marianne’s wine blog

When the days start heating up - I head for my favorite Japanese restaurant. Why? ‘Cause its sake season. Honestly, nothing beats the heat better than chilly sushi and a glass of ice cold sake (ok maybe a perfectly chilled glass of rose) . For me, that means a trip to Shaker Square. Simple and chic, the stark white tables at Sasa Izakaya & Asian Bistro puts the focus on food and drink - and rightfully so. Boasting a stellar list of sakes made from polished grains of rice including Ginjo-Shu (polished to 60%),  Daiginjo-Shu (polished to 50%), Nama-shu (unpasterized), and Nigori (sweet dessert sake), Sasa is THE place to sip and learn about this ancient beverage. If you are new to sake - no worries. Here’s a quick sake 101 lesson.

First the outside of the rice is removed or”polished off” to expose the starchy part of the rice and then steamed. To break down the starch, a portion of the rice is kneaded with aspergillus spores (a fungi) creating a mixture called Koji. Ultimately, the remaining rice and Koji are placed in a vat with yeast and water to ferment. If the sake is made only using rice, water, koji and yeast is is called Junmai-shu. If short cuts such as adding alcohol during the fermentation take place, the sake is called Honjozo-shu. And that is all you need to know - best bet for learning more - go to Sasa and talk to the chef/owner Scott. He loves to chat about his native beverage and has a late-night menu that rocks. The kitchen is open until midnight! Do try the SasaTini and/or the SakeTini. Both are perfect finds for martini lovers - just in time for sake season. Cheers.

When we hear the words “wine cocktail,” most of us pull up memories of sipping sweet wine spritzers with our mothers or (better yet) cracking open wine coolers sometime in the early 80s with our college friends. Yet today’s wine-based cocktails are anything but dated. Trendy blends,punches and wine cocktails are being mixed up using interesting recipes that include Sake, Champagne, Prosecco, Vermouth, Sherry a variety of juices and yes - club soda. And with good reason. Making red, white or rose wine into a festive cocktail  stretches the drink - making it economical for a crowd - and plays on the characteristic of each wine style. Whether fortified, bubbly, still or aromatized, wine serves as a great base for mixing up refreshing drinks that help beat the summer heat. Here are a few of my favorites:

~ Lillet on the rocks with a splash of club soda and a slice of orange.

~ Prosecco with splash of orange and an ice cube made from cranberry juice.

~ Dubonnet with cointreau, grapefruit toppped with sparkling wine

~ Kir Royale made using Champagne and Creme de Cassis

Go ahead - give them a try. Cheers.

Here we are again - 90 degrees, on a deck in Lincoln Park and we are looking for something that is sip-worthy. In a word, rose. Come on. Its pink, it’s light in body and it hits the spot when wine consumption takes the role of quenching thirst! So what’s in our glasses? A spicy rose crafted from a native Greek variety called St. George…the label reads Zoe. Other grapes would make good rose choices as well - take Grenache in the southern Rhone Valley or Pinot Noir in Califorina or Caberet Franc in the Loire Valley - all great summertime choice for beating the heat. So uncork a bottle of the pink stuff and invite a few friends over for a glass or two. Cheers.

Having just spent 9 days in the Napa Valley, I can tell you about two topics that filled the valley air; the drastic change in weather from killer frost to searing heat, and the passing of an America Icon. Just before I arrived, the winemakers and grape growers were consumed with chatter about the wide-spread frost that devistated vines in the region. In a matter of days, the chatter began to heat up - literally. By mid-week the temperatures hit 104 degrees and stayed pretty heated until the sun was well on its way over the horizon. So the question is, “What will the swing from frost to heat do to the vines?” While most growers I talked to felt the frost will definately decrease yields by up to 10%, they did not seem bothered by the heat because vines shut down when temps soar above the mid 80’s.  In terms of vine health that may be ture - as for the rest of us - we were melting! Sadly, the Valley suffered another big blow during my stay - the passing of the father of American wine Mr. Robert Mondavi.  Without a question, we would not have Napa Valley if we did not have Robert Mondavi. The word of his passing spread quickly through the valley and the Mondavi Winery was closed for a few days in honor of its founder. If you have a Mondavi story that you would like to share with the family, go to the Napa Valley Vinters website and participate in the on-line toast to Robert Mondavi. Better yet, the next time you sip a big Napa red, raise a glass in his name and give thanks to his lifetime of contributions that made the wine you’re enjoying possible. Cheers.

