The Great Energizer

I am usually tired when I go to work or teach. I get up early enough and busy all day then in the afternoon I may take a quick nap but usually there are things to do.

Getting in the car , I can hardly keep my eyes open when driving. Yawning , trying to find some good music to listen to , just following the car in front of me.

Then I get to work or in front of the class getting ready to get myself going and zowie I wake up , am totally alert and begin with the jokes and witty sarcasm people like to hear.

Later on , when it is time to leave and everyone is happy I drive home ready to hit the town. Well not really but that is what I feel like at 11-12 o'clock at night.

Work is the great energizer for me and nowadays I have to say I feel quite thankful I have work that gives me that energy boost.

Nothing like working doing something you really enjoy.

Others nowadays , are not as fortunate.

Chartreuse

Today for the liquor portion of the week I will talk about Chartreuse which to this day is made by monks and the recipe remains a secret to this day on how to make it.

It was 1605 when a recipe was given to the Carthusian monks located in Voiron France near where Grenoble is now for the making of Chartreuse. By 1764 the monks perfected the recipe but left it pretty unknown to the rest of the world outside their monastery until that is 1848 when some army officers stayed for awhile and were offered this liqueur after dinner one night by the host. Greatly impressed word spread around so much so that the monks had to build a distillery just to keep up with the demand at Fourvoirie.

Then the carthusian monks were expelled from France then fled to Spain with the recipe. Settling in Tarragona , Spain they continued making Chartreuse until 1931 when the French government said , okay you can come back now and make the Chartreuse again where you were near Grenoble.

Nowadays , chartreuse is made at the two places in both Spain and France and contains up to 135 different ingredients with the base being brandy. It is very complicated to make and still known only by the monks who make it.

What we do know is the green chartreuse was the original recipe that uses chlorophyll for colouring which is the most potent at 55% alcohol by volume. The yellow chartreuse is the sweeter version coloured with saffron that is less in alcohol with only 43%.

Often served with ice it has a strong assertive flavour that when used in cocktails it requires very small amounts to exert it's character on the drink. Similar to vanilla flavoured Galliano in looks and texture , it has the flavour of anise noticeable on the palette as well as spice. Hyssop one of the known ingredients is a semi - woody plant prevalent in the Mediterranean area. So it must be pretty amazing to know all the ingredients that go into this fine liqueur. But unfortunately only 3 monks can know what all goes into Chartreuse at one time!

Some recipes include,

Chartreuse Cocktail

1oz Yellow Chartreuse
1oz Cognac
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth

Serve in a chilled cocktail glass straight up like a martini

Green Lizard Shooter

1oz 151 Proof Rum
1oz Green Chartreuse
Serve in shooter glass , light it up and down it. Whoossh!
Oh yea make sure you blow out the fire before downing.

Mack Attack

3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz Black Sambuca
2-3 drops Tobasco
Another shooter and this time it will feel like a truck hit you!

There is a few recipes to try out if you want to feel happy fast. Remember it is potent so you need not drink much.

Chenin Blanc

I chose Chenin Blanc to talk about this week as it is a grape that is very versatile. It can make deliciously long lived sweet wines and even be the raw material for sherry , port , and brandy in South Africa.

For about 500 years from the ninth century the home of Chenin Blanc was the Anjou-Touraine region of France found in the touristy area of the Loire Valley. In 1445 the vine was exported up a few miles up the river to a place called the Echaudon at Mont-Chenin just south of the Touraine countryside , hence where the name came from and where Vouvray and Montlouis originated.

In 1965 the discovery in South Africa that the grape variety Steen was actually Chenin Blanc was quite amazing. So much so that Chenin Blanc in South Africa today has become it's most widely planted vine accounting for 31% of all vines planted there. It's versatility , high yields , and good resistance to disease is it's trademark. Some may wonder how it got from France to South Africa. Apparently there is some idea that there was a Dutchman who brought some original cuttings working for the Dutch East India Company back in the 1650s.

In the 1960s the South Africans discovered cold fermentation for white wine production in a hot climate. Chenin Blanc ripens early in the season in South Africa's warm climate and when cold fermented produces a wine that is quite crisp with high acidity and a slight spritz. A spritz is when you taste the wine there may be some CO2 on the palate giving the wine a slight expression of bubbles. Because of the cold fermentation any character of the grape is usually dissipated so that many Chenin Blancs coming out of South Africa albeit clean and refreshing have no real distinguishing traits. They all taste the same.

