Five Great Ways To Use a Coffee Filter - Most Food/Wine Related!

Five Great Ways To Use a Coffee Filter - Most Food/Wine Related!

This is not a revolution of hope for America, nor a condemnation of the current political scheme, this my friends, is good common sense that just happens to touch on the world of food and wine. I blog and write about many things some plain, others a bit more esoteric, but this knowledge can be passed along and make life a little better, a little easier, and comes with a great price tag… FREE.

Use a Coffee

Filter to Remove Pieces of Cork / Cork Crumbles From Wine

I was down in Florida recently with a large group

of friends out for dinner on Atlantic Avenue in Del Ray Beach at 32 East Restaurant and encountered a wine related problem. I selected a nice value red wine from the list that had a bit of age to it (Rioja 2002) and the waiter proceeded to rip into the cork like it was a $8.99 synthetic… the cork started to crumble right away and those chunks went into the bottle as the other half of the cork was removed. No problem I thought, but the server went ahead and poured me a glass with large chunks and said “Sorry, there is nothing I can do with these older bottles…”

Ok, so I was annoyed, but here comes lesson one, I told the server this wasn’t going to work and kindly asked him to go get me a coffee filter from the kitchen. In these circumstances slowly pouring the red wine from the bottle kept the crumbling cork bits in the filter and out of my wine, a vast improvement to having a “cork mustache” after a few sips. I don’t recommend using this technique alone or on bottles with large amounts of sediment, but if the goal is to remove floating pieces of destroyed cork a simple coffee filter between the bottle and the glass will do the trip nicely!

Use a

Coffee Filter to Clean / Dry Wine Glasses / Crystal

Coffee filters are “lint free” so when you use these for cleaning on crystal, mirrors, windows, wine glasses etc… they pickup what they are supposed to without leaving behind extra fibers or lint. Each year in the fall I am involved with a great wine competition in the Kansas City area coordinated by Doug Frost (MS/MW) called The Jefferson Cup that looks to find the best wines from around the US (grapes of all varietals). As this blind tasting completion moves forward a team behind the scenes has to turn hundreds of racks of glasses to be ready for the next flights, the next day, etc… it just won’t do to have your glasses with lots of water spots on them or streaky and this is where I have seen the coffee filter (also called the glass cleaners best friend) do its magic so that the vessel to judge the next wine is inert with no spots, smears or

fibers… Your glassware need not be a Riedel big bowl if it is sparkling clean and dried correctly with no streaks!

Use a Coffee Filter to Protect Your China

With my wife, mother, and mother-in-law all “china addicts” (the plates / teacup type – not the country), you learn to live with lots of breakable things around you. As Megan and I have started to utilize some of our own fine China for dinner parties and various events I take special care in not doing ANYTHING careless that could lead to a chip, scratch or broken plate. If you have the nice felt inserts that go between the dishes that works very well, but let me say if you are looking for another great use for the Coffee Filter then use them to separate fine China when stacking. Doing this simple setup helps to prevent the possibilities of chipping or scratching as the dishes are stacked up and put away. I also use this trick when it comes time to pack boxes for a move across town or across the country. Compared to the price of the felt versions, coffee filters serve the same purpose for pennies instead of dollars. PS – Thinking about China got me dreaming of dinner at one of my favorite places, Staker’s Reserve on the Plaza in Kansas City drop in to find beautiful China all around the dining room (maybe even a coffee filter) and stop over to Halls Plaza China / Crystal to fill up your cabinet!

Use a

Coffee Filter to Line the bottom of a Potted Plant

With potted plants you need for them to be able to breathe and let out excess water, but the problem is that the soil rolls right out the bottom with it. If you take and include a coffee filter at the bottom of your potted plant before adding the potting soil and plant, you place a nice permeable layer in place that lets the water out, but keeps the soil In. Yes, I did just give advice on potted plants… I don’t have a green thumb, but this one was pretty easy.

