WTN: back to wine (Loire, St Em, Macon, Chianti)

Whew, 10 days with no wine. We did “wave 1” on the Sonoma Diet (first time I have ever been on a specific diet). Recipes were mostly pretty good, so food wise didn’t feel especially deprived. Not having wine isn’t so bad either, but what surprised me was how much I missed our ritual - Betsy tells me what is for dinner (or I decide if my turn to cook),I think about match, I go to cellar and rummage, choose something, bring up and open, check for soundness, choose glasses. Then while we enjoy dinner I think about the wine and the match (and usually discuss briefly with Betsy), and after dinner make a quick note. Now 10 days of just sitting down to dinner.

Some friends started same day we did and so on Thursday (day 11) we had them for dinner- pork chops with a nice cauliflower dish (capers and garlic) and quinoa. The Sonoma pairing for the pork was “Merlot”, and I opened the 2004 Pavie-Macquin (St. Emilion). Good acid balance for a modern styled St. Em, some cocoa/mocha notes showing the oak influence, but nice black raspberry fruit and good finish. I’m surprised how open this is (good), and how little seems to be in reserve. Easy tannins, not going to plan on holding remaining bottle. Of course after 10 days without wine I’m an even easier grader. B+/B

Friday was salmon in an almond crust, ratatouille, and broccoli rabe, with the 2011 Litaud “Les Vieilles Pierres” Macon-Vergison. Green apple and lemon, very crisp, good with dinner but comes across as slightly underripe. B/B-

Saturday was cod in a Veracuz sauce, brown rice, and salad; wine was the 2008 Chidaine “Tuffeaux” Montlouis-sur-Loire. I think this is billed as demi-sec but the acids are so electric the effect is more sec-tendre. Full and deep, with mineral and earth accents. Fruit is candied citrus peel and sweet apple. It works ok with the fish and sauce (not an easy match), but does great with my snack of chopped fruit and hummus later. The wine excellent overall A-

Last night Dave joined us for roast chicken with a broccoli salad (pine nuts and sundried tomato); wine was the 2011 Felsina Chianti Classico. This was on the riper side (was 2011 a warm vintage) with rather lush black cherry fruit and even a hint of kirsch (shows 14%, so not that high, but I think higher than I remember in past), but it does have enough acidity to keep interesting. Pretty tasty, but not one to tuck away. B/B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

I love Chidaine.

Truffeaux seems like the kind of wine for which you could find a very specific perfectly matched recipe.

How'd the rest of the diet go? We did a "cleanse" recently that involved no wine/alcohol. I think that was 16 days (for the wine part). I felt similarly sad about having to pause my hobby for so long.

[David M. Bueker]

Isn't the real test going 10, 16 or 30 days without buying? Not drinking is the easy part!

David, well I think during my 10 days of no wine I bought a month's worth of wine (not even counting auction bids!). January would be a tough time to do a buying hiatus (lots of clearance sales)

Matt, so I've lost a few pounds, but not sure how much as I didn't weigh myself before starting. Probably 5-7 over the 10 days (I'd guess it would have been more except first few days were in "polar vortex" period and I got less exercise than normal- dog said short walks were ok) . We're still on diet, just not on most restrictive part. Dinner is generally 4 oz of lean meat or fish, half cup of a whole grain, and rest of plate with vegetables. A variation on the Mediterranean diet, as I said food has been tasty. Not a diet for those that don't want to cook.

[David M. Bueker]

Dinner is generally 4 oz of lean meat or fish, half cup of a whole grain, and rest of plate with vegetables. A variation on the Mediterranean diet, as I said food has been tasty. Not a diet for those that don't want to cook.

Sounds like "eat moderate amounts of high quality food."

Yes, that's general idea, the biggest change for us (other than no wine in first stage) was no simple starches (pasta, white rice, potatoes, etc). I would guess while we've typically eaten rice and pasta each at least once a week, potatoes almost as often, plus the occasional polenta, etc.
I think following these meal plans we've eaten red meat more often, though smaller portions and only the least fatty cuts (skirt and flank steaks, pork tenderloin, etc).

Just so you know, here in Sonoma we eat plenty of pasta. And drink plenty of wine.

I did a three week alcohol fast in Nov. and now again for all of January (ok, except for the occasional watery local beer that I don't count since the alcohol level is like 3%). Not as hard as I thought it would be, but I'm looking forward to February.

And I agree, my efforts at a buying freeze have been much less successful/harder. I have been tracking my purchases and consumption carefully for the last year and a half, thinking it would help me buy less. I think it has, but I still have increased my cellar by a net of 160 bottles in that time! My lowest buying in a month was 8 bottles.