Champagne Vocab

In preparation for Fino's upcoming Champagne and tapas dinner, I thought I would read up on the region and its wines. 

I took a class in college on Classic Buddhist Texts and had this fantastic professor who taught me how to write, edit, and that the way to learn about something in its entirety was to learn its language. The first step to learning Buddhism was learning the language. I remember studying pages of Sanskrit in my college dorm room and you know what? My professor, who was fluent in fourteen languages, was more than right. Why can't the same be applied to wine? First step is to learn the language so thank you Professor Roccosalvo for teaching me the art of a vocabulary list. Oh and thanks to Jancis Robinson and Karen MacNeill.

Champagne Vocabulary List

Lees- spent yeasts. 

Sur lie- on the lees, when wine rests with its spent yeasts. 

Assemblage- making a house’s nonvintage wine by blending dozens of still wines from different years. 

Liqueur de tirage- combination of sugar and wine, then blended with yeasts to spur a second fermentation within a bottle. 

Veuve- widow (like "veuve cliquot", ahhhhhh). 

Pupitres (desk)- A-frames where Champagne bottles are inserted for the purpose of riddling. 

Riddling (rémuage)- when bottles in an a-frame are turned slightly and upended a fraction.

Gyropalettes- Machines that riddle. 

Dégorgement- Each upside-down bottle is placed in a brine solution that freezes the neck of the bottle. Bottle is then turned upright and cap removed and the frozen yeasts shoot out. 

Liqueur d’expédition- combination of reserve wine and sugar added to champagne to fill remainder of bottle after yeasts are out. 

Dosage- sweetness level which determines how dry and sweet the wine will be. 

Cuvée- blend of dry base wines. 

Clos- wine brand, vintner, or estate. 

Blanc de Blancs- champagne made from 100% Chardonnay, the best coming from Côte de Blancs, can be nonvintage or vintage. 

Blanc de Noirs (whites from reds)- pink-tinged golden Champagne made entirely from red grapes, very rare 

Demi-sec- half-dry. 

Grower champagnes- from family firms or small growers, not large houses, smaller number of base wines, more likely to reflect terroir.

Amaro Amore

One year ago, I had just been in Austin for one (mild) summer. I was just starting to train as a server at Fino and I think it may have been when I heard the word "Averna" for the first time. I was also fresh off of a long-term relationship, wondering why the hell I had packed my car and drove cross-country, and trying to figure out what my life plan was going to be if it didn't involve a guitar.

One year later, I'm still serving at Fino, I'm still single, still kind of wondering why the hell I packed my car and drove cross-country, and well, still trying to figure out the life plan. One thing I do know is that I've had my fair share of Averna- a long way from first hearing the word "amaro." Well, actually, I've also fallen in love... with my amaro amore.

Fino recently did a bitter bartender's evening hosting Bobby Heugel from Anvil Bar and Refuge in Houston, Texas. If you have been reading my blog, you may have seen me back in Houston in a winged hat with a sprained ankle and a massive hangover. From what I can recall, our beloved bartender from Fino helped takeover Anvil and now it was Bobby's turn to pay us back and pay us a visit.

Our amaro-based menu, thank you:

I had the pleasure of working the event. In addition to getting my ass kicked that night, it was an honor to prep and be a part of it. Amaro affairs are always bittersweet.

The affair continued at Second Bar and Kitchen.

London's Culling:

• Averna
• Carpano Antica
• Lemon
• Orgeat
• Sea Salt

Later that week... at The Esquire Tavern, San Antonio:

Now this bar has been around since 1933 and opened to celebrate the end of Prohibition. It closed for a little while and just opened back up again in 2011 with a vengeance as well as a new and progressive direction.

Smokey Tiny Dancer:

• Mezcal
• Tequila
• Lime
• Honey syrup
• Framboise
• Egg white

Ender's Game:

• Rye whiskey
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
• Honey syrup
• Carbonated Carpano Antica

Zhara Moon:

• Gin
• Allspice
• Cucumber
• Lemon
• Saffron

Oh wait. Okay, sorry, Amaro, but gin, rye whiskey, and mezcal are my other three spirit loves.

