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Liquid Refreshment
The run up to the 2008 Olympics is Beijing is marred by protests. The issues surrounding the news images have a particularly deep impact on me, as a one-time student of the language, history and follower of the religions of the region.
The central authority of China is often described by scholars as an iron fist […]
Each Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.
This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings you InterWined’s Own Pear Pithivier.
With so much religious observation last week, InterWined thought it was time for a little secular celebration and decided on the seemingly areligious little French pithivier. At least, that was the intention, until InterWined remembered its other name — la Galette des Roisor cake of the kings.
In other words, the exotic — indeed urbane and cosmopolitan sounding — pithivier is in fact good old, provincial, Catholic king cake made to commemorate three kings’ day and the epiphany.
And, while it might not look like the multi-coloured king cake of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras fame, the two are essentially one and the same.
So, so much for that idea…
The good news is, religious or not, InterWined’s Own Pear Pithivier is a great way to end the week, especially one marked by rain, cloud, wine, snow, hail, and a hint of sunshine. Who says it only rains in England?
Matching the weather and the pithivier is the 2005 Maculan Torcolato, made from 85% Vespaiola, 10% Garganega, and 5% Tocai, (13.5%), £16.99 from Oddbins. A mix of honey, fruit, sugar, acid and wood (thanks to French oak barrel aging), the wine is one of the prides of the Maculan winery, having won numerous awards since the 1970s. Like the best dessert wines, the Toroclato avoids any cloying or sickly sweetness. Exhibiting an excellent balance it’s simple, clean, and unassuming.
According to the Oddbins Web site, the Maculan Toroclato is perfect with almonds — and InterWined agrees. So, sit back and enjoy a glass of a great Italian dessert wine with a pear and almond pudding fit for a king.
Click on the post to view and download the recipe
The search continues for the great Italian wine.
The bad news is today that search has yet to end.
The 2003 San Giorgio Boscaini Carlo Amarone della Valpolicella Classic (DOC): From the Veneto region of North East Italy, where Verona is the capital, Amarone della Valpolicella is produced from a small percentage of grapes grown in the […]
Are you making $30,000 a month writing your blog? I know I am!
But seriously, some guys claim to be raking in that much dough…and they even let us in on the secrets to gilding one’s blog. Could a wine blog ever be so lucrative? Some more popular wine sites may already claim such compensation, so […]
Each Friday, InterWined.com pairs one great wine with one great meal and publishes the results along with the recipe in a little feature it likes to call ‘Blow the Bank’.
This week is a busy one for the world religions, from Baha’i to Zoroastrianism and nearly every other alphabetically in between.
So, today, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings the world a little closer together with InterWined’s Own Rosemary Rack of Lamb with Dolcelatta Polenta.
Not only does Easter, Purim, and Mawlid an-nabi fall within the third week of March this year, but so too does the Vernal Equinox and a host of New Years and religious Spring festivals. And while there is no single food that could satisfy the observers of all of these holidays, there’s certainly one that comes pretty close — at least close enough to bring together Christianity, Judaism, and Islam — which on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq is surely no bad thing.
What is this miracle foodstuff, you ask? Well, thank Abraham; it’s the humble little lamb, of course, that delectable little animal so prevalent in Judeo-Christian symbolism and essential to Islam’s Eid Al-Adha celebration.
And interfaith reconciliation aside, it’s also arguably the perfect companion to the totally haraam and non-kosher Pinor Noir. The 2005 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Clos Bortier (12.5%) from Caroline Lestime and Domaine Jean-Noël Gagnard, currently available in store only from Oddbins, makes for simply a great match to InterWined’s Own Rosemary Rack of Lamb with Dolcelatta Polenta — if only for the goyim.
There’s a great deal of subtly the 2005 Clos Bortier, with a touch of cherry on the nose and tannin in the aftertaste. The tannin in the wine marries very well with lamb, while its limited potency prevents it from clashing with the creaminess of the dolcelatta.
Click on the post to view and download the recipe
Wine number five from InterWined’s tour of Italian wines is the 2003 Feotto dello Jato ‘Rosso di Turi’ Monreale Merlot.
A plump little Sicilian number with surges of sugar plum. Sweet little California raisins here and there as well. This wine dances with black currant. Not very Italian, but still quite fun and bright. Many Sicilian […]
This time around, InterWined are going only about ten miles away from last week’s Italian wine Barolo. That’s right we are going a bit closer to the sea with Barbaresco — the Nebbiolo-based wine that is often lighter and easier to drink than Barolo.
In this case, 2001 Cuscina Surio is a great example. It’s more […]
The neighborhoods people live in can help inspire – or discourage – their residents to exercise and keep physically active, new research suggests.
Residents of neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty, lower education, and more female-headed families are less likely than others to exercise, according to the study.
It’s not simply that poorer people are less likely […]
The star so far on InterWined’s trip around Italian wine is without doubt the 2003 Barolo San Biagio.
Classed as a Piemont wine (from Piedmont, NorthWest Italy), this wine is made from the Nebbiolo grape. I recommend visiting Barolo San Biagio, only because the winery’s tasting note is so different from mine; a testament to […]
It’s official, InterWined readers; moments ago Alastair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the UK Treasury, raised our taxes on wine.
The taxes are raised by six percent for 2008, with a two percent rise every year after. So, that translates to a 14 pence rise in tax per bottle. UK wine retailer Zelas said […]
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