A Week on the Stephen Taber: Food , Wine and Racing: Day One

October 21, 1871 - Glenwood Landing, NY: "Launched-- the Schooner Stephen Taber was launched from the yard of Mr. Bedel.... She is a well built natty schooner--she bears a good name and no doubt will prove a profitable investment for all concerned"

January, 2012 - Glenwood (now Roslyn Harbor, NY): I'm a girl originally from Penobscot Bay, temporarily in Glenwood Landing.  The Stephen Taber is a boat built and launched from Glenwood Landing (just at the end of the street) now making her home along the coast of Penobscot Bay.  We both love food and wine, and we both had an incredible adventure for six days.  

A few years ago, I wrote a short story about a magic iBook that when you set the clock on the computer, it would transport you in time. This adventure really is a variation on that story, only, it really happened.  After a few e-mail exchanges with Jane, the NYC sommelier and captain's wife, then through the magic of a credit card, I booked passage on the Stephen Taber for the Maine Windjammer Association's Great Schooner Race in Penobscot Bay, Maine. 408 miles down east from Glenwood Landing, NY.

Sunday July 1:  After a Young's Lobster Pound send off in Belfast, I drove to Windjammer Warf in Rockland to join the crew and guests on the Taber.  My cabin was a small aft single, #8, just off the library.  We joined the Captain on deck, he went over the basics for the week "This is adventure travel"! (hey it was an adventure rolling out of my bunk in the morning)  We then moved on to a Fiore olive oil and vinegar tasting.

We spent the first night at dock, and woke to coffee and our first meal on board, breakfast which included fresh baked muffins prepared by Chef Anna Miller and her assistant Meghann. Coffee and muffins.  I was already in heaven and we hadn't even left the dock. (seriously, a breakfast of fresh fruit, blueberry pancakes and bacon was over the top, after the coffee and muffins, I was blissed out)

After some prep and final provisioning, we cast off from the dock. It was a quick sprint (even for a boat built to haul freight) past Vinalhaven when I took a look at the chart and realized that we were heading to the edge of Penobscot Bay, Isle au Haut.  Captain Barnes out ran some nasty weather, we stopped in the sunshine for Beef Bourguignon, a fresh green salad, bread and peanut butter squares. This is where I should tell you that al though the Taber is Adventure Travel, it is an epicurean adventure.

The Taber partners with high end local providers and presents its guests with Michelin standard fare.  All cooked on a wood stove in a galley on a boat built in 1871.

And so we sailed on to Isle au Haut.  The coast of Maine is beyond words.  We sailed close along the rocky coast, framed by pine trees beaten down by weather, surrounded by the cold Atlantic waters - it was July, but I still needed long sleeves.   It was only fitting that as we sailed past a large house flying the American flag, they saluted us by firing their cannon. we were in a world where people still used cannons!!!  There was no cell phone service, I was unplugged and FINALLY on vacation.

We anchored at Isle au Haut, there was plenty of wine being poured, and my pairing for dinner was a New Zealand  Marlborough Valley Arona Sauvignon Blanc`10.   Chef Anna presented us with a dinner of crusted halibut, broccoli with lemon olive oil and rice pilaf.  It paired really well with this light crisp wine.  I was happy.

Of course for dessert, Chef Anna had made a Boston Cream Pie, my favorite dessert. Even though the crew threw her overboard (a birthday tradition) Soaking wet and freezing, she was a pro and she still fed us.Over the course of the next five days, Anna Miller was my own personal hero.

Sunset, Day One:

Sauvion Pouilly-Fume Les Ombelles `10 gift/$22.95 **(*)

This was a bonus bottle when S. ordered a few cases from Sherry Lehmann in NYC. after looking at the back of the bottle, it looks like Sherry-Lehmann is the USA importer; I couldn't get very much information on the wine aside from their notes.

100% Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley.  I can't find this wine on the producer Sauvion's website. It is an ok wine, around 13% ETOH.  We over chilled it at first, and it was a full on mouthful of crisp, sour grapefruit.  After it warmed up a bit, it became a richer wine with a more subtle citrus taste.  We paired it with Shrimp and Grits (recipe from Stella's Southern Bistro in Simpsonville, SC).

