Wine-O Wednesday: Cesari Amarone

Last week I had the good fortune to head to Ocean in Birmingham for a fabulous meal.  Awesome seafood - which totally does not go with the wine we paired with it, but honestly when you order a really good wine... who the hell cares?

We were looking for a bottle of Zinfandel that was no longer available, and the waiter suggested we take a look at an Amarone.  My ears perked up!  Let's .be serious, they perk up with any mention of wine... but especially one I've only had a handful of times and first in Italy.

I was introduced to Amarone by my very wonderful bestest bestie of the best, Theresa, who lives in Italy and is all things fabulous.  [And just married a hottie local Italian Stallion who is the sweetest man ever, and makes some ridiculous ridic risotto... and drives a vespa...  Besides the point...] I visited her in Verona a little over a year ago and one of the fun things we did was go on an awesome winery tour of a local vineyard where they make all their wine in an underground cave,  Zýmē.  Ok, ok, that link is in Italian.  Voglio vino dio bon!  Literally my only Italian language take-away... Babblefish it. 

Zýmē in Verona, Italy

I too always forget monstrous bottles of vino in 
wall-nooks in my hobbit-home.

I smuggled back some of this amazing olive oil 
they make there too!

Enough wine for at least a week!
Side note: T is the middle hottie

One each, please!
I smuggled the mix of all their babies (graffiti Kairos one) and the second from the right- the Valpolicella Classica. Amarone was not in this gringo's price range after the damage I did to their meat and cheese industry.  And by "their," I mean Italy proper
Still waiting to drink the Kairos- occasions never seem special enough to toast to Theresa and her tour guide hubs, Andrea!

But back to this bottle: Cesari, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Veneto ‘07

91 Points

If you don't know about this amazing style of wine, it's a super intense flavor similar to a Zinfandel, made from dried grapes in the Valpolicella region in Veneto, a north-Eastern part of Italy.  The grapes are dried between 3 weeks and 3 months, then pressed and aged in barrels for at least 2 years.  

I stole this from the website, obvi: "Amarone della Valpolicella Classico wines are rich, red amarone wines from the traditional classico viticultural zone of Valpolicella in Veneto, north-Eastern Italy.One of Veneto's most famous and prestigious wines, Amarone della Valpolicella has played a vital part in boosting the region's status in the wine world ... The early amorone wines were seen as mistakes – reciotos left to ferment for too long – but eventually the style gained recognition and respect.  Amorone comes from the Italian word amaro (bitter), completed with the –one suffix which denotes impressive size or volume.  When compared to the sweet recioto which the early amarones were supposed to be, it’s a logical translation."

It was just great.  It's so intense, so rich and fruity.  Some very earthy tones that the waiter described as tobacco leaves, but that seemed like a stretch - pretty sure it was just a Birminghamian southern addition.  Regardless, if you like big and bold with a lingering finish and a fully velvet mouth-feel (that will never seem appropriate), definitely give this bad boy a chance.

Or go visit my bestie Theresa in Verona; she'll give you the good stuff.  :)

Birmingham Bites: Brick & Tin

Brick & Tin is one of those industrial-meets-rustic-with-local-ingredients concepts that actually doesn't come off as pretentious as a lot of them do these days.  We get it, everyone likes sourcing from local farmers.  Everyone likes exposed brick and reclaimed wood.  But these guys do it in a really non-presumptuous way, with legitimately yummy seasonal lunch options that don't go crazy and don't have too many choices.

For lunch there are 6 sandwiches, a few salads and a couple of soups to mix and match.  A great side option of deviled eggs with shaved country ham and some daily desserts I haven't stuck my fork in yet...

While I'm really missing their knock-out fall menu (butternut squash & prosciutto sammy?  Daily!) they have some fun options on the winter block right now.  My most recent lunch consisted of a gratin of white beans, Alabama collards with fennel, onions and root veg, and a cup of potato-fennel-leek soup.  My squash obsession of the fall has migrated to a fennel one apparently...

That perfectly crunchy gratin is going to be recreated in my kitchen, for sure!

The Tuscan panini is really great as well, but I suggest substituting the ciabatta for the bread.  And there's always the "B-ham Mi" if you're feeling froggy.  

