Diverse wine list offers great value by the glass
The wine urges me on, the bewitching wine, which sets even a wise man to singing and to laughing gently and rouses him up to dance and brings forth words which were better unspoken." - Homer (For the younger set, this is a long-dead wise man, not Bart Simpson's dad).
Last Thursday, Barbara and I visited Jam restaurant at its new location on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth, in the building that formerly housed the Camel's Hump. It was strangely nostalgic in that it brought back many fond memories of Marcia hostessing and Richie standing in the kitchen with his pipe clenched firmly in his teeth, busily whipping up one of his delightful ethnic dishes.
The food at Jam was very well executed, and the wine list was unique. Labeled 40 under 40, the list, on a value basis, was a bit pricey but well chosen, and all 40 selections were available by the glass. We chose hummus and a roasted beet salad as appetizers, a barrel-cut sirloin with broccolini and a salmon with salad as entrees. Both were cooked as ordered and well presented. I particularly enjoyed the edamame guacamole side, a dish I had never experienced before. The broccolini was cooked perfectly.
I selected the Gran Familia Verdelho as my preprandial libation. This is a very aromatic wine that shows sweet but is totally dry and a fine way to start an evening. With the beet salad I ordered a glass of Vina Bade Albarino. This Spanish white is noted for its fruit, and I thought it would meld well with the salad dressing and the earthiness of the beets. Few restaurants in our area promote Albarino. Too bad, because the wine is unusually food friendly. Vina Bade was pale lemon colored. The nose was a pleasing mixture of flowers, grapefruit and peach. On the palate, apricot with pleasant minerality and enough cut to cleanse.
Barbara passed on an appetizer wine and chose a glass of Bearboat Russian River PN that nicely accompanies seared salmon. I did not note the vintage served at Jam. You can find Bearboat in local shops priced under $15. Ideally, try to locate the 2007 priced under $20. The 2008 was not the best effort, but it is passable.
Bearboat does a very nice job with reasonably priced, cool-climate, oak-aged PN. The 2007 is pale ruby and has a redolent strawberry nose nuanced by oak-driven vanilla. On the palate, blackberries, red currants, bacon, pepper and cigar box are supported by proper tannins and crisp acidity; 91 points. Go here to read "Two days per bottle" to get an interesting, different slant: http://2daysperbottle.blogspot.com/2009/05/2005-bearboat-pinot-noir.html.
I chose a delightful Shiraz named Wine Men of Gotham. The name is derived from an old English poem (“Wise Men of Gotham”) inspired by tales of King John, Robin Hood's nemesis. I first learned of this poem when researching Washington Irving and Salmagundi, "The Onion" of its day. Wise Men is dark ruby colored. A typical Barossa Grenache- Shiraz nose opens to flavors of blackberry, boysenberry and plum with lovely notes of black pepper and mocha. It has an exquisite, long, long finish. RP gave it an 88. I truly think its price was considered. Way too much wine and production cost, considering some spent 18 months in American oak. This can be bought around $100 per case of 12. I give it 91 with 3 price points, the most I ever award.
The following was tough to phrase, but it must be said. Although the wine I chose cost about as much per glass as any of the bottles purchased in a store, the aggregate price of the four we sampled was $33. You would be hard pressed to find the opportunity to choose from 40 labels, from such a well-selected menu, at any other restaurant location in our area. Therefore I rated the list as reasonably priced. There are serious expenses incurred to operate this many options even when a Cruvinet or nitrogen system is employed.