After dinner was finished, we got on to an evening of tree trimming, along with drinking some of Tom's Homemade Eggnog.  That stuff is deliciously lethal - and a highlight of the Holiday Season.

Primaterra Sauvignon Blanc `09 IGT (Not TJ's) $8.33 **

I stopped by a new wine shop.  Stew Leonard's Wines in Carl Place, New York.  This was the first display that hit me:  "All Primaterra wines 3 for $25.00".  I picked out three.  Tonight we had the Sauvignon Blanc from IGT Veneto.

First sip - WOW, grassy.  If you notice that the picture is green, well, I styled it after I tried my first sip. It is clean, crisp and puckering.  JPH said "Primitive". This is a basic, clean, citrusy white wine that when served chilled does the trick.  It is perfectly average, and went well in the sauce for the freshly caught striped bass that we had for dinner.  Because of the freshness (and the pucker) I decided that this was my cooking wine, and we would have a different wine with dinner.  I styled the picture to go with the fixings for the Arroz Verde that I was making from the The Border Cookbook.  I am glad that we have another economical wine purveyor (Stew Leonard's) in the area -  I'm looking forward to more shopping trips to come.

As for the wine, it was all that for $8.33.  A good utilitarian Sauvignon Blanc.  Easy to drink, and great for cooking, but we had a lovely and subtle Château du Rouet "Cuvee Reservée" Côtes de Provence Rosé
with our meal. (review to follow)

Now, for the surprise that I go when I first walked into the wine shop:

I was greeted by Miss Frances, a cow made from corks....

Jean-Paul Mollet Pouilly-Fumé les Sables `07 $34.99 (Not TJ's) ****

We buried a friend today, the morning of Christmas Eve.  Although Susan was Jewish, burying her today has made me more sensitive to life and to the people that I love. It is a Holiday of rejoicing, and tonight I want to rejoice and celebrate the relatively short decade that I have known her.  Susan M. Cohen, Esq. this review is for you.

Susan was an activist lawyer and breast cancer survivor.  It'll always be a debate - will she be best known for her Breast cancer advocacy or her running political campaigns and changing the landscape of the Judiciary?  Well, for me, it all boils down to a bottle of wine (story at the end of this review).

I finally arrived at home just after 8:30 PM.  After the burial in Connecticut, I spent my pre-arranged Christmas Eve dinner with people that I love and don't spend enough time with.  When I got home, JPH & S. were just washing up after their annual Christmas Eve family dinner.  Wanting to drink a glass of wine as I compared days with JPH & S, I polished off the last glass of this Pouilly-Fume, left over from what I am sure was an amazing fish dinner. I really just wanted to write about Susan and a wine review is appropriate, given our friendship. So, I sipped my wine and started composing this review in my head.

Now for the review:

What a great wine to have with fish.  It has a nice citrus taste - not bright, it is slightly heavy, but balanced with a deep minerality.  It sits in your mouth and after you have swallowed, it is like you have just licked a smooth block of granite.  I know it sounds weird to describe a wine as such, but really, it is these amazing changes that a fermented grape can go through that makes tasting different wines such an adventure.  The minerality is not a taste, but more of an after-feel, the "finish" of the wine, which makes for a great a contrast of the highlights of the citrus, and I would imagine, to the flavor of the fish.  Minerality is a good thing.

This is from the AOC region of the Loire Valley Pouilly-Fumé.  The wine is made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes, and it lives up to its spectacular provenance. I drank this wine as I watched Santa and her helper put presents around the tree.  The children were nestled snug in their beds and I was relaxing and recounting my day. There were tears today but there was also much joy and for that I am infinitely grateful.

Susan M. Cohen Esq. was one of my friend Nancy's Law School classmates and one of her closest friends.  Although I am not Jewish, I spent the Jewish High Holy days with Nancy, her family and Susan.  There is a Jewish law that a non Jew should not handle kosher wine.  One year, there was a large group at Nancy & Yori's for Rosh Hashanna and some of the group were strict orthodox.  Although I was aware of the rule of not touching the wine bottle (Yori always poured me two glasses of wine from the bottle, so that he would not have to refill my glass) Susan was worried that I would offend some of the other guests and she grabbed and protected the bottle. It was dramatic, passionate and totally Susan.  I loved her for that.  She would adhere to tradition, yet she was her own woman.

