Yesterday we went for a day trip to Orvieto in Umbria. Orvieto is in southern Umbria not far from the border with Lazio. This beautiful town dates back to before the Etruscans and its position on top of a volcanic plug means that it has a natural defensive position without the need for a city wall.
Natural Defensive Walls, Orvieto, Umbria
After a fairly relaxed start from our home on the Tuscany Umbria border we arrived in Orvieto at around 12.30. There are car parks higher up but I like to park at the station and take the funivia up into the town. You buy tickets in the station bar (€2 return), head across the road and make your way onto the funavia, a railway going up the very steep slope towards Orvieto. There is one carriage at each end and they are connected with a system of cables so that the weight of the descending carriage helps to pull the ascending carriage up. Use the same ticket to get on a bus up to the Duomo, there should be one waiting as you arrive.
Funavia, Orvieto, Umbria
We alighted from the bus outside the Duomo and as it was already lunch time, headed for a leisurely lunch at the Ristorante Zeppelin, a trattoria in the maze of streets leading off from the piazza del Duomo.
Ristorante Zeppelin, Orvieto, Umbria
After lunch we wandered over to the steep cliffs that form the natural boundary of the centro storico and looked at the views across the surrounding countryside.
View From Orvieto, Umbria
Slowly, we made our way back through the streets of Orvieto towards the Duomo. If you wander off the main shopping streets it is easy to get disorientated but there is always something interesting to look at. Most of the buildings in Orvieto are made from tufa, a soft brown yellow volcanic stone that can easily be shaped into blocks.
Tufa Tower, Orvieto, Umbria
We didn’t have time to do everything in Orvieto, so we missed out on climbing the Torre del Moro from the top there are more superb views. We also missed out on the Underground Orvieto tour which takes you down into a network of man made caves in the tufa below the city.
Torre del Moro, Orvieto, Umbria
The main shopping streets are full of shops selling the famous white wine, Orvieto Classico, salamis and cheeses and brightly coloured maiolica pottery.
Maiolica Pottery, Orvieto, Umbria
The Duomo is by far the most striking building in Orvieto, unlike most of the town, it isn’t built from tufa and the green and white striped marble throughout the interior and exterior echoes that of the Duomo In Siena.
Duomo Facade, Orvieto, Umbria
The facade is stunning, at the base are medieval carvings and higher up are relatively modern mosaics that make liberal use of gold leaf which lights up in the sunlight. The whole facade has been compared to a triptych, a painting on three panels, usually used as an altarpiece.
Medieval Carvings, Orvieto Duomo, Umbria
The vast interior has glass and travertine windows to provide illumination, the thinly sliced travertine stone windows look amazing with the light behind them, you can see the patterns in the stone as the light shines through.
Travertine Window, Orvieto Duomo, Umbria
Interior Of Duomo, Orvieto, Umbria
Whenever I go to Orvieto I always go to see the frescoes in the Chapel of San Brizio, the right hand transept of the Duomo. The frescoes in this chapel are the finest work by Luca Signorelli, a painter from Cortona in Tuscany. Luca Signorelli finished the ceiling that Fra Angelico and his assistant Benozzo Gozzoli had started fifty years earlier before getting started on the walls where he painted scenes from the biblical end of of the world.
Detail From The Damned, Luca Signorelli Frescoes, Orvieto, Umbria
Luca Signorelli was interested in the human body and strong foreshortening, the subject matter of the Book of Revelations gave him ample opportunity to show off his skill at painting nude human bodies, everyone, from devils to humans looks like they have been heavily working out at the gym.
Resurrection, Luca Signorelli, Orvieto, Umbria
The most interesting scenes show the resurrected as skeletons and bodies coming out of the ground and violence and mayhem as devils carry off the damned and the Antichrist preaches with murder and sin going on in the background.
Read more about Luca Signorelli’s Frescoes, San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto, Umbria
Read about Luca Signorelli’s Frescoes In Monte Olivetto Maggiore, Tuscany
Read about Luca Signorelli’s Frescoes In San Crescentino, Morra, Umbria
The ticket also gives you access to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo at the back of the Duomo.I wanted to see some paintings by Simone Martini and a Mary Magdalene by Luca Signorelli.
Mary Magdalene, Simone Martini, Orvieto, Umbria
The Simone Martini paintings were beautiful but the subject matter was the usual Madonna con Bambino and various saints found on church altarpiece panels. The Luca Signorelli was a bit of a disappointment, I wondered if an assistant had finished her face, it looked as if it had been slightly squashed to fit within the painting. If you have the time and are interested, it’s still worth a quick look in here.
Mary Magdalene, Luca Signorelli, Orvieto, Umbria
Time was running out so we caught the bus down to the funivia and took a detour down St. Patrick’s well, the Pozzo di San Patrizio. This well was built on the orders of Clement VII, a Renaissance pope, who had been held hostage in Rome by the Holy Roman Emperor. He wanted to avoid the same thing occurring and had the well built so he could hole up in Orvieto if the Emperor invaded again. The well was built with two spiral staircases cut into the tufa, one on top of the other, so that donkeys could go down and fetch water in a continual one way system. The well was never used and became an expensive waste of money, until, that is, modern times, when an endless stream of visitors to Orvieto go down and back up, each paying €4.50 for the privilege! Incidentally, Henry VIII of England was refused a divorce from Catherine of Aragon by Pope Clement VII because she was the Holy Roman Emperor’s niece, this led to England’s split from the Catholic church.
Pozzo di San Patrizio, Orvieto, Umbria
We returned back down the funivia and headed home to the Niccone Valley on the Tuscany Umbria border, about an hour and an half’s drive away.
Tuscany & Umbria Villa Rental
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When the Boys from Bluebells Bar in Los Cristianos heard that their very good friends, and owners of the bar, Mary and Campbell were about to celebrate 40 years of married bliss, they were at a loss at what to buy them to celebrate.
Jason, chef at Smokey Joes, also in Los Cristianos, had seen the some of the Bottles By Design Mother’s Day gifts and decided that was what he wanted.
A bottle of Pink Cava was requested as a photo supplied and together with red, obviously, and gold ribbon, the result looked beautiful. Much to the delight of the recipients!
Congratulations to Mary and Campbell for reaching this landmark!
Today I was making myself a quickie lunch of tomato and rice soup. As I was eating my soup with crackers, I realized something was missing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on craving until suddenly I thought—peanut butter sandwich! I remember one evening back in Bloomington when I went over to a friend’s house for a chili supper and they were serving peanut butter sandwiches on the side. My family didn’t grow up eating chili this way, so the pairing struck me as odd. Peanut butter and chili?!? But I gave it a try and you know what? It was GOOD!
My experimentation with tomato soup and a peanut butter sandwich made me start to think about wine and what kind of wine would go best with a peanut butter sandwich. Food and wine pairings are similar because opposite taste sensations can make the best pairings! Take salty and sweet for instance. A classic food and wine pairing would be brie and Champagne (salty + sweet).
But what about even stranger food combos?
In a recent article in Imbibe magazine, “Pair & Share: From takeout to home-cooked, how to choose wines for the way you really eat,” they explore fun and interesting food and wine combinations.
Chips and salsa with an off-dry German Riesling.
