A Glass of Rose for Summer

We've said it before, and we will say it again: Rose is an amazingly versatile wine.

A new restaurant has opened not too far from us, Pacifico's Fine Foods. We liked the look of the menu: finely crafted dishes with a South American bent. But with an international menu, we didn't expect much in the way of local wines. It was a pleasant surprise then, when we found two different glasses of wine from Channing Daughters on the menu--a white and a rose.

When we are looking for a complicated bottle of wine to linger over, we often turn to red. When we want something simple we can just sip, a light white is in order. But when we are looking for something that blends the two--that has some complexity but is still light enough that it goes down easily--we seek out a nice rose. And Channing Daughters manages to deliver. Making just a few hundred cases of their Rosato's each year, we've started to look forward to catching these wines wherever we can each summer. So as fall approaches, it was great to find yet another chance.

The South American cuisine was an interesting twist for us. The menu was small, with only half a dozen entrees, and even fewer appetizers. Since we were starting with our wine choice and working from there, it limited our choices even further, but it seemed easy enough to find some good pairings. Pork and yucca seemed to fill the menu, along with some spicy sauces. Hoping for a bit of crisp to combat the heat of the sauces and the fat of the pork, with maybe a hint of earthiness to match the yucca, we were optimistic.

In this case, it worked, but maybe not much more. The wine was great. The food was great. In combination, they worked. It wasn't a sublime experience, where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. But that's okay. We were looking for a good, casual dinner and we got that. Maybe there were subtle flavors that didn't mesh, or maybe we were just more focused on our evening out than analyzing the complex interactions of our food and wine. We enjoy that, but sometimes just enjoying a fun night out is enough.

Quick Review: Tess Winery Red & White Blend

US, CA, Napa, Tess Red&White Blend
++ // Spicy - Sweet // Maraschino cherry, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove, Candied apple // Cinnamon, Cherry, Rose petals // Medium

Red Wine In Summertime

When the summer rolls around, we don't drink a lot of red wine. Red wines tend to be heavier in flavor and body, and often a little bit higher in alcohol content. On a warm day, we are usually looking for something a bit more refreshing. There are reasons to still enjoy red wines in the summer. With grilled meat, sometimes you need a big red wine. A nice sangria is great for a casual weekend afternoon. And sometimes, you can find a red wine that works well chilled, allowing you that cool drink you so desperately need.

We are told we should avoid chilling red wines. They say that the fruitier, earthier flavors in red wines become subdued when chilled, so you lose a lot of the subtleties of the wine. This is true. (White wine tends to be more forward with its flavors, and chilling can even reign in a more aggressive acidity.) But some red wines can stand chilling, especially ones with sweeter fruit flavors. Even better are blended wines that use both red and white varietals. Chilling that sort of wine will help the flavors from the white varietals "pop" to augment the smoother flavors of the red varietals.

Why does this matter? Sometimes when you are lounging around, you might want to drink something a little more substantial. White wines can be refreshing, but they often go down a little too easy: the glass empties too quickly. A glass of red wine might catch your attention a little more, and remind you to savor your drink while you savor the warm weather. The trick is to give your red wine just a slight chill; leaving it in the fridge 15-20 minutes should be enough. If it comes out a little too cold for your tastes, simply let it sit a few minutes or hold the glass by the tumbler to raise the temperature a little.  To each his own: this is one of those subjective areas where experimentation is necessary and there is no right or wrong in what you like best.

Old Favorites--Finger Lakes Riesling

Once upon a time, it seemed like all we drank was Finger Lakes Riesling. It was a great introduction to wine for us: we started with the simple sweet wines, progressed to more interesting dry versions soon after, then began to appreciate the more carefully crafted depths of the semi-drys that showcase great wine making. We now feel like semi-experts on Rieslings out of the Finger Lakes region, and have continued exploration in other regions and varietals. But, every once in a while, we just have to come back to our old favorite.

