Food and Wine

Ok, we all know that steak and Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic pairing.  Maybe not the most adventurous or daring, but classic and for good reason.  I spend a great deal of time traveling around the country tasting people on Michel-Schlumberger.  This past week I had the pleasure of visiting Miami pre-tourist season.  The weather was perfect and the locals are all calm, preparing for the tourist storm.

I already know what you are going to say,”why would you go to Miami to get a steak with all that fresh local seafood?”  I hear you, and normally I would agree with you, but trust me when I say go to Prime One Twelve for a steak.  Prime 112 is a sleek modern steak house on Ocean Drive in South Beach.  This restaurant is always full, always delicious and always a scene.

Sommelier, Matthew Heinz, has supported Michel-Schlumberger for years and has just put the 2006 Chardonnay “La Brume” and 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon “Deux Terres” on the menu.  As a matter on fact, Prime 112 is one of the first restaurants on the east coast to offer the 2004 Deux Terres.

Oh yes, the pairing, steak and Cab good, but dry aged prime, perfectly grilled and lightly seasoned with the finest sea salt, paired with our finest Cabernet, 2004 Deux Terres, is mmm, mmm, good.  Simple ingredients done well with complex flavors that blend together perfectly and make the other even better.

Book your table in advance, make sure you say hi to Matt and enjoy the start of your night out in South Beach.  Btw, your were right, the seafood at Prime 112 is out of this world.

I’ve been a tad over-programmed with travel these last few days as the fall selling campaign gets into full swing. This is the time of year when restaurants are busy buying good earthy Syrahs and aged Cabernets for their autumn wine lists. It is a fast, pleasurable time. More often than not, I am able to see my afterburners blowing at full thrust when I look into the rearview mirror of my car. And, I am not alone out on the highways. I’ve seen the rest of you, wine salespeople or not, jamming at high-speed to keep up with your appointed rounds. Occasionally, you whizz past me with your “jawbones” jammed tight in an ear listening to the heartbeat of families, careers, and the cat’s vet appointments. In America, it seems, it still takes a lot of moving to get things done. Recently, to help me massage travel time between accounts, I’ve been listening to Chuck Berry throwing down some Johnny B. Goode. That tune moves through my Boz just fine when I need to get to a place on time.

The highway patrolman who stopped me the other day as I sped through Santa Rosa agreed that Chuck was just the ticket. The officer also gave me some easy advice: Slow down, grab some peace, enjoy a little dinner, and take the rest of the day off. He was right-on, which is how I found my way to Bistro Twenty-nine in Santa Rosa. It is a perfect respite from the wine wars and a great place to enjoy delicious regional French cooking and a glass or two of local wine. The wine chased some tasty grilled sardines and a steak frittes down my hatch. Buckwheat crepes stuffed with aromatic fillings were a hit at the table next to mine. 

Locals already know that the Bistro’s chef, Brian Anderson, formerly of Applewood’s great restaurant, is married to Francois. She is from Brittany, the 29^th arrondissement – hence the restaurant’s name - and the western-most department in France. It is a beautiful, sometimes rugged land whose residents pleasure in regional ingredients for their tables: seafood, lamb, root vegetables, butter, cider from the Eastern farms, and good, crisp wines from the neighboring river valleys. On a rare sunny day, south of the capitol city of Brest, one can find an out-cropping of rocky cliffs that jut out into the Atlantic. Looking out to sea from here, only ocean separates Europe from America. In the warmth of the sun, the waters that crest on the rocks below strike blue and green and foamy white. Here, one can lean back and relax and put the world into a proper focus. A corner table at Bistro 29 can provide a similar view. 

Heirloom Tomatoes

Yesterday I picked a small sack of heirloom tomatoes from the organic garden – beautiful red , Green Zebras, and the yellow, slightly fuzzy, Wapsipinicon Peach.  My lovely wife, who always knows exactly what to do with fine produce, sliced the toms, arranged the slices on two nice plates and then crumbled a bit of local goat cheese on top.  Just before serving she splashed about one tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar over each plate, followed by a healthy drizzle of Michel-Schlumberger olive oil.  Then we dug in.  Oh my.  Not just good or really good or even REALLY, REALLY GREAT – this simple and nutritious little salad was insanely brilliant.

My point here is actually not to gloat about my dinner or my wife’s fine cooking skills (though that’s fun, too).  My point is that such a delicacy could not come from Safeway or Food Maxx.  Modern hybrid tomatoes picked green and trucked in from huge, chemical-dependant, mono-culture “farms” are not, in fact, tomatoes.  To be honest, I don’t know exactly what they are but I do know they have nothing in common with the organic heirloom gems I feasted on last night.  And don’t get me started about that flavorless, pre-crumbled packaged goat cheese shipped in from God knows where.

Certainly, organic farming produces better food (and wine).  And careful selection of plant varieties, soils and farming practices will doubtless influence the quality of the product.  But there’s something else that’s very important, too.  It’s The Love.  The Love makes everything better.  We don’t work long hours 7days week for 2 months during the grape harvest for the money or the glory (frankly, there’s not that much of either).  We do it because we love it.  And whether it’s tomatoes or olive oil or grapes or wine, the fine folks at Michel-Schlumberger take great pride in everything we grow, everything we produce.  So treat yourself.  Eat well.  Drink the good stuff.  And share The Love.

Tony 'Love' Wasowicz

Love,
Tony

Music at Tanglewood

Is there a better pairing? I know its one of my favorite combinations. I have a passion for both and both make life just a little bit better. Music and wine are great on there own, but together the results can be sublime. I don’t play an instrument or make wine, but I have great respect for those that do.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Tanglewood Food and Wine Classic in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains. Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox, Massachusetts and it has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937.

The TFWC is the brain child of Denis and Susan Toner and one of my favorite events of the year (the other is The Nantucket Wine Fest, also started by Denis). The setting is beautiful and I get to do what I love, talk about wine, meet great people, eat good food and listen to music.

One great thing about this venue is you can watch and listen to the musicians practice and prepare for the evening concert. After the tasting event my wife and I found a soft patch of grass and listen to the BSO with a bottle of Michel-Schlumberger Pinot Blanc. Music and wine certainly help to make a great afternoon and memory.

Jayme Pouring for the People