Madeleine

A Day in the Wine Life: Hope & Humility

There are days when my job makes me laugh hysterically, some days I rant & rave, but today my eyes welled up from a hidden source within. At six o'clock, I locked up our doors for the day, and cried.

It's not unusual for a regular to stop in for a bottle just before we call it a day, usually someone in the neighborhood looking for a last minute dinner recommendation or something to blow off steam after a bad week at the office. "What goes with Alaskan halibut!" they cry, plastic bags from the market swinging about on their wrists as they rush around the store gathering the rest of their ingredients.

We'll then take a moment to discuss the finer details of their menu, "What kind of a sauce will it have? Will you be serving anything else with it?" so I can fine tune my recommendation & envision the flavors of their meal. Next I scan our shelves, mentally retasting the wines we have for a perfect match. Pairing is the ultimate Proustian act as you need to gather all your senses & go back into your own memory vault to play virtual sommelier & chef when evaluating the composition of ingredients...

Recommending wine for regulars, on the other hand, is an intimate relationship you form as you get to sit down at an imaginary dinner table with your customers & get to know all the likes & dislikes of what pleases their palates. That being said, t's no surprise I love my job, being both poet & sensualist!

So tonight when one of my favorite customers walked in at quarter 'til & started browsing the front stacks, I stood at attention, while her two beautiful children held their quarters tightly to invest in some Chupa Chups (Spanish lollipops that is..) at the register. I was prepared to give my best $6.99 recommendation as budget is a consideration for a single mum, but she surprised me by bringing  a $20 wine to the counter. "Is this as amazing as it sounds?" she asked earnestly. "I have a special dinner that it's for."

Envisioning a new budding romance, I was prepared to agree with her choice, but wanted to know what was going on the table or if this was a wine for seduction. Occasionally I am called upon as a wine doctor, or a love sorceress ala "Like Water for Chocolate".

"I have no idea what they're serving, but I need a wine that's inspirational, that gives hope," she offered. "My friend has a very aggressive breast cancer & is getting a double masectomy tomorrow. She has two young children," and with that I fell silent for a moment. My mind & heart went racing amongst all the bottles, all the wines that I've tasted over the last four years... "Do you have a minute?" I wondered aloud. "If you do," was her answer.

After looking at all our wines so as to miss nothing, I picked out something stored in my memory bank as absolutely delicious & inspirational, gave a discount that made it $20, & teared up as she walked out the door. So tonight, I hope that I have done my job well--I always wonder... But most importantly, I wish good health & happiness for this young woman. That would be the happiest end to this story, & the one that I hope to hear...

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Celebrity Profiling: A Lesson in Vino Vocab

What do you want from your wine? If you are like two-thirds of the customers I converse with daily as wine manager at Seattle’s Spanish Table, you *know* what floats your boat, rocks your world, lights your fire, but can’t begin to tackle the precocious idiom of wine vocabulary that goes from geeky to plain esoteric.

While I wouldn’t call Cooking Light the most gourmet periodical on the newsstand, author Karen MacNeil’s latest “Wine Tasting” column in the March 2006 issue sheds some useful light on the subject of vino vocabulary. MacNeil dials in on an extremely pertinent point—not only does a basic toolkit of tasting vocab help you describe what you enjoy, but it also helps you to remember what you’ve imbibed.

As tonight was Oscar night, I’m intrigued with the idea of aligning taste-profiles with celebrities as MacNeil suggests. One of the most illustrious wine seminars I attended had me convinced that indeed the ports of Fonseca were akin to Marilyn Monroe—full-bodied voluptuous fruit even after thirty years in bottle—vs. the wines of Taylor Fladgate which retained the feisty elegance & lean frame of Audrey Hepburn (see above.) Hey so if her idea works & Jamie Lee Curtis is your moniker for Sauv Blanc, & Schwarzenegger represents your love of Zin, that’s great, I’ll get a clearer picture of what you want to walk out with… Personally I don't want to think about either of those characters having anything remotely to do with my mouth.

