July 10, 2010

Bankers Hill: Where Expectations Are Great

I have tremendous admiration for Chef Carl Schroeder. His primary restaurant, Market in Del Mar, is perhaps the finest in the San Diego area. Prior to Market Schroeder dazzled us at Arterra, also in Del Mar. And before that he worked alongside the great San Francisco chefs Michael Mina and Bradley Ogden after leaving culinary school.

So I was more than a little curious, and excited, when I heard Schroeder was opening a new restaurant in my neighborhood. Bankers Hill, at the corner of Fourth & Ivy near Balboa Park and the Old Globe, has a roadhouse feel, with a warehouse look from floor to ceiling and napkins that have the appearance of dish towels from the 1930s.

There is a casual but high-energy ambiance that seems to drive patrons and staff alike. The service is professional and friendly, the menu eclectic, the wine list short but well chosen and reasonably priced. The menu offers nothing that costs more than $19.50, and though the wine list sports a few $100-plus bottles, most wines are in line with the red Roussillon that I enjoyed from Michel Chapoutier for $39.

So what's my beef? Not much, really. I was primed for greatness and left disappointed, though I will certainly go back; and I do expect the kitchen, I believe only now in its second or third month of operation, to eventually perform at a very high level -- consistently.

My expectations were perhaps too great. A rave review in the Union-Tribune whet my appetitie, and I was hearing good word-of-mouth on the "awesome" burger. No question it was good. But I had ordered medium rare and got medium. One side was cooked more than the other. I was delighted to see it was being served with an heirloom tomato, only to be let down when the tomato turned out to be little better than ordinary. The bun, on the other hand, was exceptional, but for $14 I wanted perfection.

Schroeder's burger at Arterra was truly awesome, as burger aficionados know. The burgers at Red Door and Cafe Bleu in Mission Hills are in that league. Ditto the Monday burger at Roseville in Point Loma, and the everyday burger at Avenue 5, only a few blocks from Bankers Hill. The Bankers Hill burger, IMHO, isn't there yet.

A gnocchi dish with Cabernet braised chicken might have stolen the evening, but again it was good, not great. Dish of the night was a salad of arugula with fresh peaches, prosciutto, goat cheese and candied walnuts. The homemade potato chips I had been hearing good buzz about were, well, tasty but not really so special that we felt we had to finish them.

I shall return, however, and have a go at the cast iron roasted salmon, or the local ling cod fish & chips, or the crispy bbq braised pork tacos. And, yes, I will give the burger another shot.

But I went in predisposed to love the place and ended up giving it a B-plus. Hey, this is Carl Schroeder's gig. Nothing less than a solid "A" will do.

Email comments to whitleyonwine@yahoo.com.

June 30, 2010

How to beat the high price of Bordeaux

My latest Reuters Vine Talk column not only laments the soaring price of Bordeaux for the 2009 vintage, it offers alternative collectible wines for those wine enthusiasts who simply want to sock away some seriously good reds or whites for a decade or more as they mature into greatness.

While Bordeaux is certainly the most collectible of wines because it historically increases in value with age -- witness sales on the auction market -- it is hardly the only world-class wine worthy of lengthy cellar time.

I personally stopped investing heavily in Bordeaux after the 1988 vintage. Prices for the 1989 vintage were too much for me to bear by the case, even then, so I cut back my purchases to three to six bottles of chateaux that most interested me. The situation is even worse today.

I turned instead to options in Italy, other parts of France, and more recently even Spain. I cellar my share of New World wines as well. I have excerpted the into to the Vine Talk column and hope you will visit the Reuters site to read the entire article.

Though the parameters of the Vine Talk column do not permit me at this time to endorse specific wines, I have added label shots to this posting to give you a better idea of the wines that I believe are most attractive to me as a wine collector.

(Reuters Life!) - As the prices trickled out for the first tranche of the 2009 Bordeaux vintage being sold en primeurs, there was shock and awe.

They had doubled and, in some cases, tripled what had been asked for the vintages of 2007 and 2008. They were higher, in fact, than the great vintage of 2005. It was enough to make grown men weep.

Of course the speculators swept in (these are the folks who buy now, regardless of price, with the expectation they will someday sell the stars of the vintage at auction for a handsome profit) while ordinary wine collectors (these are the folks who buy Bordeaux to slowly age it in their cellars with the expectation they will someday drink something positively exquisite) were left to pound sand and ponder the high cost of a passion for the grape.

I am so over the 2009 vintage of Bordeaux, and I have a plan, which I am more than happy to share.

Much as I love Bordeaux and recognize that it is the foundation of many a spectacular wine cellar, including my own, I also know it is not the only wine worthy of such devotion.

There are other wines, many others, that mature to greatness when cellared properly, and cost a fraction of the asking price for top-tier 2009 Bordeaux.

Let the tour begin!

Read the entire column here!

June 25, 2010

Rating the 2009 Bordeaux Vintage

Legend most likely will perpetuate the myth that the harvest of 2009 smiled on Bordeaux with sunny skies and ideal conditions, which would support the narrative of greatness that has accompanied this vintage from the moment the first grapes were crushed.

In fact, it was a very good year, with even ripening throughout the summer and a healthy crop of gorgeous fruit as the end of summer arrived. This stood in stark contrast to the three previous vintages, which had been difficult.

Yet '09 did suffer a blip, which isn't much talked about, and the Right Bank communes of Pomerol and Saint-Emilion were hit with rains that certainly caused vignerons to scramble, if not outright panic. Cheval Blanc, for example, started picking early, then stopped. It resumed the harvest following the rains and produced one of the greatest Cheval's in recent memory.

It's no secret, however, that the Right Bank wines are not as uniformly glorious as those from the Left Bank, particularly Pauillac and Margaux.

Suggestions that this may be the "vintage of the century," whatever that might mean, are wildly overstated. In recent memory, it seems to me the exceptional vintages of 2000 and 2005 were more uniform, but there is little doubt a number of chateaux produced their best wines in many a harvest and have every reason to be proud of the accomplishment.

I spent a week in Bordeaux tasting barrel samples at the end of March, and what follows are my condensed notes and ratings. I would point out these ratings should be taken for what they are: notes made from highly volatile barrel samples a mere few months after the harvest. While interesting and somewhat useful, the samples presented to the wine media do vary and over time the wines will change.

Some will improve, others might regress. Nevertheless, these are my initial impressions of the wines I've tasted from this most outstanding vintage.

Click here for Robert Whitley's 2009 Bordeaux ratings.

May 26, 2010

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

My first Reuters Vine Talk column hit the wires this week and I couldn't be more pleased. The feedback has been fantastic, and I'm already working on the next Vine Talk, scheduled for late June. This is a monthly gig that's in addition to my weekly Wine Talk column for the Creators Syndicate and the columns, blogging and reviews I contribute to Wine Review Online.

The debut Reuters Vine Talk examines the economics of investing in Bordeaux futures from the outstanding 2009 vintage. While excitement over the vintage is spreading, concern about the future of the euro should give everyone pause.

You can be sure I will post links to the Vine Talk columns here, but an added benefit from my perspective is the inclusion of Vine Talk on the Yahoo! News pages. This is an outstanding platform that ensures tremendous online visibility for the Vine Talk columns. Combined with the print clients of Reuters, Vine Talk promises to have vast global reach.

Click here to read my debut Vine Talk column, and please share the link with friends!

Moore Opens Another Corner in the Desert

My good friend Ed Moore is a longtime San Diego restaurateur who once owned Thee Bungalow, an Ocean Beach restaurant that hosted some of the most popular wine dinners in the history of this city.
 
Ed sold Thee Bungalow some time ago and opened a combination wine shop/wine bar/bistro called 3rd Corner, with a huge selection and some of the lowest prices around. Diners at 3rd Corner can buy a bottle of wine at 3rd Corner, pay a $5 corkage fee and open it then and there.
 
The original location in Ocean Beach was such a success that Ed opened another 3rd Corner in north San Diego County, taking over the former Meritage location in Encinitas.
 
That was another home run. Now Ed is about to open his third 3rd Corner in Palm Desert, near the fashionable El Paseo district. If you make it out to the desert for golf or just some good ole R&R, 3rd Corner should be a "must" stop if you love great wine and food.
 
Ed has hired a young chef, Matt Smith, from the famed WineSellar & Brasserie in San Diego. What caught my eye was that Matt served an apprenticeship at the Michelin three-star restaurant Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian, Spain. I am of the opinion Martin Berasategui is the best restaurant in the world. I'm not kidding about that!
 
I'm very excited about the 3rd Corner concept, and can't wait until they open the doors in Palm Desert (this is where I make my all too infrequent golf outings) next month, on or around June 24.

The Wine & Roses Lowdown

This year's Wine & Roses, the longest running charity wine tasting event in San Diego, is coming together nicely.

