Red Wine with Fish

Yesterday, I came back from Dallas, Oregon with 300+ lbs of beef in the back of my Mini Cooper S. We had ordered a half-cow (heretofore named Bessie) from McK Ranch which we split with a co-worker of mine. Tonight we had our first cut. It was a round steak. I marinated it in Lea & Perrins for 30 minutes and broiled it. On the side we had brussel sprouts from our CSA and cheddar mashed potatoes from a local farm. Other than the 2004 Switchback Merlot from Napa, it was a very, very local meal.

How was it? Good. Needs work. I have, in the past, hovered between a very small number of specific cuts of beef that I know how to deal with: NY strip, tenderloin, sirloin, petite sirloin and skirt mainly. This one was new to me and, in future I think I would marinate longer with more acid, perhaps some lime; break down that muscle tissue a bit. Nice flavor though.

The Switchback is massive. Not a “food wine”. At 15.5% alcohol and, I think, a tiny bit of residual sugar, this is almost a dessert wine. Not generally my style, but fun in a hedonistic kind of way (to borrow from Parker). A rich chocolatey nose with a touch of rose (EA?), massive and mocha-like, no, more like mocha mousse in the mid-palate and coffee-flavored sandpaper on the finish.

So, thank you Bessie for giving your life for our sustenance and enjoyment. I will endeavor to do a better job with your delicious meaty flesh next time. And hopefully choose a wine that complements your subtle and delicious flavors a little better.

Amen.

Grilled Copper River Sockeye Salmon
Oakhill Organic Green Salad
2000 Medici East Vineyard Estate Reserve Pinot Noir

Grilled Carlton Farms pork chops
Mixed green salad with Champagne vinaigrette
2006 Domaine Drouhin Arthur Chardonnay

I posted the review at Chehalem’s weblog. A brief excerpt:

I finally had a chance to dine at Sel Gris, the latest of Portland’s exciting and innovative restaurants. Chef Daniel Mondok is producing excellent food with an unsurpassed attention to detail. Everything is delicious, but what sets Sel Gris apart in my mind is the artistry with which food is assembled. Every dish comes off the line looking like a work of art.

Read the whole thing here.

We have just started a new Chehalem weblog! So I will be posting in two places. If I have a surprisingly good food-pairing for our INOX Chardonnay or something like that, I will probably post it to the Chehalem blog. If I am writing about a restaurant or a wine from my cellar it will go here, or sometimes to both. My political rants will always be a redwinewithfish exclusive.

It’s grilled brats by the way… that surprisingly good pairing for the INOX unoaked Chardonnay. An older lady from the Alsace who visited us this past summer said I was crazy for the suggestion, but, trust me, it works. Ripe fruit favors with salt and fat? Why do you think the Germans put apples in the sausages.

Roasted leg of lamb on a bed of rosemary
Roasted root vegetables
1998 Château du Seuil Graves

Wine-braised quail with pancetta and sage
Beet salad with chèvre
2005 Mary Elke Anderson Valley Chardonnay
2005 Chehalem Stoller Pinot Noir

Minestrone soup with fresh CSA greens
Roasted Delicata squash and fennel
Red Fox multigrain bread
1998 Elke Donnelly Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir

Alder at Vinography has a post today applauding the people whose long days of physical labor make wine possible for those of us who appreciate it and can afford it. He says

In the absence of a holiday celebrating wine itself, I cannot think of a better holiday for wine lovers to observe, given the pleasures we reap from countless hours of back-breaking work by mostly nameless, faceless workers.

I commend Alder for again bringing attention to a facet of the industry that goes largely undiscussed. So too, I appreciate his mention of Sonoma Vineyard Worker Services an organization which much like our own Salud! in the Willamette Valley, provides much needed services to vineyard workers.

However, I think, too, we should think about the bigger picture of what these workers represent from a social, political and (gasp!) class perspective. The people who do the most exhausting and risky physical labor in the US wine industry and for that matter the entire agricultural sector are migrant Mexicans and South Americans, often illegals, who without organizations above would not have access to basic health care or social services.

