Here in Nairobi the Diploma course of the Cape Wine Academy has started. I am teaching the course, which consists of four units lasting approximately six months each with assignments and an exam for each unit. Once the exams for each unit have all been passed, students can then embark upon the tasting exam. All-in-all quite an undertaking and a total of six students are signed up, primed, and ready to go.
Each lecture within each unit culminates in a wine tasting the wines reflecting the subject of the lecture. For example, lectures on the theme of organic, bio-dynamic, and environmentally sustainable wine making we taste wines that best reflect these principles and techniques. For lectures more country and region focussed, such as Bordeaux or Burgundy in France, or, Mosel in Germany, then the wines selected reflect the styles and diversity from these different regions.
Finding wines in Nairobi to match the themes and subjects covered in the lectures for the Diploma course is quite a challenge. The supermarkets and most wine suppliers in Nairobi, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, tend to mainly stock the generic and brand wines from South Africa, Chile, and some European countries. Wines that are more interesting, endowed with a sense of character, are generally not available. For example, the wines available from Bordeaux are at best the generic regional Appellations d'origine contrôlées such as Bordeaux Supérieur, rather than the famous individual appellations such as Médoc and Graves. Obtaining interesting wines requires lots of lateral thinking, begging, borrowing, although not yet stealing. As a group we are dependent on ourselves and soliciting the assistance of many and any a friend to bring back from travels the necessary precious bottles.
Bordeaux apart from the Diploma classes is also on my mind at present because the recently released en premeur offerings for the 2009 vintage are causing a bit of stir in the press of the fine wine world. The international wine critics have let the superlatives rip by describing the 2009 vintage as the best in a generation and some have gone as far as writing the best ever. The quality of the 2009 vintage is somewhat academic as most mere mortals will never get to taste the wines. Even with a deep interest in fine Claret the chances of also having deep pockets to buy an even moderate example of the 2009 vintage are unlikely.
To buy a case of any of the famous 2009 first growths, as they are called, such as Chateaux Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, and Haut-Brion, (the famous Ho Brion of the title of this blog), will cost between Euro 5,000 to 10,000 a case, about Euro 400 to 800 a bottle. This is the en premeur price meaning that when you eventually take receipt of wines some two years hence you will have to add tax and shipping on top of the price, about another 25% to 100% depending where you live in the world. These are wines that have not even been bottled yet. They have been assessed by wine critics from samples straight from the barrel and yet such is the almost hysteria that has been created for the 2009 vintage, at least in some parts of the world and in particular China, allocations of the best wines are already sold.
At one level the price of a bottle of any given wine should be fairly straight forward. Like any other commodity the price of a bottle of wine reflects the costs of production. Surprisingly then the production costs of a bottle of wine from a vast agri-business enterprise somewhere in the world are not that different from that of the world’s most expensive wines. Now I am not being precise here, but say the production costs of a bottle of imaginary el-cheapo are roughly $3 to $5 a bottle. The production costs of a fine and even an iconic great wine may only be very roughly twice that of my el-cheapo bottle of wine.
The owners of first growth chateaux in Bordeaux would most likely disagree with this estimation of additional production costs. They are more likely to argue that their costs are much, much higher than those of my imaginary el-cheapo producer. They would point to the stratospheric costs of land, higher labour costs due to for example hand picking of grapes, the low yields of grapes per hectre necessary for really great wine production, and the use of the finest and therefore most expensive oak barrels. Let me be generous therefore and revise my estimation of the increased costs of a first growth bottle of wine by say 5 times. Yet the fine wines of Bordeaux first growths for example can sell for a 100 times or more a bottle than the price of my el-cheapo bottle.
If the high price of a bottle of first growth Bordeaux in comparison to el-cheapo is not entirely a function of production costs, then perhaps it is because it tastes better, even a 100 times better? If you read the tasting notes of the more prosaic wine tasters you may actually believe this to be true. In reality the price of a bottle of wine is established by a whole cornucopia of factors, perhaps the most important one being what any given individual will pay. The spectacular rise of the economies of the Far East, in particular China, coupled with a rapidly rising demand for the very best wines is a major factor in why the prices of Bordeaux wines has been rising almost exponentially over the last decade. For the Diploma students in Nairobi we will taste really interesting wines. Unfortunately it is unlikely they will be first growth Bordeaux unless someone out there would like to donate a few bottles of say 1990 Pétrus?
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Plop or Crack?
A perusal of the wines on sale in Nairobi’s supermarkets reveals that less than half are sealed with traditional cork. This is no surprise as it is common knowledge that for more than a decade the humble cork has been losing ground as the stopper of choice. Cork reigned supreme for centuries and the gentle plop sound made as it is pulled from the bottle is for many a vital component of the pleasures of drinking wine. The theory goes that corks will continue to disappear and in the foreseeable future will only be used for those rare and expensive first growth wines from Europe. It is the screw cap that is gaining dominance replacing the plop with a crack as a simple twist is now all that is needed to open many wine bottles.
The use of corks to provide a seal for wine containers, usually wooden barrels or clay jugs, goes back to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Interestingly though by medieval times cork was not commonly used in Europe as a seal for wine containers. The reasons for this are speculative, but some scholars have postulated that the conquering of Iberia by the Moors in the 8th Century, which was then as is now the main supplier of cork, put a halt to supplies. The use of cork began to increase with the development of glass bottles during the 17th Century. Firstly glass stoppers were used, which involved the expensive and skilled process of grinding a glass bung to fit the neck of the bottle in much the same way as in a decanter. Cork quickly replaced glass stoppers principally because they were and still are relatively cheap. Since the 17th Century cork has been the dominant form of seal, and only began to wane in popularity towards the end of the 20th Century.
Cork is undoubtedly a remarkable product. It is natural and sustainable as well as relatively cheap and has the vital quality of being porous. The porosity not only enables the cork to be squashed and pushed into the bottle neck where it expands to form a snug fit, but also allows an almost infinitesimal amount of air to enter the wine. Science has demonstrated that this interface between the wine and air is critical for the maturation and development of nuisances in the wine so loved by connoisseurs. In reality it is only that tiny quantity of fine wines that really benefit from bottle ageing.
