WSJ Articles on Food, Drink, Cooking, and Culinary Culture

[maggiethecat]

O.K., Tommy. I getcha.

But maybe there is the desire factor: You like to cook, the missus doesn't? I am a very good cook, but I have to wrestle for stove time with Mr. Maggie because he lives to cook. And yes, you're right. His Mom liked grey meat and peeled, boiled till soft margerined zuchinni. Perhaps a reaction to the Irish cuisine of his youth?

But having a parent secure in the kitchen can't help but embolden the offspring come dinnertime. Isn't that a good thing?

[tommy]

But having a parent secure in the kitchen can't help but embolden the offspring come dinnertime.  

i'm not sure i agree with it.

as far as suzanne f's commentary goes, i have no idea what a "data-type" is, so i can't comment.

[Suzanne F]

as far as suzanne f's commentary goes, i have no idea what a "data-type" is, so i can't comment.

I thought you're some kind of techie, o man of mystery. But then, what do I know?

[Nick]

If they were factoring in the purchasing of olive oil, did they also have to factor in the price of an oven? 

Sure. Probably threw in the cost of the kitchen as well.

[Rail Paul]

The Tastings column discused American pinot noir this week. Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher were impressed. After a miserable tasting of red wines from Burgundy, they were due for a good week.

D&J liked what they found ("$20 wines for $10), and lowered the threshold from $35 to $20 for samples. The depth of flavor was impressive, and they found good values for under $10. They felt the excellent crops and buyer resistance to high prices have driven many good grapes into lower priced wines, often from the same maker. The "ocean of red wine" continues to be a problem for sellers.

They liked the Clos du Bois 2001 Sonoma, Napa Ridge Winery Coastal Vines 2001, and the Erath Vineyards Vintage Select 1998, which earned best in show. They also liked Echelon and Kendall Jackson (!). However, prices vary widely, and $3 differences for a $12 wine were noted.

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WSJ: Tastings

[Nevan]

For an Oregonian Pinotphile, the good news of the WSJ Tasting review of Pinots is that the Erath Pinot earned great marks. The bad news is that (in my opinion) the Erath wine is one of the more average Pinots from Oregon--even for the price range--and, as a 1998 vintage (a very low yield, highly concentrated vintage), has been long supplanted by more recent releases.

One key thing to keep in mind about the Tastings column is that the wines must be widely available on the east coast. Most Oregon Pinots aren't. Even the more value priced ones are usually made in quantities that, while high for Oregon, seem boutique-sized when compared with California's output. This is too bad because our best wines are usually missed!

Gaiter & Brecher make a great point about better quality grapes finding their way into lower priced wines. In Oregon this is especially true. Most Pinot makers here bottle different tiers. When a few lots from their top line don't quite make the cut, they usually get blended into their "Willamette Valley" or "Oregon" blends. The result is that these much better priced wines often contain grapes from single vineyards that are usually only available at high prices. The end result is a better wine for a lesser price. What's not to like?

Hey, thanks for the opportunity to make my first post on eGullet!!

[Rail Paul]

For an Oregonian Pinotphile, the good news of the WSJ Tasting review of Pinots is that the Erath Pinot earned great marks. The bad news is that (in my opinion) the Erath wine is one of the more average Pinots from Oregon--even for the price range--and, as a 1998 vintage (a very low yield, highly concentrated vintage), has been long supplanted by more recent releases.

One key thing to keep in mind about the Tastings column is that the wines must be widely available on the east coast. Most Oregon Pinots aren't. Even the more value priced ones are usually made in quantities that, while high for Oregon, seem boutique-sized when compared with California's output. This is too bad because our best wines are usually missed!

Gaiter & Brecher make a great point about better quality grapes finding their way into lower priced wines. In Oregon this is especially true. Most Pinot makers here bottle different tiers. When a few lots from their top line don't quite make the cut, they usually get blended into their "Willamette Valley" or "Oregon" blends. The result is that these much better priced wines often contain grapes from single vineyards that are usually only available at high prices. The end result is a better wine for a lesser price. What's not to like?

Hey, thanks for the opportunity to make my first post on eGullet!!

welcome aboard! good point on the availability issues with wines reviewed by the WSJ.

Which Oregon wineries do you feel offer the best pinot value today?

[Craig Camp]

The result is that these much better priced wines often contain grapes from single vineyards that are usually only available at high prices. The end result is a better wine for a lesser price. What's not to like?

Are they using grapes from these top vineyards sites because of a quality selection or because there is not enough demand for the most expensive bottlings?

[Nevan]

Which Oregon wineries do you feel offer the best pinot value today?

Value in wine is such a moving target that it's difficult to reply easily to what seems like such an easy question. What is good value to one person at $10 is utter dreck to another. In the case of Oregon Pinot noirs two factors are important to consider before I give you my opinionated answer!

