Do wine bottle closures matter to you? Do you think that screw-capped bottles contain cheaper or lower quality wines? Are you a die-hard cork devotee?
I think I have a definitive answer to the cork vs. high end screw cap closure question.
At an André Lurton Wines tasting, we had two Sauvignon Blanc bottles from the same Château, same vintage, bottled at the same time and having the same amount of cellar time in the same cellar. They differed only in the fact that one was using a high-end screw cap closure (Stelvin™) and the other a cork closure.
Stelvin-closed wine bottles. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
At its simplest, the closure on a wine bottle must keep the liquid in the bottle inside and must keep oxygen out. But there are many different closure advantages to consider depending on how you like the wines you drink.
Tradition, cost, style of winemaking, and consumer acceptability all influence the closure selected by a wine producer.
White wine. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The biggest problem that cork has to overcome is its susceptibility to TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole), a cork contaminant that gives a musty odor and taste to the wine, making it smell and taste like soggy, wet cardboard!
In the Lurton tasting, the differences were rather subtle, but very evident. The Stelvin-closed wine felt young, fresh, fruity, and quite aromatic.
Gravlax platter. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
It was a wine that begged to be consumed, accompanying gravlax salmon or perhaps a trout meuniere, a nice runny French cheese, or even some melon with prosciutto wrapped around it. By preventing micro-oxidation to occur while the wine was cellared, the metal closure kept the fruity aromas inside the bottle.
Grilled scallops with caviar and saffron cream. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
On the other hand, the cork-closed wine was a little less aromatic but much more complex. This wine called for a skilled cook that could match the wine’s complexity to much more sophisticated fare. Perhaps grilled scallops topped with caviar, a shrimp fried in garlic oil main course, or even a tree-ripened peach over a slab of sharp Irish cheddar.
Smoked trout and crab on dark bread. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Both wines were very good. The Stelvin closure had kept one bottle feeling much younger than the cork-closed one that had allowed micro-oxidation to occur, allowing the wine to become much more complex than its Stelvin-closed sibling.
So it all boils down to your taste. If you like young, fresh, aromatic wines, a Stelvin-closed bottle would be fine for you. On the other hand, if you like complex, sophisticated wines, the cork closure would be better for you. The same goes for a number of red wine bottles from other producers that we have tried.
Both types of closure can have their place in the scheme of things. It should be up to you to select which bottle to purchase with what type of closure. À santé!
Bolgheri is a central Italian village of Castagneto Carducci, a commune in Tuscany in the province of Livorno that is well-known to wine lovers for the exceptional quality of the bottles created in the region.
The Bolgheri DOC became an internationally known region following a tasting event in 1974 arranged by Decanter Magazine, where a 6-year-old Sassicaia wine won over a collection of Bordeaux wines in a blind judging – similar to the better-known “Judgment of Paris” of 1976.
Prior to this, the Bolgheri area had been known as producers of quite ordinary white or rosé wines.
Cabernet grapes. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The area is now the home of “Super Tuscan” producers, such as Tenuta San Guido who produces Sassicaia, Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia who produces Ornellaia, Ca’Marcanda of Angelo Gaja, and Guado al Tasso of Antinori, among numerous very good producers.
These exceptional reds are usually blends of Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and/or Syrah or other Bordeaux grapes (and very rarely a small amount of Sangiovese). The above-mentioned wineries are the better known ones, but there are smaller and not as well-known ones that also create spectacular wines in this region using Bordeaux grapes.
San Felipe’s Bell’aja Bolgheri Superiore. Photo courtesy of the wine producer.
San Felipe’s Bell’aja Bolgheri Superiore is produced mostly from Merlot grapes (95%) from the oldest parcels of the vineyard with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon (5%) and no Sangiovese. This is a classic Bordeaux-styled blend that’s only produced in Italy!
The vintage we tasted had oaky notes with spices and vanilla, as well as dusty leather, and was on the sweet side for a Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend. There were dark currants and coffee beans on the nose with a touch of sandalwood. Very food friendly, it was one of this season’s earliest reasonably priced discoveries from Bolgheri.
Another wine produced in the area but presented as just “Toscana IGT” is Poggio ai Ginepri of Argentiera.
Poggio ai Ginepri of Argentiera. Photo courtesy of the wine producer.
Poggio ai Ginepri is composed of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot, and 10% Petit Verdot – all vinified separately and then blended. We tasted a 2021 sample bottle and thought it was a nice young wine with defined structure and good concentration. Most of our tasters considered it approachable and ready for early drinking. It also had a remarkably clean finish.
