This month wine pro David Borzo had the enviable challenge of pairing wines with the robust flavors of the Caesar Steak Salad. Not too big a hill for our steppers... see the review>

International Wine Cellars Opens
Membership to New Registrations
International Wine Cellars, an online wine club is taking advantage of the latest Supreme Court ruling allowing interstate wine shipments. Using their buying power (membership has grown 10-fold in the last 90 days) they're bringing quite a broad selection to market, and now feature a set of bonus gifts for signing up.

Morrel Pairs with Forbes in New Wine Club
Morrell & Company's new partnership with Forbes.com will launch what they intend to become America's biggest and best Wine Club on the internet at www.ForbesWineClub.com. Since basic membership is free, your are invited to join in what will they're billing as "America's most informative, exciting, and enjoyable online wine community - a virtual home for wine lovers - on the internet" 

Spiced Steak Caesar/ October 2005
When I looked over this great recipe for a flavorful steak rub fusion with an all-time favorite Caesar Salad, I knew that I would need to look for a substantial wine to hold up to the beef Rub, while at the same time deal diplomatically with the fresh crispy Romaine and zesty Caesar dressing.

And yes, this dressing recipe does have some zest - with a liberal and refreshing level of Lemon juice. That's an acidic base that you will need to consider in your wine selection. (Uncle Howard used to say that “I like my horses tame, but my dressing with lots of zest”). The primary rule with pairing up wine with a beef dish is that you need a red that has the tannins that can cut through the fat level. 

So with both of these considerations, we are looking for a robust red, good balance and not over the top. 
Well, research is the key, and if you want to pair up the best options with a great recipe, you need to break open a few bottles. We diligently followed the recipe from Saucy Joes, and diligently followed through with our wine selections. 

This recipe really is a great fusion of flavors and textures, and finding the balance with the right wine presented some challenges. The tangy Caesar dressing was a delight, and the deep flavor rub on the steak is strong. We determined that the wine also needed to be particularly well balanced to make it all work.

Remembering that old adage that there are a number of paths to the mountain top, we kept an open mind - and as we prepared the meal we also tasted some options ahead of time. Here was the game plan - our initial selections:
• Optima Zinfandel, 2003, A Big and Bold California Zin that takes no prisoners- Big forward Fruit and a High alcohol level (14.9%).
• Guigal 2001 Chateanuef-du-Pape, A substantial and a more sophisticated French Rhone wine, deep and well balanced,  this wine is a meal in itself. (How do they do that?)
• Chateau Souveraine Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 - A medium body Cabernet from a respected and reasonably priced winery in the the Alexander Valley, deep in the heart of Sonoma.
• Alamos Malbec, 2003 , from Argentina. With the Malbec Varietals, little seen in production this century, you get a distinctive and full body and very different set of fruits, spice and vegetables in the nose. As Challenging on it's own as it is when standing up to the fennel in the Steak Rub.

SO…The Optima Zin, while with a mouthful of gorgeous fruit and firm tannins, was a little over the top for this meal. The higher alcohol level gave out substantial heat on the palette – this may have stood up to the Garlic and anchovies in the Caesar dressing, but didn't work well with the citrus level. This is a great Zin for the right occasion, (although at around $30, it’s not on my budget for everyday drinking).

The Argentinean Malbec was definitely a departure from the standard fare - but it did have a bit of a vegetable nose that distracted from the meal. Not a warm and fuzzy hug with the Beef, but more of a punch in the arm. This is definitely a wine worth looking at though, and at around $18, a very good buy for this very interesting wine. Malbec is becoming more readily available every year, almost exclusively from South America.

The perfect pairing quest was nearly achieved; both the Rhone Valley and Sonoma Valley wines won accolades at this point. And so I am forced to offer two selections for you - If you want a very good and serious Cabernet with some backbone, the Chateau Souveraine 2002 has the tannins along with nicely balanced fruit, with Plum and cherry. It is able to stand up to the citrus in the dressing as well as the substantial seasoning for the steak rub. And at a little over $21, it is a pretty good deal for a good California Cabernet. (Now, five years ago this wine would have cost you $6.00 more than it's current pricing, but with the wine production levels as high as they are all over the world these last several years, many excellent and many very good wines have come down in their pricing. Good news for us consumers.

