The Rarest Rosé

(Note: This blog was originally posted on July 12, 2007)



The commune of Riceys in the southern portion of the Champagne region has been producing for centuries tiny quantitites of the world's most rare rosé. Said to be the favorite of Louis XIV, this rosé is so obscure that even in Champagne, let alone in France, few have heard of it. To my knowledge none is exported.

I was visiting Champagne last March and I took my buddy Robert with me. He decided to stick around a little longer after I've finished my appointments to do some R & R and to hunt down a few bottles of Rosé des Riceys. He got lucky as he found a shop that stocked a few bottles. The proprietor was quite impressed when he inquired about it.

So back home Robert and I decided to have a quick bite together one day prior to watching a Giants ballgame. He brought the bottle of Rosé des Riceys, which was, perhaps, the only bottle of this rosé in the country.

We sat at the bar of Coco 500, Loretta Keller's newly renovated hotstpot in the south of Market and ordered a couple of small plates. One was the COCOmole “taco” ($4.00), a refined take on mole made with braised beef cheeks on crisp taco shells. We wiped out the plate in no time. The other dish was a version of the Provence classic, a brandade served with fennel crackers ($6.00). It reminded me how magical salted cod can be. Coco 500 rocks. I wish there's a place like it in the Peninsula.

The Rosé de Riceys is 100% Pinot Noir, made by macerating the fruit until the taste of Riceys is achieved--a procedure that requires not only a skilled winemaker but also someone who knows the precise taste of Riceys.

The rosé has a deep cherry nose, very earthy and Pinot-like, it reminded me of the Pinot Noirs I've had from Alsace. The initial taste was of black cherries, followed by hints of fresh herbs and lavender. It was very delicate and intense on the palate. Substantial for a rosé, and so perfect with our robust small plates.


Coco500
500 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA
415.543.2222

Safety in Numbers

I've long believed in the virtues of comparative wine tastings. At Vineyard Gate, over the past 12 years that we've been doing in-store tastings, they have always been done in flights. If a customer approaches the tasting bar wishing to try just a glass, that person is out of luck. And at all wine dinners I put together, every course is accompanied by a flight of two or three wines, sometimes even more. The thing is I know of no better way to assess and appreciate a wine properly than tasting or drinking it with its peers.

Over the Christmas holiday, I relished a FT piece by Jancis Robinson about serving multiple wines for each course. She writes: "I usually serve two different wines with each course since I am incorrigibly curious about wine and I always learn from comparisons."

The article made me smile because less than a fortnight before my buddies and I at our BNO wine group had our year-end get-together. We always grasp for themes in these dinners as it all depends on what bottles each of us would fork over. There's a flurry of ideas exchanged, and a bit of negotiation, especially if we want to pry out a particular bottle from someone's stash. Fortunately, as far as I can remember, something interesting always shakes out.

The evening began with two magnums of Champagne. But I'm rushing a bit because a chilled bottle of 1936 Gonzalez Byass Sherry "Imperial Toledo Vino de Heroes" was poured. I've had this immortal sherry--a special release to commemorate Franco's conquest of Toledo in 1936--a few times before and its pungency and sweetness, its nuttiness and salty tang always perk up my palate. Sherry is terribly overlooked, especially by serious winos.



Okay, back to the Champagnes. The two magnums opened couldn't have been more different. Cedric Bouchard's Brut Blanc de Noirs “Les Ursules”, Roses de Jeanne is a "non-vintage" from a single year of harvest, 2005. It is also a single vineyard--"Les Ursules"--from his parcel in the Aube region and only from a single varietal, Pinot Noir. Bouchard is a tiny recoltant-manipulant (grower-producer), a previously obscure Champagne category that's become fashionable over the last few years. There's nothing fashionable about Bouchard's Champagne as it's quite straightforward as wine can be. Its dominating quality is the underlying wine itself. Round, lush, but not broad. It has understated richness and a demure character. About 400 of these magnums were made.



