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	<title>Lou</title>
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	<link>http://www.louonvine.com</link>
	<description>a wine bar.</description>
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		<title>August 30: duck confit, and an cider that&#8217;s hardly a cider</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1253</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:04:07 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[/ monday supper]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>I feel a little cheated about our summer here in Los Angeles: despite the recent and, thankfully, short-lived heat wave, summer never seemed to leave the starting gate. June gloom extended into July, wreaking havoc on the heirloom tomato plants I bought at Tomatomania in May (fusarium wilt, I hate you!). Yet, as we approach [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I feel a little cheated about our summer here in Los Angeles: despite the recent and, thankfully, short-lived heat wave, summer never seemed to leave the starting gate. June gloom extended into July, wreaking havoc on the heirloom tomato plants I bought at <a href="http://www.tomatomania.com/">Tomatomania</a> in May (<a href="http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3122.html">fusarium wilt</a>, I hate you!). Yet, as we approach the Autumnal equinox, my thoughts are already turning from summer to fall, wild mushrooms, winter squash, last-gasp tomatoes and, finally, a new crop of apples.</p>
<p>As if in compensation for our unusually cool summer, the apples seem particularly good this year. Last month, our chef, DJ Olsen, brought us some superb red Gravenstein apples (now, sadly, all eaten up) from the Santa Monica farmers market.  Southern California is not apple country—we are lucky to see more than four or five varieties of local apples at our farmers markets – and <a href="http://www.minnesotaharvest.net/apple_haralson.htm">Haralson</a> apples, prized in Minnesota, and <a href="http://www.nyapplecountry.com/macoun.htm">Macouns</a>, prized in New York, are impossible to find here in Los Angeles. (If you are traveling to the Twin Cities this fall, a free glass of wine to anyone who imports five pounds of Haralsons for me.)  I always feel guilty when I buy apples at the Hollywood farmers market because I should be buying what we do best in Southern California: citrus, plums, and avocados. Yet I crave apples, enough that I always have one or more hard apple ciders on my wine list, so that I can have them all year around.</p>
<p>In anticipation of autumn, we are starting our supper this week with <a href="http://www.reisetbauer.at/en/index.html">Hans Reisetbauer</a>’s very elegant cider that is so elegant, it is hardly a cider at all. He makes it from his own organically grown apples (I have not been able to find out which variety/varieties he uses), and double-ferments it like a Champagne. It is clear, pale straw yellow, with endless, tiny bubbles. Dry and taut, it captures everything that I love about apples, while also elevating the apple to another level.</p>
<p><strong>Grilled Bartlett pear, house-cured ham,<br />
Rogue Smokey Blue, walnuts</strong><br />
Hans Reisetbauer Apfel-Cuvee</p>
<p><strong>Confit of duck leg, haricots vert frisée salad</strong><br />
Tasting flight of wine<br />
Ferrer-Ribière Vin de Pays de Côtes du Catalanes “Le F” 09<br />
Marcel Lapierre Raisins Gaulois Vin de Table 09<br />
Robert Plageoles Gaillac Prunelard 08</p>
<p><strong>Roast fig lavender honey tart, ice cream</strong><br />
Château Tour de Farges Muscat Lunel 06</p>
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		<title>Special happy hour Friday, August 27 6-8 PM: Luis Moya and the wines of Luis Pato!</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1250</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:04:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[/ wine]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Please join us tonight from 6-8 PM for a special happy hour, welcoming Luis Moya and David Duman of Vinos Unico. Luis is doing a tremendous job of bringing the vibrant, dry table wines of Portugal to our shores. Tonight, we will highlight one of the most important Portuguese growers that Luis imports:  Luis Pato.</p>
<p>Mr. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Please join us tonight from 6-8 PM for a special happy hour, welcoming Luis Moya and David Duman of<a href="http://vinosunico.com/"> Vinos Unico</a>. Luis is doing a tremendous job of bringing the vibrant, dry table wines of Portugal to our shores. Tonight, we will highlight one of the most important Portuguese growers that Luis imports:  <a href="http://www.wineanorak.com/portugal/luispato.htm">Luis Pato</a>.</p>
