#111 - Jerk Chicken & Goya Products With NV Brut Rosé

Jerk Chicken is kinda fun to say.

Not as fun as Jerk Turkey, though.

Something about the repetitive 'ur' that gets me back to my Iowa roots. "Wur gunna eat sum braaat-WURst with sum mus-turd...and maybe sum catsup. After that, we gunna worsh the flatboat."

I can do this all day.

Food: Jerk chicken thighs with goya empanadas and croquetas and a tomato/pomegranate seed salad

It's frozen food/eat-the-leftovers week in the Ney house with the big 2010 vacation just a week away. Mrs. Ney promises a week of food weirdness.

The jerk marinade from Saveur using soy sauce, onion, scallion, chiles, cloves, five-spice, allspice berries, nutmeg, S&P, thyme and veg oil, slathered all over chicken thighs and marinated for 24 hours.

Big fans of jerk here and this was no exception. Maybe got more of a liquid all-spice with this one along with more of the allspice berry. Something more berry-like kicked up.

If you haven't, get to know Goya products. Solid Latin frozen food options, this time with plantain and cheese empanadas that are deliciously earthy and ham and cheese croquetas that are a great, mushy, hammy mess.

Topped off with a cherry tomato, pomegranate seed, parsley and arugula salad.

Easy meal. Monday meal. Tasty and Good meal. And it made room in the freezer.

Wine: NV Lucien Albrecht Cremant D'Alsace Brut Rosé ($18 - Whole Foods)

100% Pinot Noir, smelled like strawberry donuts right out of the bottle. Respectable bubbles and a subdued strawberry fruit note that mixed with a good core of red berries. Not big and fruity, though. Dry, clean finish with good length and structure. Almost elegant. Almost.

We both liked for $18. Recently we had an utterly delicious Schramsberg 100% Pinot Noir Napa Sparkling at Ad Hoc that retails for $40 and, for half the price, it satisfied a lot of sparkling Pinot Noir rosé yens I've had since the Schramsberg. Wasn't terribly distinctive or memorable but had enough guts and gentle openness to warrant the dollars and work with the food.

Pairing: 87 Not too shabby at all.

We just weren't in the mood for red with more Chicago hotness on the weather menu for the night, but a Mas De Maha might have been spectacular.

In some ways, this was like trying to squeeze a square peg in a round hole with jerk and non-red wine but we ended up happy. Oddly, the ham and cheese croquetas were the only thing that didn't work with the wine. Fell flat.

The rosé's subtle fruit and dry backbone was the winner, standing up just fine to the jerk, getting cozy with the empanadas and shining with the salad. More of a catch-all type pairing than something the utterly sung. The wine admirably fielded everything thrown at it with a certain panache and gamesmanship and was good enough that we might even do it again.

#110 - Tapas Spread With '01 Heredia Bosconia

I kills me that we didn't decant.

Well...not so much.

But this changed.

It's a sin, I tell you. A sin that we haven't had a Heredia red since February. That was the '64 Tondonia, a wine I'm quite fond of in a very euphemistic sense. The only other Heredia red we've drunk since the inception of this blog in late November of last year was a 2000 Bosconia when I was sick. DOES. NOT. COUNT!

And it would have been nice to compare being that it's all lined up vintage-vineyard-wise and all. But I can't.

All I can tell you is that it was a freakin' gorgeous late summer day in Chicago, the first day (or maybe the second or third day) where the rhythms of the summer could even be tracked/felt/understood and we had a meal that played right into that wheelhouse.

Spanish.

It's unfortunate in many ways that we've diverted from full-board Spanish as much as we have in the last ten months or so. It's what we love more than most things on this Earth. I blame a family dinner at a Spanish restaurant last winter but that's just me.

Last night was a re-introduction back into the fold. Have I told you about the New Spanish Table cookbook? I think I have.

Have I mentioned the fact that I feel a bit embarrassed that we haven't drank Heredia red to any extent, really, over the last ten months? Embarrassed might be a stretch. Unfortunate is more accurate. Along with our dog and not being around people, it's what we like.

Food: Patatas bravas with linguiça and Iberico ham, Idiazabal cheese and arugula

Perfect patatas bravas with whole/macerated/sauced cherry tomatoes (garlic, onion, chili flakes, salt, pepper...oh...here's the recipe. Read it, know it, use it.) mixed in along with linguiça. The sauce on the side to keep it fresh, added at the last minute right before eating. It was a bite filled with recent food loves too long absent - the kind of thing that, along with the great weather, made me turn the page on the miserable summer we've had. Felt...almost sentimental, like something changed or something was offered to mark a passing.

Iberico ham which, for a brief period in Chicago shot up to almost $200/lb, is down to below its original $100/lb initial offering in 2005 (the year the FDA finally loosened its britches and allowed it into the country) at $85/lb right now. So one can get an entirely adequate 1/8 lb. portion of Iberico for like $13! No excuses anymore for the best ham experience on the planet and it's not even close.

Idiazabal sheep's milk cheese that could have been a Manchego/Parmigiano-Reggiano well-aged blend and I wouldn't have known the difference. Not Manchego-y but close. Not chalky/nutty but close. Not salty-lifty but close. Mellow. Nice. Almost ethereal.

An arugula salad with a lemon thyme/sherry vinegar vinaigrette to finish it off. Any Spanish person would have swooned over it. It was Spanish without any fake pretense. Just simple and Good. Well...maybe the Iberico was a bit over-the-top but c'mon.

Wine: 2001 López de Heredia Viña Bosconia ($28 - WDC)

Grape: 80% tempranillo, 15% garnacha and 5% graciano and mazuelo

Appellation: Rioja

Vintage (WS): 93 Hot, dry weather gave ripe wines with opulent flavors and powerful structure

It's a wee lad right now but nonetheless oh, so lovely. The fruit isn't distinctive enough yet, showing a smoked cherry note with a ton of cigar box (and a touch of leather and cedar). If I drank it blind, I wouldn't have known it was a Heredia until about an hour in. Popped and poured because of how the day and dinner came to us. But it was unmistakably an old-style Rioja in the best sense, just don't think I've ever had one at this point before. To feel the newness of it all was new. Beautiful tannins right now, though. Washed over my palate in a way that felt evocative yet new and fresh. Felt like putting on an old t-shirt long gone that remarkably still fit in the way I remember.

And I didn't even love it initially. It took a few sips to figure it out.

Old-style Spanish wines in my world have something else, something that Italian wines can't touch. It's a graceful acidity, an acidity that's wrapped in its cigar box notes, toning it down to something that feels like Hemingway. You can smell the smoke wafting up during a good yarn. This one has it in spades. You drink it and taste something like a feeling.

And that was without the signature autumn leaf note usually so prevalent in properly-aged Heredia reds.

This one's gonna age oh, so beautifully.

Pairing: 94-97-99 Ever read a novel that you know will stick in your craw for eternity? How is it going to sit? How is it going to be processed? The meal felt that ridiculously ponderous.

Mrs. Ney says unequivocally 99. And that's because she didn't have to think about the pairing. It was perfect in the sense of NOT having to think about it. I tend to agree with one caveat - I want to reserve the 95-100 for the unseen.

I had a dalliance with the unseen. But given that, I would eat and drink this meal and this wine a hundred times over and never, ever get sick of it. It had everything.

Tons of funk that was not unpleasant with the Iberico. Tasted OOOOOld. With a bite of potato, linguiça and tomato, it's a 100 perfect score, even with the relative tightness of the wine. In fact, it might have helped. The acid, carb backbone and smoky earth with the linguiça took a crowbar to the wine, opened it up and made it taste like it was right at its peak. The change made me pause.

I couldn't have loved it more.

With proper Spanish food and this wine (or any Heredia, really), I don't know if there's anything better in this world.

