Fortune Teller?

Lehman Bros crashes and burns.

Merrill gets swooped up for a paultry $50Bil.

And Amazon.com enters the wine retail biz.

There's a lot happening in the world right now. I don't necessarily think the sky is falling. I think things are shaking out; things are settling- righting themselves, if you will. And here's what I foresee in the wine business...

Very much like the hardware store business, the future of the wine shop will be divided into 2 categories- the super store, and the small custom boutique. Retail shops will either evolve into one or the other, or will get bought out, or will eventually get culled out of the market.

The super shops- the Costcos, Total Wines, Amazon.coms of the world will treat wine like a product, a commodity, in which it will purely be about price and what they will advertise as an infinite amount of availability. This will serve a purpose. For those looking for the major national brands- the Gallos, the Kendall-Jacksons, the Rodney-Strongs. This will now be your best option at the lowest price. And for imports, this business will include Ruffino, Yellow Tail, Jadot, DuBeouf, Lafite, and by the way...all the classified growths of Bordeaux..plus all the major Champagne houses. All gone to the lowest bidder online at these super stores.

Let me be upfront. As much as these brands, these wines, are important in the business of buying and selling wines..I'm not interested in them. Been there, done that. Not fun.

The rest of the wine made in the world- the little projects that are (hopefully) slaved over by artisans and wine companies that truly care about their product will find homes in these large shops as well. Some anyway. And those that do- will (for the most part) get lost in these shops and sit on shelves. (By the way, this will represent a hugely strategic buying opportunity for consumers that know their stuff and can find really good wines at great closeout prices because the super stores don't have the marketing to push these wines through). But, getting back to task, the rest of all of these little wine projects will be sold by equally truly passionate people in small family run shops. Just like it's always been done. And here- I foresee the need for these shops to specialize in an area of wine in order to stand out and define themselves as destination wine shops. For example, a shop that sells all, but specializes in the small production wines of Northern California, or Barolo, or Burgundy, or Tuscany. You get my point.

All in all, the two will co-exist with one simply not ever able to do the other's job and its own. The definer will be service and marketing. And that will be the future of the business of wine.

Maybe, I'll be proven wrong. But, this is what I forsee...

In search of bluefish

When you look at the grandeur and the beauty that is the classic French bistro, and you look behind the curtain, you discover the the majesty is all in making something magnificent out of nothing. The French bistro is created out of the use of the egg and the pig because they are the cheapest.

Last night my family had a bluefish cook off. One was cooked en papillote with garden grown peppers. The other dish was baked bluefish with herbs and rosemary potatoes. The fish was caught that day, and it was magnificent. A family member leaned over and said, "You never see this stuff out here." She was right, and it's sad. And so I propose that the restaurants of Long Island start putting bluefish on the menus. Grill it with rosemary. Roast it with sage and tomatoes. Serve it en papillote with heirloom peppers. Take a magnificent raw material and make it grand.

It is cheap. It is indigenous. It is fresh. And is defining of the food that should come from this place.

Just a thought...

Upstate Report Card

I just returned from a week of vacation in upstate New York. Absolutely beautiful place- specifically Lake George which if you're a fan of Caribbean quality swimming water- then you should head there.

I want to highlight two really wonderful establishments if you happen to make you're way up to Northern New York. First is Davidson's Brew Pub in Glens Falls (a small city at the base of the Adirondacks). At first you may walk up and not think much of this local pub. A burger joint that makes a couple of beers. But, trust me- order the sampler. I never got the front of the house guy's name but he made it very clear that these people are deeply passionate about beer. Their smoked Porter was simply twisted. I know, I know...but I just get all giddy when I see passionate craftsmanship like this.

The second place is the Mirror Lake Inn off Mirror Lake in Lake Placid. Solid wine program, but top notch food all around. Moreover they just care. The whole 'estate' was well done, and more importantly it left a lasting impression because although they were an upper tier hotel/spa/restaurant, their price ($275 night+breakfast) was a super value in comparison to the quality and the quality/price against the peer establishments at this level ($500+ night).

