Brew Hops & Wine Stops

As a fan of the Gastronomía de España, I try to enjoy good Spanish food whenever I get the opportunity.  There are a couple of terrific and authentic tapas restaurants in southwest Florida, which I take advantage of when time and my travelling schedules permit.  I’m also a bit of an amateur chef-at-heart and will scour the web for regional dishes that are flavorful but not too challenging to prepare. 

Here’s a good tapas dish from noted Spanish chef Jose Andres that I found on the Vibrant Rioja website at www.vibrantrioja.com 

These chicken wings are moist and flavorful and a cinch to make.  Serves 4.

Pollo al ajillo (Chicken with Garlic)

10 garlic cloves

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

12 chicken wings cut in half at the joint

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup Manzanilla sherry

1/4 cup chicken stock

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

“Split open the garlic cloves by placing them on a chopping board and pressing down hard with the base of your hand or with the flat side of a knife. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over a medium flame, add the garlic, and sauté until it is lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the chicken wings, and sauté until browned on all sides, 5 minutes. Add the thyme, bay leaf, and sherry. Stir the mixture well so the oil and sherry emulsify, and simmer for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and cook for 1 more minute. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.”

If you don’t have homemade chicken stock, you can substitute a ¼ cup of sodium-free chicken broth.  I use my homemade turkey stock that I make after Thanksgiving and freeze in single serving containers for just such an occasion (see my “Talking Turkey (Stock)” blog from November 26).

For the Manzanilla Sherry, I used Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana.  We carry it at ABCFWS and it’s a relative bargain at $14.99 per bottle.  It also is a terrific match with this dish.  Serve it ice cold at about 45°F. 

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor, SW Florida

Guest blogger Kathleen Robinson is the Wine Consultant at our Lake Wales store.

One of the more challenging wine regions for beginners to explore is Germany. To that end, here's a quick reference to make it a little easier to figure out just what those labels are referring to.

Germany has the most northerly vines and so they are known for white wines, predominately the Riesling grape, which grows here when most other wine grapes won't.  Which is to say that most German wines you see on the rack in our stores are Riesling. Immediately you know to expect food-friendly wines with crisp acidity and peach, apple, and pear flavors, and flowery aromas, that will pair perfectly with spicy foods (Thai food, spicy grilled shrimp....)

Where it can get a little confusing for people is in the different label designations, starting with Kabinett. There are six harvests in Germany including Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein, and Trockenbeerenauslese.  Most people assume that the sweetness level always goes up as you go down the list. However, the idea that the longer on the vine the sweeter the wine just counts for the sugar content at the time of harvest.  All wines can be fermented dry and were for many years since the technology to stop fermentation is relatively new in the grand scheme. Now, of course, if you're looking for a German dessert wine, you'll head directly for one of the last three on the list: beerenauslese, eiswein, or trockenbeerenauslese. Those three cannot be made dry.

The new trend coming out of Germany is red wine with only two internationally known grapes: Dornfelder and Spatbrugunder (Pinot Noir).  Although not as well known as the white wines yet, they're worth giving a try if you're in the mood for something new. So there really is something for every type of taste in Germany!

Kathleen Robinson, Lake Wales Wine Consultant

Austria is known to wine lovers as the home of Gruner Veltliner, a crisp refreshing white wine, incredibly versatile, producing "warm weather" sippers, food friendly wine, and some lusciously rich sweet wines.

Until the late 1980's, it was primarily used to make jug wines.  Today, it accounts for 37% of Austria's total vineyard area.  Most of the vines are in the wine region of NIEDEROSTERREICH, along the Danube River north of Vienna.

Styles to fit everyone's taste!   The lighter style is made with grapes that are harvested early and show aromas of gooseberry and lemony freshness.  Next, is the classic Gruner.  This one is the most food friendly with vibrant aromas and flavors of spice, herbs, cracked white pepper and exotic fruit.  Now we move on to the powerful Gruners.  These are made from grapes that have been harvested very late.  The wines are richer, fuller, spicier and creamier.  Aromas of pear, almond, dried fruit, honey, green tea, and juniper are frequently noted.  Sometimes they are aged in oak giving the wine a sweet and smoky note.

When pairing Gruner with food, remember the lighter fare such as summer salads.  They also work well with deep fried finger foods.  Don't forget the Austrian dish, Wiener Schnitzel.  Sushi, shrimp, roasted pork and soft goat's cheese are also a perfect match.

The big powerful Gruners are best with monkfish, swordfish, lobster and scallops. 

A little-known fact about Gruner is it's one of the few wines that go well with the hard to match foods such as artichokes and asparagus.

One of the most awkward descriptions around might just contain the words "un-chill filtered." Huh? What is un-chill filtering? For that matter, what is chill filtering and what's the difference?

Chill filtering means that the whisky is chilled to around 32 degrees F, then passed through a filter that removes fatty compounds produced during distillation. These can sometimes produce a hazy appearance in the whisky, so removing them ensures that later the whisky remains clear. However, many whisky aficionados believe that chill filtering also removes some of the flavor and character from the whisky.

Un-chill filtered whisky, of course, does not go through this process. It's not necessary at higher proofs, either. To pure whisky lovers, though, the important point would be that the original character of the whisky is left intact, not filtered out.

