Year: 2004

I am delighted to prepare this inaugural “inside the industry” report in partnership with The Rake! Every couple of weeks, I’ll clue you in to the best opportunities to learn about, taste, and purchase wines in the Twin Cities and surrounding communities.

Let’s start with our overview of free public tastings, which occur more often than you might think. While most better wine shops offer tastings during big sales, many others extend this service to customers every week.

France 44, for example, hosts a tasting every Saturday from 2-5pm, with five to eight wines available. This month’s featured winery is Gundlach-Bundschu (check out the ’01 Mountain Cuvee!). (612-925-3252)

Byerly’s Golden Valley similarly showcases a few special wines each week, poured by Connie (formerly with Surdyk’s for 15 years!) on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4-7pm. Call the store for details on this week’s featured wines (763-544-8978).

South Lyndale Liquors, one of my favorite shops, is featuring Echelon Winery, pouring six wines from the California Central Coast (Fridays, 4-7pm).

If you want regular access to some rather serious wines, then you need to become one of Phil’s good buddies and join him on Friday nights at Hennepin-Lake Liquors. Phil is definitely a character, and his store offers an amazing selection and some terrific values. In browsing the narrow aisles of this place, you can’t help but absorb some knowledge about the world of wine. Phil’s tastings are not pre-planned, so count on an adventure; he tells us that he opens ten to twelve winesdaily, depending on “who stops in”. He also stands by the statement that he will beat anyone’s price in town—any wine, any time. So bring your favorite sale catalogue over and do some comparison shopping of your own.

Other Tasting Events

Advance notice is in order for a very special evening on April 16, presented by The Rake and sponsored by Excelsior Vintage (www.excelsiorvintage.com). The wine tasting party is the kick-off for Louie’s Wine Club, named after yours truly, of course. Our Napa Spring Wine Fling will highlighting more than fifty labels from Napa Valley, many of which are hard to find or not yet available in Minnesota. A strolling magic show, live acoustic guitar, and a special collection of Napa Valley photographs will add to the evening’s gala flair. Call 763-476-0699 for tickets; and see page 24 of The Rake’s April issue for more details.

Tasting Notes

My personal reaction (as opposed to tedious and pretentious varietal characteristics) to wines recently tasted at various venues (prices, if listed, are full retail):

Ferrari-Carano Fume ’01: clean, elegant, great food wine. $14.99

Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, Alexander Valley ’01: one of my all-time favorites; rich and lush, with big oak and a loooong finish. Worth $30.

Chalone Group Syrah Four-Pack: $72 (as far as I know, you can only buy the Jade Mountain as part of this series):

Echelon ’02: surprisingly good; a nice value at about $13.
Edna Valley: a bit lighter than the Echelon; not quite what I look for in Syrah.

Jade Mountain: I can see why they “protect” this gem; very special. Worth buying the four-pack, even if you gave away the other 3 bottles.

Chalone Estate ’01: wow! If not for the Jade Mountain, this wine would have been my top wine of the whole evening. Huge, ripe, & delicious!

At a recent Pinot Noir tasting we sampled four labels:
La Crema ’01($20)—always a standard by which I judge other pinots, smooth & light.

David Bruce ’01 Central Coast ($25)—similar to La Crema, with perhaps a touch more elegance.

Fess Parker ’99 American Tradition Reserve ($35)—yowzaa! Did this baby rock! It easily blew away the competition.

Patz & Hall ’00 Russian River Valley ($40)— I had been looking forward to tasting this highly rated pinot producer for some time, and perhaps, this was a “bad bottle,” but I was very disappointed. I need to give Patz & Hall another try.

Another disappointment was the ’96 Terra Valentine Cabernet—and in this case I tasted from two different bottles, so it was the wine, which was very light, even fragile. Perhaps it wasn’t fair to sample cabernet right after the blockbuster syrahs, but even the next day the T-V didn’t hold up as I thought it might.