Corks qualities and strengths are in part also part of their problems. Cork unsurprisingly derives from the cork tree, Quercus suber, a relatively young species of oak. The thick bark is stripped with no detrimental effect on the health of the tree and cut into corks. Historically corks received little if any further treatment prior to being bunged into the bottle. As a natural product cork contains all sorts of chemicals including residues of sap. Wine makers became quickly aware that living cork while pliable and forming a good seal also reacted with the wine not necessarily with desirable effects.
Modern producers to combat cork taint normally bleach corks in a strong chlorine solution prior to washing and drying in an attempt to create a more inert product. It is possible though to detect the smell of chloroanisoles such as Trichloranisiole or TCA, on a wine even at almost infinitesimal concentrations. Professional wine tasters develop an ability to detect technical flaws in a wine such as the smell of TCA and can distinguish this smell from other odours emanating from other faults such as for example Brettanomyces (a form of yeast genera) contamination. Best quality corks are more likely to be free of TCA residues although they are of course expensive, which partly explains the change to other forms of seals. Wine tasters use the term corked to describe the smell and taste of a wine contaminated by a faulty cork. The term corked is also used wrongly, at least in wine tasting terms, to describe bits of cork floating around in the glass. Wine in a glass may indeed be literally corked as it contains little bits of cork, but the fault is a result of the acts of the corkscrew and the ineptitude of the pourer and not necessarily a faulty cork.
In Nairobi there are few if any restaurants that employ a sommelier. It is though quite common for a waiter to proffer a small amount of wine to undertake the tasting ritual. Diners are familiar with this ritual the uncomfortable and often pretentious scenario where the recipient of the proffered wine swirls, sniffs, and tastes before declaring wine suitable. The waiter then proceeds to fill the glasses of the dinners around the table. In Nairobi most waiters like to fill glasses as full as possible deeming it impolite to fill the glass half-full as a wine taster would prefer.
Strictly speaking although the tasting ritual is necessary it is usually carried under a misconception. Many believe what they are doing by tasting the wine is to determine if they like it or not. In reality what the diner should be doing is determining that the wine quality is good: in other words that the wine is not corked. To achieve this it is nine times out of ten sufficient to merely asses the wines appearance and smell as this reveal without tasting any faults. If a fault is detected then of course it is perfectly reasonable to ask for another bottle to be produced. It is not acceptable to send the wine back because the taster does not like it. If the wine comes with a screw cap by definition it cannot be corked, but it may have other faults so it is always best the check even if it has been cracked instead of plopped.
The use of corks to provide a seal for wine containers, usually wooden barrels or clay jugs, goes back to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Interestingly though by medieval times cork was not commonly used in Europe as a seal for wine containers. The reasons for this are speculative, but some scholars have postulated that the conquering of Iberia by the Moors in the 8th Century, which was then as is now the main supplier of cork, put a halt to supplies. The use of cork began to increase with the development of glass bottles during the 17th Century. Firstly glass stoppers were used, which involved the expensive and skilled process of grinding a glass bung to fit the neck of the bottle in much the same way as in a decanter. Cork quickly replaced glass stoppers principally because they were and still are relatively cheap. Since the 17th Century cork has been the dominant form of seal, and only began to wane in popularity towards the end of the 20th Century.
Cork is undoubtedly a remarkable product. It is natural and sustainable as well as relatively cheap and has the vital quality of being porous. The porosity not only enables the cork to be squashed and pushed into the bottle neck where it expands to form a snug fit, but also allows an almost infinitesimal amount of air to enter the wine. Science has demonstrated that this interface between the wine and air is critical for the maturation and development of nuisances in the wine so loved by connoisseurs. In reality it is only that tiny quantity of fine wines that really benefit from bottle ageing.
Corks qualities and strengths are in part also part of their problems. Cork unsurprisingly derives from the cork tree, Quercus suber, a relatively young species of oak. The thick bark is stripped with no detrimental effect on the health of the tree and cut into corks. Historically corks received little if any further treatment prior to being bunged into the bottle. As a natural product cork contains all sorts of chemicals including residues of sap. Wine makers became quickly aware that living cork while pliable and forming a good seal also reacted with the wine not necessarily with desirable effects.
Modern producers to combat cork taint normally bleach corks in a strong chlorine solution prior to washing and drying in an attempt to create a more inert product. It is possible though to detect the smell of chloroanisoles such as Trichloranisiole or TCA, on a wine even at almost infinitesimal concentrations. Professional wine tasters develop an ability to detect technical flaws in a wine such as the smell of TCA and can distinguish this smell from other odours emanating from other faults such as for example Brettanomyces (a form of yeast genera) contamination. Best quality corks are more likely to be free of TCA residues although they are of course expensive, which partly explains the change to other forms of seals. Wine tasters use the term corked to describe the smell and taste of a wine contaminated by a faulty cork. The term corked is also used wrongly, at least in wine tasting terms, to describe bits of cork floating around in the glass. Wine in a glass may indeed be literally corked as it contains little bits of cork, but the fault is a result of the acts of the corkscrew and the ineptitude of the pourer and not necessarily a faulty cork.
In Nairobi there are few if any restaurants that employ a sommelier. It is though quite common for a waiter to proffer a small amount of wine to undertake the tasting ritual. Diners are familiar with this ritual the uncomfortable and often pretentious scenario where the recipient of the proffered wine swirls, sniffs, and tastes before declaring wine suitable. The waiter then proceeds to fill the glasses of the dinners around the table. In Nairobi most waiters like to fill glasses as full as possible deeming it impolite to fill the glass half-full as a wine taster would prefer.
Strictly speaking although the tasting ritual is necessary it is usually carried under a misconception. Many believe what they are doing by tasting the wine is to determine if they like it or not. In reality what the diner should be doing is determining that the wine quality is good: in other words that the wine is not corked. To achieve this it is nine times out of ten sufficient to merely asses the wines appearance and smell as this reveal without tasting any faults. If a fault is detected then of course it is perfectly reasonable to ask for another bottle to be produced. It is not acceptable to send the wine back because the taster does not like it. If the wine comes with a screw cap by definition it cannot be corked, but it may have other faults so it is always best the check even if it has been cracked instead of plopped.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Kenya to produce a Premier Cru?