In contrast, the 1961 Bollinger RD, which was disgorged in 1983, was as broad, powerful, and intense as Champagne can be. It has pronounced herbal minerality, awesome vibrant energy and great length in the finish. I enjoyed another magnum of this Champagne earlier in the year, but this is the fresher and better of the two. Or could it be that it still keeps getting better after all these decades?



There were more than two white Burgundies opened during the evening, but the pair that I focused on were two Meursaults, both from negociant-eleveurs. The 1971 Meursault-Poruzots, Remoissenet Pere et Fils comes from a respected firm, famous for being the metayer of Baron Thenard's parcel in Montrachet for decades. This has matured very well. Big, fat, ripe, oily, and still with a haunting oak scent.



The 2000 Maison Leroy Meursault, a simple village, clearly demonstrated why Leroy's Meursaults are some of the best that money can buy. It's not even close to peak drinking yet, but what glorious richness and depth, with a mouthfilling entry and a laser-focused finish. Leroy's wines may be frightfully expensive, but worth every penny.



We were blessed to have a brilliant caterer in Ashley Arabian, who cooked us a to-die-for duck ragout and a juicy and tender beef fillet with the reds that followed. Two Richebourgs from the same vintage, 1996, went head-to-head, sending us to Burgundy heaven and giving us a quick Burgundy clinic, as well as bolstering my point on comparative tasting.

The 1996 Domaine Gros Frère et Soeur Richebourg in magnum tells you a lot of things about the man behind it, Bernard Gros, the youngest son of Jean Gros and young brother of Michel Gros, who inhereited the Jean Gros estate, and cousin to Anne Gros. Got it? Bernard makes Burgundies that are strong and fruity. He picks late when the fruit is very ripe and packed with sugar, sacrificing some finesse to achieve a broad, voluptuous style. It doesn't always work and his style hasn't endeared him to Burgundy hipsters who fancy a more austere, acidic quality, but I must say his approach works for 1996.

1996 has become a controversial vintage for red Burgundies. Once highly-touted, the wines after over a decade have shown an unforgiving hardness. But Bernard Gros' style works wondrously well with the vintage, offering a wine with softened fruit, mitigated acidity, and exuberant fruity flavors. His 1996 Richebourg sure is luscious and forward, quite easy to enjoy, as opposed to many of the closed-up, hard-hitting wines of the vintage.



The other Richebourg opened was the 1996 Domaine Jean Grivot Richebourg. Etienne Grivot makes Burgundies in the vin de garde style, they take forever to evolve. I do have a passion for his wines. This 1996, even though hard and tight compared to the Gros, draws me in with its aromatic fruit and scents of autumn. And I'm taken by its layered flavors that penetrate the palate. Alas, the wine's structure is still hard and the finish, as the fruit recedes, is not flattering.

Finally, the last pairing for me of the evening, as I didn't stay long after dinner for the Port and Sauternes and other surprises. The deuce was from the 1985 vintage in Bordeaux, one from left bank and the other from the right bank. This was a successful vintage in Bordeaux, a dry year with a big crop. The only thing, or two, that came in the way of total success was that yields on the left bank got a bit out of hand, especially in Pauillac, and many new plantings on the Medoc just came on line, thereby diluting quality to a certain extent.

The 1985 Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac, in magnum is one of the top rated wines of the vintage. It showed good density and youthfulness. Its fruit opened up to much cassis flavor and beautiful velvety tannins. But the wine quickly gave way to a pronounced herbal quality--a sign of underdeveloped fruit--that off-kiltered the wine. It became harder to enjoy as it stayed in the glass. Thankfully, Ashley's fillet was there on my plate to help balance the taste in my mouth.



Moving to the right bank of Gironde, where 1985 was more consistently favorable, the Château Pavie, Saint-Emilion, showed none of the problems of the Lynch-Bages. After two decades the wine continues to surprise and impress with its longevity and substance, though it was written off by Parker and other experts a while ago. If you love Bordeaux you would love this wine. It shows a dense yet elegant and seductive flavor of red and black fruits, with more than a hint of chocolate. Its supple fruit is not forceful but persists on the palate with a nice, even quality. And its luscious, juicy quality was a refreshing counterpoint to the beef dish.



