Wines I'm Drinking: Coq au Vin and Pinot Noir (November 21, 2012)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I plan to make coq au vin--that venerable French chicken stew that always puts me immediately in mind of a Hugh Johnson remark about the dish. In the 1997 edition of his Pocket Encyclopedia of Wine, he said "Coq au vin: In an ideal world, one bottle of Chambertin in the dish, two on the table." This is not quite an ideal world. While I do have at least one bottle of old Gevrey Chambertin to serve tomorrow night (if not Chambertin proper), I don't think I have two--and, frankly, the mature wines I have tucked away would do less well in a coq au vin, I suspect, than something younger and more vibrant. I picked up two bottles for use in the pot tomorrow. I went looking for inexpensive Pinot Noir (relatively speaking) that would still be good enough to add some worthwhile flavor to the cooking. I sampled them this evening--not one to miss a chance to taste a couple of new wines. Brief tasting notes follow.

2011 McManis Family Vineyards California Pinot Noir
A fairly deep carmine hue. Light raspberry scent on the nose. Fairly simple, clean fruit scents but with a suggestion of vanilla. Doesn't jump out of the glass. Later develops some citrus hints. Quite tart. Has an underlying core of fruit tending toward cherries, but the fruit is masked by the rather bright acidity--at least at first. Not especially long, but has some interesting, lingering bitter almond flavors on the finish that mingle with the tartness. I decided to leave this open for while to see if it might evolve into something a little softer and more approachable. Coming back to the wine after an hour or so, the mid-palate cherries seemed laced with vanilla, but the wine still seemed mostly distinguished by its tartness. Not in any way unpleasant, but seems in no way special either. Suitable for everyday drinking, but there are other wines I'd rather spend $11 on. I'll cook with this tomorrow, but I'm not likely to buy it again for drinking. Still, this is a decent wine given the price. $10.99 at Santa Rosa Whole Foods.

2010 A to Z Oregon Pinot Noir
A medium-pale garnet color. Oak and smoky scents on the nose rather than fruit. Hints of something tropical that put me momentarily in mind of gardenia--not a scent I usually associate with Pinot Noir. Orange rind in the background and also something bitter--like Campari. Musky hints too, but not classic Burgundy barnyard either. A moderately complex, if unorthodox nose. First impression on the palate is one of tartness and little else, but quite fruity and momentarily sweet on the mid-palate before developing slightly woody, herbal flavors on the finish, which is of moderate length. The finish is marked also by a fairly strong dose of oaky vanillin. Like the McManis wine, solid but not exciting. I probably won't buy more of this one either, although it was ultimately the more interesting of the two wines. I will mostly use it in tomorrow's coq au vin. $19.99 at Santa Rosa Whole Foods.

For the record: Yes, I know it's NOT true that cooking wine can be any old wine. As many have pointed out before me, when you cook with wine, you boil off the water and the alcohol for the most part, and what you're left with is precisely what makes the difference between a good wine and an ordinary one. Thus, it makes sense to cook with the best wine you can afford to use. That said, I can't bring myself to pour an entire bottle of Gevrey Chambertin into the pot. We'll be opening old Burgundy tomorrow to drink.

(I have no financial connection with any producer or retailer of wine.) 

Found Art: Tree Bark, Shevlin Park, Bend, Oregon (August 16, 2011)

On my recent trip through central Oregon and north to Vancouver Island I stopped to do some walking at Shevlin Park, in Bend, Oregon. I enjoyed the miles of trails, the river that runs through the park, and the many birds I saw there. There were some huge evergreen trees with beautiful bark. Found art.

For more found art, see my blog Serendipitous Art.

On the Road: (Pacific Northwest, 2011) Home Again

I'm home again today, having stayed last night in Reno--at the same hotel I used on the way out, again for $27 a night. I stayed the previous night in Eugene, Oregon. Most of the past two days was spent driving through pretty countryside--lush in southern Oregon, gradually drier and more rocky as I moved into California and Nevada. Along the way I stopped at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, where I took the driving tour of the wetlands there. I got a new life bird, the Redhead, a duck that's not that uncommon, but one I'd never managed to see before. There were hundreds of Eared Grebes (photo), in the breeding plumage we rarely see at home in Sonoma County. Otherwise, it was mostly Coots, Scaup, and White Pelicans--and blue dragonflies, whole clouds of them clinging to the vegetation by the water. Along the way, stopped at a stoplight, I found myself behind a pair of bikers. Check out their license plates (hers says BW8N4ME, his says IBW8N4U).

On the Road (Pacific Northwest 2011) Bend to Portland, Oregon (July 14)

 

Got a late start this morning. I was tired. I slept late. Eventually, I started my day in Bend with a walk around some of the shops in the old downtown area. I wandered into one that specializes in odd things from Japan--everything from Pokémon and Hello Kitty goods to books on the game of Go. The woman working there told me the old downtown was down and out 15 years ago, when she moved into the area, but it prospers now, mostly in restored turn-of-the-century (early 1900s) brick buildings. I then headed over to Pilot Butte, a cinder cone created by extinct volcanic activity virtually in the middle of the town. It gives a panoramic view of Bend and the landscape around it--more cinder cones at varying distances, snow-covered volcanic peaks in the far distance, some of the latter in the classic cone shape, others eroded by glaciation. There's a road to the summit, but also a walking trail. I strolled a bit, with my binoculars, of course. I saw a nice Ash-throated Flycatcher and some bright yellow clumps of wildflowers that I didn't recognize. The ground was littered with red pumice-like stones, the cinders. They seemed natural here, but I was put in mind of annoying "lava rock" litter on suburban sidewalks where the landscaping is unruly.

Next I set out to find Shevlin Park, a large wooded park north of Bend with a fast stream through it that came recommended for birding. It was very badly signposted. I was about to give up on finding it when I accidentally came across it on my GPS (it wasn't there the first time I looked). I took an hour's walk through pine woods and scrub and then along the river on my way back. It turned out to be an excellent spot. Got a new life bird--Green-tailed Towhee. In places the trees were alive with chickadees--both Black-capped Chickadee and Mountain Chickadee, I believe, and nuthatches. Got a good close-up look at a Hairy Woodpecker. The Northwest subspecies is distinctly buff-colored where ours are white. I saw a Lewis's Woodpecker and a wren and a flycatcher I'm still trying to figure out. More life birds?

Headed north from Shevlin Park out of Bend through Redmond and Warm Springs and then northwest into the Portland area. Not far beyond Bend I drove by a sign that referred to Peter Skene Ogden (the man Ogden, Utah is named after) and a scenic viewpoint, so I turned around to take a look. Beyond a large parking lot surrounded by signs with warnings about attending to children at all times, about keeping dogs on leashes (one said "Many dogs have died here") was a low stone wall. You don't see the steep (300-foot) drop-off just beyond the wall until you're right on top of it. The vista point gives access to stunning views into a gorge cut by the Crooked River and of the three bridges that span the gorge. One is an old railway truss bridge, one is a road bridge, built in 1927 (and, according to one of a number of informative signs, the highest, single-span road bridge in the US when it was new), the third is a modern road bridge (opened in 2000) built to replace the bridge of 1927, which is closed to traffic, but open to pedestrians. The view is pretty spectacular. I'm glad I stopped and went back. Turkey Vultures, Violet-green Swallows, and Swifts were flying in the gorge.

The rest of the day was spent driving through scenery that was pretty, but not up to the level of yesterday. Dinner tonight at Caffe Mingo (503 226-4646, serving until 10:00PM weekdays, 11:00PM weekends), in northwest Portland (807 NW 21st St., the "Alphabet District"), where I write this. Not too expensive, excellent food. Citrus-marinated olives (some of these are Castelvetrano olives, some taste like they've been marinated in hazelnut oil); artichokes crusted with garlic; braised chicken and mushroom risotto; washed down with a glass of Garofoli Verdicchio. Friendly, neighborhood atmosphere, a number of communal tables, an excellent wine list. About half the customers appear to be regulars--always a good sign--with the waiters and waitresses calling customers by name. There is no Wi-Fi connection here, but the connection is good from the restaurant next door, (Serrato, which also looks interesting). Recommended. Now, it's time to look for a place to sleep.... I may stop here again on my way back--if that works out.

On the Road: (Pacific Northwest, 2011): Reno to Bend, Oregon

I'm now having a late dinner (10:00PM) at a McMenamins brew pup in Bend, Oregon, having left Reno this morning. I have yet to find a hotel, but first things first. I took a quick drive around Reno before heading out. I see that there are some older, more interesting neighborhoods, but I took only a quick look. Nothing startlingly interesting--although I did happen to drive by an odd house (?) that looked like a Hawaii-themed campsite, if that makes sense. It looked like what might be called a "folk art environment." Hmmm.... No idea what it was, but it may warrant investigation next time I'm in that area.

Hit the road fairly early, heading first for a place called Honey Lake Wildlife Area, along the northeast shore of Honey Lake. I walked around a bit and saw some birds, notably, dozens of Nighthawks both flying around the way they do, looking for insects on the wing, but also perched in trees, which I've never seen before. Nighthawks are one of my favorite birds. I used to love to watch them at dusk in Ohio, behaving like bats. They don't live where I live now, so it was a lot of fun just to see them. There were many Western Kingbirds (very noisy), a couple of Kestrels, many Brewer's Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds, including at least one that appeared to be a Tricolored Blackbird. There was a Yellow-headed Blackbird as well, and a solitary Spotted Sandpaper.

The rest of the day was mostly spent driving north on Hwy. 395 and then Hwy. 31 and Hwy. 97, to Bend--a long haul, but vastly more interesting than equivalent drives through Nevada or Kansas. At least the scenery was varied and interesting. It was rough and parched in some areas, with exposed rock seams pushing out from softer, eroded rock, looking like gigantic fossil bones. In other places there were lush-looking grasslands and wildflowers--many purple lupines--and always mountains in the distance. About half way along the route, I passed a second large lake, which appears to have been Lake Summer. As I approached Bend, a snow-capped volcanic cone appeared, which may have been Mt. Bachelor. In several places along the route I dodged thunderstorms like then one pictured above.