To Every wine I’ve loved before…

I remember that 1990 Nuits St George at Jean George so long ago.  And there was the Corton Charlemagne in the 18^th century caves of Latour. Aged and amber white burgundies at Jadot.  A thimbleful of 1964 Lafite-Rothschild (it was a half bottle shared among 8).

While these were great vintages, it’s the circumstance I remember so vividly, because what makes a wine truly memorable is usually the setting in which it’s enjoyed…the pleasure of the table.  While I’m a little spoiled in the fine wine department, it doesn’t have to be all pomp–a backyard BBQ makes me so happy in summer.  Friends and food—they can make a good wine unforgettable.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt when the wines are from Burgundy, but the point is that wines do not always need a white tablecloth to shine.

On a wine trip last year, I had an impromptu 2004 Dierberg chardonnay with Jim Dierberg in his majestic home in Happy Canyon, outside Santa Barbara.  We thought that we would be guided around the spectacular Neverland-scale property by a winery rep, but Jim showed up, himself, and after a tour over hill and dale in his Range Rover, he invited us in to share a glass–such an unexpected treat!  We learned so much about the man, the wine, the land;  a brief, but lovely visit and memory.

Wine and food.  The exponential pleasure derived from the combo still leaves me giddy.  Just last spring, a bottle of the unusual, distinctive (and inexpensive) 07 Conti di Buscareto Lacrima di Morro d’Alba at the Little Owl in the West Village made a phenomenal meal even more so.  I bought it for the store and when I opened a bottle, it was so…different.  The wine had been but one part of the perfect tsunami that was a super-memorable evening.  It’s still interesting and intriguing, but at the Little Owl, it was sublime.  A 2003 Sea Smoke “Southing” had the same effect at Blackeyed Susan’s:  good food became outrageously so.  I’m still dreaming of the Guy Charlemagne cuvee our hosts popped for us just last month in Ireland–a perfectly lavish wine that reflected the warmth and generosity of our friends.

A 1969 Remoriquet, a Kistler chardonnay, some Puligny-Montrachet…the wines of 2009 could be the start of a great musical, or at least a nice haiku.

Top 5 Wines I’d like to find under the tree:

07 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, $60 (sale $48 at currentVintage)

Lush, round and mouthfilling decadence.  They sell this by the ($24) glass at the Waverly Inn in NYC, a restaurant known for it’s extravagances, ie $55 truffle mac-n-cheese, no telephone reservations, larger-than-life clientele, that mural of who’s whos…The food is good, but not great, and the attitude borders on Theatre of the Absurd, but somehow the experience always exceeds the sum of its parts–and a glass of this wine plays a big part!

07 Radio-Coteau “Savoy” Chardonnay, $56 (sale $45)

This wine stood out in a line-up of standouts at my birthday dinner.   Even after magnums of Pax rosé and Bouchard Batard-Montrachet and others were served, this elegant Sonoma Coast chardonnay, with hint of pear and lots of finesse, provoked head-turning, label studying reactions from most.  This also reminds me of the Radio-Coteau “Las Colinas” syrah we had at American Seasons, which reminds me of another night at AS with a Loring pinot noir…

02 Bouchard Pere et Fils “Clos St Marc”, Nuits St Georges, $90 (sale $72)

What we love about Burgundy—nuance.  Lip-smacking, yet layered with a long and lovely finish. A  savory and sophisticated pinot that is ready to drink.  A favorite of my Mark—we savored it with burgers on a warm summer night.

05 Larkin Cabernet Franc, $72 (sale $58)

Sexy & voluptuous.  It was love at first sip with this one.  Reminds me of the old Secret commercial:  Strong enough for a man, yet made for a woman!  I don’t know if this is intentional, but I can just imagine charismatic Sean Larkin crafting wines with women in mind.  A Nantucket Wine Festival favorite, check out the cute photo of Sean in our previous post on him in the May 2009 archive (above right).

98 Billecart Salmon “Cuvee Elisabeth”, $175 (sale $140)

Another birthday treat, this champagne is pure beauty:  Stunning bottle, gorgeous pink-amber color, lovely to savor.

While most NV champagnes are carefully calibrated to maintain a consistent “House style”, a vintage champagne offers a snapshot of a particular vineyard in a spectacular year.  The house of Billecart-Salmon, established in 1818, is known for their rosés, with the “Cuveé Elisabeth” being the pinnacle.  This sophisticated, velvety and complex champagne fascinates.  I am thrilled that a champagne of this beauty and style has my name on it:  Elisabeth!

All I want for Christmas is…any of these wines that remind me of some really wonderful times in 2009.

High praise–so lovely to receive!

As one who recently gushed over a number of boutiques and restaurants throughout  Ireland, it was fun to be on the receiving end recently when currentVintage was mentioned in several other web blogs.  It’s certainly grand to get national press, ahem, ( Lucky, Food & Wine) and recognition on high volume websites (Concierge, Indagare, Frommer’s, Self), but it’s particularly gratifying when freelance writers or individuals just like what you do and shout it to the world.  It’s also fine if they just mention you in passing—they were here and they took note.
Anyway, we just got the nicest write up on a very cool blog called “Corks + Caftans”.  The blog is written by a couple, Rob & Carey, and captioned “He loves wine; she loves fashion.”  They each post fun and interesting pieces, a lifestyle mix of useful wine & travel notes, fashion references and intimate anecdotes.  I have been reading their blog off and on for sometime and concluded that I would definitely like to hang out with them.  Thus,  I was especially delighted for Carey to write a little piece on currentVintage.