And here are the notes of my buddies quoted verbatim. They fill in many of the wines I missed:

Bob: 1936 Imperial Toledo Sherry: Brown,  Nutty. Very smooth and well balanced. Still has life.  May not fade much in our lifetimes.
 
Bob: 2005 Cedric Bouchard Champagne, Roses de Jeanne , Magnum 100% Pinot: Pale, tart, very crisp, good fruit. Not much yeast on the nose. More fruit than yeast. No dosage. Very enjoyable.
 
Kevin: 100% Pinot ! Wow!  Spice, cherries smoke, very low dosage-super dry. Lots of mineral, very intense.  Great food wine.
 
Bob: 1961 Bollinger Champagne (Magnum): Wow! Yeasty, Toasty, Golden color. Well balanced. Elegant,.  100 points. Fruit and mint in the nose, pinot nose. Not fading a bit. Disgorged in 1988.
 
Kevin: One of the wines of the night. Intense spice spearmint –ultrafine, went on and on. Spectacular. I agree, 100 points!

Eric: Gorgeous setting starting with champagne in front of a cheery fire and lovely Christmas tree. The Bollinger was elegant and sophisticated and the Bouchard rich and racy with a long life ahead.
 
Bob: 2000 Mersault Leroy: Bright appearance, medium body, barnyard and butterscotch  in the nose. Crisp, good fruit acid balance. Steely and austere. Delicious. Will last.
 
Kevin: So focused, like a sleek Ferrari, just buzzing along at high speed and wouldn’t ever know it was going 160!  Wonderful now and for another 10!
 
Bob: 1971 Mersault Porozots: medium body, golden with some browning; barnyard nose, well balanced fruit and acid, Not a grand cru but  holds its own with the best. Delicious with the crab.  Others' comments: "big, fat, oily" ( I got some of that but it had  the acid to keep it in balance).

Eric: 71 Meursault. Unbelievably balanced, fresh, nose of pear, flowers and melon, the fruit was ripe, great depth and length.
 
Bob: 1989 Corton Charlemagne Latour: Medium body, golden brown; toasty, yeasty,creamy, a rich, powerful wine. Great fruit acid balance. Will last. Delicious with the crab.
 
Bob: 1996 Richebourg Gros Frere et Souer: Bright  red, medium body, barnyard nose, lots of ripe fruit. Finished with softer fruit. Well balanced. Wonderful. Tannins in balance with luscious fruit. Interesting comparison with the Jean Grivot. More fruit, softer. Will age nicely.
 
Bob: 1996 Richebourg Jean Grivot (Open five hours before pour): Bright red, medium body, barnyard nose, less fruit than the Gros Frere. Tobacco and cedar on the nose. Lean and structured. Some commented   on the mineral qualities . Delicious. Nuanced. Will age.

Eric: 96 Richebourg Grivot what a future this has. Nose of soft red fruit, vanilla and hint of tobacco. Amazing length and balance.
 
Bob: 2002 Copain Hein Vineyard Anderson Valley Pinot Noir: dark, opaque, heavy body. Soft very ripe fruit,  spice. Cherries, plums.  Nice with the chanterelles.  Not fair to compare it with the red Burgundies. Hard to say where this will be in ten years. Very nice now with the duck ragout.
 
Bob: 1985 Ch. Pavie: Dark ruby color, heavy bodied, cedar and tobacco on the nose, some oak.  rich.  medium tannins, well balanced with the fruit, mint, berries, chocolate.  Great year for right bank St. Emilions. 70% Merlot, 30% Cab Franc. Very nice with the steak and chanterelles.
 
Kevin: Loved the Pavie—the Merlot parried nicely with the filet—Wonderful Bordeaux.

Eric: 85 Pavie, yes I did bring it but it was terrific. Classic Bordeaux nose with earth, leather, red fruit and hint of chocolate. Full bodied with plum, cherry, and earthy notes.
 