A quick note: Something of a dichotomy compared to tonight's pairing, it was Frozen Food Sunday in the Ney house last night. I declare - the best frozen food Sunday ever. Trader Joe's shrimp sautéed in black garlic, peri-peri pepper, salt, pepper and olive oil with tomato bread using the patatas bravas sauce from tonight's dinner prepared ahead of time and the baguette from TK chicken on Saturday. A great meal with a hugely spicy and utterly ridiculous shrimp tapa-style presentation. Crap on a stick, this was G.O.O.D and we'll be having it again.

The wine pairing sucked eggs, though (my first and last On Golden Pond reference ever). Started with a 2009 Raventos Perfum de vi Blanc ($20 - Red & White) because we were unaware of the spice level and utter balls of the shrimp preparation and, predictably, it turned to water with the food and we put it away. The 2009 Skouras Moschofilero ($13 - WDC) performed a wee bit better and even fell into the realm of acceptable in many ways with its lemon rind notes freshening things up. Both were chilled and an experimentation with a red was right out! We were fine and good with the food on a Frozen Food Sunday. Pairing Score: 83.

#109 - Thomas Keller Chicken & Two Cheeses With '05 Fichet Auxey Duresses

Birthday Chicken!

We had a birthday in the Ney house yesterday. Now, usually going out for birthdays is right and proper. But both of us couldn't think of anything more awful than going out to enjoy ourselves and celebrate something than doing it on a Saturday night.

The horror!

So...home dinner. We like that best. We like our home food best, especially given the prospect of navigating Saturday night crowds, traffic and just the general weekend annoyance. Kinda food snobby but we're okay with that.

And Thomas Keller Chicken has become our meatloaf. This is the seventh time we've had it since early June. Because...especially with white Burgundy...I just can't think of something more delicious. I start to ruminate about the best bites of food with wine I've ever had when trying to think of comparisons. Just bites of food, certain elements of dishes that worked beautifully with wine. This is the whole enchilada. The entire meal that sits right up against those best bites.

It's worthy of a birthday dinner.

Food: Thomas Keller chicken, Brillat-Savarin & Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk Cheese with baguette and a mâche and lemon balm salad

Typically great chicken. Beautiful salt level that was playful and just aggressive enough with the crispy skin. A touch more herby this time, or at least the herbs showed up more in individual bites.

Delice de bourgogne has been the standard-bearer for this meal in the past. Its creaminess with just enough funk lends an elegance and Frenchiness to the meal that's just the tops. With good baguette and TK chicken, it equals my current favorite meal.

So...variations on the delice de bourgogne style has been the thought du jour lately. Gave Port Salud a go with Pinot Blanc in mid-July. Meh. Good enough. Worked with the wine in an otherwise forgettable pairing. Staying within the cow's milk, soft to semi-soft and a touch of funk theme, we went with a Brillat-Savarin from Normandy and a Red Hawk cheese from Cowgirl Creamery in Sonoma, California.

The Brillat-Savarin won the night in the cheese category. Very soft, light on its feet, complex yet focused with an almost palate cleansing salty effect on the finish. Flashes of subtle funk that went in and out - the kind of easily accessible, welcome funk that resembled the whiff of a horse pen in a good way, the kind of smell that's carried by the wind on a farm, hits your nose and then goes on its merry way.

The Red Hawk never got out of the realm of curiosity for us. A much denser cheese here with a funk that resembled a yogurt-drenched wash cloth that fell between the washer and dryer and wasn't found for weeks afterward. Something certainly biological going on here. Not really our bag but enjoyed the first few bites as something interesting and even good at times.

A mâche and lemon balm salad with a white wine vinaigrette to finish.

Wine: 2005 Jean-Philippe Fichet Auxey Duresses ($35 - Binny's)

Grape: 100% Chardonnay

Appellation: Auxey Duresses, just west of Meursault and seemingly carved out of the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune hillside

Vintage (WS): 93 Charming, fleshy whites with juicy acidity and ripe fruit flavors; many are enjoyable now, but the best will age. More variable in Chablis

Just a month ago, we had TK chicken with a 2006 Jean-Philippe Fichet Auxey Duresses. You can read all about him and the wine there.

We promised to follow Mr. Fichet and last night, we kept our promise.

Two different wines for sure. Where the 2006 showed a core of pear/baked apple and a mid-palate beaming with a ultra-fine minerality, last night's 2005 was all pineapple cream with a rough-crushed stone minerality that also dominated the mid-palate. Wonderful depth with the 2005, more so than the 2006 in some ways as there was a more rough-and-tumble complexity that constantly changed, revealing different tropical fruit layers and a touch of vanilla on a long finish. Sits beautifully long after taking a sip with a fine gaseous residue that flutters so nicely.

Loved, loved, loved it. Comparing the years, the 2006 might have my heart with its more subtle beauty but the 2005 has a burly charm to it that can't be denied. If I had to choose which one on a particular night if both were under our roof, it would come down to mood.

I'm already looking forward to the 2007. Great wines in a great price range. We were indoctrinated to white Burgundy by the right winemakers and are quickly falling completely head over heels for them.

Pairing: 93 Just below the 2006 pairing but nonetheless spectacular

The finesse of the 2006 compared to the last night's 2005 probably wins by a hair as both of us.

We enjoyed the chicken a wee bit more last month with the 2006 as its subtlety allowed the chicken's inherent deliciousness to come through, or at least didn't stand in the way. It played nicer, gently wrapping itself around the chicken instead of having two big personalities in the room that got along swimmingly but still left a feeling that the bond came about in a rather clumsy manner.

And the simplicity (or maybe familiarity) of the meal with the 2006 allowed us to sit back and enjoy the nuances more.

A lot going on last night. Various levels of cheesy funk along with the burliness of the 2005 made for a large playing field that had to be digested and figured out.

That said, the wine with the Brillat-Savarin was gorgeous and the lemon balm at the end with the wine couldn't have been a better capper.

A great birthday meal without the Saturday night, dining-out stupidity.

#108 - Lamb Shank In Mole With '07 Vallado Reserva Field Blend

Hey!

We're staying there in a few weeks!

Like AT this winery. That's pretty neat.

I'm sure there will be reports.

On another note, the '04 Yalumba HP Shiraz-Viognier from last week got the wine preservation treatment (a Harvey Steiman recommendation - he's good and likes wine). While nothing to write home about, all the wood was gone and even some marginally vibrant fruit perked up on occasion even after a week.

50 disks for $20 at KL Wines. Entirely worth it.

Food: Lamb shank in mole with corn polenta and mint snap peas

Exact same preparation as the duck in mole with '04 Quinta do Vale Meão. From that write-up:

Mrs. Ney whipped up a mole imparting huge earth and dark chocolate notes with a hint of brightness. A modified Rick Bayless recipe, she substituted oranges for tomatillos, apricots and cherries for raisins, corn tortillas for white bread and 85% cacao for Mexican chocolate with a squirt of honey and a glop of miso paste.

Seemed apt with a Portuguese red in a similar vein. Didn't turn out to be similar from the wine side of things but it still worked in solidly delicious ways.

Tasty corn polenta that made me wonder why we don't eat it more. Farro was an option but it only would have darkened things up even more. The polenta served as a great contrast with its subtle brightness.

Mint snap peas because it's lamb. Mint and lamb = good.

On the lamb, this preparation gave lamb shank a go. While tasty and, at times, delicious, we're talking about a lot of fat with the essence of lamb only half coming through. Some bites were delicious but working around the fat only made us want proper lamb rack even more. It had a pork belly feel to it. Good in small doses and delicious as an appetizer in a succulent sauce but as an entrée...pass. Good in small doses, great at times, marginally fatty and boring as a centerpiece.

But the wine brought everything on the plate together, even if the wine may have never got out of the realm of an idiosyncratic wonder.

Wine: 2007 Quinta do Vallado Reserva Field Blend ($60 - Binny's)

Grapes: Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarela, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Sousão

Vintage (WS): 96 A cool, wet spring and summer cut yields by 20 percent, but ideal harvest weather delivered optimal ripeness

A little over a two hour decant and could have used three hours or more.

