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My introduction was Christmas 1974 in a restored Welsh farmhouse on the island of Anglesey, owned by my future mother-in-law Marjorie Craven-Walker. ‘Hafod Wen’ overlooked Red Wharf Bay and the Irish Sea. With glistening whitewashed stone walls, slate roofs and glass fronted living room, it nestled into a hillside positioned to catch the sun and avoid the winds that drove so many 18^th and 19^th sailing ships on to the rocky coast below. If you’ve ever had Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day leftovers with the Brits you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say… “Just when you think you can’t possibly eat or drink another thing”… a wheel of Stilton and spoon appear, surrounded by bottles of Port… what a hardship! I knew then I had come a long way from Brooklyn, whether I’d be invited back was another story.

The Stilton was from Melton Mowbry, family tradition was to purchase a wheel, cut it horizontally storing one half and serving the other….leaving it out for days to be spooned mercilessly until all that remained was a fragile craterous shell. When the: “wretched thing looked unappetizingly pathetic with bits of blue and white clinging for dear life”…the second wheel was summoned. The Port on the other hand was constantly renewed. Thankfully Bim (her nickname) was a true aficionado, there seemed to be an endless supply of all types of Port including two cases of a 1947 vintage “put down” way before I came on the scene. I shall spare you all the details I learned about the family that weekend… things like Great Uncle Gronway who once fell out of an airplane, was run over by the same car twice (backing up to see what they hit) and was locked in a refrigerated cargo hold of a ship crossing the Atlantic…

I shall now pass on what I’ve learned about Port:

There are 10 different styles of Port, let’s ignore most of them and concentrate on what we see in most stores. Ruby, Tawny, Late Bottle Vintage (LBV), and Vintage.

Ruby is the least complex and the least expensive. It has virtually no bottle age and is a blend of young wines from different years all of which have been barreled or tanked for two to three years.

Tawny has two categories, young and aged. Young Tawny is less than three years old and is uncomplicated and light colored….Aged Tawny is either 10, 20, 30 or 40 years old. It’s a blend of the highest quality ports left to mature in the barrel where over time they take on a nutty vanilla flavor and silky texture, then bottled to age gently. Their color changes from a deep ruby red to Tawny. Experts tell me 20 year old Tawny’s are the ones to drink.

Late Bottle Vintage Ports are of a single vintage from good, not great years. They’re aged in the barrel four to six years then bottled. Though LBV’s are in the wood for 2 years longer than  Vintage Port, they are not substantial enough to age for long periods of time (decades) in the bottle. I think these are good value.

Vintage Port represents only two to three percent of total production. They are the most expensive and most sought after, and are produced in only the best years. All the grapes without question come from the finest vineyards in the Douro. Bottled at 2 before it’s had a chance to shed its harsh tannins, it requires an enormous amount of bottle aging. Anything before 20 years and you’re considered impatient. I’ve heard stories about 70 year old Port…can you imagine the amount of sediment?

Deb and I have travelled quite an arc since that Christmas in ’74. My mother-in-law, who I loved so very much, embraced me with the elegance and grace of a most extraordinary life. Bim’s war time diaries chronicling her years in the WRAF were posthumously published and are a constant reminder of a life well lived… and when I see the video of my daughter Elinor, on her last visit together with her Nain (Welsh for granny) drinking a glass of wine on a patio in Tuscany, I hear that wonderful English accent as she leans close to her, and says with the same wry smile the words she said to me all those years ago: “drink slowly my dear….this is the good stuff.”

All the best,

Warren

On Monday March 15^th one of the categories was wine… well not wine as such… it was the proper spelling of wine. There were soft ball questions like Cabernet Sauvignon, middle difficulty when you heard it pronounced, like Rioja… and yes the one I got wrong… Gewürztraminer… a shameful mistake on my part.

Not only do we sell wine here at The Walpole Barn, not only do we sell the fore mentioned Gewurztraminer… not only had I opened a bottle the night before with dinner, not only am I of Austrian descent and have visited a vineyard that produces it… I actually brought a bottle of it with me that evening to give to John Hanlon.

Tramin is a village in the (German-speaking) Northern part of Italy. For those of you have skied or trekked the Dolomites you’ve  probably enjoyed the ubiquitous house white. GEWURZ (no T) means spicy. Not in the kitchen spice rack sense, rather in the boldness of the wine…it’s strong floral aromas, gingerbread, grapefruit, and smokey minerality. The best most complex and driest Gewürztraminers come from Alsace… Germany produces fruitier but less spicy wine, Austria often bottles a sweet version so be careful, Italy where they call it Terlano (after the town) or Traminer Aromatico, is the birthplace of the grape. We rarely see any of it exported to the States. In the U.S. a small amount is planted in the cooler parts of California, ie: Monterey and the Russian River Valley. These wines are off-dry, quite floral on the nose with honeysuckle and vanilla on the palate.

Whichever way you spell it, when you drink Gewürztraminer I think you’ll enjoy this wonderfully exotic grape. It’s a deep colored full-bodied white wine, tends to be high in sugar and low in acid, that means the wine is usually high in alcohol. Because acidity is low they age quickly……and also have high extract. When you read the term extract try to think of what would be left over if you boiled off all the water and anything else that could evaporate…extract on the palate comes across as an impression of substance and character.

I can’t believe I’ve written all of this because I misspelled one word. Luckily as far as this blog is concerned I have spell check. It never fails…I always spell misspelled with one “S”.

All the Best.

Warren

It was bad enough being an American, but when I told him I never heard of Rioja I could see the look in his eyes…what has Debora done.