Wine-O Wednesday: Ken Wright

Ken Wright Cellers offers a really great, reasonably priced Pinot noir.  Their 8 vineyards run throughout northern Oregon and all get consistently good reviews online.  I had the Canary Hill on this particularly lovely evening.

I tried this in Birmingham at Chez Fonfon, which is a great place with upscale French bistro-style cuisine.  Bombshell escargot (seriously, you can't go wrong with escargot... it's an unidentifiable chewy something drenched in butter and smothered in cheese...).  Their menu changes weekly (even online!) and is really playful for Birmingham.  Includes fun things like duck confit, southernized charcuterie, and great daily seafood specials.  I should save this for a Birmingham Bites session...  I last had grilled scallops with a blood orange, pistachio and fennel relish suggested by the waitress and I could've eaten a second one.  Movingggg on:

The website describes the Canary Hill as "Fruit focused (blueberries and cherries), with a modest structure, light tannins and bright acidity." 

I found it very light and fruity with almost no bite/spice to it.  Didn't quite go with my scallops, but that's what my French 75 was for :)  Oui oui!

Wine-o Wednesday: if you see kay

This is a weird wine to be blogging about as my first favorite.  There is nothing cutesy or sweet about it, but it is seriously damn good.

P and I got our first taste of this stuff at a little neighborhood gem called Baci in Brookhaven (which, side note, is totally under-acknowledged and has become our date night go-to).  The owner, Nellie, is a super cool girl with an awesome menu of worldly influences and Mediterranean cuisine.  The sea bass is just awesome, and this is literally the only, ONLY mac and cheese I have ever liked.  Loved, really.  It's got lobster and 3 kinds of fabulous cheese - no runny crap... The perfect ratio of lobster to cheese to noodles (70-25-5, in case you're counting).  So yummy!

But I digress.  The second or third time we went there we were perusing the menu for a glass of wine each and the waiter asked what we liked.  I described my usual: medium body, with some spice and fruit... more sweet than dry.  He suggested the most expensive glass, as they do, so of course we were suspicious.  But he promiseddd we would love it and even coerced us into trying a sip.  We bought the $50 bottle.  We have every time.  It is fabulous, and so worth the price.  Once you get over the bizarre labeling:

Sound it out slow: if you see kay.  That's right, just as classy as Miss Britney herself.  So strange.  And with a tatted up, braless hipster chick in a bizarre car throwing a Hawaiin shaka sign...  I cannot explain.  There's an even weirder description here about Kay being some ethereal open-throttle chick, named after the Odyssey. Yes, as in Homer's Odyssey classic.  

The owners describe the wine in a story form of bizarro (as in... "kay is a creature, she is an embodiment of a lifestyle... womp womp), but basically it's a super juicy, smooth Cab from the Lazio region of Italy (near Rome) with just one year to its name: 2010.

Even weirder was when I saw the brand for only the second time (outside of Baci)... in Birmingham at a total divey hipster college bar, on $1 liquor night.  Yes, I was the girl drinking $9 glasses of Cab on $1 liquor night (a phenomenon I  haven't see since college, appropriately nicknamed "Well, Hell" night, I'm told).  The real issue isn't me drinking wine in a clearly non-wine location, it's that this place had the bottle at all!  I'm guessing the owners went solely on the name/look, because I promise I was the first to crack a bottle there, ever.  Cartoonish comic book looking website for proof.  Well Hell night is Wednesday, by the way.  I should be there right now...

Go find kay.  The crazy bitch is my favorite and it's worth the quizzical looks.

Birmingham Bites: Bettola

After six months of eating on the road 3 meals a day, I've sampled a large number of restaurants and had a good deal of the great dishes in Birmingham.  I have to say, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find out what a vibrant and diverse eating scene there is here!  Michelin and James Beard awards a-plenty!

Last night my coworker and I tried a new place and it was absolutely phenomenal!  We worked up an appetite after our iPhone sent us deep into the ghetto (the ghetto here seems to be mixed in with enormous, although devastatingly run down, antebellum homes... very sad and southern).  

Finally we arrived at a Bettola, a pretty new spot in the Ham and definitely one that deserves some serious acclaim, as if getting a nod from Food & Wine for Best New Chef James Lewis isn't enough...