Mostly because an hour into the meal, the wine started to open up. Scorched earth on the nose and all Portugal in many ways. A jumble of undistinguished mixed darker red berry fruits on the palate with a huge expression of burnt coffee right away that tasted like someone tried to cover it up with caramel syrup. With that as a starting point, the coffee notes changed dramatically throughout the meal, going from a milk chocolate mocha to its best point, a caramel latte that showed up right as we were finishing the bottle. All that mixed quite nicely with a twiggy campfire quality that integrated itself quite nicely. Hints of sweet tannins but dry overall as good Portuguese reds tend to be.

We alternated between thinking this wasn't anything special in the beginning to growing quite fond of it as it opened up in the decanter. A lot of grace here that's probably not for everyone but, as I said, it's all Portugal in some of the best ways. There's an austerity, even after it opened up, that's puzzling but if open to it, the wine rewards in spades. A lot of smoke, decent amount of fig and enough Asian spice that kept us coming back, if only to figure it out.

I have fond memories of this wine a day after drinking it even though I was completely vexed by it during the first half of the meal.

Pairing: 89 A perfect example of the food on the plate coming together because of the wine

It's not like the food particularly needed it. Everything was in place. But with the wine, the lamb, mole, polenta, snap peas and mint became complete dish full of integrated flavor once a sip of wine was introduced.

That's not to say the pairing overall was anything special. It wasn't, really. But with lamb shank that we weren't terribly excited about and sides served to complement the shank, the wine served as something that brought together each element and turned it into a surprisingly cohesive meal. Should have been cohesive, sure. Nothing was out of left field in any way. But the level to which it reached surprised us. Tasted...intentional with the wine.

As for individual elements, only the polenta really stood out, allowing the fruit to come out more in the wine, something that was more muted than we thought should have been/are used to with good Portuguese reds.

Good stuff, entirely interesting, all Portugal. $60? Um...yeah...maybe. Gotta really want it get to know it, though.

Quick note: Semiramis with Mrs. Ney's co-workers and two wines. 2009 Crios Rosé of Malbec ($11 - Whole Foods) and 2008 Montecillo Verdmar Albariño Rias Baixas ($11 - Binny's), two bottles that have been sitting around and we were sick of looking at them.

Both were serviceable with the food (standard Lebanese spread) with the Crios probably playing more nicely than the Montecillo. Could have gone through three bottles of Crios easily. Susanna Balbo is some kind of crazy genius. A lot of substance with this one with an even mixture of strawberry and cherry fruit followed by an easy, open and expressive finish. Unbelievably solid stuff. The Montecillo Albariño was a nice contrast from the rosé and sparkling we had (can't remember the name - brought by someone else, good and was a Blancs de Noirs, IIRC). Tasted like unsweetened old orange juice, but in a good way. Or a weirdly tasty Chinese orange drink bought at a Asian grocery store. Don't really need the Montecillo again but the Crios Rosé of Malbec will be purchased again quite soon.

#107 - Harissa-Marinated Bison Flank Steak & Two Wines

Two days ago, I did a wildly detailed spreadsheet inventory of our wines.

The side-effect of it was seeing the number of wines that probably should have been drunk years ago. Fewer than I thought as we try to keep good tabs on such things but I can't recommend a non-vintage Trialeti Akhashini Georgian (the country) red wine bought probably three years ago and very well could have been eight-nine years old. Tasted like bugs.

I'm guessing the 2004 Toasted Head is on a similar path without the buggy bugginess.

But a surprise in the older/"drink me now! Geesh!" vein was drunk last night, a wine that thoroughly outperformed a wine that we just adore and was also approaching its demise.

Food: Harissa-marinated bison flank steak, sweet potatoes and frisée

In June, we went a little darker, big and Frenchy with bison flank steak, using a Chris Cosentino marinade containing junipers, balsamic and black pepper. Following this recipe last night (bison for tri-tip) , the bison came off insanely bright in a great way.

Using Whole Foods harissa paste - a product that has the freakin' goods - garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and sherry vinegar, the result was meat with flavor that jumped in our mouth, staying perfectly bright and sunny and allowing the bison flavor to completely come through. Turned into a surprisingly light meal and for $12 a pound, bison's always a perfectly delicious option.

Served with honey, cardamom and ginger sweet potatoes and a frisée salad with a toasted cumin seed/za'atar vinaigrette. A North African/Middle Eastern/Maghrebian/Levantian extravaganza in many ways. Except bison. Not many bison in the Middle East.

Wine: 2004 Yalumba Hand-Picked Shiraz-Viognier ($30 - Sam's) & 2006 Rosenblum Cellars Mourvèdre ($11 - Binny's)

We were under the assumption during the meal that the Yalumba we were popped last night was the same vintage as the wine we drank with what was probably the best food and wine pairing we've had in the last year. It wasn't. And thank all that is holy. It solves a riddle knowing that it wasn't the 2004 Yalumba HP Shiraz-Viognier with the Asian beef filet. It was the 2005. It would have been odd to see such a dramatic change in just a few months and would have forced me to buy a larger wine fridge right now. Money saved!

The 2004 Yalumba by most estimates is approaching the end of its drinking window and that's what we got last night along with a wall of tailing oak. Very concentrated cherry and herb core right away that disappeared in a split second, then settled into a medium-bodied, rather ordinary wine that was drinkable but not particularly distinguished. Then the oak bomb came. Every other sip was like chewing on a piece of dry wood that's sat out in the hot sun for years. Tannins were tired and the wine overall just came across as weary and creaky. Drinkable but geriatric. We missed the golden years with this one.

So we popped a second bottle, a 2006 Rosenblum Mourvèdre (with a touch of Carignane) made in Contra Costa County, just northeast of the Bay Area. Rosenblum wines are everywhere, in grocery stores, liquor stores and corner markets. And I'm quickly coming to the realization that that's a good thing. This was the second or third Rosenblum wine we've had and they seem to be quality performers at a great price point.

A cloudy red in the glass with a floral violet note on the palate mixing with a solid core of red and black raspberry and maybe a bit of bee pollen. Fine structure and played well above its price tag in some great ways. Probably would have been better two years ago but seemed to be still going strong enough.

Pairing: 85 Boring with the Yalumba, Surprising and good with the Rosenblum

The Rosenblum mingled beautifully with the bright bison and just soared with the cumin seed. Mental note: Cumin and Mourvèdre.

While the Yalumba was clumsy and tired, the Rosenblum saved the night. It would have been sad to see such a wine fail with meat of this caliber but the Rosenblum came to the rescue and served us admirably.

#106 - Thomas Keller Chicken & Burgundian Cheese With Varnier-Fanniere Champagne

Thomas Keller Chicken again!

Because it's good.

And it's been two weeks!

It's what got us on the white Burgundy train with a delicious Viré Clessé.

And we loved it with an Auxey Duresses white Burgundy last month. While not particularly good with two Pinot Blancs, it was fine Fourth of July stuff with a Grüner Veltliner and a Hungarian white while being not too shabby with a bargain Sancerre.

Thomas Keller chicken though, transcends normal, everyday chicken. It's not just chicken. It's not even Wine Can Chicken. It's some sort of Super Chicken.

Food: Thomas Keller Chicken with Burgundian cheese and a mâche and lemon verbena salad

Virtually a carbon copy of the meal two weeks ago with a few exceptions.

Delicious chicken again. Softer, more herbal skin and the thigh won the tasty chicken battle for the second straight chicken dinner. Mouthwateringly juicy that amped up the very essence of chicken in the lining of my cheeks.

Delice de Bourgogne cheese with baguette again. It's my current favorite cheese. Perfect amount of funkiness that hangs around just long enough without staying too long at the party.

One big difference was lemon verbena instead of parsley in the mâche mix. Brought a citrus element to the plate of course, but took the cleansing-of-the-palate salad utility one step further and brought a contrasting element to the food. Doesn't necessarily brighten things up but diversified things a bit.

I implore you. Try Thomas Keller's Bouchon chicken and drink a good French white with it. It's so easy to make and the payoff is something quite over-the-top Great.

