Virtual
Gourmet
CANDYLAND
BOARD GAME (1949)
❖❖❖ THIS WEEK
NEW YORK CORNER NOTES FROM THE WINE
CELLAR ❖❖❖
PART
ONE
by Christopher Mariani With only eight days
to see as much of the California coast as possible,
I
decided to fly into San Diego and drive north on
Highway 1, stopping in cities
like La Jolla, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Napa Valley and San Francisco. I dined at many
terrific restaurants; some
new, some old. Here’s where we went. Day one: San Diego After
touching down in SD, we took a short drive through the
city and
checked into the pet-friendly Hotel
Solamar, located in the city’s bustling
downtown Gaslamp Quarter (left), just a few blocks from
Seaport Village and the sunny
boardwalk. After settling into our room, we ventured
out onto Sixth Avenue and
toured the vibrant neighborhood, lined with storefront
after storefront of
casual seafood inspired restaurants, outdoor burger
joints, loads of pubs,
specialty food markets and Italian cafes, serving
creamy gelato and strong
espressos.
Day 2: La Jolla
The
following morning, we woke up early, jumped in our
rented Ford Mustang
convertible and headed for the posh city of La Jolla,
a weekend destination for
San Diego’s super rich. If you are into exotic cars,
take a walk along Prospect
Place and prepare to be awed by the international
models arrayed along it. The
city is packed with luxury brand jewelry shops,
expensive art galleries,
including Peter Lik, and outdoor restaurants
overlooking the water. Venturing
off the main drag will bring you to Scripps Park,
where you can watch the silly
seals sunbathe for hours (above) on massive rock formations
that hover above the water.
Hundreds of seals lounge lazily about as spectators
snap pictures and soak up
some sun themselves. Check out upcoming issues of the Virtual
Gourmet to see
where we ate and lodged along the way up north.
❖❖❖
NEW YORK
CORNER
THE $50 VEAL PARM AND
WHY CARBONE IS THE
HOTTEST RESTAURANT IN NEW YORK RIGHT NOW
by
John Mariani They actually
pick up the phone at Carbone
and a very affable person tells you that they book
tables 30 days out. The food has gotten mixed
reviews thus far, but the stratospheric prices
have been causing sticker shock. ❖❖❖ Spanish Wines Offering More Variety and Value by John Mariani After the boom years of 2000-2005 when Spanish wine exports soared, sales have cooled off. By why should Spain be any different? Despite the entrance of China into the wine buying market, global wines sales are soft pretty much everywhere. The International Organisation of Wine and Vine estimated global consumption in 2011 to be 1.7 million hectoliters, with a decrease among several EU nations, including Spain itself. Germany, the UK, and the U.S. are still Spanish wines’ biggest customers, and producers are finding that better quality and sensible prices are key to an increasingly sophisticated wine drinker now becoming familiar with varietals like tempranillo, garnacha and verdejo from regions like Galicia, Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon. Spain’s cavas (above) are doing very well along with Italy’s proseccos in the sparkling wine market, and the popularity of tapas bars outside of Spain has led to a new interest in the fizzy, low alcohol Basque wine called txakoli. Still, Spanish white wines overall have yet failed to achieve critical parity with the country’s reds. At the new Spanish brasserie Manzanilla (below, right) in New York, a rosé txacoli is poured by the glass. “A good chunk of our guests tell me they know little or nothing about Spanish wine,” says the restaurant’s wine director, Rick Pitcher, who stocks about 125 Spanish wines. “I then generally point them to lighter wines with high acid that are more versatile with our food, because there is so much sharing of dishes comprised of seafood and meats. For the reds I favor the wines from cooler climates like Galicia.” Aside from the variety and reasonable prices for Spanish wines, I’ve found that you can readily find an array of older vintages that give perspective to how well these wines age. Twenty years ago, when so many Spanish wines were blends of various vintages, that was not a topic for discussion. Here are several Spanish red wines I’ve been enjoying recently and plan to drink through spring and summer. Luis Cañas
Crianza 2008 ($15)—A crianza from Rioja
is a red wine that must spend at least 12 months
in oak and not be sold until its third year, which
allows for mellowing before release. Five percent
garnacha added to 95 percent tempranillo with a
spark of bright fruit helps balance the tannins,
while the acids that make this Rioja Alavesa wine
wholly pleasurable to drink with anything on the
grill this summer. The Canas family has made wine
for generation but has only been selling it since
1970, and they have been pioneers of modern
Spanish viticulture ever since. Viñedos Valderiz Ribera del Duero
($34)—Bodegas y Valderiz’s Esteban family prides
itself on its commitment to ecological and
biodynamics processes. Their Juegabolos vineyard,
said to have a complex soil structure with a
limestone bottom, gives their Barricas Seleccionad
2006 estate wine a rich minerality, made from 100
percent tempranillo (also called tinto fino).