It's located in an old Biscuit manufacturing building - very chic and warehousey, with pretty decor and a bench seat that runs the length of the restaurant facing the open kitchen.  Wide selection of Neopolitan-style pizzas (my fav) and an assortment of modernized yummies, with a small but great wine selection.  I suggest the cocktails, as the bartender was on point!  

The smells coming from this place were just amazing.  I think we asked the waitress 3 different times what we were smelling!  The hand made wood fire oven was made in Naples and shipped to the Ham and is really just stunning!

Gorgeous wood fire brick oven from Naples - miss Piggy roasting on an open fireeee

Awesome gin cocktails.  With rosemary and fairy booze dust.

This is going on my top dish list for sure!
Crostini di Carciofi - fab crostini with artichoke puree, roasted artichokes and
tomatoes, covered in gooey mozzerella and topped with an herb pesto.  Couldn't get enough!

Neopolitan style Bietola pizza with pecorino, fontina & mascarpone with sausage (we subbed in pancetta),
local spinach and a sunny side up egg!
Couldn't wait for a photo before digging in!
This is on par with Antico Napoletanta in Atlanta, for sure!  Amazing!

The drinks got the better of me and I forgot to take a picture of our third course - kale salad and gnocchi.  The gnocchi was definitely not my favorite, which was unfortunate, but the kale salad was something new I hadn't tried before!  Pretty good!

Resolution Fail

Made it almost 48 hours into the New Year and already disobeying myself...  Oopses!  Wine, cheese and a not-so-early bedtime await...

But look what my awesome hotel in Birmingham delivered up for me in the New Year!  

While I desperately miss my puppy, my fiance and my home every night that I'm away, there is something really nice about lounging in my pajiminies, watching the Sugar Bowl and sipping on my mini bottle of wine in my big king bed (feather free!) with no one but my onesie to talk to.  Which I do.  I blame the cheese...

Pretty much the whole food pyramid, right?  That counts for something...

"Road Warrior" Workout

Only six months in and I despise the term "Road Warrior" already.  What is that?  That implies those of us that frequent the skies/freeways are fighting some kind of magical battle with the travel Gods.  Which actually, may be kind of true...  Upon Googling, I found out there is an entire underworld of blogs and forums devoted to the topic.  There's even a website devoted to those of us who live out of a 22" x 14" x 9" closet and can happily exist for days, if not weeks, with only that and a good Platinum Lounge.  

I have no right to gripe as I don't currently have to fly.  I can pack an entire bottle of contact solution right next to my pair of sharpened scissors without a care in the world.  I can even purchase a bottle of wine and bring home the remnants (remnants... silly concept) at the end of the week.  Anyone have leftovers?  Send them home with me!  No big deal Officer, I'm just smuggling half of Birmingham's best restaurants across state lines...

Which brings me to the real issue, which is the consumption of obscene quantities of undeniably delicious fare from distant lands.  Three times a day.  There are only so many lunch options within walking distance, and only so many driveable locations worth visiting.  And when you have the entire menu staring at you, it's just plain impossible to order a side-salad-add-chicken and smile through kale-coated teeth at the would-be heavenly treats at Gianmarco's or Chez Fonfon.  [Sidenote: behind Gianmarco's is their Wine Bar.  Retail wine prices with a corkage fee, and the full GM menu in a cutesy little shack where you eat around wine barrels.  Fabulous.]

So, jumping jacks and I have started a little romantic tryst.  I apologize each morning to my downstairs neighbors as I hop around in pajamas doing my routine.  Jumping jacks, crunches, push ups, the whole nine yards.  These are the best routines I've found, which I switch up and mess around with (read: unabashedly cheat) while trying to work off my jiggles in an effort to make caloric room for the absolute best thing in town, the elote asada at @elbarriobham (my fiance refers to it only as "the corn place" because I talk about it so much).  Mmmmm chipotle-cilantro-mayo drenched corn yummies...

Thursday blows most.
Source: Back on Pointe

This is me.  Ha!
Lower Ab Dominator - pulse ups, reverse crunches and V-sits, oh my!
Source: UberExercise