First, you tend to get what you pay for in Oregon Pinot, grape glut not withstanding. Most producers here incur great costs in the way they farm (frequently organic, often dry, always severely limited yields, usually hand-positioned shoots, etc.) and the way they vinify (keeping individual vineyard lots separate, extended cold soaks, hand punching, new oak, etc.) because their reputation is usually focused on producing the best possible Pinot. When an Oregon Pinot is priced, say, below $20, the winemaker often has to sacrifice some element in the quality regime in order to have a decent quantity to sell at a decent price. Getting that balance right can be tough. Consequently (though, of course, not always) most "value" priced Oregon Pinots will deliver a different wine experience than a "premium" priced Pinot. Where the dividing line is for each person is quite different!

And then there's the question of style. Some like big fruit bombs that make you wonder if you're drinking a Pinot or a Syrah, while others like a high-toned elegant style that makes you wonder what kind of food you need to bring out the wine's best character. So which style offers the best value? Who knows?

OK, sorry but I felt I had to say all that. Too frequently I have recommended good value Oregon pinot to someone who either 1) compared it to a $45 bottle and was disappointed, or 2) liked a fruit bomb when I recommended an austere wine, and was disappointed! And then there's the whole thing about vintage variation . . . ok, I drone on! Don't EVEN get me started on Oregon pinot . . .!

Now, all that being said, I think there are some great value Pinots here (and more and more all the time, thanks to the great grape glut) . . . but again there's the issue that they often aren't easily available in many markets (though they almost always can be bought from the winery, depending on the state you're in(!)). Here's what I tend to drink when I want a good Pinot for, say, under $20 (in no order of preference):

Elk Cove Vineyards, Willamette Valley (great fruit, good structure, pretty well distributed usually quite consistent vintage to vintage)

A to Z, Willamette Valley (a new negociant-style Pinot that is tasty and well made, though perhaps not yet easy to find, I don't know)

EIEIO (another negociant . . . produces 3 different styles (E, I, and O) at different prices points for different palates)

Bethel Heights, Willamette Valley (nice structured style, usually with lots of estate and single vineyard fruit; I found it at a Washington DC restaurant one Christmas evening when I was stranded there . . . like a little bit of home!)

King Estate, Oregon (good basic Pinot at a good basic price, usualy quite well distributed)

Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Reserve (usually great fruit)

Bridgeview, Oregon (always a great price, sometimes a little variable in taste, but usually excellent value)

Benton-Lane, Willamette Valley (widely distributed, highly reliable)

Cameron, Willamette Valley (smaller producer, great taste)

Witness Tree, Willamette Valley (ditto)

And yeah, sure, I'd include Erath in that bunch as well!

-Nevan

[Nevan]

Are they using grapes from these top vineyards sites because of a quality selection or because there is not enough demand for the most expensive bottlings?

Ahh, a VERY good question!

Ask the Oregon Pinotmakers, and they'll tell you they are selling all the wine they make, thank you very much. Go to the store shelves, however, and you can today find bottles from the most usually-hard-to-get wineries . . . bottles you couldn't possibly find at retail two years ago. Despite the protestations (and believe me, they can be defensive about it) most winemakers here are seeing market resistance for their higher priced Pinots.

However, it has ALWAYS been the case that better grape lots, often from single vineyard designated sites, frequently find their way into WV or OR blends. Sometimes the winemaker is going for a particular style with their XYZ Vineyard bottling, and some of the lots don't quite fit, so they go into the blend. Sometimes the quantities don't balance out. There are a lot of reasons, not all of them economic.

I think there may be more of this going on today because of the grape glut, but generally I think these folks are still focusing on their top wines and dedicate the top grapes to them. Despite the high prices (or what today seem high) it probably still makes the best economic sense to put as much of the expensive grapes into the expensive bottles as possible, even if it takes two to three times as long to sell it out (luckily, some of the prices are beginning to come down, and a few of the really best producers are now selling their wines quite reasonably . . . at least comapred to two years ago!)

-Nevan

(Now I'm off to Vintage Oregon in Portland tonight--a 3 hour drive for me--40 wineries pouring, should be fun)

[Craig Camp]

(Now I'm off to Vintage Oregon in Portland tonight--a 3 hour drive for me--40 wineries pouring, should be fun)

Post your notes if you can. Sounds like an interesting tasting.

[hollywood]

A propos of nothing: are there deals on French wines given the "boycott" or is this just a story some wine stores are using to push stuff out the door? If there are deals, where are they to be found? Is it true that some pretty big French wines/vineyards/shippers are actually owned by Americans or American based conglomerates?

[GordonCooks]

A propos of nothing:  are there deals on French wines given the "boycott" or is this just a story some wine stores are using to push stuff out the door?  If there are deals, where are they to be found?  Is it true that some pretty big French wines/vineyards/shippers are actually owned by Americans or American based conglomerates?

Just about any French wine in the store is probably been paid for by an domestic importer. I would also surmise that the decline in future sales may have more due do with everyone and their cousin blowing their wad on 2000 Bordeaux futures than, "Patriotism"

[Rail Paul]

I would also surmise that the decline in future sales may have more due do with everyone and their cousin blowing their wad on 2000 Bordeaux futures than, "Patriotism"

You raise an interesting point.

