Secrets (and Key Wines) For a Smash Hit Oscars Party
Posted on by Mark Oldman

Austin FOOD & WINE Festival Q&A with Mark

Are you just as excited as we are to see which films take home Oscar gold during tomororw’s Academy Awards? Maybe you’ve planned a party with friends to celebrate the cinematic evening? No matter your viewing preference, we’ve recruited wine expert Mark Oldman to share his 2013 Academy Awards Wine Guide. What does that mean? He compares each of his top picks for Best Picture to a certain wine and points you in the direction of a specific bottle.

So, whether you’re rooting for a certain film or just looking to set the stage for your get-together, sit back and enjoy Mark Oldman’s drinkable guide to the Oscars. And because who doesn’t enjoy a delicious appetizer alongside their red, white or bubbly — he shares an hors d’oeuvre secret that’s sure to impress any guest.

AFWF: You have an admitted interest in how wines have played a role in notable movies throughout history. With that in mind – and given the fact that it’s Oscar Week – how would you compare your favorite films nominated for Best Picture to certain wines?

 

Argo: Champagne

This Affleckian flick deserves association with Champagne for its depiction of international intrigue leavened with displays of over-the-top, Hollywood-style glamour— a combination that Champagne and its attendant lifestyle have long manifested. Note that it is only when the characters have departed Iranian airspace – and the flight attendants then announce that alcohol consumption is no longer illegal – that they are truly safe andproceed to pop a celebratory bottle of Moët.

Recommended: Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial NV ($38)

 

Django Unchained: Shiraz from Australia

Like Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Australian Shiraz arrives on the scene with guns-a-blaze, exciting and extravagant in its richness and range of plum-and-mocha-inflected flavors.

Recommended: Paringa Shiraz 2010 ($10)

 

Lincoln: Cabernet Sauvignon from California

Like the 16th U.S. President himself, classic versions of this wine show depth (typically black currants, smoky oak, and moderate tannins), history (being California’s longstanding showpiece red), dignity, and complexity.

Recommended: Beringer Knights Valley 2009 ($30)

 

Silver Linings Playbook: Dolcetto d’Alba from Italy

Like this edgy-but-charming Bradley Cooper tour de force, good versions of Dolcetto (a tangy, medium-bodied red) can be a bit bitter upfront but ultimately finish with lip-smacking exuberance.  

Recommended: Ceretto Dolcetto d’Alba Rossana 2010 ($28)

 

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Wine from Red Hook Winery

With this movie depiction’s of a tiny hero desperate to save her ill father and sinking home, we find parallels in the brave plight of Brooklyn’s Red Hook Winery, which was pummeled by Hurricane Sandy and has been fighting to recover ever since. 

Recommended: Any bottle listed here.

  

Amour: That Special Bottle You Haven’t Opened Yet

As the film reminds us how love can be tested and how beauty can fade before our eyes, we must apply these lessons to our own lives and open that special bottle now. You and I have already waited too long.

Recommended: Any special occasional bottle you have on hand.

 

AFWF: Given your “unpretentious over-delivery of pleasure” approach to at-home entertaining, what would be your key ingredient to an at-home Oscars soiree?

My English friends Sarah and Marcus Oliver have mastered the art of the Oscar party, and one secret of their success is that they ask people to dress up. Having everyone gathered in red carpet garb creates ebullience in the room and adds to the vicarious pleasure of the evening.

To keep things from getting too formal, however, they offset all of the fancy dress with the most humble, toothsome treats that you’ve ever laid your lips to: crispy, glazed English mini-sausages. These links are so coveted by guests that the party’s invitation now carries the assurance: “Yes, there will be mini-sausages.” In a recent email exchange, I persuaded Sarah to reveal more about how she and Marcus prepare these luscious logs of love:

secrets

  1. If possible, use the fresh sausage called chipolata; it can be sourced from the British grocery store Myers of Keswick
  2. Roll the meat so that each sausage is just about an inch in length
  3. Glaze each link with a mixture of honey and mustard
  4. Broil the sausages they are “really brown and sticky”
  5. Serve with a good Prosecco

AFWF: Are you especially rooting for any contender (in any category) in particular?

For me, Zero Dark Thirty was unforgettably arresting, sending me into the night with surging adrenaline and in desperate need of a Blackhawk to board. I found Jessica Chastain’s portrayal of the relentlessly driven Maya particularly memorable. The moment Maya tells the CIA Director, “ I’m the motherf—– that found this place, sir,” Chastain won my vote for Best Actress.

AFWF: Lastly, what can Festival-goers expect to learn from your “Cinema Vino: Wines from the Movies” demo at the 2013 AFWF?

Like with all of my appearances, I aim to make this demo uncommonly illuminating and humorous – and, as an editor at Food & Wine magazine once described of my seminars,“like one big party.”

