B-21 on Facebook
holidays
Vintage update: Raiding Peter’s cellar
In my neighborhood it’s a holiday tradition that late on Dec. 24, when Father Christmas is in full Yuletide (or in his cups) he gets loose with the cellar keys. This year our wine Santa (aka Peter Vagg) reached into his bag and pulled out some real sugar plums.
1989 Penfold’s Grange Hermitage: True figgy pudding and the champ of the night, plummy, berry fruits and lots of spice at 20, easy and smooth drinking. Long finish.
1985 Echezeaux: This took time, perhaps a full hour in a decanter, and revealed itself to s joy in prefect condition, cherries wrapped in dark cocoa and coffee. Earthy and strong enough to last another ten.
1998 Moccagatta Barbaresco Bric Balin ($37.99)
1972 Barbaresco: Producer unknown, but it had a B-21 price tag of $19.99. Near its limit, but a remarkable show for a theoretically light Nebbiolo, still clean, distinct berry brightness surrounded by cedar, tobacco and earth tones.
I report on these oldies in case you’re looking at some in your closet and wondering “Should I…”
The answer is YES. Make it a New Year’s resolution. Open those old bottles and make room to re-stock. B-21 has Barbarescos from 1998 at $37.99 and Echezeaux from the great 2006 for $99.99. It’s much more fun than cleaning out the garage.
- Chris Sherman, The Nibbler
Beyond the great houses: Grower Champagne in the fields
Agrapart Les 7 Crus 1er Cru Blanc de Blanc ($34.99)
Forget for a moment, the Doms, the great ladies and the chandelier bottles of the tetes de cuvee. The true marque of the Champagne connoisseur is the label of a small artisanal grower not a big house with a steady style and heady marketing. Independent growers tend smaller, precise plots of Chardonnay and Pinot, blended and bottled according to their own taste and terroir, not house wishes.
Mind you these are pure Champagne, from the right grapes and the delimited area of the cold chalky north, yet they have personal style, purity and freshness that delivers more excitement for the money than label status. The flavors range from brisk and mineral to creamy and opulent, just like the big boys. Grower prices are great value too: Even vintage bubbly and old-vine Mesnil can be half the show-off bottles. Production is limited but B-21 has wise buys from favorite growers like Agrapart, Egly-Ouriet and Saint-Chamant.
Ranger Rhett’s warning: “Chill out.”
“Keep it cold, very cold”, B-21’s Rhett Beiletti warns this holiday season. He’s insistent on this, “The bottle should be burn cold to the touch.”
How to get that cold?
1. After 3 hours on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator place in the freezer for another 20 minutes before opening.
2. Take time to make a bucket with 2/3 ice and 1/3 water to keep completely chilled.
“It is an action that will be completely rewarded. Sante,” Rhett says.
Brrr, and don’t forget to put out the fire before going to bed.
What are you drinking on Christmas?
Well today is Christmas, and all of us elves at B-21 have done our Christmas shopping and have our poisons picked! Here is a list of what we are drinking today! Be sure to comment and let us know what bottles you popped today!
BOB SPRENTALL - “I will be at Momofuku Ko for dinner tomorrow night in NYC. Will report from there!”
- Our sources tell us that Mr. B-21 himself was enjoying a bottle of 2005 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny on Christmas night.
SHANNON SPRENTALL - “Van winkle bourbons!!!”
Shannon and fam will be sampling a variety of Van winkle bourbons, and a good time is sure to be had by all!
- Old Rip Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 90.4° $68.99
- Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13yr 95.4° $68.99
- Pappy Van Winkle 15 years old 107° Bourbon $78.99
- Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year Old Reserve 90.4° $135.99
RHETT BEILETTI - Its all Bubbles and Bordeaux for Rhett
- 2002 Agrapart Mineral ($59.99)
- 2002 Guy Charlemagne Mesnillisime ($69.99)
- 2003 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge
STEVE RAYMAN - Steve has picked out a variety of wine including a Top 100 fav for his family festivities.
- Agrapart Terroirs Champagne from Magnum – ($89.99 – 1.5L)
- Roederer Estate Brut ($17.99)
- 1999 Luneau Papin Muscadet L d’or ($19.99)
- 2008 Paul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc ($17.99)
- 2008 Mas Carlot Clairette ($9.99)
- 2007 Giraud Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition ($34.99)
- 2006 Viticcio Chianti Classico Riserva (Top 100 Wine) ($24.99)
SHAWN REYNOLDS - Our Cali Correspondent is keepin’ it classy.
