WTN: Fried chicken and wine excess at Soul Flavors

Caught up with Ramon Cabrera, Jeff Grossman and Jay Miller at Soul Flavors in Jersey City for southern food (mostly fried chicken... oh my, was that amazing!) and some fantastic wines. Not a clunker in the bunch, with everything drinking very well and matching very nicely with the dishes we ordered (though again, mostly fried chicken).

2002 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese
Still very young, but really impressive with smoky, minerally and floral notes around a core of fresh red fruits and peaches. It's quite primary in the mouth, but the balance is incredible with really good acidity and fantastic length; this seems like a wine to follow for a lot longer (though with air it was really stunning).

2001 Domaine Francois et Antoine Jobard Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru
Tight at first with faint smoky and minerally aromatics leading into a palate full of stone, chalk and bright acidity - but with air this opens out nicely as fresh pear and white fruited flavours emerge and this gains richness, though still retaining the bright acidity and energy it had from the start. Very nice (and thankfully not premoxed!).

1985 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières
Beautiful stuff. Amazing aromatics that start out leafy and herbal with touches of green pepper, but expand and develop with air as red fruited, forestal and leathery/faintly bretty flavours emerge. Very polished and silken in the mouth with tannins perfectly integrated, bright acidity keeping it very fresh and elegant, and a lightness of touch I don't often find in many red wines. (Plus - birthyear Cabernet Franc, so I'm even more inclined to like it. Thanks Jay!)

1998 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie
Dear god, what a nose. This is like the Platonic ideal of Côte-Rôtie: pork, red fruits, olives and violet/peppery accents all combining into one amazing scent. The taste is no different; equal parts fruit and meat with some spicy seasonings and a very polished, elegant frame beneath with bright acids keeping it very fresh and tremendous balance and length. Amazing wine!!

1998 Domaine Alain Burguet Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
A wow nose right from the start; mingling spicy, floral, meaty and leathery accents over bright red and dark fruited flavours. This conveys incredible depth and complexity of flavour with barely any sense of weight and an incredibly finessed, elegant mouthfeel with all components perfectly resolved and in balance - beautiful wine, and I really need to seek out more from this producer.

1996 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin
Still very primary, though quite impressive right now - there's a core of fresh black cherry fruit accented with spice and earth, impressive tannin and acid structure and serious length. That said it's still very youthful and giving the impression there's a lot more in its future.

2008 Müller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Spätlese
Spätlese my ass; this is near BA in terms of ripeness and sweetness. Explosive tropical fruit and floral aromatics; incredibly ripe and powerful but not showing the depth that other bottles I've opened have. Still, this is delicious with serious power, intensity and fantastic acidity balancing the whole package.

[James Roscoe]

Rieslings, Pinots, and Rhones are excellent matches for fried chicken. Well done!

nice lineup, wish I could have been there!

1985 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières
Beautiful stuff. Amazing aromatics that start out leafy and herbal with touches of green pepper, but expand and develop with air as red fruited, forestal and leathery/faintly bretty flavours emerge. Very polished and silken in the mouth with tannins perfectly integrated, bright acidity keeping it very fresh and elegant, and a lightness of touch I don't often find in many red wines. (Plus - birthyear Cabernet Franc, so I'm even more inclined to like it. Thanks Jay!)

Sounds good. I assume he got this from the recent Chambers load. I considered some of them, as it is a very nice pleasure to have aged Loire cabernet franc. I had a few of these 1980s Bretons in the mid-2000s and thought they were fun and respectable if not mindblowing. But I haven't had any since.

The aged nose on these wines is pretty fun huh. There is of course that bottle-to-bottle brett variation but sounds like yours wasn't too bad.

1985 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières
Beautiful stuff. Amazing aromatics that start out leafy and herbal with touches of green pepper, but expand and develop with air as red fruited, forestal and leathery/faintly bretty flavours emerge. Very polished and silken in the mouth with tannins perfectly integrated, bright acidity keeping it very fresh and elegant, and a lightness of touch I don't often find in many red wines. (Plus - birthyear Cabernet Franc, so I'm even more inclined to like it. Thanks Jay!)

Sounds good. I assume he got this from the recent Chambers load. I considered some of them, as it is a very nice pleasure to have aged Loire cabernet franc. I had a few of these 1980s Bretons in the mid-2000s and thought they were fun and respectable if not mindblowing. But I haven't had any since.

The aged nose on these wines is pretty fun huh. There is of course that bottle-to-bottle brett variation but sounds like yours wasn't too bad.

