The Boss Goes Shopping.......

......or 'Water, Water Everywhere, But........'

Dinner preparations were well under way when my wife and I had a hankering for a nice glass of something cold, crisp and white to help with the carrot dicing, shallot sweating and pork pounding. The trip to the cellar out in the garage, however, proved fruitless (so to speak). It wasn’t for lack of wine, mind you, that's for sure. We’ve got a cellar full of wine, even white wine. But I found nothing to drink! A decades-old bottle of Marcassin or Rochioli Chardonnay as an aperitivo seemed excessive, even for me. After a fair bit of scrounging, we made do with a bottle of Prosecco left over from some party or other: its label was all gunky from sitting in the ice water too long but it tasted just fine.

What's a wine merchant doing with no wine? Could I be fined or something? Should I be admitting this to the world in a blog? I resolved to do a little wine shopping when I got to work the next day.

Two cases, I figured, would be enough to tide us over for the next couple of weeks or so. With our eclectic cooking preferences, particular tastes and diminished personal economy (not good!) in mind, I dragged a couple of empty wine boxes out to the shop floor and really began to pick and choose. Of course this is a process I am more than familiar with. I do it with your money all the time. But it has been quite some time since I looked at the shelves with an eye towards actually procuring wine for myself. I knew I was in good hands. After all, I had purchased every single bottle in the wine store beforehand. I wasn't going to be a matter of not finding stuff I liked.

The first half-case was, of course, Italian. Two bottles each of Fiano di Avellino from Campania and Arneis from Piemonte and a bottle each of Aspirinio d’Aversa (an oddball grape from Campania, great with Pizza Bianco) and a fascinating Biancolella from Ischia. Those will pair nicely with those salads that pass as dinner when the weather gets warm, the grilled fish of which I resolve to eat more and even a game hen, quail or chicken dish.

The remaining six holes in case one I filled with pairs of a Cotes du Rhone Blanc, an Apremont from the Savoie region of France and a nervy, perfect-for-clams Spanish white. An awesome case of white……under $160 and not one oak tree harmed.

In the second case I decided to up the ante a bit. I have a bunch of white Burgundy at home (I confess to having purchased about three cases of it this spring- a function of a bunch of deals that came my way all at once) but no New World Chardonnay that isn’t at least twelve years old. The old Mondavi Reserves, Paul Hobbs, Flowers and, believe it or not, Vichon have long since seen their best days. I popped in three pairs of guilty pleasures: Shafer Red Shoulder, Patz & Hall Alder and Hamilton-Russell from South Africa. The better to pair with those frozen Japanese scallops from Trader Joe's and that miso-glazed Chilean Sea Bass dish I want to master. (I know, I'm going to hell for buying sea bass) I grabbed two bottles of the Henri Bourgeois Mont Damnes Sancerre too. I am not really a huge fan of Sauvignon Blanc but I do love this one, and I love beets, goat cheese and all those fresh spring greens and herbs that marry so well with the grape so I know I’ll be glad I have it. I also tossed in two bottles of the Saint Peray Blanc from PRIMA's last Super Consorzio. So exotic! I’ll come up with something really off the wall to pair with it. The last two spaces I occupied with the Vieux Telegraph Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc. Yummy. Expensive but I know it'll take a pedestrian meal and make it great. That was a hell of a second case. More than I wanted to spend but Anne will never know.

Oh crap! I forgot sparkling wine…..looks like a third box is called for.

Anne won’t be angry when she sees all the bubbly I brought home for her. She claims that there are only two times you should drink sparkling wine: When times are good or when they are bad. Two bottles each of a Rose made from Prosecco and Cabernet Franc from the Veneto and a Rose Cremant de Bourgogne, two bottles of Bernard Ledru Champagne (in case of a real goddamn-it-I-need-Champagne-right-now emergency), two Ca del Bosco Franciacorta and the rest Prosecco.

A bubbly box to be proud of. And not too expensive.

These three boxes should get us through the spring in good shape, don’t you think?

And here's hoping you decide you let me do some shopping for you too!