Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews

Visiting New York City in Wine (pictures): Day 1: Tribeca Grill, Tribeca Wine Merchants, Tribeca, Clinton Hill

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 13, 2012

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Flashes of Heaven: Visit to Tribeca Grill’s Cellar, aka. Crazy Whoa Wine

the Chateauneuf du Pape Cellar underneath Tribeca Grill

one corner of the Riesling and Pinot Noir Cellar underneath Tribeca Grill

1998 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape

1990 Domaine Leroy Richebourg Grand Cru; 1949 Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru

1990 Petrus Pomerol Grand Vin; 1961 Grand Vin de Chateau Latour Premier Grand Cru; 1900 (certified) Chateau Margat Lillet-Witt; 1990 Grand Vin de Chateau Latour Premier Grand Cru

Steve Morgan, Tribeca Grill Sommelier, with Sacrisassi Schioppettino-Refosco

(to be clear: Tribeca Grill has a *57-page* wine book with a brilliant vertical, great price collection focusing in especially on Chateauneuf du Pape, Riesling, Burgundy, and quirky California and Italian gems, along with a lot of incredible other things–write-up to follow)

Around Tribeca

the freedom towers disappearing into fog

Visiting Tribeca Wine Merchants

estate bottles

Tribeca Wine Merchants’ Wine Tastings

Evening in Clinton Hill

a jazz trio practicing in their first floor Brooklyn apartment during a rain

Thank you to Levi Dalton.

Thank you to Steve Morgan for being so generous with his time showing me the wine program at Tribeca Grill, and for sharing the Schioppettino-Refosco blend by Sacrisassi with me in response to my “Hunting Schioppettino” write up.

Thank you to Tara Carille, Stu, and Nick for hosting me at Tribeca Wine Merchants and for sharing such fantastic wines with me.

Thank you to Birk O’Halloran, and to Dan Petroski.

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A Strange Sort of Book Review, My Confession: Jay McInerney’s Book THE JUICE: VINOUS VERITAS

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 12, 2012

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image from www.randomhouse.com

The conflict of growing up in Alaska defined life for me well into my thirties when I warned a friend, “this summer I’m likely to start speaking as if I want to move back. When you hear this, you have to remind me, don’t.”

The place for me carried the intense devotion of family, or family like connections. Our ancestors and the people my parents knew spread across the entire state, and even to every stop along the West coast of the United States we ever took (we’d bump into people my dad knew in the middle of no-where-we-knew California as likely as we would in downtown Anchorage). It felt as though family was everywhere. When it came to literal family, my great grandparents were the people I felt I’d do anything to help. They’d cared for me every summer till I was 10 when I started commercial fishing full time. Their presence also provided a constancy and sense of protection that comes with having older generations near by. When they entered their 80s still living alone, though by then one blind and the other almost deaf, I called the high school in their town of less than 600 to find out what it would take to graduate there so I could move in with them and help. (They moved into Anchorage with my parents and I instead.)

At the same time I grew with a deep thirst for science, literature, art, and culture that I felt was deeply alien to Alaska. That was likely unfair on my part. It’s not that these things weren’t there, but the ways I wanted to find them I couldn’t locate in my hometown. I had a hunger to travel and live elsewhere that wouldn’t leave me. The truth is, though I feel devotion to my sisters and parents too, when my great grandparents died in my early 20s I realized one of my primary goals was to stay away from Alaska long enough to find for myself a sense of clarity amidst the tension the place had established inside me.

Something I strove to articulate during my graduate work in philosophy, and my brief tenure as a creative writer too, was the formative attachment to place that arises out of living a culturally Native lifestyle. Though my family spent 3/4 of the year in Anchorage, we based the foundations of our lives in the force of the land–not just the simple ground but the broader environment of climate, and seasons, and tidal influences, and people too. It is not that only Native people live this sense of place (indeed the French idea of terroir I take to be something partially resembling it), but that this robust sense of place is somehow definitive of what it means to really understand the term indigenous. That is, indigenous as a claim of being fully both from and of somewhere.

So, for someone with my particular background, setting a goal of staying away from a place that so thoroughly defines my roots and way of being is a kind of personal abuse even as it is simultaneously a demand for personal freedom.

In dealing with the continual pull I’ve felt through my adult life to return to Alaska, I’ve developed too a fault of arrogance–a sense of pride in being the one member of my family that has lived away for decades.

It’s funny, then, now to finally take my sister Melanie’s advice and read Jay McInerney‘s recently published book of wine writing in the style of wine travel memoirs plus smart wine reflection. Funny because, in my arrogance, I consistently rebuffed her suggestion, skeptical I’d like it, and she steadily encouraged me to consider it anyway. Funny too because it is in realizing she was right, I’m forced to see the pride, and, in the same moment, watch it de-puff a little (thank god).

(To be fair to myself, my resistance to his book largely arose out of my own need to recover from over a decade of life spent in intensive textual analysis because of my career in philosophy.)

In reading McInerney’s book, The Juice: Vinous Veritas, I found myself smiling, intrigued, and lured in by that projective fantasy offered by the best writing, of imagining I somehow know the person. In his brief accounts (each based on columns from the now defunct House & Garden, or the more recent Wall Street Journal), McInerney manages that delicate balance of narrative focus blended with intelligent revelations of the wines themselves. To put it another way, he presents a collection to be enjoyed from which any of us can also learn.

The truth is, McInerney’s book has also earned scathing critique, much of it reading as a sort of retaliation against his perceived cult of personality, rather than as substantial disagreement with the quality of the book itself. Though moments when the critique has verged on disagreement with the quality, I’ve been inclined to push the question of the book’s purpose. That is, it is only in recognizing what sort of book McInerney is offering that we can really judge how well he’s succeeded in the project.