There may not be a "native" cuisine of New York State to pair with Riesling, but fortunately it's a versatile wine. The sweeter styles work well with spicy dishes or with dessert, while the dry style is great for sipping or pairing with fattier dishes. We decided on a bottle with a fish stew. Mixed with rice, veggie, and a spicy sauce, the stew was a light and spicy concoction, perfect for a crisp and sweet Riesling. In this case, the spice really brought out the sweeter fruit flavors in what was a pretty crisp wine on its own.

At this point, we enjoy the comfort that comes with sharing a bottle of an old favorite, even though, with all our work at growing our wine knowledge, we've increased our options for wine selection tenfold since the days of our first post. Not every glass has to be "an adventure."

Finger Lake Wines at The Clam Bar in Syracuse

With national clients, sometimes my work means an interesting trip to look at a space in DC or Las Vegas. And sometimes it's to check out a space in a strip mall in Syracuse, NY. It may not be a bad place, but if you manage to get stuck there overnight, as I did, you might run out of well-known restaurants once you've visited Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Spending the night alone at an airport hotel, I needed to find a place to get out for a few minutes, so I asked if they had any recommendations for dinner. It was either Applebee's or a local joint called The Clam Bar, so...seafood it was.

Walking into the place, I felt like I was entering someone's den in the 1970s. Wood paneling was barely visible beneath all the photos of sports stars. It was divey, but welcoming, so I grabbed a seat and a menu and got down to enjoying my evening. A cocktail, their version of an extra spicy Bloody Mary got the night started off right. Maybe it wasn't as spicy as the drinks I enjoyed in Mexico, but it was pretty well-crafted, and cheap in comparison to anything I could get in NYC. The caesar salad was nothing special, but a good place to start the meal. A plate of Steam Clams Provencal was much more interesting: sweet, salty and herbal. The Riesling I selected turned out to be from the sweeter style--way too much for the food, but not a bad drink on its own.

The most interesting thing for me was seeing New York wines on the wine list. Outside of the Finger Lakes, and a handful of restaurants in NYC that specialize in locally-sourced foods, we seldom encounter NY wines, even in cities as close as Rochester and Syracuse. But this is the second place on my second trip upstate this year that I have found Finger Lakes wines in an unexpected place, and it gives me hope that more Finger Lakes wines are making it into the daily conversation.

Pairing Wine and Pizza

We drink a lot of wine with pizza. Maybe most people crack open a beer, or down some soda, but for us on a Friday night, there is nothing like a hot slice with a nice glass of red wine. It's the perfect way to end a long week.

Picking the right wine for pizza is fairly straight forward. Just so long as you aren't dealing with a "White" pizza, the tomato sauce is going to be a defining flavor. You need a red wine, with some sweetness to complement the sweet acidity of the tomato. Then you need to pick the perfect red wine based on your other toppings. Most pizzas come with cured meats: sausage, pepperoni, or other most exotic options. This means saltiness, earthiness and maybe a hint of spice to the meat, which gives you some options with similar flavors in the wine.

• Chianti will have that hint of spice and dark fruit suited for some of the spicier cured meats.
• Zinfandel can offer some spice and red fruit for meatier options like sausage.
• Pinot Noir can offer some sweet red fruit and earthiness to complement lighter cured meats.

If you are looking at veggies on your pizza though, it gets a lot harder. You might want to play around with white wine. Stick to Italy: a Pinot Grigio might be your best bet.

Vacation Without Wine

It finally happened. We went on a vacation, and didn't find a single wine worth talking about. That may be because we didn't go to a well-established wine region, but it was still interesting to go out for some amazing food, and not have anything more than a decent wine to go along with it.

With an infant in tow, we decided to forgo our usual urban exploration for a casual, relaxing trip. We chose an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, hoping to spend some time lounging by the beach and swimming in the pools, instead of stomping down side-streets in a strange city in between trips to museums and restaurants. It did the trick for us, letting us spend time as a family enjoying the sun and water. A bonus was that we found a resort with a reputation for amazing food.

Normally, we'd expect some great wine to go along with this sort of world-class food. Mexico has its own growing wine culture, although it is focused on the Pacific Coast where climates match those of California. On the Gulf Coast side, however, it's hot, sunny and humid--more conducive to jungle than vineyards. Of course, in a resort like this, there are always extras you can purchase, like picking  bottle from their curated wine list, but we were there during off-peak season, and the wine cellar had been picked clean.

