Author Archives: colonelgrape

Sake and Sushi

Moby and I have been on a sushi kick lately but we have been going to the restaurant instead of getting take out. That being said they don’t exactly have a good Champagne selection so we’ve been having Sake. I don’t know much about Sake other than it’s delicious, I’m always up for it, and it should be served chilled. Warm Sake is very “American” and when ordered you’ll almost always get the cheap stuff and cheap sake is awful.

This was Moby’s first and my second experience with unfiltered sake and it was fantastic! I’m not sure the picture does the texture justice but it was thicker than the last time I had it. It had whole milk thickness but grainer consistency even after a good stir. The flavor was excellent though and it was quite an experience. I don’t think it’s for everyone but it’s definitely worth trying at least once.

This was a more traditional bottle. Obviously everything in Japanese but you can make out the name or region (not sure which) at the bottom in English: Osakaya Chobei. This was truly outstanding, one of the best bottles I’ve had in recent memory. Light, mild fruit taste, smooth finish, just an all around delicious bottle.

2008 Marc Hebrart “Special Club” Brut

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Not much to recap in June as we stuck with some old favorites. However we recently filmed another episode of Champagne Meets Sushi and our guest star was “Special Club” bottle of 2008 Marc Hebrart. We tried a new Japanese restaurant in Sudbury called Fugakyu and were impressed with the sushi quality and prices.

The Club Tresors de Champagne is a group of Champagne growers that orgainzed in 1971 in order to present their best offerings in a unique way. All the producers grow their own grapes and the wines are all put into the same bottle with each wine maker putting their own label on the bottle. These wines are generally fantastic with subtle differences due to the terrior, village location, and grape blends. More information can be found at their website:

http://www.clubtresorsdechampagne.com/

colonelgrape: 95. I thought this was an outstanding bottle of Champagne. It was bursting with flavor and you could really taste the Pinot Noir. On the nose it almost had a little brett smell to it but that didn’t translate to the palate. It had some interesting fruit notes, apple being the most prominent, but also hints of red fruit. These Special Club wines are all about terrior and you could really taste it in this bottle. The minerality was perfect, almost like a nice Loire Valley white. I really like Champagnes that have a good percentage of Pinot Noir, it gives them better body and longer finishes than 100% Chardonnay examples. The fruit and acidity from the Chardonnay balances out the wine. I prefer wines in the 50-80% Pinot Noir range.

MobyGrape: 93: I thought this tasted like apple juice. It wasn’t juicy sweet at all, but it definitely had an apple flavor to it. And it wasn’t bad, like when people substitute applesauce for oil in brownies and whatnot. I don’t care what your granola friends say, it does not taste the same, you most definitely can tell the difference, and it sucks. Stop ruining junk food. I don’t know if a few grapes were swapped out with Granny Smiths but whatever happened in this champagne was a good thing. Not what I expected, but a most pleasant surprise

Happy 4th of July!

2004 M. Chapoutier La Sizzerane Hermitage

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Last week we made our biannual piligrimage to Capital Grille. Their wine list is expansive however you really need to pay attention to avoid over paying. Many of the wines are from good producers however often times they are young (Cabs from 07 or yonger) and marked up 2-3x per bottle. When going to a restaurant with similar wine lists it’s a good idea to take a look online and make smart choices. Capital Grille’s wine list isn’t available on their website but it’s findable with a little effort. With that being said we got a good deal on this 2004 Chapoutier Hermitage. This bottle retails for around $75 per bottle and we got it for $120 at the restaurant which is only a 60% mark up. We took a risk as 2004 Hermitage was not a perfect vintage and has already been declared to be past it’s prime depending on the producer.

