The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

Last Sunday, Domaine du Chevsky went on the road. For once, our regular gathering moved out of my place and across the Bay to Rob’s in San Francisco. Different kitchen, same basic idea: a table full of friends, everyone contributing something, a progression of food that gets increasingly ambitious, and enough interesting bottles to make the afternoon stretch very happily into the evening. This one was particularly good. We started extravagantly: four dozen oysters, four different kinds , tasted side by side in a deliberate progression. First were Earthquakes from Tomales Bay , plump and meaty, slightly sweet with a mild briny finish. Then Dukes from the Atlantic Coast , much more saline, with a buttery, briny opening and an almost scallop-like sweetness on the finish. Back to Tomales Bay for the Sweetwaters , distinctly marine and salty up front, followed by clean sweetness and a subtly smoky, mineral finish. Finally, Highwaters from Humboldt Bay , lighter in brine, with seaweed-l...

Iron Chevsky and Erwan Faiveley (right),  with his outstanding 2013 Corton-Charlemagne. At the 2015 Frederick Wildman Burgundy portfolio tasting in San Francisco, I got a chance to sample some very good wines from the upcoming 2013 vintage. Some (like Olivier Leflaive) are currently being bottled while others are a few months away. But the vintage characteristics already shine through. And I very much liked what I saw, at least from the top producers at this tasting. I generally preferred the reds here to the 2012's. While the 2012 is hyped by many as a great vintage, I personally don't think so. The 2012 reds are fluffy, juicy and plush - but they seem to lack structure. The 2013's on the other hand have it - they are more serious and angular, with nice ripe dark fruits reminiscent of black tea, with tart acidity and fine tannins. The acidity seems to stick out just a bit on some of the reds at this early stage, but I think it will integrate nicely in the coming mon...

Mission : find a wine pairing for a creamy mushroom beef stroganoff. I cook a particular type of beef stroganoff - "triple mushroom medley" - as I call it. It's a combination of shitake, button and oyster mushrooms, browned and then sauteed in sour cream broth with shallots and thin strips of short rib meat until the meat is tender, and all the flavors fuse into a deliciously creamy mushroom beef stroganoff. I enhance the flavor of mushrooms with a pinch of nutmeg, savory, and parsley. Served on top of linguine pasta. The perfect side for this kind of Russian dish is pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, to balance out the creaminess of the main dish. Analysis : I needed a wine that was earthy (to match the mushrooms) with some age (for slightly oxidized, pickled effect), soft, with medium body so as to not overwhelm the mild and creamy texture of the ingredients. It took a little bit of thinking... I happened to have a prized bottle of 1996 Lavaux St. Jacques (1st Cru) fr...