My Favorite Wine

Dear Friends Kavika and Rochart: $2 Buck Chuck and a Kosher Winnebagel sounds good to me.

Boone's Farm and Faux Feta is nice too.

Dear Friend James Essayist: Foch is a Burgundian type wine. It is less strong though. Riesling is a white wine. All wines start off white. The red are so because the skins are pressed harder to yield more tannins and pectin's. Also, they are aged longer. Riesling is the signature grape of the NYS Finger Lakes region. Foch grows as well here as Riesling. For reason obvious.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc all grow well here too. Pretty much any Vinefera that has been gene spliced with a North American grape can overcome the root louse. This problem made it hard to grow European wine grapes like Vinefera until Dr. Konstantin Frank used root twisting (state of the art gene splicing in his time) to overcome the root louse issue. Foch is a bit more acidic than Sauvignon, Pinot Noir or Franc. It is far less peppery than Syrah. Foch grapes can come in small, almost like berries. They taste best from older vines.

Great questions. I can see we share a love of wines in common. Thanks for the visit.

Enoch.

Dear James: Thanks for the post, and for the Slate link, A growing trend in retail wine purchasing is boxed wines. The contain wine in a collapsing plastic bag. That keeps the air out, so the wine lasts longer. Also, a box can contain the equivalent of up to four bottles of wine, and less than one quarter to one third the price. The wine you favor is what is best for you. It seems counter-intuitive, but paying a higher price isn't always where the value is.

All best regards, Enoch.

Dear Friend Shelby Davenport: I am researching my next wine article about the Sangiovese grape. It is the primary grape used in making Chianti. I think you will find the article of interest.

I too prefer dry red.

An ideas for peaches. Cut them in half and pit them. Marinate them in a jar with brandy (distilled wine) cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. When they absord all the spices and brandy, serve at room temperature with espresso.

Enoch.

Will e-mail you when the article is up. E.

Dear Friend Rochart: Sounds great Have to try it. Thanks for the heads up. E.

Will do. Thanks. Kind of like the apple jack recipe in college. Thank heaven for dormitory floor board heating.

Sake also goes well with Chicken Yakatori, and Peking Duck.

Dear Friend Mrs. D: Mystery Meat in Surprise Sauce, three starches (potatoes, bread and pasta) with Mogen David Adom is the Monday Night Chef's Salute to Inert Ingredients.

Dear Friend SS: Wine in moderation with a meal can enhance the fine dining experience.

Cooking with wine boils out the alcohol, but not the Resveratrol. That powerful polysterol anti-oxidant really puts the brakes on the aging process.

Great idea. Alcohol is a solvent. It will break up fatty tissue, grit and gristle.

Make the meat more tender.

Will be back later with some food pairing ideas for Zinfandel.

White Zinfandel food pairing ideas.

Creamy Pastas (Alfredo Sauce)

Strong Cheese (Cheddar, Gouda, Asiago, Dry Jack)

Grilled Fins and Scales Fish

Seafood Chiopinno

Wine, fresh fruit, cheese and crackers do inded make a great picnic. Super idea.

Dear Friend Dowser: Mrs. Enoch and I bake our own. We find that there are too many trans fats, refined flours, sugars preservatives; and other "stuff" in commercially baked goods.

Its a chore, we admit. What makes it all worth while is the fragrance of freshly baking things in our oven. Nothing quite like that aroma, is there?

Your post brings back memories. In elementary school, my brother and I used to pass through Stephen Crane Village in Bloomfield, NJ. There was a bakery along the way.

The bakery generally sold out what they baked overnight and shipped to restaurants by 5:00 AM. They left barrels of fresh hot rolls and breads for students and the indigent to take for free. Many mornings my brother and I skipped breakfast to dine on those fresh warm rolls and breads on the way to school. Yum!

My how times have changed.

I love the smell of fresh baked bread in the morning. Its like the smell of, victory.

Interesting question, good idea.

Dear Friend Dowser: I patonized Bob Evans on their Wednesday night special, "All you can keep down" buffet. They do the most ingenious things with plastics over there.

Dear James: Been there, done that. Also, when my Mother was alive we used to plan of taking her on Mother's Day to her favorite restaurant. It was a creek side place. The problem is half the time heavy rains would flood the creek, and the establishment would close down.

So it was off to the nearest Oriental restaurant we could find. No reservations were necessary, even on Mother's Day.

I recall one year when my son, then finishing elementary school, asked me, is Buddha's Delight required on Mother's Day? Mom and Grandma keep ordering it every year.

It's a dish name. It is a vegan Oriental dish. Various vegetables in a peanut sauce. We used to get it with brown steamed rice, and either Jasmin or Oolong hot tea.

South American wines are way under rated. Agreed. Pinot Gris (Pinot Griggio) with grilled steak smothered in mushrooms and onions, and grilled asparagus sounds wonderful.

Asti Spumanti is a fantastic wine.

Thanks for the ideas, and the visit.

E.

Grish: Canadian wines and Finger Lakes wines are very close. Great Ice Wine from both.

Wines are now produced in every one of the fifty states in the USA. Much more than during prohibition. Who would have thunk it?

