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Archive for Rose

Rosé Rules

Sep28

Restaurant: Kali Dining [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: Beverly Hills

Date: August 11, 2017

Cuisine: New American

_

My Sauvages group returns to Jim’s gorgeous Beverly Hills backyard for its annual gather. Food is again by Chef Kevin Meehan of Kali Dining. The wine theme is all Rosé! Yeah, like 35+ bottles of Rosé from around the world.

The setting is lovely enough, and the company always great!

Kirk went all out arranging and drummed up a tremendous number of rosés of every conceivable type.

3 big buckets worth.

Good thing it was a hot summer afternoon.

Things start off with cheeses, olives, almonds etc. Food was all by Kali chef Kevin Meehan, who always does a fabulous job.

Hamachi crudo. Olive spread. Nice bright flavors. Black barely risotto. Black garlic, toasted cheese. A very nice whole grain with a creamy garlic herb vibe. Sea bass on fava beans and fresh tomatoes. Basically a Guazzetto. Hanger steak with potatoes and pesto.

Perfectly fresh watermelon.

The food was super tasty as always from Kevin, although perhaps I could have done with an extra course or two and a dessert, and maybe more cheese to sop up all that wine.

Trying to work through all that rosé we kept on hanging out and eventually our host opened this minor bottle:

1990 Château Margaux. VM 98. RP 100. Full ruby-red. Wonderfully perfumed nose combines redcurrant, plum, mocha, minerals and rose petal. Plush, fat and rich, with great sweetness and class. This has utterly compelling mouthfilling richness. Finishes smooth and endless, with great breadth. This wine showed fabulous potential from barrel, but this is the first truly outstanding bottle I’ve had. Drink 2005 through 2035.

I’m too lazy to write up ALL these rosés, but I did take pictures of each of them for the veritable record — in order too! And at the very bottle my sparse little notes on each.

Related posts:

  1. Ruen Pair Rules
  2. Kali Live Octopus
  3. Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Sun
  4. Kali on Melrose
  5. Kali-fornia Dreaming
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Kali, Kali Dining, Kevin Meehan, lunch, Rose, Sauvages

Italian House Party

Sep19

The Hedonist gang periodically converges for a some house party goodness, this time for a home cooked Italian meal by Linda di Franco.

Elisabeth and Jake were very generous to host us at their lovely 20s Hacienda.

This setting always shows off some interesting views, in this case a cool orange reflection off some far off buildings.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Light orange. Vibrant strawberry and orange zest aromas are complicated by notes of tea rose, smoky lees and chalky minerals. Bright, incisive red fruit flavors pick up a toasty nuance with air. Fresh, incisive and refreshingly tangy, with impressive finishing clarity and stony persistence.

From my cellar: 2011 Villa Diamante Fiano di Avellino Vigna della Congregazione. 92 points. Excellent, one of the best white wines I’ve had in some time. Beautiful golden color, with delicious fruit but not too fruity. It has the composed, focused quality of a Jobard from Burgundy. I can imagine that this wine would age nicely, but it is awfully good right now.

2013 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis. 93 points. It’s late summer, we were dining outside. So we brought this. Fabulous.

Cheese.

Crackers.

2008 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros. BH 92-95. A classic Chablis nose of mineral reduction, oyster shell and green fruit aromas merges into sappy, rich and powerful flavors that possess more refinement than usual on the long, sappy and beautifully detailed finish. I’m impressed that this seems to have to rusticity and in this sense, it’s a bit atypical.

Gorgonzola stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto. Very nice soft fresh sweet figs and paired very well with the salty ham and gorgonzola.

2014 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. BH 94. Mild notes of wood and reduction mask the underlying fruit though I can say that it appears to be ripe. Otherwise there is outstanding volume and concentration to the big-bodied and openly muscular flavors that exhibit evident power and punch on the hugely long finale. This is presently very compact and like the Perrières very clearly built to age. I should note that while this is certainly going to need time it is not especially austere and I suspect that it will begin to drink well after only 5-ish years or so if that’s your preference.

Younger than my fiano!

Zucchini mint onion frittata on a bed of baby greens.

2011 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. VH 90-93. A restrained, indeed almost mute nose of Granny Smith apples and citrus aromas is in keeping with the rich and full-bodied but reserve flavors that possess very good size and weight, all wrapped in an intense, deep and sneaky long finish where noticeable wood surfaces. I like the concentration and this should be a rare Corton-Charlemagne that will be approachable in its youth.