Wine and Wheels on Valentine’s Day
Posted on by Mark Oldman

valentine's dayReprint of a Q&A with Mark about lovable wines for Valentine’s Day and his beloved “El Tigre.”

Q: What is the perfect Valentine’s Day wine?
Mark: For those willing to endure its vertiginous pricing and notorious inconsistency, the answer, unequivocally, is red Burgundy from France. It has a splendidly shimmery glow, a kind of ruby translucence that is a world away from midnight dark wines like Zinfandel and Syrah. The best examples have an intoxicating fragrance of berries and rose petals as well as a satiny coating that seems to leave a talcum trail across your palate. They often show an underlying hint of earthiness — think mushrooms or forest floor or autumn leave piles — a kind of primal sexiness that stands it apart from any other wine, especially on Valentine’s Day. You’ll earn extra points if you secure a bottle from the Burgundian village of Chambolle-Musigny and the perfectly-named but hard-to-find “Les Amoureuses,” i.e., “The Lovers,” premier cru vineyard.

For love on a budget, go with a cru Beaujolais, which is a slightly more serious cousin of the more familiar Beaujolais Nouveau. You’ll say it all with a “St. Amour,” the northernmost of the cru Beaujolais villages. Like most wine from Beaujolais, it is irresistibly light and fruity and costs less than $15 a bottle.   Excellent producers include Georges Dubeouf, Marcel Lapierre, Mommessin, Château de la Chaise, Jean Folliardand Michael Tête. Perfect for

Q: Tell us about your television show.
M: I’m a judge on PBS’s The Winemakers, which features 12 folks competing to have their own wine label. It’s compelling television; you’d be surprised at how intensely people yearn to break into the wine industry. We filmed the first season in California’s beautiful Paso Robles wine country and will soon be shooting the new season in France’s Rhone Valley. You can check out clips of the show at: www.TheWinemakers.tv.

Q: Word on the street is that you have a muscle car – do tell.
M: Ah, you mean “El Tigre,” which is one of 500 “Grabber Orange,” 400-horsepower street-legal racecars made by Saleen, a boutique manufacturer-modifier of high-performance Mustangs. In power, color, and form, the car pays homage to race legend Parnelli Jones’ 1970 Boss 302 Mustang, which ruled the SCCA Trans Am Series in the early seventies.

Q: So the car has a 70’s feel?
M: Undeniably. It’d be right at home in Starsky and Hutch or a Beastie Boys video. It comes complete with a “shaker scoop,” a cannon-like pipe protruding through its hood and “window louvers,” which look like black venetian blinds screwed into the back window. Besides giving the car an exquisitely menacing, Stegosaurian rear, I haven’t figured out a purpose for the louvers beyond making would-be tailgaters imagine that the driver is a once and future felon.

Q: What is it like having a muscle car in Manhattan?
M: In a city of solemn sedans and generic SUV’s, El Tigre is a mobile joy machine, a retro representation of West Coast tire-burning culture. Unlike your typical animosity-generating exotic car, I get the sense that El Tigre engenders goodwill in those it rumbles past. It has a certain democratic appeal: cops smile, street hustlers wink approvingly, and buttoned-up business types get Matchbox flashbacks. European tourists often stalk it with their camera phones, as they seem to take special pleasure in its unapologetic Americanness.

Q: Are people surprised to learn that a wine expert has such a car?
M: Often they are, and I like that. Life, like wine, is most interesting when it embraces the complex. The ability to experience many dimensions, some them pleasantly unexpected or seemingly contradictory, can be greatly satisfying.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day, and remember to drink bravely!

This Father’s Day, Wine for the Lion-Hearted
Posted on by Mark Oldman

Father’s Day might be the day you expect to be exchanging neckties, but no longer. These kingly wines are perfect for the paterfamilias in your life:

father's day wine

Amarone: You’ll free papa of his Viagra habit with Amarone (Ah-ma-ROW-nay), a powerful Italian red made from dried grapes. Its intense raisin-and-espresso flavor will put a macho swagger into anyone’s step. Try Masi, Zenato, Domini Veneti, and Santi.

Zinfandel: For grill meisters, this rich, peppery red has never met a rib it didn’t like; Look for the Ridge, Ravenswood, Rosenblum, or Rancho Zabaco. Unleash a Zinfandel from California’s Amador County for an especially high-alcohol, brawny version.

Coppola: From the man who brought us Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, we have equally arresting wines from Francis Coppola’s Rubicon Winery, such as the flagship Rubicon Estate, the RC Reserve Syrah, or the dependable and affordable Rosso Shiraz.

Pol Roger: There’s no better way to express your admiration for Dad than through the powerfully flavorful delights of Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, a Champagne named for this paragon of courage and determination.

