Allagash Beers - a trip to Portland Maine! WWSKD (what would Stephen King Drink?)

The last time I visited (which was also the first time) Portland, Maine I had a fantasico food and alcoholic beverage combo... Duck Fat fries and Allagash White Beer.  It was a crisp, cool and fragrant orangy beer that cooled down the spicy and perfectly crisp fries... yes that had been fried in duck fat.  It really turned me on to the beer. This time 'round, I drove so I figured I could load up on a few 4-packers of Allagash.  Well, with a few hours to spare, my thirsty mother along for the ride, we just went and visited the brewery!  Why not!  The prices were amazing, we got a tour and tasting, and I left with more than a four pack!

Allagash is not a huge operation.  They started in 1995 and even up to three years ago, they only had 6 employees.  Now there are more than 20.  If you've never had or never heard of Allagash, go out and find some!  I will tell you that they make delicious Belgian inspired beers. They make some Trappist style ales, wheat beers, and some barrel aged beers as well.  They get their bourbon barrels from Jack Daniels because the owner loves him some Jack! These are definitely hand-crafted, lots of love and care, thought and trial and error is going into these beers.  They are also using 100% wind generated electricity, so you can feel ever better about this beer!

We sampled 4 during the tour:

Allagash White - traditional wheat beer this has been brewed with orange peel and coriander. color: cloudy, lemon yellow nose: very frangrant, citrusy/ palate: crisp, honeysuckle, spiced citrus -- subtle. VERY refreshing!  yum!!! This is their best seller - it accounts for 70% of their sales.

Allagash Dubbel - darker in color, made with 5 different toasted malts. Rich and slightly bitter, a distinct toasty espresso finish. color: dark mahogany nose: toasty slightly pleasantly burnt brioche palate: roasted coffee, chocolate, toasted malt

Allagash Tripple - this is one of those celebration ales that those wild and crazy monks would drink.  It's higher in alcohol -- closer to 9% so you can really rock the monastery! I really liked this one too.  color: golden nose: herbal, passionfruit, honey palate: slightly bitter with a counterbalance of crisp fruit.  really tasty!

Allagash Fluxus 2009 - Every year the experimental folks at Allagash come out with a new beer under the Fluxus line.  Even though the ingredients of the brew may change, it is always a saison style (traditionally a lower alcohol beer, consumed during the summer months by farm hands who were entitled to 5 liters of beer a day during the harvest season. They were generally brewed in the previous winter with a lot of hops - which has preservative and antiseptic properties) The 2009 is brewed with sweet potato and black pepper.  I am a HUGE sweet potato fan, but there really isn't a sweet potato taste as much a creaminess to the beer which is so smooth and luscious - that I don't care what it was brewed with.  color: golden/slightly orange a la sweet potato nose: honey and citrus  palate: citrus, papaya.  Also for every bottle sold they donate a BUCK to pediatric nurse scholarship!

In NYC you can buy most of these at Whole Foods. Let me know what you think of them!

http://www.allagash.com/

Weinhof Scheu - Grauer Burgunder 2007 - no Pfaulting this Pflaz wine!

                                            Ja! I love white wine.  I usually stay away from German wines, because I still can't navigate the label correctly.  Last week, I found myself in Winestone http://www.winestone.net/, a fantastic and smart wine store in Chesnut Hill neighborhood near Boston. Patrick, the owner nudged me towards this slim bottle.  I was drawn to the Burgunder part of the name.  I know Weissburgunder is Pinot Blanc and trocken means dry, but that's about all the German I know besides Weingut (winery) and maybe Sacher Torte.  Okay, so I know quite a bit!  At any rate, I thought I had discovered a new varietal.  I was thinking it would be some kind of exotic Traminer or Veltliner variation in the Pinot family.  Patrick patiently endured my jibber jabber and said, "That's Pinot Gris, and it's very good".

Pinot Gris eh, the doppelganger (ooh another German word) of Pinot Grigio.  I'm no huge fan of that bulk lemon water (as a colleague of mine calls it) but this was a $20 bottle, it looked serious and the owner of the store looked seriously trustworthy! 

First of all, let me tell you about this bottle, it's minimalistic and has manageable German words on it.  The winery is Weinhof Scheu, the region is Pfalz.  It's a Kabinett - that means it's of a certian quality and it's Troken (dry).   Pfalz is the second largest wine growing region in Germany and it's really close to the border of France where Alsace is.  It's no wonder then why Riesling is not the overlord here in Pflaz.  There is a lot of Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Traminer, Scheurebe, and Muller Thurgau and of course, Pinot Gris.   There are a lot of small growers and sassy wine makers.  This bottle also come with a cool glass enclosure (see photo -- btw - not actual bottle I drank)

I cracked this bottle open this week on St. Patrick's Day (it IS a green bottle) while my mutter is in town visiting.  This Pinot Gris ahem.. Grauer Burgunder was delicious.  Perfect everyday wine, aromatic, weighty enough, a gorgeous copper color, with a palate and nose full of spiced poached pears and yellow apples.  The acidity was balanced and at 12.5% alcohol - it goes down effortlessly! 