There is some portion of The Juice that is likely possible because of his well-known personal history, and other portions dependent on his own thirst for the rich side of American life (cars, travel, and attractive women, though honestly what’s wrong with any of us that don’t appreciate at least two of those). That said, what works in this writing is its narrative focus. McInerney’s style is not that of a wine textbook, or even that of a wine critic. Instead, he invites the reader to share in his experience of discovering new wines, or going deeper with others he’s encountered before. In his version of the experience, the context deeply counts. The point here is not to remove himself from the story to give an apparently objective analysis of wine, nor to teach the reader wine knowledge, but to go another other way by delving further into the subject and subjective both–McInerney drinking wine. It’s, as I said already, wine memoir. What makes this approach work though is the narrative’s grounding in wine facts. While heavily taking that memoir approach, McInerney is sharing, what my sister would call, kernels of insight into each of the regions, or varieties, or wine makers he writes about. You leave each column charmed, and with at least a piece of information too to take away. If your goal is to learn everything you can about wine, this is not the right book. If your goal is to read about wine, and also take it easy, McInerney is for you.

McInerney’s stories here include a full section of wading into Burgundy; an escape from the big names of Napa through visits with more cult-like figures of the region including Schoener of Scholium Project, and his buddy up the road, Matthiasson, along with the steady figure Petroski; a charming reflection on a career of travels with fellow House & Garden alum Lora Zarubin; a visit through the seemingly contradictory stylings of Santa Rita Hills chardonnay–and that’s when it hits me…

I’ve planned my entire summer of writing about wine, and its regions in the United States, for my own sake, surely, but more deeply out of some sort of devotion to Melanie, and her very particular loves in wine. Most of the trips I’ve decided to take are those she’s either lived in herself, or wished to better understand in wine. I’m even returning to my family’s fishing grounds in Bristol Bay, the home of my great grandparents, to walk (and weep, I’m sure too) in the quiet place of half my family’s history all the way back. I’ll be there during the fishing season, to take pictures and write about the work my family still does, now five generations deep.

Growing up, Melanie would excitedly give me a gift for a birthday, or holiday, or whatever, and she’d tell me just after I opened it that she’d chosen it, yes, because she thought I would like it, but also too because she knew she did. I always understood this as a deep compliment to me on her part. Still, it took me years to be able to explain it to others. For Melanie, the joy is in the sharing of appreciation, even if the person isn’t physically there with you right in that moment, though often better if they are. Just like in wine. Just like in McInerney’s approach to wine writing.

***

McInerney, Jay, 2012. The Juice: Vinous Veritas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 304 pages. $26.95 hardcover.

***

Thank you to my sister for putting up with me.

Beginning Summer Travels, and Hunting Schioppettino

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 11, 2012

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Summer Travels

One of the side effects of having grown migrating between Anchorage in the Winters, and the Western Coast of Alaska in the Summers, then taking up a career in academia (where summers are markedly different from the school year), is that I still plan summer like it is time to do everything.

As a result, I’ll be out of Arizona for over two months with visits to New York City; the coast of California; Seattle; the fishing grounds of Bristol Bay, Alaska; Pinot country in Oregon; the wine and desert of Eastern Washington; and perhaps even a quick pop into Okenagan, British Columbia. My plan is to go ahead and do and write wine everything (at least, within the United States).

First up, I’m on the way to New York City for a week of walking around seeing city stuff (Flagstaff is beautiful but I long for city stimulus by now), and doing wine related activities. There are a number of people I’m very much looking forward to seeing. (Yay!)

During my week, one of my plans is to hunt Schioppettino–the wild, juicy wine from Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It’s harder to get in the United States but a number of importers and retail shops carry it in NYC.

Hunting Schioppettino

click on comic to enlarge

comic inspired by “Five Things You Love About Schioppettino (but don’t know it yet)” by Talia “I was born a unicorn” Baiocchi

As those of you that followed along on the #cof2012 trip know, our group was pretty obsessed with the wild berry, slightly saline, earthy, medium-bodied loveliness of Colli Orientali del Friuli’s Schioppettino varietals.

While there we were lucky enough to attend a Schioppettino focused dinner hosted by the Association of Schioppettino Producers of Prepatto, which included tasting 15-20 varietals, and one lovely, well-executed Schioppettino-Refosco blend by Sacrisassi, all from the Prepatto region. The Association regulates the production choices of wine makers to some degree, including minimum durations of oak influence and aging in bottle before sale, in order to preserve a focus of quality and style for the grape. Additionally, we tasted varietals from the likes of Ronchi di Cialla, Ronco del Gnemiz, Toblar and others, some of whom are outside the Association and outside Prepatto and therefore produce a lighter, juicier style for the grape.

Part of what fascinates me about Schioppettino is simply how localized it remains. Studies have shown so many different clones for this one grape all in the particular subzone of Prepatto that scientists are comfortable claiming it to be an ancient variety. Additionally, the vines particularly flourish within the zone of Friuli that is Prepatto, with its 23 different micro-climates, each sustained within Prepatto’s relatively small amphitheatre shaped landscape.

Schioppettino is the one grape indigenous to the region that really does grow uniquely in one appellation alone–Colli Orientali del Friuli. Prepatto is its primary home, with it growing minimally outside its amphitheatre. (Some people are currently experimenting with trying the grape in California but the vines are still too young to know yet how they will do in the New World–if anyone has more information on this project, I’d love to hear more about it.)

While we were lucky enough to taste much of all the Schioppettino produced on the planet, only a few currently make it into the United States. For those of you in North America, that, like me, wish to drink more of this tasty grape, three of the stand out producers brought into the United States include La Viarta, available from Kermit Lynch Wine; Ronco del Gnemiz, available in very low quantities from Italian Wine Merchant; and Ronchi di Cialla.

