A great new pineapple-based summer cocktail.

Fresh fruit cocktails have to be the ultimate summer bevy, though on consideration Pimm’s might also be included in this elite category. I think it’s the way the sweetness and acidity play off each other that makes them such refreshing emblems of the season.

My latest creation is based on fresh pineapple, and is ideal for a summer party, or solitary sipping as you watch the sun go down.

2 oz citrus vodka

½ oz Grand Marnier

slice of fresh pineapple, aprox 1.5 x 5 inches with core and skin removed

juice of 1/2 lime

1 tps simple syrup or 1 packet Equal

Two well-chilled martini glasses

Cut pineapple into chunks and add to other ingredients in a blender.

Blend for a few seconds till smooth.

Pour into a shaker filled with ice and shake well.

Pour into martini glasses and garnish with a wedge of pineapple.

Don’t worry if it looks like the sort of drink that should be garnished with a parasol, it’s a delicious concoction and healthy too – think of all that fresh fruit.

Etude Heirloom Carneros Pinot Noir 2001

This astounding wine glowed with the essence of rose petals and June strawberries, and was as fresh and vigorous as when it went into the bottle. I drank it with a breaded pork cutlet smothered in a spicy tomato sauce yet despite it’s polished elegance the wine stood up to the tangy punchiness of the plebeian dish with dismissive ease. This true aristocrat of a pinot noir shows how well-made California wine can age magnificently.

Chateau Haut-Brion 1966

Over dinner at Per Se in NYC with Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the grandson of Douglas Dillon, financier and Secretary of the Treasury, and great grandson of Clarence Dillon, also a financier, who bought Chateau Haut-Brion in 1935.

During the evening we enjoyed three superb wines from Domaine Clarence Dillon. First was the Laville Haut-Brion 2005, a white of amazingly rich decadence despite still being a baby. This was followed by a La Mission Haut-Brion 2001, plush and velvety, just beginning to reveal some depth and complexity.

NP and Prince Robert

But the finale was the astounding Haut-Brion from the storied 1966 vintage. On the nose it boasted intense rose-petals and earth, mushroom and truffles and wet leaves, and was still amazingly young and fresh for a wine 43 years old.

We drank it with a dish of fettuccine in a cream sauce covered in a generous portion of shaved winter truffles. Yes, fresh winter truffles. In July. They come from Western Australia and are the real thing.

Red Bordeaux is not normally the first wine people think of to accompany truffles, at least outside the region, but this proved a divine gastronomic combination. As Prince Robert observed in his understated manner: “Yes, the ‘66 is drinking very well right now”. I’ll say.

Ron Viejo de Caldas Grand Reserve

Aged rums are all the thing at the moment so it’s hardly surprising that new ones are popping up every day even if some of these new entrants have all the hallmarks of cash-in-on-the-trend-quick efforts.

Call me cynical but I do find it hard to believe the claims of some of these new arrivals. Were there really producers so prescient that in 2000 they had the foresight to lay down newly distilled rum in old cognac casks, or old whatever casks the claim they are using, so there would a nice supply of 10 year old rum just when the trend arrived in 2010?

Now I am not saying all aged rums are spurious, far from it. There are some wonderful bottlings out there, it’s just that some of them have an awfully artificial air about them.

One flavorful new entrant that tastes to me very much like the real thing is Ron Viejo Caldas Gran Reserva from Colombia, not somewhere one normally associates with rum.

It has an interesting and unusual taste. There are hints of sweetness on the front palate but this quickly gives way to citrus elements before ending in a rather short, absolutely dry, almost heathery finish.

This is not a rum for everyone but it is certainly different, perhaps even unique, and at $22, very reasonable priced.

Mike, Demaris & Mary

Landmark wines with the Colhouns.

Fine dinner in NYC with Mike, Mary and Demaris Colhoun of Landmark Vineyards. Their polished and refined Steel Plow Syrah 2008 with its restrained spiciness was the perfect match for the vigorously flavored delights of BLT Market. Great wine, great food, great people and a splendid evening.

“Picked at the sound of the cannon, drunk at the sound of the trumpet.” Maurice Pol Roger.

++++++++++

I recently had the pleasure of dining at La Maison Pol Roger in Epernay. During the excellent dinner we were treated to a series of superb older champagnes but the piece de resistance, the final bottle, was truly revelatory.

It was a Pol Roger from the 1914 vintage, hence the relevance of the above quote. Germany had invaded France in August 1914, so the grapes were picked entirely by women and children while their fathers and husbands fought just a few kilometers away in the Battle of the Marne – named for the river that flows through Epernay.