<p>Mr. Pato farms and makes wine in Bairrada, which is in the northern part of the country, south of the town of Oporto. It is an area that historically made wines that were similar to Port, but this style of wine was outlawed in the region by the Portuguese state in the 18<sup>th</sup> century and the vineyards were forcibly uprooted. Further messing up the picture were the twin evils of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oidium">oidium</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylloxera">phylloxera</a>, so devastating to the vineyards of the region that Bairrada, which has grown grapes for centuries, only gained official DOC status in 1979.</p>
<p>Mr. Pato is unique in his dedication to the traditional grapes of Bairrada, most notably the red <a href="http://www.wineanorak.com/portugal/luispato.htm">Baga </a>grape. Baga, which means “berry” in Portuguese, is small, thick-skinned grape with a lot of anthocyanins. In Bairrada, the autumnal rains come early and growers compensate by picking even earlier, ahead of the rain. These underripe grapes, tannic and taut, combined with a rustic vinification style in which the grapes are fermented with the stalks, typically yields a green and tannic wine. Most growers in the region have forsaken Baga-the-problem-child in favor of more acceptable international grape varieties, but Mr. Pato opted to continue working with Baga, and the results show that problem children can, in the right hands, yield wonderful results.</p>
<p>Our flight tonight not only showcases Mr. Pato’s pioneering work with Baga, but also the traditional white grape, Maria Gomes.</p>
<p><strong>Luis Pato Happy Hour: $12/flight</strong></p>
<p><strong>Vinho Espumante &#8220;Maria Gomes&#8221; NV $8<br />
</strong>Sparkling, dry méthode Champenoise, made from the Maria Gomes grape. Grown on sand, this wine is somewhat dusty in texture, light-medium bodied, a bit floral, with notes of membrillo and stone fruit. <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Branco 09 $8</strong><br />
Taste Maria Gomes naked, from young vines grown on sand. All stainless, which captures the aromatic purity of the variety. I believe that there is also some arinto in the mix, too, not that it matters much.</p>
<p><strong>Baga “Vinhas Velhas</strong>” <strong>05 $10</strong><br />
40 plus year old vines grown on clay, vinified in stainless, with more than a year in large (650 liter) old oak barrels. With four years of bottle age, this wine is drinking beautifully.</p>
<p><strong>Quinta do Riberinho 2003</strong> <strong>$12<br />
</strong>Half Baga grown on chalky-clay, half Touriga Nacional grown on sand. Stainless steel fermented. Mr. Pato writes that, “During the first five years it presents the Touriga grapes&#8217; flavours, passing the next years being dominated by Baga grapes’ flavours.”</p>
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		<title>August 23: Yellowfin + La Soula Blanc</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1245</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:20:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[/ monday supper]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>A short missive about this Monday’s supper. One word: La Soula. It’s a newish project from Gérard Gauby, mad man genius of Roussillon, who is now growing vines up in the hinterlands of the Fenouillèdes. Cathars once thrived, fought, and were eventually extinguished here, but you can still visit the fortresses they left behind. You [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A short missive about this Monday’s supper. One word: La Soula. It’s a newish project from <a href="http://www.domainegauby.fr/">Gérard Gauby</a>, mad man genius of Roussillon, who is now growing vines up in the hinterlands of the <a href="http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/rosemary/fenouilledes.htm">Fenouillèdes</a>. Cathars once thrived, fought, and were eventually extinguished here, but you can still visit the <a href="http://www.payscathare.org/3-6581-History.php">fortresses</a> they left behind. You can also drink the increasingly wonderful wine from this region, which is south of the medieval museum city of Carcassonne, but far enough north of the Mediterranean to be outside the scope of most tourists (except for those who seek out <a href="http://www.ot-elne.fr/anglais/patrimoine.html">Romanesque carvings</a>). Gauby, a vigneron who has probably done more to raise the profile of the wines of his region than anyone else, is making startlingly fresh white wines from vines that see blazing heat. How does he do it? Certainly not with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_cone">spinning cones</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_spinning">spinning plates</a>, but perhaps with <a href="http://www.nikhef.nl/pub/pr/eSMC.html">spinning quarks</a>?</p>
<p><strong>Salad of grilled lettuce, bacon, first of season apple,<br />
Rogue Smokey Blue dressing<br />
</strong>Château Mosse Moussamoussettes pétillant naturel NV (2009)</p>
<p><strong>Grilled yellowfin tuna, fried heirloom tomato,<br />
butter beans, arugula, smoked tomato sauce</strong><br />
Your choice:<br />
Marcel Lapierre “Raisins Gaulois” Vin de Table de France NV (2009)<br />
or<br />
La Soula Blanc Côtes de Catalanes (Gérard Gauby) 2008</p>
<p><strong>Chocolate devil&#8217;s food ganache cake,<br />
fresh blackberry sauce<br />
