Fork and Gobble It: Go Big or Go Home

Christmas Day dinner and my first day off in twelve days. I wasn't about to skimp on what we would eat that night. Of all the things I could choose to cook I needed to go with the King of Christmas dinner food... a Prime Rib Roast. I ordered it from my favorite old school (who actually knows meat) butcher, John's in Scotch Plains. A two rib standing roast that weighed in somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 pounds, it was a dry aged beef beauty.


The even and well distributed marbling were evidence of the high quality of this piece of meat. I would roast it simply and serve it with a couple of our favorite sides; Pommes Paillason or Straw Mat Potatoes, and sauteed Broccoli Rabe.

Saturday night, Christmas Eve was a tough one in the store, and as a result I came home and popped a new discovery, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon. This fabled distillery is responsible for such legendary bourbons as George T. Stagg, an extremely limited and sought after whiskey, but the namesake spirit has not made its way into the NY/Metro market until now. I am happy to report that is both delicious and very inexpensive compared with it's peers.


Of course I was feeling a little blurry the next morning so I had to create a breakfast cure. Rummaging through the fridge I found the remnants of an oversized corned beef sandwich from Harold's Deli. The meat to bread ratio was about 52 : 1. Corned beef hash and eggs was definitely in order. I went to work right away sauteing onion, adding in the corned beef, and then shredded potatoes. A couple of eggs over easy and the work was done. This would be the fuel that would get me through dinner preparations.


That might be a glass of beer in the background, I don't remember.

So I knew I wanted to put an herb crust on the beef, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to bind it to the meat. I didn't want to use mustard because I didn't want the competition between the strong flavor of mustard and the roast. Then I remembered an essay by the chef/owner of Prune in Manhattan, Gabriel Hamilton where she speaks of the virtues of Hellman's Mayonnaise as the quintessential cooking medium for grilled cheese. It seemed to make perfect sense. A couple of tablespoons of Hellman's, some fresh rosemary and thyme, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper coated this thing of beauty and worked as a wet rub to season the beast a couple of hours before cooking.


When at 5pm I decided to cook this monster, I started it in a hot oven at 450°F. I roasted for 30 minutes at that temperature, then lowered the heat to 300°F for another 35 or so minutes until we hit about 127°F internal, or just medium rare once the meat rested. While this was going on I shredded potatoes for Pommes Paillason and proceeded to saute them in duck fat.


I asked Elvis the Wonder Dog to pick out a Cabernet Sauvignon to go with the meal and in keeping with the theme of Big Dogs/Big Bottles, he chose a 2007 Ramey Cellars Napa Cabernet 1.5L. Can't say as I blame him. The wine is awesome now, it will age very well, and it is a big bottle.


I took the roast out of the oven and turned it off. Then I popped the potatoes in there to finish them and keep them warm. I quickly sauteed the Broccoli Rabe, and we proceeded to the dinner table. After a long week of work, we celebrated the holiday in style.


Here's hoping you and yours have a wonderful holiday and great New Year. 2012 will bring many new food and wine adventures.

Happy New Year!

HOLIDAY STORE HOURS

Saturday, December 31, 2011 9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Sunday, January 1, 2012 Noon - 4:00 pm HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Joe Canal's Staff Visits Sonoma & Napa - Part 5

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of Joe Canal’s that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the BottleBlog.

In October 2011, members of our staff including Shannon Spare from our internet department, had the privilege of traveling to California wine country! Here is the next installment of the trip, as told by Shannon.

Day 2
St. Francis

We arrived at St. Francis just as the sun was beginning its descent. We were so very fortunate to be treated to an evening with the President and CEO of St. Francis, Chris Silva. He was a very friendly, energetic man who was eager to show his appreciation for all we do together to sell St. Francis wines.

He brought us through the facility, and showed us the production lines, which were quiet for the day. All the machinery was impressive – and spotless! Looked like they could have been brand new out of the box, it was the cleanest facility we’d seen so far. One interesting piece of machinery was where the grapes were sorted – there was one machine that blew a sheet of air as the grapes passed through it, and anything that was lighter than a grape, such as a stem, jack or raisin, was blown away to be discarded. Pretty neat! He also brought us into their barrel room.



