Condiments
Fruits and Vegetables:
It's Apple and Pear Season in Hood River
Honeycrisp Apples from Hood River are in markets. Honeycrisps are harvested between
mid-September and mid-October. They store well when refrigerated but like all apples
start losing their tartness immediately when picked. Kiyokawa Family Orchards ( 819 Clear Creek Road, Parkdale, 541.352.7115 ) hold a Honeycrisp Harvest, Oct. 6,7.
Our favorite Hood River apple, Swiss Gourmet, can be hard to find but is worth the effort. They will be available soon - end of September, early October. New Season's informs us that they may carry them. They are available directly from Mt. Hood Organic Farms - (541) 352-7492 or (541) 352-7123 • 7130 Smullin Road, Mt. Hood, OR. The orchard sits almost on the shoulder of Mt. Hood and features amazing views as well as amazing apples. The trip out the gorge and up the Hood River Valley in the fall is wonderful.
"Real" Apple Cider, anymore, can be almost impossible find. Law and litigiousness result in cider that is pasteurized after being pressed. If you make the trip out to Parkdale, stop at Draper's Farm stand - 6200 Hwy. 35, Parkdale. Their homemade, non-pasteurized apple cider made with heirloom apples is the only "real" apple cider we are aware of. The label includes the warning "This product has not been pasteurized and therefore may contain harmful bacteria ... " Draper Farm holds a Cider Day Celebration on Oct. 27, 28.
Cheese
Gorwydd Caerphilly from Neal's Yard is a raw cow's milk semi soft cheese made by Todd, Maugan & Kim Trethowan at Gorwydd Farm in Wales and available at Steve's Cheese (2321 NW Thurman St. Portland, OR 97210 503.222.6014 ) and Whole Foods. The cheese is simple and very direct revealing a pure, clean flavor of the cow's milk.
The Wedge Cheese Recommendations: ( There will be many, many cheeses at the Wedge; following are some that we have recently tasted and enjoyed.)
Aged Boerenkaas
Rogue Creamery Reserve
Bandage Wrapped Cheddar
Barely Buzzed
Mopsy's Best
Sunset Bay ,
Petite Bonheur
Fenacho
Brindisi Fontina - Willamette Valley Cheese Company's Italian-style Brindisi Fontina is a fairly hard, golden colored cheese. The shelf aged hard rind and almost brittle texture is highlighted by occasional crystalline morsels sprinkled throughout. The cheese I bought from Pastaworks was aged for almost a year and had a rich, sharp flavor, unlike a softer, more traditional Fontina. Willamette Valley Cheese Brindisi Fontina is made from 100% Jersey milk and is a great table cheese and like its traditional cousin, and great to cook with.
Redmondo - Juniper Grove Farm's
aged, semi-hard goat cheese is lush, caramel, somewhat salty with a
pronounced flavor. We have been told that the cheese's flavor changes
significantly during the year.
Rogue River Blue - Rogue Creamery's award winning blue cheeses are all wonderful ( Crater Lake Blue, Rogue River Blue, Smokey Oregon Blue, Oregonzola ) Rogue River Gold
-- is released but once a year. This blue cheese is amazing and
probably worth the extravagant price. It can be hard to find; after a
little time in the market it is truly scarce. Try to get it early.
Rogue Creamery will be showing Rogue River Gold and their other cheeses
at the Wedge and it will be in cheese shops soon.
Beaufort D'Ete by Herve Mons is for a very limited time available at Pastaworks ( There is not much left.) .
Wine
2001 Panther Creek - Single Vineyard Noir may be still available - $19.99/ bottle
2006 - Evesham Wood - Willamette Valley:,very
bright, elegant, balanced, cherry flavors and bouquet, good acidity,
long finish and full flavors across the palate, "Evesham Wood is surely
one of Oregon's greatest pinot noir producers" (Matt Kramer).
Alcohol: 13% Bouquet: Bright, cherry
Price: $17.99 Quality/Price Ratio: Very High
2006 - Harmonia - Quercus Wines:
delicate, balanced fruit, light, floral bouquet of rasberries, good
acidity, genuine finish, full flavors across the palate, more
Burgundian than Californian. *
Alcohol: 14.5% Bouquet: Fresh, Floral
Price: $18.99 Quality/Price Ratio: High
2006 - Lange Winery - Willamette Valley:
ripe, fresh fruit, some concentration, fruit-forward but still elegant,
rasberry and cherry bouquet, hints of minerality and earthiness in the
finish
Alcohol: 13.5% Bouquet: Rasberry, Cherry
Price: $21.99 Quality/Price Ratio: High
2006 Westrey – Willamette Valley: medium bodied, fairly lush, concentrated, fruit forward, hint of tannins, ruby red, almost purple color, soft, easy to drink.
Alcohol: 13.5% Bouquet: Fresh
Price: $19.99 Quality/Price Ratio: High
Condiments, etc.