Wine making is as least as old as human civilisation. Wine made from grapes from Vitus vinifera (wine-bearing) species are generally agreed to originate from what is now Georgia about 3,000 BC. The Ancient Egyptians left detailed accounts of vine growing and wine making, although not much about how their wines tasted. The Romans are credited with the spread of Vitus vinifera through Europe about two-thousand years ago to what are now famous wine regions. Today with the exception of Antarctica vines are grown and wine is made on every continent on earth.
Vines perform best within a band of latitudes approximately between 30oN 50oN and the mirror image for the southern hemisphere, 30oS 50oS. Look at a map of the world and all the famous wine producing areas fall into these latitudes. The reason is partly climate as to produce grapes suitable for quality wine making it is generally agreed that vines require a period of dormancy. In the appropriate latitudes and the on-set of winter, cooler temperatures encourage the vine to shut down and the sap falls from the plant above ground to the roots. Dormancy protects the plant against frosts and enables the plant to conserve energy in preparation for the next growing season. As temperatures rise with the on-set of spring the plant awakens, the sap rises again and the vine goes into its busy period of sending out shots followed by flowering, budding, and the final result ripe fruit.
In Kenya seasons are more based upon rainfall than temperature. Kenyan farmers do not talk about the winter, but the short-rains or the long-rains. Kenya straddles the equator and with its tropical climate vines can grow all year round. For producing table-grapes this is not necessarily a disadvantage, but for wine making it is none to good. To make good wine, wine makers search for grapes that are small with concentrated flavours. This is why quality wine producers throughout the world tend to constantly thin their grapes by picking and discarding berries to keep yields at relatively low levels and quality high.
Vine growers in Kenya and other tropical countries have developed techniques to cope with unfavourable climatic conditions. To an extent Kenya has advantage in the form of high altitudes. Kenya’s few vineyards are all at altitude mostly in the highlands above about 1,500 metres. This is beneficial as the altitude provides cooler daytime temperatures than the latitude normally would dictate that prevent the grapes becoming burnt or to hot. Even at altitude though, in Kenya temperatures seldom drop low enough and for long enough to encourage the vines to enter dormancy.
To encourage dormancy or at least to restrict the vine from continually fruiting tropical grape producers tend to double prune. This involves pruning right after harvest usually in February and then again in September. Additional fungicide spraying is also deployed mostly to militate against disease that is more likely to develop in the relatively wet and warm conditions found in Kenya. Some wine makers are experimenting with the idea of applying a hormone to the vine to in effect kid the vine into entering dormancy. To waken the vine from this induced dormancy period, grape growers are also experimenting by applying hydrogen cyamide (Prussic acid). An advantage of this application is that as well as wakening the vine it also encourages the uniform setting of fruit. This technique is used fairly extensively for grape production throughout the world particularly in the New World. Uniform fruit setting has a number of advantages not least being that there is more likelihood of achieving uniform ripeness at harvest. This means that mechanised picking can be deployed, which has the advantage of usually being more cost effective than hand-picking, which cannot differentiate between ripe and unripe fruit.
With modern techniques of vine growing, including on the near horizon the possible benefits of genetic modification, could it be that the tropics including Kenya will offer a future of good or even great wine production? Probably not is the answer, but on the other hand some would disagree and argue in depends on the time frame. India for example is storming ahead in terms of vine planting and wine production mostly within its tropical regions feeding the ever-burgeoning demand of its middle classes. Brazil’s tropical regions are also producing more and more wine. It is at least whimsical to consider that perhaps in twenty-years or so a Kenyan wine may bear comparison with a European first-growth cousin. I will keep you posted.
Vines perform best within a band of latitudes approximately between 30oN 50oN and the mirror image for the southern hemisphere, 30oS 50oS. Look at a map of the world and all the famous wine producing areas fall into these latitudes. The reason is partly climate as to produce grapes suitable for quality wine making it is generally agreed that vines require a period of dormancy. In the appropriate latitudes and the on-set of winter, cooler temperatures encourage the vine to shut down and the sap falls from the plant above ground to the roots. Dormancy protects the plant against frosts and enables the plant to conserve energy in preparation for the next growing season. As temperatures rise with the on-set of spring the plant awakens, the sap rises again and the vine goes into its busy period of sending out shots followed by flowering, budding, and the final result ripe fruit.
In Kenya seasons are more based upon rainfall than temperature. Kenyan farmers do not talk about the winter, but the short-rains or the long-rains. Kenya straddles the equator and with its tropical climate vines can grow all year round. For producing table-grapes this is not necessarily a disadvantage, but for wine making it is none to good. To make good wine, wine makers search for grapes that are small with concentrated flavours. This is why quality wine producers throughout the world tend to constantly thin their grapes by picking and discarding berries to keep yields at relatively low levels and quality high.
Vine growers in Kenya and other tropical countries have developed techniques to cope with unfavourable climatic conditions. To an extent Kenya has advantage in the form of high altitudes. Kenya’s few vineyards are all at altitude mostly in the highlands above about 1,500 metres. This is beneficial as the altitude provides cooler daytime temperatures than the latitude normally would dictate that prevent the grapes becoming burnt or to hot. Even at altitude though, in Kenya temperatures seldom drop low enough and for long enough to encourage the vines to enter dormancy.
To encourage dormancy or at least to restrict the vine from continually fruiting tropical grape producers tend to double prune. This involves pruning right after harvest usually in February and then again in September. Additional fungicide spraying is also deployed mostly to militate against disease that is more likely to develop in the relatively wet and warm conditions found in Kenya. Some wine makers are experimenting with the idea of applying a hormone to the vine to in effect kid the vine into entering dormancy. To waken the vine from this induced dormancy period, grape growers are also experimenting by applying hydrogen cyamide (Prussic acid). An advantage of this application is that as well as wakening the vine it also encourages the uniform setting of fruit. This technique is used fairly extensively for grape production throughout the world particularly in the New World. Uniform fruit setting has a number of advantages not least being that there is more likelihood of achieving uniform ripeness at harvest. This means that mechanised picking can be deployed, which has the advantage of usually being more cost effective than hand-picking, which cannot differentiate between ripe and unripe fruit.
With modern techniques of vine growing, including on the near horizon the possible benefits of genetic modification, could it be that the tropics including Kenya will offer a future of good or even great wine production? Probably not is the answer, but on the other hand some would disagree and argue in depends on the time frame. India for example is storming ahead in terms of vine planting and wine production mostly within its tropical regions feeding the ever-burgeoning demand of its middle classes. Brazil’s tropical regions are also producing more and more wine. It is at least whimsical to consider that perhaps in twenty-years or so a Kenyan wine may bear comparison with a European first-growth cousin. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Praise the Pasta, Pizza, Pesto and Plonk
The adage that good food is first and foremost dependent on good ingredients seems particularly true for Italian food. Italians are famous for their pride in sourcing the finest raw materials and with consummate ease seemingly just assemble them to produce delicious cuisine. It is the insistence on quality that is impressive. Pasta has to be made from hard wheat, preferably durum, mozzarella has to made from buffalo’s milk, prosciutto preferably from the Parma region and made from a particular breed of pig, and even the humble tomato, of which there are over three-hundred varieties grown in Italy, has to be right and ripe one. The fact that the quality of the ingredients is paramount rather than contradicting seems to reaffirm the fact that most of Italy’s great dishes are what can be described as ‘poor-peoples’ foods. Italian food is everyday food and perhaps that is why it is loved the world over including in Kenya.
Maize is still king in Kenya and for most Kenyan’s they have not properly ‘eaten’ unless ugali, (maize flour cooked with water to a porridge or dough-like consistency), has been consumed. Nevertheless, every Kenyan city and town just like the rest of the world has its pizza and pasta joints that churn out what is occasionally authentic, but mostly approximations of Italian cuisine. Good Italian food in Kenya is usually found as a result of the relatively large and lively Italian community most of whom seem to be involved in a small or large way in providing Italian food and occasionally wine.
The first Italians came to what was East Africa in the 19th Century mostly for the Catholic Church. During the Second World War thousands of Italians soldiers were held at a number of camps throughout the country including in Gilgil, Naivasha and Nyerie. Some of the ex-prisoners stayed on after the end of the war and throughout the latter half of the 20th Century were joined by growing numbers of their compatriots. Malindi on Kenya’s coast north of Mombassa has become particularly popular with Italians and is known locally as Little Milan after the famous city in the north Italian region of Lombardy. There are about 4,000 Italians living in and around Malindi who own and operate 30 beach hotels and six safari lodges not to mention a host of Italian restaurants.
In Nairobi and Mombassa as well as many other cities and towns there are Italian supermarkets stocked with produce from home as well as produce from Kenya, either made by Italian expatriates or made in an Italian style. For the wine it is a different story for while there is plenty of Italian wine to be found whether it is known or even liked by Kenyans is more difficult to say.
Italy has surpassed France in recent years as the world’s largest producer of wine and the Italians still consume an awful lot of that wine themselves: about 50 litres per capita per year. Wine books, at least those written by non-Italians, often portray Italy’s wines in the form of a dichotomy. On the one hand, an ocean of what is euphemistically described as rustic or country wine perhaps the quintessential plonk, and that I should add is not meant to be derogatory. On the other hand, sublime examples of great wines often made from indigenous grape varieties, expensive, but matching beautifully the regional cuisines.
In Nairobi examples of Italian wines that fit into a number of categories can be found. At the lower end, 5, 10, and even 20 litres container of Italian generic wine can be found in the main supermarkets. There is usually not much information on the label as to what is in the container and certainly not what grape variety the wine is made from. At around the equivalent of KSH150 to 200 (US$2 to 2.5) per litre one should perhaps not expect much from these wines other than they are made from fermented grape juice.
Up a notch in quality, Italian wines like Valpolicella can be found in Nairobi, which originate from the Vento region in north east Italy. Valpolicella presents an array of wines of varying quality. Perhaps at their best Valpolicella is fruity, eminently drinkable, medium-weight product that compliments superbly a variety of Italian foods. Unfortunately and perhaps more often, Valpolicella for the most part can taste rather thin and acidic. The Valpolicella wine production regulations, (what is called the Denominazione di Origine Controllata, the Italian form of the French Appellation Contrôlée system), stipulates that a maximum limit of 70 per cent of the Corvina grapes in the wine, which is an impediment to those that believe the best Valpolicella is made from 100 per cent Corvina. In Nairobi look out for bottles that have on the label Valpolicella Classico or Valpolicella Superior, or rather ironically, given that it is in theory a lower classification, Valpolicella vino da tavola as this classification permits the use of 100 per cent of the Corvina grape.
At the upper end of the quality spectrum for Italian wine can be found wines from Italy’s famous and world-class wine producing regions. From the Tuscany region of central Italy famous wines such as Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, (confusingly not made from the grape variety Montepulciano), can be found. From the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy can be found Barbaresco, Barbera, and Barolo wines. These wines often described as massive are made from perhaps Italy’s best indigenous red grape variety Nebbiolo. These wines are only available from a handful of Italian families that import these specialised and expensive wines such as the New Italycor Ltd in Nairobi.
Finally and a wonderful quirk is Kenya’s own Italian wine. Meru Wine based not far from the town of Meru close to Mount Kenya, produce Barbera a Red Table Wine as well as a White Table Wine and a Communion Wine. The text on the back label of the Barbera wine is wonderfully romantic describing how in 1904 Monsignor Perlo and father Carliero planted the first vines around Murang and Nyerie. From the ‘success’ achieved from wines made from the grapes of these first vines, vines were also planted on the Ruiri plains in Meru. It was to these root stock that the brother of Monsignor Perlo grafted Barbera vines brought from the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy. Barbera next to Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted red grape known for its high level of natural acidity a desirable attribute in hot climates; perhaps this is why the brother chose the Barbera grape for Meru? How does it taste? Well the label describes it as, “A mature, full-bodied and honest wine”, and for me that is pretty good description of what it tastes like.
Maize is still king in Kenya and for most Kenyan’s they have not properly ‘eaten’ unless ugali, (maize flour cooked with water to a porridge or dough-like consistency), has been consumed. Nevertheless, every Kenyan city and town just like the rest of the world has its pizza and pasta joints that churn out what is occasionally authentic, but mostly approximations of Italian cuisine. Good Italian food in Kenya is usually found as a result of the relatively large and lively Italian community most of whom seem to be involved in a small or large way in providing Italian food and occasionally wine.
