Sunday Suds: Dogfish Head "Namaste"

There's a whole lotta mashing up going on around the craft beer globe these days. Brewers are teaming up in twos, threes and tens to ply their trade, flex their creative muscle, share techniques and no doubt learn a few things along the way. Sometimes its happening right around the corner, sometimes its bringing together brewers from oceans away.

One of the most active progenitors of this collaborative craze has to be Sam Calagione, founder, owner and head brew cheese at Delaware's Dogfish Head.

Now in its second year as a summer seasonal, Dogfish Head's "Namaste" was originally conceived in 2009 via a four-way, intercontinental team-up between Sam and his wife Mariah, Dogfish Head lead brewer Bryan Selders, and Leonardo DiVincenzo, owner of the central Italian craft brewery Birra del Borgo. There was an aspect of charitable giving in the mix, too. Part of the proceeds for the first-year sales of "Namaste" were donated to Armand Debelder of Drie Fonteinen, who lost about a third of a year's production of his lambics and gueuzes due to a thermostat malfunction in the storage area at 3 Fonteinen. In that first year, "Namaste" was available only on draft and only at the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE. This year, Sam, Mariah and Bryan brewed a bit more, enough to to pour on draft as well as to allow for a limited bottling in crown-sealed 750s.

"Namaste" is brewed in the tradition of Belgian white ales. Given the wheat, coriander and citrus elements in the mix, Hoegaarden would seem the most obvious point of comparison; "Namaste," however, is a touch rounder and broader in texture and also a tad darker in both its color and flavor profiles. Whether that's the result of the use of entire slices (dried) of orange rather than just the zest or whether it's just the Dogfish Head signature showing through I can't say. What I can say is that the brew is refreshing and very easy going down, a bit short on the finish but very tasty up front. At only 5% ABV, it's also quite light by the standards at Dogfish Head, a brewery best known for its over-the-top, hop monster and ancient recipe inspired creations. You can read more about it at the Dogfish website as well as on Sam's blog.

If the info on the DFH site is correct, "Namaste" may not be available outside of the state of Delaware. I enjoyed this bottle, shared over dinner with friends, at Wilmington's Domaine Hudson. Whether there's any still available there I don't know but, if not, there's plenty of other great stuff to choose from on the restaurant and wine bar's recently expanded and quite adventurous list of 120+ bottled beers.

Oh yeah, as for the title of today's post, I know it's not Sunday but, in homage to the crazy cats at Dogfish Head, so what? I drank this on Saturday and wrote about it on Monday, so Sunday it is. After all, it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

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Monday, Tuesday, Wine and Cheese

If you're located in the greater Philadelphia, PA and/or Wilmington, DE areas and are still wondering how best to spend Monday and Tuesday evenings (that's tonight and tomorrow just to be doubly clear), wonder no more. There are still a very limited number of spots available at each of my Monday/Tuesday double-header events. So come on out, enjoy a little cheese, and taste some great wines along the way.

• Monday, June 8, 5:00 – 6:30 PM
  Early Summer Wines and Cheese ($25)
  Kick start your week. I’ll be leading an early evening wine and cheese pairing seminar today at Wilmington, DE wine bar, Domaine Hudson.
  
  
• Tuesday, June 9, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
  Get Your Eurail Pass ($50)
  Not much more than 24 hours later, I’ll be back in action and back at the podium at Philly’s Tria Fermentation School, where I’ll lead a guided tour through some great value wines of Western Europe, with stops in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. (As I write this only three seats remain in TFS's intimate classroom space, so act fast.)

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Early June Triple Header

For three consecutive days in early June, you’ll find me at some of my favorite spots around the greater Philadelphia area, where I’ll be spreading the word and sharing the joys of three of my favorite things: wine, cheese and cycling. All of it, I might add, is yours to be enjoyed on the cheap – three great ways to get the summer started right without blowing the budget in the process.

• Monday, June 8, 5:00 – 6:30 PM
  Early Summer Wines and Cheese ($25)
  On June 8, I’ll be leading an early evening wine and cheese pairing seminar at Wilmington, DE wine bar, Domaine Hudson.
  
  
• Tuesday, June 9, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
  Get Your Eurail Pass ($50)
  Not much more than 24 hours later, I’ll be back in action and back at the podium at Philly’s Tria Fermentation School, where I’ll lead a budget-oriented tour around the wines of Western Europe. Tria’s June course schedule was just announced yesterday and the class is already close to being booked, so act fast.
  
  
• Sunday, June 7, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM (approximately)
  TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship
  Finally (actually firstly), if you’re wondering where to find me on Sunday, I’ll be spending the day at the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship. This year’s race, which nearly didn’t come to fruition after organizational costs increased and sponsorship decreased, will mark the 25th running of the Philly Classic. I’ll be continuing a personal tradition that must be going on about 20 years now, through all five banks (Core States, First Union, Wachovia, Commerce, TD), hanging out on Lemon Hill, taking in the sun – it’s never once rained in the history of the race – and most likely a beer or two. Come on out. It’s a blast. And unless you feel the need to spring for a VIP-area pass, it’s absolutely free.

