Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, they had to walk into ours.

Phone rang last week in the wine shop. It was the Wall St. Journal calling, they were doing an article on affordable wines, and could Pete suggest a case for around $120? Only three wine shops in the US were called, and we were one. Wow. Here are Pete’s Picks for the WSJ:

1. Château des Chapelains Bordeaux Clairet rosé (France). $9.99.
2. Diego Murillo Torrontés (Argentina). $9.99.
3. Chateau Haut Sarthes Montravel White Bordeaux (France). $9.99.
4. Charles Smith Wines Holy Cow Chardonnay (Washington). $9.99
5. Aveleda Charamba Vino Tinto (Portugal). $9.99.
6. Château Jeanguillon Bordeaux Supérieur (France). $9.99.
7. Belpoggio Rosso Piceno (Italy). $9.99.
8. Famega Vinho Verde (Portugal). $8.99.
9. Gran Sarao Brut Cava (Spain). $12.99.
10. Pierre Olivier Côtes du Rhône Blanc (France). $9.99.
11. Infinite Monkey Theorem Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon (Colorado). $19.99
12. Parducci Sustainable Red (California). $9.99.

Call 303 894-9499 to get your very own WSJ Pete’s Picks!

My favorite new cocktail!

Went to a party the other night called 50 Top Denver. It is a groups of Denver chefs that get together every 4 months or so, whip up an elegant, beautiful, mind blowing meal, then are gone like ghosts in the night. 50 Top refers to the number of guests. The locations change with the season (last night we were in Union Station), but one thing is always the same: there’s a cocktail to begin the evening. Last night we enjoyed, and I mean enjoyed, a Sazerac cocktail, thanks to Steuben’s mixoligist Sean Kenyon. The Sazerac is reknown as the first American cocktail, which was in keeping with last night’s “Golden Age of Dining” theme.

2oz Rye Whiskey
1/4oz Absinthe, Leopold Bros are now making this in Denver!
2 sugar cubes
4 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters

Fill one glass with ice to chill.
In a mixing glass muddle the sugar cubes, the bitters and a couple of drops of water. Pour in the Rye and stir.
Dump the ice out of the chilled glass, pour in the absinthe, roll the glass to coat and dump out the excess (I recommend drinking it).
Strain the contents of the mixing glass into the Absinthe rinsed glass. Cut a wide swath of lemon peel, twist it over the cocktail to express the oils, rub the peel around the rim of the glass and drop it into the cocktail.

If that seems like too much work at home…join Sean at Steuben’s for a drink!

Take a look here at the Drinking with Pete 50 Top video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odkHwJ9mzpM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkhzLiWbNqQ

Soup du Jour

Soup du Jour
You can find this on the Home page now!

Drinking with Pete: Taste of Vail Picnic

Drinking With Pete Hits The Road and the Slopes! Join the Hooch Hounds, Pete and Ash, as they taste their way through the 2009 Taste of Vail festival where the wine flows freely, there’s no shortage of great food and the people watching is some of the best this side of the Mason Dixon Line.

Drinking with Pete - April Edition

Drinking with Pete

Drinkin (and Spittin) With Pete – April is all about Spring, Easter, lamb, ham and the renewal of life. Join the Hooch Hounds; Pete and the Wine Chicks Ash and Krisana as they taste their way through some super value wines from Greece, Australia, South Africa and Italy that are not only delicious but also will work beautifully with ham, lamb and even bunny…

Westword Results Are In

Best Meat Market

“Yes, you’re probably going to pay top dollar for your meat at Marczyk Fine Foods. But trust us, it’s worth it. If you really care about the quality of your food, you should shop at a place where owner Pete Marczyk and his staff take pride in offering nothing but the best of the best. Just peeking through the glass at the cuts of meat displayed by the butchers is addicting — better than leafing through any high-gloss food mag out there. Marczyk’s stocks free-range chickens, makes its own sausage, and even puts some of that meat into sandwiches that you can grab for lunch.” ~Westword