Chenin Blancs main characteristic though is it's high acidity of which it is abundant in it's home in the Anjou-Touraine region situated on the Loire Valley. When you have great acidity in a white wine it is great for ageing. A young Vouvray and it's acidity can be quite hard to get accustomed to but in some pockets of the Loire vineyards where the sun can have it's affect the grape can reach high sugar levels and produce a wine that is classic. Picking in November is not uncommon and Vouvray's is one of the latest in France. It needs sun though to succeed.

Chenin is one of the varieties that actually smell sweet but it is not.Young Chenin is more floral than fruity but you can catch honey or straw on the nose as well. It is weighty and full of texture with lots of glycerine running down the sides of the glass when you swirl it. High degree of extract is noticeable on the pallet and it is not light bodied.

The most prized Chenin Blanc is late picked and high in residual sugar. In sub-appellations such as Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume or Coteaux du Layon , the winemaker lets the noble rot take it's affect much like they do in Sauternes to make a sweet wine that combines raciness and richness. I have tried a Quarts de Chaume and I can attest to that. These botrytised wines from this grape can age for decades. The residual sugar and high acidity is what produces this long lived delicacy.

Even dry Chenin Blanc wines such as a steely Savennieres are capable of maturing for decades developing complexity. The leanest , most tart wines are turned into sparkling wines from the dry to medium dry versions.

Chenin Blanc does best in marginal climates such as the Loire where it develops fully and it now shows potential in another cool climate , that being the South Island of New Zealand where high acidity levels are reached and some late harvest botrytised versions have been produced.

One of the world's undervalued grapes , it is not expensive to buy a bottle compared to a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. However it's main concern is maintaining a market demand compared to the other two big grape varieties just mentioned.

Not as fat as Sauternes , a late harvest botrytised Chenin Blanc like Coteaux du Layon is great for an apple flan or tart , or biscuits with marzipan or almond. The medium dry wines would go well with a fish in a cream sauce or with sweetbreads.

In ending , Chenin Blanc is characterized by it's high acidity and to some it's young wines can be too tart to enjoy but one that is aged is a real beauty and of good value too.

Cognac And How It All Started

A couple of weeks ago we talked about eau de vie that were distilled from fruits such as Kirsch. Now this week we will talk about eau de vie distilled from wine. The Dutch term " Brandewijn " is used to describe what is know as " burnt wine" when heat is applied to wine in a still. This term became known as brandy.

Brandies are made as mentioned earlier anywhere wine is made and the most famous of all brandies comes from Cognac in France where strict rules and attention to quality have set the standards for other brandies elsewhere in the world.

Delimited in May 1909 , the Cognac area in France lies inland from the Bay of Biscay and follows along the Charente river until it flows into the Atlantic Ocean near La Rochelle. Forming rings around the town of Cognac there are 6 zones that make up the following appellations.

The two best areas known for making the best Cognac is the Grande Champagne and the Petite Champagne.

Grande Champagne is known for making the most delicate and fragrant Cognac that can take up to 15 years maturation in casks before revealing their exceptional quality. The soil is full of chalk and limestone which is the best suited for making the best Cognac.

Petite Champagne has soil that has less chalk so it's cognac tends to age more quickly and mellow sooner. It's cognac tends to be lighter bodied as well in comparison to those in Grande Champagne.

Distillation of cognac began around the 1620s when farmers began to distill wine that was not being sold. The government of the day was imposing heavy taxes on table wines causing people to stop buying wine altogether , so the farmer in order to save space and good wine from going bad, started distilling it. This crude , coarse wine became popular with the Dutch and Scandinavian salt merchants of the time.

Realizing that taxation was levied on bulk and not on the alcohol strength , people decided to boil the wine increasing the alcohol strength and at the same time making it easy to transport. Calling it brandewijn or burnt wine a following started of people who rather preferred this spirit compared to old table wine. Rich traders began distilleries in the region such as Martell who came from Jersey to start one in 1715 and Hennessey from Ireland in 1765. By 1830 cognac was being exported worldwide both in bottle and cask.

The main grape for making cognac is Ugni Blanc with some Colombard and Folle Blanche. The Ugni Blanc makes up to 90% of the cognac distilled.

When pressed these grapes make for an unpleasant , harsh , acidic wine that is barely drinkable and has only 7 to 10 per cent alcohol by volume. But this high level of acidity is great for killing any microorganisms that would spoil the wine , and the low level of alcohol guarantees a higher volume of wine is required so that flavouring compounds through distillation will make the cognac more flavourful and enriched. It takes about 10 bottles of wine to make 1 bottle of Cognac.

