2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,500 times in 2010. That’s about 11 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 58 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 73 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 29mb. That’s about 1 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was November 30th with 139 views. The most popular post that day was Grown up drinks for grown up tastes: Péché Austin.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, twitter.com, austinbloggerawards.com, stumbleupon.com, and yelp.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for shotgun beer, beer shotgun, girl in martini glass, blanc pescador, and girl in a martini glass.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Grown up drinks for grown up tastes: Péché Austin November 2010

2

Hangover Helper: 11 Tips to Survive Holiday Parties December 2010
6 comments

3

About What are You Drinking? June 2010
5 comments

4

Lost in Translation? Try Oban 14 Single Malt Scotch Whisky September 2010
2 comments

5

Suitable Wines for a Summer Romance July 2010
3 comments

When you just feel like paying a lot for a glass of wine: Crú Wine Bar

Do you ever go to the car dealership to get your oil changed? You figure they sell your particular car, so they should know the most about them. Right? Shouldn’t the dealer be able to tell you exactly what you need to do to maintain your car better than just a generalist mechanic? So what if it costs $20 more for an oil change. To me, going to a dealer to get my car serviced is like going to a wine bar to get a glass of wine. One would think that I go to wine bars fairly often seeing as I love wine and all, but I just don’t. I know that going to a wine bar can be a good way to try wines by the glass before committing to a full bottle. I realize that many of them have knowledgeable staff that can suggest good wine to try. There are also plenty of decent wine bars in town with a good selection of wine. So why don’t I go to them more often? I get my oil changed at Jiffy Lube because I can’t stand paying way too much at the dealer. That’s how I feel about going to a wine bar. I recently went to Crú Wine Bar in the Domain in north Austin and had the oil change at the dealer experience.

Read the full post at the new home of What are you drinking: http://whatareyoudrinking.net/2010/12/when-you-just-feel-like-paying-a-lot-for-a-glass-of-wine-cru-wine-bar/

Budget Bubbles: Select a Delicious Sparkling Wine for your Holiday Party

Champagne is synonymous with celebration. There is something special about a tall, slender champagne flute with tiny bubbles streaming to the surface like thousands of balloons released to the gods, like so many comic thought bubbles floating over a crowd and bursting into fits of laughter. Any holiday party is incomplete without a toast with bubbles. Don’t send your guests home sobbing like unfulfilled children with coal in their stockings on Christmas morning, serve sparkling wine for Chrissakes.

Don’t despair if your wallet is a bit moth-eaten and too slim to cover for the expensive stuff from the Champagne region of France, there are plenty of lovely sparkling wines that can meet your budget. Sparkling wine goes by lots of different names, depending on where it’s produced. In the U.S., we have the evocative name, sparking wine. Other names around the world include Mousseux or Crémant in France, but not from Champagne; Prosecco, Trento and Asti in Italy; Cava in Spain; Sekt in Germany  and Austria; Espumante in Portugal, and Cap Classique in South Africa.

Continue reading at my new site: http://whatareyoudrinking.net/2010/12/budget-bubbles-select-a-delicious-sparkling-wine-for-your-holiday-party/

What are you drinking? has a new home!

I’ve finally purchased a domain name and have a hosted site at www.WhatAreYouDrinking.net. I’m in the process of recreating my site there and plan to have new wine reviews up soon. Let me know what you think.

Size Matters: How to Make an Impression at Holiday Parties

I’m a huge proponent of going to as many parties as possible during the holiday season, particularly the parties that have full, hosted bars. There are plenty of parties at friends’ homes to attend as well. When you attend a private party, you should always bring a bottle of something to augment the host’s supply, whether they need it or not. It’s a nice gift if it isn’t served.

This holiday season, why not make a positive impression by bringing an over-sized bottle of wine to your next party? The holidays are all about excess and I know you are in the holiday spirit, so go for it.  Stand out by presenting your host with a Magnum, Jeroboam or even a Rehoboam or festive Champagne or red wine. You can’t go wrong.

There are several sizes of wine bottles. There is absolutely no reason to bring an ordinary bottle to a festive event when you can do more. Here’s a handy reference guide for you.  

