Winery Tours in Napa/Sonoma/Central Coast

Thanks a lot! - many of those places look really interesting.

sisundar in San Francisco Bay Area

Winery Tours in Napa/Sonoma/Central Coast

I'm going to be in the bay area towards the end of the month, and figured I would take this chance to visit some wineries in the region.

Now, I'm well aware of the number of wineries in the state, so I'll try and be hyper-specific about what I'd like; if it turns out a place can only meet a few of the requirements, I'm still interested.

What I'd like:

1. Price : a reasonable number of bottlings < $75/100. I'm not really interested in spending crazy mony on cult napa cabs. That being said, I am somewhat flexible on this.
2. location: Within a few hours from the bay area (say < 4-5 hours of driving).
3. Varietals/Style: I really like alsace whites, and drink quite a few CdR's as far as red wines go. I haven't really had much CA wine, and not really liked the majority of the wine I've had from there (mainly low/mid priced cabernets). So I'd like to go to a place that does good high acidity, mineral driven white wines. However, this is the parameter I'm most flexible on - I'd be more than happy to try well made wines of other styles.
4. Experience: I'm ideally looking for a place that I can spend a few hours at. I'd like to be able to tour the vineyards with a guide (alone or in a small group), have the whole winemaking processed explained, maybe some barrel tastings, etc., along with the ability to ask plently of questions along the way. I'd like to come out of the day with a reasonble idea of what goes into the wine inside the bottle; the tasting is almost a secondary consideration - I'm looking for more of a "Wine making/aging 101" type experience. I'm more than happy to pay reasonable fees for this.
5. I don't need a fancy tasting room/cheese plates etc. Infact, I'd prefer a more rustic/smaller winery setup, where I'd get to intereact with the actual winemakers.
5. Bonus points for wineries located in beautiful interesting areas, so that I can potentially spend the morning/afternoon at the winery, and then have some interesting restaurants/things to do nearby for the evening. Perhaps even wineries that have accomodation onsite.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

sisundar in San Francisco Bay Area

Feedback on Austin Food Itinerary

Another place that came to mind was : http://3littlepigsaustin.com/ . Great trailer food. Also, a new place called Jmuller BBQ on South 1st is getting great reviews, and may not (yet) be as slammed as Franklin's.

sisundar in Austin

Feedback on Austin Food Itinerary

When are you going to be visiting? If this is around now (SXSW), I'd recommend avoiding anything close to downtown, and be prepared for HUGE waits at places like Uchi and Franklin.

For dinner, I'd add a few tex-mex places. I personally like Polvos.

Where are you visiting from? Depending on the part of the country you're from, you may find some better examples of food you mention here locally at home.

I have no idea about the breakfast at Mozart's, but if you're going there for coffee, there are much better places in austin, like Once Over Coffee Bar, Cafe Medici and Houndstooth Coffee, to name a few.

I'd say none of the places you have listed in your treat sections are "must visits" (I've never heard of bananarchy, so I have no idea about that). I wouldn't kill myself trying to get to those places.
I'd skip home slice. The pizza is good by austin standards, but not enough for it to be a must-visit for an out-of towner.

If you do both lockhart and Franklin's I'd skip salt lick.

I think thai food in austin is under-rated. I'd try and add titaya's to your list.

sisundar in Austin

Next Couple of bottle purchase suggestions?

I've been thinging about augmenting my liquor cabinet. Here's what I have right now:

Vodka: Smirnoff
Gin: Beefeaters
Whiskey: Balcones Baby Blue
Brandy: Camus VS
Rum: El Dorado 5 Dark Rum
Orange Liquor: Luxardo Triplum
Oddball stuff: Linie Aquavit, Clear Creek Douglas Fir Eau du vie.
Bitters: Peychaud's, Fee's Chocolate Bitters, Angustoura

With this to start with, what would be your next couple of bottle purchases (leaving aside the semi perishables like vermouths that I buy as needed)?

I'm thinking that I clearly need a rye/bourbon : Rittenhouse rye came to mind. Any alternatives that aren't too pricey? Idealy, it would serve double duty for sipping, but that isn't too critical

The next bottle is what's causing me some thought. I'm not sure if I should add a rum (and if so, what sort? Perhaps an Agricole or an overproof White like J Wray and Nephew). Or an italian bitter like campari. Or an amaro of some sort. Or Green Charteruse. You see my problem.

What would be the fewest number of bottles I'd need to add to my bar to give me more flexibility to make classics?

I live in texas, so some of the more obscure stuff is unavailable here (though the situation is improving rapidly). I mostly like to drink classics and riff's on them(a big fan of vespers, sazeracs,negronis and the like), and have only started to recently attempt to make them on my own.