Bob: 1985 Lynch Bages (Mag): dark ruby color, opaque, heavy bodied, herbal, vegetable nose, mint, lots of ripe fruit. Tobacco and licorice.  Well balanced, A complex wine. Delicious. Finish a bit dry. Great with the chanterelles .  Interesting comparison to the Pavie. Preference is a matter of taste.  While I  liked the Lynch Bages initially, I thought the finish in the Pavie was a bit smoother. Both spectacular wines.
 
Kevin:I was disappointed with the LB-Even the next day the last bit  in the mag still hadn’t opened up. Drying tannins on the finish, will have to see how the 750’s are doing.
 
Bob: 1995 Araujo (Eisele?) : deep ruby red,  medium bodied, oaky, tannins, but nice cherries, dust and leather. A forward wine. Nice with the  beef and truffles. Will last.
 
Kevin: The oak was prominent, but mostly because it was paired with the Bordeaux. I got that mint Eisele is noted for, but late in the taste.
 
Bob: 1978 Monrachet: The palate cleanser. Wow! Even after 6 powerful reds this knocked my socks off. 100 points in my book.  Still bright and lively, yellow golden,Classic toasty, oak, restrained fruit. Very well balanced. A tribute to proper cellaring.

Kevin: 78 Montrachet -Marquis De Laguiche-Drouhin-honeycomb, almond, anise, lime peel, flint, clove, orange marmalade on finish( sorry guys..),, a layer of kink and complexity at end. 90-120 second finish. Ok wine HA, J 
 
Bob: 1997 Ch d'Yquem: Wow! orange brown, perfume, viscous, wonderful nose, powerful , rich, honey, figs,Well balanced. Will age well. 100 points in my book. Powerful stuff.
 
Kevin: Agreed! Except someone grabbed my glass I swear—I got a 1/2 oz pour. I want the surveillance  video
 
Kevin: 2001 Ch Roumieu Lacosse Sauternes, Barsac: Wow! orange golden, perfume, honey, figs, crisp acid. Concentrated and powerful. Will age well.  Amazing wine!
 
Bob: 1963 Croft Vintage Port: opaque, ruby, wonderful fruit in the nose,  A rich masterpiece . Multi dimensional. Even after the d'Yquem and Sauternes it fully satisfied the palate. Color suggests it will last for a long time . 100 points.
 
Bob: I thought we opened another bottle of port but Kevin swears I am hallucinating. It was delicious . Perhaps it was more of the Croft.(77 kopke)

Kevin: (no, Kevin was hallucinating)
 
Bob: Ashley outdid herself with the wonderful food. Incredible!  I particularly enjoyed the duck ragout and the chanterelles. Perfect for a winter night. We should be evaluating the wonderful food like we do the wines.
 
Kevin: The crab I went Lady Gaga over.

Clos des Pape's 2008 White Châteauneuf-du-Pape

White Châteauneuf-du-Pape is that rare white in an ocean of red wines in the southern Rhône. Few producers make it, and the ones that do only devote 10% or less of their production to it.

Clos des Papes, the superstar producer of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, makes only one red and one white Châteauneuf--no special cuvées. Their wines are highly sought-after and can be very hard to find, particularly the white, as it accounts for just 10% of the wines made at the domaine. Out of the 32 hectares of vineyards it farms, just 3 hectares are planted to white grape varietals--Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Bourbolenc, Clairette, and Picpoul.

The last 3 vintages--2007, 2008, and 2009--produced terrific wines for Clos des Papes. And though both 2007 and 2009 get the hype and acclaim, it is the 2008 vintage that produced the most balanced and precise wines for the domaine. One of the keys to the quality of the wines of Clos des Papes is the low yields. Among these last 3 vintages, 2008 had the lowest yield, at 17 hl/ha, while 2009 was 19 hl/ha and 2007 was 25 hl/ha.