Volume (liters)	Ratio (bottles)	Name	What it means
0.1875	0.25	Piccolo	It means “small” in Italian, and is also known as a quarter bottle, pony, snipe or split. It is the common size served when you order bubbly by the glass. To me this is just a novelty. Why in the hell would anyone embarrass a perfectly good wine by putting it in something so unfulfilling? The only reason to take these to a party is if you have a car-load of ‘em and you’re using them as stocking stuffers.
0.375	0.5	Demi	It means “half” in French., so its cleverly known as a half bottle or split. It is a reasonable size if you want a little wine with dinner by yourself. These are completely useless at a party and will no doubt cause you to be seen as “half” a guest.
0.750	1	Standard	This is your normal bottle that you see everywhere. Legend has it that the size was based on the amount an average Frenchman could consume at lunch without being too impaired to return to work. If you are absolutely common and ordinary in every way, bring this size bottle. “Oh look honey, Mr. Average is here to bore the hell out of us.”
1.5	2	Magnum	The double bottle. These are relatively easy to find and affordable. It’s just big enough to make a good impression when you walk into a party. It says, “I’m not messin around here.”
3.0	4	Jeroboam	Oh yeah, the “Double Magnum.” It is named for a Biblical king and has kingly dimensions. If you tote this bad boy into a party, you’ll definitely get invited back next year (unless you sleep with the host’s significant other).
4.5	6	Rehoboam	This beast is about as big as you can get and still feasibly carry it to a party and pour from it without making an atrocious mess. We’re talking about an entire ½ case of wine in one bottle here. It’s also named for a Biblical king. Walk into a party with this, and you’ll be king.

There are several other sizes of wine bottles going all the way up to the 40 bottle Melchizedek. You’re not going to find the ultra-large size bottles unless you special order them. These are the bottles you see as ornamentation at fine restaurants and wine shops. Call your favorite wine shop ahead of time to see what they have on hand in a large format bottle. Your friends will love you for it.

I recently did this with a Magnum of Domaine de Mourchon 2006 “Grande Reserve” Cotes du Rhone Villages. The winery is on top of a hill in the village of Provencal Seguret, located in southern Cotes du Rhone. It’s a fairly new winery, founded in 1998 with existing vineyards. They make three lines of wine, and the “Grand Reserve” is a blend of Grenache and Syrah from old vines.

Here is what you can expect.

Look	The rich purple of an advent candle burning for Christmas.
Smell	The makings a fine fruit cake with nutmeg, toasty cinnamon, fennel, raspberries and plums simmering on the stove.
Taste	This wine is a holiday feast of jammy black cherries, currant, white pepper and carpaccio. Its medium body moves from fruit to earth before a mid-length finish of smooth tannins.
Price	$38 (or $20 for a standard 750 ml)

This is a respectable wine and downright jolly in a large format bottle. So what’s it going to be? Will you be remembered as the guest that brought the huge bottle of fantastic wine? Or will you be forgotten?

What are you drinking?

Hangover Helper: 11 Tips to Survive Holiday Parties

The holiday party season is in full swing, and you know what that means: FREE BOOZE. If you’re like me, you’ll be trying to cram more than one party into every night between now and New Year’s Eve. With all of that boozing comes the inevitable hangover. We’ve all had them and we’ve lived through them – even if we think we won’t in the moment.

There are many ways to avoid hangovers starting with moderation. But if you are a reader of this blog, that is not in your vocabulary. You can also avoid fruit juices and mixers that are high in sugar, drink white wine rather than red, avoid carbonated beverages and drink clear liquor rather than dark. All well and good, but it’s much easier to live la vida loca during the holidays.

Before you seek the soothing comfort of cold bathroom tile this holiday season, prepare yourself with an ounce of prevention and by parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Here are some tips for avoiding hangovers and remedies to get you back in the saddle for the next party.

