Ramps!  Like snails, single malt scotch or sweet breads, you either love ‘em or hate ‘em.

Maybe it’s because of my familial ties to the ramp capitol of the world – Richwood, West Virginia – but I really do love those little odiferous lilies that dot the mountains of our wild and wonderful state this time of year.

The stories about Richwood and ramps are many, outrageous and sometimes true. The late Jim Comstock, publisher of the now defunct West Virginia Hillbilly, chronicled many of them in his newspaper. He is also responsible for literally creating a national stink when he added ramps to the printers ink for one edition of the newspaper. The US Postal service was not amused, but it sure did put his town and ramps on the map.

My paternal grandparents hailed from that little mountain village fast by the shores of the Cherry River, and I spent many happy summers there, escaping the heat and humidity of Clarksburg in the days before air-conditioning. I don’t remember ever having been exposed to the little lilies back then, but I do remember my first experience with them.

I was in the US Army at the time and home on leave, enjoying a few days with my family before heading off to Southeast Asia to defeat communism. One evening, my next door neighbor brought over a six pack (or so) of beer and a mess of ramps.  He suggested the best way to enjoy the little veggies was to sprinkle them with salt and eat them raw – which we did until the wee hours of the morning

Well, I awoke that spring morning to a home in which every window and door had been opened. My mother was outside with an industrial size container of Lysol and was spraying the stuff into the house from each window. The moral of the story:  For the protection of mankind, don’t ever drink beer and eat raw ramps unless you are encased in a hazmat suit.

This time of year, just about every town in our state features a ramp feed at which people are introduced (many for the first time) to over-ripe and under-cooked ramps. After experiencing the culinary massacre of ramps by those who fry them in lard or bacon grease and add them to potatoes or (worse) pinto beans, people leave the events belching and flatulent, vowing never to get within a country mile of a ramp.   

However, I implore you:  don’t give up on ramps just yet.  Today, I want to offer a recipe for your consideration that uses the pungent flavor of  ramps as just a nuance to a pasta dish which is enhanced by the accompaniment of full-flavored  sauvignon blanc.

Shopping list:

–          a small bunch of ramps

–          asparagus  

–          thick sliced bacon

–          extra virgin olive oil

–          one-pound of capellini

–          red pepper flakes

–          grated pecorino-romano cheese

–          salt and pepper to taste

       1. Dice four pieces of bacon and sauté it in a frying pan over low heat until it is crisp. Then remove the bacon and allow it to drain on paper towels.

       2. Drain off all but about two tablespoons of bacon fat and add two ounces of extra virgin olive oil to the pan.

    3. Clean and dice a small bunch of ramps (eight or ten). Reserve the green parts for later and sauté the white parts along with one-quarter pound of cleaned and diced asparagus tops in the bacon fat and olive oil until the veggies are tender.

    4. Cook the pasta (al dente) in a large pot of boiling water to which you have added a teaspoon of salt.

    5. When the pasta is done, add a quarter cup of the cooking liquid along with the pasta to the frying pan with the ramps and asparagus.

    6. To the pan, add the bacon, the pecorino romano and the red pepper flakes and integrate the mixture over low heat.

    7. Now add the reserved (and chopped) green ramp tops to the mixture and serve.

This ramp and asparagus pasta dish would be well served by a crisp, yet round,   sauvignon blanc. The grassy, herbal and melon flavor components of sauvignon blanc, especially ones from New Zealand, go exceptionally well with vegetables like asparagus that has been flavored with ramps (or even garlic).  

2007 Villa Maria  ($17); 2008 Nobilo Icon   ($22); 2008 Whitehaven   ($17); 2007 Geyser Peak ($13); and 2008 Kim Crawford ($20).

A superb wine for your sipping pleasure: 

2005 Ramon Bilbao Rioja ($15) – I love the wines of Rioja in northern Spain and this special 100 percent tempranillo is a real stunner! With 14 months in oak, the wine has a nose of vanilla, leather and cola. On the palate, bright, ripe cherries give way to a rich, round, toasty mouthful of Rioja that lingers on the finish.  You need to try this wine with roasted meat such as tenderloin of pork which has been rolled in rosemary, garlic, crushed black pepper, sea salt and olive oil.

