Monthly Archives: May 2010

I’m going to start adding in a new segment to the site, with what I’m dubbing as Restaurant Takeaways “Yelp-ish”-style. I figure the big boys at the newspapers and magazines take the cake on their long reviews of restaurants being able to eat there multiple times and get a real sense of the place. I clearly don’t have that luxury. Also on the flip side of things, the Yelpers, bless their hearts, love to make it more about themselves then the actual restaurant. There are way too many complaints due to some inconvenience that probably isn’t a true example of the restaurant.

Either way, wine and food go hand in hand, and obviously restaurants these days are giving us new ways to celebrate and explore the combination. Particularly in and around the nation’s capital there are more and more restaurants everyday with a renewed focus on wine and its pairing with the foods we love.

Anyway, I plan to give you a quick take on the food, the atmosphere, and focus also a bit more on the wine list. I’ve been to too many restaurants where if they spent just a little more time on thier wine list, as they do with their food, it would really even out the experience. I’ll try to do my best to not get caught up in a restaurants bad service unless it seems like its across the board, and I’ll try to provide a relatively unbiased approach to the review. Look for these to be mixed in with the wine reviews and other. They will be short bullet lists of what was good, what was bad, and everything in between.

Now here’s the perfect bargain. Its something that Italy has been doing more consistently than all other countries with the exception of maybe Australia. This Tuscan red wine blend is a mixture of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot, and can be found for anywhere from $8 to $10. I’ve had this brand many times over the years as it tends to deliver a decent wine at a good price. This vintage is no exception. The other thing that makes this wine a winner is accessibility. I’ve been able to find this at most wines stores and better grocery stores, making it more impressive that they can mass-produce a quality product like this. Quality was higher across the board in 2006 and this wine definitely benefited from the ideal growing conditions.

Monte Antico 2006

Medium-bodied, this wine has a good cherry and plum core. The nose is fragrant and pure, with hints of lavender and spice. The mouth-feel is fairly rich due to the Cab and Merlot, giving this wine some body, however it never feels too heavy. It has a cool, lithe quality that makes a good wine for everything from pizza to pastas, and maybe even a little bit of bar-be-que chicken. The finish is smooth and enjoyable. Its by no means a deep, intellectual wine, but for the price it really delivers a solid wine with an interesting flavor palate, and pairs well with alot of foods. I’ve got to stay this is a Brick Solid Plus wine that I’ll go back to again and again.

I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for a little over 10 years, and being a wine lover, I find that I get “way” too excited when I see a new wine store. I’m definitely a lurker when it comes to the wine shop. Some people like to go in and just grab the first thing. Others like to go in and get advice from the shop owner. I’m part of the third type who like to walk around and check out everything in the store before I can buy something. I can’t help it. I like to scope out all of the different types and brand, looking for labels I recognize and of course just trying to get a sense on the store’s pricing. I’ll usually try to find the Napa section and see how overpriced their Silver Oak is (everyone seems to always have a bottle of that). So I’ve shopped around a various stores and I’m always on the look for new ones. Here’s a few comments on some of the good and bad:

Arrowine - This Arlington establishment, located in a small section of shops on Lee Highway, offers a mid-sized selection of wine, good section for beer, and probably one of the better selections of imported cheeses in the area. Their wine section hits all of the major wine regions, with I think a little bigger focus on France and Italy. While they do tend to be a little higher priced compared with the discount placed, they also carry more unique wines from small distributors. Overall, they are a good wine merchant with friendly staff and a high quality selection.

MacArthur Beverage – Located in DC, this Washington institution is a high quality store offering relatively good prices even in comparison to the discount places. Their store is a little crammed with all the different wines and spirits. Additional, the organization makes it a little tough to find which section your in. Not as much an issue for a lurker like me, but I could it see it bugging alot of people. The other issue with the place is there aren’t nearly as many wines under $20 as there should be. They seem to have their price point higher to $30 for most wines. Now in terms of selection and quality, they are very good. They tend to have the harder to find wines which makes it worth the trip.