To my mind, when those who are largely responsible for bringing food and wine to our table have so much less than those for whom they bring the food and wine, a crisis is at hand. Those of us who consume these goods (nearly all of us), rely on the services that migrant agricultural laborers provide.

From the point of view of the consumer, and to a large part, even to those of us in the industry, the people who work the vineyards are “nameless and faceless”, as Alder says. I think we need to do more than just remember them. And I think we need to do more than contribute to the organizations that make up for all they lack. I believe we need to advocate for these people who, for the most part, cannot advocate for themselves.

Political visibility for migrant laborer was on the increase until political support fizzled earlier this year as we rolled into election season. I encourage each person to study this issue and think about it. To be sure, you should come to your own conclusions about what needs to be done, but don’t underestimate the importance of migrant labor to our economy or forget that the people have lives and families of their own and are as entitled to a life of dignity and security as much as those of us who were lucky to be born with both.

I am not sure that description can do justice to this meal. Suffice it to say it was one of the best meals I have ever had, possibly THE best.

Unable to get a table at the French Laundry, despite calling many months in advance, we “settled” for Cyrus. I had heard that though new, it was competing with the best restaurants in California. The beauty of being on your honeymoon, is you can justify all sorts of ridiculous things that you could never do any other time. So we went.

We were not disappointed. Service was excellent but unpretentious. The food was absolutely delicious, using cross-cultural combinations that never would have occurred to me. The portions were good but not excessive. The wine list was pretty stunning.

Since I had to drive back to the Inn and Sydney is not a big drinker, we went the two half-bottle route, starting with a very nice Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru from 2005. It was pretty tight at first, not surprisingly, but opened up nicely. Lovely mineral qualities, but balanced with a nice oak backbone that made me wish we were drinking 5 years from now.

We also had our first Kosta Brown Pinot Noir. It was there ‘05 Sonoma Coast and it was very, very nice. In Oregon there is a widely held belief that California Pinot Noirs blow you away with overripe prune-like fruit and too much alcohol (more on this another time). While definitely fruit-driven, this Pinot was balanced, an all-around enjoyable wine and one I would certainly buy again, given the opportunity.

Another first: the height of extravagance had to be the wine we paired with the Foie Gras. What wine, before all others, do you drink with Foie Gras? How about a Château d’Yquem Sauternes? This was 1997 and it was certainly the best dessert wine I have ever had, but, honestly, at the rather ludicrous price point (it cost more for a 2 ounce pour than our Burgundy cost for the split), I can’t say I would do it again. I would just as soon buy a case of a lower priced Sauternes like a Suduiraut, than buy a bottle of Yquem. Still, I have only had one vintage and very young, so perhaps one day I will change my mind. Of course, I would have to go back to the software business to afford it, so let’s just say I have had my Yquem and leave it at that. But I am very glad we tried it.

I will resist going through the menu item by item, but I will mention a couple of highlights.

The gazpacho was incredible: almost completely clear, having been filtered, it had a little piece of hirame (raw halibut) delicately placed in the middle, wrapping a small tomato. Absolute heaven.

The Foie Gras was lovely. This wasn’t on a “donut” (you know, like a donut-shaped piece of bread or something). No, it was an actual, honest to goodness donut and it was lovely: semi-sweet and covered with pistachios, it was a perfect compliment to the delicious morsel of heart-stopping heaven it supported. Sigh…

Not that the other courses aren’t worthy of mention, but time constraints force me to skip to dessert which as many of you know, tends not to be my focus. This was amazing. The homemade cardamom ice cream was probably the best I have ever had. It was softer than standard ice cream, but a bit firmer than a semifreddo–like cold velvet. It floated like a little caloric island on top of a wonderful off-dry lake of lychee-infused Italian rosé.

I am starting to pine, so I will stop, or try to stop, thinking about this food. Perhaps we will return on our 10th anniversary or something like that. In the meantime, I think I am going to try to replicate that soup.