The first Italians came to what was East Africa in the 19th Century mostly for the Catholic Church. During the Second World War thousands of Italians soldiers were held at a number of camps throughout the country including in Gilgil, Naivasha and Nyerie. Some of the ex-prisoners stayed on after the end of the war and throughout the latter half of the 20th Century were joined by growing numbers of their compatriots. Malindi on Kenya’s coast north of Mombassa has become particularly popular with Italians and is known locally as Little Milan after the famous city in the north Italian region of Lombardy. There are about 4,000 Italians living in and around Malindi who own and operate 30 beach hotels and six safari lodges not to mention a host of Italian restaurants.
In Nairobi and Mombassa as well as many other cities and towns there are Italian supermarkets stocked with produce from home as well as produce from Kenya, either made by Italian expatriates or made in an Italian style. For the wine it is a different story for while there is plenty of Italian wine to be found whether it is known or even liked by Kenyans is more difficult to say.
Italy has surpassed France in recent years as the world’s largest producer of wine and the Italians still consume an awful lot of that wine themselves: about 50 litres per capita per year. Wine books, at least those written by non-Italians, often portray Italy’s wines in the form of a dichotomy. On the one hand, an ocean of what is euphemistically described as rustic or country wine perhaps the quintessential plonk, and that I should add is not meant to be derogatory. On the other hand, sublime examples of great wines often made from indigenous grape varieties, expensive, but matching beautifully the regional cuisines.
In Nairobi examples of Italian wines that fit into a number of categories can be found. At the lower end, 5, 10, and even 20 litres container of Italian generic wine can be found in the main supermarkets. There is usually not much information on the label as to what is in the container and certainly not what grape variety the wine is made from. At around the equivalent of KSH150 to 200 (US$2 to 2.5) per litre one should perhaps not expect much from these wines other than they are made from fermented grape juice.
Up a notch in quality, Italian wines like Valpolicella can be found in Nairobi, which originate from the Vento region in north east Italy. Valpolicella presents an array of wines of varying quality. Perhaps at their best Valpolicella is fruity, eminently drinkable, medium-weight product that compliments superbly a variety of Italian foods. Unfortunately and perhaps more often, Valpolicella for the most part can taste rather thin and acidic. The Valpolicella wine production regulations, (what is called the Denominazione di Origine Controllata, the Italian form of the French Appellation Contrôlée system), stipulates that a maximum limit of 70 per cent of the Corvina grapes in the wine, which is an impediment to those that believe the best Valpolicella is made from 100 per cent Corvina. In Nairobi look out for bottles that have on the label Valpolicella Classico or Valpolicella Superior, or rather ironically, given that it is in theory a lower classification, Valpolicella vino da tavola as this classification permits the use of 100 per cent of the Corvina grape.
At the upper end of the quality spectrum for Italian wine can be found wines from Italy’s famous and world-class wine producing regions. From the Tuscany region of central Italy famous wines such as Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, (confusingly not made from the grape variety Montepulciano), can be found. From the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy can be found Barbaresco, Barbera, and Barolo wines. These wines often described as massive are made from perhaps Italy’s best indigenous red grape variety Nebbiolo. These wines are only available from a handful of Italian families that import these specialised and expensive wines such as the New Italycor Ltd in Nairobi.
Finally and a wonderful quirk is Kenya’s own Italian wine. Meru Wine based not far from the town of Meru close to Mount Kenya, produce Barbera a Red Table Wine as well as a White Table Wine and a Communion Wine. The text on the back label of the Barbera wine is wonderfully romantic describing how in 1904 Monsignor Perlo and father Carliero planted the first vines around Murang and Nyerie. From the ‘success’ achieved from wines made from the grapes of these first vines, vines were also planted on the Ruiri plains in Meru. It was to these root stock that the brother of Monsignor Perlo grafted Barbera vines brought from the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy. Barbera next to Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted red grape known for its high level of natural acidity a desirable attribute in hot climates; perhaps this is why the brother chose the Barbera grape for Meru? How does it taste? Well the label describes it as, “A mature, full-bodied and honest wine”, and for me that is pretty good description of what it tastes like.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Bastille Day with Patricia
While the French celebrate the storming of the Bastille and the founding of the Republic, July 14 unsurprisingly for this wine enthusiast is always a good reminder of the oenological delights France produces. France’s position as the world’s dominant wine producer has perhaps over the last twenty years waned just a little at least in the minds of some. In volume terms France in tandem with Italy still produces more wine than any other country with between 7 to 8 million bottles a year. More importantly for wine lovers is the fact that France undoubtedly still produces more fine wine than any other country. It is perhaps a sign of the changing world of wine that today I celebrated Bastille Day with Patricia tasting a number of wines only one of which was French.
Patricia Amira hosts her show on the South Africa based TV channel M-Net, which is broadcast all over Africa. Patricia is a sort of Kenyan equivalent of Oprah and her show’s magazine format covers just about anything you care to mention. I was asked along with two wine friends to participate in a ‘snob-free’ introduction to wine. It was all very relaxed and informal as we guided Patricia and hopefully her viewers through a flight of whites and reds.
That wine was a subject on the Patricia Show reflects the fact it is gaining in popularity among aspiring Africans. Wine consumption is definitely going up as the sales graph with its sharply rising line shows. The doubling, tripling, and quadrupling of annual wine sales needs to be kept in context a little as obviously the base level of consumption is extremely low. Outside of South Africa where annual consumption per person is a round 7 litres, the equivalent consumption levels for the rest of Africa where wine is consumed is probably, and unsurprisingly, well below 1 litre. What I think is true, and this is only based on anecdotal observations, is that wine is the drink that has captured the aspirations of the Kenyan middle classes, or, at least middle class women. Kenyan (wealthy) men and for that matter many African businessmen while not adverse to quality wine brands, in my experience love their (malt) whisky, but that is another story.
The Patricia Show is recorded out in the western suburbs of Nairobi and admittedly I am no expert in these things, but to this novice it all appeared akin to organised chaos. The guest line-up for the show included an inspirational story of a teenager overcoming the traumas of paralysis, the ‘light hearted’ wine tasting segment, and on to the shows star guest a gentlemen in a flowing caftan complete with a fez-like hat who predicts the future.
