Brad Ballinger

Pinot Noir - Domestic nods go to Evesham Wood and St. Innocent (both Oregon). Burgundy nod goes to Montille's Volnay wines (to keep in your price range). Viognier - I haven't found anything domestic that does it for me. From Condrieu, I like Villard's wines. I'm sure you'll get a lengthy list from all the people who will respond.

I can see an argument being made here. But I do know the restaurant sources some pretty good ingredients. And the prices are pretty comparable with Luci IMO. I've been to that place three times, and have had to send something back every time. I'm done with the place.

Better than Cossetta's? Plenty. The Buon Giorno deli has always been better IMO. But they have suffered from not having the primo location of Cossetta's. Better pizza in St. Paul (in a similar enough style to Cossetta's) can be had at Red's Savoy Inn. Better pasta at La Grolla.

Made with a nice Rioja??? Sangria??? Save your money and make it with a $5 red. After adding the fruit juice, the original wine will be practically unrecognizeable.

Russets. Scrubbed. Coated with duck fat or butter and kosher salt. Pierced through with a potato rod. 400 degrees for an hour or so.

It's not really an "either/or" issue, even though re-reading my earlier post I probably made it seem that way. Wine can be high in both, low in both, or high in one and not the other. Generally, with spicy food it's residual sugar that is discussed more than acid or fruit (but the presence of RS for some people makes the wine appear more fruity). Sugar in its various forms tends to mellow the effects of spicy heat.

With that lineup, I'd say drink whatever wine you like. If it were me, I'd go low alcohol and high acid, which would mean German Riesling. That would also have some residual sugar to diffuse the heat of your very spicy dishes.

One thing to ask about the various wine pairing options (if it matters to you) is the price. Typically, diners at Trotter's, Tru, and Trio won't care about the price. But one can be shocked at the cost of the wine pairing compared to the cost of one or two bottles of wine. Trotter's, in particular, has a separate wines under $75 section of the list (although that cap price may be higher now), and some glass pours may cost you $25/glass.

ossobuco

Craig, Another great example from Italy is Fattoria di Rodano's Lazzicante. Some may also tout Falesco's Montiano, but, for my palate, the Lazzicante shows much more terroir-like character. It costs slightly more than the Montiano, but it's a much better wine. Surprisingly, Rodano's Monna Claudia (half cab, half sangio) sells for about half the price of their 100% merlot Lazzicante. Heading north to France, some Fronsac wines I think do a good job for a fraction of the cost of Pomerol. In particular, Chateau Dalem and Chateau Fontenil (but you have to like Michel Rolland's style). But my sleeper is Chateau Sergant from Lalande-de-Pomerol. In California, I used to like Lewis, but confess to not having had one since the 1995 vintage several years ago.

Have never seen any in Minnesota. Where I have seen Swiss wines, though, I've also seen prices that start in the upper $20s/lower $30s (so I've obviously never seen the bottle Boris referenced). That's a tough starting point, especially when I know there are many German wines I like for half that. I know, I know, it's not necessarily riesling in Switzerland, but...

It's been a while since I've been in Utah, and maybe things ahve relaxed. Maybe. There are many bars (clubs) where you ring your own bottle in for set ups. I don't recall how beer and wine is handled. New Hampshire is also a state with the state-run wine and spirits shops. Ohio controls spirits, but beer and wine can be purchased in the grocery store among other places. With respect to Pennsylvania (well Philadelphia because my experience is limited to that city), there are BYO establishments that don't have licenses. I was at such a place (Gnocchi on Passyunk) and it was entertaining to see the variety of wines at the tables. Typically, I don't see white zinfandel, K-J chardonnay, etc., brought in by a patron who wishes to bring his or her own (the purpose of BYO in restaurants with licenses -- in other states where it is legal -- is to bring in a special bottle, the equivalent of which is hard to find on the restaurant's list). The people I know in Philly go to New Jersey or Delaware for their booze.

A disclaimer. I've never looked for this wine, so my figures may be off a bit. But in recent enough I've seen it advertised on sale in the Twin Cities for $18. So regular retail may push it into the $20+ range.

Nice idea. Let me suggest a companion thread. Wine lists that attractively priced.. St. Paul, MN -- Heartland. Marcel Juge Cornas $52 (retail $40, if you can find it).

1995 Fattoria Casa Sola Montarsiccio. This is a Toscana IGT that is approximately 60% cabernet sauvignon, 30% sangiovese, and 10% merlot. It is aged in barrique for 24 months. It shows. Not necessarily in a "oaky" way, but in a way that says more new world forwardness and less terroir. It seems more Bordeaux than Italy. At nine years old, it is still a very fruit forward wine with plenty of structure. Cherries, pepper, cinnamon, menthol, and some earth notes show on the nose. Nicely balanced on the palate with bright acidity yet, lively fruit, and tannins from both grapes and oak. Moderately long finish that is primarily fruit-driven. A nice example of a "non-Italian" Italian wine that has more going for it that overly ripe fruit and sweet oak.