- Flowers Pinot Noir ($39.99)
SUMMER MARTIN - Yo me quedo en España y Chile. I’m staying in Spain and Chile this Christmas (at least for my wine selections) ¡Feliz Navidad!
- 2005 Muga Reserva ($24.99)
- 2005 Sierra Salinas Mira ($16.99)
- 2008 Montes Late Harvest Gewurztraminer 375ml ($19.99)
- (Oh, and my husband is sure to spike our eggnog with some Courvoisier or Remy Martin)
Blogging and Glogging
The holidays give us an excuse to indulge in extra-ordinary ways: including heating wine. In Florida we do make sangria, but northerners and Europeans mulled over cold winter nights, especially Christmas, with a warmer concoction.
Over the years Swedish friends have punched up my holidays with glogg — and schnapps and akvavit and ice cold vodka and …
I had another great batch this year in St. Petersburg made by my pal Annica Keeler, a one-woman Swedish cultural center, who feeds glogg-less expatriates every Christmas. This is her recipe.
B-Blogg Gloggg from Annica Keeler
- 1 btl red wine
- 1/4 bottle vodka
- 1/4 bottle brandy or Cognac
- Half cup whole cloves
- Half cup cinnamon sticks
- 1 half cup sugar or more (to taste)
- A few whole star anise nuts
- Dried bitter-orange peel (to taste)
Mix and heat over low heat until warm and sugar melted.
When cool, keep in a tight bottle for a week for best taste but a day or two works fine too.
Annica says: ”Traditionally this is served with a small spoon of raisins and peeled almonds in the bottom of your glass. Lots of JULE – HUGS from me to you all!”
Stuck on stickies: 375ml of Christmas
Pre-Order the 1927 Alvear Solera Cream Pedro Ximenez Sherry 375ml ($19.99) and 96 pts. by Parker!
Dessert wines, fortified and otherwise, are an ideal holiday gift. Most come in small packages of beautiful gold and they’re perfect fits for stockings. Great to give to party hosts too; they rarely get opened for the crowd and are saved for a special occasion (or two) when the recipients can savor them in peace and joy. Sweet.
Even the snootiest wine lover on your list rarely has many of them, so you may be giving a new treat.
The extra bargain is that stickies, as the Australians call them with honest childishness, often come in half sizes for smaller tastes of far more expensive bottling.
The choices are endless. In California Andrew and Laurel Quadyare the wizards. Essensia Eluzium.
In France, I love the muscats from Southern France. Italy offers Moscatosand sharper Vin Santo. In Spain, I look for wines made from rich Pedro Ximenezgrapes from Jerez, or my favorite Alvear.
Christmas and the drinking is easy: Truffling with Tabbarini
Sweet potatoes and cranberries be gone! The debate over Thanksgiving wines is over. Christmas dinner comes with menu freedom. We can start with food or wine and only requirement is to roll out the good stuff.
To me that’s the best wine I’ve tasted this year, the ripely juicy Sagrantino, found in a small corner of Umbria; a lush black beauty that comes with its own elf. If you met Giampaolo Tabarrini on his visit this year, his merriment is still jingling. Giampaolo brings energy and passion to match the challenge of this unique grape, its blackberries and dark plums so powerful. It’s a secret ingredient in many fine wines that need booster shots. Alone it’s remarkable.
2004 Tabarrini Montefalco Sagrantino Colle Grimaldesco ($39.99)
The 2003 Montefalco Colle alle Machie ($69.99) is richly ready to drink now (a 93 from Steve R). For me the 2004 and 2005 Sagrantino from Colle Grimanldesco, also in Montefalco, are gifts for the cellar, but the 2004 is approachable if you cant’ wait. (Both $39.99, the 2004 gets a 94 from Steve, the 2005 a 92).
The extra fun is food that will match. Rustic and lusty, and my first thoughts are wild boar. Boar are scarce in my neighborhood, but I can get a fine young pig to roast on the grill from Roy Sierra, a Cuban rancher who runs Casa Sierra in Old West Tampa.
