by David Burn | May 27, 2007 | Advertising, Food & Beverage, Lowcountry
The South Carolina Department of Agriculture is embarking on a branding campaign to benefit the state’s farmers and rural communities.
From the official Press Release:
The new Certified SC branding campaign was designed to stir-up state pride and loyalty, and change South Carolinians from consumers into advocates and customers who ask for and prefer Certified SC Grown products – driving the demand for the quality, diversity and availability of homegrown products and contributing to rural economic development for the state.
According to The State, the campaign is being paid for with a one-time $600,000 allocation from the state Legislature.
The effort comes at a time when consumers are growing savvier about the food they eat and demanding more information about where it comes from and how it’s grown. Recent bouts with contaminated spinach, peanut butter and pet food have placed the issue on the national and international stage.
[UPDATE] Here’s another post I made about the state’s economic development needs, which are plentiful. South Carolina’s unemployment rate was 5.8% in April, 2007—one of the worst in the nation.
by David Burn | Apr 24, 2007 | Food & Beverage, Place
On Saturday night we had the opportunity to dine at Flagler Fish Company in Flagler Beach, just north of Daytona. The restaurant is a converted surf shop with an open kitchen. I noticed right off that they had organic wines and kind brews from Cali. Plus, I liked how they display their fish for retail, a move that reminds diners of the freshness factor.
If you’re having fish you simply choose your favorite type grilled, seared or steamed and then you pick a sauce—Sweet Thai Tomato Coconut, Salsa Verde, Hong Kong or Brown Butter Lemon Caper and Tartar.
The restaurant also has a cool tagline: Food To Knock Your Flops Off.
by David Burn | Feb 18, 2007 | Food & Beverage
My local wine retailer handed me a $20 bottle of Smith & Hook Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon on Friday, while pointing out that one might not expect a Cab of this quality to come from Monterey.
Here’s how the Hahn family describes their product:
The Smith & Hook Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from the finest of the Hahn Family’s estate vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands Appellation, a wine region proving to become one of the crown jewels of California viticulture.
The Smith Vineyard and the Hook Vineyard are east facing slopes with the vines between 400 and 1200 feet in elevation in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. These grapes are truly mountain grown. The final blend of our Grand Reserve Cabernet is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc for mid-palate, 5% Petite Verdot for bright berries and spice, and 2% Malbec for color and to tie everything together.
Aromas of blackberries, currant, leather, and tobacco. A warm rush of cherries and plum start at the fore-palate before fading to chocolate and toffee with a hint of mint towards the back. The tannins are firm, smooth, and polished, leaving a silky and supple texture in the mouth, supported by a subtle seam of acidity. Our Enologist, Greg Freeman, describes the wine as “a warm cedar chest at Grandma’s house.â€
That’s an interesting way to descibe wine, but I know what he means.
by David Burn | Dec 29, 2006 | Food & Beverage
We dabbled in delicious wines over the Christmas weekend. Mostly from Oregon. One stood out from the pack. Rockblock from Domaine Serene—a syrah from the southern part of the state, hundreds of miles from the Willamette Valley.
Grapes for Rockblock are sourced entirely from Del Rio Vineyard in the Rogue Valley appellation of southern Oregon, just north of Medford, overlooking the Rogue River. The vineyard is planted to the Noir clone on 101-14 and SO4 rootstocks. Soils are rocky clay loam, very well drained and planted 1088 vines per acre.
We found it on the wine list at Bateaux on Lady’s Island and ordered two bottles. Now, I’m going to have to ask Claude, our local wine retailer, to bring it in for us.
by David Burn | Nov 30, 2006 | Food & Beverage, Place
There’s a restaurant in downtown Naples, FL attracting a ton of attention–from patrons, the most important food critics in the world.
I’ve been there twice and can say the place has great energy, good food and good service.
While I’m motivated to talk about Campiello here, others have been inspired to paint the scene.
“Afternoon Light at Campiello Naples” by Jim Freeheart
Here’s how the owners describe their venture:
Like Italy, its inspiration, Campiello is a study in contrasts. The restaurant is both urban and rural, sophisticated and casual, old-world and strikingly new.
Campiello is owned and operated by D’Amico & Partners, one of the nation’s preeminent restaurant developers and management companies. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the privately-owned company operates 18 Italian restaurants, plus a catering division.
by David Burn | Oct 22, 2006 | Food & Beverage
New York Times Magazine today looks at the resurgence of moonshining, or do-it-yourself distilling. The article touches on Frtiz Maytag’s interest in distilling. Of course, Maytag and his company Anchor Brewing are not distilling outside of the law like true DIYers making hooch at home. But he does have an interesting line of micro-distilled spirits for sale.
San Francisco Chronicle looked at Anchor’s “side business†in 2004:
Anchor Distilling Co. released its first bottling of Old Potrero Single Malt Rye Whiskey in 1996. The micro-distillery makes 18th- and 19th-century- style rye whiskeys in small, single-pot batches.
The 18th-century-style whiskey is aged in new uncharred oak barrels for one year. The brash, highly aromatic whiskey is Maytag’s attempt to reproduce the original whiskeys of America, the kind that George Washington reportedly made. America’s first whiskeys were made with rye, a plentiful grain on the East Coast. Corn-based bourbon came later. The 19th-century-style rye whiskey is a bit mellower and aged for three years in charred oak barrels, an innovation that helped mellow its flavor.
“We’re starting a rye whiskey revival,†he says.
