Reflections of a Wine Merchant

I just finished reading Neil Rosenthal’s book Reflections of a Wine Merchant (from FCPL).   Mr. Rosenthal is a thirty year plus veteran of the wine importing business, dealing mainly in European wines and especially fine Burgundies. The book was so-so.  I almost put it down which is very unusual for me. Unless you are a hard-core wine geek (guilty!) you probably won’t get a lot out of this book.  I did enjoy Mr. Rosenthal’s views on wine styles and the modern trend of wine reviewers become raw statisticians instead of writers.  However, the majority of the book was filled with tales of soured business relationships and what appeared to me to be a settling of old scores on the part of Mr. Rosenthal.   Weirdly enough there seemed to be a lot of tragedies in this book:  early death by brain tumor, paralysis in a motorcycle accident, drowning in an upturned car in a water filled ditch to name a few.   About halfway through the book I came to the conclusion that based on the way he portrays himself in the book I wouldn’t really like Mr. Rosenthal a whole lot if  I met him and would have no desire to hang out with him.  Of course what do I know right?  I’m just some anonymous guy with access to the Internet.  But I still think that a much better example of the genre is this book, which I reviewed last summer.

Brunswick Farmers Market

The Brunswick farmer’s market is now being held on Wednesdays from 4-7 p.m.  This is a change from last  year.  The location is the same, but I haven’t had a chance to go this year so no current reports on it.  Here  are my comments from last year.  Anyone else been this year and care to comment?

Banana Daiquiris

Forget that awful corn syrup laden; spawn of a chemistry set daiquiri mix.  Here is a recipe that hearkens back to the true roots of the drink and is already a regular in our rotation:

Put 1/2 to 3/4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice, 1 heaping tablespoon sugar, 2 ounces of light rum, and 1 cup of cracked ice into a blender. Add half a ripe banana (finally another use for them besides banana bread!)  and blend until smooth. The proper way is to strain the mixture into a chilled glass but we prefer to just dump the whole thing into a glass for a more frozen style.  This recipe doubles, triples or quadruples very nicely as long as your blender can hold it!

Anyone else find they drink more liquor in the summer months than winter?  What with mojitios, caipirinhas, margaritas and now daiquiris I know I sure do.  Winter is really just time for wine and ales.

Arroyo De La Vega Tempranillo Rose 2007

Another nice rose from Ye Old Spirit Shop on 7th Street.  This one was around $10 as I recall so it’s a decent value.  Made from 100% Tempranillo grapes.  Had lots of nice strawberry flavors with a hint of pomegranate.  Very fruity but without any sweetness whatsoever.  Had very mild acidity.  Both Mrs. F and I felt that it would make a terrific base for sangria.  A wonderful summer rose.

 Arroyo De La Vega Tempranillo Rose – Castilla y Leon, Spain
Rating 87

Taxes

I don’t think I’ve ever really raised a political issue here, but here is one that hits close to home:  The Associated Press reports that the Senate Finance Committee  as part of the “Soda Tax Bill” we’ve been hearing about is also considering increasing taxes on beer, wine and hard liquor.  Things are still preliminary but the AP is saying that the documents committee members were given call for the Federal tax on beer to go from 33 cents to 48 cents a six-pack, a 145 percent increase.  Wine will go from 21 cents a bottle to 49 cents a bottle, a 233 percent increase and hard liquor, from $2.14 per fifth to $2.54 per fifth, a 19 percent increase.

Things are still early in the legislative process, but now its my ox getting gored.  Let’s hope the liquor industry lobbyists can do their thing.

Truffles

The candy kind I mean.  You may remember that I had complained back before Christmas about the Candy Kitchen.  They seemed in disarray and tired.  However,  last week I was out stretching my legs and stopped by.  Looking around I saw a lot of new candy and noticed that they had reworked their truffles.  There were lots of new flavors .  Immediately one caught my eye that I knew I had to have:  Dark chocolate with sea salt.  Now I have to confess:  I prefer milk chocolate.  (Please stifle the gasps) and I like it unsalted, but I knew I had to take these home to Mrs. F.  They combined two of her favorite food things.  I was not wrong.  She gobbled them down and professed them the most wonderful thing to come out of the Candy Kitchen ever.

I was going to insert a wonderful close up picture of the truffles, but they didn’t last long enough to be photographed.  Go get some.

Budget Cuts and the Fourth Estate

I don’t think anyone is envious of those poor souls labouring in the newspaper business right now.  However one of my favorite abuse pinatas:  the Frederick News Post is really plumbing the depths.  Yes in their current “In Good Taste” column [Cue announcers voice: "In Good Taste reports on an unannounced dining experience and is not meant to be a critical review"]  they review  ,excuse me, report on…cue drum roll… the Waffle House.   Good God those budget cuts must really be hurting.

Should you have questions about the fare at Waffle House you can see the review unannounced dining experience here.  Some highlights include ”the portions were generous” and “the prices were modest.”  Coming next week:  The FNP reviews McDonald’s Value Menu.

Odds & Ends

Frederick Wine House is now on twitter.  Their handle/user name/id/ whatever you call it (you can tell I’m not hip with Twitter)  is FrederickWineHouse.  In the email they sent they listed it as FredWineHo.  What an awesome name.  It’s a shame I didn’t think of that.  Maybe I’ll start a spin off blog for just wine reviews.  When Fred Foodie wants to go lowbrow he’s Fred Wine Ho!

Speaking of wine reviews I noticed that they one of the wines they are pouring for tasting this Friday (6/5) is the 2006 Rabbit Ridge Allure de Robles.  I reviewed the 2005 here.  I’ll try to stop by and let you know what I think. They are selling the 2006 for $8.99.

2008 Estampa Rose

Now that warmer weather is upon us I usually turn to those lighter summer wines.  Top of my list are rosé wines.  Rosé wines have been making resurgence in recent years and if you seek out some good ones you’ll know why.  These are not the sweet cloying ‘white zin’ you may remember.  Neither red nor white they make a terrific patio wine or as an accompaniment with a wide range of foods. 

A recent one I found was the 2008 Estampa rosé.  This is a Chilean wine made from 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Syrah.  It had a nice deep red color- on the bolder side for a rosé.  It had a strong nose of cherry jolly rancher. Lots of cherry and white peach on the palate, but not sweet at all. Nice crisp acidity with a surprisingly long finish. A terrific rosé!  This was about $12 (I don’t remember exactly and I couldn’t find my receipt) from the Spirit Shoppe on 7th Street.

Wine School:  Rosé wines are not meant to age.  Look for the most recent vintage you can find.  This means you should be drinking the 2007 or 2008 vintages now.

The Recession Marches On

Is it the economy or just the usual darwinian cyle of life for eating establishments?  I’m not sure.  Haven’t seen too many open, but in  the past sixty days or so Hagan’s Tavern, Hennings, Los Potrillos (open less than a year) and reportedly Lotus Chinese Cuisine have all shut their doors.