Jason Perlow

perhaps a slight drizzle of balsamico traditionale (75 yr old!) if you like. That would be a waste. The acidity of the tomatoes would likely kill the refined flavor of such an old tradizionale. I would use tops a good 5 year old for something like that. a DROP of tradizionale should be used with stuff like strawberries, vanilla ice cream or perhaps some ricotta.

Actually I am partial to Seabras Rodizio at Meditteranean Manor on Jefferson. This has become our Rodizio place of choice and we had one of the eGullet dinners here. Also their a la carte stuff is very good in particular their fish. For traditional iberian fare definitely Casa Vasca but as Rosie says go early or make a reservation. Their paella cannot be beat.

Ed, do you know if they plan to release the Noble Spirits collection on a DVD? I really want to buy your video but I dont use VHS anymore!

Yeah, I guess they must have shifted production over entirely to the Dom. Republic then. They must have only had 2 facilities running for a few months. I guess the economy affects everyone, including Matusalem.

I will say this about Bryant & Coopers, their parking lot is really annoying. I vastly preferred the restaurant they replaced at that location, Manero's, although the last time I ate there I was probably like 10.

According to Luis Ayala it is bottled in BOTH florida and the Dom. Republic. The Dom Republic one only is sold in South America, supposedly. He interviewed the owner of Matusalem recently for his newsletter so I would imagine he would know the skinny on this. The only reason why I know this is I asked him about it about a month ago! The two bottles I have are the Florida ones, and I bought them both over the last year in two different parts of the country.

Its a respectable steak place. I've eaten there a few times but their beef isn't as good as Luger's. Their sides are pretty good. I've heard good things about Rothman's but I've never been.

Thats interesting, I consider most of those champagnes to be very dry. Filthy tasting, leaving a filminess on the palate from over oaking, but dry.

Dstone: I grew up drinking some pretty expensive champagnes as my parents are avid wine collectors and like many people that personified the me generation of the 80's, loved to flaunt how much they could spend on wine. All I knew from Champagne until my 30's was Dom Perignon, Pol Roger, Cristal, Roederer, Veuve Cliquot, Moet, the big NM names. Vintages, you name it. The problem with Champagne is that it is so infrequently drank by most people. So it is hard to compare it with other champagnes. In fact, I really didnt like champagne until I went to that champagne tasting and got a chance to drink some of the lesser-known, small batch estate brands. Nowadays I always keep sparkling wines and champagnes around. It goes with everything.

jason, you're implying that champagnes made for the american palate are done so in a drier style. from what i understand (as i haven't been there; tried to insert angry face) , one finds many more bone-dry champagnes in france, for example, than in the u.s. One tends to find more kinds of champagnes PERIOD in France. I mean, come on, when was the last time you saw a DOUX or a SEC in the US? I agree with you on the Egly blanc de Noir. Quite exceptional.

Barolo in my opinion is the king of Italian red wines. However, most of them are pretty damn expensive. And even the expensive vintage ones frequently can be disappointing because by the time you get them, the flavor in them can be completely "shot" as a respectable wine merchant friend has told me. Is there such thing as a good, inexpensive Barolo or am I fantasizing too much? Or have all the dentists on Long Island hoarded all the good ones? Do you know of any vintners making any good domestically produced nebbiolo-based wines? There are only two to my knowledge, neither of which I have tried: http://www.stoneheath.com/ http://www.cascadecliffs.com/

I'm a big fan of Italian sparklers. What are your favorite producers and wines of this type?

David's Bio Although the surname may seem incongruous for a specialist in Italian wine, David Lynch is nevertheless half Italian. He grew up in Glastonbury, CT, where he became versed in the subtleties of spaghetti sauce as prepared by his Italian mother, grandmother, and assorted aunts. But even his grandmother was a generation removed from the Old Country. For David, who spent most of the year 2000 in Italy researching the acclaimed Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy (click for Amazon Listing) (Clarkson-Potter 2002; $35), the creation of the book was not only a professional challenge but a chance to trace some of his roots. David, 34, was a Senior Editor at Wine & Spirits for more than three years, but left the magazine in May of 2000 to travel from the top to the toe of Italy with his wife, Josie. He visited more than 300 Italian wineries over the course of seven months, meeting with owners and winemakers in amassing much of the information contained in Vino Italiano. On returning to New York City, he took on a new challenge in becoming the Wine Director at Babbo, which is co-owned by his collaborator on "Vino Italiano," Joe Bastianich. Working in a restaurant is a big change in direction for David, who has been a writer and editor since graduating from Boston College in 1989. He published his first articles in a Boston-area weekly called The Tab, then took a job a trade newspaper that covered the New England restaurant industry. He moved to New York in 1993, joining what was then Jobson Publishing as an Associate Editor of Cheers, a beverage magazine for restaurateurs. Eventually he became the Editor of Cheers, while simultaneously writing articles for other consumer and trade magazines. In the summer of 1996 David joined the staff of Wine & Spirits, where he covered a wide range of wine topics. The highlight of his tenure at the magazine was his receipt of a 2001 James Beard Journalism Award for one of his Wine & Spirits pieces. His writing has also appeared in GQ; Food & Wine; New York Magazine; Time Out New York; Sidewalk.com; Chef; and P.O.V. And while the wine program at Babbo is a full-time commitment, David remains active as a writer, contributing regularly to Wine & Spirits and other publications. He and Josie live in Manhattan.

