The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

2005 Saxon-Brown Syrah, Flora Ranch Chalk Hill

Saxon-Brown wines are always special, so when I saw this half-bottle a few weeks back at K&L, I had to grab it.

Slightly grippy tannins, but expected in a brand new Syrah.
Aromas of forest floor, caramel, violets/lavender. Huge, dense, and purple. The super-long fermentation paid off with great extraction yet not at all syrupy or stewed. First class New World Syrah. Winemaker Jeff Gaffner's patience paid off with this one. Recommended - especially after 2 more years + aging.

Thanksgiving 2007: Menu and Wines

The last dish finally washed, I decided to put up just the menu for those who like lists.

Thanksgiving 2007 Chez Corkdork

Kumomoto Oysters w/Hog Wash
Oyster Shooters with Lime, Pomegranate seeds, diakon, Kefir Lime leaf
Cheese galore
Tasty Taquitos for the kids
Crab salad w/cucumbers

Tarlant Brut Prestige Champagne
- Delicious as ever. Split a case with my brother.

27 lb. Willy Bird w/Celery, Apple, Sage Stuffing
Gewertztraminer Gravy

14 lb. Home Smoked Turkey
Cornbread dressing

Creamed Onions
Mashed Potatoes w/Chives
Green Beans w/Shallots
Spinach Souflée
John Cope's Corn, creamed
Raw Cranberry Orange Relish
Cranberry Tangerine Chutney
Wild Rice w/shitake Mushrooms
Fruit Salad

Chateau Corton Grancey, Grand Cru Corton 1996 - killer
Scherrer Pinot Noir 2003 (Magnum) Russian River - terrific
King Estate Signature Pinot 2005 Oregon - nice!
St. Clement Merlot 1999 (Magnum) - opulent
La C hablisienne Chablis 2005 - Nicely tart and flavorful

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Apple & Dried Cherry Pie
Apple Crumb Gallettes
Homemade Ice Creams - Chocolate Chili, Coconut Mango, Granny Smith Sorbet w/Pear Liqueur, Vanilla Caramel Chocolate

Croft Vintage Port 1963 - Unbelievably fresh and perfect. Best Port I've ever had.
Sulé Casulo Passito 2002 - Italian honeyed muscat style white dessert wine - nice!

New Corkdork Cocktail: The Iron Butterfly

Recently, I was sent an sample bottle of Christiana Vodka. Normally, I don't drink vodka much, but I tried this one the proper way --neat, not too cold and did an A/B Comparison to a vodka I've always thought to be pretty good.

The Christiana was a revelation. This is the cleanest vodka I have ever tasted, perhaps because it's made with organic potatoes and Norwegian spring water. Recommended. The other  "premium" vodka tasted  completely petro-chemical in comparison.

The story is that in 1602 Norway's King Christian IV commissioned an ultra-premium vodka and few hundred years later, it has been re-created. Whatever the backstory, the end product is really delicious. The bottle design is also very sleek and beautiful.

I was inspired to make up a new cocktail using Christiana and it's pretty fine. The Pama makes it a good choice for the Holiday season. Inspired in some way by my favorite cocktail from Food & Wine, the Pink Floyd, I'm calling this one:

The Iron Butterfly

1-1/2 oz. Christiana Vodka
1/2 oz. Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
1/4 oz. Grand Marnier
3 good shakes Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
1/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

Fill a martini glass with ice while you prepare the drink.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all the ingredients. Toss out the ice in the glass. Shake the drink well and strain into the martini glass. Garnish with a tiny lime slice, or a twist of lime or orange.

Makes one drink.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #39: Silver Burgundy

Oh, I love it when I have the perfect WBW selection right there in the cellar, and with a nice bit of age on it to boot. This month's host, The Brooklyn Guy has asked us to find a Burgundy looking beyond the Côte d'Or, and to do so for less than $25. I usually like to scour my favorite haunts for something that fits the bill, but this time I'm going for the quintessential Mâconnais, from Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon. The label for the Clos du Four offering from Les Héritiers is on the Mâconnais page in Jancis' new 6th edition of the Wine Atlas, stating "There could be no greater complement to this southern Burgundian outpost than the arrival of Lafon and Leflaive".

Dominique Lafon is a fourth-generation winemaker known for his stunning Côte d'Or Burgundies. Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon is his second offering from land he purchased in the Mâcon in 1999 and is farmed with Biodynamic principals. He is unique in making distinct wines from each vineyard to express its own terroir rather than blending all his holdings together.

While his Meursault Perrieres can fetch over $300 a bottle upon release, M. Lafon's gifted hand with the Chardonnay grape can be sampled even at the $25 range with the Mâcon-Milly Lamartine, named for the village where the winery is. A must try, and one that is relatively easy to find, especially in the Bay Area.

Tasting Notes: 2003 Mâcon-Milly Lamartine

Slate and granite minerality as well as lemon and pear appear on the nose. For the "simplest" of the Lafon offerings, the mouth-feel is massive and coating and the color of beautiful golden straw. There is a middle softness that is probably due to the strange weather in Burgundy in 2003, with grapes for this wine picked in August. So, it's not as crisp as a cru Chablis, but not as soft as a Montrachet. Heady, floral, and lovely. Highly recommended.

Jigger Happy: Fantastic New French Gin

I know. I'm supposed to be the wine guy, but occasionally, I do get samples of extraordinary spirits too, and as I once was bartender at a fancy-pants French restaurant, I've been known to make some carefully prepared cocktails.

Most gins are essentially flavored neutral spirits with varying intensities of juniper flavorings. G-Vine gin is something very different indeed.

What makes this gin so special is the flavor of grape flowers and other botanicals, but no juniper domination. It is both floral and spicy, and unlike any gin I've tasted. There is a hint of nutmeg in there too, but the grape flower flavor is an enigma. You know it's different, but don't know what it is. I had it naked, quickly shaken with ice and poured into a martini glass --no vermouth.

The delicacy of this is almost killed by getting it too cold, but after 5 minutes after the ice treatment, the fragrances start to lift from the glass and it's very enjoyable.

One caveat: New Yorkers can find it at  Sherry-Lehmann, but right now the distribution is limited, so it can be tough to find, including out in California. I have my eyes peeled, as I only got a 50 ml sample.

Annoucement: SF Tasting Event of New Releases

Here's a fun new tasting my readers may enjoy attending:

Join RadCru.com, Bottlenotes, and Wine 2.o for a great sampling of 200 or so brand new releases on November 29th at Varnish Fine Art and Wine Bar
77 Natoma Street, San Franciso (GoogleMap)
From 7-10 p.m.

Advance Tickets are $40 and it will be $60 at the door.

Some Corkdork Favorites will be there. Here's the bulk of the list:

Cameron Hughes Wine, Canihan Wines, Clautiere Winery, Creek View Vineyards, Dashe Cellars, Delectus, Dono dal Cielo, Due Vigne, Esca Wines, Fantesca, Four Vines, Girard, J Dusi Wines, Jeriko Estate, Joseph Family Vineyards, Kenefick Ranch, Kenwood, Lake Sonoma Winery, McFadden, Medlock Ames, Modus Operandi, Otter Cove Wines, Owl Ridge, Peter Franus, Sapid, Spencer-Roloson, Stag’s Leap, Tobacco Road Cellars, Twisted Oak, Valley of the Moon, Vie Winery, Windsor Sonoma.