“If Corks + Caftans were an actual store, I think it’d be reminiscent of this lovely shop tucked away on a cobblestone street near the harbor at 4 Easy Street. The vintage selection is so insane… I almost bought a baby blue sequined tunic with a scalloped hem and am still kicking myself for this lapse in judgment. Walk among carefully selected accessories, dresses, racks of wine, fur-collared coats… it’s like being at Willy frackin’ Wonka’s.”

Corks + Caftans blog

Back in the summer, we were featured in the Food & Wine magazine blog by editor Jen Murphy.  She asked me to come up with some wine and summer fashion pairings and opened her post with this:

“It takes talent to match just the right wine with a dish. Some would also argue that it takes talent to match the perfect handbag or heels with a dress. That makes Elisabeth English, the owner of Nantucket’s Current Vintage, super-talented.”—Jen Murphy

Elisabeth English on Food & Wine

Another fun 2009 post featuring currentVintage was this one from The Fashion Examiner Blog Spot.  I was amused by their take on cV and the profile provided…

THE VIBE: Part Palm Beach vintage with some luxe items thrown in partnered with some select wine offering such as Sofia Coppola’s wine spritzers.

HIGHLIGHTS: the vintage Lilly Pulitzer cocktail and patio
dresses and the pink bug eyed sunglasses.

ON SALE: An adorable sail/architectural print sheath dress for under $100

WE BOUGHT: a cute brown pull on skirt with an embroidered mushroom cap for $35. The owner joked, “You just bought the cheapest thing on the Island”.

BROWNIE POINTS: The relaxed vibe and friendly owner who let us linger for close to an hour trying dresses on.

I also got a huge kick out of the title of this blog post from travel writer, Cathy Che, entitled “Preppy Nantucket: Alienated by Lilly Pulitzer without Irony”.  Che appreciated the natural beauty of Nantucket, but lamented the lack of originality in style and diversity on island. As I much as I revere the real Lilly Pulitzer, we could hardly be called preppy here at currentVintage, and fortunately, Che seemed to get our brand of cool:

“There are a few edgy shops like Current Vintage (refurbished Lilly Pulitzer and other chic vintage dresses plus fine wines) and Posh (fine handcrafted jewelry)”

“Preppy Nantucket: Alienated by Lilly Pulitzer without Irony”

The last blog post I’ll mention had particular significance for me, because it turned out I knew the author, although she did not know that she was writing about me!  Rebecca Chapa, an accomplished sommelier and wine educator, has a wine consulting company called “Tannin Management…Taking the Bitterness Out of Wine”.  She has an extensive restaurant wine background, working at Montrachet, Nobu and Tribeca Grill in New York, and as the first sommelier at Jardiniere in San Francisco, earning a “Best of Award of Excellence” from the Wine Spectator for their list.

Although a wine professional, Rebecca understands that wine can be enjoyed without fanfare.  Her blog, www.rebeccachapa.com, explores wine, spirits, travel and culture.  It was through the blog on “Nantucket: Off-Season” that I found her post mentioning currentVintage and realized that we used to work together at the Brotherhood in the early 90s!

“They have an amazing selection of lesser known cult wines including Scholium Project!  Pretty cool to see that someone here
knows what they’re doing.”—Rebecca Chapa on currentVintage

As one who loves to champion the elements of the currentVintage lifestyle, from winemakers to designers to destinations to bloggers, it’s nice to give and to receive.

Arriving in Dublin at 4 am was not ideal.  Our flight from Boston caught a tailwind and deposited us in Ireland an hour earlier than what would have already been too early.  Thank goodness for the charming and sympathetic clerk at the Westbury, who taking pity upon us, snuck us into our room 10 hours before check in without charging us for an extra night.  We would have been happy with the maid’s closet, but the Junior suite we got was terrific—spacious but comfy with a pair of fab modern (not dated) burgundy velvet chairs.  We slept ‘til 11, then began our 2-week holiday with lunch at Dunne & Crescenzi, which was perfect.

The reason to go to Ireland is for the culture.  Not just the history and landscape, but the culture.  Even if you think you aren’t into beer drinking and traditional Irish music, you have to hang at the pub.  While the waiters and hotel staff are always cheerful, it is in the pubs where you really meet locals, and the people are where it’s at–Irish people are so friendly, so clever, so generous, so lovely.  Obviously, people make the country wherever you go, but when you are not traveling in an exotic place, but an English-speaking country similar to your own, meeting people is your only real window into any nuances of culture that distinguish the two.  The Lonely planet says ‘don’t go to Ireland without bringing a raincoat and a hollow leg’.  While there’s some truth to that–it will rain almost everyday, but usually not for too long…then again, sometimes for two days–the drinking part isn’t 100% true.  We made friends even when we were obviously pathetic lightweight yanks sipping Carlsberg by the glass in lieu of downing the black stuff by the pint.  Ok, maybe we participated a little more fully than that, but you don’t have to…

Renting a car has the added bonus of Irish radio.  We listened to the Jerry Ryan show everyday and thus learned of current politics and issues, as well as the national obsession with “The X Factor”–the UK version of “America’s Got Talent”.  Silly me had never heard of “Jedward” before November 4, but I did not go one day in Ireland without hearing or seeing of the duo.  And talk about timing–we were there for the two heartbreaking Ireland-France World cup qualifying games, the outcome of which is still being contested due to the blatantly illegal winning goal, now known as “Henri-Gate”, after the French culprit.

Although there are plenty of happening restaurants and modern cooking in Ireland, the country is still not known for the food.  Maybe it was because,  coming from Nantucket and New York, we are pretty spoiled, or, perhaps because it is hard to be dazzled when you eat out so many days in a row, but we were less than euphoric over most of our Irish dining experiences. That being the case, the high points were really high, so I thought I would emphasize the food highlights of our journey as well as the sights.  The reality is, you can’t see every ruin, love every meal or drink in every pub, so here is my list of what is really worth it.

One caveat about fall/winter travels:  We were traveling in November and it is definitely the off-season for tourist destinations like Kerry and Dingle.  There was still plenty to do and see and no shortage of beauty and charm, but it did mean that a lot of places were only open weekends, if at all.  In addition to the off-season handicap, many restaurants all over are closed Sundays and smaller stores close Sunday & Monday.  Not a surprise coming from off-season Nantucket, but sometimes disappointing, nonetheless.  The worst part is, it’s still expensive!  The off-season specials only kept it from being very expensive, especially with the flagging dollar.  Rugged landscapes, beautiful lakes, lovely people, green pastures, gray skies, rainbows, castles, sheep…Ireland is visual splendor at any time of year.

Where & What–Dublin

Dublin is a blast. We had so much fun there, landing with a friend at McDaid’s (just off Grafton, right across from the Westbury –Hillary Clinton was spotted there recently) for a Guinness on our first night.   Most of our adventures were on the Southside, since we only had three days.  I chose the cultural tour, ie eating & drinking, Vintage shopping with my darling friend, Kate,  and admiring the footwear at Brown Thomas, while Mark did the historical city bus tour–the Guinness Factory, etc.  One of our Dublin highlights was a wonderful theatre piece, Johnny Patterson, at Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar.

Stay:

Westbury Hotel—location, location, location;  corporate sort of lobby, but excellent rooms

Eat:

Dunne & Crescenzi—Excellent Italian;  everything was fabulous

The Winding Stair—Just over the ha’penny bridge.  Good, not great–but bread & butter pudding was to die for. You cannot overestimate the pounds of Kerrygold in this dessert…like heaven on the way to calorie-hell. fyi, Bread Pudding and Sticky toffee pudding were consistently delish all over Ireland

Fallon & Byrne—A trendy downstairs hall serving wine and small plates below a stupendous Dean & Deluca-like market.  The best Smoked salmon on brown bread we had in Ireland!

Gruel:  Awesome corned Beef sandwich and hot soup for a cold day

Queen of Tarts:  Plum tart with vanilla ice cream was to die for…go here after soup at Gruel.

Powerscourt Townhouse restaurant (street level):  THE BEST SCONE IN IRELAND.  Go ahead—jam, Irish butter, clotted cream.  You will not have one like this again.

See:

Trinity College Old Library—If you see one sight, it must be this.  Book of Kells (or ‘Page of Kells’–there are only 2 pages on view:) and Long Library, with the library being the real attraction.

Drink:

McDaid’s pub for great pint of Guinness

John Kehoe on Grafton also good

Baileys Bar on Duke St for UNBELIEVABLE hot chocolate with Baileys outside under heat lamps

Music:

Hughes Bar on the Northside—the real deal old Irish pub with killer “Trad” (traditional) music–worth seeking out!

Krystle: IF you’re in to the VIP club scene, this is the place to go for it!  Two floors, indoors, outdoors = not boring

Shop:

Brown Thomas shoe department—just for appreciation!

Powercourt Townhouse—gorgeous exposed brick, cool boutiques, pop-up vintage store on Saturdays!

Avoca Handweavers—cool Anthropology-esque store with killer café for lunch or coffee and sweets

Weekend Markets!

Meeting House Lane market had all kinds of food vendors; Cow Lane = cool handmade stuff

Dublin Places we heard were great and WISH we could have patronized:

Toner’s Pub, Ely Winebar, Bar Italia

Where & What–Dublin to Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a vibrant, beautiful medieval town with a happening arts scene that is also the home of another great Ireland brew, Smithwick’s Ale.  The main attraction is the castle and we stayed in close proximity.  The castle itself is more about scale than opulence, but the grounds are lovely.  Kilkenny seemed like a really nice place to live.

En route:

Stop at Glendalough in Co. Wicklow for an hour or so.  Monastic church ruins on a lake…So beautiful and magical, it feels like St. Kevin just left.

Stay:

The Butler House—B & B manse adjacent to grounds of Kilkenny castle.  Not inexpensive, but wonderful for a night.  The president of Ireland stayed in our suite two weeks before we did…aren’t upgrades grand?

Eat:

Kilkenny Design Center Kitchen—Breakfast, lunch, or dessert;  serves breakfast for Butler House guests–one of the best Irish Breakfasts we had.  Basically, an upscale cafeteria with really good food.

See:

Kilkenny Castle–home to 650 years of the Butler Family

St. Canice’s Cathedral–great!  Climb the round tower and see the tombs of the some of the Butler clan

Black Abbey—small but great if you talk to the Friar and get the history

Shop:

Kilkenny Design Center—a group of amazing art and modern boutiques featuring cool, functional clothing, furniture and home goods made in Ireland.

Where & What–Kilkenny to Kinsale

Postcard-pretty Kinsale is called the Nantucket (or Newport) of Ireland.  We enjoyed just walking, dining and hanging for a couple of days.

En Route:

Awe-inspiring Rock of Cashel is worthwhile, even in the rain. Picturesque Lismore is nearly shut down in winter, but we enjoyed looking at the closed for the winter sights and had the most fun cup of coffee at the Rustic Cafe.

Stay:

The Old Bank House—nice, comfy B&B in the best location

Eat:

Fishy Fishy Cafe—A MUST; lunch only:(

Jola’s—absolutely gorgeous room with exposed brick, chandelier and fireplace.  John Dory with sultanas was amazing; local cheeses

Drink:

The Spaniard—Cozy, fun Irish pub with great trad music and peat fireplace;  nice walk up the hill

The Bulmen in gorgeous Summercove—the spot for an afternoon outdoor pint, even in winter

Blue Haven—When you want more than a pub; nice for a glass of wine by the fire

See:

Sunrise on the harbor

Old Head golf course—scenic 20 minute drive from town.  It’s posted closed/private, but you can’t believe most signs in Ireland

Shop:

Granny’s Bottom Drawer—Adorable store with eclectic mix of vintage linens, local designer wear and home goods

Where & What–Kinsale to Kenmare

Coastal Western Cork is breathtaking, even in the rain, as we saw it.

En Route:

Timoleague Abbey–off R600.  Moody, photogenic c1305 gothic abbey ruins just 12 mi. west of Kinsale that house a covey of pigeons

Drombeg Stone Circle–off R597.  Worth a look–a mini-Stonehenge sitting on a hill.  A 1500 yr. old slice of history surrounded by pasture.

Bantry Bay–Homemade soup and Fish & Chips on a rainy day at Fish Kitchen on New St in Bantry was amazing (upstairs above fishmonger);  Shopping at Gazelle, on Bridge St (across from Water Wheel) was even more so! Personable English shop owner, great Irish and European designs.  (New St and Bridge St are the same street–name changes several times as it does on most city center streets in Ireland)

Stay:

Brook Lane–an attractive “boutique” hotel on the edge of Kenmare;  the look is mod and not always successful.

Eat:

Jam Cafe–When you have had it with the full Irish breakfast (only in Ireland would oatmeal be a first course), go to Jam for a coffee and scone by the fire.

Salvados–A cute little Spanish tapas and pizza place

Where & What–Kenmare to Dingle Peninsula

Entering the Ring of Kerry was amazing, just as they say.  In Autumn, the hills are not just brown, but every shade of yellow to orange to brown, which makes for a rich landscape tapestry.  We opted not to do the whole ring and proceeded to the Dingle peninsula.  The coastal road into Dingle was nice, but the rugged coast beyond Dingle town is what’s really special.  Leaving via the Connor Pass to the north side of the Dingle peninsula was awesome, as well.

En Route: Stop in Killarney National Park for a few hours and visit Torc Waterfall and Muckross House.  The town of Aghadoe outside Killarney is charming.

Stay:

Benner’s Hotel, Dingle–not the cheapest, but comfy and convenient plus a Dingle landmark.  It’s also a place with a little life and ambiance in the off-season!

Drink:

Irish coffee at Mrs. Benner’s Bar

See:

Slea Head–The spectacular loop drive beyond Dingle through tiny Irish-speaking villages was one of the highlights of our trip.

Beehive Huts–(historic rock monk cells) there are some just before Slea Head on someone’s private property.  The owner sits in a booth and his dog opens the window with his paw when anyone walks up.  That was worth the price of admission right there.

Many in the food and wine world are mourning the closing of  Gourmet magazine after more nearly 70 years of publication.  What does that mean for the cerebral epicurean?  How does that reflect on the populist palate?  What does it bode for the future of print media?  How could they do that to Ruth Reichl?!  For me, it is more sentimental…

By chance, Gourmet magazine changed my life.

I found my reluctant self in Clemson, SC in January1989.  I had taken a couple of years off from school while playing around in Nantucket, and now it was time to return, finish courses and graduate.

I was in a somewhat ideal living situation.  The apartment at 8 Lakewood Terrace was nothing to brag about, but the location was great and I shared the space with two absentee roommates.  The $88 each/month was such that my girlfriends didn’t mind paying just to have a place for the two weekends a year their parents came to visit.   So there I was, alone in my capacious cinder block 3 bedroom apartment, wondering how I was going to abide a year in this small college town.

My friends and I were a few years older than the average student and having ‘been there, done that’ with the party scene, we were searching for entrée into a new social context.  We liked to go to restaurants but, other than Los Hermanos (the local favorite Mexican place where I worked in a peach tiered ruffle Mexican dress), there were few options beyond boiled peanuts and beer.  An invitation came to me in the form of a subscription renewal card to Gourmet, intended for the previous tenants.  I had never heard of Gourmet magazine, but as the proud owner of the Silver Palate cookbooks and having dined at 21 Federal, et al on Nantucket, I was certain that the “Magazine of Good Living” was for me, ie, I had a lot to learn.

Without hesitation, I checked the box, wrote my check for $10 and mailed it in.  In retrospect, I’m surprised I did not overnight it, so electrified as I was at the thought of possibilities the magazine would bring…(probably because there was no overnight delivery back then.  Think about it—in 1989 there were no cell phones, pc’s–or even affordable cashmere sweaters.)

I cannot remember the first issue exactly, but I know I read it cover to cover.  The Paris Journal, The London Journal. Salzburg, Bangkok, Sydney and Maui.  Guides to all of these places I had not yet been. I struggled through Gerald Asher’s Wine Journal and memorized reviews of Gotham Bar & Grill. This was not always enjoyable, given my lack of worldly experience with fine wine and New York dining, but I must have had a sense of foreshadowing, given what a big part both play in my life today!

“Gastronomie sans Argent”—that was more my style—and I always looked for the little clock symbol, indicating a quick preparation, since the reality was that even those recipes would take me hours to complete.  From fondue parties to New Years Eve feasts, Gourmet represented the lifestyle I wanted to lead.

Although I had no knife skills—or even knives–I had a party to test my kitchen prowess, and my new friends loved it.  We made it a regular event;  I spent all of my tips on cooking ingredients and my guests brought bottles of Taylor and, if they were feeling spendy, Gundlach Bundschu, to drink.

I subscribed to Gourmet all through the 90s and continued my self-taught education as a home cook.  Thus, it is not surprising that Gourmet recipes were a big part of  my portfolio when I was hired to open a ‘gourmet’ sandwich & coffee shop on Nantucket in 1994.  I continued to mine the Gourmet files when I joined another restaurant, Provisions, and, less than a decade after the first subscription, began my Provisions Catering business.

From the beautiful photography to the exotic destinations to the lofty musings to the black & white restaurant ads for La Cote Basque and Le Perigord in the back, I relished it all.  Eventually, I got to many of the restaurants and destinations that Gourmet had first introduced me to, but more importantly, I came to understand the essential Gourmet message:  the appreciation of ‘good living” as a way of life.  At Provisions, good living included our homemade cookies, soups and fresh bread, as well as the most esoteric hors d’oeuvre I could dream up.  It includes organic produce, fresh sushi and abstaining from jug wine.  It has resulted in a greater appreciation for Bartlett corn, South Carolina peaches and Juice Bar ice cream.  It has led to pleasures of the table I may have never known.

These days, I own currentVintage,  a wine & vintage boutique, and spend several months a year traveling to interesting destinations all over the US and beyond, particularly New York.

Yes, Gourmet magazine changed my life.

Alex and Elyse…sounds like a famous couple, like Jack & Diane or Peaches & Herb. They are famous, but alas, they are not a couple, although for this story I am trying to make them one…because I love them both.

Alex Gambal and his then wife moved with their kids to France in 1993.  They were looking for an experience abroad and a serendipitous meeting with famed wine importer Becky Wasserman led to that experience and then some.  What began as a stage, resulted in his enrollement in viticulture school, and voila, in 1997, Maison Alex Gambal was born.

Ten years earlier, Ray Coursen and his wife were working on Cape Cod.  One day, Ray offhandedly asked Nancy when she’d be ready to move to California to start making wine. “Tomorrow,” she said, and off to the wild west, they went.  Ray worked his way from the tasting room to the cellar, becoming winemaker in a matter of  a few years.  In 1987, the Coursens founded Elyse, producing 286 cases of Morisoli Vineyard Zin, still one of their preferred fruit sources today.

Ray is known for Zinfandel and Rhone varietals.  His wines are extracted, rich and voluptuous.  Alex deals exclusively with chardonnay and pinot noir, and his style is typically more elegant and restrained.

Alex makes about 5000 cases of wines/year; Elyse makes nearly double.  Alex makes 18 wines, 60% white and 40% red.  Of Ray’s 20 or so bottlings, of whites there are only two.

Stylistically, the wines of Alex Gambal and Elyse don’t have so much in common, yet on many other levels they do.  Both Alex and Ray are negociants with both eyes on the vineyard.  They each hold long-term contracts with trusted growers to ensure the quality of the fruit.  They each own a few of their own vineyards.  Ray went to school to study agriculture.  Alex tends his own garden.  They are both artists, farmers and scientists, as that is what is required to own a winery and produce consistently good wine.  Elyse wines are on all the great lists in Napa.  Alex’s are on some of the best lists in Beaune.

They are both good friends to the Nantucket Wine Festival and they share a passion for wine, food and life.

These days, countless points and accolades later, Alex and Elyse continue to produce amazing wines:  Food friendly, fruit-centric, hand-crafted wines from their respective corners of the world.  They are truly living the dream.

What a nice couple!

“I came in frankly not knowing the first thing about Burgundy or how to make wine, but to have an experience with my family, trying to enrich our lives. If things turned out well, that would be great. But if it didn’t we’d go home to our former life.”—Alex Gambal

“When I first saw how small Burgundy is and how diverse it is I realized that it would take me a lifetime to begin to understand it. That’s what I love about Burgundy, because I continue to learn something new about it every day. That’s what makes it so wonderful, and also so maddening. Here we have two principal grape types and how can it be so different from one little place to the next. Burgundy isn’t a spectator sport, it’s a contact sport. You really have to be willing to get in and get your hands dirty. Otherwise, forget about it.”—Alex Gambal

“In our winemaking we let nature express each vintage uniquely, by using indigenous yeasts which are naturally on the grapes. We make our wines following Burgundian tradition : our whites are barrel fermented and both red and white wines are matured on their lies with just one racking prior to bottling.”–Alex Gambal

Re. the 2009 harvest:

“When one controls all from A-Z, and mother nature provides 6 months of glorious weather, the results are easy to see and taste.” Alex Gambal,  September 2009

“I also recommend Alex Gambal’s 2007 Bourgogne Blanc.  It’s another wine that delivers more than its appellation suggests, I suspect because it comes entirely from Cote d’Or Chardonnay (the law allows Bourgogne Blanc to be made from grapes grown throughout Burgundy, including the Côte Chalonnaise and Côte Mâconnaise).  Gambal waited to harvest the Chardonnay in 2007– and it paid off.  I guess it’s in his nature to gamble.”—Michael Apstein, www.winereviewonline.com, July 2009

“A meal without wine is eating; a meal with wine is dining – it’s a conversation, an event. It’s what wine is about.”—Ray Coursen

“Winemaking is cooking without a flame. Great chefs search for the best ingredients and then carefully prepare them so the layers of flavors in the food all reach the table. They’re constantly searching for wonderful fruit to work with. Besides the vineyard at the winery, we’ve been fortunate to find amazing fruit from vineyards stretching from Carneros to Howell Mountain. As a fellow winemaker once said, “The best wines come from the vineyards with the most footprints in them.” –Ray Coursen (s2wines.com)

Re. C’est Si Bon:

“This was the favorite wine that we would all take a little pull from in the wine room.”—Ray Coursen

Re. winemaking:

“I like a little oak, but I don’t want it to be overpowering – I want to taste the fruit. I love wines that pair well with food…When I make a wine, my tastes and techniques will influence the process, but what’s most important is the fruit. The fruit dictates what the wine will be. We’re fortunate to work with an amazing group of growers and vineyards, whose fruit keeps taking us to wonderful places.”—Ray Coursen

Re. visiting Elyse:

“This is a MUST  for all serious wine drinkers.   It does not have a fancy tasting room, no gross monuments to oneself here, no long driveways with valet parking,  no cheese-and-figs,  no members-only library, no bubble room,  no car collection,  no tram, no tractor ride, no cablecar,  no castle, no outdoor sculpture garden,  no ponds,  not even pistachios…if you know what I mean.
This is Napa the original way.   A small tasting room  with giant, delicious wines that do all the promoting themselves.   This is THE BEST OF NAPA. “—Brenda S., NY, NY, March 2008 (www.yelp.com)

Re. Elyse Wines:

“This excellent winery continues to turn out a bevy of intriguing wines, including both Zinfandels and Rhone Ranger offerings.” -Robert Parker (June 2008)

Alex Gambal Blog:

http://www.alexgambal.com/blog/

Ray Coursen video:

http://www.winetastetv.com/video/tastings/grenache/2315/article%3C!—raycoursenelysewinery—%3E

I first met Ray Coursen in Yountville in 2003 and have been fortunate to dine and lodge with him several times since.  Most day’s you can find him lunching at Redd with fellow winemakers such as John Arns and Jim Barbour.  Alex’s wines I discovered years ago at the Nantucket Wine Festival and I have also enjoyed clinking glasses with him in Beaune.  His cuvée is in an historical courtyard just inside the town wall of Beaune.  I look forward to seeing them both this winter and again at the Nantucket Wine Festival in May.  Elyse and Maison Alex Gambal wines are available at currentVintage.

Tasting of Alex & Elyse Wines

4-7, Wednesday, September 30, 2009

currentVintage, 4 Easy St, Nantucket.

Pioneer. Visionary. Legend.  These words are so overused (often by me)…so what do you call someone who really is a PVL?  In this case, I’ll call him a rock star, because just as a rock star is more than a musician and the president is more than a politician, Jorge Ordonez is more than a wine importer.  He is a rock star of the wine industry, and we’re not simply talking limestone and schist.

Three words are consistently associated with Jorge:

Quality.  Influence.  Charisma.

Before Jumilla was a household word, there was Jorge Ordonez, ambassador of the Spanish wine world.  In the 1980s, Jorge recognized that the Spanish wine trade needed an intervention.  The vines were there, the wines were there, but that wasn’t what was making it into the households of the American consumer.  The good wines were often not so, by the time they were shipped across the Atlantic in un-refrigerated conditions.  Grapes from the oldest vines in the world were being lumped in with new stock, resulting in mass-production plonk.  For the winemakers who were making great wines already, Jorge organized controlled shipping and distribution so that what went into the bottle in Spain was what arrived on our shores.  Recognizing the value in Spain’s pre-phylloxera vine heritage, Jorge championed the potential for low-yield, highly concentrated wines and guided these wines into bottle and ultimately, the international marketplace.

His quality standards from the vine to the restaurant are such that he has raised the level of the entire Spanish wine industry, as others must now compete on the field he has groomed.

Jorge’s aggressive management style has influenced every aspect of Spanish wine production from the vineyard to the bottle label.  Some bemoan the modernization of old world wines, but Jorge maintains that he is merely an adviser and only intervenes when asked or needed.  Nevertheless, modern technology has come to Spanish regions that were mere backwaters 20 years ago and dozens of indigenous varietals have reached a wider audience, while outside varietals, eg chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon have been introduced.

Jorge has developed some interesting and influential projects in the last decade.  In addition to importing and consulting, he is now highly regarded producer and his collaborations as well as his own projects have proved extraordinarily successful, in case you haven’t heard…El Nido,  a joint venture with Australian wizards Chris Ringland and Dan Phillips has been called the greatest wine ever to come out of Jumilla.  The “El Nido” is generally 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Monastrell and has received 93-99 points from Robert Parker every year of it’s brief existence since 2002, with it’s cousin Clio not far behind.  That is impressive even to those who pretend they don’t care about points.  These are modern wines:  big, extracted, fruit-forward mouthfuls of wine showing their Australian influence and appealing to an American palate.

Jorge has also endeavored to celebrate the Moscatel of his native Malaga through Jorge Ordonez & Co. a joint venture winery with the late Austrian, Alois Kracher, and his son, Gerhard.  Their original and aromatic Botani Moscatel Seco (high elevation, hand-harvested, air dried) is a revelation in dry Moscatel and the sweet moscatels are superior as well.

Lastly, this leaves charisma.  Just because you can sing doesn’t mean you’re the next Madonna.  You can be the most knowledgeable wino on the planet or represent the best wine in the world, but words will fall on deaf ears without personality and passion behind them.  Jorge’s demanding and dynamic style combined with unflagging determination have brought Spain much recognition and prosperity in just twenty years.  He represents nearly 50 Spanish wineries (which could easily be doubled), holding them each to his exacting standards, regardless of price, and he continues to bring his own innovative and quality wines to the market.  Considered the Martha Stewart or Oprah of the Spanish wine world, vineyards that are not meticulous don’t make the cut and there is a long line of wineries waiting to take their place.

In a nutshell,  since 1987, Jorge Ordonez has saved the Spain’s old vines from the tractor, brought them to their true potential, and then educated the world of their value.  It is exciting to think what the next twenty may bring…!

Jorge Ordonez wine tasting at currentVintage:

5-7 Monday, September 21, 2009

508.228.5073

Nantucket Food Pantry dinner at Cinco

Featuring Jorge Ordonez and wines of Fine Estates from Spain

6:00 Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Watch Jorge Ordonez interview on The Wine Library

Bottom two photos Courtesy of Gene Mahon, www.mahonabouttown.com

top photo courtesy of www.elephantjournal.com

As a year-round resident of Nantucket and shopkeeper in this island resort community, there are two recurring questions/comments that one must perennially endure:

What do you DO in the winter?