One of our favorite distilleries, Burn Stewart (Bunnahabhain, Deanston, Tobermory, Ledaig) has recently made the move away from chill filtering altogether. The stock we have on hand is largely still chill filtered, but will be replaced by un-chill filtered whiskies at the higher proof. If you're a Scotch lover, this would be a great time to lay in some stock of the chill filtered whisky, then do a comparison tasting when the new, un-chill filtered whisky is in hand.

Guest blogger Adam Shugan is an associate in one of our Gainesville stores. Good beer is his passion.

Ever picked up a 16oz can of Guinness Draught or Boddington’s Pub Ale and heard a rattling sound?  That is known as a “widget," and is a device invented by Guinness in the 80’s. It came out on the market in the early 90’s.  A widget, in this case, is a nitrogen filled ball placed into the can before packaging.  Just after the beer is added, a drop of liquid nitrogen is added to the can.  The low boiling point of liquid nitrogen allows the beer to expand and pressurize the sealed can. The pressure allows beer to seep into minute holes in the widget.  Once the can is opened and equal atmospheric pressure is achieved, the ball releases the beer mixed with nitrogen to make millions of tiny bubbles.  This process keeps the beer fresh, and carbon dioxide out, so the beer does not have a flat taste.  The effect is a creamy soft taste on the tongue and it looks really cool when you immediately pour the beer into a glass.  Most widgets today float freely in the can as opposed to the first prototypes by Guinness, which were jammed into the bottom of the can.  There are also nitrogen-filled bottles with extra thick glass similar to a Champagne bottle to withstand the immense pressure.  Some other examples of nitrogen filled cans found at ABC are Greene King/Morland Brewery’s “Wexford Irish Cream Ale”, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and Murphy’s Irish Dry Stout. 

A word of warning is the smooth drinkability of these beers can lead to quick inebriation ;), so drink with care! 

              (Villa Maria Estates in Marlborough)

(Part 1 of this blog was posted on February 24^th. Part 2 was posted on March 10.)

             After a delightful visit and lunch at Cloudy Bay, Stephanie drove us over to Villa Maria where we were scheduled for a winery tour, tasting, and dinner, and where we would also be staying for the night, with a tour of the vineyards in the Awatere Valley planned for the next day.

            Villa Maria is, of course, a huge concern. Family-owned and headed by Sir George Fistonich, it is one of New Zealand’s largest and most important wineries. Their headquarters are in Auckland on the North Island, and their Marlborough base was built in 2000.

            Winemaker Murray Cook showed us around the winery after which we tasted some of the wines (there were more to come later) in the suite above the tasting room, where we would be staying that night.

            The Villa Maria wines are divided into four tiers. Private Bin is the entry level tier. Then there’s the Cellar Selection, Reserve, and finally the Single Vineyard tier.

            We started with the ever-popular and always reliable Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2010 and it was, as always, delicious. We learned the next day over lunch that Wine Spectator had just awarded this vintage 90 points, so there was much celebration. From there we tasted through the Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling (both 2010); the Private Bin UnOaked Chardonnay 2010 and their Single Vineyard Taylor’s Pass Chardonnay 2009; the Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2009 and Reserve Pinot Noir 2007 (which was one of New Zealand’s most famous vintages); the Cellar Selection Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon (which had a little Malbec blended in) and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (which had 30% Merlot blended in).

             After that came a break of a few hours before dinner. I settled myself into my room and then went for a walk after first lashing my face and arms with sunscreen. Apparently the ozone layer is especially thin over New Zealand and it is very easy to get sunburned even in dull weather. And this was a bright warm sunny day! Temperatures and weather conditions in New Zealand can change rapidly. Kiwis like to say that you can experience all four seasons in one day. Daytime temperatures on the South Island while we were there (in early February, which is summertime down there) got up to about 75 degrees F, though occasional cool winds can bring that down quite a bit. Night time temperatures went down to about 45 degrees F.

            For dinner, two of our Villa Maria hosts came up to our suite to prepare a meal for us and to let us taste more wine. While we sipped on the Villa Maria Lightly Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – this was something new and instantly appealing and so many New Zealand wineries seem to be jumping on the bandwagon – and Rose 2010, our hosts prepared a large bowl of green-lipped mussels in a white wine broth. What made this especially delicious was that they added a finely chopped red chilli pepper and covered it over with lots of fresh cilantro. It was delicious – so delicious in fact that after we finished the mussels, I drank all the broth myself.

             While the second course – New Zealand lamb – was being prepared on the grill I was allowed to choose a few more wines that I thought would be interesting to taste. We tried a Villa Maria Cellar Selection Hawkes Bay Arneis 2010, which was unusual in that Arneis is a traditional Italian white grape, mostly grown in Piemonte, and you don’t see it much anywhere else. We also tried an Ihumatao Vineyard Auckland Verdelho 2008, which is a varietal usually associated with Portugal and to a lesser extent Australia. The Reserve Hawkes Bay Syrah 2005 was also a winner. We finished with a Cellar Selection Late Harvest Riesling 2009 which reminded us how good New Zealand dessert wines can be.

            But the evening was not over. After our hosts left we decided to go outside and do some star-gazing. Our goal was to find the Southern Cross and the Magellanic Clouds. As we were way out in the vineyards far from any cities or towns there was no light pollution. I’d never seen so many stars in the night sky. I lay on my back on the grass and stared into the center of our Milky Way. The stars filled the darkness, like a beautiful swarm of fireflies, and there – just south of the dog star Sirius and the constellation of Orion – was the Southern Cross….

