Thierry and his pinot

I know the picture at left leaves a little to be desired.

Traveling to sell your product can be a tricky scenario; tiring quests for sales matched up with the hurdles of language barriers and cultural differences can make life a bit harried. But, sometimes you just find a simpatico with someone regardless of those hurdles.
This was the case yesterday with a very genuine winemaker named Thierry Michon from Domaine St Nicolas. Thierry walked into 5&10 and was instantly buoyed with familiarity when I greeted him in French. I grew up speaking a lot of French though a wonderfully Canadian tradition of bilingual elementary schools in Ottawa and, though rusty, I can still get my point across, albeit with a strong Quebecois accent, humoring all from France.
Thierry just felt immediately at home. We chatted about his vineyard, how hard winemaking has been in the last four years (good vintages but very small yields, down as much as 2/3 from what he used to yield), about his wondrous soil, about fellow Loire producers, and cheery comfortable banter about life on the road. Really great guy. He talked about how he has made a a big decision in trying to move into the American market even though he sells out just about every wine he has in France... a common malaise among French winemakers who have decided to take that route. They are increasing their playing field for larger future production but then they get saddened when their wines get lost in the shuffle of non-varietally labelled wines in the USA.

In France Thierry has sold out of all of the 04, 05 and most of the 06 of his higher-end pinot noir called "Cuvee Jacques". The wine is 100% pinot and a rarity because it is grown on the very sought-after schist soil.

"Schist

A medium to coarse grained metamorphic rock with well developed bedding planes derived from the foliated recrystrallization of platy like minerals like mica."

Physicalgeography.net

This schiste is salty stuff too, because Thierry's land is very close to the ocean as you can see in the photo. He's next to the Atlantic in the Southern Loire where it says Fiefs Vendeens.
The kicker is this wine is a 2004 which is just magical now and for a number of years to come. It's all biodynamic and worth every penny. And it doesn't cost many pennies.
$22.99 for a wine that I think is worth double that, from the hands and vines of a guy who travelled here from is home to sell something that should sell itself.

DO NOT LET THIS WINE GET AWAY. I have three cases coming in Wednesday March 4th and that's pretty much all there is.

A la prochaine Thierry!

Frogmore Stew

Someone just asked for the Frogmore Stew recipe...
here's a link to the fine folks at Food & Wine magazine. They have it in their fine recipe database.

recession restaurants

Only having two little restaurants is sometimes a good thing. I have been weighing the impact of the economic situation in the country and have come to the conclusion that university towns are a bit more insulated than most places... at least for now. The university works on a budget that was crafted before the recession really kicked in so they get to glide along until the legislators hack the next years budget to shreds. So while the rest of the country is gearing up for recovery, us little university towns may be waning for a wee bit longer, but it shouldn't5 be too bad. Long live tenured positions. Long live our customers.

This is not to say that the recession hashad no impact around these here parts. We have declined in sales but customer covers remain about the same, maybe a touch lower. High end wines have taken a hit and splitting dishes or eating apps as mains seems to be more popular than ever. But you know what? That's fine with us. At the end of the day we can absorb the decline and we just continue to enjoy being what we are: restaurants for a community. We'll all get through this and it will make us (hopefully) financially smarter for years to come.

Specials for Wednesday Night!

02/25/09

• Bon Secour, LA 1.50
• Kumomoto, WA 2.25
• Wellfleet, MA 2.25

grilled scallions, romesco, red wine poached egg and potato chips 8.

ahi tuna tartare with citrus ponzu, chopped white anchovy, spinach and grapefruit 12.

grilled quail with roasted apple, baked polenta and a calvados jus 15.

seared #1 tuna over Basque potato stew
with arugula and a sherry emulsion 25.

olive and pepper braised lamb shank with roasted rack of lamb… leek polenta, mint, crisped artichokes 33.

meyer lemon pannacotta with earl grey tea cookies 7.

• half bottle of bubbles.
Champagne, Taittinger, Brut, NV $28.
• sauvignon blanc/ Semillon,
La Freynelle, Entre-deux-Mers,
France, 5./20.
• tannat, merlot, cab, Colombelle, Gascony, France, 2007 4.50/18.
• cab-syrah, Domaine des Cantarelles, Vin de Pays de Gard, France, 2004 7./28.

Tonight's Specials!

TUESDAY 02/24/09

• Apalachicola, FL 1.50
• Bon Secour, LA 1.50
• Chincoteague, VA 2.25
• Kumomoto, WA 2.25
• Naked Roy’s, BC 2.25
• Wellfleet, MA 2.25

chicken liver and country ham paté with bread and
butter pickles, muscat gelee, buttery toasts and apple 8.

grilled scallions, romesco, red wine poached egg
and potato chips 8.

ahi tuna tartare with citrus ponzu, chopped white anchovy,
spinach and grapefruit 12.

grilled quail with roasted apple,
baked polenta and a calvados jus 15.

roasted halibut with romesco, leek whipped potatoes,
vermouth emulsion, roasted artichokes and watercress 26.

seared #1 tuna over Basque potato stew
with arugula and a sherry emulsion 25.

olive and pepper braised lamb shank with roasted rack of lamb… leek polenta, mint, crisped artichokes 33.

meyer lemon pannacotta with earl grey tea cookies 7.

• half bottle of bubbles. Champagne, Taittinger, Brut, NV $28. for 375 ml
• sauvignon blanc/ Semillon, La Freynelle, Entre-deux-Mers, France, 5./20.
• tannat, merlot, cab, Colombelle, Gascony, France, 2007 4.50/18.
• cab-syrah, Domaine des Cantarelles, VdP Gard, France, 2004 7./28.

Vine Connections wine dinner

Vine Connections dinner
SIX COURSES OF WINE & FOOD FOR $65.00
Thursday, March 12th, 6:00 PM

Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina
This is a wine dinner looking at some wonderful wines in a very palatable price point (retail $13 to $26). Because we care.

All of the wines are from a wonderful importer called Vine Connections, based in Sausalito, CA. (Off topic: Sausilito has the most amazing sushi restaurant called Sushi Ran where I’m sure you can procure many of the Vince Connections sakes. Such great food there.) Vine Connections specialize in Argentinian wines and Japanese Sake, which someone will have to explain the synergies of to me.
This is one of those dinners that will make you want to become a Mendoza cowboy.
The wines really are spectacular. The food will follow suit, as hopefully it always does.

1.
roasted oysters with chiles, watercress, andouille and lemon sabayon
Mapema Sauvignon Blanc 2008

2.
ceviche of scallops with local radishes
Crios Torrontes 2008

3.
crostinis with crisped goat cheese, roasted lamb leg, fresh mint and salsa rossa
Mendel Malbec 2006

4.
pork confit with pimiento polenta, roasted shallots and maitake mushrooms
Tikal Patriota Bonarda/Malbec 2006

5.
simple grilled prime ribeye with chimichurri
Ben Marco Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

6.
shortbread with housemade dulce de leche
Susanna Balbo Virtuoso Late harvest Malbec

cheers
Hugh

red wine poached egg

this turned out really well. One of Jan's eggs poached in grenache with romesco, grilled scallions and fingerling potato chips. Fun dish on this week's $25 prix fixe. yum yum.