Off The Vine

John Noakes & Chef David Repp

It’s been a while since we’ve been in the VW Bus together as we tour the wine regions of the world.  The bus is tuned up and the weird smell from the back has been found and dealt with so sit back and fill up your wine glass because we’ve just crossed into the Rhone Valley—more specifically the Northern Rhone or as the French call it (Septentrionale) where expensive red wine (Syrah) is king and the terrain is steep and terraced. The soil is mostly granite. Let’s not get too bogged down in details. That’s what books are for. What Chef Dave Repp and I want to show you is a taste of the region both in your glass and on your plate—a mere peak inside the sub-regions of Cote-Rotie, Crozes-Hermitage, and Cornas that will spur you on to learn more…or maybe not. Either way it’s ok we won’t judge.

Beyond that in the next column we will drive into the much more expansive wine region of the southern Rhone where 90 percent of the wine from the Rhone as a whole is produced.

At the end of the German occupation of France a group of American and French soldiers were moving north from the Mediterranean, when they got close to the Southern Rhone Valley the French and Americans split up the region to search and explore for enemy remnants and artillery. Oddly enough the French took the east side of the Rhone River and the Americans took the western part of the Rhone. Seems like a simple random decision at first but as you dig deeper into the setup of some of the greatest vineyards France has to offer they were right on the path that the French would be patrolling. The French would never have left the Americans to trample through the best vineyards of the Rhone Valley all the while recklessly consuming some of the most expensive wines like so much beer. The French were simply protecting their national treasure that had almost been stolen away to Germany. What was the French protecting?

It was the varietal that is Syrah with its big lush fruit, and spice that is dark ruby to purple in color, tannic and at times unruly in its youth can range from simple solid red to almost purple-black having wild depth and concentration which is then capable of being tamed by Father Time into a harmonious lengthy wine that can stand up to any Bordeaux. Wow that was a long sentence but vitally necessary.

As we drive into Cote-Rotie you will notice the dangerously steep western slopes of the valley of Ampuis where the grapes must be carefully hand-picked by sure-footed workers…no wine drinking until after the day is done here. This wine sub-region which most likely pre-dates the Romans and until Marcel Guigal in the 1980’s brought this region and its magical wines to forefront of the wine world it remained a closely guarded secret of the wine elite. The wine is expensive and terrain is brutal yet beautiful. Onward my wine friends.

Now that we have gone through Cotes-Rotie with all of its glory and super-expensive red wine it’s time to roll into Crozes-Hermitage which produces fabulous Syrah in the shadow of the more opulent and expensive wines of Hermitage. Think of Crozes-Hermitage as Michael Jordan’s son who plays basketball and how his father played the game…now you get it.

Outside of the white wine made from the aromatic Marsanne and Roussanne grapes the majority of wine coming from Crozes is Red and Syrah. Relatively young to the world in terms of notoriety the 1990’s really saw the quality and quantity improve and be made more available to the wine-drinking world.  Wines from Crozes that can be drunk young will exhibit rich black fruit and go down nice and easy. Whereas the bigger more serious Syrah from the region which can age for 10 years can stand up to its big-brother syrah from Hermitage.

Another small growing region that deserves a quick mention and also produces wine in the shadow of Hermitage is the Cornas region just to the south. This little known region which can offer some better value for the dollar while still not inexpensive can really give you that big French Syrah experience with the lush black fruit, tannins and structure syrah drinkers crave in the cold winter months.

Everyone grab their glass and get back into the bus as we hit the old roads and beat a path to the Southern Rhone. It is there where Chateauneuf du Pape will be among the stops that we make throughout the region.

Of course you know Chef Repp wouldn’t come up with some mamby-pamby recipe. No sir, a big burly wine like French Syrah deserves a game animal and boy does the Chef have a doozy for you this week…definitely not for the faint of heart or stomach. Venison my friends…Venison, with bacon!

Suggested Wines:

Cote-Rotie, Domaine Clusel-Roch 2006, $62.99

Crozes-Hermitage, La Rollande 2005, $23.99

Cornas, Stephane Robert 2006, $39.99

Roasted Rack of Venison

3lb rack of venison

1/4 cup canola oil

4 cloves of garlic chopped

¼ cup fresh chopped rosemary

4 tbls Dijon mustard or enough to cover the rack

5 slices of bacon

1-1/2  cups red wine (Syrah)

4 cups beef or veal stock

1 cup of each: Celery, Carrots, Onion

Method:

1. Marinate the venison with the canola oil, chopped garlic, and rosemary 4 hours or overnight before cooking.
2. Preheat the oven to 425.
3. Heat a large sauté pan to very hot. Season the venison liberally with kosher salt and pepper.
4.  Add 1 tbls canola oil to the pan and sear the venison rack to create a nice brown crust, about  two minutes a side.
5. Remove the venison and smother the top with the Dijon mustard. Place the bacon lengthwise over the mustard.
6.  Add the carrots, onion, and celery to the pan. Place the venison over them and pour in the red wine
7. Roast the venison for 30 minutes at 425 then raise the temperature to 500 degrees and roast for 15 minutes more remove from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes.
8. Deglaze the pan with ¼ cup of red wine and then add 2 cups of low sodium beef broth to the pan reduce by half on high heat and strain. (For thicker sauce whisk in 1-2 tbls of wonder flour (super fine flour)

Off The Vine

John Noakes & Chef David Repp

Yes folks my favorite holiday is here—the one that requires no gifts to be given or received, no cards to mail, and no ugly ties to be returned. Thanksgiving is about as pure as a holiday can get. Food, wine and family

It brings families closer (at least for one day) and this includes, but is not limited to (feel free to fill in), significant others, in-laws, outlaws, siblings, parents, grandparents, and any combination of family that may or may not create indigestion, drunkenness and the silent treatment. Read more

Off The Vine

By: John Noakes & Chef David Repp

Chef Dave Repp and I were talking to each other about this week’s column and recipe as we usually do…through our people, because we’re so popular now that we are feuding like The Eagles and we only see each other and speak face to face at appearances. Such is the price of fame I guess. Of course I’m just joking; Chef Repp and I absolutely love working together and creating columns and recipes, and of course trying everything before it gets to your table or goblet (the hard part of our job).

We’ve decided that this week’s column will discuss beer since we are smack-dab in the middle of Oktoberfest, and that the recipe would cover how to make basic stocks (chicken/beef). With the upcoming Wine Walk-About series resuming there will invariably be many recipes that involve stocks so we want our readers to be prepared with your very own already made and sitting in the freezer stock, because everything tastes better when it’s homemade.

What do we know about Oktoberfest besides that it is another guilt-free drinking holiday whereby I am free to drink beer out of an enormously large stein (huge glass) and consume so many grilled German pork sausages (Würst) with spicy brown mustard that my cardiologist would have a heart attack just watching me? For most of us sadly that is all we know about this raucous holiday that lasts for 16 days from September into early October in Munich, Germany. Of course the women all look like the St. Pauli Girl with beer steins in hand and ready to serve. The men are stuffed into their snug fitting Lederhosen like Clark Griswald in National Lampoon’s European Vacation, and of course there are the endless sounds of the accordion and polka music (no wonder we have to drink so much beer!) Yes, yes that is all wonderful, but as you know with my column I love to teach and to learn so gather around friends, fill your steins with beer and let’s learn very quickly where and why Oktoberfest originated.

Oktoberfest was originally created to celebrate the marriage of King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Bavaria on October 18, 1810. The marriage and ensuing celebration was so grand and enjoyable that it was celebrated every year. One problem though, the weather in Germany is very unstable during mid to late October so it was pushed back to September and early October. By this point I imagine that you are already looking at the recipe so I’ll stop with the lesson and move on to some great Oktoberfest beers you should try this season.  Ayinger Oktober fest-Marzen (more full bodied and malty), Hofbrau Oktoberfest from Munich which is lighter in style and taste than Ayinger, and then there is Negra Modelo from Mexico…yes that’s right I said Mexico. It is the only German Dunkel-Lager style beer produced in Mexico.

Whichever beer you choose, the main point is that Oktoberfest is a great excuse to get all of your friends and family together to enjoy some good food, beer, and friendship in the great outdoors before the cold winter is upon us. Cheers!

BASIC CHICKEN STOCK

5 lbs chicken parts ,wings, backs, legs etc

1 medium onions peeled and chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs rinsed and chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tbls whole black peppercorns

3 quarts cold water

Put all the ingredients in a large soup and bring to a boil

Simmer for 1 ½ hours skimming any scum and oil

Strain through a fine sieve and cool

BASIC BEEF STOCK

5 lbs beef or veal bones

1 tbls canola oil

1 cup red wine

2 medium onions peeled and chopped

2 carrots peeled  and chopped

2 celery ribs rinsed and chopped

3 Tbls tomato paste

1 gallon cold water

2 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

1 tbls whole black pepper

2 bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 425

Place the bones on a medium sheet pan and roast in the oven for 1 hour

Mix the vegetables canola oil and tomato paste and spread around the bones

Keep roasting until the bones are nicely browned and vegetables are caramelized

When the bones are browned scrape them into a stock pot

Place the sheet pan on a burner and deglaze with the wine, scrape that into the pot

Add the water and herbs, bring to a quick boil then simmer for a least 4 hours

Strain through a fine sieve and cool