Our good timing from Benziger continued on to St. Francis, because just as we were pulling away to go eat some dinner, we stopped to watch the workers dump giant bins of grapes into a large stainless steel drum to be destemmed. It was so much different than the crush we witnessed at Benziger, and so intriguing how different winemaking techniques can be.



Once we arrived back at the main part of the winery, we tasted through some fantastic St. Francis wines, including Sonoma Chardonnay, Red Splash, ’07 Cabernet, ’07 Merlot, ’07 Claret, and two different Old Vine Zinfandels.


We sat down to dinner and had a wonderful evening of great wine, great food and great conversation. Chris really was the perfect host, engaging us in “icebreakers” that really lightened the mood and gave us the opportunity to get to know each other a little bit better. We enjoyed fresh tomato salad, roasted sirloin, and a berry shortcake with a glass of port. We took the port out into the vineyard, where we shared a toast and ate more grapes off the vine as the sun set. It was a perfect end to an absolutely perfect day.


We then loaded back up into our car and enjoyed the drive from Sonoma to Napa, through winding mountain roads, under the light of the full moon rise.

Joe Canal's Presents Cameron Hughes Lot 287!

Cameron Hughes Lot 287 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley, California

"Lot 287 has a dense purple hue and possesses lovely aromas of blackberries, violets, and scorched Earth, rich and ripe. Cassis and blackberries are lively across the palate backed by espresso bean and the Stags Leap signature scorched Earth and ultra-fine tannin structure. There is a real chewiness to this wine and a long
finish as well.

Lot 287 2007 (Stag's Leap) Cabernet is actually appellated Napa Valley as the blend is 77% Stags Leap District, 13% Oakville, and 10% Rutherford simply because we thought the final blend was superior to an 85% Stags Leap blend (which is where it would need to be to qualify for the appellation). This wine is every bit as good as Lot 189 - if you like the richer profile Napa Cabs you'll probably think this one is better - and comes from the same producer." -Cameron Hughes

Regular Price $26.99/BottleClub Price $19.46

Happy Holidays from Joe Canal's!

HOLIDAY STORE HOURS:

Saturday, December 24th
9:00am - 7:00pm

Sunday, December 25th
STORE CLOSED - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Saturday, December 31st
9:00am - 8:00pm

Sunday, January 1st
Noon - 4:00pm - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Joe Canal's Staff Visits Sonoma & Napa - Part 4

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of Joe Canal’s that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the BottleBlog.

In October 2011, members of our staff including Shannon Spare from our internet department, had the privilege of traveling to California wine country! Here is the next installment of the trip, as told by Shannon.

Day 2
Benziger Family Winery

Our next winery was Benziger. This was, without question, the highlight of my trip. The beauty of the grounds, the passion of the winemakers, the welcoming atmosphere, and of course the amazing wines were all just awe-inspiring.

Our tour guide was the dynamic Kathy Benziger, one of seven Benziger siblings that own and operate Benziger family winery. She greeted us with warm handshakes and hugs, and she and I exchanged some “girl power.” (I was the only woman in our band of travelers, so it was good to hang out with a woman for a while!) She led us into a dining room, where the table was set and salads were laid out, that we shared, family-style. We chatted about our stores, and she gave us a brief history of their family as we passed around roasted chicken, string beans and red-skinned potatoes and drank wonderful Benziger Wine. The meal was topped off with the best chocolate dessert I have ever had in my life – richness that melted in the mouth.


Our tummies full, we loaded into our tour bus and took a tour of the winery. Kathy explained the lay of their land and how it differs from other wineries. Benziger takes pride in their respect for the natural order of things, planting things that go far beyond grapevines on their property. Little coves of flowering plants, fruits, vegetables and trees called “insectaries” were alive with thousands of different species. We walked through one large insectary with our glasses of Signaterra Sauvignon Blanc, and ducked as hummingbirds flew by us, protecting their “turf.” We listened to the symphony of bees and other insects in the bushes. We shared fresh figs right off the tree – delicious!



We stopped at a hill’s peak and surveyed the land. The rolling layout of the property was spectacular. It sat in a “hole” at the base of a volcano, and there were so many different levels of vegetation. Truly a sight to behold.



Next, we drove to meet Kathy’s brother Mike, who was leading his team in the crush of their Syrah harvest. We were lucky enough to watch the process! They treat their fruit with such respect, utilizing gently vibrating tables to destem the grapes and sort out the “jacks” (stem remnants). We tasted the fresh grape juice, and let me tell you… Mott’s don’t have anything on Benziger!



After we watched the crush for a while, Kathy brought us down into what they call the “Earth Womb,” the man-made caves where they store their barrels. Another blast of that awesome damp aroma – I will never forget it!


After our eye-opening tour, we returned to where we had our lunch, and we tasted through various Benziger wines, including their Merlot, Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay, a few from their Signaterra series, and the absolutely incredible Tribute Meritage, which was the “Wine of the Week” for me. The Benziger siblings use the best grapes from each year to make their “Tribute” wine, which is a “Tribute” to their mother and father, as well as a Tribute to their land. To see the family’s pride represented in such a fine wine was a really beautiful experience.



Sadly, it was time to say our goodbyes to Kathy, and we were on our way.

Drinks to Warm Your Blood

Cold outside? These tasty drinks are a sure bet to warm your innards. Here's a couple of cocktails that are perfect on a cold night and though their sweetness makes for terrific after dinner drinks, they could certainly be enjoyed at any time. (Well, maybe not for breakfast.)

Let's start off with the noble Alexander and its cousin the Brandy Alexander. Well, "royal" may be a better word for this cocktail as there are those who say the original Alexander cocktail was named after Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Now this may be, but both the Alexander and the Brandy Alexander became very popular, particularly in the USA, during the Jazz Age of the 20's and 30's. And since the Tsar met his untimely end to an assassin's bomb in 1881, I am having trouble finding the connection. Also, the original Alexander cocktail used gin as its base, not vodka, so it's tough to see how it could have originated in Russia.

More likely, the Alexander got its origin from a bartender named Troy Alexander who served drinks at the Rector, a popular NYC restaurant before prohibition. The story goes that the restaurant was having a dinner commemorating "Phoebe Snow," not the popular 70's songstress but rather a character, a young New York Socialite always dressed in white, used to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. For the occasion, Troy came up with a white cocktail mixing gin, crème de cacao and sweet cream and the concoction quickly became a hit and named after its creator.

Alexander Cocktail

-1 1/2 oz. Dry Gin
-3/4 oz. Creme de Cacao
-3/4 oz. Cream

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well. Like all cocktails with cream, shake this one like you mean it. It's important to get a lot of air in there to give the drink its creaminess. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a sprinkle of cocoa or nutmeg.

Brandy Alexander

-1 oz. Cream
-1 oz. dark Creme de Cacao
-1 oz. Brandy
-Ground nutmeg for garnish

Preparation for the Brandy Alexander is the same as above.

Now, I have never been a huge fan of cocktails with cream in them but using either gin (have I mentioned that I like gin?) or brandy, gives these a complexity and balance that really does work.

For those of you who want like a similar cocktail that more celebrates the season and are looking for something interesting to do with eggnog, try the White Christmas Cocktail.

-4 oz. Eggnog
-1/2 oz. White chocolate liqueur
-1 oz. Southern Comfort
-Edible gold flakes or chocolate flakes for garnish

Build the ingredients into a snifter glass and stir lightly. Sprinkle gold or chocolate flakes on top.

Lastly, if you really need to warm yourself up quick this holiday season, and want to dispense with sweet stuff, then let me introduce you to the Three Wise Men.

-1/2 oz. Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky
-1/2 oz. Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey
-1/2 oz. Jim Beam Bourbon

You can make a shot of this by shaking with ice and straining into a shot glass. But for easy sipping, build in a rocks glass with just a little ice. Guaranteed to warm you whether you're naughty or nice!

Fork and Gobble It: 2011 Holiday Edition

'Tis the season and as sure and the sun rises in the morning, people all over the world prepare for celebration of some sort. Christmas, Channukah, Kwaanza, and the end of the calendar year, bring folks of all faiths and races together to rejoice, reflect, and prepare for the coming New Year. Celebration and food are inseparable, and for most people that includes wine. We feel the need to pull out all the stops at in December. The most grand and treasured recipes, some passed many generations down, are required. Sometimes new ones are added keeping the menus fresh and alive. When I cooked professionally, I was relied on heavily for my own family's feasting. Sometimes it was the tomato sauce or “gravy” for Christmas Eve's Feast of Seven Fishes, or a whole poached salmon. I am the default carver for Christmas roast beef and always look forward to pitching in in the kitchen with my Sister, Brother, and my Mom putting that dinner out. Of course I always need to provide the wine and we do our best to go big there also. I recall one year I prepared a leg of lamb that needed to roast in the oven for seven hours. It was a real nail biter because we had just bought our house and the oven we inherited had a tendency to shut down on its own at the most inconvenient times. We lucked out that night and the lamb was tender, moist and falling off the bone.


Bordeaux was the wine for that night. Pichon Lalande Longueville 2004, young to be sure but definitely open for business with lively fruit and mineral flavors and a touch of herbaceousness that set up perfectly against the gamey flavor of lamb, rosemary, and garlic.

My heritage being Italian, Christmas Eve was always a culinary three ring circus. It started with my childhood at my Grandmother's house. Josephine did more to open my eyes to the wonders of good food as a child than any celebrity chef could do now. At ten years of age I was eating eel braised in tomato sauce, escargot or frog's legs in garlic butter, shrimp fra diavolo and Fettucine Alfredo. This was the mid 60s and James Beard and Julia Child were just getting rolling. We have for the last few years been at my Sister's in-laws on Christmas Eve, and the traditional Italian seven fishes menu has been put aside for the moment. I look forward to the opportunity to pull out some of those recipes again though. One of my very favorites is Squid braised with red wine and tomatoes. It is a simple dish relying more on great simple ingredients and watchful execution than flashy tricks and exotic foods. The single most important thing is the freshness of the squid. If it isn't pristine, the recipe will suffer.

Once prepared this can work on its own as an appetizer or tossed with pasta such as linguine for a pasta course.

-2# fresh cleaned squid, tubes and tentacles
-½ cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
-crushed red pepper flakes
-8 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced thin
-2 tsp kosher or sea salt
-2 cups of good red (Italian) wine such as Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
-2 24 ounce cans of plum tomatoes crushed by hand

Heat the olive oil in a 6qt pot. Add the garlic, pepper flakes and salt. Saute the garlic over low to medium heat until it turns golden. While this is going on slice the squid tubes into rings ½" wide. When the garlic is ready add all the squid and raise the heat to high. Saute' the squid until it turns from translucent to milky white and firms up. Add the wine and bring it to a boil, then simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, return the pot to a simmer and simmer slowly for 60 – 90 minutes or until the squid is very tender. Adjust the seasoning, add a little more EVOO, and serve.


A good quality Montepulciano D'Abruzzo such as the Poggio Samael Anima that I mentioned last week drinks very well with this. It is always a good idea to drink the wine you cook with unless it is a Grand Cru Burgundy.

One of the meals that I look forward to the most of through all the holiday feasting is breakfast/brunch on New Year's Day. We inevitably sleep late and I'm usually the first to rise. I'll prepare coffee and work up a frittata to soak up the alcohol from the night before. A frittata is an open face omelette of Italian origin. I'll usually start with thin slices of potato and onion sauteed in a big cast iron skillet. I cook them slowly until they are tender, then pour in the beaten eggs. The pan gets covered so the top cooks along with the bottom. When the eggs are nearly set, I'll add herbs and whatever cheese I have on hand. The whole thing gets inverted out onto a plate and cut like a pizza.


