A Taste of Spring

Today is yet another reason why living in South Carlina is quite nice. It's the end of January, and the high today is going to be around 70 degrees.

Ah, I do love the South.

I spent the morning playing with Hogan and taking care of our neglected yard. We had a simple turkey salad for lunch and a glass of tasty white wine.


Laudun Chusclan Vignerons Reserve de Lubin Blanc Vin du Pays du Gard 2009 ($7.99, Green's Beverages)

It's unusual to find a wine like this that's 100 percent grenache blanc. Grenache blanc is commonly used as a blending grape, but it's shines on its own. Pale straw in color, it has delicate floral and melon notes.

I think I'll pour a second glass and head towards the porch.

Cheers, y'all.

Back In Business

On a personal note, we had a great visit with my parents -- good food, some good wine and, most importantly, good time spent together. Both E and I live far away from our parents, and we miss the opportunity to spend quality time with them.

This morning involved a significant amount of clean up. I can trash our kitchen like nobody's business when I cook. Since it's Saturday, we also had to make a trip to the All-Local Farmers' Market.

It's been several years since I realized I had become a coffee snob. We're fortunate to have access to lots of great local and regional coffee roasters: Larry's Beans, Turtle Creek, and Cashua, just to name a few.

At the moment, our favorite is from Indah Coffee.


I usually prefer Central American beans to African, but this coffee has made me a believer. Yirgacheffe is a growing region in Ethiopia, which is quite possibly where coffee originated.

Here's some great information on the coffees of Ethiopia.

I don't have a coffee vocabulary quite like my wine vocabulary, so I'll just say that the Indah Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is rich, balanced and delicious.

It's what I crave in the mornings.

Hello and Goodbye

Brim will be on hold for a couple days while I'm enjoying a visit from my parents.

I've written about my parents frequently, and I owe them a great deal for so many reasons. They both played an important role in fostering my interest in wine (my dad) and cooking (my mom).

Before I take a short break I'll leave you with this link.

While I'm sad to say goodbye to The Minimalist, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for Mark Bittman and glad he's staying with The Times.

I've been working on a post about cooking and how my cooking skills have grown. Reading Bittman has been part of that growth. E gave me The Best Recipes in the World as a gift early in our relationship and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian more recently. Her copy of How to Cook Everything joined my cookbook collection when we merged homes.

Reading his final column also brought to mind how much Brim has changed from where I started it. It's been quite a journey.

Here's to you, Bittman. Thanks for the lessons -- past, present and future.

Thinking About Wine

Since this is supposedly a wine blog, I suppose it's about time for a post about wine.


Henri Bourgeois Sancerre "Les Baronnes" 2007 ($17.99, Asheville Wine Market)

The Asheville Wine Market really deserves its own post, so I'll leave that for another time. We picked up a lovely piece of red snapper from Sea Eagle this morning at the All-Local Farmers' Market, which is soon to be searing in a pan. I've also got some Anson Mills grits in the crock pot, and I really need to quit blogging and start making a salad.

Even though it's winter (and a particularly chilly day at that), some meals call for white wine. I've been saving this bottle for the right meal, and I believe this is the one.

Sancerre isn't something we drink often, because it's a bit more expensive than the wine budget allows. However, as with red wine, it's worth splurging occasionally.

Instead of droning on in wine-speak, I'll just say this wine is amazing: full of restrained citrus fruit, herbs, mineral notes and...damn, that's wine-speak. It's really good.

This will be the first bottle entered in this cool little notebook that E surprised me with.


Here's the inside view:


Cheers, ya'll.

Awesome

I don't read as many blogs as I should. There's so much online content and a limited amount of hours in the day, so occasionally I stumble across something I feel like I should have been aware of.

Here's one.

And here's the author giving a talk at TEDxToronto:



I should watch it every morning when I wake up. Hope you enjoy.

Cheers.

The Sharpest Knife in the Block

Clearly, this post isn't going to be about me.

I like kitchen knives. However, my budget doesn't allow for expensive knives. Over the years I've assembled a motley crew of inexpensive knives. Even a modest knife is pretty sharp when brand new.

These are only a few of my collection:


One of the first things I learned in a restaurant kitchen was that a dull knife is far more dangerous than a sharp knife. That's because you have to exert more pressure with a dull knife, increasing the chances you'll lose control of it. Of course, you can cut the #$!@$& out of yourself with a sharp knife, which is also something I learned in a restaurant kitchen.

