Susan Albarran | Moore Brothers Wine Company

Author Archive for Susan Albarran – Page 2

chicken ‘n “cab franc”

By Susan Albarran

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Sorry to disappoint any vegans/vegetarians who might have been reading my posts; but after almost two years of being nearly vegan, a strong craving for animal protein kicked in. I decided to listen to my body and began eating chicken. As a huge advocate for sustainable family farms I love shopping at the NYC greenmarkets I’ve been getting these delicious 3-4 lb. roasting chickens from Flying Pigs Farm at Union Square on Saturdays.

I recently shared my chicken-kick with some friends: a simple preparation of roasted chicken on a bed of carola potatoes, rainbow carrots and a side of sauteed kale. To drink: Domaine Gasnier Chinon Les Graves and Joel Taluau Bourgueil Cuvee du Domaine. Both are 100% cabernet franc.

As a wine novice, I’ve made a number of somewhat unconventional, maybe even outrageous, comments about wine. And this might be another: the Bourgueil came across to me as…well…sexy. Not in a flagrant, gauche way but elegantly. It possessed a deep, rich, multi-faceted floral aroma and taste that seductively pulled me in with such an intense essence of wine. It’s the kind of wine I’d want to have on a romantic date with a decadent meal; one prepared with a good dose of butter, cream and/or cheese.

My chicken and vegetable meal prepared only with extra-virgin olive olive oil was too reserved to make a good match. So although I found the Bourgueil more interesting and complex, my preference for the meal was the lighter, more refined, fruitier Chinon.

My friends were so thankful; they loved the wine and the food. When they asked for details on how I prepared the meal I felt somewhat like a fraud. Sure, I’ve been to culinary school and know how to cook pretty well but I really hadn’t done much; all I used for seasoning was sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a quality extra-virgin olive oil. If anyone should be thanked it’s the regional farmers for the great tasting produce (and chicken).

This brought to mind what many of our wine producers wine producers tell us: “We don’t make wine. We prepare the environment for good wine to make itself.” It wasn’t until culinary school that I realized that if you start off with quality ingredients, you don’t need to do much to turn out a quality meal.

And real wine made from well-farmed vineyards (as opposed to industrial wine made from overly-farmed vineyards) doesn’t need fix-it-up wine companies’ toasted oak chips, micro-oxygenization, alcohol fine tuning, mega purple, etc.

Those companies turn out “products” that are the equivalent of making a meal with out-of-season with insipid produce from the supermarket and then topping it off with processed cheese. Why not focus more on growing good grapes to begin with?

Categories : food with wine, learning, loire

Tags : byob, cooking, learning

perfect pairings

By Susan Albarran

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

I know I’ve had a great food and wine pairing when I find myself drinking wine almost as easily as water – and when the meal lingers in my thoughts for days. I recently had two great pairings with two very different meals; one vegan, one with pork chops. On both occasions, a Tuscan red – Rosso di Montalcino Maurizio Lambardi – was my dinner date.

Although I’m eating some meat again, a large portion of my diet is still vegan. So I was thrilled to experience a great match with one of my favorite vegan dishes: garlicky black beans with millet cakes. Initially I feared the Rosso, as a medium-bodied wine, would be too big for a meal without any animal protein or animal fat, but its tannins are “fine” and not overly astringent on the palate, so it really made a nice match.

I’ll admit, I thought adding chicken might have raised the meal to a slightly higher-level. Unfortunately my favorite chicken purveyors, Flying Pigs Farm, are out of pasture-raised chickens until late spring. But all year round they have plenty of pork from rare heritage breeds.

The pork chop meal was inspired by an episode of Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes of the World in Montalcino, Tuscany. I made a few substitutions and omissions: used pork chops instead of tenderloin; roasted the cauliflower instead of boiling; omitted the Moscadello; and used Rosso instead of Brunello di Montalcino (Rosso and Brunello are both Tuscan red wines made entirely from the same strain of the Sangiovese Grosso grape – it’s the varying aging, and yield requirements that differentiate the two).

While I cooked, I enjoyed a little of the Rosso on its own. Interestingly, as I nosed the wine with each sip, the aroma from the cooking pork chops blossomed. And the wine with the meal, generously drizzled with pan drippings and extra-virgin olive oil, was mind- (and palate) blowing.

Not only did the wine complement the flavors, it magnified them. I found myself drinking quite a bit more than usual. I wish I could better describe how sensual it all was. I was actually having a hard time writing this, so best to sum it up with: it was so damn good.

Maybe it’s for the best that I can’t articulate much more than “it was so damn good.” As a wine novice, I’m often overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of descriptors some people use. Perhaps these individuals possess a more refined palate. Or perhaps, as a colleague suggested, just a more refined vocabulary. Either way, everyone’s palate and perception is different, lending to a unique experience.

