BostonZest

Our November Sparkler Is 2013 RMS Brut from Rollin Soles' ROCO Winery

We'll celebrate the first of November 2019 with a bottle of 2013 RMS Brut from Rollin Soles' ROCO Winery. This wine is very special to us because we have had the pleasure of meeting the winemaker and are longtime fans of his wines.

Howie Rubin from Bauer Wine & Spirits was kind enough to bring in a small stash of this limited supply wine and let us know when it arrived. He remembered how much we love the Argyle sparkling wines made under Rollin Soles' direction during his years as the winemaker at that outstanding vineyard. 

We were not about to wait for November 1st to try this wine! We've been looking forward to it since we heard that ROCO had released its first sparkler. Fortunately we had a birthday to celebrate and popped a cork on our first bottle. We'll open and enjoy another this evening.

Please notice the big, full wine glasses in the top photo. You want big glasses because this is a big wine in the tradition of the great Champagne houses. It is full of layers of flavor and exuberant bubbles. 

Here are Rollin's winemaker's notes:

“Seamless flavor has become an RMS Brut Hallmark.  Complex fruit mix of plum, red skinned apple, and yellow cherry is lifted upon bracing citrus acidity.  Aromas of cherry, and Anjou pear are framed by vanilla spiced, shortbread-like yeastiness. Despite high acidity, the mid-palate has a beautiful creamy, vanilla, and cracked yeast impression.  Sit back and savor the very long, fresh finish, another RMS Hallmark.” - Rollin Soles, Winemaker

We purchased our bottle on sale at Bauer Wine for ~$30. 

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month! Join our sparkling resolution with your own monthly toast.

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Our Sparkling Resolution

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

We'll Raise a Glass of Ca' di Rajo Lemoss Bianco Frizzante to October 2019

We are expecting good things from our October sparkler, Ca' di Rajo Lemoss Bianco Frizzante. It was a recommendation from Howie Rubin at Bauer Wine & Spirits. He's introduced us to many happy wine times across the years. It was good to welcome him back from his recent medical leave.

Howie said, "This wine ticks a lot of boxes." He's right and he knows our taste.

We love prosecco. Lemoss Bianco is made from 100% Glera grapes.

We love low alcohol. Lemoss Bianco checks in at 10.5% ABV

We enjoy a wine with a bit of personality. Lemoss Bianco is unfiltered and will be a bit cloudy in the glass. 

We love a wine with a good story. This wine is made in an old method for Proseccos called Col Fondo. Here's a link to an article from Wine Spectator that explains the different methods of making sparkling wines. In brief they explain, "A col fondo Prosecco starts with a base wine, then there is a secondary fermentation, but the distinguishing feature is that the wine is not disgorged—that is, the lees are left inside the bottle."

We like easy to open wines. Lemoss Bianco has the crown cap that was put on for its second fermentation. It was never disgorged and changed to a cork. 

We trust specific importers. This one was imported by one of our favorites, Oz Wines!

We purchased our bottle at Bauer Wine & Spirits.

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Join us and raise a glass to October 2019!

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Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast...

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Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Toasting September with Franck Besson Sparkling Rose Granit NV

Franck Besson Sparkling Rose Granit is a wine with a great story and we love having a great wine story to enjoy along with the glass of wine as we toast the month of September. Happy New Month!

We'll let the importer Oz Wines tell the tale.

"Franck's estate is located near the town of Jullié at the foothill of the Cru Juliénas and on the terroir of Beaujolais-Villages.  Since 2010, the estate has transitioned to organic farming in order to be coherent with work in the vines and in the cellar. Revolted by the bad image affecting the appellation Beaujolais-Villages, Franck decided to innovate and produce Rosé and Blanc de Noir sparkling wines in order to prove the potential of the Gamay grapes on our granitic slopes. Elaborated with the traditional method, as they do in Champagne, his sparkling wines are aged 12 months on wooden racks in the estate in order to get the fineness of a great Champagne!"

 

Here's a wine buying lesson we can share. Always read the back label. This one was on a rack at a favorites shop where we have often found hidden treasures. The front was unassuming, the price was good, but the decision to buy was made when we saw the OZ Wines name on the back.

Always notice the importer. Ask your server to show you the back of the bottle every time you enjoy a wine. Soon you'll find a few importers whose tastes are in line with yours and you'll have another way to select wines from a shelf or a wine list. If you are in a place that is staffed with knowledgeable servers, you can always ask, "Do you have something from Oz Wines that you can recommend?" Of course, you can insert any importer you like into that question.

 

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Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Fennel Tips and Tidbits

We learned a few interesting things about fennel when we researched this vegetable.

In her book, Nigella Fresh: Delicious Flavors on Your Plate All Year Round, Nigella Lawson suggests substituting thin slices of fennel for the cucumber in a typical Greek salad.

We include fennel in our plate of salad ingredients. Since we may not be ready to eat at the same moment, Penny likes to prep and arrange the additions so we can add them to our greens.

She finds it helps the salad stay fresh longer while still adding a cool taste and crunch.

Our favorite vegetable reference book is Deborah Madison’s “Vegetable Literacy” in which she reminds us that fennel is a member of the carrot family and, unless you have an old, tough bulb or want the petals to fall apart, there is no need to remove the core before you slice the bulb.

The online, Real Food Encyclopedia offers these fun facts about fennel:

• “Pliny The Elder, the ancient Roman author famous for his sweeping encyclopedia, ‘Natural History,’ mentions fennel numerous times as a treatment for stomach ache, to care for the ‘stings of serpents,’ for uterus health and as a treatment for a bunch of other ancient Roman maladies.”
• “In some places in the US, fennel has become an invasive species.”
• “Thomas Jefferson once proclaimed Florence fennel his favorite vegetable.”