Gluten Free in the Land of the Free

Our customers have been asking for GF foods more in the last 6 months than in the last 6 years. We wonder why—especially when one of our favorite customers can eat the bread in Europe, but not here?
Here’s some anecdotal thoughts:
I wonder if, what appears to be, the recent spate of gluten intolerance comes from the now widespread use of GMO foodstuffs in the US. GMO stands for genetically modified organism—like Roundup™ (a non-selective herbicide) resistant corn (both Roundup™ and the seeds for corn which is Roundup™ resistant are manufactured by Monsanto). While hybrids are a form of genetic engineering, the essential genome of the plants are not changed as in genetic modification - like the insertion of a fish gene in tomatoes to keep them firmer longer (FLAVR SAVR? Christ, they can’t even use the real words!).
The real issue is unintended cross-pollination. Now this is serious. Currently there is no way for GM pollen and non-GM plants to prevent cross pollination, and GM traits are being found in plants which came from non-GMO seed stock. Really a big deal in soy and rapeseed.
Across the ocean, the EU does not allow GMO crops to be grown or sold. This is a real sticking point with the US, as we cannot export many of our products there. The EU also does not allow for the use of hormones in beef production—which is why we can’t export our beef there either. (The use of six growth-promoting hormones in beef production was prohibited across Europe in the 1980s on the grounds that they posed a significant risk to human health. Imports of meat treated with these hormones were also banned. Canada and the US successfully challenged the import embargo as not being based on an adequate risk assessment as required by the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - SPS Agreement). Both countries subsequently imposed retaliatory tariffs on a range of European agricultural exports worth US $116.8 million for the US and C $11.3 million for Canada.
Anyway, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who know more about Gluten free than I. Let us hear from you! Thanks, Pete.

March White Wine of the Month

We forgot this beauty in the last email…
Dominio de Eguren Protocolo Blanco 2007. Tierra Castilla, Spain. This is a great looking wine: brilliant yellow with dancing hints of soft green. The pretty nose if rich with aromas of tropical fruit, bananas, green apple and sun ripened peaches and the palate shows soft, silky notes of like fruit, balanced by lively acidity. What a lovely choice for a first day of spring dinner! Regular price: $13.99 - Sale price: $9.99 - Washed Up White case discount price: $8.50.

It’s time to drink with Pete!

March Wine Specials

Choucroute Garnie à la D-Bomb!

Feel The Pig Love!

The word choucroute translates simply as fermented cabbage, or sauerkraut, as most of us know it. The earliest reference to sauerkraut in Alsace dates from the 15th century. For hundreds of years, until the early 1900s, Sürkrüt-schniders, or sour-cabbage cutters, toured the countryside, shredding cabbage to order. Today, choucroute has also come to mean a show-stopping dish of sauerkraut topped with copious portions of pork in myriad forms. No one at the Market loves pork more than D-Bomb, and no other dish shows off the love put into Marczyk Fine Foods’ meats, sausages, grocery items and wines like his two-pot adaptation of this definitive Alsatian classic.

“A great thing about choucroute is that you can make it your own without worry. All you need is plenty of pork, and plenty of love. The rest is in your hands. Don’t like kielbasa? Prefer Strasbourg sausages to brats? Have red potatoes in your pantry? Only need half the recipe? No problem! Be creative.”
~D-Bomb

Pork Rib Chops & French Sausages

Serves 8-10 easily (At D-Bomb’s house it serves 6)

Shopping List
1 28oz jar Gundelshein Barrel Sauerkraut
2 13.58oz cans Zuccato Crauti al Naturale
6-8 Frenched Pork Rib Chops
6-8 Market-Made French Sausages
2 Niman Ranch Ham Steaks or Petit Hams, sliced into chunks
1# Continental Veal Bratwurst or Stadium Brats
1# Continental Kielbasa
1# Continental Wieners or Frankfurters
1# Continental Avalanche Beer Brats
½# Applewood Smoked Bacon
2# Fingerling Potatoes, halved lengthwise
4-6 Apples, such as Braeburns, cored and sliced
1 Medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
Fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
Bouquet Garni of 1 smashed head of garlic, 3 whole cloves, 6 juniper berries, and 6 coriander seeds, in cheesecloth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Bottle Riesling

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Clean and chop fruit and vegetables. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Coarsely chop bacon.

2. Render bacon in a dutch oven, or a large roaster (mine is 12”x20”x9” - huge) with a lid, over medium heat. Just before it is crisp, pull bacon and reserve on paper towels. Sear pork chops and French sausages in bacon fat til lightly browned. Remove and reserve with bacon. Add onions and apples to pan, and cook until soft, 10-15 minutes, adding a bit more bacon fat or oil if needed. Add pork chops, sauerkraut, bouquet garni, ham, bacon, sausages and half the bottle of wine. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook in oven until meats are tender, about one hour. While you’re waiting, drink the other half bottle of Riesling.

3. About 35 minutes before serving, place potatoes in a pot of salted water over medium-high heat and cook until tender, 20-25 minutes. Drain and keep warm.

4. To serve, spoon sauerkraut onto a large platter, discarding bouquet garni. Slice kielbasa and large sausages, if desired, and arrange on platter with pork chops, potatoes, and small sausages. Garnish with fresh parsley. Smile as your guests’ minds are blown by pork love.

A Family Meal

Drinking With Pete - February

Pete and the wine chicks bring you the February wines of the month.

Stump The Chump