</strong>Mas Blanc Banyuls “Vielles Vignes” 1998<strong></strong></p>
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		<title>A feast for Ed Behr and The Art of Eating: Saturday, August 21</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1228</link>
		<comments>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1228#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:36:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[/ blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Please join us on Saturday, August 21, when we host an eight-course feast for Ed Behr, publisher of The Art of Eating magazine. Started as a humble newsletter in the mid-80s, The Art of Eating has grown into one of the most satisfying sources for long-form food and wine writing in the English language. Ed [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Please join us on Saturday, August 21, when we host an eight-course feast for Ed Behr, publisher of <em><a href="http://www.artofeating.com/index.html">The Art of Eating</a></em> magazine. Started as a humble newsletter in the mid-80s, <em>The Art of Eating</em> has grown into one of the most satisfying sources for long-form food and wine writing in the English language. Ed is committed to the idea that what we eat and drink can and should have sense of place—<em>terroir</em>—and, to that end, each issue narrates a new chapter on the revival and sustenance of traditional food ways.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The current issue, for instance, features a long-form piece on pork in the United States – a follow up to another long-form piece (issue 51) that focused on hog raising and how it affects the flavor pork. If you care about the quality of the pork you eat, both of these pieces are necessary reading. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">Past topics include: </span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“The Baguette,” a meditation on bread, disguised as a social history of the baguette (issue 73-74) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“A Particular Taste: Vin Jaune and Other Traditional Wines of the Jura” (issue 72). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“Beaujolais: The Goal of a Gulpable Wine (issue 67). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“A Dry-Aged Steak” — the reasons for dry aging — the cuts — bone in or bone out? and how thick? — red wines for steak — a sharp knife — materials and design — and how to sharpen a knife (issue 47)</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;">At a time when mainstream food and wine journalism often resembles lifestyle advertisements, <em>The Art of Eating</em> is opinionated, sometimes cutting, and always engaged and engaging – it is an oasis for intelligent, passionate thinking about what, how, and why to eat and drink.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have invited a few of our favorite local food luminaries to help celebrate Ed’s visit to Los Angeles, including Patricia Tsai of </span><a href="http://www.ilivechocolate.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">ChocoVivo</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; "> chocolates, </span><a href="http://beehuman.blogspot.com/2010/01/kirk-anderson-reality-tv-star.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">Kirk Anderson</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; "> of Backwards Beekeepers, and </span><a href="http://www.rancholavina.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">Christopher Schubert</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; "> of Rancho La Viña walnuts. We will be featuring their products in our special supper.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">The price of our supper includes a free subscription to <em>The</em> <em>Art of Eating</em>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">Please call us at 323 962-6369 after 5 PM to reserve.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>When</strong>: Saturday, August 21, at 6 PM<br />
<strong>Where</strong>: Lou, 724 Vine Street, Los Angeles (323) 962-6369<br />
<strong>Cost</strong>: $75</span></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; ">Menu</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>Castelvetrano and Ligurian olives, candied almonds<br />
Garlic toast<br />
</strong>Chateau Mosse &#8220;Moussamoussettes&#8221; pétillant naturel ros NV</span></span></p>
<p><strong>Burrata panzanella, speck</strong><br />
Occhipinti Sicilia Frappato 2007</p>
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>Warm farro, greens, almonds,<br />
tomatoes, olives, pumpkinseed oil<br />
</strong>Batič Pinela 2008</span></span></div>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>House-cured pork and beans<br />
</strong>Le Soula Côtes Catalanes Blanc 2008</span></span></p>
<div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>Smoked Muscovy duck breast,<br />
roast fig, frisée, arugula, walnuts<br />
</strong>Graci Etna Rosso 2008</span></span></div>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>La Nogalera walnut cake, </strong><br />