We spent many shabbos and holidays together.  Celebrating Jewish Holidays in the Lower East Side of NYC.  For me, a WASP from rural Maine that was one of the most exotic things I will ever do.  It was a totally foreign world and even as a complete outsider, I am embraced and loved in it (and I have learned some new vocabulary along the way).  On those quiet days, Susan, Nancy, Yarden and I did puzzles, talked, drank coffee and talked some more about work, life, adventure, disease, music - or whatever came to mind.  Like me, Susan never married (but she did break at least one heart - my score card on that front is zero); the both of us were holiday orphans and Nancy & Yori let us and many others become a part of their family's holiday traditions.   Susan dedicated her life to tenant's rights, representing the underprivileged; electing a fair judiciary (she ran countless judicial campaigns all around the United States); travel  - Antarctica, Alaska, Africa (and those are just the A's) and finally, her life's work as a breast cancer advocate and survivor.

In the end, she beat breast cancer -  because it wasn't the cancer that killed her.  It was the co-morbidity COPD.  She died after two days in hospice with loved ones at her side.  We eulogized her with stories, laughter and tears.  She was respected, loved and she will be missed.  Of course, there are many elected officials who are breathing a sigh of relief that they will no longer be badgered at all hours by Susan and her indefatigable lobbying efforts - I just want to warn them that she was not only an inspiration, she was a teacher as well.  When I am on Capital Hill fighting for better dialysis, I will be carrying some of Susan's passion for what is right with me, and in that, I hope that I can do her justice.

Tonight's picture is from this morning.  

Nancy, remembering Susan in front of a standing room only crowd.

  You see the award given to her by the State of New York earlier this year.  

What you don't see is the countless lives that she enriched.  

RIP Susan M. Cohen,
you have entered eternity and the world is now an emptier place.

Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc `07 $14.99 (not TJ's) ***

This is why wine blogging is fun. I not only get to taste the wine, feel the effects of the ETOH, but can deconstruct it and figure out just what nuances I'm tasting; all while something yummie is either bubbling away on the cooktop or gnawing in the oven.  The kitchen is an inspirational place to be - all the senses are sated.

Tonight, we had the Green Bottle.  Over the Summer, I was introduced to Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose, a pink wine that I really, really like as a versatile everyday bottle. JPH bought the Green bottle - the Sauvignon Blanc, he cooked with it (Zuppa di Pesci with fresh Smelts, Bluefish and rice) and well, I just watched him cook as I poured myself a glass. Ok, full disclosure, I operated the rice cooker - life is tough....

First sip - Wow, this is a grassy wine.  And then I realized that I have only tasted cheap grassy wines.  Wines where the grass is from behind the trailer where the lawnmower leaks petrol and the pit-bull does its business.

The Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc is a clean, crisp, slightly mineral grassy, like a perfectly manicured lawn of some Wall Street Titan - or George Clooney. (I imagine GC to be perfect in every way - why not his lawn too?) This wine was an exotic taste for me:  Bright, and slightly acidic, yet well balanced. JPH had a glass and he tasted notes of fresh pineapple.  After he said it, I got it, but I could never have identified that taste on my own.  I think it is a really is a great seafood wine. It is better than your average plonk.  It is interesting, low ETOH (12.5%) and very easy to drink.

About Mulderbosch: You have to love it when a South African ICU Doctor buys a property that the locals call a "dirty little farm", and turns it into something that gives us good wines such as this Sauvignon Blanc and the Cabernet Sauvignon Rose.  Well done Dr. Jacobs.

While I was researching this wine for the review, I came across this quote.  The cynic in me would scoff at it and say it is pretentious wine talk, but I just have to say that it struck a chord. Leave it to Robert Mondavi, that savvy American wine Pioneer to come up with a quote that I am growing to love more each time I read it.

Wine is art. It's culture. 
It's the essence of civilization and the art of living.

