Had to swing by to see Kelci, Terrapin Beer Co.'s rep in the area. She drove down from Richmond (it took 4 hours because of traffic!) to do a huge tasting of about 12 of their beers at Mix It Up!
Me, Kelci, Coleman, and Amberly
Crabbie's Visits Hampton Roads!
This past week I was contacted by Jennie who is working on getting the word out about Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer. We've enjoyed it before, it's good stuff. We first bought it because the thistle on the label caught our eye. Shelby is half Scottish so she naturally to support her kin!
Read MoreCheap and Cheery - April 2015
We always make sure to catch Grape and Gourmet's big tasting event, Cheap and Cheery, on the second Saturday of the month. It's a great way to try beers and wines you might not normally buy.
Merroir Terroir at Terrapin - Jan 2015
This past January's Merroir Terroir at Terrapin was a good one. Local oysterman Chris Ludford and Terrapin's sommelier Daniel Kieser were at the helm of the event with a nice line-up of West Coast oysters and bonus appearance of a local favorite.
Lisa peeking over Rex for a shot.
We arrived just in time to sit and catch the beginning of the event. We were lucky enough to be sandwiched in-between friends and aquintances—Rex and Lisa Hamaker to our left and the Jo Ann and Buzzy Hoffheimer to our right. Chris talked a bit about oysters and some techniques in enjoying the experience. Looking at the oyster being served, the color of the shell can give you an idea of the environment it was raised in, the size and shape are good indicators of what region they came from, etc..
Mr. Chris Ludford
When it came to tasting you want to smell the oyster, sip it's liquor and then slurp it in. You can pick up the different textures of the oyster when you chew it. Some parts are strong then others, some sweeter. He also talked a little bit about umami. Umami has been classified as one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It was founded in Japan, hence the name, and was only officially recognized in the 1980s. It is savory and can be found naturally in tomatoes, aged cheese and dry cured hams among other things. Oysters are packed with it!
As we listened to Chris the plates of oysters started to appear from the kitchen. We didn't know what we were going to be having, so it was a pleasant surprise to see what was going to be our launching point.
The first oyster we were having was one of our favorites, the Kusshi. These are from the West Coast and have small, deep bowls. The oysters form these types of shells due to tumbling that breaks off the edges. This prompts the oyster to grow a deeper and thicker shell. Blonde, lavender to dark hues color the scalloped shells. The batch we had were very varied from one to the next. Chris suggested that they might have mixed up several batches from the farming area which caused the differences. Variation in color is due to bottom sediment make-up. Daniel poured a 2012 Domaine Pichot Vouvray Le Peu de la Moriette Demi-Sec from Loire, France with this oyster. The pairing was perfect! Sipping a little bit of the white with a little bit of the oyster in my mouth blended well and highly complimented the flavors of both. Great finish and lingering aftertaste was very pleasant.
Kusshis!
Color variation in Kusshi shells
Terrapin's Sommelier Daniel Kieser
Second, we were poured Sokol Blosser Evolution 18th Edition, a white blend from Oregon. On our plates were the Rolls Royce of oysters – the Kumamoto! These were raised in Humboldt Bay, CA and had salt up front with a sweet, butterly flesh. The bite was crisp and fruity—think green grapes or light melon. I've only had these a couple of times so this was a treat. They are small but pack a punch, I could imagine eating a bag of these by myself. The wine was bright and paired well with the initial saltiness of the oyster liquor; I think the Evolution would definitely be good with spicy food.
Our third course was another variety of Kusshi known as a Shigoku (which means something along the lines of “outstanding” in Japanese), this particular oyster is being marketed under the name “Fat Bastard.” What separates these from other Kusshi oysters is that they are tumbled by the tides themselves. The oysters are put in bags that are suspended by floats so they never touch the bottom. Twice a day when the tides change the oysters are tumbled. I expected the shells to be bright without coloration, but they were lined with thick, dark stripes. Regardless of what the shell looked like (which was pretty!) they oysters were delicious! Shelby said it was her favorite oyster of the night. Meaty with a strong melon finish. We had a 2012 Côte Bonneville Cabernet Franc Rosé from the DuBrul Vinyard in the Yakima Valley, the arid desert region of Central Washington hold ideal growing conditions for certain grapes. It was citrusy, a little strong for the oyster I thought; still a good bottle though.
Fat Bastards
Similar coloring as the Kusshi
We actually got a fourth course and we made our way back to the East Coast with Chris' own Pleasure House Oysters! Salty liquor, juicy, these were bred especially for Terrapin restaurant. Smaller and easier to eat, these were started in 2013. The standard Pleasure House Oyster is huge, the idea behind farming these a little smaller was that it would be a lot less oyster to handle from one shell. The big ones are called chokers for a reason. Daniel poured a 2012 Bollini Pinot Grigio from Trentino, Italy. It went well with the five Lynnhaven mollusks Chris generously gave us. It was my lucky night too, one of the patrons at the end of the bar had a pea crab in her oyster I got to eat. About eating it herself, she said something along the lines of "maybe next time."