Sparkling wine with French fries.
Fried chicken and Sauternes.
Burgers and a Spanish Tempranillo.
Pizza and a Chianti classico.
And the perfect match for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Well, I had to do my research to come up with the answer, but one sommelier suggests an Argentine Torrontes. A dry, spicy white wine, Torrontes has the perfect amount of acidity to wash down the peanut butter. Or try pairing sweet with sweet by choosing a white wine like Riesling or Chenin Blanc.
The best way to find a perfect pairing is to play around with flavors until you find something you like, however there are a few rules of thumb to follow when doing food and wine pairings:
Match the weight/richness of the food and the body of the wine. Ex) Red meats with full-bodied, tannic red wines and white meat or fish with white wines or light-bodied, delicate reds.
Match the flavor intensity of the food and wine. Delicate wines and powerfully flavored foods don’t pair well together.
Match acidic foods with high-acid wines. Ex) Italian food and Italian wines go together well because both are dominated by acidic flavors—think tomatoes, olive oil, lemons and vinegar.
Match sweet foods with sweet wines. Late-harvest wines and Muscat-based wines are called dessert wines for a reason!
Avoid combining oily or salty foods with high-tannin red wines. Salty foods are best when enhanced with a touch of sweetness. Ex) Prosciutto and figs, Fino Sherry and salted nuts, etc.
Now it’s your turn to experiment and discover your perfect food and wine pairing!
This is the second of 2 cellar doors I visited on my recent Barossa trip . Williamstown is on the southern edge of the Barossa and it is the way I travel to Tanunda and the other parts of the Barossa.
This is definitely a family affair with a real sense of history here. The Wilson family grape growing business started in 1860, by Edmund Major Wilson and that makes the 2010 vintage the 150th vintage on the property. They have 2 rows of extremely low yielding Shiraz with the remainder of the vines between 30 and 60 years old. The current incumbents of this history are the 4th and 5th generations of the Wilson Family. Since 2002 they have been making their wine under the Linfield Road label.
They have seen a need for quality meeting place for the locals so they are filling that need with their “Friday Unwind” nights once a month during the warmer months with Food, Music and Art – plus of course wine. The view from their cellar door area is wonderful with vineyard on one side and forest to the other. Check out their website that includes details of coming events.
2008 “The Steam Maker” Riesling ($A18)
The offerings from 40 year old vines are made into this wine. The nose had some developed kerosene aromas with hints of apple still coming through and the flavors were lighter than expected but the citrus base was coming through plus the acid was obvious. I felt this wine was just entering the “dumb phase” ie going from the up front fruit phase to the developed phase – so I would like to try this again in about a years time.
2009 “The Dear Nellie” Unwooded Semillon ($A15)
Straight away I knew this wine was going to be my favorite white wine here. There is an abundance of lemon aromas and flavors with a wonderful tangy acid and lemon/lime zest finish. Uncomplicated and yet complex and just made to eat with fresh seafood – you know the big plate of cooked but not peeled prawns and bugs with lots of seafood sauce and big bowls of lemon water (to wash your hands). Very messy but bring it on!
2004 “The Dear Nellie” Chardonnay ($A12)
A 2004 Chardonnay??? Is this here because they cannot sell the wine? Questions I posed to myself – but after trying the wine, who cares. The wine was surprisingly fresh and the portion of wooded material (this wine is the last of their wooded whites) set the wine well. The cedar tones of the oak combined with melons and citrus peel on the nose and the flavors followed with the oaky citrus mouthfeel working well. The wine’s freshness combined with the richness of the oak treatment means that it would work well with Bruschette.
2005 “The Dear Nellie” Chardonnay ($A12)
I have always thought that Chardonnay needs some oak treatment to get the best from the variety. This wine just strengthened this long held view. The wine had closed aromas and the flavors showed the expected melon characters – but while I was drinking it I could not help but feel there was something missing.
2006 “The Monarch” Merlot ($A22)
The founder of the family vineyard, Edmund Major Wilson, was a butterfly collector – so the name of this wine is dedicated to the founding father’s hobby of collecting Monarch Butterflies. The wine is true to variety with plums and cherries, with a slightly bitter finish. Unfortunately, this wine did not improve my view of straight Australian Merlots – just not for me.
2005 “The Slab Hut” Merlot Cabernet Shiraz ($A22)
While the main cottage was being built James Wilson lived in a simple Red Gum Sleeper Hut – that is still on the property today. The wine is 60% Merlot, 30% Shiraz and 10% Cabernet. Again, like the straight Merlot, this wine was not for me.
2005 “The Black Hammer” Cabernet Sauvignon ($A22)
The name comes from that James Wilson was a partner in the local blacksmith. Back on track with this wine with the black fruit aromas and flavors one expects from Cabernet. The fruit characters are reminiscent of a dark fruit cake. There is not a lot of oak flavors so definitely no oak monster on the palate here, however there is a good acid length here. I am thinking red current glazed lamb loin chops would work well with the fruitiness of this wine.
2005 “The Stubborn Patriarch” Shiraz ($A25)
Scottish Captain Andrew Wilson was “dismissed” when he refused to call out “God Save the Queen” when captured the British. This wine is made in reference to this ancestor’s stubborn nature. I found the aromas quite closed with the flavors kicking in nicely. The mouth is full of plums, raisins and black fruits. The oak is well integrated and the palate finishes with soft tannins. Hard to go past a steak going well with this wine.
2005 Edmund Major Reserve Shiraz ($A65)
2 rows of 100 year old vines, producing at a quarter of a tonne per acre. The wine is let sit in new french oak for 2 years to get enough character to off set the concentrated fruit from the old vines. The nose is just oh so concentrated fruit with the cedary tones of the oak. The flavors are just complex layers of plums, black fruits, oak with plenty of acid length. This is a wine to savor in another 8 to 10 years with a meal if Beef Wellington. The complexity and texture of the pate in the dish would go well with the layered complexity of the wine.
2008 Ratifia ($A22 350 mL bottle)
This different wine sparked my interest – a wine made from Riesling pressings and before fermentation is completed neutral grape spirit is added to achieve 16% alcohol. The product has an unusual tropical aromas with lifted fruit flavors (apricots and peaches). There is some bitterness of the alcohol here but it is almost masked by the sweetness (which is not cloying). I can imagine this wine being popular at their wine food & music evenings.
2006 “The Man About Town” Fortified White ($15)
To start a fortified wine can be a long journey, to get the old complex wines, so here is a method to sell some young wine while starting down the path of the classic tawny styles. On this basis they only draw off enough wine to bottle a few dozen at a time when needed. The aromas and flavors are reminiscent of butterscotch and caramel and as expected the overall mouth fell and viscosity are lighter than the classical tawny style. Some nice aged cheddar cheese and share this wine with a few friends would be good. I would like to see the offerings in about another 5 years to see how the fortified wine blending goes.
When I listen to Fur Elise by Beethoven, I hear a beautiful, seamless flow that is both resolute and reflective. It is a piece that is quite moving and graceful. When I play the piece on the piano, the fixity of the timing is very striking. The piece sounds so meandering and flowing, yet is quite precise.