One particular tasting party ended on a happy note, sharing a bottle of Pirramimma’s stunning Late Harvest Riesling. I am always so pleased to introduce people to this wine, as I think it’s one of the very best values anywhere at about $16 (for 500ml). As much as I favor California wines, there is no better example, dollar for dollar, of late-harvest Riesling.

Recently, a fellow customer at a wine store asked me to recommend the best Cab under $30, and I showed him one of the very last bottles from the great Gallo of Sonoma “Frei Vineyard,” ’97 vintage, which was a steal at $25.99. Later that evening, however, I had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of Gundlach Bundschu’s Block 13 Cabernet ($20). Simply beautiful! Had I tasted this earlier, I might have changed my mind.

Best Retail Values This Week

Sam’s Club & Costco

These stores carry some really fine wines, as well as the best day-to-day prices in town. Many people don’t realize that the “member-only” policy of Sam’s and Costco does not legally extend to their liquor sales—meaning that anyone is free to purchase wine there. But do your homework before you go, as there is no staff at these stores to answer your questions. Which, of course, is where I come in. Here’s the scoop:

Sam’s Club has a much larger selection than Costco, and usually the prices are a bit better, with a few exceptions. Here are some wines that Sam’s offers regularly, with comparative prices at Costco and MGM (who have the gumption to tout their great prices!).

Kendall Jackson ‘00 Reserve Chardonnay: S—$8.88, C—$9.99, MGM—$12.99

Columbia Crest ’00 Merlot/Cab: S$5.33, C N/A, MGM $7.99

Rancho Zabaco ’01 H-Vines Zin: S—$9.84, C—$10.49, MGM—$13.99

Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio: S—$6.83, C—N/A, MGM—$8.99 (sale price!)

You might not expected to see higher-end wines at Sam’s, but here they are:

La Crema ’02 Chardonnay: S—$12.87, C—$13.49, MGM—$21.99

Sterling ’02 Chardonnay: S—$11.56, C—$11.29, MGM—$22.99

Cambria ’01 “Katherine’s Vineyard” Chard (90 WS): S—$12.04, MGM—$18.99

Stonestreet ’97 “Legacy”: S—$45.56, MGM—$99.99

Stag’s Leap ’00 “Fay Vineyard”: S—$62.12, C—$62.99, MGM—N/A

Dry Creek Vineyard ’01 “Heritage Clone” Zinfandel: S—$12.87, C—$16.49, MGM—$16.99 (sale price)

Costco, however, can boast some wines I haven’t seen anywhere else, like Montes Alpha “M” ’99 ($56.99) and Montes Folly Syrah ’00 ($57.99), as well as two ice wines from Canada, Inniskillin Gold & Silver ($75 and $65, respectively).

In short, an occasional visit to both of these “member’s only” stores is well worth the time.

I tip my hat to the MGM store in Plymouth, for it has one bottle of the amazing Gallo of Sonoma ’97 “Stefani” Cab ($26.99), as well as two very special wines from Sterling: the ’00 “Diamond Mt Ranch” Cab ($48.99), which I sampled and loved at a recent Sterling Wine Dinner at Tejas; and the ’98 “Three Palms Vineyard” Merlot ($79.99).

The Wine Bar Scene

I’m currently recruiting “secret agents” to report in on favorite wine bars and restaurants that feature a newsworthy list of wines by the glass. Beyond Beaujo’s, Bev’s, and Bobino’s, my research has yet to mine the rich vein of wine gold I know is out there. Special rewards await those who contribute to this noble cause; e-mail or
call in using the website below.

And now… I’m off to Napa Valley to get inside information on new releases and new labels coming to our area. I’ll be back in two weeks with a full report!

Contact Louie and get information about Louie’s Wine Club www.louiethewineguy.com

If you were lucky enough to find a job during this jobless recovery, your orientation probably consisted of a short tour of the copy room and a long trip through the employee handbook. But if you’re Jessi Peine, your new boss sent you on a six-week trek across Europe, where you toured several cheese-producing farms, devoured pounds of cheese, learned about the aging process of cheese, drank loads of wine, and ate more cheese.

