Thanksgiving fun! Fried Turkey Mishaps, Purple Sweet Potatoes, and Stir-Fried Miso Collard Greens. Oh yeah … and Wine!

Okay, so this may be more about food and holiday than about wine, but it’s all related. Really. Trust me!

First, I’ll talk about the wines. Get that out of the way before I knit everything else together.

For an aperitif, Zach (of 2BC fame) brought a Zinfandel that he had purchased from Trader Joe’s. It’s made up of 81% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah, with dashes of Syrah and Carignan. It has aromas of spice, raspberry, and smoke laced with a hint of clove and black pepper. It’s jammy and fruity with not a lot of complexity or finish, but at $5.99, surprisingly good and very, very drinkable. My mom, who “hates” red wines, drank down a glass with gusto. And for those of you who wondered, yes, she swirls quite nicely, thank you. After all, she's the mom of Vegas Wineaux!!

At dinner, we had a white wine, the 2005 Cuevas de Castilla ConClass Rueda, from Spain. This is a blend of 80% verdejo, 10% viura and 10% sauvignon blanc, and pairs beautifully with nicely roasted turkey breast. In fact, it is almost a perfect pairing, with the fruitiness and acidity making a great foil for the sweetness and juiciness of the white meat.

The two Pinot Noirs were also served. One was the 2005 Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir. Man. What a nice wine … especially for $10.99!! First of all, it smells like Pinot is *supposed* to smell! On the nose, you get ripe black cherries, smoke, and a hint of spice. Core flavors of cherry coke, smoke, and plum along with notes of berries along with rounded tannins and crisp, balanced acidity stay with the wine’s surprisingly long finish. This fruitiness and acidity made it a perfect mate to my Cranberries in Port Reduction Sauce and the dark meat of the turkey.

The other Pinot was firmer, darker, and more “grown up.” The 2005 Magnet Pinot Noir has smooth dark fruit flavors and a nice balance of oak influence. The silky mouthfeel (always important to me) showcases flavors of cherries, dark berries, smoke, and earth. Firm tannins and tart acidity cut through the fat of the Thanksgiving meal (even through fried turkey!), and is a definite food wine! Delicious!

The ConClass was purchased at Valley Cheese and Wine and the two Pinots were purchased at Khoury’s. Thanks guys!

And now for the fun. Fortunately, my mother doesn’t own a computer, so I can talk freely here. What a story! She decided about three years ago that we were going to start a new tradition of fried turkey. I hated the idea because I’m trying to cut fried foods (except for stir fried, of course) out of my diet as much as possible. So now we were going to have fried turkey (and the subsequent WEEKS of leftovers!) on a regular basis?!? Now, although my mother is now 86, my female bloodline tends to go well into the mid/upper 90s, so I felt stuck. Fried turkey every year for the next ten or more years? Yikes!

The last two years have been, um, *eventful* to say the least. I won’t talk about her frying the turkey in her apartment. It was truly scary. Or the grease that I finally got scrubbed out of my patio concrete. Once again, a long story.

This year, everything changed!! Aunt Joyce (Mom’s younger sister) bought a turkey that was too big to fit into the fryer, which meant that it had to be fried in two parts. We were looking at eating Thanksgiving dinner late at night! This year, however, having had enough of fried turkey, I had surreptitiously roasted a small, free-range bird. It was properly brined for several hours (sea salt, evaporated cane juice, allspice, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic), rinsed, and slowly roasted. I just happened to mention in passing that I had this bird available, and it was a hit. We were enjoying dinner, wine, and each other’s company while the big bird was frying (and frying and frying and frying) outside. At that time my mother declared that this is the LAST time we’ll ever consider fried turkey. I did the happy dance on my butt!

I did “The” Brisket. It was from Costco, therefore a “company sized” cut, right? Well, I have a piece about 2x5 inches left. Lucky me.