The 2008 Clos des Papes white Châteauneuf was vinified in stainless steel and aged in cask for 6 months, with lees stirring, and did not go through malolactic to retain good acidity. A rich wine with amazing depth of flavors and structure, this is capable of aging for over a decade like white Burgundy. It's enjoyable year-round for its freshness and versatility, but particularly great in the fall with rich dishes, especially those with wild mushrooms or truffles.

My Favorite Kitchen Tool

"Scissors are an underrated kitchen tool", tweeted Chef Daniel Patterson of Coi, and I couldn't agree more.

My kitchen scissors are the Joyce Chen 6.25-in with red handle. I've been using them for the past 20 years to cut whatever needs to be cut in the kitchen--anything from meats to vegetables and packages that need to be opened. I trim poultry skin with it, shear off ligaments and bones, snip off the stems of tomato, parsley, and basil from my kitchen garden, and cut pieces of parchment paper. I make sure these scissors are always handy in my kitchen drawer. And though I've used them constantly for two decades, they've kept their edge without any sharpening.

These Joyce Chen scissors are still being sold for $19.95, but I think I paid much less than that for mine.

Fine Dining at Commis

Commis is a fine dining place that makes do with less. In that sense it is quite au courant. Foodies may be in a frugal state of mind these days but some still look for a fine dining experience occasionally, though not at French Laundryesque prices. Commis provides the answer.



The $115 nine-course tasting menu I had at Commis delivered the kind of eats that felt almost double that price. How is this possible? The restaurant has a Zen-like economy and simplicity. And most of all Chef James Syhabout’s skill and imagination transform modest ingredients into sublime dishes.



Mr. Syhabout (see-ha-boot) serves up his refined, conceptual cuisine in a spare, gallery-like space. Everything is casual and relaxed. The restaurant's bare walls and plain black-and-white décor—broken only by the blonde wood table-tops and counter—create a contemplative atmosphere that is conducive to the compositions that the kitchen presents.



Each of the dishes is a delicious sketch of a scene. The halibut tartare floats below kelp and sea plant-like flowering coriander. A salad of green tomatoes is a verdant vista with twin upright basil leaves standing like trees in the middle of a garden. The watercress soup appears like a tide pool hemmed by the rocky edges of shaved shiso ice complete with a growth of colorful nasturtiums and sorrel.

My senses are totally engaged by the dishes, and my mind is as well. The experience is like gastronomic meditation.

Mr. Syhabout runs a neat, efficient kitchen. Aside from just two cooks, a pastry chef works alongside him. They operate together harmoniously without fuss and in silence.



Not knowing what menu to expect, I was fortunate that the two wines I brought matched the food marvelously. Both bottles were 1969s kept since release in cold storage. One was a Burgundy, a 1969 Domaine Coron Beaune Clos du Roi 1er Cru. It drank fresh and clear, filled with red fruits and subtle spices, still dense and powerful. But the other bottle qualifies as one of the most amazing wines I've ever drank, a 1969 Beaulieu Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon "Georges de Latour Private Reserve". It had stunning finesse and complexity, and a most surprising delicacy. It was hard to believe this was a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, much less from forty years ago. Its persistence and length was very satisfying. Wine is indeed full of surprises.




Commis Restaurant
3859 Piedmont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94611
510.653.8902

Churrera de la Noche

I was in La Rioja two years ago and I stayed in Ezcaray, a sleepy village about 40 minutes drive south of Haro, Rioja's wine center. After a late supper of jamon and a glass of the exquisite 2000 La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva I decided to take a stroll in the cold night to explore this compact village a little bit. When I reached a dark empty square surrounded by residential buildings, I was jolted by the sight of a brightly lit churro stand all alone in the deserted square. I couldn't believe what I was seeing--it was like a mirage.



It turns out I happened to be there a bit early, the churrera was just opening and soon the square will be filled by late-night snackers making a beeline for the churro stand. Lucky me was the first in line.



I love churros, or almost any kind of fried dough for that matter. Traditionally it's dunked in hot chocolate but I immensely enjoy it by itself. Costco sells my favorite churro for a buck apiece. I wonder why years ago, when Costco opened their food court, they put churros on the menu. I mean, doughnuts or sugared pretzels would've been a natural. But churros?! Anyway, churros are now ubiquitous in the Bay Area as a result. I would say there's almost a cult following. I guess we can thank Costco for that.