I recently attended my son’s honor band performance at a local theater. One of the visiting band conductors commented that, ‘In baseball, you can hit the ball 50% of the time and that’s considered a good batting average. In football you get 4 tries. In band you get 1 try, and 90% isn’t good enough. On the other hand, there isn’t a 350 lb tackle coming at our soloists, so it all balances out.’ But the point is, to be good, a piece of music must be played with precision and accuracy. Even music that sounds unstructured, must be played with precision. Music is a precise art.
For my birthday this year, my parents sent me a bottle of Pedroncellis’ Petite Sirah. Petite Sirah, not to be confused with Syrah, is a grape that is not on Mark Oldman’s list of wines from light to heavy. But if I were to place it, I’d put is somewhere after New World Cabernet Sauvignon, but before Barolo. It’s a very heavy wine with lots of tannins.
The Pedroncelli Petite Sirah is a very grown up glass of wine. It is structured and balanced. There is nothing fruity about it. If it were a person, Pedroncelli Petite Sirah would be Nurse Rachet, strict, and humorless, yes, but also very focused, disciplined and intense. The color is a deep purple red. The nose is peppery, cedar and the flavor has hints of licorice. The finish is long with great tannins. “When I first tasted this wine, I was at a dinner party. My hostess poured me a glass. I took one sip, and that was it. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to sit and experience the wine.’ That’s what my friend, Betsy said about the wine. That’s a good glass of wine. And she makes a good point. This wine is so intense and precise, it commands your full attention, like a great piece of music.
Anyone looking for a clear demonstration of the effect of terroir on wine need look no further than this gem of a domaine down a narrow road just a few kilometres outside the village of Causses-et-Veyran. The surroundings are modest, but the wines are anything but. They are to be found on the wine lists of several very fine restaurants throughout France.
Jean-François and Cathy Izarn have 60 hectares, 15 of which they cultivate. Since 1998 the approach has been biodynamic. The beauty of the property is the diverse soils to be found here — limestone mixed with clay, schist, fossil pebbles from what had once been a river bed — and the distinct character they impart to each of the cuvées. The soils are healthy and alive, yields are kept low, harvest is by hand, work in the chai is carefully managed. Borie la Vitarèle is deep enough in the country that it escapes any chemical blow-over from other domaines. Nature has nowhere been compromised.
Jean-François is an artist, not just in his wine-making. We sit at a long table to sample his wines, surrounded by his paintings in progress. He also has a particular interest in growing bonsai. He is a chef, and with his wife operates a ‘ferme auberge’ on the property. A man of many interests and talents, someone for whom viniculture is part of a broad world view.
The individual character and complexities of the wines of Borie la Vitarèle are impressive. There is not one — from the lighter-bodied, summer-drinking La Cuvèe des Cigales to the much deeper, limited-production Les Crès — that wouldn’t find pride of place at any table. Neither do they bear any pretensions. Their prices present the opportunity for everyone to drink well. These attributes would seem to be a natural extension of the process that brought the wine to the bottle, a reflection of the philosophy that let to the creation of Borie la Vitarèle.
Among the wines set out for tasting is Les Terres Blanches. All the wines leave a lasting imprint, but I am particularly taken with this one, and decide to further the experience with a full bottle. (Another time, and it could have equally been Les Schistes or Les Crès that held the day.) It’s ironic then that a few days following, as I am due to uncork it, Languedoc is blanketed with snow. Les Terres Blanches indeed! A rare occurrence, perhaps 20 years since such an accumulation. The local people don’t quite know what to make of it. The young woman at the boulangerie next door seems not quite as amused as her Canadian customer. But then, I have the comfort of very good wine.
Borie la Vitarèle Les Terres Blanches 2008
Young, but with great character, Les Terres Blanches holds forth in a manner that belies its age. It is a wine that would suit many occasions — easy drinking (while looking out on snow) to an elaborate dinner with friends (Jean- François suggests Mediterranean cuisine). There is a subtle rustic air, with tannins well on their way to smoothing out. Such interesting depth in such a recent vintage. Not profound, not endless, but richly authentic. The careful work of a vigneron able to get special qualities from his terroir. As with any exceptional wine, the charms of the fruit — here, the spice, the compote qualities — are in good measure, but it would seem to be the clay-limestone (‘argilo-calcaire’) mix of soil that offers up something extra, giving the wine its distinctive, enduring appeal.
Not the wine nor a day of snow melting on palm trees will be forgotten.
The Truth About New Zealand
Read these websites before considering going to New Zealand
www.NewZealandOldScam.weebly.com
www.TruthAboutNewZealandWine.com
www.nakedtruthnakedbus.weebly.com
If you, your family, or your friends plan on a trip to New Zealand in the future, especially using a “Working Holiday Visa”, then read this first.
Entry requirements for tourists vary in accordance with the country of which you are a citizen. An American may be granted a 90 day Tourist visa after completing a simple form distributed on the plane and receiving a stamp from the immigration officer upon arrival. The Working Holiday Visa is generally a one year visa receivable after such a visa is applied for through the New Zealand Embassy of your country.
The Working Holiday Visa program is an agreement between participating countries under which individuals under 30 years of age can, with little effort, acquire a visa of varying length and conditions to both work and travel within the host country. It is a wonderful opportunity for those of that age group to travel and live in other countries and support themselves while doing so, provided they are not subjected to illegal or unethical behavior of criminal elements of the host country. In the case of New Zealand, the country failed beginning even before my son William, aka Beau, even landed in Auckland.
Wipe away any of your preconceptions of what New Zealand is supposed to be; the country where the Lord of the Rings series was filmed; a nation in which sacrifice and honor were rekindled among men actually reeks of corruption. A country lush in physical geography, with a population of only four million people and sixty million sheep, a nation ripe for tourism and technological development, cannot seem to see the forest for the trees. What Beau discerned about the true New Zealand makes me wonder if the convicts sent to Australia in colonial times were actually dumped in New Zealand by mistake.
In The Beginning
This story actually begins at the in Los Angles International Airport, California – before Beau even left the United States. At the Air New Zealand check-in counter, he was told, without exception, that before Air New Zealand would allow him to board their plane he would have to obtain a forwarding airline ticket out of New Zealand and the one way ticket he currently held did not fulfill this alleged visa requirement.
Beau pointed out to the ticket agent that his Working Holiday Visa clearly stated, in bold print, that no forwarding ticket was required in accordance with the requirements of the visa. The agent coldly stated she did not care what his visa stated, in bold print, and they would not issue a boarding pass until he complied with the demands of Air New Zealand.
The SCAM of extortion against Beau was set in motion; he was instructed to proceed to the Air New Zealand purchase counter and that an agent there would sell him a one way ticket to Australia for a flight two days in the future, and that before then he could cancel the ticket for a partial refund; Air New Zealand would keep $100 USD of it.
Beau repeatedly argued with these agents but to no avail, so he proceeded to buy the exit ticket from Auckland to Sydney for USD 573.57, an unprecedented USD 300.00 more than the normal rate for either Air New Zealand or any competing airline. With his exit ticket purchased through extortion, and now shorted USD 573.57, he was allowed to board the plane, and he arrived in Auckland the following morning.
