BLOGSCHU

ZAPping your tastebuds

This weekend is the ZAP Festival (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers), so this is probably not a good time to admit that zinfandel is not one of my favorites. I find so many of them to be food-killers: big, jammy, high-alcohol fruit bombs that blow out your palate. Look at the food pairings recommended for most zins and you'll find a lot of sweet barbeque sauces, even actual sweets like chocolate. 

As the child of a Spaniard, I was taught from an early age never to drink wine without eating something, even a bowl of olives or nuts. A bowl of m&ms just doesn't have the same appeal. (Describing a similar sentiment regarding overblown cabernets in a recent column, Dan Berger argues, "what, and ruin a good chocolate?". )

At Gundlach Bundschu, we talk a lot about how food-friendly the estate zinfandel is, due to the cool climate of our vineyard. The zinfandel comes from one little block planted in 1976; huge, sprawling vines that grow alongside Jim Bundschu's house are notoriously difficult to farm and inconsistent in their yields.  But they produce a zin unlike any other I've tried. Sure it is a big wine, but it has intense aromas and flavors of white and black pepper and lots of acidity to balance out the rich fruit flavors. We tend to recommend it with grilled meats in the summertime, but this time of year, my ultimate cold-weather pairing is the zinfandel with short ribs.

Given the hundreds of zinfandels being poured at Fort Mason this weekend, most north of the 15% alcohol mark, here is hoping that there is plenty to eat for the tasters at ZAP - fingers crossed for a good supply of hard cheeses and bread!

Hard Times Come Again No More

I haven't had the chance yet to watch all of the Hope for Haiti telethon, but I did catch Mary J. Blige perform a chill-inducing rendition of 'Hard Times Come Again No More'. 

She was fantastic, and the song - written in 1854 and popularized during the civil war - had a weight and timeless message befitting the occasion. The first line is "Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears, while we all sup sorrow with the poor."

This performance alone should be well worth the cost of the benefit album.  You can download the album or individual performances here: http://www.cmt.com/haiti/. Most of the performances including Mary's, below, are on youtube.

 

Simple Pleasures

Last week, I had one of those days where a light lunch and working a little late combine to make you walk through the front door resisting the temptation to eat the mail in your hand. I opened the fridge with no intention of cooking, just planning to eat the first thing I could find.

The fridge was pretty bare. I had some ground beef planned for a pasta, so I slapped together a hamburger, hit it with  little salt and pepper, tossed it in a frying pan and rummaged the fridge for something to put on it.

There was a small handful of mildly floppy arugula, no idea how that escaped the salad two days ago. And a small square of gorgonzola dolce, all that remained from Saturday night's cheese plate.  In the cupboard, there was one english muffin left in the sleeve. I popped it in the toaster.

After flipping the burger and coating the slightly burned top with slices of gorgonzola, I pulled out a wine glass. Jeff and Keith had met to taste the upcoming releases of 2007 Estate Merlot and Cab, and I snagged the leftover bottles to taste at home.  I knew I should taste them before eating, but I was too hungry. I just poured a glass of the cab and hovered over the skillet.

Five minutes later, still standing at the counter, I put the burger on the plain muffin, pressed a handful of arugula into the molten gorgonzola, added the muffin top and took a bite.

Now I know I was starving. But that was the best hamburger I have ever tasted. Melted gorgonzola dolce is insanely hedonistic, and with the smoky burned edges of the burger, and the little peppery kick of the arugula to break up the richness, the combination was to die for. After about three bites I took a breath and a sip of cab.

Now I know I am biased. But honestly, my first thought was that is the best cab we've ever made. It was plush and juicy and rich and well, just delicious. I finished the burger and the glass of wine way too fast, but with deep appreciation of every bite and sip.

The 2007 vintage has been getting all kinds of buzz from people in the media and trade who taste a lot more wine than I do, and more critically, I imagine.  I do enjoy formal tastings, totally focused on the subtleties and character of each wine and attempting to capture your impressions into words. But there is nothing like giving yourself over to the simple pleasure of enjoying great flavors, and no wine alone is ever as good as when enjoyed with food. Even a burger.

The Best Medicine

Art imitates life, and man there are a lot of intense, cynical and downright depressing stories out there right now, real and imagined. Why anyone would want to see Stanley Tucci play a pedophile, for example, is beyond me.  Not my idea of entertainment.

After searching the listings for live music, theater and movies on Saturday night and failing to be inspired, my husband suggested we check out the comedy clubs.

It never occurs to me to go to a comedy club, it has been years and years since I've seen live stand up.  I thought it was a brilliant idea. We went online and bought tickets to a show at the Punch Line with absolutely no idea who was performing.

The warm up comic was funny; fairly traditional fare mocking politicians and his own dysfunctional family. But the headliner was an absolute genius.

About now you might be wondering where the Music component of this Music Monday post comes in.

Reggie Watts is not your traditional comedian. He spent over ten years as a musician before becoming, as his website says, an "interdisciplinary comedic performer".  His comedy is absurd stream-of-consciousness observations that are delivered in pseudo-intellectual babble, interspersed with improv music performance.  He uses a loop pedal to create his own backing beat box grooves, then sings over the layers on a number of topics, ranging from the contents of a woman's purse to telekenesis, and many other colorful subjects not appropriate to include here.

I laughed for an hour straight, tears running down my face on several occasions. And his music has been in my head for two days now.  The many videos on YouTube don't do this guy justice, though I picked one of the music pieces for today's post for your viewing and listening pleasure below. It's not comical and somewhat unintelligible, but you get a sense of his talent, and to paraphrase the many online comments from viewers, the groove is sick. I highly recommend seeing him live.

Which brings me to a question for all of you. We host events in the winery's outdoor amphitheatre all summer long, from the Mozart Festival to Indie Rock, movies and more (stay tuned for the 2010 calendar announcement in a few weeks). I don't think we've ever done a comedy night. What do you think, would a comedy night be of interest?

PS - I am not clever enough to know whether there is a way to capture this audio on playlist.com so I can add it to the ongoing Music Monday Archive playlist, but if any of you can help, let me know! Thanks.

THANK YOU DELURKERS

Yesterday morning, we came across a post from winery pal chezrougie.com that in honor of National Delurker Day she was donating $1 per comment on her blog to relief efforts in Haiti. We loved her idea and asked you all to participate by becoming a fan of our Facebook page and posting comments, and we would donate $5 per new fan and $1 per comment as well.

The results were awesome, hundreds of you came to the site, left us warm notes and passed on our link to your friends.  THANK YOU!

As a result of this extraordinary mobilization of the Gun Bun faithful, we are thrilled to be making a donation today of $3,000 to Doctors Without Borders and The American Red Cross. 

Taking the time to connect with us and with each other, you've helped make a difference, and we thank you. In good times and in bad, our community is what keeps us going, and we are grateful to count you all among ours.

If anyone is interested in making your own contributions to relief efforts in Haiti, we encourage you to check out these links:

Doctors Without Borders Emergency Relief Fund

The American Red Cross

National Delurker Day Fundraiser for Haiti

Winery pal and Club member Rougie just posted on her blog that in honor of National Delurker Day, a campaign to get readers to comment on blogs across the country, she is donating $1 to relief efforts for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti for every comment today on chezrougie.com. Brilliant.

I'm going to steal/spread Rougie's idea and match her $1 donation for comments today on either Blogschu or the winery fan page at Facebook.com/gunbun.

In addition, we're going to donate $5 for every new fan on Facebook page through midnight tonight. We're at 2,779 fans as of this post.

We are looking into the best way to make this donation, likely through the American Red Cross, but please feel free to add suggestions for effective organizations to your comments.

Crab Season?

It is Dungeness Crab season here in California, and rumor has it Nancy Bundschu cooked up a killer cioppino for the family holiday gathering.