Cannellini and Italian Salsiccia Crostini. A classic dish of central Italy, certainly including Tuscany and Umbria.

2014 Liquid Farm Chardonnay White Hill. 91 points. light-to-medium deep yellow core with nice viscosity. As others have noted, nose is quite reminiscent of a very good PC Chablis (or better?). Lemon zest, apple, pear, wet stone/minerality and a deft touch of oak; quite pretty. Palate of white flowers, apple pie, peach pit and minerals. Lovely, balanced, medium-bodied wine with no sharp edges that should pair nicely with most foods, unlike many of its Cali counterparts. Good acidity, as it should have, along with a nice midpalate and reasonably long finish. With the acid and minerality and balance I wonder if this would age like a good Chablis? Hmmmm . . . .

Bresaola with Parmiggiano. The dog liked it so much he licked the edge of it (dangerously close to the table edge). Rolled up with the cheese was a great meaty/cheesy snack boosted up by the olive oil drizzle.

Linda (right) making pasta with some “help” from Jennifer.

From my cellar: 2004 Podere Il Cocco Brunello di Montalcino. 94 points. I love this rare bio-dynamic Brunello.

2010 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino. VM 94. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is one of the very best wines I have tasted here in recent years. Dark red cherries, mint, game, smoke, tobacco and licorice are all deeply expressive in a mid-weight, very classic feeling Brunello long on class and personality. Big yet silky tannins frame the dramatic, intense finish. The Valdicava wines are always big, but the 2010 is a bit pulled back, and striking.

2006 Le Presi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. 93 points. Nice!

Lasagne with Besciamella.

2008 Tantara Pinot Noir Le Colline Vineyard.

Pizza with prosciutto.

Cheese pizza.

2009 Rocca di Frassinello Maremma Toscana Baffonero. VM 91+. Full ruby-red. Cool, brooding aromas of cassis, blackberry, violet and minerals. Concentrated, densely packed, minerally and brisk, with ripe black fruit and coffee flavors carrying through to the creamy, ripe, very long finish. This is an important wine for this estate, and one that it would like to become one of Italy’s most important merlots in the future, in the mold of Masseto or Messorio.

agavin: very nice giant ripe merlot

1997 Bava Barbera d’Asti Superiore Stradivario. 91 points.

2003 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate. VM 91. Bright ruby-red. Sweet aromas of black cherry, flowers, menthol and creosote. Supple, sweet and fine-grained, though not especially nuanced for this wine. Strong note of chocolate. Finishes with a fairly fine dusting of tannins and lingering notes of cherry and licorice. This seems a bit less vibrant than it was from barrel a year ago. Barrett noted that the December 2005 bottling date was quite late for this wine, and my sample had not yet recovered.

2012 Chris Ringland Shiraz. BIG!

Balsamic beef rags with arugula. Very thin tender meat, a little like Korean BBQ.

Roasted red potatoes with rosemary and garlic.

2003 Château Duhart-Milon. VM 88-91. Bright ruby-red. Blackcurrant, blueberry, black cherry, violet, tobacco, fresh herbs and currant leaf on the slightly medicinal, quintessential cabernet nose. Then broad, fat and rich, with a layered texture and enticing sweetness. Showing its cabernet side today, but this is thoroughly ripe, seamless cabernet.

Hand made mushroom agnolotti with butter and sage. I love these classic butter and sage pastas. There wasn’t a lot, so we each got about two.

2003 Château Gravas. 87 points. pale golden yellow; honey, apricot, dried pineapple and mango aroma; full-bodied; a relatively unimpressive palate as a Sauternais; short finish.

Tiramisu.

I brought this in my new Gelato cooler, made by moi: Gianduia Gelato – not only is this from a hardcore Italian recipe, properly stabilized for that gooey texture, but I used all Valrhona chocolate and Piedmontese hazelnut paste. Seriously it’s like frozen Nutella! A huge hit if I do say so myself — and I do!

A lovely group of ladies!
 This one is a little less dignified.

