Ron Johnson

Is the screw-cap a recent invention?

Thanks Steve. I have never been a believer in the air exchange theory because I agree that there is sufficient air in the ullage. I have also experienced your frustration with the lack of consistency in cork circumference. For me the biggest problem is TCA taint. I open probably 18-25 bottles of wine per month, and most months have at least one bottle with some level of TCA taint. Some months are higher. Some wines are returnable if you have the receipt, remember the retailer, and didn't buy the wine during a trip to Europe, but its still a pain in the ass. I enjoy the ritual of the cork, and love to brandish my Laguiole, but corked wine is always a tragedy, especially when its a bottle of Chave that I have been holding for 16 years.

Steve, is there any data suggesting that a screw top is a less reliable method of sealing a bottle of wine for long term aging that natural cork? Natural cork's biggest problem is TCA. However, it is also a less than perfect sealer itself for long term aging, and I am aware that many collectors get their best bottles re-corked over time. If that is true, why is there anymore risk in using a screw cap than a natural cork? Is it only fear of the unknown?

Well, thats why I have a mint plant next to my liquor cabinet. Actually, down here in Kentucky, the home of bourbon, we rarely add sugar as good bourbon is already sweet. Here's a good recipe for a refreshing minty summer drink. Fill rocks glass with crushed ice and sprigs of mint to taste, fill halfway with Maker's Mark or Woodford Reserve, top off with ginger ale. For your second one, repeat but leave out the ginger ale.

Agreed, he is great. Too bad he left the Post-Dispatch and now only does reviews on Saucecafe.com. Patricia Corrigan was a disaster for the P-D. My vote is for Robin Garr for my hometown of Louisville. His reviews can be found on www.louisvillehotbytes.com. For a reviewer with a more national audience, I guess I would select R.W. Apple or Eric Asimov as a default because I cannot nominate Fat Guy.

Dstone, Try mixing in 50% addition of Louisiana Hot Sauce to the ketchup. The result is quite nice for fries. Cuts the sweetness and adds a little zip of heat and earthiness. I likey.

Agreed, and a gratin can be timed to come out of the oven and hang out on the stove top for a few while you plate everthing else. Its just those darned mashers . . .

Thats what I was going to say. Seriously, languedoc is turning out some of the best QPR wines in the world. Much better value than California wines, even in California. It is slowly shedding its reputation as the "wine lake"

I am not specifically wondering about recipes. I know how to make mashers, but I rarely make them as part of a labor-intensive meal because the only way I know to prepare them is right before service. Of course, this is impossible if you are also sauteing your veggies, reducing a pan sauce, checking your steaks on the grill etc. (Unless you are A. Bourdain) I guess what I am asking is there anyway to hold mashed potatoes once they are made for like 20 minutes without losing quality? Or, is it impossible to make them anyway other than right before service?

Wrong. Neither act meets the elements of either the criminal offense or tort that you have listed.

Being hit on in a bar is not analogous to being listed in a guide book. Being reviewed in a guide book could be. Being listed in a guide book is analogous to going to a bar in the first place. There is a possibility you will be hit on, but not a guarantee. In other words, where the business card example and the hit on in a bar example both have an implicit invasion of privacy aspect, being listed in a guide book does not. It merely creates the possibility of an invasion of privacy, which leads to the real point. Suzanne seeks to equate individuals and businesses open to the public. Certainly an individual enjoys an expectation of privacy, and in countries with certain constitutional language, they even enjoy a RIGHT to privacy. However, when a person opens a going concern for profit and solicits the business of the public in order to earn money, that precludes any expectation of privacy. If you want to own a private club, then don't open a restaurant. In light of their response, I would put them on the cover of the book.

Grill some peach halves. Carmelize some onions. Puree these with some garlic and as much habanero as you dare and some lemon juice. Add a touch of ancho powder and some smoked paprika. Use this sauce on any grilled pork or chicken product. Also good on as sauce for grilled salmon. If you make ribs, you can baste them with this at the very end of the cooking right before service.

Jaboulet has not been up to snuff since the mid 80's. This is a producer to avoid. He makes all his money off of the "Parallel 45". There is much better in the Rhone.

Steve, if your vintages are listed in order of preference, I would rate 1990 and 1995 higher for Cote Rotie. Otherwise, good job.

Wilfrid, I think that most good Rhones may be consumed within 2 years of the vintage or after 10 years. It is in between this time that they close down. When I was there last, Barge was making fun of how americans are so serious about properly aging their wine. Also, I have had several bottles of the '95 Jasmin Cote Rotie and found it to be drinking beautifully. To my taste, Jasmin is made in a softer style and is ready to drink sooner.

Well put Plotnicki.