Uhhhh, wasn't trying to do that. Merely trying to explain the proliferation of pinot grigio everywhere. And when we do get haughty about things like this, it's because we know that pino grigio (and pinot gris and whatever other names it goes by) can be very, very good and completely different from almost all of what the public is exposed to that goes by the name pinot grigio. That's all.

A flawed bottle of wine by any other name...

I'm with David on this one. My first choice for wine is riesling more often than not. And beer. And tea.

I'd like to respond to what I think was the original intent/spirit of the first post, and that's that pinot grigio has usurped the number one spot in the import market, accounting for 12% of all U.S. imports. Tony Blue feigns incredulity at this figure being higher than merlot or chardonnay. I'm seriously surprised it's higher than shiraz given the Southcorp and Rosemount infiltration I see everywhere. But you also have to look at all those Italian restaurant chains - Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, etc., that offer plenty of pinot grigio. Damn near every Italian restaurant offers it as a white wine, sometimes exclusively. And that shit from Cavit is cheap and inoffensive enough (yet, arguably better than any domestic product at the same price point) that the stuff flies out of wine shops by the case. Now, shifting gears a bit... I think you make a good point about pinot gris in Alsace. And the ZH flab is stuff that I find hard to put past my lips. Where I'm finding the best representation is in the grauer burgunder (and rulander) wines from Germany -- pinot grigio from Italy's Collio DOC notwithstandnig.

Tommy, The wine geek BYO crowd is hard to miss. Typically, they (we) just end up pouring the wine without the server's involvement. If it is a smaller gathering, then the server will typically go through the whole tasting ritual. In that latter case, though, I may still advise the server that I prefer to pour. I think a restaurant needs to be sure, however, that the server/management has some control over the table. They don't want anyone getting juiced and then deal with a dram shop claim/lawsuit.

There are so many "it depends" factors at play here -- the size of the dinner party, the importance of the business being conducted, my relationship with the host, etc. -- that it is hard to offer a one-size-fits-all response. I've had this happen once. The host ordered a magnum of 1990 Veuve Clicquot, tasted, and accepted the bottle. It's vintage Champagne, so many people are going ga-ga over it. I take one whiff and suspect it's corked. I taste it, and it definitely is. I was sitting far enough away, and this was a large enough gathering, that I was able to drink enough water, surreptitiously dump it into my water glass, and then pretend my glass was dirty and ask for more water. After the dinner, the host asked what I thought of the wines. I then mentioned that the VC was corked. He commented that no one else had said anything. I replied it wasn't horrible corked, but flawed nonetheless and that I'm very sensitive to it. I then overheard him telling another person, "Brad said the Champagne was corked." The other person affirmed, "it was." I didn't say anything up front because it wasn't my event, it wasn't the time to educate the table, and any other reason you'd care to make up. But what did happen as a result, is that the host asked me to conduct a tasting for him and his staff to educate them on wine. And there happened to be a corked bottle there, so everyone got a chance to experience it.

Yeah, you may have a point. I was at another one of these things a couple of months back with about 15 people. Typically, the wine is not tasted by any single person prior. So flaws are usually not detected until the bottle has been passed around. At this event two months ago, there was a 1995 Ridge York Creek Zin that was corked. I believe everyone had a pour, and some may have already tasted it. I took one whiff, proclaimed it corked, and dumped it. A couple people who know my sensitivity to TCA followed suit. But some who didn't really know me had to convince themselves.

A bit more to add. Unless I'm at a table where we've all brought our own wine, I usually let the server go through the ritual. If the wine is corked, I'll then put the cork back and return the bottle to the retailer. Then I will order a replacement from the list. Last Thursday, I was at a dinner of six of us who brought our own. One person had a corked Batard-Montrachet. The things is we opened our own wine and poured everyone a portion before anyone tried it. Fortunately, he was still able to get a full replacement bottle, even missing that much wine. But we all also had to thoroughly clean our glasses to accept the next wine.

Carolyn, don't get the following wrong -- I don't own a bottle of domestic white wine -- but there are some California Chardonnay wines you may be able to stomach. Specifically, you may want to taste Hanzell, Stony Hill, and even Blackjack Ranch. I believe they all use mostly old oak (but BR may use some new). Again, I don't own any. But I've owned the first two in the past, and get to taste some more on occasion. Nowadays, my chardonnay is all Burgundy (including Chablis) and Champagne.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, "Merlot is a blending grape." Meaning, it should not be "elevated" to any other status.