(This blog will continue next month with a visit to Brancott Estates, Monkey Bay, Nobilo, Kim Crawford, and much more.)

Bill Stobbs, ABC Wine Supervisor

On October 21st our ABC Fine Wine & Spirits team, expertly guided by Jonathan Shiekman from Margate Wines, visited the Ballot-Millot winery in Meursault. We didn’t know, entering the stone building of the winery,  that we were in for a treat!

We were greeted by Charles Ballot, the talented winemaker who continues the family tradition and crafts some of the best and most exciting white wines in Burgundy today.

We were delighted from the very first sip from the first wine presented by Charles. This was excellent stuff; hard to imagine but it only got better with every next bottle down the tasting line.

Chardonnay is its best from its place of origin, there is nothing else like it! And like they say in Burgundy, “the man makes the difference”: hats-off to Charles for putting perfection in the bottle.

Currently available at ABC and a must taste for every Chardonnay lover is the 2008 Ballot-Millot Meursault; this wine will charm you with its elegance, finesse and depth; the fruit and oak are generous but in perfect balance with the bright acidity; the unmistakable minerality carries on the long finish.

Every day becomes a holiday when I open a bottle of Ballot-Millot Meursault!

--Atanas Nechkov, Central Florida Wine Supervisor

With Easter just around the corner, I had a few ideas on what to serve with your Easter dinner. One very traditional meal served on Easter is ham, which of course can be quite salty. A wine region that produces wines that will match up with such a meal would be the Alsace region of northeastern France. You have a few good choices here, the first being Pinot Gris. The crisp acidity will really match up to the salty, spicy flavors of the ham. Alsatian Gewürztraminer goes perfectly with the many spices you may use such as clove, nutmeg and allspice along with a traditional mustard glaze. If you are a fan of Riesling this is a great meal to serve with either a dry Alsatian Riesling or a German Halbtrocken version from the Mosel. One grape varietal that has become very popular and would be a great choice to enjoy with your holiday meal is Grüner Veltliner from Austria.

 Baked ham in my mind tends to be more of a white wine meal, though you can also enjoy a couple different red wines with your Easter dinner, such as a Cru-Beaujolais from Brouilly or Morgon in the Burgundy region of France. Another good match with dinner would be Pinot Noir from Oregon, Burgundy or California. Here is a recipe I have used in the past to prepare a baked ham:

• Smoked Ham          -   about 6-8 lbs.


• Light brown sugar  -   1 cup


• Ground Clove         -    ½ teaspoon


• Ground Allspice     -    ½ teaspoon


• Ground Nutmeg     -    ½ teaspoon


• Spicy mustard        -    3 tablespoons

 Preheat oven to 350°. Put ham on a rack over a roasting pan and bake 10 minutes for each pound. Place spices, brown sugar and mustard in a small sauce pan and warm together, set aside. With 30 minutes left to cook ham, remove from oven and spread with spice mixture and cook for remaining 30 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes, carve and enjoy.

 Bigger, more full-bodied reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from France’s Bordeaux region or from California may not be the best choice with ham, but they really work well with a roast leg of lamb. This traditional Easter meal will also partner extremely well with a number of other red wines. I really enjoy drinking the Grenache-based wines from the Southern Rhone (France) with lamb. Spanish Garnacha (Grenache) is another terrific wine to serve with lamb and it will not break the bank if you have a lot of guests to entertain for Easter dinner. I normally shy away from some of the so called “modern style” of Australian wines, with their highly extracted fruit and elevated levels of alcohol, but I do recommend you try a bottle of Grenache from Australia with lamb. Another wine to pair with it is a Pinot Noir from the Hawkes Bay or Marlborough region of New Zealand.

 This is a recipe I found on the Epicurious website (www.epicurious.com):

• 1 well-trimmed 6-pound boneless leg of lamb, butterflied to an even 2 inch thickness


• 8  -  garlic cloves, peeled, divided


• ½  - cup whole grain Dijon mustard


• ½  - cup extra-virgin olive oil


• ¼  -  cup dry white wine


• 2  -  tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary


• 2  -  tablespoons fresh lemon juice


• Nonstick vegetable oil spray


• Fresh rosemary and Italian parsley sprigs

 Open lamb like a book on work surface. Using tip of small knife, make ½ inch deep slits all over lamb. Thinly slice 4 garlic cloves. Insert garlic cloves into slits in lamb. Combine remaining 4 garlic cloves, mustard, olive oil, white wine, rosemary, and lemon juice in food processor. Blend until coarse puree forms. Spread underside of lamb with half of puree. Place lamb, seasoned side down, in 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread remaining puree over top of lamb. Cover lamb with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

 Let lamb stand at room temperature 2 hours. Coat grill rack with non-stick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Sprinkle lamb generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill lamb to desired doneness, about 17 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer lamb to cutting board; let rest 10 to 20 minutes.

 Thinly slice lamb against grain. Overlap slices on platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh herb sprigs.

Ken Amendola, Wine Supervisor, North Florida

I was recently invited to dinner at a friend of a friend's house. She knew I was in the wine business and decided she would impress me with her prized bottle of unnamed reserve California chardonnay.

The food was spectacular, scallop ceviche to start and then bouillabaisse for the main course. The wine, well...not so good. That is unless you like okay, alcoholic, fruit bombs. I cannot blame the chef as she really didn't know my taste in wine. However...

