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Hello, everyone.

Our wine cellar got a little low during the summer rush, and we've been trying very hard in the past few weeks to refill it. Some of the wines Cheryl shelved today include a charming batch of red Rhone wines.

There's a 2005 Syrah from the Vins de Pays Collines de Rhodaniennes by Remi et Robert Niero at $53 and a 2001 Crozes-Hermitage from Paul Jaboulet Ainé at $76, as well as the 2005 St. Joseph "Le Grand Pompée" from Ainé ($83), all from the Northern Rhône.

From the Southern Rhône, we got the Vin du Pays du Vaucluse 2005 from Domaine de L'Ameillaud ($27) and the 2003 Vacqueyras from Ainé ($57), as well as Domaine Charvin's 2005 "Le Poutet" Côtes du Rhône
($57) and the 2004 Gigondas Domaine Saint-Damien "Les Souteyrades"
from SCEA Joël Saurec ($80).

French wine can be intimidating at first because it is seldom sold by grape, but rather identified by geographic region. Those who just like to drink wine, rather than spend a lot of time studying it, often find it comfortable to identify a grape that they enjoy and stick to it. But that's not a particularly effective way of getting what you want, because Merlot can be vinified to be sweet or dry, heavy or light, soft or tannic and fruity or subtle. It can taste like mint or chocolate or bell peppers or raspberries, or all of the aforementioned. Cheryl set up a wine tasting for a corporate client last week that illustrated the point. She served three very different chardonnays - from Burgundy, Long Island and the Languedoc-Roussillon
- and three quite distinctive pinot noirs from Burgundy, New Zealand and New York's Finger Lakes. The guests tasted them and then stood around and argued about how the wines could possibly have been made from the same grapes.

The appellation system - or naming a wine after a specific place as it is done in France - is a pretty accurate way of narrowing down the type of wine that appeals to your palate, because it dictates what grapes can be used and to some degree, the style of the wine.
Individual winemakers have a lot to do with whether the wine is "good" or not (which is really subjective because everyone's tastes are different) but at least you can get a vague notion of what's in the bottle if you learn a little bit about the geographic classifications.

Located in southeastern France, the Rhone region has about twice as many acres of vines as the entire country of Chile. Because of the warm climate, 90 percent of the wine is red. In the Northern Rhône, the only red grape permitted is syrah, and the wines come from appellations such as St. Joseph, Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage. (Sometimes a small percentage of something unexpected is added, such as a little white Viognier in Côte-Rôtie.) These wines are relatively expensive because the appellations are small and produce little wine, and the land is vertiginous. The slopes are so precipitous that it's a surprise that anyone bothers to farm there, but the wines produced are so gorgeous, that it would be equally amazing to find a few hectares up for sale. The summers are hot and the winters are cold, which is the perfect climate for syrah.
The climate and the terrain are dramatically different in the southern Rhone. The hills are gentle and the grape vines share the land with olive groves and cypress trees. The cold mistral wind, which makes winter a misery in the northern Rhone, dissipates in the south. The soil is full of large smooth stones that absorb the Mediterranean sun and warm the roots of the vines.

The wines of the southern Rhone are warm and generous blends.
Grenache is by far the Southern Rhone's dominant red grape. In fact, southern Côtes du Rhone Villages wines all must have a minimum of 50 percent grenache, with at least 20 percent syrah and/or mourvedre, while AC Côtes du Rhone wines must contain at least 40 percent grenache. An exception permits the few Côtes du Rhone wines that come from the Northern Rhone to be entirely syrah. (Only 5 percent of Côtes du Rhônes come from the north.)

Carignan and cinsault grapes also are allowed in Côtes du Rhone wines. But there are three "noble grapes" in the Rhône - grenache, syrah and mourvedre - and no more than 30 percent of any Côtes du Rhone wine can be made of grapes other than these three (and no more than 20 percent may be used in the Villages wines.) The ones with more grenache tend to be silky, paler in color, lower in tannins and fruitier with hints of raspberries and earthy, herbal aromas. The ones with more syrah are darker, denser and meatier, more tannic and richer in flavor (and often, they're aged in small oak barrels.)

Southern wines get more expensive as you head into Chateauneuf-du- Pape, which is the leading appellation of the Southern Rhône. In this region, vintners can use up to 13 grape varieties (although the best wines usually only have three or four grapes.) Châteauneuf du Pape is named for the papal palace that once stood in the middle of town.
This was a summer home for the Pope, who in the 14th century resided the rest of the year in nearby Avignon. The palace was bombed during Second World War, but the ruins still exist today. Châteauneuf du Pape was also the home of Baron Le Roy, owner of Château Fortia, and founder of the appellation contrôlée system which defines much of the vineyard areas in France.