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If you’re wondering how the heck to pronounce the grape’s name, check out Do Bianchi’s video from his Italian Grape Name Pronunciation Project. We were lucky enough to spend an afternoon with Ivan who pronounces it for us here.

The Wine Loft, Flagstaff, AZ: A Chateauneuf du Pape Tasting, the Appellation, and Style

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 10, 2012

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Chateauneuf du Pape: The Appellation and Style

click on comic to enlarge

Thanks in part to the special attention of Robert Parker, the Southern Rhone appellation Chateauneuf du Pape (CDP) celebrates a meaty International reputation. Incredibly, this one appellation of Southern Rhone produces more wine than all of Northern Rhone. However, it also hosts a wider selection of grape varieties than its sister appellations in the North.

CDP is firmly intertwined with Papal history, having been established as “The Pope’s New Castle” after the pope moved from Rome to Avignon in 1308. With its famous residents, the area’s wines developed a prestigious and popular reputation surpassing the attention of other wine regions of France. Unfortunately, phylloxera also hit CDP in 1870, earlier than other regions of France and so deeply impacted wine production of the region, though it has now long since recovered.

Records indicate that wines from the region pre-phylloxera were much lighter in style than how they are understood today.

Today, the appellation allows both red and white blends to be produced, though not rose’s. Eighteen grape varieties are allowed in a CDP blend, though thirteen of those are seen as most traditional to the style. The appellation predominately makes red wines, with only 1 in 16 bottles being a white CDP blend.

The style tends to be understood as earthy, rich bodied, with a range of berry flavors, alongside darker characteristics such as tar, leather, tobacco, truffle, herbs, and even garlic. With its darker and fuller style it is rarely described as approachable, and can often present as angular or even coarse in its younger years. Some even describe the classic CDP as heavy and brooding. Compared to other wine regions of France, this is not a wine known for aging into elegance or grace. However, for many this chewable, dark quality is exactly what makes the wine so alluring.

Well known wine critic, Robert Parker, one of the region’s great champions, who helped increase its popularity in the States and raise its selling price too, outlines the benefits of CDP wine as both intellectual and hedonistic–there are impressive layers of flavor here, alongside a structure and presentation to reflect upon.

The Wine Loft, Flagstaff, AZ: A CDP Tasting

the Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape Wine Loft Wine Tasting Line-up

As a special treat, The Wine Loft, Flagstaff, AZ hosted a Chateauneuf du Pape tasting, offering with it both an educational and hedonistic attention–a balance capturing Parker’s own account of these wines at their best. Unsurprisingly, the tasting was popular here in town showing a significant turn out–the CDP, after all, carries a name recognizable by wine lovers.

* Domaine Pierre Henri Morel 2010 Cotes du Rhone Villages, Laudun Blanc

70% Grenache Blanc, 30% Bourbelanc

The tasting opened with a Rhone white not local to the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation specifically, but from Southern Rhone more generally. The Laudun Blanc from Domaine Pierre Henri Morel showed as an easy, fresh, smooth textured white with just a touch of heat in the mouth.

The wine presents on the nose with citrus zest of lemon and lime, with light accents of lime juice, as well as subtle hints of fresh herbs. The mouth follows with the citrus shifting more towards grapefruit and a fresh candied element. There is nice jaw biting acidity here, 14% alcohol and a medium-plus finish.

* Domaine Pierre Henri Morel 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape

85% Grenache, 5% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre

The CDP portion of the tasting began with the Laudun Blanc’s sister red, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape. This wine opens with red fruit of cherry and berry, blended smoothly with vanilla, lavendar, and light white pepper. It warms into dried fruit and spice offering a ripe but not jammy presentation. This red is both approachable and bright, without being too much fruit reduction. Instead, it is an easy, food wine. There is medium-plus acidity, medium tannin, and medium-long finish with 14.5% alcohol.

* Telegramme 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape

90% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre

The second label CDP for Telegraphe, the Telegramme, is a less expensive, lighter bodied style to its more buxom older sister. It offers red fruit of cherry, raspberry, and light strawberry, with spice, light lavender, and faint mushroom accents. The Telegramme is not flabby, but instead pleasantly plump. This wine offers medium acidity, medium tannin, and a medium finish with 14.5% alcohol.

The Telegramme is a popular red for its younger, more approachable rendition of the well-known CDP style. That said, I’ll admit this is not my go to wine. I appreciate the Telegraphe, and would readily buy it when I’m looking for a wine of its type and price range. But I generally want more structure and complexity than the 2009 Telegramme shows.

What the Telegramme has to offer is vivid fruit, on a generally clean presentation. I’m reluctant to recommend it, however, in that you still pay higher prices as demanded by the appellation, even if not as high as the Telegraphe, without getting the rich complexity expected from the style. For that reason, if you’re looking for a red fruit driven wine, I’d recommend spending less on a non-CDP red before grabbing the Telegramme.

* Domaine du Galet des Papes 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape

80% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre, 5% Syrah, 5% Vaccarese, 5% Cinsault

The Domaine du Galet des Papes is a cohesive, slightly strange CDP only in the sense that it wants more age or more air. It clearly carries those angular, less polished elements the appellation is known for. Currently it drinks funky, dirty earth elements, hints of petrol, and with heat in the mouth in front of distinct red fruit.. That said, there is good structure here that will support the overall flavors deepening into a nicely balanced wine. I want to taste this again in several years. The wine offers medium acidity, medium tannin, and a medium finish, with 14.5% alcohol.

* Chapoutier 2005 La Bernardine Chateauneuf du Pape

Mostly Grenache, Some Syrah

The 2005 “La Bernardine” CDP by Chapoutier had the advantage in this tasting of bringing the most age with it on a style of wine that, generally speaking, wants age. I’ve also reviewed “La Bernardine” before but will post notes for it here as it was the culmination of The Wine Loft tasting.