We drank a few glasses of the house wine to get us through the week. The white was fairly inconsequential, not quite able to pin it down to sweet or crisp flavors. The sweetness made it tough to enjoy in the warm weather, ending up a bit too cloying to be refreshing. We enjoyed the red with dinner, but a glass from the outdoor bar tasted like it had been "cooked."

For us, it was a strange experience. We normally center so much of our travel experiences around wine. I wouldn't say it was refreshing, but we still managed to enjoy our meals and our vacation as a whole. We just needed to focus on the margaritas.

Wine and Indian Cuisine in a Different Style

Friday nights at home, we eat a lot of Indian take-out. It's quick and easy, and can be tasty in a simple way. But real Indian cuisine can be something quite different. Done with care and skill, the flavorful spice mixtures and sauces can rival the best French cuisine. Of course, it's a bit more rare, but in NYC you can find anything, including some great Indian restaurants.

On a recent Friday night out, we decided to switch it up, and go out for Indian food. Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood has a lot of interesting restaurants, including an outpost of the Tamarind empire. A formal, spacious restaurant, it was quite a bit different than our usual restaurant adventures these days. We where there early, but the space filled quickly with a younger, boisterous crowd. Before the tables filled in, we faced that rare problem in NYC: a server a bit too solicitous, who asked if we needed something just a bit too frequently. This left us feeling a bit rushed.

Of course, the other big difference from our usual Friday night was the quality of the food. Take-out Indian is one thing, but a carefully crafted dish, cooked carefully and with quality ingredients in the same Punjab style is a world apart. A fish curry, made with a Goan sauce of spices in tomato and coconut was sweet and spicy. The last big difference from our usual Friday night was the wine options. In this case, a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand brought some sweet tropical flavors that matched the coconut and cooled the hot peppers. Always important with Indian food.

When thinking about food and wine, everyone thinks about Western food. Its good to remember that wine works with just about everything, if the food is prepared right and you pick a good wine that complements it.

Wine Wednesdays

We talk alot about using wine to make an evening special. But on a Wednesday night, with half a week of work remaining, we might turn to a good glass of wine to simply make the evening bearable.

Usually, we consider our wine and food pairing and try to plan an interesting meal for an interesting bottle of wine. But by mid-week, that can be hard to do. It is useful to have a few more flexible bottles lying around that will go with whatever you throw together for dinner. Blended wines offer you a comparatively neutral palate, with a mix of the flavors from multiple grapes. This is something easy to mix and match with a range of meals.

Cooking a real dinner mid-week can be overwhelming, so having a few simple recipes in your back pocket will help. Sometimes, a good crock pot stew can be lifesaver. You develop some deep flavors, and are still ready to eat as soon as you get home from work. Some beef, rice, tomatoes and some broccoli to round it out made for an loose take on Cuban Mofongo.

We picked a bottle of blended wine from Chile. A mix of Carignan, Grenache, and Mouverdre, we had no idea what to expect. But the complex mix of flavors from the mofongo--earthy, acidic, fatty, and a bit of green vegetable--meant we needed some complicated flavors from our wine. This blend of grapes gave us flavors of blackberries, with hints of graphite and cinnamon. The spice of the wine matched the hot pepper spice of the mofongo, while the flavors from the sweet and acidic tomato brought the sweet fruit of the wine to the forefront.

Blended wines are often mistaken for "table wines" (unless, of course, a Bordeaux). It is good to remember that winemakers might attempt to create a versatile blend of flavors that lend themselves to easier pairings... especially on those Wednesday nights where you just don't want to think too hard about it.

Outer Limits Sauvignon Blanc from Chile

One of the benefits of traveling is trying the local wines from new and interesting places. When we can't get away, we can always pick up a bottle and pretend we have. We might miss out on the local food or culture, that way, but at least we get to enjoy the wine.

We've enjoyed a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc recently. So when a bottle from Outer Limits in Chile arrived in the mail, we expected crisp flavors with strong undertones of grass and herbs. In this case, it seemed like Chile's warm climate had given the wine an additional edge--some sweet and tropical fruit flavors to add to the natural herbal quality of the grape. In fact, hints of grapefruit pleasantly surprised us at every sip.

We paired it with baked lemon chicken on a bed of spinach and mango salad, with a side of vegetable biscuits. The crisp herbal flavors complemented the chicken, as thisnneutral white meat can always use some additional flavors. The wine was ideal with salad, as the sweet tropical flavors that were so unique to this style played with the tropical flavors of the mango, a needed counterpoint to the natural bitterness of the spinach. Unfortunately, the wine was a bit too big and bold to work well with the veggie biscuits, but not every course can be a winner.

We thought we knew Sauvignon Blanc. But thinking back, we've had others from Chile with a similar flavor profile. It just goes to show that there is something to the whole "terrior" business, as the geography and climate have a big part to play in the flavors of a grape.

Malbec and Ribs

Our annual vacation is coming up, and it was a struggle to decide where to go. We've decided on a simple beach vacation, but we gave serious thought to going to South America. We can still pretend we're there by sampling wines from that continent.

We don't know a lot about the wines of South America. One thing we do know is that Argentina is renowned for their Malbec. And the other thing we know: with their culture of barbeque, or "Asado" as it is called there, the Malbec is excellent for pairing with meat dishes. So with a bottle of Argentine Malbec on the wine rack, we opened up the grill and tried to embrace the culture where the wine was made.

We know that Malbec should be a big flavor, with a bit of spice. So we decided to pair it with some spicy pork ribs. Like with like, spice with spice. Pork can usually benefit from some sweet red fruit flavors. It's a pairing that makes sense, and it worked in this situation. We also grilled some fresh spring asparagus with a little lemon and chili. In that case, a wine with vibrant red fruits competed with the green vegetable flavor.

What did we learn this time around? Nothing much, just that what little we did know about Argentine Malbec served us well. It's good to know that a little knowledge can get you started, but we are looking forward to exploring South America more, even if from the comfort of our own home.

Unfamiliar Pairings at Moim Restaurant

Even after all our time here in Brooklyn, we are still pleasantly surprised when we discover the unexpected. Stumbling upon neighborhood gems like Moim--hidden in the nooks and crannies of the neighborhood, a recognizable storefront often bypassed--remind us why we choose to live here.

On a side street in a basement space off the main drag in Park Slope, it's not so much of a surprise that we had never tried Moim Restaurant. Once we had, given the quality of the meal, we were surprised that we hadn't heard more about the restaurant. A modern take on Korean food, in a modern space, it's a unique addition to the neighborhood. Assuming you're not intimidated by Korean dishes, the fairly simple offers a nice selection of Korean BBQ dishes. For us, the best part might have been the fact that they offered New York wines.

As you know by now, readers, we love to find New York wines at restaurants. Although we've paired New York wines with all sorts of takeout food at home, we can't recall a time we've found New York wines on a restaurant menu that feature Asian dishes. There was no way we could pass this up. We picked a bottle of Rose of Merlot, hoping for a flexible wine. The earthy and spicy notes mirrored the funky, spicy dirt flavors of the fermented cabbage in the Kimchi Tofu, and its crispness offered a much needed counterpoint to the rich seafood in the Korean Bouillabaisse. A regular Merlot would never have worked.

While we love to talk about the natural pairings of local cuisines with local wine, it's good to be reminded that good food and good wine from anywhere, working together harmoniously, can make for a great meal.

Time for Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a contentious wine: some people drink nothing but Chardonnay, while others will drink anything but. Like everything else in the wine world, we are pretty flexible about it. It's not often that we drink it, but there is a time and a place for a good glass of Chardonnay.

Chardonnay is a wine where it is important to know a little about what you are getting. Like Riesling, which can vary from a sweet, unctuous wine to a dry, acidic version, Chardonnay can vary wildly in its flavors, depending on how it was treated. In this case, its as much dependent on how the wine was aged as the nature of the grapes. An "oaked" Chardonnay, where the wine was aged in oak barrels, will pick up characteristics of the wood; smooth toast and butter flavors evening out the crisp acidity of the grape. An "unoaked" Chardonnay, aged in stainless steel, will keep those bright acidic flavors.

