Elgy-Ouriet "Brut Tradition"

Producer: Elgy Ouriet
Wine: Brut Tradition
Region:Champagne
Appelation: Champagne
Grape: 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay
Vintage: NV

Golden colored with some hints of green tinges. Lemon and honey suckle butter on the nose with some wet stones, chalk dust, white roses, nuts and cooked peaches on the edges. Lots of pepper and raspberries with white roses here, Mirabelle plums, and lemon and lime rind. Mid palate of baked dried red-fuits with a long finish.


Egly-Ouriet is one of the original Grower Champagnes distributed by Michael Skurnik Wines, long before "Grower Champagne" became part of our wine vernacular. As such, Egly has earned a soft spot in the hearts of many Champagne groupies. Based in the village of Ambonnay, this small estate claims approximately eight hectares of ALL Grand Cru vineyards, mostly in Ambonnay, but also in Bouzy and Verzenay. Francis Egly is one of the most conscientious, skilled vignerons in the entire region and his vinous, terroir-expressive Champagnes are unique and incredible. The vines average 30-50 years in age and are planted to 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. In order to preserve the integrity of the base wines as much as possible, all wines are unfiltered - a somewhat unusual practice in Champagne. Once the assemblage is complete, all wines spend a minimum of three years on their yeasts, often significantly longer, resulting in rich, full-bodied Champagnes. The date of disgorgement can always be found on the back label. Unapologetically vinous, and with amazing depth. The sheer ripeness and quality of the fruit allow for a very moderate dosage of 4 grams per liter. Egly's Champagnes are legendary.

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SPAIN Featured on a Plate at marlow

Speaking of local we are exploring foods of Spain with the recently released Iberico Ham and a number of Spanish cheeses to accompany it on a small plate at Marlow. Here is a bit of info about all the parts of the plate:

HAM

Iberico Ham: From multiple areas in southern and southwestern Spain. The meat comes from a specific pig called Black Iberian Pig, cerdo negro, or simply black pig. These pigs are unusual in that they have a natural inclination to eat acorns. Piglets are fattened on barley and maize for several weeks after they are weaned from their mothers. Then they are let loose to roam and root in oak groves. The highest quality Iberico called Jamon Iberico Bellota are gorged on acorns towards the end of their lives (bellota means acorn)m and is not yet available in the US. All of the Iberico is aged for at least 1.5 if not two full years.

CHEESES

Garroxta: From the Catalan region of Spain. This is a small wheel of goat's milk that is aged less than two months and thus is most often pasteurized. The milk is cultured with a bacteria and the rooms in which they are aged lead to the development of a velvety, gray rind. If the cheese has been kept properly it is usually still somewhat pliable and has a kind of woodsy flavor (it is often aged on Spruce planks). It is very similar to aged goat's milk cheeses from Twig Farm in VT.

Idiazabal: From the Basque region of Spain. Most often this aged sheep's milk cheese is made with raw milk. This region of Spain (and also the French side of the Pyrenees) is well known for sheep's milk cheeses. This particular cheese is aged at least 6-7 months and is pressed which means it has a harder texture. The cheese is smoked soon after coming out of its mold and the smoked exterior acts as somewhat of a rind- it can look at bit waxy even. Idiazabal is less sweet and nutty than the French Pyrenees sheep milk cheeses and it can have some bright citrusy notes alongside its salty flavors. It is similar to Frere Fumant from 3 Corner Field Farm right here in NY.

Mahon: This cheese is from Menorca, Spain in the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few cow's milk cheeses from Spain. Mahon can be consumed at a variety of ages- those that make it to the U.S. are all aged beyond 2 months (because of our raw milk rules) and often seem to be even older. It has an apricot colored exterior (I think it can smell like dried apricots too). This cheese is a bit flinty when cut- it can be a bit crumbly- and has great salt and acidity- lemony notes shine through.

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Salt Pepper and Booze

Would be hard to live without! Still it would be nice for our food to have a flight path similar to a honey bees.

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Goutorbe

Category: Sparkling
Producer: Henri Goutorbe
Region: Champagne
Appelation: Champagne
Sub Region: Ay
Grape: 70% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Meunier
Vintage: NV

Light yellow. Intensely fragrant nose displays fresh lemon, lime, green apple and cherry pit. Bone-dry and wonderfully focused, with clean citrus and apple flavors complicated by bitter cherry and blood orange. Finishes with impressive intensity and grip. I really like this wine's dry, focused personality. - Stephen Tanzer

The estate is sizeable by grower standards; 22 hectares, with 10 hectares in Ay, and the rest divided among Mareuil, Mutigny, Bisseul and parcels in the Sezannais and the Aube. All wines undergo Malolactic Fermentation and are 100% cuvee (free run juice). Dosage is must concentrate and annual production is ten thousand cases. The soil type is cretaceous chalk and limestone.

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Frozen on Fulton Street

One might not have expected to find the, once mafia haunted and now abandoned, Fulton Fish Market hopping with enthusiastic frost bitten agra/environmentalists one Sunday afternoon in December. I think the word Nor'easter was being tossed around Saturday night. By Sunday morning at 8:30 we were loading Mark and Andrew's cars with boxes of carrots and vats of vegetable chili (with pork) in the sleeting frigid rain. Spirits were low as we headed up over the Brooklyn Bridge. However, little did we know, the weather would not hold them. By noon the Fulton Fish Market was teeming with bundled up well-informed consumers working to raise awareness and money for the New Amsterdam Market. Thank you to everyone who braved the frost! And to Sasha for holding it together and to Caroline for making one-gazzilion braised beef with pickled winter vegetable sandwiches!

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