Some reasons Cognac is so special is due to it's geographical location.

1. The soil best suited for cognac is chalk and limestone with some pebbles , clay , and sand.

2. The climate is heavily influenced by the Gulf Stream and Atlantic producing enough rain in the Spring and Fall to kill any diseases on the vine. The annual average temperature is only 12 C or 54 F.

3. The right grapes grow in the area to produce great cognac.

4. Vinification technique used here ensure that the grapes are left in their natural state without any racking , clarification , or maturing before distillation.

5. Distilled in a pot still , the finished product is guaranteed a high standard of quality and character just because , as opposed to a patent still , the flavouring elements and aromatic compounds are pretty much left untouched adding to the spirit.

6. When ageing , local Limousin oak is used that is special to Cognac. This oak contributes to the tannin , aroma , colour , flavour and mellowness to the spirit as well as some oxidation to further develop the bouquet.

Other notable attributes include the warehouses and cellars where cognac ages do provide the consistent temperatures needed over long periods of time and of course the master blender himself that puts it all together when bottling occurs.

Next week I will continue on how Cognac is made and some other informational tidbits.

Disco... Disco Duck....Disco.....Disco Duck

Just offhand that you have not been following this blog on Mondays , what I am doing weekly , except for last week , is trying to go through every place I have ever worked in this business. Two weeks ago is when I let the night club manager count my cash and ran off with a lot of my tips and I couldn't work for that guy anymore. Now of course I have learned my lesson well and never let anyone count my cash at the end of the night. Forget it!

A few days after leaving the Bristol Place I found myself a neat head bartending job at Club 5444 at the Ramada Inn Hotel in Mississauga just near the Toronto Airport. I cannot remember if I had called or just answered an ad but when I went for the interview they had just fired everyone and were in desperate need of some honest people. I was their guy.

It was the Spring of 1981 and disco was at it's peak. I would head to work around 5 , set up , and the doors would open at 7PM and it was just a party from then on. I would work about 5-6 nights a week and make some really good coin. It was a big stand up bar so the weekends two of us would serve the bar patrons and another would do the service bar.

The dance floor was right in the middle of the room with a big light show going on. The discotheque had two floors with couches and sofas and cushions so anyone could get lost with their sweetheart if they wanted to.

The manager was a guy called Jack and he loved his Rye and Cokes. Plenty of them. The DJ was a guy Jeff who loved his Screwdrivers. When he would send someone over for a drink I would take the orange juice and fill the glass 3/4 full and pour about 3 oz of vodka right on top. Same with Jack's Rye and Coke. The bartenders all had a drink going. I would dance behind the bar with my hands in my vest pocket and kick my legs up like a cheer leader especially when my favourite disco song came on called , " Get On Up and Do It Again."

It was party central and at the end of the night when everyone went home by 1:30 a few of us would stay back for a few and I would end up handing in the deposit about 3 in the morning. Then we would go out for a bite to eat and when I saw the sun coming up I figured I sure as heck better get going home to my room cause in a few hours I would have to be getting up again to do it all over.

The funny thing is with all the boozing going on how is it that when we did inventory at month's end there was never any discussion about beverage cost. Every month I would do the inventory and everything was fine. Now no one ever stole bottles but the amount of drinking that everyone was doing was a bit much.

Well unknowingly this is what was happening. There was a price list that I never really paid attention to. A beer was this much and a shot was this much and that I knew but whenever anyone ordered a cocktail like a Black Russian or Sling I would charge them $3.30 for it. I just did that cause it was consistent and I knew where the key was in the NCR machine. What I didn't realize at the time that most of the drinks I was charging $3.30 for were actually $2.75! Some but not many were actually $3.30. Premium brands I would charge more for as well.

I remember what happened one time is we hired this bartender and since I was in charge of training them I would tell them this is what the price was of something. Well one time during her first shift she looked at the price list and charged $2.75 for something we had been charging $3.30 for. The customer says to me listen how come it is this and I have been paying that. I said don't worry it is $3.30 and that it was just a mistake but we will give it to you this time for $2.75. I took the girl aside and said listen don't follow that price list cause it doesn't make sense just if there is two liquors in it charge them $3.30 and you will not be confused. She trusted me and charged that amount afterwards.

Am I proud of what I did? Not at all! What did I know? I was a Head Bartender who did inventory , made requisitions , trained others upon hiring , cut lemon and limes , and made drinks. I didn't know anything about costs. I knew about keeping a par stock but other than that I was just doing something that I thought made sense. It was easy and no one picked up on it.