Avoidance

1. The helpful reminder: Before you go out, put a chair on top of your bed. Place two aspirin or Ibuprofen tablets on the seat of the chair. When you stumble home ready to fall into bed to sleep the sleep of the anesthetized, you will have to remove the chair first. Ah, those delightful pain relievers are waiting right there to knock the headache back before it starts.
2. Lead the horse: Put a baby wading pool just inside your front door and fill it with fresh water. When you get home from the parties don’t go any further into your house before you stoop and drink deeply from the trough. Hydration is the key to avoiding a nasty bout of brown bottle flu.
3. Get a complex: B complex vitamins – folic acid, biotin, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, and cyanocobalamin, aka B12 – taken before you binge can prevent a hangover. Take a B12 vitamin about 4 hours before you go out, another one right before you walk out the door, and then a third before you go to bed. Vitamin B12 naturally boosts the body’s energy, but it takes hydration and rest to work best. Drink plenty of water with each one, get a decent amount of sleep and your chances of dodging the dastardly hangover are greatly improved.
4. Go Irish: Eat potatoes before you drink. Potatoes contain flavonoids which can help reduce hangover symptoms and keep you from feeling too fragile.
5. Dilution solution: The most basic recommendation for feeling good in the morning is don’t drink on an empty stomach. Eat a sandwich, eat some pasta, eat some peanuts or almonds. Eat something. Food will help dilute the alcohol in your stomach and slow its absorption. That gives your body more time to metabolize it as it enters the blood stream. Look, you’re going to gain 20 pounds during the holidays anyway, so don’t risk a hangover just to look like Kate Moss.
6. The triple fister: @candidcourtney recommends a rotation of “Cocktail…Diet Coke…H20…Cocktail…Diet Coke…H20…” The three-pronged approach gives you a buzz, a caffeine boost and keeps you hydrated at the same time. Slipping in two non-alcoholic drinks between each cocktail also moderates your consumption. Just make sure you have ready access to the loo.

Remediation

1. Hair of the dog: This is by far the most popular recommendation I’ve heard. It typically works because it is delaying the drop in blood alcohol which is one of the causes of a hangover. Try a Bloody Mary. The vitamins in the tomato juice and celery will help.
2. Cup of Joe: Do you think Don Draper would try and ride out a hangover without a cup of coffee? Hell no. The theory goes that alcohol dilates the blood vessels causing those pounding headaches. Caffeine constricts the blood vessels to alleviate that pain. The trick here is that caffeine, like alcohol, is a diuretic and can further dehydrate you thereby exacerbating your headache. So drink that coffee, but pair it with some water.
3. Elevate the electrolytes: Hydration is an absolute must to ease that hangover and you can speed it along by drinking something with sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate like Gatorade, Powerade and even that Pedialyte stuff that you give to pukey babies.
4. Drugs! This could be an entire blog post in itself, but I’ll stick to the basics. I swear by Alka-Seltzer. It settles the stomach, kills the headache and if you put a swizzle stick in it, you can imagine you’re right back off the wagon. If you’re an amateur and don’t keep Alka-Seltzer handy, grab a good old fashioned Aspirin or an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen. Be careful though, both can further upset your stomach. Avoid Tylenol or its generic equivalent, Acetaminophen. Paired with alcohol it can really tear into that already battered liver. If you’re a Heath Ledger wannabe, rummage through the medicine cabinet to see if you can fish out some Codeine, Vicodin, Percocet or the like. Knock a few of those back and you’ll be feeling something else altogether.
5. The greasy spoon: Even if eating a big greasy breakfast doesn’t technically cure a hangover, it sure can make you feel a little better. A fat burger covered with cheese, chili and bacon and side of fries is my favorite. If you really want the greasy breakfast trick to work, you have to eat it before you go to bed to slow the absorption of alcohol. Have the cabbie drop you off at the all night diner on the way home. Better yet, find someone sweet to make a late night breakfast for you.

With a little bit of planning and after care, we’ll all make it through the holiday bender season one party at a time. There are tons of ways to prevent and cure hangovers. What are your favorite?  Don’t be a Scrooge and keep them to yourself.

What are you drinking?

Is China Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon Great Wine?