I surprised everyone by baking a purple yam. A staple of Okinawa, it has a beige papery skin and a PURPLE interior! It is creamier than a “regular” garnet yam but still packs plenty of sweetness, and the color is arresting. Aunt Joyce didn’t partake because it wasn’t “normal,” but everyone else dug in with gusto.

The collard greens that I cooked departed (sucked down various gullets and shamelessly stolen from my home, LOL), so I had just enough to “do” something with. Well, I made a Soul Food Asian stir fry starring the collards, Vietnamese tofu, garlic, shallots, choy sum (a variety of bok choy), and Miso. YUMMY! Talk about a melding of cultures!

As you can see, my holiday was fun, and it’s always great to have loved ones around during these special times!

Next entry will be updating you on upcoming classes for 2008, including a wine class with no wine. Huh???? Stay tuned!!

By the way, the fried turkey eventually *did* finish cooking!

Dueling Blogs, Sneaky Tastings, Festivals!

Saturday was bunches of fun as the Fritz & Tex's Wine Club Thing met for its regular luncheon outing at the Marché Bacchus tasting. Because of previous obligations I could not join them for lunch, but was tasked by Agathe to choose the wines for the blind tasting! Gleefully and cackling madly, I chose two: a 2001 Michael Chiarlo Barbera D’Asti and a 2004 Saint Benoit Chateauneuf-Du-Pape Grande Garde. Both were yummy, but the Chiarlo stumped everybody. I confessed to my beloved group that if I didn’t already know what it was, I would not be able to guess what it was. After Rob, the MB Wine Guy stopped by the table and tasted the second wine, I asked him if this particular wine was typical. Since he had already seen the wine bottle, he gave a couple of observations, and the folks were able to narrow it down to a Chateauneuf du Pape. Incredible.

There’s more about the tasting on Scott and Elaine’s Blog, Vino Las Vegas at http://vinolasvegas.blogspot.com. They said very nice things about me, but my intentions were purely evil. I wanted to stump EVERYBODY!! LOL.

The day was followed up by a tasting at Tex & Gidget’s lovely home. It was Part Duo of a two-part Italian wine series. The first one two weeks ago demonstrated my blind-tasting prowess as I was able to ace four of the six wines. Saturday night’s tasting was, um, *humbling* as I bombed on all six. I will probably never get to be a truly snobby wine snob because my palate dies at a faster rate than my ego can grow! It just means that I have to drink more wine!

I had a great time at Khoury’s (Durango) last week as I stopped there for a tasting. Jim Moore, the owner/winemaker of l’Uvaggio di Giacomo winery in Napa was there with his American-Italian wines. I tasted the Arneis (yes, that’s a grape), Barbera, Rosé, and the dessert wine. The Barbera was wonderful, and I have to admit to being disappointed that he did not bring a Nebbiolo. I *hate* Nebbiolo in general, but since Fritz Reese brought an American Nebbiolo to the first Italian-themed tasting at Tex & Gidget’s, I’ve been intrigued. I usually find that for my tastes, Nebbiolos are thin and tannic, and not enough fruit for my overly-American palate. The Nebbiolo that Fritz brought was almost Pinot-like in character, and I fell in love with it. I had been looking forward to trying one of Jim’s Nebbiolos. The Napa Nebbiolos could make a fan of me!

I bought two bottles of the Barbera Rosé, because it was absolutely incredible. It’s a Rosé, all right, but it has so much “red wine” character to it that it puts a smile on my purple-toothed mug. The grapes are sourced from Lodi and have an amazing complexity for a Rosé. And at less than $10.00 a bottle, it’s a bargain that can’t be beat!

Thursday night again found me at Khoury’s (Eastern) enjoying a Sanford tasting. Yes, I bought some wine! I bought a Sanford Chardonnay which was so close to my idea of a perfect Chard that it was almost Mersault! Just enough oak to add the creamy character that I love, but not so much that I felt that I was biting into paneling.

