DGA Wine Club: Hacienda San Martin

Posted by Benson

Hacienda San Martin (2011) is a mix of Bonarda (55%) and Malbec (45%) from Mendoza, Argentina.    The Italian and French grapes take on a distinct flavor and concentration in the high-altitude, desert-like conditions of Mendoza.

Mendoza is known both for the production of olive oil and for wine making.  Wine making is a particularly significant industry of the city, and in fact the region around Mendoza is the largest wine producing area in Latin America.  Argentina is the 5th largest producer of wine in the world, and the Mendoza region accounts for 68 percent of the country's wine production.  Mendoza and the surrounding area is therefore packed with hundreds of wineries which serve to fuel the output of many celebrated vintages as well as a bustling tourism industry.

Hacienda San Martin is produced by the multi-award-winning Andean Vineyards.  Andean Vineyards strives to practice its viticulture in harmony with the natural environment, cultivating each variety of grape at an altitude ideal for its cultivation.  The region, and the vineyard, are known for producing fruit and great concentration but with plenty of bright acidity.

The Wine

Hacienda San Martin is a deep, dark wine with a rich aroma of plum that has just a hint of oak and tobacco.  The wine has a deep flavor with strong notes of ripe black currant, plum, and oak.  It leans toward the full side, which Doug described as "plenty of stuffing."  The flavor tends to evolve on the palate starting with a rush a ripe fruit with a hint of spice and rolling into a long, sweet finish.

Food Pairing

Malbec is a classic wine for steak, and one can certainly enjoy Hacienda San Martin with a nice, dry aged ribeye, but the generous mix of the Italian Bonarda suffuses the wine with a succulence that pairs far better with lamb or pork.  The wine also favors hummus and pairs excellently with either a fresh mozzarella or pretty much any Dr. John recording.

K&A's New York: Painkiller

Posted by Benson

Kelly and Andrew are a couple of my friends from grad school back in good ol' Muncie Indiana (every time I say that I feel like Norville Barnes).  Well, Kelly is actually a friend from grad school.  Andrew is her husband.  He is also an excellent friend in spite of the fact that he is not a historian.

Muncie: "At least you don't live in Cleveland!"

Kelly and Andrew moved to New York City about a year or so ago, and I always try to stop in and see them when I am in the Big Apple.  Kelly and Andrew are some my best friends.  One of the many great things about Kelly and Andrew is that notwithstanding their friendship with me, they have excellent taste and a nose for superb restaurants and bars.  In fact, one of the things that they love about New York, especially compared to Muncie or Indianapolis, is that the city is packed with a bewildering array of dining establishments across the spectrum.

Kelly and Andrew wound up in Matt Green's photo Blog of New York.  Andrew is the one examining the manhole cover.

Consequently, a side benefit of visiting with Kelly and Andrew is that I get a chance to experience some of the best restaurants and bars in New York.  Last month Kelly and Andrew took me to a mind-blowing little underground tiki bar called Painkiller.

Painkiller is a trendy bar on the Lower East Side, apparently cool enough to announce its presence with little more than a graffitied wall that reads "Tiki Bar."  The underground bar is slim and bustling. Patrons are greeted by a long bar in a narrow hallway that leads to a slightly more expansive area with booths.  

The bar has a definite "dive" atmosphere, which I am told is par for the course in the LES.  The interior is dark, lit predominantly by rows of neon lighting, and is bedecked in a bamboo-filled Tiki style.  If you venture past the booths, a funky little back room awaits, lit by slowly pulsing multi-colored LEDs of the sort that slowly brighten and dim in a rotating array of colors.  The resulting ambiance is close without being cozy, lending itself to something akin to privacy given the fact that you often can't see the people at next table over.

Painkiller's interior in the harsh light of non-business hours

Painkiller is strictly about the drinks, serving no food of any kind, unless you are willing to subsist on your cocktail's elaborate garnishing.  The menu is vast, but the bartender-server is an expert, so ordering off is fine, and I would recommend allowing the attending mixologist some freedom to innovate.

That's more like it

If you are into tiki bars, Painkiller does not disappoint, with a menu full of staples of the genre that are executed very well.  Painkiller claims that Doug's Pina Colada is the best in the city, but enthusiasts will have to judge that for themselves.  As I understand it, Painkiller has some stiff competition.  

Overall, if you're looking for a secluded spot and an expertly crafted cocktail, Painkiller is hard to beat.  Whether or not you are a fan of the tiki theme, Painkiller's mixologists are experienced enough to leave you satisfied.  

DGA Wine Club: Finca Libertad Pinot Noir

Posted by Benson

Finca Libertad (2009) is a Pinot Noir from Castilla VDT in Spain.  