For our small spot we were asked to identify a proffered flight of wines. I am generally uncomfortable with what is a bit of a party trick, guessing the wine. For some reason folk are unreasonably impressed that after a swirl and a sniff you are able to say, “Oh yes, of course it’s a Gewürtstraminer”. I tell myself that this piece tittle-tattle is all necessary and part of the wider objective of highlighting the pleasures of wine. The studio crew, that is the thirty-odd people in the studio that make the Patricia Show happen, were all excited and often the floor manager had to call for “QUIET”. At the end of the recording of the wine segment the rush to secure the leftovers was quite a sight. I hope the recording of the rest of the show retained a steady focus.
Patricia Amira hosts her show on the South Africa based TV channel M-Net, which is broadcast all over Africa. Patricia is a sort of Kenyan equivalent of Oprah and her show’s magazine format covers just about anything you care to mention. I was asked along with two wine friends to participate in a ‘snob-free’ introduction to wine. It was all very relaxed and informal as we guided Patricia and hopefully her viewers through a flight of whites and reds.
That wine was a subject on the Patricia Show reflects the fact it is gaining in popularity among aspiring Africans. Wine consumption is definitely going up as the sales graph with its sharply rising line shows. The doubling, tripling, and quadrupling of annual wine sales needs to be kept in context a little as obviously the base level of consumption is extremely low. Outside of South Africa where annual consumption per person is a round 7 litres, the equivalent consumption levels for the rest of Africa where wine is consumed is probably, and unsurprisingly, well below 1 litre. What I think is true, and this is only based on anecdotal observations, is that wine is the drink that has captured the aspirations of the Kenyan middle classes, or, at least middle class women. Kenyan (wealthy) men and for that matter many African businessmen while not adverse to quality wine brands, in my experience love their (malt) whisky, but that is another story.
The Patricia Show is recorded out in the western suburbs of Nairobi and admittedly I am no expert in these things, but to this novice it all appeared akin to organised chaos. The guest line-up for the show included an inspirational story of a teenager overcoming the traumas of paralysis, the ‘light hearted’ wine tasting segment, and on to the shows star guest a gentlemen in a flowing caftan complete with a fez-like hat who predicts the future.
For our small spot we were asked to identify a proffered flight of wines. I am generally uncomfortable with what is a bit of a party trick, guessing the wine. For some reason folk are unreasonably impressed that after a swirl and a sniff you are able to say, “Oh yes, of course it’s a Gewürtstraminer”. I tell myself that this piece tittle-tattle is all necessary and part of the wider objective of highlighting the pleasures of wine. The studio crew, that is the thirty-odd people in the studio that make the Patricia Show happen, were all excited and often the floor manager had to call for “QUIET”. At the end of the recording of the wine segment the rush to secure the leftovers was quite a sight. I hope the recording of the rest of the show retained a steady focus.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
“I get juiced on Mateus and just hang loose”
I can picture in my mind what I admit is a somewhat romantic scene. It is of a French, Italian, or Spanish family sitting down to a meal complete with carafe of unassuming (cheap) local wine. The children in my imaginary picture learn by example that food and wine are inseparable, the perfect partners, and grow up to be well balanced adults that of course drink responsibly. The counterpoint to this image is one of a kid in America, although nowadays it could be just about anywhere in the world, sat solitarily in front of a TV chomping on a hamburger and swilling it down with a gallon of coke. The inevitable scenario for this imaginary child is a progression to Alco pops and a young adult life where Saturday nights are spent being sick in the local town centre. Both of my imaginary pictures are based of course on stereotypes, the former less common than I would hope and the latter far less common than I imagine. In reality wine has largely become merely another alcoholic beverage competing with a plethora of alternatives.
Most British people of my generation were not brought up in what can be referred to as a wine culture, something akin to my romantic image of a Mediterranean family at dinner. Growing up wine or alcohol of any kind for that matter was not common in our house. I have a vague memory that at Christmas time one of my parents took out of the cupboard an old, (meaning opened the previous Christmas as opposed to treasured vintage), bottle of sweet-sherry, Harveys Bristol Cream was the favourite. Alternatively a lucky visiting relative maybe offered a port-and-lemon, or pushing it a Stones Ginger Wine, which turned out not to be wine at all by today’s accepted definition, but instead made from a fermented blend of ground ginger and raisins. Wine appeared relatively late on in my teenage life and ironically given my enthusiasm for fermented grape juice I realise now was probably a result of cleaver marketing.
Mateus Rosé was probably the first wine I ever drank. For those of you not familiar with the name, Mateus Rosé was, and still is a sweet, and what the French call pétillant and the Italians call frizzante, but what we called slightly-fizzy, pink wine - a sort of (semi)grown-up equivalent of an anaemic, but crucially alcoholic Ribeana. Originally Mateus Rosé was made in the Minho region in Northern Portugal and modelled on the traditional Vinho Verde wines, (pronounced veen-o-verday), both facts I certainly did not know at the time, and in any case for me far more hip was the funky-shaped bottle. The bottle shape then as it is now was globular, or onion, or what the Germans call Bochsbeutel, and at the time it seemed that a whole cottage industry developed based on turning the empty bottles into table lamps.
The carefully constructed image for the wine was complete with a renaissance-style painting on the label depicting the Mateus Palace, although ironically the wine was never actually from the famous estate. It was all a created myth that this impressionable teenager fell for hook line and sinker. For me Mateus Rosé was the height of sophistication further enhanced when in 1973 Elton John released his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road double LP containing the lyrics of the title of this blog (the song Social Disease, last-but-one track, side four).
Mateus Rosé is in fact one of Europe’s first branded wines with production starting at the end of the Second World War. It was created deliberately to appeal to the developing North American and northern European markets and boy was it successful. By the late 1980’s fifteen years after I was introduced to this iconic wine, sales of Mateus Rosé and a sister white reached 3.25 million cases a year and accounted for more than 40 per cent of Portugal’s total annual table wine exports. By the mid-1990’s Mateus Rosé had lost its lustre as the increasingly sophisticated wine drinkers of North America and northern Europe moved on seduced by the fruit-bomb wines of Australia and the New World in general. For the last decade or so the Mateus Rosé brand has been owned by Sogrape, Portugal’s largest wine producer. Sogrape have relaunched the brand and expanded the range to include a Mateus Rosé Aragones (very sweet at 30 grams of sugar per litre), Shiraz, Temranillo, and a Rosé Sparkling. Interestingly the original Mateus Rosé is largely unchanged the only major differences being that the label is smaller than the original and that it is now mainly produced in the Bairrada region (south of the Minho region) of Portugal.
