The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

East Bay Vintners Part 3: The Crush is on at Dashe Cellars

When I called to check in with Mike Dashe for my third installment of my East Bay Vintners series, he told me that I would need to come later in the day to because he was expecting 16 tons of fruit at noon. My lucky day. When I arrived at the Oakland winery that they share with JC Cellars, Mike's crew was busy manning the crusher/destemmer, sorting through grapes and lining them up for crushing.

First to arrive was zinfandel and Petite Syrah from Todd Brothers Ranch in Geyserville. The grapes were pulled at around 25 brix, sweet and full of juice.

This is Anne and Mike Dashe's 10th year in business since Mike left Ridge to pursue his own expression of fruit from a ranch that Ridge no longer wanted to buy from.  (Anne is also a winemaker has an enology degree from the Univerity of Bordeaux, and worked in St. Emillion). Their risk 10 years ago, paid off and the 1996 Dasche zin was a huge hit with the likes of The French Laundry, and Dashe Cellars was on the map.

I tasted through the current offerings as well as a single vineyard bottling only available at the winery in Oakland.  All are recommended.

2004 Dashe Cellars Dry Creek Zinfandel
Spicy cloves and raspberry on the nose. Lovely balanced Zinfandel $22.00

2003 Dashe Cellars Todd Brothers Zinfandel
This single-vineyard selection is from 52 year old vines and is a full of cassis, chocolate, and blueberry aromas. $28.00

2002 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel Louvau Vineyards
This owners of this property near the center of Dry Creek discovered they had 2-1/2 acres of 68 year old gnarly zinfandel vines once they started clearing out their newly acquired vineyard. A complex wine, full of black raspberries. It's aging nicely now, and has lots of life left in it. In general, you can't go wrong with 2002 zins from Dry Creek. $28.00

2003 Dashe Cellars Merlot Iron Oak Vineyard Potter Valley
Classic blueberry aromas from this Merlot grown near Ukiah. Only 600 cases available. Delicious and juicy, this would be great with a nice roast. $26.00

2002 Dashe Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
This is a lively, big Bordeaux blend of Cab, Merlot, Petite Verdot, and Malbec. Classic minty, black pepper, and cloves. Gripping tannins still can stand a couple of more years to mellow out. $38.00

2005 Dashe Cellars Late Harvest Zinfandel
Now, I usually don't care for LH Zin, as usually it is as syrupy as pancake syrup, but this is reminiscent of the Late picked Zins from Sky on Mt. Veeder that I used to have during the 90s. It was harvested in November at 40 brix! It's not a Port, but a heavier, sweeter zinfandel. Very nice. $24.00

Paternoster Del Vulture Synthesi 2003 at A16

I've been to A16 on Chestnut Street a couple of times before, but only to sample the amazing Italian selections by the glass and enjoy the Marina scene. Last night, I finally dined there and had some good dishes and one excellent value Aglianico that I thought I should share.

Admittedly, my knowledge of Italian wines is pretty limited, but repeat visits to A16 surely will help. They specialize in real Southern Italian foods from Campania and Napoli and have lots of Southern Italian wines to match. The highlight of the evening was the sausage pizza from the wood-fired oven and the chanterelle pasta.

I got there a bit early and had a glass of the Paternoster Del Vulture Synthesi 2003 from Bottega del Vulture and it was so delicious that I ordered a bottle when my friend arrived for dinner.

The Synthesi is the least expensive of the Paternoster offerings, and I will try to find some of the higher-end bottles because this one was so tasty.

Color: Deep and dark, like an Amarone
Nose: Prunes, fig, woody mushrooms, with a pleasant oaky-mossy-lilypad kind of thing going on.
Taste: Dried cherries and orange peel, chocolate. Chewy and tannic, but not too gripping. Has a lot of old oak on it.
Repeat buy? Absolutely. This is probably around $20 retail.

Corkdork music on the Ratcast

Just a quick heads up that my friend, Alan, of the Cellar Rat Podcast asked me to compose some music beds for his 1 year anniversary Podcast and he has it up now. It's #53. I wrote about 6-1/2 minutes of music using a combination of Reaktor, my trusty MS2000, Access Virus, Kontakt, Ableton Live, and my Handsonic. Hope you enjoy.

The Modern American Négociant: Cameron Hughes

Because I'm not a Costco member, I was unfamiliar with the Cameron Hughes phenomenon until I was invited to a private blogger tasting at Cameron's publicity company's office. Why mention the Costco connection? At the time of this writing, Cameron only sells direct through his website and at each Costco location, nationwide. Seems like a small niche? Maybe, but it seems to fit his business model perfectly. On the right,  is Cameron in his element, talking about his wines to his customers directly. He travels constantly to Costco stores to meet his customer base face-to-face.

Cameon is not a winemaker or vintner, but he has a trustworthy palate, a finger on the pulse of his customers, and the capital to sieze an opportunity when it comes up. In other words, he is an American négociant. French négociants fulfill a different function than someone like Cameron. Many French négociants are buying from the same vintners year after year, many of whom have no other way to sell their wares, blending them to make big lots of inexpensive wine. Some of these growers have been selling to the same négociant families for decades or centuries and have in-turn, made these families rich enough to swallow up some of the most prized land in all of France for their own bottlings. Some houses, like Louis Jadot, started with one small vineyard in 1859 and today runs more than 300 vineyards. Bouchard Pére et Fils, for example is the third largest holder of the property known as Le Montrachet.

