Block 7 Wine Company

If I needed to describe Block 7 with one word, it would be enigmatic.  Is it a wine bar, or is it a restaurant?  Is it young and hip, or older and stuffy?  Is it casual or.....well, you get the picture.  Given the name, one would expect wine bar, but the appearance, menu and wine list are more suggestive of a fine dining restaurant.

The decor is similar to that of many new restaurants in Houston....Industrial, SOHO chic with lots of glass, concrete and steel.  The wine list was OK.  I am always disappointed when wine-centric establishments don't have flights.  Flights are a great way to taste multiple wines, think Cova.  I had a glass of their most expensive Pinot (from Russian River Valley), it was OK but not nearly as good as the Moshin I blogged about earlier, and not worth 14 dollars/glass.  The food menu had a nice variety to choose from.  They were out of the fish special at 7pm, a bit early I think.  I started with the seafood bisque, which was very good.  Rich, deep and complex it had great flavor and nice chunks of lump crab.  My entree was a smoked pork chop.  It had very nice, smokey flavor but was quite dry.  The mashed potatoes were very good and the spinach was unevenly cooked.  The best thing was a very flavorful, smokey, tangy BBQ style sauce on the plate.  Only three dessert were available, and none caught my attention so I skipped dessert.  There were no ports on the wine list, so that finished the meal. 

Don't get me wrong...it was not a bad meal, just not as good as the many competitors of this genre in Houston.  The prices were slightly higher than average.  The average rating online is 4 stars out of five.  I would have to agree, it is about an 80%, or a low B. 

Pinot envy

Pinot Noir has become my favorite red varietal.  It all started about two years ago when we visited Sonoma Valley on vacation.  We tasted hundreds of wines, and a large fraction of them were Pinot Noir.  Last November we returned to Sonoma and stayed in the Russian River Valley....Pinot heaven!  Our favorite vineyard for Pinots was Moshin vineyards, a small, family winery outside of Healdburg.  Here is a bit of info from their web site.

"Moshin Vineyards and Winery began in 1989 as the dream of Rick Moshin, a San Jose State University math instructor – and with the Moshin Family’s purchase of a ten-acre Pinot Noir Vineyard located in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California. The Moshin Vineyards of today features a unique 4-tier Gravity Flow Winery and control of 28 acres of grapes – mostly Pinot Noir. The tasting room is open daily to the public and tours of the winery can be made by appointment.

The goal at Moshin Vineyards is to carefully guide the grapes through the winemaking process and bring you a wine that expresses a truthful view into the heart of the vine. Our farming methods are sustainable, winemaking philosophy is “minimally invasive,” and we have established energy-saving practices through the use of gravity-flow and solar energy.

We specialize in small lot, hand-crafted wines, which include Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Petite Syrah and Zinfandel. Wine Club members enjoy our most exclusive lots, making membership a fun and special way to experience the artistry and dedication of our winemaking team."

http://www.moshinvineyards.com/index.cfm?method=homepage.showpage

They have a nice, intimate tasting room.  We enjoyed the wines so much we joined the "pinot only" wine club.  My selection this week is their 2008 Morris Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot noir.
Appearance:  Typical Pinot noir...medium red, clear with moderate legs (14.4% alcohol)
Nose:  Awesome!  Earth, leather...very complex, dark red fruit....maybe curant.  I almost don't want to taste it!
Taste:  Smooth, well balanced, more red fruit (as expected), just the right amount of acidity.  In a word "elegant".  I don't really get the earth or leather on the tongue, maybe after it breathes a bit.  There is a nice finish with a hint of vanilla and a very long, lingering berry flavor.  Ahh, there is a bit of earth coming through...nice.  Great wine for sipping, or served with salmon or turkey.

Rating:  I decided not to do the whole WS number grade....so I'll call it excellent!

New Exhibit at MFAH

Evening all,
 If you were to hear the names Monet, van Gogh, Manet, Renoir, and Seurat in the same sentence what would you think? 



My first thought was... where and when?  The answer is the Museum of Fine Arts Houston from February 20th to May 23rd.  WOOT!!!  This exhibit is titled "Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art".  It is a collection of some of the finest art from the National Gallery.  I have seen these paintings many times.  Every time I go to Washington I make my way to the National Gallery and hang out with these works for hours.  Go to the web site and view the all to brief slide show (http://www.mfah.org/exhibition/impressionist-and-post-impressionist-masterpieces/).  I never took art history in school, so I don't know all the words to describe these master works.  What I can say is they make me smile.  I can't wait until the show opens.  Hope to see you there!!!!!

Wine of the week

Howdy all,
  My first wine of the week is from WIlson Winery and Vineyards (http://www.wilsonwinery.com/), as I mentioned yesterday...one of my new favorite wineries.  It is the 2008 Ellie's Old Vine Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley.

We tasted this on our last trip to Sonoma and enjoyed it.  I just opened a bottle we brought home.  It has a nice garnet color.  Upon swirling you notice stout legs...it weighs in at 15.3% alcohol after all.  Lots of fruit on the nose with hints of leather.  Take a sip and the fruit explodes in your mouth.  Black cherry, plum, maybe a bit of nutmeg, smooth finish with good acidity.  It is better balanced than most Zins these days, not too heavy.  Should hold up nicely in the cellar for 5-7 years.  It isn't the best Zin that Wilson makes, but it is very nice...I give it an 88.

I had a great time last night at Rice University for the Houston Friends of Chamber Music series.  The Academy of St. Martin in the Field Chamber Ensemble.  They played as an octet; four violins, two viola and two cellos.  Excellent group, great music selections.  I highly recommend this series for any classical music lovers.

Welcome to my blog

Greetings and welcome to my blog.  This is my first attempt at blogging, so please bear with me.  In this blog I will write about wine, food, and living in the Houston area.  Since I grew up in the Boston area, you will also find a fair amount of discussion regarding the Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots and other things "New England".  Here are a few things to get the conversation rolling.

I love traveling to California Wine country, especially Sonoma.  Small, artisan wineries are my favorite.  At the moment these include Enkidu, Wilson, Moshin.  My favorite Napa winery is Rubicon. 

Believe it or not, there are some great restaurants in Houston.  I say this because I didn't believe it when I first moved here.  Since then I have discovered a vibrant restaurant scene, some of which have garnered national attention.  I will do some mini-reviews in the future.

There are also some fine wine bars here...again I'll expand on this topic in the future.

Houston has a theater district called...."The Theater District", clever huh?  The Alley theater is located there and is one of the best regional theaters in the country.  My wife and I have season tickets and I'll blog about various productions as we see them.

That's it for now, have to get ready to go to Rice University and listen to the Academy of St. Martin in the fields chamber ensemble....oh yeah, I'll blog about that too.