by Keith M » Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:36 pm
A Friday evening off from work and decent weather allowed me to get together with a couple of good friends and do some casual cooking on the grill. As we worked to slice a series of summer squashes and eggplant and applied the dry rub to the pork loin chops, we popped open a bottle of bubbly Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley. The 2008 Le Rocher des Violettes Montlouis-sur-Loire Pétillant Originel was really beautiful. The nose screams chenin, though perhaps a bit more expressive of fruit and a tad less waxy. Great acid balance in the mouth, but the wine has real weight. I absolutely adore wines like this that play both sides--somewhat austere, but really not austere at all. Plenty of interest. I really have had great experiences with everything I've tried from the producer, both still and sparkling. The importer Vintage '59 also does a nice quick sum-up of the producer on the back label. A nice touch. Once the charcoal had burned down into an incredible bed of coals, the grilling was on, and we started sampling the 2008 Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Spätlese. A perfect mid-Mosel wine from a cool year. Dripping melony acid. Slurpable. I have never encountered this producer before and had to get out my atlas to find the Enkirch is pretty much in the heart of the Mosel. Given my experience with this wine, I'd try anything I saw from this producer again without hesitation. It loved the garam masala rub on the pork chops and was a natural match. As dinner wound down, we popped open a wild beer that my friend had hand-carried back from a visit to Denmark. The Mikkeller It's Alive, brewed at De Proef in Belgium, had a lovely funkified nose. Plenty of brett, plenty of dark musty spaces, very layered, very interesting. A pleasure to drink, vibrant and expressive flavors, battery acid, earth and mineral. And I loved how it interact with the charred flavors from the eggplant and squash and the sherry vinegar of the Romesco sauce on top. This is bold beer. I don't think I'll ever get sick of beers like this. Dishwashing upon us, we opened a bottle of the Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock, a Rauchbier from Bamberg that uses oak instead of the typical beech to roast the malt. The bacon aromas here are more ethereal and (comparatively) less obvious, but the fine grain comes through in the beer. Flavors bound smoothly together in a stunningly delicious intricate package. I loved this beer before and I love it again. Alas I'd love to fit more into an evening, but everything was properly enjoyed. Until we meet again.
