Macello’s Ristorante, Super Tuscans & 1975 Beronia Gran Reserva

This past Tuesday I attended a Mediterranean wine tasting at a very neat Italian restaurant called Macello’s on Lake Street in Chicago. I highly recommend this place! The food was fabulous and the atmosphere was delightful. I tasted through some fantastic wines, but there were two producers that really stood out in my mind, one was Spanish and the other Italian and I’ve listed their wines below.

Great wines to go with some fantastic pizza! I went to Europe several years ago and had a chance to spend some time in Italy and I ate a lot of pizza while I was there, but what was interesting is that traditional Pizza in America,  as I was accustomed to it every Friday night at Ledo’s Pizza growing up,  is in no way shape or form the pizza that originated from Italians and Italy.

Ever since that experience, I learned a lot about the Mediterranean diet and did a great deal of research into the health and vitality of some our our European sister countries. Amazingly, I found that I thrive on the Mediterranean diet and love the way Europeans eat. The idea of not gorging oneself until stuffed, but rather grazing and enjoying the meal and not the amount really makes sense to me. Meal time is a time for connecting and is not taken lightly.  Great consideration is taken in not only picking the best and  purest ingredients, but how the food is produced as well. They tend to have food that is free of many of the hormones and pesticides that our typical American animals are injected with from birth to death. Ah, I could go on and on, but I will spare you and step down from my soapbox.

Macello’s seemed to remind me of some of these sacred practices. All around the food was delightful and their Pizza has been nominated #12 in Chicago Magazine’s top pizza’s. If you like the typical American over processed, greasy, heavily cheesed pizza… forget about it! You won’t like Macello’s then. I can recommend a few grease laden, heart attack, artery clogging places for you though!

Bodegas Bereonia

1975 Beronia Gran Reserva $274.00 3/750
1978 Beronia Gran Reserva $261.00 3/750
1980 Beronia Gran Reserva $212.00 3/750
1981 Beronia Gran Reserva $212.00 3/750
1982 Beronia Gran Reserva $250.00 3/750
2001 Beronia Gran Reserva $195.00 6/750

**Limited supply. There are only about 50 to 60 bottles left of each of these vintages. My favorites were the 1975 & 1978

Brancaia Estate – Super Tuscan’s

2008 Brancaia Tre, IGT Toscana “Baby Super Tuscan” $268.57 12/750
A soft, approachable wine made from 80% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon – a “Baby Tuscan” made from these “Super Tuscan” blending grapes. Floral with notes of crushed red berries and milk chocolate. A full-bodied wine with lush forward fruit, nice acidity, soft tannins and a lingering finish. Pasta, roasted or grilled white meat, poultry or fish, and medium-strong cheeses.

2007 Brancaia Chianti Classico, Toscana $234.29 6/750
85% Sangiovese and 15% Merlot. Varied pastas, white roast or sautéed meat, white poultry, fried or grilled fish.

2006 Brancaia Ilatraia, IGT Maremma Toscana “Super Tuscan” $468.57 6/750
An intense, elegant and terroir-typical wine, Ilatraia is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Sangiovese and 10% Petit Verdot. Big, full-bodied wine with dark flavors of blackberry, dark cherry, currants and spices that are balanced by silky tannins. Well-balanced and intensely flavored meats, including roasted chicken with herbs, pork loin and venison.

2006 Brancaia II Blu, IGT Toscana “Super Tuscan” $501.43 6/750
50% Sangiovese, 45% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. As a rule, food with pronounced taste, dark meat such as beef or lamb, roast or braised game, dark feathered game such as pigeon or pheasant

My favorites were the “Baby Super Tuscan” and the 2006 Brancaia Ilatraia! They were outstanding! If you are interested in purchasing some of these hard to find wines, email Freda@TheWineWench.com to place your order today.

Tempranillo & Tapas!

There it was. Right there in my e-mail inbox. It was the e-mail from Freda and in that e-mail was my wine assignment for this installment of The Wine Wench Newsletter. I felt a little bit like an undercover operative and I could have sworn that I heard the theme to “Mission Impossible” in the near distance.

