Man, Oh, Manischewitz!

The hottest new varietal is moscato:

In the opening to the video to his new single, “Country Ass Nigga,” Nelly takes a healthy slug from a wine bottle, grimaces ever so slightly, and wipes his upper lip clean as he savors the fruit-juicey kiss of the first rapper-branded Moscato (“Freaky Muscato,” marketed by his hometown crew, the St. Lunatics). Moscato, if you didn’t know, is a white-wine varietal, and Mr. Hot in Herre isn’t its only notable partisan in the hip-hop firmament; it’s also been extolled by Drake, Soulja Boy, and Gucci Mane. Those plugs have accelerated a full-blown Moscato boom: According to Nielsen, sales grew about 73 percent in 2011 after doubling the previous year. It is the fastest-growing varietal in California — E.&J. Gallo, California’s top bulk winery, has introduced five new Moscato products over the last two years. Growers in California have been frantically planting Muscat grapes (the kind used in Moscato) to keep up with demand, marking the first known occasion in which rap has directly affected the biosphere.

The whole thing sort of reminds me of Manischewitz’s 1960s-1970s ad campaigns that targeted novice or beginning wine drinkers. (You can see tons of them at the National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting at the Jewish Museum; they’re a hoot.) Check out this one of Sammy Davis, Jr., for example:

Now if Gallo used Nelly as a spokesperson, the wine and spirits industry can finally atone for the sins of the Cristal people.

One Magnum of Pinot Blanc Begets Two Tarts, a Kugel, and a Pile of Choucroute

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Some friends generously gave me a magnum of Robert Sinskey Vineyards Pinot Blanc for my birthday, and I decided it was only fair to offer to share the bottle with them sometime at Sunday dinner chez Clink. Knowing that they like French food, I decided to riff on some Alsatian recipes in two cookbooks I like a lot: Joan Nathan‘s Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous and I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot/Clotilde Dusoulier. The tangy, salty, cheesy, porky dishes that ensued were a nice complement to a wine that was as acidic as Anthony Bourdain’s tweets and as lightly floral as your old Laura Ashley bedspread…yet far more fresh and pleasant than either of them.

Weekday Dinner Drinking: Burgenländer Rot

Burgenlander Rot

First, let’s answer the obvious questions: I can tell you that “rot” means “red” in German (and it rhymes with “goat”) and that Burgenländ is a renowned wine region in Austria. Now that’s out of the way, and here are five reasons why we liked this wine.

It’s a blend of Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, and Pinot Noir, which means it’s equal parts familiar (Pinot’s berry fruit, medium acidity and body) and exotic (spice and tannin and cherries from its Austrian pals).

The label says “I’m hip” but the screwcap says “I’m easy.”

It’s from a biodynamically farmed vineyard, so eco-points are duly awarded.

Much like your neurotic roommate freshman year, it’s a little tart and not so great at being alone. When you put some food on the table though – for example, dark meat chicken pot pie, slow-cooked elk in tomato sauce, black beans with rosemary and chorizo, or even gingerbread cookies – it’s a wine you could take home to mama. “Easy drinking,” as a hang tag in a wine shop might say.

It’s only $13 for a liter.

Pittnauer Burgenlander Rot 2009, 1 L, $12.96 at Astor Wines in NYC

A Soothing Cocktail for a Snowy Evening

Ingredients

Hey, clouds, enough with the snow already. If I liked this much snow, I’d live in Quebec.

Speaking of Quebec, they make kickass apple brandy there.  Here’s a way to use such ambrosia to take the edge off a cold winter’s night.  Calvados will do just fine if you’re not close to an SAQ.

Soothing Cocktail (a tweak on the “Soother Cocktail” in Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide, 2009 Edition)

1 oz VSOP Armangac
1 oz Apple Liqueur
1 oz Triple Sec
2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into two martini glasses.

Proving Yet Again That Money Can’t Buy Taste, By Which They Mean It Literally Can’t Buy Taste

Alex Halberstadt extracts some great stories from Manhattan sommeliers for The Faster Times:

After two gangsterish Russians downed several thousand-dollar bottles of champagne, they switched to ’89 Mouton Rothschild, just under $2K per bottle. They emptied one bottle, then another; when I opened a third I realized it was corked. I had more of the wine downstairs and when I headed there one of the men barked at me and demanded to taste from the bottle in my hands. I explained that it was corked, but either he didn’t follow my English or didn’t know what “corked” meant. He sipped the wine and smiled. “The best one yet,” he declared. “The others were too fruity.”

(More, please — these stories are awesome . . .)