So what happened is after 6 months of doing the disco I was getting a bit burned out and me and this other girl I was working with were thinking of moving in together downtown. Ah yes where the action is the heart of the city , Toronto. She was heading to Vancouver for a holiday and she would move in where I was moving in Toronto. She suggested Hyde Park area so I moved closeby and left the Ramada to work downtown.

Well there is a sucker born every minute and this time I was one of them. She never came back. It is always just as well.

But a funny thing happened to my friends at the Ramada when I left. I went back a couple of months later and Jack grabs me with a drink in his hand and says , "listen the bar costs is way up but I don't understand it , nothings changed!" I reply that they have to stop drinking so much. He is begging me to come back at this point. Meanwhile I head to the bar where the girl I had trained earlier was happy to see me. After about 15 Rye and 7ups that were on the house I start to thinking it is the free drinks but now she says they are being strict with the prices now. That was a aha moment.

A month later everyone got canned. Jack was told to fire all the bar staff and he refused so he got turfed as well. He was devoted Jack was , and a great guy too.

It was a sad moment but I learned something about beverage costs during this job. I was what you call learning by trial and error. Not something I recommend.

See you next week when things get hairy.....

So far,

Hilton Hotel
Willows Inn
Holiday Inn
Credit Valley Golf Club
Bristol Place Hotel
Ramada Inn

Pinot Noir

This is Thursday when we talk about vitis vinifera or what we know as the group of grape varieties that dominates the wine list when we go out to a restaurant. Today I will provide information on Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir is what is commonly referred to the " heartbreak grape" because it is a difficult variety to grow for winemakers. The grapes are thin-skinned so that makes them susceptible to rot and mildew and because they bud early they can be affected by frost. On top of this they also ripen early so they grow best in cooler climates which delay the ripening process. All these conditions make it difficult for the grape to grow just anywhere in the world outside of it's home base in Burgundy France. Where the weather is too warm the wine can taste jammy.

The soil in Burgundy where it grows best is limestone with deep drainage so the roots have to go deep to get their water. They say the best place to grow grapes is where you cannot grow anything else. If the grape has to work to get it's nutrients then it is best for the final product because only the best survive for winemaking Where grapes find it easy to grow is what gives us the table grapes we buy at the store. Obviously these are not suitable for winemaking.

Other places where some success has been achieved in producing good Pinot Noir is Oregon and the Carneros , Russian River Valley in California. New Zealand's Marlborough , Martinborough regions and the Yarra Valley in Australia. In Germany it is known as Spatburgunder.

Because of it's thin skin it makes for a light coloured wine with low tannins and medium acidity. It ages well in Burgundy but elsewhere in the world it is meant to be drank young unlike it's other red counterpart , Cabernet Sauvignon.

The vinification techniques for Pinot Noir in Burgundy include prolong maceration of the grapes to extract as much tannin from the grape as possible , and chapitalization which is the addition of sugar to increase the alcohol of the wine.

To explain , prolonged maceration is when the grape wine or must is left with the grape skins during and after fermentation to extract as much colour and phenols from the grape. That is why Burgundian Pinot Noirs appear much more darker than other Pinot Noirs produced elsewhere.

Chapitalization is used in Burgundy when the grape has ripened and it's sugar content is low , ( remember cool climates and an early ripening grape can produce a low alcohol wine ) so when the vitner adds the sugar during the fermentation process they get a wine higher in alcohol. The amount of sugar a vitner can add is strictly regulated in Burgundy. You can only chapitalize a wine so much.

Pinot Noir ages well in new oak which imparts much character to the wine but a lot of producers use a mix of old and new so that the oak influence doesn't overpower the wine.

Some common descriptions of aroma when nosing the wine can range from strawberry , black cherry , and raspberry in younger pinot noirs to a more gamey , farmyard , and truffle nose in mature pinot noir burgundies.

A good Pinot Noir is known by it's silkiness and is the best red wine to go with a fish like salmon or tuna.

An aged Pinot Noir from Burgundy that has some tannin to it due to the prolonged maceration period is a great pairing with such dishes such as venison while a lighter version goes well with pheasant.

An Californian Pinot Noir which is on the raspberry , cherry side goes well with duck and quail or even ham and turkey.

A Pinot Noir from Oregon resembles more to the Burgundian style and they are more a match with game dishes.

This concludes some information on Pinot Noir. Next week we will speak of another grape.

If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to ask.