Wine For The Oscars

Picnic Wine: Lambrusco Al Fresco

India’s Oven Wine Pairing Event, 9/21/12

One of the most exotic cuisines in the world, to my palate, is Indian food.  Spices like cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and turmeric mark the food and lend aromatics and flavors you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else.  With so many different spices used - sometimes in the same dish - it can be a challenge to pair wine with Indian food.

In Los Angeles, there are numerous options for dining in Indian style.  One of my favorites is India’s Oven, located at 7233 Beverly Boulevard, just a little bit west of the New Beverly Cinema.  Kamal Singh and his staff serve home cooking, Punjabi-style - from Northern India.

How does wine fit into the Indian food scene?  Come find out.  Now And Zin and India’s Oven would love to have you come over for an Indian food and wine pairing event, Friday September 21, 2012 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.  For only $12, you can sample four of the best dishes at India’s Oven and pair them with selected wines.  Personally, I think once you try the food at India’s Oven you’ll be a regular.

The complexity of the spices and the heat of the food - if you order it that way - can make for a difficult wine pairing situation.  But it’s possible to get the wine right by looking beyond the meat/fish aspect and going with the spice makeup of the dish.

Samosas and biryani rice dishes:  Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay

Dal, coconut milk curries and chickpea curries:  Fruity reds work well - Merlot, Malbec, Pinot Noir - or silky whites like Pinot Grigio.  

Tandoori chicken:  Shiraz, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir

Saag paneer and other green dishes:  Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay

In general, when pairing wine with Indian food, you want to choose wines with a minimum of oak influence.

Save the date and come try the pairings at:

India’s Oven
7233 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Friday September 21, 2012 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. 
$12 for four pairings

We hope to see you there!


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

RUBBING ELBOWS AT MUSSO AND FRANK

The Maitre d' at Musso and Frank Grill suggested our party might enjoy the Chaplin booth in the venerable, old-Hollywood eatery.  Old, as in Chaplin used to sit in that booth.

It's not that my fame as a wine scribbler preceded me.  We were awarded the choice booth because notable film director and Trailers From Hell head guru Joe Dante was in our party, and he was duly noted as we walked in.  Joe's been a regular at Musso and Frank during his illustrious career.

It wasn't my first brush with fame, though.  During my time as a Los Angeleno I've had lunch with Reba - in the same restaurant, anyway.  I've seen Magic getting out of his limo at a Sunset Strip steakhouse I can't afford.  I've chatted with James Coburn at a party.  He had no idea who I was.  Henry Winkler, too, different party.  I was a plus-one at a party thrown by Harvey Levin, pre-TMZ.  No papparazzi were present.  Once, I was almost knocked over by Ed Begley, Jr. as he ripped past me on a bicycle.  Oh yeah, I've had my brushes with fame.

After a bit of conversation about the Blood Of The Vines feature I write for Joe's blog, From Hell It Came, the talk turned to pictures.  That's when I settled back into my normal life, sniffing and sipping and poking out notes on my iPhone while taking pictures of the wine on the table.  Fortunately, the people I hang out with are rather used to that sort of behavior from me.

During the course of the evening, our red-jacketed server brought two wines to me.  Both were white, as that's the kind of mood I was in on this night.

First up was the Frei Brothers Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2009.

This Sonoma County wine is a beautiful golden color and shows tropical fruit and lemon chess pie on the nose.  The flavors - mango and minerals leading the way - rest on a gentle acidity that leads to a pineapple finish.

New Zealand's Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is quite pale in the glass.  The nose gives a beautiful show of grapefruit and lemon peel with a grassy underlay.  On the palate, white grapefruit makes a huge statement, while minerals play a supporting role.

The evening was wonderful, full of great people, great wine and great conversation, all in the best booth in the place.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter.

Summerland Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County 2007

A recent Saturday took us to not one, but two movies.  We're not talking Netflix here, either.  These were bona fide, real live, sit-in-the-theater movie shows.  The Square was a bit of a disappointment.  Some Aussies took the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple and threw it in with some "movie helper."  They came up with a product that had plenty of the Coens' quirkiness but little of their inventiveness.  We saw it at one of the single-screen artifacts of Hollywood's past that dot Westwood Village, so it was worth a lot in the "experience" category.  Next, to Hollywood for some film noir at The Egyptian.  Broderick Crawford and Richard Conte in New York Confidential was the offering of the night.  We were very troubled that the audience laughed at some extremely inappropriate moments during the film.  It figured that a full house, which turned out to see a 1955 noir that hadn't been viewed since shortly after its release, would be somewhat reverent.  The misplaced laughs and hoots might have been more suitable at a midnight movie.  It's too bad they were allowed to ruin the event.  One of the actresses who appeared in the movie was present in the audience, as was Richard Conte's son.  I wonder what they thought of the crowd's reaction?

Aah, there.  I feel better now.  Let's go have an apres-noir snack at the venerable Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard.

Musso & Frank has a menu that runs the gamut from the extremely affordable to the ridiculously expensive, with not too much in between.  The wine list tells the same story, running from Beringer to Opus One.  By the glass, their selections are varied enough to suit a number of tastes and not terribly expensive.  At $14, the Summerland Pinot Noir is one of the more expensive by-the-glass choices at Musso & Frank.

The nose on this Pinot has a rather lovely floral component.  I smell violets and some really ripe and lucsious plums.  The aromas don't give fair warning of what to expect on the palate, though.  A bit of darkness surrounds the flowers, but the brambly, earthy, meaty taste really comes as a surprise.  A very pleasant one.