And for those who can pay a little more, at under $40 the Guigal 2001 Chateanuef-du-Pape is heaven sent, and perfectly balanced with rich dark fruit and spices, along with firm but not overbearing tannins. E. Guigal is an excellent value from the Rhone Valley, where you can easily spend more. There is real sophistication in this classic, and it took all the elements of the Spicy Steak-Rubbed Caesar to new levels.  This is a wine that will age well, (I wouldn't be surprised for over 20 years), but it's beautifully balanced and ready to enjoy now. Sublime really. It's the perfect, if unexpected partner for this more casual fusion of Steak and Caesar.

Here's to Life -
db
Saucy Joes Wine Pro  

WIne X Magazine
This magazine is geared to the younger wine buyers and connoisseur wannabees. They have numerous events, tastings, ratings and a lot of refreshing attitude -- not the oh-so-stuffy snobbery normally found in wine-dom.

The Private-Preserve System
If you could preserve each bottle you opened -- but didn't finish -- and have the vino taste just as good as the first sip, what would you pay? Surprisingly little, and with so little effort, this system is how the pros keep unfinished bottles fresh, and it's our favorite.

The Winery Web Site Report
Note: This is a top-notch wine industry guide, but it also has a comprehensive listing of winery websites. Mike Duffy is one smart cookie, and he's helping numerous wineries be better marketeers.

Wine Spectator Online
Well, what can we say. This has long been regarded as one of the best in the wine industry... lots of helpful info, but it comes with a price, i.e. subscription required and pretentions abound.

SeaBear Smokehouse
OH MY GAWD, is this good stuff. Sea Bear offers such a rich array of smoked and prepared seafood -- try their chowders and thank us later.

100 wines rated 90 pts plus. 
All under $20 
Good selections, very conveinent and fun to shop, the folks at Wine.com get it. We do not always find what we're looking for, but that's no different than our local shops. If you are not close to a good wine shop, save some time and click to get what you crave.

50 States of Cheese 
Wisconsin has nothing on the fine folks at iGourmet. We always order when we visit and we always want more. Good selections, great service and shipping. Go there, now. Come on, you know you want to, go ahead. Go.

Grand Openings? I think not...

Maybe the SaucyJoe Method is indeed the best bet!

So, I was looking through several offers on online bottle openers, foil cutters and the like, and I couldn't help but think that the engineers have taken over. Seems as though the process of extracting a cork has become increasingly complicated. From the "easy" machinations of the Rabbit-type contraptions to the gas powered extraction needles, there's a definite pecking order to the wine snob's device of choice.

Maybe some of it goes back to the two-pronged "waiters pull," that evil tuning fork we'd buy, knowing we too could pluck the cork with flair and aplomb, only to mangle then push the cork into the bottle followed by a string of expletives."Screw you waiter boy."

And, in light of the fact that every time I pull a cork, I'm reminded of just how little upper body strength I possess, I'm going looking for either a fancy estate opener like the kind you see mounted in older bars and restaurants or a good solid countertop puller . Bottle in, cork out, boom, done.

 

Jordan Winery
One of the finest winery sites we've ever viewed belongs to Jordan Winery in Sonoma. We were compelled to visit online after recently touring (by appointment, thanks to David Borzo) the Jordan Estate -- kudos to PR maven Luba Rusyn, our guide. We figured if the site was half as impressive as the architecture, views and hospitality of its real-world counterpart we'd be tickled.

It is, and we were.

From the Flash-generated opening scenes to the meticulous details shown in recipes, historical information, estate tour, wine and food descriptions, as well as their events calendar, we found this to be a shining example of how to communicate online.

And, thanks to recent changes in the states allowing shipments of wine into their revered turf, you may now also shop online in their store. Note: Their Jordan 2003 Chardonnay is available online elsewhere too.

The Jordans employ the fabulous Chef Udo Nechutnys, whose work delights the palates of visitors and estate guests daily,as well as the workers during the crush.Recipes for many of the home-grown dishes are found here too, although we suspect there's a secret something held back from us mere mortals.

We will be featuring several of the Jordan recipes in the coming months, as well as reviews of their 2003 Russian Valley Charonnay and 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon. Stay tuned and visit the site meanwhile.