Related posts:

  1. House Party from Laos
  2. Piccolo – A little Italian
  3. Epic Ocean Party 2015
  4. Birthday Party, Hedonist Style
  5. Is that a Pistola in your pocket?
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Italian cuisine, Linda di Franco, Rose, Wine

Eating Majorca – Flanigan

Aug24

Restaurant: Flanigan

Location:Puerto Portals, local 16, 07181 Calvià, Illes Balears, Spain

Date: June 28, 2016

Cuisine: International Seafood

Rating: Good

_

Puerto Portals is one of those “high end” marina developments that seem to populate certain areas of Europe.
 I quote the “high end” because I’ve seen way swankier. This isn’t Super exclusive boutique territory.

Flanigan is a large restaurant with an international manu. Prices are high because of the location. But it was close to the hotel and had pretty decent reviews.

The menu.

Two kinds of olive tapenade.

The view is great.

A light but very pleasant rose. We actually tried this at the vineyard the previous week.

Fruit cocktail in a glass.

Hake bites. What’s not to like about fried fish?

Fish soup. This is the rich shellfish stock fish soup, but this one had so much seafood in it it was like a bouillabaisse in that regard.

Very rich, but really quite excellent!

Caprese.

Simple pasta.

Their “star dish”, Lobster “pelao” potatoes and eggs. Basically shelled lobster on top of scalloped potatoes with a fried egg in there. Pretty excellent actually.

Apple with vanilla ice cream. More of a very thin tart tartine actually.

The aforementioned vanilla.

And a scoop of chocolate.

Creme catalana.

Flanigan isn’t anything avant garde, and it is most definitely overpriced for Spain, but it turned out to be very good food — and huge portions too. All in all a very nice meal.

Click here to see more Eating Spain posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Majorca – Casa Michaela
  2. Eating Majorca – Forn De Sant Joan
  3. Eating Majorca – BonSol
  4. Eating San Sebastian – Abakando
  5. Eating San Sebastian – Baztán
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: eating-spain, fish soup, Flanigan, Lobster, Majorca, Rose

Paulette Macarons

Apr02

Store: Paulette Macarons

Location: 9466 Charleville Boulevard at Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 310. 275 0023

Date: March 30, 2011

Cuisine: French Macarons

Rating: Very niche, but some of the best macarons I’ve tasted

Only major metropoli like LA, NY, and San Francisco can support places like this. A dedicated French macaroon bakery! I’m not exactly sure why it is that macarons have taken off (at least in LA) during the last year or two, but they have. Not that I mind, I’ve always been a fan of french baking and macarons specifically. I enjoy the some texture and intense flavors. Previously I would only get them in the petite fours courses at very high end resteraunts, now I can have them with the incomparable Cafe Luxxe coffee — or here.

They had 13 flavors on display when I went in. I tried 11 of them. These are decadent little treats, but not exactly “good value” at $19 for 12!

You can get little towers of them if you are so inclined.

Here is my little $19 worth. General notes: the texture was nicely soft, and the fillings distinct and generous. These were a bit firmer and less spongy than some macarons, but still marvelous, probably 8/10 on texture, 10/10 on flavor. The really great thing about these macarons is how intense the flavor is.

Left to right:

1. Peanut – Like a little nutter butter.

2. Colombian Coffee – one of the weaker flavors. Good, but I would have preferred more intense.

3. Sicilian Pistachio – also a little mild, but certainly pistachio flavored, like one of the bands of spumoni ice cream.

4. Carmel and Salt – Amazing, although perhaps Tavern (SEE HERE) makes a slightly punchier variant. The carmel itself was wonderful.

5. Sweet Wedding Almond – Amazing too. This had that perfect marzipan almond taste. Not something everyone might love, but I certainly did.

6. Coffee again

7. Violet Cassis – Really yummy, intense, and interesting. Flowery and fruity all at once.

8. Passion fruit – 9/10 for intensity (more is more with passion fruit).

9. Caribbean Chocolate – The middle was delectable, the outside merely good.

10. Lemon – intense and nice, like a lemon tart.

11. Rose – wow. I loved this one. Like the almond, not for everyone, but tasted like Turkish Delight or Persian wedding treats.

12. Coconut – very nice fresh toasted coconut flavor.

By: agavin
Comments (13)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Almond, Bakery, Cake, coffee, Cookie, Cooking, Dessert, Food, Home, macaroon, Passion Fruit, Rose, San Francisco, Turkish Delight
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