Use a Coffee Filter to make GREAT COFFEE!!!

I might get called out by a bean baron on this one as I know that in making specialty coffee barista’s are not really using coffee filters a pot at a time, but if you buy good coffee from someone like my friends over at The Roasterie in Kansas City – you can also put that good coffee into a filter and make a great cup for everyone at the table. My preference is to grind the beans immediately before placing them into the filter and keep everything as “airtight” as possible. Grind away, make a great cup and enjoy; perfect for a Sunday morning to read the paper!

That seems like more than enough useful info about coffee filters for one day! In addition we need to share some Marquee Selections news that we are very excited about…

First, Marquee Selections has just gotten in the new vintage Marquee Classic GSM 2008 and Marquee Classic Riesling 2009 from Keith Brien at Marquee Australian Wines, two wonderful wines that are in stock and available right in time for your Thanksgiving feast!

Second, we keep having continued success as we delve deeper into the wines of Spain and Portugal… just this past month we had the Rio Real Reserva win “best in tasting” for a group of sommelier / buyers down South and it also received a 91 Point Score from Tastings.com, Top 10 wines under $15.00 Retail, Top Rated Portuguese wine! Finally let me pass along kudos and congratulations to our friends at Quintas Das Touquineras and Wines & Winemakers by Saven as the Clemen Reserva Vinho Verde was selected by Wine & Spirits Magazine as a part of their Top 100 Value Wines for 2010 – 92 Points! A very high honor (that last year Marquee Selections was a part of the list with the Caligiore Reserve Malbec), two years in a row to have part of our small/focused, green global portfolio in this list was a very nice honor!

Finally, Marquee is doing updates to our www.marquee.com website and brand imagery + has opened up our own Cellar door – “The Marquee Cellar” at www.themarqueecellar.com for direct sale purchases. If you are ready to put together a mixed case for the holidays – drop by The Marquee Cellar and place your order – Promo Code “MQBLOG” will get you 10% off. Also now available we offer cellar door pickups / deliveries in the Kansas City area… so send great wines to friends or for yourself across the globe/ bring it home, we aim to please.

Have a wonderful start to fall and you will be seeing more things soon from your friends at Marquee Selections including, new regions, additional wines and of course great information like out new WineWOD “Word of the Day” on FB & Twitter! Please share us with friends, there will be prizes along the way for those that help recruit others to the Marquee social media army!

Ciao!

~C.Cribb

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW

Marquee Wines
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Tasty Food & Wine Insights from Aspen 2010!

The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen 2010 has just completed and Marquee Selections was proud to be a participant in this great event for the first time! Marquee hosted our partners, Castello Di Gabiano from Piedmont, Italy for the three day affair and rubbed elbows with some of the culinary elite in the US during the trip. At the conclusion of the grand tasting during the first two days of the show, Marquee was proud to host our own private event at The Little Nell Residences, thank you to all who came by to meet our friends Giacomo and Emmanuela Cattaneo during the weekend events!

While spending the majority of my time behind the Marquee Selections booth pouring Quattro Leoni and Castello Di Gabiano I did get a chance to get out and about during the four day affair and met a ton of wonderful people. A few highlights that were worth mentioning:

The Full range of the Castello Di Gabiano Reserve Wines…

“Wow!”, is what most people first uttered as they came to the Marquee booth and got to try the best of the best in Barbera and the other artisan wines from Castello Di Gabiano, followed quickly by “Is that really Barbera, I did not think that Barbera could be that intense and taste that good!” I had the chance to talk one on one with Giacomo Cattaneo about this exact quandary and I was delighted to hear his straightforward response.

