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Do you want Rose Vodka or Rosé Vodka?

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20130628_165828Ever since my friend Beni made me some vodka flavored with rose petals from her flower garden, I’ve been a big fan of rose vodka. Shakers used to make a great one; haven’t seen it for a while though. So I was interested when I recently ran into Paul Kozub who produces V-One, a wonderfully smooth spelt vodka made in Poland. I sample the original flavor, liked the mild, bright flavor, and bought a bottle.

Then Paul told me he was branching out into rose flavor. Out in the parking lot, he gave me a bottle. I took it home and sampled it. And I tried it on everyone who visited for a week or so. We all agreed: it’s vanilla flavored — and it looks vanilla colored, too. If you didn’t know there was rose in it, you wouldn’t think of it. Once you’re told, you can detect a tiny amount of rose aroma.
Easy fix: rename it Vanilla Rose.

Then a couple bottles of Exclusiv vodka arrived: original and rosé flavored. Yes, they call it rosé, like the wine, and it is pink. Exclusiv is made in Moldova with winter wheat, and is moderately light and smooth. It has a pleasant floral aroma but producer Serge Chirstov writes that it’s made with rosé Moscato wine and a bit of raspberry vodka. Still, it smells like flowers, and has a nice, moderate amount of sweetness.
On its own, over ice, Exclusive Rosé is a charming, simple summer cocktail.

2 Italian Wine Recommendations for Summer: 1 White and 1 Red

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Palagetto Vernaccia FMy new Italian white is a wine from Tuscany – though this region is better known for its red wines like Chianti and Brunello. This white is fascinating, but not expensive, retailing for in the neighborhood of $15. It’s made with the vernaccia grape, specifically Vernaccia di San Gimignano, named for the Tuscan town where it originated. Though some people might call it a rustic wine, it’s charmingly rustic when made by Il Palagetto: not a sweet wine, but honey underlies its aromas, flavors and finish – balanced by minerality.
A red I would recommend for summer is the 2011 Pergola Rosso (around $13) from Angelini. It’s a light red, almost a hearty rosé, from the Italian region of Le Marche. Angelini is the only grower of this relatively rare Italian indigenous grape in Le Marche. The wine is medium clear red with pale edges, yet it has a thick mouthfeel. cropped pergolarosso- originalIt starts out sweetly floral but it’s not a fruity wine, and contains a bit of spice and some light natural tannins to counteract its initial sweet impression. The winery advises trying with pork or BBQ in the US; in Le Marche it goes with dishes containing their preferred flavors: fennel, rosemary and garlic.

My new Champagne discovery – only 70 years old: J. Lassalle

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20130423_124245I don’t know how boutique importer Kermit Lynch found them, because he’s known as a Burgundy specialist but Champagne isn’t too far away. Lynch is branching out, and I did sample some other very good wines he brings in, but at the end of the day this is what stood out freshly in my memory. The J. Lassalle Champagnes: medium-light in style and beautifully balanced.
NV Brut Reserve “Preference” has very good red fruit and good acidity: again, it’s all about balance.
2005 Blanc de Blancs features minerality and acidity.
NV Brut Reserve Rosé, a pale salmon color, has excellent acidity and freshness.
The 2007 Cuvee Angeline is an almost Chablis-style wine, with the appearance of being austere but luring in your tastebuds for a bit more and a bit more.
The 2004 Special Club takes all of the above and adds just a touch of toast and yeast – but does this wine really need it?

Travel Wars: Delsey Aero Hardcase neater inside and out

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AeroGroup(3colors)Stepping out of the car at the airport, I winced as the driving sleet hit my face. Even under the overhang, the winds were whipping up the tail end of the February blizzard. My suitcase landed in an inch of slush before I could re-group and muscle it onto the sidewalk. Strangely, I felt invincible. This was the first time I used a hard-shell carryon suitcase.
I had always shied away from hard suitcases, thinking they were somehow limiting. Well, there are a few negatives to this type of suitcase – which I’ll get to later. So why did I end up with this carryon? Someone at Delsey noticed I travel and write about it and offered me a test, and I’m always up for learning something new.
When it arrived, the Aero suitcase was blue. I’m not a blue person. Suitcases, handbags, cars – I prefer everything in neutral colors, like black. But it’s actually a royal-navy blue, kind of a dark color, I rationalized. Another thing occurred to me: it would now be a lot easier to pick out my blue suitcase on a baggage conveyor belt. I wouldn’t have to crane my neck at every same-size black suitcase that went by, wondering if that was my discreet tag on the outside handle. Which brings me to a negative: there’s no slot on the exterior to slide in an ID tag. You have to have your own handle-tag to attach. And also because of the smooth exterior, there are none of the external pockets for hats, gloves, magazines that I’m used to. All those things must be shoved into that small “personal item” — as the airlines call our computer-handbags.
Inside the suitcase, it’s a whole different story. Somehow, this suitcase morphs you into a neater packer. It opens flat. On one side, you can put in neat piles of clothes, and zip them in neatly. On the other side, you fit in shoes and all your other stuff any way you want – and hold them down with the elastic snap-together straps.
Closed, the case is glossy and neat, and there is an exterior lock built in. With four wheels, the case moves nicely down airport corridors. One other small negative: it’s a bit hard to get out of the trunk, or down from the airplane bin, the way the handles are configured. I always seem to want a handle on the side where there isn’t one.
In hindsight, I don’t think I would have tried a hard-shelled case if someone hadn’t offered. But now I like it: on my first two trips there’s been snow and rain, but I felt like my stuff was more protected. More invincible. Who knew?

