Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
I grew up in the genteel northern suburbs of Detroit, which loomed ominously to the southeast throughout my childhood: a murder capital rife with corrupt police, dangerous citizens, bouzouki music, eastern Europeans, the Tigers, and the River Rouge. I rarely got closer to it than 9-mile Road, where Id ride my bike to see the zoo and eat cheese dogs at Howard Johnsons. After college, Id make occasional forays downtown with friends for Greek food or a well-made pint of Guiness, but never put in any real time there. So I was in a state of mixed interest and apprehension as I began the drive down I-75 to the inner city on Wednesday evening, to drink wine with Putnam Weekly, Steven Kirsh, and James Brennan. Apprehension got the upper hand early, as I lost my way and ended up on the wrong side of town, weaving through some of the dusty, barren-looking neighborhoods of a city hit hard by the current recession. A couple of phone calls and some patient guidance from our host got me back on track, however, and before long I was marching up the stairs at Bagley and Hubbard carrying a loaf of fresh sourdough bread in one hand and a bottle 2005 Goisot Cote dAuxerre in the other.
After negotiating the bookshelf-lined ***********, I found Putnam, Steve, and James seated around the dining room table with tubs of humus and guacamole, imbibing from a collection of flaired beer glasses and canning jars, and surrounded on all sides, mysteriously, by stacks of vinyl records. After greetings, we cut up some bread and slathered it with fresh butter Putnam had brought from a local creamery. I secured a highball glass and set about catching up.
Hungarian Pinot Gris (details?): In the words of the incomparable VLM, this didnt suck, but it wasnt electric, either. Pale wine made from Pinot Gris grapes, okay; not otherwise distinctive.
Circa 2007 Blaufraenkisch (a Michigan winery): Red, round, balanced, with spice,juice and an appealing hint of fresh weediness. Good dinner wine, and a nice label to boot. Ive had two Blaufraenkish recently, and theyve both been pretty good.
1998 Heredia Rioja Rosado Via Tondonia: pretty pink, medium-light body, tasty soupcon of oxidation, some strawberry and modest red-fruit mlange. Very tasty. James, normally a Loire nut, discovered this beauty.
Here Steve and James broke the rhythm of bachelor wine-geek chat to remind Putnam that, for some obscure reason, he was supposed to have been saying fuck a lot once I arrived, but, in point of fact, hadnt been. Putnam blushingly acknowledged he'd forgotten. The lesson here, I think, is: when you need a job done right, get a specialist. Next time we will link Nathan in by speakerphone.
2001 Friedrick Wilhelm Gymnasium Trittenheimer Apotheke Auslese: Pale gold, rich, modestly viscous, balancing acidity. More muscular than lacy, in the context of MSR. A very good 2001, still developing.
2005 Goisot Cotes d'Auxerre Corps de Garde: solid Burgundy maroon, hints of bricking. Initially dominated by rope-like tannins-acids, with some vinous fruit; with air, mellowed to pleasantly bendy-tangy Burgundy pinot, modest red fruit and upper-slope acids. Lacked terroir distinctiveness, per Putnam.
Putnam excused himself at about this point and I followed him into the kitchen. There he upended upon the floor the largest cast-iron frying pan Ive seen in my life, deposited a chicken breast, and began beating the shit out of it with arcing, blacksmith-like blows. This looked like such fun that I begged to do the next one, while he dipped the now paper-thin first breast into his own sourdough batter and cooked it in a waffle iron - whipping up a sweet-sour southeast Asian sauce in a bowl on the side. A few minutes later, laden with chicken waffles, we returned to the wine.
2007 Vissoux Brouilly: Good Gamay, well made, pleasing, but didnt leave a distinct impression. Perhaps young?
1990 Soucherie Coteaux de Layon Chaume: Rich, powerful, medium-large bodied sweet Chenin with tropical and citrus fruit. Well balanced; so big it obliterated the flavors of subsequent wines for about ten minutes.