Being an East Coast native, it still confuses me that winter is crab season. Crab is a summer meal to me, best enjoyed on a warm evening at an outdoor table covered in newspaper, with just a nutcracker and a bucket of boiled blue crabs. I would easily eat six in a sitting, maybe more.

When I first moved West, I was blown away by how much bigger everything was - the mountains were twice as high, the trees incomprehensibly tall, and holy crow, have you seen the crabs?! Thank goodness they sell them cooked, I'm afraid I'd lose a finger wrestling that thing into a pot.

They are a totally different animal, literally of course, but in flavor I mean, and I love them both. I have grown to appreciate the ease of eating a dungeness relative to the little blues, but I still can barely finish one alone.

My favorite way to enjoy it is just steamed, with a glass of Tempranillo Rosé; a dry wine born to pair with shrimp and crab. From what I heard of Nancy's cioppino, though, I may need to give this a try before the season is over, with a glass of Pinot Noir, I believe, what with all those tomatoes:

Nancy Bundschu's Cioppino

¼ cup olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large head fennel, diced (about 1 cup)
1 large leek, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced small
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 1-lb-12-oz can Italian plum tomatoes with basil seasoning
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups dry red wine
1 ½ -2 pounds fresh fish such as sea bass, red snapper, or halibut
½ pound scallops
24 raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 Dungeness crab, cracked and cleaned
12 clams
chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Anticipation

Why do some artists release new material every year, and others make you wait four or five years for an hour of new music?

I was recently looking at a list of anticipated albums of 2010 and was happy to see one of my 'local' favorites on the list. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has a new album coming out in March.  I love these guys, perhaps because that '80s alternative sound of my youth clearly influences them.  That might have something to do with the fact that the bassist is the son of the singer of The Call, but they remind me more of The Jesus and Mary Chain, at their softer moments at least. The live shows are quite a bit louder actually. I've picked two different songs for this week's archive addition, and look forward to revisiting all their older stuff over these next two months.

Who have you been waiting for ages to release new music? What new albums are you most anticipating in 2010?

Goodbye Kisses

By now, I should lay off the holiday sweets, I know. Since the season really only officially ended yesterday with Little Christmas, I made the most of those last few days, polishing off the tins of holiday cookies and chocolates around the office for no good reason other than that they are there. Its usually not a big deal for me to give up sweets, but this year I discovered a new holiday addiction.

I'm warning you, these are like crack. And crack is probably cheaper. I bought a box of these slender bars of finely chopped almonds and hazelnuts dipped in really good dark chocolate to bring to a holiday dinner at a friend's home. I ate half their box myself. I've been back to the fancy little Italian deli twice since then; I'm up to five boxes since Christmas. It has to stop.  I had three pieces with a glass of 07 cab franc last night, and yes, it was an epiphany.  I am so lucky they don't make these year-round. Goodbye Baci! 'Til next year!

Welcome 2010!

In the first days of the new year, many of us turn our thoughts and energies to setting goals, to refocusing on the those things that bring us joy, health and fulfillment. At the very least, a few weeks of holiday-making inspire in many the resolve to exercise more and eat and drink less. In others, perhaps the commitment to take MORE opportunities to eat and drink with friends and family (yes!).  

I too spent the first days of the new year doing my first sit ups in eleven months, as well as opening a few of the best bottles in the rack, and setting my sights on the year ahead. One of the most exciting prospects of 2010 for me is the upcoming World Cup in South Africa.  (Though I am far too superstitious to get my hopes very high, most members of my family did receive some form of official gear of the Spanish national team for Christmas.) 

This will be the first time ever that the tournament will be held in Africa; hugely significant in many ways beyond the sport thanks to the resources, tourism and world media that come with it.  And in a rare display of good musical taste (remember Ricky Martin's Cup of Life??), FIFA has chosen a fantastic official song and given a huge boost to Somali-born singer K'naan.

So for the first Music Monday of 2010, I thought it fitting to fly the 'Wavin' Flag.' Though I far prefer the reality of the original lyric (in the Archive playlist audio below) to the sanitized version he played at the official event (video).