As soon as I found out about what happened the day of his arrival I contacted the New Zealand’s immigration office at the Auckland Airport and demanded an investigation into this criminal behavior, wanting to know if the immigration department was in on this SCAM also. Immigration responded within 24 hours, stating they had no knowledge of any problems occurring either at LAX or during Beau’s arrival at the Auckland airport and that, according to the records supplied by Air New Zealand, he had properly passed through check-in and customs without incident.
The full story of what had happened came out within the 48 hours from Beau’s arrival at the Auckland Airport. Immigration’s investigation stated the problem was with Air New Zealand and if there is any doubt regarding passengers entering New Zealand the airline agent is required to immediately contact the immigration office by phone for clarification. My son visited the Air New Zealand office in Auckland the day following his arrival to try and get his money back and was told without any hesitation from the staff they “don’t care” what his visa said; for anyone get on their plane an “onward ticket is required”. This statement confirmed that what happened to Beau was no misunderstanding, rather a calculated con-game orchestrated by Air New Zealand to skim extra profits off the unsuspecting, either through the $100 ticket refund charge or the inflated price of the actual ticket should the individual give up and take the loss on the overpriced ticket.
Air New Zealand did refund the entire amount and apologize for the incident, but only after Immigration was notified along with the manager of LAX Airport and the New Zealand Prime Minister’s office. Air New Zealand is owned by the government of New Zealand, so you best beware of this airline and all business in New Zealand as the rest of this story will show.
Blenheim Slavery
Months before Beau left for New Zealand, I investigated temporary job prospects for him once he got into the country. The vineyard pruning work in the Blenheim looked like a good entry point for him and the websites were numerous offering jobs specifically to backpackers. I picked the company with the best looking website in the vineyard area of Blenheim with this assumption: “What could possibly go wrong in New Zealand with a population of 4 million people, who are vastly outnumbered by the sheep?” There was never as much as a hint as to what my son would encounter before he began to work in the vineyards.
He began writing emails to me regarding what he saw and the conditions under which he, other backpackers, and a previously hidden group of Malaysian immigrants worked. What he discovered was the vineyard owners hired foreign contractors, especially Indian and Pacific Islander, to bring in large groups of Malaysians and other SE Asian groups to work the fields, keeping them corralled up after work in confined locations as prisoners; the contractors confiscate the passports of their new slaves so they could not leave, overcharge them for food, overcharge them for overcrowded accommodation, and then pay them peanuts. Barred from consuming alcohol and chained with absurd curfews, these slaves are not seen in public; these workers are out of sight and out of mind, working long hours and paid far less than the required minimum wage in New Zealand until someone, like Beau, stumbles upon the operation and exposes it to the world.
Backpackers are enticed by ads on the Internet, at such sites as www.BackpackerBoard.co.nz www.SeasonalJobs.co.nz, to work for these contractors and the New Zealand Government promotes the idea of having backpackers come to their country for up to a year on the Working Holiday Visa to work in the agriculture sector. One of New Zealand’s chief industries is tourism, and what better way to expand than for the government to promote the youth of the world to visit and supplement a large labor force in agriculture. If the agricultural industry was all legal, the Working Holiday Visa program would be great for both the government and the backpackers. Sadly, this is not the case; please read the websites my son published before even thinking about working in the agriculture area of employment in New Zealand.
www.NewZealandOldScam.weebly.com
www.TruthAboutNewZealandWine.com
I spent a month traveling through New Zealand in my six month, ’round-the-world backpacking trip, and what I found buffered everything my son had to say. During my stay at my brother’s home in Australia, my brother warned me about New Zealand: “They will try, in any way they can,” he said, “to pick the last dollar out of your pocket before you leave”. This was a good description for what Beau and I were to unveil.
New Zealand is a beautiful, lush, green tourist location, but certainly not unique. I traveled from one end the the other and the best way to describe it is a shrunken version of the the United States. The renowned mountains of south island are like a miniature version of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska and having traveled through the Rockies many times and to Alaska I saw nothing in New Zealand that compared in the size or grandeur of that in the USA.
Christchurch was my favorite city and the outskirts of it were like a time warp. I walked the 6.5 miles from the airport to the city center and the sights and vegetation and the smell were like going back in time to 1950’s New Jersey.
The capital, Wellington, and Auckland further north are port towns with nothing over such similar locations on the pacific coast of the USA.
My evaluation of New Zealand was it had nothing which I had not seen may times before, however pleasant, and I preferred to visit the western USA for its far grander landscape.
The Kiwi People
You cannot understand the people of a nation until you have traveled amongst them in their home country. The Kiwi people are not at all what I expected them to be, coming from British and Irish stock. They are generally a spineless, cowardly bunch that would rather surrender their country to foreign invaders than stand up for their rights. I stayed in hostels during my month in the country and the repeated word I got from the management of the hostels was they did not care for Kiwis either. I sat and talked to the owner of a Subway sandwich shop in Blenheim and he also had nothing good to say about Kiwi workers: they were lazy, undependable, and semi-literate, which sums up the general population; instead, he hired European backpackers exercising the Working Holiday Visa program.
Business owners across New Zealand and I did not trust them as I felt, as my brother predicted, they trying to get the last dollar out of my pocket before I left. I deduce, if there were not foreigners here to actually work, the country’s economy would implode; it will destroy itself because the spineless, non-confrontational, “sweet as” nature of its people who are allowing corrupt foreign corporations and individuals to take over.
New Zealand is an easy target as very few have the courage to do anything and they are usually foreign like my son or a Kiwi with half American or European blood. New Zealand has such a tremendous opportunity in tourism and the development of hi-tech industry, but the petty philosophy ‘grab the fast dollar today and forget about tomorrow’ of local businesses combined with the take over by corrupt foreign businesses is destroying the country.
The bus company NakedBus.com is a perfect example of a corrupt, money-grubbing business that my son has exposed in the website www.nakedtruthnakedbus.com. The few Kiwis that have honest businesses are being hurt by all the corruption and are too frightened of retribution to take a stand. The New Zealand Government is corrupt from it’s highest executives to it’s lowest inspectors. Prime Minister John Key knows full-well of the slave operation in the vineyards and the abuse of the foreign backpackers, but does absolutely nothing about it. The government knows, from the Prime Minister’s office to the local inspector, because Beau and I have repeatedly informed them of the slave trade throughout the winter and spring of 2009 and into the summer of 2010. There is no excuse for such inaction. One very bright German lad I met in Wellington said it best:
“Why should I stay here to work and get abused by businesses when I can go back to Germany where the workers are protected by real labor laws and the pay you actually get is twice that of New Zealand?”
This young fellow, like Beau, is very bright and would be a major intellectual asset for New Zealand. Thousands of such bright minds visit the country each year with the intention of staying, but the New Zealand Government and it’s people piss away their best chance to be a stellar beacon of prosperity in the world…for the fast dollar. My son came to New Zealand with the intention of staying and attending University there, eventually gaining citizenship. After nine months of being cheated, lied to, and extorted, he now wants little from New Zealand. My son’s websites and the following emails he sent to me really describe the Kiwi mentality best. Before you or your children go to New Zealand, you should at least know what your up against:
From: Beau Burdge
To: Chris Burdge
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:50:14 -0500
I’ve had no luck job searching here in Taupo. I just filed some applications today, so I will be waiting for a response this week, but I’ve had more problems with one of the foundations of this country: lies. This country is built on lies. I asked at every single hotel, motel, and hostel between my hostel 3km out of town and the town center, and every single place claimed they had no vacancies. Then, a few days ago, the local newspaper came out, and three of those places advertised staff vacancies. I went back to
them the day of the printing of the newspaper and they first denied they had such a vacancy, almost denied the advert was theirs, then claimed the vacancy was filled. I just looked at that Christchurch
article again on the motels closing down and I can tell you now that I am more than happy that they are suffering. Those lying, cheating bastards deserve it.