Kenyans can also enjoy the delights of Mateus Rosé as the main supermarket chains here supply at least two of the variations, the original rosé and the new(ish) Rosé Sparkling. In wine speak they are both technically semi-sweet and relatively low in alcohol; 15 grams per litre, 11 per cent alcohol, and 12 grams per litre and 12 per cent alcohol respectively. The difference from my youth is that in Kenya there are dozens of direct competitors for Mateus that line up on the supermarket shelves. I far as know Kenyan’s like Mateus Rosé and my local supermarket tell me it sells well. I am keeping my eyes pealed to spot the first Kenyan Mateus Rosé table lamp complete with Masai bead work.
Most British people of my generation were not brought up in what can be referred to as a wine culture, something akin to my romantic image of a Mediterranean family at dinner. Growing up wine or alcohol of any kind for that matter was not common in our house. I have a vague memory that at Christmas time one of my parents took out of the cupboard an old, (meaning opened the previous Christmas as opposed to treasured vintage), bottle of sweet-sherry, Harveys Bristol Cream was the favourite. Alternatively a lucky visiting relative maybe offered a port-and-lemon, or pushing it a Stones Ginger Wine, which turned out not to be wine at all by today’s accepted definition, but instead made from a fermented blend of ground ginger and raisins. Wine appeared relatively late on in my teenage life and ironically given my enthusiasm for fermented grape juice I realise now was probably a result of cleaver marketing.
Mateus Rosé was probably the first wine I ever drank. For those of you not familiar with the name, Mateus Rosé was, and still is a sweet, and what the French call pétillant and the Italians call frizzante, but what we called slightly-fizzy, pink wine - a sort of (semi)grown-up equivalent of an anaemic, but crucially alcoholic Ribeana. Originally Mateus Rosé was made in the Minho region in Northern Portugal and modelled on the traditional Vinho Verde wines, (pronounced veen-o-verday), both facts I certainly did not know at the time, and in any case for me far more hip was the funky-shaped bottle. The bottle shape then as it is now was globular, or onion, or what the Germans call Bochsbeutel, and at the time it seemed that a whole cottage industry developed based on turning the empty bottles into table lamps.
The carefully constructed image for the wine was complete with a renaissance-style painting on the label depicting the Mateus Palace, although ironically the wine was never actually from the famous estate. It was all a created myth that this impressionable teenager fell for hook line and sinker. For me Mateus Rosé was the height of sophistication further enhanced when in 1973 Elton John released his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road double LP containing the lyrics of the title of this blog (the song Social Disease, last-but-one track, side four).
Mateus Rosé is in fact one of Europe’s first branded wines with production starting at the end of the Second World War. It was created deliberately to appeal to the developing North American and northern European markets and boy was it successful. By the late 1980’s fifteen years after I was introduced to this iconic wine, sales of Mateus Rosé and a sister white reached 3.25 million cases a year and accounted for more than 40 per cent of Portugal’s total annual table wine exports. By the mid-1990’s Mateus Rosé had lost its lustre as the increasingly sophisticated wine drinkers of North America and northern Europe moved on seduced by the fruit-bomb wines of Australia and the New World in general. For the last decade or so the Mateus Rosé brand has been owned by Sogrape, Portugal’s largest wine producer. Sogrape have relaunched the brand and expanded the range to include a Mateus Rosé Aragones (very sweet at 30 grams of sugar per litre), Shiraz, Temranillo, and a Rosé Sparkling. Interestingly the original Mateus Rosé is largely unchanged the only major differences being that the label is smaller than the original and that it is now mainly produced in the Bairrada region (south of the Minho region) of Portugal.
Kenyans can also enjoy the delights of Mateus Rosé as the main supermarket chains here supply at least two of the variations, the original rosé and the new(ish) Rosé Sparkling. In wine speak they are both technically semi-sweet and relatively low in alcohol; 15 grams per litre, 11 per cent alcohol, and 12 grams per litre and 12 per cent alcohol respectively. The difference from my youth is that in Kenya there are dozens of direct competitors for Mateus that line up on the supermarket shelves. I far as know Kenyan’s like Mateus Rosé and my local supermarket tell me it sells well. I am keeping my eyes pealed to spot the first Kenyan Mateus Rosé table lamp complete with Masai bead work.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
OFSP to you too
Sometimes dubbed as “super-food” the orange-fleshed sweetpotato[1]is much the centre of attention in our household. Part of the convolvulaceae (morning glory) family for those of you botanically inclined they originate from South America where they have been propagated for the last 5,000 years. In Africa the sweetpotato is an important staple in some countries, but more often a supplementary food and usually of the white, cream or yellow fleshed varieties. The International Potato Centre based in Lima, Peru, and its sub-Saharan Africa regional office here in Nairobi, has a large programme underway that aims to promote the growing and consumption of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties. These are high in beta-carotene (the precursor to Vitamin A) and are also a valuable source of vitamins B, C, and E, and contain moderate levels of iron and zinc. In addition they have a low glycemic index, and therefore are a good energy source for people with diabetes. They are also reported to have all sorts of other almost magical properties such as anti-oxidants and anti-cancer properties, so I heartily suggest you increase your personal consumption forthwith. For me though in our household the challenge has been what wines go well with OFSP?
There is a saying that food and wine go together like peas-in-a-pod and for many cultures one without the other is unimaginable. Throughout Europe at least where vines are grown most regions have over the centuries developed a cuisine to match the local wines, or, it maybe it is the other way around. France is well known for its regional food and wine culture such as the Alsace in the east. With a distinctly Germanic flavour to its food with its charcuterie and terrines, the Alsatians quaff down their spicy Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Sylvaner wines as perfect compliments. The Northern Rhône Valley is famous for its red meats and rich sauces that can withstand the robust Syrah based wines of Hermitage, Cornas, and perhaps the more refined Côte Rôtie. In the Southern Rhône the softer Grenache based wines reflect the more subtle flavours of their local cuisine. The Loire Valley in the east of France is famous for its Muscadet white wines produced in Pays Nantais region, which match the local seafood specialities. I could on and it is not just France that has these gastronomic-vinous matches. Throughout Europe at least where grapes are grown and wines are made examples of complimentary food and wines are all around.
