Why don't they bite? It is all about excuses, isn't it? The wrong bait, the fish want something else, it's the wrong time, the weather is lousy, it's a bad location, ad nauseam.
Since returning from CA, I have contacted the editor of the newspaper concerning my wine article, have stopped in to visit with the caterer/food speciality shop owner and even approached a neighbor that just purchased a gas station/liquor store/campground. They are too busy right now and there is no space for an article. Blah, blah, blah....
Fear of the unknown. We all suffer with this ailment from time to time. But fear is so paralyzing! I realize that most of this comes from living in a small community with limited exposure. We get so comfortable with the everyday routine.
I haven't been fishing long, but I am about ready to move on.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Divine Wine
Sometimes, enjoying a glass of wine can be similar to practicing religion. Both have specific ceremonies, special glasses and each can cause anxiety. No wait, stay with me on this one.
First, there is opening the wine bottle. In an upscale restaurant, this can be very elaborate. As the customer, do you scrutinize the bottle, sniff the cork or affect a bemused expression upon the first sip? For me, this calls to mind the image of a Lutheran from a small congregation attending a Catholic mass at St. Peter's in Rome. All those furtive glances to see what others around you are doing. Stand, sit, kneel... Repeat.
Relax, the only reason to look at the label is to make sure the wine you are being served is the same as what you ordered. For example, if you want to try a bottle of Bordeaux from a "stellar" vintage, like the 2005 the critics are claiming is the best in the last 50 years, check the label when the wine steward presents the bottle.
Now, on to cork sniffing, which sounds somewhat illegal. Is it really necessary or just part of the stereotype? Yes, unless the cork is synthetic, take a whiff to check for the odor of moldy newspapers or wet dog. Both are indicators the wine may be tainted or more commonly referred to as "corked". This silly aristocratic gesture may just save your taste buds from a very unpleasant experience. Corked wine is a fault is caused by a naturally-occurring airborne fungus reacting with chlorophenols, which are industrial pollutants that are found in pesticides. The cork and oak trees absorb these compounds during their growth and because natural corks and oak fermentation barrels are porous, these fungi can develop 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) during the stages of wine production. Even though corked wine is not harmful to drink, it certainly is not pleasurable.
The choice of glasses can also influence your enjoyment of wine. And we are not talking about Mogan David in a plastic communion cup, people! A basic tulip shape allows the maximum air surface for the wine to release it's bouquet and then concentrates it at the top as you smell and drink it. In general, red wines, with their more concentrated and complex bouquet, benefit from a "fatter" tulip shape than do whites.
First, there is opening the wine bottle. In an upscale restaurant, this can be very elaborate. As the customer, do you scrutinize the bottle, sniff the cork or affect a bemused expression upon the first sip? For me, this calls to mind the image of a Lutheran from a small congregation attending a Catholic mass at St. Peter's in Rome. All those furtive glances to see what others around you are doing. Stand, sit, kneel... Repeat.
Relax, the only reason to look at the label is to make sure the wine you are being served is the same as what you ordered. For example, if you want to try a bottle of Bordeaux from a "stellar" vintage, like the 2005 the critics are claiming is the best in the last 50 years, check the label when the wine steward presents the bottle.
Now, on to cork sniffing, which sounds somewhat illegal. Is it really necessary or just part of the stereotype? Yes, unless the cork is synthetic, take a whiff to check for the odor of moldy newspapers or wet dog. Both are indicators the wine may be tainted or more commonly referred to as "corked". This silly aristocratic gesture may just save your taste buds from a very unpleasant experience. Corked wine is a fault is caused by a naturally-occurring airborne fungus reacting with chlorophenols, which are industrial pollutants that are found in pesticides. The cork and oak trees absorb these compounds during their growth and because natural corks and oak fermentation barrels are porous, these fungi can develop 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) during the stages of wine production. Even though corked wine is not harmful to drink, it certainly is not pleasurable.
The choice of glasses can also influence your enjoyment of wine. And we are not talking about Mogan David in a plastic communion cup, people! A basic tulip shape allows the maximum air surface for the wine to release it's bouquet and then concentrates it at the top as you smell and drink it. In general, red wines, with their more concentrated and complex bouquet, benefit from a "fatter" tulip shape than do whites.
Remember, there are no hard and fast rules in wine. It is not a "sin" to drink a red wine with fish or chicken, it just depends on how they are prepared. More on the commandments for food and wine pairings in upcoming days.
From Eccesiastes 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
What Are You Drinking?
