Bourbon Fest: Day #1

The Kentucky Bourbon Fest is something you ease into – especially after driving for eight hours to get there – so not a ton of things to report from day #1.

- Got my first taste of Wild Turkey Honey Reserve.  It’s a lot different from Wild Turkey American Honey with a much more sappy true taste of honey and not as in-your-face as Wild Turkey’s version.  It’s nice that the local stores have $10 mail-in rebates on the bottles thus making the price of the bottle essentially $3.99!

- Went to the Kentucky Bourbon All-Star Sampler featuring the Master Distillers from each of the Ditilleries (although mysteriously Buffalo Trace no-showed). Putted a hole in one to win an autographed baseball card of Wild Turkey’s Jimmy Russell. Also explained to him the mysetrious connection between me and SPE’s drinking of Wild Turkey Honey and the Steelers’ victory.

- Had a nice dinner at the Old Talbott Tavern and was introduced to Burgoo.  Burgoo is essentially a stew that you throw whatever meat you have into a pot with some vegetables and spice it up.  I’ll be working on some recipes when I get home.

- Learned what the S and IV on the seal of Maker’s Mark means.  The S is for Bill Samuels, the IV is because he was fourth generation and the star comes from the name of the Samuels’ ranch.  Who knew?

- Tried Lexington Bourbon Barrel Aged Ale.  Barrels from Woodford Reserve.  Smells hoppier than it is, light- to medium-bodied and refreshing.  A nice brew.

Off to visit Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve today and to Wild Turkey Boots and Bourbon tonight.

Red Stag and Flavored Bourbons

Could we be seeing a trend? I’ve been a big fan of Wild Turkey American Honey Liquor for a long time – mianly because when substituted for sweet vermouth, it gives a new twist on one of my favorite cocktails in the world, a Manhattan. (I actually usually do Manhattan’s with Wild Turkey Honey in the form of a perfect Manhattan so it’s not too sweet – 2 oz. Wild Turkey 101, 1/2 oz. Wild Turkey American Honey, 1/4 oz. Dry Vermouth – I call it “The Perfect Turkey”.) I also like it because there is a direct correlation between my consumption of Wild Turkey American Honey and the Pittsburgh Steelers ability to win. It’s uncanny.

Anyways, I read with much interest one of my usual stops on the internet, the Chuck Cowdery Blog a few days back with much interest as he announced that Jim Beam was entering the flavored whiskey market with a new Black Cherry-infused whiskey called Red Stag. (In an odd turn of events, I found out that Heaven Hill would also be joining the competition in September with a new Honey-infused whiskey from of all places The Huffington Post. I would have to imagin I’ll be sampling this down in Bardstown during this year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival.)

So, SPE and I went for a late night run to Bruceton Mills the other night and sure enough, sitting on the shelf at the BP was a bottle of Red Stag which I promptly took with my left hand (my right hand already carrying a bottle of George Dickel).

This stuff is nothing like Wild Turkey American Honey, but is yummy in its own right. Honey needs to be cut, e.g. Wild Turkey Honey and Club Soda or as above in “The Perfect Turkey”. Its strongly sweet, strongly complex and really hits you. Red Stag doesn’t have the complexity of Wild Turkey Honey. It smells and tastes, well, like Bourbon infused with black cherries. Its much more the taste of Bourbon the tastes of some hard to define mixture of flavorings and spices. I was confused before tasting it as to why they would have it be the base spirit in so many drinks, something I wouldn’t do in general with Wild Turkey Honey, but the more “whiskeyed” flavor explained it quickly after tasting it.

I like Red Stag. It’s a drink unto itself. Red Stag and rocks suits me just fine. I hope that you get the chance to try it soon. It very well may become a staple in my house, since at the end of a long time, I oftentimes don’t want to mix up a drink. I just want a nice quaff and some cold ice. Red Stag will work for that very well.

2006 J. Hofstatter Pinot Nero Meczan

Hadn’t had this one for a while (until today). Very few places in Pennsylvania have this one, so all the more reason to make sure to try it while visiting Autumn Restaurant.

Initial earthy stink, but in a good way. The color is a translucent crimson/ruby. Elegant but concentrated palate, lightish body. Corrupt cherries, a touch of wood. This wine is a total winner and would basically go with anything, but would be best with a rustic, northern italian dish – something like braised pork shoulder would be just fine!