I keep meaning to teach myself how to sharpen knives, but I haven't quite gotten around to it. Fortunately, one of the new vendors at the All-Local Farmers' Market is Mis En Place Sharpening.


For the very reasonable charge of $30, they sharpened three of my larger knives.


The top knife is a J.A. Henckels, from one of their modestly priced lines and purchased at a discount store. It was super sharp out of the box and held an edge well. I also like its very thin blade.

The middle knife is from Meyer. It's a good size for all-purpose chopping and has a very comfortable grip. It was also nice and sharp new, and held its edge for a surprisingly long time. It was dirt cheap.

The bottom knife is from Chicago Cutlery, which is sure to draw a snicker from some kitchen snobs. However, that knife holds lots of sentimental value for me. It's one of the first knives I owned and was given to me by my parents almost 20 years ago. It's been out of use for a very long time, because the edge was so dull it was virtually useless.

Not any more.

All three knives came back super sharp. I'm literally looking for stuff to chop tonight. I'll be interested to see how each knife holds its edge, and I'll surely be bringing more of my knives to MEP Sharpening.

If you're local and like to cook, you should check them out. If you noticed my cool new cutting board, it's from Sixteen Acre Wood. Stephen Owen crafts amazing things out of local, fallen trees that would otherwise end up in the landfill. We saw some of his beautiful work at the ALF Market one morning, and E gave me a late Christmas gift.

It's a gorgeous piece of Mulberry wood. Here's the back side:


It's art and function all in one. It's also going to see lots of action with my newly sharpened knives.

A Wine Story

Sometimes after I buy a bottle of wine, take it home and taste it, I make up a story about it. Usually it’s because of where I bought it and how much I paid.

Such is the case with this wine.

Rosenblum Cellars Château La Paws Côte du Bone Roan Red Wine 2006

Here’s the story:

The good people at Rosenblum Cellars, who make some outstanding wines, bottled this blend of syrah, zinfandel and some other Rhone grapes. They slapped a well-meaning, but cheesy label on the bottles and sent it off to their distributors around the country.

Some of it landed here in South Carolina. Since it originally retailed somewhere around $14, it was a little pricey for the oh-look-it’s-a-cute-label crowd. The more serious $14-means-nothing-to-me crowd was probably turned off by the cutesy label.

One day, someone at the distributor realized they had 20 or so cases of this 2006 vintage wine gathering dust in the warehouse. Enter the folks at World Market.

Maybe a salesperson paid them a visit. Maybe their wine buyer went to the warehouse. Either way, the wine buyer tasted the wine and thought, Yum. We can sell this.

The distributor slashed the price, probably to a level that would hurt my feelings if I knew what the mark-up was. I ended up paying $7.99 plus tax, with the Explorer program discount (free when you give them an e-mail address and phone number).

However, it’s a happy ending for me, because it’s a great wine from a winemaker I like and a portion of the sale goes to a great cause, Paws With A Cause. According to their press release, Rosenblum donated $43,134 to PWAC in 2008.

It's silky and rich, laced with flavors of black cherry, cola, cinnamon and clove. A pleasant acidity and mellow tannins hold it all together.

It's our new "house" red wine.

Snow Day

It's snowing.

Although it's an unremarkable event in many places across the country, it's a big deal here in Columbia. I can't say I'm complaining, because instead of settling into my fabric box for a day at the office, I'm working on my third cup of coffee at the dining room table.

As you can see from the photo above, it's not exactly a blizzard, but the city is essentially shut down. There's no infrastructure to deal with snow here. When you only get one respectable snow storm every couple years, it doesn't make sense to invest in plows.

Another problem is that many people in the South have no idea whatsoever about how to correctly drive in the snow.

Hogan and I went for a snowy walk before dawn. There were only a few foolish souls trying to navigate their cars down the snowy, icy roads. The only way to properly appreciate snow is on foot (or skis/snowboard for the more adventurous).

Since I grew up in the Northeast, snow has a nostalgic appeal for me. I like to look at it. I like to walk in it. I like to play in it.

However, I don't like to shovel it, go to work in it or generally conduct my life in a snowy environment. Nor do I like to step off a curb into four inches of dirty slush. These are reasons why I live in South Carolina.

In South Carolina, it snows, it melts the next day and then it's 65 degrees a couple days later. It works out perfectly.

Unless of course, the snow turns into freezing rain, tree limbs start falling and the power goes out. That stinks.

So, after Hogan had a chance to romp through the park and we toured the neighborhood, we're settled into our warm house and hoping it stays that way.

E, unfortunately, is stuck on conference call -- one of the curses of modern technology.