What words are your best friends when selecting wine? Forget about the old "I like Cab's & Merlot's" routine, nothing confuses me more. Both varietals are so different from one another & run the gamut depending on the winemaker's style, the terroir it's grown in, etc. Stick to qualities you like & dislike rather than terms like dry or sweet which are in the mouth of the beholder. Here's a few useful concepts I run by folks when trying to figure out someone's palate:

Smooth or Chewy- Are you looking to kick back with an after-work glass or do you have something beefy stowed in the meat drawer for dinner… Look for low-tannin wines with cheese & bread for pure enjoyment. Do you prefer velvet or leather or both? (I see this kind of talk could get me into a lot of trouble taken the wrong way...) Think about tannins as those acids that leave your mouth feeling like a dental hygenist just sucked all the liquid out of your mouth. But tannins give wine structure another wine term that's quite useful, especially when you're considering the architecture of your meal. Big wines love big flavors & need a Cajun in the kitchen, or anything thrown on the grill. These days, however, anything goes so ask & you shall receive.

Old World/New World- If some tiny bar in Toro was your last watering hall, where a televised bullfight held the attention of five five-feet-tall men smoking profusely, you know what Old World is all about. Wines in the old world tradition tend to emphasize earth elements, while the new world puts fruit right at the tip of your tongue. If you crave vanilla beans, pots of raspberry preserves, & toasty marshmallows? You know where *not* to go (a $15 bottle of ’96 Gran Reserva from La Mancha) but a good wine purveyor should be able to steer you across the continents for wines that suit your whim. And remember that you can find plenty of new world flavors made in the old world, just watch Mondo Vino if you want to witness the Gallo-ization of the international wine market.

Some of my favorite quirky wine lingo (although not necessarily appetizing) includes:

Forest floor aromas- Okay so if you live in the NW & have ever hiked anywhere, you know this smell. Think of damp cedar logs, a little moss, & rich earthy dark fruits.

Sexy body- Sexy applies to any aspect of a wine that’s lush, sensual, the kind of glass that makes you want to lick the rim even though there’s no Margarita sugar involved… Full of fruit with the hourglass curve of Monroe herself, often a dark seductress. Oh yeah.

Treacle flavors- This term is found in the realm of port, where obscurity is the norm. For whatever reason, treacle which is the British coinage for molasses, sounds like a medical procedure mixed with the appendages of an octopus. But it does have a clingy ring to it though, doesn't it?

As for tonight’s Oscar party I attended, a big Bravo! goes out to hostess Sue McCown, pastry diva of Earth & Ocean and a west coast legend. A gaggle of film-loving industry folks happily sampled Sue's experimental savory bread pudding concoctions, roasted tomato canapes, & other delectables she's playing with for her new project. Stay tuned for news of what she's cooking up next & I look forward to following the further adventures of her spoon & spatula. Good food & good company goes a long way when the Academy leaves you wanting to leave the country. Good night, & better luck next year.

Am I a Bond Girl? The Annual Champagne Tasting

I must confess--James Bond & I have the same taste. I'm not entirely proud of my champagne choice at tonight's third Wednesday blind-tasting group, but it turned out to be the group's #1 pick despite arguable favorites. OMG, when it comes to non-Spanish wines...

Am I a sell-out?

Going through the six selected champagne's that flowed around the table, it was a tough call as there was much to love & too little time to enjoy the nuances of each slender pour.

Champagne is a temperamental beast as it tends to rapidly oxidize without a proper chill & especially in unwieldy white wine glasses. The nose of some simply bit the dust after a half-hour, leaving me to rank them slightly lower than others that kept their verve. This would be the case with the Jose Michel Brut (group ranking #2) from Moussy that smelled of citrus & cake frosting, but became absolutely mute as time progressed.

The second factor for me in judging lies in food-compatibility. Some bubblies need oysters, others need cake. Since ours were paired with cheese, each was given a considerably complex task. I had glowing notes about the Larmandier-Bernier Extra Brut 1999 (our one vintage bottling) but found it less than friendly with a triple-creme. The sherry-like nuttiness was off-putting for me with such buttery-fresh decadence, but still received three #1 votes on its merits alone.

So here are the group's rankings:

1. Bollinger Special Cuvee
2. Jose Michel Brut
3. Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee
4. Larmandier-Bernier Extra Brut 1999
5. Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc
6. Guy de Chassey Brut

Our special "dessert" wine was a Paul Roger 1996, glorious indeed, from our host's cellar. Not a bad way to end a night. Perhaps our only disappointment this evening was a twenty-minute wait list for *hello* robata sushi at Blue C Sushi where we hoped to fill our bellies after closing late at work before tasting six champagnes. We've got wines to taste--what's up with the rest of y'all? Next time, back to our favorite, Pair in Ravenna for frenzied gourmet dining before the tasting begins...

