516267 Mon May 05 23:31:32 -0700 2008 10 34 Wine 0 3660337 So I tried to get Carswell to post on this one, but he is swamped with work, so I hate to say, you are stuck with my notes. But this one is so interesting! Did I mention that Carswell is an amazing cook? The wine: Gerard Scheuller Pinot Noir 2006 from Alsace. The bottle comes with the instructions "Servir frais" on the front, which I take to mean slightly chilled. The wine is pale red and transparent, almost rose in colour. The bouquet, even when served chilled is playful and exuberant, loads of raspberry and a wonderful floral nose, it is like walking by a lilac bush when it is in full bloom. My apologies, it is not lilac scented. Flowers are a major weak point in my tastings, I merely am trying to describe the full-on sensory effect of this wine's bouquet. But the scent... perhaps violets? Maybe some rose. I said to Carswell, it is almost like they have thrown in some Gewurtztraminer. But of course, they had not. The wine itself is not quite as complex as its bouquet, but it has that wonderful full raspberry flavour, a delightful acidity, and is slightly petillant. Such a charming wine! Bad news is that it may not be easily available. We are going to see if we can scare up a few more bottles, because it would be a wonderful alternative to a rose wine in the summer on the roof top. The salad: Carswell made home made garlic croutons by frying good bread in olive oil with a smushed clove in the oil until all the bread was nice and crispy. He then had the kitchen slaves rub cut garlic onto each cube individually. Then using some wonderful slab bacon, he fried up lardons in the same pan. Dandelion greens were ripped into bite size pieces, and thrown into a bowl with the croutons and lardons. The oil left in the frying pan was then turned into a dressing by deglazing the pan with white wine vinegar. The sauce is then poured over the salad to slightly wilt the greens. Salt, pepper, and a few quarters of hard boiled egg and (I quote) "Voila!". The match: Surprisingly wonderful! I had expected the dandelion greens to make the wine bitter and tasteless, as the greens were fairly bitter themselves. I was completely wrong. The bitterness of the greens created a sweet flavour in the wine, and perfectly complemented the raspberry fruit in the wine. The gentle heating of the vinegar removed the excess acidity of the vinegar, and so the dressing complemented the wine instead of competing with it. The lardons and eggs added a lovely salty touch that complemented the wine's sweetness. I was very surprised and pleased with this sweetness, the wine had been very dry before we matched it with the salad. And the touch of bubbles made the whole thing an event! This was a delightful spring salad, and a delightful warm weather wine. We then went on to devouring crab and Riesling. (Snow crab season is very short! Must take advantage!) This time, we explored older Rieslings. Here are the tasting notes. Scharzhofberger Egon Muller zu Scharzhof Riesling Spatlese Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 1994: Apologies if I totally ruined the name of the wine, German is not a strong suit for me. The wine is a deeper straw colour, and is very unctuous/viscous when you pour it in the glass. The bouquet is complex, quince and petrol. I found the petrol a bit overwhelming at first, but it got better with time in the glass. Carswell and hubbie loved it. The wine is very rich and full in the mouth, the fruit is still quite powerful, quince, apple, honeyed dried apricots and yes, petrol and mineral. I felt there was very little acidity left in the wine, and I missed the acidity, but the other flavours were very complex and intriguing. A fascinating wine, but I kind of wish I had opened it a few years earlier before the acidity disappeared. Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 1993 from Alsace: The wine was a pale gold colour, and less viscous than the Scharzhofberger. The wine had apricot and apple notes. There was still a bit of acidity and mineral flavours. Unfortunately, the middle notes of the wine were missing, and the flavours faded fairly quickly from the mouth. Again, we wished we had opened this bottle a little sooner. Scheuller Bildstoekle Riesling 2005 from Alsace: This was our backup wine. The bouquet was dominated by an intense lime scent! The wine tastes of lime, apricot and honey, and there was a slight whiff of celery salt (at least, at the beginning. The celery salt blew off after a few moments, but a slight vegetal taste remained). Beautiful balanced acidity and pronounced mineral flavours made this my favorite riesling of the evening. Needless to say, the crab made all the wines better! Mon May 05 23:31:33 -0700 2008 89969 moh 1 3666549 I've had some very enjoyable Pinot Noirs from Alsace over the years . . . Wed May 07 17:29:28 -0700 2008 3660337 28122 zin1953 1 3666687 This is a