the nearly local sandwich

Strange enough, but this combination is delicious.

1. 2 pieces Matthews Whole Wheat Bread, toasted
   
2. Hawthorney Valley Lacto-fermented kim chee
   
3. Sprout Creek Farm Goat Cheese
   
4. Remembrance Farm Arugula
   

let's call it the Localvore-4!  

Vermont - it stays with you..

I was fortunate to visit an excellent client in Vermont this week.  During the trip, we ate at The Alchemist in Waterbury.  I arrived at 5:45 and the place was hopping; truly, just buzzing with good cheer.  It's rare to walk into a new establishment in a never-seen-before town and just feel comfortable.  We had housemade pickles, from local fall cukes and burgers from local cattle.  Just great food. Oh, and the beer is all made downstairs with fine, mineral-rich VT water.

Then, the next morning, we headed over to The Red Hen and had fresh out of the oven croissants made with butter from a dairy 40 miles away!  Honestly, it may have been the finest "thing" I've ever eaten.  

I don't think I eat as well anywhere in the world, like I do along I-89.

Glen Fiona was just OVERPOWERING

For a syrah, the Glen Fiona '97 Bacchus Vineyard Syrah was just big and fruity.  Any complexity and interesting characters were lost in the last ten years.  Too bad.  Interestingly, this is a wine that Glen Fiona no longer makes due to the sale of the vineyard.  

We enjoyed the wine over two days with a selection of fresh breads, local cheeses, and not-so-local olives. In any set, the syrah was neither delicious nor off-putting.  Too bad again - I'm looking forward to the first TRULY oxidized wine from our vault.

Heron Hill 1998 even better

Last week, we opened the Heron Hill Eclipse from 1999. That wine was delicious but somehow the 1998 tasted even better. We had it with good but standard pizza tonight and the wine and sauce sung together.  

Heron Hill had a deep black cherry taste and winy, in a good way.

Alban Vineyards amazed us!

Everything you hope for when cellaring a wine for 10 years came true with the Alban Reva Estate Syrah.  The wine was tasty. I could use strange terms, but all that really happens was "wow, this wine tastes really winy in a great way and has no discernible flaws."

Faith was restored earlier this week.