    

Pairing Challenge: What to Pick with Your Flick

Is this scary or what? We don't get cable. We don't even get network television, but yes Virginia, we miraculously get KCTS where I get ticked off by Rick Steves (please don't share all our secret spots in Spain & Portugal--they'll never be the same!) as well as crystal-clear reception on all the *reality* tv shows on the WB. Can we call this mind-takeover?

Flipping through the channels tonight, we stumbled across the 70's remake of A Star is Born, originally acted by Judy Garland & James Mason. I can't wait to see the orginal after viewing this shameless Streisand spotlight. Ms. Barbara & Sir Kris Kristofferson (who's soon to appear at the Moore & is a college icon of mine) get it on as a couple who's stars are not aligned. One's career bursts into flames as the other's ignites a galaxy of fans for frizzy chantreuses with gauzy cotton draping. Oh my, Barb, bring on the slutty seventies!

So what does this have to do with food & wine? Well, perhaps one of my most interesting wine challenges came from a blissful couple who wandered into the store after doing their market shopping one day. Instead of telling me what they were eating, they wanted a wine that would go with their movie "Y tu Mama Tambien." (You better have rented this movie!)  And this my friends, inspired a whole new basis for recommendations--film-ccentric wines. What a concept?

We wine professionals are prepared to take a stab at pairing wine with roast chicken, chimichurri, Easter ham, Annie's mac & cheese. I'm asked to select wines, no less than perfect, for every occasion--weddings, anniversaries, first dates, divorce (for the ex-wife, no kidding!), births, deaths, house-warmings, got a raise, gotta impress my father-in-law-to-be, want to make my ferry commute seem quicker, just finished the film, had a good audition, it's rained for 25 days straight --cheer me up!

Well because this blog is about food & wine afterall, this is what I recommend as pre & post entertainment fare. Go to La Costa in Burien (blog to follow) & have a heavy-as-hell margarita. That will get you right in the mood for the movie. When you get home, open up some dry (but ultra-cheap) Rioja Vega Rosado that a customer convinced you was great after buying 6 bottles for his wife. Honestly, it's slightly swillish but appropriately priced ($6.99.)

I think I should just sign off now & listen to The Silver-Tongued Devil my favorite Kristofferson tune. Kris, you are a word-smith if not a war-horse to be admired for your craft. May your poetry live long...

Fast, cheap, & out of control: the wine buyer's life

  Welcome to the wine life... I'm feeling a rant come on after one of my housemates posted this picture from my recent Jorge Ordonez trip as our screen-saver because they found it amusing. Does this look like fun to you?

I can't tell you how many times someone walks into our shop & sees me tasting wine only to say, "Boy, if I had your job!" Well, I can tell you that the whole process of basically gargling vino, spitting, & taking copious notes early in the day is the antithesis of fun. For one, a job that affords you to stroll in on a weekday probably pays you a whole lot more & provides you with dental insurance which is much needed in a job that gives acid a run for its money. Just read Lettie Teague's diatribe on the enamel-stripping she incurred during international wine-judging in New Zealand:  http://foodandwine.com/articles/judgment-day  She's got a sweet job right, but if you scream in pain when you brush your teeth is that classified as *fun*?

Do you enjoy spitting Numanthia vintage 02, 03, 04 (barrel sample) faster than you can blink an eye? Do you like to drink your wine with powdered doughnuts of the local variety? After suffering from debilitating food-poisoning, would you like to rejoin your group for the second half of the day at 6 pm to visit two more bodegas that will send you straight to el Servicio? Most sane people would answer *no* to all the above, but somehow I managed to do all of the above.

Granted there's lots of perks in the biz. Free wine, free dinners, enough foie gras to make Anthony Bourdain turn green. In trade, I frequently wonder about the longevity of my liver, the fluctuation of my waist-size, my brain cell count. But it is fun, more fun than I had at any desk job I ever worked. And if the guy from Torres ever wants to taste me on twelve wines before ten a.m. after eating a low-carb andouille sausage scramble--well think again. Internal disaster. If there's anything I've learned, thank sweet jesus I'm not on that god-forsaken South Beach thing anymore.