Gluttons Club

It's finally spring, when a young man's thoughts turn to...grilling. I haven't yet had the chance but the first grill of the year is coming soon. I have plans for Friday night with my lady friend to prepare a mixed grill of as many meats, veg and starches as I can fit on the grill and the two of us can eat. All foods consumed will be grilled and they will be delicious. I think I will serve Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at the lighting ceremony and a bottle of the 2004 Palacios Bierzo with the meal.

I used to think it was cool to try to grill year 'round but then I realized that braises and sauces are more appropriate for cold weather and the grill went dormant in winter. As my roommate pointed out last year, my grilling season is basically the same as baseball season. There is no need to put up with cold and snow just for the taste of grilled foods when you can stay snug and warm in the kitchen to prepare a savory braised dish. I guess a good rule to follow is that if it's warm enough out for flip flops, it's good for grilling.

The forecast for this weekend is warm and sunny. I reckon backyards across the region will be filled with smoke and the scent of grilled meats as grills are pulled out of the shed, dusted off and lit up for the official beginning of summer. Folks will be taking those perilous trips out the door with armloads of platters, plates, tongs and beer bottles ready for the grilling experience. You can be sure I'll be doing my part; polishing my tongs and spatula (the one with the built-in bottle opener), trading my shoes for flip flops and starting a fire in backyard.

Last night I had dinner with the family at my sisters house. It was a celebration of sorts to honor the birth of Sam and to a lesser degree my promotion at work. To honor the occasion, my father busted out two of his final bottles of bordeaux from the vaunted 1982 vintage--a Calon Segur from St. Estephe and a Gruaud Larose from St. Julien. Both are from the Medoc section of Bordeaux and primarily Cabernet Suavignon. Big ole steaks, potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus were the accompaniment but to a degree, the wine was the only thing on the table.

The preparation of the wine began before dinner. A crystal pitcher served as a decanter to receive the wine which had accumulated sediments after 20 or so years in the bottle. Simply opening the bottles wasn't an option. Less than ideal storage for a few years led to some mold under the foil and 20 years is a long time for a cork. Both bottles had to have their corks cleaned before being VERY carefully removed to avoid breakage. Ufortunately, we didn't have the ideal equipment and the Gruaud cork crumbled, leaving a bit of a mess in the decanter. This had no impact on flavor however and a kitchen seive served to filter most of it out.

The Calon-Segur was poured first. Poor luck with some older bottles from my father's cellar kept us on edge, we were concerned that one of these may also have spoiled in the bottle or gotten past its prime. As the wine was poured into the decanter, I was anxious to get a whiff and an early indication of good or bad. Luckily, both bottles were fine and offered gorgeous gluttonous delight.

Tasting notes:
Unfortunately, I left my notes behind but I remember most of it. The finer details may be lacking but I think I can capture the overall impression.

Calon Segur
-Appearance: tawny and medium density with some haze when held up to the light.
-Nose: red cherries, milk chocolate, loamy earth, pipe tobacco, creme de cassis
-Flavor/mouthfeel: a subtle wine with many nuances. light tannins underneath gentle acidity. Mild cherry flavors gave way to subtle bell pepper and finish with leathery notes as the tannins picked up.
-Finish: Loooooong and lean. You had to pay attention to catch the smacky fruit skin sensations, slight tannic drying affect and detailed fruit acidity.
-Overall: a beautifully built wine that is right at its peak. This is the kind of wine I love for the way it forces you to pay attention to it in order to truly appreciate what it has to offer.

Gruaud-Larose
-Appearance: Dense ruby with umbre edges and some chunky haze due to the cork problem.
-Nose: Blackcurrants, black tea, old leather, black cherries covered in chocolate.
-Flavor/mouthfeel: Powerful and robust with plenty of tannins but balanced with big fruit flavors. Currants and dark berry flavors give way to a graphite and tannic midpalate that leads into a slight bell pepper essence as the wine comes into balance.
-Finish: Big and tannic with fruit notes that hit just enough to keep the tannins in check. May lack subtlety but was plenty pleasing.
-Overall: certainly a bigger wine than the Calon Segur and less enjoyable in some ways. This may benefit from a couple more years in the cellar. Don't get me wrong, it was great but I expected more subtlety from a wine this age.

Overall, it was a great night with a rare opportunity to drink some older vintage wines. Since Bob Parker made his reputation declaring the 1982 vintage a classic, wines from this year are well-known. There are certainly other, better vintages but this one has a certain notoriety because of Parker and was the first vintage that my father purchased with the intent to cellar and his patience with them has been both greatly rewarding and frustrating. Last night's bottles were certainly in the former category and lived up to the hype.

The Calon Segur is just what I expect a great wine to be. It was unassumingly gorgeous with incredible complexity that froced the taster to pay attention to it the way a good story teller can get his audience to lean in to hear every word. In contrast to the bombastic fruit driven wines that are popular today, this was elegance at work. The Gruaud was also terrific in it's own way. I have seen some comments that it and other St Julien wines from '82 were not as great as those in other parts of bordeaux. It was a great wine that couldn't get it's flavors in blance to become excellent.

My thanks to Fred for the great wine and to Mom for a great meal. Thanks to PSAmdy for hosting and providing an occasion.

This article from the Globe does a decent job of describing umami, the fifth flavor detectable by human taste buds. It can be briefly described as 'savory' or more complexly described as "what drives my apetite." think braised meats, pungent sauces, heartiness or the sensation of a complex red wine on your palate. The article is a nice intro though it is more informative if you're wondering about the couple who authored the book. the recipes kinda suck too. Oh well.

Thanks to Ed B for this link to this page dedicated to the best of the worst wine.

Last time I saw MD 40/40, it was splattered all over a toilet.

I went on my meatwalk to Savenor's the other day and was browsing the steak section when I came across a couple of hanger steaks. I had had that cut in restaurants but you don't always see it in the butcher shop so I grabbed the last two. They cost just 5 bucks a pound and were absolutely delicious. I cooked it in a cast-iron, searing it on all sides, removing it and making a sauce with the drippings. I think this is preferred for this cut anyway, the dry heat of a grill will touhgen it up. If possible, a marinade will help it become more tender. Use it for dishes like steak frites; it marries nicely with a sauce.

The cut is a long strip with a fairly wide grain. It comes from the underside of the cow, near the tenderloin. for menu reference, the French call it 'onglet.' It isn't as tender as some cuts but it delivers an excellent, hearty beef flavor. I recommend it for cost/taste proportion. It is easily the best 5 buck a pound steak I've had in a while.

Hey,
Anyone who is interested can go to the link above to see pics of my nephew Sam. He'll be a week old Friday night. Here's a preview: