Jul 21 2012

Wine tasting review – 21 July 2012

This week’s wines were all from South Australia, and from McLaren Vale, which is just south of the city of Adelaide. For those of you that don’t have a good sense of locations in Australia, if you were to draw a line due West from Sydney until you hit the opposite coast of the southern portion of the continent, you would be about 100km or so north of McLaren Vale. All of the pours today came from producer Mollydooker. Anyway, let’s get to the wines.

HV Bottle Shop tasting - 21 July 2012
Wines are discussed from right to left

The first was “The Violinist,” which was a Verdelho, was a nice white with a deep golden colour on tilt, but was almost completely clear straight on. It left a thin ring, and had virtually no legs. Aged in two-thirds American Oak, and one-third French Oak, it had a slightly more mellow mouth feel to it than I would have expected. The aromas were prominently pear and apples, and they came through in the taste as well. It was crisp, but slightly too acidic on the finish for my liking.

The second pour was “The Maitre D'” Cabernet Sauvignon, which had a very nice deep ruby centre and lighter red edge. It had a medium ring, and left thick, slow-running legs. There was a smokiness to the aroma, but it was primarily fruit and berry-forward. The raspberry was especially prominent, but was met nicely with some hints of clove and even some licorice flavours. It had a surprisingly light mouth feel for a Cabernet Sauvignon, but a strong fruit finish.

The third offering was the “Two Left Feet” blend of 72% Shiraz, 16% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet. It had a deeper garnet colour with less contrast between the centre and edge than the previous wine. Unlike the Cabernet, the warm spice was prominent to me in both aroma and taste. It had a slight vanilla edge to it, but was very fruit-forward. As it was primarily Shiraz (which is known for being boldly fruity), the tastes of blackberry were quite intense. It was medium bodied, but seemed anticlimactic to me at the finish.

The fourth wine of the day was “The Boxer,” which was 100% Shiraz, had a nice peppery aroma with some hints of anise. It was lighter than the “Two Left Feet,” but did have a prominence of oak in the finish. The spice was again very much in the foreground, but this time I tasted cinnamon and warm vanilla. Again, as a Shiraz, the fruit was bold and powerful.

The fifth selection was the “Blue Eyed Boy” Shiraz (100%), and was in my opinion, a more nicely crafted wine than “The Boxer,” but had very similar qualities. On the berry side, I tasted more blueberry than blackberry, but the spices and fruit prominence remained. Though I’m generally not a big fan of Shiraz, I could see having a glass of this wine. As far as food pairings, it would have to be a very powerfully flavoured dish in order to stand up to the strength of the wine. Something like a highly aromatic Thai Curry (green, preferably) would probably work, as would something with high fat content like roasted duck.

The final selection (which isn’t pictured above) was the “Carinval of Love” Shiraz, and had a very dark purple centre blending to a nice deep red at the edge. It, like the others, was very fruit-forward, and had a lovely raspberry and plum finish. This wine, which is at the top of the Mollydooker’s production, was exquisitely crafted and was able to round off the boldness of the Shiraz nicely.

I’m generally not a big fan of Shiraz, because they are known for very bold fruit flavours. As I like more “Old World” style wines, Shiraz (especially from Australian producers) tend to be too powerful for my liking. That being said, Mollydooker is an exceptional producer, continuously winning prestigious praise from The Wine Advocate (E. Robert Parker), and Wine Spectator. Their wines are wonderful for what they are, and even though I don’t prefer the varietal, I greatly appreciate the skill and elegance behind their wines.

Cheers,
Zach

Jul 20 2012

Tek Gear performance shorts

A few weeks ago I reviewed the Tek Gear performance sleeveless shirts from Kohl’s. Since I like the sleeveless shirts so much, I thought that I would try some of their shorts. I couldn’t find any running shorts, but they did make a general pair of athletic shorts, and so I picked up a pair of them.

The shorts are certainly not bad for the price, but I wouldn’t say that they’re great. The material is still significantly heavier than I would like for long bouts of running, and as such, they tend to keep in more heat than would a thinner cotton blend. Also, they are quite long with a 9″ (~23cm) inseam. Though I didn’t necessarily need the extreme of running shorts–which are usually around 1″ – 2″ (2.5cm – 5cm, respectively)–I think that these shorts are too long to be comfortable for longer distances or periods of time. The pockets are a nice depth, though, and allow me to carry keys in them without the fear of them flying out, yet shallow enough that they are unobtrusive.

Tek Gear performance shorts - Kohl's

Overall, I think that the shorts are fairly high quality for the price (which is never full-price at Kohl’s), and that they serve nicely as general purpose shorts. However, for my particular wants out of a pair, there are better options that include shorter inseams and lighter, more breathable material.

Cheers,
Zach

Jul 18 2012

Sitar Indian Restaurant – Durham, NC

As many of you know, I completely favour Asian food, and tend to eat it as often as possible. Though not completely in the same genre as what one typically considers “Asian cuisine,” Indian food is also some of the tastiest to me. Since moving to North Carolina, I have looked and looked for the best Indian restaurant in the area, and I found it. After having been there once a week for the past few months, I can safely say that their food is consistently fantastic, always nicely prepared, and that the service is wonderful. That restaurant is Sitar Indian Cuisine.

Indian buffets are essentially the only types of buffet that I like, and I like them because of the myriad flavours of Indian cuisine; each dish tastes radically different than every other one. In contrast, I’ve found that most Asian buffets have a central theme around which each dish centres, and subsequently, there is a complete lack of variance between the choices. Sitar offers a very nice variety of dishes, ranging from the classic chicken tikka masala, to Saag paneer, to aloo gobi. They also have the traditional sides like naan, and dosa, as well as one of my all-time favourites, idli, (which is rather uncommon for Indian restaurants within the United States). Idli, by the way, are incredible with any sweet chutney, and I especially love them dipped in tamarind chutney.

Sitar Indian Restaurant - Durham, NC - buffet line
Click to enlarge

The weekend lunch buffet is very reasonably priced as well. At the time of this writing, it is $11.99 USD (~ €10), which is a great deal for essentially as much comfort food as one can possibly consume. The only items that I think could be better on their buffet are the desserts. Every week, they feature kheer, and gulab jamun. To me, their kheer is not the correct consistency. It should be somewhat thin, quite sweet (because of the coconut milk), and have some rice in it. This is much more like a standard American or English rice pudding. Not that it is bad at all, it is just not exactly what I think of when I think of kheer. The gulab jamun are essentially warm dough balls sitting in a very sweet syrup. While they aren’t bad either, they are not my favourite. However, sometimes they have bread pudding, which is phenomenal. Unfortunately, it’s not there every week.

Sitar Indian Restaurant - Durham, NC - my lunch
Click to enlarge

By the way, in the photo above, you can see the chicken tikka masala, a chicken kabob, some rice, their plain naan, and their amazing idlis (with the tamarind chutney in the small dish next to them). If you are ever in the Durham, NC area, I strongly suggest that you make your way to Sitar Indian Restaurant. I have been to several other places in the Triangle region, but they don’t come close to the quality or the consistency of Sitar.

Cheers,
Zach