Don't cry awbrig. No one got mad at you for slamming their choice of sparkling wine, the fact that they mispelled the name, or that they left it in the fridge too long. Don't dish out what you cannot take in return. The best sparkling wine under $50 year in and year out is Roederer Estate Anderson Valley. In some years it is surpassed by others, but overall it is the most consistent. I also find that non-vintage sparkling wines generally offer a lot of consistency. The American Roederer is much better than the French one, IMHO.

bypass? You have got to be kidding. Dude, El Gran Mexicano is da bomb. Especially their Enchiladas Mole Poblano. If you can point me to a single mexican restaurant in the entire northern new jersey area that makes it better than they do, hell, I'll buy you dinner. Their mole and their steak tacos is my sole reason for going there.

He only does it once a year, you'll want to check out the Wineavenger.com web site usually in early November. It sells out VERY quickly, he usually charges $100 for the tasting. His email is willie@wineavenger.com It is a VERY revealing tasting and will totally shatter your perceptions of the "famous" champagne brands.

awbrig, you really have to learn to be tolerant of others opinions here. Also there is a definite sarcastic bent to people's humor here, especially Tommy's. This is a very diverse community and we have very varied opinions on food and wine, even between the "experts" here. That was the entire point to forming this community. You learn from and listen to a lot of people. If you just want to go to a site where everyone has the same opinions and views and experiences that you do, you shouldnt come to eGullet. I dislike most mass market champagnes. As I said this was a blind tasting, and we had a LOT of different and unusual champagnes that night. When you have some of these single estate grower champagnes and you compare them to the NM's, you might have identical reactions.

jason, clearly your reactions were wrong. dumbass. Yes, -Clearly- I never said I wanted to be popular.

As I said this was a blind tasting and reflected the reactions of many of the participants including my own as well as Rachel's. I am also strongly biased against the heavy oaking of any wine, especially Champagne.

Yes, its grossness personified. I know you live in Chicago, but if you REALLY want to learn about Champagne, you want to go the Annual Champagne Taste-off, which is held usually in early December in NYC. Its run by wine expert Willie Gluckstern, who wrote "The Wine Avenger" and his web site is at www.wineavenger.com You blind taste like 50 different champagnes, all big names and many little known ones. here are some notes from our 1999 tasting: Willie's book has a lot more info about what to look for in champagne and other wines and is very no nonsense. A couple of things that are important to understanding what is good and bad about champagne is that probably the best champagnes are the ones we hear least about. Companies like Dom Perignon, Moet, Perrier Jouet, Tattinger, Cliqout , Mumm and Louis Roederer spend the most advertising dollars and thus we -think- they are the good ones, when really they are very commercial and not that good. As noted in the previous message, there are many smaller producers that make much better champagnes for less money. Champagnes can be devided into three major types -- These are the "Codes" you find on champage lables. Negotiant Manipulant -- These are companies that buy grapes from growers and make champagne. All of the ones I mentioneed above are NM. Most NM's are commercial champagnes, but some like Bollinger are exceptional. Recoltant Manipulant (RM) or "Grower Champagnes" are made by the grape producers themselves, they are hard to find in the US and virtually all of them are superb. If a wine store carries these this is the sign of a very good wine shop. Cooperative Manipulant (CM) - a Co-op co-producer. There are 11,000 of these growers who pool their resources to market their own brands. There are 150 such firms, most of these are pretty pathetic. Marque de Archeteur (MA) - Buyer's Brand. Always the cheapest on the shelf, made from second pressings and inferior quality grapes. Execreble.

mickblueyes you disappoint me. Veuve Cliquot? You mean Agent Orange Veuve Cliquot, even the grand dame is pretty nasty. Its so sulphric, that the only thing I will tolerate it in is a Mimosa.

Theres a breakfast chain called The Original Pancake House which has something called Eggs Michael on their "Benedicts" menu, which is poached eggs on patty sausage with a mushroom wine gravy, served on top of potato pancakes. While not a Benedict by the strictest sense, its pretty awesome.

Cool Peppercorn writeup. Do you get to choose these topics or do they get assigned to you?

Yeah, I mean like Swiss Chard is riveting material.

Put the web browser down, Steven, and go back to bed.