For us, the right time is when you are looking for a white wine with a big flavor to go with a big meal. Other white wines can serve as a counterpoint to big, spicy flavors, but its not often that they can present anything other than bold, crisp flavors that dissipate quickly. With fatty bacon pot pies with a grilled corn and tomato salsa, most white wines might get lost, or be so acidic that they would cut through the flavors of the food. But a Chardonnay, even when it is crisp, can offer a smooth blend of flavors that is hard to find elsewhere; delicate enough on the palate to be refreshing, but bold enough to catch your attention.

Some people can't stand Chardonnay, but we're not among them. Like all wine, chardonnay has its time and place, and can bring something wonderful and unique to a meal.

Coming Back for More at Bar Corvo

It's become important for us to have regular restaurants. If we find ourselves with a little free time on a Saturday, we can't waste it wandering the neighborhood trying to find something new. Every second seems to count these days. Instead, we rack our brains for the places we've had good meals recently, so we know where we can expect a good time.

We've been to Bar Corvo a few times. When the chef of renowned al di la Trattoria of Brooklyn opened a family friendly bar and restaurant around the corner, we could never manage to beat the dinner rush to get a table. Now, it's original "new-ness" having worn off, it's a bit easier to find a seat. Of course, it helps that we are now usually the first ones there at opening time. (We have early dinners now to ensure we can keep to our daughter's bedtime schedule.)  

The space is welcoming as you enter through the door, opening on to the bar and a large common table. Low lighting and smaller tables in the back keep the restaurant feeling intimate, and an eclectic selection of music keeps a pleasant background noise level when you have families and couples over lapping. And of course, the food is great.

Fritto Misto

We decided to share a bottle of wine for the evening, but that's always a bit of a trick to find a wine flexible enough to complement a range of dishes. Starting with a plate of fried veggies, or Fritto Misto, we needed something with a hint of acidity to cut through the fat oiliness. We had to consider how we'd pair deep fried lemon slices from the appetizer dish, refreshing and savory at the same time. Our main courses of pork chop with kale and polenta and wild boar pasta also promised fat, but instead of an acidic wine, we would prefer a red wine to match the pork.

We finally decided on a Primitivo, for its combination of fruit and spice flavors. In this case, our choice was too big for the light vegetable flavors of the Fritto Misto, as expected. However, the sweet red fruit flavors helped brighten the kale and the sauce for the wild boar, which were both on the bitter side.

That is the difficulty with picking one bottle for multiple courses--finding that flexibility. In this case, the appetizer was a miss for our wine selection, but the main courses worked well. Maybe we will have to go back soon to try a different combination.

Pork Chop with Kale and Polenta

Last of the Winter Reds

Winter is finally behind us. It's time to clear some of those big red wines from the rack, before the weather gets too warm to enjoy them.

 Normally, you might pair a red wine with a meat-heavy dish. But we like to mix it up every once in a while, and try red wine with a vegetarian meal, which would traditionally be matched with white wine. With the right preparation, those delicate vegetarian flavors can be coaxed into something deeper that can stand up to a red wine.

Carrots roasted with the spice Garam Masal and a bit of nutmeg, and then pureed with jalapeno peppers. The sweet and earthy carrots pick up a smoky flavor from being roasted with the Garam Masal. The jalapeno adds green vegetable flavors, and of course some heat. Complemented with some drop biscuits stuffed with shredded radish, kohlrabi and lettuce, you are looking at a very green meal, but stuffed full of spicy and earthy flavors. Perfect for a cool spring night to ward off the last winter chill. And perfect for a big spicy red like Syrah.