The Chapoutier CDP is the most earthy and grounded of the selection, showing concentrated fruit of red cherry, date, and dried plum alongside licorice, lightly meaty and spiced elements. The acidity here stays up at medium-plus, with medium tannin, medium-plus finish, and 14% alcohol. There is a lot more age in this bottle, and it is drinking nicely now. This is a tasty, rich, well-balanced wine.

***

Thank you to Fred Wojtkielewicz, and The Wine Loft for hosting this treat of a tasting.

The Wine Loft, Flagstaff, AZ is located at 17 N. San Francisco St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001 USA, UPSTAIRS (it’s a loft). 928-773-9463. https://www.facebook.com/thewineloftflagstaff

And Now For Something Completely Different 2: The Story of Pizzicletta, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Arizona
Food

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 6, 2012

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Pizzicletta, South of the Tracks

the wood fire stove at Pizzicletta–custom made and imported from Italy

Flagstaff rests 1/4 of the way between LA and Chicago heading East along the transcontinental tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The town is divided by the line that helped establish its existence. Traffic stops, heading North to South, across the full length of Flagstaff at every road but one, where the only train bridge in town hovers above Route 66 allowing auto traffic through. At the height of its business, in the first half of 2008, before the recession hit the United States, BNSF boasted 120 trains through Flagstaff every day. That’s all cars in town stopping every 20 minutes to let the locomotive go by. Today the railroad hits on average 80 times a day but with a longer caravan and twice as many engines to pull it.

Flagstaff rests a mere hour from the Grand Canyon, and offers snow skiing (both alpine and nordic) in the Winter months. As a result, the town celebrates a (mostly) thriving tourist economy. The train steps in here too by defining what residents understand as local versus tourist areas of town. North of the tracks, in the heart of downtown Flagstaff, tourists readily visit with shops, bars, and restaurants drawing on such spending. South of the tracks, however, has tended not to pull in as much tourist attention, and so its come to be known as the locals area of downtown. As a result, businesses choosing to place themselves in this South Flagstaff neighborhood could be seen as making a statement of investing in the local community economy, while also risking surviving on less potential tourist influx. Historically, business turn over in this area has been high.

Interestingly, the economic downturn since 2008 has also coincided with a greater development of the area South of the tracks. Locals began moving their businesses to the neighborhood, partially to save on rent, and restaurants started opening doors in the less popular locale as well. Tinderbox, a highly reviewed comfort food kitchen, was one of the first in this post-2008 period to succeed at such a project, starting first as a local favorite, then soon finding themselves featured in multiple high gloss magazines.

Enter Pizzicletta.

Caleb Schiff

Caleb Schiff dressing a pizza with house-made tomato sauce

Having earned his Masters degree in Geology, Caleb worked for several years running a lab studying climate change at Northern Arizona University (NAU). The work consisted of 3 months spent taking samples of lake sediments in the mountains of South Central Alaska (very close to my home town, coincidentally), and 9 months of studying those samples while also supervising student projects.

Just prior to having started his work at NAU Caleb attended a conference in Iceland where he did a pre-defense presentation of his Geology thesis, then traveled to Nuremberg to visit his brother for a week. Visiting Europe for the first time he decided to take the train to Milan (again, with the trains), where he experienced wood fire pizza and breads for the first time first hand.

Caleb had spent high school and college working in bakeries, and had enjoyed the same work as a hobby through graduate school. With such an interest, the vision and flavor of wood fire ovens stayed with him after his visit to Milan. Beginning his professional lab work for NAU, Caleb was able to purchase a home in Flagstaff, and in so doing realized he could build his own wood fire oven in the back yard. Experimenting with dough and pizza recipes became such a passionate hobby friends began asking him more and more regularly when he was going to take it further.

Finally, with the idea of a pizza restaurant becoming clearer, Caleb began developing a business plan on the side, then flew to New York City to sample pizza places in Brooklyn. Eventually, the reality of his work life hit him–he spent most of his time looking at mud, and not much interacting with people, something he otherwise enjoyed. Reflecting on the value of his established career, in relation to the value of his well-developed hobby, Caleb decided to take a risk. In October, 2010, he made the leap by quitting his job at NAU with the plan of first taking a break biking across Italy (to taste even more pizza, wine, and gelato), and then work towards designing and opening his own pizzeria in Flagstaff.

Opening Pizzicletta

one of the entrances to heaven, Pizzicletta

Upon his return from Italy in late 2010, Caleb had gotten almost all the pieces in place for opening his own restaurant. All except a location. Walking through town one day with his friend Derek, the owner of another local food favorite, Diablo Burger, a For Rent sign showed up on a 650 foot space that had been occupied for several years by a miscellany stuff shop.

Though the space was questionable for its size, decor, and location South of the tracks, Caleb contacted the landlord and had a conversation. After a few weeks of waiting, the landlord invited Caleb to investigate the space. Though it hosted wood paneling walls, and awkward all drop ceilings, he had a hunch he could make it work and took the lease. In April 2011, bringing in an architect/designer, and having secured demolition permits, Caleb’s friends came together and started tearing the space apart. It turned out, behind the space’s 70s facade, Caleb had invested in a beautiful industrial-style venue with impressive light and a demand for focused, smart seating.

On July 5, 2011 Pizzicletta opened with a mere 15 seat capacity in a 650 square foot space. At the end of 2011 Pizzicletta won the Best of Flagstaff, Best New Restaurant Award. By the beginning of 2012, the restaurant had already been featured in several National magazines.