With one deft tap of my pointer finger, the message opened and staring at me were five simple words: “How about a Spanish Tempranillo?” I think this is where my mission started turning into a comedy of errors, because I studied Spanish from the 7th grade all the way through my Junior year in high school, yet I must have pronounced Tempranillo with a hard double L – out loud, no less – several times before it registered that I was supposed to be saying Tempra-nee-yo. Nothing like feeling dumb right out of the box!

I’d never heard of this varietal before and was excited to broaden my horizons. I did a little poking around on line and read some descriptions about the flavor profiles of a few different brands. I liked what I was reading, although I still find it oddly amusing when I see berries, plum, tobacco, vanilla, leather and herb all in one sentence. I was just as unsure about the tobacco and the leather as I was about the little blue flowers during my trip to Argentina.

While I was doing my online investigation, I looked into what foods this wine would pair well with. I was floored to see that it seemed to go with just about anything – from barbecue to curry chicken – and everything in between. Personally, I prefer to pair my wines with flavors from the same region since it gives me an opportunity to push myself culinarily. I was feeling the need to keep things light and simple, so when the idea of tapas emerged, it seemed the perfect fit.

Simplicity was quickly replaced by complete overzealousness as list of tapas grew like crazy. My Facebook status update read like a menu: Jennifer Lake Cox shares: Serrano Ham Croquettes, Grilled Garlic Shrimp, Chorizo Tortilla (Spanish Omelette), Sofrito Marinated Grilled Beef Short Ribs, Pork Empanadas, Roasted Asparagus w/ Aioli, Fried Baby Artichokes, Stuffed Mushrooms (yes, I’m going to eat mushrooms), Catalan Guacamole, Smokey Eggplant & Fresh Tomato Salad . . . I can’t even list it all! ♥

Laundry list of ingredients in hand, I hit the grocery store and (shhhh, don’t tell, but I cheated on my regular wine shop with the big competition store in the grocery store plaza!) then went next door to grab the juice. I picked up two different bottles, both $9.99, one of which had a Wine Enthusiast Magazine rating of 87. The selection wasn’t huge and the most expensive bottle I found topped out at $17.99. I purchased two this time so that I didn’t have a repeat of my faux pas from last time when I switched from white to red mid-experiment.

Rewind back to the ingredient list and the grocery store. The Serrano Ham Croquettes at the top of my list called for, well, Serrano ham obviously, and one of my faves – Manchego cheese. The recipe did state that Prosciutto could be subbed in for the Serrano if need be, and sure enough there wasn’t any Serrano ham to be found at the deli counter. The Artisanal cheese section always has Manchego, but not on this day. I’m not quite sure why this didn’t serve as a warning of what was to come, but it didn’t.

Back at the homestead, I diligently set about the task of completely trashing my kitchen. The pork tenderloin I had braising in a variety of herbs, spices, tomato product and wine got all crazy on me and spattered all over the stove top and seeds and juice from the tomatoes I was slicing in preparation for their oven-drying process just seemed to be everywhere. Clearly it was time to open bottle #1, because I couldn’t fathom how I was going to get through this tour of duty without some liquid courage.

I’m appreciative of the level of accuracy with which whoever writes the descriptions of the flavor profiles, because I’m rarely disappointed, shocked or surprised and this time wasn’t any different. I did realize, however, that they also mentioned oak in there somewhere and that I had glossed over that point. The reason I mention this is because I tend to steer clear of wines that boast of oaky predominance. I don’t mind a hint of oak, but I’m easily overwhelmed by feeling as though I’ve pressed my tongue right up against the tree.

This one wasn’t too bad in that area but I have to admit that it wasn’t coming across as fruity as I’d expected. I hadn’t even had any of it with any of the food yet and I thought that perhaps I was being a little hasty. I proceeded to drink away as I took my kitchen from one level of destruction to the next. I had way too much going on and it seemed like it would never end. It was getting decidedly late, I’d finished bottle number one and was being circled by starving husband when obvious hint number two that my project had the propensity to go horribly wrong reared its ugly head. I burnt the pork empanadas while frying them.

