MARIANI’S
Virtual Gourmet
"The Spice Mixer" (1637) by Paolo Antonio
Barbieri, known as "Guercino"
❖❖❖ IN THIS ISSUE TEXAS BBQ QUEST, Part Two By John A. Curtas NEW YORK CORNER abcV By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR LIVING MI SUEÑO IN NAPA VALLEY By John Mariani ❖❖❖ TEXAS BBQ QUEST, Part Two By John A. Curtas
Barbecue
is the great equalizer. It's the only American
food that inspires $70,000 cars to line up next to
$700 trucks to get the good stuff. It is also the
only food that can inspire yours truly to hit the
road at 7 a.m. to make a one-hour drive to a speck
of a town called Lexington, Texas, to have
barbecue for breakfast. Even after making that bleary-eyed
trek through foggy Central Texas flatlands, we
were still late to the party, a party that
commences but once a week at 8 a.m. at Snow’s. That
party goes on until the meat runs out (pretty
darn fast, usually around noon) so arriving
early is a must. ❖❖❖ NEW YORK CORNER
By John Mariani abcV
38 E 19th Street (near Fifth Avenue)
Readers
of this column know that I rarely write about
a restaurant I don’t like or one
that is not worth the effort. Why
waste the reader’s time? ❖❖❖
NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
LIVING MI SUEÑO IN NAPA VALLEY By
John Mariani
There are California wineries with names like Folie à Deux and Rubicon that suggest the idea of even starting one is a little crazy. But for Rolando and Lorena Herrera, naming their Napa Valley winery Mi Sueño—Spanish for "My Dream”—was as inevitable as their faith in their own abilities to achieve success in a very tough, very expensive venture. Their dream is proudly an American Dream, for the Herreras certainly did not come from wealth. Rolando grew up in a rural area of Mexico, helping his grandparents work a six-acre farm they eventually had to sell to make ends meet. In 1975 the family moved to California’s Napa Valley, but moved back to Mexico after five years. When Rolando turned 15, he returned to Napa Valley and lived in a plant nursery while he finished high school, washing dishes at Cindy Pawlcyn's Mustards Grill and graduating to line cook. In 1985 Rolando met Warren Winiarski, owner of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, who hired him to break up rocks for a stone wall around his property, then later offered him an opportunity to work the grape crush and help out in the cellar. After three years, Rolando became cellar master at the winery, while taking courses on viticulture and enology at Napa Valley College. It was still a long road from there to his own winery, with stops along the way as assistant winemaker at Château Potelle (left), winemaker at Vine Cliff, and director of winemaking of Paul Hobbs Wines. Then, in 1997, Rolando married Lorena—herself the daughter of migrant workers who bought land in California—and the couple launched their own winery, Mi Sueño Winery, as a side project. They also founded Herrera Vineyard Management in 2003 as a consulting firm and an ultra-premium label whose various wines were named after their six children—Perla Chardonnay ($70), Esmeralda Pinot Noir ($70), Victoria Malbec ($95), Valeria Petit Verdot ($95), Rolando Jr. Cabernet Sauvignon ($140) and Rebecca Cabernet Sauvignon ($140). Today the Herreras control 40 acres in Oak Knoll, Coombsville, Los Carneros, Russian River Valley, and Sonoma Mountain. Last year they purchased a property on Mt. Veeder. Mi Sueño produces between 8,000 and 10,000 cases of wine per year, produced by 17 full-time employees. All wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Over dinner at a Mexican restaurant in New York, I asked the Herreras what the most important element of running a premium winery is. Speaking as a man from a long line of Mexican farmers who knew how different every parcel of land was, whether to grow corn or pumpkins, Rolando insisted that a good vintner must first work with what Mother Nature provides, in order to grow and sustain the best grapes possible, with phenolic ripeness at the lowest brix in order to achieve balance. As the father of six children, Rolando compared viticulture to parenting, saying, “You have to be consistently present with your children to know what is going on in their lives. Even when you think you know them, they change. The same is true with growing grapes. Each growing season is different, and to be a good farmer, you must nurture and cultivate the fruit and spend as much time as possible in the vineyard. You have to be there. No growing season is the same, just like no stage in a child's life is the same." Mi Sueño makes wines in various price ranges, some at the high end of California bottlings. The basic line includes Los Carneros Chardonnay ($42), Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay ($55), Los Carneros Pinot Noir ($42), Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($55), Cabernet Sauvignon ($75), Syrah ($55), Tempranillo ($55), and a red blend made of primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, "El Llano" ($49). The Herrerras make their wines unapologetically in the big, bold California style in which alcohol can work its way up to 14.6% in the Chardonnays, while the red wines stay at the reasonable 14.5%. The Chardonnay, particularly the 2013 Perla ($70), is a very lush wine, but some of that comes from the caramel flavors picked up from 32 months of aging in French oak, which you will definitely taste. I prefer the more subtle 2014 Los Carneros ($42), which spends only 10 months in barrel, so that even at 14.5% alcohol its richness is in better acidic balance and the fruit is not as pronounced. Of the red wines I tasted the 2013 Rebecca Cabernet Sauvignon ($138) was my favorite, and it compares well with a lot of the most prestigious California Cabs at that price. The fruit is a boon to this wine, for after 22 months in 100% French oak the tannins began to be tamed. Only 115 cases were made and are available through allocation only. So the Herrera story is inspiring, not solely because these immigrants, like so many who came to America to follow their dream, have succeeded so admirably, but also because the results are as impressive as others’ who began with much more money and much more doubt.
