I’ve always been interested in the act of reading coffee grounds, the foretelling of one’s place in the universe as it appears in the upturned grounds of one’s morning/afternoon/evening coffee. I’m sure there are “experts” in the field and that some of what follows will seem pretty silly, and some of this should be taken with a grain of salt, but I thought I’d share some of the basics …

First up, this information from Wikipedia: “Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments. The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the cognate Arabic word tassa, and the Greek suffixes -graph (writing), -logy (study of), and -mancy (divination).”According to a few online resources, the Chinese were the first to read the future in tea grounds. Following that model the Arabs started reading the future in coffee grounds. Today it is very common to read the coffee grounds in the Middle East ….

In my own kitchen, I have begun reading my eggs (over easy) – not so much as a means for discovering my future, but as a way to foresee how my day might play out. If the eggs are perfect, it means I’ll have a good day, everything will go smoothly, and I shouldn’t worry about a thing. If they are not perfect, I will have an imperfect day. As it happens, more times than not, the eggs have very little – if anything – to say about my day … Or maybe I just don’t know how to read them … yet.

Back to the coffee grounds …

Step 1) A person should drink their Turkish/Greek coffee. 2) A saucer should be placed on top of the mug/cup so that when the cup is turned over, the plate with be right side up and the cup will be upside down. 3) a shuffling or ‘setting’ of the grounds can be made by moving the cup in an arbitrary way. 4) The cup and plate should be inverted. 5) Allow time for the coffee grounds to cool before removing or ‘opening’ the cup.

Upon ‘opening’ the cup, if the coffee cup sticks to the plate, this is considered good luck …  If the coffee grounds have not fallen to the plate, this means you have problems at home or in your heart. If the bottom of the cup is clean, it means things are ‘good’.

Here’s where having a good imagination comes into play…

Each image has a meaning … Here’s a collection of possible possibilities

• Axes: Bravery
• Cakes & Pies: Good fortune
• Cigarettes: You must follow through on your plan
• Cows: Meeting an old flame
• Elephants: Ask for a favor
• Garlic: Strength against an aggressive person
• Guns: You are treating someone unfairly
• Hats: Someone is trying to cover something up
• Chickens: Wistful feelings of home. You need to call or visit
• Knots: Don’t worry about the little things
• Mice: Trouble in business
• Oars: Sacrifice for someone else.
• Pigs: A desire will not come to fruition
• Planes: You will not be going anywhere
• Rabbits: Fertility
• Rocks: Obstacles in your path to success either real or imagined
• Shoes: You will have a long way to travel before you are happy
• See-Saws: Ups & downs heading your way
• Snakes: Make your decision you are wise
• Stairs: Change is coming
• Tigers: Find your strength and move forward
• Trees: People find you noble
• Urns: Trust your intuition
• Weasels: There is a false person in your midst
• Wolves: You have strength

… more than precise personalized imperatives, these ‘images’ should be considered clues to some facet of your life.

As you can imagine, the possible interpretations are endless, so you will have to be the one who reads and interprets  your coffee grounds … unless of course you want to get an expert opinion.

(Tomorrow’s article will be on reading clouds)

Proposed legislation in New York State will impose heavy restrictions on the sale of rare, collectable wines.  Bill No. A06884, introduced by the New York State Committee on Economic Development, will require restaurants and retail stores to purchase wine from a “primary source” – an authorized distributor who must be clearly identified, thereby eliminating the “gray market” of private wine sales.  The stated intent of the bill is to protect against the sale of counterfeit wines.  

In a Wall Street Journal blog post, Jay McInerney wrote: “Counterfeit wine is only a problem at the highest end of the fine and rare wine market, and the auction houses and the top domains are developing strategies to deal with the issue. A few wealthy collectors buy questionable ’45 Mouton every year, but this hardly seems a reason to overhaul the entire market.” If the bill becomes law, “no longer will New York restaurants be able to source wines from auctions and private collectors to bring you a wide variety of the world’s finest and rarest wine. Plus, your New York retailer will now be at the mercy of the wholesalers.”

Read More > > >

This is part of an ongoing series about my experiences as a sommelier in a four star restaurant somewhere in California.

About two hours before my shift at S’Amuser, I realized that I was going to have to do something drastic. I had been racking Cabernet Sauvignon all day and my hands were stained deep purple. Can you imagine sitting down to a $500 dinner and the sommelier (me) presents you a bottle of Les Mesnil Champagne with “these hands.”