Wine and Food Events 

Join the good folks at Bridge Road Bistro on Tuesday, April 21^st for a reception and special dinner featuring the wines of France.  Olivier Lotterie of Vineyard Brands will describe the wines which have been specially selected to match the multi-course meal.

The reception begins at 6 p.m. followed immediately by dinner. Cost of the dinner is $69 (plus tax and gratuities) per person. To make reservations, call the Bistro at 304-720-3500. 

 Canaan Wine Weekend 

Just about every six months, I have the pleasure of participating in and presenting at a wine weekend event at Canaan Valley Resort in the mountains of wild and wonderful West Virginia.  The fourth version of this mountain gourmet extravaganza will take place May 8^th and 9^th at the lodge on the grounds of the Tucker County state park.

I’ll select wines from around the world that will be paired with a cornucopia of culinary delicacies prepared by Canaan Valley Resort’s executive chef Nemat Odeh.  Chef Odeh, who received his culinary training in Europe, knows a thing or two about food and is also adept at working with wine – and picky wine guys like me. 

Here’s the schedule: Friday,  May 8 at 7 p.m.: Guests will kick-off the weekend with a “taste-around reception” where  more than 20 wines from the world’s most prestigious regions can be sampled with matching culinary treats, including crab cakes, beef tenderloin, smoked salmon, pasta, a raw bar, desserts  and other treats.  This wine and food “graze around” is a wonderful way to evaluate wine with food. In fact, I always seem to experience a wine and food “epiphany moment” at these informal taste arounds.  

The next day at 11a.m., yours truly will conduct an educational wine tasting and seminar followed by a delicious luncheon with specially selected wines. Chef Odeh will then conduct a nutrition and culinary demonstration after which guests can enjoy an afternoon of activities or take a nap and get ready for evening ahead.  

Saturday evening’s activities begin at 7 p.m. with the multi-course Grand Gourmet Dinner with accompanying wines.  The menu includes Lobster Martini, Tabouilli Salad in a Cucumber Boat, Duck Cake with Tomato Lavender Marmalade, Steamed Pacific Cod with Napa Roasted Tomatoes, Braised Veal Shank with Morel Mushroom Risotto, and Baked Alaska with Huckleberry Puree.

Guests have the option of attending the entire weekend for a package price, or choosing to participate in individual events ala carte. For pricing and additional information or reservations call 800-622-4121.  I hope to see some of you at this great event.

My good friend Rich Ireland , author of the eminently informative “Beers To You”  blog,  is a passionate proponent of all aspects of the stuff of which he writes.   Not satisfied  that he has almost single-handedly improved the number, quality and  availability of craft beers in the state, he also insists that we (and those who serve us) observe proper suds etiquette.  

In fact, his recent blog taking to task one of my favorite area  restaurateurs  for having the audacity  to serve beer in an iced tea glass got me thinking.  I should probably be more observant and critical regarding  the myriad wine-related faux pas committed each day by well-intentioned, but under- educated, wine lovers.

However, I must admit, when it comes to following rules of etiquette, I am a swine.  Just ask my wife.  In my rush to experience the sensory pleasures of certain liquids, I sometimes take shortcuts that might be as egregious a sin as eating with my bare hands. But, as someone who has served time in Catholic school, I am a great believer in redemption.

 So, from now on, I hereby give fair warning that I will be on the lookout for those of you in my line of sight who do not observe the rules (see below) of proper wine etiquette.

Rule #1 – Never drink from a wine skin that is made from the following animals:  anacondas; skunks; wombats; flying squirrels (still on endangered list); frogs; coyotes; muskrats; aardvarks; ring-tailed lemurs; porcupines; llamas; or hyenas. The best wine skins are still made from mature sheep by celibate shepherds.

Rule #2 – Only swirl wine in the proper direction – time depends on this! It is absolutely essential for people in the northern hemisphere to swirl wine in a counter-clockwise direction while those living south of the equator swirl in a clockwise fashion.  If everyone swirled in the same direction, time would either go faster or slow down. This does happen occasionally which accounts for why so many people experience déjà-vu while others seem to be getting ahead of themselves.

Rule #3 – Snorting wine is not yet approved by the American Oenophile Association – so don’t do it in public.  I’ve noticed more and more folks in restaurants who have taken to snorting instead of sipping wine. While this can certainly be therapeutic for those with sinus problems, I still feel sipping is a better way to evaluate wine –though I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.     