Egg dishes like this are a traditional component of anti-pasti, and this tastes as good cold as it does hot. Speaking of New Year's Eve, we will be going back to our old standbys, Chartogne-Taillet Cuvee Ste. Marie, and Vilmart Cuvee Rubis NV Rose. Unless of course I hit the lottery and then it will be vintage Krug.

Dogfish Head Tap Takeover - TONIGHT!

Dogfish Head TAKEOVER!
featuring 120 Minute!!
Thursday, December 15th
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Joe Canal's Lawrenceville

If you're a lover of craft brews, especiall Dogfish Head, you're going to want to come check out what we've got happening on Thursday, December 15th! Our friends from Dogfish Head will be here to take over our Growler station with 6 of their awesome beers, including the unbelievable, amazing, EXTREMELY LIMITED 120 Minute*!!!

The full list of beers DFH will be bringing is now available! Here's the list, with BottleClub Prices! (Not in our BottleClub, sign up today at any register! It's free to join!)

120 Minute IPA: 32oz - $19.99 (limit 1 per customer)
60 Minute IPA: 64oz - $13.99 / 32oz - $6.99
90 Minute IPA: 64oz - $17.99 / 32oz - $9.49
Immort Ale: 64oz - $24.99 / 32oz - $12.99
Palo Santo Marron: 64oz - $24.99 / 32oz - $12.99
Indian Brown Ale: 64oz - $13.99 / 32oz - $6.99

There will be a spread of gourmet cheese for you to pair your beer with. You do NOT want to miss this one!

Joe Canal's Staff Visits Sonoma & Napa - Part 3

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of Joe Canal’s that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the BottleBlog.

In October 2011, members of our staff including Shannon Spare from our internet department, had the privilege of traveling to California wine country! Here is the next installment of the trip, as told by Shannon.

Day 2
Rodney Strong

We awoke early on Wednesday morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (somewhat). We hopped in the car and, after a short pit-stop at Starbucks for some much-needed coffee, headed to Rodney Strong for the day’s first tour.



We were greeted by our tour guide, Leo, who had been with Rodney Strong for about a year and absolutely loved his life. He offered us a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and we toured the massive facility, including the steel fermentation tanks and enormous barrel room.



We took a brief stroll through the vineyard, and he explained how they use a refractometer to measure the sugar in the grapes to know when to harvest them. (I discussed this in detail in an earlier blog post, entitled Brick by Brix.) Since the sugar in the wines is what gets converted to alcohol in the fermentation process, the sugar content of the grapes will allow the winemakers to get a rough estimation of what the final alcohol content of the wine will be. It was definitely interesting!

We returned to the tasting room where we tasted through some Rodney Strong Wines. We tasted four Cabernets, a Meritage, a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay. My favorite wine at Rodney Strong was the 2007 Rockaway Vineyard Single Vineyard Cabernet. It was very fruity and bold, and I wished very badly for a bite of good steak to enjoy with it!


We thanked our gracious host for the wonderful tour and were on our way.

Joe Canal's Presents Layer Cake Pinot Noir!

Layer Cake Pinot Noir
California

"The goal for our Layer Cake wines is to maintain distinct varietal correctness and expression of terroir with whatever wine we make. The Layer Cake Pinot Noir follows the same path, but Pinot Noir is a much more finicky grape. It can be very rewarding, and incredibly challenging, to make a wine that has good extraction, ripe rich flavors, complex yet delicate aromatics and fine balance on the palate.

