Good Food

I haven't posted any places for good food, so I thought I would start with a combination post. We recently spent a week boondocking in Quartzsite, AZ, with friends from the Northwest. "Q" has a population of about 3500 people, but in January about a half million RVs descend on the vast BLM area around the town during the RV show and the Rock & Mineral show.

There aren't many restaurants in town and most of them are fast food or pizza. But we found one good family place, the Mountain Quail Cafe. It specializes in comfort food. Fried chicken, chicken fried steak, meatloaf, etc. Linda had the chicken fried steak and I had the special, chicken parmesan. Believe it or not, they were both very tasty! Considering where we were, this was a real find:

Mountain Quail Cafe, somewhere in Quartzsite, AZ. (Off on a side street from Main)

The other new find is the restaurant located in the Bristol Farms Grocery store in Palm Desert. Linda and I went to the street fair at the College of the Desert and decided to have a late lunch. We found the small cafe next to the deli in this fine food store. There was a limited menu, but every thing on it was interesting. I had the breakfast Quesadillas special, and Linda had a special chicken salad with pecans, gorgonzola cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette. Everything was excellent. The store had many gourmet items, and large fresh fish department, and a meat department that features prime beef. There might be a store near you, so check the website:

http://www.bristolfarms.com/home.html

The Palm Desert location is at 73101 Country Club Dr. in Palm Desert.

Martin Codax-Ergo Tempranillo 2005

Now that the holidays are over, I'm back reviewing wines and giving you some info and opinions. My first wine of 2008 is a real winner.

Marin Codax Ergo Rioja 2005 is a red wine that's 86% Tempranillo & 14% Mazuelo. It's aged for 8 months in American Oak barrels. The initial bouquet is of oak, red berries & citrus. It has up front fruits with some cocoa, tobacco, and cherry. It has a medium finish with light tannins. It needs some aeration, so decant it before serving.

Tempranillo is the primary grape of Spain's Rioja region. It's also being widely planted in California, so look for some local expressions of this fine red grape. Martin Codax Ergo is $10 to $15 at larger stores, including World Market. It's well worth the money.

Wine & Chocolate-A Winning Combination

I received an email from Cost Plus World Market about some chocolate that was created to accompany wine. It's called Brix Chocolate for Wine Lovers. There are two different types, one for white wine and one for red wine. Personally, I've found dark chocolate and Zinfandel or Port go well together. The thought of white wine and chocolate is a stretch. It will be interesting to try this product with my favorite red wine after dinner some night. The cost is $7.99.

Bodega Norton Malbec 2005

This is another Malbec from Argentina, but at a higher quality with a higher price tag. I found this wine at Costco in Palm Desert as a special promotion. It was $12.99, and well worth the price. What drew me to it was the Wine Spectator rating of 91 for the 2004 vintage. It's not often we can sample a wine that's rated 91 for under $20.


I found the Norton website, and it had good information on the this bottling. It comes from a vineyard that is 80 years old. It was aged 12 months in oak, then an additional 10 months of bottle age. There was a slight amount of sediment in the neck of the bottle confirming the bottle aging.

The wine is a deep red color with touches of purple. Considering the oak aging, there's very little oak in the nose or finish. It has ripe berry, violets, and a slight tobacco flavors. A very clean finish, especially with the alcohol level at 14%. It's one of the best examples of Argentina's Malbec, and you can't beat the price.

Rancho Zabaco Lodi Zinfandel

The latest zinfandel I've tried is from Rancho Zabaco. This label is part of the vast E. & J. Gallo wine empire. Gallo does a good job at making multiple brands of quality wines. This label was created to be a zinfandel centric brand, using the bull fighter motif.

Originally it included a Dancing Bull Zinfandel. But Gallo has decided to make Dancing Bull a separate brand and expand the line to include other varietals.

The Lodi AVA labeled version was a really nice example of a light Zinfandel. It's ready to drink, with great cherry and berry layers of flavor. So many of the Zinfandel's on the market today have a higher alcohol content which leaves a mouth burning feel. This one has a softer mouth feel with a clean finish. At about $10 its a good value. This wine pairs well with lighter meats, including chicken, turkey, and pork. It also goes well with light sauced pastas.

Holiday Sparkler-Prosecco

With the holidays here and many opportunities to share the season's joys with our friends, choosing what wine to serve can be intimating. The perfect, simple solution is sparkling wine. It turns any gathering into a festive event.

An interesting, different choice of sparkling wine is Prosecco. It's an Italian sparkling wine that is different than the spumates that most of us know. First, it's a dry sparkler, not sweet like spumate. That means it pairs well with a variety of foods, from appetizers to main courses to desserts. It has a slight fruitiness, which makes it different from french Champagne, and a delicate bouquet.

It might be a little difficult to find Prosecco. Most major chains carry at least one in their sparkling wine sections. The prices range from $10 to $20. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they are featuring Zonin Prosecco at $5.99. Give it a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Fresh and Easy Markets

A new grocery store opened up in SoCal. It's Fresh and Easy Markets, owned by Tesco, a British retailer. It's very similar to Trader Joes, on a slightly larger scale. And it carries some national brands, not all private labels. Most of the packaging fits well with small families or empty nesters, as they serve 2 to 4 adults. There's a lot of freshly prepared ready meals that you can heat and serve.

Now you're probably wondering what this has to do with WineQuest. They have a good sized wine department. It's not as extensive as Trader Joes, but they have a good selection and fair pricing.

The item I want to highlight is one of their private labels. It's Recoleta, an Argentina wine. It's a blend of Malbec, the main red wine of Argentina, and Bonarda. It has a ripe cherry bouquet and a light body. Clean finish with little tannins. A good everyday red wine, especially at the price of $3.99. Much better than any of the reds I've tried from Two Buck Chuck. It's imported by Cornerstone US Wine Imports of Riverside, CA, exclusively for Fresh and Easy Markets.

If you're looking for a Fresh and Easy near you, they're currently in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. Check their website for locations close to you. It's always fun to explore something new and innovative