Dan Fredman PR

Existential Ruminations on Cauliflower, Wine, and Fear

I’ve been pondering a cauliflower for the past week. I’m not a veggie-perv and I am not considering a move toward becoming a vegetarian, it’s just something I bought instead of broccoli, something that’s supposed to be “good for me”. Whether it is or not "good for me" is immaterial; what matters is that it makes me feel good for having bought a cauliflower, thereby raising me up from the ignominious doldrums of my usual diet of chicken fingers, instant soup, frozen pizza, and salami-and-cheese-on-crackers. With the purchase of this cauliflower I feel as if I’ve attained a mantel of moral superiority to my fellow man, nay, even a rosy-cheeked blush of healthitude simply by possessing this cauliflower. The difficulty lies in deciding what to do with it, and when to do it.

For all intents and purposes, I could easily enjoy this cauliflower just sitting here gazing at it, but then nobody would know that I did the right thing (ie: bought a vegetable). But what if I invited some people over and cooked the cauliflower (however one prepares such things) and it turned out that they don’t particularly fancy cauliflower, but if I’d only served them broccoli, we could have been BFFs? And what if the cauliflower I bought isn’t totally mature? Would my friends hold look at me with shame and derision in their eyes, castigating me for NOT KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE? So many opportunities to go astray, when before I thought it was “only” a vegetable. Wouldn’t my life be much better off if I just chucked the cauliflower in the trash bin and bought a bag of potato pom-poms instead? Probably, but that would do nothing to assuage my existential curiosity and search for answers.

It’s been said that a man’s character can be defined by how he reacts to such crises of confidence. If this is true, maybe my character might just turn out to be okay. Rather than get mired down in a morass of cauliflower angst, I began thinking of this brain-shaped vegetable as I might think of a bottle of wine. I went through a phase of vinous uncertainty a number of years ago, back when every wine decision was fraught with indecision, worry, and doubt. Fortunately, a wise and wizened winegeek noticed my dilemma and advised that, when in doubt about anything having to do with wine, JUST OPEN THE GODDAMN BOTTLE! He was right – there’s nothing better to instill confidence and wisdom in oneself than to experience things firsthand. And besides, it's not like I was charging my guests to drink with me - it's free education, and we're all learning together, right?

Reading about a wine (or a cauliflower)(or angst) is all well and good but nothing beats first-person familiarity with the topic at hand. Nine times out of ten, the people you’re afraid about doing the wrong thing in front of are just as fearful as you are when it comes to wine, cauliflower, rocket science, neurosurgery, or anything else not easily learned about while watching a TV reality show. There's a lot to be said for perspective - the longterm ramifications of screwing up by selecting the wrong wine with the wrong cauliflower recipe are not as dire as the ramifications of botching rocket science or neurosurgury, so take a chance. Open that Torbreck RunRig Shiraz with your fish 'n' chips, and let your imagination run wild and discover how and why (or why not) an Alsace Gewurztraminer works with a grilled ribeye. Hell, you might even find a wine that works with cauliflower.....

Tom Colicchio's South Australia Dinner 1 Nov, w/Torbreck, d'Arenberg & St Hallett

Chef Tom Colicchio visited South Australia earlier this year and returned to the USA quite inspired by the food and wine of the region. He'll be behind the stove on Monday, 1 November at Craft Los Angeles when he prepares a 6+ course dinner featuring the wines of Torbreck and d'Arenberg. One would have to believe that having spent some time with Dave Powell and Chester Osborne made quite the impression on Mr. Colicchio...

The South Oz evening will begin with a reception featuring the wines of St Hallett from the Barossa Valley. Once seated, diners will begin with a dry white from d'Arenberg (of McLaren Vale) and move on into a formidable lineup from Torbreck, beginning with their Woodcutter's Semillon, Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne, and then on to the Steading (GSM) and The Struie, a Shiraz blended from fruit grown in the Barossa Valley and the Eden Valley. Dessert will be accompanied by one of the d'Arenberg "Noble" stickies.

The dinner also celebrates the launch of the Unlimited Flights To Australia sweepstakes, sponsored by SA and Qantas; the winner will receive just that: unlimited flights to Australia for a year. There will also be some extraordinary travel packages (including tours of the Penfolds Magill Estate in Adelaide) available at the dinner, so come prepared to work out an itinerary for your visit!

For reservations, email Anna Morini at AMorini@CraftLosAngeles.com or call 424.279.4180.

Click on the image below for more Information about this fantastic event!

 

American Wine & Food Festival 2010

The team from Dan Fredman PR had the pleasure of participating in the annual American Wine & Food Festival (AKA: Meals on Wheels) again last Saturday. The sweltering folks representing Hirsch, Markus Huber, and Torbreck doing what they can to conserve energy and rehydrate prior to the start of the evening's festivities.

The weather was scorchingly hot, thus creating a larger-than-normal desire for cool white wines on the part of the arriving attendees (but a special shout-out to Chef Octavio Beccera of Palate Food + Wine who had the foresight to bring along a pile of ice-cold Modelo). Our tables were right at the entrance to the event, so almost immediately upon walking through the site's gates the thirsties were quenchable by a choice of Torbreck Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne, Hirsch Chardonnay, or a bevy of Grüner Veltliners and a Riesling from Weingut Markus Huber.

