Thursdays the BottleBlog will feature an update on various exciting things going on at Joe Canal's: Reports of our travels, special event coverage, and more!
On Friday, March 11th, Jim Bernau from Willamette Valley Vineyards appeared at our Lawrenceville location to answer our customers' winemaking questions and pour samples of fantastic Willamette Valley wines. Founder Jim Bernau is intense. He admits he drove his friends to distraction years ago, talking about the potential for Pinot Noir in Oregon. He either inspired them or wore them down. In any case, Willamette Valley Vineyards is an unusual enterprise.
What began as a small group of understanding fellow Pinot Noir enthusiasts, the winery has grown to over 4,500 owners.
Having developed an interest in wine at an early age, Jim explains he began as an adolescent home winemaker interested more in wine's effect than its attributes. As a small business lobbyist at the State Capitol, he helped the emigrating California winemakers pass legislation to develop an Oregon wine industry. This lit a path for Jim resulting in his planting in the South Salem Hills.
Trips to Burgundy and UC Davis and time with Oregon winemakers helped define his strategy. The cool climate of the Willamette Valley could deliver the expression of pure varietal fruit character, subtle layers of flavor and fine tannins with the balanced acidity he wanted.
Jim loves this land and has now lived at the vineyard for 23 years. Using a small tractor, he cleared away the blackberry vines and remnants of a pioneer plum orchard in 1983 and began planting Pinot Noir. The neighbors were convinced he was serious when he watered the over 1,000 feet vine rows with many sections of garden hose by hand. He speaks passionately about the soil and the steps taken to protect it and the ground water underneath.Care is taken to meet strict standards of viticulture practices earning the Estate Vineyard and the Tualatin Estate Vineyards purchased in 1997 certification as LIVE and Salmon Safe.
When the winery began its first crush, Jim served as its first employee and cellar rat guided by a consulting winemaker. The winery quickly grew into Oregon's leading producer of wines selling at $15 and above only three years after its first release of Pinot Noir.
He has contributed his expertise in governmental affairs over the years serving as the industry's first Political Action Committee Chair, Legislative Committee Chair and as President of the Oregon Winegrowers Association.
In addition to lobbying for passage of the original Oregon Wine Advisory Board and its financing provisions, he drafted and advocated passage of laws permitting wineries in exclusive farm use zones, direct shipment of wine to consumers, in-store wine tastings and a winery marketing tax credit. His contributions have earned him the industry's Outstanding Service Award and most recently the Founder's Award for his work on establishing the new Oregon Wine Board.When asked where he would most like to be, it is in the vineyard. He believes Oregon wine quality and the unique attributes contributed by the Willamette Valley's growing conditions will determine the industry's success in the northern part of the state. His financial gift to Oregon State University established the first professorship in Fermentation Science.
He takes pride as a native Oregonian following the lead of the emigrating winemakers to build a world class Oregon winery by organizing the energy and resources of thousands of wine enthusiasts. Jim explains a consumer-owned winery is naturally oriented to the long term, sustainable interests of the community. His ground breaking work on conducting the nation's first successful self underwritten public offering has led to a new fabric of federal and state laws facilitating small business capitalization.
For the little time he spends away from the winery, the bulk is traveling to out-of-state markets with the balance hiking and fishing in the Oregon Cascades.
Bio courtesy of Willamette Valley Vineyards.
Rum is a sweet spirit that is made, aptly, from sugarcane and aged in oak barrels, typically. Yeast is added to the sugarcane to begin the fermenting process. Most rum producers use very specific strains of yeast so that the resulting liquor can be easily controlled in terms of consistency of color and flavor.
Last year after being reminded, yet again, of the fact that I studied with Jack yet never knew about this steak, I finally decided I had to try it. Jack passed away in 2001, but the Florence Prime Meat Market is still there on Jones Street and still sells hundreds of Newport Steaks. We picked up a few and grilled them up and now they are a regular item on my home menu. We did this most recently a couple of nights ago. 
I seared them for about two minutes per side (for rare) and then roasted them for another two minutes in a 400F oven. I took the steaks out of the pan and allowed them to rest while I prepared a quick pan sauce. Shallots and garlic went into the pan and sauteed for a minute or so, then a quick splash of red wine. That was reduced to a few tablespoons and finished with a couple of pieces of butter.
The second vintage was made by Dennis Dubourdieu, a professor at the University of Bordeaux, and a well known consulting enologist himself. 
One of the nice perks we get at Joe Canals is attending trade shows for the liquor industry! Of course, one of the big advantages for you, our customers, is that we get to try a large number of the products we carry so we can better serve you when you have questions about a particular wine or liquor. A number of our managers attended the R&R Marketing Spring Wine & Spirits Gala at Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City this past Tuesday evening. Along with me were Steve Wernick, Wine Sales Associate, Dave Carver, director of Purchasing and Toni Beach, front end manager. R&R took up the entire Palladium Ballroom with table after table of wines from all over the world at all different price points plus quite a few spirits like single malt scotches, aperitifs, vodkas and much, much more.
