SFJoe

You have to use an old penny, though. Recent ones hardly have any copper at all.

Some of my favorite wines, Boris. A very interesting suggestion. Of course, these wines also have much more acid than tannin to their structure....

I've had wine with sushi at Jewel Bako, where frankly I think the wine choice is poor. Poor for my palate, and poor with the food. Too much oaky New World stuff, including their Burgundies . I had not read up on the subject when I last went (the sushi, btw, was great). I would like to try it again. I am not enough of a regular at any sushi bar to easily BYO, but I should work on it. It would be a hoot to go to Kurumazushi with a few bottles and do some tasting. Maybe a few evenings this summer spent with Mr. Uezu and we'll chat again.

Jim, If Utagawa's tannin-umami synergy is valid, why not Pauillac? You first. No, no, I insist: after you! Perhaps it is no accident that he has chosen a red wine, Burgundy, that depends as much on acid as on tannin for its structure? Steve, Do you really feel that truffles bring a lot of umami to the party? Compared to, say, shiitakes or porcini? That has not been my experience. Cheers, Joe

Am I the only one who thinks of "variety" being the name of the grape, and "varietal" being the name of a wine made predominantly from a particular variety and so labeled?

Thanks much, all.

It's a laff riot here on eG! But thanks for the help, StInGeR. How do you decide if it's done? Do you cook it rare, MR? How do you fit it on the Weber? It must be an awfully small kid. I'm told mine will run about 25 lbs, and I didn't think that would work on a grill. sparrowgrass, my doctor has told me to cut out the fried foods.

I'm thinking of doing a whole kid for a party in a couple of weeks. I will have access to an oven that will take a commercial sheet pan, so I figure a 25 lb kid can be jammed in somehow, and the oven also has a "convection" fan, so I figure I can get pretty even cooking. But I'm wondering: --what internal temperature should I target? 120*? 140*? --Any idea how long it will take me to get to that internal temp? --any suggestions for spicing? I'm thinking some kind of mild spice rub would be good, but I haven't settled. --Serving suggestions? I'm doing this for a large, informal, standup BBQ with passed plates of food. I'll have some other stuff going around too (baby back ribs from the Weber, quartered bone/out quail from the grill, etc.) TIA, Joe

So who do you suppose wrote the other stuff? Any way to figure out the original authorship, or have we been through too many versions? Perhaps it doesn't matter. Does this affect very many of the old threads?

Geeze, I was expecting to see Sine Qua Non.

Oak chips are perfectly OK as long as you combine them with microbullage to simulate the slow oxygenation through the barrel. Joe

Far be it from me to get in Bambi's way while she is running from a fire, but Joe, one of these days we ought to go down to Veritas and split one of the 1990 D'angerville Volnay 1er Crus off their list. I've only had the pleasure of a drop of the Taillepieds at a pre-auction tasting, but it did not show any of the things people complain about with the vintage and was in fact pretty darned incredible. It may have been a bit more mature than one would expect for a 12-year old wine from a great site, but it had terrific secondary aromatics and flavors (mushrooms, dried flowers, earth, tea leaves, the barn, etc.). Sounds good to me.

Well, I'm glad that someone has some wine they like from 1990. I've been running from that vintage like Bambi from the forest fire for years. It's hard to think of a vintage that has given me less pleasure in the last 6 or 7 years. OTOH, I now so avoid it that I have very limited recent experience. The de Vogüé Moose was as nasty a Burg as I ever tasted a couple of years ago. It's amazing what some points will do for levitation. Or maybe I just don't get it about the long-term future of these wines, which is entirely possible.

Do you guys strain a beurre blanc, or do you let the shallots hang out in their rustic glory? For me, it depends on the food and the occasion. For rattlesnake, for instance, I think it's a little precious to strain the shallots. If the bishop is coming over and you're having the sauce on pike, you should. Views?

Bring me a screwcap, please.

Very important to prick it all over to avoid explosions. Beurre blanc is very good on top.

Well, tell Zubair to get on the case!

As an extra thought, consider Domaine des Griottes « Les Fins de Vendanges » lateish harvest Pineau d’Aunis from the Loire. Intense fruit, some rs, great acid, lovely stuff with a variety of strongly flavored cheeses.

Bleach or peroxide would probably kill the active heat from the peppers. The stuff is very fat-loving, and the silpats are probably close enough, particularly if there isn't a lot of fat in the dish. Cheers.

I just put together my first cellar inventory after many years of wine buying. I just keep it in Excel. Works fine. Sorting by different parameters is easy, the whole thing is no big deal. I file CNDP as "Grenace +misc."

D'Artagnan has duck fat for sale. Personally, I find the stuff that collects in a roasting pan to have too many burned bits in it to keep around for long. If you steam/roast a duck or goose, you get great clear fat that keeps very well.

Rose d'Anjou is cool already if it is made by Marc Angeli. English wine will never be cool, sorry.

Tommy, Where'd you get the blacks?

Zinfandel.

Am still in the MSSF, myself, although not as active as I once was. The East Bay MUD is famous for catching unwary chanterelle (mostly) hunters. The ironic thing is that they lease a lot of the land for cattle grazing (!), but you can't pick mushrooms there. Crazy. Glad to hear there is a judge with some sense. I've given up looking for chanterelles in the SF area because their habitat overlaps so much with poison oak, and I don't *love* chanterelles that much.