Donato Enoteca: First Look

My first dinner tonight at Donato Enoteca was a success in every way. To be fair the restaurant is just on its third day of opening, plus I invited some prima donna friends to come with me. Chef/proprietor Donato Scotti did not fail us with his pristine food, while the staff followed through with friendly, competent service.





The wine service, in particular, was overachieving. Seven of us brought half a dozen bottles, and, of course we wanted everything chilled, decanted, and served in individual Riedel glasses, pronto. No sweat. Wine director, Eric Lecours, was unperturbed, proceeding methodically and precisely with the corkscrew and glassware. Shinya Tasaki would be impressed.




The 1982 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs was magnificent with our antipasti. Steely, rich, nutty, with long, elegant flavors.




Calamari and white bean salad with baby spinach. The squid was tender, but the beans were still a bit firm; nevertheless, this was simple, light, and pure.




Prosciutto-wrapped pillow of puffed pastry. I've never had this combo before. Interesting, but the puffed pastry did little for me, it was the rich quality of the prosciutto that was mouthwatering.




Donato's signature Bruschetta di Cinghiale or braised wild boar, onion and Chianti vinegar spread on grilled bread. The Italian take on deconstructed pulled-pork sandwich. Tender shreds of tasty pork with a delicious, slightly tangy seasoning. This was devoured quickly. We should have ordered more.




My rustic plate of veal chop. Crusty, juicy, perfectly cooked.




1959 Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac. Like what you'd expect from a '59, really beautiful. Fresh currants and dark berries with cedary notes and lovely tannins. Muscular sweetness. Drinking perfectly now.




1981 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia, Bolgheri. Earthy currant nose. Bright, earthy blackberries. Cool and fresh in the mouth. Precise, elegant, and high-toned. A focused wine that demands the right food, like a rare steak.




1996 Gaja Darmagi Langhe. A great wine with enormous potential. The fruit is dense, sweet, earthy, and mineral with layers of currants, figs, and spices. Velvety tannins. Powerful and persistent. This will evolve for decades! Amazing what Cabernet Sauvignon can do in Barbaresco.


1993 Ornellaia, Bolgheri. Superb. Drinking perfectly. I don't know much about the history of Ornellaia. I thought this was Merlot-based but I was wrong. This vintage is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with some percentage of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. No wonder it was fragrant with cedary currants and mulberry. Creamy, lush, earthy cassis and cherry fruit. Elegant and perfectly balanced.


Donato fired up his gelato machine and made us an assortment of refreshing gelati. A great way to finish the meal. Luxurious dense, creamy texture, with just enough air to float in the mouth and savor the intense, pure fruit taste. Most enjoyable gelati I've ever had!



Freshly-made gelato of wild berry and limoncello.




Freshly-made gelato of pistacchio, vanilla, and chocolate.


I shall be returning many times to Donato's Enoteca. Already the prospects for getting a great meal look very bright. Bravo!


Donato Enoteca
1041 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA 94063
650.701.1000
Open everyday for lunch and dinner

The Ultimate Wine Book?

Thudding in at 8.21 pounds, 926 pages, the revised edition of Wine stops a door cold and doubles as a weight for deadlift exercises. It is a formidable use of paper.

Wine is also a great read. The concise, unassuming title is deceptive--unadorned with self-aggrandizing attachments as "Bible", "Encyclopedia" or "Atlas". Yet, few if any topic on wine escapes its pages. I never thought it possible but it rivals the two go-to tomes on my shelf: The World Atlas of Wine and The Oxford Companion to Wine--perhaps even surpassing both.

Want to know about French oak forests and barrel-making? It's there. Biodynamics? Yup. Grape varietals? Check. Wine tasting methodology? Covered. Viticulture, including pruning methods and grape ripening? Yes. Terroir? You bet.

But the meat of the book are the chapters detailing the world's winegrowing regions with visually illustrative maps and color photographs of vineyards and producers. Major and smaller wine regions are treated with equal passion. Mediterranean countries with long winegrowing histories--Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco--are discussed well, instead of skipped over as in other books.

But what I love most of all is pages are crammed with information. Sidebars highlight key topics as the confusing German Wine Law, obscure regions as the Coteaux de Pierrevert in Provence, acreage of each appellation in the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits, and sustainable winegrowing trends in California.

Edited by Andre Domine, who has been a contributor to the Culinaria series, and authored by him and seventeen other wine writers, this is a masterful wine book that is hard to put down despite its heft.


