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Produced by Tenuta Sant’ Antonio in Mezzane di Sotto, Verona, Scaia, meaning “scaglia,” or shard in Venetian dialect, is a charming red wine for summer. It is merely rosso del Veneto, but is produced from one of the varieties that goes into the Valpolicella blend, Corvina Veronese. Pretty red in color, with a snappy flavor and savory, juicy acidity, this is a real summer treat since it can be served cool or lightly chilled. A wonderful red when you want a tasty wine that is not complex, just delicious, it is sealed with a glass stopper thereby eliminating any possibility of cork taint.
Saba, as a lot of our customers know, has not been available for some time. It is the boiled down must which is used to prepare Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale and in cooking. Now we have discovered a very good substitute that was around all the time. I just had not thought of it: Arrope. It is sold under the brand name Arvum. Arrope and sancocho are boiled down grape must products made in Jerez de la Frontera, the Sherry district, to sweeten Sherry and to make certain Sherry types. We received a sample of Arvum, made by a small bodega in the Jerez district that is very, very good and the perfect substitute for our unavailable Saba. Arvum is produced by the slow boiling down of fresh juice or must of moscatel and palomino grapes. It is stable and has no additives to prevent re-fermentation. Arrope is used to sweeten some sherries to make a cream sherry type and was also used in the preparation of Scotch whiskey. (How do you think they got some of those dark colors?) If you have purchased saba from us in the past and would like to continue using a similar condiment, then Arvum is for you. It will sweeten up vinegars as does saba and can be used in cooking or pastry making as you would use saba or grape syrup. Very well made, Arvum has a delicate scent and flavor without any caramelized character that so often is found is less well produced syrups. Part of the secret of Arvum (and saba, for that matter) is that it should be dense, sweet and not taste caramelized.
For a long time in California’s wine history, Riesling was the most prestigious wine produced by wineries. Now in California there are very few wineries producing Riesling. Here is an exceptional one from Radog winery produced from riesling grown in the cool Salinas Valley area called the Santa Lucia Highlands. Santa Lucia Highlands are plateau like shelves on the east facing slope of the Santa Lucia Mountains which form the coast line along the Pacific Coast at Monterey, Carmel, and places further south. It is not very often we come across a Riesling that bests German wines in our tastings, but this one did. Stunningly fragrant and balanced, it reminds me a lot of really good Riesling from Clare and Eden Valleys in Australia. There is body and fragrance with whistle clean fruit flavor in a package which is seamless. Serving it to some German wine broker friends--they are always polite when it comes to Riesling other than German--with RADOG, they didn’t talk much about it, but finished the bottle. Enough said.
A really good example of Grenache, or this time, Garnacha, Castillo de Monséran is produced by a cooperative in Aragón, Spain, in the denomination of origin called Cariñena. Cariñena is also the name of a grape variety, Carignan(e), but Castillo de Monséran is a garnacha wine from this historical northern Spanish area. As an aside, it was the marriage of Fernando of Aragón to Isabel of Castilla that gave Spain its form. In one of our recent tastings, Castillo de Monséran surprised everyone with its fruity, cherry like grenache fruit. We were not expecting much, but were overwhelmed by its quality. Grenache, Garnacha, and Cannonau from Sardinia, are all the same variety. Grenache was long considered to have gone from Spain to the south of France and Sardinia, when in fact it is just the other way around. It is the Sardinian Cannonau which was famous 200 years before Garnacha shows up in Spain. Since the Catalans–and Aragón formed part of the Catalan hegemony–ruled in Sardinia for several centuries, the mistake would be understandable. What we know now is that Grenache is a Sardinian that became acculturated to Spain. Castillo de Monséran 2008 is an exceptional version of Grenache that really merits your attention. Made for being enjoyed, not talked about, here is a wine without pretense, just charm.
These are the blue colored, hand blown tasting glasses for professionally tasting olive oil. If you have any interest in olive oil, you must have these glasses since they are the ones oil professionals use. Why “blue?” you might ask. They could also be brown colored–the other color used professionally. The colored glass does not allow for any influence on the taster’s judgement due to an oil’s color. Color in tasting oil is of no consequence, yet some tasters are conditioned to react more favorably to oils with specific colors, either green or yellow. The blue color distorts the oil’s natural color so that the taster is not influenced. Only smell and flavor count when tasting oils. With the Assaggiaolio glasses you will be tasting in a professional way. When you are not using them for tasting, put a lighted tea candle in them and use them on your table. They are very pretty.
The Joy of Sake in Honolulu is a marvelous sake (and Japanese food tasting) which is the culmination of a very important sake tasting, the U.S. National Sake Appraisal. For more than a decade, it has been the showcase of the best sake made in the world. This year it is Thursday, August 19. If you are at all interested in Japanese sake and/or Japanese food culture, it would be worth your while to attend. In fact, if you would like to spend some time in Honolulu, Sunday, August 15, is the Royal Garden Party at ‘Iolani Palace, the only Royal Palace in the United States. This year commemorates the 125th anniversary of the Kanyaku Imin, the first period of significant Japanese immigration to the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The King, Kalakaua I, was the first patron of Japanese immigration to Hawai’i. You could make a week of it and attend both the Royal Garden Party and then a few days later, the Joy Of Sake. For information on the Royal Garden Party, call (808) 522-0827 or e-mail members@iolanipalace.org For Joy of Sake, call (888) 799-7242 or e-mail info@joyofsake.com. << Back to Top |
Corti Brothers
Sacramento CA
