Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Teriyaki Flank Steak, Baked Potatoes and a Decent Pinot Noir = Deliciousness

Sundays are for grilling. As I have mentioned in a previous post, I rely on the trusty bucket grill from Crate and Barrel because a) it is a real grill, b) it saves me the indignity of trying to cook a full meal on the Foreman and c) even though Arlington prohibits gas or coal grills on balconies, the bucket grill is easily portable. It allows me to combine convenience with the ability to cook things over an actual fire. I like this. And, as I noted, Sundays are the best day to do this. I’ll leave it to either science or religion to determine why that is, but there really s no better way to observe the Sabbath than to throw some meat over an open flame, and serve it with wine and potatoes.


In this case, the potatoes were baked, covered in spray butter, sour cream and cheese (known as a light snack back in the Midwest) and the wine was a Ropiteau Dupuis 1848 Vin de Pays D’Oc 2008 Pinot Noir. I did not find this exact wine on their website, but it is a decent, reasonably priced and enjoyable pinot. Maybe I am biased towards New World, specifically Central Coast and Oregon pinots, but this one wasn’t bad. In my experience, French pinots lack that certain something that makes New World pinots so interesting. I stopped myself from writing that they lacked a certain je ne se qua because then I would have had to punch myself. And with its price point around $10 means that it can serve as a good red wine to bring with you on a picnic or bring as a gift to party if you want to bring a distinguished-looking, yet inexpensive bottle for the host. 


The Ropiteau was a good, albeit very light, pinot noir that would compiment lighter fare much better than the red meat that we paired it with. I couldn’t help but think that it was missing something. It looks and smells like a pinot, but there was a certain lightness, thinness even, that makes the wine more complimentry to chicken or fish than the steak that we had. 




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