KatieLoeb

The Patron #3145 is the anejo. I swear I have seen it, but I can't remember where. Just have them transfer it to your nearest store. I emailed the LCB asking about El Grito Anejo once, since it was listed in the catalog but I couldn't find it anywhere, and the response said there were still a few floating around and one could be shipped to my closest store free of charge. I already did that last week and they tried to get me one but failed. The other issue is that I don't really want to put an item on the menu that won't consistently be available and I have to jump through so many hoops to acquire. It's different buying for a restaurant and trying to keep the public at large happy instead just making myself smile when I open up my liquor cabinet at home. I'm a little easier to please in that just having any high end bottle of tequila would make me happy. Not necessarliy so with high maintenance customers.

Carolyn: I can't tell you how much fun and how interesting and edifying this blog has been. I'd always understood this process in a very academic and sort of detached and objective manner. Now I really "get it" and I have you (and DoverCanyon) to thank for that. I'm also insanely jealous that you get to see those beautiful vineyards every day!!

The El Tesoro I have is the Reposado. I've heard the Platinum is good though, and I would like to try it. I went with the Reposado though since I have a taste for them. But I do need to do some sampling of Blancos/Platas (whites/silvers), since I haven't had any premium ones aside from Cabo Wabo Blanco. As far as the Patron, I find it interesting the way PA does that with several tequilas. Don Julio Anejo and Blanco are available but Reposado isn't. El Tesoro Anejo and Platinum are at regular retail stores, while the Reposado is only at the specialty stores. Maybe Reposados aren't don't sell as well or something. It just sucks for me since I prefer them to the Anejos. But the jury is still out on the whites/silvers for me. According to the LCB product catalog, you can only get the Patron Reposado by SLO. I assume that is the one you meant by "GOLD". The Silver and Anejo are readily available though. There's a "regular" listed Patron Gold (PLCB code #3145) that is the one I'm having trouble getting. It's about $50. The Reposado is curiously only $53.19 so perhaps I'll find out which purveyor carries it and do the SLO* from them. *SLO stands for Special Liquor Order in PA. This is what you have to do if a product isn't "Listed", meaning it's carried in either the regular State liquor stores or the State "Specialty" stores. A friend of mine once cracked me up by referring to it as an SOL as in "Shit out of Luck" because she said that's what always happened when she tried to find a great wine or spirit she'd had elsewhere and couldn't just grab it off a shelf at the nearest PLCB shop

Hospitality Chez Varmint? You are a fortunate man indeed! Looks like you ate a wide swath through the Southeast. Awesome!

Susan: Sadly, the Shakers vodka is not available in PA yet, I just checked. I've read about it in various publications and it seems to get good reviews, so my curiosity is definitely peaked. Perhaps I'll look for it next time I'm in a retail liquor shop in another nearby state. Alphaiii: Since there's a tequila hijacking in the works on this thread I'll weigh in with my opinion. We carry the El Tesoro at my restaurant and use it in what we call a "Platinum Martini". Basically we're talking about a Cosmopolitan made with El Tesoro instead of vodka - El Tesoro, Triple sec, cranberry juice and a splash of sour mix. They're dangerously tasty! For other "sipping tequila" I'm personally fond of the El Patron Gold. Unfortunately, I'm having an insanely difficult time finding it in PA right now and that sucks because I wanted to get a nice high end GOLD tequila for the restaurant. We've had a few customers asking for it, and of course I'd like to have anything I know folks definitely want. I might have to end up going with the Herradura Gold or something else instead.

LOL....I check the monthly sales every month. I sorta base my shopping around them. For instance, since Pearl is on sale next month, I'll hold off to save a couple bucks. This month I will be trying Tito's. I've spent some time checking out the online product catalog too. I just couldnt find anything about the outlet stores. Thanks for the link. You're one step ahead of me. I like that about you! Thanks for the heads up on the Pearl. I've been looking to try it so this will be my excuse. Over the weekend I was buying some wine at my local Outlet store and I found the Ciroc vodka from France I've heard so much about. Then I saw the regular price and got a bad case of sticker shock. It's $30.99/bottle. The Zyr is about the same, but at least that's a known entity. And definitely worth it IMHO.

I was unaware of this. Thanks for filling me in. I'll have to be on the lookout for this sort of thing in the future. That would explain why the store near me had Belvedere liters on sale for the same price as the 750ml bottles. Is there an outlet store around Pittsburgh? I would think there would be, but I have never heard one referred to as that. There's a listing of the six outlet stores HERE There's also a good link for the PLCB HERE. At the bottom of that page you can click on monthly sales and the Premium Value sales each month (I have those pages bookmarked!). That's where I do most of my bargain hunting for "recreational use" as opposed to what I buy for the restaurant.

Those larger format bottles (1L vs. 750ml) are usually only available to restaurants in PA. But since the PLCB has such huge buying power they sometimes get a boatload of something and will put it on sale to consumers at the regular retail stores, "Specialty Stores" or at one of the six PLCB "Outlet" stores around the state. This happens with wine too and is often a wonderful thing. For example, the state will buy up the last 200 cases of a wine when the winery needs to make room in their warehouse for the next vintage and then offer it for a ridiculous price. I talk about that a bit in THIS thread.

Fruit pies, particularly strawberry-rhubarb are great. Emeril did a whole show devoted to Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. The recipes are HERE from that episode and feature a recipe for Whoopie Pies.

