The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling, so I decided to
grill my bulgogi as well as some squash. Served with kimchi, rice
w/furikake, and the 2001 Ch. la Gaffeliere (St. Emilion). Certainly the
kimchi is a wine killer, but with plenty of seltzer we worked around
that- the beef itself is pretty wine friendly. I wish the La Gaffeliere
was a little Dale-friendlier. Moderate red fruit, hard tannins, raw oak
nose. I tried hard to coax a bit more out of this, but it remained
tannic and hard. Not especially long on the finish, either. This might
be at an awkward stage, I think I have one more I'll let sit to see if
it improves, but not a lot of pleasure now and I don't have especially
high hopes. B-/C+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

On 29 Oct 2006 10:45:18 -0800, "DaleW" wrote:

The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling, so I decided to
grill my bulgogi as well as some squash. Served with kimchi, rice
w/furikake, and the 2001 Ch. la Gaffeliere (St. Emilion). Certainly the
kimchi is a wine killer, but with plenty of seltzer we worked around
that- the beef itself is pretty wine friendly. I wish the La Gaffeliere
was a little Dale-friendlier. Moderate red fruit, hard tannins, raw oak
nose. I tried hard to coax a bit more out of this, but it remained
tannic and hard. Not especially long on the finish, either. This might
be at an awkward stage, I think I have one more I'll let sit to see if
it improves, but not a lot of pleasure now and I don't have especially
high hopes. B-/C+

That raises an interesting question. I'm probably one of the few US
career military types who can boast that I never set foot in Korea.
Been most everywhere else, but missed out on that section of the
world--this despite two tours on the Asian side of the globe.

What do Koreans drink with bulgogi? I'm thinking beer.

Hats off to you, Dale, for reaching across continents to serve a Bdx
with what many folks I've known over the years often referred to as
dog rather than beef.

The kimchi makes me think riesling or maybe gewurztraminer might be an
option.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

In article . com,
"DaleW" wrote:

The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling, so I decided to
grill my bulgogi as well as some squash. Served with kimchi, rice
w/furikake, and the 2001 Ch. la Gaffeliere (St. Emilion). Certainly the
kimchi is a wine killer, but with plenty of seltzer we worked around
that- the beef itself is pretty wine friendly. I wish the La Gaffeliere
was a little Dale-friendlier. Moderate red fruit, hard tannins, raw oak
nose. I tried hard to coax a bit more out of this, but it remained
tannic and hard. Not especially long on the finish, either. This might
be at an awkward stage, I think I have one more I'll let sit to see if
it improves, but not a lot of pleasure now and I don't have especially
high hopes. B-/C+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Isn't Bulgogi a wine killer as well. Would think a nice bottle of Kirin
would go better than any wine.

DaleW wrote:
The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling, so I decided to
grill my bulgogi as well as some squash. Served with kimchi, rice
w/furikake, and the 2001 Ch. la Gaffeliere (St. Emilion). Certainly the
kimchi is a wine killer, but with plenty of seltzer we worked around
that- the beef itself is pretty wine friendly. I wish the La Gaffeliere
was a little Dale-friendlier. Moderate red fruit, hard tannins, raw oak
nose. I tried hard to coax a bit more out of this, but it remained
tannic and hard. Not especially long on the finish, either. This might
be at an awkward stage, I think I have one more I'll let sit to see if
it improves, but not a lot of pleasure now and I don't have especially
high hopes. B-/C+

I had quite a few bottles of la Gaffeliere from the 1970s. Back then it
often was a rather old-fashioned wine of moderate extraction. It often
was a bit hard when young and benefited from some age that smoothed it
out. It usually was a good bargain, but not among the top St Emilions
(below Ausone and Cheval Blanc) back then. But even Ausone often was
not so good in the 1970s. La Gaffeliere has an interesting history. It
apparently had a leper colony located there in the distant past. In
1969 a Gallo-Roman mosaic showing vines covered with fruit was dug up
at this estate. Some say this wine was much better in the 1945 - 1961
era, but I have never tasted any of these.