And then I had an extra surprise! Bill (of Bill and tiny Chris, his wife) led me to the Las Vegas Wine Company, where I met a whole new group of wine folks! I had a fabulous time there and met several people there who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about wines. I didn’t leave until about ten, but left with a smile on my face and can’t wait to return. What a fun group!

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but although it’s not really “local,” the Trader Joe’s located on Washington near Buffalo in the city has wine tastings and food demos nearly every day. Stop by and say hi to Robin or Tony!

Now for a real Vegas event and tradition … the 35th Annual Greek Food Festival is coming! If you’ve never been, you’re missing out on a real treat! This year it’s taking place at its usual location on the grounds of St. John’s Church, an architectural wonder, September 6th through 9th. Stay tuned for more information.

The classes for Vegas Wineaux are being scheduled, and I will have more information for everyone shortly. I can’t wait to see you there!

An Unlikely Win and Old Faves

I couldn’t believe my lyin’ eyes. This couldn’t be true, could it?

My topic this week was/is “wines we’re embarrassed to admit that we like.” In my wildest dreams, I didn’t believe that real life would give me hand in putting together this entry.

First of all, I subscribe to a bunch of stuff. I receive emails daily on what’s going on out there in the worlds of wine, food, and Vegas. I almost always have *something* to talk about each week.

I read a byline in the list of items from the July 4 mailing of the Sacramento Bee. And what I read absolutely stunned me. Published on the online version of the Bee was the following:

Dunne on wine: What's up? 'Two Buck Chuck' the state's best?

What does that mean? That means that the ubiquitous Two Buck Chuck (that’s Charles Shaw, available only at Trader Joe’s) Chardonnay won double gold medal at the California State Fair wine tasting. Better than every other California Chardonnay.

I was stunned. Absolutely stunned. So I felt it was my moral duty to do something about it. “Something” included stopping at Trader Joe’s and picking up a bottle of the double gold medal winner.

It didn’t look good. Even though I don’t have to, I decided to protect the names of the persons who commented on my choice of wine as I carried it, label carefully hidden from view while tucked under my arm: “I won’t even use it for cooking.” “You are buying that?!? What’s wrong with you?!?” “I’d be embarrassed to be seen buying that.”

Not exactly an encouraging, auspicious beginning. But because I’m willing to sacrifice for the cause of the best bang for the buck, I forged ahead, accompanied by my oldest son, Zach. We socialized with the folks there, Zach ran into an old friend, and we just visited for a while. Then it was time to go. “You go ahead and go through the checkout stand, Mom. I left my wallet in the car. Yeah, that’s it! I left my wallet in the car.” I felt abandoned even by my own son.

I put the bottle in the fridge to cool off while we kicked back and enjoyed a Paso Robles duo of Josephina Syrah Rosé and Opolo Mountain Zin, along with our Caprese (home grown basil, tomatoes, and “perlini” (small mozzarella balls), unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and a sprinkling of Mediterranean black salt) and hickory-smoked boneless leg of lamb. Delish. Oh, we finished with a patriotic dessert of sliced strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. After all, it *was* July 4!

I asked Zach if he was ready to try the 2BC (that’s Two Buck Chuck for you newbies), and he took a deep breath and said, “Okay.” I opened up the bottle (real cork!), poured it into our glasses, and we peeked, swirled, sniffed, and tasted. Well. As someone who’s a Chardonnay snob (see the entry I made two weeks ago), there’s no way I could say that this was the best Chard in California. In the glass, the first thing I noticed was that it was very light, more like a Sauv Blanc than a Chard. The aroma was Chardonnayish enough, but the palate was, um, *disjointed* at best. And unlike the person at Trader Joe’s, I feel that it *can* be used for cooking! It’d make a decent enough Picatta reduction.