How does a Champagne House change their most-popular champagne? Very carefully.

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The other day I learned that Moët & Chandon’s most popular champagne has been slowly altered over the last few years. The champagne is called “Imperial” and it’s found everywhere, in wine shops as well as in restaurants. It’s very good.

A few years ago, Imperial replaced Moët’s ubiquitous “White Star” champagne. White Star was extremely popular, but apparently the company wanted to be known for something new, something more appealing to US tastes.

With the exception of the label, the new Imperial champagne wasn’t really different. In fact, it had the Moet & Chandon Imperial with Flutesame amount of sugar as the White Star: 20 grams per liter. Which made it a tad sweet, very appealing, and a good match for many foods. But Elise Losfelt of the Moët winemaking team explained to me that studies found the American palate had evolved. In tests, Americans were found to prefer 9g/l or 11 g/l best. So over the course of the next few years, Moët gradually stepped down the amount of sugar in their Imperial champagne, first to 13 g/l and then to 9 g/l, where it is today.

So if you think your new Moët tastes a little different than a bottle you’ve had for a few years, you’re right. But remember that champagne is made to be consumed within a year or two of its release date. Especially non-vintage champagne, like Imperial. Buy it and drink it within two years. Do NOT wait.

The 2004

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How much money should I spend on champagne?

Is more expensive champagne, like vintage champagne, always better?

Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2004 BrutThese are two questions I get a lot. In general, price does go up with quality – within certain tiers. I don’t think you can get a good French champagne for under $40 – and there’s a tier of $40-$50-ish champagnes that are very good. If you know your favorite champagne, go for that. If you don’t have a firm preference then try whatever is discounted at your local wine shop.

Then there’s the tier of $50-$100. Champagnes here tend to be a notch up in finesse and complexity. That’s where you can find Vintage Champagne: champagne made in an exceptional year, from only the grapes harvested that year. While producers tend to make vintage champagnes a few times each decade, they don’t release them right away. At Moët & Chandon, the current thinking is that a vintage champagne needs to be aged on the lees for at least seven years. It is then disgorged, and aged in the bottle for another year or two. That’s why we’re getting Moët’s 2004 vintage champagne now, in 2013.

The other day, Elise Losfelt, the youngest of Moët’s 10-member winemaking team was in town, introducing the 2004. Tasted against current and historical releases, the 2004 maintains Moët & Chandon’s typical lightness of style. First of all, it has a great label, There’s a large “2004 “written as if in chalk on a piece of slate: it looks like the small sign used to identify bottles ageing in Moët’s cellars — labels are not put on the bottles until they are ready to be shipped as the cellars’ dampness would ruin the paper.

Light yeast with agar and toast appear in the aromas of the 2004. It gets a bit heartier on the palate, with an almost fatty finish. Losfelt said her team’s descriptors are “sleek, elegant and graceful” and “light but precise in aromas.” The champagne is made from 38% chardonnay, 33% pinot noir and 29% pinot meunier, which is fairly typical. It was disgorged in 2011, and just released. Moët does disclose the disgorgement date on its vintage champagnes, but not the others. They expect this wine to drink well now, and for the next 15-20 years, too.

Another interesting twist is that Moet has also re-released some of their 1993 vintage champagne along with the 2004, because they say the vintages are fairly similar. 1993 was also the first year of their “Grand Vintage Collection.” But after tasting the 1983 and 1973 at the same time, I think they could have made a different choice of pairings, preferably the 1983. But then again, maybe they don’t have enough of it – though Moët & Chandon claims to have the largest collection of vintage champagnes in Champagne. After all, this champagne house was founded in 1743.