Wine Cabinet – Located in Reston, this wine store tends to focus on smaller producers and looks to bring in different varietals. The store is relatively well organized, though they decided to go for the arranged by style versus region, so sometimes its a matter of digging if you’re specifically looking for a Aussie red or Cali white. They tend to be big on the customer service/help select a wine for you focus which can be good or bad depending on your type as I mentioned above. Price wise they tend to be a little higher being a smaller store. Overall, its a nice looking store. They also offer sale of cheese and bread, along with a decent beer selection.

Wine Seller – This Herndon shop was one of the first I’d started shopping at when i moved back into the area. They kind of helped open my eyes to wines outside the grocery store aisle. Its a small shop with a decent selection. They tend to keep just as many $10-15 wines as they do the higher end stuff. They also have a good focus on West Coast wines, and particularly Pinot Noir from Oregon. They also put together very nice wine-related gift baskets. The staff has always been courteous and helpful in past visits. Overall, its worth a stop in to see what they have.

Best Cellars – With Multiple locations in the DC area, their Clarendon location is a clean, sleek store where they offer wines grouped by style. Around the store, wines are arranged from light bodied whites all the way around to the robust reds. The other thing to note is that they keep all of the prices at $15 or under. The idea here is to keep it simple for the wine newbie. They usually offer just a couple of wines in each category so that selecting a wine doesn’t have to be too difficult. You can also try any of the wines at the counter if you’re not quiet sure you’ll like them. Overall, the concept is good, and I’ve seen it be successful with other wine chains in other parts of the country. For the wine beginners, its a great option for getting to know your likes and dislikes, and exploring the wine world.

It should be a simple question and a straightforward answer, but it always comes down to a few key variables. I’ve been learning about and growing with wine for the past 10 years or so, and as my tastes and experience have changed, so to, have the elements that make a wine special.

One thing that always helps that case however is place. Where you have that glass of champagne or the big Napa red can really set that wine apart from just another drink. I know some of the best glasses of wine were had sitting at the winery, soaking in the atmosphere. I also know that all those special occasions, when a good wine was called for, that wine just tasted and meant a little bit more.

How about cost? I remember just getting into wine in my early 20s and at that point a bottle of wine over $20 was a extreme buy. So maybe at that stage a wine could “wow” me just because it was more expensive. I remember my first big bordeaux, a 1999 Chateau Cantermerle, for which at the time I paid a whopping $35. It was bigger and bolder than anything I’d tasted to that point and I can remember really falling in love with wine. Did cost have a factor there? Probably somewhat, but so did that quality factor.

Are we going to be more excited by the $15 wine that tastes like the $40 or the $75 wine that tastes like a $75 wine. Sometimes is the bargain that makes it special. No probably more than anything, its the company that makes it special. You want to drink a good wine with someone special. You want to be able to enjoy the company, maybe a good meal, to talk about probably less the wine, and rather enjoy the moment.

I’d say that all of these answers good be right, just depends on the mood. Just as much as the wine has to be good, and the company has to be special, the wine itself, just has to fit. I’m a strong believer that a wine is particular to a mood. Lazy sunday afternoons are good for a riesling or shiraz. Fall and Winter nights just call for a good rhone or earthy Italian. I think you get the idea.

Anyway, what does make a wine special – let me hear from you.

From one of our favorite wineries comes the Thieriot Vineyards 2006 Chardonnay. This chardonnay tends to exhibit a rich creamy toffee flavor and is in most years a very rich buttery Napa Chardonnay. This wine however seems to be a little more acidic then those we’ve had in the past. I’ve been impressed with aggressive nature of the wine. Its definitely a wine that needs a little air before you can appreciate its full potential.

Early on, it possesses alot of lemon custard and green herbaiousness. After about 4 hrs however it start to mellow out and becomes more buttery and possess carmel coloring and flavors. There still considerable acidity however. That seems to be a constant here.

Neyers Thieriot Chardonnay

Overall, it might not be the strongest showing for this wine. Not sure if was an off year, but it seems that the push towards Burgundy-style has made this wine a little too austere. I’ve got to put this wine somewhere between Drinkable and Brick Solid. Its not a bad wine by any means, but I think at the $45 price tag, its hard to say this is quiet living up to its cost. I still love Neyers but this one missed a little for me.