The wonderful thing about the timing of this occurrence was that in coincided with the “I don’t really care!” attitude that often accompanies the single-handed polishing off of a bottle of wine. All of a sudden, the empanadas weren’t horribly burnt – you know nothing a few scrapes of a butter knife couldn’t fix! Even better, why don’t I make a reduction out of the braising liquid and drizzle some of that over them – that would certainly mask that underlying “smokey” flavor! And, I’m sure everything will taste better with more wine, so “Hey, honey! Open that other bottle for me, okay?”

What happened after that, I can’t really say. I assembled a huge platter of tapas: the empanadas, fried asparagus and artichokes flecked with goat cheese, garlic rubbed grilled French bread with oven-dried tomatoes, seriously under-cooked sofrito marinated short ribs and wedges of the chorizo tortilla. We sat down, I had more wine and picked at the offerings . . . Completely forgetting that I was supposed to be paying attention to whether or not the food and drink were playing nicely in the sandbox together. As my teenage boys would say, “Epic fail.”

Being the optimist that I am, I awoke the next day with renewed hope and decided that I’d try it all over again later that evening, but this time I was going to settle on a much simpler, straight forward menu combination of grilled filet mignon, arugula salad with blue cheese crumbles and balsamic vinaigrette and some grilled garlic bread. I nabbed a whole tenderloin at a market in a neighboring town for a mere $5.99 a pound – victory was sure to be mine!

I never thought going into this that I might come across a wine that just didn’t do it for me. A wine that just didn’t hit the right notes with the food – or at least not a whole lot of good ones – but this turned out to be the case. I caught the fruit with the beef and the blue cheese. A little grape and plum mixed nicely with the tang of the crumbles and the mineral earthiness of the filet, but the playground rumble was on when the wine challenged the arugula and the vinaigrette. All I got was a KO of bitterness and pepper. I wish my husband had taken a picture, because I’m sure the way I contorted my face was comical, to say the least.

All I could think of at this point was that I needed something sweet to balance it all out, so I grabbed the dark chocolate Easter bunny from the basket on top of the fridge and took a nibble. Oh, man! Wrong again! This wine was really, really good at finding all that is bitter with a food and ratcheting it up a few notches. I was really disappointed at the fact that attempt number two didn’t end much better than the first one. Other than, of course, the fact that I actually did what I was supposed to.

What I learned from this go-round were a few precious lessons. I’m not going to be BFF’s with every wine I meet and even as acquaintances, there will probably be situations where it just doesn’t mingle well with the rest of the party-goers. I do think that there is some combination out there that would be a dynamic duo, and perhaps I’ll even keep trying to find the perfect storm. For some reason, I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be as simple as Serrano ham and Manchego cheese. Until next time…
Cheers!
Jennifer
Occasions By Jennifer

Vina Sastre Roble Ribera del Duero 2000 – Spain

So the story goes…I’m in L.A. by myself and on a hunt to find some fabulous red wine. I heard amazing things about The Bazaar which is a combination of both traditional and avant-garde Spanish fare. The Chef is none other than the popular Jose Andreas. He was the guy who brought tapas or hot plates to the United States.

Rewind. There are two things I don’ t do well in, cold and rain. It had been raining all day and I really didn’t feel like putting a lot of effort into getting ready as I was in search for the best red wine not a man but my son pushed me and I made a bit of effort to dress up. I ended up looking pretty sharp. So I saunter into The SLS Hotel, find the bar and chat up the bar tenders. I have one thing and one thing on my mind…to find another great bottle of red wine and tonight I am craving cheese. After describing what I am looking for, Rob the cute and friendly mixologist, makes two recommendations and I chose the Tempranillo called Vina Sastre Roble Ribera del Duero 2000.

I had a cheese plate but I can’t remember what it was. I let them surprise me and I wasn’t terribly impressed but not because it was bad but because the portion was soooooo small. I mean I just had visions of cheese chunks running through my head and this was more like a mouse size portion. I mean I am certainly not a rat but I had a man size appetite that night. That being said, I managed to eat it all and I even shared with my two new friends.

