Methode Ancestrale

Patrick Bottex La Cueille Bugey-Cerdon Savoie Methode Ancestrale

Methode Ancestrale is one of the sparkling wine production method.

In traditional method (ex. Champagne) or tank method (ex. Prosecco), grape must is fermented, liqueur de tirage (sugar, yeast and wine mixture) is added to kick start another fermentation, then proceed to second fermentation to capture bubbles in the wine.

Methode Ancestrale is single fermentation. During the first fermentation, wine is bottled and fermentation continues in the bottle. No liqueur de tirage is added.

This wine is made of Gamay and has beautiful medium pink color.
It had aromas and flavors of sweet fruit like red apple, strawberry, raspberry, and cherry blossom.
Acid was moderate and emphasizing sweetness of fruit.
Bubbles were soft and tiny but persistent.

Likable and easy to drink.
Another good thing about this wine is that it's low in alcohol, so you can drink as much as you want!

Revisiting Lambrusco

Lambrusco is DOC in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
It is also a name of grape variety with numerous clones.
The wine is red sparkling wine with red fruit aromas.

Lambrusco is not my favorite wine: it's too light and perfumy, and many of Lambrusco I had were cheap sweet wines.
However, I heard that there had been more serious (?) Lambrusco which was dry with firm structure, so I decided to give it a try.

Fattoria Moretto Lambrusco di Grasparossa di Castelvetro

Lambrusco di Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC is considered to be a highest quality Lambrusco DOC.
It's supposed to have full body and high tannin and acidity.

This wine has deep purple color, high acid and light tannin.
Aromas and flavors of apple skin, cherry, plum, pomegranate.
Bubbles are not long-lasting but quite delicate.

The aromas and flavors are simple but pleasant from the first sip to after taste.
It's easy to drink and also good with food, especially with fatty food.

I wouldn't say that all Lambrusco suddenly became my favorite, but I enjoyed this particular wine a lot.

New Year's Bordeaux Tasting

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux.
This was the first big tasting to attend for me for this year.

So many wines to taste for 2 hours, but everything was well organized and could tasted most of the wines without confusion.

It's hard to choose favorites...they were all great wines.

Domaine de Chevalier Pessac Leognan
Blanc Tropical fruit, yogurt, candy. Well balanced
Rouge Floral, red fruit, incense, green tea. Smooth texture with fine tannin.

Chateau Pape Clement Blanc Pessac Leognan
Mushroom, shellfish, honey and beeswax.

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac Leognan
Blanc Herb,fresh mint, grapefruit, cream. Subtle sweetness in after taste.
Rouge Green tomato, pencil and geranium.

Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot Rouge Saint-Emilion
Rose, gardenia, chocolate. Ripe fruit and smooth texture.

Chateau Canon-la-Gaffeliere Rouge Saint-Emilion
Fruitiness and earthiness at the same time. Aromas of tobacco.

Chateau la Dominique Rouge Saint-Emilion
Very aromatic flower and fruit. Good structure.

Chateau Durfort-Vivens Rouge Margaux
Very good aromatic wine.
Incense, dry red rose, perfume and black truffle. Texture was soft.


Chateau Marquis de Terme Rouge Margaux
Easy to drink wine with red fruit.
Soft tannin.

Chateau Siran Rouge Margaux
Fruits are ripe but not overripe.
Good amount of acidity and soft tannin.

Chateau Gruaud Larose Rouge Saint-Julien
Cherry and coffee. Smooth, velvety texture.


Chateau Beychevelle Rouge Saint-Julien
Cherry, mint, eucalyptus and coffee. Well balanced.

Chateau Lagrange Rouge Saint-Julien
Milk chocolate and sugar-coated fruit. Smooth texture.

Chateau Lynch-Bages Rouge Pauillac
Cherry and strawberry. Structure is well balanced.

Chateau Pichon Baron Rouge Pauillac
Strawberry with caramel. Very approachable.

Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Rouge Pauillac
Fresh fruits with subtle coffee.
Fluid-like texture.


Reds were still young but surprisingly approachable, with potential for ageing.

Bourgogne Seminar part 2

Traditional method sparkling wine  (same method as Champagne) made in France are called Cremant since the word "Champagne" can't be used outside Champagne AOC.

Cremant de Bourgogne is one of them and this is of course made in Bourgogne (Burgundy).
Main grapes used are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and those are grown mostly in northern part of  Burgundy. Cooler climate is suitable for sparkling wine because grapes can retain acidity.
Grapes are hand-harvested and presses gently to avoid phenolic bitterness.

Cremant de Bourgogne Grande Cuvee Veuve Ambal
Blend of Aligote, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay.
Apple, berry, orange and cinnamon.
Acid was sharp.