The distillery also makes a fine gin called Junipero. There are plans to release grappa, too.
by David Burn | Jun 4, 2006 | Chicago, Food & Beverage, Place
I returned to Chicago this week for the first time since I moved from the city 16 months ago. It was a good trip. I stayed at Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco on Wacker and Wabash. I enjoyed some salmon downstairs at South Water Kitchen before venturing out to The Map Room, “A Traveller’s Tavern” on the corner of Hoyne and Armitage. While there I finally got my first taste of Victory’s HopDevil Ale.
The brewer’s site describes it thusly:
Menacingly delicious, with the powerful, aromatic punch of whole flower American hops backed up by rich, German malts. HopDevil Ale offers a roller coaster ride of flavor, coasting to a smooth finish that satisfies fully.
I had reason to cheer. Since, my hotel was but a block from 233 N. Michigan, I could not help but reflect on how much things have changed for the better since I stopped working in that black building. Which is not to say I don’t love Chicago, because I do. Without a doubt, it’s one the great American cities along with San Francisco and New York.
While we don’t have the number of amazing restaurants, neighborhood bars or limitless live music possibilities, life in Lowcountry or Slowcountry, if you will, has its own advantages–natural beauty, great weather, affordable housing and recreational pursuits like beachcombing, boating, fishing, surfing, etc. Yet the thing that trumps all of this is the fact that I now have the job I was looking for in Chicago and could not find.
by David Burn | May 20, 2006 | Food & Beverage
I’m a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir fanatic. The wines from this region are world class, but more importantly to me, I feel connected to them. I believe it is the French conept of terroir at work.
With this in mind, I’m pleased to report there is another wine producing valley of note in the great state of Oregon. The Umpqua Valley, south of Eugene. In the small town of Elkton, Brandborg Vineyard & Winery is producing incredible pinot noir (if the two bottles we’ve recently enjoyed are any testament).
Here are their tasting notes:
2003 BENCH LANDS Umpqua Valley pinot noir
Aromas abound with cherries, sweet strawberries with a hint of forest floor, mushrooms and well integrated vanilla and caramel oak. The flavors echo the aromas with the addition of raspberries, spice, good acidity and finely grained tannins for such a young wine that carry through in a long and pleasing finish. Not a big wine, but very pretty and it would make a fantastic partner with duck confit, pate or fresh grilled wild salmon.
Bottled September 20, 2004 13.8% alcohol 745 cases
Per Bottle $18.00 ~ Per case $194.40
Drier and warmer than the Willamette Valley wine region to the north, and cooler than the Rogue and Applegate wine regions to the south, the Umpqua Valley features seven family-owned Oregon wineries that showcase this region’s viticultural versatility.
by David Burn | Apr 22, 2006 | Food & Beverage, Lowcountry
Beaufort has two of the top dining experiences available in the county, a fact Hilton Headers might have some trouble digesting. If so, my advise is take a Tums and point your boat or vehicle towards historic downtown Beaufort, where you can dine in the California-meets-Charleston nautically-restored room known as Saltus River Grill. High ceilings, raw ahi tuna, Oregon pinot noir–that’s the ticket.
Then come back for the coup, cross the river to Lady’s Island and take your first hard right onto an access road, and find Bateaux tucked into the splendor of the marsh. We dined there recently, and the hostess showed us to our window table where we proceeded to bask in the glory of the view, the company, terrific Portugese wine aged for 12 years, fresh salads, delicious entrees all around and the best rice pudding I’ve tasted in my life. Not cheap, but not outrageous, Bateaux is a must visit for anyone–local or otherwise–who appreciates the pursuit of dining perfection.
by David Burn | Mar 25, 2006 | Food & Beverage
We were introduced to Guenoc at a party in Chicago a few years ago. For the money, I don’t think there’s a better wine from California. This is particularly true of the vineyard’s Petite Sirah.
Guenoc’s commitment to Petite Sirah reflects the vineyard’s resources, yet it also demonstrates the winery’s willingness to do things a little different. Guenoc could have converted its Petite Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc vineyards to Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay years ago, but the winery believed strongly in the future of these varietals and in their ability to set new standards for quality and character when grown in Guenoc Valley and Lake County.
Guenoc is one of Californias leading producers of Petite Sirah in both volume and quality. Guenocs primary source of Petite Sirah is the Serpentine Meadow Vineyard at the winery estate in Guenoc Valley. Planted in 1980, these low-yielding Petite Sirah vines grow in sandy loam soils, which have a notable magnesium influence due to the blueish serpentine soils from the surrounding hills. Though seemingly insignificant, this trace magnesium has a profound affect on the Guenoc Petite Sirah, as it limits vine vigor and crop levels, which in turn tones down the aggressive flavors in the wine. As a varietal, Petite Sirah has a reputation for being overly tannic and aggressive, but at Guenoc, the combination of the distinctive Serpentine Meadow soils and winemaker skills result in a Petite Sirah that is soft and round with bright, berry fruitinessa tribute to what the varietal can achieve. Guenoc makes three Petite Sirahs: an estate series, a reserve from the Serpentine Meadow Vineyard and a Port.
Guenoc is no Johnny-come-lately to the wine biz. The winery dates back to 1854 when wine grapes were first planted in the Guenoc Valley. Victorian actress Lillie Langtry, a colorful theater star in Europe and America, owned the property from 1888 to 1906 and made wine which she claimed would be the greatest claret in the country. Her face graces many of the estate’s bottles today.