I'm happy to drink coffee, read the Sunday Times, relax and think about what bottle of wine I'm going to open this afternoon.

Let's just hope the power stays on.

More Recommended Reading

Since I can't find the inspiration to write anything original, I'll share some of the things I've been reading lately.

As someone who has (for the most part) been an exercise enthusiast my entire life and likes to take a drink (or two), I found this article about the connection between drinking and exercise very interesting.

It's especially pertinent this time of the year when I'm trying to burn off a couple extra pounds from holiday celebrating. Hogan and I just returned from a brisk morning walk.

Although I'm rather apathetic politically, I get enraged by the way politicians, state governments and corporate beverage distributors have conspired to limit choices for consumers. I'm fortunate to reside in a city, county and state where the alcohol laws are only mildly stupid.

This article explains why the residents of Pennsylvania aren't quite as lucky. Since one of my brothers lives there, I'm somewhat familiar with the state's ridiculous alcohol laws. If he wants to buy beer, he has two choices: buy a six-pack from a bar or restaurant, or buy a case from state-licensed "beer store."

Sound stupid? Yes, it is. There's a more complete explanation 0f the stupidity here.

Wine Equals Wife?

Here's something to discuss with your spouse over dinner and a glass of wine.

Happy New Year, y'all.

A Story in Pictures

By way of explanation, the other night we were getting ready to sit down to dinner, and I wanted to open something a little extra special. I grabbed our last bottle of 2002 Kunde Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County (more on that later).

After pulling a certain (large) number of corks, I give as much thought to it as I would to popping the top off a beer. Even when the cork broke in half, I wasn't concerned. I can extract half a cork almost as smoothly.

When the remainder of the cork disintegrated, profanities were uttered.

As you can see, the story has a happy ending. You just never know when those hemostats are going to come in handy.

We've enjoyed several bottles of this wine. We've enjoyed it even more because we paid $9.99, less a 10 percent mixed case discount. K&L is selling it for $29.99. How did Green's come to have a few bottles stashed away for select customers at a ridiculously low price? I didn't ask.

It's a compelling reason to be really, really nice to your local wine merchant.

I've tried to curtail the gushing about wine, but this is a wine worth gushing about. It's lush and modestly ripe with flavors/aromas of anise, mint, cassis and dried cherry, along with perfectly integrated tannins, soft acidity and a long, decadent finish. I would have gladly paid 30 bucks for it.

Lazy Christmas Day

It's Christmas Day, and we're basking in afterglow of opening presents and a simple lunch of leftovers from last night's feast.

We had E's son and his girl over for a Christmas Eve buffet that was a cardiologist's nightmare: BBQ beef brisket, country ham biscuits, mac-n-cheese, pimento cheese (recipe in this post) and Gorgonzola coleslaw. It was good to us, but not good for us.

Along with the leftovers, we're enjoying a Christmas tradition in our house -- opening a bottle of sparkling wine way too early in the day. Usually, I opt for Champagne, but this year I decided to go for something domestic. Champagne doesn't have a monopoly on fantastic bubbly.

Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut NV ($19.79, Green's Beverages)

For $10 less than you can touch most NV Champagnes, the Roederer is every bit as good in my humble opinion. It's a full-bodied style with flavors and aromas of apple, lemon, caramel and fresh toast. It's just the thing for a lazy Christmas Day.

Now the only thing left to do is look out the window to see if it's really going to snow.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Christmas With Vince

A topic I've rarely touched on is music. I can't live without music, and it's as much a part of our meals as are food and libations. E thinks of me as the house DJ, because I'm primarily the person who picks the soundtrack for our home.

My dad loves music, and I may have inherited my passion from him, although our tastes don't always match. We agree on Miles Davis and John Coltrane, but I'm not sure he shares my appreciation of Ice-T and Gang Starr. As with wine, I enjoy all different kinds of music as long as it's done well.

This holds true for Christmas music also. I know some people can't stand it, but I'm a fan. It's not Christmas until I hear Nat King Cole singing "The Christmas Song."

However, my all-time favorite Christmas album is the Vince Guaraldi Trio's, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."


Maybe it's because the television show is a nostalgic favorite ( I also love good animation) or maybe it's because the music is just so good, but this time of the year it's the first thing I put on in the morning after I've turned on the Christmas tree lights.

I might even end the night with it sometimes, a glass of wine in hand and only the Christmas tree lights left on. When you only listen to an album for a few short weeks once a year, you have to get in as many playings as you can.