Rule #4 – Inappropriate cork behavior.  Corks should only be used for their intended purpose. Once a cork is pulled from a bottle and presented to you by the sommelier, it should be treated with respect. It can be sniffed, but should almost never be eaten.  And  please refrain from charring the  end of the cork to paint a moustache on your tablemate.    How appalling!

Rule #5 – Please do not drink from the dump bucket at formal wine tastings.  I know…. the protagonist in “Sideways” did this at a tasting room in the Santa Rita Hills.  But real life is not a movie!! While it is acceptable wine etiquette to spit, rather than swallow wine at a tasting, it is not appropriate (nor sanitary) to pour yourself a glass of wine from the dump bucket (unless the tasting is of First Growth Bordeaux).      

So Rich, I hope this demonstrates that I can be a stickler for, and enforcer of, all the wine rules. As a matter of fact, I suggest we meet down at the Southside Bridge and toast each other with a wine skin full of  spoody-oody! For those of you unfamiliar with this tasty treat, a spoody-oody is comprised of equal parts of  beer and wine and is best consumed under a full moon.  

My brother-in-law (let’s just call him Uncle Bunk)  is a really good guy. I say this with conviction and affection because, in addition to his winning personality, good humor and great character (and believe me he is a great character), he occasionally surprises me with gifts of wine.  And I ask you:  what better measure of character is there? 

Anyway, several years ago Uncle Bunk presented me with bottle of wine that, to this day, remains one of my “go to” reds when I need something I can count on to compliment the full flavored or heavily seasoned foods that regularly grace the table in my home.

Some of you who have read my vinous tomes over the years know of my fondness for full-flavored purple zins. However, you might be surprised to find out zinfandel is not the wine to which I refer.   No, that wine would be Valpolicella!  Valpolicella? you ask incredulously.  Yes, but not just any Valpolicella.  I’m talking about Valpolicella on steroids and made in the ripasso (or ripassa) method.  

Valpolicella is located in northeastern Italy’s Veneto region and has, along with its neighbor Soave, gotten very little respect from the wine cognicenti. In recent years, that has changed and now both regions have begun to produce some exceptional wines. And while we’re talking today about Valpolicella, you might try the Gini Soave Classico ($17), a round and rich white that is nicely balanced and would make a great accompaniment to baked flounder stuffed with lump crabmeat. But I digress.   

Valpolicella is made from corvina, rondinalla and molinara  grapes, all of which produce light to medium-bodied red wines that can be very pleasant quaffs.  Valpolicella becomes something more, though, when a process called ripasso  is employed during the wine making process. First though, it is necessary to tell you about Amarone which is like ripasso’s bigger brother. (more…)

Lately, I seem to be on a white wine tear.  Maybe it’s because I feel that sipping a nice, refreshing white will hasten the approach of spring, or maybe I’m just tired of the plethora of ponderous reds I’ve been drinking lately. Whatever the reason, I have had the delightful experience of tasting more than a few excellent whites recently, and that’s put a smile on this haggard face.

It started with a glass of 2007 Liberty School Chardonnay ($15) at Soho’s a couple of weeks ago. Liberty School (formerly the second label of Caymus) has always been a reasonably priced wine, and this chardonnay was more creamy than tropical fruit driven, making it a good match to my slab of gorgonzola-stuffed chicken. 

Next, as is often my custom, I was rooting around the cellar for a white sipping wine to enjoy before the obligatory red with dinner when I came upon a bottle of 2006 Oxford Landing Viognier ($14) from
Australia.

Since this wine was almost three years old, I was a little concerned that it might have lost the apricot, honeysuckle and melon flavors that were the most impressive features of this bottle. However, while the fruit component of the wine had mellowed out a bit, the flavors actually seemed even more intense.  I liked it so much I forgot about the red and finished the bottle over dinner – with a little help from my wife of course. By the way, viognier makes an excellent aperitif wine and it does quite well with Asian dishes that feature a little heat.

The next white to please this jaded palate was presented to me at one of Bluegrass Kitchen’s Tuesday evening wine flight tastings.  Wine enthusiast Gary Thompson and Bluegrass owner Keeley Steele were offering a flight of New Zealand wines that night and I was truly impressed with the 2007 Villa Maria Riesling ($18).