Here's where I want to give a big 'thank you' to the folks at home on the South Fork of Long Island, and I also want to question the North Country folks up in upstate NY. Making great food is all about caring. Taking the time to do the little things. Taking the time to make your own stocks and pastas, to source local produce and food goods, and think seasonally regarding your menus. And serving great wine takes zero work at all. It's simply picking the right suppliers, doing a little reading, and trusting those suppliers to send you really great juice. Overall, the North Country gets a 'B' for food, and gets a 'C to C-' for vino.

Hey maybe I went to wrong restaurants, maybe I went to the wrong shops, but pound for pound when you go out to eat (or walk into a shop inthe South Fork) you just eat and drink better. So, thank you- South Fork. And North Country NY, some wine distributors that will instantaneously make your wine programs better:

Rosenthal
Polaner (note: my own company)
Skurnik
Vias
Chadderdon
Pas Mal
Winebow (Kermit Lynch)

Patience please

Be patient with wine. I found myself with three bottles of Pinot Noir last weekend: Hansel Pinot Noir South Slope 2005, Copain Pinot Noir Hacienda Seccoya 2006, and a Varner Pinot Noir Hidden Block 2005. These wines couldn't have been more different. The Hansel was INITIALLY picture perfect Russian River Pinot Noir- just a bursting supple red cherry fruit. It turned heads. The Copain was the dark horse- earthy, almost wild and rustic in it's portrayal of the grape, and the Varner INITIALLY was very light in color, very aromatic and fresh, almost liquid like tannins, etc... Initially I think one would think the Hansel was the best of the three, with Copain, and then the Varner coming out the end. But be patient.

The Hansel didn't get worse over three days, but it faded as it was ought to do. The Copain opened and gained even more power, more tannin, and more dark depth. And the Varner exploded. It was the wine I truly enjoyed drinking, and I made a mental note for myself to start cellaring Varner.

My point is that great wine takes time- not just cellaring time- but time on the table, time going back to it during the week. I can't tell you how many wines I've pulled and been, frankly, unimpressed on day one only to see them magically explode with fantastic quality on day 2, 3, or even 4. Usually (and I say usually), this is the case with the old school wines. It is almost always the case with young Burgundy. I recently bought a couple bottles of a new producer I'm eagerly tracking- Pierre Boisson. His Bourgogne Rouge is awesome, and I have to imagine it is basically coming from his vines in Pommard (the resemblance is too there), and anyway I brought this out to a beach cookout for my wife, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law. The wine was popped and I immediately tasted that the fruit that I knew was there, but hidden deep in the wine. Still, I enjoyed the fresh quality of it. The acid. The tart cherry fruit. I was on the beach, and the wine for me at this moment acted more like a white wine in this profile.

My wife and sister-in-law flat out didn't get it. They tasted only tartness and acid. I knew exactly why. A month before my wife had raved about the same wine- after it had been open for an entire day. Burgundy (and Pinot Noir for that matter) that are made in a traditional (non-spoofulated style) need love. They need air and oxidation when they are young (over time, with cellaring, they receive this and it's actually a no-no to decant older Burgundy lest the wine breaks due to too much air). I see this as the major failing of Burgundy and it's marketers- not truly educating consumers in aeration- and also in not serving the wines at proper temperature (as Burgundy needs a chill).

But, it all goes back to my point- be patient at the table. The flashy wine that's initially poured almost always fades. And almost always, it is the tart, acidic monster that's poured initially that swans and flowers into the wine everyone is raving about by the end of the meal (or sometimes by the end of the week).

The 50 States of COTT

Yes, I know...my apologies. It's been too long. Frankly, up until this evening nothing has really struck me. My meals have been simple grilled meats and fresh vegetables drizzled with olive oil. The wines have been left over samples- good wines, excellent wines, but I haven't had an ear shattering COTT moment, so I figured I'd wait and right when I had something to say. And now I do...