Sitting next to me were two guys who just seemed really interesting. I couldn’t help but listen in on some of their conversations and finally after about 30 min I introduced myself and chatted them up. They were both private chef’s working for, eh hem, people in L.A. and were out for a drink. Martin was a native of New Zealand and Sergio was a native of Spain both living in the U.S. for about ten years. I had so many questions and was fascinated with them both. Their travel stories were very inspiring. They both cooked and traveled all over the world before ending up here as private chef’s. We talked about everything. As we sat there talking my mind started dreaming and visions of wine went running through my head and that night a concept was born.

Then I met Ken the other mixologist at Bazaar who was also incredibly friendly and happens to be very connected. He is the event planner for clubs in L.A.. Again we chatted about business. I love talking business and hearing people’s ideas, hopes and dreams. I find it very exhilarating and inspiring.

Everything was great until Martin and Sergio left and some interesting characters replaced them. I was lucky that Zac and Chloe came to my rescue. The highlight of the night was when Sergio and Martin told me I had a rockin body! I was floating…

Back to the wine:
Wow this is a fab Tempranillo. It is full bodied, fruit forward, not to sweet, jammy, plummy, full of berries and a nice finish. It comes from Ribera del Duero, Spain’s most revered wine region and has a fantastic story behind this family owned and operated winery:

The Story: Hermanos Sastre is a family-run winery in the heart of the Ribera del Duero, Spain’s most revered wine region. Sastre boasts some of the oldest and finest vines in the entire Ribera del Duero Denominacion de Origen (D.O.), a region whose wines are the most expensive in Spain and the most widely sought on the international market.

Until recently, the Sastre brothers, Pedro and Jesus, ran Sastre. They inherited their prime vineyard sites in the Burgos region of Ribera del Duero from their father and grandfather. Tragically, Pedro died suddenly in December of 2002, leaving Jesus with the family winery and a great store of wine that he and his brother had worked so hard to create.

Pedro was Sastre’s primary winemaker and its window on the world, while Jesus had always tended the vineyard and overseen the agricultural side of winemaking. By all accounts, Pedro was a true bon vivant. He loved to take special visitors through an extensive barrage of barrel tastings, followed by memorable meals that even the most committed gourmands have described as incredible. His brother and all who knew him sorely miss him. Yet, it seems that most great artists, poets, writers, and even scientists become more known to the general public in death than in life. They leave a legacy for the rest of us to treasure and a spirit to savor, and indeed this scenario is once again being played out in the case of Pedro Sastre, whose treasure trove of magical wines are becoming increasingly popular and highly sought after since his untimely death. We invite you to taste and see the goodness of Vina Sastre, while you rest secure in the knowledge that this winery will continue to put out pure, flavorful wines of distinction under brother Jesus’s tutelage.

Although often in the background in the old days, Jesus is and has always been a driving force in the success of Vina Sastre. He is committed to organic farming and biodynamic agricultural principles and is considered and expert in the field of sustainable viticulture. In addition, the wines at Vina Sastre are never fined or filtered, nor are they artificially cold stabilized; all stabilization is done naturally by moving the wine from the barrel room to separate tanks in a part of the winery where the temperature is naturally regulated by the outdoor temperatures.

Tasting Notes: Charming, elegant, and impeccably balanced, the 2000 Vina Sastre Roble is pure charisma in a glass, and a veritable crowd pleaser, too. Exhibiting a seductive array of beguiling scents and flavors, the Vina Sastre is eminently drinkable and just about impossible to resist. Ripe current fruit, an expressive cigar box scent, and that oh so much more the French refer to as je ne sais quoi make this medium-bodied, unfiltered, purebred Tempranillo a clear standout among its peers. Unequivocally, the Roble is one of the most irresistible Spanish reds we have encountered in quite some time… and we haven’t even mentioned the Roble’s well-integrated cachet of new oak and its alluring, utterly satisfying finish. We suggest serving the Vina Sastre Roble at about 65º F, after allowing it to breathe for a half hour. Since the Roble has been bottled unfiltered, some may prefer to decant it, as some harmless, natural sediment may form with additional time in the bottle.

