By Christopher Matthews
This past weekend I had a reunion of sorts. Not with college or grad school classmates, mind you, but with one of my favorite French producers from the Languedoc, Chateau Sainte Eulalie, located in the rugged, herb-laced hills of the Minervois La Livinière appellation.
By Christopher Matthews
For the second year in a row, the annual NYC tasting of the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux was affected by a blizzard — winter storm Jonas — this time the weekend preceding the January 25th tasting; last year’s was during! While most of the wines had arrived well before the storm, many chateau owners and reps were held up by horrendous travel delays, missing the event altogether. But in true New York spirit, the show went on, with industry volunteers pitching in for the pouring. And Jonas’ aftermath did little to dissuade the wine trade from attending the show, which focused on Bordeaux’s 2013 vintage.
Jonas at work
On the following day, the Wine Media Guild of New York (WMG) held its annual Bordeaux lunch, drafting off the Grand Cru tasting (the lunch had to be cancelled last year…due to the snow storm!), featuring the Chateaux of Malescot St. Exupery (Margaux), Prieuré-Lichine (Margaux), Phélan Ségur (St. Estephe) and Siran (Margaux).
Both events yielded valuable insights. Continue reading
By Christopher Matthews
It’s funny sometimes how the mind works, and how certain thoughts can lead to action.
The subject of this post — The Cricket Tea Room Cook Book — was co-authored by my Great-Great Aunt, Tona Webb Perry, and served as one of the guiding culinary references for my maternal grandmother, Mary Webb Smith (“Mom”) — an excellent southern cook in her own right — and her generation of female relatives and friends (the men weren’t cooking much back then!), as well as her descending lines. In fact, the cookbook, first published in 1938, was well-known throughout the South in its time, and had numerous editions. Growing up, I often heard it cited in conversations about favorite family dishes, from home-made rolls and desserts, to salmon croquettes. And, as I recently discovered, it’s collectible, and can be found online!
But this story actually starts with a piece of family art.
By Christopher Matthews
Tuscan wines, like Chianti (in its many iterations), the esteemed Brunello di Montalcino and the “Super Tuscans” (such as Sassicaia and Antinori’s Tignanello), are well-known on these shores, at least among cognoscenti.
Less familiar, but sources of distinct value, are some of the Sangiovese-based wines of the Maremma, Tuscany’s southern coastal area along the Tyrrhenian Sea. This includes the municipalities of Scansano, as well as parts of Grosseto and Magliano. Within this region, two Denominazione stand out, Morellino di Scansano DOCG and Montecucco DOCG, a relatively new appellation which is practically unheard of here, but is producing some compelling wines.
Location of the Maremma
For the first time ever, the producer consortia of these two adjacent Maremma wine districts recently conducted a joint tour of the US, showcasing their wares to the wine trade and media. On the New York City leg of this trip, over a dinner at Aroma Café and Winebar in the East Village, I had the opportunity to taste some wines from the region. Continue reading
By Christopher Matthews
It may sound a bit like “man biting dog”, but at the Wine Media Guild of New York’s (WMG) recent October tasting/lunch, the focus was on…cider!
Justifiably so.
“Hard” (i.e. alcoholic) cider is one of the hottest beverage categories in the US, with sales having tripled from 2012 to 2014 alone. Wine producers have been urged to assess the current and future threat posed by cider to their markets, in particular by the artisanal cider revival, driven by smaller craft producers whose ciders offer compelling flavor profiles that can rival fine wines (at lower generally alcohol levels).
Sponsored by WMG members Alan Wax and Carlo DeVito (who also spoke), along with special guest speaker Daniel Pucci, the cider sommelier at Wassail Restaurant on Manhattan’s Lower East Side (highly recommendable!), who gave the low-down on the process — and styles — of cider-making, the event at Felidia in Manhattan featured a top-flight line-up of cider producers from across the US (New York, New Hampshire, Virginia and California), England and France. Continue reading
By Christopher Matthews
Stop the presses!
For the first time since the award was originated four years ago, Millbrook Vineyard and Winery, the Hudson Valley’s perennial wine flagship, was not the sole Hudson Valley Winery of the Year winner at the 2015 Hudson Valley Wine and Spirits Competition. The co-winner this year, by virtue of multiple medals, was Robibero Family Vineyards.
This was just one of many surprises and firsts. Continue reading
By Christopher Matthews
…but probably not for long.
Yet for the first time since 2008, and only the third time since 2000, Riesling was not the grape of the NY Governor’s Cup winner (i.e. the “Best in Show) at the New York Wine and Food Classic on August 11-12, 2015.
The winning wine was Ventosa Vineyards 2011 Lemberger, a peppery Austro-Germanic red grape (also known as Blaufränkisch), which does well in New York’s cool climates, especially in the Finger Lakes, where Ventosa is located (Seneca Lake). It was also voted Best Red Wine and Best Lemberger on its way to the ultimate award.
Ventosa Vineyards, Governor’s Cup winner, 2015
This qualifies as an upset, given the traditional Riesling/white wine dominance of the Cup! Continue reading
By Christopher Matthews
Our ancient red plum tree served as an early muse here at Upstate-Downtown. And we’ve received lots of plum goodness from it over the years. It has, unfortunately, fallen on hard times recently, a victim of “black knot” plum tree disease and (likely) old age (such trees aren’t eternal), making it essentially barren. In fact, I almost cut it down two years ago, but a late burst of new growth from the lower half of the tree put off what I considered would be an eventual coup de grace.
After a brutal winter last year, however, I was pleasantly surprised by a copious bloom this spring, albeit with no expectation of a plum harvest.
Our plum tree in bloom
By Christopher Matthews
I had tarragon on the brain.
We have a perennial patch of tarragon upstate, and this summer, it has produced like no other year. Normally, I have to constrain Kathryn from pillaging the entire clump in one go, but no such worries with this batch.
Our tarragon patch
One of my favorite summer dishes happens to be roast tarragon chicken, and this was my objective/obsession as I started my vacation week upstate, preceding the 4th of July holiday. And I already had the (notionally) perfect wine on hand: the 2014 La Porte du Caillou Sancerre Rosé from Henri Bourgeois (100% Pinot Noir), a Loire standout, imported and distributed by the estimable Monsieur Touton.
2014 La Porte du Caillou Sancerre Rose
By Christopher Matthews
On one of the most beautiful days of the year upstate (so far), the fifth annual Ramp Fest, a culinary celebration of “the wild onion of myth and mystery”, took place last Saturday (5/2/15) at Basilica Hudson in Hudson, NY.
Basilica Hudson
It’s no secret that we’re big ramp fans here at Upstate-Downtown; we always look forward to the event in Hudson, which is spearheaded by Swoon Kitchenbar.
But whether it was the stellar weather, effective advertising or a snowballing word-of-mouth, the crowd was early, large and voracious… Continue reading