One of the great legacies my wife's grandfather left was a PBS series (and cookbook) entitled Pierre Franey Cooks with his Friends. It's an excellent work. It combines Thomas Keller like photography and philosophy with Marcella Hazan-like down home cooking. And there's the larger themes- the exploration of French individual appelation cultures which always grabbed me. It's personal. And I personally like when authors open up and share their lives with me; it brings me in that much more.

I know many chefs visit this blog here and there, so for those of you who appear on TV, or plan on appearing on TV- I'd love to see a similar series but with American restaurants and American chefs. That's 50 potential episodes. Imagine the unique content! Surely someone's doing something interesting in South Dakota.

Restaurants I'd love to see (that is if you do decide to shoot it):

French Laundry
Montagna
Per Se
Balthazar
Pluckmann Inn
Alan Wong
Alenia
Charlie Trotter's
Le Bec Fin
The Corn Exchange (in South Dakota)
Alain Ducasse
Daniel
Cru
Del Posto
The Modern
Ko
Le Bernardin
etc...
etc..
...and of course a nice stable of my own restaurant clients out here on Long Island...

It's time. America has the culture, the personalities, the truly regional foods- there's countless stories to be told. We need a program to truly bring American food to the masses in an honest way comme Pierre.

HAN(d) me the "SOLO"

Medici Ermete Le Tenute "Solo" Reggiano 2007....$15-$18bt

Google it and buy a bottle. Chill it until it is cold, and drink with pizza. It is a dark red wine from the appelation of Reggiano (Parma-Reggiano cheese, etc...). It is frizzante- meaning it is slightly sparkling, and it has a small amount of residual sugar in it.

My wife hated it. "Agh, this tastes like grape soda!"

I love it. It is totally distinctive and unique. It really does kinda taste like grape soda- wine soda, maybe? But the slightly sweet dark fruit with the sparkling body marries fantastically with salt- salt you find in pizza dough, and salt you find in pamesan-reggiano cheese....wink, wink...

Old rule...if they grow (or are made) together, eat them together....Applies here.

60 degrees please

As many of you may or may not know, I'm all about traditional Beaujolais. Think Kermit's orginal "Gang of Four": LaPierre, Thevaunet, Foillard, and Breton. Now add to that Descombes, Desvignes, Michaud, Roilette, Tete, Trenel, and Brun. There are others, but these are my type of wines. They are wines- not cocktails- and they drink like beautiful earthy floral reds, not jammy banana juice. Enjoyment in them for me also brings up a good point. Temperature.

Wine, for the most part, is served entirely too warm. In just about every cave I've ever been in (and this includes the caves in Napa in July!) it is just about freezing. You are cold. You're lips chatter. You hug yourself while you taste and take notes. Wine likes this environment and wine tastes better in this environment as well.

If you read old Kermit offerings you will often see him refer to dinners at the Peyraud's in the Summer. Imagine that- Southern Provence in July. That's hot. And he would wax poetic about taking a couple bottles of the just finished Tempier vintage and "plunging" them into a bucket of ice. I often think about that. Tempier is the pinnacle of Mourvedre- one of the most hearty, masculine grapes found anywhere in the world and here is a guy making it colder; making it drink even more tannic!

The oddity is that the cold adds a freshness that young masculine reds love. Earthy reds love it as well. And additionally, it is my opinion that the true reason America doesn't understand Burgundy and/or the Loire is that the reds are not drunk at their proper temperature- which is to say 56 degrees (or only 24 degrees above freezing).

So, do this. Go buy a red. Something earthy. Something French. If you want to perfect the test, go buy a very good Cru Beaujolais (not from Dubeouf or Jadot!), open it, and plunge it into a bucket of ice water for 15 minutes. Play with the temperature. There is no right or wrong and remember that each bottle is different- as is always. But, it will bring some of the most new insight into your wine enjoyment; it certainly has for me.