When you order wine in China, be specific. You may get a glass of high alcohol distilled liquor, such as rice wine, rather than fermented noble grapes. But never fear it is possible to get a decent glass of Chinese red wine. Modern wine production has been going on in China for more than 100 years, but I took an incursion from the French in 1980 when Rémy Martin set up a joint venture for wine production to flourish. And flourish it has. Chinese grape wine sales revenues were approximately $2.8 billion in 2008, a growth of 20 percent over 2007.  Domestic consumption has grown rapidly in the past decade and it is now the fastest growing wine market in the world.

 There are now hundreds of vineyards producing wine, including Grace Vineyards, which I reviewed in September 2010. This month I went back and tried Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon. China Great Wall Wine Company, a subsidiary of COFCO Wines & Spirits Co. Ltd., is one of the top three largest wine producers in China along with Changyu Pioneer and Dynasty, and is the largest exporter. It was established in 1983 and has vineyards in the Shacheng region of China. In addition to making distilled spirits and off-dry wines, the company makes red and white table wine using state of the art wine producing equipment imported from France, Germany and Italy. Great Wall wines have gained notoriety in China and it has been named the official wine products of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and is the provider of the only designated wines for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Does that mean the wine is any good? Here are my tasting notes.

Look	Here is the first clue that this Cabernet is not going to beat premium wines from established wine regions in blind tastings. It looks more like a Pinot Noir than a Cabernet. It is bright, translucent garnet rather than inky, midnight eggplant.
Smell	Great Wall has a timid nose. I had to snort deeply to get a whiff of boysenberry, plum, hickory smoke and bacon.
Taste	It has gentle fruit musings of strawberry and cherry overlaying saline red meat on the mid pallet and then finishes quickly with charcoal and light tannins. Its light bodied and mellow: much less robust than a California Cabernet or a Cab driven Bordeaux.

 Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon isn’t readily available in the U.S. I wasn’t able to find it for sale on any of the large online retailers like Wine.com or Snooth.com. It’s certainly not worth the price of a plane ticket to go and taste it in China. But, if you find yourself in China, give it a try to get a baseline measure of where Chinese wine is today. Great Wall Cab is reasonably pleasant and drinkable. Chinese wine producers have a way to go to catch up with the established wine industry, but I don’t doubt they will. Try it again in five years and let me know if I’m right.

What are you drinking?

Thanks for nominating me for Austin Blog Awards!

I’m thrilled to be nominated for the Best Cocktail/Beverage Blog.

If you like my site, please vote for it here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s_thankyou.aspx?sm=5idd35AH7b51j%2fOmoeOJVbiloOIT9qXwGNJpSpZbCQY%3d.

Thank you very much for your enthusiastic support of this young blog. I’ll do my best to keep making it better with articles about the drinks you want to discover.

Cheers,

Matt

Grown up drinks for grown up tastes: Péché Austin

The mixology movement has hit the country with full force. Cocktail bars specializing in intricate drinks have sprouted up everywhere. Austin, TX is blessed with several gifted mixologists including the folks at Townhouse that I wrote about previously. If you’re hankering for a bar with a broad menu of classic and inventive cocktails and a refined atmosphere, try Péché in the heart of the Warehouse District on 4^th Street. One look at the long, narrow room with wood floors, dotted with polished marble tables, wood beam ceiling and the richly paneled wood bar with antique absinthe water spouts, and your mood will instantly melt into relaxation ready to sip a sophisticated drink.   

Beautiful Wife and I went there for dinner recently and we were not disappointed by the focus on excellent drinks. Rob Pate, the owner, sidled up to our table the moment we sat down and asked us if we were interested in cocktails. We had barely glanced at the menu of 50+ concoctions of stalwarts like the Moscow Mule, Bees Knees and the Side Car and twists on the Martini and the Manhattan, when we were presented with the delightful opportunity to have an expert guide help us navigate the fun house.

Rob asked if we knew what we wanted or if we would like recommendations? Beautiful Wife wanted a French 77. Done. I was open to exploration and only gave the guidance that I was in the mood for bourbon. He recommend a Rye-based drink called the “Final Say” and I was game to try something new for an aperitif.

Tip: If you know you are in a bar that really cares about its drinks, put yourself in the hands of the bartender.