“In our region of Piedmont, we are bound to the DOC and DOCG restrictions to only produce certain grape varietals that are of the authorized selection whereas other neighboring areas in the North of Italy have a bit more flexibility. The estate vineyards at Gabiano cannot plant Nebbiolo to make Barolo and Barbaresco in our vineyards like other regions, Alba for example, and therefore we plant the best parts of our vineyards to Barbera grape. In looking side by side at $20.00 Barbera D’Asti from Quattro Leoni / Castello Di Gabiano and one from the Barbera D’Alba region we show more bright fruit with increased depth of flavor because these wines come from the best part of the Gabiano vineyards whereas the Barbera D’Alba has the best part of the vineyards planted to the more profitable and expensive Barolo and Barberesco productions.” Explained Dr. Cattaneo.

The light bulb went off in my head and I understood exactly where they were coming from in their philosophy! A simple idea that Jack Welch would have been proud of (I still love his business mantra’s – be #1 of #2 in your industry applies here) as Castello Di Gabiano has set out to be the best worldwide producer of Barbera! During this year’s VinItaly 2010, Castello Di Gabiano was given a special recognition - Diploma Di Grand Menzion for the Best Barbera at VinItaly on their Adornes Barbera D’Asti Superiore, cogratuations! !

Starbucks with something I had never tried before…

Yes, this was not a typo, with this being a long event where Marquee had tastings each night I made my way over to the Starbucks booth each morning for a little pick-me-up to help get the day rolling. In the afternoon’s Starbucks served only iced coffee, nice and refreshing each day, but the real winner at the Starbucks booth was the barista serving up espressos’ made with beans from the Galapagos islands! The same Galapagos islands that Charles Darwin made famous so many years ago, Starbucks is not sitting on its laurels as the #1 coffee chain in the US, but has sourced this absolutely stunning set of coffee from just off of Ecuador and will be bringing it as a special promotion to coffee lovers this fall. If you see this on promo, try a cup as the quantities are limited and I was told that even with Starbucks buying ½ of the islands export available, it will only be around for a few weeks each year! Yum!

ASPEN is an Awesome Town…

In the last ten years I have had a chance to travel quite a bit and see large and small towns worldwide. In those travels I have a short list of some of the best places I would recommend anyone make sure to visit at least once In your life (Nice, France – Melbourne, Australia - Miami, USA - St. Thomas/Water Island – USVI’s to name a few) and now Aspen is on my list. The drive up from Denver was absolutely stunning all along the way, bright blue skies with puffy clouds and a crystal clear view in every direction. We took the “Continental Divide Route” via Independence Pass to be able to slip through a town with family ties (Twin Lakes) and slowly wound our way up and down the mountains until the majestic “Aspen Trees” started to appear.

Once we had arrived I found that this tight

mountain town had the best mix of culture, respect for nature, friendly people ( pets), and sophistication that I have already been talking about making the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen into a annual trip! Having foodies and the top wine pros from around the globe in this wonderful & private environment for three days made it even more memorable, but I believe without the Classic going on I would be (almost) as impressed. We had wonderful dinners out and about at Il Mulino, Pacifica Griil, Ellina (so good we actually went here twice) and kept gathering back at The Hotel Jerome while grabbing supplies at Carl’s Pharmacy on Main Street. I met food and wine pros, sommeliers and restaurant owners, foodies, mountain men, and residents of Aspen and many other places during the stay and the underlying thing I found during this trip was that everyone possessed integrity and treated each other with respect. If you get a chance to go to Aspen in the summer I would highly suggest it, maybe you can join me out there for the Food & Wine Classic 2011!

Celebrity Chefs with Good Advice…

I had a chance to chat with several celebrities & up and coming chefs during the trip to Aspen and to taste some new items coming out of their kitchens.

What were some of the trends you ask well… here are five:

The use of organic and sustainable foods/wines wherever possible is truly “en vogue”.

I heard the term “locavore” (one who eats and drinks exclusively or at least primarily from items in their local area) on the tip of tongues’ from the east coast to the west.

• Pair the wines with the sauce, not necessarily the food! A great piece of advice that I have been supporting for years, dig into and pair your wines with the sauce and you are more likely to make both the wine and food better in the process.