Our new Niero is soft for a Syrah, with a very nice ruby red color, silky tannins, a lightly spicy fragrance and pretty mouthful of red fruits. The Ainé "Le Grand Pompée" is one of the best wines produced in St. Joseph, which is a less respected appellation than Côte-Rôtie, but still capable of producing some beautiful reds. St. Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage wines are meant for relatively early consumption, and Ainé's Thalabert Crozes is one of the best of its kind. The Gigondas is mostly grenache and is full-bodied, rich and laden with sweet fruit.

Speaking of expense, we are rather appalled at the price of true Champagne right now. Our Champagne cellar has been getting pretty skimpy because we've been waiting for the dollar to gain strength against the Euro before restocking, but our supplies were getting so thin we had to buy a few things this week just to keep the list respectable. In some cases, we found that prices of Champagnes had doubled since the last time we bought them. Blame it on the Euro, blame it on supply and demand (if the rap stars and Japanese didn't buy so much of what is essentially a limited production product, would it be cheaper for the rest of us?) Because Cristal is apparently not pricy enough, Pernod Ricard announced last year that it would produce the world's most expensive non-vintage Champagne, at about 1,000 euros or $1,425 (US) a bottle retail. We're not sure that our tastebuds are refined enough to appreciate something that expensive (and something that was conceived by committee in a corporate boardroom, rather than in a winery.)

Meanwhile, we are carefully choosing small quantities of Champagnes that we think are truly delightful. The emphasis is on small producers who personally grow and handpick their grapes and craft their wines so they are something really special. We brought in the Premier Cru Brut from A. Margaine yesterday ($123); as well as the Grand Cru Brut from Pehu Simonet ($136). We got a few more bottles of one of our favorites, the Pierre Peters Grand Cru ($139), as well as Pierre Gimmonet's Premier Cru Brut ($139.)

And for a different kind of bubbles, we got a case of Duché de Longueville apple cider, which is dry and full of bubbles and the flavor of apple peels. It only has 4 percent alcohol, and is a comparative bargain at $20 a bottle.

Paul just had a duck à l'orange moment. It's not really fresh clementine orange season yet, but he says he has this "wonderful clementine marmalade, and I just though ooo."

He's getting rabbits from Wannabea Farm, but he refuses to say what he plans to do with them. Similarly, Souschef Mark D. Graham is working on a new lamb recipe, but that's a secret too.
"Well, Mark's getting all excited about this new lamb setup, but he won't tell me what he's thinking because he doesn't want to jinx himself," Paul said, after his wife sighed in journalistic frustration. "So just say we have something percolating for the lamb."

The Pink Plate Special this coming week will be l'oiseaux sans tête or birds without heads. This has nothing to do with poultry. It's cutlets of veal pounded thin and rolled around asparagus, braised in white wine, veal stock and butter and served with a mushroom sauce "because there's all kinds of cool fall mushrooms around right now."
"Why do they call the birds without heads?" Cheryl asked.
"Because they look like birds. Without heads," Paul said helpfully.
"Well, maybe quail without body parts."
He pondered how dumb that sounds and added: "They also call them veal puppets if that helps."

Cheryl discovered a long time ago that automatic computer translation tools mistakenly transform the word paupiette into olive. Hence this rather dazzling translation of a French website: "This is the first time I eat olives. Actually when I thought "stuffed," flashbacks school canteen went back and I spent my path. Sunday, at the market, at my butcher, they have drawn, thin veal scallops, garnished with a stuffing made from chopped veal. Bizarre as both things can make you want! I had not yet even drank gruff. Here is how I have prepared. I can say that my relationship with the olives have greatly improved."
(Original text: "C'est la première fois que je mange des paupiettes.
A vrai dire quand je pensais "paupiettes", des réminiscences de cantine scolaire remontaient et je passais mon chemin. Dimanche, au marché, chez mon boucher, elles m'ont attirée, escalopes fines de veau, garnie d'une farce à base de veau haché.Bizarre comme des fois des choses peuvent vous faire envie ! Je n'avais pourtant encore pas bu de " bourru. Je peux dire que mes rapports avec les paupiettes se sont grandement améliorés.) (We know this is silly, but Cheryl is endlessly entertained by the inability of computers to translate.)

The Pink Plate is a weekly prix fixe special we offer on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. For $32 per person, you get your choice of soup or salad, the featured entree, two selections from our cheese board or one of a couple of featured desserts and coffee, tea or espresso.