Great question. As I said before Guigal and Chapoutier do not make bad wines. They just make wines that could easily be mistaken as a california syrah or a super tuscan. In other words they are very new world in style. Lots of new world winemaking styles and liberal use of new oak impart a more "Parkerized" flavor to the wine. (As in wine critic Robert Parker). What is amazing about a producer like Michel Ogier and his son Stephane, is that they make a wine that could come from nowhere else but Cote Rotie. When most people think of wine that is mostly Syrah if not 100% they think of a huge alcoholic tannic purple monster, such as what comes from Australia, Tuscany, or California. However, a Cote Rotie is a restrained almost delicate wine, well-balanced with a nose of violets and smoked bacon or pork. It is one of the most distinctive wines in the world. Guigal's Cote Rotie, while good, and technically correct, is made in huge volume with a noted woodiness from the exposure to new oak, it is more highly extracted, darker and more dense. It has lost its identity. The same is true with Chapoutier in Hermitage. If you want the truest expression of Hermitage you have to go with Chave, J.L. not Bernard. I know people like Beachfan think that I am dead wrong on this, and it took me a long time to realize what the difference was. I used to hate wine-geeks who criticized the California Cab oak/fruit bombs that I cherished and waxed poetic about "old world" delicacies from the northern rhone, Montalcino, or Loire Valley. Only after doing lots of side by side tasting, blind tasting, learning about the regions and the winemakers, was I slowly able to appreciate what was being said. I still appreciate new world style wines, and I can get down with a killer super tuscan any time, but when one asks for recommendations on a Rhone wine, I think that I should recommend a producer who makes a wine indicative of the region. The single best example of this the Ogier family in Cote Rotie. Hope that explains it somewhat.

Producers to avoid in my book are Guigal and Chapoutier. They don't make bad wines, just very new world style and not indicative of the region. I like these producers: Cote Rotie: Ogier, Jamet, Jasmin, Gilles Barge Hermitage: J.L. Chave Cornas: Voge, Clape Crozes Hermitage: Alain Graillot, Gilles Robin St. Joseph: De Boiysett (sp?), Alain Graillot Gigondas: Le Hauts de Montmirail, Domaine St. Luc Chateauneuf du Pape: La Nerthe, Beacastel, Vieux Telegraph, Eric Texier, Cote du Rhone: Chateau Trignon Importers to buy from are: Robert Kacher, Eric Solomon, Peter Weygandt, and Kermit Lynch.

She is getting in the bad habit of saying stupid things in addition to her usual rude ones. In this case she says that the place needs better olive oil because the artichokes require something more buttery. What? Olive oil, fruity, yes, peppery, yes, olivey, yes . . . buttery? no. Umm, for that flavor, I recommend butter, or california chardonnay. I am still having a difficult time discerning the nature of Nina's feelings toward the winsome one, I wish she would stop being so wishy-washy and just tell us how she really feels.

Wine Enthusiast: Crap Wine Spectator: A good "wine lifestyles" mag with articles on spas, fancy hotels, wine country trips, etc. The wine ratings are limited mainly to large-scale producers and the more well-known wine regions. Wine Advocate: Parker's slant on wine. If your palate matches his (huge wines with lots of wood) then it is invaluable, if not its a waste of $$. Decanter: Good with interesting Euro-slant. The best wine resource is Robin Garr's Wineloverspage.com. There is content from expert reviewers as well as a very informative wine forum where wine-geeks from all over the world post their opinions on wine. I have learned more from this site than any other source. Plus, it is free!

Don't forget that they are also quite expensive.

I am glad you enjoyed your Pahlmeyer chardonnay with that dish. However, it does not have the type of acidity of which I described in my list of white wines. Pahlmeyer Chardonnay undergoes 100% malolactic fermentation, a process by which the malic acid is converted to a very soft lactic acid, thereby noticeably reducing the acidity and creating the characteristic buttery mouthfeel of California chardonnay. Additionally, it is barrel fermented and aged in new french oak for 11 months, giving the wine a pronounced woodiness and further softening the acidity. Tasted side by side with a Trimbach Alsatian Reisling, I think you will notice the difference.

Please stop flogging! The horse is dead! Seriously, how many more pages do you guys think you can go on saying the same thing over and over and over and over again? None of which, interestingly, has the slightest fucking thing to do with food. So John Whiting pissed some people off. Do we have to have a 7 page thread about it? Let it go. Edit disclosure: Its now a 6 page thread, oops make that 7.

Make sure no sauce is on the meat. Serve the meat on large platter with tongs. Also on the table: Stack of buns, something soft. Baked beans Potato salad Vinegar slaw BBQ sauce that has been warmed on stove Favorite brand or homemade hot sauce. Pork on bun, then add slaw, then add hot sauce. BBQ sauce optional depending on taste of pork. Beans and potato salad go on the side. Thats how we did it in Memphis anyway.

Yes, we have Graeter's here in Louisville and it is the best ice cream I have had. That being said, I prefer gelato and frozen custard from St. Louis. The best Graeter's is the raspberry chocolate chip. The chocolate chips are made by pouring a stream of high quality melted chocolate into the near frozen cream mixture as it is being turned in these copper pot things. The result is uneven chunks of chocolate that are good enough to eat on their own like chocolate bars. hmmm.