 From New Zealand’s Marlborough district, this off-dry style riesling (that means just slightly sweet) is a wine with loads of citrus and melon flavors, an underlying minerality and bracing, but balanced, acidity. I liked it so much I ordered another glass to accompany my porcini-crusted Puget Sound halibut the restaurant was highlighting that evening.

Is your mouth watering yet?  Well, hang on because the next wine I’m about to describe is about as true to its style as is earthly possible. 

I believe it’s fair to say that not many of us drink white Bordeaux on a regular basis. However, I think you might be willing to add these lovely wines to your shopping list if you give the 2007 Chateau Graville-Lacoste  ($21)a try.  Why? Well, first of all 2007 was an excellent vintage for white Bordeaux. The customary grapes used to produce the wine are semillon and sauvignon blanc with just a touch of muscadelle.

In addition, this particular wine typifies the best of what you can expect from white Bordeaux. While hints of grass and citrus are evident in the aroma (typical of sauvignon blanc), the wine has very complex flavors of anise, melon and minerals when you put it in your mouth. That’s the effect of semillon – an under used and under appreciated white grape that I really love.

The Graville-Lacoste is restrained, yet it has ripe fruit flavors and is perfectly balanced. I paired it with roasted North Atlantic cod that had been seasoned with lemon, butter and just a touch of truffle salt. 

I think spring has arrived!

I bet when most folks think of Beaujolais, they think of that frothy, grapy new wine called Beaujolais Nouveau that is released with great fanfare in France each year around the middle of November.

Beaujolais Nouveau is a fun wine full of fresh strawberry fruit flavors (it’s only about two months old when it arrives) that is more a celebration than an exercise in fine wine drinking.  Most Nouveau is relatively inexpensive (around $10 to $15 a bottle) and is meant to be drunk within the year after bottling. 

In the last decade or so, importers have gotten Nouveau to the US within a day or two of its release in France, and so now we Americans also celebrate the “new” wine. In fact, a few local wine shops have Beaujolais Nouveau “barrel” tastings each November.

Today I’ll tell you about the other Beaujolais wines that, while less known, are considered far superior to Nouveau. Don’t get me wrong. I really do enjoy Beaujolais Nouveau in all its frothy, fruity glory. However, I think most folks don’t realize there are also some serious wines being made in this region just to the south of Burgundy.

Beaujolais is produced from a grape called gamay. Gamay is a lighter pigmented red grape that, when allowed to soak for extended periods on its skins, can produce a medium and, in some rare instances, full bodied wine.

Beaujolais lies just south of the Macon region of Burgundy. From there, it descends south along a 34-mile stretch of rolling hills and ends near the famous Rhone wine region of Cote Rotie.  In addition to Beaujolais Nouveau, you will see wines labeled Beaujolais, Beaujolais Superior or Beaujolais Villages and these can be decent to very good wines. While I do enjoy these wines, the best of Beaujolais are much more serious wines and some can actually improve with bottle age for up to ten years. 

The best wines of the Beaujolais region are known as Cru (which means “growths” in French).  Crus are named after the villages around which the grapes are grown.  There are ten Cru Beaujolais. You may see a wine labeled Morgon (the name of a Cru village) in large type with the year and producer (i.e., “Georges Duboeuf”) in smaller type.

The ten Cru Beaujolais are:  Brouilly, Chenas, Chiroubles, Cote de Brouilly, Fleurie, Julienas, Morgon, Moulin-a-Vent, Regnie and Saint Amour. Each of these Crus produces distinctly different Beaujolais from very light and delicate (i.e., Chiroubles and Fleurie) to fuller-bodied wines (i.e., Moulin a Vent and Morgon).

Like Burgundy, it is very important to select your Beaujolais from reputable producers and shippers. Among the most prominent of these are:  Joseph Drouhin, Duboeuf, Louis Jadot, Louis Latour, Prosper Maufoux, Bouchard Pere et Fils and St. Vincent. Unlike Burgundy, Cru Beaujolais is reasonable priced ($15-$30 a bottle).   

In matching the wine to food, I suggest you use the Crus Beaujolais like you would a light to medium-bodied pinot noir.  The beauty of the wine the gamay grape produces to me is its deep floral qualities and cherry, berry flavors. I particularly like to pair a good Moulin a Vent with roast tenderloin of pork.