Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Reserve Willamette Valley 2010

Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Reserve Willamette Valley 2010

Medium ruby in color, this wine has a great nose of red and black currant, funky meaty aromas, and a hint of menthol.

In the mouth the fruit carries on with a wonderful and rich mouthfeel.  The acidity is medium high, bright but not sharp and defining the fruit very well.  The tannins are soft and very well integrated.  The finish is long and fruit flavors mingle with gamey and herbal notes.  The real shocker here is that the ABV% is listed at 12.5%.  This does not come across at all on the palate as one would assume from the richness of the mouthfeel and intensity of the fruit, that the ABV% would be much higher.

Hash Marks

I was reading up on the history of corned beef hash.  According to the source I was reading at the time, it was born out of leftovers of canned corned beef and had it beginnings in the United Kingdom as a cheap meal when fresh meat was scarce.  The source then went on to say that it's introduction to U.S. palates was through Hormel.  As a cook working in corporate commissaries I have seen some abysmal examples of canned corned beef hash.  They were really greasy, nasty looking, foul smelling products that left me wondering how people could eat them.  I thought the ideal of the dish was great and seemed like it would be in my top five hangover breakfast items, but I can't say I ever saw one that stirred any appetite in me.
Fast forward to Christmas Eve 2011.  A killer day at work that ended with me coming home to an empty house and my new Kentucky love, Buffalo Trace Bourbon.  Needless to say that while I was not hurting the following morning, I was a little fuzzy.  I had a great meal planned for Christmas dinner; a standing rib roast, and I needed to fuel up and get working on that feast.  Rummaging around in the fridge, I found the remains of a massive corned beef sandwich and my direction was clear.

Brother Devil and the Fresh Shrimp

This is a simple tale with a very happy ending.  I'm on a perpetual quest for the best sources for raw food.  I came to learn a long time ago that the premise of all under one roof doesn't exist.  I mean, should it?  I have multiple sources for produce, meat, grocery, and fish, but last year when I discovered the Korean supermarket H Mart.........WOW.  The seafood department there just blew me away.  Salt water tanks of live fish, an ice counter with whole fish, fileted fish, sushi and sashimi products, all this stuff to work with right here, it was amazing.  But my favorite to this day is still the shrimp counter.  Amazingly fresh shrimp that, I'm not 100% certain, but I believe have not been frozen, but best of all, they're head on!  Gross you say?!  Big deal, you say?!  You'd better believe it.  Crustaceans like shrimp, langostines, and crayfish store fat in their heads.  It is sweet and delicious and shellfish aficionados know to pull that head off and suck the fat out of it.