Cellar & Stove: Chipotle Adobo Mac 'n Cheese + 2013 "Trentatre" Italian red blend

For another installment of my "Cellar & Stove" series, I'm going to pair a red wine with some homemade mac n' cheese. Instead of the easy box stuff, I'm making chipotle adobo mac n' cheese with black beans and arbol chiles from scratch, served with oven-roasted green beans and paired with an Italian red blend. Now, most of the prep work for the mac n' cheese is straightforward and not worth discussing here: mixing of spices, boiling pasta, etc. I ended up using some arbol chiles, garlic powder, black pepper, a little vinegar, and some olive oil for the adobo sauce. While the chiles were steeping in the sauce, and the pasta is cooking, let's talk wine.

The cheese and adobo sauce, before it reduced. 

In thinking of a wine to pair with dinner, I took the usual factors into account - the texture of the food and the flavor combinations. Since I knew the meal was going to be creamy and a bit spicy, I wanted to choose a wine that would be able to complement the flavors while also countering the creamy and oily nature of the food. I settled on the "Trentatre" rosso. It's a blend divided into three equal parts: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all hailing from the Apulia (Puglia) region in southern Italy. When I toured Italy with my father in 2004, Montepulciano was our wine of choice for dinner.

I stuck the bottle in the fridge for a few minutes, and then let it open to the air before pouring. This way it drops the temperature down to around 50 degrees F, and then when the wine is opened, as it warms up and opens up to the air, the flavors develop. The whole process, from the moment it goes into the fridge to when I take the first sip, depends on the wine but is usually around 30 minutes.

There's some strong blackberry aromas on the nose, with some alcohol esters (the ester propyl hexanoate for you chemistry nerds out there.)  Esters are a chemical compound caused by a variety of possible reactions; both wine and blackberries share the same ester. Interesting aroma on the wine, but nothing new or surprising.

I first noticed the fruit tastes. The wine has nice dark fruit flavors with some blackcurrant skin flavors which add a very desirable dry tartness on the tongue immediately on the finish. It's surprisingly strong and smooth, pleasantly dry, with some of the tartness flavors dropping off after swallowing. The aftertaste is deep and crisp, and the dryness and tartness of the wine contrasted nicely with the spiciness and creaminess of the mac n' cheese. The great part about this pairing is that the wine cuts through the cheesy goodness to balance out those flavors. A good pairing, for sure, and next time I might use different cheeses but I'll still seek out this kind of red blend for the pairing. Another great success!

Beer Flash: Kiuchi Brewery - "Hitachino Nest" white ale (Japan)

Just a quick post to show what I've been drinking: it's a 5.5% ABV white ale from Japan called the "Hitachino Nest." It's pretty thin, low gravity, but pleasingly mellow. Clean and crisp with a little tartness on the aftertaste, with low amounts of the typical white ale yeast or spice.

It's good, I don't know if it's $5.99 good, but it's fun to try a Japanese beer again and certainly a good beer for summer. The crispness and lack of yeasty aftertastes is a nice diversion, and it's something I could drink as a session ale at a BBQ.

Stone Brewing Co. - "Imperial Russian Stout" stout (2013 vintage)

Hi all - sorry I have been a bit quiet this week. Work has really taken off and I haven't had much time to blog. I recently brought this bottle up from the cellar and wanted to do a proper review - it's a 2013-vintage beer brewed in a historical style of a  Imperial Russian Stout.

Like the Old Guardian, Stone releases two versions of the Imperial Russian Stout every year - a regular, traditional version, and an experimental release. This year's experimental release was a Chai Stout, which I had the misfortune of not trying when it was released. I did end up reviewing the 2013 experimental release, the Espresso Imperial Russian Stout, back in 2013. This beer in particular has been cellaring for 2 years, and starting at 10.6% ABV, this is probably closer to 13% now. Buckle up.

I may have mentioned this in a post a long time ago, but a Russian Imperial Stout is a generic name for a type of beer first brewed in the 1800s to impress the Russian Tsars. It's basically a high-gravity, high-alcohol beer made with roasted hops, barley or malts, sometimes called the "Russian style" of brewing. The Russian style of brewing has nothing to do with Putin, dashcam footage, or bears. 

