Seattle is a fresh-food town, renowned for its fresh seafood, fresh local produce and fresh new chefs who know how to take advantage of each. However, some things that we eat and drink get better with age.
Seattle’s food scene provides plenty of opportunities to enjoy the finer things that require proper aging — wine, spirits, beef, cheese and balsamic vinegar — without risking coming off like a pretentious attorney. What follows are some of the best places to learn about and consume that, which like legal bills, only improves with additional time.
Beef: Unlike pork or chicken, beef is much improved with the proper amount of aging. Unaged beef lacks what we think of as typical beef flavor. We went to the experts to find out why.
“When we age beef,” explains Abe Ackley of Bob’s Quality Meats (4861 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, 206-725-1221), “the naturally occurring enzymes break down the meat fibers, making the beef tender. At the same time, moisture in the meat evaporates, thus condensing the beef’s flavor.”
While Bob’s Quality Meats dry-ages its beef an average of 21 days, each cut can require different aging to bring out the best flavor. With its own aging room and careful, expert attention to the aging process, Bob’s is the place to go when you want a great steak to cook at home.
“Without aging, beef would be hard to eat,” agrees Sam Doman. Doman, dinner chef at the ever-popular Metropolitan Grill (820 Second Ave., Seattle, 206-624-3287), knows what it takes to serve a tender, tasty steak. The Met dry-ages its steaks in-house for 28 days and now serves an exceptional 42-day-aged New York strip, which Doman describes as “rich and dense, with a pleasurable taste that stays with you even after you sip your wine.”
We don’t know about you, but just listening to Sam makes us hungry.
Balsamic Vinegar: It almost seems as if diners in Seattle could not envision a meal without balsamic vinegar. We see it everywhere. It often accompanies extra virgin olive oil and crusty bread at the beginning of a meal. It is frequently used in soups, marinades and sauces, and it even finds its way into desserts atop fresh fruit such as raspberries, strawberries and peaches.
Our modern-day obsession with balsamic vinegar seems ironic when considering that the Italians from Modena and Reggio Emilia have been enjoying this unfermented grape vinegar for more than 900 years. By convention, and protection by the Denominazione di Origine Protetta, balsamic vinegar is made from a reduction of sweet, white Trebbiano grape juice called “Mosto Cotto,” which must be aged in wooden kegs for a minimum of 12 years (aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena or di Reggio Emilia) and as long as 100 years to intensify its flavor and to achieve a sweet, viscous concentrate before it is bottled and ready for sale. Not surprisingly, balsamic vinegar gets more expensive with age — several hundred U.S. dollars for only a few fluid ounces.
We’re blessed in Seattle with a number of excellent sources for balsamic vinegar. The iconic DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine (1435 First Ave., Seattle, 206-622-0141) and Sotto Voce (211 171st St. S., Spanaway, 1-800-487-0730) in the Pike Place Market have great selections of balsamic vinegars, as do Oil & Vinegar in Bellevue Square (2086 Bellevue Square, Bellevue, 425-454-8497) and Oliviers & Co. (600 Pine St., Ste. 135, Seattle, 206-381-1418) in Pacific Place.
Wine: Most wines benefit with some aging. This can be surprisingly true for even inexpensive wines. If you do not have the space, time or patience, there are still ways to drink wine with some age.
One easy strategy is to simply look closely at the wines available in a store. Larger volume stores may frequently have multiple vintages together on the shelf. Two cautions with this approach. First, older is not always better with some wines and specific vintages — there may be a reason a specific vintage is not sold and it may be worth asking the local wine steward.
Second, pay attention to how the wine is stored. Wine with a traditional cork that has not been stored on its side may be subject to damage from a dry cork. A store that is properly handling its wine will rotate any wine that is vertical to ensure that the cork stays wet and does not shrink or crack.
Some stores specifically offer to store vintage wine in climate-controlled conditions. Esquin Wine Merchants (2700 Fourth Ave. S., Seattle, 206-682-7374) has offered such a service for nearly 40 years. If you don’t want to store your own or have a wine merchant store your bottles, aged wine can be bought across the city. But few restaurants have the space and/or are willing to invest the time to cellar wines for years after they receive it. There are a few notable exceptions. Canlis (2576 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, 206-283-3313) boasts a 100-page wine list, including many vintage wines back into the ’70s.
Spirits: Even setting aside the karmic implications, many spirits get better with age. This is particularly true of distilled spirits such as whisky, rum and brandy. In the case of distilled liquors, the aging takes place in barrels or casks — usually made of oak. This process imparts both the characteristic color of the liquor and some of its distinct flavor.
To even be called a “whisky,” Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the United States all have (different) standards regarding how long the liquor must be aged in casks. The minimum aging requirement to bear the label “Scotch whisky” or “Irish whisky” is three years, though in practice it often is longer. After bottling, whisky does not “age” in the same way as wine; the liquor in the bottle will be “aged 10 years” whether you drink it tomorrow or 20 years later. Rarity is the only “age” value to a distilled spirit like whisky.
Brandy is distilled wine, which also has to age in barrels to achieve its characteristic color and flavor. Brandy bears a designation on the label to help the consumer understand the product’s age and qualities. Terms such as “A.C.” (aged two years in wood) and “V.S.O.P.” (“Very Special Old Pale,” aged at least five years in wood), are used to designate aging time. “Cognac,” arguably the most famous type of brandy, is simply a brandy that comes from the Cognac region of France. Think “Champagne” versus “sparkling wine.”
As we all know, in Washington there is no opportunity to shop around for a place to buy liquor directly. Apart from bars and pubs, consumers are left to purchase these excellent spirits at their local state liquor stores. However, the selection is not the same at all stores, so you might want to call around ahead of time if you are looking for something in particular.
Cheese: The metal vats can be seen through the large glass windows. As tourists point and lounge along the side of the building, men dressed in white labor over these metal receptacles handcrafting the famous cheeses sold at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese (1600 Pike Place, Seattle, 206-956-1964). “Not all cheese gets better with age,” an employee says as he hands out scrumptious samples. “But cheddar gets sharper.” Who doesn’t like a sharper cheddar or cheese employees so willing to guide you through the cheese process?
The employees at Beecher’s are filled with knowledge about the aging process, organic cheese and the differences between cheeses in their impressive display case. Any cheese lover should find their way to the Pike Place Market, dine in the café between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., pick up a pound of the 3-Year Aged Flagship cheddar ($21.95) and a world-best macaroni and cheese kit ($25), and chat about the changes age can make to cheese. Beecher’s is also known for donating more than $300,000 in support of non-profit organizations providing education about the benefits of pure, all-natural food, so that today’s children, like a cheddar, grow sharper about the foods they consume with age.
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt is a multi-service Northwest regional law firm with offices in Seattle, Vancouver, Portland and Bend. For comments on this article or to share your favorite places to get aged food with the Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt attorneys, contact Gary Myles at 206-407-1513 or gmyles@schwabe.com.
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