delightful and mouth-watering post. Thank you for sharing it with us! I've tasted beautiful, light-bodied Pinot Noir from Germany but never from Alsace; I would love to find some of this stuff. Wed May 07 18:18:06 -0700 2008 3660337 51367 Yaqo Homo 2 3671335 Very difficult to find, even in France (though not necessarily if one is actually IN Alsace). Hugel makes a nice one, as does Marcel Deiss. Fri May 09 07:31:35 -0700 2008 3666687 28122 zin1953 2 3673288 I would say that the Pinot Noir from Alsace (from my limited sampling of them, and from the comments of others) are quite different from the California style Pinot Noirs. They are much lighter in style. I think a comparison to the German Pinots is a reasonable one. I also have enjoyed some very nice light German Pinots. "Quaffable" is the term I'd use, they go down fast and easy, and don't take a lot of concentration to enjoy. Hopefully we'll start to see more of both the German and the Alsatian Pinots on this side of the pond... Fri May 09 16:24:20 -0700 2008 3666687 89969 moh 3 3673615 I can see that the variation on Salade Lyonnaise that Carswell made would go very well with Schueller's Pinot Noir. I've had this salad many times -- it's one of my favorites, and I find it best with a lighter-bodied red wine. Another good contribution with lots of specifics, moh. Fri May 09 18:43:30 -0700 2008 3673288 18222 maria lorraine 4 3673717 Maria, I would love any other recs for wine to go with this salad. We looked into purchasing a few more bottles of the Scheuller, but sadly it is too late to buy any more this year. I had an interesting experience with the leftover Trimbach Riesling 1993. We had left the decanted wine in the fridge since Sunday (what was left of it). We made a creamed baccalao dish for dinner today using potato, baccalao, cream/milk, a roux-based white sauce, and onions. We decided to try to finish the Trimbach. When I first tasted the wine, I thought "ugh. All the fruit and acidity is gone, the wine is completely blah". I almost suggested pouring something else. But then I immediately tried it with the creamed baccalao, and what a difference! The wine completely woke up and regained all its flavour, and ended up being a nice match for the meal, not perfect, but very nice for a quiet evening in. The turn-around occurred within seconds, so I don't think it was a matter of letting the wine breath or warm up from the fridge. I guess this is why I like food-wine pairing so much... Fri May 09 19:35:32 -0700 2008 3673615 89969 moh 5 3673904 You're asking me to recommend wines when you're hanging out with Carswell? I mean, really, seek no further. He is extremely knowledgeable about wine, flavor pairing and a terrific cook. Besides, that pesky LCBO always gets in my way. I'm sure you get my drift with the lighter-bodied red wine rec. My simple reasoning because I love, even crave, Salade Lyonnaise: The lardons allow the wine to get away with a tiny of Brett, and the dish is French so that sends me towards a light Rhone red. Many wines from other French regions and other parts of the world will work as well. Your word "quaffable" should be the defining characteristic. I'd even like to try this salade with a hefty Rose Champagne (especially if you do the egg soft-boiled, rather than hard-boiled). But I'd like to try everything, even nothing, with good Rose Champagne. BTW, I'm betting the reason for the vinegar's acidity being softened was not because of the heat but because of the residual salt from the bacon in the pan. Salt mollifies acid. Remember that next time you add too much vinegar to a salad dressing. I'm wondering if the reason for the leftover Trimbach awakening with food is that the food provided a supporting platform of flavors for the Riesling to sit on top of and be noticed. Or, perhaps it was a sheer chemical reaction. Interesting, whatever the reason, and something to remember for the future. Fri May 09 21:31:26 -0700 2008 3673717 18222 maria lorraine 6 3675783 "He is extremely knowledgeable about wine, flavor pairing and a terrific cook. " Funny, that's exactly what he says about you, Maria! Thanks again for the tips! And the note about the salt mollifying acid, I have been guilty of too much vinegar from time to time... Sat May 10 20:15:46 -0700 2008 3673904 89969 moh 1 3675976 "Did I mention that carswell is an amazing cook?" From what I've read on this board (and on the Montreal board, where I sometimes lurk), I wouldn't doubt it. The salad dressing sounds fantastic. Thank you for the beautiful write-up, moh. Your description of the Schueller Riesling, paired with my imaginary chilled snow crab on ice, was inspirational. Sat May 10 22:37:27 -0700 2008 3660337 102095 vvvindaloo 2 3676276 Thank you for you kind words Vvvindaloo! I hope I've added enough details to allow you to recreate if you wish, and to do justice to Carswell's skills. Sun May 11 06:40:18 -0700 2008 3675976 89969 moh