Given the state we're in, and particularly the location in the state that we're in, it's no wonder that Miami is a crossroads for many things. Banking, the arts, food, and, this recurring post's subject, wine. Florida is, according to who you ask, the second or third largest wine consuming state in the nation. But given Florida's
three-tiered distribution system, and the fact that we're home to the largest alcohol distributor in the country, our choices in wine are sometimes limited.
We do, however, enjoy the benefits of being a crossroads which wine-wise means we excel at having a having a diversity of wines that reflect our region's culture. This means wines from regions with Latin influences, with Spain, Chile and Argentina leading the way, as well as from our neighbors way West and Northwest. A recent study found that if you live east of an
imaginary line going from Ohio to Texas, it's actually better for the environment to purchase wines from Europe that are transported by ship (versus wines from the West Coast which come by truck). Given that much ofwhat we buy comes from Asia, and China in particular, I figured I'm probably ruining the environment more by buying plastic forks made in China versus Pinot Noir grown in Oregon. So when it comes to drinking wines, destination and environmental concerns take a back seat.
National wine reviews are great, but many times it's tough, if not impossible, to find the wine in Miami because it lacks a distributor. There's a few local wine critics in our daily or weekly rags, and most seem to pander to those searching for everyday value wines from large, well known producers. The reviews are usually basic but it's an almost certainty that the wines reviewed can be found fairly easily.
Where do I fit into all this? I'm not necessarily sure. I'm not a wine expert by any means, but I figured if I end up liking a wine, maybe someone else in MIA can take it as a suggestion to try something they normally wouldn't. And one thing is that with almost complete certainty the wines that will appear in the No Swill Zone will have been bought in, or accessible to, South Florida. And I can assure with complete certainty that there will be no swill. And as for scoring the wines, I hate the point system, I hate the star system so I haven't decided what it'll be. I'll try some out in the coming months and see what sticks.
One such wine which we opened the other night is the 2005 Prima from the Toro denomination in Spain. Toros have been getting a lot of press recently as Robert Parker has
seemingly fallen in love with some woman from Valladolid or they have some dirty pictures of him somewhere and they've blackmailed him into awarding the 2004 Termanthia a rare 100 points accompanied by a host of others receiving high 90's. With Spanish wines so popular in South Florida we're flooded with Toros and have easy access to the 100 point giants as well as smaller producers.
Toros are knows for being big, bold wines ("toro" meaning "bull" in Spanish) so they're not for swishing in a backyard picnic in July. But as our weather is a little more temparate this time of year, it's the perfect time to pop this baby open. Prima delivers what you'd expect, bold dark flavors yet a little mellow at the end. It's still a bit tannic so a bit of aging might help it (or some decanting prior).
Prima can be found easily around town. The distributor has been doing tastings at Sunset Corners and Bin no. 18. I'm sure other retailers carry it as well.
So here's the lowdown:
Wine: 2005 Prima, D.O.C. Toro, Spain
Producer: Bodegas y Vinedos Maurodos
Purchased: Sunset Corners, $19.99
And something timely for the rating:
Randy: "Yes", Paula: "Yes", Simon: "Yes". Congratulations Prima, you're going down my gullet!
additions and techniques. Lunch started off with pork belly steamed buns. More like fluffy tacos, the sauced pork belly was wrapped in a light, doughy wrap that was like eating a cross between Wonder bread and Marshmallow Fluff. The next dish was the requisite offal. Fried sweetbreads were tossed in a light breading and served with a sweet chili sauce. The sweetbread nuggets (I hate that word, but that’s what they were) were light as clouds. Seriously, these were amongst the best sweetbreads I’ve ever had. Luckily there were two of us to make it through the order. Lastly were our entrees. Momofuku ramen was a rich, smoky broth with typical ramen accoutrements which included shredded roast pork and pork belly and rice cakes with oxtail ragu, the rice cakes rolled to resemble gnocchi, but a little heavier.
provided both my girlfriend and I a tasty, offal tinged breakfast of homemade lamb sausage (for me) and, in a dish I have to give props for originality for, the Hostel plate. It reminds you of food you ate when, well, you were hostelling around Germany and the Netherlands. The plate consisted of liverwurst and hard sausage along with various pastes in tubes along with grain breads and other accoutrements. Definitely some offal to be found somewhere in this dish. And great with Prune’s Bloody Marys.