Wine
Edited by Andre Domine
Published 2008 H.F. Ullmann $59.95

Brachetto and Cherries

At the midweek tasting this week I am pouring an utterly gorgeous wine from Piedmont, the Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG I Ronchetti from Casa Martelletti.

Brachetto, a grape varietal native to the Piedmont region, produces a light, bubbly, sweet red wine prized for its fragrance and fruity, refreshing taste. Fashionable in the nineteenth-century, Brachetto almost disappeared in the twentieth-century, replaced in the vineyards by the more productive Barbera. Fortunately a handful of Piemonte growers stuck to it, and by the late twentieth-century a revival was on the way.

Yesterday, I was tasting the Brachetto with a group of customers, including my friend Ben, whose knowledge and instinct on wine and food have always inspired me. Brachetto ranges in flavors from light strawberries to a dark cherry and plum style like the I Ronchetti. We were all captivated by it and everyone left the store with a bottle in tow, including Ben (2 bottles). The fragrance was like fading rose petals. Its ethereal effervescence made the fruity flavors dance in the mouth. A really joyful wine.

I love sipping it as aperitif with fresh stone-fruits like apricots and white peaches. Ben suggested pairing with sauteed or poached salmon. I also like to drink Brachetto after a big meal. Light and low in alcohol, its pure, fresh flavors invigorate the palate.

The Brachetto made us think about the wonderful cherries in season right now. For the past few weeks I've been coming early to our local farmers' market to shop for cherries. If there were a cherry vintage chart, this year and last year would be 100 points.

My favorite are Bing cherries, named for an Oregonian Chinese-American who helped develop the cultivar. Large, plump, and sweet, Bings are the king of cherries. Ben said to put them in iced water to make them extra crunchy. When I got home last night I did just that. Immersed in iced water for twenty minutes or so, the Bings firmed up and crackled in my mouth as I bit into each one. The thick flesh teasingly released a sweet, refreshing juice that made me remember the cool glass of fizzy Brachetto I enjoyed earlier in the day.

Believing in Burgundy

"Burgundy is a gift that I have yet to receive." To paraphrase Robert Langdon, Angels & Demons


A roomful of us Burgundy believers turned up last Friday to eagerly partake of well-kept bottles from Burgundy's dismal years, as well as from better vintages that supposedly should have been consumed years ago. No problem, all the wines showed beautifully, perhaps even too beautifully as to be un-Burgundian in the case of one.

I think it's clear, the wine gods made Burgundy a matter of belief. Those who choose to believe in Burgundy's terroirs and producers, instead of depending on vintage charts and scores, are infinitely rewarded and go straight to heaven.

But what is the point of that old bottle of Jerez, er Sherry, atop the page if the topic of the post is about Burgundy? (No, that's not cooking Sherry!) Aside from looking really dainty on the kitchen counter next to a bunch of chives while dinner is being prepared, why none, except that we actually drank its contents during dinner.





Contrary to prevailing opinions, old and young Burgundy need to be decanted-- vigorously I must say--about seven to eight times (while mumbling prayers for assurance), then watch it bloom in the glass. Previously, I was in the pour-straight-from-the-bottle Burgundy camp, until I met Ben, the prophet of decanting. In the decanters above, the 1983 DRC Echézeaux and the 1984 DRC Grands Echézeaux.





Some caught a whiff of oxidation in the modest village 1985 Joseph Drouhin Chassagne-Montrachet right after it was uncorked, but fortunately I didn't when I arrived later. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Golden straw colored. Pronounced scents of lime, mineral, and nutmeg with slight petrol. Toothsome citrus and pastry crust flavors. Slick and fresh in the mouth with lots of energy still.





This bacon number is genius! Crisped, fatty bites that went perfectly with the Chassagne.





I like René Engel. The domaine's flagship is Clos de Vougeot but here we have two of its Grands Echézeaux, the 1988 and 1990. To my mind the domaine's style is somewhat rustic and certainly old-fashioned. The 1990 Grands Echézeaux has a touch of VA, but not too obtrusive. I really think 1990 Burgundies trade off some purity for a dark ripeness prone to funk. But Engel reined it in well enough so his 1990 is edible as always. Dark, ripe cherry fruit, with a touch of wildness that gets better and better on the palate. The 1988 Grands Echézeaux had a metallic, toasted caramel funky nose, but the flavors were vivid and luscious. I prefer the elegance and clarity of this to the 1990





What is wine without the proper food to match? Steve did a great job on this braised beef ribs with a side of polenta cheese. Beef and Burgundy, what a classic matchup!