The windswept plains of Castilla provide plenty of sun, and many ancient vines may be found there, yielding small amounts of grapes with intense flavor.  Pinot loves a cool climate, but famed winemaker Javier Murua, along with his dad, set out to see what he could do with it in hot, sunny Castilla.

The resulting wine is both surprising and delightful.  

The Wine

Finca Libertad is a bit different than what you would expect from a Pinot Noir.  It is unusually soft with mild tannin and a lusty fruit flavor.  The wine has a very floral aroma and a luxuriously long finish.  It lingers on the tongue with a distinct taste of herbs.

Food Pairing

This is an unusual wine, and it has some unusual pairings as well.  It pairs particularly well with a meaty fish like salmon or tuna.  For cheese, we suggest a creamy brie or a sharp, aged cheddar.  The creaminess mellows the already mild tannins, and the strength of the cheddar brings the herbal notes of the wine into the forefront and highlights its floral aroma.

Pinball Addiction

Posted by Benson

I have always enjoyed pinball.  Pinball machines were always the first thing that I gravitated to in the local arcades when I was growing up, and I rarely ever turn down an opportunity to play pinball nowadays.


I love the visceral nature of playing pinball.  Unlike the video games that are so predominant today, pinball is a very physical, hands-on experience.  A pinball machine is a work of precision craftsmanship full of clever mechanical contraptions.  It clicks, whirls, thuds, thumps, bumps, and shakes.  The ball zooms around the game guided not by intangible, invisible algorithms, but by the physics of the natural world.  The machines have a life and a personality accrued through thousands of plays.  In short, I really enjoy playing pinball.

In the past, pinball has been something that I appreciated when the opportunity arose, but nowadays I have started to seek out pinball machines both at home and when I travel.  Sadly, I have discovered that it is not so easy to locate a pinball machine these days.  This fact does not surprise me.  Pinball machines are expensive and require a great deal of specialized maintenance.  They are also likely not as popular or profitable as the newest video games.


As much as I understand the difficulty of finding a pinball machine, the reality is nonetheless vexing.  Ironically, the challenge of tracking down a pinball machine is proper working order has only increased my growing need to play pinball.  Hyperbole aside, I feel that I may be on the cusp of becoming seriously interested in pinball.

At the moment, I would certainly not call myself a pinball connoisseur.  I do not know very much about what makes a pinball machine work.  I do not know the history of the machines or the companies that make them.  I have not even played a terribly diverse variety of pinball machines.  I do not own my own pinball machine...yet.  But I may just start down that road.

I came to this realization a short while ago when I was visiting my sister in Austin.  Austin is a very cool city with a hip vibe and a great deal of fun things to do.  One of those things happens to be an arcade called Pinballz (with the "Z" and everything).  Pinballz is aptly named as it is the loving host of more than one hundred different pinball machines in addition to an assortment of other classic arcade games.  What I wouldn't give for a Pinballz in New Orleans.

I spent an entire night in Pinballz until the management kicked me out at closing time, and now I've gotten my first really good fix of pinball in a long time.  I want more.  Luckily, I am not the only person with a growing pinball addition.  There are many others out in the world who have kindly taken the time to track down and locate pinball machines in just about every significant metropolitan area.  Sometimes it takes work to locate them, but I will do my best to create opportunities to play pinball when I am on the road.  It may not be long until I'm rearranging the furniture in my office to fit in a brand-new-to-me pinball machine.

Bar & Grill & Movie Theater

Posted by Benson

I think this is where we went, but admittedly I got very lost on the way there. 

Bar & Grill & Movie Theater - How have I not known about this phenomenon?


I recently went to Dallas for work and I went to see a friend of mine who lives in the area.  He suggested that we go to one of the most wonderful places imaginable: a movie theater that is also a bar and grill, that serves you while the movie is playing!  I was astonished.


Now, I have gathered that such places have existed for a while now, and that many of you may be thinking that I must have been oblivious for the past decade.  I would vehemently agree.  I do not understand how I did not know such places existed, but I am now mercifully in the know.

This is perfectly fine if all you're looking for is a movie on the big screen

I have seen movie theaters that serve beer, and ones that also have a substantial menu.  I have also heard of, but have not been to, theaters that allow you to enjoy the substantial menu while the movie is playing.  But the place I went to in Dallas was a true synthesis of the bar and grill and movie theater.


We were given full menus upon entering the theater, and the lay-z-boy-like seats were equipped with a call button.  When we wanted to order we pressed the call button and the waiter came right up to us in the theater, took our orders, and eventually returned with cold beer, nachos, and burgers.  They key here is that this all happened while the movie was playing, which is what I found so astounding.