With our 2010 Layer Cake Pinot Noir, we've achieved that goal and more. Fermented gently at cool temperatures to preserve aromatics, the wine was gently pressed and aged in French oak;partly new, but also much of it in our once-used Cherry Pie barrels. The result is a rich, delicious wine that screams Pinot Noir and fits right into the Layer Cake Wines line up." -Layer Cake

Give this new wine from Layer Cake a try!
Regular Price $16.99/BottleClub Price $13.99

Fork and Gobble It: The Tuna Review

We eat a fair amount of fresh fish in my house as part of a balanced and healthy diet. I have to do something to counter all those cheeseburgers and not so healthy stuff I crave. One of my favorite types of fish to work with is Tuna. Tuna can take many forms. Canned, fresh cooked, fresh raw, dried, there are as many ways of presenting it as there are countries that consume it. Canning Tuna is a huge industry and Tuna Salad is an American lunch staple, but if you've ever seen a higher quality (usually European) canned Tuna with whole pieces of Tuna loin packed in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it is a world apart from the common supermarket brands. Those are great in pasta dishes and as a cold appetizer. Then there is the dried Tuna loin that I saw as a common type of tapas in Spain. It is sliced very thin and served with beer because it tends to be a little salty. There is of course the raw form of sushi and sashimi. Unfortunately for me my wife does not enjoy raw fish as I do, so that is something I do on special occasions. More commonly though, I tend to work with fresh Tuna from my supermarket fish counter. It is usually the Yellowfin variety of fish and the loins are generally cut into steaks for grilling.

If I'm lucky and the seafood manager is adventurous, I'll see the less common Bigeye or Bluefin varieties which are richer in fat that is full of Omega 3 fatty acids and more importantly... flavor!

Cooking the fish itself is a whole other matter. When I am lucky enough to score Bluefin or Bigeye, I always go for the sear and slice. Put a skillet on the stovetop, open the windows, hit the exhaust fan, and blacken the outside leaving the inside still cool and rare. I pick out the thickest piece I can find, rub it with a little olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper or a Japanese pepper preparation called Shichimi Togarashi, and sear away. Serve it very simply with a little soy sauce and wasabi on the side and voila, you've got a great meal. More often though, the fish counter has Yellowfin Tuna that is already cut into steaks so I'll grill those and serve them with a simple sauce accompaniment like a Piperade.


Piperade is simply peppers sauteed in olive oil. I used some long Italian sweet peppers I grew this summer, and I also added some sweet onion and capers. This would serve as a condiment for the grilled steaks.


Now being in the midst of the fall/winter season, the opportunities to grill are a little less frequent. I find myself looking for different ways to present the same cut and cook indoors. Last week I decided to bake the Tuna steaks over shaved fresh fennel and potatoes and top it all with capers (again, we really like good capers!) and oil cured olives. I trimmed two small bulbs of fennel and a couple of Yukon Gold potatoes and shaved them thin on my Japanese mandolin. I tossed those with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and salt and pepper, and then laid them into a baking dish and popped them into a hot (425°F) oven. I let the vegetables pre-cook for a few minutes until they wilted and began to brown.


I oiled then seasoned the steaks, going light on the salt because of the salt content of the olives and capers. I placed them on top of the vegetables in the baking dish and put the dish back in the oven for approximately 12-15 minutes.


In keeping with the Italian feel of this dish, I cooked the fish well done, but still very moist. It is unusual to see fish like this very undercooked in Italy as I found out last May. This was a really tasty way to serve the Tuna steaks and I actually took the leftovers and made them into a pasta dish later in the week.

Pairing wines with these dishes I expect the knee-jerk reaction would be "fish ~ white wine", but because of the meaty nature of tuna I like to go with a lighter red like Pinot Noir or an under appreciated and much overlooked Italian red, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. A recent addition to our shelves the Poggio Samael Montepulciano D'Abruzzo Anima 2009 caught my eye right away with it's very front label.


When I turned the bottle around and saw that it was imported by Vine Street Importers I didn't hesitate to buy it. Vine Street imports many very good wines and I know them for their Australian portfolio. One of my favorite buying strategies is "Don't know the label? Know the importer!"

I'll continue to play around with different recipes for Tuna and hopefully this will inspire someone else to as well. After all, it is not just about the can. Sorry Charlie.