Categories : food with wine, tuscany

Tags : food with wine, tuscany

experiment and discovery

By Susan Albarran

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

After I had my fill of pork chops, I moved on to pork tenderloin. I had been eyeing it for months at the farmers market, but having never eaten or cooked it before, it’s one intimidating piece of meat for a semi-vegetarian.

Anyhow, the initial meals were Tuscan-inspired consisting of sautée fresh fennel and apples accompanied by Chianti, specifically the Isole e Olena Chianti Classico, and Corzano e Paterno Chianti Terre di Corzano.

The meals were great. The Chiantis were great. But together they were slightly disappointing: the Chiantis seemed to overpower the lean, mild-flavored tenderloin. My instinct was telling me to try a white.

A few colleagues recommended German Riesling. At first I hesitated because in Germany, butter and cream are a big part of the cuisine. Although I love dairy I’m somewhat lactose intolerant (which is why I’ve collected an arsenal of olive oils over the past few years and prefer it for cooking). Generally, good pairings come from food and wine that “grow together” (see David’s Food and Wine post). And our tasting notes for German wines state “…olive oil preparations can combat the delicate aromas and texture of most German wines”.

I decided to try an experiment and prepare the same meal twice: once using olive oil (judiciously), the other using butter (generously). It was a German-inspired meal of braised pork tenderloin, sautée cabbage and roasted potatoes.

Both meals were washed down with Weingut Weegmuller Haardter Herrenletten Riesling Spatlese Trocken Alte Reben.

Although the Riesling made a very good match with both meals (It didn’t overpower the flavor of the pork tenderloin like I felt the Chiantis did), there was definitely a difference. The olive oil-based meal was kind of like…dancing with my brother – it was enjoyable but not as interesting or exciting as dancing with a hot date. The butter-based meal was the hot date; the rich, creaminess beautifully complemented the Riesling’s acidity. It was wonderful.

Wine and food pairings are often a topic of debate. Some people argue it’s a bunch of bs and all that really matters is that you “like the food and you like the wine,” individually. Ultimately I suppose this is true. I know people who enjoy some bizarre food combinations, who am I to say it’s not good, if it tastes good to them?

But as someone who is learning about wine (not to mention employed by a wine store), it beehoves me to put more thought and consideration into things like this. Based on experience there are times when a food can bring out bad qualities of a wine and vice versa; times when nothing bad nor good seems to happen on either end. And then, other times; when a special, synergistic phenomenon occurs. Of course, the challenging part is to be able to tell, and care about, the difference.

Some of my colleagues have warned me to not become one of those foodie-wino geeks who over-analyze pairings down to the minutia. I don’t think I’m anywhere near there, but sometimes I do worry and put too much thought into choosing a wine for fear of having a bad pairing instead of simply enjoying the experiment and discovery process. If I hadn’t overcome my apprehension for pork tenderloin I might have never discovered the tasty meals I described in this post. It’s good to take a chance sometimes and always keep an open mind.

Categories : food with wine, germany, learning, riesling, tuscany

Tags : cooking, food with wine, learning

soave – personally and professionally

By Susan Albarran

Monday, January 10th, 2011

The first time I heard of Soave wine was from my slightly demented grandmother, but hadn’t realized it at the time. I was in my late teens dining out with my family at what was a “fancy” restaurant for us (I think it was the Olive Garden) and the waiter asked us if we’d like to order any wine. “Soooaaave,” my grandmother slurred. What a nut, I thought to myself. At the time I thought there were only three or four kinds of wines in the entire world.

Now that I know Soave wine exists I was moved to write this because
A: I’ve had the Soaves that Moore Brothers Wine Company carries, and
B: two statements from Eric Asimov’s article in Wines of the Times, Soave Challenges Its Easy Image,” caught my attention and inspired me.

The first statement in the article that caught my attention stated that since the 1960s Soave has gained a bad reputation for being insipid. And in recent years some Soave producers have made a change: “Instead of the large-scale farming techniques that had emphasized quantity over quality, they had drastically reduced yields in the vineyards, resulting in grapes with more character and intensity.”

The 60s were way before my time and since I have very little experience with Soave I consulted with Dave. He explained that it’s important to realize that the idea of low-yield farming and emphasis on quality is not a new one. There has ALWAYS been good Soave, even back in the 60s. It’s just that, as with many things, the good are often few and far between. And in terms of wine not much of the good stuff was necessarily being exported to the U.S.

I like it when the connection between farming technique and quality is brought to light. It’s a subject that the average wine consumer (someone like me pre-Moore Brothers employment) is not aware of or necessarily interested in but it’s one of many important factors involved in grape growing and wine making (just as it is with food.

It took me a while to finish this post because I was trying to educate myself a bit on the significance of yields and grape growing. The relationship is not a direct, or simple, one: restricting yields doesn’t automatically lead to quality grapes or wine. It’s a confluence of many factors including the density of the vines, the terrior, the farming of the vineyard and the winemaker. I’d have to spend much more time researching to be able to write anymore details, so for the purposes of this post I’ll just mention that at Moore Brothers, you’ll often read references to “low-yields” in the wine tasting notes because the producers recognize the importance of good farming and making quality wine.

