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The Bernard Roth Archives

The Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium presents notes of Bernard Roth who always has something to say, particularly about wine and food.

We happy that Bernard, who has sampled so many wines, has shared his notes with us. We do have, or have had for sale a few of the wines Bernard writes about, and we include a link to our stock page whenever it is a producer we carry (but since the stock page is kept up-to-date and the wines are sold, don't expect any but the newest of wines to show up in our stock!). Mostly though, since we specialize in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine, we don't carry a lot of the wines Bernard writes about. But we think it is important that you be able to have an idea what they're like in case you are planning to buy some somewhere, or have them in your own collection. Enjoy.

Here are Bernard's notes from July 4, 1998:

July 4th BBQ

With appologies to VPD, I learnt to cook real "Q" in Texas where they spell it B-E-E-F!

Fourth of July means Q, so I got an early start Sat. morn and got the mesquite smoking in the ol' box. Day before I dry-rubbed the brisket with my homemade BBQ blend and wrapped it to marinate overnight. Set the  meat in a pan in the smoker and regulated the temperature between 175-200 deg F. Meanwhile, to slack the thirst while working on the other items:
 
96 Swanson Rosato (Sangiovese pink wine)--Man, this is rose to raise goosebumps on all those macho, tannin-addicted cab drinkers that think pink wine is for sissies. Beautiful nose, the wine explodes on the palate with layers of complex, strawberry and raspberry flavors, a serious sharp edge that holds the finish together. It's a 92 point wine, and a 97 as pink wines go.

Moving right along, toast the chiles (guajillo and chile negro) for the BBQ sauce and get them soaking. Start the potatoes for the salad. Remove the silk from the corn and tie the husks back in place so they'll be ready to go on the grill. Make the green salad. Get the pintos going in the smoker to pick up the mesquite flavor.

When it's time to start eating, we start with slices of baguette with cheese and D'Artagnan duck liver pate and the Rosato. mmm-mmm-mmm.  Then the rest of the meal: Sliced smoked brisket with homemade BBQ sauce (no tomato paste in this one), smoky pintos, potato sald (hold the mayo, thank you very much), corn on the cob, green salad, roasted beet salad, some pico de gallo from Super-Rica and everyone's favorite wine with Q:

Rosenblum Vintner's Cuvee XVI--Explosive bouquet of ripe berries. Sweet, red cherries and raspberries with just a little tannin and good acidity.  Really fine drinking and maybe the best QPR Zin around. This is real BBQ wine! Not that fancy Turley zin, not that complicated Ridge stuff. Just straightforward, fun wine that goes great with chiles and BBQ beef. The only thing that'll do when you can't go down to your corner Bottle Barn and pick up a case of Shiner Bock.

So Happy 222, US of A! I hope you all had as fun a time! 

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