• Infuse your creations with bold flavors that are not always center stage. Be it a touch of rosemary when making lamb chops, or fresh basil in a lemon veal sauce, try using different spices to accentuate the positive in traditional fare.


• The world of food & wine can be complex, interesting, a million things, but if you have a PASSION for the culinary world, go for it and make your mark inspired chefs & winemakers produce individual works of art, not mass produced products!

To finish off I must pass along that as Giada De Laurentiis signed “Happy Anniversary” to my wife, she smiled and handed me back her book and asked me “Well, what is she going to be making you for dinner?” I laughed and replied, “I don’t know tonight as we are dining out on the town, but I will ask her to pick out a recipe from your book for a special meal soon!”

Ciao!

~C.Cribb

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW
GM – Marquee Selections
cjcribb@marquee.com

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Five Great Cheese & Wine Pairings!

Recently I was given the opportunity to pair up the wines for two different charity events going on in the same city, at the same time. Both parties handed me lovely menu’s that were catered by great chefs and wanted a theme to their evenings, a lovely challenge that I was happy to rise to the occasion for. A week after both events I had feedback from the attendees at both parties that they loved the food and wine pairings, that the wines were very well received and that they are excited to make plans for doing something similar next year (now if I can just get them to not plan the events on the same evening)!

What were the hardest items to get a handle on, not the themes, the appetizers or the entrees, the hardest part for was for sure pairing up the desserts and the cheeses. We will save desserts for another time and concentrate this month on Cheese!

In preparation for writing this blog I dug out a great gift I got from my wedding, the book “Cheese & Wine” A guide to selection pairing and enjoying by Janet Fletcher. Desserts I feel confident to handle without a lot of extra advice, but with Cheese, there is a real art to finding wines that balance in a harmonious way without being overpowering.

Let’s separate the two and start with a bit about the world of Formaggio and Vino!

PS – I may be a bit biased towards Italian Cheeses at the moment because of my recent trip to Castello Di Gabiano in Italy where I was taken on a multiple day adventure into the culinary world of Italy, but I do not forget going to the local market in Nice, France and picking out some delicious Charcuterie and Cheeses for an afternoon snack! If anyone has trip plans that bring them to Piedmonte, contact me for a tour and treat of seeing our friends making Quattro Leoni!

Two Great “Dry Cheese” and Wine Pairings

Parmigiano – Reggiano – A dry, raw cow’s milk cheese from Italy that belongs on a cheese board. This is not just a grating cheese, nor does the good stuff come in a plastic can or pizza shaker… the good stuff comes in large eighty-five pound wheels (trimmed down of course for one serving) and has been well aged (between 12 and 36 months usually). This lovely cheese gets a bit crystallized over time breaking into chunks. A couple lovely wine pairings for this are: as part of an aperitif with an unoaked sauvignon blanc based white, at the end of a meal with a rich medium bodied to full bodied red wine such as a Nebbilo based red or Zinfandel. From the Marquee portfolio I love the complexity shown with pairing either the 2008 Quattro Leoni – Monferrato Bianco or the 2006 Classy Lake County Zinfandel. We aren’t carrying one yet, but a dry amontillado sherry also makes a fine match!

Manchego – A dry, raw sheep’s milk cheese from Spain. Originating from La Mancha, this cheese does make me think of Sancho Panza ridding across the high plateaus in Central Spain with windmills in the background. At first taste this cheese usually brings up a sea-salt character that moves to a bit nutty. Some versions have very small holes in the cheese and the wheels are small and drum shaped – about four to eight pounds. If you are out and about at a local Spanish Tapas bar you will likely find this treat, a few good pairings I recommend would be a rich, Spanish Albarino or Portugese Alvarinho or at the end of your meal with a big red wine such as a Rioja or Monastrell . Try the 2008 Clemen Reserva Vinho Verde or 2007 Old Hands Organic Monastrell from Bodegas La Purisima in Yecla, Spain and you will not be disappointed!

