The Queen City Treatment
On Friday night, we dined at Zink American Kitchen in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. A unit of Harper’s Restaurant Group, Zink’s purpose is to hold down the modern bistro space in the tarheel state’s largest city. With plentiful cocktails and fine wines to choose from, a full sushi menu, entrees like Amish chicken, Idaho trout and grilled ahi tuna, plus sides like mac & cheese, Zink clearly has “eclectic” nailed.
After dinner, we stepped outside and instantly hailed a cab. Said cab whisked us down Elizabeth Avenue to the Visulite Theatre for Yonder Mountain String Band, our kinfolk from Colorado. The club was cozy and chill. And the show rocked. It’s hard to ask for more on Friday night in America.
Another Noble Noir
We’ve been feasting on great wines, of late. Thankfully, we’re fortunate enough to do so, because there are some fine reds out there waiting for a celebration. Last night, at Saltus River Grill in historic downtown Beaufort, we uncorked another splendid Pinot from Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
According to Oregon Pinot Noir Club, the Terrapin Cellars Pinot Noir 2004 is a major score.
WOW – pinot noir that tastes good for just $16! I’ve been tasting a lot of “value-priced†pinots from Oregon lately – most of them are simply disgusting, and undrinkable. Thus I was quite pleased to find this gem. It’s made by a guy named Rob Clark, who manages nine vineyards around Salem, and got into winemaking as a very minor sideline. From the ’04 vintage he made almost 1,000 cases of pinot gris, and only 150 cases of this pinot noir. I just want to make a good table wine that sells for a reasonable price,†he told me. He succeeded with this wine, which has plentiful dark-flavored fruit, a bit of plumpness in the middle, and a fruit-based finish that is extended for long seconds thanks to that fresh ’04 acidity. It’s a bona-fide bargain.
This bold wine is earthy and spicy. The timid need not apply.
Beyond The Biltmore
There is a great mountain town less than five hours to the north and west of here.
Here’s how USA TODAY described Asheville, North Carolina in 2003:
This once down-on-its-heels city of 70,000 nestled in the Appalachian Mountains is morphing into one of the South’s hippest hangouts. Coffee bars, trendy eateries, music clubs and galleries have taken up residence in the glorious art deco buildings that fill the downtown. And artists and musicians are arriving in droves.
Santa Fe of the East, some call it.
I see more similarities with Boulder, CO, but I digress.
On Saturday night we dined at Zambra Tapas, by far the best tapas bar we’ve ever entered. We opened with a truly wonderful wine–Periquita Terras Do Sado from Portugal. Created by Jose Maria da Fonseca in 1850, Periquita is made primarily from the Castelao Frances grape, an indigenous variety that thrives in southern Portugal. Some of the tapas we enjoyed:
~ artichoke, poblano and queso dip with housemade flatbread
~ pan fried trout with hazelnuts, orange, and brown butter
~ grilled hanger steak with cilanto chimichurri, cana de cabre
After dinner, we walked to Barley’s Tap Room for an organic beer, then headed across the street to The Orange Peel for Donna The Buffalo.
In the morning we made our way to Everyday Gourmet, an espresso shop opened by a Seattle transplant. In other words, it was the real deal. Before we left today, we had a terrific lunch at Thai Basil. I could go on and on…the place has galleries galore, unique shops, natural beauty, charming neighborhoods and interesting people. Asheville is a great place to visit, and I imagine the locals love living there.
A Real Film About Wine
If you enjoy wine, Mondovino, a documentary by Jonathan Nossiter, is a must see. The film has a fascinating cast of characters, and its central theme explores the mounting tension between local producers and global behemoths like Napa’s Robert Mondavi and Sons.
Aimé Guibert of Languedoc and Hubert de Montille of Bordeaux, both determined believers in terroir–the sense of place that gives wine its true character–are the clear heroes in the film. Michel Rolland, a wine consultant who espouses the values of modernization and the Mondavi family who value globalization are the villians.
Hubert de Montille told The Telegraph, “I am un partisan du terroir. But you have vin terroir all over the world, including the United States – wherever you have people who cherish diversity and individuality in wine. For me, the battle isn’t between Europe and the US. It is industrial wine against the culture of wine, that’s the real conflict. These big companies are so powerful and their ambition is so great that they may not keep a space open for vin terroir, for all wine that has a sense of place, rather than just a sense of marketing.”
Southern France’s Languedoc region is one of the places where this conflict was most recently fought. Mondavi had identified forested land in Aniane as suitable for making world-class wine, but citizens of the town with the aid of their Communist mayor rebuked their advances.
According to Wine Spectator, Mondavi had planned to spend about $8 million developing the vineyard and building a showcase winery, which would eventually produce up to 20,000 cases per year of high-end Syrah.
But the site they chose was on the 2,200-acre undeveloped massif, which is flanked by woods and nearly impenetrable bush (known as garrigue), and topped by 750-foot-high plateaus with sweeping views. Hunters, ecologists and naturalists fought against any development in the area, which they consider an environmental shrine.
Mondavi was in part attracted to Aniane because it is home to one of the finest wineries in southern France, Mas de Daumas Gassac, which makes a long-lived red wine in Aniane. But the winery’s founder, Aimé Guibert, criticized Mondavi for wanting to develop a winery on public land.