But can't you have this too?

Obviously, this is an amazing innovation.  I am a huge fan of cinema, and I certainly appreciate why viewers would want to eschew such an experience.  It obviously encourages disruption of the film, however mild.  Even so, there are many movies during which I would find mild disruption to be not only acceptable, but laudable.  For example, the move we went to see that night was The Dictator with Sacha Baron Cohen.  It is an amusing movie, but definitely the kind of thing that is only ever enhanced by a trio of beers, a hot plate of nachos, and an atmosphere amenable to a tasteful amount of commentary and conversation.

This about sums up the movie.  It doesn't really go very far from this.

Ultimately, it feels more like watching a movie in your own amazingly awesome home theater than in a proper movie theater, which is the appeal.  Going to a movie with friends can often wind up being a rather staid experience in which the only appeal of going as a group (unless you also have before and/or after plans) is that the personal experience of seeing the movie becomes an experience shared with others.  Yet the depth of such a shared experience tends to be rather shallow, and primarily limited to the temporal linkage of the viewings, for even if you and I see the same film at slightly different times, we can still have a substantively similar conversation about it later.


There's little, if any, interaction in a theater (excepting of course two people on a date in which case the situation is entirely different).  You watch the movie in relative silence, not always even seated close to one another, and you leave. If the principle motivation of the outing is because you want to see the movie, that's perfectly fine.  In fact, I am a very strong proponent of silence in a movie theater.  If I am there to watch a movie, I want to watch the movie without interruptions.

Unless you're necking or ruining the movie with talking,
going to the movies might as well be like this regardless of who you're with

This is why I think that the bar & grill & movie format is such a great thing.  It is a much more social environment because it is not marred by the expectation of complete silence.  It can't possibly be, because the waiters walk right into the theater and take orders!  Sometimes you want to be able to talk during a movie.  Sometimes you you want to watch a movie on the big screen without taking it too seriously.  Sometimes you want to go see a movie, get a bite to eat, and have a few beers with your friends without being out all night.  Sometimes you want to have your cake and eat it too.  At the  bar & grill & movie theater you can do just that.  Now we just need to get one in New Orleans!

Creole Zydeco Farmers at ASTC Conference!

Posted by Benson

The Creole Zydeco Farmers is an absolutely awesome local Zydeco band.  You may remember reading about them in one of our earlier posts about the Abita Opry.


The Farmers put on an utterly unforgettable show at the Opry, and I absolutely wanted to see them perform again.  Last month the American Society of Trial Consultants held its annual conference in New Orleans, and the soon-to-be-president elect (Douglas Green) asked me to line up a musical act for one of the events.  Naturally, the Creole Zydeco Farmers were first on my list.

Not only were we able to get the Farmers to perform at our special Cajun Night and Crawfish Boil, but we were also able to record the performance thanks to our friends at Sights and Sounds!

The good news for all of you is that a video of the entire performance has been uploaded to the ASTC phanfare website.  Head on over to check out another amazing performance by the Creole Zydeco Farmers!

DGA Wine Club: The Patriots Merlot

Posted by Benson

The Patriots (2010) is a Merlot from the Maipo Valley in Chile.  The Maipo river, from which the valley takes its name, flows from its headwaters on the west slope of Maipo volcano in the Andes mountains down to the port of San Antonio on the Pacific.

The Maipo Valley is the most famous wine-producing region in Chile, best known for its well balanced red wines.  The Patriots is produced by Terra Andina Cellars from fruit grown on its estate in the upper region of the Maipo Valley.  

The vines are grown along the lower slopes of the Andes, more than 1,000 miles above sea level, and the mountains have a profound impact on the grapes grown there.  The rising sun must crest the Argentinian side of the peaks before it warms the vineyards in the afternoon, and cool mountain breezes slide down the mountains at night, locking in fresh flavors. 

The Wine


The Patriots is a vibrant purple-red wine with a floral aroma that contains strong, earthy undertones such as tobacco.  It is a smooth, drinkable 100% Merlot with a strong forward taste of black cherry that lingers on the palate.


Pairing


We found The Patriots to be a bold wine with a flavor that stands up well to heavily spiced or smoked meats.  It pairs well with dark chocolate, rich pâté, and hummus.  The UK's What Food, What Wine awarded The Patriots with the trophy for 'Best Overall Red with Bangers and Mash.'  We heartily concur.  Although we did not pair The Patriots with bangers and mash, it has a sweetness that would complement strongly spiced sausage, and the boldness to stand up to such a rich and greasy dish.