(Stocking up- This ride is gonna' git dirty!)
With my days at Murphy-Goode coming to a close, I'm really excited by the next steps of my wine adventure that sits just around the corner.
My life and lifestyle will change, but that is all part of pursuing a dream.
I am ridiculously excited to share my next steps with everyone on 2/15.
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. ...."-- William Hutchison Murray
This is going to get crazy!
Yesterday, Jenna and I headed for a "short drive" up and over Alexander Mountain in Sonoma County. With a quarter tank of gas and a handful of grapes, we tackled dirt roads, rock slides, a pack of wild turkeys, a menacing buck, and took in some great views.
This was a killer drive.
Jenna's post and photos can be found here
Last week, Jenna Webber (Eat, Live, Run and now Michel Schlumberger) and I headed over to Jeff and Susan's for a ridiculous farm to table dinner. Jeff and Susan run both Eastside Farms and Zin Restaurant in Healdsburg.
We spent a little time in the gardens picking peppers, the last tomatoes of the season, zucchini, and grabbing a few freshly laid eggs from heritage chickens.
In the end, an incredible outdoor kitchen feast of Zucchini carbonara, 4 types of pizza, freshly picked beans, a honey tasting (every meal needs a honey tasting), and honey figs with Bo Peep cheese (Thanks Doralice!!)-- If it grew, we picked it.
This was an amazing night, so much so, I put the camera down for most of the night, just sat back and enjoyed.
Thank you Susan and Jeff!!!!
Wines:
2006 Romilly Russian River Pinot Noir2006 Skewis Pinot Noir (spacing on which single vineyard)
(About 1800 above the valley floor)
Though dropping three figures on bottles that don't bubble is a thing of my past (I struggle to remember buying my last $100+ bubbling one too), I've enjoyed a fair amount of Peter Michael's wines poured for me by family, and poured on me by friends (that's how we roll when we make it rain!). In no way is this meant to be a discussion of their wine quality, just a statement that this is an amazingly picturesque place. Among being way the funk up in them thar hills in Knights Valley--> It is freakishly manicured, like Augusta manicured.
No, I didn't get a private tour (I'm still checking my mail looking for my invite). I have just made a couple rides way up and above their vineyards (praying on each descent that my brakes don't fail).
In wine, we talk a lot about "place", which to me is slightly different than terroir. Terroir is that part of place and people that shows through in the glass. To me, place is simply where the grapes are grown.
Peter Michael has place, ridiculous place-- Place that may just be worth a few extra bucks.
(I would like to host the Popeyes Online Wine Pairing Challenge in their party space on the left)
(Lady Dirty in for a quick visit from the ATL!)
cellarrat's Alan Baker displaying pure moustache power!
I'm a little slow throwing my first dinner party here in Healdsburg. Last night a crazy group of folks descended on Chez Dirty for a night of wine, grilled lamb, and more wine.
Cast: The Beer Wench, Shana Ray, Serena, Alan, Pedro, and the newest Sonoma county resident, Eric Hwang.
Some fun bottles without a stinker in the mix.
The Bottles:
Whites:
A wildly bright and rocky refresher. Open opening, I thought this bottle was "off"- it has some true funk. But after being open for 10min, it was singing. Thanks to the folks from Terroir for picking this out for me.
Green apple and lime in a glass, with decent rockiness and a little salt. Straight ahead juice. Dug it.
Another metamorphis wine- Tropical flavors up front, lush, and huge. This settled down to rock, smoke, toast, and citrus. Deep juice. I like it.
Yo. Deep. Almost heavy. Diggidy. Let this baby open up and warm up. I was afraid it was going to be shutdown being an 06, but it was crazy delicious.
One of the few West Coast Riesling I have had that hits you with mineral and rock first, fruit second. This is their "off-dry" which I prefer to their bone-dry Riesling. I think by off-dry, they are really just saying that they have one even drier- This is a pretty dry Riesling. Wild acidity, crisp, tart, citrus, stone, and steel.
Reds: None taken. Dug the 13.5% on the Teira Zin, 05 Radio-Coteau "La Neblina" super rich and textured, 07 Spot-On Syrah ripe fruit and black pepper, 05 Unti Reserve Syrah- YO!
Slideshow:
Compressed Peach with Yuzu, Yoghurt, Daikon, and Micro-Arugula
Matsutake Mushrooms, Dashi, and 07 Auxey Duresses
I have a warped framework when I consider Cyrus one of my local "watering holes".
Cyrus is a Michelin two-star joint, about 5 blocks from my home. It is good, very good, and it can be stoopid good.
Because I'd rather not mortgage the house back in ATL, I've only ever sat up at the bar and ordered single dishes (usually one, I have splurged for two).
What I love about this place (and this city in general) is the ability to roll in casual- No jackets, no "slacks", just bring a curiosity for food and wine (and yeah, some money).
Last night was pretty spectacular- A compressed peach starter (raw peach slightly compressed in a bag with yuzu, served with yoghurt, daikon,
and arugula) that was about as good as anything I've ever eaten.
Gently psychedelic mixes of sweet, tart, cool, pepper.... I would have
left happy with just that. Next, a bowl of fresh Matsutake mushrooms with Dashi broth and a cool glass of 07 Auxey Duresses (a white Burgundy / aka Chardonnay from right next to Meursault)
Surprisingly "new world"- The wine was bright, intensely fruity, and intense (but with little or no malolactic / butter and cream). My brain struggled to see how this would pair with mushrooms in broth... What the funk? The high acidity in this particular wine shined with the almost briny broth, and seemed to pop open the thin almost sponge-like Matsutake slices. The broth stank (like a good stank!) its way into the finish of the wine and just sat there for minutes... pretty unreal. Though perhaps a little too pretty to be a total freak-show pairing, this had me speaking profanity in tongues to my invisible friends at the bar.
To make the night even better- At the bar, we ended up in a three way discussion /debate on the ultimate wine pairing for Popeyes Spicy Fried Chicken. I'm sticking with Loire Chenin Blanc.
In the end, all roads lead back to fried chicken...
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