With each sip of the big, rich, buttery wine, my mind kept wandering off to all the great alternatives I had resting on my kitchen wine rack.

One such wine that would have been a perfect match {for a fraction of the cost} is the Tenunta Le Velette Orvieto Classico. Orvieto??? The wine served in red-checkered-tablecloth restaurants across America? NO.

The estate of Le Velette is right in the center of the Orvieto Classico production area. The wine-making tradition of the area is ancient. The Etruscans were the first grape cultivators and wine producers. The presence of the numerous finds--pots, etc is witness to this fact.

Today the estate is owned by the Bottai family. They are pushing the quality levels to new heights for Orvieto.

The Orvieto Classico Berganorio is a blend of 45% Trebbiano, 25% Grechetto, 30% Verdello/Malvasia/Drupeggio. Delicate notes of flowers and tropical fruits continue on to a full flavored finish. The prefect wine for scallop ceviche and bouillabaisse. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Paul Quaglini

Guest blogger Adam Shugan is an associate at our Archer Road, Gainesville, store.

 The beer of the day is the United Kingdom brew by Greene King/Morland Brewery called "Old Speckled Hen." It was first brewed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It got its name from a car MG produced called a Featherweight Fabric Saloon.  It was parked in front of the factory’s paint shop where it received the nickname (in perfect British slang) ‘Auld Speckl’d Un’. This turned into "Old Speckled Hen" when the beer was unveiled.  The wily fox, always on the hunt for a hen, is the beer’s mascot.  This is a deliciously complex beer with hints of toffee and biscuit notes.  This is a true English Pale Ale with a heart of gold.  Look for it in a bottle or in a 16oz nitro-can for a creamier version.

Sadly, with the Japan Earthquake and its devastating tsunami dominating the news wires this week, it seems hardly fair to wax poetic about such trivial things as the enjoyment of wine.  As many in our nation celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy some lighthearted revelry (not to mention the fair bit of imbibing that will accompany many celebrations), one needs only to look across the Pacific for a stern reminder of how fleeting things in life truly are.  My heart goes out to the thousands suffering.  

Natural disasters have been with us since the beginning.  Ask those affected in Japan about their plight and you will hear the human echoes of recent disasters in New Zealand, Haiti, and Chile.  The Chilean reference here is apropos, as it was just over a year ago, on February 27, 2010, that an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the coastal area just north of Concepcion.  The powerful quake and its ensuing tsunami claimed over 700 lives, displaced 1.5 million people and caused an estimated 30 billion dollars in damage.

While it was coastal cities and villages from Concepcion to Valparaiso that experienced the worst of nature’s wrath, the damage was also felt throughout the Central Valley in the heart of Chile’s wine industry.  The wine regions of Maule and Bio-Bio were hit hardest but the stories of overturned tanks, damaged winery buildings, compromised irrigation systems and “oceans of wine” spilled (an estimated 125 million liters of mostly 2009 wine stocks) were commonplace as far north as Rapel and Colchagua where venerable wineries Montes and Casa Lapostolle reported losses.   Power outages and significant disruptions in roadway infrastructure were prevalent too. And all of this occurring as the industry was preparing to harvest its 2010 fruit.

Facing the daunting tasks ahead, the people of the industry did what humanity does in the face of adversity: the community pulled together and ultimately persevered.   After delays due to the logistical hurdles, the 2010 harvest started fitfully in March and progressed into late April and early May in some spots.  Yields were down 20% from 2009 but this apparently had more to do with an early season frost rather than the earthquake.

In the end, many vintners were very optimistic in regards to their finished wines.  It could be an outstanding vintage for the cooler climate grape varieties Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Syrah.   Optimism was also in order for the thicker-skinned Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere.  Reports indicate that those who harvested late produced elegant wines with good color, fresh flavors, ripe tannins and balanced acidity.  The 2010 whites are already starting to arrive here in the US.    

Year 2010 in Chile will always be remembered for the earthquake and the terrible human cost, but perhaps Vintage 2010 will be remembered for something just as vital: the propensity of the human spirit to endure.

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor, SW Florida

How do the Austrians get their locals and visitors to taste and buy the new vintage of their wines each year? 

In Austria, way before the early 1700's, vinedressers used to sell their finished wines to anyone passing by, as did their wine-making neighbors.  In 1784, Austrian Emperor Joseph II issued a decree that permitted all residents could open their homnes and sell and serve self-produced, and self-made wine, juices and food. 

This has continued down to this day and is called Heuriger.  (Hewig means "this year's")  People who produce their own wine may open their homes as so-called wine taverns, letting passers-by stop in to drink and purchase this year's wine.  Not only may they sell their wine, but, they may also serve and sell a buffet of cold and hot foods, such as wiener schnitzel, which is thinly sliced veal or pork coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  Other popular foods are cheeses and meats, and a spicy cheese called liptauer that is made from sheep's or goat's milk, quark or cottage cheese. 

 
Entertainment is allowed as long as it is not pre-recorded.  Usually, two performers called Heurigensanger sing along with guitar and accordion. Visitors sit at tables in the yard and eat, drink and sing along with the performers.  This is part of everyday life in Vienna, just as we would go to the theater or a sporting event.  You can take a walk and choose from the many Heurigers that are open.  If you find a bunch of pine twigs bound up and hanging over a door, it's a common signal to show they're open.

