Last week I had the great pleasure to attend a very nicely done trade/media event put on by Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction at Rosewood Bar to try their spirit called RHUBY soon to be called  ”Rhubarb Tea”. Shout out to Laura Price for making it fabulous! 

I really enjoyed the bar area and the staff were fantastic at Rosewood.

Above is the lineup of the cocktails they had prepared for us to try with the Rhuby (Rhubarb Tea) spirit made from all organic  Rhubarb, Beets, Carrots, Lemon, Petitgrain, Cardamom, Pink peppercorn, Coriander, Vanilla and Pure cane sugar. It is 80 proof but light, smooth, refreshing with a bit of a citrus note and spice . My favorite of these were the Rhubarb Cup and the Rhuby Aperitivo. Just delicious. BUT they are geniuses at Art in the Age and had a MAKE YOUR OWN bar! 

So you KNOW I had to play around and make my own.

Here’s what I came up with:

I call it “R to the 4th” or “R⁴”

3 oz Rhuby (Rhubarb Tea) spirits

2 shakes Peychaud’s Bitters

Very lightly muddled yellow raspberries

A teensy bit of fresh rosemary torn in teensy pieces

Juice from half a large or 1 small lime

Shake, pour into jar (I didn’t strain mine.)

Top off with seltzer or soda water (I wanted champagne, but well, they didn’t have it on this bar.)

I’d also like to try a variation with gin and champagne and 1.5 oz of Rhuby

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Cheers!

– Raelinn

For those of you who don’t know, I started the Wine Ophelia blog back in 2009 just to have a little fun with wine and writing. When I came back from Italy last year and began • r Consulting, I decided to move all of my writing here to raelinn.com. After some more consideration, I felt that I want to retain the Wine Ophelia posts when I do my wine writing. So whenever you see Wine Ophelia here on raelinn.com, you know you are on a wine article. Easy! So.. here we go!

A couple of weeks ago I did a tasting of Wente Vineyards Chardonnay via Tastelive. I thought I’d share my notes with you… Enjoy!

I started off with Wente 2011 Eric’s Chardonnay. 100% stainless, cold fermented, picked at 22 brix.. no oak!! HURRAH!! Lovely pear and floral nose, subtle lemon on palate, lively acid. Me like!

Moved along to Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay 2010. 50/50 stainless/neutral oak. Elegant nose, reminds of Bourgogne. Apricot, subtle vanilla. 50% malo (in barrel) gives a smooth, round mouthfeel but balanced acidity. Really pleasant not too much oak. (Morning Fog Chard)

Now on to Wente Riva Ranch – Arroyo Seco (Monterey) Chardonnay 90% barrel fermented 10% stainless some new oak here…lush tropical nose, round mouthfeel, softer acids, for having new oak, it is very balanced w tropical fruit. More tropical than I prefer but good for this style.

Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay: remains on lees for 9 months in barrel. nice richness. battonage. Great structure here. all pears mid palate. This is not a style I prefer for myself, but very well done for what it is. Kudos for nailing it!

Wente Nth degree Chardonnay Ambient yeast fermentation, no inoculation, barrel fermented 50-60% new oak, sur lee w battonage 1 x/week. Very elegant wine. Spice nose, but subtle. For sure old world style. Great acid, fabulous apricot, tropical notes on the bouquet. On the palate great mouthfeel from life on lees. Again, lush but nicely balanced with round mouthfeel (malo), and a long spicy finish. I genuinely enjoyed it even though the style is still not one I normally prefer. VERY well done.

Of all the Wente wines today, my personal preference is, of course, the Eric’s Chardonnay 2011 unoaked. But the Nth degree was truly a lovely wine as well.

Cheers!

• r

aka Wine Ophelia

Cheers!

~ Raelinn

Cheers!

Raelinn

Last week I had the GREAT privilege to finally meet one of  my favorite winemakers in the world, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard. He visited New York City and graced us with a “Producer Night” at the ridiculously good Anfora Wine Bar (A personal NYC favorite) in the West Village where Joe Campanale is one of the owners and helms the beverage program. We tasted through several of his wines as he described the vintage, the weather, the vinification process, etc. all sitting rapt with the conveyance of this intimate knowledge.

Randall was telling us about his 2009 Contra. It’s delicious. My tasting notes include the following: raspberries, earth, meat, the kind of herbaceous, subtly leather finish I adore. But I digress. Somewhere in his description of the wine, the words (Insert pregnant pause here.) “OAK CHIPS” (Insert record screech here.) passed his lips  and I sat there dumbfounded. How on earth could this guy—this wizard of biodynamics—use OAK CHIPS?! “Heresy!” my mind cried.  ”Off with his head!” Somehow I managed to keep a completely cool exterior as I continued the tasting.

Five minutes later I more or less forgot about the whole thing and went on to enjoy a fabulous dinner and conversation without so much as a single photo or note taken. I was quite proud of myself for that. But I digress again.