Summertime, and the living and drinking are easy. There are lots of coolers for your six pack but consider a picnic in the park or a day on the boat with a bottle of wine. How about a Vinho Verde from Portugal, a pétillant or semi sparkling made from the Albariño grape variety. It is a light lemon colored wine that is quite acid with a hint of apple. Great paired with salad dressed with a vinegarette and fresh walleye. Want to know more? Check out episode #241 at Wine Library TV at this link:
http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/05/23/albarino-wine-tasting-episode-241/
Need a source for insulated totes? Try these:
http://www.comfortchannel.com/
http://www.picnicworld.net/
We bought a Built NY double bottle tote in the Wine Bar at the Ferry Building similar to ones found at this site:
http://wineracksplansandmore.com/
Don't forget the glasses and corkscrew. Or consider alternative packaging like a screwtop. It's summer, chill out!
http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/05/23/albarino-wine-tasting-episode-241/
Need a source for insulated totes? Try these:
http://www.comfortchannel.com/
http://www.picnicworld.net/
We bought a Built NY double bottle tote in the Wine Bar at the Ferry Building similar to ones found at this site:
http://wineracksplansandmore.com/
Don't forget the glasses and corkscrew. Or consider alternative packaging like a screwtop. It's summer, chill out!
It's a LuLu
Only the blue haired set arrives at a restaurant at 4:30 p.m., right? Not necessarily.
Our hotel offered a great breakfast starting at 7 a.m. so we filled up early and set off to see the sights. Occasionally we would grab a bite, like those great slices of pizza at Za's in the Russian Hill area, but normally two meals a day were the norm.
LuLu's was not normal, in any sense of the word. Like I mentioned, it was in an unlikely spot for an upscale restaurant, near the auto repair shops south of Market. Once inside, you were struck by the modern decor, the wood fired oven that displayed most carnivore's delights slowing turning on the rotisserie and a bar that spanned the length of the room.
As we were the only customers at that hour, they offered us a choice from their limited menu. We had so many interesting choices from antipasti of leek, goat cheese and bacon tarts, or duck confit salad with frisee, blackberries and walnuts or wild mushroom pizza with fontina and thyme but finally settled on two entrees. We shared the garlic goat cheese ravioli with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and parmesan and the spit roasted rosemary chicken with arugula, aioli and prosciutto on chiabatta.
The wine list had 5 wine flights, two pages of wine by the glass and 29 pages of wine by the bottle. The list was broken down by country and some even by region and appellation. Prices ranged from 2005 Garnacha Tintorera "Castilla de Almansa" Bodegas Piqueras from Spain for $22 to a 2004 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti for $4885.00. We choose a glass of the 2004 Petit Chablis, Herve Azo from France and a 2005 King Ridge Pinot Noir from Oregon. Both complemented our meals.
Next time you are in San Francisco, put 816 Folsom Street on your list, bring your appetite and credit card because you should never put a price on a good time!
Our hotel offered a great breakfast starting at 7 a.m. so we filled up early and set off to see the sights. Occasionally we would grab a bite, like those great slices of pizza at Za's in the Russian Hill area, but normally two meals a day were the norm.
LuLu's was not normal, in any sense of the word. Like I mentioned, it was in an unlikely spot for an upscale restaurant, near the auto repair shops south of Market. Once inside, you were struck by the modern decor, the wood fired oven that displayed most carnivore's delights slowing turning on the rotisserie and a bar that spanned the length of the room.
As we were the only customers at that hour, they offered us a choice from their limited menu. We had so many interesting choices from antipasti of leek, goat cheese and bacon tarts, or duck confit salad with frisee, blackberries and walnuts or wild mushroom pizza with fontina and thyme but finally settled on two entrees. We shared the garlic goat cheese ravioli with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and parmesan and the spit roasted rosemary chicken with arugula, aioli and prosciutto on chiabatta.
The wine list had 5 wine flights, two pages of wine by the glass and 29 pages of wine by the bottle. The list was broken down by country and some even by region and appellation. Prices ranged from 2005 Garnacha Tintorera "Castilla de Almansa" Bodegas Piqueras from Spain for $22 to a 2004 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti for $4885.00. We choose a glass of the 2004 Petit Chablis, Herve Azo from France and a 2005 King Ridge Pinot Noir from Oregon. Both complemented our meals.
Next time you are in San Francisco, put 816 Folsom Street on your list, bring your appetite and credit card because you should never put a price on a good time!
Too Gone For Too Long
What is it about getting older and having a routine? You leave on vacation, indulge on good food and wine, change your form of exercise, quit writing and then struggle to get back on track once you return. Today is the day! Yoga class begins again and I am going to put down this cookie and start blogging.
I actually missed cooking my own food, especially when we saw all the beautiful organic produce at the Farmers Market that is outside the Ferry Building on Saturdays in San Francisco. The huge vegetables, fresh herbs and succulent fruits just inspired me. We saw quite a few chefs with their rolling carts loading up at the vendors and just walking among the stalls, you were offered all sorts of samples.
To quote Rachael Ray "YUMMO"
I actually missed cooking my own food, especially when we saw all the beautiful organic produce at the Farmers Market that is outside the Ferry Building on Saturdays in San Francisco. The huge vegetables, fresh herbs and succulent fruits just inspired me. We saw quite a few chefs with their rolling carts loading up at the vendors and just walking among the stalls, you were offered all sorts of samples.
To quote Rachael Ray "YUMMO"
Saturday, May 26, 2007
What About Bob?
You remember the movie with Bill Murray. Imagine requesting a Golden Gate Greeter through your hotel, a native to show you their city like only they can. Now the twist. His name was Bob. What about Bob? He is a thin framed, bespectacled Jewish man in his fifties who has always lived in large cities. He walks almost as fast as he talks, even faster than me, which is how we managed to see so much of San Francisco on foot in less than three hours.