Nods. Renaissance time for the grape.

Dear Friend James: Malbec is an interesting case. It is originally a French wine. The French used is in blends to even out and take the edge off two strong and opposing wine flavors.

The Mendoza region of Argentina now produces much of the Malbec imbibed and used in blends in the USA. It does seem to be gaining a toe hold as a stand alone sipping wine.

E.

Dear Friend James: Custom blending, you are my kind of friend!

French wines like Gamay and Chambourcin are making their way upstate. We even have Rkatseteli from Vinefera Vineyards under the Dr. Frank label. That is supposed to be impossible to grow here. Good things grapes can't read or surf the net, eh?

What I wouldn't give for the compliment of being carded again at my age. The same holds true for one of my High School Class mates, Moses. Smiles.

E.

The above last five posts reminds me of Eddie Murphy's reading on Saturday Night Live when he portrayed the character, Pimp Velvet Jones. In his book, "Be a Ho", he read,

"As I whispered sweet words of nothing in her ear, I knew the 75 cent I invested in a five gallon plastic box covered wine was money well spent"!

Ah memories.

Northern German, French and Russian wine grapes all grow well here in upstate NY. similar climate.

Good Oregon and German wine selections. Thanks for sharing. FR invite sent.

Enoch.

Dear Friend Lois-Lane: You are most welcome. Thank you. E.

The Four B's. Perfect.

Agreed. Eating unhealthy isn't kosher. Smiles, winks.

Enoch.

Dear Friend Piletre: Two things would nix a winery tour for me. One is being charged for a hayride or handsome cab ride. Its good P.R. for the winery or vineyard. That should be complimentary.

The second reason, and this applies across the board for anything. Any place that will not let you take your dog isn't good enough for the family of the dog. Period!

Where you live, I am sure you can find a nice winery or vineyard with free rides, tour, and complimentary wine tasting. Either they are in the wine business, or they are in the tourist trap business. Both is spreading themselves too thin to be of interest.

Cheers. Enoch.

Dear Friend Piletre: in Upstate NY, if they charge you at all for wine tasting, for $2 you get six selections you choose. If you buy wine, the $2 is credited toward the purchase. If you want to take a wine glass home, you can buy one at the gift shop. At festivals, they give you a free wine glass with the Festival information etched into the glass.

Agricultural wineries are always cheaper and better quality than commercial wineries.

Good call.

Enoch.

Nice choice. Thanks for the information. Have to give it a try. Enoch.

Dear Friend Lois Lane: Will do. As soon as I can try Little Bosco, I will be back in touch.

Dear Friend Lois-Lane: I tried Malvasia Di Castel Nuovo Don Bosco (Little Bosco) in two different ways.

First, I tried it as a stand alone sparkling wine. The one I tried was produced by the Bava family in the northern parts of the Province of Asti, Italy. It is 100% Malvasia di Schierano grapes.

It does have an attractive sweetness to it. Perhaps as an after dinner wine it would be best used as a stand alone. I can easily see using this as a mixer for blended cocktails.

I noticed a Cherry red color, fresh intense aroma; and a slight tannic content that mellowed out sweetness.

The second way I tried it was to pour a few teaspoons over a small cup of strawberries and cream. It was a nice finishing touch to the fresh dairy and fruit.

Thank you kindly for bringing this to my attention.

Enoch.

Dear Friend Lois: The store had to special order it. They got it in the next day. Certain days they get shipments. I got lucky, and didn't have to wait. Smiles, Enoch.

Honey mead was big in the Renaissance times in England, was it not?

There used to be an apiary called Wixon's in Dundee, NY. An agricultural winery in Himrod used to buy surplus honey from them, and make mead. It was always a limited production, depending on honey available. And it was always luscious, and non-uniform. Each batch was quite unlike the last.

Walnut, Orange Blossom, Buckwheat, etc. Every different type of honey generated a different property Meade.

The annual Renaissance in Sterling Forest, NY features Meade among its refreshments for people of age. Interestingly, when they drink too much of it they never act their age!

Dear Friend Dowser: Can you speak with a local wine and spirits retailer?

They do fill special orders. You will pay a bit more per bottle for it. But it is still way cheaper than the cost of driving round trip from Louisville to West Bloomington.

Also, if the IN winery has a web site, see if they ship direct. that may be your cheapest option. If they do not have a web site, use search engines for contact information. then write or call them. They make no money not selling product.

Smiles. Enoch.

Thanks for the link. Oliver's doesn't ship to NYS at this time, says to their website. I will have to try it when I closer to Kentuckyana. E.

Try special ordering through a local vendor then.

If you find yourself in IN, buy a case as you have in the past. Make sure they give you a 10% case discount though.

Dear Friend Sydney-5:Thanks for the link. It is not far from me. Have to make a pilgrimage. I see they have Traminette. Try blending Traminette with cherry wine. Call it Cherrytram. Its a semi sweet that way. Good after dinner sipping.

Enoch.

Its not that far from either me or Neale Osborne. Maybe he and I can make a pilgrimage. E.

We can make it a musical. You will be featured in a solo. A few bars of the song Soap!

LOL