Two French Classics and an International Favorite

Brie – A raw or pasteurized cow’s milk cheese from France. A lovely cheese that combines an interesting texture with loads of flavor when served correctly. There is not one true Brie but several and they are controlled by the AOC governing board just as stringently as wines are. Brie de Meaux is generally considered the “bee’s knee’s” and in most cases the type exported to the US are pasteurized versions (the finest raw milk Brie’s do not meet the FDA’s import regulations because they are too high in moisture and insufficiently aged to the US standards). Brie is known for it’s rich, supple inside, buttermilk flavor and in many cases a hint of mushrooms. Small and disk shaped, the wheels are generally have a white downy exterior that is aging the cheese from the o utside in. As to wine pairings with this classic, I look to white wines with some body / texture, a rich Chardonnay such as the 2008 Marquee Signature Yarra Valley Chardonnay or a Loire Valley Chenin Blanc are good choices, as well as a more full bodied Pinot Noir (one from Oregon I love is the Penner Ash Pinot Noir) or something with a medium body and lighter tannins like a mellow Syrah or Merlot are a great pair. A new wine for Marquee that also fits this bill is the 2008 Rio Real Reserva from Lisboa, Portugal; Syrah based, but it has a bit of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz included with it for a more complex finish.

Mimolette – A pasteurized cow’s milk cheese from France. I could not write an article about wine & cheese and skip one of my favorites! This cheese is a bright orange /pumpkin in color and makes a striking statement on a cheese board! Shaped like a flattened ball this cheese comes in various sizes from five to nine pounds and is characterized by a thick, rind with small pockmark s. This cheese is semi-hard and with time brings out a bit of caramel or butterscotch that leaves a lovely finish. A great mix with apricots on a tray (note the similar orange coloration), I tend to usually only pair this wine with rich whites like white burgundy, oaked chardonnay’s or something with a nutty character like a light tawny port. My go to for under $15.00 retail is the 2008 Marquee Classic Chardonnay, the tropical flavors are a great compliment.

Blue Cheese – OK so this is a stretch category because Blue cheese is really a general classification of either cow’s or sheep’s or goat’s milk cheeses that have had Penicillioum cultures added to them to become spotted, blue cheeses I thought I would concentrate on particular cheese in this category and some wines that pair well with it. One interesting cheese that I love in this category is the “Roaring 40’s” Blue Cheese from King Island, Australia. If you ever see this cheese for sale and are looking for a treat, go for it. King Island is a small island just North of Tazmania and this is a handcrafted cow’s milk cheese made from that location. Encased in a thick wax for shipping it is noticeably sweet, mild, creamy and complex with a bit less saltiness than other well veined blue cheeses, this cheese exhibits a real nuttiness that keeps you coming back for more. After tasting this delight down in Australia over ten years ago I think the perfect companion for this wine is a smoky Australian Shiraz! Two lovely wines that take you back to Australia to compliment this wine are the 2007 Marquee Signature McLaren Vale Shiraz and the 2004 Silver Wings Old Vine Vincenzo. Both are complex wines and the spice with a smoky, rich backbone goes deliciously with Roaring 40’s.

My last bit of information and assistance with your cheese and wine pairing advice is that to spice up any cheese board or plate you are making, toast / bake a few nuts in the oven for a lovely pairing on your plate. The caramelization from oven baking on the outside of the nuts makes a delicious treat that your guests / patrons will appreciate.



~C.Cribb

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW - cjcribb@marquee.com
GM – Marquee Selections

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Pairing wine with unique food combinations…

Pairing wine with unique food combinations…

Over the last few weeks I have been challenged on a few different occasions as to how to find wines that pair nicely with a variety of different and spicy foods. There are a number of things that come to mind that are just plain HARD to pair with, try an artichoke or asparagus, what about things that you associate with other beverages like good beer or even milk.