Pennsylvania Wine Festival

I was completely thrilled with our first annual Pennsylvania Wien Festival held this past Saturday at the WildSide! I have always said that Chaddsford Winery was my favorite in Pennsylvania and I am not sure that changed – the Merlot took Best Red and the Duo Rossi and Pinot Noir showed particularly strong as well but there were some serious wines from some wineries that I had not previously tasted as well. We loved the whites from Greendance, the Winery at Sand Hill, and the Traminette and Riesling took 2nd and 3rd places respectivelyin the white wine category. Best in show was awarded to a white wine, the Winery at Wilcox Elk County White. I poured it as an aperiftif later at my Reserve Wine Tasting and it confirmed my opinion that this was pretty yummy stuff. (The Winery at Wilcox Elk County Red also placed 3rd in the red wine category.)

I’d really need to thank the wineries who participated – Winery at Wilcox, Greendance (Sand Hill Winery), Chaddsford, Briar Valley Winery, Thistlewaite Vineyards and Christian Klay Winery.

I would be remiss if I didn’t particularly thank Sharon Klay whose experience and undying efforts as an ambassador of Pennsylvania Wine is unmatched. She is a wonderful person and runs a beautiful winery and vineyard just a hop skip and a jump from Nemacolin!

The Ramos Gin Fizz – A New Take

I first encountered the Ramos Gin Fizz years ago and one of my favorite local spots in Manhattan, Market Cafe (496 9th Ave.). A hidden gem, Market Cafe features extremely well priced food and I was a regular consumer of their simple, vibrant salmon tartare when I lived just a few blocks away.

As importantly, the owner of Market Cafe had his entire staff trained by as I remember an 82 year old Cuban Bartender who taught them quite a few specialty cocktails using the freshest ingredients. My first taste of Market Cafe’s Ramos Gin Fizz (and every subsequent taste) made me a fan for life.

I have embedded a great video showing how to make it below. The video features Chris McMillan of the Lobby Lounge at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans. He’ll give you a bit of the drinks history and show you how to make the classic Ramos Gin Fizz. (FWIW, I don’t use the Vanilla extract when I make it. I prefer the drink’s more refreshing citrus character when it is made without vanilla.)

As a history buff, and for completeness sake, after watching the video, I recommend reading Amanda Hesser’s New York Times Article regarding the Huey Long incident to which McMillan refers in the video.

Recently, Chef Racicot added a new dish to the Lautrec Grand Tasting Menu, PORK BELLY banana miso, kimchee, sudachi, daikon, a move I applauded since I love sous vide pork belly – it was favorite dish of mine at WD-50 in New York – and besides that I have eaten A LOT of kimchee in my life since I have a lot of Korean friends from college, including an old roommate. The problem is, kimchee is fairly spicy and not all that many things pair well with it.

So we first went to rule #2B of the Alan Uchrinscko School of Food & Wine Matching: With spicy cuisine, find a wine with the same level of sweetness and counter the spice with sweet. I started with Weingut Helmut Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingraffenberg “Quartzit” Riesling 2007, on eof my goto wines, but it failed miserably when faced the spiciness of kimchee: it wasn’t sweet enough. 2005 Egon Muller Scharzhofberger Kabinett, fairly sweet for Kabinett also failed the test. So I then moved up in sweetness pretty substantially, and tried a pair of wines, 2006 St. Urbans-Hof Piesporter Goldtropfchen Auslese and 2003 J.J. Prum Bernakasteler Doktor Auslese. It was a toss up and either one worked pretty well, but it wasn’t precisely what I wanted.

So we then moved back a step to rule #2: Figure out where the dish comes from, and find a wine that grew up with it, that is, if it grows together it goes together. Inevitably this led me to Soju. But Chef Dave wanted a bit of a spin, and said, “Why don’t we make a cocktail?”

This led us to our current pairing, an original creation, the Soju-Litchee Fizz. We use the exact same method for making the drink as hsown in the video above, we simply substitute soju for gin and add in addition to the other ingredients, Wolfberger Litchi liqueur from Alsace. So the recipe is as follows:

Soju Litchi Fizz
1 1/2 oz. CharmSoju
1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Simple Syrup
2 oz. Heavy Cream
1 oz. Wolfberger Litchi Liqueur
3 dashes of Orange Flower Water
3/4 oz. Club Soda

Shake all ingredients in a Boston Shaker with no ice for at least one minute. Add ice, and shake again, for as long as possible, at least a minute or two.

The frothy texture prefectly balances the spicy kimchee, and the sweetness of the Litchi cools the palate and along with the Soju adds an Asian flair.

One more cocktail came from my experimentation, the Elderflower Gin Fizz, substituting St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur for the Litchi in my Soju-Litchi fizz and return to Plymouth Gin rather than Soju (although it worked with Soju as well). This was sweeter and more delicate. This is an ideal after-dinner drink tasting quite a bit like a vanilla milk shake. I prefer this cocktail to the Ramos Gin Fizz using vanilla: I think my version is more complex.