Life As Pizzicletta

fresh ingredients on hand on the pizza station, Pizzicletta

As Caleb explains it, the advantage of hosting a restaurant in a small space is mutli-fold. By keeping the overhead low, the pressure stays low too. With seating for only 15 at a time, he is also able to take the time to focus directly on the quality of his dough, and make contact one-on-one with at least 90% of his customers.

To fit as many people as possible in the space at a time, Caleb opted for a community table. Though he was advised against the idea of sitting strangers next to each other, customers have responded with general appreciation for the approach. Its worked to take advantage of the small space while also emphasizing the friendly nature of his business.

I asked Caleb to tell me what he thinks he offers through his restaurant, and what his goals for the business happen to be. Both questions could be answered the same way.

Caleb explains that he likes making people happy. He has seen in all his baking experience, since high school, that when the pizza is perfect that happiness happens. Additionally, in his view, a good restaurant is equal parts entertainment and great food.

The happiness response from the public has been thorough. Pizzicletta regularly celebrates repeat customers. It’s one of the few places in town where a pizza lover will visit one day, then return the very next day with friends. (My own introduction to the restaurant was by a friend that invited me to have dinner with him just a week after Pizzicletta opened last summer. It was the fifth night that week my friend had eaten there. He’d also been there twice the week before.) Locals appreciate the restaurant being established in the South of the tracks neighborhood, and the idea that Flagstaff’s long standing resident has invested in serving good food in the community. Pizzicletta has also gained enough of a quality reputation that tourists regularly travel into South Flagstaff to enjoy the good food.

In getting his restaurant started, Caleb was invited by Serious Eats, a national food news blog, to write a regular column about the process of opening a pizzeria. What’s shown through the writing is Caleb’s passionate commitment to his Pizzicletta life, and his own commitment to living a life for what he enjoys and believes in.

The story has been inspiring to readers across the country. Most expressive of this inspiration is the family that traveled all the way from Buffalo, New York to Flagstaff, Arizona just because the father had been following Caleb’s Serious Eats column, and they wanted to visit the restaurant one man cared so much to start.

The rest of the story is that running Pizzicletta is also a huge demand. In the summers, the restaurant is open 6 days a week with Caleb doing prep, cooking pizza, picking up wood in Phoenix, and managing the general details of a business. In winter, Pizzicletta is open 5 days a week. Asking Caleb how he handles the busy schedule of a keeping a young business going, he tells me about the associated fatigue, then explains at the worst of it, it is seeing how happy his customers are that makes it worthwhile. Their joy reinvigorates him to do it again the next day. When it comes to choosing to change his life, leave academia, and open a pizzeria, he has no regrets.

Pizzicletta’s Menu: Salad, Pizza, Wine, Gelato (and a bit of beer)

Pizzicletta focuses on simplicity. The pizza menu opens with a Green Goat salad, then hosts a handful of regular wood fire pizza options, as well as nightly pizza specials. In the summer, Caleb has also begun integrating Sunday Farmers’ Market Fresh Produce Specials. The dessert option focuses on a nightly gelato, often with two different flavors featured.

Inspired by his experience in Italy, Caleb has developed a well chosen, quality Italian wine list–a range of whites and reds showing a range of types but each meant to go well with food. Additionally, he serves two beers on tap.

Pizzicletta, 203 West Phoenix Avenue, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. 928-774-3242. https://www.facebook.com/Pizzicletta

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To read Caleb’s Serious Eats Column “Building a Pizzeria” check it out here: http://slice.seriouseats.com/tags/Building%20a%20Pizzeria

To see more of the Pizzicletta space, and hear an interview of Caleb discussing his commitment to the project watch this excellent student-made video by NAU film student Austen Lavery:

***

Thank you to Caleb Schiff for taking the time to talk to me in the midst of his busy prep schedule.

Thank you to the great staff at Pizzicletta for putting up with me while I took pictures in the middle of the dinner hour.

Thank you to Pizzicletta for bringing such good food, and a wine list to match, to Flagstaff. We’re all grateful.

And Now For Something Completely Different 1: Tasting Housemade Bitters, Vermouth, and Tequila with Jeremy at Criollo, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 5, 2012

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Criollo Hand Crafted Latin Inspired Local Food Restaurant and Bar Flagstaff, AZ

In the heart of downtown Flagstaff, Criollo Latin Kitchen, a casual dining restaurant, welcomes food lovers for brunch (on weekends), lunch, happy hour, and dinner.

The food is reliably tasty, drawing its inspiration from a sense of Latin fusion, and local, sustainably harvested ingredients. The upside of life in the Southwestern United States includes extended growing seasons, while also land locking us out of other items for local harvest. As a result, the menu at Criollo adjusts to these various needs to celebrate a blend of offerings that readily stretch across the year, with other seasonally determined foods, and a few treats flown in (like their cornmeal+coconut, instead of batter, rolled calamari).

The wine list at Criollo remains consistent with the Latin inspired focus, showcasing wines from across South America along with others from Spain or Portugal.

For those wanting only food for lighter fare, or just a drink, Criollo also showcases what turn out to be honestly some of the best bartenders in Flagstaff, as well as a bar stocked with quality liquors.

Getting to Know Criollo’s Bar: House-made Bitters, and Barrel Aged Tequila

* House-made Barrel Aged Tequila

Several months ago, Paul, the owner of Criollo, tasted barrel aged tequila and decided to invest in bringing the flavor to his Flagstaff bar. Seeing I was unsure how much difference the process would offer, Jeremy, one of Criollo’s bartenders offered me a before and after taste.

The bottle Republic Tequila offered flavors of citrus and cactus (we in the Southwest really do know what cactus tastes like, in case that sounds ridiculous to any of you–it’s a kind of pithy green, very lightly sweet touched, mild dirt, hint of bramble flavor), with a dusty heat.