Peine is a cheese specialist at Lund’s. Since her education abroad, and her installment at the Penn Avenue store, she has come to know her cheese-loving customers on a first-name basis. They bombard her with questions and cheese stories the instant she slips behind the counter and puts on the tall, white hat that designates her as a food expert. When I approached her the other day, she was huddled with a customer. “I just got back from Norway,” the customer bragged. “I shoved a cheese wheel in my jacket, and they never found it!” She’d successfully smuggled some gjetøst past the eagle-eyed customs officials.

“As a kid who loved food, I always thought you could only be a cook or a housewife,” Peine told me. “I never knew you could do this. And I studied microbiology for a while, which is all about bugs. And bugs make cheese…”

Yes, bacteria make cheese, and cheese is more popular than ever, especially artisan cheese. Like the secret societies of wine, chocolate, sushi, and even cigars, the world of fancy cheese is a complicated one. Peine’s job is to steer you in the right direction, which sometimes means not following your nose.

First of all, “American cheese” shouldn’t be confused with American cheese. Cheeses made here are not necessarily inferior to, say, French cheeses. In fact, in recent years the most expensive and sought-after specimens have been produced in the U.S. “There’s a cheese called Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Wisconsin that is beautifully made, and their cows have acres and acres to graze on, which is very important, because the cows need a steady diet of fresh grasses,” Peine said.

There’s only one problem with American cheeses: Due to FDA regulations, the milk has to be pasteurized (which means heating it to 161 degrees Fahrenheit). This adds a cooked taste to the cheese, and destroys many of the natural enzymes that cheese tasters celebrate. The alternative is to age a cheese for at least sixty days, which also kills most harmful bacteria. But because of what Peine calls an epidemic of food paranoia, most American farms will pasteurize instead of risking the aging process. “We’ll never taste a really fresh, unpasteurized cheese unless we’re in France,” Peine said.

That said, we still can serve plenty of super-stinky cheeses that are dripping with bacteria. Peine doesn’t carry Limburger, the infamously stinky German cheese, because it fouls up her entire cheese case, and because, she says, there are better stinky cheeses out there. “There’s Taleggio from Italy, which is lovely. It just stinks to high heaven, but has a really nice and clean pure cheese flavor.” An ancient Italian cheese carried around the globe on the winds of World War I, Taleggio is creamy, rich, and buttery, and will make a fickle guest either love you or hate you, depending on his or her nose.

Even if you’re serving a wheel whose mere odor will insure plenty of elbow room at the cheeseboard, it’s important not to overwhelm your guests with too many alternatives. Three to five cheeses are all you need, in a nice array of colors, textures, and milks. “Do a nice goat, sheep, and cow,” Peine counseled. “Sheep and goat have that lovely tang, totally different from cow’s milk.” Peine suggested serving Humboldt Fog, a funky-looking goat cheese from California that has a layer of vegetable ash between two layers of white cheese. “That’s the thing: Most of the ugliest cheeses taste the best. They’re not supposed to look perfect,” she said.

There are other simple truths to be aware of: It’s best to pair cheeses and wines by region (reds and whites are both fine) and relative strength on the palate. Always make sure your cheeses are served at room temperature. (Enough with the food paranoia; Peine says cheese can sit out for hours, even days.) Also, never cut the cheese. “Let the guests cut what they want,” Peine said, cautioning against airing the cheese too much too soon. “Don’t let the hard work of those little animals go to waste!” Serve your cheeses with a fresh baguette or bland crackers. You do not want to overpower the cheese. Or you can just scarf it down on its own. “You don’t really need bread,” Peine said. “You don’t need crackers. You can eat it with a spoon if you want.” Face it: If you were worried about offending your more sensitive guests, you probably would have stuck with the cheddar cubes.—Molly Priesmeyer

We have a television in the office, a twelve-inch black and white job with rabbit-ears. This TV, recovered more than once from the garbage, is switched on precisely once a year: in March, during the state boys high school hockey tournament. We just can’t help it. If you were born and raised anywhere in this good state, from Luverne on up to Pigeon Falls, it’s in your genes. And even though management here is, in part, Iowan in both origin and practice, we rustics are indulged in a thousand different ways.