 I hated the thought of it, but a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.

I found the white and powder blue storefront, and took a deep breath. The Nail Hut was more imposing than a test with the Court of Master Sommeliers.

             As I entered, it seemed all conversations and music faded. I was the only man within miles, instantly a figment of interest.

I won’t go into the procedure of bleaching my skin, the cuticle cutting, or the type of lotion that was applied to my reviled fingers. What I will share is a comment from the proprietor – incidentally, the only one at The Nail Hut who thought she could “fix” my “problem.”

She said, “You should take better care of your hands.”

I want to mention the winery, explain the pigmentation, but she’s right. If I am going to be a Winemaker and a Sommelier, I need to figure it out.

             I arrive at S’Amuser a new man. The Maitre D’ hands me a note from the wine director. There are two parties in the wine cellar tonight, the dining room is sold out. We received some wine today, do inventory and have a great night. Weeee! 

I roll up my sleeves and head to the cellar. Cases from local producers are parked between Grands Crus de Bourgogne, Grand Champagne, Deutscher Sekt, four bottles of 1970 Graham Vintage Port, and a single wood box with one 1947 Chateau Petrus.

The wines and spirits at S’Amuser are arranged by region, vintage, variety, and vineyard. Each bottle has its own cradle. They are aligned like soldiers lying down. The labels are articulated toward the glass doors. There is a constant temperature and humidity of 55%. It feels like a working museum of sorts.

I hold the bottle of 1947 Petrus and simply admire it. The label is worn, the capsule is folded and creased. The fill level is low, the anthocyanins have bound with the tannins and the crystals are settled in the shoulder.

Among other things, the General Manager is a joker. He has snuck up behind me and whispers, “What are you doing?”

It scares the hell out of me, but I don’t drop the Petrus, I hold it tight. My response is to protect this unique life form, this 100 point wine, this $4,000 bottle.

The General Manager says, “We’ve got less than an hour before we begin seating. Let’s get going. Oh, Bobby (the bartender) called in sick.”

I wish I had time to study each label, memorize the producers, the vineyards, the alcohol for each vintage but there’s no time. I cradle the Petrus, finish the inventory, and prepare the bar. 

That evening, I search for any reaction to my hands. Only the Maitre D’ notices. He asks me what hand cream I use.

I don’t know how to answer his question.

It happens at least once during each tasting/event … the ahh-ha moment, when no matter what story any winemaker or marketing guru is spinning your way, you ‘get it’ … you understand the terroir and the people and the struggles they endure to make some of the finest and most sought after products in the world … in your own way.

I know ‘getting it’ means different things to different people. ‘Getting it’ could be comprehending the basics. For instance: The Santa Lucia Highlands (SLH) is an American Viticultural Area on California’s Central Coast specializing in the production of wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes … Or, ‘getting it’ could mean understanding that much of the SLH features sandy/clay/loamy soils, a northeast facing aspect, maritime climate, and subtle (but noticable) shifts in temperature which helps the slow and even development of grape flavor precursors essential to making world-class wines. For me, ‘getting it’ means understanding how young the SLH appelation is … and knowing the potential it brings to the table for generations of future wine makers and consumers.

Thankfully, those who had a hand in building the appelation into what it is today … beginning in the early 1970s with initial plantings by Rich and Claudia Smith at Paraiso, the McFarland family at Sleepy Hollow, Phil Johnson at La Estancia, and Nicky Hahn at Smith & Hook … had enough foresight to identify a core group of varieties which ‘could be’ successful – among them Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Syrah.

Today, that success is paying off as more and more attention is drawn to Monterey County’s darling appelation. The thing is, the SLH is now a debutant and it’s time for a reality check. Now that you’re on the map, everyone’s watching. What are you going to do next? How much better are you going to get? What are the winemakers willing to do to differentiate the SLH brand?

It’s not easy enough being blessed with perfect weather, accute soils, and a community of altruistic, educated, and well-funded vine growers and winemakers. Everyone in California is – to some extent. But with so many tools in hand winemaking can get sloppy in the name of profits, leading to epic booms and busts visible to the global wine trade from space. 