A little time passed and the oak chips floated back into my mind and I just couldn’t let it go. I had to ask. So I emailed Mr. Grahm. Below is the entire email thread for your reading pleasure.

[Dear Randall]

You mentioned that one of your wines had oak chips used in part of the process. Would you be willing to elaborate on that? I’ve personally been opposed to oak chips and am very curious to hear your take on it.

[Raelinn]

And here’s the really fantastic part:

Dear Raelinn,

We have been in the habit of using oak chips in our fermenters for red wines for the following reason: The tannins from the oak chips bond with the grape’s anthocyanins and thus keep the anthocyanins from oxidizing and falling out of the wine.  This  helps to support the wine’s structure as well as to stabilize the color.  There is a modest sensory pick up of oak character at this stage, but these flavors are extremely labile and essentially disappear by the time the wine is pressed off.  It’s a bit of a emotional reaction, I would suggest, to summarily reject the use of oak chips in wine, but support the use of relatively new oak barrels.   Myself, I don’t like to use oak chips in wine after fermentation, because at that point, the character of the oak does tend to integrate less well into the wine, rather like seasoning a dish at the very last moment before serving, rather than allowing the flavors to gradually incorporate.  Myself, I think that the flavor of oak in wine must be very subtle indeed lest it dominate and occlude the other more interesting aspects.  I think that for me, one has to be open-minded, and take something like a Tantric view of things – everything that exists can be used as a sacrament of some sort if handled with the right sort of consciousness. Hope this is helpful.

Dear Randall,

I think that for me, one has to be open-minded, and take something like a Tantric view of things – everything that exists can be used as a sacrament of some sort if handled with the right sort of consciousness. – Randall Grahm

Farm fresh egg yolks, flour and potatoes. This will become what I have come to call gnocchi… “little pillows from heaven”.  Photo taken at La Giro di Vite in Monchiero, Italy in Piemonte.

As some of you may already know, I entered and won a contest at Rouge Tomate Restaurant in NYC for Valentine’s Day Dinner for 2. They asked people to recount a funny Valentine story. I couldn’t decide, so I entered two:

I have a somewhat funny and a very sweet one. Funny first: I was invited to a very nice Valentine’s dinner at a lovely restaurant with live jazz. I had a delicious martini before dinner, the food was incredible. Champagne. All a woman could ask for. Somehow the conversation took a terrible turn and my companion LEFT ME AT THE TABLE ALONE! I was actually glad he left! Now I could finish my delicious dessert and champagne in total peace! Happy Valentine’s Day to ME!

Now for a sweet story: It was an unusually warm February even in the South. Nearly 70 degrees! I popped into a local deli to grab a sandwich to eat in the park and enjoy the weather. On the way out the door I ran into a guy I had met one or two times. Cute. Nice. He had a sandwich as well. I can’t remember who suggested but we ate our sandwiches together in the park in the sun. GREAT conversation! On the way out, I was driving my car just in front of him. We came to a stop sign and I jumped out of my car and ran over and handed him a Power Puff Girls Valentine with Mojo Jojo on it yelling, “YOU WILL BE MY VALENTINE!” And I gave him my phone number. We dated for 2 years after that. Happy Valentine’s Day! Cheers!

Rouge Tomate very graciously chose me as their winner based on my little tales of love and loss. I am ever so grateful. In my gratitude I held my own contest VERY QUICKLY on Twitter and Facebook. I begged not to dine alone and asked my friends to write me a haiku from which I would choose a lucky soul to dine with me at Rouge Tomate. I chose the haiku from my new friend Joe who wrote:

Sweeping the ashes
Remnants of fire and drink
Scattered room to room

This came on the heels of a dinner with friends and Scotch-a-thon held the night before. I felt behoved to return the kind hospitality.

Now… on to the really good part DINNER! If you didn’t see it above, check out the menu HERE.  Joe is a great gourmand like myself so we couldn’t resist to get different menu items and share it ALL!

They started us off with a lovely rosé champagne: Laherte Frères Brut and a truly MINDBLOWING set of amuse-bouches.

Amuse-bouches

The order went from right to left as seen in the photo above. First came the oyster with mignonette—sweet, savory, salty, tart, creamy explosion of flavor. In the center (and this is stuff is INSANE!) is celery root panna cotta with caviar. I’m still swooning from it. The textures and flavors produced an eyes rolling back in my head “When Harry Met Sally” moment (if you  know what I mean). We asked if we could just have a vat of that and forget the dinner! Last but not least was lobster with a soft cooked quail egg and uni. Yeah. You heard me. LOSING IT! I mean, if the amuse is this good, what is dinner going to be like?!

