by rodney on February 10, 2010
85 Columbia Street
Fall River, MA 02721
(508) 675-0002
Closed Tuesdays
Luis Bettencourt
Proprietor
Portuguese Cuisine
Sometimes you can’t get enough of a good thing. So, I followed up the great Touriga Nacional seminar at the Boston Wine Expo by taking my brother, Robert, to my favorite Portuguese restaurant in Fall River, MA. I make it a point to stop in whenever I am in the area and am overtaken by a craving for Carne de Porco à Alentejana. But since this is “Invitation-Only”, there’ll be no menu and no Alentejana tonight.
Luis happily greets us over the sounds of the Portuguese Futebol Liga match on television (For a moment, I thought it was summer again and I was back in the Algarve). I share the list of Touriga wines that I tasted during the seminar, when Luis pulls out his last bottle of CARM Reserva, 2001, which he says will go nicely with the dish he has planned. He brings over the wine with some olives and crusty Portuguese rolls with butter.
2001 CARM Reserva Touriga Nacional blend, vanilla, smoke, spice, ripe black fruit, medium body, mild tannins, balanced alcohol/acidity
We start with a Portuguese soup of cabbage, kale, chourico, beef, potatoes, carrots, elbow pasta, etc. I have eaten Portuguese soup all of my life and I’m not sure that I have ever had it the same way twice. The soup is a delicious meal served alone and perfect for a cold winter night (properly eaten of course by soaking torn pieces of Portuguese bread). The acidity of the CARM balanced well with the hardy soup. [click to continue…]
by rodney on December 28, 2009
Image via Wikipedia
My primary responsibility for any family gathering is to “bring the wine”. When you study wine for two years at Boston University, force your friends to drink your homemade wine and start a blog with your fellow wineaux, somehow you’re labeled for life. So be it. I accept this burden without reservation (mostly because I always get to drink what I like).
This holiday season being no exception, I headed down to Running Brook Vineyards in Dartmouth, Massachusetts for a locally themed selection and start my own pre-celebration with a tasting or two (or twelve as it turned out).
I was happily greeted by Running Brook’s proprietor, Pedro Teixeira. A dentist by vocation, Pedro started Running Brook with Manual Morais in 1998. Not entirely sure what the less than hospitable New England climate could produce, they’ve been quite successful taking what the terroir will give them to make wines worthy of your consideration and on par with other, more well-known, north east wineries. [click to continue…]
by rodney on December 21, 2009
Image via Wikipedia
When is Pinot Noir not Pinot Noir? When it is subjected to Carbonic Maceration, of course.
For those who are unfamiliar with the technique, carbonic maceration is a process by which whole bunches of grapes are fermented in a closed tank filled with carbon dioxide, or carbon acid gas as it was once referred. This process yields an immediately quaffable, fruity, and in most cases, inexpensive wine. It is the primary fermentation method used for Gamay-based Beaujolais Nouveau wines, typically priced around $10.00.
So, much to my chagrin, the 2008 Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Fermented Pinot Noir resembled more of a Beaujolais-styled wine than the Burgundian-styled wine I had hoped to enjoy.
Your obvious response would be to tell me, “well, the style was plainly indicated on the label”, and you would be 100% correct. But, at a price of $23.99, you may have also been caught off guard. Because, like me, you may not have referred to the exhaustive, explicit details on the back label. Shame on me.
However, the wine was light and pleasant but not what I was looking for in a Pinot Noir and quite expensive for a Beaujolais-style wine. I was looking for a Drouhin and was handed a Duboeuf.
The moral of the story is, “Read the Labels. Front and Back. Know what you are buying.” This is the last time I’ll run through Whole Foods relying on my wine memory to choose without vetting.
- Beaujolais: a Quick Primer (underthegrapetree.blogspot.com)
- Primeur and nouveau wines (ckenb.blogspot.com)
by glenn on December 5, 2009
After attending “The Best Champagne Tasting in Boston”, my colleague Katrin and I ventured forth to the newly-opened Ames Hotel to dine at the Woodward Tavern. My thoughts before entering were of the “on the one hand but then on the other hand” mode: sure the hotel is run by the Morgan Group – uber-hipsters, but the Woodward Tavern is a hotel dining room and as such must be all things culinary to all guests. Ourwelcome at the hostess stand in the lounge area was quite warm and welcoming. We were led upstairs to the Tavern itself, past the Victorian -inspired curio cabinets that has been much talked about. However, since the lighting is subdued – on the dimmer side of dim – [click to continue…]
by katrin on December 2, 2009
With the holidays upon us, wine shops are promoting their selections of sparkling wines for the festivities by hosting lots of in-store tastings. Fellow blogger Glenn and I were fortunate to go to one of the most extensive and interesting of these: the Annual Champagne Tastings hosted by Federal Wine and Spirits.
[click to continue…]
by rodney on December 1, 2009
412 Market St
Brighton, MA 02135
(617) 789-4676
Monday – Sunday
5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Nasrullah (Nas) Kahn
Chef & Owner
Mediterranean, Hungarian, French Cuisine
Tonight I had the pleasure of dining with Nasrullah Kahn, chef and owner of Jasmine Bistro in Brighton Center. As always, I was greeted with his patented smile usually only reserved for family and close friends. But at Jasmine’s, you feel part of the place from the moment you arrive. It was the perfect place to launch our Invitation-Only series.
Nas started me off with a glass of 2008 Picton Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to have more similarities with a French Sancerre than a puckering citrus-bomb that we’ve begun to associate with NZ SB’s. I would soon be equally delighted with my appetizer on a this cold New England night.
[click to continue…]
Luis happily greets us over the sounds of the Portuguese Futebol Liga match on television (For a moment, I thought it was summer again and I was back in the Algarve). I share the list of Touriga wines that I tasted during the seminar, when Luis pulls out his last bottle of CARM Reserva, 2001, which he says will go nicely with the dish he has planned. He brings over the wine with some olives and crusty Portuguese rolls with butter.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=37aa3699-66b1-4dbf-8000-470d034bff06)