At this very moment, I wish I was sitting on one of the long wooded benches at a Heuriger, enjoying a glass of  Hopler Gruner Veltliner, and a plate of wiener schnitzel!

Marie, Wine Supervisor, West/Northwest Coast Florida

Looking for an Irish-friendly alternative to corned beef and cabbage? Here’re a couple of traditional recipes with Guinness added to give them the Irish touch.

 Irish Rarebit

• 2 T butter


• 2 T flour


• 1 tsp dry mustard


• 1/2 c. milk


• 1/2 c. Guinness


• 1 ½ c. sharp cheddar cheese, grated


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Four slices bread, toasted

 Combine flour and mustard. Melt the butter in a heavy pan, and stir in flour mixture until smooth. Cook on a low heat for a further minute, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat and slowly add milk, whisking until smooth. Return to heat and stir until the mixture thickens. Slowly whisk in Guinness. Cook this mixture fairly rapidly for 2-3 minutes then add grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste, and stir over very low heat only until all the cheese has melted. Serve over toasted bread.

 Irish Stew with Guinness

• 2 T olive oil


• 3 bay leaves


• 2 lbs beef or lamb stew meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch cubes


• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 tsp dried thyme, whole


• 2 tsp dried rosemary


• 1/4 all-purpose flour


• 3/4 cup beef stock


• 1/2 cup Guinness


• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley


• 2 large carrots, sliced


• 4 medium potatoes, cut in 1 – 1 ½” cubes


• salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine flour and herbs. Coat stew meat with mixture, reserving extra flour. Heat a 6-quart stew pot and add the oil. Add meat and any extra flour mixture, and the bay leaves. Brown the meat on both sides on medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook for a few minutes until onion is soft but not browned. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic.

Add the beef stock and stout; simmer, stirring, until liquid thickens slightly (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients and cover. Simmer until beef is tender and carrots and potatoes are soft (about 1 ½ minutes). Add seasonings to taste. Serve with rustic bread and a good red wine (or Irish beer).

Looks like another St Patrick’s Day has crept up on us (unless, of course, every pub around you has a St Patrick’s Day countdown clock). St. Patrick’s Day, of course, is that day when everyone, it seems, discovers a little Irish in their blood…which brings us to this handy guide to that most Irish of beers….Guinness!

 Guest blogger James Beaver is an associate at our Ocoee store.

 Guinness goes with everything!

 Well, not really… but there is a great deal of other brews that Guinness can be added with to make a spectacular drink. Many people feel left out on St. Patrick’s Day because they don’t enjoy Guinness to the extent that others do (or at all). Though, by itself, it is a spectacular stout with coffee and malt notes that never really goes out of fashion all year around. These upcoming mixes are for the folks that maybe want to enjoy a “Guinness Light” that doesn’t have the full body of a pint of Guinness. Hardcore fans may also enjoy these if they have not tried them (however, if they are like me, they may have already tried almost all of them).

 Perhaps the best-known way to enjoy Guinness is as a “black and tan” (with variations sometimes called “half and half”). Your choice as to whether it lightens the Guinness or improves the flavor of the other beers!

Black & Tan

• 1/2 Guinness 


• 1/2 Bass Ale

Hold your pint glass at an angle as you would when pouring a Guinness. Fill just over halfway with Bass Ale. Pour Guinness over an upside-down spoon to disperse the flow. Let settle.

 Half & Half

1/2 Guinness
1/2 Harp’s Lager

 Some people believe this is the true version of a Black & Tan. Smithwick’s can be used in place of the Harp’s. Pour as above.

Less usual ways to enjoy your Guinness:

 Guinness Float

• 1 tall glass Guinness or other dark stout


• 1 large scoop vanilla ice cream

 Place ice cream in Guinness. Drink.

Poor-man's Black Velvet (aka Snakebite)

• 1/2 pint Guinness


• 1/2 pint hard cider

 Any hard cider will do, but if you want to be a hardcore Brit fan, use Strongbow. (Some domestic hard ciders are a bit sweeter.) At a guess, this is called Poor-man’s Black Velvet because the “original” Black Velvet was made with Champagne, and cider would have been a much cheaper drink back in the mid-19^th century when the Black Velvet was invented.

Black & Red (aka Black Cherry)

 Guinness & Kriek (or my favorite Framboise, which will make the end of the drink sweet indeed).

Kriek is a Belgian lambic fermented with sour cherries. Framboise is a bit sweeter. ABC carries a couple different brands, including Boon and Lindeman. Mix like a Black and Tan, but to taste.

These are some of my favorite Guinness mixes and I hope you will try them out this St Patrick’s Day and all the rest of the year. Guinness has also come out with other variations of the their stout including their “Extra Stout” which is even more full bodied than the draught and should be used in these mixes with extreme caution. Guinness has also recently released a “Foreign Extra Stout” which is not as full bodied and has a more chocolate overtone though you may want to try it by itself before you incorporate it into any of these combinations. Remember to enjoy your libations safely this St Paddy’s day and as the Irish say, Sláinte!

--James Beaver, Ocoee

(Part 1 of this blog was posted on February 24^th, 2011.)

            We woke the next morning – our first full day in New Zealand – remarkably refreshed considering our long journey. Brad and I decided to take an early morning stroll around Blenheim, viewing the park, the war memorial, and simply watching the town come to life.