We started out with Bluepoint Oysters (my favorite along with Naked Cowboys) and Wagyu Beef Carpacio and a Stoli Doli (pineapple infused vodka). Our main courses were bone in ribeyes medium rare with lobster mac and cheese and sauteed spinach. The oysters were the perfect combination of meat and brine while the Wagyu had fantastic earth flavors. The mac and cheese was uncharacteristcally dry which was a disappointment however the spinach was good with strong garlic flavor and good texture. The steak stole the show as usual with excellent marbling, seasoning, and the flavor concentration you only get with proper dry aging…worth every penny. For desert we had chocolate cake and my favorite: creme brulee which was torched perfectly.

colonelgrape: 83. One of my favorite movies of all time is City Slickers and I’d compare this wine to Curly….a great cowboy out for one last ride. Our gamble paid off and this was a tasty bottle at a decent restaurant price. Tough to tell color with the lighting but it had the nice aged purple/brick red hues. The nose was of extremely ripe black fruit, leather, earth, and definitely a little brett. On the palate is where the bottle fell a little flat for me. It was a little over ripe and had a port/raisin taste and the fruit was definitely past it’s prime but it all still worked. The tannins were gone and the finish was short. If given this bottle blind I would have said old Syrah but it was not as deep or bold as I’d expect from a Hermitage. I would have loved to try it in it’s prime but in the end it was a respectable final showing from the wily cowboy and now it’s time to move on.

MobyGrape: 89. This wine was ready to be put to pasture but it had one last wild ride left in it. It was a great purple color and just looked deliciously thick, probably due to the 8 years it had to build up sediment. It was earthy and had a port-y raisin flavor to it. Had a little tart kick left in it too. I wouldn’t have wanted to drink this any later than we did, but it was an excellent surprise addition to an excellent meal! Paired wonderfully with steak and chocolate cake, but then again what doesn’t?

May 2013 Recap

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The warm weather is here and it’s officially grilling season. That means plenty of Cabernet and Syrah for us as well as some nice refreshing whites. The summer months will probably bring less posts as we still enjoy our beer, sangria, and play sports in the evenings. With that said we tasted some great wines in May and have a few posts in the pipeline already for June.

Grapestorm Highest Rated Wines of May 2013:

2010 Louis Jadot Nuits-Saint-Georges – 92

2010 Domaine Schoffit Sommerberg Riesling – 92

Wines Rated:

2010 Emmanuel Darnaud Crozes-Hermitage – 85

2009 Chateau Rahoul Bordeaux – 84

Other Wines Enjoyed:

2011 Saint Cosme Cotes du Rhone

2011 Byron Pinot Noir

2010 Domaine Monpertuis Chateauneuf du Pape

2011 Domaine Huet Le Haut-Lieu Vouvray

2009 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon

NV Benoit Lahaye Grand Cru Brut Essential

2010 Domaine Schoffit Sommerberg Riesling

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A very nice bottle of Riesling from Alsace. This is a top notch bottle and will usually run you around $50. I picked it up last year at Wine Library for $40 and we brought it up the other night to have with some Thai food. While spicy Thai goes exceptionally well with Gewurztraminer I think it also works with the dry Rieslings from Alsace.

colonelgrape: 94. Definitely a French Riesling, dry as a bone. The acidity was just right and gave the wine some pep. The flavors came through after the inital rush: lemon, peach, orange, honey. A long finish, hints of mineral along with the tartness from the acid made it very enjoyable. I’ve been into minerality lately…really good terrior coming through from Loire Valley and Alsace recently. This glass worked well with the Thai food but I think it would be just as good on it’s own on a nice hot summer day.

MobyGrape: 90. I feel somewhat betrayed by Riesling. In my head, all Rieslings are all jolly German creations hopping around in lederhosen. They’re sweet and delectable and most of all…sweet. Let me warn you, this is not sweet. I will admit that yes, I had done a reasonable (minor) amount of homework about Rieslings and was fully aware that if from France instead of Germany, they tend to not be sweet. To that, I say stop fermenting everything and throw some sugar back in there, France. Even though I had an idea what I was getting into, I hoped against hope that this one bucked the system and decided to be a sweeter variety. It wasn’t, at all, but I can’t deny that it was a delicious wine. It was crisp and tasted like lemongrass. I don’t know if that’s a real thing you would want to eat or not, but I do know I’ve smelled it in soaps and whatnot. All that said, refreshing and lemony and delightful in its own way? Yes. Sweet? Noooooo.