I agree with Brad. I think TCA is kind of like the common cold virus amongst humans. It's airborne (somebody sneezed) and/or spread by contact (touching that dirty handrail or doorknob that the guy who sneezed and didn't wash his hands touched last). The already closed bottles should be fine, even if some TCA particles/molecules land on the outsides of the bottles. I think the danger at a winery facility would be having TCA taint the inside of the stainless steel tanks, get into the crushing machinery, the open bottles on the bottling line, etc. That really sucks that Chateau Montelena would sell their wine at such astronomical prices and then try to insult the wine buying public's intelligence by saying it's "part of the flavor profile". That's world class horseshit and I'm surprised now that the admission is in print in the public domain that no one has tried to sue them yet for knowingly passing off a defective product. Bummer. They used to be one of my favorite wineries. They still have some of the most beautiful grounds and architecture, but I don't think I'll be recommending them anymore

Also for those of you in the Philly area - there's one of only six in the state PLCB "Outlet" stores at the Franklin Mills mall (other Outlets can be found HERE) Although they often have a lot of lame stuff like two packs of ordinary plonky wine for a "special" price, they also have great deals on special liquor packages (e.g. the 1 Liter bottles that usually are just for restaurants, the holiday gift packs with glasses or shakers, etc), great prices on larger format liquor bottles (I just bought a 1.5 liter Denaka vodka from Denmark for $17.99!) and some high end wines that are too few to make the rounds to the regular stores. I just bought a few bottle of 2000 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet for $24.99. While that makes me very happy personally, I paid over $40/bottle for the same wine for my reserve list last month . I may run up there tonight and pick up another half case before it all disappears!

Welcome jami! Ida, you can talk to your local PLCB store and tell them that the Zyr vodka is carried by Southern Wine & Spirits. They should be able to take it for you from there.

Hi all: I received a PM earlier today from another eGullet member pointing out some great bargains featured on the PLCB website. Since I feel responsible for making certain you all are drinking well and frugally, here's a link to PA Wine & Spirits Premium Collection The 2001 Murphy-Goode Fume Blanc Reserve is a steal at $13.99. Ditto on the 2000 Arrowood Syrah "Saralee's Vineyard" at $17.99. Take a gander at the link and see what you find. There really is good wine to be found in PA, and sometimes the buying power of the PLCB works in the consumers favor. à votre santé, Katie

Unfortunately almost all the wine in the world is made by passionless technicians. Passionate wines are the exception to the rule. Sadly true, which was where my refinery comment was leading. But in the perfect world that exists in my dreams, all wine would be made by extremely passionate artisans that steward each and every barrel through the process.

I'll also place a vote for Sonjia Bidegain Spector of Matyson, whose desserts are amazing. The molten chocolate torte with caramelized bananas and house made Brown Sugar ice cream has to be one of the best desserts I've ever had. Party in your mouth - warm and cold, crunchy and soft, sweet and bittersweet all at the same time. Awesome!

What? I thought everyone called Pho Xe Lua "The Soup Train"! We had a blast. Davio's is an excellent Happy Hour stop. Aside from the great $5.00 martinis, they bring out free pizza and those amazing cheesesteak spring rolls - oh yeah! Cheesesteak makings wrapped in spring roll wrappers and deep fried. What coud be bad about that? Then they slice them and put a dollop of Sriracha kicked up ketchup on each piece of roll. Yeah baby! That's some great bar food! And Chuck the bartender is a constant source of amusement. He does the best Rodney Dangerfield routine and loves to trade silly jokes. It turns out that a former co-worker of mine from Striped Bass is now Sous Chef at Davio's. He was kind enough to send out a little bar snack for all of us that consisted of a seared scallop, a grilled prosciutto wrapped shrimp and a lovely medallion of lamb on a bed of roasted corn. I have never had a full scale meal at Davio's, having only been there at the bar or for a wine tasting event, but if that was any indication of the caliber of the food there, I will be going in for dinner very soon. It was excellent and perfectly cooked. So when are we doing that again???

Awwwww Lisa! That sucks fiercely. Get thee some rest and enjoy the good painkillers! We'll see you soon. A toast to your health will follow this evening...

A sure-fire plan for better wine quality. Nothing like getting rid of the passionate people. Come on Craig. You know what I meant. I meant someone outside the family that could handle the business decisions without wondering how it would move the decimal point on their monthly trust fund check or inheritance. Certainly no wine should ever be made by a passionless winemaker. That would be almost a contradiction in terms. Then again at those "it's-a-refinery-not-a-winery" levels of production I'm thinking theres little passion or care involved.

Well - at least the CEO is making good business sense. Since they've already hired someone from outside of the family to be at the helm of the company for the first time, clearly they either realize that outside people are better qualified to handle their company in a dispassionate and objective manner, or that no one inside of the company has been able to step up to the plate and do that up to this point, or both. Hopefully this will be a good decision all around that will benefit the family either through a sale of all or part of the company, and benefit the stockholders as well through divesting themselves of parts of the company that are experiencing too much competiton in the market or that are too expensive to continue to operate at an acceptable profit level.

What's really funny is that I just had zinfandel for breakfast, literally. The fractions of my job that are glamourous are few and far between, but tasting wine first thing in the morning is always amusing.

I took a Japanese friend to Fuji and she was quite impressed. Sagami tends to be less hospitable and less creative. More of a rush to get you out than to allow you to savor your meal. Make your reservations for AT THE SUSHI BAR ITSELF. You'll have far better service and the evening is much more entertaining when you can chat with Chef Matt Ito or his couterparts behind the bar. Fuji is BYOB so pick up some wine or sake to enjoy with your dinner. Feel free to PM me if I can assist you with your plans.

As promised, I too raised a glass of Saintsbury Chardonnay to you, Craig. As they say in Moscow - Nice Driveway!

WOW!!! I'm seeing Rube Goldberg type contraptions to get the food to the diner's mouths next. Chef - you are Truly Amazing.

Melon Soup is also nice with a little blob of lump crabmeat or shredded poached chicken in the center.