Speaking of Clos de Vougeot, another wine we enjoyed with dinner was Jean Gros' 1994 Clos de Vougeot "Grand Maupertuis". Made by Jean's son Michel Gros. So youthful. With a cherry nose and bright, fruity flavors, offering lusciousness, balance, and depth. Bags of life ahead. Among the off-vintages--like 1991, 1998, 2000, 2001--1994 is the forgotten one.





The cheese spread was awesome. When you're drinking old Burgundy you gotta have a great cheese spread. We needed this for the venerable highlights of the evening.





Is there a wine critic that ever gave the 1984 DRC Echézeaux a chance? Yet, this has all the attributes of a fine Burgundy. Bright, fresh cherry scents, with rose petals and underbrush. Lifted but not angular. The brightness has a luscious fruit core capturing the wine's delicacy and marvelous elegance.





The 1983 DRC Grands Echézeaux is like a big brother to the '84 DRC Ech. Clearly broader, darker, and more muscular. Rosewood and black cherries on the nose. Sweet, potent, and powerful. Tasting of crushed cherries laced with sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves. Which one was better, this or the '84? I can't decide. I was lucky to be drinking both.





The "Lovers' Wine" according to Episode 2 of the Japanese wine drama, Kami no Shizuku, is Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses, perhaps the most seductive of all Burgundies. Its sweetnes is irresistible. The 1971 Comte Georges de Vogüe Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses is simply a sensational wine. Its rapturous cherry blossom fragrance intensifies in the glass, becoming almost overpowering as it blooms. I tasted the pure sweetness of a perfectly ripened cherry; it felt light on the palate, its delicacy like rice paper. This seemingly fragile wine radiates a prettiness that is just overwhelming.

Burgundians are uneasy with perfection. They don't like a wine that is too pretty. I remember Pierre-Henri Gagey, head of Jadot, make this remark when he was presiding over a tasting of 1999s, a great vintage like 1971 and 2002, the flawless vintage of Les Amoureuses in Episode 2 of Kami no Shizuku. In fact, this Burgundian psyche is well captured in Episode 2, where the preferred vintage of the great wine collector, Kanzaki-san, was not the flawless 2002 but the imperfect 2001.

"Heaven, Earth, Human"--together they create a masterpiece, according to Kami no Shizuku. The "Human" element signifies the labor required to make a great wine from a difficult year. Issei, the egotistical wine expert, picked the flawless 2002, but Shizuku, our unassuming hero, chose the winner, the imperfect 2001. I think this also illustrates how wine critics get it wrong. Life imitating art. Our imperfect 1983, 1984, and 1994 Burgundies were very charming and don't take a backseat to vintages like 1971, 1988, and 1990.





Done with the Burgundies, we go back to what I mentioned at the outset, the Gonzalez, Byass 1847 Solera Sherry. Gonzalez Byass still bottles an 1847 Solera Sherry to this day, but of course current bottles are not the same as this one we drank. Over time, very little of the oldest vintages dating back to 1847 go into later bottlings. Ben's 1847 Solera Sherry is a very old bottle, exactly how old, I don't know, but it's one of the early bottlings. A Cream Sherry, it is sweet with an intense caramel, balsam wood smell and delicious flavors of butterscotch, flan, and almonds that coat the palate for a considerable length of time. Sherry is one of the greatest wines, but why it's so overlooked, it's hard to say.

For a postre at the end, the 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port was a massive treat. Sensuous nose of violets, plums, and blueberries. Gorgeous flavors of sweet blackberries, cherries, and milk chocolate, compounded by a soft, velvety texture. Resistance was futile.

Noodling For A Change

This past week or so was a blurrish gastronomic romp for me. I started on the 16th at the new RN74. A wine dinner featured Benjamin Leroux and his new 2007 negociant wines, plus a vertical of grand cru-like Pommards of Comte Armand des Epeneaux (details soon). The Cobia with grilled turnips and broccolini proved fantastic with the red Burgundies, surprisingly even more so than the duck cassoulet. That wine dinner was followed by our own wine dinner on the 20th. An array of Schloss Schonborn Rieslings accompanied by the haute-pan-Asian cuisine of Unicorn Restaurant made for a stunning evening.

Schonborn's hat-trick of 2006 Kabinett Rieslings--the Nusbrunnen, Pfaffenberg, and Erbacher Marcobrunn--was mindblowing. Impossible to find better Riesling values than these!