The best that we could do was to come up with the following opinions:

1. It doesn’t completely suck.


2. The judges were smokin’ crack.


3. Every single judge got paid off.


4. It was the last wine of the day and they hadn’t been spitting.


5. The judges were ringers.


6. They felt guilty about always awarding medals to the best wines.


7. They really thought it was the best Chard in California. (That’s just so bizarre on so many levels).


8. It wasn’t really 2BC in the bottle. They actually filled it with Cakebread.


9. The tasting must have taken place on April 1.

The link to Mike Dunne’s article is to the right of this column. I’m sure that you will enjoy his disbelief as much as we did!

On to the topic at hand. There are a few things that I learned last weekend. One of them is that we Wineauz (like that?) still have a special affection for the fluid that “got us started” into wines. Unless, of course, we got started with 2BC. But I digress.

It was the regular Tex & Fritz’s Wine Club Thing’s lunch at Marché Bacchus. I had almost forgotten (errands, etc.), but as I drove past Regatta, I suddenly remembered the luncheon and made what was probably an illegal turn into the street so that I could meet everyone.

I was happy to see the crew there, and I was asked what I was planning for this week’s entry. Of course I shared!

Confessions abounded.

I admitted that my first “wine” - other than my grandmother’s pear wine - was, like most people of my generation, Boone’s Farm. In my case, it was Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill, but with about 14 or so flavors to choose from, it can fill anybody’s need for a fruity, artificially-flavored wine. Once I realized that wasn’t *really* wine, I moved on to the real stuff. Mogen David White Concord. A few bottles of MD, some crazy friends, and stack of Redd Foxx records can make for a fun night if you’re snowed in. Oh, I’m originally from Philly, which is why I live in Vegas.

My next discovery was “Chablis.” If I went out on the town, I usually ordered “white wine,” or, specifically, “Chablis.” It was tasty enough, and I could hold a glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other and look very cool and sophisticated. No, I’ve never smoked cigarettes, but it was the *image* that counted. During those years, having a cigarette between your fingers automatically shouted “cool chick” to the opposite sex. Hey! I’m almost a Senior Citizen, so I’m accurately reporting the correct slang!

I went through a wine wilderness period where ignorance was the theme. I knew enough not to serve wine on the rocks (seven years of bartending instilled that into the deepest reaches of my psyche), but other than just drinking out of a “wine glass,” I didn’t know where to start. So White Zin was the drink of choice, occasionally supplemented with Merlot or the “house red” wine. The rest, as they say, is history.

What were some of the wines that made an impression on the others? Lancers, for one. Reunite on ice. Boone’s Farm’s many flavors. Mogen David, or, worse, MD 20/20. Ripple. Manischewitz. And the current favorite beginner “wine,” Arbor Mist. We were suitably embarrassed as we compared our old favorites. Gidget had an interesting commentary on her experience with 2BC. “Smelled good. Tasted like s**t.” We laughed, and then began to focus on the wines we’d be blind tasting. (2003 Domaine de Penouillet, Beaumes de Vinese, Cotes du Rhone Village and 2003 Rutherford Hill Merlot. I bombed the first one but knew the second was at least Merlot based. Sheesh.).

Much later I realized that if not for those old favorites, many of us may never have discovered “real” wines. And, although I know I’m speaking heresy here, sometimes a cheap wine is the only way to go.

I’m not about to open a bottle of my Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir to use as a reduction for my caramelized mushrooms. However, an inexpensive bottle of something that is relatively characteristic works just fine. All I need is the wine. Nuances aren’t important.

If I have visitors who don’t care for the impact of a good solid red or who are hanging out during a typical superheated Vegas summer day, then sometimes pulling the cork on a bottle of White Zin (or pulling the spigot from a box) is the only way to go. We’re talking about folks whose favorite wine is, in no uncertain terms, White Zin. It is (last I heard) the best selling varietal and is what saved the Zinfandel grape from almost certain extinction. What can impress many of these folks is White Zin on the rocks with a spritz of soda and a sprig of mint. A refreshing summer drink that even the most die-hard wine cynic can enjoy. So, as you can see, even these wines have their place in the Wineaux’s cellar.

Just stay away from my Kosta Browne.