<strong>Silver Lake honey ice cream</strong><br />
Primitivo Quiles Fondillon 1948</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>Tasting of ChocoVivo bittersweet chocolates<br />
</strong>Degustation of Banyuls</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><strong>Domestic artisanal cheese<br />
</strong>Château Tour de Farges Muscat de Lunel 2006</span></span></p>
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		<title>August 16: Niman hanger steak, and fanfare for the common sparkling wine</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1224</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:15:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[/ monday supper]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Here in the United States we associate sparkling wine with celebration. We drink beer and still wine on any old day of the year, but drinking sparkling wine is a ritual reserved for the sacred, not the profane. In countries with older wine drinking traditions than our own, there are many simple, sometimes rustic sparklers [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Here in the United States we associate sparkling wine with celebration. We drink beer and still wine on any old day of the year, but drinking sparkling wine is a ritual reserved for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred-profane_dichotomy">sacred, not the profane</a>. In countries with older wine drinking traditions than our own, there are many simple, sometimes rustic sparklers that folks enjoy every day without giving it a second thought, including France (crémant of various sorts,<em> </em><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/03/food/la-fo-loire-20100603"><em>pétillant naturel</em></a>), Italy (Prosecco, moscato, Lambrusco), and Spain (Cava). The promise of these simpler sparkling wines is, I think, that they can elevate the banal moment, like the interstitial time between a long day of labor and a meal. You are a better person after an inexpensive glass of Crémant de Jura, refreshed, revived, and fully human once again. Moreover, you got that way by drinking a wine with the simplest of virtues.</div>
<p>For this week’s supper we are bookending our meal with two everyday sparkling wines, modest wines that only ask that you “be here now” and that they be drunk right now, in the summertime.</p>
<p>I am pairing our first course, salade Niçoise, with <a href="http://www.valliunite.com/EN_coop.php">Valli Unite</a>’s “Brute &amp; Beast,” a rustic and dry frizzante white wine from the southern part of Piemonte. Made by a small co-op from organically grown fruit, it is a blend of cortese, moscato, favorita, chasselas, and <a href="http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/20080703.html">timorasso</a> grapes. I do not farm grapes and probably never will, but if I did, I think I would want to farm in this way: collectively, with a group of friends. Classified simply as a “vino tavola,” this simple, fresh, and aromatic sparkling wine is a consummate <em>vin de soif</em>, but one with an added dimension of complexity due to the presence of the local and powerfully good timorasso grape.</p>
<p>Our main course is Niman hanger steak. We are preparing the steak in a sort of indoor-outdoor cookout manner, grilled simply with fresh sweet corn and tiny, just-picked chanterelles. I am paring the steak with a flight of three rustic red wines.</p>
<p>The first wine on the flight is <a href="http://www.pedralonga.es/">Pedralonga</a>’s “<a href="http://www.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/jose_pastor_sel.html">Do Umia</a>,” a red wine from Spain’s Rías Baixas, a region that I mostly know for Albariño, a white wine. The wine is a blend of <a href="http://goodfoodrevolution.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/a-rant-about-mencia-another-of-spains-finest-exports/">mencia</a>, with which I am familiar, but also two indigenous grapes that I do not (yet) know much about: caiño and espadeiro. Pedralonga made the first Albariño that made me sit up and take notice; this red wine makes me want to know more, a lot more, about what else Galicia may have up its sleeve.</p>
<p>The second wine on the flight is <a href="http://www.marcel-lapierre.com/anglais/index.php">Marcel Lapierre</a>’s “Raisins Gauloise,” a fresh, young (’09) non-Beaujolais gamay from the old Morgon master. Lapierre makes complex, serious Morgons that push the upper limits of cru Beaujolais; Raisins Gaulois is his drink-me-every-day gamay from a tremendous vintage.</p>
<p>The final wine on the flight is <a href="http://www.agricolaocchipinti.it/homepage.html">Arianna Occhipinti</a>’s 2007 frappato, a light-bodied yet sanguine wine that I have found tremendously flexible as a wine to pair with meat.</p>