If you're in NYC you can get this at Astor.

www.astorwines.com/SearchResultsSingle.aspx?p=1&search=22338&searchtype=Contains


color: copper, bronzy
nose: spicy pears, lychee, and yellow apple
palate: lychee, roasted pear and sweet baking spices

Got Malbec Fatigue? Try Bonarda! Familia Mayol Bonarda 2006

I don't want to bad mouth any grape and I don't want to gossip.  It's just that... everyone is CooCoo for Malbec and I feel like there are a lot of one-dimensional Malbecs out there riding the It-Wine Wave at the moment. Malbec is loveable with it's blueberry raspberry richness.  It certianly is accessible - and I'm not saying that's not appealing... I'm just saying that there are other things that South America has to offer.  There's chocolaty dense Tannat from Uruguay.  There is the raspberry tobacco Carmenere from Chile.  What's that?  You want to stay in Argentina?  Fine!  Try a Bonarda.  It was until recently the most widely planted red grape in Argentina.

There is some dispute about Bonarda's origins.  Some say it's Uva Rara from the Peidmont region of Italy (can be blended with Nebbiolo in Gattinara) and other's say it's from the Savoie regioion of Alpine France under many names (Corbeau or Douce Noir, etc.)  I think it's beautiful that there is dispute as everyone always describes Buenos Aires to me as a mix of Rome and Paris.  Parfait/perfetto! 

I grabbed this Bonarda from Familia Mayol today at a small Massachusetts retailer (who was also selling Girl Scout cookies behind the register) and after looking on-line at the prices - looks like I overpaid - $18.99 where most places are charging $14.99.   Even though I paid too much, I still enjoyed this wine.  That's the true test, isn't it?  The rich black cherry/ berry were a divine match with my tamales.  There were sweet baking spices on the nose, but it didn't over power the palate.   I think this would also be a great pizza and burger wine.  It's a great grape to add to the easy drinkin' arsenal!

Verdict: go against the grain! I root for this underdog, unassuming Bonarda!

color:  dark purple
nose: plummy spice, cinnamon blueberry
palate: rich, vanilla plum blackberry spice

Sommelier To-Go! 4 Wines in 40 Words - Chile Week!! Odjfell, Aresti, Terra Andina & Vina Tarapaca

Its been over a week since the tremendous earthquake in Chile.  We can all do our part to donate to help heal, repair and rebuild.  We can also help by supporting their economy.  Lucky for us, there is an enormous selection of Chilean wine and A LOT of it is pretty darn tasty.   

I'm introducing a new format where I talk about 4 different wines using only 40 words (it's a challenge for a chatty gal like me!).   This segment is dedicated to Chile.  These are four wineries that are not super dooper mass produced commercial wineries.  They are a little under the radar in some cases, family owned in some cases, and interesting varietals in other cases.  One thing they all have in common is that they are all around or well under $20.  They are all really good and they all over-deliver for the price. Most of these wines are available here in NYC at Puro Chile, the all-Chilean wine store downtown.  If you haven't gone yet - you must check it out!!  http://www.puro-wine.com/eng/

Here's my Sommelier To-Go advice for you all:  Explore Chile.  Drink wine from Chile -- your dollar will go far... oh! It will go VERY far!!!  Salud!

Vina Aresti Gewurztraminer 2008 - Lively. Feisty. Floral.  Lemony rose petals. Dares to be different

Vina Tarapaca Gran Reserva Merlot 2006 - Smooth. Blackberry sweet spice cobbler. Raspberries and cream,  Guilty pleasure

Terra Andina Reserva Carmenere 2007 - Lush. Violets.  Cardamom roasted plum and pepper.  Velveteen.  Seductively delicious.

Odjfell Carignan 2007 - Intriguing tart cranberry raspberry spice. Delicate note of earthiness, pure!

Rose Sneak Attack! Calcu Rose Cochagua Valley, Chile 2008

I found this gorgeous bottle of Rose at Puro-Chile a new wine store in NYC that only sells Chilean wine (http://www.puro-chile.com/).  It's awesome - and next door they sell very cool Chilean products like honey, avocado oil, chutneys... I am a sucker for chutney! 

So when I opened this the other night with my friend Catherine, it made me think of the study my boss told me about. He mentioned that these testers tinted white wine to make it red and stripped away color to make a red wine appear white. The wine scholars would still note “hints of plum” on the “red wine” even though it was only a tinted white wine. We often judge more from sight and then compensate for taste based on our expectation. I know that if I’ve spent $80 on a bottle of wine at a restaurant, I want to make sure I enjoy it - $80’s worth!