After the initial discussions, he poured the Louis 13th for all of us. This cognac is actually a blend of many different cognacs produced at Remy Martin but the ones used in this blend are only from the Grande Champagne cru. Pierrette Trichet, the current Cellar Master and only the fourth in the past 100 years, uses her skill to find the perfect harmony of a broad range of aromas and flavors. Some of the cognacs that go into this blend have been aging for 100 years, meaning that some of the cognacs that Pierrette is making today will go into future Louis 13th long after she is gone. In tasting this fine cognac we noticed aromas of many different types of flowers, vanilla and spice. On the palate it many flavors including various spices, oaky characteristics and more.
This week, a few lucky Joe Canal's employees (not today's blog author, unfortunately) were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend an industry tasting at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City. The store was abuzz with the featured special event of the occasion: a Louis XII Cognac seminar and tasting. Of course, still learning, this meant nothing to me, until store manager Zack Goldberg took me to the locked case in the front of the store.
Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Black Velvet
-1 1/2 qts of whole milk + 1 pt of heavy cream
Put the macaroni in a large mixing bowl, pour the cheese sauce over it and mix well. Pour the macaroni/cheese mixture into a deep baking dish and place in the oven. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
We had returned from a very early ride on a blustery Saturday morning to pick up our new rescue dog. He is a year old Black and Tan Coonhound named Elvis who had ridden all the way from Tennessee overnight to his new home. By midday we were all hungry and kind of exhausted and I needed something not too difficult but very comforting. I had some homemade tomato soup in the freezer and a hunk of San Joaquin Gold, a cheddar like firm cheese made by Fiscalini in California. I put the griddle on the stove, cut long slices from a baguette and got to work.
Speaking of wine, I keep one thing in mind when pairing wine and cheese; Intensity. Intense cheese, such as Parmigiana, Cheddar, or Monterey Jack, needs an intense wine and I'll usually go to reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, or the like. Less intense cheeses such as goat or brie call for less intense wines such as a Chardonnay or Vouvray. I'll will experiment because I believe there are no hard and fast rules to making that work. It almost always proves to be lip smacking good.
The staff at Joe Canal's is fortunate enough to be invited to various industry dinners where we are able to taste dozens of wines while feasting on fabulous cuisine. On Monday, March 14th, the staff from Woodbridge and Lawrenceville joined our distributors from ABD/Opici at Elements in Princeton to do just that. 
Before dinner started we tasted through about a dozen wines including Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Merlot, Col Solare Red, Beringer Napa Chardonnay, Tait The Ballbuster Red, McManis Petite Sirah and several others. When dinner arrived we were able to enjoy some wine and food pairings, kick back and get to know our hosts better. Dinner featured some amazing selections such as duck liver, pork, Wagyu beef, Foie Gras and John Dory. Do you know any better way to start the week?
Joe Canal's is pleased to announce that starting the last week in March, we will have Buffalo Trace Bourbon available in our stores! This very special bourbon has never been distributed in New Jersey before and we're thrilled to bring it to you!
The Vietnamese took that dish and added star anise, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and chilies and turned it into a sensual, sensory feast for the nose and palate. Walking in there last night as cold, damp, and gray as it was outside, Pho was the only thing I knew I wanted.
They are served with a slight spicy, slightly sweet dipping sauce and are highly addictive.
You then garnish the dish to your liking with bean sprouts, mint, basil, scallions, fresh chilies, lime juice, and a variety of other condiments such as the obligatory Sriracha sauce that adds a kick of serious heat.
Long Trail
Stop in for a free taste of these great 
Victory
So last week I finished up by talking about the fifth taste, Umami, and red wine and fish dishes. I took that to the extreme last night when I prepared a stir-fry as a base for grilled salmon. Umami is best described as a savory, meaty, rich flavor that coats the tongue. Foods that are rich in Umami are mushrooms, vegetables, cured meats, and fish among others. My stir-fry contained Shiitake mushrooms, Savoy cabbage, Smoked Trout, onion, and shoyu or soy sauce.
Take for another example a simple pasta dish I prepared last week, Spaghetti with Eggplant, Onion, and Tomato finished with grated Ricotta Salata cheese. All those vegetable and tomato flavors contain Umami. They also have acidity of their own which would be well met with a high acid wine. That wine we drank that night was a Barbera d'Alba 2008 from Dante Rivetti. Again, not a wine I would recommend drinking as a cocktail. Barbera is a great food wine with very high natural acidity. Talk about your great pizza wines! Why stop at pizza though? This very cool little wine has cherry fruit and tobacco notes that are all held together with a zippy acidic backbone. Put it down in front of some dried sausage or Pecorino Romano cheese and expect a WoW moment.
Victory 15th Anniversary Celebration
Crispin Cider