Wulf's Web-Den

Shown is my latest baking effort, another hand-made, "artisan" loaf. I had an unexpected evening in yesterday since a communication problem meant that my car ended up staying at the mechanics overnight after its MOT and I couldn't get to my rehearsal with the 'Teeth. I did some practise at home and also made time to bake.

I haven't recently been able to top up on the Dove's Farm yeast I normally use so presently have a tin of Allinson's yeast that needs to be started in some warm water. This works well although it does add another stage and a bit more time to the process.

One thing I have noted is that the different yeast makes a noticeable difference to the taste of the final result. Both work well but they are different. I wish it were easier to get hold of different types of yeast to experiment in the same way that I have been experimenting with wine to find out what varieties to choose for different purposes. A while ago I tried what all the cookery books recommend, which is going and asking a baker but none of the ones I tried could help me out.

I think that home-baking is fairly popular - I am waiting for the day when the choice of available yeasts is a bit more flexible and I can learn how to pick the right one for the loaf I am baking.

Technorati Tags:

baking

bread

yeast

Here is another wine review, revisiting a later vintage of a wine I have tried before:

Viognier Collection 2007 Gérard Bertrand, Vin de Pays d'Oc

10 July 2008 by Wulf Forrester-Barker
wine Review0.3

Rating: 4/5

I reviewed the 2006 vintage of this wine earlier this this. I was a little less impressed this time. I still found it to have the rich floral flavours I enjoyed last time but, set against a (gourmet, home-baked) pizza I found my second glass seemed bitter and not so sweet.

That was last month; this month I opened my second bottle - I tend to buy in pairs to give scope for comparisons. This worked much better against the risotto I cooked but still seemed rather wasted when set against food. I found it worked better as a wine to savour in its own right rather than as an accompaniment to a meal.

Therefore, I have revised my score down. I would still be happy to drink this again but more for a situation other than poured out alongside a meal. However, I do have another viognier based wine lined up - I am looking forward to seeing how that compares.

[hReview]

Majestic say:

Pale yellow in colour, with intense aromas of white flowers. The palate is rich and lush with tropical fruits, dried apricots, hazelnuts and honey.

Technorati Tags:

wine

review

hreview

microformats

majestic

viognier

gerard bertrand

italy

We had a delicious Hunter's Stew for dinner today. Sometimes it has come out rather grey when we have cooked it; this time I jointed my chicken but didn't include the carcass (that got used to make a stock, along with the wingtips, leg-ends and skin). That measure, along with a bit of tomato puree to supplement the tinned and raw tomatoes resulted in a better coloured and equally tasty dish.

However, looking at the UK Seasonal Food Calendar, the ingredients I should be concentrating on should be:

Veg: carrots, cherries, elderflowers, lettuce, strawberries, peppers, asparagus, redcurrants, peas, rhubarb, gooseberries, tayberries, tomatoes, courgettes, broad beans

Meat: welsh lamb, crab, salmon, grey mullet

Chicken doesn't get mentioned on the list at all, so I assume it counts as an all-year round meat (free-range and tasty too). We had tomatoes (from the Isle of Wight) and, for lunch, salad from the garden (if it grows out there, it is de facto seasonal). There are a few other fruit and veg I should look out for over the next couple of weeks though. I tend to limit most of my fruit and veg shopping to UK grown items (except bananas and one or two things from the continent) but must remember to look out for crops that are natural rather than forced to add extra flavour to the yearly cycle.

Technorati Tags:

seasonal food

food

cooking

selfsufficientish

I was thinking of creating a table that summarises all my wine reviews so far. It would be useful to me in future when I think about what to buy - returning to favourites, finding other wines that should be similar and giving a second chance to varieties that did not win me over (Rob insists that I don't give up on "rosadas" - rosé wines from Rioja - after yesterday's disappointing bottle).

I have run out of time to do that today but I did manage to note my scores on Del.icio.us. If you look for all my bookmarks tagged wine+review+wulfblog you can see those on one page. That is not as slick as what I had in mind - a sortable table with data like score, review date, region, colour and grapes - but will do for now.

