6
Sep
2018
0

He was, quite simply, the best of us

He could cook a mean abalone. He could tell Sven & Ole jokes like nobody’s business. He could make wine that was a gateway drug to this wondrous realm.

But what I’ll always hold close about Kent Rosenblum, whose sweet soul slipped the surly bonds of Earth on Sept. 5, was his grace, his generosity and his love of life its ownself.

I didn’t know it when I wrote my first-ever winemaker profile on the former Minnesotan a decade ago, but Kent was the paragon of not only the people I want to spend the rest of my life around, but of what I would like to become myself.

And what a life he lived, from making all-conference as a wrestler at Gustavus Adolphus and then fermenting grape juice on the mean streets of Alameda (“When the gangstas found out what I was doing, they not only left us alone, they started protecting us,” he told me) to leading California vintners down a “bigger can be better” path and finding vineyards up and down the state where his favorite grape, zinfandel (left), could thrive.

As my friend Mike Dunne wrote on Facebook, “He was a most inquisitive winemaker, probing into the source and intricacies of wine with discipline and precision, perhaps an extension of his original vocation as a veterinarian.”

Yes, veterinarian, a role that he told me in January that he still occasionally filled. Kent was living proof that a science background was an immeasurably valuable tool for winemaking, especially in the way he crafted wines that never got flabby or flaccid even when the grapes were picked on the edge of over-ripeness.

His eponymous winery joined Ridge and Ravenswood as the “Three R’s” of zinfandel, which not only inspired the likes of Mike Officer to make wine in his garage (and eventually start the estimable Carlisle winery) but led countless other consumers to a passion that persists to this day.

Among them: my pal Lynn Fowler, who commented on Facebook that Kent “introduced us to many things that make us appreciate wine today.” And yours truly, who would only add that it should be “Four R’s” since my first “a-ha” moment with a domestic wine involved a Rafanelli zin.

But I digress. Over the years I got to know Kent at wine competitions and loved to pick his brain about wine and life, although I was never fortunate enough to be on a panel with him. The only challenge was getting sufficient time with Kent, for he was as admired and sought after as any winemaker at these gatherings — and I never had the stamina to join the party in his hotel room after a day of testing 100-plus wines and then partaking of a viniferous dinner.

But my way better half and I did get a couple of opportunities to break bread with Kent at a vineyard he owned in the Russian River Valley. His dear friend Ann Littlefield helped arrange a couple of leisurely afternoon repasts there, initially calling the locale “a really beautiful vineyard.”

When someone who lives in Napa characterizes a vineyard that way, one tends to listen. And of course it was splendiferous — that’s Sandy and her friend Marie making it even more beauteous — with a veggie/fruit/herb garden, pizza oven and Viking range incongruously but seamlessly perched atop it all.

Those already were two of the most stupendous afternoons of our lives, and now will only be heightened in our memories with Kent having passed over to another realm. He grilled abalone and pizza and served caprese emanating from the adjacent tomato vines and basil plot, with of course endless pours of delicious juice from his newer winery, Rock Wall.

That site is adjacent to what is now the grounds at Copain, which Kent sold several years ago. (Check it out next time you’re in Sonoma for astonishing vistas.) He also cashed in on his winery, selling Rosenblum for almost twice what his financial advisors had anticipated a decade ago.

So he was a savvy businessman on top of everything else. On top of the wit and wisdom, the kindness and gentleness, the cooking and vinifying in extraordinary fashion. That formidable skill set seems almost irreplaceable. Indubitably, his soulfulness leaves an unfillable void.

I can’t help but think of one of my favorite quotes of all time, from Abraham Joshua Heschel — “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” — which I have amended to include, “Actually, I admire and want to be with people who are both.”

People like Kent Rosenblum.

 

1
Aug
2018
0

Linkin logs: 8-1-18

Don’t know much about his-to-ry, or ge-og-ra-phy, but I do know just enough to be dangerous:

• Northern California has become the nexus of the U.S. wine world, but El-Lay has its place in vinous history.

• Love that Pythagoras dude, especially after learning how he treated people who poured themselves too much wine.

• Hoping our local Aldi stores add wine soon so I can try this bargain bottle of bubbles

• Just what the world needs most: a white-wine emoji.

• Some like it hot: The incredible Hatch chile peppers from New Mexico, which I first encountered at the incredible Phoenix restaurant Los Dos Molinos, have found their way into wine.

• Speaking of states we don’t normally associate with wine (and probably shouldn’t, despite this specious claim):

 

 

31
Jul
2018
1

An oldie but goodie

At a wine merchant’s warehouse the regular taster died, and the director started looking for a new one to hire.  He posted a sign at the entrance to the building…  EXPERIENCED WINE TASTER NEEDED — POSITION STARTS IMMEDIATELY.