Today you can easily find it for $34, where just a
couple of years ago it hit $75 a bottle. For
something bolder, though with a little less
finesse, the 2004 Valderiz Ribera del Duero is a
real delight, so good with pork and beef, and a
good buy for so
well-balanced a red wine of this age. Bodegas J.C. Conde Vivir Vinos de Fabula
Vivir 2007 ($14)—On first sip, this
Ribera del Duero from 100 percent tempranillo
doesn’t reveal much and the acids are weak, but
for $14 and at 14 percent alcohol, it is the kind
of wine you stick in a picnic basket with a loaf
of country bread and enjoy with cold chicken and
cole slaw. The vines date back as much as 60 years
in the Burgos District, and the wine is aged 10
months in tanks. Alta Banderas A10 Crianza 2008
($16)—This wine reveals many layers of dark cherry
and toasted caramel notes, having spent more than
16 months in French and
American oak. At 14 percent alcohol it is rich
without being in any way cloying. Dominio de Atauta 2008 ($34)—This
tempranillo is not filtered, which explains the
dark color, rustic style and excellent acidity to
cut through the durable tannins, for which the
tempranillo grape is justly admired. There is a
great deal of ripe berries in it, but the surprise
was that there was, after only four years, a lot
of sediment in the bottle. It needs decanting. The Duero River of Northern Spain
This article first
appeared in Bloomberg
News.
❖❖❖ NEVER SEEMS TO BOTHER LINDSAY
LOHAN
Mexican Federal Attorney General
Humberto Benitez Trevino issued an apology for
"the inappropriate behavior of [his] daughter
Andrea" after she threw a temper tantrum at Maximo
Bistro in Mexico City when asked to wait for her
table, without a reservation. The woman then
called city officials and, within hours,
official inspectors came to the restaurant and
posted "suspended" signs. Benitez Trevino added,
"Immediately upon hearing of the situation, I
ordered the raid suspended, to avoid any
excesses."
❖❖❖
Any of John Mariani's
books below may be ordered from amazon.com.
❖❖❖
FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report
that the Virtual
Gourmet is linked to four excellent
travel sites: Everett Potter's Travel Report: I consider this the best and
savviest blog of its kind on the web. Potter is a
columnist for USA
Weekend, Diversion, Laptop and Luxury Spa Finder,
a contributing editor for Ski and a frequent contributor
to National
Geographic Traveler, ForbesTraveler.com
and Elle Decor.
"I’ve designed this site is for people who take
their travel seriously," says Potter. "For
travelers who want to learn about special places
but don’t necessarily want to pay through the nose for
the privilege of staying there. Because at the end
of the day, it’s not so much about five-star
places as five-star experiences." THIS WEEK:
Eating Las Vegas is the new on-line site for Virtual Gourmet contributor John A. Curtas., who since 1995 has been commenting on the Las Vegas food scene and reviewing restaurants for Nevada Public Radio. He is also the restaurant critic for KLAS TV, Channel 8 in Las Vegas, and his past reviews can be accessed at KNPR.org. Click on the logo below to go directly to his site.
Tennis Resorts Online: A Critical Guide to the World's Best Tennis Resorts and Tennis Camps, published by ROGER COX, who has spent more than two decades writing about tennis travel, including a 17-year stretch for Tennis magazine. He has also written for Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, New York Magazine, Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Money, USTA Magazine, Men's Journal, and The Robb Report. He has authored two books-The World's Best Tennis Vacations (Stephen Greene Press/Viking Penguin, 1990) and The Best Places to Stay in the Rockies (Houghton Mifflin, 1992 & 1994), and the Melbourne (Australia) chapter to the Wall Street Journal Business Guide to Cities of the Pacific Rim (Fodor's Travel Guides, 1991).
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John
Mariani.
Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani, Robert Mariani,
John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort Hochstein,
Suzanne Wright, and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery,
Bobby Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.
© copyright John Mariani 2013 |