Event co-founder Barbara Lazaroff interviews Chef Paul Prudhomme

Our tables were right next to those of Chef Paul Prudhomme, probably the first "celebrity chef" I'd come in contact with some 20+ years ago. His food remains excellent and he's a total trouper at these things, as always happy to chat with his fans and pose for pictures. One of my favorite things about this event is that all of the participating chefs tend to be extraordinarily gracious. This is more than just being friendly with potential patrons- in this day and age where it seems as if every recent graduate from culinary institutions considers themselves celebrity chefs, this group was (for the most part) a bunch of people who'd worked their way up through the ranks and are now running restaurants (if not empires) that are successful, inspiring, and are standard bearers for the idea of success being achieved through hard work fueled by a vision. I spent a little time chatting with Charles Phan of the Slanted Door and Jose Andrés of the Think Food Group. Both were charming and passionate about what they do.
Chef from Estiatoro Milos of the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas filets a whole fish cooked in Greek sea salt. It was a very memorable dish and worked well with the 2007 Antica Terra Pinot Noir that Nate Ready was pouring a few tables away.

The other AWFF co-founder, Chef Wolfgang Puck leads some young revelers on a tour of the evening's sights

A good time was had by all, and attendees had the opportunity to enjoy a lot of different flavors of food and wine, all on the Universal Studios backlot, surrounded by food and wine and music a bunch of new Audis (I liked the R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI Quattro quite a lot) Our tables were pretty much mobbed all night. At the Hirsch Winery table, Tess Bryant and her friend Holly poured the 2007 Hirsch San Andreas Pinot and 2008 M Pinot Noir and added a lot of fans to the mailing list.

Torbreck was (as usual) a crowd pleaser; in addition to the Viognier/Marsanne/Roussane white Rhône blend, we poured the 2009 Cuvée Juveniles GSM and the 2006 Struie. As the evening cooled down (although not that much) we had more takers for the red wines. 

The wines from Markus Huber seemed to catch people off guard, but after the first sip they liked them just fine. The three levels of Grüner Veltliner showed the difference made by sourcing fruit from a single vineyard (the 2009 Obere Steigen was magnificent) but it was also interesting to compare and contrast that wine with the single vineyard 2009 Huber Engelreich Riesling. Both were excellent, with the nod going to the GV in terms of playing nicely with the grilled lobster being served across the way from us. Huber was not the only Austrian winery represented at the event. Damon Ornowski was there from Vin Divino and he was pouring wine from Domäne Wachau and Zantho and he did a great job of keeping the band happy (particularly the bassist, given that she's from Vienna).

This is usually my favorite food and wine event of the year. It brings out a great crowd on both sides of the table and the weather is invariably pretty good. Check back at the their website for details on the 2011 American Wine & Food Festival.

New SF Wine Merchant Worth Watching - périphériquewine

It would appear that Jesse Becker is finally getting his périphériquewine up and running. What's not to like about a virtual, non-brick 'n' mortar retail establishment dedicated to wines grown in vineyards surrounding the Alps? As he states on the website: "We don’t offer everything. We specialize in wines that grow on the edge of what is viticulturally possible: wines of superb balance, exacting expression, and immense complexity."

I first met Jesse on a trip to Austria to attend Vie Vinum earlier this year. I arrived a little early and my friends at Emerald wine (a thinly-if-at-all-disguised division of Winebow) invited me on their field trip to visit and taste at Weingut Heinrich and Paul Achs in Burgenland. L-R Andreas Wickhoff, Gernot Heinrich, Jesse Becker tasting at Weingut Heinrich, May 2010

Becker has worked at Tra Vigne in St Helena, Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, and under Bobby Stuckey at Frasca in Boulder Colorado. Why he made the move to retail is a mystery, but a similar path has been trod by Chris Meeske of Mission Wines in South Pasadena, CA, another MS who stopped working in restaurants.

On the périphériquewine website, the map is beautifully done and well thought out. Becker's personalized notes about each location make make the approach seem very personal. I like the idea of a retailer built on the concept of place; that a Master Sommelier such as Jesse is behind the operation should make it a tremendous resource for consumers who are looking for wine to accompany food. There's a link on the website to get on the mailing list. Becker promises to not abuse the email privilege...

Torbreck Grenache in India (at least a photo)

Well, it could be said that all of the Torbreck wines are popular in India, or that Torbreck Grenache is popular everywhere, but I'll take what I can get, wherever I find it.

In a piece written for Sommelier India, writer Reva K. Singh spoke of the merits of Grenache in general, with the column being accompanied by a photo of Torbreck's The Steading, a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 20% Mataro. Unfortunately, the wine itself wasn't exactly mentioned, but I'm a big fan of proximity resulting in collateral awareness. The recommended Grenache was the Mosic Red from Sula, a winery in India founded by Rajeev Samant, a Stanford-trained, ex-Oracle manager who became enamored of wine while in the US and returned to his family's property in Nasik (180 km from Mumbai) to grow grapes and produce wine. Production is now up to about 250,000 cases and the wines are exported around the world, including here in the USA.I haven't had the opportunity to taste the wines for several years (IIRC, I tried a white Rhône blend at the time) but it's always interesting to learn about wine grown in regions we don't often see here in the USA.

(here's a photo of The Steading that looks remarkably like the one in the Indian Sommelier piece):

India is an intriguing area in which to try to sell wine. Reports from friends who have tried to export into the country have been full of doubt and depression, given the taxes involved in bringing wine into India. I spoke to writer/sommelier Megandeep Singh on the subject when I ran into him in Vienna earlier this year and he didn't sound overly positive about the situation changing anytime soon. At least they've got a nascent local wine industry that will serve to introduce the populace to fine wine. 

BTW, don't forget International Grenache Day on 24 September!