I am Resolute

I am resolute in my New Year’s Resolutions.  Why do we make them? To have more fun in the coming year of course. I asked my grade 12 class if they made resolutions and they looked at me like I was some sort of fossilized alien – more so than usual. I argued that resolutions made life more fun and interesting – still nothing from them.

I’m already well underway with my 2012 resolutions – one of which was to try cooking different proteins (“the non-meat kind?” my wife asked – silly girl).  Duck confit was on the menu already and rabbit has also been braised.  But the resolution, of which I am resolute, that matters for this blog is my resolve to drink wines that I don’t usually drink. I’ll let you know what I find.

This was a nice Pinotage blend from South Africa – I think I got the last one in Guelph – but tell me what wine you are going to try this year?

The Butcher told me to …

If you buy meat from your butcher – and why wouldn’t you – do you ask him how to prepare it?

I bought a rabbit Saturday.  ”Domestique?” you may ask? “UN LAPIN” I would reply with a loud French accent – while making that kissing your fingers movement that somehow signifies delicious food.  It came cut into pieces which is nice since bunnys are cute and I was too hungry to have second thoughts about cooking my first rabbit.

I asked Andy (said butcher) how to cook it and he suggested braising it for 3 hours in white wine. I chose a Riesling from Alsace for my Rabbit  - it was delicious – thanks Andy.

Riesling for my Rabbit

Cool thing about the wines of Alsace - There is a legal requirement for bottling Alsace wine in tall bottles commonly called flûtes d’Alsace.  

Disclaimer – if you have a pet rabbit don’t let them drink Riesling.  It’s not good for them. Besides that, rabbits prefer beer – you know because of the hops.

WILLM RÉSERVE RIESLING (V)
VINTAGES 11452 |  Price: $ 15.95
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: Alsace, France
By: A. Willm

iTechnology for my iBlog

A  free app for my iPhone is changing the photos I take for this blog (and Facebook) – at least until I find the next great app to replace it –  Instagram.

 

Instagram is used by my personal hero Jamie Oliver and the even better Gennaro Contaldo (Jamie’s fantastic Italian chef friend). They post photos of their food almost every day using cool filters and lenses from the app. This is beginning to feel like a linktrap crossover blog post.

These wines were very good too – great Cab from Chile and a smooth Dolcetto d’ Alba.

Bespoke – who do you trust?

There are three important people a gentleman needs in his life – a good mechanic, a good tailor, and a good winemaker.

Also, I learned a cool new word today that I wish I had known all my life – Bespoke – I think there’s a bit of English gentleman in me waiting to get out.

Bespoke English pronunciation: /biˈspoʊk/ is a term employed in a variety of applications to mean an item custom-made to the buyer’s specification (personalized or tailored). While applied to many items now, from computer software to luxury car appointments, the term historically was applied only to tailored clothing, shirts, and other parts of men’s apparel involving measurement and fitting.

The distinguishing points of bespoke tailoring are the buyer’s total control over the fabric used, the features and fit, and the way the garment should be made. More generally, bespoke describes a high degree of “customization“, and involvement of the end-user, in the production of the goods.

I’m sure my wife is embarrassed that I didn’t know that word – I know that her friend DaniBP will be.

I want a winery that can “bespoke“  wine for me?  I tell them what grape varietals I like, how long I want it aged etc.  and then I get to come up with my own name for those wines. Who am I kidding – I need a good winemaker to help me do that.  Come to think of it, I would probably also keep asking my tailor “what do you think?” through the entire process of getting my suit.  That’s why we have winemakers. They take each year’s harvest work the grapes in the manner thatbest highlights them. Each year I buy the new vintage of winemakers I trust like LAN, Muga,  and Guigal.

Find a good winemaker you can trust, a good mechanic, and a good tailor and you’re set.

While I’m at it – would somebody please bespoke this entire outfit for me that I saw on the sartorialist website? I think I’d look good if I spent an enormous amount of money on my clothes.

Rose not Rosé

Uncle Art came through again … this time with a home-crafted wine that has rose petals in it. Rose petals from his garden!   It was a delicate wine that hinted of gourmet candyfloss – if there is such a thing.  Well done my Uncle – I like the duel going on between yourself and Uncle Ron.  Keep me in the middle of it. 

Good News Everyone

Good news everyone! It’s 2012 and my wine cellar just aged a year.  That means that every wine in my cellar sounds more impressive than it did yesterday.  My 2005 Rioja collection has a more mature feel about it now that it’s 7 years old.  And the great thing is that every single wine aged overnight.  In the words of Ricky Bobby, “Does that blow your mind? That just happened”.

I celebrated with an ironically non-vintage Piper Sonoma from America. Check your cellar – I’m sure the same thing just happened to you.

Photo Blog

These are my favorite #wine #photos (a little twitterspeak for you tweeters) of the past 2 years since I began PulltheCork.

Rosé de Provence on the beach in Antibes

Fino Sherry with Almonds in my Brother in Spain's terrace

Basket outside the cheese shop (fromagerie) in France

Espresso in Spain - my other love

Spend a lot

This Christmas I think that a paradigm shift is overdue. Bottom line –  people need to recontextualize, literally think outside the box, and spend a lot of money ad nauseam this Christmas.

I recommend either a case of absurdly large bottles of Chianti for $99 or a normal sized bottle of Dom Perignon with the gift pack crystal stemware at $240 for everyone on your extended shopping list.

Alternately, a modestly priced French red wine would make a nice gift – there are 200 of this Côtes du Rhône  available in Guelph alone. After all, modest is the new extravagant.

 
LES CELETTES 2009                                VINTAGES 235010 | $ 13.95

Sabering

I’ve been at parties where someone has asked  “Can you open this bottle of champagne for me“. What I would like to do is turn around and yell “Anyone have a sword?” It’s a play on my “Sure I can juggle – anyone have 3 chain saws with them” joke.

This video – sabering champagne – is just another thing my wife won’t let me do at home. Maybe it’s the disclaimer at the beginning of the video.

Do not attempt this yourself… blah blah blah …  enacted by professionals … yada yada yada … mishandling may result in severe injury or death … It’s just this sort of fear mongering that takes the fun out of your trip to the Emergency department. 

Hello my name is Shiraz Bordeaux

You may have read that I recently went online and changed my name to Shiraz Bordeaux.   Shiraz is a tough, strong, manly wine and the Aussies do it well.  I like it because it’s not subtle.  “I’m not going to hit you kid. I’m not going to hit you … like hell I’m not going to hit you”.

Bordeaux is all classy, European, and sophisitcated. It’s usually very expensive and quite snobby. I wish I could afford more of it. Iwouldn’t mind dressing all expensive and snobby once in a while too.

So for my way of thinking – the name Shiraz Bordeaux is a  cross somewhere between John Wayne’s tough guy image and James Bond’s (Sean Connery) sauviness.

I like to think I’m like both those guys.  I’m not – but I like to think that.