To age their tequila, the bar has brought in a barrel originally used for aging bourbon. After acquiring the barrel they soaked it with water for several weeks, before then draining it and filling it with Republic Tequila.

The barrel aged tequila had significantly changed from its bottled sibling. The flavors had deepened and taken on earthier elements, with a woody character plus cinnamon and spice notes.

* House-made Bitters

Jeremy Meyer, Bar Co-Manager, Criollo

Criollo’s Bar showcases a selection of fine and flavored tequilas, plus a range of good quality cachaca (I love cachaca and its beloved capirihina), along with quality versions of more traditional liquors. In order to better celebrate the subtler flavor offerings of cachaca and tequila, bartender and bar co-manager, Jeremy Meyer, decided to begin exploring and studying mixed drink recipes that would show them off.

A traditional bar ingredient for cocktails like the Manhattan or Dark & Handsome is an herbal bitter to push against the sweet or syrupy elements of the liquor base. The herbal flavor of bitters like Angostura is desirable in darker flavored mixed drinks, like the Manhattan, but often works against the lighter notes of an alcohol like cachaca or tequila. So, Jeremy decided to begin making in house bitters from other ingredients that would be more flexible at the bar, and work alongside those lighter spirits.

The basic process for making bitters, Jeremy explains, consists of first selecting flavor ingredients and then soaking them in high alcohol booze like Everclear for approximately a month. At the end of the month the resulting product is drained and sometimes enhanced with other flavors.

Currently Criollo utilizes four types of house-made bitters most primarily–strawberry with black tea; ancho chili with tamarind; black pepper with black currant; and mesquite with pineapple. Additionally, Jeremy has also made orange with anise; and cherry with grapefruit peel. As summer progresses he intends to experiment with using other ingredients found at the local Farmer’s Market.

I asked Jeremy to select his favorite summer cocktail made from in house ingredients. He chose their Barrel Punch, and shared the recipe.

A Treat From Jeremy: The Barrel Punch, a Mixed Drink Recipe

The Barrel Punch, Criollo, Flagstaff

The Barrel Punch

1 1/2 ounces House-made Barrel Aged Tequila

3/4 ounce Blackberry Balsamic Shrub (explanation follows)

4 dashes House-made Mesquite-Pineapple Bitters (explanation follows)

A squeeze of Lime

Fill the glass with soda water, then box (move between glass and shaker and back again). Pour into glass.

Top with 3 drops of Rose Water.

***

The Barrel Punch is a fresh, light, rich flavored, and not sweet cocktail that works beautifully for summer. It offers a light fruit and wood flavored opening, with a fruit vinegar mid-palate, and a fruit tang light rose finish. Though the flavors here are rich, the drink avoids any syrupy or too-sweet characteristics that would make it too heavy for summer. I very much enjoyed it.

Blackberry Balsalmic Shrub

As Jeremy explains, a shrub is an old fashioned way to preserve fruit. The fruit is smashed into sugar, then the resulting syrup is drained and mixed with vinegar. Here the shrub is made with equal parts fruit, sugar, and vinegar, with blackberries, and a blend of 1/2 balsamic vinegar 1/2 apple cider vinegar.

Mesquite-Pineapple Bitters

To really push the envelope, Jeremy decided to try making bitters with safe ingredients that aren’t traditionally thought of in relation to food.

The mesquite-pineapple bitters were made by soaking wood chips and pineapple in a blend of 1/2 Everclear 1/2 tequila for a month. At the end of the month the resulting drink was strained. Then, Jeremy grilled mesquite wood chips (the same kind soaked to make the bitters), put them out in the bitters themselves to add an ashen smoke element, then restrained the entire concoction, and finally added agave syrup to help bring out the pineapple flavors without adding genuine sweetness.

Finally (for now) the Bar Expands: House-made Tonic, and Vermouth

As if Criollo wasn’t already offering a host of house-made bar options, they are also making in house tonic and vermouth. Both focus on utilizing the ingredients available here in Flagstaff, including those brought in to the area by the local herbal shop, Winter Sun. Jeremy explained that in developing the following recipes Winter Sun’s owner and long time herbalist, Phyllis, was very helpful.

The tonic results from a mix of Peruvian bark powder, lemon grass, agave syrup, coriander, and lemon/lime zest and juice.

The vermouth is a local favorite. Jeremy explains he researched a typical recipe for making the spirit only to discover a number of the ingredients simply were not readily available in our small mountain town. He addressed the problem by simply adjusting to utilize local plants and herbs as substitute. Criollo’s house vermouth, as a result, draws on the flavors of Ocho root (good for the lungs), Juniper berries (a diuretic and good for fighting infection), and Mormon tea (a decongestant and stimulant), along with the more traditional elements of basil, rosemary, thyme, and citrus zest. It’s fabulous (and I’ve never been huge on mainstream vermouth). It turns out Phyllis is also a fan, even having been a bit skeptical of Jeremy’s plans originally.

***

For those of you in Flagstaff, get in to Criollo to try the unique offerings at their bar. For those of you visiting the area, definitely keep Criollo on your list of places to enjoy.

Criollo Latin Kitchen, 16 N San Francisco, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 928-774-0541 http://criollolatinkitchen.com/

Thank you to Criollo, Hillary Wamble, and Jeremy Meyer for inviting me to taste Jeremy’s bitters, and Criollo’s other house-made offerings.

Red Wines from Dominio IV: Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Tempranillo/Syrah Blend

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 4, 2012

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Focusing on biodynamic wine making practices in the Willamette Valley, husband and wife team, Patrick Reuter and Leigh Bartholomew, studied vineyard and winemaking practices at University of California Davis before traveling the wine world to develop their knowledge, experience, and techniques.