seemingly fallen in love with some woman from Valladolid or they have some dirty pictures of him somewhere and they've blackmailed him into awarding the 2004 Termanthia a rare 100 points accompanied by a host of others receiving high 90's. With Spanish wines so popular in South Florida we're flooded with Toros and have easy access to the 100 point giants as well as smaller producers.
from "la viejita" so I thought tomato sauce. So a simple tomato sauce was created with tomatoes, thyme, oregano and rosemary (all from FLA), garlic and olive oil (from somewhere else) topped off with parsley (from FLA). So the sauce was at least 90% local. I wanted to add some kind of meat (I'm a meatball fanatic) but wasn't sure where my local Publix's ground beef came from. We had some rock shrimp in the freezer (rock shrimp from FLA!) and figured they're about the size of small meatballs. A few minutes later tomato sauce with rock shrimp "meatballs" served with fresh pasta from Mr. Pasta (on Collins near 71st St. on MB).
We had tons of produce that we'd purchased over the weekend and had I really wanted to make this locavor week successful I couldn've just eaten salad every day (or bought more substantial produce). That obviously didn't happen. What did was this salad made from arugula (la viejita) and heirloom cherry tomatoes and radishes from Redland Organics. 100% South Florida salad (with the exception of the olive oil obviously). 
cream a shot. I've made simple ice cream from mamey and figured canistel, with its similar consistency, would come out pretty much the same. So into the blender went the canistel, milk, demarara sugar, vanilla and a little salt. From blender to ice cream maker then the addition of sum rum-soaked raisins (basically a ripoff of Gaby's Farms Creme de Canistel ice cream). The results were strange. On first tasting the ice cream was delicious, rich and creamy even though milk was the only liquid used. But the aftertaste, which hit about 3 or 4 seconds later, was awful. It was rough and bitter, kinda like the taste you get when in college you take a shot of some alcohol that you don't really know what it is, but it's alcohol so you down it anyway. We couldn't eat it. It's sitting in my freezer waiting for some inspiration to hit me on how to save it. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
prices) we went to Lola’s. The restaurant is fairly small but they’ve done a great job with space. Bright white tabletops set off against dark fabric on the chairs and banquettes. There’s a small bar where our hostess/waitress/bartender (and probably valet if we needed it) Rachel held court. We were offered menus but said we were here for the Rogue beer dinner. [For those of you not familiar with Rogue beers, it began as a small operation in Ashland, Oregon and has grown to become won of the most well-known specialty beer brewers in the US. Our favorites include the American Amber and Chipotle Ale (which has disappeared off the shelves of all shops in South Florida it seems).] Seeing as we were just sitting down and everyone was on dessert and coffee we knew we’d close the place (10:00, which by our Miami training, is still early). 
Rogue (history, philosophy, etc.) and a description of the beers being served. A good time killer until the first course arrived, coriander crusted scallops with a ginger butter sauce paired with a wheat beer (Half-e-Weizen). Great pairing of sweet scallops, rich sauce and a light, refreshing wheat beer. Personally I like my scallops a little raw in the middle but these were cooked through without being overdone. Great presentation and a great way to start the meal.
figured we’d be in for a heavy meal. But the pork was sliced thin and dollopped with the sauce which, even though I’m a fan of heat, was a little too spicy and took away from being able to taste the juniper in the pork. The mango and arugula salad was good enough to make my girlfriend like mangoes again. The pork and salad went well together and the beer was used more as something to cool our tongues than to bring out the juniper in it and the pork. The third course came soon after, a buffalo short rib with hazelnut gremolata and smashed fingerlings paired with the Hazelnut Brown Nectar. This was probably the most successful pairing thus far of dish and beer. The rib was beefier than any I’d tasted (maybe due to it being buffalo) and the gravy and gremolata were excellent. Where the dish failed was with the potatoes. The entrée came in a bowl to hold the sauce/gravy and hidden in there were some fingerling potatoes, some smashed, some not, some underdone, some done just right. It seems as if they’d been roasted and then tossed into the short rib braising liquid. I figured the potatoes would come a little more smashed to soak up the liquid but we actually had to use knives to cut through them. Even though the dish was not the prettiest the flavors worked and my homemade short ribs will be forever compared to this dish.
chocolate stout frosting paired with, well, Chocolate Stout. By far the best pairing. The cake was moist and dense, somewhere between my preferred Latin-style, rum-soaked cake and my girlfriend’s drier, Anglo-style marble cake. The frosting probably contained cream cheese and some stout to give it a tannish color. The cake and frosting worked great and the beer was like an adult chocolate milk. We must’ve had that look of glee on our faces because Rachel gave us another round of stout on the house.