It MUST be nice having the winter off (sniff, sniff)…

The first assumes there is nothing to do in Nantucket. Although there is some truth to that, particularly in March, we generally spend the winter working, renting movies, dining with friends, renting movies…Just like the rest of the Northeast, as well as much of country.

Regarding the second comment, the concept of “having the winter off” is a bit of an oxymoron to a small business owner.  My “seasonal” business is open generally seven days a week April-December and weekends in the dead of winter.  We close a couple of days a week in November, but that hardly makes up for the 9am-11pm schedule of July & August!  In the off-season, I travel incessantly to source our vintage inventory for the upcoming season.  It is a choice and the lifestyle I have chosen, but it is not quite exactly having the winter “off”, as in poolside in St Barths or three months in Aspen.  That said, I do spend a lot of time “sourcing” in some very un-wintery places…Mar a Lago, anyone?  But after traveling like mad all winter, and working like crazy all spring and summer, I am fantasizing about downtime.

This being the week after Labor Day, currentVintage now closes at 8:00 during the week–how great it will be to have some nights at home surfing the computer, organizing my shoes, applying a face masque—and of course, watching movies.

In that spirit, I thought I’d share some funny You Tube videos.  I am not up on You Tube like I am on wine and fashion;  these are not the latest releases.  These are NOT “cult’ following insider selections that are known only to me and my friends.  These are not particularly provocative or necessarily major artistic works of art.  They are mainstream, been-around-the-forwarded-emails-block, seen by thousands if not millions.

Perhaps it is culturally significant that everyone from a Burger King worker in East LA to 20-somethings in St Paul to the citizens of Antwerp to a 3-yr old in New York City all have the exact same dance moves, but that is not the point.  Bottom line is they crack me up, and if you are as tired and weary as I am after this marathon of a summer, the guilty pleasure of hanging out and laughing hard probably sounds really good.

My top 5 favorite make-me-smile You Tube videos*.

*Note the Broadway influence–it was all I could do to resist including Susan Boyle.

HAIR:  A 3-yr old Member of the Tribe!

Hang in for the first 40 seconds and you will realize you’re witnessing the next Gavin Creel–A three-year old member of the tribe!

“Do Re Mi”

A spectacular, seemingly spontaneous Sound of Music routine involving 200? dancers in an Antwerp train station –This will be the happiest 4 minutes of your day!

“Les Misbarack”

A year old now, this video brings back all of the energy and enthusiasm of the campaign trail a year ago.  The music is as exhilarating in this video as it is on a Broadway stage.

Bon Qui Qui at King Burger

Anjelah Johnson of MAD tv is brilliant.  Not that I would have known that if my savvy 9, 11 and 13-yr old nieces hadn’t set me straight last Christmas.  I loved her from “Don’t get crazy”.

“Forever” Wedding Dance

The popularity of this summer video has outlived some marriages…Given that their wedding song is by Chris Brown, Jill and Kevin of St Paul are using the popularity of their You Tube video and Today show to raise awareness of and funds for domestic violence

Poor Barbie.  Not only is she now 50, she seems to be the scapegoat for just about every problem a girl child could have related to self-image, self-confidence, the need for a boyfriend and the desire for breast implants.  They say if the 11.5” tall Barbie was produced to scale as an adult, she would be 5′9″ and her measurements would be 36-18-33.  Her shoe size would be a size 3.  That doesn’t sound terribly realistic, but so what? The Drifters have been singing about a 39-21-40 shape for 40+ years.

Isn’t it possible to enjoy something without wanting it?  Can’t a kid play with a doll without wanting to be it? Isn’t the problem with our need to consume, with our need for perfection, with our pervasive envy and covetous ways?   Just because you like an ad for Kate Spade doesn’t mean you run out and buy everything Kate Spade–although, I do love an obsession…

My Barbie phase was fairly short-lived, but I still got a little thrill when I came across a photo of the Quick-curl Barbie in her pink & white checked maxi dress.  I had a Barbie town house, and a Ken and Francie.  But what I remember most was my neighbor’s hot pink velvet Barbie coat.  I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life.  It didn’t help that said neighbor girl’s Mother had a pair of grown-up modern velvet chairs in the same shade of Barbie pink.  That fixation has lead me to several pink velvet vintage coats through the years—and eventually led me back to the chairs.  Twenty years later, I called up Mrs. Neighbor out of the blue and asked her if she still had the velvet Barbie chairs.  She thought it was hilarious and eventually sold them to me.  They now reside in my store, currentVintage.

I hope kids don’t grow up to be mass consumers, shop at malls, eat processed foods and buy disposable clothing from Old Navy and the Gap, but I certainly don’t think Barbie is the problem just because Barbie is pretty and Barbie clothes are fun.  If Barbie is critiqued as a role model, kids could do a lot a worse than one with good posture, clean hair, that loves animals and has run for President twice.  I think the real issues are not whether she wears nail polish, but whether it’s organic.  Not that she is plastic, but why so many toys end up in our landfills.  Not that she is perversely proportioned, but how parents accept the way they look.  Choose your battles carefully;  Barbie has served in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

Our problems are a lot bigger than Barbie, although, when reading up on Barbie, I came across some pretty impressive stats.  In so many ways, Barbie is larger-than-life…

Some Barbie facts…

*Mattel is considered one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world and has used around 105 million yards of fabric to dress Barbie.

*Neé Barbara Millicent Roberts, the first Barbie was launched in 1959

*Barbie’s hair is made up of seven shades of blonde, woven together to get that perfect golden look.