But hey, I'm single. Who said I couldn't sleep around in a different zip code? No exclusivity established and I'm really not ready to settle down or sober up.

Maybe I'm in the right place of my life more than I realize.

Under Construction

Everything should be in a constant wheel of reinvention. I am the master of changing my mind and reveling in new phases or obsessions of my life. I like to think of this as a constant struggle to be the best version of yourself or it could very well be an unhealthy obsession with Madonna from when I was 14. What I’m getting at here is that it’s time to revamp.

The point of this blog for the past year was to have a conversation about where exactly I fit in the world of food. I meant to have that conversation more with myself than anyone else. I still haven’t found one specific answer to that question but I feel stable and comfortable enough to move onto the next phase and start expanding that conversation to the public or well, you.

I am excited about new plans to write and reach out. I am excited about the food I haven’t eaten yet and the cocktails I haven’t had. I’m excited about the stories that I have yet to share and the ones yet to be lived but before I do that, there’s always a makeover to be to done. So this blog will be searching for a new shade of lipstick so just bear with me until I find it. When I do, this blog just might be a key to the bigger picture. I’d like to keep it new and exciting than let it fall to the wayside.

I’m thankful for coffees with established Austin writers and bloggers, new friends with innovative ideas and unwavering motivation, everyone who keeps expanding my knowledge and pushing me to the next level, and those who allow me to teach which in turn allows me to learn.

So until then, I am under construction so forgive my mandatory transitional phase.

food is..

cheering on your fino restaurant family at slow food austin's quizbowl (even though they're not doing so hot)

but butchering a pig for auction makes all things better...

especially when you eat it in a sandwich with amazing pickles @ the noble pig

realizing your true passion lies in a sotol cocktail rather than an improv class

remembering simplicity in cooking a summery shrimp salad

candlelight cupcakes.

A big thank you to Martha Stewart for providing me with a romantic evening in:

Ingredients

• For the Cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • Sprinkles, for decorating

• For the Frosting

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line the cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.
   
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
   
3. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (a 2-ounce or 1/4-cup ice-cream scoop is good for this).
   
4. Place tin on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.
   
5. Prepare frosting: In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in up to 1/2 cup more sugar or a few more teaspoons of milk as necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency. Makes enough for 12 cupcakes.
   
6. Frost cupcakes; decorate with sprinkles before frosting dries to ensure that they stick. The frosted cupcakes are best eaten within 1 day.
   

Food Photography.

I have had this recent obsession with food blogs involving gorgeous photography. I, in turn, am jealous. Now I'm desperate for a DSLR. I think it might be an investment I look into soon for the future of this lowly little food blog. Here is the most recent inspiration:

Earl Carter Photography
Happyolks
Apt. 2B Baking Co.
poco-cocoa

Thank you to those I know who do what you do and those who I don't who I admire from far away.

What we've all been missing..

Some things I've done that I have not written about include: midnight strawberry pancakes and bacon, a new obsession with pour-over coffee, pork buns and chicken thighs from a trailer, numerous tea sandwiches and pots of Assam, Osmanthus, and Oolong, my second and more successful time at Asia Cafe, another venture to dough with three hardcore New Jerseyans and many, many fast food burgers. I'm realizing I'm not documenting nearly as enough as I want to.

What I have documented:

reconnecting with old friends over pisco sours at la condesa

getting amazing news from your best friend over pizza and kale salad (don't get queasy, jack)

having a texas experience with your friends from back east

It's time to make more of a concerted effort to create more food experiences and record them. In whichever way I feel artistically inclined. It's time for more recognition of my everyday food experiences that I take for granted. Time to pull out the camera and take the time to appreciate my relationship with food. I hope you'll join me.