From:Beau Burdge
To: Chris Burdge
Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:42:49 -0500
I’m confident I’m already a lot better at technical analysis than I am at finding standard employment. In New Zealand, you are expected to give 110% towards the job so the employer can hand you that extra 10% back in return as their entire contribution. There appears to be no respect whatsoever for the employee. What is very telling is their old Employment Contracts Act 1991, which made the employee and employer equal in the eyes of the law, ensured the right to receive employment records, etc. That was thrown out and replaced with the Employment Relations Act 200(1?) which has apparently stripped the employee of many employment rights originally granted in ECA 1991.
On my website, I write that although the ECA was replaced by ER Act, the complete failure to mention the clauses regarding the employee’s right to employment records means they are still in effect to some degree. That is only being optimistic though.
Read these websites before considering going to New Zealand
www.NewZealandOldScam.weebly.com
www.TruthAboutNewZealandWine.com
www.nakedtruthnakedbus.com
The Root of All Evil
However, to be fair to New Zealand, one more subject must be noted: money. In his travels in New Zealand, Beau found that the most wonderful aspects of the country involved no transaction of any kind, while the worst experiences always revolved around the acquisition or extortion of money.
The Naked Bus debacle was centered around hoarding passenger fares for services not rendered. The Slave Labor in Blenheim is a conspiracy to make large profits. The inactivity of the New Zealand government is due to profitable bribes from major institutions that are the real masters of New Zealand. Air New Zealand scammed Beau and others because it was profitable. What Beau discovered is the moment money becomes part of any situation, it changes it for the worse and the purpose of the interaction between the business and the customer becomes solely the acquisition of wealth and be damned with the quality of product or service rendered.
When a backpacker works for accommodation, as Beau did across the country, he meets the best kind of people. Neither the (honest) backpacker nor the (good) host attempts to short the other. On the other hand, when money rather than service is the purpose of a relationship, he who stands to gain shorts as much as possible he who stands to pay in order to extract maximum profits. This is true for hostels in cities like Queenstown, where local hostel owners and bar managers claim there will be work “in a few weeks” just so the backpacker stay at their hostels and drink at their bars, unpaid, for those weeks waiting for work that will never come. This is true across New Zealand, where a backpacker can go for months without finding any work for which he is “eligible”.
Eligibility should not even be a problem, especially for jobs like washing dishes, shoveling dirt, changing beds, washing sheets (with the help of washing machines), etc. However, because money (wages) is a part of the exchange, the business forgets common sense and focuses on the extraction of profit. It takes a half-hour to train an employee to do any of the above jobs, yet the business sees that half-hour as lost wealth and refuses to hire anyone without “experience”. In the real world, experience in washing dishes, particularly with a dishwasher, is completely irrelevant and it is idiotic to request references for such a position. To cut costs, however, businesses in New Zealand demand references and experience for the most basic, first jobs, so they can spare the thirty minute training session and maximize profit.
You have to have had a first job before you can get your first job.
This is not only the opinion of a backpacker, but also the testimony of a number of Kiwis who themselves cannot find employment; Kiwis just out of high school or college, who are in a tight space – people who have no “work experience”, making them “undesirable”, and in defense must confess their age, being 15-20, to explain their lack of “experience”, thus making them, once again, “undesirable”.
The moment money is not an object, life in New Zealand is wonderful. Working for accommodation and hitch-hiking across the country have been amazing experiences for my son, per his own testimony, but the moment he walks into a store or pays for accommodation at a hostel, the giver is replaced by the deceiver. There are exceptions, but not enough to negate the rule.
William Burdge
Beau, my son and author of the attached websites, is an exceptional young man. He was a straight “A” honor student his first 12 years of school, has at least a genius IQ, has lived in Europe and traveled through it five times, and has the best soul of anyone I have known and all at the age of 18 on his arrival in New Zealand. Below is his college profile for which he won a Discus Award:
http://www.discusawards.com/winner.php?id=1101
William Spencer Burdge
12th Grade, FL
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
I’m a perfectionist. I have been at the top of my class since first grade and that was never enough for me. Discovering how mechanisms work (and how they could work better) is my passion, be they appliances or social systems. I do my research on everything I learn so I know the truth. I find pleasure in learning and satisfaction in using what I know to benefit myself or others, and I enjoy the challenge of debating what I and others have learned, which is in itself a learning experience. If I’m wrong in what I think or assume, I win because I have learned something from it.
Community Service
While my “traditional” community service, the work you do in exchange for recorded hours, is not my specialty, a more potent form of community service is. I am a co-founder of the unofficial Burdge Law Office (no website yet). This started with one website my father and I published about a man who brutally abused my family. This website, and the others that followed, use the open forum of the Internet to tell the truth about individuals and organizations who violate peoples’ rights. Some would call me a whistle-blower, others a muck-raker, but in the end I am standing up for what is right, for my rights and others, demanding justice when justice systems fail, and that is all that matters.
Technology
I have a philosophy about technology: if you can’t invent it yourself, invest in it. I research new technology on a regular basis and I come up with my own ideas that I will put into practice before, during, and after attending university. My passion is to discover the inner workings of devices and ways to improve upon them. For instance, I theorized that falling water power generation would be more productive than standard hydroelectric power with horizontally flowing water. I was told it would not work. Then I got to see the idea in action, both on television and in person while I traveled in New Zealand. Given the opportunity at a university, I will be able to make more of these developed ideas into developed patents.
The Rioja region is to opened its new, three-suite hotel on March 16, it’s name, Viura, is from the white grape grown around these parts.
The hotel is found in the small town of Villabuena de Alava at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria. With several terraces with views the mountains and the 16th century San Andres Church it’s a great base for wine-lovers.
It’s a modern hotel in a charming old town, and a glorious area for oenophiles.
Villabuena de Alava has a several wineries including Luis Cañas, Izadi, Baigorri and Arabarte. The town and is only 20 minutes from Logroño.
Internal flights are available from Madrid into the local Logroño-Agoncillo on Iberia Airlines.
First, let me say that Jacquie has been one of the most fun brides to work with! We were introduced by my sister, Rachael, and I couldn’t be more happy she did! With less than two weeks until the big day, the task list is long. But we are making speedy progress! Sunday night Jacquie, her mom and my sister all came over to my house to get down to business. What we weren’t expecting was my fridge to die that day. Needless to say, my kitchen was filled with wedding thoughts and lots of warm, thrown away food.
One of the most creative seating charts I’ve ever seen … little cut out squares of paper all taped to ….
A CAPTAIN CRUNCH BOX! Doesn’t get any cuter than this!
