Another great night at Atlanta

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Atlanta Dinner Party hosted by the owner of the midtown restaurant Top Flr (www.topflr.com). It was a great night full of good food and great wines. The chef set up a wonderful five course dinner which included: cobia crudo, roasted asparagus soup, seared diver sea scallop with endives, marinated lamb rack and a chocolate mousse. The menu was fantastic! But the best part was the wine list:

 

- Anne Amie (Pinot Gris – Villamette Valley, Oregon), flavors and aromas of fresh pears and fragrant mandarin oranges. Fruity and refreshing.

- Nikolaihof Gruner Veltliner “Hefeazburg” 2008 (Wachau, Austria). The gruner veltiner grape is the most widely grape planted in Austria. Simple, easy-drinking white wine with grapefruit aromas.

- Jean Philippe Fichet Aligote 2007 (Borgogne, France), white wine that offers nuts and grain, citrus zest, best paired with bitter vegetables and rich sauces.

- Produttori del Barbaresco Nebbiolo Della Langhe 2008 (Piemonte, Italy), flowers, raspberries, sweet herbs and spices. A classic Barbaresco from the Piedmont region in Italy.

- Marenco Braquetta d’Acqui “Pineto” 2008 (Piemonte, Italy), intense ruby with pink shade. Delicate, soft, best paired with strawberries, sweets and fruit cakes.

Also, last week I received a gift, a great chocolate for wine which was to die for! Brix is a line of chocolates especially formulated to complement wines, produced in Rutherford, California. The delicious extra dark chocolate was paired with either: Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux or Barolo. I had a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Rita vineyard that was fantastic. The pure cacao complemented well the tannins of the full-bodied red wine. Highly recommended!

And speaking about the varietal Cabernet Sauvignon, let me add that the origin of this red wine is Bordeaux, France. We can also find great Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa, Sonoma, Washington State, Northeast Italy, South Africa and Australia. The color ranges from purple-black to a dark red, and its flavor and aroma to berry, cherry, pepper and oak, leather, cedar and sometimes mushrooms and cigar box make this red wine a predictable option for every other women.

After having so much fun, good food, great wines and an exquisite dark chocolate, I may say that some wines really rock. And Atlanta is the perfect city to enjoy them!

ARIC'S MONTHLY WINE REPORT

How to determine the right wine sweetness for your Sweetie?

It is a fact that the human tongue can only detect four distinct “flavors”: Bitter, Sour, Salty and Sweet. With respect to wine as it hits the human palate there are varying levels of what we call “sweetness”. In honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about how to discern the differences from wine sweetness based on their label so you can pick the right level of sweetness that suits you, your food and your significant other.

When we discuss “sweetness” in wine what we’re really referring to is Sugar content. Specifically, what is the level of residual sugar in the wine (dissolved sugar that remains in the wine after it has been fermented from raw grape juice into an alcoholic beverage)? Residual sugar can range from 0% which is a completely bone-dry wine to wine that contains greater than 5%, which would typically be found in some ports, sherry, or other traditional “dessert wines”.

Sweetness as it relates to the most popular Valentine’s libation - Champagne and Sparkling wines is rather easily determined from the label itself. There are 7 standard categories of sweetness:

• Brut Natural: extremely bone-dry. Very uncommon to find.

• Extra Brut: barely perceptible presence of flavor.

• Brut: the most common form of Champagne/Sparkling wine available. The beauty of this wine is that is very versatile and the safest choice in picking a wine for consumption alone or with food.

• Extra Dry: probably the second most common form of wine, a slightly sweeter wine. Perfect as a pre-dinner drink (Aperitif if you’re trying to impress your friends) and goes well with most foods, even with select desserts, provided the dessert isn’t too sweet.

• Sec: referred to a ‘slightly sweet’ that would be served more as an after dinner drink.