More on fennel here in part one of our fennel research.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018- 2019 Penny Cherubino 
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

Fennel in a Supporting Role

Recently, Ed discovered that he actually likes fennel. We were sharing a lobster roll at Select Oyster Bar.

(Yes, that is half of the lobster roll and salad.)

He was digging into the salad that’s served with it and asked about the thin slices of some vegetable scattered among the lettuce leaves. When told it was fennel, he was surprised.

His father loved to chomp on big hunks of raw fennel and tasting it that way had put him off this licorice flavored bulb. Ed didn't realize that he had been enjoying a milder version of fennel’s flavor in a supporting role in some of his favorite meals for years.

Bulbs and Fronds

Fennel is a staple in our vegetable bin. Thin slices of fresh fennel bulb are in many of our favorite fish recipes like fish chowder or fish baked in parchment packets. When we serve a fish topped with a breaded stuffing, there is fennel in that mixture. If there’s a piece of fennel that needs to be used, it may go in any soup from chicken to minestrone. Chopped fennel fronds often appear in his salads, stir fries, and stews.

This salad of thinly sliced asparagus and shaved fennel with lemon juice, capers, and lemon olive oil became a spring favorite for both of us this year.

Both fennel and fennel seeds are among the ingredients in one bolognese sauce recipe we love!

Fennel Seed

Fennel seeds are in our homemade chutneys, ground in the spice blend for our favorite grilled salmon, and we even make our own teabags for a spiced tea that contains fennel seed. Most of the time, we gently toast the seeds in a dry pan to bring out the maximum flavor before adding them, ground in a little coffee grinder or mortar and pestle or whole, to a recipe.

You’ll often find fennel seeds coated with sugar as you leave Indian restaurants. In that culture they are considered an aid in digestion after a big meal.

Do your own research and be very cautious when using concentrated forms of a spice like fennel seed. They have long been used for their therapeutic value. However, just like manufactured drugs, they may interact with other medications or have their own physical side effects.

For example, fennel can have an impact on estrogen levels and may interact with any medication that is sensitive to estrogen levels such as birth control pills or tamoxifen. We rely on the Sloan Kettering database of "Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products" for solid information about this topic.

In part 2, we pass on some fennel tips and tidbits.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018- 2019 Penny Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

Toasting July with Szigeti Grüner Veltliner Brut

On a recent check of our wine rack, we remembered enjoying a few bottles of Szigeti Grüner Veltliner Brut  over the years. We first toasted with this back in 2011. It's time to share the remaining bottle with friends at our July 1st toast to a Happy New Month. 

This wine is from Austria and is made from 100% Grüner Veltliner grapes. This is a grape we turn to when we're eating foods that are difficult to pair with wine, like salads, asparagus, or artichokes. It's a food-friendly wine, also perfect with seafood, oysters, fried, salty, fatty dishes. As a grape we just enjoy, we often try any bottle we spot by a new producer on a wine list. 

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

This is another wine from a trusted importer, Winebow.   If you ever see us shopping for wine, you'll notice us reading the back labels to see who selected this wine to import or distribute. When in doubt, we opt for someone who has introduced us to wonderful wines in the past.

 

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Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast...

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny Cherubino 

Seasonal Farmers Market Opening Dates 2019 Summer to Fall

Here is our round up of the summer farmers markets opening dates around Boston. We visited the Copley Market's opening day today and it reminded us to share this list with our BostonZest readers.

Early in the market season, we enjoy dishes like “Asparagus Two Ways.” Here it is roasted and starring in a simple salad of shaved asparagus, fennel, and capers.

Boston Public Market News
The Boston Public Market (BPM) headquartered at 100 Hanover Street, will have outdoor markets in three locations. In addition to their popular Dewey Square market (near South Station) they will have a market on City Hall Plaza and in the Seaport.

What Is There to Buy at Early Markets?
You can expect a selection of storage, greenhouse, and hoop house produce at early farmers markets: mushrooms, potatoes, scallions, spinach, lettuce, and greens. In June we can hope to see strawberries, asparagus, beets, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, peas, and radishes.

Naturally we’ll also be offered meat, poultry, seafood, maple syrup, honey, dairy, cheese, and eggs which are not seasonal in the same way as plant-based goods.

Here are opening dates for the 2019 area seasonal markets:

Boston Public Market: Open daily, year-round 

May Markets
South End/SoWa: Open Market: May 5th (Sundays)
Copley Square: May 10th (Tuesdays & Fridays)
Egleston Jamaica Plain: May 11th (Saturdays)
Central Square, Cambridge: May 13th (Mondays)
Boston Public Market at Dewey Square: May 14th (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Cambridge Center (Kendall MBTA): May 15th (Wednesdays)
Davis Square, Somerville: May 15th (Wednesdays)
Jamaica Plain (677 Centre Street): May 18th (Saturdays)
Union Square, Somerville: May 18th (Saturdays)
Boston Public Market at City Hall Plaza, May 21 (Tuesdays)

June/July Markets
Roslindale/Adams Park: June 1st (Saturdays)
Boston Public Market at the Seaport (85 Northern Ave.) June 5th (Wednesdays)
Brookline/Coolidge Corner: June 6th (Thursdays)
Harvard University Farmers Market, Cambridge: June 11th (Tuesdays)
Charlestown: Thompson Square at Main & Austin Street, June-October (Wednesdays)
East Boston/Central Square: July 3rd (Wednesdays)

What's on your food lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)