Thanks in advance

sisundar in Spirits

Showstopping menu items?

Haddington's does a whole roast suckling pig on request, with advance notice. Depending on the size of your group. it might be possible to order it.

sisundar in Austin

Best Bars and Bartenders (Mixologists?) for Serious cocktails

you're right; I was just skimming the post, and I made a wrong statement.

Funny how both of you ended up drinking the same cocktail variation in completely different bars and cities.

sisundar in Austin

Best Bars and Bartenders (Mixologists?) for Serious cocktails

I'd say that peche is definately a small(but notable in my mind) step down in terms of technical execution from places like haddington's, Bar Congress and The Tigress. Plus its right next to an outdoor music area, so it gets pretty loud with random thumping on the walls, especially during weekends. It has one of the largest liquor selections in the austin area (though haddington's and bar congress aren't far behind), if that's of interest to you. Food at peche is about the same price/more expensive as Second Bar+Congress/Haddingtons, and not as good, IMO. Plus don't feel restricted by the list at any of these places - the bartenders are great and if you tell them what you want (either a classic cocktail or what flavours you like), they'll whip up something good which may or may not be on the menu. BTW, the drink you had, is a classic cocktail called the Last Word, I believe. You should be able to ask for it at any of these bars, and they'll whip it up for you.

The Tigress pub is probably one of my favourite spots to drink. It's great value for the quality of execution, the place has great charm and is in an interesting neighborhood. Pam doesn't go after the experimentative side of cocktails, and sticks with great execution of the classics. But it's TINY, so if you have a big group, especially on a weekend, its a no go. Plus, to the best of my knowledge, she stops serving at 11 pm.

I haven't been to Eastside Showroom or Fino recenty. However, both bars have lost some of their leading talent in the recent few months to Haddington's and Bar Congress, so I'm not sure about their quality now.

sisundar in Austin

Why is amercan artisanal cheese so pricy

Thanks for the detailed post; it was very educational and answered many of my questions about pricing. One of the key components to this pricing conundrum seems to be that many european cheeses sold here are just manufactured in much larger quantities than american artisanal cheese.

You mentioned that a lot of small production european cheeses are being sold here in the US for high prices too; I probably don't see many of them by virtue of my location (austin). Do you happen to know if their prices in europe are similarly high (i.e. would a small batch local artisanal cheese cost the equivalent of $40-50/lb in say france or switzerland?). I admit that I haven't done much research on this, but the conversations I've had with my european colleagues in general indicates significant sticker shock at the price of artisanal cheese here.

sisundar in General Chowhounding Topics

Why is amercan artisanal cheese so pricy

Nice to know it just wasn't my opinion...
$55/lb! That's an unconscionable price to me ( and it's probably gone up since then, if anything). I do love that cheese, and I understand that it probably costs a lot more than supermarket cheese to make, but that's still ridiculous. It's not like they're stuffing multiple grams of truffles or something in each round, and grape leaves aren't THAT expensive...

sisundar in General Chowhounding Topics

Why is amercan artisanal cheese so pricy

Maybe you're right, but what do you think the chances are that prices drop in a few years once these start-up costs are paid off? I say next to none.

Don't get me wrong, I love the american artisanal cheese movement, but I find it strange that my affordable cheese options have now become European artisanal cheese rather than american ones. Something about that doesn't feel right. Part of me feels that this is just some of these producers taking advantage of the eat local/slow food movement. But then what do I know.

I'd love for a cheese producer to come here and prove me wrong though. I'm honestly just looking for a plausible reason.

sisundar in General Chowhounding Topics

Why is amercan artisanal cheese so pricy

I was shopping for some cheese yesterday in my local cheese shop in austin, and was somewhat surprised by the bump in prices over the last year (last time I went cheese shopping was about a year ago). Most of the artisanal cheeses were well above $25 a pound, and it seemed like some of the most expensive were american cheeses, with rouge river blue topping out at an incredible (to me) $43/lb!

When I went to switzerland last year, I was able to procure high quality cheese (top notch guyere, alpenzeller and engelberg cheeses) for less than half the prices I'm seeing for good cheese stateside. I can somewhat understand european cheeses being expensive stateside(gotta pay shipping /import taxes,storage, etc.).But then why are american artisanal cheeses equally (or often significantly more) expensive, even though they shouldn't suffer similar costs? Switzerland is atleast as expensive as the US, so I'm having a tough time believing it costs a lot more to make cheese here than europe. Is it just a case of the cheesemongers/cheese producers charging what the market is willing to pay? Or am I missing something?

sisundar in General Chowhounding Topics

Flat White

I'm not aware of any shop that explicitly sells a flat white. Infact, having never been to australia/NZ, I've never officially ordered one. But from all descriptions I've read, it seems to be close to a well done latte/cappuccino with microfoamed milk (not milk foamed to peaks like many places). Some places describe it as a latte/cap with milk steamed to slightly lower temp than normal microfoamed, or with less air introduced to keep it "flatter: and less bubbly.

