California Red Wine with John Syfor

Something Extra for the Wine Lovers 

(Since I Failed To Post Last Week)

        Ever since Tom Burgess founded Burgess Cellars in 1972, his small Napa estate has remained family owned and true to its original vision of affordable, high quality, food-friendly wines. The Burgess’ carefully match the right varietal with each of their vineyards so to produce wines which represent the best qualities of each. 

The 2008 Merlot Triere Vineyard first drew my attention to Burgess. The  vineyard is in the Oak Knoll District on Napa’s valley floor. It is far different from the flood of juicy plonk that ruined Merlot’s reputation a few years ago. Instead, this is both full bodied and elegant, gracing the palate with layers of fruit and integrated tannins It calls out for a grilled steak. With a bit of decanting, this wine is a pleasure now but will improve with a few more years in bottle. 

The winery’s flagship is the 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet. It is a ridiculously good value, far outperforming many others at half the price. Its fruit comes from  Howell Mountain, which is known for its structured age worthy wines. It is more restrained than the Merlot, but shows lovely dark fruit and spice. This will really benefit from at least 6 - 8 years of cellaring. You can drink it now but be sure to decant.

2008 Merlot Triere Vineyard: Color: dark garnet; Aromas and flavors of dusty mocha, flowers, blueberry, black cherry, coffee with a bit of wood spice with long finish and integrated tannin Very Good - Excellent 26.99

2008 Napa Valley Cabernet: Color: dark ruby; Aromas: of dark fruit, anise with a bit of wood sweetness; Mouth: full, plum, dark fruit, long dark berry finish with a hint of dark chocolate Very Good - Excellent  31.99

        Also, for anyone interested in tasting how this wine develops over time, there is still a limited amount of the 1998 Napa Cabernet Library Release. The cool growing season caused critics to pan the vintage, but time has proven the skeptics wrong. This wine is drinking more like a mature Left Bank Bordeaux, very structured with notes of dark fruit, smoke and leather and still a few more years to go. Excellent 70 Net

John Syfor

john@federalwine.com

Vegivore Eats | Crispy Spring Rolls (by Julia)

A day in the life of cooking special-diets meals for multiple individuals/families in the same day means that I'm drawn to recipes that are flexible. Considering the time constraints of working for only a few hours in someone else's kitchen, my clients' grocery budgets and food preferences (not to mention dietary guidelines), versatility and adaptability are a must. By buying larger quantities of fresh (and many local) ingredients, knowing I can easily suit everyone's needs by switching one thing out for another in semblances of the same recipe, I can make time and money go farther.

Enter the Thai appetizer "Po Pia Tod", or as we know them, Crispy Spring Rolls. Simple in concept but complicated in flavor, a "fried-and-true" classic of South/East Asian street food culture, they are crunchy little catch-alls, made traditionally with bits of produce and meat for a grab-it-and-nom-it snack, and served with a sweet and sour sauce.

In the world of true Thai cooking, there are no measurements. Food preparation is done by instinct and feel; years of family methods and experience. Thai chefs cook with their tongues...taste, taste, taste 'til it's right, then serve it. In their world, recipes are just suggestions. Thai food considers sweetness, sourness, creaminess and saltiness, then hot spiciness...as long as the dish is balanced you can get creative and truly can't go wrong.