Black fruit – mostly black plums and blackberries – is evident on the palate, as well as a touch of black cherry, sage, and cedar. A couple of the tasters reported sandalwood, which I personally did not smell.
In my opinion, it is a distinguished and noteworthy Bolgheri Rosso. It’s also quite well-priced for a Bolgheri.
We are looking for more of these exceptional libations, and we’ll let you know as soon as we find bottles worth mentioning and at an affordable price!
My friend and I were wandering around Lisbon one day and stumbled upon a beautiful Italian restaurant called La Mafia se Sienta a la Mesa. We couldn’t have made a better choice for lunch.
The interior of La Mafia in Lisbon. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The decor was lovely, the service was stellar, and the menu was inventive. Imagine my shock to find out that La Mafia is a chain of restaurants in various parts of Europe. But this isn’t a chain like you’d expect to find in the U.S. It’s much better quality – not deserving of a Michelin star, but very enjoyable.
Diverse rosa (rosso diverso) drink at La Mafia. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
I started my meal with diverse rosso, a cocktail of red wine and lime soda topped with citrus foam. I have tried to duplicate this at home but with no luck. I’m not sure how they make it, but it’s light, delicious, and refreshing – perfect for lunch, especially if it’s hot outside.
I then had a pasta dish with a Bolognese sauce with mustard, orange, and arugula. This flavor combination was unexpected, and the pasta was cooked to perfection.
My delicious dish at La Mafia. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Other inventive dishes include:
Pork carpaccio with foie gras flakes, lemon juice, and olive oil
Melted provolone with pesto, tomatoes, and pistachios
Iberian pork with lime gremolata, spices, sweet potatoes, caramelized chives, and arugula pesto
Rotondi di cioccolato recheado com rabo de boi – Recheada beef tail and bochecha dough with ground meat toffee in sweet potato parmentier
Quadrati of scamorza, figo and nduja with arugula pesto – massa with Scamorza recheio (smoked queijo), figos e Nduja (spicy chouriço cream), Grana Padano DOP and molho arugula pesto with tomato in pó
The extensive menu also contains pizzas, seafood, meats, and desserts, including mascarpone gelato. But my friend and I opted to skip dessert, only to succumb a short walk from La Mafia when we stumbled upon another European chain, L’Eclair. My friend had discovered this pastry shop in other cities and was delighted to find out they have a location in Lisbon.
L’Eclair pastry shop in Lisbon. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The eclairs are gorgeous, and the number of favors practically rivals Baskin Robbins. I had a passion fruit cream confection that melted in my mouth. Highly recommended!
Some of the selections at L’Eclair. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Lisbon’s La Mafia is in a central location on Avenida Deque de Avila, and L’Eclair is just a short jaunt away on the same avenue.
New restaurants appear in Northern New Jersey all the time. However, some are just run of the mill eateries serving the same tired dishes that have been served for ages, while a few others are serving food of exceptional quality, rivaling Michelin-starred establishments around the world in inventiveness and ingredient quality.
The 87 Sussex Restaurant in Jersey City is an absolute stunner – modern and upbeat.
On entry, the fully stocked bar is to your right and covered by a softly glowing gold painted ceiling. The handsome street level dining area is to your left, featuring cozy leather dining chairs in blue, backed with caramel. The wall is also a gorgeous blue and caramel-colored marble that leads upstairs to a second level dining area, overlooking the ground level with a sweeping architectural balcony.
Images on the wall at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Tables are draped in white cloth with a small bouquet of blossoms, echoing the three photographs of women with flower headdresses that hang on the back wall. Service is presented in blue-tipped white plates and gold-colored flatware. Exquisite details tie all design features into one pleasing package. Even in the bathrooms, the well-designed décor continues.
Executive Chef Bryan Walter. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Overseeing this elegant establishment is Chef Brian Walter. He has an affable disposition and is a passionate advocate for good food. He was classically trained in the French style, having served a two-year internship in France before moving on to New York’s French Culinary Institute.
He became a stagiaire (apprentice) under master chefs Mario Batali, Luc Pasquier, and Daniel Or. He also refined his craft at legendary Sirio Maccioni’s Le Cirque. Chef Brian’s work has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation, of which he is an honorary member.