I changed pace on the 22nd at Izakaya Mai, washing down excellent small plates of seafood supplied by IMP with a cold Hatsumago sake. But on the 23rd it was back to RN74 for a casual dinner, including a couple of Burgundies from the list--a lovely 2006 Aligote by Roulot and a fading 1990 Pommard Epenot Dubreuil-Fontaine. This last made me wonder again: is the 1990 vintage overrated? Anyway, the Sea Urchin (uni) Carbonara on the wine bar menu is probably the best pasta concoction I've ever had; it was delightful with the Aligote.

With such classy meals and memorable drinks, I never expected that the finale of back-to-back lunches on Sunday and yesterday at a cheap noodle joint ensconced in Oakland's inner neighborhoods would blow me away. But they did. And for a change, there were no fermented drinks involved on these meals.

Noodle Trend is the new noodle house operated by the family of Unicorn proprietor Kiet Truong. After selling the original Unicorn in Berkeley, Kiet's family decided to go back to basics and open perhaps the only Chao Zhou eatery in the Bay Area. Kiet's parents are both cooks from Chao Zhou, a district in southern China's Guangdong province. They moved to Saigon, where they raised a family and run a successful restaurant serving a kind of Vietnamese fusion cuisine with Chao Zhou influences. After the fall of Saigon the family fled to the US, settling first in Minnesota and eventually finding their way to the Bay Area.

It may sound contradictory, but Noodle Trend is both a simple noodle joint and the epitome of fine cookery. Every main ingredient is prepared from scratch. The stock is extracted from a mountain of bones and herbs to get a rich flavor and is cooked for several hours until everything has reduced and melded perfectly. No dish tastes greasy, bland or fake. Live free-range chickens are butchered in the gleaming stainless-steel kitchen. Amazingly, no item on the menu costs more than $6.95, and every plate, every bowl is served almost overflowing with magnificently tasty food!


The unsweetened, thick fresh soybean milk (Sua Dau Nanh) served piping hot is made in the kitchen from pure soybeans boiled with pandan leaf to bring out the taste of the soybean. $2.00


A starter of Salt and Pepper Calamari (Mu'c Rang Muoi). $6.95


The Chao Zhou Fried Rice Cake (Banh Bot Chien) cooked with beaten eggs and turnip. It reminded me of tortilla, the classic Spanish tapas. $5.75


Qui, Kiet's brother, told me that in the streets of Chao Zhou this Chao Zhou Ho Fun combination soup (Hu Tieu Hoac Mi Trieu Chau) is prepared in minutes by street vendors for passersby hungry for a quick snack. $6.25


Orange Peel Duck Thigh Noodle (Vit Tim) $6.95. The confit-like duck thigh is fork tender and the broth is classic Vietnamese duck stew mix of herbs and tangerine orange peel with the traditional side dish of pickled carrot and cabbage.


Free-Range Chicken Ho Fun Soup (Hu Tieu Hoac Mi Ga Di Bo) $6.95. The strips of chicken meat skin-on was so tender and flavorful!


For variety I opted for rice, instead of noodles, for this Beef Stew (Hu Tieu Hoac Mi Bo Kho) $6.95. Tender beef brisket and tendon in a flavorful broth of Chinese herbs, carrots, and lemon grass. A squeeze of lime makes the taste of the stew explode in the mouth!


Three Colors Dessert (Che), a street food classic in Vietnam. Red bean, Jell-O, and agar-agar flavored with coconut milk and sugar and topped with shaved ice. Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines have versions of this popular ice treat.






Noodle Trend
401 International Ave.
Oakland, CA
510-893-1608
Open 11am-7pm except Wednesday

Drinking Champagne $$$$!

The Iron Chevsky posted a question recently, "what's the most expensive Champagne you've ever had." I've drank some pretty good Champagnes in my life but I've never thought about them in terms of dollar value. So this question made me reflect. Surely, a bottle with "Krug" on the label has to be the most expensive. But which one? I've had some vintages of the Clos du Mesnil (1986, 1988, and 1990 come to mind) but I haven't been lucky enough to try the Clos d'Ambonnay, which at around $3,500 or so for a bottle is the most expensive Krug Champagne made. Notwithstanding this glaring shortcoming, I've had a Krug that is at least as expensive as the Clos d'Ambonnay, a magnum of the 1971 Krug Collection.

Krug Collection are bottles and magnums of vintage Krug that are kept since bottling in the Krug cellars and gradually released decades later. Though they are identical to the vintage bottling, the passage of time in the cold, quiet comfort of the Krug cellars make them take a unique path of evolution and provenance.