My recommendation would be to go to one of the better austin coffee shops like Once Over, Houndstooth, Cafe Medici , Frank's, etc., and order a latte/cap. If that's not close to what you want, just discuss how you want to modify the milk for your subsequent drinks (cooler, less foam, whatever). I'm sure they'd be glad to help, and I'm sure quite a few of the baristas in these places would have atleast heard of a flat white.

sisundar in Austin

expectations from old gewertzaminer?

I ended up trying the wine this evening, and as expected, it was not very flattering. I'm glad I didn't carry it back. The cork could not take any pressure, so when I tried to stick in a corkscrew, the cork just collapsed into the bottle.

After quickly decanting the bottle into another container, I noticed a strong sour note, along with some brett in the nose. Half a glass later, the rest of the bottle was a drainpour. While not infected, the wine was thin and flat, with no real flavour to speak of. The colour was quite gorgeous though, approaching that of a fine congac.

While not tasty, it was certaintly an educational experience. Thanks a lot to you all for your advice.

sisundar in Wine

Swiss Wine

I'm in Zurich for a week and a half, and I was interested in trying some swiss wine, since almost none of it makes its way to the US.

Does anyone here have particular recommendations with regards to regions/varietals/wine bars worth exploring? Maybe even daytrips to particular vineyards.

I generally like dry alsace-style rieslings for whites and southern rhone reds, if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance!

sisundar in Wine

expectations from old gewertzaminer?

Thanks for the notes; the ullage is about 1 inch, so close to your number.

I have a feeling that I should just drink it before leaving. If it ends up being bad, atleast I didn't have to haul it back.

sisundar in Wine

expectations from old gewertzaminer?

I'm presently in zurich, and I just made a trip up to the alsace region today. I managed to pick up a couple of vintage bottles at the wolferger winery.

One of them is a 1990 Grand Cru riesling that I have high hopes for. However, the other one is a 1976 Gewertzaminer. It has a dirty, caked bottle, nearly illegile laber, the whole works. The bottle says (cuvee de 75th aniversery), and it was produced and bottled at : cave vinivole d' egushiem et environs (Haut-Rhin).

Does gewertzaminer hold up this long? Apparanlty 1976 was an exceptional alsace vintage, so I'm hoping that helps. It also has significant ullage. Transporting it back to the us will be a bit painful, so if there's few hopes, I might just drink it here instead of taking it back for a special occasion.

Secondly, any transportation tips/requirements to ensure that bottles aren't too unhappy for the trip back to the US?

Thanks!

sisundar in Wine

Uchiko

I just dined at uchiko last evening and wanted to report in on my experience.

I dropped in at about 8:15 on a thursday, and was able to grab a bar seat, though the place seemed pretty packed. I ended up ordering the 5 course bar tasting menu. My pre-food drink was a glass of their sake ("bride of the fox"). This was probably the second time in my life I've had sake, and I really enjoyed this one. There was some nuttiness from the rice, but nice fruit to balance it out.

Since they've just been open, all their tasting menu dishes are off the regular menu. I guess this is understandable. They said they planned to do special dishes for these menus once things settle down.

I'm a (very) recent convert to meat and fish eating, so keep that in mind while reading this review.

1. kai jiru : Really great flavor in the tomato water. very well balanced acid, but the mussles seemed like an afterthough. I don't think they contributed much to the dish. Still very good overall.
2. cobia sashimi: One of the two best dishes of the night for me. The marinated cucumbers, pickled ginger and sauce were perfect. The cobia had great texture but not much flavour.
3. "chicken" karaage : the "chicken" was actually half of a cornish gamehen, with a chili sauce coating. The coating was a little too spicy for me, and the gamehen itseld didn't taste of anything special. The yuzu dipping sauce was quite tasty though. Probably the weakest dish for me.
4.take nabe: One of my two favorites of the night. basically a japanese risotto with mushrooms, a great seafood broth and a soft poached egg with bonito flakes on top. The rice and mushrooms were perfectly cooked, and the broth had great umami, and a bit of sweetness to balance the whole dish out well. The only complaint was that all the broth was absorbed in a few minutes and the dish felt very congealed after that.
5. Corn dessert: Nice concept, and pretty good flavour wise. I felt that there was a bit too much salt to rate it a great dessert. I really loved the corn caramel though.

