la lunotte blanc 2006

I've opened a white of Christopher Foucher's, P'tites vignes. I've recognized it's sauvigon as I'd sipped. I think this wine was nice balanced as a sauvignon blanc. little honey, grapefruit, little herbal, nice acidity and mineral. I wanna tasted the others more than before. The cheese was nice with it too, a spanish cheese "Garrotxa". I've puffed a cigar too, por larrañaga, little spicy. It went together with a scotch whiskey, laphroaig 15ans.

Simonutti yellow label 2004

The cépage was Chenin blanc. It has much but soft acidity, nice mineral and little bitterness. It smells little flowery, it reminds me tiny white flowers. and it reminds me the scent of goat cheese or just wanna eat goat cheese as I'd sipped the wine. perhaps my description wasn't good, But I've got the feeling like that. When I've tasted a chenin blanc, it smelt like tropical fruits, but this wine wasn't. It's different. There is the same feeling(analogy?) when I taste the wine which made by the people like Pascal Simonutti. Since I drunk many wines like this, people calls "Biodynamic" or something Organic, Somehow, I hardly care much what the varieties are. I just enjoy wines. Tonight, I ate simmered vegetables(potato, carrot, and onion) with the bone of Bacon, Because It was cheep and easy to enjoy the dinner with wine. I put much mustards on them. There is much soup left, I will drink the soup or make a soup pasta with it tomorrow.

yakiguri

yakiguri is roasted chestnuts in Japanese. I've bought them after a while. It smelt nice and sweet. I can't stop it. I ate up quickly!

wagashi

wagashi means wa(Japanese), gashi(kashi,"sweets"), Japanese sweets. Recently, I like to eat that kinda sweets sometimes. It's somberness, but really good! The shop is "Tanba amaguri hompo". It's located in Ichigao, on Denentoshi line, in my neighborhood. There are many wagashi here, Kintsuba(square one), Mame daifuku(white one9, Uguisu mochi(green pouder one, and Kusa mochi(green one on the nearest one in the picture). Everything is yummy with Genmai cha(a kind of Japanese tea(based green tea and popcorn brown rice) today.

a nicaragua rum

It's made in samaroli, an Italian independent bottler. Somehow, I like the distilled alcoholic beverages made in samaroli. I've got a feeling that this company has kinda foursquare style.

fleur du maquis

a cheese made from sheep milk and herbs. It's little aged. It's little rough on my tongue. I prefer little more moist and soft on my tongue, but It wasn't bad. It went nicely with atsukan(hot sake). atsukan isn't that hot, more like warm.

a Japanese soup in the winter

Kenchin jiru, a soup made with some vegetables mainly and pork at this time. I also added "Seri", kinda herbal leave in the winer. Of course It goes together with sake!

wine tasting in Feb 2008

We, this time three of us, tasted 3 bottles of wine. The first one was Petalma, an Australian wine, the second was melon, marc pesnot, the last one was corton, Domaine pavelot. Melon was superb. It's much better year by year. I really wonder how on the earth he can make this divine wine. The petalma was also nice and the impression was tropical fruits and nice acidity, but after tasted melon, It turned to Rubber(petrol?) note that people describe about Riesling. That's little sorry for me. The corton was nice vanilla flavor, but I thought It could be nicer though.
The cheese was a nice color washed cheese. It tasted silky, milky, and soften nice feeling of the tongue.

sasanishiki

I've opened the sake(genshu) that I bought last weekend from Kidoizumi brewery. It's made from the rice called "sasanishiki". There is a sake made from the rice, "yamda nishiki", but I prefer sasanishiki. yamada nishiki is little too pure for me. Sasanishiki has many tastes and little wilder. I prefer that at this time. It smelt like melon and caramel sometimes, tasty, and nice sweetness and acidty. nice balanced. The genshu is stronger than usual sake, about 19 to 20%. I've sipped it with two cheeses tonight, baratte and bleu des causses. baratte is petit goat cheese and tasted more salty than usaul, because it's aged. but It went together with genshu. Blue was also wonderful, mild taste, I think the beginner would love it.

kidoizumi

A sake brewery located in Chiba pref. It was the first time to see a chai. This chai makes sake with organic rice since 1956! It's almost like Bio Dynamiques. Of course, they do that naturally. It seems completely different from recent organic movement. Somehow, It reminds me Gerard Schueller and some wine makers.

This is my first trip to Oohara. The funnel draft was used before, but there is the other one.




The giant round something on the left photo is called "saka bayashi", which means new sake coming. The middle photo was a wooden pot(barrel) to steam the rice. Nowadays, There are less people using and making this type of pot, but the wooden pot has several advantages. it can absorb extra moisture while steaming. I've told that the moisture is quite important to brewing sake.

After steaming, about 20% of the rice move to a room called "koujimuro" and resting(growing?) with their temperature, about 35 to 40 degrees C. The room controls the temperature. There is a couple of phases. and become "Kouji". We ate them, tasted little sweet and tasty when we chew on them.

This is called "Shubo", which is a ingredient to brew sake, made with 7% of the steamed rice, water(called shikomi-mizu) and lactic acid bacterium. This brewery makes the shubo by a unique way, called "Kouon-yamahai", one of Yamahai, but completely different. Usually, yamahai is made in low temperature, about 8 degrees C. but Kouon-yamahai is made in high temperature, about 55 degrees C. it's an opposite idea. The both way means the same, to keep away the other bacterias from developing. We also tasted the shubo and tasted like yogurt and little sparking. and this shubo has energy, You can see they are live, moving! I recorded it with digital camera. but I don't know how to upload on this blog. That's sorry!

As for the rest, All ingredient comes together and become sake. there is one dangerous point in this phase, brewing sake in this pot, if people fall into it, they go straight to die by the lack of oxygen. Sometime, It happens sadly.. After the brewing, Just squeeze the sake and finished.

We've tasted some sake and koshu(aged sake). In this chai, 1984 to now, They makes koshu almost every years. It's like whiskey. The color is nice. The taste can't be judge by seeing the color and vintage. Each vintage has characters. I really appreciate the Kidoizumi brewery.

1997 Endrizzi Brut Riserva

I ended up to open this spumante for some reason, but It was divine! The afterglow was longer and wonderful. We ate roasted chicken with it. and It went together nicely. I appreciated to open this supumate tonight.

la lunotte

A loire wine, Christopher Foucher. light red color, natural taste, smells berries. I like the wine like this. I don't know what the varieties are in this wine. gamay? I've googled, but almost of people were talking about the white of his wine. hmm, I wanna try a white wine too. The cheese was made in Loire too, Selles sure cher, It's aged and smells nice and the texture was moist.

weekend cheese

Today is snowing for a day in Yokohama. and I've been lazying in my room with a bottle of cider. I've tasted a cidre after a while. Cidre Bouche , le pere jules. The maker is Leon Desfrieches et fils and It says that it's located in St desir de lisieux. I like this cider. I drunk it with Italian goat cheese, Testun di Capra. It's aged. It tasted soften sourness and enough saltness. The texture was solid, and different from the cheese like Sainte maure.