As I vigorously inhaled the aromas of the wine I became perplexed.  Let me tell you what I was drinking... it was a Calcu Rose 2008 made from Malbec (50%), Carmenere(40%), and Syrah(10%). Even though the color was pink lemonade pink, I still was expecting a fuller bodied rose because of these heavy hitter red varietals. Catherine sipped it first and told me that she smelled a lot of sulphur. I thought she might just be experiencing a barnyard-y quality from the Syrah. Yes, I assumed she was wrong (it goes back to the study mentioned above - people who claim to be "in the know" come out with different expectations), but she wasn’t wrong. Initially, there was a lot of sulphur on the nose, but it blew off and what was left was not berry, or hints of plum, or raspberry. It was GRAPEFRUIT!  Pink Grapefruit to be precise - a little Indian River to be exact! Grapefruit is something I would normally attribute to a fresh and zesty white- like a Sauvignon Blanc.

Respectable rose is made by allowing red grapes minimal contact with their skins (that’s where red wine gets its color and also where that miracle Reversitrol is located). Sometimes, in very frownie faced situations, Rose is made by blending white wine with a touch of red wine. This Rose drank so much like a white wine that I thought it might have been blended with some Sauvignon Blanc, but there was a backbone of very tart cranberry and wild strawberry that made me reconsider.   Also, the name.  Calcu means  magician in the Mapuche language.  There was definetly a little sorcery at work in the bottle.

Even though this rose was not what I expected, I tried to keep an open mind (it was fantastic with my blue cheese, pecan pear salad.  I fought to not let my expectations get in the way of my wine enjoyment and experience.  Hmmm as Stan Marsh would say, " I think we learned something today!"

And then... she ordered a beer! La Fin du Monde by Unibroue

The other day I was cozied up to the bar at a French bistrot by Columbia University.  It was a cold New York February afternoon and if you used a little imagination, you might have believed you were in Montreal.  I ordered the Moules Frites and instead of checking out their wines by the glass I looked at their beer menu. Given my Canadian faux realite it seemed like the right thing to do!

They had a lot of cool Belgian beers and craft beers. I couldn’t resist – I was overwhelmed by the list – but they had good descriptions (I imagine) of each the beers – so I ordered the Fin du Monde because it promised to be floral and aromatic.

Appropriately, it was poured in its designated glass and that description was no lie – it was floral without being perfumy and it was quite aromatic. It was citrusy, spicy, caramelly and fragrant. With the salty fries and the shallot /garlic butter-broth goodness; it was a perfect pairing! The Fin du Monde (a trappist style Golden Ale) was refreshing and yet substantial. I totally left with a buzz – it made it that much easier to brave the subway!

This is a Canadian beer from a microbrewery called Unibroue. They are pretty serious about their craft beers and they triple ferment this beer in the bottle according to ye olde tradition. They don't completely filter everything out of the beer.  That's why savvy servers take their time in gingerly pouring these trappist style ales.  The lees (dead yeast cells) are at the bottom of the bottle.  However, this adds to the flavor profile, you get your vitamin B, and it adds to the logevity of the beer.  The company states that the beers can last up to 9 years.  Whoah!  Oh and it's 9% alcohol (similar to a sweet German Riesling or a Vinho Verde) that's more boozy than the average beer bear!

If you see these in the craft beer section of your store - give it a shot.  Craft beers are gaining more and more shelf space in the liquor stores and supermarkets.  It's easy to see why.

http://www.unibroue.com/products/fin.cfm

Color Blond like me


Palate Smooth, slightly tart with the balanced flavors of wild spices, malt and hops


Aroma: Caramelized orange, cardamom, brioche

Mon Dieu oh la la Mondeuse!!! A Pinot Imposter? Domaine Labbe Mondeuse 2006, Savoie France

There's a little alpine scene on this label, and at first sight you fully expect to see the twirling drindle dress of Fraulein Maria on the sloping meadow.  She's not there - because we're in France, not Austria. I don't often think of Alpine scenes when I think of French winemaking regions - but then again I've never been to the French Alps.   The grape is Mondeuse, and it's exactly what you might expect from a high altitude area like the Savoie in France. It's on the light side of medium bodied, similar to a cool climate Pinot Noir.  It's a spicy little number with aromas of red cherry, black pepper, strawberries and violets.

I'd never heard of Mondeuse before.  It's certianly fun to say and I was taken in by it's Sound of Music-esque label.  Christy Frank, owner of Frankly Wines in Tribeca saw me entranced and convinced me to take home a bottle.  Of course, this was in the summer, when light red wine drinking is de riguer.  Did I ruin the experience by drinking it in Janvier?  Of course not!  I just had a rose last night - I'll tell you about that later.

Christy told me that 's awesome, the grapes are grown at the base of the Alps and that the spicy-peppery goodness would blow me away!  Thank you, Christy!! Grab a bottle from her http://www.franklywines.com/  at $14.99 - you can't go wrong.

There has been some debate over whether or not Mondeuse is the same grape as Refosco (from Northeastern Italy).  The styles are certianly similar  - I've found Refosco to be fuller bodied, but then again, this is the very first Mondeuse I've tried.

Verdict: a delightful fruity and spicy medium-light bodied wine I would use as an alternative to Pinot Noir.  It has a lot of character and potential for a very lovely drink.  Great acidity makes it a wonderful food wine (it did go very well with my ceasar salad).

Color: bright purply red
Nose: peppery, red cherries. violets
Palate: delicate, cherries, wild strawberry, minerality