First on our list was the programs:
We created a tri-fold program that matches the invitations perfectly (if I do say so myself). These will slip into a sapphire sleeve with a white band around it. I would love to post a photo to show what I’m describing, but that would mean I’ve got one finished. Not so much …. Jacquie still owes me a small amount of content. Once I have that, it’s off to the printer I go to be followed by lots of folding. I’m insane … I love this stuff!
Next on our our list was the guest book:
We went around on this one for a while. We started with possibly two guest books, to a photo frame for signatures, to signed rocks in a pond (decided that with just over 200 guests, there would be WAY too many rocks!) We decided on a coffee book table on wine … to really drive home the home made wine favors. I just finished the guest book tonight. It’s complete with a wide variety of photos and quotes on the fine hobby of wine. Check out a preview here: Preview Jacquie’s Guest Book
Last but not least … center pieces!
I can’t take any credit on this one. It was ALL Rachael. Her and Jacquie put together really cute vases with water, floating candles, glasses pebbles and of course some flowers. SO cute girls … I can’t wait to see the room filled with them!
Not a second to spare, next on the list are wine bottle labels, name tags to slip over the neck of the bottle and finish off the list with place cards. Sunday we continue our tasks with gluing of ribbons on vases and counting of glass pebbles. Ok … scratch the counting, we are going to guesstimate (sorry Mrs Martell!)!
Jacquie is not only going to be a drop dead gorgeous bride, but she is always an amazing woman and friend! And Doug … we’re getting a taxi!
I’ve gotten pretty used to eating alone and no longer hesitate to go out to eat alone. Yesterday I had a rather enjoyable early St. Patricks Daymeal of beer, fish and chip and a good book.
What We Eat When We Eat Alone By Deborah Madison
(read while in Madison, Wi and eating alone fittingly enough)
It reminded me that there can be a certain romance that can exist in the self-indulgence of eating alone. It has occured to me the I feel a little like I’ve forgotten how to cook for someone else. (Now don’t get me wrong, dinner for 10, I still have confidence enough for). But this book, as it described the quirky meals people make for themselves, made me consider my own solo meals. Many of which are as, Madison puts it, “very personal foods… and are not easily shared” Such as my diner before my rock climbing date on Friday: a wedge of laughing cow cheese and two soft boiled eggs eaten with Frank’s Red Hot. Eggs, in any form, though usually boiled and never for long enough, with Frans are one of my most frequent meals. So far what I love about this book is that some how it makes me feel warm and fuzzy, almost protective, about my two egg meals or “wine in the bath” dinners.
I’ve gotten pretty used to eating alone, being alone. Its nice to find something that makes me value my alone time. Instead of just accept it.
Whenever you want to have the best time and fun filled moments, they would not be completed with the right kind of cuisines. These cuisines have an importance of their own and they add more value and worth to any meeting. When you want to meet some one special in a casual and fun filled way then there can be no better place than a café which provides you the comfort of having a conversation with your friend without any problem along with providing the beautiful and superb environment to you. You can always enjoy your sitting in those places because these are such informal places that are perfect for those who want to have the best environment combined with the ease and comfort of sitting at any place. The food of these cafes is usually very delicious and you can have them at reduced prices as compared to other famous restaurants of your area. You can find many attractive deals for the lunch and also for the breakfast that provides sumptuous food to your taste buds. You would be totally lost in the kind of atmosphere that would be created in that place.
There are plenty of other things that contribute towards making these places a perfect place for you. You can easily enjoy your time sitting there even if you are alone and can relax and ease out your mind. You would forget about all of your tensions once you would enter any such place. If you are alone and want to work on the Internet then you can also take your laptop over there and can easily sit there and work as most of these cafes have the facility of the wireless Internet and it allows you to work while having the most aromatic coffee over there.
If you are a fun lover and want to have a little chat with your friend then you can easily invite him over and have the best conversation ever while enjoying this beautiful environment and having a glass of the world’s finest beer or wine in such places. The whole dining experience would be expanded because of these cafes. Some of the cafes are also made at such a place that provide you water views & licensed to make sure that they have the right to make their cafes over this place. This immediately boosts the beauty, look and feel of these cafes and more people are attracted towards them due to the perfect views.
With magnificent water views in the Port of Eden, the Wharfside Cafe has built a widely recognised reputation for the freshness and quality of the food and beverages it serves. For more information please visit: http://www.wharfsidecafe.com.au/
. . . in to my 30 days of being dry, that is. No alcohol.
In a previous post, I mentioned that I’d be going dry for 30 days in solidarity with my wife (she’s doing a 30 day diet/exercise regime). In the interest of full disclosure, I must declare that I did, indeed, finish the Cotes Du Rhone that was already opened. Hey! It was open!
Otherwise, I haven’t been drinking at all. I wasn’t sure if I’d want to participate, but, since I went to the trouble of writing it down, I find myself compelled to do the 30 days.
It’s science.
The only effect, so far, has been the realization of how much a habit of drinking wine with dinner has been. I catch myself absently casting about for that mysterious “something” I’m missing. Then I realize, oh yeah, no wine with dinner. And so I have water and that’s been okay.
I’ll probably have a Guinness on St. Patrick’s day, or a glass of Jameson. Or, again, I might not.
Happy Friday all… by which I mean Congratulations on surviving the week Here it’s raining and chilly (so much for that spring weather… but it does give the three short sleeve shirts I own a break), and sanity is waning… So thank you all for sharing your life survival tips. Please take a look at my other blog, focused on the fine line we women professional tread:
http://LifeForward.onsugar.com
Thank you to David who left the following:
A glass of warm, quality whiskey (you’ll never find Jack on my shelf!) always does the trick for me. If something’s racking my mind, by the time I’m bottoms-up, I’ve straightened everything out. Or I’m asleep. Either way, it’s not an issue for at least a couple hours
I’m not a great drinker (Actually what I am is a cheap date… I like appetizers better than entrees, chicken better than fish, and beer waaaay better than wine since wine gives me a headache…even half a glass), so I can only say that the power of sleep is fantastic. Seriously — You get to turn off, let your subconscious deal with whatever is going on and if you’re lucky, wake up at the end of a REM cycle without remembering the weird dream that may or may not hold the answer (or whatever part of the sleep cycle is optimal… I get up at the same time every day so its like sleep roulette).
David, if you’re Jewish and as good looking as your blog is adorably funny (which is a lot by the way), please let me know… After a colleague interrogated me this morning rapid-fire style:
Her: Do you have children?
Me: No (The fact that my office space has pictures of my dog and absolutely no picturs of children probably should have told her that one)
Her: Are you married?
Me: No (trying to walk faster to catch up with ANYONE ELSE)
Her: Do you have a significant other?
Me: No (now fearing that she thinks I’m a. gay or b. the unibomber), Mr. Right hasn’t shown up yet and I’m between Mr. Right Nows
Her: Long lecture on a lot of frogs
Me: (Polite smile, mentally calculating odds of moving offices and/or buying a husband/family online to end awkward conversation and preclude all future encounters)
I obviously need proof that goodlooking (or not deformed) straight single men are still out there…somewhere…
Everyone has a preference. When it comes to fine drink, some live for wine, others indulge in hard liquor, and many prefer imported beer over both. With so many variations out there, how are you supposed to find the perfect drink that defines you? The options can seem endless.