Wine: NV Varnier-Fanniere Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brüt ($29 - WDC)

100% Chardonnay. Disgorged in 2006. Very pale yellow in the glass. Yeast of old bread dough on the nose right away. Started out closed and DRY on the palate. Once the shock of how dry it was wore off and some food was added, the wine exploded with a solid-as-a-rock pear background fruit note with citrus notes dancing the foreground. Fine touch of yeast throughout that never turned too bready. Lively acid that played nice with everything and never demanded your attention and a very subtle almost heavily toasted almond note or dirt occasionally popped up - something dark or at least unexpectedly dark-ish that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Bone-dry in the best way.

A delicious Champagne that will be bought again.

Pairing: 94 An absolute surprise in every sense

I guess the biggest surprise was how well it fielded everything thrown at it. Best with the delice de Bourgogne with the yeasty-pear elements in the wine matching up brilliantly with the slight funk in the cheese. It was a Wow moment.

Not too shabby at all with the chicken. The herbs in the chicken accented the fruit in the Champagne, mixing and refreshing the mouth on a brutally hot and humid day. Fruit, succulent skin, herbal base and bubbles = Some great bites and drinks.

And just flat-out delicious with the lemon verbena.

Thomas Keller chicken might be spectacular with white Burgundy but neither of us wanted everything resembling butter in a wine when it was 90 degrees out and humid as *&%#.

With the Champagne, a wine that constantly changed and constantly surprised with the food, something that refreshed was called for.

And it did in spades.

#105 - Lola-Style Skirt Steak & Yuca Fries With '05 Colonial Estate Envoy

Sometimes, good enough is actually welcome...

...welcome because of what didn't happen to the food and wine compared to what did.

It wasn't great. The wine was a little short and a little muddled but there was much to recommend, like watching a perfectly pleasant little movie that never made you feel like you wasted your time while watching it even though you probably wouldn't ever dare to watch it again lest the shine wear off quickly or you find a reason to absolutely hate it.

Last night's pairing was akin to watching the movie Once.

Food: Skirt steak with pickled onions and pickled jalapeños with yuca fries and a arugula/parsley salad with pomegranate seeds and Lola steak sauce

Salt-sugar-coriander-ancho chile powder-rubbed and marinated Paulina skirt steak with pickled onions and pickled jalapeños on top and Lola steak sauce to drizzle over the top.

A Michael Symon hanger steak recipe.

I had a completely random, out-of-the-blue Lola Bistro hanger steak craving and Mrs. Ney mimicked it, substituting skirt. We've had it at Lola twice now (chronicled here and here) and it's why food is good. Topped with Lola steak sauce that brings a beautifully silky, low-level acid that ties the pickled elements to the meat in a great way. And more pickled elements will be showing up on the plate in the Ney house with attempts to marry them with silky sauce. Just great stuff that made the skirt come off very light, clean and fresh.

Yuca fries with spicy mayo for dipping = staple and it had been awhile since the last time we had them.

Arugula and parsley salad with pomegranate seeds. Pomegranate because they had to be used up and pomegranate was in the wine tasting notes. Parsley because it's become oddly essential in our world and is freakin' delicious with skirt steak. Who knew?

A meal that completely satisfied the Lola hanger craving and made us feel happy. And easy-squeezy to make. Not fancy-foo-foo.

Wine: 2005 Colonial Estate Envoy ($20, down from $40 two years ago - WDC)

Grape: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre

Region: Barossa Valley in Australia

Vintage (WS): 97 Ideal weather made balanced, generous wines

We bought three bottles of this one two years ago after a 50% markdown was too irresistible to pass up at Wine Discount Center. It's shown a dramatic arc in the last two years of drinking them.

Close to finished now as it's lost most of its interesting depth and the fruit has turned from a more intense darkish fruit to something resembling macerated red fruits that have sat out for a bit.

Short finish and the fruit isn't particularly lively but the structure was still there, if hanging on for dear life. A bit gamey on the nose showing slightly dried dark cherry on the palate mixing with something a bit tobacco-y. Had a very abrupt, Frank Costanza-like "stop short" halfway down, leaving the finish a tad empty and hollow with a very slight perk-up way down at the bottom.

Fine enough but we're glad it was our last bottle. Fun to see how it matured but it's old and gray now and dangerously close to smelling like an old person who pushes ribbon candy on unsuspecting visitors.

But for all that, it was a gamer with the food.

Pairing: 88 The old dog still had some game in those creaky legs

With tons of pickling and big skirt flavors on the plate, the wheels of the bus never really fell off and even slightly enhanced some things.

It was kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. With the skirt and pickled jalapeño with a touch of sauce, the wine's fruit dominated in almost pretty way. Add some pickled onion in the mix and...not so much. But with the former, the wine was better and the sauce's inherent goodness really shined.

Overall, the wine was probably best with the yuca fries and mayo, something that showed itself to be true in the past with Australian wines. They're a nice match with Australia's more fruit-forwardness but this was a more subtle GSM compared to a Shiraz and it still produced the same effect. Something about the crispy element mixed with a little spice forced the wine to reveal itself very early in the mouth. It woke it up and even seemed to take a few years off it.

It may have been ever so slightly dull at times and we wouldn't do a match with this wine's vintage again but a lot could have gone wrong and it didn't.

I tried to watch a few minutes of Once a couple of months ago on HBO and had to turn it right away. Something was being destroyed. My memory of the experience of watching it the first time was being rotted and I started to see it through a more critical eye. The pairing last night, I suspect, would have a similar effect if we did it again.

We found a nice place with the wine and food and we'll just leave it right where we left it.

#104 - Grilled Chicken Thigh & Skordalia With A Ribera Cava

An excursion to Wine Discount Center that was supposed to be a "we're not buying a ton of wine!" trip turned into the exact opposite.

We went to get the wine chronicled today but we couldn't turn down the 2006 Királyudvar reduced to $7 (!). Finding the big brother of Domaine des Pallières "Les Racines" didn't hurt either along with one of Jean-Phillipe Fichet's wines just sitting there, begging to be bought.

It was like reviewing and expanding on wines we very recently drunk and loved. Good trip. Not cheap...but good trip.

Food: Marinated and grilled boneless chicken thighs, skordalia, mâche salad with pomegranate seeds and baguette

Boneless chicken thighs marinated in lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, oregano, dry white wine, garlic, onion and black pepper, then grilled.

Eerily good. It was just chicken thighs but a great and plentiful char mixed with a generous garlic/onion juiciness made it a "why is this so good?" protein night.

The skordalia was just as good. Lighter than we thought it would be when thinking about what is essentially a potato purée. 1/2 lb. of potatoes, boiled and peeled and blended with almonds, breadcrumbs, garlic, lemon, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Great Greek-style Goodness.

A mâche and parsley salad undressed with pomegranate seeds to clean and lighten things up.

I would have thought this might have ended up feeling like a heavier meal but it wasn't even close. We wiped everything up - all the plentifully prepared chicken and skordalia - and still felt clean and good after the meal. Some of it might have had to do the lemon juice in both main components along with the pomegranate seeds bringing some acid to give everything some lift.

And some of it have to do with bringing some bubbles to the table.

Wine: NV Peñalba López Finca Torremilanos Cava Brut Nature ($14 - WDC)

Grape: Blend of Viura and white Tempranillo

Region: Ribera Del Duero

I've never heard of a Ribera Cava, you? And we couldn't turn down our curiosity for $14.

Straw-colored in the glass, huge green apple peel on the nose that followed through on the palate but mixed beautifully with a pleasing yeasty character that didn't stand up and pronounce its presence like some sparklers. A very distinctive note of peach pit or unsalted sunflower seeds played in the background in a great way and something that made us kind of love it. Very dry and crisp with a short finish, which was our only complaint, making us feel like it was 3/4 of the way from being something that could have contended with a good Champagne. It's $14. Not as good as the Raventós i Blanc "L'Hereu Reserva" Brut Cava for $18 but it's a crowd pleaser on the cheap from a region not known for sparklers at all.