Chef Paul is making a dish for the 2nd Annual Realtors Ball Saturday, October 20, to benefit the Universal Preservation Hall, and he likes it so much he plans to put in on the regular menu. It's Denver leg of Axis vension served with a lentil stew flavored with bacon, onions, bay leaf and carrots. Axis, also known as chital or spotted Indian deer, were brought to Texas in the 1930s by hunters and released.
They flourished so rampantly that back in 1988 a Texas Parks and Wildlife survey estimated 39,040 Axis deer were ranging free in Texas. They can also be found now in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Michigan, California, Hawaii, Florida and zoos in most states. Per ounce, an uncooked Axis steak has .06 grams of fat, 26 calories, and 13.9 mg cholesterol. By comparison, skinless chicken has .88 grams of fat, 34 calories, and 20.0 mg cholesterol. Lean beef has
1.76 grams of fat, 41 calories, and 16.86 mg cholesterol.

The Universal Preservation hall is a gorgeous building in the middle of Saratoga's downtown that was condemned in 1999. Rather than let it get demolished to make for a parking lot, a group of visionary Saratogians reimagined it as a true community space for concerts, theater, film festivals, corporate meetings, art exhibitions and private parties. In just the last year, the space has gone from a dangerous wreck with collapsing floors to a gorgeous spot that hosted its first wedding two weeks ago. There is still a lot of work to be done, and fundraisers such as the one on Saturday are essentially to turning this project into a reality.
The fancy-dress affair will feature food by Chef Paul and some of Saratoga's other best chefs, music by Nik and the Nice Guys, and a silent auction. Tickets are $65 per person and all proceeds go
directly towards the restoration of Universal Preservation Hall. To
purchase tickets, please contact Cathy Allen at cathyallen@remax.net.
http://www.universalpreservationhall.org/aboutus.php

We have a modest proposal for those who would like to help their kids have a great time on Halloween but don't really relish the thought of hauling them in and out of carseats to beg for candy from houses they know are safe. We will be doing our second-annual costume party for children on Halloween, October 31, in the private dining room with snacks and games and prizes and other activities. Parents can either come and hang with their kids at the party or have dinner in the dining room or the bar area adjacent to the party room. The kids get to play, and the parents get to have a cozy meal near the fireplace.
The party starts at 5 p.m. and will go on until everybody leaves.
Admission for children is $6. Please reserve ahead, both for the party and if you'd like a table for dinner.

We offer a fun and elegant à la carte brunch on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, our artist-in-residence, jazz pianist Cole Broderick, plays the baby grand piano from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The brunch menu this Saturday and Sunday will feature broiled duck breast with orange chipotle sauce ($16); sautéed halibut filet with fennel and white wine ($18); French toast bread pudding with balsamic brown sugar and glazed ham steak ($14); and pasta with applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions, mushrooms and Canestrato cheese ($14). Appetizer specials include Rhode Island Littleneck clams steamed in white wine with garlic and herbs ($13); a salad of Sunset Hill Farm greens tossed in a red wine vinaigrette ($7); crabcake with lemon caper mayonnaise ($16) and soup of the day ($8).

The brunch specials run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The complete menu,
offered from 7 to 2 p.m., includes a Continental assortment of
muffins, pastries, fruit, yogurt, frittata etcetera for $9;
omelettes ($10 to $12); pancakes du jour ($10); the All in One, which includes 2 eggs any style, homefries, toast and sausage or bacon ($10); waffles with sweet cream butter and local maple syrup ($10); and Irish steel- cut oatmeal ($8).

In for a penny, in for a pound: Cheryl and Chez Sophie pianist-in- residence Cole Broderick put out a CD called "Chez Sophie Jazz" last week. For Cheryl, it was an indulgence of the sheer joy of singing with Cole, who is a world-class piano player with six CDs to his credit (now seven) and recipient of a Billboard Critic's Choice Award for his Seasons in Saratoga four-CD set. Cole is the producer of the CD and the driving force behind its production, from his persistence in getting his reluctant vocalist into the studio to choosing the songs and making the arrangements to actually paying for the production of the CD.

He also was the one who called WAMC public radio this week and persuaded Performance Place host Michael Eck to feature the duo. The 35-minute live broadcast is scheduled for Monday, October 29 at 11:23 a.m., and Cheryl promises to make a fool of herself. (Moments ago, she checked her email and found that Cole has been a busy boy. We just got an email from WABY 116 A.M. asking us to record a spot for their recurring "Sentimental Journey" show.)

We would be delighted if those of our customers who are so inclined would consider joining our family for Thanksgiving at Chez Sophie. We will be serving Thanksgiving dinner from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 22. This was a huge and wonderful day for us last year, and we were surprised at how many people wanted to eat out at Chez Sophie on Thanksgiving, rather than cook at home. We'll be offering free-range turkey and all the trimmings, with fresh-baked pies for dessert for $40 per person, plus tax and gratuity. An à la carte dinner menu will also be available. Turkey dinner for children under 12 is $15.