The Cameron Hughes model of négociant is quite different. He buys small "lots" of premium, or super/ultra-premium wines that are in oversupply and releases them mostly as individual expressions of terroir, without revealing the exact vineyard that it came from. So the vintners and winemakers are able to continue to make more of their individual blending component wines, like Merlot or Cab Franc, or can sell off wines that may not merit their usual $50.00 a bottle price-tag, but would be fantastic bargains at $15.00.

And how are the wines? Remarkable bargains.

After tasting Lots 11 through 17, here are my favorites for you to seek out at Costco or on his website. Disclaimer: I tasted all these in a private tasting and was sent one to me by mail that was unavailable the day we tasted.

Lot 12, 2003 Sonoma Mountain Syrah
This is juicy and rich with berries and spice. This came from a low-yield vineyard and it's muscle shows it. I would be proud to show this one off as a $20 bargain, so it's amazing at $12.00.

Lot 14, 2003 Napa Valley Merlot
This is a blend of Rutherford and Pope Valley fruits with a little Cab Franc for structure and density. This is brambly and a little chocolate-y. Firm with tannins and long finished. This is another amazing deal at $9.99.

Lot 15, Napa Valley Cabernet
This is made up of 66% Rutherford, 18% Pope Valley, 16% Oakville Cabs with 5% Cab Franc. It tastes like a classic Rutherford Cab from Sequoia Grove or Cakebread Cellars. Soft and lovely right out of the bottle, this would be a great thing to open with a spice-rubbed steak on the grill to make the most of the peppery finish. Delicious at $15.00.

Craziest Coffee

I've never written about how much coffee I drink, but it's a lot. I just wanted to put up a quick post about this amazing coffee I tasted yesterday at Peet's. The beans for this coffee are grown especially for Peet's in Yirgacheffe, by an artisan grower trying to recultivate a strain of heirloom coffee that his grandfather grew. At least that's the story from Peet's coffee buyer Doug Welsh.

It smells just like blueberries when it's brewed. I'm not kidding when I say this is one of the most unique coffees I have ever had.

How on earth does this happen?  $17.90 at Peet's retailers and online for the next few weeks.  Check it out.

Food Pairing with Champagne

When I visited Sam's site today to see her hosting-posting for WBW #25, French Fizz, I realized I shoud share the recipe that I made up to accompany the Champagne. I too, shunned the blinis and caviar, and went with something I thought would be more imaginative. The trick for this recipe is not too go overboard on any of the aromatics. Keep it subtle and it won't kill the nuances of the fine champagne.

Thai Scented Sea Bass

For 2 servings

for 2-6 oz. Sea Bass Fillets
Prep the white parts from 2 leeks, small julienne, around 3" long by 1/16th" set aside
Prep 1 celery stem the same size julienne as the leeks and set aside.
Peel (don't roast and peel, use a peeler) 1/2 of a nice organic Red Pepper. Julienne like the other vegs.
Prep 1 clove garlic smashed a thumb-sized knob of ginger, peeled and julienned very fine.

In a small saucepan, cook the smashed white ends of 2 lemongrass stems and a tablespoon or so of julienned ginger with 1 cup of white wine. Simmer this for 20 minutes or so gently, as if you're making a strong scented tea. This is your braising liquid.

Fire up your rice cooker and make some nice Jasmine Rice with a little butter and salt. 1-1/2 cups of raw rice is good for 2 with leftovers.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the leeks in some butter/olive oil with generous salt until very soft. Remove from pan set aside. On a medium flame, cook the celery and peppers until soft, around 5 minutes in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter.

Add the 2 6-oz. fillets of Sea Bass to the pan and roll them around in the vegs and oil/butter until covered. Pass the braising liquid through a sieve into the pan and bring to a boil. Top the fish with a parchment paper "hat" or maybe some foil over the pan. Braise in the oven for 10-12 minutes. For service, place a cup or so of jasmine rice in generous soup bowls and divide the fish, broth and veggies between the bowls.

If you have a little shichimi pepper (Japanese pepper) that's great on the rice to give it a little kick.

Email me at thecorkdork (at symbol) gmail.com if you make this. I would love to hear from someone who actually tried my recipes!  CD

Wine Blogging Wednesday #25: Champagne -Tarlant Cuvee Louis

Wine Blogging Wednesday is always a treat, but this month, our host Sam from Becks & Posh, have made it a special one. Sam wants us to focus on the dizzying amount of real Champagnes from France, with extra brownie points for small producers. 

Well, I took this one step further, and got a tête du cuvée (top of the line) Champagne from a small organic producer that also a very active blogger and vlogger! Once again, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, Champagne Tarlant's owner Melanie Tarlant contacted me a few weeks ago and pointed me to her brother's blog and vlog and I was hooked.  And that was before I tasted their beautiful Champagne.

You don't need to understand French to hear the sorrow and trepidation of Benoit Tarlant walking towards their vines after they have been pounded by hail in a vlog posted in May. (The leaves were pretty pummeled, but the baby grapes were OK) Or envy his morning ritual of picking blackberries for breakfast while looking at the sunrise over their grapes. You know this is a family that cares deeply for its vineyards, soil, and lifestyle.