<p>For dessert, we are offering three summertime sorbets (pluot, peach, and nectarine), with which I am pairing <a href="http://louisdressner.com/Brun/">J-P Brun</a>’s <a href="http://www.polanerselections.com/page.print.php?pID=2060&amp;prodID=878">FRV100</a>. Brun, a grower of very good Beaujolais, saw how vignerons in nearby Savoie made a <a href="http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa061117.phtml">fun, fresh, off-dry wine from poulsard and/or gamay</a>—why, he asked, could he not make a similar sort of wine in Beaujolais, too? The result is a wine from Beaujolais that is very untraditional (it cannot be legally called Beaujolais because it is both sparkling and off-dry) but also very successful, both as an aperitif, and, as we are doing on Monday, as something to have with dessert.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Salade Niçoise<br />
</strong>Valli Unite Brut &amp; Beast Frizzante 2008</p>
<p><strong>Niman Ranch hanger steak, sweet corn, chanterelles</strong><br />
Tasting flight of wine<br />
Pedralonga Rias Baixas “Do Umia” 2009<br />
Marcel Lapierre “Raisins Gauloise” Vin de Table de France 2009<br />
Occhipinti Frappato 2007</p>
<p><strong>Three summertime sorbets<br />
</strong>Jean-Paul Brun “FRV100” Vin Mousseux Aromatique de Qualité</p>
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		<title>August 2: Verdelho two ways</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1222</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:23:09 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[/ monday supper]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>For this Monday night’s supper I am offering verdelho two ways: a dry verdello from the Canary Islands, and sweet verdelho from the island of Madeira.</p>
<p>Verdelho (AKA verdello but probably not verdejo and definitely not verduzzo) is a Portuguese grape variety that, notably, is grown on the island of Madeira. From Madeira, you can expect [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For this Monday night’s supper I am offering verdelho two ways: a dry verdello from the Canary Islands, and sweet verdelho from the island of Madeira.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.uncork.biz/tidbits16.htm">Verdelho</a> (AKA verdello but probably not <a href="http://www.intowine.com/verdejo-spain%E2%80%99s-signature-white-grape">verdejo</a> and definitely not <a href="http://www.winegeeks.com/grapes/281">verduzzo</a>) is a Portuguese grape variety that, notably, is grown on the island of Madeira. From Madeira, you can expect verdelho to be a fortified, oxidative wine with fresh acidity, definitely sweet, but a notch or two less so than <a href="http://www.madeirawine.com/html/malvasia.html">malmsey</a>. On the nearby Canary Islands, where the grape has been grown since the 17<sup>th</sup> century, verdelho is called “verdello,” and it is vinified dry. Our first verdello/verdelho of the evening is a natural wine from the <a href="http://www.vinatigo.com/">Viñátigo</a> winery in the Canaries. It is from the Spanish importer <a href="http://www.josepastorselections.com/Jose_Pastor_Selections/JPS.html">José Pastor</a>, an importer of non-boring Spanish wine. It is a dry and full-bodied but decidedly un-zaftig wine&#8211;a luscious, lip-smacking mouthful energized by zingy acidity. I am pairing it with grilled poussin, based on the following hypothesis: crisp, flavorful, young chicken skin + this verdello = happiness.</p>
<p>Our second verdelho of the night is a Madeira from the <a href="http://www.rarewineco.com/">Rare Wine Co</a>, made in collaboration with the Madeira house <a href="http://www.vinhosbarbeito.com/">Barbeito</a>. This verdelho is bottled as one of Rare Wine Co’s “historic” Madeiras, which are meant to reproduce the historical styles of Madeira as they were enjoyed in great quantities in the United States both along the Eastern seaboard and in the South until the end of the 19<sup>th</sup> century. It is a fine, relatively young Madeira (though I believe it might contain some wine that is up to 20 years old), and it exhibits strong, varietal characteristics of orange, orange zest, orange marmalade, lemon, toffee, and nuts.</p>
<p>If these wines please you, you should know that I am expecting a shipment soon from the Rare Wine Co., of old Madeiras, some of which are quite rare. I will be pouring them by the (small) glass for a song.</p>
<p><strong>Salad of fennel, citrus, sweet onion, basil</strong><br />
Pfeffingen “Blanc de Noir” of Spätburgunder 2009</p>
<p><strong>Grilled poussin, fried polenta,<br />
summer vegetables, tomato vinaigrette</strong></p>
<p>Tasting flight of wine<br />
Donkey and Goat grenache rosé 2009<br />
Bodegas Viñátigo Verdello 2007<br />
Occhipinti Frappato 2008</p>
<p><strong>Brown butter cake, nectarines,<br />
blueberries, whipped cream</strong><br />
Rare Wine Co Savannah “Verdelho” Madeira</p>
