Your Favorite Wine

A great theme for a wine group event is: Bring A Bottle Of Your Favorite Wine. Then ask the participants to talk a little about the wine and why it is their favorite. I also like to ask gusts to bring an appetizer that links to why the wine is a favorite.

Joseph Phelps wines has always been some of our favorites. Our history with Joseph Phelps goes back to the 1980’s when we lived in California. In one of our first trips to the Napa Valley we visited the Phelps vineyard in Helena. The vineyard is situated in a little sub-valley off of the mainstream of the Napa Valley. The winery is situated up on a hill overlooking an idyllic setting. In that first visit we tasted some very nice wines on a tour and then enjoyed a bottle of cabernet with a picnic lunch. From that moment on, we have been fans for life.

In connection with that first visit and picnic lunch I like to serve some mini sandwiches on a crusty baguette. For me, the bread is the key to great sandwiches. I grew up in Westchester County just north of New York City. In a Westchester deli you don’t order a hero, a sub or a hoagie. You order a wedge. It is called a wedge because it is served on wedge of crusty Italian bread.

With the pandemic, I have used some of our time at home to start making my own baguettes. While working with yeast and baking in general can be daunting, I have found that with some precision and a little science, we can make some pretty tasty breads. And even if your bread is failure, there is the wonderful aroma of bread baking that makes it all worthwhile. With 4 simple ingredients and using a scale you can get a pretty good start.

Ingredients

684 grams Bread Flour
502 grams water
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt

SEE THE RECIPE

The sandwiches don’t have to be complicated. A simple:

Ham, Cheese and Tomato with Mustard
Ham, Salami and Tomato with Pesto

When I am making sandwiches for appetizers I like to slip in a little trick from France. Use a little butter on your sandwich. In Paris if you order a sandwich de jambon avec fromage, you will get a little butter without asking for it. Somehow the sandwich will be memorable and you probably wouldn’t know why. A little butter really works. A favorite wine a favorite sandwich, if it takes a little butter, that a good thing

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Vincent

We live in crazy times. As we are coming out of self quarantine (Covid Test Results came back negative – yeah!), I was thinking about one of my favorite blogs. Not because it was about a crazy person, (Vincent Van Gogh) but because it reminded me of a beautiful place and a great trip with Susan. Besides, I love the slide show set to the Don McLean song Vincent. (Click on it below)

Send me a comment if it reminds you of a fun trip or travel

Nothing inspires a menu more than great ingredients. There is no place to find better ingredients that a great farmers market. Vincent Van Gogh lived in St Remy de Provence. We went to St Remy to see the setting that inspired so many of our favorite paintings. While there, we happened on a farmer’s market that was truly inspirational.

Walking through the countryside where Vincent found inspiration for so many of his paintings, you can still see the same settings. The tour does a good job of setting the backgrounds of today, to the paintings of the late 19^thcentury. You can see the field that Vincent painted and the cafe that inspired Cafe Terrace at Night.

Move into the village of St Remy on the farmer’s market day and you can see all kinds beauty. I once got into trouble with my friend, chef Lucien Vendome, by saying he was an artist. We were waiting on our flight in Sao Paulo Brazil. He argued that calling him an artist was a misnomer. Van Gogh painted paintings that would be enjoyed for centuries. Chefs cook food. The food may be pretty to look at, but people eat it and it is gone. Our discussion went on for a while as our flight got delayed. The compromise was that great chefs are somewhere between artisans and artists. All I can say is that the beauty of the ingredients being sold that day in St Remy could make any cook look good.

The irony of this story is that Van Gogh was not a food person. He suffered from stomach troubles and was quoted as saying: “Perhaps you will not understand, but it is true that when I receive the money, my greatest appetite is not for food …” but the appetite for painting is even stronger.” So here he was in St Remy surrounded by fabulous ingredients, which he did not enjoy. This may also explain the reason he lived in St. Remy was as a patient at the local insane asylum. Fortunately, his doctors encouraged him to paint as therapy for his troubles

Red Wine…To Chill Or Not To Chill…?

That is the question.

Experts will tell you that we should drink red wine at room temperature. Room temperature in October in Memphis is a little different than room temperature in Paris in October. My opinion is that it should be a cellar temperature in a temperate climate. The fruit will move forward and the tannins will soften. The right answer is that red wine is best when served at 60 to 68 degrees. The answer to the chill question is…chill that baby.

It is amazing how reducing the temperature of a wine from 75 to 65 degrees will change the profile and perception of a red wine. The flavor and mouthfeel changes significantly. Many restaurants store their wine at ambient room temperature that is closer to 75 degrees than a preferred 65 degrees. I am a big fan of asking a waiter for a ice bucket.

Gabby is one of our favorite waitresses and she is quick to get us a bucket of ice to bring down the temperature of our wine and listen to my silly stories

What about adding a few ice cubes to chill your red wine? Sorry, I think it is sacrilege to add ice. Yes, you can drop the temperature, but the dilution of red wine with ice/water is just simply wrong. Some like there red wine with ice. While if that is what you like, that is ok for you. Unfortunately, I am still scarred from someone putting ice in a prized bottle of Phelps Cabernet (my favorite ) that was served at a perfect 65 degrees. Every time I see ice in red wine I get painful flashbacks.

Then again, if my 98 year-old mother wants to ice in her wine, god bless her. Mom has been a firm believer in a glass or two of wine every night. She is 98 and still as sharp as a tack, so who am I to tell her she is wrong. About 5 years ago mom got in a car accident that ended her driving career. She was coming home from dinner with a friend and got in a minor accident about a block from her home in Westhampton. She was visiting us in Memphis a few months later and she told us what happened. Mom started out with: “Don’t tell your sisters, but I probably shouldn’t have had that second glass of wine at dinner. I guess I just fell asleep. The police officer who came to the accident was so nice. He drove me home and made sure I was ok in the house. He even carried the case of wine from the trunk of my car”. Maybe she should have put more ice in her wine.