Frog legs at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The eclectic appetizer menu, with its humorous titles, belies the complex ingredients and artistry that go into each dish. For instance, Hoppin Poppers are crispy frog leg drumsticks with a Korean BBQ glaze handsomely presented on-point sitting on spicy daikon pickle spears. They were succulent and tasty and presented in a non-threatening way so that the usual “ick” factor of the ingredient is overshadowed by its excellence.
This in a nutshell is Chef Brian’s mission – to introduce exotic ingredients and dress them in an appealing way. We watched the delight in the eyes of the diners even before taking their first bite, so it seems he is achieving his goal.
Escargot Wontons at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Another example of this effect is Escargot Wontons. The escargot are not served in the traditional snail shell but in a crispy wonton mantle with a black garlic marmalade and sprinkled with an herb crumble. The escargot flavor and texture is still there but without the task of having to remove the tasty critters from their homes.
Oyster & Pearls at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The Oyster & Pearls is a beautiful presentation of three oysters sitting on a bed of salt, draped with tapioca mignonette pearls, and topped with Royal Ostrea Caviar. It was a feast for the eyes and a gift to the palate. The joy of a beautiful presentation enhances the experience of eating a distinctive dish, and Chef Brian is an artist as well as a consummate chef.
Black Tie Scallops at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Black Tie Scallops is another offering only made possible by a master French trained chef. Its complex layering of Diver Scallops with sliced black truffles tied together with poached spinach and encased in puff pastry and served with warm Veal jus was as delicious as it was amazing to behold.
Foie Gras Torchon at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
For me, there were no words to describe the Foie Gras Torchon. We always order foie gras when it’s offered on a menu, and it’s always delicious. But Chef Brian’s version served with Sauternes gelée and fresh cherries in a spiced port molasses sauce is in a class all by itself. I soaked up every bit of the sauce with the micro-greens decorating the Torchon. If you are a Foie Gras lover as we are, do not miss this one.
Before we get to the entrées, we want to say a word about the wait staff, which we found to be efficient, friendly, and knowledgeable about the dishes. They delivered each dish to tables with an explanation of ingredients and preparation. The staff was professionally trained in the European fashion of service, which is the mark of a restaurant that cares about their clientele and the food that they serve.
They were attentive without being intrusive and handsomely uniformed in blue-checkered shirts with caramel-colored elbow patches and matching caramel-colored vests accented by colorful ties. The dark blue aprons wrapped around their waists were in the traditional French bistro style.
Lobster and Sea Bass Cannelloni at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The entrées cover a variety of dishes from innovative to traditional French and American offerings. Barbara’s favorite was Lobster & Mediterranean Sea Bass Cannelloni. The dish was presented with rolled green dandelion pasta pancakes filled with branzino & fennel mousseline, topped with butter-poached lobster and a large seared diver scallop, accented with tiny baby Brussels sprouts. Beautiful to behold, it was light yet flavorful with a bit of a kick.
Braised Short Ribs at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The Braised Short Ribs were set on a bed of white sweet potato mousseline with Chinese long beans draped around the base. The dish was composed in the traditional French manner and a bit on the heavy side for me, although a wonderful meal for a cold winter night.
Coq au Vin at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The Coq Au Vin was an exceptional French classic. Taking a forkful, I closed my eyes and for a moment saw myself sitting at La Cupole in Paris 55 years ago, having Coq au Vin and a couple glasses of Beaujolais.
Passion Fruit Trifle at 87 Sussex. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Desserts are large and meant to be shared. The Passion Fruit Trifle was a perfect ending to our meal. I am not normally a fan of passion fruit, but again, this version was truly delicious. With a lemon poppy cake base, passion fruit curd, and topped with a thick layer of freshly made whipped cream, accented by raspberries and blackberries, it was light, flavorful, and decadent without being overly sweet.
For an even lighter selection, there was house-made sorbet with fresh berries, and for the chocoholic, there was a Chocolate Turtle Cake consisting of dark chocolate mousse, devil’s cake, salted caramel, and toasted walnuts that our attentive waiter, Alex, said is to die for.
The restaurant had a soft opening on Valentine’s Day, and Chef Brian is still experimenting with his offerings. But the restaurant was full on for our visit just by word of mouth. There are a few details yet to be ironed out, such as the excessive noise level and the less than perfect espresso from a machine that needs recalibrating. But Chef Brian assured us that they are working to remedy these minor issues, hopefully before the formal opening.
The official opening is scheduled for May 24th, but if you want to get the experience of this extraordinary restaurant before the rush, visit early in the week now, even before the spring menu goes into effect.