Pair like with like. That's a useful rule of thumb for pairing wine with food. In this case, the spicy flavors need something to either match them, to make them really pop on the palate, or something sweet and unctuous to help soothe your mouth between bites. The earthy, smokey flavors can easily overpower most wines, so you need a real full-bodied wine to match. Malbec or an Old Vine Zinfandel might have worked, but we went with Syrah. In this case, it might have been a bit too much spice, as both the food and the wine were a mouthful on their own, and created fireworks of blossoming heat when combined. But like a plate of spicy chicken wings, sometimes that's just what you crave to help remind you that the warmth is just around the corner. 

Special Treatment at Vitae

We're getting out less these days. So when we do, we try to do something extra special. That may be something as simple as trying a local restaurant we find it difficult to get into with a small child, or some place like Vitae when we have a night in Manhattan and want to be treated special.

When we first sat down at Vitae, we were a little concerned it was too hip for us. Surrounded by an artfully decorated space, filled with romantic young couples and noisy groups of friends, we felt a bit out of place. But the menu was approachable, and the wine list was interesting, so our cares were quickly forgotten.

It helped that they treat everyone like a special guest. While we contemplated our order, we were treated to an amuse bouche of a sweet butternut squash soup with winter spices, perfect to get the taste buds warmed up for the evening. While we waited on our food, we were served warm rolls brushed with duck fat and sea salt. And before dessert, a grapefruit mint soda to cleanse the palate. These are the little touches that can make any meal something really memorable.

Of course, dinner was great too. A appetizer of spicy pork tacos got things started with a careful blend of heat and flavor. A chestnut pasta was a rich, earthy counterpoint to a crisp glass of white wine, while the duck breast was fatty and delicious, with a fruity red.

Date night can make for a special sauce all its own, turning even the most simple dinner out into a wonderful evening. Finding a great restaurant on your rare night out, however, is its own magical experience.

Brooklyn Heights Dinner at Colonie

Brooklyn is a strange place. Small geographically, at less than 100 square miles, it is the most populous county in the US, at about 2.5 million people. It packs diverse ethnic backgrounds and a wide range of urban environments close together. Not far from the new Barclays Center, the sprawling retail buildings and office towers give way to the old Brownstones of Brooklyn. Here, restaurants that have been in the same place for fifty years sit next to newcomers who've only opened their doors in the past few years.

In 2011, the owners of Colonie opened their doors with the goal of bringing great food to the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. While nearby neighborhoods were undergoing a culinary renaissance, they felt that a neighborhood known for its amazing historic homes and stunning views of Manhattan needed some quality food. The restaurant embraces history and modernity. Rustic wood tables and exposed brick, contrasted against an open kitchen with a tasting bar watching over the chefs cooking. While we enjoyed our meal, the restaurant filled with a mixed crowd: couples enjoying a romantic evening, families savoring their favorite food, and a party that could have been made up of old regulars from the neighborhood.

Perched at the bar overlooking the kitchen, we enjoyed a meal of fresh spring ingredients. Rare among restaurants focusing on local ingredients, Colonie had a wine menu stocked with glasses of New York wine, something we always appreciate. Pate, leeks, crab: everything we ate worked well with the lighter wines we picked to start our meal. Spring is a great time to remind ourselves that not every food is a root vegetable, and not every wine needs to be a full bodied red.

Possibly our favorite part of the meal was dessert. We shared a Sticky Date Cake with Creme Fresche Ice Cream. Breaking all the rules, we skipped dessert wine and drank a couple of glasses of red wine. After the light dinner menu, the dessert was heavy and filling, and the ice cream was an unexpected salty and savory note.

Tuscany Wine with Winter Soup

Learning about Italian wines in a cold New York winter was difficult. While they make some amazingly big and bold reds, the whites we found seemed to be more light and delicate. Of course, if paired correctly, even a lighter wine can make for a great meal.

Soup. Bread. Hearty vegetables. That's how we eat to survive the cold. In this case, the soup was turnips, pureed with avocado and garbanzo beans. The beans and turnips gave it an earthy flavor with a hint of sweetness from the turnips, while the avocado gave the soup some rich creaminess. Topped with some brussels sprouts fried with bacon, and served with some fresh, hot bread, we were looking at a flavorful meal. But the despite the significant flavors of the dish, we thought the fruitiness of a red might clash with the sweet flavors of the turnips and brussels sprouts.

