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February Tastings

2/8: James will be pouring 08 Conte Leopardi Fructus, Scarpetta Sparkling Rose, and 06 Vaona Pegrandi at Vine Wine in Williamsburg (616 Lorimer St, between Conselyea St & Skillman Ave) 6-9pm.

 

2/9: James will be pouring Cremant de Clemant, Val Volxem Riesling, Valpolicella Ripasso, and Jaspi Negre Monsant at Dandelion Wine in Greenpoint (153 Franklin St, between Java St & Kent St) 6-9pm.

 

2/10: Francis will be at Columbus Circle Wine from 5-8pm (1802 Broadway
between 58th St & Columbus Cir)

 

2/11: Francis will be at ABC Wine Co from 6-9pm pouring Tatomer Riesling, Dacapo Ruche, San Giovanni Lugana and Bianchi Erbaluce. (100 Ave C)

 

2/16: Francis will be at Acker Merrall pouring Tatomer Riesling, Blasig Merlot, Bassermann Jordan Riesling Trocken and Brezza Nebbiola at 5:30pm (160 W 72nd St)

 

2/16: Tim will be at Park East Wines pouring Bolzano Pinot Grigio, San Giovanni Lugana & Gropello from 5-8pm (1657 York Avenue)

2/18: Tim will be pouring Blasig Refosco, Conte Leopardi Calcare and Schola Sarmenti Critera at Westchester Wine Warehouse from 4-7pm




What’s Going On in January

January Tastings

1/19 James will be at Maslow 6 for a Tuscany tasting from 6:30-8:30pm. He will be pouring Gianni Brunelli Amor Costante, Il Borghetto Bilaccio, Podere Forte Petruccino, Guardiavigna, Tenuta Le Farnete Carmignano, and Monteraponi.

Additional information and tickets are available here.

Maslow 6 is located in Tribeca at 211 West Broadway, between Franklin and White streets.

 

1/26 David will be hosting a Piedmont tasting at Union Square Wines from 7-8:30pm.

He’ll be pouring Gagliasso Dolcetto, Bruno Giacosa Arneis, Bruna Grimaldi Barbera d’Alba Scassa, Vietti Barebera d’Asti Tre Vigne, Cascina Luisin Nebbiolo Maggiur, Cavallotto Bricco Boschis Barolo, Brezza Barolo Sarmassa, Cascina Luisin Barbaresco Sori Paolin, Piero Busso Barbaresco Gallina

USQ Wines is located at 140 Fourth Avenue, at 13th street.

 

1/27 Francis will be at Morrell Wine pouring Gianni Brunelli Brunello, San Giovanni Lugana, and Alain Roy Givry from 3:30-6:30pm.

Morrell Wine is located at 1 Rockefeller Plaza.

January Travels

David will be in Seattle working with A&B Imports Monday 1/16 til Wednesday 1/18

 

James will be in Kentucky working with River City Distributors on Tuesday 1/17 and Wednesday 1/18




A.I. Selections Top Wines 2011

In 2007, Laura and I had a quiet week between the 25th and 31st of December. We looked back at our first 5 months of business.   I asked, “Want to make a list of our 10 favorite wines? ”  It turned out to be much more difficult than we expected, and we had just 4 producers (Vignai da Duline, Conte Leopardi, Brezza, and Duemani). That year I remember my number 1 wine was Duline Morus Alba and my second was 99 Brezza Cannubi.  Laura had chosen 01 Brezza Sarmassa Barolo as her favorite.

It became an annual holiday review and a fun way to look back at the year. Last year, with a larger A.I. family, we included all the sales people and we all compared lists.  This year instead of simply comparing the lists we aggregated the results and weighted their position to create a company top 15– with nearly 40 producers and over 200 wines the list had to be expanded from just 10 wines.  Everyone had wines that made their top 10 but didn’t make the group top 10 (I love that Rose Lambrusco so much!)

Thanks to all for such a grand 2011.

1. Doyard Oeil De Pedrix, Rose Champagne, Vertus 2005

2. Gianni Brunelli Brunello Riserva, 2004

3. Vignai da Duline, Morus Alba, 2009

4. San Giovanni Chiaretto, 2010

5. Monteraponi Chianti Riserva, Baron Ugo, 2006

6. A Tribute to Grace Grenache, 2009

7. Brezza Cannubi, 2005

8. Piero Busso, Barbaresco Borgese, 2006

9. Van Volxem Volz, 2010

10. Grimaldi Nebbiolo, 2008

11. Massican Annia, 2010

12. Vignai da Duline Schioppettino,2009

13. Knipser Clarette Rose, 2010

14. Le Altanza Rioja Gran Riserva, 2001

15. Duemani Duemani, 2007




Chanterelles and Chardonnay (and a little Arneis)

 

 

 

I’ve never called myself much of a cook– in fact, neither has anyone else. So why would I blog about something I cooked ? Well, for starters, there is a wine component here which I will get to shortly.

 

It is true that I don’t attempt to cook without instructions. That means reading the recipe, no matter how complicated/simple, at least a half-dozen times before I start and a dozen more times during the process.  I really love when it actually turns out well. I figure there must be people out there that might attempt a recipe if they knew it was so simple that even I didn’t screw it up. So, you might like this. If you like Chanterelles, then all the better.

Here goes:

Wine with food: White Burgundy for me. ’94 Patrick Javilier Meursault Les Narvaux”. Not something we import.  Turns out, I drink a lot of wines we don’t import. The wine is funky.  The funk didn’t blow away either. However, the fruit did become more pronounced when put into a decanter. Lots of copper, oxidized notes and soft/mushy golden apple flavors. Wine I cooked with: Mosca Bianca Arneis (we do import this). I also put some in the food.

The dish: Chanterelles sauteed in butter and white wine, on sourdough toast topped with a poached egg. (growing up this would have been a very fancy version of something we called “sh*t on a shingle”.) Yeehaw Oklahoma!

In true Iron Chef form, the idea was to put the not-so-secret ingredient first.  I pulled recipe ideas from two sources.  The Antonio Carluccio book A Passion for Mushrooms, which was published in 1989 (but looks like it was published in 1959) and this website http://www.theshoreroad.com/2010/08/chanterelles-on-toast-with-poached-egg.html.

Overall pretty simple

  • Some minced Garlic and butter tossed in with the Shrooms over medium heat
  • add white wine- I used about 1/4 cup. Maybe less.
  • more butter. In all I used about a 1/3 of a stick. lower heat to low.
Notes for next time: I wished I would have used both more butter and white wine to end up with more sauce.  Additionally, after the mushrooms are cooked I might remove from pan and throw under broiler for 2-3 minutes.  And then finish sauce with additional butter on it’s own.
Cut up some parsley. Poach some eggs.  4 eggs did the trick. Toast two slices of sour dough.
As for wine I love white burgundy with mushrooms. Champagne, Pinot Noir and Barolo/Barbaresco are close seconds depending on the shroom, but for me chardonnay is the safest and best bet.

Anyone else have good simple chanterelle recipes ?













December 10th Tastings

Start your weekend off right by joining us at one of our tastings on Saturday, December 10th!

 

In Westchester, Tim will be pouring Dettori Bianco, Tonnores & Ottomarzo at Tarry Wine from 1-4pm.
175 North Main Street
Port Chester, NY 10573

 

In Manhattan, Birk will be pouring Doyard Champagne and Althe’a Prosecco at Union Square Wine’s Sparkling Wine Tasting from 2-5pm.

USQ’s Sparkling Mega Tasting

140 4th Ave
(between 13th St & 14th St)









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