The Final Say is a blend of Rye whisky, green chartreuse, lime juice, Maraschino liquor and orange bitters all shaken vigorously with ice.

Look	A classic martini glass nestling a misty, pastel emerald with a haze of shattered ice crystals glazing its surface.
Smell	Pleasing herbal, lime-zest and a hint of honeysuckle like an embrace after he has been drinking Bärenjäger liquor and she is wearing upscale body lotion from a French salon.
Taste	After the first sip I felt like I was in a British bar car riding on the Orient Express. This is a distinguished drink with lush heather grass tempered by savory lime, and brought to life by the warmth of alcohol. It has a long, sweet finish that obscures the sometimes rough backbone of rye.
Price	$10

While Péché has only been open for about two years, Rob is no novice in the restaurant and bar business. His twinkling eyes and complexion ratify a life spent both making and consuming lots of drinks well into the night. He got his start in the restaurant business at the tender age of 15 in summer camp and later worked at the Erwin Center while a student at the University of Texas. He has owned the adjacent Cedar Street bar for several years, but Péché is the first restaurant he has owned.

Now we were ready for dinner. Rob explained that his chef du cuisine, Jason Dodd, has a focus on European comfort food with the same commitment to excellence found in the drinks. He sources his ingredients locally and butches his meats in-house. I ordered a rabbit cacciatore and Beautiful Wife chose the carnaroli risotto with applewood smoked Osso Buco.

We didn’t need to look at the wine list. Rob came back with a bottle of Domaine de la Pertuisane le Nain Violet 2007, a lovely Grenache nick-named the “The Purple Dwarf” from Languedoc-roussillon, France. It was a lovely mid-bodied wine with plenty of fruit and acidity to pair well with both rabbit and pork without obscuring either. Looking at the list later, it’s exactly the bottle I would have chosen, but I was happy to put the decision in an expert’s hands. The food and wine were excellent. Our waiter challenged Beautiful Wife to finish her sumptuous portion of risotto and pork, which she gladly attempted. She declared that it was the best risotto she’s had and would be dreaming of the Osso Buco for days. After dinner it’s time for a nice digestif.

Péché is known as an absinthe bar with nine varieties on the menu. Rob was inspired by drinking a Sazerac in New Orleans, the unique, signature drink made with absinthe. He wanted to bring the distinctive absinthe to Austin to help us enjoy a drink that has long been illegal in the U.S. and widely misunderstood. For my after-dinner drink he chose Germain-Robin Absinthe Superieure, an apple-honey mead brandy-based absinthe made in a small distillery in Mendocino County, Calif. It is served traditionally; mixed with water, but no flame and no sugar to let the full taste come though. 

Look	An elegant Champagne flute filled with the warm glow of breast-milk yellow clouds topped with a creamy ivory mouse. This is an absinthe blanche, meaning it wasn’t infused with botanicals after distillation to give it the traditional green hue.
Smell	Strong nose of anise and fennel with a mild whiff of lemon zest.
Taste	The Germain-Robin has a creamy mouth feel and it gently eases into rose and geranium followed by a robust juggernaut of black licorice followed by a velvety junior mint finish. It comes on smoother than Sade and finishes with the cool of a Kool menthol. The haze in the glass will gladly become the haze in your head.
Price	$20

I’m embracing the mixology trend. I don’t normally mix complicated cocktails at home because I don’t regularly stock all of the ingredients and don’t have the specialized tools that bring them to life. If you appreciate a well-made drink, whether it’s a classic or a unique original, or you want to have absinthe the way it should be served, try Péché. Grown up drinks for grown up tastes. Stay for dinner. The food is amazing. You can follow their drink specials on Twitter @Peche_Austin.   

What are you drinking?

Picking the Right Wine for Thanksgiving Dinner: Shea Wine Cellars 2006 Wädenswil Clone Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Selecting the perfect wine for Thanksgiving dinner means picking more than one wine. Bubbles are a must on the table, and after that it is a great idea to have an elegant, refined red wine. Try and keep the number of varietals served down to four: sparkling wine, red wine, white wine and desert wine. Also consider keeping the same wine for each varietal so you don’t introduce further chaos to your taste buds. That said; don’t be afraid of selecting too many bottles to have at the ready. Lots of alcohol can be good should you encounter:

Mom: “Do you remember when you were six and you recreated the first Thanksgiving using tooth picks and gum drops? So clever.”