2006 Clos Roche Blanche Pif: Healthy red, an exotic note on the nose licorice or clove? flattering initial mouthfill resolved to medium-light bodied sweet red fruits finishing with a cleansing acid rinse. How does Joe find wines like this and sell them for what he does?
By this time, Putnam was restless again. He issued carrier glasses of Pif all around and led us single file out of the house, down the street, across a field, to the neighborhood tennis court. Here, the premier Detroit sausage maker, recently emigrated from Chicago, was putting a less-skilled player through the grinder, so to speak. Along the way, Putnam pointed out interesting houses and greeted each dog we passed by name. We took in the court action for a bit, enjoying the cool evening air and a bit of local gossip while sipping Pif. Steve and I swapped parenting wisdom. Putnam unslung his digital camera on the return to snap some shots as we traversed the field again. His pride in this part of the city, and his pleasure in living in it, practically radiated from him as we strolled.
Back at the apartment, we nibbled some more as Putnam broke out another bottle:
Pinolo (details?) : black-red color, sweet with black fruit and a fine dusty quality, hefty tannins but not excessive; a touch porty. Putnam stumbled across this tasty curio while waiting for a train somewhere. Its good but packs a wallop at 16+ abv.
While I sampled the hard stuff, Putnam tuned a guitar and handed it to Steve Jarosz, a new arrival, who regaled us for the rest of the evening with extremely good, well-played music, the likes of which you can hear here:
.
At about this time, the sausage-maker we'd watched pounding serves earlier filtered into the apartment, brimming with post-tennis vigor, accompanied by Putnams friend John and a small coterie of similarly tennis-minded individuals. Glasses circulated and the atmosphere, spiced with Steves excellent music, became convivial - friendly chat and chaste flirts liberally exchanged. I had to leave then, feeling Id only scratched the surface of this community of civility and good food, and barely gotten to know our host, who seemed to occupy its center.
Postscript:
Also tasted while in Michigan:
2005 A. and P. Villaine Montots: Villaine says this is supposed to cellar for 10+ years, so I decanted it for several hours. It was red-Burgundy tasty immediately on opening, then tight and mute for a long time. Towards the end of the evening, it seemed to loosen again a bit, but never got beyond pretty good and a bit thin. Probably an awkward developmental stage.
2008 Grand Traverse Semi-dry Riesling: well-balanced residual sugar and Riesling acid, a bit rocky and tough on opening, but with ample air, delicious, smooth, with great counterpoint between the sweet and the sour. More MSR-style than, say, Rhone; but different from both. This is a really good wine, and, at $11, a total steal. The dry bottling is also good.
After negotiating the bookshelf-lined ***********, I found Putnam, Steve, and James seated around the dining room table with tubs of humus and guacamole, imbibing from a collection of flaired beer glasses and canning jars, and surrounded on all sides, mysteriously, by stacks of vinyl records. After greetings, we cut up some bread and slathered it with fresh butter Putnam had brought from a local creamery. I secured a highball glass and set about catching up.
Hungarian Pinot Gris (details?): In the words of the incomparable VLM, this didnt suck, but it wasnt electric, either. Pale wine made from Pinot Gris grapes, okay; not otherwise distinctive.
Circa 2007 Blaufraenkisch (a Michigan winery): Red, round, balanced, with spice,juice and an appealing hint of fresh weediness. Good dinner wine, and a nice label to boot. Ive had two Blaufraenkish recently, and theyve both been pretty good.
1998 Heredia Rioja Rosado Via Tondonia: pretty pink, medium-light body, tasty soupcon of oxidation, some strawberry and modest red-fruit mlange. Very tasty. James, normally a Loire nut, discovered this beauty.
Here Steve and James broke the rhythm of bachelor wine-geek chat to remind Putnam that, for some obscure reason, he was supposed to have been saying fuck a lot once I arrived, but, in point of fact, hadnt been. Putnam blushingly acknowledged he'd forgotten. The lesson here, I think, is: when you need a job done right, get a specialist. Next time we will link Nathan in by speakerphone.