Boston Wine Expo, South Beach Food & Wine Festival, Apsen Food & Wine - all perfect opportunities to sip, sample and learn about wine. Trouble is - many wine lovers have a difficult time trying out more than a handful of wines before they suffer from palate fatigue or (worse yet) a major wine buzz. So how do professionals taste 50-100 wines in a day? Real professionals spit when sampling wine. The same holds true for professional training. I always require WSET students to spit during class. That said, the way to get the most out of a tasting is to have a strategy in place before you arrive. Take this weekend’s Cleveland International Wine Show for example. Smart tasters will start with a sip of bubbly or a Sauvignon Blanc to prime the palate while they walk the floor or give the show program a look to see what wines are being poured. First stop, go to the pavilion that has the most number of high acid whites such as the Bubbles, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Give these light bodied wine a try first before diving into fuller whites and reds. And remember to really purse your lips when you spit - doing so will prevent any dribbles that might otherwise occur. After 10-15 tastes - head for the food table and grab some bread or crackers to moderate the acid on your palate. Then move on to fuller whites such as Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Viognier. Don’t worry about tasting all 6 wines at each table. Just ask for a sample of the specific variety you are looking for and walk away. With four hours to taste and more than 500 wines uncorked, we gotta keep moving. Light bodied reds should offer a welcomed dose of tannin and are easily sampled right after the whites if you keep spitting. Give a select 10-15 a try and then head back to the food area to pick up nibbles and give your palate a break. Take in a free wine seminar in one of the theatres or just kick back and listen to some great music. When you are feeling refreshed - head back to the tasting pavilions and tacklethe big reds. Keep your favorites for last and when you try them give up on spitting. Savory reds are ripe for drinking and - after all that tasting & spitting - you’ve earned the right to drink a few sips! Cheers.

You may have heard - and how could you not given all the press the wine has received - that the Bordeaux 2005 vintage is stellar. In fact, non-stop chatter among those “in-the-know” has caused most top chateau to sell out before the container-laden boats even hit our shores.  As top collectors gobble them up fast to build impressive cellars that most of us can only dream about where, you may wonder, does this leave the rest of us? No worries. I have a plan. Typically, excellent vintages result in excellent wine at every level. So skip the top tier and look for Fourth and Fifth Cru Classe wines or non-classified wines. While they may not have the aging potential of top growth wines, they offer great wine at affordable prices. In Cellar Door this past week, we sampled two well-made wines from the Right Bank of Bordeaux; 2005 Chateau Bel-Air and 2005 Chateau Fonplegade. Here are my notes on the wines:

2005 Château de Bel-Air, Lalande de Pomerol, France ($26):
Located on Bordeaux’s right bank, Château Bel-Air is from the region right next to Pomerol where clay soils prevail. This wine was crafted by the renowned wine consultant Michel Rolland and contains Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Dark berry aromas are joined by spice and a dose of new oak. 

2005 Château Fonplegade, St. Emilion, France ($60):
Located on Bordeaux’s right bank, Château Fonplegade is situated on a limestone plateau making it perfect for growing Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. Full bodied, the wine combines red fruit aromas with an Old World mineral note.

In honor of the 2005 Vintage of the century, we will continue to taste Bordeaux wines in search of the perfect deal. Stay tuned, I’ll let ya know what we find.

I am in Napa Valley right now attending the Master of Wine seminars and want to share a few new found finds. First, if you are considering a trip to Napa Valley, consider staying in Yountville. The town is cute as a button and the Villagio Inn rocks. Rooms are moderately priced, the pianist in the lobby (Frederick Nighthawk) is awesome and multiple restaurants are located right across the street including Ad Hock, Redd, Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon and more. Best part. You park your car at the hotel and all restaurants are just a hop, skip and jump away. Secondly, today I am sipping a Pinot Blanc poured from a half bottle produced by Robert Sinskey Winery. It is fantastic. Even cooler than the crisp white in my glass is the cool glass topper that seals the bottle. Plus, I toured the winery, saw the bottling and tasted a newly package rose or vin gris that was - without a question - yummy. Oh, did I tell you the part about Rob & Maria Sinskey being so cool that they took me down into their cellar and showed me the disco ball in the middle of the cellar? I gotta get one for Cellar Door. Maybe next week. More to follow.

