MY MONTHLY WINE DATE
It happens once a month: I flip through my mail and find the folded-over, buff-colored little gem, an unflashy 8-page trip abroad to Kermit Lynch's world of wine.
It's the wine importer's monthly report and, in anyone else's hands (and words), it would be nothing more than a promotion of wines for sale. Instead, Kermit's dispatches and discourses are insightful and inspirational. For example:
"Monsieur Monier likes farming," Kermit writes about a vintner from the Rhone Valley. "He lives in humble splendor way up in the hills ... surrounded by cherry, apple and peach orchards; grapevines he farms biodynamically, birdies singing and bees a-buzzing. He is living the life of a 19th-century vigneron. Monier told me he has it figured out: he makes about three dollars an hour in his little winery. "But I am so happy," he said." His is an almost regal Saint Joseph, loaded with character and luscious, juicy syrah fruit."
I read this and 1) I wonder if Monsieur Monier would be willing to take on a vineyard worker with precious little experience, i.e., me, please; 2) I bow to Kermit for the sheer genius and beauty of the phrase "humble splendor," which describes a place like Monier's better than any two words in any language; and 3) I begin to plot obtaining this wine.
Of course, it's always complicated, given New Jersey's arcane and outdated (yes, folks, even with the "new" rules and regs) wine-shipping laws to score such bottles and there's far too little Kermit Lynch wine in our state. But I read and I fall in love with wine all over again.
Same time, every month.
If you're a person who enjoys a little inspired wine-reading, you should check out Kermit Lynch's wine web site. It's www.kermitlynch.com
Most of the wines he imports are from France, where he spends a good chunk of the year, it seems. When stateside, he works in Berkeley, California, where his shop is located (510. 524. 1524). Oh, here's the other cool thing about his little flier: Kermit always writes about these fetes he's staging - the next one planned is a celebration of rose at a restaurant called Cafe Rouge, in Berkeley.
Don't you want to be there?
OK, OK. We're here. And what are you doing this weekend? Meaning, what are you cooking up at home and where are you eating out?
FARMERS, RESTAURANT CHEFS: Please tell us what's being picked and what's on special this weekend. We're hungry!
cheers,
Andy
8.3.07
posted by Andrea Clurfeld at 7:45 AM
3 Comments:
Hi foodies. I wanted to let everyone know that there is a tomato tasting & evaluation sponsored by Rutgers University coming up next Wednesday at their Research & Extension Center in Bridgeton. Attendance is free but registration is required.
Professional Chefs and friends are invited to REDISCOVER THE JERSEY TOMATO. As modern shipping tomatoes came to dominate wholesale produce markets, something got lost in the transition, flavor! That old time classic smell, texture and juicy acid/sweet taste of the New Jersey Tomato is hard to find these days, but Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is working on bringing it back.
They need professional chefs and friends to help us identify the tasty old time varieties that we are testing at their research farms. This free taste testing will tell our farmers what they should grow to bring back that old time Jersey Tomato flavor! We will also have heirloom tomato testing and a wagon tour of vegetable and fruit projects at our research farm.
Go to the following link to register:
http://www.cookce.rutgers.edu/courses/current/lf0602cb.html
WOW! This is a fabulous opportunity for anyone who eats and cooks, be it in a restaurant or at home. For several years now, I have been talking to culinary professionals at many ends of the spectrum - growers, retailers, chefs - who mourn the loss of old-time Jersey tomato taste. That Rutgers is doing this for our beloved fruit is a way we ALL can pitch in to bring back the taste that made the Jersey tomato famous in the first place.
Bravo to the folks running the agriculture show -- and let's do our part to make this program work by getting to Bridgeton on Wednesday, Aug. 8 and putting our palates in gear. Please do as requested and follow the link to register before you go.
APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE to Rutgers and our hard-working friends in agriculture.
Andy
8.4.07
What could be more exciting than having a date with a new wine monthly? Having this opportunity as a wine club member is a great privilege.
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