2001 Friedrick Wilhelm Gymnasium Trittenheimer Apotheke Auslese: Pale gold, rich, modestly viscous, balancing acidity. More muscular than lacy, in the context of MSR. A very good 2001, still developing.
2005 Goisot Cotes d'Auxerre Corps de Garde: solid Burgundy maroon, hints of bricking. Initially dominated by rope-like tannins-acids, with some vinous fruit; with air, mellowed to pleasantly bendy-tangy Burgundy pinot, modest red fruit and upper-slope acids. Lacked terroir distinctiveness, per Putnam.
Putnam excused himself at about this point and I followed him into the kitchen. There he upended upon the floor the largest cast-iron frying pan Ive seen in my life, deposited a chicken breast, and began beating the shit out of it with arcing, blacksmith-like blows. This looked like such fun that I begged to do the next one, while he dipped the now paper-thin first breast into his own sourdough batter and cooked it in a waffle iron - whipping up a sweet-sour southeast Asian sauce in a bowl on the side. A few minutes later, laden with chicken waffles, we returned to the wine.
2007 Vissoux Brouilly: Good Gamay, well made, pleasing, but didnt leave a distinct impression. Perhaps young?
1990 Soucherie Coteaux de Layon Chaume: Rich, powerful, medium-large bodied sweet Chenin with tropical and citrus fruit. Well balanced; so big it obliterated the flavors of subsequent wines for about ten minutes.
2006 Clos Roche Blanche Pif: Healthy red, an exotic note on the nose licorice or clove? flattering initial mouthfill resolved to medium-light bodied sweet red fruits finishing with a cleansing acid rinse. How does Joe find wines like this and sell them for what he does?
By this time, Putnam was restless again. He issued carrier glasses of Pif all around and led us single file out of the house, down the street, across a field, to the neighborhood tennis court. Here, the premier Detroit sausage maker, recently emigrated from Chicago, was putting a less-skilled player through the grinder, so to speak. Along the way, Putnam pointed out interesting houses and greeted each dog we passed by name. We took in the court action for a bit, enjoying the cool evening air and a bit of local gossip while sipping Pif. Steve and I swapped parenting wisdom. Putnam unslung his digital camera on the return to snap some shots as we traversed the field again. His pride in this part of the city, and his pleasure in living in it, practically radiated from him as we strolled.
Back at the apartment, we nibbled some more as Putnam broke out another bottle:
Pinolo (details?) : black-red color, sweet with black fruit and a fine dusty quality, hefty tannins but not excessive; a touch porty. Putnam stumbled across this tasty curio while waiting for a train somewhere. Its good but packs a wallop at 16+ abv.
While I sampled the hard stuff, Putnam tuned a guitar and handed it to Steve Jarosz, a new arrival, who regaled us for the rest of the evening with extremely good, well-played music, the likes of which you can hear here:
At about this time, the sausage-maker we'd watched pounding serves earlier filtered into the apartment, brimming with post-tennis vigor, accompanied by Putnams friend John and a small coterie of similarly tennis-minded individuals. Glasses circulated and the atmosphere, spiced with Steves excellent music, became convivial - friendly chat and chaste flirts liberally exchanged. I had to leave then, feeling Id only scratched the surface of this community of civility and good food, and barely gotten to know our host, who seemed to occupy its center.
Postscript:
Also tasted while in Michigan:
2005 A. and P. Villaine Montots: Villaine says this is supposed to cellar for 10+ years, so I decanted it for several hours. It was red-Burgundy tasty immediately on opening, then tight and mute for a long time. Towards the end of the evening, it seemed to loosen again a bit, but never got beyond pretty good and a bit thin. Probably an awkward developmental stage.
2008 Grand Traverse Semi-dry Riesling: well-balanced residual sugar and Riesling acid, a bit rocky and tough on opening, but with ample air, delicious, smooth, with great counterpoint between the sweet and the sour. More MSR-style than, say, Rhone; but different from both. This is a really good wine, and, at $11, a total steal. The dry bottling is also good.