You: “Yeah, you told that story 10 minutes ago. And last year. And the year before that. It wasn’t all that clever. We all learned it in kindergarten art class.”

Mom: “You were so bright. You had so much potential. I suppose if you hadn’t married beneath you, things may have turned out differently.”

Don’t let that dominate the evening. It’s your responsibility as host to keep the conversation flowing in a genial and entertaining way. It’s no secret that alcohol is the key to unlocking the creative story telling generator in your brain. Use it wisely.

A complex menu like what you’ll serve at Thanksgiving calls for a versatile wine. Pinot Noir fits the bill as it pairs well with so many different types of food. Its lush fruit, mild alcohol and soft tannins give it the versatility to pair with red or white meats, and just about any dish you can think of. It is a complicated and sensitive varietal. Don’t be surprised if you find a bottle of your favorite Pinot nestled away in a darkened bedroom, smoking cloves cigarettes, wearing a velvet robe, listening to Passion Pit and reading Anna Karenina by candlelight.

There are only two regions in the world that produce worthy Pinot Noir. Yes, I’m biased. Deal with it. The revered Burgundy region of France produces the standard-bearer wines and for that, they command a king’s ransom for the prestige. The second region is the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Talented winemakers have been producing brilliant Pinot’s in the hills and valleys of Oregon for more than 40 years. The Willamette Valley shares several ties with Burgundy. The both lie at the same latitude, Oregon wine makers select Burgundian Pinot root stock clones and several French houses have set up operations in Oregon.

Many award winning wines from producers such as Beaux Freres, Ken Wright, Bergstrom, Penner Ash, and Raptor Ridge made from grapes grown in the Shea Vineyards typify the Oregon Pinot Noir; bold, spicy and rich with fruit. This has become one of the region’s premier vineyards under the direction of Dick Shea. That’s true for the vineyard’s namesake Shea Wine Cellars, founded in 1996. Not only do the Shea’s have exacting control over the fruit, but they also have a unique method for creating the wine. Rather than using stainless steel, Shea Wine Cellars uses of neutral wooden fermenters, which smooths out the tannins for a longer finish. Wine made in wooden fermenter is rounder and softer than wine fermented in stainless steel.

For Thanksgiving, you have to bust out the 2006 Wädenswil Clone Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This is Shea Vineyards signature clone. It is a blend of wines made from grapes grown in three blocks of the Shea Vineyards. After the wine is fermented in wood, it is aged 10 months in mix of new and old Burgundian oak barrels. Just enough time to impart a toastiness, but not so much as to overpower the delicious fruit.

Look	The envy of a brandy-braised cranberry sauce. If only it could look as rich, deep and dazzling as a Willamette Valley Pinot in full resplendence.
Smell	Don’t worry about the glorious smell of roast turkey overcoming this wine. It has an intensity that can take on the most fragrant dish on your Thanksgiving table. As complex as your meal, it has scents of the Oregon hills, lavender, spice, black coffee, molasses and black cherry.
Taste	The 2006 Wadenswil is as complex as your Thanksgiving dinner. The first course is an orgy of black cherry, blackberries and plum entwined in lusty embrace with clove, cinnamon and spicy cedar smoke. The second course is the creamy, velvety round mouth feel. And the third course lingers for an incredibly long finish of soft tannins and dark chocolate.
Price	$52

Like a catchy song that gets stuck in your head, this wine will wedge itself deep in the folds of your cerebral cortex. You’ll never know what will trigger it, but sooner or later this wine will come back and grab you. The next time you smell the woody earth of wild mushrooms sautéing in Irish butter, you will get a phantom taste of blackberries and spice that could only be the Wadenswil. You’ve been warned. Drink it with your Thanksgiving dinner, and dream about it the rest of the year.

What are you drinking?