And infinitely better than some of the off-region Italian sparklers we've tried recently. Just much better composed.

Pairing: 92 An example of the wine playing an integral role in balancing the meal

We had a Muscadet in the fridge ready to go. A Muscadet isn't something thought of as a wine that makes a meal heavier in the least, but that could have been the case with this meal if we drank that instead.

It needed the bubbles.

With a potato purée and copious amounts of chicken pieces, the Ribera Cava took everything on the plate and made sure it accented all the brighter notes in the preparation and minimize any heaviness present in the food.

I just don't think a still wine, even a Muscadet, could have done that.

Probably best with the chicken, providing a nice balance with the garlic-onion-lemon juice marinade, making it taste light and savory. It lifted the skordalia, taking a potato purée and making it taste like a light brandade without the fish. Oddly, it was freakin' delicious with the pomegranate seeds, causing the wine to taste like a Blanc de Noirs in many ways and opening up an unexpected and great flavor component towards the end of the meal.

Mostly though, about halfway through the meal, it was when we paused during the meal and took a break for a minute of two and realize the wonderful taste that was marinating in our mouth and throat. It was light but substantial, chockablock with flavors going everywhere but still, and oddly, beautifully balanced.

And the entire meal probably cost $25.

A quick note on another meal. We had a "clean out the fridge" stew-type concoction of leftover chicken, linguiça, tomatoes, garlic, onions, figs, pistachios, paprika, olives and some other refrigerator components served with dipping bread that turned out delicious and tasted like a fancy sloppy Joe. Eaten with a 2005 Alonso del Yerro Ribera Del Duero ($25 (?) - WDC). Showed tons of blackberry, dark cherry and grilled meat notes with a stewed fruit element from the age of the wine. Had to drink it because it was at the closing of its drinking window. Some nice moments, perfectly fine with the food and seemed to get a bit better with some time open, turning into something very representative of what's good about Ribera with some nice wild dark berry fruit but not anything special.

#103 - Figgy Duck, Brussels Sprouts & Farro With '06 Domaine Des Tours

Another example of "good luck finding it" but if you should, it's a fine example of an entry-level Rhône red, even as the price has steadily increased around town since we first bought it.

Nobody can seem to get their hands on any of the Domaine Des Tours, the third-level bottling from the Châteauneuf-du-Pape winery Chateau Rayas, though it's grown at a different site.

The wine director at Blackbird even said recently it's become impossible to score any lately.

We've never had a Rayas. But the Domaine Des Tours has served us well. Its big brother, the Chateau Des Tours, is the flagship wine at the separate site owned by Reynaud of Rayas with the Domaine Des Tours being the second bottling at that vineyard.

We had the Chateau Des Tours just a month ago with bison flank steak and mushroom tart. We were pleased with the pairing, not perfect but entirely happy and would do it again. The Chateau Des Tours is better crafted and usually about $10 more but the Domaine Des Tours has a place in our heart.

Heck, where before Rhône reds were more of a dalliance with us, they're quickly becoming something quite needed and loved in our world.

Food: Duck with fig sauce, Brussels sprouts and chestnut farro

Whole Foods duck breast glazed with a brandy-garlic reduction, cooked medium rare in rosemary. Black mission figs sauce on the side. Brussels sprouts salad with red onions and mahon cheese cooked in pancetta fat with pancetta chips on top. Big mound of chestnut farro.

Hadn't had duck in a long time and had only had medium-rare duck a couple of times this year. That's odd. And having it last night wasn't something both of us especially craved or needed. It was more of a "we haven't had it in a long time" kind of thing.

And then we ate it. It's funny how you forget how satisfying and stupid delicious something can be.

The duck and duck fat with the brandy, garlic and rosemary stuck in my cheeks and I rued the time when it was going to go away. Just seeped into the cheek lining in such a beautiful way.

The Brussels sprouts salad was nearly as good. Usually made with shallots and parmigiano-reggiano, the red onion and mahon brightened it up and, touched with the pancetta fat, surpassed the previous preparations completely in deliciousness. Might have to change. Always loved it (surprisingly as Brussels sprouts weren't even on my tasty rader three years ago) but we might be changing.

Farro is natural with duck but a better bite was the Brussels sprouts salad with some farro. Something about the brightness of the salad and the darker, earthy quality in the chestnut farro that made for a meal in itself.

Great stuff that put duck dinner right back on the docket.

Wine: 2006 Domaine Des Tours Vin De Pays Vaucluse ($17 - WDC)

Grape: Grenache, Counoise, Syrah, Cinsault, Merlot, Dious

Appellation: Vaucluse, the large, mostly bulk wine-growing area east of CDP

Vintage (WS): 93 Ripe, pure and balanced reds, with fresh flavors and bright finishes. In the mold of 2004/1999 but slightly more concentrated; whites superb

Showed similar to how it did in the past, with a brighter edge, losing the cherry fruit note and gaining a more integrated and deeper raspberry fruit. Somewhat similar to a pinot noir, like, as Mrs. Ney said, a cross between a California and Oregon pinot noir. Still undoubtedly a Rhône but it had a similar acidity mixing with the raspberry fruit at times. Played light with less of a alcohol hit upfront than it showed in the past. Some earth and brush. Slowly going but in a great place right now.

Pairing: 90 Didn't miss Pinot Noir with duck one bit.

Well...maybe a tea note but that's it.

With the duck, it showed a purity of fruit on the mid-palate with a perfectly delicate amount of acid that was delicious. Just as this wine might have been perfect with fig tart late last year, the fig sauce and the wine marched to the same drummer all night. Figs and Rhône = happy campers.

Maybe better with the farro. Became a little darker with fine tannins perking up. And it was shocking acceptable, even nice, with the Brussels sprouts salad. Never know with greens and occasionally finicky Rhône reds, as the Domaine Des Tours has been for us.

Not good in the least with the delicious pancetta chips, though. The alcohol showed up and dramatically shortened the finish.

It was a complete meal with a great bargain wine.

Missed ya, duck. You're good stuff.

#102 - Two Meals With Two Cheapies

A quickie today.

Two quick meals over the weekend with two cheap wines.

#1 - Beef tacos with pico de gallo, white cheddar (?), sour cream and lettuce in corn tortillas with 2006 Bokisch Graciano ($8 - Binny's)

Trader Joe's beef taco mix with homemade pico de gallo. Surprisingly good stuff. Tasted a bit like prepared mix but still satisfying. Very satisfying, actually.

The meal is worth noting due to the bargain wine drank with it. The 2006 Bokisch Graciano showed a bit different than it did six months ago. This time, the fruit was darker with gobs of plum and black cherry. Not sticky. Bigger and dark with a lean mid-palate, still plenty of fine tannin with nice earth and dark spice. Wouldn't pay for the original $24 price tag but at $8, it's one of the top four or five best bargain we've had in that price range. 100% Californian Graciano. Kinda rare. Pairing score: 87

#2 - Seafood sausage, white rice, sesame seed asparagus and a coconut-red curry dipping sauce with 2009 Pircas Negras Torrontés ($14 - Red & White)

What was thought of as being a quick dinner turned into something much more...and made us realize that we probably should have drunk the Crios Torrontés with it instead.

The price of seafood sausage has risen to a still wildly cheap $5.50 for four links at Trader Joe's. Just four months ago, there were, along with the Crios, was the most surprising wine pairing we had had in a long time. All delicious flowers.

This dinner was nearly as tasty as that one in many ways, made great by the superlative coconut milk-red curry paste sauce poured over the rice and used to dip the seafood sausage in.

But the wine, while pleasant enough, didn't come close to measuring up to the Crios. All pineapple cream soda with a touch of almond, somewhat crisp with a tiny hint of a floral element but nothing particularly pronounced. Fine enough, but wouldn't buy it again, even if it was $5 cheaper than the $14 we paid. Pairing score: 83

#101 - Thomas Keller Chicken & Burgundian Cheese with a Burgundian White

Now over 100 posts!