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Grower Champagne Dinner at Domaine Hudson

As often as I extol the virtues of sparkling wine’s place at the table, it’s far from often that I have the opportunity to sit down to a five course dinner paired exclusively with Champagne. That’s just what I did last night, though, courtesy of an invite from Tom Hudson, owner of Wilmington, Delaware’s Domaine Hudson (and a semi-frequent commenter on this blog).

The evening's lineup.
In addition to overseeing the day-to-day activities at Wilmington’s only wine bar, Tom coordinates an occasional series of focused tasting and wine dinner events. This latest shindig paired the food of executive chefs Jason Barrowcliff and Mark Doto with selections from the Champagne portfolio of Terry Theise. Unable to attend himself, Mr. Theise, I’m told, personally selected the Champagnes on offer after contemplating the menu the chefs had designed for the affair. In the absence of Terry or one of his usual representatives, Tom invited Linda Collier, proprietor of Collier’s Wines in Centreville, Delaware, to provide color commentary for the evening’s proceedings. The real stars of the show, though, were the Champagnes that not only spoke for themselves but also spoke, more often than not, in harmony with the food on offer.

Green Eggs and Ham – warm poached egg, herb emulsion, spinach, crispy pancetta and warm shallot compote on brioche
with
Champagne Brut “Tradition,” Gaston Chiquet NV (Dizy)
The first duo set a tough standard, one of those pairings where everything harmonized really well. The initially reductive characteristics of the Champagne clicked, right off the bat, with the salty, smoky flavors of the pancetta crisp. As the wine warmed, its Meunier dominated flavors became more apparent, showing touches of nut bread, pear and red flowers, all of which flavors were heightened by the richness of the egg protein and sweetness of the caramelized shallots on the plate.

Prosciutto and Arugula with toasted walnuts, fig, shaved parmiggiano and orange-vanilla vinaigrette
with
Champagne Grand Cru Sec “Cuvée Tendresse,” Jean Milan NV (Oger)
I’m still not a big fan of Milan’s “Tendresse.” I just can’t get my arms around its highly perfumed, slightly confected being. On this night, it was tasting, straight up, like the “liqueur” from a jar of maraschino cherries and that, my friend, wasn’t helping me come to terms with it. All of that said, this was one of those pairings where food helped the wine to make more sense. The Champagne worked with what was essentially a salad course in much the same way as can a Riesling Kabinett from the Mosel or Saar, its combination of delicate sweetness and high acidity playing nice-nice with the notoriously difficult combination of greens and vinegar. The sweetness of Prosciutto certainly didn’t hurt, even if the dish would have been even better minus the insidious influence of a few drops of truffle oil.

Pan Seared Day Boat Scallop with exotic mushroom-goat cheese strudel and herbed truffle-carrot broth
with
Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs “Fleuron” Brut, Pierre Gimonnet et Fils 2002 (Cuis)
Truffle oil again… but this time it worked, courtesy of the vinosity and well developed mineral flavors of Gimonnet’s vintage “Fleuron.” At once rich and delicate, the wine showed elements of sandalwood and white chocolate, marrying naturally with the sweetness of the scallops, carrots and mushrooms. As with the Chiquet, “Fleuron” really developed with air, its grippy texture and phenolic concentration becoming more apparent via its upward shift in temperature. Lilacs and baking spices emerged on the nose and the wine displayed excellent length. This time, the Champagne may just have stolen the show, even though this was my favorite dish of the night.

Roasted Barrel Cut Rib Eye with sage-pepper coulis and parmiggiano polenta
with
Champagne Premier Cru “Sélection” Brut, Marc Hébrart NV (Mareuil-sur-Ay)
Tom admitted to being skeptical as to whether Champagne could hold up to a beef course, a doubt I’m sure he wasn’t alone in holding. I wasn’t among the doubters, though, as I’ve had many a black fruit driven Champagne with more than enough structure to stand up to red meat. As it turned out, Hébrart’s “Sélection” was indeed up to the task. Even if nothing was added via its combination with the steak, it held its own, tasting pretty darn decadent along the way. It was actually the streak of tomato coulis painted down the middle of the plate that threw the wine for a loop, with a zesty tang that was too assertive for the wine to match.

Warm Berry Crisp with vanilla ice cream
with
Champagne Premier Cru “Le Demi-Sec,” A. Margaine NV (Villers-Marmery)
Well, four out of five ain’t bad. I don’t think even a fully doux Champagne could have withstood the berry crisp’s triumvirate of acidic fruit, high sweetness and tongue numbing, mouth coating frozen dairy product. Margaine’s demi-sec was blasted out of the water. The dessert was actually quite tasty, just not the pairing. Even after finishing the crisp it was tough to discern any detail in the wine. Theise had apparently warned Tom that this might be the case.... I’m generally a proponent of wine following food but here’s a case where it might have been best to tailor a dessert specifically for the wine. Milk chocolate beignets, perhaps? Or a lightly sweet apple tart?

No harm done, though. Just as we can sometimes learn more about someone based on what they don’t like versus what they do enjoy, the occasional awkward pairing is an integral element in learning the ins and outs of the greater food and wine experience.

Gimonnet's 2002 "Fleuron" was the wine of the night.

Domaine Hudson
1314 N. Washington Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 655-WINE

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