How much demand for Bordeaux will exist at current prices for the 1997, 1998, 1999 if the 2000 vintage is as good as the usual suspects claim?

[Miguelito]

Interesting story on the front page of today's WSJ.

The gist of it is that the feuding between Robert's sons Michael and Tim's results psychologically from Robert's tense relationship with his own brother Peter. A contrast is drawn between the Robert/Peter feud, which led to Robert's founding of the Mondavi empire, and the Michael/Tim feud, which may be imperiling it.

It is noted that both Michael and Tim have sold off some of their Mondavi stock, and it is suggested that the corporation may need to sell off some of the lesser labels (or perhaps even break up entirely) as a result of its poor cash position.

[David94928]

Neither Michael nor Tim has the vision that their father had when he was one of the major creators of the Napa Valley mistique in the 70's.

Over the last 20 years Mondavi has lost focus as it put much of its emphasis on growing the Woodbridge label. But in doing so they've lost touch with what brought them their fame in the first place - the Robert Mondavi Napa Valley label. And they even diluted that with Mondavi Private Selection or Coastal Selection or whatever it's called this week. And then their are their foreign wine partnerships and investments.

As of several years ago (1999 or 2000), according to their financial statements, they had no positive cash flow from operations (i.e. - producing and selling wine). Cash flow was coming from , in part, selling off of property, facilities and equipment, but mostly from financing long term loans. They have since turned that around a bit now producing some positive cash flow from operations.

An interesting view of the second generation brothers seen as wrought from their father and uncle's realtionship. I'llhave to find a copy of the article.

David

[Joe Blowe]

New Orleans Rx: Bitter and Sweet

By ERIC FELTEN

October 1, 2005

Much of New Orleans's tourism business is alcohol-fueled, and the city won't be on its feet again until water, water isn't everywhere and there's more than a drop to drink. The simplest part to get up and running will be the "daiquiri bars" that inhabit every third doorway in the French Quarter. Each has the same phalanx of Slurpee-like machines behind a counter, each with the same rainbow selection of swirling rum slush. The industrialized bacchanal -- scalable and mechanized as it is -- will be easily restored and replicated.

Nice, short article that touches on New Orleans cocktail history, bitters, Huey Long, and the Sazerac.

The following link will only work for the next seven days (until Oct. 7):

http://online.wsj.com/wsjgate?subURI=%2Far...Em4%2C00%2Ehtml

Enjoy.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I am sorry that the Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal doesn't offer all of their articles online free of charge but, should you be able to pick up a copy of the current issue from your newstand, you will find that in their "Cooking" section is "Secrets of Chefs".

The WSJ polled some 60 chefs to find out which ingredients can dress up everyday dishes. Because there has been such a boom of specialty foods, home cooks can now get the results that heretofore only professional chefs could obtain.

Examples abound! The article, for example, speaks about how, at WALLSÉ in Manhattan chef Kurt Gutenbrunner uses Styrian pumpkin-seed oil on dishes where he wants to produce a deep-roasted nutty flavor. Chef Roy Yamaguchi drizzles argan oil on sashimi and carpacchio. Nancy Oakes of Boulevard in San Francisco uses vin cotto, a syrupy vinegar which rivals aged, expensive balsamic but costs considerably less.

The chart called "In Pros' Pantries" shows how many different chefs use different spices and oils, etc. to produce the effects they use in their restaurants ... Michelle Bernstein of Michy's in Miami uses zatar, a blend of sumac, thyme, sesame seeds, and salt on her roasted meats. Uses for verjus, citrus salts, truffle salt, alternative vinegars, etc ...

Great reading! Pick up a copy of the WSJ Weekend Edition and enjoy yourself! I know that you will not be disappointed!

[Bill Miller]

We have been usig achiote powder on shrimp and as a colorizer for years. Achiote paste on pork chops was interesting

[Joe Blowe]

http://online.wsj.com/wsjgate?subURI=%2Far...OTcyNjkzWj.html

Good for 7 days. Use it or lose it!

[Gifted Gourmet]

http://online.wsj.com/wsjgate?subURI=%2Far...OTcyNjkzWj.html

Good for 7 days.  Use it or lose it!

←

I don't know how you tracked this article down but I am most appreciative, Joe!!

[SuzySushi]

http://online.wsj.com/wsjgate?subURI=%2Far...OTcyNjkzWj.html

Good for 7 days.  Use it or lose it!

←

Thank you, thank you! I haven't seen the weekend edition in my neck of the woods...

[mrsadm]

http://online.wsj.com/wsjgate?subURI=%2Far...OTcyNjkzWj.html

Good for 7 days.  Use it or lose it!

←

Printed and saved, thank you!

[MGLloyd]

The 5/19/06 edition of the WSJ tests five drip coffee maker with thermal carafes. Their favorite was the Capresso MT 500, followed in order by the Delonghi thermal, the Zojirushi Fresh Brew, the Technivorm KBTS and the Bunn BT10 Thermal.

[jayt90]

Can you decribe some of these, and the prices? I think the Journal is a subscription page...