"DaleW" wrote in message
ups.com...
The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling

Usually after enough wine it's me that's howling.

I do know that after an afternoon of gutter cleaning here in upstate New
York the wind was certainly howling! ;-)


--
Joe Giorgianni
TheWho.org

DaleW wrote:

The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling,


Dale, you need to treat that wine better.


I wish the La Gaffeliere was a little Dale-friendlier.


See, that's the problem. You're not treating it nicely enough. vbg


--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

In message . com
"DaleW" wrote:

I wish the La Gaffeliere was a little Dale-friendlier. Moderate red
fruit, hard tannins, raw oak nose. I tried hard to coax a bit more out
of this, but it remained tannic and hard. Not especially long on the
finish, either. This might be at an awkward stage, I think I have one
more I'll let sit to see if it improves, but not a lot of pleasure now
and I don't have especially high hopes.

I must say I think you will be right about the awkward stage. I am
just about getting the best out of some generic 2001 Saint-Emilions
now. Most of the Grands Crus seem to me to have quite a bit more in
them yet; the Grands Crus Classés seem mostly to be firmly asleep and
I have not yet dared broach anything above that level. I would expect
the Ch. la Gaffelière to be firmly closed, with little nose or fruit
apparent, and as you say still quite tannic and hard. I generally
take the view that there are some good buys amongst the 2001s but that
it is not an early drinking year in the way ‘99 is/was. Strangely
though this Chateau makes no great claims for its 2001 — Cocks & Feret
suggests the best years were the usual suspects — 85, 88-90, 95, 96,
98 & 2000, plus an unusual claim - 2002!
(I have to say that I have yet to have a 2002 I prefer to a 2001 so I
must try these two if I get a chance. I suppose there must be
exceptions and that‘s only my subjective view anyway.)


Tim Hartley

Saint-Emilion — Alleluia

Ed Rasimus wrote:
On 29 Oct 2006 10:45:18 -0800, "DaleW" wrote:

The rain stopped Saturday though the wine was howling, so I decided to
grill my bulgogi as well as some squash. Served with kimchi, rice
w/furikake, and the 2001 Ch. la Gaffeliere (St. Emilion). Certainly the
kimchi is a wine killer, but with plenty of seltzer we worked around
that- the beef itself is pretty wine friendly. I wish the La Gaffeliere
was a little Dale-friendlier. Moderate red fruit, hard tannins, raw oak
nose. I tried hard to coax a bit more out of this, but it remained
tannic and hard. Not especially long on the finish, either. This might
be at an awkward stage, I think I have one more I'll let sit to see if
it improves, but not a lot of pleasure now and I don't have especially
high hopes. B-/C+

That raises an interesting question. I'm probably one of the few US
career military types who can boast that I never set foot in Korea.
Been most everywhere else, but missed out on that section of the
world--this despite two tours on the Asian side of the globe.

I must say, living in Korea has been one of the most unique and
stimulating experience I have had. Korean culture and food tradition
goes back millenia, and Koreans - quite like many other Asian cultures
- are very good in incorporating external influences (Chinese,
Japanese, American) into their own traditions.

What do Koreans drink with bulgogi? I'm thinking beer.

Traditional matches to Bulgogi are Soju or Bekseju. Soju is akin to a
light vodka and is often drunk neat, but sometimes flavoured with
vegetables (which is an excellent match for kalbi) and sometimes in
cocktails. Bekseju is sort of halfway between schnapps and a mineral-y
white wine. Barley tea is a pretty common match too, especially at
lunch time.

IMHO beer would not be a good match to Bulgogi. Recipes vary but
Bulgogi tends to have a type of sweetness which would clash with hops.
People do, of course, eat Bulgogi together with beer, as they do with
wine, whiskey, vodka, soju, tea or water.

Beer is a great and very common match for other foods though -
pancakes, Tak-Kalbi (a sort of chicken Biryani), bar food like fried
chicken or dried squid, fried dumplings, etc. It is also not half bad
with Kalbi (grilled meat from ribs), Dong-Gas (akin to Schnitzel) and
the variety of Bokkum (fried), Tang/ Su/ Jigae (stewed) dishes.