• Demi-Sec: more common than a ‘Sec’ category wine and pairs great with desserts. In fact, when serving a sweet wine with any dessert it is important to note that the wine should *always* be sweeter than the dessert you are serving it with. Another pointer is very sweet wines of the Demi-Sec, Doux or Port/Sherry nature pair excellently with extremely salty cheeses like Blue Cheese, Stilton, Pecorino, Manchego, etc…(I know it doesn’t sound logical but trust me, try it once and you’ll be hooked forever - making a cheese tray a perfect substitute for that chocolate concoction you used to rely on). When you have a sweet wine/salty cheese combo the marrying of these 2 sensations and flavors is like foundation of a great relationship – each party contributes to the other’s success!

• Doux : very uncommon and extremely syrupy sweet and best served over a bowl of fresh berries as a garnishment or poured over vanilla ice cream as opposed to drinking it straight up.

Keep in mind, sweetness is not just reserved for Champagnes/Sparkling wine variety. Wines like Sherry may either be dry or sweet as are Ports, traditional “cooking wines” like Madeira and Marsala, wines from France outside of the Champagne region which are called ‘Vin Doux Naturel’ and many wines from Germany (*note* any wine label containing the words ‘Trocken’, ‘Classic’ or ‘Selection’ will indicate the wine is ‘DRY’, otherwise you can assume the wine will be off-dry (slightly sweet) to a full-on expression of sweetness in a bottle.)

As you can see, there are many choices when it comes to “How sweet” figuring out what is the right wine for you and your Sweetie but now you can have the confidence and courage of de-mystifying the ever confusing labyrinth of wine labels that adorn the store shelves.

I hope I’ve provided you with some guidance and inspired you to experiment - try a few different wines with an open mind, adventurous palate and a blind eye, and this Valentine’s Day you may just find a girl’s new best friend in the form of liquid “Diamonds in the rough” yourself!

Aric.

Valentine's Week

Argentina
I’m so proud that this month In Style Magazine recommended a 2006 Catena Alta Malbec, which is a great wine from Argentina. This wine shows an almost dark violet color with deep bluish-black tones, concentrated fruit aromas like vanilla and mocha. This is a rich wine and the Catena vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina, is absolutely breath taking. (http://www.catenawines.com/)

Don’t forget that the new movie Valentine’s Day, starring Julia Roberts, Emma Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel will be released on February 12th, 2010. It’s the perfect film for “Girls Night Out” in the city. You could also have the “after movie” glass of wine all together. Can it get better than that?

Be fashionable, love and be loved this month

St. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so let’s reconnect this month with everybody that we love. Make a mental list of all the people around you and plan on surprising them with something cute. Write that pending letter to your best friend, tell your husband that you love him just as much as when you met him 20 years ago, have a girlfriends night out and share a great bold red wine.

Let’s take all our passion out, and love, love, love…

This winter season I decided to embrace the cold weather by wearing red this month as much as I can. In a way, it makes me feel warmer! So I found a couple of things that are totally red, bold and passionate.

Have you tried the new Colorstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick from Revlon? It’s amazing and it comes in many different shades. My favorite one, obviously, is the “Superb Sangria”, which reminds me that the best sangria that I had in town is at Eclipse di Luna, in Buckhead. Sally Hansen has a new nail polish, Complete Salon Manicure, which is fantastic as it is a base coat, a strengthener and top coat all in one and the "Wine Not" color really looks like a glass of wine. And if you are addicted to YouTube you could watch the Stella McCartney’s amazing 2010 Spring Collection that is full of bold red floral dresses that makes you feel beautiful, feminine and hot.

Speaking about being bold and wearing red, I'm reminded that we could enjoy this month with great bold full bodied red wines. Yes! A great full bodied red wine is the kind of wine that boasts the highest tannin (and often alcohol) content and you could pair them with red meats like beef, lamb, pork and veal, aged strong cheeses (like Assiago Pressato) and heavy pasta. Some of these best reds are: the French Bordeaux wines (cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot), the California’s Cabs (cabernet sauvignon) and the Italian Super Tuscans (Sangiovese blended with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot or syrah.)

So my dear friends, like love, bold full bodied red wines are always in fashion!

Tip of the week: The Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent companion to steak and pastas with any red sauce or, for a special treat, try it with dark chocolate.

 

Note: Thank you Lee Anne for your great collaboration every Monday!