The Willamette Valley Is America’s Other Napa
Adelsheim is one of Oregon’s outstanding pinot producers. If you can locate their wine, buy it and toast to your good fortune.
Here’s the winery’s origin story:
On a beautiful June day in 1971, David Adelsheim and Ginny Adelsheim stood above an open field and were taken with the beauty of its orange and purple wildflowers.
Five hundred feet below, Oregon’s north Willamette Valley stretched out in a patchwork of orchards, pasture and native trees. The field, rich with clay-loam soil, had a gentle southern exposure and was sheltered by the Chehalem Mountains. The Adelsheims had dreamed of planting a vineyard in the area since returning from a summer in Europe, where they were inspired by the hand-made foods and wines they encountered.
In 1972, the Adelsheims began planting their original 15-acre vineyard at Quarter Mile Lane with Pinot noir, Chardonnnay, Pinot gris, and Riesling.
Relying on family and friends for assistance, they battled weeds, mildew, birds and deer — and the widely perceived futility of growing wine grapes in northern Oregon’s cooler climate.
Having enjoyed several bottles of Adelsheim Pinot Noir over the years, I can attest that the winemaker’s passion comes through loud and clear. It’s great stuff.
A note on the labels: Drawn by Ginny Adelsheim, the Oregon Series wines feature full-color drawings of family and friends who have worked in the original estate vineyard and winery at Quarter Mile Lane.
Thunderbolt, Georgia’s Kind Thai
I have had no Thai food for six months, and that’s not a recipe one wants to follow. Thankfully, all that changed last night, as we met an old friend at Kao, a French-infused Thai restaurant on Savannah’s east side.
Adam and I both opted for salmon in green curry sauce. Darby had cashew chicken and Adam’s friends shared mussles and a bottle of champagne. The service was outstanding, the decor inviting and the food perfect.
The Brand Evangelist Next Door
Diana Olken is a California paralegal, consumer activist and former school teacher looking to retire in Bluffton. She hopes to bring her favorite grocery store–Trader Joe’s–with her. Having regularly shopped the store at Chicago’s Lakeview location, I can relate to Olken’s passionate mission and I support her quest to bring a TJ’s to the Lowcountry.
Olken began her grassroots initiative, that has since caught the attention of the store’s management, by posting on Bluffton Today’s new blog site. Now, she’s carrying the torch even further by offering to fill mail order requests for Bluffton residents from her local California store. Since dry goods are one of the store’s strong points, this could be an attractive hold-over option (until TJ’s builds a store here).
In the meantime, World Market has a smattering of what one might find at Trader Joe’s, including craft beers and nice wines.
It’s Better On Top
My friend Rick owns and operates a thriving restaurant, located atop the tallest building in downtown Bellingham. My design buddies, Dave and Cathy from Omaha, helped us launch the restaurant’s brand identity back in 2002. Now Rick has a local helper, Phil at Midline Design. Phil is taking photos from the restaurant once a week and posting them to the site. Given that the four-directions view is one the main selling points (along with outstanding food, beverage and service), this is a great idea.
Here’s an image I’m particularly fond of, due to the way it captures the typically blanket-like Northwestern sky.
Lifting The Moss Curtain
Hilton Head has got to be one of the more mysterious places in the U.S. Nothing reveals itself. Things are tucked back off the road, with little or no signage pointing the way. Sure, there are guide books and maps, but they are little more than surface scratchers. One has to dig, turning down this lane and that, to find anything of real interest or value. More to the point, one has to ask the locals. And the locals, nice though they are, may or may not give it up. After all, they don’t want the tourists to know, and if you’re a new resident, they may ask themselves, “Is this person going to make a commitment to the island? Are they going to last?” So, it was quite a pleasure to sit down at The Boathouse bar yesterday evening with two locals, Terri and Terri Jo, and learn a bit more about where to go, and what to do.
Looking to celebrate Darby’s birthday in high style, we had been thinking of walking across the lawn to Charlie’s Crab House. Terri and Terri Jo said, “Oh no! If you want a romantic dinner, go down the street to Old Fort Pub.” I’d not heard of Old Fort Pub before, but the ladies explained the restaurant—owned by the same people that own The Boathouse—had amazing views of the intercoastal waterway and fantastic food. Terri pulled out her cell phone, dialed the Old Fort Pub, explained that two new area residents were wanting to celebrate a special occasion, and asked if they might accomodate us on such late notice.
I’ve had the good fortune to dine at many great restaurants around the nation, but Old Fort Pub ranks as one of the best. Every detail was perfect. The host, our server, the bussers, the window table, the view, and the food and wine were all truly outstanding. Darby ordered medium-rare prime rib served on a bed of gorgonzola mac and cheese (a pretty down-to-earth choice for a five star chef). I had macadamia nut-encrusted Red Snapper. Both dishes were exquisitely prepared.
An interesting footnote: Old Fort Pub takes its name from the fact the Union Army occupied this spot with the landing of 13,000 troops in 1862. Eventually 50,000 Union troops were stationed on Hilton Head Island, their primary duty the blockade of Savannah, and interruption any sea-going trade between the South and England, which was a major purchaser of cotton.