To choose the right social lubricant, you need a strong image you can count on. A familiar face that compliments the taste. Someone with grace and presence.
If you look around, you’ll find there are very few who can live up to the task. Only two men have proved themselves potent enough to reveal the perfect drink in short, masterful strokes:
The Most Interesting Man In The World…
… and legendary filmmaker, Orson Welles.
Entertaining, influential, and downright classy. What more could you want? Interestingly enough, this is the exact question I could not stop asking myself. For some reason, as much as these suave spokesmen made their impact, I still found myself at a loss. Why couldn’t I find my perfect drink?
Over time (seconds upon minutes), I grew wise and realized what was missing: Reality. That was the problem. These grandiose image makers didn’t feel like me at all. I couldn’t relate. Their effortless simplicity made me feel so common. This discovery was a bit of a downer as I began coming to terms with the fact that I would have to figure this puzzle out all by myself. I was scared and alone.
But as luck would have it, something miraculous happened instead. Little did I know, I had missed a very important extract. As soon as I watched it, my choice came to me almost immediately…
Eureka! Fine champagne. My drink of choice. Stay thirsty or stay French. The choice is yours, my friends.
A slight rain started our day, but after the sun came out we opened the doors to discover a beautiful day sitting at a perfect 75 degrees. In walked the importers of San Felice to taste us on their library release of 1997 wines. How could the day get any better?
1997 San Felice Vigorello – Big funk on the nose with barnyard and forest floor. The palate was massive with huge dusty cherry, crumbled chocolate, and prune. Loads of earth with black liquorish and crushed stone on the finish. Black currant and spice with wet earth and layers of earthy minerality.
1997 San Felice Poggio Rosso – Ripe blueberries and ripe plums up front with an underlying forest floor and spice. Lavender and red roses add floral complexity and a great earthy minerality finishes the wine out. Chewy tannins and a long finish tell a tale of quality.
So here I am sitting down to write a blog piece for my very own venue – one of the most surreal experiences that I have yet to encounter. For the first time it actually feels like my dream is coming to fruition after many years of late nights, early mornings, great customers, dickhead customers, great mentors, dickhead bosses, drunken staffies, staffies I can’t even remember and those staffies that my dear colleagues will never let me forget! By the way, I’m very disappointed that Microsoft Word does not recognize the word ‘staffie’. This will have to be remedied. Be prepared for an email, Microsoft, I have a sexy new letterhead and a wanky title now!
Seb chowing down while our Chef, Adam, looks on. Yes, he drank that much wine.
So when I started out on this little adventure I was expecting it to be all pornstars, trashing hotel rooms, messy drunken nights, numerous foreign cities – wait a second that was my other dream, being a ROCKSTAR! So I have finally come to the conclusion that being a rockstar might have been a bit more fun but hey I’m in this now so may as well rock it to the best of my abilities, the reality is opening your own bar is bloody hard.
Decisions, decisions, there are just so many to make. You end up relying on so many different people, and these people promise you things, and some let you down and then you’re back to point one – doing it all yourself. Fortunately I have surrounded myself with fantastic people that have been of great help and taken on a lot of the pressure. That said I am still finding myself at home on weekends and waking every night to scribble down ideas.
Being the self confessed boozehound that many of you know me for, I had one primary wish in my very own bar, the ultimate liquor selection. This selection would make many bartenders weak at the knees and have bar owners suggesting a bank-like shutter system come staffies time. I wanted the holy-grail of back bars. Now after many a meeting with suppliers and literally hundreds upon hundreds of liquors tasted Sam Bygrave, Garden Brasserie’s Bar Manager, this wish has been fulfilled, and in just one word it’s Legen….dary! Whilst having an insane backbar provides a great level of bragging rights it has also given Sam the liberty to create a cocktail list that is sure to wow even the biggest of critics, which in most cases are our closest and most dear colleagues.
Now I know Australia is well known for its wines, but golly gosh (am trying really hard not to swear in this piece) it seems like everyone I know has a friend in the wine game that would like their product on the menu. This is a good thing, it just means more tastings! My body is now a finely tuned, alcohol-injected vehicle! Fortunately there is another finely tuned, alcohol-injected vehicle by my side with a much finer palate, Nic Wright, our Sommelier and Restaurant Manager. Nic has put together an incredible list of local and international wines from all over Europe, North and South America as well as some incredible wines from Japan (yep, wine and not sake!).
Luckily on the business side of things I have a business partner (Stephen Gellert) of whom I have the utmost respect, and together we’re slaving away night and day to achieve this mutual dream of a venue on Sydney’s North Shore that provides great food, great drink and great entertainment in a venue that makes everyone feel relaxed and welcome.
Did someone mention food? Well, if you’ve ever had the privilege of dealing with Chefs you will know that many have very… colourful personalities. Ok let’s not beat around the bush, most of them are complete nutballs, on the edge of snapping at any given moment. That said I was very wary that upsetting a Chef in any way could only end badly, remember after all they carry sharp knives for a living! Our Executive Chef Adam Howe, however, has to be the most friendly, mild tempered knife-wielding person that you will come across. He’s almost too nice (got to be careful of those really nice people, seen too many horror movies where it’s always that nice guy).Well, last week I sat down to trial some of the dishes that will he’ll serve up at Garden, and to say that I was blown away was an understatement. The combination of beautiful presentation and sumptuous flavours leaves me, well, hungry thinking about it.
I look forward to opening the doors on this place and sharing it all with you. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from all of you guys following this blog, our Twitter page or our Facebook page and thanks to all of you so far for your support!
So I guess that’s me for now. I’m Sebastian Gallery, and I freakin’ own this place.
I visited Napa last week and went to a few wineries including Mumm, Alpha & Omega, and Baldacci. It was a wonderful visit and since I had my camera, I recorded a few images of my impressions of what I saw that day.
Work has been so crazy and you get into that mode where you have completely forgotten where the off switch is. The crazy begins to be normal . So it was just perfect timing to pack a day bag jump into our car and head north to the Hunter Valley for some great food, wine and to see Diana Krall in concert which was held a beautiful winery called Bimbadgen.
It was exactly what was needed, we came back to Sydney, rejuvenated with a car boot full of food treasures. Our Hunter loot was full of amazing Kieth Tulloch and Tempus Two wines
, beautifully soft & ripe cheeses from the smelly cheese shop , some chilli chocolates that packed a punch and Ryan got Turkish Delight liquor which his experimenting with for our next cocktail night . Yet by far the most amazing thing from the weekend was my meal at the Rock. the amuse bouche was till this date the most amazing meal of 2010. I will go back just for that soft ravioli filled with mushrooms and quail egg,which when you cut open the oozed out over the plate and into the amazing foie gras sauce…. each bite was heaven.