But over in La Rioja on a cold spring night, Costco was the farthest thing from my mind. I stood transfixed on the churrera, patiently waiting for her first churros of the night.

The Summit's Start-Up in The Mission

San Francisco seems to be getting smaller. The more I go out to the city these days, the more I realize that if it's not in The Mission then it's not really happening at all. The Mission is what defines San Francisco right now: it's the "new" San Francisco.

And in The Mission, you can't get any newer, both literally and conceptually, than the eclectically named The Summit.

So what is The Summit? Well, I went to the private soft launch a few Saturdays ago (public opening is scheduled on Sept. 30) and I walked away still not entirely sure if I got it. Maybe Desi Danganan is just light years ahead that I'm still about a year away from fully comprehending his start-up, er café.

Desi, arms stretched out, in the universal gesture for "I did it!"

So let me take you through what I observed from Desi's quick tour. Essentially, The Summit is part of an integrated café and crib for tech start-ups known as i/o ventures. Okay, you with me? Only in San Francisco, or more pointedly, in The Mission.



The cavernous 780 Valencia space is shared between The Summit (the café) and i/o ventures (the tech start-up incubator business). i/o ventures is the angel funder for The Summit, but curiously I find it hard to tell which of the two is the tail and which is the dog. Just seems a little blurry, especially because of the porous physical layout. Time will tell, I guess, then again, this might be the genius of the project. A vision of a "third place" for everyone, particularly hipster folks.



So when are we going to eat? Enough of the start-up talk and let's turn our attention to the café. Service is cafeteria-style. You walk up to the front counter. Read the wall menu. State your order. Pay. Take the table number handed to you. Settle down on one of the communal tables, sit in the couch in the lounge area, pull a stool at the counter, or just stand around while you wait for your order to be brought to you. At times I felt like being a guest in the living room of a very large house. The minimal decor of concrete floor and wood stain counter and tables create a contemporary, sleek look.



Eddie Lau, the chef, prowled behind the counter, stepping in and out of the enclosed kitchen and the open prep area and drinks bar. There is no gas running in the kitchen so it's fully electric. Desi pointed out that the advantage is that the kitchen cooks cleaner with less smoke and burning odors--very key in this integrated café/office environment, I guess. I asked Eddie if cooking all-electric pose any limitation, and he confidently replied, not at all. Except that he does prep some dishes off-site, like his slow-smoked pastrami. More on this later.





The Summit menu perfectly fits the format. Delicatessen cuisine-inspired, updated with local ingredients and good, honest cooking. Servings are moderate, not heaping, so I got an almost spa-like feel, especially with the tea and chai selection. One thing my friend, Max, noted about the service is that the order is not coursed out--everything comes out together, the salad, soup, sandwich or mains. Maybe he's right, coursing out the order could be a key refinement.



I started with the Summer Corn Soup ($5) that was slurpalicious! Eddie said it was just corn with some dairy. But this is why it's so good!



My Red Pastrami Sandwich ($7.50) was also very good, though the slaw topping was under-seasoned. Eddie slow-cooked the pastrami off-site for 3.5 hours using cherry wood at a downright glacial 130-155 F. My teeth just sank in to it with each bite.



Max opted for the Hot Pork Sandwich ($8) with melted Gruyere on grilled toast. He scarfed it down before I even had a chance to ask him for a taste bite. It did look good, and Max said, indeed.

No alcoholic drinks were on the list but my Iced Lychee Black Tea ($2), perfectly sweetened, was refreshingly delicious! A classic pairing with my pastrami.

Eddie said he's working with Alex Fox (ex-Myth sommelier) on a wine list. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with. Maybe I can nag Eddie and Desi for a Vineyard Gate wine dinner soon.


The Summit
780 Valencia Street (cor. 19th)
San Francisco, CA
(target opening is Sept. 30th)