Never would have guessed. It's served us well as a reference.

Thomas Keller chicken seemed appropriate after a Thomas Keller Ad Hoc visit four days before. He was at Ad Hoc the night we were there, sitting next to a guy who had the four-course Memphis BBQ dinner at 5pm and came back for it again at 9pm. Gotta say, it was that good. I'd do it.

And Burgundy was something we were going to delve deeper into instead of the recent surface play after we exhausted our love for other regions. I just never would have thought it would start with white Burgundy. But it has. And we love it.

We love Pinot Noir and have thought in the past that Chardonnay can rot on the vine (wine humor and recycled at that!) for all we cared. But something happened with the Viré Clessé from last month.

A place has been found for Chardonnay in our world rather quickly and nearly completely. So the retort from some was true. We just didn't have a good one. I expect our prejudice for California Chardonnay to linger for years but white Burgundy, welcome to our world. You're good stuff.

Food: Thomas Keller chicken with mâche and parsley salad and Burgundian cheese and baguette

It was a near identical match to the Chardonnay tasting last month. Same chicken, this time with a more dark chicken and a slightly higher salt level and definitely higher pepper level. Juicy with great skin with better dark meat than the breast this time. It's the best chicken on the planet. Here's the recipe.

The Burgundian cheese, delice de Bourgogne, nearly matched the chicken. Like brie without the brie-ness. Intensely creamy without choking you with its creaminess and just enough funkiness that knows when to go away. Served with LaBriola baguette. No baguette is better and it's not every close. If you don't agree, put 'em up, sport.

Mrs. Ney wasn't thrilled about the prospect of chicken. She craved it a few days before but wasn't as she was making it. But like tuna Niçoise, fish tacos, bahn mi and scores of other meals, it always turns into something delicious, absolutely wanted and always a meal that wildly exceeds every expectation. It was another "Hot Mother Damn, this is good!"

And the wine certainly helped.

Wine: 2006 Jean-Phillipe Fichet Auxey Duresses ($45 - Randolph Wine Cellars)

Grape: 100% Chardonnay

Appellation: Auxey Duresses, just west of Meursault and seemingly carved out of the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune hillside

Vintage (WS): 91 - Drink or hold - Best are pure, elegant and balanced, with plenty of mineral character

the Auxey Duresses AOC has only been around since 1970. Before that, grapes grown there sold under the Meursault and Volnay appellation labels and some mixed Villages labels. Quality and distinction has steadily increased and vineyards are using the Auxey Duresses name on the bottle more frequently.

Jean-Phillipe Fichet is a strict winemaker using slow growing and mostly organic techniques, even studying the micro-climates of micro-climates to find the true expression of the grape from the true expression of the land. He has vines all over Burgundy. This is his Auxey Duresses vines.

Tons of smoky pear on the palate with a hint of maybe (baked?) apple and chockablock with a chalky minerality on the mid-palate. In fact, that's all that was on the mid-palate. Unique, balanced and open, it just sung and was worth every bit of the $45 price tag. Beautifully subdued touch of underlying butter that left at the right time for the minerality to transition in. Nice finish with more smoky pear perking up. Layered and wonderful. More lively and refreshing than the Domaine de Roally with less funk. Two different styles, two pretty great wines.

We'll be following Mr. Fichet after this one.

Pairing: 94 Good chicken and good Chardonnay = Yes, please!

We've messed around with other whites with wine can chicken and some worked, some fell flat and many were as fair-to-middling as it gets, if pleasant enough to have around.

Many times, those average ones were wines we liked already and simply wanted to drink. They turned out fine enough, mostly because we already liked the wine.

But as a roast chicken pairing, I would venture to guess that white Burgundy wins out 80% of the time from here on out.

Probably best with the cheese and bread as the subtle funkiness in the cheese danced with the butter and minerality of the wine. Seemed made for each other and actually were. Rarely can you go wrong when you stay within the same region for food and wine. It's what they do and why they do it.

But the chicken with the wine was a close second, especially with the pepper. There was a point very early in the meal when we felt like we had to start rationing the wine as we kept grabbing for the glass after every bite. It was that good together. We constantly wanted to get that taste in our mouth back.

#100 - San Francisco

A little over two years ago, we had what was the best restaurant food day of our lives.

Lunch at Chez Panisse Café and dinner at French Laundry.

That was a good day.

After the last Cleveland trip in April "didn't take," another trip out of the increasingly wearisome Chicago was needed tout suite. How about a cheap enough two-day trip back to San Francisco and its 60-degree weather when it's 95 crotch-sweatingly hot degrees in Chicago? Yeah...that'll do.

And in many ways, the great restaurant day from two years was duplicated right down to the owners of the two restaurants.

Ad Hoc Restaurant - Yountville

Right down the street from the French Laundry, Ad Hoc is the third Thomas Keller restaurant within a stone's throw of each other in Yountville, ten miles north of the city of Napa.

Opened in 2006, the place was originally a place holder for an inevitable burgers and 1/2 bottles restaurant Keller was planning, but the response he got from the comfort-food joint led him to keep the concept going.

And for that, we thank him. It was spectacular.

$49 four-course meal served family-style in a small, 14 table space that nonetheless feels airy while having a laid-back comfort and sparkle to it. Completely casual. Wear what you like.

We caught Memphis BBQ night:

Frisee & Bitter Greens Salad

Sungold cherry tomato, pickled pearl onion, hush puppy crouton, spiced tillamook cheddar

Memphis Style Barbeque

Wagyu beef brisket, grilled fatted calf andouille sausage, pulled pork sliders, savoy cabbage slaw, yellow corn and rancho gordo pinquito beans

Panteleo

Marshall's Farm wildflower honey, suncrest peaches

Chocolate Swiss Roll

Hazelnut crunch, vanilla ice cream

Wines:

Two glasses of NV (?) Schramsberg Blanc de Noir to start

1/2 bottle of 2007 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner with the frisee salad

1/2 bottle of 2007 Domaine des Pallieres "Les Racines" Gigondas with the BBQ

One Tokaji Aszu and one Quinto Do Noval Port with dessert

As always, it was in the little things. The hush puppy croutons were ridiculously delicious, especially with a smear of spiced cheddar. The wagyu beef brisket was the best preparation of wagyu I've ever had, beating even the Blackbird version from last October. The sausage...what can I say...great stuff. Something about the spice level. Some of the best honey I've ever had and the freshness of the vegetables was off the charts.

It seemed like we caught a menu (as the menu changes daily) that everyone working at the restaurant was quite fond of and what resulted on the plate told us why. I'll remember those flavors for years.

But what both of us will remember the most about the Ad Hoc meal will be the wine pairing. The grüner was quite good and performed well with the salad. The sparkling rosé was all creamy raspberry with loads of lively bubbles and pinot noir goodness.

But we immediately fell silly in love with the 2007 Domaine des Pallieres "Les Racines Vieilles Vignes" Gigondas. Seems almost wrong how good it was. Mostly Grenache with Syrah, Cinsault and Clairette as well. It was pure silk showing dark red berries and fruit cake notes that on the mid-palate just exploded with red licorice juice. Bright yet brooding at the same time with an almost velvety finish. Wanna get to know Gigondas and what good Grenache can taste like from the Rhône? This one's $30-40. Buy it and find out. Nearly perfect with the BBQ and absolutely perfect with the corn and bean salad. Ab-sol-utely perfect.

A great meal that will be long remembered with a new favorite wine.

Chez Panisse Restaurant - Berkeley

The first time we ate at Chez Panisse two years ago, it was upstairs in the a la carte café and had some great food, even realizing the joys of superlatively-prepared chicken. We always liked chicken enough but that was Chicken.

Always somewhat curious about the downstairs and its set four-course menu, we gave it a go with the caveat that we might cancel if the menu didn't look particularly great to us. After seeing it two days before (they release the menus for the week on Sunday), it sounded good enough with the added prospect that it's Chez Panisse. We'll probably be just fine.

And we were in spades.