Whatever the case, it’s easy to get lost in the intoxicating aromas of an event like the SLH gala tasting, but tomorrow’s tasting will be different for me. This #americanwinewriter will be looking for the new gems among the classics … the space monkeys, the sputniks, the stem cells … of what could be the SLH of the next generation.

If you know of an SLH producer in the following list who’s making something truly unique, let me know @wordsnwine or via the exclusive #americanwinewriter on Twitter, or on Facebook …

Wineries scheduled to appear … Alfaro, August West, Belle Glos, Bernardus, Boekenoogen, Caraccioli, Hahn, Kori, La Rochelle, Lucienne, Manzoni, McIntyre, Mer Soleil, Miner, Miura, Mooney, Morgan, Novy, Paraiso, Pelerin, Pessagno, Pisoni, Poppy, Puma Road, Roar, Scheid, Sequana, Siduri, Talbott, Tantara, Testarossa, Tondre, Tudor, and Wrath.

See you there …

We all wonder how sommeliers are able to blindly assess the qualities of a wine and arrive at the correct judgement. In all seriousness, the answers are right there in front of them, in the glass.

During last weekend’s Fourth Annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine event, three Master Sommeliers discussed the techniques involved in deductive tasting. There was one catch; they knew the variety – Cabernet Sauvignon. Save that, identifying the production methods and zeroing in on a single wine region and vintage should be easy … right?

Maybe.

The Master Sommeliers involved in the seminar included Damon Ornowski, Emily Wines and Dustin Wilson. Confronted with seven wines – all made from CabSauv – each MS was asked to describe how the visual, aromatic and palatial elements of each wine would lead them to the variety and the region where it was made.

Though the conclusions weren’t always correct, and the methods of deduction varied from MS to MS, it’s the process of discovery that was for me the most important element of the panel discussion.

So how is it done?

Tasting (not drinking) is a process. We use our eyes, noses and mouths. Beyond that, wine trade professionals use myriad personal qualifications to assess the overall balance and complexity of a wine to arrive at a conclusion that delivers a multitude of other possibilities. It’s not easy, but then neither was riding a bike the first time.

The key to tasting like a professional is having a system. The more systematic and repetitive the process, the more comfortable the technique becomes.

The Masters, the ones who ‘taste’ on a daily basis, are able to arrange their thoughts about a wine and come to conclusions in just a few moments.

So, here we are, at the moment of judgment. Everyone in the room knows it’s Cabernet Sauvignon in the glass. The color of the wine appears ruby at the edge and opaque at the core, with pigmented tears/legs. Everything we are seeing confirms what we’ve been told is in the glass. Cabernet is a thick skinned grape with a lot of color. 

When we smell the wine, the aromas are of red fruit, vanilla, eucalyptus and licorice. There are no obvious flaws (i.e. volatile acidity or brettanomycees). Each wine is therefore “clean” rather than “flawed.”

We taste the wines. (You can swirl it or bubble it, but it is advised to spit it out. Spitting allows the brain to focus on the safety of the wine, much the same way all mammals taste berries to see if they’re safe to eat.)

Taste is a sense that has several parts. We are able to experience sugar, savory, tannin, acid and more. The primary flavor elements of any wine fall into these categories.

Each wine has its own particular architecture comprised of body, acid, fruit and tertiary flavors. Each wine also arrives at some level of complexity and therefore has some level of quality – whether “good” or “bad”.

Identifying a region and a vintage based on the previous assessments requires a vast understanding of regional vitivinification methods, vintage variations and varietal tendencies through aging. This is where the pros get the Master designation.

Out of the seven wines – and in no short order – there appeared differing opinions on vintage and origin, while the quality of each wine appeared high. In the end, there were wines that most everyone on the panel agreed on. Others were surprising when finally revealed. 

The sad thing perhaps in all of it was that wines from Bulgaria (for example), Bordeaux and Napa Valley are all getting so good that they often taste very similar.

* As stated, the wines we tasted were all Cabernet Sauvignon, with some variance in blending components and winery treatments – such as French/American oak.

The list is as follows: Beringer (Napa, California), Greg Norman (Limestone Coast, Asutralia), Louis Martini (Sonoma, California), Sequoia Grove (St. Helena, California), Alter Ego (a Ch. Palmer second label from the Medoc, France), Viña Cobos (Mendoza, Argentina), Silver Oak (Oakville, California).

You can follow tweets I posted about this tasting on Twitter.