            Stopping at a bakery we ordered coffee and a breakfast roll and sat at a table outside. Ordering coffee in New Zealand is something that takes a little while for the outsider to decipher. If you want an espresso you ask for a Short Black. If you want a double espresso with extra hot water you order a Long Black. If you want a regular coffee with milk you order a Flat White. I won’t go into the bizarre kabbalah of such things as Skinny Flat White, Mochacinno, and beyond. Personally, I stuck to Short Blacks for the entire trip.

            Returning to our hotel we met up with Alex and Drew, and waited to be transported to Cloudy Bay Vineyards, which was about five minutes away. There we met Events and Wine Communications Manager and Sommelier Stephanie McIntyre, and Operations Winemaker Sarah Burton. After a little friendly banter we went into the private tasting room, where the wines were waiting for us.

(Some of the wines we tasted….)

             What better way to begin than with some Pelorus Non-Vintage Sparkling Wine, which I had tried once before in England but which is, unfortunately, not available in the USA. This is a delightful, quality traditional method bubbly made from 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir. (Cloudy Bay also makes a vintage Pelorus which is 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay.) The name Pelorus comes from Pelorus Jack, a famed New Zealand dolphin who, in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, would guide ships through the complex sounds at the north end of the island and safely into harbor. Later I learned that in 1904 he became the first protected dolphin in the world.

            Next we tried the Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 and their Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc 2010. The first is, of course, a staple and one of New Zealand’s quintessential Sauvignon Blancs. The Te Koko used 10% new oak – something I generally don’t care for with Sauveys – but this had great balance and cried out for food. The Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2007 used 20% new oak and also showed great finesse.

            Then came three vintages of Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir – the 2007, 2008, and 2009 – all of which were delicious, though the ’09 was still young. Sarah, the winemaker, had a preference for the ’07, though Alex and I slightly preferred the ’08.

            We finished with a Cloudy Bay Late Harvest Riesling 2005 – New Zealand dessert wines are definitely worth checking out and this one was a winner, with beautiful balance of fruit and acidity – and a Pelorus Non-Vintage Sparkling Rose. This last was a special 25^th vintage edition that is only available at the winery.

            After the tasting Sarah conducted us on a tour of the winery after which we had a little walk around the vineyards. We were interested to see so many large stones laid along the base of the grapevines – similar to the galets in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. And indeed – in the cooler climate of the South Island, these stones hold a lot of heat from the sun which brings a good deal of necessary warmth to the vine.

(Brad, Sarah Burton, Drew, Stephanie McIntyre, and me)

             Then it was time for lunch, which was served outside on a second story veranda – a delicious lunch comprising of an assortment of fresh local produce, meats, and seafood. There were green-lipped mussels, pears, sausage, meat, quiche, cheese, bread, and more. We re-tried the wines from our tasting with the food and, as always, it made the food and the wine even better.

 (Then it was time for lunch….)

             I finished with a Short Black. And looking over to my left at the northern Richmond Range of mountains, I could clearly see the same peaks that are silhouetted on the Cloudy Bay label. (The actual Cloudy Bay, by the way, is on the eastern coastline of Marlborough and was named not because of cloudy skies in the area, but because the soil on the coast made the water itself look slightly milky and cloudy.)

            After such a wonderful lunch in such excellent company, and after such good wine, it was a little difficult to rouse ourselves and move on. But yes, it was time for our visit to Villa Maria.

  (With Cloudy Bay Winemaker Sarah Burton)

(This is Part Two of a continuing blog about our trip to New Zealand. Later this month – a visit to Villa Maria, Brancott Estates, and much more.)

--Bill Stobbs, West Florida Wine Supervisor

The Syrah (Shiraz) from Michel Poinard is an estate wine of premium quality selling for the same price as the bulk juice of obscure origin of a major brand. Only 4500 cases are produced from this 20-acre single vineyard.

 

The Appellation is Crozes-Hermitage, located in the northern Rhone Valley. The village of Crozes is located behind the hill of Hermitage which along with Côte Rôtie have produced wine since Roman times and are the source of the world’s best Syrah.

While Syrah from Côte Rôtie and Hermitage can be pricy, Crozes-Hermitage presents the best value for this varietal.

Michel Poinard Crozes-Hermitage 2006 is drinking well right now or could be matured in the bottle for another 3-5 years.

-Atanas Nechkov

Hopefully some of you that read this wine blog had a chance to attend one of the four Italian Wine Tour events held last week in Vero Beach, Palm Coast, St. Petersburg and Sunrise. What an opportunity the wine lovers of Florida presented to question and converse with some very talented and passionate winemakers. We don’t do these events often enough, but with the expense and logistics of traveling back and forth from Europe it is no surprise. With that in mind, if one these wine tours show up on our tasting calendar again please do everything you can to make the show.

  We had winemakers representing four wine regions of Italy; Tuscany, Piedmont, Puglia, Veneto and a wine from Lombardi. A few of the artists attending were Alberto Passeri of La Gerla who was pouring his Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino. Alberto’s Brunello was my favorite wine of the night. It is an exceptional bottle of Brunello and his Rosso which is declassified Brunello is so much more structured than an ordinary Rosso. Gregory Perrucci and his superb Primitivo wines from Racemi, Alessandro Boido of Asti charming the guests with his delicious Asti Spumante and Moscato di Asti’s from Ca d’Gal, Giovanna Tantini from the Veneto showing her Tantini wines and Lara Pradal with two superb Prosecco’s and a Pinot Grigio from Collalto. This wine tour was largely due to the hard work and high energy of the importer, Nadia Galati. She has put together a great mix of wines and personalities that express the great talent and passion these people possess.