Moore Brothers Wine Company currently offers two Soaves from Cantina del Castello. The Soave Classico (90% Garganega, 10% Trebianno Di Soave) is light and crisp. The Pressoni Soave Classico 2007 (80% Garganega 20% Trebianno Di Soave), made with grapes from a single vineyard, is richer and delicately creamy.

The other statement from Mr. Asimov’s article that caught my attention referenced the disparate opinions Eric and his colleagues came up with in tasting 25 Soaves: “These sorts of disagreements are an important reminder of how subjective the perception of wine can be.” It helps me to be reminded of this, as there are times I doubt myself.

A few months ago, when I tried a wine in the store, I perceived a slight grassiness – a characteristic of the wine most of my colleagues did not share with me. Was something wrong with my palate? I worried. Maybe I’m just not a talented taster. Eventually, I got over it. How could I forget my own words in Perfect Pairings, “…everyone’s palate and perception is different, lending to a unique experience.”

In learning about wine, or any other field with some subjective aspect, it’s important to focus on one’s own experiences and come to one’s own conclusions instead of simply relying on what the “experts” say. In this way you become your own expert, which is the best kind because ultimately it’s yourself that you’re aiming to please. Of course, it’s more complicated when learning about wine on a more “expert” level (for example, selling wine professionally in retail). Then you’re in a position of aiming to please others and should become aware of, and set aside, any personal biases you might have, which includes being able to distinguish quality from preference. It’s not easy.

By the way, the Castello Soaves are beautiful and delicious – that’s both my personal and professional opinion.

Categories : learning, veneto/alto-adige/etc...

Tags : learning

getting past generic “champagne”

By Susan Albarran · Comments (0)

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

champagne poster

Kleenex, Xerox, Jello…these have evolved to refer to a generic class of things (tissue, copies and copiers, fruit gelatin) rather than the specific brands for tissues, copies and copiers, and fruit “flavored” gelatin. Very early in my working at Moore Brothers, I came to realize Champagne was also a victim of this kind of “genericide.” (OK, that’s loosely using the term genericide; Champagne isn’t a brand, it’s a geographical indication). I was one of the major violaters in thinking Champagne was synonymous with sparkling wine. Now that I know how special true Champagne is I fight for its name to proclaim its unique qualities.

A few months back, I disabused my brother when I purchased a bottle of Bele Casel Prosecco di Valdobbiadene for us to enjoy before heading out for a birthday dinner…

…as I pull the Prosecco from the fridge, my brother sees the classic sparkling wine crown cap and says,“Cool, champagne.”

“It’s not Champagne,” I told him, “It’s Prosecco. You know…Champagne is a VERY specific type of sparkling wine. So is Prosecco.”

I’m eager to lay out my new-found knowledge so I go on to explain the importance of appellation and how certain grapes have been historically grown in certain regions; how Prosecco is made from Prosecco grapes historically grown in the Veneto region of Italy and how Champagne is made most often from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes grown in the Champagne region of France.

His eyes seem to be glazing over – absolutely no sense of intrigue. I shouldn’t be surprised.

My brother is someone who really enjoys the taste of alcohol and doesn’t seem to care much for the nuances of wine. In fact, he once drank wine from a bottle that had been opened and left over from Christmas dinner: it was March.

We raise our glasses of Prosecco to toast. I anxiously await to hear what he thinks about the wine. (I LOVE this wine. It’s very popular among our customers at the store as well; it’s light, fruity and refreshing; great for drinking all on its own.)

My brother comments, “Hmm…I thought I didn’t like champagne but this stuff tastes good.”

“It’s NOT Champagne, it’s Prosecco,” I remind him.

“Oh right, maybe that’s why I like it.”

“Maybe you just haven’t had good, quality Champagne.”

Again, no sense of intrigue from him. Darn it. I was hoping he’d be all ears to my rant on how the wine industry is inundiated with poor quality “industrial” wine.

We continue drinking and reminiscing about the good ‘ol days from our youth. Back when our parents would often buy Reunite for special occasions.

“Can I have more champagne?” my brother asks.

In searching for the origins of how Champagne became “genericized,” I came across a few references to the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, which protected the name and usage of the word Champagne. However, the United States never fully participated in the treaty, and producers of sparkling wine in the U.S. used the word “Champagne” in generic branding of their products.

My first experience with true Champagne was at the store, with the Delavenne Père et Fils Brut Rosé. It’s one of the tastiest wines I’ve ever had – so much so, I can see myself easily drinking an entire bottle alone. I’ve tried many of the other Champagnes as well. Although I haven’t had enough of each to be able to compare and contrast them, what stood out and made an impression was their minerality and yeastyness, very much different from the other sparkling wines (Prosecco, Sekt) which seem to be more fruity.

I wish my brother could be as interested…

Posted by Susan Albarran

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Categories : champagne, learning, sparkling wine

Tags : learning

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