But we are worried. One of our origin myths is taking a beating in the corners. We’re less concerned with Republicans throwing their elbows at our proud Scandinavian progressivism, and more concerned that Darby Hendrickson—the sole Minnesotan on the Wild’s roster, and the first goal-scorer at the Xcel Energy Center—has been exiled to the minor-league locker-room in Houston. Is the decline of real Minnesotans in the NHL evidence of globalism, a resurgent Canadian dynasty, or just the degrading local effect of Olive Garden?

There have been other causes for concern. When the high school league agreed in 1991 to split the state into two divisions, we were gratified that twice as many kids would realize their dream of playing hockey live on Channel 9. On the other hand, we have to be honest and say it felt like a dissipation. How much longer would we get to see Warroad, pop. 1,722, come to town to thrash Edina, pop. 47,425? How much longer would we sustain the dream that all Minnesotans owned hockey on a spiritual level—that the talent pool of the suburbs would never dominate the frozen pond of the tundra town?

Hollywood may come to our rescue with that most questionable proposition—the hockey movie (Slap Shot; Youngblood; Mighty Ducks; Mystery, Alaska…). There is no greater mythmaker today than the movies. Miracle has opened to widespread mirth, at least around these parts, and it’s no wonder. It is a throat-catching tribute to Herb Brooks and his 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. That “Miracle On Ice” team won the gold medal with twelve certified Minnesotans on the roster, and a quorum on the bench, too. And while we tend to view provincialism and nationalism with suspicion, we figured, what the hell? This is our time, this is our place. If tiny Eveleth can take on the evil empire of Hill-Murray, why shouldn’t a bunch of amateurs from the Range stand up to a red army of Soviet pros? Our private war against the cold was writ large as a definitive moment in the Cold War.

Have basketball, baseball, or football ever done that for us? Root all you like for the Wolves, the Twins, even the godforsaken Vikings. But give us hockey—the Wild, the Gophers, the International Falls Broncos. These teams are among the most admired in the country, in any sport, in any season. If a place can own something as ephemeral as a sport, Minnesota’s claim on hockey is surely stronger than Indiana’s on basketball, or Texas’s on football. We are the state of hockey, indeed.

Few things are worse than a British pub passing off grilled pita as naan. Uptown now offers yet another great refuge from this kind of fraud, and it’s a cheap date, too. Taj’s naan is exactly what it should be—barely leavened, slightly charred on top and a little glossy with a brush of ghee. At the lunch buffet we found nothing as scorching to the palate as the output from the old Sri Lanka, which inhabited the same space in a previous incarnation. But the milder spice temp lets you actually taste the wonderful mosaic of flavors in their chicken masala, beef curry, and a good selection of vegetarian curries and dals. A new treat (to us, anyway) was French-cut potatoes deep-fried with spinach clinging to them. Another nice surprise: ras malai for dessert. This is a disc of soft, white cheese served in a pool of sweetened, creamy milk. Scout’s honor, you’ll like it. They promise beer and wine are coming soon.