A portion of this meal was complimentary, but as always, we are dedicated to providing an honest assessment of our experience. See our Disclosures for more information.
At a recent major wine event in New York City promoting Barolo and Barbaresco wines and general tourism to Piedmont, Italy, I heard a rumor that one of the best and most influential Italian chefs, Davide Scabin, will be opening a new venue. His last renowned restaurant Combal.zero (pronounced Combal Dot Zero) closed in 2020 because of the pandemic, and the culinary world has been much poorer for its absence.
I first met Davide Scabin, owner and top toque of Combal.Zero in 2005, during a press visit to Torino (Turin) prior to the 2006 Olympics. In my mind, he still stands as a gigantic figure in the Italian gastronomic landscape. I consider him to be one of the most innovative Italian chefs and a pioneer who started a new chapter in the modern Italian culinary scene.
We then returned in 2010 and 2016, and his dishes never stopped amazing us.
Combal.Zero Deconstructed Spaghetti Margherita. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Chef Scabin’s philosophy has been concept cuisine or the restaurant as theater.
After tasting his food, we thought he was an extremely talented chef, steeped in modern cooking without forgetting his own culinary roots. His kitchen became famous for merging traditional Piemontese flavors with highly eccentric cooking techniques.
Combal.Zero’s food was not only exceptional, but also beautifully plated. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
He took apart ingredients to reassemble them in unusual ways, e.g. deconstructed pizzas, cybereggs, etc. He found his way into a kitchen in 1994, when he decided to embrace his passion for great food and opened his first trattoria in Almese, Turin. He called it Combal.
He has been focused on traditional trattoria dishes, always favoring regional and seasonal ingredients. His reinterpretation of regional classics started to attract the attention of gastronomes from all over Europe. As his trattoria space started to feel small for his increasing clientele, he opened a restaurant within the Castello di Rivoli in 2000, which he called Combal.Zero.
In this new kitchen, he felt free to experiment with different ingredients, food textures, and methods of cooking with spectacular results.
Combal.Zero Crocchette di baccalà mantecato chips di patata violetta insalata. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Over the years, Combal.Zero gained international recognition, countless accolades and awards, and was ranked 18 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Davide was crowned by Time Magazine as “one of the ten chefs around the world that will change your life.”
Combal.Zero has also been awarded Gambero Rosso’s Three Forks, further proof of the passion Scabin exhibited in his cooking. The restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars but lost one in 2015, after which Italian food lovers posted their outrage on social media, considering this an insult to this very creative and popular chef.
Combal.Zero was located in the Piazza Mafalda di Savoia, inside the Rivoli building, which is now a contemporary art museum. You could select from three tasting menus: Creative, Classic, or Territorial, or you could order à la carte elements from each menu, or you could order the micropiatti of the lounge that were highlights of his most successful creations. The wine list was extensive with exceptional vintages from around the world.
Combal.Zero Octopus and Scallop Dish. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
There were nine of us at the table. One didn’t eat fish or veal, and another was allergic to garlic (what a tragedy in Italy!) But the efficiently attentive dining room staff took these limitations in stride. After a visit to the museum, we arrived fairly early to an almost empty restaurant. By the time we were halfway through the meal, the 50-table room was full and humming. Altogether, including the course substitutes for those who couldn’t eat fish, veal, or garlic, we saw and tasted 14 courses.
Combal.Zero Cyberegg. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Here are some of the most interesting and/or impressive dishes:
Cybereggs with caviar.
His Deconstructed Spaghetti Margherita (an elegant composition of black and white noodle sheets, tomato sauce, anchovies, basil, fermented black garlic, and chili oil) was a culinary delight!
Foie Gras Ganache with Passionfruit Gelatin.
Fried Quail Egg on Potato Chips with a Light Peanut Sauce.
Combal.Zero Tonno di Coniglio. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Tonno di Coniglio con Verdure e Salsa Brusca Astigiana.
The above were the highlights, but everything was exceptional!
The wines were selected to complement each course and were all Italian, except for champagne at the end.
Combal.Zero Vegetables with Maraschino Cherry. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
We spent more than five hours at Combal.Zero, three tasting the menu and two talking with Chef Scabin who had an extremely interesting story to tell about his life and philosophy. I hope the rumors are true and that he opens a new restaurant because all that talent should not be allowed to disappear.