I love cooking with wine, mostly because I love drinking wine so adding it to my food is always a plus. I usually add dry white wine to pasta dishes but I’ve never added wine to chicken, much less used it to braise chicken. That all changed after I saw this fantastic looking recipe on Flavor Diva. I traded cherry tomatoes for chopped Roma tomatoes and and since I’m trying to incorporate more complex carbs into my diet, I served it with brown rice cooked in diluted chicken stock. It instantly adds a little flavor to the rice, so much so that I could have eaten it by itself. Also, the recipe calls for 1 whole chicken cut up but I was only cooking for myself so I used four chicken legs and carried the leftovers to work over the next two days. Speaking of which, I always think reheating chicken on the bone never tastes the same but this actually reheated really well! Must be the wine. I tell you, it makes everything better!
Wine-Braised Chicken with Tomatoes
1 whole chicken cut up (I used four chicken legs, so this is flexible)
1 tbsp of EVOO
1 tbsp of butter
1/2 medium sized onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 tsp of dried thyme
1/8 tsp of ground cumin
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped (or 12 – 16 cherry tomatoes)
salt and pepper
1 tsp of parsley
Directions
Rinse chicken legs and pat dry. Salt and pepper chicken liberally on both sides. Heat the olive oil and butter (hot, but not smoking) in a deep frying pan or dutch oven. Brown chicken well on both sides (should take about 10 – 12 minutes).
Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the pan. Sauté the diced onion and minced garlic in the oil for about one minute.
Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and chicken broth and bring to a boil for about one minute. Use a wooden spoon or whisk to scrape the bits (from browning the chicken) from the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the dried thyme and add the chicken legs back into pan.
Add the chopped tomatoes and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the liquid and over the chicken. Cover, reduce heat to low/medium low and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve with rice.
Granted, I am getting ahead of the game here by blogging about Evan Goldstein’s upcoming book Daring Pairings, http://bit.ly/cJMwM3 since it will not be available until April 1st. But, it will be here before we know it, so put it on your ‘must have’ list, now!
One of the chefs featured is Dan Barber, of Blue Hill fame in NYC and his Hudson Valley outpost, Blue Hill Stone Farm. In 2003, Dan invited me and the winemaker I worked with at the time, Charles Girard, to dine at Blue Hill as his guest. Dan was a fan of Charles’ 2000 Cabernet Franc which he liked to pair with his infamous Short Ribs. Admittedly, I don’t remember the menu exactly, so I can’t regale you with details (it was many dishes)….but, I will say that even without specifics I remember it as one of the most enjoyable meals ever. After dinner, Dan invited us into the kitchen, which was so small we were aghast at how Dan and his team produced such exquisite and varied dishes from such a small area. Great chefs do great things in small spaces. Dan has always been a leader in sourcing local and cooking seasonal, and provides his restaurants with produce from his Great Barrington, MA farm. The specialty of that dining experience was beyond the amazing flavors and textures of the food. It was also special because Dan’s accessibility, passion and generosity made it so. When you are in NYC, or Hudson River Valley, be sure to make Blue Hill a stop….you will be very happy you did.
My fiancé surprised me last weekend by taking me to my first trip to Napa. I have always wanted to go, but lack of opportunity kept me from getting to this much anticipated destination. We stayed at this beautiful hotel in Yountville called Bardessono, one of the most green hotels in the U.S. but strikingly well-designed; it’s uber chic but approachable and warm. We didn’t have dinner at their Italian restaurant (named after the hotel), but we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast with a buffet of local-centric foods, with an option of 4 warm dishes to choose from.
The first night was at Terra, a Michelin starred restaurant in St. Helena, about 15-20 minutes from our hotel. Set in a century-old fieldstone foundry, the restaurant is intimate and romantic. Hiroyoshi Sone and his wife, Lissa Doumani create seasonal New American cuisine, focusing on Californian ingredients but with nods to France and Italy. But you can see Chef Sone’s Japanese sensibility which always seems to find its place in every dish. Yet, nothing is too complicated or overdone. Service was smooth and genuine, never overbearing. We loved how it made us feel that we were worlds away home, yet was still so comforting. Thank goodness for fine establishments like this–it’s been here for discerning Napa goers for 20 years for a reason, folks.
After getting tipsy from wine tastings at Domaine Carneros, Stag’s Leap, Silverado, and Rombauer wineries (no lunch didn’t help), my fiancé again surprised me to a foodie’s dream-come-true: a dinner at The French Laundry. Oh baby, yeah! I was so shocked but so ecstatic; I don’t really remember how we got to our table, or at least, it was a blur. But boy, do I remember what we tasted! We had the Chef’s Tasting of 9 courses (the other option was their Vegetarian Tasting of 9 courses). All the dishes that arrived were surprisingly minimal in presentation–no fancy footwork. But to me, it’s like watching a prima ballerina–they make it look so easy, so effortless, but it’s because they have an incredible amount of technique and experience. Look closely, and every little herb, every little flake, was placed with intent and purpose. Here, they want to showcase each ingredient; there’s no masking of flavors. Each course was like a Oscar-worthy movie, with the best actor, best supporting actress, best cinematography, and best director, with each role vital to the other. And the service is so seamless and balletic, there was no waiting or awkward, long pauses. You know their presence, but the servers somehow never get in your way of enjoying the food and your conversation. That’s called great orchestration; no matter how talented your musicians are, you have to have the right conductor to make them shine. We were so lucky enough to get a invitation to their kitchen. What an honor. I love seeing kitchens, because it reminds me of my days as a ballet dancer. It’s like walking backstage, where everything happens before it goes onstage to perform for the audience.
Our last day in Napa started at a wine tasting at Ma(i)sonry, which was close to our hotel and where we got to choose from several different flight tastings from various local, more boutique wineries. A historic landmark (and one time, brothel), it houses some fantasitc contemporary artwork along with vintage pieces and furnishings. In the back terrace area, we sat at one of their communal tables and selected some wines and was served some Pecorino cheese with nuts, dried cherries, and crackers. Some new wines we have fell in love with were L’Angevin, Peirson Meyer, Tamber Bey, and Brown Estate. It’s a great place to relax and enjoy various collections of rare and under the radar wines. A nice change if you want to be away from all the hustle and bustle of the more popular wineries in Napa.
Our last stop before we left was Domaine Chandon in Yountville, because I just had to have one more tasting of Californian sparkling wine which has captured my heart while I was in Napa. After having a couple different tastings together, my fiancé and I headed for some lunch at their Etoile Restaurant. The chef here, Perry Hoffman, was just nominated by James Beard as Rising Star Chef of the Year. We didn’t have the opportunity to indulge in a full course lunch, but even with our few selections, we knew that this young chef is destined for greatness. Chef Hoffman showcases his culinary techniques with well-balanced flavors and presentation. It’s not groundbreaking cuisine, but it’s the simple, pedestrian dishes that are sometimes so challenging to elevate and impress. Somehow, he does that with ease. All with some more Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir Rose…..Life is oh so good.
Thank you, Fiancé; I am a lucky girl
Terra Restaurant: 1345 Railroad Avenue, St. Helena, CA; Tel. (707) 963-8931; http://terrarestaurant.com/
The French Laundry: 6640 Washington Street, Yountville, CA; Tel. (707) 944-2380; http://www.frenchlaundry.com/
When the Boys from Bluebells Bar in Los Cristianos heard that their very good friends, and owners of the bar, Mary and Campbell were about to celebrate 40 years of married bliss, they were at a loss at what to buy them to celebrate.