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		<title>July 26: Carbonic maceration sounds suspect, tastes delicious</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1219</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:17:06 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[/ monday supper]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique in which whole clusters of grapes are placed in a vat. If grapes had feelings and could suffer, I would feel bad about what happens next: the vat is closed and carbon dioxide is pumped into it, causing the grapes to suffocate. Don’t feel bad for the grapes, though, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique in which whole clusters of grapes are placed in a vat. If grapes had feelings and could suffer, I would feel bad about what happens next: the vat is closed and carbon dioxide is pumped into it, causing the grapes to suffocate. Don’t feel bad for the grapes, though, because grapes want to be wine! Through a mysterious process that remains not completely understood, suffocating grapes with carbon dioxide makes wine without the intervention of yeast. The result are wines that are distinctively fruity (I also often smell cinnamon and clove) and  low in tannins, making carbonic maceration a useful method for producing wines that are good to drink young and in the summertime when the sipping is easy.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/looking-for-natural-wines/eric_texier_on.html">Some feinschmeckers</a> believe that carbonic maceration is a technique that attenuates or erases terroir, and I think they are mostly correct. Carbonic maceration does leave a distinctive fingerprint upon a wine and wines made using this technique have a strong family resemblance, despite their place of origin. That said, it is a technique that lends itself to several variations, several of which will be on display this evening.</p>
<p>The first wine on our carbonic maceration flight is a crisp and crunchy old vine Beaujolais, from the rock star somnambulist <a href="http://louisdressner.com/Brun/">J-P Brun</a>. 2009 is a startlingly vintage in Beaujolais, and you can get a preview of just how good it is with a foursquare, basic AOC wine from someone like Brun who makes real wine (look for crus to start showing up a little later on). Brun’s ferments this wine via semi-carbonic maceration, a process in which grapes provide their own natural carbon dioxide. The second wine is a Languedocienne vin de table de France from <a href="http://savinho.com/france/page4.html">Axel Prüfer</a>. We’ve poured Prüfer’s wine in the past, but this is a different cuvee, and it is 100 percent grenache. Whereas Brun’s wine is refreshing and diaphanous, Prüfer’s wine is robust and chunky, but still, the fingerprint of carbonic maceration is evident&#8212;lots of chewy fruit, a note of cinnamon, and little tannin. The final wine on the flight is a zinfandel from our own shores. It is a  whole-cluster fermented wine made by Mike Dashe in the style of a cru Beaujolais, and it is a rare zinfandel that is low-ish in alcohol and also low in tannin.</p>
<p><strong>Heirloom tomato, buratta, basil salad</strong><br />
Bornard poulsard pétillant naturel NV</p>
<p><strong>Wolfe Ranch quail</strong><strong> stuffed</strong><strong> with figs,<br />
fig bread &#8211; arugula salad</strong><br />
Tasting flight of red wine <em>à la macération carbonique</em><br />
JP Brun “L’Ancienne” Beaujolais 2009<br />
Axel Prufer (Grenache) Vin de Table de France NV<br />
Dashe Cellars L’Enfants Terrible zinfandel 2009</p>
<p><strong>Grilled peach melba</strong><br />
Patricius Tokaji 3 putts</p>
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		<title>July 19: Lou pinela</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1217</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:47:41 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>A few years ago during a trip to Italy, I toured an old and unreconstructed vineyard in the heart of the Chianti Classico DOC region. In this vineyard, no longer exploited for commercially useful wine, I was shown some old school, Etruscan-style viticulture, including grape vines growing 20 feet vertically, supported by trees and high [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A few years ago during a trip to Italy, I toured an old and unreconstructed vineyard in the heart of the Chianti Classico DOC region. In this vineyard, no longer exploited for commercially useful wine, I was shown some old school, Etruscan-style viticulture, including grape vines growing 20 feet vertically, supported by trees and high trellises. This ancient form of viticulture, quite common in Italy at one time, has mostly disappeared. The owner of the property, not a winemaker herself, sold off most of her grapes to others, but she did make a bit of rough red wine in her small and primitive cantina (rat shit on the floor). Sergio, a robust man in his 80s, and himself a remnant of an earlier era of <a href="http://www.nathalied.net/Chianina_2006/eng/mezzadria.htm">mezzadria</a> (sharecropping), happily pointed out healthy rows of the well-known and traditional Tuscan varieties: sangiovese, canaiolo nero and bianco, colorino, and ciliegiolo. And then Sergio stopped and pointed to a row of vines, “I don’t know what these vines are&#8211;no one really knows that they are, but everyone here grows them.” These vines were likely an authothonous variety that at one time had a name (or possibly not), traditionally grown in Tuscany but now mostly forgotten, ripe (or not) for rediscovery.</p>