Daniel pouring the Bollini Pinot Grigio
Little pea crab
While we enjoyed out oysters and wine Chris described some of the recent conditions of the Lynnhaven. In 2013, Lynnhaven Inlet didn't have as much rain which in turn increased the salinity of the water. These conditions directly affect the flavor of an oyster. The tide has a huge influence on how an oyster tastes too. Tide creates flow, the flow of the water provides food for the oysters. Like most of what we eat, the animal's diet can be detected in its flesh. He said we should consider the oyster when we purchase animals to eat. Try to know where they came from and how they've been handled. The Pleasure House Oysters we ate that night were only touched 15 times before we ate them.
Oh, another nice thing about Merroir Terroir that night is that it was Shelby's Birthday. They brought out a little Valhrona Cocoa Chocolate Pudding with Sea Salt and Olive Oil. Next to the pudding was a single candle that glowed warmly at the low-lit bar. A great way to cap off the evening of great oysters, wine and company.
Hope Shelby's wish comes true
Beer Tasting at Grape & Gourmet - 16 Oct 2014
Gabe is still gone but Grape & Gourmet had Carl pouring for Thursday beer tastings.
Cheap and Cheery - Sep 2014
This past Saturday was this month's Cheap and Cheery at Grape & Gourmet. Always fun and lots of new wines/beers/ciders to sample
Cheap and Cheery - August 2014
August's "Cheap and Cheery" at Grape & Gourmet had a special guest, Drew from Champion Brewing Company out of Charlottesville, VA. He was at the tasting table with Gabe, pouring Champion's Killer Kolsch and Missle IPA. I recently had the kolsch at home and think it's a great beer to drink chilled on a hot day. The Missle IPA was very good, blended with 5 hops it didn't over-power you and was herbaceous.
The wine tables had some sangrias and other good stuff we enjoyed. Shelby and I ended up buying a bunch of beer and my new stand-by red La Cappuccina.
Check out the photos!
Friday Night Wine Tastings - 25 Oct 2013
Friday nights are wine nights for us; well sushi night too, but we can handle them both :)
Yiannis line up tonight.
I hit Yiannis Wine Shop first. Yiannis was in the Norfolk store that night but I saw Tyler, Perry, and Liz was pouring. Liz had a Cab called Carnivor from California that was very good. Dark fruit, inky--this stuff was almost black. Your teeth will be purple after a few glasses of this stuff.
Armida's Poizin Zinfandel in the line-up
The crowd started to grow at Yiannis and I was trying to keep my running around down, so it was off to Grape and Gourmet. Le Chef Alex was working the table here. Gabe is usually around the shop but he was out that night. Kevin and Deb, the owners, are always in shop but Kevin was laid up in bed. My take home from here was the Poizin Zinfandel. Fruit forward, nice finish.
After we had out sushi we headed down to Norfolk to see Chayce's band, Long Division, at the NorVA. Great set, really good sound in that place. Check them out:
Wine Tasting at Grape & Gourmet - 18 Oct 2013
Wine Tasting at Yiannis - 18 Oct 2013
Cheap & Cheery at Grape and Gourmet - Oct 2013
Wine Tasting at Yiannis - 11 Oct 2013
Wine Tasting at Yiannis - 11 Oct 2013
Wine Tasting at Grape & Gourmet - 11 Oct 2013
Wine Tasting at Grape and Gourmet - 11 Oct 2013
Wine Tastings at Grape and Gourmet - 5 Oct 2013
Wine Tasting at Yiannis - 5 Oct 2013
Mermaid Winery Pinot Noir Debut
Mermaid Winery Pinot Noir Release
Mermaid Winery started to serve their first in-house Pinot Noir. $5 bought you three pours of their Pinots and a pairing with the last glass.
Opus One (2006 and 2010 Vintage)
Yiannis Wine Shop had a special event with Karen D’Amour, the rep who distributes Opus One in the region. She brought along magnums of the wine which were exclusively available at Yiannis. Along with the wine she brought clusters of the actual grapes used to make the wine. We were allowed to try the grapes raw to perform a comparison to the finished product. We tasted the 2006 and 2010 vintage.
Crystal Palate provided catering for the event; her roast beef dizzled with truffle oil sat atop baguettes and chèvre. This paired great with the last wine we tasted, bold and blended well with the food. Good time with some very good wine.
