Culinaria Popup: A Foodie Paradise.

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on Oct 22, 2012 in Restaurant Reviews | 0 comments

Culinaria Food & Wine Pairing Event

Duvel Tripel Hop

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on Oct 6, 2012 in Beer Reviews | 0 comments

Duvel has been both the template and the high water mark  for Belgian Strong Pale Ale since the 1920′s.  The company has expanded  greatly since then, acquiring other breweries in Belgian and the United States. The core remains the Duvel brand.

The brew hews very close to the traditional Duvel profile. A head like a fluffy Lhasa Apso, with a beautiful crisp golden body.  The pale malt, the granny smith apple, the lemon oil, and the clove, these are all elements of the class Duvel.

The difference is very much in the Citra hops in this bottling. Grapefruit and grassy notes, along with some fresh pine notes brings this a layer of complexity. Is it better than the original? No. Is it a fun variation of a classic? Sure is.

Port Review: Offley 2006 Late Bottled Vintage Porto

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on Aug 18, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

This Port review is courtesy of Bacchus Selections and the Wine School of Philadelphia

Sometimes is about having something good at an impossible price. The ’06 vintage isn’t the greatest. The ’05 and the ’07 Offley bottlings are better.  However, at the price that the PLCB is currently  asking (Less than $12 in the Summer of 2012) it is well worth picking up a bottle or three.

It’s 100 degrees in Philly as I write this, with a level of humidity that could poach a muskrat. This is the last wine in the world I suggest drinking right now. However, it is the perfect type of wine to have as a memory of colder moments, when a glass of port could cut the chill from your bones.

A typical Late Bottle Vintage port, it stresses the big jammy red and dark fruits. This bottle pushes the sweetness level higher than other vintages as well, giving it a bit of a candied note. The almond and yeast notes are very appealing. The downside it the tannin levels, which are more raw than expected in an LBC. It may even take a few years to mellow out.

Origins of Port

Via Wikipedia. It is hard to imagine how such a wonderful winter-warming drink as port could ever have been conceived in such a hot and sunny country as Portugal. Popular belief has it that it was not the Portuguese but the British who were responsible for port; however, this is not entirely accurate. We can thank the
Portuguese for dreaming up this most classic of fortified wines; the British merely capitalized on their original idea. In 1678, two Englishmen were sent by a Liverpool wine merchant to Viana do Castello, north of Oporto, to learn the wine business. Vacationing up the Douro River, they were regally entertained by the Abbot of Lamego. Finding his wine “very agreeable, sweetish, and extremely smooth,” they asked what made it exceptional among all others tasted on their journey. The Abbot confessed to doctoring the wine with brandy, but the Englishmen were so pleased with the result this had that they purchased the entire stock and shipped it home.

Zinfandel Review: Alexander Valley Vineyards 2008 Redemption

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on Aug 12, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

This Zinfandel review is brought to you by the Wine School of Philadelphia and Bacchus Selecitons.

If you drink Zin for it delightful complexity, you aren’t thinking straight. Zinfandel –despite its pink alter  ego– is a major badass. This bottle is in keeping with such a reputation. Full bodied and then some, this has dense black fruit that verges on the obscene. The black pepper notes turn smoky and  dense with oak flavors. This is just a pure bundle of fun, without a lick of seriousness. If your plan is to fall away into a haze of bacchanalian rapture, this is the bottle to reach for.

About Zinfandel

Via Wikipedia. This was once thought to be America’s only indigenous Vitis vinifera grape, but was later positively identified by Dr. Carole Meredith as the Primitivo grape of southern Italy by Isozyme “fingerprinting,” a method of recording the unique pattern created by the molecular structure of enzymes found within specific varieties.  However, this led to a conundrum because the earliest records of Primitivo in Italy date from the late 19th century, whereas the Zinfandel name appears in the nursery catalog of William Prince of Long Island, dated 1830.

Tuscan Review: Belguardo 2009 Serrata, Tuscany

Posted by M.L. Wolfsohn on Aug 5, 2012 in Wine Reviews | 0 comments

This Tuscan review is brought to you by Bacchus Selections and the Wine School of Philadelphia.

Up until twenty years ago, the Tuscan coast was more well know for Etruscan ghosts than wine. What’s a few decades compared to a few millenia?  The central part of Tuscany, in what is know Chianti Classico, was always the place for growing grapes. On the coast, the warm hills of Maremma  were  dotted with mines, not vineyards. Tastes change, and the classical austere wines of the cooler interior have been joined with by the wines grown near the Mediterranean: this is where many of the most famous Super Tuscans are grown.

The Serrata is mostly Sangiovese ,  the classic grape of Chianti. It is blended with about 20%  of Alicante Bouschet, a rare modern crossing of  Petit Bouschet and Grenache. The wine offers up the Tuscan jibe of leather and fruit, but with a greater focus on the fruit than it’s inland brethren.

Sweet oak flavors of clove and vanilla are balanced with a plush  spiciness. Red fruit and forest floor combine and rise toward a essence of cinnamon. The dense fruit opens up further on the palate in a very decadent manner. The finish remains fleshy and transparent, with a bit of tobacco at the end.

About Tuscany

Via Wikipedia. The home of traditional winemaking, Tuscany has also been the main focus of experimentation. Its powerful red Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was Italy’s first DOCG, and has been followed by Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, Carmignano, and Vernaccia di San Gimignano. But not all of its finest wines bear these famous appellations, a fact recognized by the Tuscan producers themselves, who, on the one hand, sought the ideal DOCG solution for Chianti, while on the other began to invest in premium wines that were not restricted by the DOC. It was the uncompromising quality of their Super-Tuscan wines that encouraged premium vini da tavola throughout the rest of Italy.