Celery Root Panna Cotta with Caviar

For our first courses we chose:

Sea Scallop Crudo / Green Apple / Kohlrabi / Lime / Mustard / Mint – The combination of flavor and texture here was just outstanding. The scallops literally melted in our mouths. This, combined with the crunch/citrus/spice/cool left us shaking our heads in the best possible way. Wine pairing: Riesling Burklin Wolf 2008 Wachenheimer Pfalz

Sea Scallop Crudo

and

Guinea Hen Black Truffle Terrine / Celery Root Rémoulade / Sweet Onion Marmalade / House-made Pickles – This might possibly be the best terrine I’ve ever eaten. And I’ve eaten a LOT of terrine. I love that stuff. The guinea hen within was perfect – moist, tender, savory. The terrine itself had flawless texture, flavor. The thin, crunchy toasts were the ideal delivery vehicle for the terrine and its accompanying marmalade and mustard. Wine pairing – Tibouren Clos Cibonne 2009 Cuvée des Vignettes – Provence AND Verdelho – Rare Wine Co. – Savannah – Portugal

our second courses were:

Hudson Valley Duck a la Plancha

Hudson Valley Duck a la Plancha / Endive / Grapefruit / Rutabaga / Apple / Ginger-Foie Gras Jus – You can clearly see that the duck was cooked just right. It melted in my mouth and was on its own a delight, but combined with its surrounding elements became a sublime joy to taste. The subtle complexity of the foods here really astounds me and never ceases to please. Wine pairing – Tempranillo/grenache – Rioja Alta 2001 Viña Ardanza – Spain

and

Herb Crusted Atlantic Hake / Caramelized Onion / Baby Turnip / Yogurt Gribiche / Red Cabbage-Riesling Vinaigrette – This was such a pleasure to eat! The crisp of the breading, the buttery, melt in your mouth consistency of the fish, and the balance of flavors and texture added by the toppings/sides produced a childlike joy to partake of chef’s take on a childhood favorite…FISH STICKS! Wine pairing: Chardonnay Domaine de l’Arlot 2002 Nuits-St. Georges – Clos de l’Arlot Borgogne

Hake

and for dessert:

Ile Flottante / Blood Orange / Meyer Lemon / Kumquat / Grains of Paradise – This was so good I scarfed it down without snapping a pic! My favorite quality about this dessert was that it had a faint flavor of roses. The 2 meringues were divine one fluffy and one crisp with a dizzying (in the best possible way) complexity of creaminess, citrus, and floral euphoria.

and

Bittersweet Chocolate Sphere / Banana / Frangipane / Street Cart Almonds – We REALLY wanted a photo of this gorgeous, shimmering orb of chocolate, but they were a little too quick for our wits and poured the warm chocolate over it and melted it before our very eyes into a puddle of rich, dark chocolate, banana bliss. Did I mention rich?

Dessert wine pairing – a personal all-time favorite (nectar of the gods) – Gamay/Ploussard – Raphaël Bartucci – 2010 Bugey Cerdon

It is very important to note that I place a HUGE weight on coffee service at any restaurant. Coffee is very often the last thing I have and it should be the finishing grace of the meal and not the thing that makes me twist my face into a knot of disgust. Rouge Tomate nailed it with perfect coffee service. Kudos for seeing to every last single detail to make the meal as near to perfect as anyone can ask. MANY THANKS! And you can rest assured I will be back.

It may be notable that I did not talk much about the wines. I am saving this for a separate piece! Pascaline outdid herself with the pairings and deserves to be in the limelight! So stay tuned for the wine “episode”.

Cheers!

Raelinn

I just learned that I no longer have to sit at home on Valentine’s Day eating popcorn and watching “Intolerable Cruelty” (seemed a fitting title) on Netflix! Because… GUESS WHY!!

I WON DINNER FOR 2 AT THE AMAZING ROUGE TOMATE IN NYC! 

But I still have a problem. I don’t have a Valentine! Will YOU be my Valentine? In a fit of spontaneity and paying it forward, I’m offering some lucky soul the um…heh (cough)  ”opportunity” to be my “date” for Valentine’s Day dinner at Rouge Tomate. I mean what could be better, right?! (Insert cheesy grin here.) MY fabulous company AND an AMAZING >>FREE<< dinner! Reservation is for 7:30pm.

Check out the incredible menu. Now you REALLY want to go, huh?

So, what does a guy or gal have to do to be my “date” for Valentine’s Day?

WRITE ME A HAIKU

Something like this:

Roses can be red.

Violets can be bluish.

Dinner, Rouge Tomate.

I’m a sucker for a poet and pretty words. It’s how I ended up with no Valentine in the first place. LOOONNNNG story. Maybe I’ll tell you over dinner. Ok, on second thought, maybe not. Anyway… Leave your haiku here! I will choose my favorite. We will have a lovely dinner at Rouge Tomate. Simple. Please note that I prefer sticking to the form of 5-7-5.

The deadline is midnight TONIGHT! 

Please don’t make me eat alone!

• raelinn •