Screw you, winos!

CLOUDY BAY
Sauvignon Blanc 2004
Marlborough, New Zealand

I was thrilled to discover the return of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc to the LCBO this week. I've been searching high and low for these delicious whites for years and was never able to find them except when they was astronomically priced on the wine list of high end restaurants in the city. So prized and popular were these bottles that I can only ever remember briefly spotting them at an LCBO here many years ago only to seethem disappear of the shelves faster than you could pull a cork.
Much has been written about the decline in popularity of the big, oaky, buttery chardonnays and the corresponding shift in taste towards the more elegant and crisp whites like Sauvignon Blancs, Reislings and Pinot Grigios. The time is ripe for the re-emergence of the wine which put New Zealand on the map and the maker who almost single handedly accounted for it, Cloudy Bay.

I was doubly surprised to see that Cloudy Bay has not only returned but returned with a progessive new enclosure, a screwcap! Good for them, if it means that more of their wines will be saved from the ravages of corkage and we don't have to deal with those god awful plastic corks, then let the screwing begin! Of course this also means that we can now enjoy it over several days rather than be forced to drink it all in one sitting (which is not always necessarily a terrible prospect).

Here are some notes as I am tasting:

-pale straw colour with a slight greenish tinge
-fresh melon scent
-fresh and fruity, crisp and zippy
-right balance of crisp acidity and fruity freshness

Spinach and Tofu Miso Soup

I was thrilled to have stock saved from poached (organic grain fed) chicken breasts which was made a couple of weeks earlier and frozen. I decided that this week's dinners will be accompanied by a spinach and miso tofu soup, in the Chinese tradition of serving soup to accompany the meal albeit with a slight Japanese twist. Miso soups are usually made from a stock of steeped bonito fish flakes or from kombu and carry the briny flavour of the sea. Using chicken stock, allows the soup to take on a homier comforting flavour. Adding enough ingredients and the soup could become an entire meal in a bowl.
I used what I had available in the fridge (button mushrooms, green onion and a block of extra firm tofu) and bought a bunch of spinach to complete the dish.

Ingredients:
4 cups of chicken stock
2 TBSP white miso
6 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 scallions (green onions)
1 block of extra firm tofu cut into small cubes.
1 bunch of spinach.

First, I blanched the spinach separately and squeezed it together into a tight roll which was then sliced into smaller blocks. Each 'block' of spinach was then placed into a separate bowl.

To prepare the soup, bring the chicken stock to a boil.
Add in the cubed tofu and mushrooms.
Use approximately one ladleful of stock to dissolve the miso in a separate bowl and then add the dissolved miso back into the stock. I tend to err on the cautious side of salty and add the miso in small increments until the flavour is to my liking.
Once the soup is boiling again, stir well and then remove from the heat. It is at this point I add in the chopped green onions. They tend to retain their oniony freshness this way.
Ladle the soup into the bowls with the spinach and serve.

Mmm, delicious on a cold winter night.