I don’t understand why there are so few articles written about sweet wines, except for articles about madeiras, ports, and sherries. It seems that a number of wine writers veer away from sweet wines and consider aficionados to have “uneducated palates that cannot appreciate the complexity and beauty of dry wines.” That’s exactly what a well-known, very full of himself wine writer commented during a tasting we both attended.
I beg to differ. I can appreciate the complexity and beauty of a dry wine, as well as the lushness and splendor of a well-made dessert wine. My palate is as well-educated as any other older writer’s. I have been drinking very exceptional wines for more than 60 years now, and I have tasted the product of practically every major and most minor winemaking regions in the world, including regions that produce outstanding sweet wines.
Sweet wines from Montilla-Moriles. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
A 100% Pedro Ximénez bottle from Spain with its unique aromas of raisins, molasses, and hazelnuts. A Riesling Eiswein from the Mosel. A Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from France. A Malvasia from Italy’s Aeolian Islands. These are all delicious and very seductive. I have bottles from many of them and indulge whenever I feel I need a pick-me-up.
These wines pair beautifully with rich dishes, such as pan-seared foie gras, breast of duck in a black cherry and green peppercorn sauce, and well-aged cheeses. They also taste wonderful with a nice apricot cake covered by chocolate ganache, a raspberry cheesecake, or just a tree-ripened peach. In fact, many times I’ll have a glass of sweet wine at the end of a meal with my espresso instead of pastry.
This question came up recently: what wine does one drink with such rich dishes as a Goose Royal or a Foie Gras? The immediate and most obvious answer was “Sauternes, of course!”
Pan Seared Foie Gras with Fresh Figs. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Foie gras can be baked, poached, or made into a pâté or mousse. But the best way is to either grill it over an aromatic hardwood fire or sauté slices until they are seared outside and barely pink in the center, then pairing them with fresh fruit like ripe figs. When you get an unctuous glass of sweet wine, get ready for a taste that’s been called an epicurian dream.
Yquem vineyard. Photo courtesy of Château d’Yquem.
Yes, Sauternes becomes a rich-on-rich match guaranteed to overload the taste buds. I think I have a much better answer: how about a German Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese or even an Eiswein?
Grapes with noble rot. Photo courtesy of Wines of Germany.
The Trockenbeerenauslese is a wine made from grapes dried on the vine and shriveled to raisins by botrytis, just the way Sauternes is made. The “noble rot” concentrates the sugar and flavors of the grape, resulting in a sweet and highly aromatic nectar. The German producers create sweet wines with much more acidity and citric flavors than the French, which helps in cutting through the unctuousness of foie gras.
And I’m not talking about Blue Nun or Liebfraumilch. These are mass produced, low quality, and fairly inexpensive sweet wines that were popular in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Ice wine is created when grapes have been allowed to naturally freeze on the vine. Please note that grapes frozen in a freezer prior to pressing are not considered as making ice wine, though some producers circumvent the industry conventions and call them “iced wines.”
Ice wine is a relatively rare wine and is produced in climates where an early frost can be expected in late October or November in the northern hemisphere.
New York State has this kind of climate, and Dr. Dan Damianos at Pindar Vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island makes a good example. It’s readily available in the New York market. The Canadian Quebec region in the East, as well as the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia, also produce exceptional sweet wines.
Thanisch Trockenbeerenauslese. Photo courtesy of Winesellers Ltd.
But I think if you are willing to spend the money, the German sweet wine variety is superior, and many of the current outstanding vintages deliver concentrated flavors of peaches, apricots, and spicy minerality.
Goose Royale. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
An excellent possibility is an aromatic Riesling wine from the Doctor Thanisch vineyards. Their Doctor Trockenbeerenauslesewine is a very limited availability bottle, and yes, I’ll admit it’s expensive – almost as expensive per bottle as a Château d’Yquem.
But you don’t have to break the bank to get an exceptional sweet wine. There are many other great Rieslings or Silvaner bottles coming from the Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz, and Rheinhessen regions. With their delicate earthy and fruity notes and moderate acidity, these wines are as great to explore as any other exceptional wine.
The Thanisch wines are imported by Winesellers of Chicago that also imports many bottles from other venerable German producers, such as Dr. Pauly Bergweiler, Fitz Ritter, Dr. Heyden, Bollig Lehnert, Paul Anheuser, Schafer, and GA Schneider. I’ve tasted most of them and have also visited the Dr. Pauly and Fitz Ritter wineries and vineyards in the past. Many of those wines are truly spectacular.
Do you enjoy sweet wines? If so, comment below, and let us know your favorites.