About fifteen years ago, at the end of 1993, I was leaving for another job and as a farewell my colleagues treated me to the magnum of 1971 Krug Collection suitably accompanied by jars of beluga and ossetra caviar. My leaving provided a great excuse to have a good year-end office party, and since we all got paid a bonus, why not the best Champagne?

I remember the Krug being more wine than Champagne, there were hardly any bubbles left and the color was deep yellow straw with aromas of hops and citrus. It was more akin to grand cru Chablis or to Montrachet--very mineral, and quite dry and austere. The salty, oily, and nutty taste of the caviar fitted the Krug perfectly.

To purchase the 1971 Krug Collection today would set you back about $2,000 for a bottle and probably about $5,000 or more for a magnum. It is a rare Champagne and the price surely reflects that. Since then I've never gotten together with any of my old friends who shared that magnum with me, nor have I had another Krug Collection. I thought the rarity of the occasion more than matched the Champagne.

Friday No-Corkage Dinner at 231 Ellsworth!

Three Course Prix-Fixe Menu
$ 39. per person

******
Baby spinach, strawberries, balsamic vinaigrette
-or-
Spring vegetable pistou
-or-
Crab cake, braised romaine, olive vinaigrette
******
Roasted salmon, citrus grilled gambones, asparagus, bearnaise
-or-
Filet of beef, braised kale, potato gratin ($5 supplement)
-or-
Chicken breast, creamy polenta, wild arugula, roasted peppers
******
Chocolate pudding cake, strawberries, vanilla crème fraîche
-or-
Kaffir lime crème brûlée with housemade cookies
-or-
Mandarin soufflé with crème anglaise
($5 supplement)

Indeed, every cloud has a silver lining. To thrive in the economic slowdown savvy restaurants are coming up with deals I've never seen before. The best restaurant in the Peninsula, 231 Ellsworth in San Mateo, is offering a most attractive Spring special: 3-course prix-fixe at $39/person and no corkage on Mondays and Fridays. How can I resist?

My buddies Kevin and Ben couldn't resist either when I mentioned the deal. So we all headed down there Friday night, with wives in tow, and were treated to first-class fare at economy price. And lucky me, when I'm with Kevin and Ben I always drink first-class. These guys have the two best wine cellars I know of.

I brought a 1997 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles that dazzled us. 1997 is a Leflaive year and I advise you to scoop up 1997 Leflaives--you could probably find some at Vineyard Gate at a great price. My notes said: intense floral, honey, citrus, gravel, and botrytis (the telltale sign of a Leflaive) scents; flavors of greengage, grapefruit, lemon custard, and minerals. Utterly persistent. Its petrol scents got more noticeable as the wine opened up. Very lovely.

Ben recalled a tasting several years ago of 1969 Leflaive Pulignys. People thought they were tasting German Rieslings. The petrol and botrytis emanating from the wines surprised everyone.

Kevin commented: "The Leflaive kept unfolding. The botrytis component was oh so good. Thank you. *** (**)"

The 1954 Chateau Latour is proof yet again that being vintage-obsessed is dim-witted at best as one misses out on sublime wine experiences like this. A gift from Ben's 49 degree F cellar to honor Kevin's birth year. Decanted, it was unbelievably youthful; deep ruby up to the rim, with no bricking. More fragrant than the '55 Margaux we had a few months ago--cedar plank, dried herbs, blood, and earth. Started off with flavors of velvety ripe blackberries that brightened to cranberries as the wine faded. What a treat!

Ben brought a bottle wrapped in aluminum foil and already uncorked, no doubt he had given it his usual seven to eight decantings before leaving home. Both Kevin and I assumed it was red Burgundy, but we did a quick blind tasting before unwrapping the label. I said definitely grand cru because of the power. It was dark ruby and really fruity, I thought about a Russian River Pinot Noir for a moment, like a Williams Selyem or Gary Farrell but said, "nah", not likely Ben would bring something like that. Kevin later said that he thought it was a Corton, and so it was--a 1966 Corton from Coron Pere et Fils, a negociant I'm totally unfamiliar with. Anyway, it was wonderful and paired well with my beef filet. Black cherries, mint, sage, earth, beef broth, cinnamon, and cloves. A melange of flavors that showed the odd, anything-goes character of aged Corton.


231 Ellsworth Restaurant
231 Ellsworth Avenue
San Mateo, CA
650. 347.7231