*Ninety percent of little girls in the U.S. (ages 3 to 10) own at least one Barbie.

*There are about 8 million Barbie collectors worldwide, most in their 40s.

*Every second a Barbie is sold, amounting to nearly 2 billion a year from over 150 countries.

*An original 1959 Barbie sold for $27500

*If all the Barbie dolls that have been sold since their introduction in 1959 were laid head to toe, they would circle the world seven times (can’t verify the math on that one)

*The Best-selling Barbie model ever was wearing a Pucci-inspired minidress and had hair to her ankles in 1992.

Watch “The making of a Barbie” & original “Welcome to the Dreamhouse” commercial

http://barbiestyle.barbie.com/history.aspx

Barbie as art…

*There is a Barbie Museum in a Union City, CA Industrial Park themed on the 1963 Barbie Goes to College soda shop and the 1964 Barbie Fashion Show play set.  It includes more than 2,500 vintage and new dolls.

*Situated in the Old Count’s Chambers of Prague Castle is the Prague Toy Museum, which houses a huge collection of old and new Barbie Dolls.

*The Museum of Play in Rochester (Strong Museum), has over 1500 Barbies.

*There is a Netherlands Barbiepoppen online museum

* David Levinthal’s 1998 Barbie Polaroids sell for about $12,500 each.

Very cool “Modern Barbies” Art:
http://www.freakingnews.com/Barbie-Doll-Pictures–1940.asp

The Barbie-haters…

*San Francisco hosts an annual AlteredBarbie convention

*There is a Barbie-in-a-blender Day sponsored by barbieinablender.org

*Barbie is banned in Iran

Watch “Psycho Barbie”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn8Wg21CuUw&feature=relatd

Check out the currentVintage newsletter featuring more great Barbie pics and trivia, plus wine and vintage fashion!

currentVintage Newsletter:  Barbie is 50 Edition

We have been using the term “cult wine” a lot lately at currentVintage. That is risky business, because at any given moment, we might be asked to define “cult wine”, which is somewhat abstract–and more than a little bit controversial. Allocated. Highly-rated. WAITING LIST. These are terms often associated with cult-status wines. To some, that makes them more appealing. To others, a complete buzz-kill.

In this blog last week, I paid tribute to “The Two Garys” and, in doing so, referred to them as cult winemakers. I don’t think there is much to dispute there. Whether or not you like cult wines or buy them or think that they should or should not exist, the fact remains, that, some wines have a cult-like following, usually because of what’s in the bottle. Pisoni and ROAR are definitely in that club.
However, for the purposes of our store and this blog, we should be clear that some wines are considered cult wines because the world says they are and some wines are cult wines because I say they are.
In my world, cult-worthy includes Betts & Scholl.

Richard Betts is a Master Sommelier and the architect of the Wine Spectator Grand Award-status wine list at the Little Nell in Aspen, CO. I have been a fan of his for a long time, having seen and read glimpses of him over the last 10 years. He is not just knowledgeable and talented, but he has the natural charm and charisma that make him a great TV personality and of course, now easy to idolize as a winemaker.

In 2001, Richard partnered with Dennis Scholl, a Miami-based art collector, real estate mogul & card shark, and the two decided to make wine—in Australia. They started with Grenache and Riesling, and after much critical acclaim, moved on to Hermitage!

Everything about these guys is cool. Richard Betts is definitely a rock star of wine, but how about Dennis Scholl? There is something really endearing about a card counting math geek-cum-real estate tycoon who loves art? He is so passionate about modern art that he has commissioned seven different established and emerging artists to create the labels for the Betts & Scholl wines.  As he says, a wine label is like a record cover—you want it to stand out.  And they do—these labels are captivating and interesting, much like their contents. The Riesling is fruity and Vibrant with a capital V.  The O.G. Grenache, I truly loved; velvety & luxe. Full, yet elegant. Rich fruit, totally sexy.

Fun. Interesting. Different. Creative. Adventurous. Sexy.
Small-production. High & Lo. Rock Star & Geek.
Do you see why Betts & Scholl figures in my world of cult-worthy wines?

And currentVintage has them exclusively on Nantucket….

Richard Betts on PlumTV

Betts & Scholl Launch Party on PlumTV

Richard Betts on winetastetv.com

Riesling Eden Valley 2008
Light, crisp and beautifully focused, with cantaloupe, papaya and lime flavors that bounce easily across the palate and into the long, fragrant finish. Subtle and absolutely enticing. Drink now through 2016. 250 cases imported. 92pts–HS (WS)

Grenache Barossa Valley “The O.G.” 2006
Velvety, round and remarkably transparent, with raspberry, cherry and dusky spice flavors competing for attention as the flavors sail through the long finish, framed with fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2013. 900 cases made. 90pts–HS (WS)

2005 Hermitage Blanc

Ripe and showy, but with good underlying grip to the dried papaya, creamed peach, fig, yellow apple and brioche notes. The long, juicy finish has a nice gilding of toast. Drink now through 2013. 400 cases made. 93pts –JM (WS)

2005 Hermitage Rouge

Very juicy, with lots of fig, currant paste and crushed plum fruit flavors that race ahead of dark tar, licorice and bittersweet cocoa notes. The long, toasty finish has plenty of grip. Best from 2010 through 2017. 425 cases made. 92 pts –JM (WS)

August began on Sunday, the 2nd at the Triple Eight “White Party” at the Summer House Pool. Cocktails, lawn chairs and beautiful people in all white completed the ultimate setting. That might have been enough for the perfect August Sunday afternoon, but we threw in a fashion show on the lawn by currentVintage and Cheryl Fudge and it became stellar.