That evening I learned about red wine. There was no California, there was no Chile, no New Zealand, or Australia. There was only France and now Spain. Spain according to Craven was the future…..and trust me, standing there was forty years of experienced drinking, we’re talking the best of what Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone had to offer.

Fast forward 35 years, Craven is gone, but he left his children and grand children a love of wine, fine food and adventure. Along with his Lava Lamps, (Edward Craven Walker was the inventor of the lava lamp) he gave them a desire to try new things without prejudice, and to always remember, it’s not the quality of the lead crystal in the glass that matters, it’s what’s in the glass. How I wish he were here today, boy do I have a Rioja for him…a 2004 Sierra Cantabria Crianza. He’d love it.

Rioja is Spain’s oldest wine producing region. It lies in the center of Northern Spain where the climate is cool and there’s some variation in altitude. Typically it is a combination of 60% to 80% Tempranillo, with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo completing the blend and giving the wine its unique taste. There are three levels of Riojas: Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva, all are classified according to age and quality of the grapes.

Crianza: is the youngest: Minimum one year in the wood and one year in the bottle. A good Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday wine. Made with okay/good grapes. Easy drinking best with simple foods.

Reserva: released after three years of aging, at least one year in the wood and two years in the bottle. Superior growths from prime locations. Don’t for a moment think all Reservas are equal. They are all good, some are better, and others are off the charts. You need to try more than one and make up your own mind. Not long ago I drank one that was aged 30 months in the wood and spent nearly 3 years in the bottle. It was priced like a Reserva should be priced, and drank like you hoped a Gran Reserva would drink. Structure, character, complexity and balance, all that and less than $20.00….has the Euro tanked???.

Gran Reservas:  The rules require from 5 to 7 years aging with a minimum of two years in the wood. In practice many are aged 8 years or more. They are rare, made only from great vintages and the best grapes. Usually Gran Reservas represent less than 10% of wine produced in that year. I keep searching for the “one” but my mojo hasn’t clicked. How about yours….have you any suggestions?

If you want to know what food to pair a wine with, look at what they farm and cook in the region where the wine is made. Rioja is a region of down to earth foods and simple cooking techniques. Braised, grilled, roasted, stewed and boiled. Game, grilled lamb, beef, vegetable stews and casseroles, ham, asparagus, potatoes, chorizo, peppers, and salads. My recommendation…..try Rioja with a greasy gyro.

Warren

• Set your Clever Coffee Dripper onto your counter.
• Place a #4 paper filter into the dripper and add  fresh ground coffee. Pour just-off-the-boil water slowly onto the grounds.
• Cover and allow to brew for 3 minutes.
• Place Clever Coffee Dripper on top of a mug until full.
• Simply lift the dripper off the mug and the shut-off will stop the flow instantly!

Visit The Walpole Barn and see for yourself.  The Clever Coffee Dripper is priced at $13.90

Now, how does that relate to wine?

Once upon a time, wine producers needed only to be concerned with the “reach” of their distributor and the power of branding…not anymore. Vineyards and wineries have gone viral. Europe, South Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia, all have exploded, and in the U.S.A. over 35 states produce wine. The marketplace is filled with savvy experienced customers. It’s hard to find a wine drinker who doesn’t know where Rioja is from or who Robert Parker is. At the very least everyone can count, 91 points has got to be better than 87 (right?).

Wine can be bought everywhere, and I am here to tell you that you can buy good wine almost everywhere. Don’t let price misguide you. There is wonderful wine to be had between $8.00 and $18.00…yes I said eight dollars. The oversupply of good “juice” is a global phenomenon. Between the over expansion of the industry and the current recession, vineyards have excess tonnage. Obscure blenders are buying grapes for a fraction of what they might have paid in the past, for varietals of a quality they never could have access too. Last year a blender/ bottler named  Redtree produced a Pinot Noir that was a staggering pour….price: $6.99 in California, $8.99 in Maine if you could get it. (I tried but couldn’t). In Europe, cooperatives are creating value never seen before, while famous vineyards throughout the Continent try to figure out what to do with yet another excellent vintage and the attendant high yields. All of this has got to be good news for us.

They say Pinot Noir is a white wine masquerading as a red. If that’s true it has to be the perfect bottle to bring along when you’re not sure of what’s being served. Fish, fowl, vegetarian, you can’t go wrong. It’s said you can read the New York Times through a glass of it. If anybody manages to do that please come out to the Barn, we need to talk.

Warren

Brochure for the Original 'Astro Lamp' from www.flowoflava.com

Back in the early 1960′s, the original description for the Astro Lava Lamp read as follows: Favoured for it’s charm: The Original “Astro.” Perfect anywhere. Designed to suit any mood, any decor – in the home, office or public place. The ‘professional’ extra for waiting rooms, halls & reception areas.

Iron-on transfer

“It’s only Rock’n Roll but I like it…” Here’s proof that embroidery rocks!  ”It’s easier than A B C…” just as Michael Jackson said.  So pull out your cotton T-shirts, boxers, cotton hankies or what ever else strikes your fancy & discover your needlework skills…  Impress your friends!  You got all the stuff you need to get the band together!  Drums, symbols, mike, amplifier, the whole shebang…

Once you’ve decided you want to try out your skills what you need is an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of multi-imprinting, iron-on embroidery patterns.  Just iron on to any fabric and stitch along the lines.  Each pack comes with complete instructions for getting started in embroidery!  Get in touch with your softer, gentler side…  

Also available, starter kits with all the stuff to get you started including stitching lessons and complete instructions.

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