May we have this dance? Our favorite Franco-American experimental theater revives their 1992 production exploring American life in the 20th century through a series of vignettes set in a Midwestern dancehall. Given that this is a play that uses a physical space as its central metaphor, it ought to be interesting to see how the Jeune Lune company will stage it—the nineties version was one of the last productions they did before moving into their own ballroom-sized space in the Warehouse District. Jeune Lune, 105 N. First St., Minneapolis, (612) 332-3968, www.jeunelune.org

Hairspray
Orpheum Theatre, February 17-March 7
With the third season of American Idol under way, two things have never been more apparent: Big is in, and just about anyone these days can get fifteen minutes of fame. This is no new concept to 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad, heroine of the Tony-winning musical Hairspray, which chicken-dances its way into Minneapolis this month. Tracy makes big beautiful, with a big heart, big hair, and big dreams of a spot on the local TV dance program The Corny Collins Show. If this sounds like the all-too-familiar big-girl-makes-good story, rest assured: This ain’t no ordinary Big Fat Greek Wedding. (For starters, it’s based on a freakin’ John Waters movie, albeit his most sweet-natured one.) Things were more complicated in 1962 Baltimore. Tracy will have to outdress and outdo the reigning dancing queen, and win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin in the process. Can she do it? More important, will her ’do hold up? Of course. Any musical with dance numbers that include the Handjive and the Pony must end happily.
Orpheum, 910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, (612) 339-7007, www.hennepintheatredistrict.com

The Jungle kicks off their new season with a trip north of the border and quite literally down memory lane. Michael Healey’s acclaimed play takes inspiration from the real-life 1970s people’s-theater project The Farm Show to tell the story of two isolated Ontario farmers whose quietude is disrupted by a nosy city-boy actor who wants to create a theater piece based on their lives. Imagine The Simple Life with a naïve, well-meaning hippie instead of the spoiled rich girls. The farmers, Angus and Morgan, aren’t so sure they want their pasts put onstage—Morgan’s standoffishness masks deeper issues, while Angus barely recognizes the past anymore since the wartime head injury that robbed him of his short-term memory. (In case you’re tempted to groan “not another Memento ripoff,” know that Healey’s play debuted the year before the movie did.) Casey Stangl, late of the much-missed Eye of the Storm, directs.
Jungle, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, (612) 822-7063, www.jungletheater.com

Kline-Misol’s puppet-populated still lifes use rich reds and blues to create an inviting air of mystery. There are elements reminiscent of Salvador Dali, of Hopi kachina dolls and New Orleans voodoo, of Pinocchio and gypsy fortunetellers. It is like wandering through the maze of twisty passages in some especially atmospheric antique shop, where beyond every turn of the corner is a jumble of images—say, a Buddha-head statue, a vase of dead flowers, and a cast-off marionette, as in Kline-Misol’s “The Alchemist”—that seem a little bit sinister and suggest tantalizing hints of stories whose beginnings you can only guess at.
Holzemer Gallery, 4810 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis, (612) 824-0640, www.holzemergallery.com

It’s a good bet that for most of us, our first exposure to surrealism was through the loopy imagination of Ted Geisel, better known to five generations of kids as the good Dr. Seuss. This touring exhibit features thirty-three panels of lithographs, serigraphs, and sculpture covering Seuss’s wide-ranging career, which included not just familiar favorites like Horton Hears a Who but innovative advertising and graphic design, and a wartime job as an army lieutenant colonel drawing anti-Hitler cartoons. The gallery complements that with seventy more Seuss works that will stay on display for another two months. Parents looking to introduce junior to the world of art-crawling will want to show up on one of the three Saturdays between January 31 and Valentine’s Day, when the Cat in the Hat himself will meet and greet.
Jean Stephen Galleries, 917 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, (612) 338-4333, www.jeanstephengalleries.com

It has been the better part of a decade since the nation’s premier African-American dance company pirouetted its way onto the local stage, so you’re duly warned not to miss this performance. DTH leader Arthur Mitchell is a living legend of the dance world, having broken through the color barrier some fifty years ago to become a star protégé of the great George Balanchine. He and his company have shared three decades of unparalleled success, renowned not just for groundbreaking choregraphy but for such historic milestones as being the first American dance company to tour both apartheid-era South Africa and Soviet-era Russia. These two days of performance will be a greatest hits of sorts, selected by Mitchell from among DTH’s catalog of ten dozen works.