During my workday I confess to occasionally procrastinating and daydreaming.
Being a wine lover, much of this idle time is spent shopping for wine to have at home, since at the end of a long day writing about wine, I love to unwind with a glass of the same.
Each wine that I drink at home is bought with a different audience in mind. The most important audience is my wife, and I cook for her most evenings.
Home comforts
(Image credit: Vignobles Thevenet & Fils)
It's not always elaborate, and at least once a week, it is a simple roast chicken and salad. It's important to have a workhorse wine to pair with a frequent meal.
This week, it has been a delicious white Burgundy for which I paid the princely sum of $15. The wine was Domaine Thevenet Mâcon-Pierreclos 2023, made from grapes grown at an elevation of 350 metres, and vinified without oak.
The site and the winemaking deliver a wine of almost shocking purity. Even in the warm 2023 vintage, there was an abundance of lemony fruit, a hint of minerality, and no heaviness at all.
This uncomplicated, everyday wine is delicious on its own but also stands up to food.
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Host with the most
(Image credit: Domaine Michel Lafarge)
When friends come over, an côte de boeuf is another favourite – a double-thick, bone-in rib of beef, roasted in the oven with root vegetables and served with haricots verts.
If my friends are knowledgeable about wine, I will reach for something from a ‘name’ producer. A recent success was the Passetoutgrain ‘l’Exception’ from Domaine Michel Lafarge.
The grapes are from Gamay and Pinot Noir vines planted together in the same plot, nearly 100 years ago, between Volnay and Meursault, which the Lafarge family farms biodynamically.
The extraction is gentle, and the wine is aged in well-used casks, yet they coax a wine of resonance and depth from the old vines that goes beyond its regional appellation and makes for a memorable meal, all for $32.
On the town
As a New Yorker, I also love dining out. One of my favourite venues with wine friends is a Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown called Wu's Wonton King.
Proprietor Derek Wu has made a specialty of wonton soup and fresh seafood, much of which comes from the meticulously clean tanks lining the walls.
Live king crab, sea eels, lobster, and steamed whole fish all make an appearance, along with the occasional roast suckling pig.
Cuisine this varied demands a versatile wine, and I will often choose a dry Riesling.
Recently, I have been regaling my friends with magnums of J.B. Becker Wallufer Walkenberg Auslese Trocken 2015, which is just beginning to hit its stride, redolent of apricots, lemon peel, and floral notes, and something deeper as well – a hint of earth and iodine, a suggestion of petrol and funk.
With Auslese-level ripeness fermented to dryness before long ageing in neutral casks, this Rheingau beauty shows both power and finesse, transforming a trip to Chinatown into a festive meal.
See what other bottles Charles is drinking at home each week on his website here.