Recommended Reading

A friend recommended my blog to some of his friends the other day. I’m always flattered other writers and serious readers take the time to read Brim.

Although it may not always show, I put serious thought and consideration into the things I post. I take my responsibility to my readers seriously. I don’t make my living as a writer per se, but I still think of myself as one.

On the subject of good writing, I’d like to make a recommendation to anyone who likes to read. My new issue of The Sun arrived recently. If you’re not familiar with The Sun, I highly recommend you seek it out.

While you’re at it, order a subscription (or two). The Sun doesn’t accept advertising, so it’s difficult to imagine how they still make a go of it.

While I frequently disagree – sometimes vehemently – with the editorial direction and the opinions of the writers, I always look forward to the next issue. Not an issue goes by without reading something that moves me deeply.

Speaking of liberal propaganda other great reads, E has gotten me hooked on the New York Times. A while back, I read this article in the Sunday Times Magazine, which mentioned satsumas, a Japanese citrus fruit.

Lo and behold, I ran across some at Rosewood Market on Friday. They are everything I imagined and more. Thus, today we had fresh-squeezed satsuma mimosas.


Talk about something I highly recommend. Hoo-wee.

Notes From Friday Night

We stepped out last night for some well-deserved holiday cheer. Our newest favorite place for food and drink is @116 State Espresso & Wine Bar – great food, great service and an eclectic selection of beverages.

While I was scouting the wine list, I noticed a wine I wasn’t familiar with.


Bodegas y Vinedos Ponce Clos Lojen Bobal Manchuela 2008

Just when you think your wine-geek-self knows some obscure grape varieties, one comes along and slaps you upside the head.

At first taste, this wine had a bit of carbonation. That quickly blew off and opened up into a medium-bodied, slightly earthy and complex wine with flavors of cherry, tobacco and spice. It also had acidity and tannins sufficient to stand up to our dinners of tea-smoked duck with a port wine reduction, mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach.

Okay, I’m gloating, but like I said – we deserved it.

Bobal is a native Spanish varietal. Here’s something interesting from Catavino about a documentary on bobal. Manchuela is not a region I was familiar with either. Here it is on the map. It's in the same neighborhood as Castilla-La Mancha, which I do know.

So, if I had the wine at a restaurant, how is the picture of the bottle taken at our home? This is what happens when you’re a wine blogger/geek. You take home empty wine bottles.

Cheers, y’all.

Let's Be Honest

In over three years of blogging, I’ve never written about my work. This is mainly because my job has nothing to do with the things I normally write about: wine, food, gardening and, of course, dogs.

It’s also because I might write something snarky that would lead somebody to believe that I don’t really, really appreciate my job.

I work in communications for a large company. It’s been my first experience with corporate America, and it’s made me very interested in how companies create messages – from the most basic to the most important. Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how a company’s message and its actions are intrinsically linked.

The most important element of effective communications is the truth. If you say one thing and do another, people will see right through it. This should be common sense, but it amazes me how often it’s overlooked or completely ignored.

Years ago, I spent a few months working with a great group of people at an ad agency pitching a new account. They put together a presentation built around that simple element of communications – truth.

The final presentation was pretty awesome, but they didn’t win the account. However, the concept has always stayed with me. All good communication starts with the truth.

Unfortunately, as some people rise to leadership positions (or political office) they lose the desire to hear (or speak) the truth. They surround themselves with people who are adept at saying the right thing instead of what needs to be said. This creates a culture of untruth.

That’s unfortunate because you can spend millions on an advertising or public relations campaign, but if what you’re communicating isn’t true – your money is wasted.

In vino vertis. The Greek poet, Alcaeus, is credited with that little gem of wisdom. It apparently came from the idea that you can’t tell lies after a couple cups of wine.

Maybe they should start serving wine in Congress.

Although it’s possible that I’ve stretched the truth a time or so after too many glasses of wine, I do agree with the basic premise. It may explain why creative types like to do their brainstorming away from the office over some drinks.

These days, it’s increasingly difficult to hide from the truth because technology has sped up the flow of information. Why not just embrace the truth instead?

Sound naïve? Maybe it is, but research actually shows that an apology with an unqualified acceptance of responsibility makes people very forgiving. In other words, no matter how bad you screwed up, just be honest about it and most people will let you off the hook.

With all this in mind, here are my three rules for business communications.

1.) Be honest with your customers.
2.) Be honest with your employees.
3.) Be honest with yourself.

If you find any of the rules problematic, you might want to consider why you're in business in the first place.

Italian Gem

Wine shopping is something I know a little bit about. When you're working with a limited budget, you want to get the most for your wine dollars.