I think somewhat different to century’s old traditions of local food and wine cultures, is the growing art and some would claim science of food and wine pairings. If the glossy food magazines are anything to go by, there appears to be a whole industry dedicated to finding the perfect food and wine match. California as with so many new ideas is much at the forefront of the world of food and wine pairings led by some of the large and well known wine estates. The Fetzer wine company for example based in Mendocino County is well know for its almost religious zeal in its search for the perfect food and wine pairings. This is perhaps not unsurprising given that Fetzer has an awful lot of wine to sell, 4 million cases a year to be precise, and to be a tad cynical anything that can help sell wine in this highly competitive wine world is not to be sneezed at.
Personally I am standing on the fence when it comes to an opinion about the merits of the more recent trends of food and wine pairings. On the one hand, I sometimes cringe at the over exuberance of some ‘foodies’ as they wax lyrically about how well foie gras goes with Sauternes or some other such exotic combination. On the other hand, I have also been privileged to have experienced some fabulous food matched superbly with accompanying wines. Indeed next time you happen to be in South Africa’s Cape try the new(ish) restaurant at the Jordan winery just outside Stellenbosch to have your taste buds metaphorically blown away. The Jordan family have also this year opened a restaurant in London called the High Timber and although I have not been there I understand it offers much the same fine dining and wine experience.
In Kenya food and wine matching is somewhat of an esoteric exercise at best confined to a few up-market restaurants or the homes of the elite. As mentioned in a previous blog, this is not to say that Kenya lacks for either an almost infinite variety of foods, most of which it grows or harvests itself, or wines from around the world. Nairobi nowadays as with almost any capital city has access to a myriad of cuisines and styles of cooking from around the world. This is in stark contrast to not that many years ago when it would have been inconceivable to think that now (some) Nairobi residents can now tuck into for example sushi and sashimi washed down with a well chilled Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa or New Zealand.
Finally back to the important OFSP and what wine to match with it. Given the versatility of the OFSP almost anything goes. The sweetpotato by definition is sweet, but as with most food and wine pairings it is either a question of contrasting or complimenting. For a contrast for soups or roasted sweetpotato a zingy Sauvignon Blanc or young Riesling seems to do the trick. For desert such as sweetpotato pie or, I kid you not, a sweetpotato and cinnamon sorbet, then a good compliment seems to be a voluptuous Viognier or sweet wine such as a madeira. Perhaps the ultimate combination of food and wine would be sweetpotato wine, which I have yet to try, but some seem keen to encourage me to try making some.
[1] Sweetpotato is all one word in recognition of the fact that it is recognised by the botanical boffins as a distinct species and not simply another variety of potato.
There is a saying that food and wine go together like peas-in-a-pod and for many cultures one without the other is unimaginable. Throughout Europe at least where vines are grown most regions have over the centuries developed a cuisine to match the local wines, or, it maybe it is the other way around. France is well known for its regional food and wine culture such as the Alsace in the east. With a distinctly Germanic flavour to its food with its charcuterie and terrines, the Alsatians quaff down their spicy Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Sylvaner wines as perfect compliments. The Northern Rhône Valley is famous for its red meats and rich sauces that can withstand the robust Syrah based wines of Hermitage, Cornas, and perhaps the more refined Côte Rôtie. In the Southern Rhône the softer Grenache based wines reflect the more subtle flavours of their local cuisine. The Loire Valley in the east of France is famous for its Muscadet white wines produced in Pays Nantais region, which match the local seafood specialities. I could on and it is not just France that has these gastronomic-vinous matches. Throughout Europe at least where grapes are grown and wines are made examples of complimentary food and wines are all around.
I think somewhat different to century’s old traditions of local food and wine cultures, is the growing art and some would claim science of food and wine pairings. If the glossy food magazines are anything to go by, there appears to be a whole industry dedicated to finding the perfect food and wine match. California as with so many new ideas is much at the forefront of the world of food and wine pairings led by some of the large and well known wine estates. The Fetzer wine company for example based in Mendocino County is well know for its almost religious zeal in its search for the perfect food and wine pairings. This is perhaps not unsurprising given that Fetzer has an awful lot of wine to sell, 4 million cases a year to be precise, and to be a tad cynical anything that can help sell wine in this highly competitive wine world is not to be sneezed at.
Personally I am standing on the fence when it comes to an opinion about the merits of the more recent trends of food and wine pairings. On the one hand, I sometimes cringe at the over exuberance of some ‘foodies’ as they wax lyrically about how well foie gras goes with Sauternes or some other such exotic combination. On the other hand, I have also been privileged to have experienced some fabulous food matched superbly with accompanying wines. Indeed next time you happen to be in South Africa’s Cape try the new(ish) restaurant at the Jordan winery just outside Stellenbosch to have your taste buds metaphorically blown away. The Jordan family have also this year opened a restaurant in London called the High Timber and although I have not been there I understand it offers much the same fine dining and wine experience.
In Kenya food and wine matching is somewhat of an esoteric exercise at best confined to a few up-market restaurants or the homes of the elite. As mentioned in a previous blog, this is not to say that Kenya lacks for either an almost infinite variety of foods, most of which it grows or harvests itself, or wines from around the world. Nairobi nowadays as with almost any capital city has access to a myriad of cuisines and styles of cooking from around the world. This is in stark contrast to not that many years ago when it would have been inconceivable to think that now (some) Nairobi residents can now tuck into for example sushi and sashimi washed down with a well chilled Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa or New Zealand.
Finally back to the important OFSP and what wine to match with it. Given the versatility of the OFSP almost anything goes. The sweetpotato by definition is sweet, but as with most food and wine pairings it is either a question of contrasting or complimenting. For a contrast for soups or roasted sweetpotato a zingy Sauvignon Blanc or young Riesling seems to do the trick. For desert such as sweetpotato pie or, I kid you not, a sweetpotato and cinnamon sorbet, then a good compliment seems to be a voluptuous Viognier or sweet wine such as a madeira. Perhaps the ultimate combination of food and wine would be sweetpotato wine, which I have yet to try, but some seem keen to encourage me to try making some.
[1] Sweetpotato is all one word in recognition of the fact that it is recognised by the botanical boffins as a distinct species and not simply another variety of potato.
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