It was then first drunk at the sound of the trumpets heralding the armistice of 1918.

My first impression was one of surprise – surprise at how fresh and lively it was for such an ancient wine, an ancient white wine. It showed not a touch of oxidization, but beyond that things got more difficult. It was so unlike any other wine I had tasted that there were no reference points for comparison. There was a honeyed quality to it, but without even a suggestion of sweetness. It  also has an unfamiliar almost bitter flavor – not sour or unpleasant, more like a resinous, piney essence, sort of aromatic and barky.

The tiny bubbles, vigorous at first, soon faded but amazingly the wine still retained its freshness, betraying not a hint of the fatigue that usually overcomes similarly ancient wines once they have been exposed to the air for even a few minutes.

As Peter, one of my fellow guests, observed, great old wines become themselves, loosing all normal descriptive references, and this proved the difficulty with the Pol Roger 1914.

“C’est un vin des emotions” was the way one of our hosts described it, a wine to share around the table as everyone marveled at the experience of such a venerable old wine, and perhaps that is a suitable epitaph – a wine so unique it defies description.

Strange But True – A Bourbon/Rye Blend

Purists will blanch at the idea but those of us with a more open mind will rejoice at the singular taste experience of Park Avenue Liquor’s latest private bottling, Batch 4, what they call a Bour/Rye, a 50/50 blend of Bourbon and Rye.

Park Avenue Liquors in New York is a whisky/whiskey lovers paradise, stocked to the rafters with rare and unusual amber gems. In addition to the familiar and obscure commercial bottlings, from time to time proprietor Jonathan Goldstein commissions private label batches from various top producers, and this year  he has partnered with Tuthilltown Distillery to offer three new iterations – a Bourbon, a Rye and the aforementioned Bourbon/Rye blend.

As good as the first two are, the Batch 4 BourRye is both fascinating and unique, and shows the intriguing depth and complexity that can be obtained with skilled and judicious blending. $45 for a 375ml bottle, 212 685 2442.

Belinda Chang

Modern Alsatian Magic

Since it’s opening five years ago the New York restaurant The Modern has drawn a devoted following of savvy diners thanks, in part, to its Alsatian-themed menu, especially in the more informal Bar Room, and the  accompanying list of superb wines from that region.

Originally conceived by sommelier Stephane Colling, himself from Alsace, the tradition has been maintained by his successor, Belinda Chang who recently introduced me to their own Alsatian-inspired custom cuvée from Australia, a house wine put together for them by Dan Philips of importer The Grateful Palate, and winemaker Bill Downie.

Somewhat strangely the wine bears the name Marquis Philips but is shown on the list as “Modern Edelzwicker”, a term for a blend of various Alsatian varietals, in this case Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. It is worth persevering through this fog of confusion though as it is a super wine and, at $10 a glass, a real winner and the perfect accompaniment for their scrummy tarte flambé.

Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2007

Silver Springs, a Maryland suburb just north of DC, is not what one would normally consider a fine dining destination, but thanks the guidance of a local foodie we wound up delighting in the excellent fare at 8407 Kitchen Bar.

The food is American artisanal and we opted for a selection of the enticing appetizers. A good choice. From the imaginative conception to the flawless execution of the salmon tartare, ricotta stuffed squash blossoms, grilled baby octopus and coriander-crusted pork belly, I could have been in New York or San Francisco.

And the whole delightful experience was enhanced by the wine, a Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2007. David Ramey makes some of the finest California chard, and this was another winner – lush and rich with ripe tropical fruit but with a balancing touch of crisp, lemony acidity.

Yes, there was plenty of oak but amazingly, when tasted with the food, it disappeared and the plush, crisp chardonnay fruit just exploded in my mouth. It was especially remarkable with the fatty, slightly sweet pork. A divine combination.

Beefeater is my favorite gin so when they come out with a new edition, even something as suspiciously named as the recent Beefeater Summer Edition, I am curious, even if more than a little skeptical.

It seems, according to the press release, SE is made in “a light and delicate style,” and if you think this means it has less of the traditional botanicals, especially juniper, and less alcohol, you are correct. Tasted neat or in a martini, it is Beefeater light. This is not why I drink gin.

But to my surprise and pleasure, this scaled back version is ideal for light and zesty summer cocktails, especially those made with fresh fruit juice like this refreshing summer cooler.

Beefeater Summer Gin Fizz

3 oz Beefeater Summer Edition

1.5 oz fresh squeezed ruby grapefruit juice

Shake well with ice and pour into a tall glass

Add a splash of soda and garnish with a wheel of grapefruit