2003 Pontet-Canet

My sister-in-law brought home a bottle of Pontet-Canet 2003 yesterday. She asked if it was a good bottle. Yes, I responded. Pontet-Canet is a good producer. And that's what I thought. Classified growth Left Bank Bordeaux. Probably Michel Rollanded and over-made, I anticipated. Forgettable and over-priced, I assumed.

No.

There was a glass left, so I decided to have a glass with lunch as I'm working from home today. And what I found has re-opened my eyes to Classified Growth Bordeaux. Parker writes this is a definition of cassis. I completely disagree. Scorched earth and dark chocolate- yes. But more important, the wine delivers depth and power without a huge overly made alcoholic mouthfull. In short- it's balanced. There's structure here and even acidity which I can't believe for this vintage!?

Is it over priced? Yes. Even now, I'm seeing sticker prices at around $70bt. I think it drinks that and I think that's a fair price to pay for this quality. But, I would wait as ties they days demand patience. There are 2004s on the shelf, and the glorious 2005s (greatest ever vintage) are languishing.

So, be patient and when this wine dips below $40bt...buy it all.

The Lesson of Sous Vide

There's my boy doing his rendition of tuna, sous vide, complete with plastic orange letter "w" in the preparation.

I thought it was so cool that he started playing around with this thin slice of tuna and then he noticed that if he submerged it into hot water it changed color- it was cooking.

Sous vide is some what controversial, but any great chef I've talked to has said it's THE way to perfectly cook food. It concentrates better. It cooks perfectly uniformly. It allows for so much more control in the professional kitchen. Will it eventually make its way to the household kitchen? Well, it would guarantee that your chicken is properly cooked- your whole chicken.

But, I (and many of my chef friends as well) wonder if sous vide takes away some of the soul of cooking. It brings into play the 'perfection' question and whether being slightly imperfect is actually a better thing.

I guess it's summed up like this: is it better to be consistent or to have character?

Funny, that the business mind of me says consistency, but the humanity of me wants character- in food, wine, and at the table.