The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

On the heels of a great Champagne tasting this weekend at Santana Row's Vintage Wine Merchants , I was itching for more sparkles. Kudos to Vintage for putting together an excellent line-up of Champagnes for a meager $40 ($25 for members) - they certainly packed the shop, and the punters were not disappointed. This was the first time I had the 1999 Dom Perignon, and it was probably my fave Dom P, showing the classical well-developed nuttiness. Compared to it, the just released 2002 was too young and simple at this stage. Other notables were the always reliable and incredibly inexpensive Hiedsieck & Co "Blue Top" ($25-30), the elegant Delamotte ($35, Salon's little sibling), and the well-regarded higher-end Champagnes by Pol Roger (Reserve), Egly-Ouriet (Brut Tradition Grand Cru), and Gosset (Brut Grand Reserve). That was Sunday. On Monday, my faith in Champagne re-affirmed, it was now Italy's turn to impress. I am a big fan of Franciacorta . Italy's answer...

When you are in the mood for awesome hole-in-the-wall seafood, there is but one place near Palo Alto. In the middle of industrial looking area, hidden away in yet another nameless shopping mini-mall in Redwood City on Veteran's blvd next door to Supercuts, is Old Port Lobster Shack . Open "7 days a week from 11:00am until they stop makin' money" (says the sign), the line seems to be always out the door. But not to worry, you could get a haircut (at Supercuts) while waiting! The place is famous for Maine lobster rolls, oyster po' boy rolls, clam chowder, lobster bisque, and the decadent lobster mac-n-cheese. There are many other seafood and non-seafood goodies that look very appetizing, but I never seem to get to them! Decadent lobster bisque and lobster mac-n-cheese. The food and atmosphere very much remind me of Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay that I wrote about here , except that Sam's is located in a beautiful spot with a view on the ocean, and ...

I started hearing about Mount Etna over the last couple of years as it grew in popularity in the "in" circles. The region has been going through a renaissance in the last 10 years, finally starting to show up on the radar of boutique wine shops and serious Italian restaurants. The fascinating and impressive aspect of red wines from Etna is their textural, structural, and color likeness to red Burgundy (Pinot Noir grape) and particularly to Barolo (Nebbiolo grape) - the two greatest wines in the world. One expects rustic, thick wines to come out of Sicily, the widely known consumer-marketed examples made from Nero D'Avola and Syrah. Yet, grown on elevations thousands of feet above sea level on centuries-old lava soils around the Mount Etna volcano (the largest active volcano in Europe), the native grape called Nerello Mascalese achieves dizzying heights. Last week, I sat with Enrico N. - director of Italian wines at one of the largest wine distributors in California - Wi...

What inspires me? This!... A dinner with friends, a glass of white Burgundy paired with Crab Gratin, made from scratch from a live crab purchased straight off the boat in Half Moon Bay during crab season. Not grand cru Burgundy - that would be too rich for a crab, but a 1er cru or a regular village Burgundy from a great producer like Domaine Dujac or Domaine Leflaive - this pairing is bliss, which I pass on to you. In the upper reaches of Burgundy elite, few can touch Dujac . While better known for his Bonnes Mares - a red Burgundy grand cru, the owner/winemaker's Jacques Seysses makes classical, pure, crystalline white wine from the village of Morey-Saint-Denis for which a crustacean is an ideal culinary complement. Note from the dinner host, and his marvelous recipe: The dish that I served last year at the dinner was a variation of a recipe by Mark Franz of Farallon. His recipe (Crab Imperial Gratin) uses Crème Fraîche, mine does not. Primary Ingredients: red potatoes, peeled a...

I don't know if it was a California scene or a Campania scene, but we were luncho-dining on a deck overlooking the ocean, freshest, juiciest, succulent seafood in our plates, washed down by a glass of Campania's native Falanghina white wine, 70 degrees on a brilliant pre-summer day, not one but two weddings unfolding on the beach underneath, kids running around, couples cozying up, and a country band playing live on the side patio, provoking me to make ridiculous moves. Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay is where it's at! And if you want to chill like the Californitalianos, come for late lunch and stay for early dinner, and bring your every-day bottle of Falanghina, 'cause that every-day wine of Campania, the coastal region at the front of the boot of Italy, is the ideal complement to wash down fresh seafood, whichever part of the world you happen to be in. They've got to have the best Lobster rolls in the country. Rated " top 5 sandwiches in America ...

I thought I'd never say this... but sometimes, wine just doesn't seem to make sense. Or perhaps my wine courage has found its limit, 'cause I just don't know what wine would stand up to this food. In the middle of mostly Vietnamese area in San Jose is a hole-in-the-wall most awesome seafood joint, called The Boiling Crab . Combining Asian with Cajun sure makes for one hell of a blissful and unbridled foodie experience. Well, apparently this is no secret for the crowds standing in line for hours to get in. Even at 2pm on a Sunday, we had to wait for well over an hour. Oh, but the smell that hits you when you just open the door is so deliciously haunting! Their shrimp/corn/sausage combo delivered in a giant plastic bag packed in a "rajun cajun" hot, tangy, garlicky sauce is shockingly strong and flavorful, awakening the farthest, most dormant zones of your taste buds that you didn't even know existed! Taking part in the zesty symphony are the most succulent...

Last time I posited that a light-bodied high-acidity fruity red wine paired well with seafood. Continuing with the theme on unexpected food-and-wine pairings, this time I evolved this concept by pairing a medium body Italian red wine with seafood pasta in light red sauce. While normally I would think more toward a Sangiovese-based Chianti or Umbrian red , or perhaps a Piedmonte's native Barbera or Dolcetto, this time I went to a lighter bodied wine, made of Nerello Mascalese, an indigenous grape varietal of Sicily with a Burgundian character, less cherry-like though, with a hint of pepper and volcano-ash-like, which worked wonderfully with the heartier, chewier flavors of the red sauce and calamari / shellfish / mollusk mix. Paired with Etna Rosso, Graci 2007 (available at Vineyard Gate ). Officially designated as Etna DOC, the vines are planted between 1800 and 2100 feet above sea level in the hills surrounding Mount Etna in Sicily, the second largest active volcano in Europe.

In the last post , I posed a food-and-wine challenge, to which I will now supply my answer. Food-and-wine pairing challenge. Which of the three wines displayed on this photo was the best match for the Bobby Flay's pan-fried tilapia fillet, topped with lemon-butter and green olive tapenade, with a side of roasted butternut squash with vinaigrette dressing? 1. Vosne-Romanée "Vieilles Vignes", Alex Gambal 2007 ($60.00). 2. Pouilly-Fuisse "Les Ménéstrières", Domaine J.A. Ferret 2005 ($50.00). 3. Pouilly-Fuisse "Les Vernays", Domaine J.A. Ferret 2005 ($27.00). Analysis When I think seafood and butter, naturally I think white Burgundy. Especially 1er cru or grand cru with creamy richness that typically comes from a combination of ripe grapes and oak barrel aging. But also, I look for acidity to cut through and contrast the butter. Here I had two white Burgundies that I knew from tasting the day before were rich. I also knew that the "Les Vernays" ...