Appertif: Kir Cocktail

I was at brunch a week or so ago with Tori who ordered a kir cocktail as an appertif.  While I’ve had the Kir Royale – it’s very old world and you don’t see people drink them much anymore – I love the taste and it has a very sophisticated feel.  However, I had never HEARD of the Kir cocktail but have now added it to my repertoire.  Here’s the details:

The Kir became popular in French cafes in the middle of the 19th century and was further popularized by Felix Kir after World War II. The then mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, France, served the drink often to promote his region’s fine products (wine and creme de cassis). The name Kir has been associated with the drink ever since. There are also many variations of this wine cocktail (see below), each unique but carrying on the Kir tradition. The choice of white wine is something of personal taste; dry wines are preferred, Chablis is great.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 oz creme de cassis
• 2 1/4 oz dry white wine

Preparation:

1. Pour the creme de cassis into a wine glass.
2. Slowly add the dry white wine.

The Perfect Everyday Wine Collection

Call it a cook’s wine stash. I find that if I have these bottles, I’m ready for anything.

• Two bottles of sparkling wine. They needn’t be expensive. One goes in the rack, the other in the fridge for a spur-of-the-moment celebration or even just a festive aperitif when an unexpected friend drops by.

• Three bottles of all-purpose white and four all-purpose reds. These should be simple and inexpensive, wines you’d be just as happy drinking with a weekday dinner as you would using to make a quick pan-sauce. For whites, sauvignon blanc is a good choice;  it doesn’t have too much oak, it pairs with everything and works in any sauce. For red, pinot noir, soft merlot, Rioja from Spain, inexpensive Italian red, or Côtes du Rhône are versatile to cook with and easy to drink.

• One bottle of special-occasion white, such as a chardonnay you’ve been dying to try or a white Burgundy.

• One bottle of special-occasion red — for when you pull out all the stops making dinner. A meritage blend, an interesting cabernet, a red Bordeaux, Burgundy, Brunello or Hermitage — whatever most excites you. But hey — it doesn’t have to be a special occasion to drink it; maybe you just feel like treating yourself after a rough week.

• One bottle of “wild card” white. Something that stands up to ethnic or spicy foods. A dry riesling pairs  wonderfully with Asian and Pacific Rim flavors.

• One bottle of “wild card” red.   A red blend, a red from Portugal or South Africa – something you haven’t had before.

• A big red. One bottle for that night you feel like plopping a steak on the grill. Or lamb chops. This can be cabernet, meritage, syrah, red Bordeaux, Zinfandel, Barolo — whatever chewy red you like with red meat.

Source:  This list is adapted from an article by Leslie Brenner,  an award-winning journalist and author of books on food and wine, that was on iVillage.

LAN Rioja Crianza

One of the best wines I’ve tasted recently is the 2006 LAN Rioja Crianza.  Ratings:

• #44 on the 2010 Wine Spectator list of top 100 wines
• Rated 90 by Wine Advocate

There were about 200,000 cases made so should be widely available.  The wine tasted like pure silk to me.

Wine wish list

What They’re Drinking at Davos

At the economic forum’s hottest party, guests come to schmooze—and for the choice booze

For the past 17 years, the venture capital firm Accel Partners has thrown a hot-ticket party at the World Economic Forum. Held in the modern Kirchner Museum in Davos, Switzerland, the party draws heads of state, leading executives from technology and media companies, and the occasional celebrity.  For the past 17 years, Accel Partners has thrown the hottest party at Davos, always with a memorable wine list. For the Jan. 27 event, Accel will show off 15 California wines made before 2000.

The 350 guests come not only to mingle with Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, hear what Shimon Peres has to say about Middle East peace efforts or to find out when Facebook will go public (Accel owns about a 10% stake in the company). They also come for the wine.

The A List

Wines served at the Accel Party in Davos on Friday

Champagne:

Krug Grande Cuvée

White Wines:

2001 Peter Michael Chardonnay Cuvée Indigène

1976 Chappellet Chardonnay

Red Wines:

1999 Bond Vecina

1999 Colgin Cariad

1996 Williams Selyem Rochioli River Block Pinot Noir

Scardello’s Italian Wine & Cheese Tasting

Lovely evening – we tasted 11 Italian cheeses and 4 Italian wines – not a loser in the bunch.  Our favs on the cheese were:

• the Quadrello Di Bufalo, a buffalo milk Taleggio – rich and slightly sweet and tangy
• the Cusie In Flglie Di Tobacco, a goat/cow milk cheese matured in tobacco leaves for 12 months, tasted creamy and spicy with a strong aroma (but not taste) of tobacco.

The 2009 Jasci Montepulciano D’Abrruzzo was also an excellent wine.

The cheesemonger at Scardello’s is both knowledgeable and entertaining and we always learn alot at these classes and never fail to leave without a couple selections of wine or cheese to take home.

Wine

I’m drinking Fairhills Bus Stop Red – it’s a great Argentinian red, and wonderful to serve with grass-fed beef burgers.  I bought it at Whole Foods in the organic sustainable wine section.  A portion of the proceeds go to buy school buses for rural communities in Argentina.