  Our guests were thrilled to speak to the people who we describe as ‘’the people with grape stains on their fingers” the individuals who can answer any question on their wines and the regions from where they are made. It is not very often you can talk and listen to so many Italian wine professional’s without having to use your passport. We will continue to present these wine tours, from Italy again maybe France next time or anyone of the other great wine producing countries from around the world. As I said earlier, if you do get a chance to make it to one of these fantastic wine events, please be our guest. See you then…

Ken Amendola

Wine Supervisor, North Florida

Not long ago no serious  connoisseur of wine would be caught dead drinking pink wine. Today as more and more people discover the quality and versatility of rose, the perceptions are quickly changing.

Last week at the South Beach Wine Festival the weather was beautiful, eighty degrees with a wonderful salty breeze off the ocean. At our ABC table we were pouring six different wines. Three reds, one white, one sparkler and yes, a pink wine. I was pleasantly surprised by how popular the Cape Blue Rose from Jean-Luc Colombo was during the event. Not that the wine isn't delicious. A blend of 40% syrah, 40% mourvedre, and 20% counoise, the wine is full of flavor with peach, rose petal and fresh raspberry notes. It was the perfect wine to enjoy while sampling food and strolling on the beach.

During a break from pouring I set out in search of other rose wines being poured at the festival. After nearly twenty minutes of futility I came upon a very crowed table where a pink wine was being poured. The wine was beautifully packaged and labeled, "Whispering Angel." The French woman who offered me a sample explained that the wine was produced by Chateau D'Esclans.

Chateau D'Esclans is a winery located in Provence, France owned by Sacha Lichine, the son of Bordeaux ledgend Alexis Lichine. The winemaker, Patrick Leon, has spent two decades at Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

One taste of this wine was all it took to see why the table had such a crowd around it. The wine was fresh, crisp and fruity with a dry easy finish. Produced from grenache, rolle and syrah this wine was well worth the search. Look for Whispering Angel at an ABC store near you.

Paul Quaglini

Guest blogger Daniel Eddy is a wine consultant in our Gainesville store (Newberry Road).

I’ve been wining professionally for over 23 years, and now I find that the wines that jump out at me are the wines that have something novel or surprising about them. Yes, really good ones tend to jump out at me too, but new experiences in wine tend to trump even my decadent favorites. At our last in-store wine tasting, I had one of those “aha” moments with a little Rioja from Spain, the 2007 Ramon Bilbao Crianza Rioja, Limited Edition. Last year’s vintage garnered a Wine Spectator 90, so I was interested in trying the new vintage with some of our regulars. This is a 100% Tempranillo, rather than the usual Rioja blend, and it has all that fresh tobacco and spice box character of typical Spanish Tempranillos, as well as the color, a dark garnet with hints of pretty purple at the edges.

My first distinct scent was of cedar shavings, and as soon as I commented such, everyone around me chimed in, “Yes! I smell cedar too.” This Tempranillo has loads of complexity on the nose, and each whiff brought me different nuances, from the cedar, to tobacco to spice box, to almost an herbal bouquet, like fresh Herbs de Provence, to dried fruits. This Rioja is still quite young, so I might recommend decanting it. On the tongue I got tart acid fruits, like red currants and cherries, becoming green Picholine olives, to finish with a toasty oak smokiness that I found very intriguing.  Perhaps only logical since it spent 15 months in French and American oak barrels. I get a hint of mocha or licorice on the final finish, again revealing a vast range of aromas.

 As always this wine will be better with food, especially considering its dense, acid structure. First, I’m thinking of smoked cheeses, like a Smoked Pecorino or a Smoked Gouda, to harmonize with the wine’s smoky characteristics. Salty Spanish cheeses like Idiazabal and Manchego would also pair very well, as the mineral bite of these sheep’s milk cheese will bounce off the herbal notes in the wine. Since I perceived olives, a nice bruschetta with an olive tapenade would make a perfect pairing, or some grilled or roasted eggplant, which would harmonize with this wine’s deep and rich flavors. The omnivore in me begs for a classic Mediterranean roast leg of lamb, with plenty of rosemary and garlic, after some marinade time in olive oil and red wine. Osso Buco would pair well with this wine, or even a pork tenderloin with an herbal rub.

The 2007 Ramon Bilbao will evolve in your glass throughout the evening, bringing us back to my original point of new discovery. What this wine misses in fruit juiciness, it more than compensates through complexity and density, and that momentary “Shock of the New” experience. Try this wine: it’s affordable at about $17 per bottle, and enjoy your own new discovery. Cheers!

Daniel Eddy,  Wine Consultant for ABC in Gainesville, Florida

 Note: Dan also writes about wine pairings for the Examiner. You can find more of his writings at http://www.examiner.com/wine-pairing-in-gainesville/daniel-eddy

In the wine world, there is often a reference to a singular grape that is closely identified with a particular wine producing country.  In essence, a varietal that is so connected to a certain locale that it is directly attributed to it even if the grape in question originated somewhere else.  Let’s play a game of grape association to help make this assertion, shall we?  Mention these wine producing republics and what grape immediately comes to mind as unique when you speak of them: Argentina, Spain, South Africa, and California.  Your answers should be Malbec, Tempranillo, Pinotage, and Zinfandel.  Okay, California isn’t a wine “country” but it does produce 90% of all vino in the US and on its own would be the fifth largest wine producing “nation” if it seceded from the Union.