Accompaniments: del Duero, lamb seems to be the traditional favorite of the local cognoscenti and not surprisingly the tasting panel echoes those sentiments when pairing the 2000 Vina Sastre Roble with food. However, as tasty as chops, legs, shanks (and as pleasurable as this wine is, perhaps, even the wool, too) of lamb may be in the company of the Roble, there is no need to typecast this rising star. A good old-fashioned steak from the grill, sizzling fajitas, a spicy black bean and chicken chili, a brick oven baked calzone, or Veal Pizzaiola (veal in a cherry tomato and Kalamata olive sauce) all provide diverse but equally memorable complements to the Vina Sastra Roble. In fact, most grilled meats and vegetables pair well with the Roble. One of the panel’s favorites is Portabella Mush-rooms that have been marinated in high quality balsamic vinegar, then lightly grilled with a little rosemary and thyme. Come to think of it, just about everything we have tried so far with the Roble has been a hit, even no accompaniment at all. Typically, Spanish reds require food to shine, but the 2000 Vina Sastre Roble needs no additional accoutrements or support, save for a clean glass. Enjoy! by Wine of the Month Club

Next post – St. Francis RED, Destinee and Hotel Sofitel

Rioja – Tradition & Innovation At The Frontiers Of Flavor

This is an exceptional DVD series on everything Spain.

Experience Vibrant Rioja … Online! In this first-of-its-kind Web initiative, Spain’s most famous wine region comes directly to you. Experience Rioja as if you were there, as you watch interviews with its leading winemakers and chefs and tour the vineyards, wineries and restaurant kitchens that make this region among the most talked-about in Spain.

Discover a land of breathtaking beauty and cutting-edge architecture, whose people live for wine. America’s leading sommeliers and the professional chefs at the Culinary Institute of America weigh in with their guidance on matching Rioja’s expressive red and white wines with food. All in all, it’s a delightful immersion in the rich history, culture and flavors of this storied wine region.

Narrated by Jonathan Coleman. Jonathan Coleman is a nationally recognized narrator of documentaries and audio books and does voiceovers for many other mediums. He is a New York Times bestselling author of narrative nonfiction, and a former producer and correspondent for CBS News.

Three Ways to Watch:
1. Click here to order your FREE DVD online.
2. Download this series as a Video Podcast from iTunes.
3. Or, view the Flash videos; divided into chapters for your convenience.

Las Rocas Garnacha & Nine Stones Shiraz

This week my love affair continues. As I get more entangled in this web of lust, my passion grows, my palate develops and I have a voracious appetite that just can’t seem to be satisfied. Maybe that is why I stepped out this past weekend on the Spaniards and flirted with the Australians? What are we talking about here, sex or wine? Wine of course!

This week I am excited to share with you two wines. One of which I accidentally stumbled upon while out at D.O.C. Wine Bar this past Saturday. This wine was fantabulous but I can’t get over the mark-up! I digress…will share shortly.

The first wine I would like to bring to your attention is Las Rocas de San Alejandro. The grapes from this vineyard are 100% Granacha and are sourced from 70 to 100 years old vines that are located in Calatayud, Spain (northeast Spain). This wine explodes with dark, ripe berries like black cherries, plum, and currants, hints of mocha and licorice followed by undertones of spices. You can purchase this at Whole Foods for about $10.00. In my opinion this is bargain buy!

Just when I thought the Spaniards could hold my attention and keep me satisfied…I ran into an Aussie. Maybe it was his accent, maybe it was his taste or smell…not sure, but I couldn’t resist him. I was tempted and gave into my desire and cheated on the Spaniard. Shhhh, no one needs to know but us! This next wine is a 2004 Shiraz called Nine Stones from the Barossa Valley region located in Southern Australia. Not surprising at all, “The vineyards are mostly to the South East of Young, which is known as ‘The Cherry Capital of Australia’”. This wine is hand-crafted made from selected low-cropping fruit. This easy to drink, full bodied wine explodes with yummy fruit flavors like ripe blackberry, dark cherries with undertones of luscious chocolate, mocha and macerated fruit.

Now, what ticks me off is that we ended up paying $30.00 per bottle, we bought three, and I have discovered that it only costs $13.00 per bottle on-line. I am feeling gouged! Ouch. They really emptied our pocket books! We could have had three bottles for the price of one!