 - Robert Mondavi, "Harvests Of Joy," Autobiography
 

Warwick Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc `09 $18.99 (not TJ's) ****

I just slapped myself in the forehead.  It is Saturday afternoon.  I have been working on rewrites for six hours and I decided to have a glass of wine.  I didn't check my database (yes, I have a database of my wines), I grabbed the Professor Black, unscrewed the top, poured a glass and popped the balance of the bottle in the fridge to have tomorrow.  This is not a wine to just unscrew and drink for the sake of drinking. (well, if you have disposable income, go for it - I don't)  OOPS.

2009 was a GREAT year for wine in South Africa.  This is a really good Sauvignon Blanc.  It has a strong taste of citrus, grapefruit to be exact.  Since I am a transplant recipient, I can't have grapefruit, so the taste is very exotic to me.  Tart, a bit sour with a long, lovely finish.  This wine deserves a good meal.  I did it a grave disservice by just opening it to have a drink on a Saturday afternoon. That being said, if a wine needs chilling, use frozen TJ's  strawberries instead of ice - it works.

A man from South Africa loved me once (1997 was a REALLY good Summer romance wise!).  He was an architect - I didn't reciprocate.  I have great pictures from afternoons in the park with him though, and great memories of museums and dinners on the patio. Is it wrong that I don't remember his name?

This is a really good wine.  Well done Stellenbosch, South Africa!

Indaba Sauvignon Blanc `09 $5.99 ***

I like Indaba wines. They are good, economical wines from South Africa. So what if they are screw top?  I was at a tasting earlier this week, and the rep said that 2009 was a GREAT year for South African wine.  (I don't know exactly what he means, I'm not sophisticated enough to really compare years - but it was good wine)

For six bucks, this fruity white wine is a good buy.  Having a chilled bottle on hand this summer to drink with a salad or something light would be a good thing.  This wine adds a crisp freshness, and gives you a little buzz as well.  Win/win in my book. There is a citrusy taste with a slight herbal aftertaste.  This is not a sweet wine. It is refreshing.

Tonight's menu:

TJ's Mixed greens with garlic
French Bread rusks
TJ's butterflied freshwater shrimp sauteed with chorizo, TJ's pepperstrips, tomato and onion

Domaine Bellevue Touraine Sauvignon Blanc `08 ATC (not TJ's)$13.99****

Nice and fruity, kind of dry and tropical. Mouthwatering. There is almost no sweetness in this wine, but it is not tart, it is just refreshing, light and I am looking forward to lunch.

As I was sipping I was humming Blister in the Sun, and half the bottle is gone BEFORE lunch - well that in its-self makes this a four star wine.

Menu:
Seared Ahi Tuna (TJ's $3.99)
Ramen and mixed vegetables sauteed in Sesame Garlic Oil
Venetian (smothered) Red Cabbage (h/t to Marcella Hazan Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

This wine is a Loire Valley white, bottled at the estate.  Now, I am not a huge fan of France (to say the least) BUT, I do plan on taking a Loire Valley vacation in the future, Castles and wine - who could resist?

Rock Rabbit Sauvignon Blanc $8.99 **(*)

Sigh, it has been a rough couple of weeks. But I am back on form. I stocked up on wine from TJ's yesterday, and here is today's lunch:

Menu:
Tuna Croquettes
Potato, Parsley and Mint Salad

For this beautiful summer day, I chose the Rock Rabbit Sauvignon Blanc, the label makes promises that the wine doesn't deliver. It is heavy for what should be a light fruity wine. So, after my first first sips, I decided to doctor it before I serve it with lunch.

One of my favourite summer treats is individually frozen mandarin orange segments. They are little icees of goodness, and I just happen to have a tray of them in the freezer, so, I am using the in the glasses of wine, along with a frozen strawberry to maintain the chill (the wine needs to be served as cold as possible).

Today is a very simple refreshing lunch. My only regret is that I did not plant any greens in my tiny little garden. I'd like to have added a fresh leaf salad to the menu. Maybe next year.

Back to the wine: I don't think that it is worth $8.99. I won't be buying it again, but I became infinitely better with the addition of frozen mandarin orange segments. Final verdict 3 stars.