<p>The rediscovery and revalorization of autochthonous grape varieties, which is happening today across Europe, makes for very exciting times for wine drinkers. It’s startling to witness just how rich the biodiversity of grape varieties is, in the face of the <a href="http://www.winepros.org/wine101/vincyc-phylloxera.htm">insect-borne mass destruction</a> of European vineyards that, by the turn of the last century, had destroyed most of the vineyards in Europe. Some old varieties were lost forever, but thanks to stubborn vignerons who seem to care about their patrimony, some of the old varieties manage to hang on by a thread.</p>
<p>Italy, of course, has an extraordinary diversity of old varieties and I can point to Walter Massa’s rediscovery of the very non-boring grape, <a href="http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/20080703.html">timorasso</a>, as one very happy result of the archaic revival. The same process is happening in France (with menu pineau, a white grape that no one really cared about until a vigneron like <a href="http://www.puzelat.com/?page_id=156">Thierry Puzelat</a> put it back on the map, and with prunelard, a red grape that was lost until <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&amp;newsId=20100610006009&amp;newsLang=en">Robert Plageoles</a> rediscovered it); Spain (<a href="http://www.ijalba.com/">Ijalba</a>’s varietally bottled graciano, a grape that, in the 19th century, was more highly valued by the Riojana than tempranillo, or the exciting wines from the Canary Islands imported by <a href="http://www.josepastorselections.com/Jose_Pastor_Selections/JPS.html">José Pastor</a>); Portugal (<a href="http://www.luispato.com/english/index.php">Luis Pato</a>’s wines, both red and white), and to a lesser extent, Austria (<a href="http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/gemischter-satz/">gemischter satz</a>).</p>
<p>This Monday we are pouring the rare Slovenian autochthon, pinela, imported by our friends at <a href="http://www.bluedanubewine.com/">Blue Danube</a>. This white wine is made by Miha Batič, whose family has been making wine in Slovenia only since the 16th century. Like all of Batič’s wines, the grapes are grown organically and it is fermented using wild yeast. Oak treatment and added sulfur are minimal, and the result, with just a few years of bottle age, is about as honest a representation of what this grape can do that I can imagine.</p>
<p>I do not know what can be said about <a href="http://www.batic.si/eng/pinela_high.php">pinela</a>, a grape for which I have no reference point. Is it a “correct” wine? Without a canonical reference point for judging <em>typicité</em> (e.g., in the Loire, the red wines of <a href="http://louisdressner.com/Baudry/">Baudry</a> or <a href="http://www.thewinedoctor.com/loire/alliet.shtml">Alliet</a> are reference points with which to know and judge other reds from the Loire), I cannot say whether it is correct or not, and I guess I do not really care. Futilely grasping for analogies, I can say that pinela does not taste like sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, or furmint: pinela, to bastardize Gertrude Stein, is pinela, is pinela. What I will say, without fearing that I am overselling this wonderful, strange, and complex wine, is that it is medium-to-full bodied, with good acidity on the entry. The wine tastes of fresh pear, and it has a mysterious, curious, and compelling mid-palate of fennel and licorice. I believe we are the only venue for tasting this wine by the glass in Los Angeles, so please stop for a drop.</p>
<p><strong>Wild salmon croquettes with cherry tomato, avocado salad</strong><br />
Bornard poulsard pétillant naturel “Tant Mieux” NV</p>
<p><strong>Grilled black cod, braised fennel and olives with tomato pesto broth</strong><br />
Tasting flight of wine<br />
JP Brun Beaujolais “L’Ancienne” 2009<br />
Lioco Chardonnay “Sonoma” 2009<br />
Batič pinela 2004</p>
<p><strong>Blackberry pie and ice cream</strong><br />
Piétri-Giraud Banyuls</p>
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		<title>July 12: Jimenez Farm roast pork</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1212</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:45:45 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Salad of salt cod, agretti, baby potatoes, tomatoes, walnut oil
Casa Coste Piane Prosecco di Valdobbiadene NV</p>
<p>Slo-roasted Jimenez Farms pork, fennel pollen, roast fennel, olives
Tasting flight of wine
Zoltan Demeter Tokaji Harslevelü 2007
JP Brun Beaujolais “L’Ancienne” 2009
Tissot Poulsard “Vielles Vignes” 2009</p>
<p>Fried pound cake, apricot crème fraîche ice cream
Patricius Tokaji 3 Putts</p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Salad of salt cod, agretti, baby potatoes, tomatoes, walnut oil</strong><br />
Casa Coste Piane Prosecco di Valdobbiadene NV</p>
<p><strong>Slo-roasted Jimenez Farms pork, fennel pollen, roast fennel, olives</strong><br />
Tasting flight of wine<br />
Zoltan Demeter Tokaji Harslevelü 2007<br />
JP Brun Beaujolais “L’Ancienne” 2009<br />
Tissot Poulsard “Vielles Vignes” 2009</p>
<p><strong>Fried pound cake, apricot crème fraîche ice cream</strong><br />
