Archive for February, 2009

There are many major wine events that take place at this time of year, but Monday night, I attended one in New York that while possibly more under-the-radar than most, was extremely eye-opening: the Royal Wine Corp. Kosher Food and Wine Experience. Over 700 people  attended and tasted wines poured from France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and beyond, including the sought-after To Kalon vineyard in Napa Valley. Among those present were Israel’s premier wine critic, Daniel Rogov and Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. Of course, every bottle was kosher.

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There has been much talk, including in my own recent UnReserved post, about the efforts restaurants are making to attract customers during tough economic times. Slashed prices, freebies, more wines by the glass, waiving of corkage—all are new tactics that smart restaurateurs are using to get diners in seats. The idea that “the customer is king” is an intelligent approach when so many people are reluctant to go out.  I wish I could say that all of my own recent experiences dining out in New York reinforced this approach, but unfortunately, they didn’t.

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Do you love craft beer?  Do you also happen to enjoy great food?   Are you one of the many Americans who are constantly looking for that new beverage and food match made in heaven? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then I have the perfect solution for you… SAVOR.

Following up its sold-out inaugural run in 2008, the Brewers Association will return to Washington, D.C. this May for the second annual SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience.  Opting this year to host the event on one night (as opposed to three) and in a larger venue (the fabulous National Building Museum) with more breweries (65; up from 48 last year), in my opinion this is surely becoming the quintessential beer pairing event of the year for beer and food lovers alike.

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Having recently returned from nearly a week in Napa Valley, I want to touch on the idea of wine vacations. Not the kind where one visits exotic locales, tastes at wineries or cellar doors and overeats at starred restaurants, but the kind that for me generally follows a trip like that. A vacation from wine, if you will.

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Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and many of you will be receiving chocolates as a token of your inamorato’s love. Now, as experienced wine devotees, we know that price is not always indicative of quality; how much the person spent on wine as a host gift or romantic token is not a reliable gauge of how he or she loves or esteems you. Still, we make judgments. Call it a necessary evolutionary adaptation. So here’s how to feel, sniff and taste chocolate so you can tell if he or she should be kicked to the curb or into your bed. Not surprisingly, much of the same vocabulary and methods used to evaluate wine apply to chocolate.

For starters, reading the label will not always clue you into quality. You’ll see phrases such as “single origin.” Like “single vineyard,” that doesn’t necessarily mean diddley. You’ll see 66%, 77% and so on; that does tell you how dark and potentially deep the chocolate flavor will be, but it doesn’t tell you the quality of those ingredients or the skill of the chocolatier.

The most important factor in chocolate quality (and this is rarely communicated on American chocolate labels) is the percentage (and quality) of cocoa solids (the chocolate stuff) versus its sugar content, and the percentage of cocoa butter (the natural fat of the cocoa bean). Inferior chocolatiers will use sugar to mask inferior cocoa solids or roasting methods, and use vegetable fats rather than (expensive but heavenly) cocoa butter. So let’s toss that deceptive wrapper away and evaluate the chocolate for ourselves.

To the eye, the chocolate should be evenly colored. A bit of a red hue in the chocolate can be a good sign. There should be no cracks, air-holes, blemishes or white streaks and blotches (called bloom, indicating sugar separation). 

Your chocolate should be silky to the touch, not sticky. One reason chocolate is a sensuous delight is that cocoa butter melts at exactly human body temperature. So it should begin to melt if held between your fingers for a few seconds. Now sniff. Is it pleasing to you? Is it bittersweet, not overwhelmingly sweet? Is it mellow, yet with a suggestion of spice? Do you detect vanilla, berry-fruit and caramel? Is good. Or is it more cardboardy, chemical-y (from imitation vanilla) and artificial? Is not so good.

Now break off a piece. It should break with a clean snap; that means the cocoa butter quantity is high. If it’s bendy, crumbly or splintery, cheaper fats were used. Now, place a piece on your tongue. As noted, it should start to gently melt. Again, look for that balance of bitter and sweet, full chocolate flavor, nothing out of balance or overpowering, the mellow vanilla and caramel notes a bass note, not a soloist. If it has a waxy feel, that indicates the use of vegetable fats. If it has a gritty or grainy texture, it indicates too much sugar was used. The finish should be pleasant and long-lasting; if there is any artificiality, it will definitely manifest in the finish.

These criteria are all, strictly speaking, applied to simple bar chocolates. But much of this applies to bon bons—truffles and filled chocolates you’re more likely to receive as an assortment. If that cherry center is gritty and too-sweet, if the ganache (the term for the creamy center of a truffle) is gummy, gritty or faint of flavor….he’s just not that into you.

 I recognize that it’s too late for Valentine’s this year, but here are some sources for outstanding chocolates. I welcome your recommendations as well.

Jacques Torres

Francois Payard   

Fritz Knipschildt  

Andrew Garrison 

Vosges

Tomorrow, I’m heading out to Napa for a week-long education seminar for MW candidates put on by the Institute of Masters of Wine. With less than 300 members, the institute may be among the most exclusive private clubs in the world–membership is restricted to those who pass the group’s notoriously difficult three-and-a-half-day written exam and successfully complete a dissertation. (Having sat the exam unsuccessfully last June, I can sheepishly testify to its challenging nature.)

Folks who join the institute are entitled to use the initials MW (Master of Wine; sometimes derogatorily referred to by nonmembers as master wanker) after their names, to signal membership in this elite club. But because of the stringent requirements and high caliber of current members, the initials MW are an international badge of honor that garners the holder instant respect in the wine business.

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