Hats off to you, Dale, for reaching across continents to serve a Bdx
with what many folks I've known over the years often referred to as
dog rather than beef.

Well, if they are not confused like the average kid plucked from the
heartland and located in a US army base in Korea can not help being,
then it can only be in jest that they'd refer to bulgogi as dog-meat.

The kimchi makes me think riesling or maybe gewurztraminer might be an
option.

Everyone has their own preferences, but I doubt many a Riesling or
Gewuetztraminer would be happy alongside Kimchi. It is not just the
heat but also the fermentation, which makes it difficult. From the
western tradition, I would say a vodka or schnapps would be a better
bet.




Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

Personally, I find St. Emilion wines to often be a very good match with
(south or east) asian spicy/ aromatic food, so I'd say matching Bulgogi
to la Gaffeliere would have been worth a try. Kimchi is just too much
of an outlier IMHO.

Cheers!

Ed,
while I wouldn't pick bulgogi or kalbi as my ideal St Emilion match, it
wasn't bad. The marinade for bulgogi is more about sesame and maybe
ginger than anything really hot- while Korean food can be fiery,
bulgogi isn't really (at least not in my experience). Good choice for
kids at a Korean bbq place.

thanks for the insight!
I do love Korean food, mostly for the side dishes (ban chin?).

Timothy Hartley wrote:
Strangely
though this Chateau makes no great claims for its 2001 - Cocks & Feret
suggests the best years were the usual suspects - 85, 88-90, 95, 96,
98 & 2000, plus an unusual claim - 2002!
(I have to say that I have yet to have a 2002 I prefer to a 2001 so I
must try these two if I get a chance. I suppose there must be
exceptions and that's only my subjective view anyway.)


I think you're right (assuming you're talking Right Bank here - there
are some Medocs where I prefer the 2002).
Thanks for info.

On 30 Oct 2006 12:22:10 -0800, "DaleW" wrote:

Ed,
while I wouldn't pick bulgogi or kalbi as my ideal St Emilion match, it
wasn't bad. The marinade for bulgogi is more about sesame and maybe
ginger than anything really hot- while Korean food can be fiery,
bulgogi isn't really (at least not in my experience). Good choice for
kids at a Korean bbq place.

Despite two full tours in Asia, I didn't fill the Korean square. I did
develop an affection for Japanese and Chinese cuisines (Mandarin
excepted--which always seemed too bland). I didn't get into Vietnamese
food and that was reinforced a couple of years ago when an old friend
dragged me to a Viet restaurant in Las Vegas. He raved, I couldn't
find sustenance among the selections.

Thai food got consummed quite a bit while I was there, but somehow
hasn't been revisited since. Maybe it was the tutorship of the pretty
Thai girl in those years that made the meals more interesting.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

One of my earliest pairings was a Chateauneuf obtained at the Cholon PX and
bulgogi.

For 8 months I roomed with 3 Korean Seabees at the Bui Van in Saigon. Every
night they would play tonk and eat bulgogi, kim chee and ????. I think at
one time just about every ROK Seabee in town hung out in our room. I had
liberated a barbeque grill and bought a small refrigerator. The ROK troops
were banned from the Cholon PX, so when I went to Singapore on leave, I
bought about $2000 worth of camera, video and stereo equipment for them. My
reward was an evening in the ROK sponsored pleasure palace.

One evening I was at the Plaza BEQ listening to some Pilipino sing top 40
hits and eating what passed for Pizza. A rather large gentleman at an
adjoining table asked if I was Jewish. I said yes and he began a torrent of
anti-Semitic remarks and when I didn't acknowledge him but kept eating the
peez, he came over to me and grabbed me around the neck---The next thing I
know one of my roommates buddies laid a bit of Tak Won Do on the dude and 2
other ROK troopers escorted him out of the Plaza. After a few beers,
Fosters, me and my defenders adjourned to ROK steam bath joint where we
partook of some bulgoki and mingled with the message ladies. They had my
back.