Patricius Tokaji 3 Putts</p>
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		<title>June 28th: A walk on the wild side</title>
		<link>http://www.louonvine.com/?p=1208</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:22:22 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[<p class="wp-caption-text">Jules Chauvet as a young man.</p>
<p>Beneath my deceptive armament of grey-flannel suited banality, and on mornings after drowsy, overstuffed evenings at stately Wayne manor, spent in front of the crackling fire whilst cracking English walnuts and sipping vintage port with a sliver of aged Stilton, beats the untamed heart of a savage. It is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_1210" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 249px"><a href="http://www.louonvine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/adamwest_batman.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1210" title="adamwest_batman" src="http://www.louonvine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/adamwest_batman-239x300.jpg" alt="Jules Chauvet as a young man." width="239" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Jules Chauvet as a young man.</p></div>
<p>Beneath my deceptive armament of grey-flannel suited banality, and on mornings after drowsy, overstuffed evenings at stately Wayne manor, spent in front of the crackling fire whilst cracking English walnuts and sipping vintage port with a sliver of aged Stilton, beats the untamed heart of a savage. It is a heart that craves adventure wherever it may be found, and on Monday adventure may be found  in our little strip mall wine bar as we serve wild boar sausage and a flight of wild wines that are (mostly) made without any sulfur and are fermented (100 percent) with wild yeast.</p>
<p>Sulfur is not a super villain:  in wine, it <a href="http://waterhouse.ucdavis.edu/winecomp/so2.htm">does not cause headaches</a>, except for the very few people who are exceptionally sensitive to it. (And for them, wine is hardly the worst offender.) Concentrated sulfuric acid is toxic and noxious to the user, but sulfur is something  that our bodies require in trace quantities and it is an element that exists naturally in soil. It is also a traditional winemaking ingredient that was known in antiquity and that continues to find its place in almost all wine made today. In concentrated form, it is a useful antiseptic, perfect for sanitizing winemaking equipment and the barrels winemakers use for fermenting and aging wine. In addition, sulfur can fix the anthocyanins in a young wine, so that the wine maintains its color as it ages. Sulfur can also be sprinkled directly on grapes when vignerons do not entirely trust the cleanliness of the fruit (for example, with machine harvested fruit) or if a vigneron is worried about offending spoilage yeast or bacteria in her winery or bottling facility.</p>
<p>If sulfur is not a super villain, why would a vigneron choose to omit this useful element? The vignerons who minimize its use or avoid it entirely do so less because it is unhealthy for human beings and other living things, but because they believe that sulfur masks the aromatic complexity of wine, even if its presence also makes winemaking more predictable.</p>
<p>It is not easy to make a good wine without sulfur, and yet there are growers who are having good success with their <em>sans soufre</em> wines. How long do these wines age? I don’t think we have conclusive data on this, but for <em>vins de soif</em> &#8212; fresh wines meant to be consumed young, such as the wines we are serving on Monday – who really cares?</p>
<p>Cases in point: I tender to you two French wines, both made without sulfur during vinification or during bottling. The first is a poulsard from Tissot, a wine that has an added dimension of vibrancy and limpidity that is, I like to think, a function of its not having been exposed to sulfur. Tissot does uses a bit of sulfur at bottling for most of his wines, but for this cuvée, he uses none at all. (He’s required by law to state that his wine contains sulfur, because all wines do contain a small amount of this natural element. The only way to make a wine that is entirely devoid of sulfur is to sterile filter the wine.) But whether it’s an absence of sulfur or not, I cannot keep my lips away from this wine that walks softly and carries a big stick. The second sans soufre wine we are pouring is a gamay from Touraine. It is more darkly pigmented than the poulsard, but when you drink them side by side, you can easily see the affinity between these grape varieties.</p>
<p><strong>Fresh flageolets with Broken Arrow wild boar sausage and radicchio</strong><br />
Parigot Bourgogne Mousseaux Rouge NV</p>
<p><strong>Muscovy duck breast, roast fig, frisée and arugula salad</strong><br />
Tasting flight of wine<br />
Tissot Poulsard Vielles Vignes 2009<br />
Marionnet Touraine Gamay 2009<br />
Bondonio Grignolino 2007</p>
<p><strong>Apricot-blackberry bread pudding</strong><br />
Laffite-Teston Pacherenc du Vic Bilh</p>
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