It pours super dark - clearly a high gravity beer, very heavy and sluggish.

Since it was in the fridge for quite a long time, I let it sit out for longer than I usual. I like to let really dark, heavy beers warm up more so the flavors can open up.Wow, even right out of the fridge, it's got potent alcohol / boozy sugar aroma from a foot away.

Initially, the taste is sweet and dark with a slight sugar notes, which gives way to some dark oily flavors - like an espresso, in a way. Notes of cinnamon and anise. Moderate alcohol level with some roasted malt and date tastes on the way out. There's a strong aftertaste of heavy malts and roasted coffee beans. The total feel of the beer is heavy, strong, with nice mixture of flavors, all polished nicely by two years in the cellar. The alcohol is present, but not overly acerbic.

While session beers have their place, sometimes I enjoy a freight train of a beer every now and again. The  Imperial Russian Stout delivers, for sure, and I damn well wish I bought a case of this and had them age. I can't wait to see what it will be like in a few years; I think I have one or two more in the cellar waiting to be enjoyed. And in fact, just today I found another 2013 vintage lurking in the back shelf of Irving Wines and Spirits. Totally grabbed that!

Chateau Ste. Michelle - 2013 Gewurztraminer (Washington, USA)

Today's post is to showcase a nice white I had a few weeks back. It's Chateau Ste. Michelle's Gewurztraminer, an aromatic white wine originating in France and Germany. This wine is grown in the Columbia Valley of Washington state, USA. I'm planning on touring the winery in a few weeks.

You will notice on the label it features 100% Vinifera rootstock. Rootstock is a term used to describe the roots of any given species of vine. In the 19th century, many vintners in both the US and Europe faced a serious threat in the Phylloxera louse, a parasite which kills Vinifera grape roots. As a result, any vintners switched to other kinds of hybrid grape varieties with louse-resistant roots. Problem is - those grapes don't always make great wine. So most have have opted to use the louse-resistant roots and to essentially graft the good Vinifera grapes onto resistant roots not their own. There are a lot of louse-resistant rootstocks out there, but Vinifera isn't one of them. Having Vinifera rootstocks means that the rootstocks aren't a hybrid, signifying a purity of vintage.

It ended up being rather tasty - it was a little drier than a Reisling, still kinda sugary though, with a nice crispness and a strong flavor of green fruit. It had just the right amount of sugar on the finish, with no serious carbonation or effervescence. The aftertaste was pleasant and paired well with some cut cheese and crackers. I brought this over to a house party and it paired well with the noshes that our host Jacob laid out. But both the Gewurtztraminer and the Riesling are great wines; years ago, at my family's seaside cottage in Connecticut, I served this with medjool dates and some Papillon roquefort cheese on water crackers and it was a huge hit. You don't have to go all out, though - these wines are fine on their own and are super refreshing for the summer. 

Madtree Brewing Co. - "Blacktart" tart stout

Today's beer comes to me courtesy of fellow craft beer enthusiast Jason, who's recently moved to DC from the Midwest. It's Madtree Brewing Co.'s "Blacktart," coming from Cincinnati, OH. This beer is a collaboration between fifteen breweries as part of Cincinnati's beer week.

The "Blacktart" is an 8.00% ABV stout made with cinnamon, lactose and blackberries, as you can tell by the above picture. The nose is sweet and smooth, with some dark berries and chocolate.

Dark as the night is long. The foam is also a dark tan. Sorry, I didn't get a clear in-focus photo of the pour.

Wow, the taste is unusual. It's sweet, reminds me a lot of some of the darker beers like Southern Tier's Plum Noir and Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. Definitely picking up on the lactose - similar to Lancaster Milk Stout or the Baba Black Lager in terms of mouthfeel. Nice and full. I like the malts here - it's smooth as velvet, warm, with interesting cinnamon spice tastes. I'm not picking up in the blackberries. The aftertaste is smooth with some cinnamon notes.

This was a good beer to try - the cinnamon I think is its biggest strength. The flavors and spices are good and I always enjoy the way some darker beers can be made without any oily or burnt tastes. I bet this would be amazing on nitro. All in all, a good beer to have. Very drinkable, and would be suitable for a cool fall evening. Thanks Jason!