In response to the day’s snowfall, we ordered in lunch from Moxie located just four doors away; partly because it is too cold to venture out and partly because Jonathan Bennett has revamped a school lunch favorite that reeks of those precious snow days - grilled cheese & tomato soup. While this version is all grown up, (think fresh mozzarella with sundried tomato and pesto) the fact that we sated our palates in a school (wine not whine) brings back fond food memories. It also creates an interesting wine pairing. Simple comfort food is often too light for wintery reds with any body. So, I decided to pull the cork on a Chablis, an unoaked Chardonnay from France. A good choice as it turns out. While the body of the wine offered a great match for the weight of the food, the pesto and sundrenched tomato paired nicely with the high acidity and herbal steeliness of the wine. The same could be said for a Pinot Gris from Oregon and a Pinot Blanc from Alsace. So while most wine lovers turn to the comfort of reds during the chilly months, try warming up to weightier whites this winter.

When I lived in New York City, I passed a friendly man working the same corner every morning on my way to the subway. Each morning he would smile, shake a paper cup full of change, and ask “What’s the best city?” To which he would respond, “generosity.” If that did not drum up enough change, he would quickly follow up with “And what’s the best nation?” You guessed it, “donation.” I often think of this only-in-NYC-scene when I give a donation of gift certificates or host a wine tasting for charity.  Wine related items seems to drum up alot of attention at charity auctions and raffles these days. In fact, last week a Wine Consultant at Cellar Door won a wine prize during a blogger’s raffle for a national hunger organization. She bought three $10 virtual tickets on-line and dropped them in the bucket to win a chance to sip wine with Gary Vaynerchuk from the now famous Wine Library in New Jersey. Guess what? She won. Not only will she be sipping wines with Gary and friends, it will all take place in the comfort of her own home and Gary is supplying the wine! How cool is that? Very. Just ask her! It pays to be generous and nothing brings more enjoyment than a unique food & wine experience. Toss in the virtual component - she did not have to attend a black-tie, rubber chicken dinner - and it is good for everyone. We gotta get a food & wine on-line raffle going in Cleveland. Generosity is a cool city.

Whenever I sip Champagne from a fluted glass  I think of Karen MacNeil, wine educator and author of The Wine Bible. Years ago, Karen joined me as a guide in producing a tour of Bordeaux for American Express Platinum cardholders. During the opening night celebration she addressed the group, raised a glass of Champagne and said, “Offer someone a flute of Champagne and watch their body language change. Regardless of the occasion, everyone sits a little straighter with a Champagne flute in hand.” I love that comment mainly because it is so true. Whether you are happy, sad, angry or frustrated - a glass of bubbly makes eveything OK - if even for a few minutes. And with so many bubbles to choose from - Cava from Spain, Sekt from Germany, Prosecco from Italy and sparkling wine from Oregon, California, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa - finding a bottle at a specific price point is not difficult. In fact, has never been easier to find the right bottle for an event or simply because its Tuesday night!

My favorite Prosecco de Conegliano to sip straight or mixed as a belini with peach puree is Canella, my favorite aperitif Champagne is Taittinger  Brut, and recently I have been sipping bright red Paringa Sparkling Shiraz at the end of the meal just because its fun for the holiday season.

While sparkling wine visually inspires a reason for celebration, the sound bite of popping Champagne corks reminds us of winning the big game or closing the big deal. This is all well and good if we plan to spray the contents over the heads of our colleagues. Otherwise it is best to open a bottle of sparkling wine with a slight sigh instead of a loud pop. Doing so keeps those lovely little bubbles in solution for our drinking enjoyment. When opening a bottle, keep your thumb on the top of the cork and cage so you are in control of the cork at all times. Then, grasp the cork and cage in one hand and turn the bottle (not the cork) until you feel the pressure push the cork out. Resist letting the cork pop out quickly by applying pressure on the cork so you are in control of the release.

Ranging from $12 to $50, there’s a bottle of bubbly within everyone’s budget. So grab a flute and pop the cork on a bottle and enjoy…just because!