We will also be offering a special five-course turkey tasting menu with four spectacular wine pairings for $100 a person, plus tax and gratuity, for those looking for an even more elegant and extraordinary repast. The cost for this special menu is $100 per person, plus tax and gratuity. A credit card is required to confirm reservations for Thanksgiving.

We've also started booking reservations for New Year's Eve 2007, on Monday, December 31, 2007.
This is our most elegant party of the year, with festive decorations and special menus to make the evening memorable. Our early seating, with tables available at 5, 5:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m., will feature a prix fixe five-course menu including options for three of the courses, with a glass of Champagne included for $80 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
The New Year's Eve all-night party starts at 8 p.m., with seatings available at 8, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 p.m. The 9-course menu will feature options for three of the courses, with a midnight Champagne toast included. Jazz Pianist Cole Broderick plans to start playing at 8 p.m. The cost is $130 per person, plus tax and gratuity Special prix fixe wine menu available as well as our full wine list and bar.
The Saratoga has agreed to make double and king rooms available to Chez Sophie customers for $219 per night. Book early, because the hotel is always sold out on New Year's Eve.
Reservations required with credit card confirmation, call 518.583.3538.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Night Dinner December 24 and 25 Details to be announced We will be serving options suitable for families and for gourmands wishing for a special holiday meal. Rooms will be available to Chez Sophie customers at The Saratoga at a steep discount. ($79 per night.)

Live Piano Jazz
Jazz pianist Cole Broderick plays the baby grand Tuesday and Friday night, and during Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
(barring special events that preclude live music.)
Cost: No cover charge

Tasting menus
Chef's Choice seven-course tasting menu available each night. The
menus are designed based on the best and most creative dishes Chef Paul K. Parker is serving each evening. We will pair wines for you at an additional charge or you can order from our extensive wine list.
Cost: $80 to $200 per person for seven courses, plus tax and tip.
Everyone at the table must partake in the tasting menu.
If you're feeling less impromptu, you can call ahead to arrange a
special tasting menu with the number of courses and wine pairings
designed to suit your capacity, dietary restrictions and budget.
Tasting menus arranged in advance will be printed on commemorative vellum scrolls personalized with the name of the host or the reason for the event.
Cost: Depends on the number of courses and the wines selected; available for two to 75 guests. Call Cheryl to make arrangements at
518.583.3538

The Pink Plate Special
offered Monday, October 22, Tuesday, October 23, Wednesday, October 24, and Thursday, October 25.

$32 per person
includes your choice of soup or salad, a special entree, selected desserts or a cheese course and coffee, tea or espresso.

This week's special entree:
l'oiseaux sans tête
(cutlets of veal pounded thin and rolled around asparagus, braised in white wine, veal stock and butter and served with a mushroom sauce)

Notes on Nico and Léo:
We are still being hosted by two of our customers as we wait for a new well to be dug for our home in Malta. The borrowed house is very comfortable, and our hosts, who are staying at their summer lake cottage, have been beyond gracious. It has been so wonderful not to have to figure out how to survive with two children without toilets, laundry machines or a bathtub. But we are about ready for the well- diggers to take us off the waiting list and get the work done.
Four-year-old Nico has been fairly venturesome and hasn't really complained, but 20-month-old Léo is ready for the adventure to be over.
She woke up Tuesday morning, grabbed her mother's face and looked her straight in the eye, and announced: "Home. Walk. Emma. Now.
Yaah." (Emma is one of our dogs.)

The "Yaah" thing is a peculiar verbal tic that Léo has developed, and it punctuates everything that she says. What's strange is that she doesn't have any friends or caregivers from Germany, Scandinavia or Minnesota and doesn't spend time watching "Fargo" or listening to "A Prairie Home Companion." Ja.

The Parker family
at Chez Sophie
518.583.3538

Chez Sophie was founded in 1969 by sculptor Joseph Parker and his French-born wife, the late Sophie. The business moved to a vintage stainless steel diner in Malta Ridge, New York, in 1995. It is owned today by Sophie and Joseph's son, Paul Parker, and his wife, Cheryl Clark. In June of 2006, they moved the restaurant into their current location in The Saratoga Hotel on Broadway..

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P.S. Each month we draw a name at random from our database of customers and send them a $50 gift certificate to Chez Sophie. If you would like to be added to this promotions database, which is owned by Chez Sophie, please send us an email with your name, address, telephone number, birthday and anniversary. People on the list will also receive a gift certificate by mail or email for a free glass of champagne or dessert on their birthdays or anniversaries. (You only need to enter once to be eligible every month.)

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