Due to conflicts in our scheduling, the first time we could meet was on Thursday, May 10 at 5:30 p.m. By this time, we had walked or been transported across a large part of San Francisco but had yet to head south and west. So we hoped that Bob would show us the sights of the Mission District, Hayes Valley, the Castro, Haight-Ashbury etc.
We were one of the last visitors through City Hall that night as they were setting up for a red carpet gala in the rotunda, we popped into Citizen Cake for a brief glimpse of Elizabeth Falkner and Bob did not even stop to sample one of her artful creations, we skirted the Tenderloin, cruised the edge of the Castro and got hip in a Haight sake shop. To slow him down, we offered to buy Bob some food and ended up at Pancho Villa for burritos with half of the Mission residents. The line wound out the door, a guitarist serenaded customers, children danced among the tables and the food was authentic and fantastically filling.
Due to conflicts in our scheduling, the first time we could meet was on Thursday, May 10 at 5:30 p.m. By this time, we had walked or been transported across a large part of San Francisco but had yet to head south and west. So we hoped that Bob would show us the sights of the Mission District, Hayes Valley, the Castro, Haight-Ashbury etc.
We were one of the last visitors through City Hall that night as they were setting up for a red carpet gala in the rotunda, we popped into Citizen Cake for a brief glimpse of Elizabeth Falkner and Bob did not even stop to sample one of her artful creations, we skirted the Tenderloin, cruised the edge of the Castro and got hip in a Haight sake shop. To slow him down, we offered to buy Bob some food and ended up at Pancho Villa for burritos with half of the Mission residents. The line wound out the door, a guitarist serenaded customers, children danced among the tables and the food was authentic and fantastically filling.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Brush With Fame Foiled By Twitter
Fate, karma, kismet, coincidence, whatever word you use, eluded me on Wednesday. May 9th.
As a follower, or vayniac, of Gary Vaynerchuk at Wine Library TV, I was amazed to hear that he was flying into San Francisco the same day as us "hicks from the sticks". I took the chance and e-mailed him to find out his plans. In my less than 15 minutes of fame, he responded and said he would mention a meeting place in his next webcast.
Enter Twitter. What is that, you say? For those of you under 40 years of age, no explanation is necessary, right? For the rest of us, who own a cell phone but don't IM or text message, it is another way to connect (distract, annoy, irritate or interrupt ) all the people in your lives.
We did not put Internet capabilities on our cell phone as we are both on our computers enough during our day. Little did I know that Gary would get signed up with Twitter right before his trip and would post the location of the wine bar where he and other vayniacs were meeting.
As it was our vacation, we left the cell phones at home, did not log on to our e-mail, but I did leave the name of our hotel with him.
Wednesday we arrived at our hotel about 1:30 p.m. and checked to see if we had any messages. The afternoon was spent walking, walking, walking and taking in all the sights of the NE section of the city and having a great meal at Sam's Grill. We stopped back to see if there was any word from Gary V. and then accepted that we wouldn't be sharing a glass and picking his zany brain.
San Francisco is a close second to Italy for cell phone usage by what we could tell... or maybe that is still NYC. Anyway, we were in the minority in that category as well as a few others. After watching a woman get struck by a car while walking across the street as she talked on her cell phone, I realized our country is seriously over stimulated. Twitter was the answer to a fateful wine encounter, I never received the question.
Give me the peaceful sounds of nature, any day.
As a follower, or vayniac, of Gary Vaynerchuk at Wine Library TV, I was amazed to hear that he was flying into San Francisco the same day as us "hicks from the sticks". I took the chance and e-mailed him to find out his plans. In my less than 15 minutes of fame, he responded and said he would mention a meeting place in his next webcast.
Enter Twitter. What is that, you say? For those of you under 40 years of age, no explanation is necessary, right? For the rest of us, who own a cell phone but don't IM or text message, it is another way to connect (distract, annoy, irritate or interrupt ) all the people in your lives.
We did not put Internet capabilities on our cell phone as we are both on our computers enough during our day. Little did I know that Gary would get signed up with Twitter right before his trip and would post the location of the wine bar where he and other vayniacs were meeting.
As it was our vacation, we left the cell phones at home, did not log on to our e-mail, but I did leave the name of our hotel with him.
Wednesday we arrived at our hotel about 1:30 p.m. and checked to see if we had any messages. The afternoon was spent walking, walking, walking and taking in all the sights of the NE section of the city and having a great meal at Sam's Grill. We stopped back to see if there was any word from Gary V. and then accepted that we wouldn't be sharing a glass and picking his zany brain.
San Francisco is a close second to Italy for cell phone usage by what we could tell... or maybe that is still NYC. Anyway, we were in the minority in that category as well as a few others. After watching a woman get struck by a car while walking across the street as she talked on her cell phone, I realized our country is seriously over stimulated. Twitter was the answer to a fateful wine encounter, I never received the question.
Give me the peaceful sounds of nature, any day.
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