Cremant de Bourgogne 2016 Laurent Berger
Wine of old vine made by very small producer.
Lemon, cinnamon and mushroom.
It had creamy texture.

Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Noir 2016 Cave de Lugny
Jasmin, grapefruit and cardamon.
Good body and pleasant finish.

Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs 2014 Bailly Lapierre
Aromas of flowers like jasmine or gardenia. Green apple, lime and oyster.

Cremant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs Les Trois Saints 2010 Louis Bouillot
Apple, pear, citrus flower, ginger and medicinal herb.

Cremant de Bourgogne Rose Victorine de Chastenay
Fresh pink cherry, strawberry and raspberry.
Rich, creamy texture.

Cremant de Bourgogne Perle d'Or Grand Eminent 2009 Louis Bouillot
Aged in oak.
Dried fruit, peach, mushroom, caramel and nut.
Complex and well balanced.


Overall, Cremant de Bourgogne has lesser acid and fuller body comparing with Champagne due to warmer climate.
One of my friends likes flavors of champagne but finds acidity too high. Cremant de Bourgogne is great alternative for people like her.

Miso is ready

Miso I made last year is ready!

Since no preservatives are used, there could be mold on top of  Miso, but just remove it and the rest is fine. 
Miso is transferred to plastic container and stored in a fridge.
Even in a fridge fermentation might occur slowly, so avoid air tight container.

The first dish I made with this miso was miso marinated fish.
Mix miso and yuzu marmalade to make marinade, marinate butterfish for a couple of days, and grill.

The fat of fish and saltiness and sourness of marinade tasted great together.
This works for pork, too.
Marinate pork for 1 hour or so then grill. Yummy.

Sight Glass

Sight Glass is a coffee shop near Civic Center Station.

Inside the shop is spacious and you can see coffee beans being processed from roasting to brewing.
This is their philosophy: customers should be able to see what's inside the cup.

This is in the middle of the shop!

There was a coffee class at this shop, and it was a good opportunity for me to learn about coffee since I don't usually drink coffee.

First, we learned how coffee beans are processed.
Coffee trees can grow huge, but are usually trimmed to 10-12 feet. Unlike wine grapes, the age of the tree doesn't affect the flavor of coffee.
Harvest is done when the ripeness is right. Overripe fruit creates fermented flavor and under ripe fruit has peanut flavor.
After fermentation, beans are washed and dried.
This drying process is critical for the flavor and how the beans age.

Then we got to smell the different aromas of four coffee:

Esperanza from Honduras (citrus and nuts aromas)
Psasje from Colombia (grapefruit and brown sugar aromas)
Yetatebe from Ethiopia (complex aromas of incense, spice and cream)
Gachika from Kenya (floral aroma, tobacco and tropical fruit)

The first two (from Latin America) had woody character and the latter two (from Africa) had spice character. It was interesting to find that there was distinctive character difference depending on which continent the coffee was from.

Aromas of some coffee, especially cheep coffee, somehow give me headaches, but these coffee had beautiful aromas and I enjoyed them a lot.

Sake Bar in Emeryville

There is a food court called Public Market in Emeryville.
It's still under construction but many of the shops are already open, and someone told me that there was a Sake Bar, so we went to check it out.

The bar The Periodic Table offers sake, shochu and liquor from Japan. There are also beer taps of craft beers from local and Japan.

Besides glasses of sake, there are 3 or 4 tasting course which you can choose the combination from the menu, and we tried 4 sake tasting course.
This was our choice.

Shichihon yari Junmai
Maboroshi Junmai Ginjo
Seiden Omachi Junmai Daiginjo
Seiden Gohyakumangoku　Junmai

Otsumami was this beautiful cheese plate and pickles.

Maboroshi and Seiden Omachi (Omachi is the name of the rice which has umami and earthiness) were the best with food.

Seiden Gohyakumangoku was good with salty pickles.
Gihyakumangoku is also a name of sake rice, and known to have light aromas and textures, and a clean finish.

We were support to have just appetizers here and go to dinner, but the selection of sake was good, otsumami was delicious, people were knowledgeable and friendly... we became too comfortable and decided to stay here for dinner.

Shiba Ramen is a ramen shop next door. These two shops are owned by the same owner and we could order ramen from the bar, so I ordered clear ramen with pork chashu, and JC ordered White Bird (rich, creamy soup) with chicken chashu.

The ramen was gooood! And the chicken chashu was unexpectedly delicious (I stole from JC)!
Soup was rich, had good flavor but not heavy or greasy.

There are good ramen stores opening around the bay area recently and we tried some of them.
For me, Shiba ramen is one of the best.

Good drinks and good ramen. What else can I ask for?
Highly recommended place!