July 3, 2014 BD Lunch at Spence Hot Springs and Dinner Grilled Mahi Mahi with garlic lemon butter glaze and boiled fresh corn and asparagus

July 3, 2014 BD   Lunch at Spence Hot Springs and Dinner   Grilled Mahi Mahi with garlic lemon butter glaze and boiled fresh corn and asparagus

I rode about 8 miles in the morning because my chain kept getting thrown off the derailleurs.  I am getting strong enough to be able to ride every day but because I wanted to see Jim Cramer at 7:00 for the stock market report I turned back near the Rio Grande Nature Center.  Today was one of those great days when the Dow hit a new high of 17,000 and there was a really good jobs report.  I am having a good year in the market. My portfolio value increased by 10.5% by the end of June and by the end of today, the third day of July, had achieved an 11.5% gain for the year.  It looks like the economy is finally starting to more vigorously recover from the recession of 2008.

We decided to take the day off to celebrate my 68^th BD and go to Spence Hot Springs in the Jemez Mountains.  As we drove north we saw that the Diego fire beginning to build its smoke plume again after a rainy night.  We had packed cubes of cantaloupe, slices of Dubliner Cheddar and Swiss Gruyere, slices of sweet Lebanon bologna, black dried Moroccan and Lebanese green cracked olives in thyme, slices of bread, slices of radish, and mayo and mustard plus two Negra Modelos, a bottle of Manger’s Irish Apple Cider and a bottle of 1995 Chateau de la Noblesse red.

We bought the bottle of Noblesse at the Chateau de la Noblesse Vineyard on September 28, 1997 and had the owner sign the label as shown in the picture.

Bandol is considered the best appellation in Provence by Karen MacNeil in her Wine Bible.  Bandol is a small seaside town located about 40 miles east of Marseilles.  The reds usually contain a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvédres grapes.  This Noblesse was no exception; it tasted like a very smooth Southern Rhône.  We hiked up to the Spence hot springs and just when we arrived the larger upper pool emptied of water.  Soon thereafter someone stuffed a rock into the outlet and it began to fill a bit.  The lower pool was full of water and about 97˚, so it was ideal for soaking in the summer because you could stay as long as you wished without overheating.

We sat in the lower pool and ate sandwiches of cheese, bread and bologna smeared with mayo and mustard with olives and radishes and drank Noblesse red.   We were alone for part of the time except for a pesky squirrel that seemed to be interested in our gear and food.  Finally we found out why he was darting around our food, when he grabbed and made off with our plastic sandwich bag of cheese slices.  Thank God he did not grab the wine.  After about two hours we returned to the car and drove back to Albuquerque.

We arrived home at around 5:00 and I made a mango salsa while I watched the Nightly Business Report and then showered and made dinner.  The salsa combined 1 fresh diced mango, 2 tbsps. of onion, 1 ½ Tbsp. of fresh pasilla pepper, the juice of one lime, one small avocado and one small tomato and about ¼ cup of fresh chopped cilantro.

I had bought a lovely thick .6 lb. filet of Mahi Mahi on Tuesday at Sprouts ($4.99/lb.).  So tonight Suzette made 5 slits on the flesh side of the filet and I sliced cloves of garlic into slices and she cooked them in melted butter and added lemon juice to flavor the butter and poured it over the fish and then she grilled the filet skin side down for about fifteen minutes until it was tender throughout. We started a large pot of water and boiled the three ears of corn I had also bought at Pro’s Ranch Market on Wednesday (3 for $.99) and when the water returned to the boil after laying the ears of shucked corn into the heated water, we added a handful of young thin asparagus.

We opened a bottle of 2011 Marqués de Riscal white from Rueda, which is described on the back label by the winery as “Made from the native Verdejo grape, this wine has a lovely varietal aromas of flowers and herbs, with a rich yet fresh sensation in the mouth and slight touch of bitterness on the finish typical of the variety… It is fermented for 20 days in stainless steel vats at a controlled temperature of between 13 and 15˚C to enhance aromas and freshness. Four months barrel aged. 

I loved the crisp, yet complex flavor of Riscal’s Rueda, which is mostly Verdejo grapes.  Riscal also makes another Rueda wine that is named Finca Montico that is even better and is 100% verdejo from a select older vineyard that I bought at the Winery two years ago.  Here is Riscal’s description of Finca Montico:

Introduction

This wine, made 100% from grapes of the Verdejo vine, comes from an old estate vineyard located in the Montico district of Rueda. This is a typical poor, stony, gritty-soiled terroir which is ideal for producing the highest quality Rueda Verdejo varietal wines. Yield is very low, with only around 5,000 kilos per hectare and harvesting is performed by hand into small crates with a capacity of 25 kilos. When the grapes reach the winery, they are ooled and gently pressed without crushing or removing stems. This kind of pressing of whole clusters reduces oxidation of the must to a minimum and helps keep all the aromatic intensity intact. In this way it is possible to obtain free run juice in very small quantities but of an extremely high quality. Next the must is run off or lightly decanted and passes into the fermentation tanks. Fermentation then takes place with the presence of only indigenous yeast strains. This peculiarity gives the wine greater aromatic personality and an original character. After fermentation is complete and a first racking, the wine remains in contact with its fine lees for at least four months. These lees, or remains of inert yeast, are stirred at least once per week so as to remain in suspension.

Over a period of time the lees give off a series of compounds which increase the body, smoothness and complexity of the wine and improve its aromatic stability during the time spent in the bottle. These are white wines which, while not fermented in the cask, remain fresh and youthful for a longer time.

- See more at: http://www.marquesderiscal.com/vinos_detalleeng.php?id=15#sthash.7gsERnYO.dpuf

After dinner I decided to eat a piece of birthday cake that had been given to us by the Palmers on Tuesday evening with some of the Dreyer’s spumoni ice cream I had bought at Pro’s Ranch Market on Wednesday ($2.99 for ½ gallon).

Luke, Willy and Billy all called to wish me a happy birthday, which made me very happy that I was loved by the full contingent of family.

A very happy birthday.

Bon Appétit