Montenidoli is situated in an old wine growing region in the hills of Tuscany, in the shadow of San Gimignano. The site was abandoned in the World Wars, but revitalized in the 1960s by the current owners. They specialize in regional grapes, and we picked up their "Vernaccia di San Gimignano", labeled as a "dry white wine". We had never tried the Vernaccia grape before, but we made an assumption that a dry white would give us some of the more grassy notes that might work well with the dinner. In this case, we were wrong, but it worked out in our favor. The wine was floral on the nose, but had a mixture of citrus and fruit backed with a salty minerality that matched the earthy flavors of the meal.

What did we learn about Italian wine this time around? That it can be unexpected, and quite amazing. We definitely have incentive to keep exploring.

RiverMarket Bar and Kitchen

Winter in New York City is brutal. It may not be as cold or as snowy as some places, but those long walks through the concrete canyons in the howling wind make each step feel like a mile. To survive the long winter months, you need to find excuses to get away, even for just a little while.

A break in the worst of the cold temperatures, coinciding with a holiday, gave us the excuse we needed. Hoping in a car, we took a drive north into the Hudson Valley. It was still a cold day, but there was some bright sunshine, so we bundled everyone up and found one of the many hiking trails to enjoy a bit of nature. It is always surprising to be reminded that there is so much park land so close to one of the densest cities in the country.

Reinvigorated by the fresh air, we worked up an appetite. While the area has a lot of amazing restaurants, it being a holiday and a Monday meant that most were closed for the day. We had hoped to try Blue Hill at Stone Barns, to see how it compared to their City outpost, but that will have to wait for another day. Instead, we found ourselves at RiverMarket, on the shore of the Hudson in site of the Tappan Zee Bridge. It was surprisingly quiet for a lunch on a holiday weekend, which worked out well for us as we could linger over our lunch and enjoy a drink before heading back into the city.

Another restaurant with our shared philosophy of fresh, local produce. In this case, it was American food, comforting after a cold day in the woods. A burger and some potato gnocchi happily warmed our bellies. And the day really seemed to call for a beer, and we're still not quite sure why. Fortified with good food and beer, and a reminder that life does exist under all the snow, we returned to the city, ready to face the rest of the winter.

Local Food at Blue Hill

As much as we love wine, we love good food. Living in New York City, we may be a bit removed from the day to day of the wine making industry, but, in exchange, we get to follow a cutting edge food scene.

With our obsession with all things "local," we are always on the lookout for restaurants that embrace  "localvore" food--dishes composed of food from nearby sources. There are various economic and environmental reasons to follow the practice, but for us we simply prefer fresher food. An apple eaten straight off the tree tastes better than one picked, sent to a processing center, then to the grocery store, then on to our kitchen. In terms of wine, although grapes are usually grown close to the production facilities, we still prefer to drink as local as possible in an effort to support the local wine community. Local is simply important on so many levels.

When we heard about Blue Hill, we knew we had to go. Inspired by the farm on Blue Hill Road, they work with farm fresh seasonal ingredients under their "Know Thy Farmer" philosophy. Knowing this, we were willing to try their chicken. This may seem like an odd statement, but we seldom bother with chicken at a restaurant. It's such an ubiquitous ingredient, but chicken is normally bland and dry (or the accompanying sauce or side dish is the star of the show). We're also not wholly comfortable with how chickens are raised on large commercial farms. A farm fresh chicken is a thing of beauty: rich, succulent, and full of tasty juices. Once you have had a well-prepared breast just a few hours past butchering, it's hard to go back. You're reminded of a different time, when things were done more slowly. At Blue Hill, a simply prepared chicken with seasonal vegetables was perfection on a plate, especially with a nice, crisp New York Riesling with bright flavors that made the sweet chicken pop.

And that brings us to the other reason we felt compelled to try Blue Hill--local wine. All too often, high end restaurants are afraid to offer any wines from outside France or California. Thankfully this place that celebrates the meat and produce of New York is also willing to embrace the State's wine, offering bottles from several of our favorite producers. To get a glass of great local wine with some great local food is a great night out.