Being the wine geek that I am, I've learned to recognize the way that wine buyers work, especially with large retailers. World Market isn't someplace I would normally think to shop, but experience has taught me otherwise. They pick up some interesting and tasty stuff.

Exhibit A:


Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d' Abruzzo "Tralcetto" Riserva 2007 ($12.99, World Market)

I'm not as impressed with the 90 point rating from Bobby Parker as I am with the juice inside the bottle. This is a serious bottle of wine: silky, balanced, complex and easily mistakable for a $20+ bottle of wine.

If you can find some in your neck of the woods, buy it. You won't be sorry.

Salute.

Today is a Good Day

I love the holidays.

I love, love, love the holidays.

The fact is that I'm a sentimental fool, and I have such fond memories of Thanksgivings and Christmases past. Thanks to E, I now also have Hanukkah to look forward to.

Here's a photo of the menorah I gave E for our first Hanukkah in our home. I've even learned to make a pretty mean latke.


E and I took today off so we could get a early start on a weekend trip to visit friends. The sky was glowing blue with a dusting of orange clouds when Hogan and I set off for a chilly morning walk. I love to see the houses in our neighborhood all decked out for Christmas.

After coffee and breakfast, we've got a few errands to run and some presents to wrap before we leave. One of the gifts we're taking to our friends is a bottle of homemade coffee-infused vodka.


There are some recipes here and here. It's really as simple as cracking coffee beans and soaking them with vodka and a little sugar in a glass jar. I'll be making some other infused vodkas in the future – maybe something with fruit and something savory for Bloody Marys.

Now it's time to get moving. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Remembering

Today is a day of remembrance for a one very big reason, but it’s a day I remember for a much different reason.

It’s the birthday of a beloved, departed friend. I can’t believe it’s been more than four years since Sully passed away. Even now, I can’t think about the night he died without tears filling my eyes, as they are right now.

That was the first time I watched the life run out of another living thing, and it had a profound effect on me. I recall thinking, Life doesn’t go on forever. You only get one ride. Maybe that sounds naïve, but at that point in my life I hadn’t met death on such a face-to-face basis.

A friend recently told me a story about his elderly mom, afflicted by Alzheimer's, who asked how old he was. When he told her, she said, “You better get to livin’!”

Good advice for anyone.

So, tonight I raise my glass to the memory of my old friend. As for me, I need to get to livin’.

Change

We went wine shopping yesterday at our go-to store and got talking to one of our favorite wine consultants. We were pondering the rationale of people who only drink one kind of wine – whether it’s a grape, winery or color (“I ONLY drink red”).

I’m not one to judge, but I just can’t wrap my head around that. Our cart was filled with reds, whites, bubbly and rosés – all from different grapes and different countries – because different occasions call for different wines.

I wonder if some people just don’t like change. They find something they like and think, Why look for anything else? I like this just fine. When I was selling wine, I was always surprised to see customers become distraught if we ran out of a particular wine or vintage.

There are some many great wines out there – why get upset over just one? In any case, this got me thinking about change in general.

It’s been almost ten years since I moved to South Carolina. I had lived in Greenville, North Carolina for almost 13 years and had recently been through a divorce. The time seemed right for a change.

I didn’t know a single person in Columbia, but I had visited a few times and liked what I saw. So, I found a house to rent, rented a truck, recruited a friend and drove south.

For those of you who don’t know much about the South, you’ll enjoy this story. As my friend and I were unloading the truck, the next door neighbor pulled up. He walked over and introduced himself and his sister, who happened to be with him.

I ended up becoming friends with him, dating his sister, and renting, then buying his house – the one where E and I now reside. That, my friends, is an example of why I love the South.

Moving to Columbia was just what I needed. Although it turned into a challenge financially and professionally, I met some great people, made some amazing friends and, best of all, found E.

Some of my friends and family thought I was nuts at the time for doing something so seemingly random, but I knew I needed the change.

Ten years later, I think I’m due for another shake-up.

No, I’m not going to pack up and leave town this time, nor am I going to buy a red convertible. This time I’m working on some new goals and challenges for myself.

What are they? Well, the plan isn’t finalized in my head quite yet, but it feels good just to be thinking about the possibilities. It’s easy to become stuck in a routine, but it’s refreshing to break out of it.

Whatever I decide to pursue, I’ll no doubt be writing about it. I’m still not sure what’s going to happen with Brim, but if I’m not writing here, I’ll be writing somewhere else.

Maybe a new blog will be part of the plan.