After settling in the Willamette Valley and working for wineries in the region, they decided to start their own house, Dominio IV, and to focus on growing and making wines of Tempranillo, Viognier, and Pinot Noir. They grow their own grapes and source some of their supply from quality vineyards from outside the Willamette Valley.

Dominio IV 2008 Pinot Noir “Pondering Ptolemy”

click on comic to enlarge

Dominio IV’s 2008 Pinot Noir brings together flavors of mountain berries with hints of red chalk and cinnamon, touches of cola, and fresh herbs. The flavors here start focused and open to earthier, richer elements. The fruit turns into a richer jam with clove and all spice alongside a pleasing tartness.

This wine wants either time in the bottle, or time in the glass. Let it have some air if you open it now so that it can show its richness, and ground more into its flavors.

These grapes are gathered from organic and biodynamic vineyards in the second half of October, then fermented in stainless steel after a 3-5 day cold soak. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels from a mix of ages to strike the perfect oak influence balance on the final blend.

Dominio IV 2006 Syrah “Song of an Uncaged Bird”

click on comic to enlarge

The 2006 Syrah offers both black and red berries with brown sugar, mixed pepper and light vanilla. It is pleasantly drying, with mouthwatering acidity to balance. There is a lovely spice medium-long finish here as well.

This wine wants stew, and would do well with several years in the bottle as well. (I love stew.)

These grapes grow in organic and biodynamic vineyards on the Three Slopes section of the Columbia Gorge portion of the Dominio IV Estate. The fruit is then fermented in stainless steel, and aged for 15 months in French oak barrels, 4 months in stainless steel tanks, and finally in bottle for another 4 months.

Dominio IV 2009 Tempranillo/Syrah “Technicolor Bat”

click on comic to enlarge

The “Technicolor Bat” brings together Tempranillo with Syrah to varying proportions depending on the ripeness of the vintage. The 2009 offers blue and black fruit with dark brown sugar (aiming towards molasses), mixed pepper, spice, and dried herbs. The wine offers a rich texture, drying mouth feel, and a fullness of body with balance. This is a nicely executed blend that is both fresh and clean on the nose and palate.

I want this wine with baked beans. Mmm… baked beans are gooooddd.

The grapes of Technicolor Bat are Demeter Biodynamic certified, fermented in stainless steel and aged 18 months in a mix of French and American oak barrels, 4 months in stainless steel tank, and at least 8 months in bottle.

***

Patrick Reuter, co-owner of Dominio IV, likes to illustrate his tasting notes for their wines as well! He was kind enough to share these over-time illustrations with me, and he’s snuck a couple of them onto the winery website as well. Keep an eye out for them there!

Cheers!

Thank you to Dominio IV, Patrick Reuter and Seth Long for sending these samples.

Kunin Wines’ Reds: Grenache, Syrah, and Pape Star

Hawk Wakawaka

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Jun 3, 2012

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Started in 1998 Kunin Wines remains today a boutique size and style winery situated in the Santa Barbara region of California. The founder, Seth Kunin, sources grapes from quality vineyards throughout the Central Coast region to produce wines from Viognier, Syrah, Grenache, Zinfandel, and GSM blends.

Kunin Wines Reds: 2008 Grenache, 2007 Syrah, 2010 Pape Star GSM

click on comic to enlarge

Each of these wines from Kunin drinks as fresh, clean and well balanced now with a lovely potential for aging, and already a nicely developing, changing show in an evening of time in the glass.

Kunin Wines 2008 Grenache

The 2008 Grenache is a lovely food wine with bright acidity and red fruit, lightly drying tannin, balanced spice as well as hints of cola and metallic elements. There are touches of yeast bread here as well as light earth and leather. It would be beautiful alongside pork with berry compote toppings.

Much of Kunin’s Grenache is used for their GSM blend, the Pape Star, so it was a treat to taste it in their single varietal rendition from the Larnier vineyard in Ballard Canyon of Santa Ynez.

I tasted this with Katherine who suggested it would pair well with pork loin and berries stuffed with parsley, thyme, and juniper stuffing. Grenache is a classic pairing for pork, and this particular wine opens to show more herbal elements.

Kunin Wines 2007 Santa Barbara Syrah

The 2007 Syrah is blended from fruit of three different vineyards in Santa Barbara county, each offering cooler climate expressions of the grape.

Blackberry and raspberry show here also offering hints of their seed crunch flavor on the palate, with mixed pepper, touches of smoke and spice, and well balanced acidity to tannin. This is a fruit driven wine that opens into deeper notes with air. It shows as wonderfully clean and fresh on both the nose and mouth.

Kunin Wines 2010 Pape Star Grenache Syrah Mourvedre Blend

This GSM from Kunin, 2010 Pape Star, offers a blend that could serve both as a drinking and food wine. The blend is well executed and shows here with pleasing texture and light grip to the mouth, balanced with the mouthwatering acidity and a medium long finish. The nose carries spice, red fruit of cherry and berry, vanilla, light pepper and cinnamon, with the palate following.

This Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend is a wonderful example of how a wine can change thoroughly in the glass as it continues to open. The fruit deepens as the wine breathes taking on flavors of fig, with menthol and tobacco touches. The nose is rich here, and again shows more and more with a richness of detail being offered.

This is definitely a wine to enjoy over time. I’m also impressed by its good value; at $25 retail you get a lot for your money.

Enjoy!

Thank you to Kunin Wines and Seth Kunin for sending these samples!

Spring to Summer Wonki-Whoa-Whoas

Hawk Wakawaka

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May 30, 2012

1

Oh dear! This has been me this week.