Menu:

King salmon carpaccio with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and basil

Hand-cut pasta with summer chantrelles, squash blossoms and arugula

Becker Lane Farm pork loin alla toscana with fennel sausage, green beans and cranberry beans

Almond nougat and strawberry ice cream cassata

I can take or leave salmon but I could eat this salmon once a week. Bright tomatoes, beautifully light touch with the aioli and generous hits of basil. But the salmon was the star. Terrifically fresh and just so damn tasty. A fine enough pasta, if a tad unmemorable, cooked the definition of al dente. But the pork loin! Oh, the pork loin! Almost didn't want to eat it because it was so pretty with a gentle pink center that faded to the edges with an almost grace. Mixed with the fennel sausage, it was a sumptuous bite of food. Solid dessert and a good capper with French press.

But with the salmon and pork loin, we had one beautiful meal.

Wines:

Two glasses of Cava with the salmon carpaccio = a beautiful pairing.

Two interesting glasses with the pasta, a Corbières Blanc and a white from the Canary Islands. The Corbières showed elegant fruit and the Canary Islands white had a subtle touch of oil mixed with almonds (?) and smoked peach.

1/2 bottle of Domaine des Pallieres "Les Racines" Gigondas. The same wine from Ad Hoc because it was on the menu for $32 freakin' dollars and we loved it. Great again with the pork loin.

A glass of Hüet Demi-Sec Vouvray dessert wine which fell flat with the dessert. I figured it might but wanted to try it.

Two great meals again from Thomas Keller and Alice Waters. For that, we thank them profusely. A special mention should go out to Gianni, our server at Chez Panisse who was an utter joy all night. We wanted to hug him.

I would mention the lunch at Slanted Door if it was worth mentioning. Someone in the kitchen limed the beef carpaccio twice, turning it into a sloppy mess and the tuna tartare and spring rolls were merely fine enough with everything arriving at the table within three minutes of ordering it. We felt a bit rushed, which was a complete departure from the last time we were there and had a fantastic dinner/experience. The bottle of NV Tissot Crément du Jura was quite tasty though with a smoky creaminess and subtle hits of apple and lime.

Gott's Roadside in the Ferry Building, the inspiration for the marinade for fish tacos written about here on a few occasions? Skip it.

But if you're in Berkeley and looking for a quick lunch, run don't walk to Gioia Pizzeria on Hopkins. It's New York-style pizza with a Berkeley bent that made us curse the gods that Chicago refuses to do New York-style pizza right or at all. Crackerbox space, cheap as dirt and freakin' delicious.

All in all, a good trip, a needed trip, a trip that offered oceans breezes and 55-60 degree weather when it was hot as hell in Chicago. People were in sweaters and fleeces in July. I can support that.

I can recommend: Ad Hoc, Chez Panisse, the BART ($19 from Berkeley to SFO), the casual, seemingly normal and generally happy people of San Francisco and the Kia Sportage as a rental (nice little car. Wouldn't own one but nice little car).

Things that I can't: Slanted Door at lunch, Gott's Roadside, mothers flying with four screaming kids in tow, middle-aged women with too much money and a fanny pack that have no internal dialogue, taxi from SFO to Berkeley ($75), the person who thought it was smart to carpet and upholster the BART and the punch of heat in the face upon returning to Chicago (made worse by the fact that I was still in a fleece).

We'll see you soon, Northern California. You're nice.

#99 - Two Favorites With Two Wines

Tons of catch-up to do. A messed up left hand and vacation (forthcoming and our 100th post!) has set me back a few days.

It's funny to constantly be reminded what wine can do for a meal.

The first one was an example of one of our favorite meals - so clean, fresh and filling - that once again informed us that rosé is really the only way to go with it.

The second one was an example of a fair-to-middling meal utterly taken over and elevated to such great heights by the wine, stupefying us as to how such a thing could have even happened.

#1 Tuna Niçoise with 2009 Domaine Collotte Marsannay Rosé ($17 - WDC)

I'll just plagarize myself as typing is a process right now.

Tuna Niçoise will Clean you out!

Seared rare tuna with cherry tomatoes, black olives, capers, green beans, potatoes on arugula and parsley with (lemon-infused?) olive oil drizzled everywhere and two hard-boiled eggs for me.

Just a big abundance of food that never gets old. Acid from tomatoes, bitterness from arugula, brininess and earthiness from the capers and olives, carb hit from the potatoes with great, fresh Whole Foods tuna - a bit less of it this time, which was prudent.

We have it six to twelve times a year. Kind of resets the food clock with its mountain of fresh goodness.

Paired this time with a 2009 Domaine Collotte Marsannay Rosé made from pinot noir. The Saintsbury Vin Gris of Pinot Noir might be the best we've ever had with tuna Niçoise but this one performed admirably. Softer, bright and pure, showing mostly strawberry cream. Enough backbone to stand up to mostly anything on the plate but not tannic or aggressive in the least.

A pleasing rosé for a reasonable price offering something a bit more distinctive than a run-of-the-mill pink. We might like a rosé to bring a bit more in a darker, more complex vein but it was light and fresh in an Ugly Betty sort of way.

A solid 88 pairing score. No complaints at all and just reassured the notion that there's not much better than tuna Niçoise and rosé is the only way to go in our world.

#2 Falafel, pita, tomato salad and cucumber yogurt with 2006 Villa Creek Mas De Maha ($22 - Binny's)

Lots of tasty flavors with the meal. Everything represented but the falafel came out a little toasty and the pita a little crispy. It was a quick dinner right before vacation with our minds more on that. Some parts were delicious and the falafel was kinda great, if a bit overcooked.

But something happened on the way to the forum. I've written about our love for Villa Creek Mas De Maha (60% tempranillo, 20% each of grenache and mourvèdre) in the past. It's awfully great with Latin food, especially anything with a Cuban bent. When we had it with hanger, plantains and tomato salad, it was pretty revelatory, like we found one of the perfect pairings that exist in the world. Something happens to the Mas De Maha with spice and tomatoes. It takes the entire plate of food with those elements by the hand and leads it to the promised land.

In the past, it's been with meals that were good on thier own. With this one, it picked up the plate by the back of its pants and said, "get your ass to the land of goodness!" I can't ever recall a meal so lifted to such a better place by the wine.

A 95 pairing score due to what was an archetypal example of what wine can do to and with food.

#98 - Dry-Aged Bone-In Ribeye With '06 Velvet Glove

Best meal in months.

And it was just so much! So much food and so much decadence.

The superlatives certainly flew as we were eating. I settled on 'hedonistic' as the best descriptor.

Kinda went over the top last night, made better by the fact we feel like we're finally are at a place where some of our first big purchases of wine are starting to get to the point where it's not stupid to crack them.

So we did.

Food: 21-day, dry-aged, bone-in ribeye with five-spice tostones, wilted spinach and Oregon blue cheese

Fox & Obel 21-day, dry-aged, bone-in ribeye.

We've had New York strip and beef filet in the dry-aged vein. We enjoy the beef filet the most but there's just nothing wrong with the ribeye at all.

When I say hedonistic, most of it came from the unbelievably rich and gorgeous flavors, but some of it came from the size of the ribeye. Over a pound each and at least 12 ounces of meat for each of us. We've come to the conclusion that nobody needs more than six ounces (maybe even less) of meat. That's the point of diminishing returns but we didn't care last night.

Beautifully cooked to a medium-rare in the cast-iron skillet with salt, pepper and olive oil and then rested on the cutting board to finish off with its own juices on top. Had the wondrous dry-aged flavor that is something other than beef. Something else. Something...

This one had a sausage filling quality to it. Less buttery than the filet and more rough and wild.

And there was just so much! Did I mention that?

Halfway through, I assessed my place in the meal as I approached full and realized I wasn't even half-done. What I thought was an extension of the bone mixed with fat was more meat. Didn't care. It would have been a crime to leave it.

Settled on five-spice tostones after screwing around with paprika and thinking about potatoes. The five-spice performed the best with the wine when we sampled it before the decant, bringing out the big blackberry notes instead of accentuating the oak as the paprika seemed to do.