It will be staged once again on the terrace of the Westgate hotel, downtown on the edge of the Gaslamp District. The date is Sunday, June 13, from 3-6:30 p.m. We will have an impressive group of wineries and restaurants, including two Napa Valley icons, Duckhorn and Joseph Phelps Vineyards.

Among the restaurants participating are several of San Diego's hottest dining spots: Farm House Cafe, Alchemy, Ruth's Chris, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Bice and Roseville.

Downstairs, on the ground floor, we will be selling cases of medal-winning wine (at attractive discounts) from the 2010 San Diego International Wine Competition. And between the hours of 4 and 5 pm my team will be pouring "Reserve" wines, many from my own cellar, in the Versailles Ballroom on the second floor of the hotel.

You can purchase tickets at the door or online here.

Participating Wineries

Agricola Punica
Artesa Winery
Barrel Oak Winery
Bogle Vineyards
Bliss Family Vineyards
Brutocao
Callaway Vineyards
Calnaturale
Caposaldo
Chateau Lettau
Cinnabar Winery
Cline Cellars
Duckhorn
Eponymous
Falkner Winery
Fallbrook Winery
Frank Family Vineyards
Freestone Vineyards
Gloria Ferrer
Goldeneye
Henry’s Drive
Hess Collection
Joseph Phelps Vineyards
LaZarre
Maddalena Vineyards
Midsummer Cellars
Old Coach Vineyards & Winery
Opolo Winery
Paraduxx
Quady Winery
Rancho de Philo
Sausal Winery
South Coast Winery
Spoto Wines
Tir na n’Og
Two Angels
Valentin BianchI
Ventana Vineyards
Villa San-Juliette

Participating Culinary

59th & Lex
Alchemy
Barona Oaks
Bice
Bread & Cie
Café Chloe
Candelas
Edible Arrangements
Farm House Café
Muzita Bistro
Oceanaire Seafood Room
Proper
The Red Door
Restaurant at the Pearl
Roseville
Ruth’s Chris
The Shores
The Westgate Room
Temecula Olive Oil
Tractor Room
Urban Solace
Viva el Cafe Espresso & Dessert Bar
Vineyard Rose

March 28, 2010

Willi's Wine Bar a Mandatory Paris Stop

A trip to Paris hardly seems complete without a stop at one of my favorite wine bars, Willi's.

Situated on a relatively quiet street on the Right Bank, behind the Palais Royal, Willi's is the one and only iconic Paris wine bar. It first opened its doors nearly 30 years ago and has been going strong ever since.

You can buy a glass of wine at just about any cafe or bistro in Paris, but it was Willi's that carved the niche for serving wines of distinction by the glass in an inviting setting with excellent food. When Willi's first appeared it seemed such a wonderful concept that it would only be a matter of time before the model took root in other parts of the world.

Indeed, many tried but lost their shirts because the world simply wasn't ready for bistro cuisine with a real wine focus until recent times. Now wine bars are all the rage, so I like to drop in on Willi's from time to time to remind myself where it all began.

On this trip I found myself with a good deal at the Westin Paris, near the Tuileries and the Lourve and only a short walk from Willi's. With an upturned collar against the wind and rain I ventured forth into the Paris night, making my way to Rue des Petits Champs, where Willi's can be found just around the corner from the famous Paris bistro Le Grand Colbert (another story altogether, but for some other time).

After a quick glass of Blanquette de Limoux to quench my thirst, I fixed my gaze on a 1998 Cornas from Clape. Where else am I going to chance upon such a find in a modes twine bar? So I ordered the Clape and then planned my meal.

On the bartender's recommendation, I took a grilled quail salad followed by the "piece" of boeuf. That's how it was described on the menu. Anyway, it was a steak, medium rare, with a pile of potatoes that had been shredded and fried and grilled pearl onions.

The earthiness of both dishes were an excellent match for the wine, which had that telltale meaty, animal nose, with hints of dried herbs and blueberry notes that were still very much alive and primary to the bouquet.

As is the case at Willi's, the bar ebbed and flowed between full and nearly empty, but the small dining room had a constant crowd. It is a warm and inviting scene, with knowledgable staff and interesting wines to choose from, with the emphasis on the Rhone Valley, though there are some excellent Burgundies from which to choose.

I nearly finished the entire bottle of Clape, with the help of a selection of fromage, then made my way back to the hotel, which luckily was downhill all the way. I have enjoyed many nights like this at Willi's, and with any luck will enjoy many more.