So overall, as far as food goes, the meal was pretty good. My issues were more with the size and pricing of the meal. All the dishes were the full menu portions - which was too much for a tasting menu. I ate less than half of (3) and (4), and was still stuffed by the end.

The pricing seemed a little extreme to me. The menu was $69, which I computed was almost exactly the same price (just $3 less) than ordering each dish off the menu. What incentive is there to order a tasting menu then? I'd say cut the portions, and drop the price by 10-20 dollars.

Service was pretty attentive and descriptive. The staff was able and interested in answering all my questions (I was sitting at the bar). The only flaw was water service; I had to ask for a glass, and then ask for a refill explicitly everytime (even though it was obvious that my glass was empty).

sisundar in Austin

Aeropress in a coffeeshop

They don't regularly make coffee with it, but Once over coffee bar on S. 1st has an Aeropress behind it's bar. I'm sure if you went in and asked they'd make you a cup with it , especially if it's not super busy(I'm not sure all the baristas know how to use it; I know for sure one of the owners Rob does).

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the Aeropress, but YMMV.

sisundar in Austin

Espresso in Austin

About your claim that some of the roasters mentioned in this thread freeze their roasted beans before selling them, can you tell us which ones you've heard of indulging in this practice? I'd certainly like to know if that's the case...

sisundar in Austin

Espresso in Austin

You're certainly right; they've had a huge influence. I guess I never go there, because of the UT parking situation so they slipped from my mind. I'm sure there are others that I neglected to mention...

Do you happen to know what roaster they are using right now?

sisundar in Austin

Espresso in Austin

In my humble opinion, there are four places that in austin that do coffee right. We seem to be experiencing a coffee renaissance here; just over an year ago Cafe Medici was the only shop doing things right. Here they are in (my personal) order of preference.

1. Once Over coffee bar: Great coffee, and seriously nice baristas/owners. They use cuvee coffee primarily (though they will occasionally play around with other coffees on the side). The most consistent shop I've found in austin (which might be becasue there are only 4 baristas total that ever work there). Their signature espresso (dead fingers) is an interesting combination of brazil, guatemala and el salvadorian coffees. Flavour profile is mostly deep red fruits (cherries) along with dark chocolate. Not super bright (which a lot of newer espressos are). The baristas (especially one of the owners Rob) are always willing to chat about coffee and will give you every detail imaginable (including how long they rest thier espresso before using it!). Drip coffee is french press only.

2. Houndstooth coffee : Brand new shop opened around N Lamr and 45th by an ex-medici employee. USP : they use 3 great roasters (cuvee, Counter Culture and Intelligensia), and always have atleast 2 different espressos available. They serve meritage from Cuvee which is a very well balanced espresso - one of my favourites when done well. Their other offerings rotate around too much to describe, but I've had La Forza from Counter culture (exceptional super-dark roasted espresso) and the classic Black cat from Intelligesia. Shot quality has been inconsistent, but that might just be because the shop is new and juggling so many different coffees. Also do french press, syphon and pour overs

3. Cafe medici : The original specialy coffee shop in town, and still very good. Their signature espresso medici by cuvee is quite bright, sometimes over-assertively leaning onto the side of lemon/citrus. Plus over the last year or so with the guadalupe store and lots of new baristas, the quality isn't always consistent between baristas (no one pulls terrible shots, but there's certainly a differnce between some of the best guys (like lorenzo for example) and the others). Medici Notte (speical event with SO espresso and specialty drinks)is an interesting concept and well worth trying out. French press only for drip.

4. Frank's Coffee: Weird atmosphere- not very coffee-shop like. As far as the coffee goes, the head barista tyler is good. Not sure about the rest of the staff. They use Intelligensia out of chicago for their beans, and generally use black cat (a classic) as their espresso blend. Typically a very traditional,"safe" espresso - I've never been a huge fan of it's flavour profile. However, it's well executed and well above the average coffee shop fare. They also do french press, pour overs and syphon on weekends.

Obviously, different fans will put these shops in different orders. But I believe that most coffee enthusiats will agree with me that these are some of the top choices in austin.

One last note : S.Italian style is traditionally dark-raosted. You'll be hard pressed to find such a dark profile at most specialty coffee shops in austin (with the exception of some counter-culture roasts like La Forza).

-----
Counter Culture
Austin, TX, Austin, TX

sisundar in Austin