General Cigar Company: Punch "Rare Corojo" (Honduras)

Today I wanted to showcase a nice cigar I recently smoked. It's a 6x60 dark natural from Punch, called the "Rare Corojo." I recently received as an honorarium for moderating a panel at work. Thanks to colleagues Selena and Emily for this!

Interestingly enough, and despite the name, it's not a Corojo wrapper. It is rare, however - it's only released once per year, in the spring. Some of the specs: the size nomenclature is "El Doble." It's a 6 inch by 60 ring-gauge cigar, but seemed much larger. It featured a Sumatra wrapper and Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan fillers and wrapper. Overall, the cigar is attractive and even-colored with a nice box-press (rectangular shape.)

And, like many cigars produced today, Punch has Cuban heritage. Like Montecristo and many other brands, there are two variations - the Cuban version, and the commercially-available version in competition with the Cuban brand. Montecristo's second version is Dominican, while Punch's commercial version (and today's cigar) is from Honduras. As you can see, this one is a monster - however, it fits nicely in my hand, and the box-press shape makes it comfortable to hold pencil-style. It's got a pleasing color, due to the dark natural wrapper.

It lights up nicely, took a minute or two because of the size. I used a punch for the cap instead of a cutter; the rectangular-shaped box press necessitated a punch.

The taste profile is mostly of leather and tobacco, with rich natural leaf flavors with some salt and spiciness blended in. The salt and spice come a bit later into the smoking experience; it starts out pretty basic, and then quickly develops into a nice leafy smoke towards the middle. It has a mottled, cement-grey ash that clings well to the end of the cigar. Holding my hand up to it, it threw off a lot of heat - not unusual, but not common in smaller cigars. As it finished up, I was amazed at how long the cigar stayed "smokable" - that is, how long it smoked before it began to taste harsh and bitter. It lasted much longer than I expected, which was a pleasant treat.

In all, I really enjoyed it. It had a nice, robust flavor with an even burn and not a lot of objectionable aftertastes. It smoked down the end, practically, which was surprising, since I expected a cigar of this size and composition to get bitter and gross around the pinkie-finger length. But no, Punch has some surprises, and I wouldn't mind smoking this again.

DC Brau - "Solar Abyss" imperial double IPA

Today's beer is another concoction from DC Brau - it's a 10% ABV imperial double IPA called the "Solar Abyss." And like a Messier object or spatial anomaly (channeling Geordi LaForge) this beer is worth studying.

This beer is made with Mosaic hops, which is a strain of Simcoe hops. Note: there are many, many varieties of hops each with its own flavor profile, bitterness, and aroma style. A lot of brewers are starting to list all the hop / malt varietals on the bottle or can, that way you can pick out your preferred flavor profile. As mentioned, this one is made with Mosaic hops, an aromatic variety which I don't recall having. On The Wings of Armageddon is made with Falconer's Flight, which is a blend of many hops. So this kind of hops is new to me - time to investigate!

It's interestingly low gravity - I was surprised at how fast it poured. Once it hit the glass and foamed up, it threw very strong hop and fruit aromas. It's a hazy orange color with a very thin, white fizzy foam that dies down quickly.

Wow! The taste is interesting - it drinks much lighter than its cousin, On The Wings of Armageddon, but has a similar textures. It's a little citrusy, with some booziness, generally hoppy and strong, but also fruity. It definitely does remind me of On The Wings, but is thinner and more sour. And uniquely, there's also a slight vegetable taste on the aftertaste, which sounds unappetizing, but it's actually not that bad. It doesn't taste like carrots or anything; it's more of an earthy, green taste, like the good part of broccoli. That taste lingers for quite a while.

Also - in terms of alcohol content - this beer seems to be lighter than it actually is. 10% ABV is serious business, but this beer doesn't seem like it! It's deceptively smooth, and the vegetable aftertaste is definitely growing on me. In the end, it's a delicious beer that has an interesting twist. D'Vines in Columbia Heights has a ton; I'm considering another six-pack in my near future.