On a recent trip up to the Chicago area I had a chance to eat out at two different Mexican locations; The first was the Frontera Grill, one of chef Rick Bayless’s hot spots in Chicago that is know for being 1st class authentic Mexican fare, and the second was a quaint little taco shop just minutes from Midway airport. Two very different experiences, but both lead me down this path of how do you find good wines to pair with unique food combinations.


My first impression of Fronterra was definitely a good one; a great staff, exciting atmosphere and a very knowledgeable sommelier. Sharing dinner with another wine and food professional (one of Chicago's best wine distribution companies, Artisan Beverage Company) we were excited to try different fare and ordered up three different appetizers that were not similar in profile. We started with a Mexican ceviche as our first course that needed a wine with zip to balance the lime and acidic nature of the dish; our go to wine choice was a young Albariño from Spain, the Pazo San Mauro Albariño, Rías Baixas, Galicia, Spain usually a very good value wine with enough acidity to balance the zest of the appetizer. The pairing was perfect, in this case, the green apple and clean un-oaked cut and balanced the spice from the habinero, orange, and limes in the Ceviche Yucateco. Good job, batting 1000 so far on the food and wine pairing’s but as we move on to our second appetizer it was time for a change.

Our second appetizer was Tamal de Chorizo "Manchamanteles” a corn husk-wrapped tamal of fresh-ground corn masa studded with homemade chorizo and bacon. Nut-thickened fruity red chile sauce (manchamanteles), grilled pineapple (description and details thanks to http://www.rickbayless.com/). A great appetizer, but it just did not fit with the Albariño. In this instance the food and wine clunked against each other like two young kids in their first ballroom dance lesson (it wasn’t pretty).

We had previously ordered a bottle of the Albariño, (aka we had plenty left after the first course) and it wasn’t like I was going to pour it out just for not matching well with the delicious food (offering ½ carafe’s of wine is another blog in the future), but suffice it to say tasting these two together was not 1 + 1 = 3. Just when I had resigned myself to my water glass only during the second course, in swooped the talented Sommelier Jill Gubesch. with two glasses of Rhinegau Riesling Kabinett from Germany, Thank you Jill! (Balthasar Ress “Hattenheimer Schützenhaus” Riesling Kabinett, Rheingau, Germany)

Miss Gubesch offered a quick commentary that she thought that this wine would bring out the sweetness of the pineapple in the tamale’s and also compliment the richness of the Mexican Style Quesadillas that we had coming next! Wow, was she ever right… this wine fit well with both dishes and because of the touch of residual sugar in the Riesling and rich mid palate, it really complimented the cheese and pan fried aspect of both appetizers. Lesson well learned; acidic foods pair well with acidic wines, richer, fried foods need a richer more full bodied wine to balance out the flavor.

Our final part of the meal allowed us to enjoy an outstanding Crane Asada tacos with an elegant and soft red wine, the 2000 Bodegas Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva, this wine worked with the perfectly grilled meat because it was medium bodied and light on the palate, like a nice French burgundy. Made entirely of Tempranillo, the spices of pepper & clove came out as the wine opened up. Choosing a ten year old bottle in a restaurant might seem like a risk (or an expensive hobby), but this bottle rewarded us nicely and I must say that the last glass was definitely more complex than the first. Overall I believe this pairing worked because the dinner had the spiciness and complexity that played well with the Tempranillo, but that would have been overwhelmed with a BIG, young red. Too much tannin would have taken this part of the meal out of balance and called for a graceful and elegant red with a lighter body. The wine benefited from decanting and topped of a lovely meal.

One last note for the Frontera Grill experience, low and behold as we took our seats I glanced over to find Rick Bayless eating in his own restaurant for dinner. I was encouraged to see three wine glasses in front of him, two reds and a white because he realized, just as we did, that each dish he was having deserved a different wine pairing. I believe it is always a good sign to see the owner / proprietor eating in their own restaurant, yet on this occasion after receiving his two appetizers; he promptly picked up his seafood dish and headed straight back to the kitchen.