❖❖❖
Xi
Ping Chow (left)
was arrested by the NYPD after being informed that the
man was making his hot dogs with the meat of stray dogs
in the area, possibly from dead dogs in dumpsters
of the Animal Care Centers all over the city.
Chow’s wife, Hu-Wen Zhao, insisted a rival hot dog stand
owner on the other side of the street conspired against
her husband to shut down his business, saying, “He always jealous
because my husband’s hot dogs taste better, people
always come buy Chow Chow hot dogs.”
ASSUMING YOU HAVE A COLD, DARK SOUL
“If
you’ve taken a peek through Instagram recently, one
thing is clear: Black food is everywhere. Perhaps a goth
response to the ubiquity of unicorn lattes and rainbow bagels, dyeing
foods a deep, inky black has become one of the year’s
biggest food trends. Activated charcoal, the ingredient
that creates this ‘super-black' hue, has made its way
into coconut ash ice cream, detoxifying lemonades, pizza crusts, and boozy cocktails that are as black as your cold, dark
soul.”--Amy McCarthy, "Everything You Need to Know About
Eating Activated Charcoal," Eater.com. ❖❖❖
Any of John Mariani's books below may be ordered from amazon.com. The Hound in Heaven (21st Century Lion Books) is a novella, and for anyone who loves dogs, Christmas, romance, inspiration, even the supernatural, I hope you'll find this to be a treasured favorite. The story concerns how, after a New England teacher, his wife and their two daughters adopt a stray puppy found in their barn in northern Maine, their lives seem full of promise. But when tragedy strikes, their wonderful dog Lazarus and the spirit of Christmas are the only things that may bring his master back from the edge of despair. WATCH THE VIDEO! “What a huge surprise turn this story took! I was completely stunned! I truly enjoyed this book and its message.” – Actress Ali MacGraw “He had me at Page One. The amount of heart, human insight, soul searching, and deft literary strength that John Mariani pours into this airtight novella is vertigo-inducing. Perhaps ‘wow’ would be the best comment.” – James Dalessandro, author of Bohemian Heart and 1906. “John Mariani’s Hound in Heaven starts with a well-painted portrayal of an American family, along with the requisite dog. A surprise event flips the action of the novel and captures us for a voyage leading to a hopeful and heart-warming message. A page turning, one sitting read, it’s the perfect antidote for the winter and promotion of holiday celebration.” – Ann Pearlman, author of The Christmas Cookie Club and A Gift for my Sister. “John Mariani’s concise, achingly beautiful novella pulls a literary rabbit out of a hat – a mash-up of the cosmic and the intimate, the tragic and the heart-warming – a Christmas tale for all ages, and all faiths. Read it to your children, read it to yourself… but read it. Early and often. Highly recommended.” – Jay Bonansinga, New York Times bestselling author of Pinkerton’s War, The Sinking of The Eastland, and The Walking Dead: The Road To Woodbury. “Amazing things happen when you open your heart to an animal. The Hound in Heaven delivers a powerful story of healing that is forged in the spiritual relationship between a man and his best friend. The book brings a message of hope that can enrich our images of family, love, and loss.” – Dr. Barbara Royal, author of The Royal Treatment. ❖❖❖
❖❖❖
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: QUEBEC
DINING
Eating Las Vegas
JOHN CURTAS has been covering the Las Vegas
food and restaurant scene since 1995. He is
the co-author of EATING LAS VEGAS – The 50
Essential Restaurants (as well as
the author of the Eating Las Vegas web site: www.eatinglasvegas.
He can also be seen every Friday morning as
the “resident foodie” for Wake Up With the
Wagners on KSNV TV (NBC) Channel 3 in
Las Vegas.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John
Mariani.
Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani,
Robert Mariani, Misha Mariani, John A. Curtas, Geoff Kalish, Mort
Hochstein, and
Brian Freedman. Contributing Photographer: Galina
Dargery. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.
To un-subscribe from this newsletter,click here.
© copyright John Mariani 2017 |