Yes, Jay mentioned that this was an ex-chateau bottle that's still available at Chambers. This was a good bottle, and iirc may have been the oldest Lore red that I have had. I loved the mature cab franc herb nose that got more expressive over the course of the evening and was complementary of the elegant and rustic taste. I'm a fan.

[James Roscoe]

Does anyone else think Soul Food aka Southern cooking, is an under appreciated style of food that pairs well with a lot of under appreciated (i.e. geeky) wines?

Does anyone else think Soul Food aka Southern cooking, is an under appreciated style of food that pairs well with a lot of under appreciated (i.e. geeky) wines?

Acidic wines cut through fatty foods. So in that sense, sure.

Although I don't think the Burgundies or Cote Rotie they had are very under appreciated

[James Roscoe]

Does anyone else think Soul Food aka Southern cooking, is an under appreciated style of food that pairs well with a lot of under appreciated (i.e. geeky) wines?

Acidic wines cut through fatty foods. So in that sense, sure.

Although I don't think the Burgundies or Cote Rotie they had are very under appreciated

I agree, but I was thinking more of the Gamays, Rieslings, Chenins, Dolcettos, etc.... that are beloved by those of us who tread the wine boards.

Does anyone else think Soul Food aka Southern cooking, is an under appreciated style of food that pairs well with a lot of under appreciated (i.e. geeky) wines?

It depends. A lot of the food at that particular restaurant (for example the pork ribs) is just too sweet for most wines.

And as Ramon mentions that Breton was from CSW - needed about 15-30 minutes to open and started fading after 2-3 hours but was beautiful in the interim (though a terrible match with the Caesar Salad). Like a dried bud slowly blossoming into full flower before fading away.

Soul Flavors, Jersey City
With Salil, Jay and Jeff
10/15/2010

Salil and Jay organized a Friday night dinner at Soul Flavors. I had very good fried chicken dish and an excellent starter of Ceasar salad with 2 chunks of amazing cornbread croutons. Against Jeff’s suggestion, I ordered the 3-piece fried chicken entrée instead of the 5-piece. In any case, with my half-order salad, the 3-piece proved to be just right … without me having to lug home a take-out bag of 2 extra chicken pieces. I’ll just have to go back to Soul Flavors for more of that delicious chicken and perhaps order the other appealing stuff on the menu It was a good evening for a good casual meal, great wines and it was nice to be able to catch-up and exchange banters with the group.


The whites:

2002 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese, Nahe
Sulfur, ripe citrus nose. Excellent approach featuring lemon, honeyed hard candy, soft minerals, nicely balanced, and an easy crowd-pleaser. Drunk well with my Caesar salad. B+/A-

2001 Dom. Francois et Antoine Jobard Meursault Blagny 1er Cru, Burgundy
My 2nd bottle in a month and (thankfully and fingers-crossed) no premox. High but gentle acidity, lime notes, shows young, racy and still quite delicate. B+

2008 Muller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Spatlese, Pfalz
A little too sweet, lots of citrus and some slate. A good sipping wine, not as food-friendly as the Donnhoff nor the Jobard. Perhaps, could further benefit from more bottle aging? B

The reds:

1985 Catherine et Pierre Breton “Les Perrires” Bourgueil, Loire Valley
Loved the smell of that cab franc roasted herb, plus other complexity. The bottle is in good shape, ex-chateau purchased from a local NY store. Medium bodied, nice bursts of acidity from ripe cherries. Slight harshness (not a bad thing within the wine’s structure) from the rustic herb taste. My first aged/mature Bourgueil and I thought it was quite impressive. B+

1998 Dom. Jamet Cote-Rotie, Northern Rhone
Tannin, big and full, power, and layers of nice blueberries enveloping the rounded middle. Nicely-restrained intensity. A wine that can demand and will get plenty of respect for being well-crafted. My fried chicken dish perked-up and would have stood up and happily “clucked” at this pairing. A-

1998 Dom. Alain Burguet “Vieilles Vignes” Gevrey-Chamberin, Burgundy
Leafy, earthy, leathery nose. Soft fruit, earthy and has that rustic and nicely-restrained intensity of food Pinot Noir that’s imho distinctive of its region. Tart, chewy, and a lengthy finish. I like the structure that this wine has evolved into. B+

1996 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, Burgundy
Dark and brooding in color. Very expressive nose. Slightly more intense than the Burguet, but definitely younger. Full-bodied, tannic, and high acidity. Notes of cherries and raspberries. Finesse all the way to the lengthy finish. I sense that there’s something here that take's it up a notch with more cellar time. B/B+ (for now, but with good upside potential)