Port: While other fathers finish dinner with a chocolate parfait, treat yours to a bottle of port, the powerful fortified wine that soothes the soul with the taste of sweet black fruits.  Track down Dow, Fonseca, Graham’s Quinta do Noval, or Taylor Fladgate.

Veiling the Veuve as Newark Begins Anew
Posted on by Mark Oldman

Why was this wine writer crouching in the bushes of Newark, New Jersey, feverishly attempting to hide a magnum of Veuve Clicquot, like a dog burying his bone?

cory booker Veuve Clicquot

The Victor                                    The Contraband

I had traveled to Newark for the election-night celebration of Cory Booker, a college friend who was on the verge of becoming this troubled city’s first new mayor in two decades.  Smart, charismatic, and innovative in his approach to urban reform, Cory is a brainy Vin Diesel who’s got the goods to effect real change and help Newark achieve its potential.

So what Champagne is grand enough for to celebrate the rebirth of New Jersey’s largest city?  I reflexively thought of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, who, like Cory, is loved by legions and so distinctive looking that its orange-yellow label is immediately recognizable across a crowded gymnasium of jubilant supporters.  To my consternation, however, when I arrived at Booker headquarters toting this grand bottle in a satchel, I was immediately descended upon by no less than five security guards, who sternly informed me that no alcohol was allowed in the venue.

“But what if I don’t open it?” I pleaded, not even believing my own words.  The beefy security chief wasn’t buying it either and pointed me to the exit.  I slunked out of the building, defeated and thirsty.  Feeling like a suburban high schooler forced to hide a six-pack of Moosehead from his parents, I found myself having to elude the police officers milling about the venue and find a deserted patch of shrubbery in which to hide this magnificent bottle.  I then returned to the festivities.

But all ended well: Cory won in a landslide victory and the magnum of VC was still there after the election party — undisturbed, still somewhat chilled, and ready to inaugurate an era of hope and opportunity for Newark.

newchamProducer: Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin

Wine: Yellow Label Brut

Vintage: NV

Cost: $45 (or about $90 for a magnum)

Track it down: ubiquitous (including the lonely shrubs of Newark)

A crowd favorite famous for its balance of force and finesse, Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label is everything a richer-style, Pinot Noir-dominated Champagne should be.  This golden-yellow potion consistently delivers tiny, pinpoint bubbles, joined by notes of apple, honey, vanilla, and baked bread, culminating in a creamy finish that lasts longer than a politician’s smile.

Nine Ways to Seduce With Wine This Valentine’s Day
Posted on by Mark Oldman

Valentine’s Day may seem like a cliché day filled with flowers and chocolates. But you can impress your date beyond their wildest expectations with these wines. If you aim to make pulses race this Valentine’s Day, head straight for one of these choices:

valentine's day wine

1) Rosé (pink) Champagne: Its color blushes with excitement, its bubbles tickle the palate, and its price — high because of its scarcity — says that you care enough to pour the best. Try Veuve Clicquot, Billecart-Salmon, or Laurent-Perrier.

2) Sofia: For more casual bubbles, consider the Coppola 2004 Sofia Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine, about $20 on shelves.  Named for the famous director’s daughter, it is light, refreshing, and faintly redolent of pears and peaches.  With its Valentine’s Day -appropriate, girly-chic label and pink wrapping paper, it is the vinous equivalent of a hip bed-and-breakfast.

3) Red Burgundy: If chosen carefully, a bottle from the Burgundy village of Chambolle-Musginy (especially the perfectly-named “Les Amoureuses”) or Volnay can coat your tongue with more velvet than the walls of Mae West’s bedroom.

4) Château Calon-Ségur: Tailor-made for seduction, this red Bordeaux features a lover’s heart — fat and curvy like a child’s drawing — smack in the center of its label.

5) St. Amour or Fleurie: These well-named Beaujolais wines are also well-priced, at under $15 a bottle, and they are irresistibly light and fruity. Go for Duboeuf, Drouhin, or Jadot.

6) Shellfish with Rich White Wine: Whether it’s lobster with Meursault or crab-stuffed avocado with California Chardonnay, this creamy pairing has a long history of making people reach for the “Do Not Disturb” sign.

7) Prozac-co Smoothie: Mix Prosecco (the Italian bubbly, try the Zardetto), vodka, and lemon sorbet together in a blender, serve in a champagne flute, top with fresh mint. Valentine’s Day as never tastier!

8) Chaucer’s Choice: Gently simmer a light red wine with a small amount of honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon (based on the medieval spiced wine called hippocras).

9) Cleopatra’s Bliss: Drink a cold glass of late-harvest dessert wine in a hot bath of powdered milk.