The plant life of Umbria has even more flavor, the best olive oil in Italy, the remarkable truffles, fennel, cardoon, sweet onion and more. Even the eggs, lentils, potatoes and pasta are renowned. So I think roast pork with fennel and cardoons, pasta with truffles and eggs, and fire roasted beans and Sagrantino!
Buon natale, Giampaolo!
What about you? The roast beef of old England and a fine claret? Ratatouille and an old white Burgundy? Rack of lamb and a bottle of Grange? Chrstmas goose and an Auslese?
No-fear shopping for wine gifts
Price and budgets are nothing to be ashamed about. Wine has been a business for a millennia so there’s no need to whisper dollar amounts. Be upfront about how much you want to spend whether it’s for a friend or for yourself. It saves time and a good wine store has stock in all price ranges. We’ve got really good wines for $10 and killer wines for $100. At B-21, sharp wine staff won’t pull a bait and switch, or sneer and try to push you off your budget. Some things don’t exist, such as true Champagne for $15, but enjoyable bubbly for that price does. Just ask. (On that one, I’d say Domaine Chandon Rose at $15.99, or if you want la belle France on the label, Francois Montand is delicious at $$9.99) My advice when shopping:
Can't decide? Get a gift card!
1) Once you’ve figured a price, give some thought to what the recipients like, or wines you’ve had with them. Please don’t say, “These people like really good wine, I don’t know what kind, but really, really good.” Think about them a little. If you know they like Italian wines, Pinot Noir or California Chardonnay, let’s start there.
2) Forget guessing their taste. Give a bottle you like and include a card or a recipe, “We had this in Napa with a great all-vegetable dinner.”
3) If you’re really stumped go for a dessert wine or bubbles
4) Don’t buy to impress a showoff. That’s a battle you can’t win. Give a corkscrew – or a wine stopper.
“Put a cork in it, Joe.”
(When all else fails, go with a gift card and they can pick it out themselves!)
Keg o’my heart, forgive me
Foolish fogey that I am, my holiday party advice discouraged caroling with kegs. I presumed that most of us and our guests no longer had the… um…spirit to kill a keg . But what’s 160 to 170 glasses among friends and B-21’s got a cooler full of kegs ready to fill that thirst.
Indeed these are not your fraternity brother’s kegs or the hosers who lived under your first apartment. Kegs have joined the beer revolution with boutique beers and imports on draft in your own home or backyard. Look at the some of what’s on today’s keg list: Heineken, Amber Bock, Killian’s Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Pilsner Urquell, and Yuengling (now our hometown brew). Even Labatt’s Blue for Bob and Doug MacKenzie. For me, it’s a choice between Newcastle Brown Ale and Shiner Bock, but since this is Shiner’s centennial year, I’ll go with some boot-scootin’ Texas smooth.
Just ring the keg line at 727-722-9100 to find out keg prices. There’s still a deposit for the keg and the whole set-up of you need one, but one thing’s changed, you don’t have to get the keg back the morning after.
Btw, if you’ve got the stout-hearted friends, B-21 can special order Guinness by the keg too.
Party on, dudes.
Spain loves bubbly too!
Cristalino Brut Cava
Great bubbly doesn’t always have to come from France! Its Spanish neighbor offers many great sparkling wines that are affordable bubblies for entertaining during the holidays. It’s always good to have a bubbly on hand. If your holidays are anything like mine, you will find your doorbell ringing and a group of unexpected relatives trampling in wiping their shoes on your brand new rug. (Unless of course you hide your car down the street, making it appear as though you are not home. Though, I wouldn’t know anything about that of course!) These types of situations call for a good inexpensive bubbly to pop and ensure that your in-laws have a great time, and you don’t pull your hair out (or theirs)!
- Summer, B-21′s Spain Advocate
Here are three of my favorites Spanish Sparklers:
Cristalino Brut Cava 91W&S – $7.99 (on for $6.99 this month)
This is a no brainer. It’s on sale this month for $6.99. You can’t beat the price and it’s an awesome bubbly. You can’t find this kind of quality in a California sparkler for less than $10. (90SM)
Me toasting with Maite Esteve of Marques de Gelida.
Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Cava 90W&S – $7.99 ($7.19 btc)
This is a great bargain from Spain with scents of honey and apple, crisp, floral and creamy. (89SM)
This fall I had the chance to taste through the Marques de Gelida wines with Maite Esteve, one of the owners of Marques de Gelida. This was my favorite of her bubblies, very crisp and light. (90+SM)