Elderflower Gin Fizz
1 1/2 oz. Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Simple Syrup
2 oz. Heavy Cream
1 oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3 dashes of Orange Flower Water
3/4 oz. Club Soda

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon

I never hide my love of Buffalo Trace Bourbon and for good reason. Buffalo Trace is the only distillery to be named “Distillery of the Year” by Malt Advocate and “Distiller of the Year” by Whisky Magazine. They make a dizzying array of the finest Bourbons that are available and the chances of entering my house and not having at very least the basic level Buffalo Trace Bourbon available is about zero. I drink it with ginger ale and about three dashes of bitters on the rocks.

I finally took my last sip of Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel that I had brought back from the Kentucky Bourbon Fest a few months ago. If you are wondering, Elmer T. Lee was the Master Distiller at Buffalo trace for about fifty years before retiring in about 2000. You can view videos of him here.

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
“Pale Gold appearance. The mellow nose features hints of dried (red) fruits, marzipan and vanilla. Dilutions enhances a cereal-like quality and also offers pipe tobacco and apricots. The light-bodied palate is smooth, sweet and clean with a long finish balanced well by alcohol. I would like maybe just a touch more concentration.”

There was no age statement on the bottle but it tasted fairly young. It was also lacking a bit of the marked acidity that I like so much in the regular bottling. I’m glad I tried it, but frankly, it’s no Blanton’s…

Boyd & Blair Tasting

Barry Young, co-owner of Boyd & Blair Distillery will be offering free samples of Boyd & Blair Vodka in the Lafayette Lobby on Saturday between 4:00 and 6:00 pm. Boyd & Blair distillery was founded in 2008 in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania to make small batches of hand made vodka using only locally grown potatoes.

If you haven’t had a chance to try Boyd & Blair Vodka yet, here are my notes:
“Bright and clear. Gently sweet nose with citrus zest, camomille and a hint of earth. Good intensity but smooth and not at all harsh. Powdered sugar-like sweetness with grapefruit and lemon. Smooth, long, warm finish.”

Find Boyd & Blair on the net at http://boyandblair.com.

2004 Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot

• 2004 Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot – France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru (4/9/2008)
  Came in waves aromatically. Began with explosive sweet oak with cloves and asian spices. With some digging, backtracked into rot. Eventually meshed together and in the end is not bad, but that rot will be more apparent as the baby fat subsides. Sleek on the light-bodied, raspberry and currant palate if not a touch to oaky for my tastes. Good (?) now, but I wouldn’t expect this to improve. (NB: This improved as it opened and the rotten aromas blew off pretty well; I enjoyed the wine in the end quite a bit but stand behind my initial impression that the flaws with the wine will emerge and ultimately damn the wine with time.

For questions regarding which domaine among the confusing Gagnard family of Chassagne_montrachet, please see my previous post, The Gagnard Family Tree.

Fontaine-Gagnard, Blain-Gagnard, Jean-Noel Gagnard, Gagnard-Delagrange Family Tree

This needs to be done.

Edmond Delagrange (proprietor of Domaine GAGNARD-COFFINET) had two sons named Jacques and Jean-Noel.  Jacques Gagnard married Marie-Joesphe Delagrange (inheriting Domaine DELAGRANGE-BACHELET) and formed Domaine GAGNARD-DELAGRANGE.  His Brother kept his portion of the family land for Domaine JEAN-NOEL GAGNARD.  Jacques Gagnard and Marie Joesphe Delagrange had two daughters, Laurence and Claudine Gagnard.  Laurence married Richard Fontaine forming Domaine FONTAINE GAGNARD and Claudine married Jean-Marc Blain forming Domaine BLAIN-GAGNARD.

 

Honig: 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon + 2006 Sauvignon Blanc

Louis Honig purchased a 70-acre tract of land in Rutherford in 1968 and planted it to Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.  The grapes were intially sold to other wineries, although he hoped to some day retire to Napa and produce his own wine.  Louis passed away however in 1981 and it was not until 1984 when his grandson Michael began produces estate Sauvignon Blanc after taking over.  Three years later, Cabernet sauvignon was added as well.  Today, Honig Winery supplements its estate grapes (which are grown in the spirit of sustainable agriculture) with purchased grapes as well.

The Sauvignon Blanc left me underwhelmed.  (I should point out that this was the entry level Sauvignon Blanc, and that there is Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc made entirely from estate fruit as well.)  The nose was ripe and exotique but not very exciting to me; it lacked a bit in the intensity department in both the nose and on the palate.  I’d pass.

However, the Cabernet Sauvignon was more impressive.  From a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc it started with a deep nose.  There was a full, almost creamy palate with real ripe, approachable tannins. Notes of black fruits and sous bois. Sizable, approachable, dense, mouthfilling Cabernet Sauvignon.  Highly recommended, and priced reasonably in the mid $30’s.