I’d forgotten that Spring to Summer heat changes up here at high elevation (the thinner atmosphere, and lower oxygen levels come together to make a much drier climate and a higher impact on the human body when it comes to sun exposure and heat responses) can trigger migraines and overall health wonkiness for me. So, it turns out with the big heat increase up here at 7000 feet / 2134 meters hitting upper 70s, lower 80 F/ 25-26 C degree temperatures, after having snowed just at the end of the week, means migraine week for me. It’s been hard to concentrate. This evening I felt well enough to go get necessary groceries for the 12-year old’s school lunches but after arriving and grabbing her milk, I stood there for a long time trying to remember why else we were there. Bread! Thankfully she knew.

Anyway, hard to write blog posts when I can’t keep coherent thoughts together. Lots to write about though! Once my head-wheel is turning properly again there will be more on Kunin reds! Dominio IV reds! Perfect movie-and-wine pairings for Girl’s In Night. And others.

Everybody stay happy, be well, love each other lots. It’s a crazy world. Give hugs.

My heart is with Seattle tonight.

Let’s remember these loved ones in their vibrancy.

Shmootzi the Clod and Meshuguna Joe of God’s Favorite Beefcake performing “Isabella”

Growing Up Native: A Correction and Update on the First Presbyterian Quiet Protest

Hawk Wakawaka

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May 26, 2012

4

The Original Post: Growing Up Native

A couple of days ago I posted about the reality of anti-Native prejudice, discussing a few of the ways it was persistent for me throughout my 18-years of growing up in Alaska (honestly, I could have continued into all my years since living elsewhere. It’s common.). Though it is obviously not a topic directly related to wine, I wrote about it here because of a more recent incident of anti-Native prejudice I found particularly upsetting, and also because I felt that with my having shared here my being from Alaska, and being Alaska Native there was some small room to discuss the issue on this blog at a time I felt it was important.

The incident that upset me was news that two Native women had been asked to leave a church in Anchorage, Alaska for their being Native. It was something that had been discussed in multiple places online, and particularly in Alaska Native discussion groups online. My own family had heard about it both online and from people sharing it with them in person, until eventually I read about the incident, heard about it from others, and shared it here too. My original post on the issue appears here: http://wakawakawinereviews.com/2012/05/24/growing-up-native/

I am writing about it now because new information has appeared about the incident that would seem to change the details of the original story. The change raises ethical questions about how it is appropriate for the church, and the public to respond now that the story appears so differently. With that in mind, I want to apologize for sharing misinformation, and also take the time to talk through what I see as the ethical issues raised.

The Story Correction

Two women have stepped forward to offer a correction. They have stated that the original reporting on the above incident at First Presbyterian Church was inaccurate. Apparently, the error occurred in that they shared their experience in attending church with a few people that misunderstood what was being told to them. Those people then went on to share the misunderstood version with others, and it was then spread further. The story continued through multiple sources online, and eventually I also wrote about it here.

In my original post I spoke of a simple response to the situation–encouraging people to quietly attend the service in numbers so as to emphasize the idea that all are welcome. It has come to my attention that other people also organized a sit-in demonstration at the park across the street from First Presbyterian Church as a more vocal protest, and that numerous people have sent angry letters, emails, and voice mail messages to the church.

The church has so far responded to the public’s concerns with this reported incident by holding a special session with the women who stepped forward, leaders of the Native community, and leaders of First Presbyterian church. The purposes of the session were to determine what had actually occurred, and to discuss how best to respond publicly.

Having correct information about what actually occurred here is important, but it does not entirely resolve the issue of the public’s response.

In other words, there are two points operating here. One is that it is definitely unfortunate that this story, if untrue, was reported so publicly. There is no doubt about that. Because of the strong response to the story, however, the issue does not simply stop there.

The second point is that issues of anti-Native prejudice do occur, are real, and people responded to this particular incident, even if false, because versions of it are a common occurrence throughout Alaska and North America. To put it another way, if anti-Native prejudice simply did not occur it would have been impossible for anyone to be so upset about this particular incident. It would have been unrecognizable. But, unfortunately, the truth is, many people have been harmed by such treatment, and many people want such treatment to stop.

The Ethical Concerns

Let me also make what I think is another important distinction–answers to the question of what the church is to do. This is where we delve into the ethical questions of the situation. (As some of you know, I worked in Ethics in various capacities, including teaching it at the University level for the last six years, for the last decade.)

First of all, it is not the literal responsibility of anyone, or any institution to directly respond to fix something he, she, or it did not do. That is, according to the correction, First Presbyterian Church did not actually turn away two Native women visitors. Assuming that is true, they are not literally responsible for repairing a wrong, since they did not perform one. But, as already said, this situation is no longer only a question of what actually happened. The public has become upset over concerns of anti-Native prejudice in their communities, and more specifically at this particular church, and that would seem to now be the bigger question at hand. As a result, even without having asked for it, the church has been placed in a very public leadership role on the question of anti-Native prejudice, and of who is welcome in a church.

To put it more simply: It is important for a correction of the original incident to be issued, certainly. But, it is also important for the church to consider how it wants to address larger questions of community, and how it wants to exemplify healthy leadership. It is also valuable for the larger community, including all of us that have been upset by this issue, to consider how we want to move forward having reflected on our concerns with what appeared to be racism, unnecessary harm of others, and exclusion. This is an opportunity for the church to show what it means to act in and with grace, an opportunity still to emphasize the point that all are welcome. It is also an opportunity for any of us to consider how we would want to exemplify those same questions at a more personal level.

I apologize for my contribution to this misunderstanding by posting what appears now to be misinformation on the incident. May we all continue to move forward in grace.

*** Post-Edit

A statement has been released from the women involved in the original incident, and the church, and Presbytery. The statement explains the details of the original incident and how the public misunderstanding occurred. You can read it here:

http://pbyukon.blogspot.com/2012/05/this-is-report-on-pbyukon-fb-page-and.html

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