Technorati Tags:

wine

review

hreview

microformats

categorisation

del.icio.us

Marqués de Cáceres Rosado 2007

11 June 2008 by Wulf Forrester-Barker
wine Review0.3

Rating: 2 / 5 (see scale)

Generally speaking, I enjoy rosé wines and so picked several in for my most recent case-full. The first one I tried from the batch left me unimpressed so I hope I have done better with the others.

This rioja based rosé was pale pink in colour and not strongly scented. I found that the taste developed in my mouth with pleasant peachy flavours. However, the aftertaste was less palatable; it reminded me of the bitterness from sucking too long on a peach stone.

The wine worked better when served very chilled but that is more a function of the temperature than a merit in the drink. It also worked better with stronger foods - despite general "wine wisdom" I found it better with roast lamb than with a light salad. If anything, it was improved after the bottle had been open for a while and stored in the fridge overnight; exposure to the air may help refine its finish.

However, although I found some ways to make it palatable, I won't be rushing to stock up on more of this particular variety. Its flaws, forgivable in a bargain priced bottle, do not justify a higher price (£7.49, although by buying two at once I got a reduction), certainly for my tastes.

[hReview]

For reference, here is the review given by Majestic:

From one of Rioja's leading producers, this refined, fresh rosé made from 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha, offers delightful notes of red currants and strawberries.

Technorati Tags:

wine

rose

review

hreview

microformats

majestic

rioja

spain

Rob has been musing about ratings and recommendations and writing about wine on The Wine Conversation blog. Having put some thought into my own rating scale and my use of microformats to mark up the review, here is my latest addition to that discussion:

The hreview format is one of a number of microformats that various key players on the web are experimenting with. It is a set of standards for marking up a review so that not only is it readable to a person but a computer can extract key information, such as the product being reviewed and the score given. That then allows all reviews published on the web to be treated as an open database.

It also improves visibility. Do a search on Google for durius tempranillo and you will find the review I posted yesterday already on the first page. Add the word review to your search and it comes higher (trying just now, it hit second place) - I think it is quite impressive that my tiny little blog that writes about wine once in a while can do that and come second only to corkd.com!

I suspect the magic is not my writing style but my mark-up acumen and that using the hreview microformat is largely responsible. Therefore, it is a demonstrably useful solution to the question of how to post impressions of wine that have some influence.

It might even be possible to set up a system that grades other reviewers based on how much their published reviews agree with yours, weighting their opinions accordingly and thus, by promoting the scores of those who seem to have similar tastes, giving more chance of going straight to what you would call "the good stuff" while still recognising the important point that tastes differ. That would be valuable because, the more you put into sharing your own views, the more "intelligent" the system would seem to become.

Technorati Tags:

wine

review

hreview

microformats

I took a trip to the nearest Majestic store on Saturday and picked up another case of wine, to help me continue my ongoing tasting experiments. The first was similar to a wine I had tried before:

Durius Tempranillo 2005 Arribes del Duero

27 May 2008 by Wulf Forrester-Barker
wine Review0.3

Rating: 5 / 5 (see scale)

Looking back, I note that I was impressed the first time I came across this wine. I picked up this bottle sure that I had enjoyed something similar before but not realising how close it had been (same wine, slightly earlier vintage).

The wine was rich and dark - an almost opaque scarlet-purple, with strong legs. It was rich and dry in the mouth, almost musty without that detracting from the experience. Last time, I thought I detected blackberries; this time, the image that came to mind was antique velvet.

I wonder if it would prove overpowering on its own? Perhaps but, for the purpose I used it (accompanying first a steak and then roast lamb, both strongly flavoured) it was ideal adding further sophistication to the already rich flavours. As a powerful red to accompany robust food, this is an excellent choice.

[hReview]

For reference, here is the review given by Majestic:

Sweet cherry and strawberry aromas, vanilla notes, rich depths of fruits and soft velvety tannins won't overpower your roast.

Technorati Tags:

wine

review

hreview

microformats

majestic

tempranillo

spain