Yes, the owner headed straight through the kitchen doors with a Chef Ramsey style grimace on his face determined to get to the root of whatever problem he encountered (I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the back for that visit). 20 minutes later the nights head chef, all in whites, headed out with a replacement dish for Mr, Bayless, it passed the once over and was followed with a bevy of quick bows and apologies. An interesting encounter to witness, my hats off to you Rick Bayless for a fine establishment & for expecting only the best from everyone on your time.

During the second day of my trip after traveling all around the Chicago area I got a chance to drop into the Whole Foods Lincoln Park, and I must say, WOW… what a store! You can find almost anything in this store including a full bar downstairs so you can pick up a nice glass of vino or a $2.00 premium bottle of beer to enjoy during your shopping experience. At 75,000 square feet this is the third largest Whole Foods location in the world (right behind their Austin store and the London location).

As their flagship store for the Midwest region I can definitely tell Whole Foods may be in a rapid expansion mode, but they are keeping their eye on the details with their new store role outs. On sale now at this great store we have a nice display of Staccato Malbec / Cabernet ready for eager shoppers and are planning a great event at this location in June with our winemaker, Gustavo Caligiore making a visit up from Argentina. PS – This is also a free WI FI hotspot.


As the day of sales in Chicago wound down, we had one last culinary visit in store, Zacatacos, located just minutes away from Midway airport in the Cicero area on Pulaski. A small authentic Mexican walk-up with an open fire grill with Charbroiled tacos, great prices and a loyal following. Across the street from a pet adoption center, tattoo parlor and truck driving school, I walked up to the counter and put in my order, not knowing what to think of the fare, but the location came with a good recommendation. A day zooming across the city it was time to choose a wine from the Marquee Selections bag to pair up with Mexican fare… and see if I learned anything the night before.

We had been sampling the Old Hands old vine Spanish Monastrell wines from Bodegas La Purisima, and Argentinean wines from Caligiore Organic Vineyards with accounts all day and from my experience last night I was keen to try out my taste matching skills. I got a lovely carne asda – char broiled burrito and paired it up with the Caligiore Reserve Bonarda., and BAM, I picked a winner! The red fruits and lower level of tannins in the Bonarda worked great with the burrito and the bit of extra spice from the Green Chile tomatillo salsa just helped to bring out the spicy pepper notes in the wine! Zacatacos, you may not have a very intriguing website, but you definitely find a place in my dinners, drive in’s and dives for the next visit… who knows maybe I will take that Truck drivers lesson I have been thinking about before grabbing lunch!

A few fun pairing suggestions:

Artichokes -Gruner Vetliner from Austria or Portuguese Vino Verde
Salmon – Pinot Noir or Rich Chardonnay
Dry Sliced Parmigiano Reggiano – Barbera or Mourvedre / Monastrell
Scallops – Albariño or Sauvignon Blanc
Oysters – Sauvignon Blanc or Sparkling Wine
Burgers – Syrah / Shiraz or Bordeaux Blends
Tacos - Tempranillo or GSM Grenache/Shiraz Mourvedre
Pepperoni Pizza – Syrah/ Shiraz or Zinfandel

Next week I am off to Europe for a visit to Stockholm Sweden and Northern Italy I will hypothesize to have an even more intriguing set of tales for you next month… we shall see what pairs well with Swedish meatballs or Reindeer!

Till next month, have a wonderful day and for your next party, don’t forget the Marquee!
Email me if you have any other great pairing suggestions that you would like to share for next month!

Ciao!

Today’s Cribb Note – Just announced – 2007 Quattro Leoni Barbera D’Asti – 90 Pts. – BEST BUY - from The Tasting Panel Magazine!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW
GM - General Manager
Marquee Artisan Wines - http://www.marquee.com/
Email – cjcribb@marquee.com
Blog – marqueewines.blogspot.com