Next time I went to the PX I picked up a Liebfraumilch to go with the Korean
food and Fosters chasers. The wines all cost $3.20 and they seemed to have
all the 63 Bordeaux produced--some English Major touted me off the Bordeaux
and onto the Chateauneuf.



"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On 30 Oct 2006 12:22:10 -0800, "DaleW" wrote:

Ed,
while I wouldn't pick bulgogi or kalbi as my ideal St Emilion match, it
wasn't bad. The marinade for bulgogi is more about sesame and maybe
ginger than anything really hot- while Korean food can be fiery,
bulgogi isn't really (at least not in my experience). Good choice for
kids at a Korean bbq place.

Despite two full tours in Asia, I didn't fill the Korean square. I did
develop an affection for Japanese and Chinese cuisines (Mandarin
excepted--which always seemed too bland). I didn't get into Vietnamese
food and that was reinforced a couple of years ago when an old friend
dragged me to a Viet restaurant in Las Vegas. He raved, I couldn't
find sustenance among the selections.

Thai food got consummed quite a bit while I was there, but somehow
hasn't been revisited since. Maybe it was the tutorship of the pretty
Thai girl in those years that made the meals more interesting.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

In message .com
"DaleW" wrote:


Timothy Hartley wrote:
Strangely
though this Chateau makes no great claims for its 2001 - Cocks & Feret
suggests the best years were the usual suspects - 85, 88-90, 95, 96,
98 & 2000, plus an unusual claim - 2002!
(I have to say that I have yet to have a 2002 I prefer to a 2001 so I
must try these two if I get a chance. I suppose there must be
exceptions and that's only my subjective view anyway.)


I think you're right (assuming you're talking Right Bank here - there
are some Medocs where I prefer the 2002).
Thanks for info.

I was talking Right Bank - specifically Saint-Emilion - guilty again
of the same blinkered vision as the cat who went to London to see the
Queen.

Cheers

Tim

On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 17:54:42 -0500, "Joe \"Beppe\"Rosenberg"
wrote:

One of my earliest pairings was a Chateauneuf obtained at the Cholon PX and
bulgogi.

For 8 months I roomed with 3 Korean Seabees at the Bui Van in Saigon. Every
night they would play tonk and eat bulgogi, kim chee and ????. I think at
one time just about every ROK Seabee in town hung out in our room. I had
liberated a barbeque grill and bought a small refrigerator. The ROK troops
were banned from the Cholon PX, so when I went to Singapore on leave, I
bought about $2000 worth of camera, video and stereo equipment for them. My
reward was an evening in the ROK sponsored pleasure palace.

One evening I was at the Plaza BEQ listening to some Pilipino sing top 40
hits and eating what passed for Pizza. A rather large gentleman at an
adjoining table asked if I was Jewish. I said yes and he began a torrent of
anti-Semitic remarks and when I didn't acknowledge him but kept eating the
peez, he came over to me and grabbed me around the neck---The next thing I
know one of my roommates buddies laid a bit of Tak Won Do on the dude and 2
other ROK troopers escorted him out of the Plaza. After a few beers,
Fosters, me and my defenders adjourned to ROK steam bath joint where we
partook of some bulgoki and mingled with the message ladies. They had my
back.

Next time I went to the PX I picked up a Liebfraumilch to go with the Korean
food and Fosters chasers. The wines all cost $3.20 and they seemed to have
all the 63 Bordeaux produced--some English Major touted me off the Bordeaux
and onto the Chateauneuf.


Ahh, the good ol' days. I've always felt a bit sad for the benighted
folks who go through life without experiencing the depth of other
cultures. When we first lived in Madrid, there were several Americans
we knew who lamented the fact that they couldn't get Velveeta Cheese
and iceberg lettuce regularly in the commissary. They somehow
overlooked the abundance of produce and cheese varieties in the
mercado.

And, it always helps when young and adventurous to have a number of
indigenous friends.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com