BPWine is SMOKING HOT.

Cory and I split a nice automatically loading food smoker ($300 at Home Depot) and it has been a fine addition to the BPWINE family.

Cory sticks a whole chicken in there in the morning, and voila, at 1PM you have a nice rich, toasty smoky, utterly juicy chicken. Put some veggies in with the drippings and you are good to go.

My favorite so far is this:

Sort of Salmon Candy

Cut fresh salmon (the fattier the better) into 1/2 inch chunks.
Brine over night or up to 2 days in a mixture of kosher salt, water and maple syrup or molasses. Throw in a little clove or black pepper, what ever you like.
Take out chunks and let dry on a wire rack for a half hour (this gives them a sheen)
Put chunks on rack in smoker and smoke on apple wood, oak or cedar. 4 hours for tender and chewy. Up to 8 hours for a more "jerky" salmon.
Brush once ot twice towards the end with a mix of a little honey and warm water (just a few drops of water).

Salty, sweet, smoky and perfect with a glass of Loosen Riesling.

- Stefan.

Guigal, Gaja, Harlan, Mordoree, Pavie, Buccella, Evangile, etc...

Short notes from my dinners this past weekend:

1996 Pascal-Douquet Blanc de Blanc - My first encounter with this growers champagne, and it was an excellent, creamy, and bright perfect starter.

2001 Mordoree Reines du Bois - At first there was some panic. It seemed pruney and porty, overripe or possibly cooked. But this totally blew off in about 5 minutes. The wine became a gorgeous, sexy beast. A pure, ripe, screaming Grenache and just a young, beautiful powerhouse. Thrilling to drink, like an SQN. No hard edges.

1997 Gaja Costa Russi - My WOTN by a hair. God, I love these 97 Gajas. The nose is so REGAL; so intense, yet so elegant. Licorice, integrated wood, coffee, black fruits, and taking on a little leather and tobacco. Wonderfully sexy mouthfeel. Awesome.

1995 Guigal La Landonne - This is massive. Still a baby. Overall, it seemed a bit monolithic and closed. Plenty of acid and tannin, with the fruit a little buried. Good, but not great tonight.

1999 Dom Perignon - Nice quaff. Fine mousse, tasty, and balanced.

2006 Lewis Barcaglia Chardonnay - This is a full throttle, big, oaky, rich, buttery Chard. Very Kistler-ish at the price, although not as complex.

2005 Buccella Merlot - Nice surprise! Fat, rich, very low acid, choclate, dense, plush, mocha. Sort of like Foley Merlot on steroids.

2005 Pavie Macquin - Delish. Decanted vigorously for 7 hours. Killer acid and structure. It is closed even though it is full of flavor. This will be incredible when it gets into early adulthood. Loaded with mineral, blackberry and cassis, fennel and espresso. Killer presence in the mouth and a huge minerally finish.

2005 Bond Pluribus - You might think it was a 2005 Pavie, actually. Generous and riper than the P-M, but ultra-plush and rich, this was very forward and packed with flavor, but still a baby. Wow! Great stuff!

2001 Peter Michael Sauvignon Blanc - Boring.

1996 Laurent Grands-Echezaux - Cloudy. Nice nose of tart cherry, ash, and framboise. A little muddled.

2000 Les Cailloux Cuvee Centenaire - Kill Grenache nose. Framboise, strawberry pie, sweet oak, rich texture, fresh acid. Totally yummy.

2000 L'Evangile - Decanted 6 hours. Big, smoky, carbon, burnt wood nose. Then comes licorice, tar, massive amounts of blackberry and mineral. Great stuff.

2004 Harlan Estate - Never dissapoints. Classy, rich, intense, wide, deep, packed with flavor and very fine tannin. Great wine.

- Stefan

The Doctor Is In.

A few of us strolled over to Go Fish here in St. Helena yesterday to taste through a prepossessing panoply of current release wines from the one and only Ernst Loosen, Dr. Ernst Loosen that is. We cruised across fourteen wines while eagerly indulging in the ever-flowing assortment of wasabi-cream topped crabcakes, nori-rolled tuna hand wraps, and pepper-crusted shrimp (spicy!) in between sips. Ernst was amicable and down to earth as he mingled with the crowd and graced us with an amusing anecdote about his woes with old Napoleonic law within the steep, four-acre Erdener Pralat vineyard, of which he owns 1.5 acres. The other 2.5 acres are divvied up between 18 different owners!

It was a refreshing afternoon with all that Riesling in the room. And after deciphering my own cryptic chicken scratch, I leave you with notes from some of my personal favs:

Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Trocken ‘Alte Reben’ 2006 An early favorite for us, this wine put on a show for our nostrils with perfume, lilac, slate, cilantro and lime notes. It was complex and racy in the mouth with slate, smoke, minerals, white peach, white pepper, honeysuckle with a slightly alkaline finish.

Dr. Loosen Riesling “Dr. L” 2007 The lowest-end of the Dr. Loosen line, this was a simple but pleasing effort. The initial smell was of bubble-gummy fruit that opened a bit and followed with a hint of fresh cut grass. In the mouth, it was well rounded, with flavors of sweet apple, orange juice, and a dry, apple skin finish.

Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett 2007 The grapes that graced previous vintages of this wine were sourced from a vineyard directly along the bank of the Mosel. However, due to the rising climate, they have since begun making this wine using grapes from numerous vineyard sights higher up the hill, reserving the lower riverside vines for the single vineyard Kabinett offering. That stated, I loved this wine, even more so than the single-vineyard. It had a very fragrant nose of grapefruit, melon, banana, crap apple, and crushed runts (the candy). It was voluptuous on the palate, loaded with fruit salad, whipped cream, white pepper, and a long mineral laden finish. Delicious.

Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett 2007 The single-vineyard Kabinett I spoke of. It’s possible that I could’ve mistaken this for a glass of Tropicana OJ if smelled blind (which isn’t a bad thing for me). There was also a touch of grass on the nose. My tongue was touched with crispy acidity, apple, lemon, white flowers and a mineral zing! that zipped about. While delicious, I found myself enjoying the previous Kabinett a bit more.

Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese 2005 Two of us immediately agreed that the smell here had a strong resemblance to that of Cascade (the powdered dishwasher detergent)…but in a good way…? I was intrigued by the nose that further showed aromas of sour sugar and lemon-lime soda. Creamy lime enveloped my taste buds and opened the door for apple, pear, and stone flavors finished off by a nice, brisk acidity.

Dr. Loosen Erdener Pralat Riesling Auslese 2006 A bright and generous nose of orange, pineapple, white flowers, guava, and potpourri. This wine was a sexy, viscous, sweet and succulent concoction of honey, dried apricot, peach, and clementine with a nice mineral stream running through it. The finish was fine and long with layers of pear and candied apple. I would love to taste this wine ten years from now, as it should have so much more to offer in the future.

Dr. Loosen Estate Riesling “BA” 2006 I’d be happy to sit and do nothing but smell this wine for hours. Hops, spearmint, apricot, flowers, pine, and more. A touch lighter than the Erdener Pralat, its nuances of apricot, peach, sweet honeysuckle and caramel-apple gracefully danced along the palate leading into a long mineral-laced finish.

All in all it was a great showing from Dr. Loosen. And with all of the wines being so young, I hope to taste many of them a few years down the road, as while they are a touch tight knit and stingy right now, they should become real beauties in time.

- Brendan