So when it comes to South America’s 2^nd most productive wine nation, Chile, what unique grape variety is its most coveted?   That, of course, would be the red varietal, Carmenere.  How did this come to be?  Well, to be honest, mostly by accident.  You see, unlike botanists in South Africa, for example, who purposely crossed Pinot Noir and Cinsault genetically to create their singular varietal Pinotage, Chile literally awoke one day in 1994 to discover that their “raisin singulier” had been hiding in their midst unbeknownst to anyone.

As the story goes, it seems that Carmenere had always been with them (well at least since the latter half of the 19^th Century).   Back around this time, Chilean grape growers were importing vine cuttings from France, largely from Bordeaux, to be planted in the rocky alluvial soils outside of Santiago.  Much of what they thought they were importing was Merlot.  It turns out however, that they got a fair amount of Carmenere as well.  Merlot and Carmenere are relatives, and before Phylloxera wiped out all the great vineyards in Bordeaux, both grapes were important components of what went into the final blend.  Carmenere was susceptible to odium, however, and when the vineyards were replanted, it was slowly phased out entirely.

Back in Chile, Carmenere escaped extinction by being thought of as a clone of Merlot.  How is this possible?  Well, at a quick glance, the grape varieties do look similar.  There are differences, one of them being that Merlot ripens 2-3 weeks before its Bordelaise cousin.  They also taste different: Carmenere doesn’t share Merlot’s blackberry essence.  Instead, it offers up something more akin to a Linzer Torte – black cherry, with smoke and red spice accents.

Somehow, things got mixed up in the end anyway, and Merlot vines were planted side-by-side with Carmenere in many of the old-vine plots that still exist today.   Chances are that if you bought a bottle of Chilean Merlot back in the 1980’s, it was a blend of the two varieties.  Things didn’t get sorted out until a decade later when DNA testing revealed the true nature of things.  

Once the Chilean wine industry realized that they had something special, indeed unique, they moved quickly to capitalize on their good fortune.   New plots of Carmenere were propagated in locations that ideally suited it and varietal bottlings of Chilean Carmenere are simply all the rage.

And now we get to enjoy its singularity.

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor, SW Florida.

We are gifted the opportunity to try many, many wines in our business. Some from multiple vintages at a time, many are wines I would never try if it were not the job we do! Probably part of the reason we do what we do is for that opportunity! I admire Lafite Rothschild, but could not today afford to buy it, waiting 20 years to oooh and ahhhh over it. I also enjoy many wines which sell for much less than Lafite,  the pleasure they give equally that of Lafite…What they all have in common is a simple truth.  

Lafite should be Lafite, what makes it the blue chip that it is, is that it is true to form. Good Puligny-Montrachet only needs to be true to form, honest, to be great. The same can be said of many, many other wines. If a winemaker tries to influence the end result, the wine leans toward innocuous, and could be anything, but only Puligny-Montrachet can be Puligny-Montrachet. So many wines today, including most of the top scorers, could be lots of things, and I wonder if most of the audience that listens to these wines, including the critics that praise them, base their judgment on simple honesty, and not on weight, oak and power.

Some of the best wines, some of the wines that made me sit back and think (or think WOW!) will never score in the top 100, never beat 90 points, yet in total disregard to this merit, are as true and awe-inspiring as the 1982 Ch. Lafite Rothschild. The 2001 and 2005 vintages of the Ch. Chauveniere Muscadet Granit de Thebaud, which sells for a meager $15, is an austere, age worthy, simple white wine, perfect with soooo many seafood preparations, so true to what it SHOULD be, it is simply awe inspiring! Good white Burgundy, from the right producers, is the same…friendly with food, intensely flavorful, clean and focused…not much oak flavor here, but a laser of focused fruit, bracing acidity, and almost demanding food …So many of the world’s other offerings labeled ‘chardonnay’ are lost, trying to figure out how to win the elusive 90 points.

--Shayne Hebert, Wine Supervisor, Central Florida

DID YOU KNOW?

-  Foot treading of grapes is still used in producing a small quantity of the best port wines.

-  In ancient Babylon, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead wine (fermented honey wine), he could drink for a month after the wedding.  Because their calendar was lunar or moon-based, this period of free mead was called the "honey-month, or what we now call the "honeymoon."

 -  Thomas Jefferson's salary was $25,000 per year.  His expenses were great.  In 1801 Jefferson spent $6,500 for provisions and groceries, $2,700 for servants, $500 for Lewis's salary and $3,000 for wine! 
 
(Jefferson's dumbwaiter at Monticello to his wine cellar)

-  A 4 ounce glass of wine has 85 calories.

-  Mesopotamians are credited with producing the first wines, in 6000BC.

-  Wine's first purpose was as a water purifier.  Primitive people developed a foolproof method to kill any harmful organisms in their water.  They'd mix fermented juice from fruit (wine) and found the alcohol was a sufficient sanitizer making the water pure for drinking.

Marie Griffin, Wine Supervisor, West Florida