Now...we loved the ribeye. But the star of the food night was the tostones smeared with the Oregon Rogue River Smokey Blue Cheese. First, the tostones with five-spice couldn't have been a better match with the wine and brought perfect elements of crispiness and subtle sweetness to the meal. But topped with this Oregon blue cheese, something entirely new to us, was simply stunning.

Smoked over hazelnut shells, many on the internet have described the cheese as having a cheddar quality. I thought the particular creaminess may have approximated that but mostly, it tasted like a better, brighter, more delicate and streamlined Roquefort. Where Roquefort (and blue cheese in general) tends to dominate any meal, becoming more a blue cheese experience no matter how judiciously incorporated, this one is just the bee's knees; strong enough to unfortunately drown out the meat with a bite but delicate enough to line up perfectly with the sweetness of the tostones and all five elements of taste that five-spice offers. Never went off the grid as blue cheese can. Never took over. It integrated and ingratiated itself into the rest of the meal with the elegance of an Englishman with white gloves and a top hat. And just couldn't have been better with the wine.

The wilted spinach wasn't touched because when you're this knee-deep in fat, why ruin it. Just go all-in.

Topped off with Smith Island chocolate cake, which brought new definition to "all-in".

Wine: 2006 Mollydooker Shiraz McLaren Vale Velvet Glove ($180 - Berkeley Wine ?)

Bought during the height of our Shiraz love two years ago, that love waned for a bit and has started to kick back up recently. We're starting to think the "fruit bomb" has a place in our world.

It was a ridiculous purchase, a vanity desire, a highly-rated wine (97 - WS, 99 - RP) insanely priced at the height of the world's love for Australian Shiraz with a simply ridiculous packaging (came with a velvet bag). I wanted it because I wanted it, something I rarely do. Usually, it takes me three weeks to buy new tennis shoes. So Mrs. Ney bought it for me.

Just monstrous. 1 1/2 hour decant. Initially, I worried about the oak after reading reviews of people that drank it recently and some showed up on the first sip before the decant. Never really showed up after that, though. Lil bit but nothing distracting and became integrated rather quickly.

Grilled meat, herbs and huge juicy blackberry on the nose. DEEP purple/black in the glass with dark red edges. Massive on the palate, tons of dark berries dominated by blackberry and plum, a wee hint of black cherry mixed in and oodles of black pepper/spice and meat with a touch of bitter dark chocolate. Thick (!) but never approaching sappy. Underlying vanilla throughout and hides the over-the-top 16.5% alcohol beautifully. The joy is in the structure and constantly changing layers. Each sip was slightly different, with the food and on its own, and the finish never stopped. Toward the end, a port-like quality with a bit of caramel/brown sugar that lingered forever.

Could have cut this wine with a knife in the best possible way and is probably the best Shiraz we've ever had.

Pairing: 95 Oh, The Extravagance!

It was our version of a foie gras, truffles, caviar and lobster meal.

Perfect with tostones and blue cheese and one of those pairings I'll remember for years. Less so but still stunning with the dry-aged ribeye.

This meal was different for us in a sense that we're usually astute about getting acid into the meal. This one had none from a food standpoint except for the sort that black pepper tries to bring. The wine was the acid bearer with this one, which put a bigger burden on the wine than we typically want but it delivered.

So much lift, so much matchy-matchy wonderfulness, everything fit like a jigsaw puzzle.

We're going to need some recovery time after last night's fat-feast but we don't care.

That was...something else...something more...just Something...Freakin'...Fantastic.

#97 - Blackbird

I've blathered on about Blackbird on numerous occasions. Our last visit in April (#63) was the best experience we'd ever had there.

Last night fell somewhere in the middle of the pack.

To plagarize myself and put it into context:

"Blackbird is consistently innovative, always right on in preparation, never stuffy and always filling. As with every great meal, you remember the little things. The French toast on the sweet corn bourvois, the sesame gnocchi on the short rib, the wine pairing with the pork collar and the fact that the octopus confit made us reconsider octopus, period."

While we had a good meal last night and our waiter (half the reason we go there) was his usual great with some fantastic recommendations and conversation, it was the little touches that we missed, if only the slightest bit.

Both of us thought that in our experience at Blackbird, it's always been the fall menus that made us wet our pants. In the fall, a chef is allowed to mess around with bolder, more intricate and layered flavors instead of making sure to first keep it light, which usually leads to a lot of in-season fruit and veggie play with only accents of darker, more brooding flavors. It's about the freshness; that's nice and welcome and this was. It just wasn't as memorable as other times (and seasons), something that has translated to other restaurants in town as well for us.

Summer seems to box in even the best chefs in our food world, at least with regards to what we typically want, which usually is a surprising freshness popping up instead of 'fresh and bright' being the obvious, overarching and immediate theme.

That said, great meal, great service, good time. Blackbird will always be something we look forward to with a giddy intensity.

Started with two glasses of NV Marguet Pere & Fils Grand Cru Rosé Ambonnay. Mouth-wateringly delicious and is becoming an anticipated flavor from the restaurant. Just beautiful with an elegant touch of rose petals and strawberry skin. 65% Chardonnay/35% Pinot Noir and the pinot essence really shows up for the party.

Appetizers:

Glazed veal sweetbreads with with lime onions, tamarind, bee pollen and fried chocolate

Swan creek farm suckling pig with lillet-stewed apricots, snow peas, water chestnuts and beer vinaigrette

Succulent sweetbreads and not so succulent suckling pig. Fell a touch flat. The accompaniments to the sweetbreads sounded great but the bee pollen may have been too subtle and the fried chocolate was maybe too delicate to offer something darker. Both were delicious enough but I honestly had to pause and think of the sweetbreads' party friends as I wrote this.

Intermezzo of pork loin with beets and apricots.

Tasty pork and the thinly-sliced swirled beets added a bright earth and textural contrast. Darn good stuff with the wine, which I'll get to.

Entrées:

Stuffed bobwhite quail with black cumin sausage, charred avocado and house-made giardiniera

Grilled wagyu tri tip with artichoke, figs, sprouting granola and cassia bud

The stuffed quail balls were the star of the night. Perfectly cooked and just danced. The charred avocado purée with the quail = freaky great. A bite of everything came off like the one of the best taco fillings I'd ever had. Quail tacos? Seems like a lot of work but bet they'd be delicious.

Both of us wouldn't have known the tri-tip was wagyu if we hadn't read it on the menu. Wasn't great. Good, just wasn't great. The sprouting granola and cassia was inspired but couldn't lift the beef out of the ordinary.

Desserts:

Pre-dessert of cherry sorbet with cocoa nib and bruléed banana

Fried polenta with klug farms blueberries, lemon verbena and smoked brown sugar ice cream

Dark chocolate gateau with cocoa nib crumble and caramel schmear

Dessert heaven in many ways. Served with two glasses of Barros 1977 Colheita Tawny Port which...23 year-old port...come on...that's decadent. All subtle caramel and fig with a delicately syrupy texture with a kick of alcohol at the end that gently and gracefully disappeared.

Wine:

2006 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. Grenache-heavy and dominant. Great pure fruit here showing the typical Grenache red raspberry flavors with a hint of cherry serving as a consistent supporting actor throughout. Pleasing spice with cinnamon/nutmeg and a fruitcake note (which I realized, "that was it!" after reading a description). Medium-bodied with a incredibly long finish that constantly changed throughout the meal.

As a pairing, it served admirably with virtually everything. Oddly, the wagyu tri-tip might have been the best. For a medium-weight meal, a wine showing a medium weight and pure juiciness really couldn't have been better. Added a lot to the overall experience and even picked up some elements by the back of their pants to help it along. Seek it out. $50 retail right now for a pretty great Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Can't beat that.

It was a good meal, a fine meal, a meal I would probably eat next week and be entirely happy and full.

I just don't know if I'll remember much of it a month from now.

Expect for the wine...and stuffed quail balls...which is fun to say.