A retired Marine sergeant named  Gunny, drunk and with a ragged dirty look and smelling of last night’s rounds, strolled by the building and saw the sign.  He went into the building to apply for the position.

Aghast at his appearance, the director wondered how to send him away but, to be fair, he gave him a glass of wine to taste.  The old “jarhead” held the glass up to his left eye, tilted his head toward incoming sunlight and studied the contents looking through the glass.  He then took a sip and said, “It’s a Southern California Muscat , three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers.  Somewhat low-grade but acceptable.”

“That’s correct,” said the boss.  Glancing at his assistant he said…”Another one, please.”

The old Marine took the goblet, full of a deep red liquid, stuck his nose into the glass, sniffed deeply and took a long slow sip….rolling his eyeballs in a circle, he then looked at the director and said…  “It’s a Cabernet Sauvignon, eight years old, south-western slope, oak barrels, matured at eight degrees. Requires three more years for the finest results.”

“Absolutely correct.  A third glass.” said the director.

Receiving another glass, again, the Marine eyed the crystal, took in a little bit of the aroma and sipped very softly. ”It’s a pinot blanc champagne, very high-grade and exclusive,” said the drunk calmly.

The director was astonished and winked at his assistant to suggest something.

She left the room and came back in with a wine glass half-full of urine.

The old Sergeant eyed it suspiciously…a color he could not quite recall.

He took a sip, swishing it over his tongue and across his teeth, musing upward all the while.

“It’s a blonde, 26 years old, three months pregnant, and if I don’t get the job, I’ll name the father.”

NEVER, EVER …  UNDERESTIMATE THE TALENTS OF A UNITED STATES MARINES NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER!

17
Jun
2018
0

Linkin’ logs: 6-17-18

The latest from the World Wine Web:

• My friend Bruce Schoenfeld dug deep into a company that is replicating higher-end California wines.

• More and more Eastern Bloc wines are reaching Tundraland, and some of them have a seriously cool legacy.

• In an excerpt from a swell new book, Justin Wilson extols the virtues of “weird wines.”

• Danger, Will Robinson! There’s a risk that some bubbles could get “lost in space.”

• A brief but insightful look at Minnesota grapes.

• Finally, maybe this could spawn a new word: “winebidextrous”

7
Jun
2018
0

Linkin’ logs: 6-7-18

Scrollin, scrollin, scrollin’, keep those cool links rollin’:

• How do I love David Ramey’s wines? Let me count the ways, starting with, as  he proclaims in this fab interview, “First, wine’s supposed to taste delicious!”

• My friend the Hosemaster writes only once a month these days, alas, but he really brings it, as in this piece on an old wine critics’ home.

• Well I’ll certainly own up to being a vinous lush, and certain other of these sobriquets might apply as well.

• Upper Midwest resolve plays a part in continuing efforts to create great American grapes, as this stellar article shows.

• The French might be a bit secretive about some of their winemaking practices, but I’m really glad these guys are furtive about the end product.

• Finally, if I were not married, this is what I’d put in one of those singles ads:

3
Jun
2018
0

Notable quoteables, waxing wine wisdom

Wine inevitably produces discussion, of varying degrees of quality, but sometimes it spawns profundity:

“Wine, bright avenger of sly-dealing wrong.” — Hilaire Belloc (left)

“Fill up the cup, but spill not the wine … for if you do so, it is an ill sign.” — Robert Herrick 

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.” — Mark Twain

“Autumn arrives, array’d in splendid mien;
Vines, cluster’d full, add to the beauteous scene.”
 Farmer’s Almanac, 1818 

“Yet all the cool wines and flowery rooms, with as many fans and soft dews as June and July can imagine, are not worth a morsel of the bread and oil eaten around the fire in December and January as one gulps down a cup or two of new wine.” — Pietro Aretino (left)

“Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes.” — William James

25
May
2018
0

Linkin’ logs: 5-25-18

Places to go, people to see, fermented grape juice to drink:

• I’m not a bucket-list kind of guy, but these wine regions are on my “regular” list. (It would be a return trip in the case of the Anderson Valley, at left.)

• Not sure about edible wine glasses, but this looking-ahead piece has some other interesting notions.

• They make wine from tomatoes in Quebec and Florida, so I guess it’s no surprise that India now has kiwi wine. But wait, there’s more (or less).

• Too many people shop by the label carelessly. These wines deserve more of their attention.

• Finally, my friend James passed along this handy-dandy tip sheet:

 

17
May
2018
0

A cascade of vinous wonders

In recent years it has been my great good fortune to be invited to judge quite a few wine competitions. Although they are much less “fun” than most outside observers might believe — arduously assessing 100-plus wines in a day requires a buttload of focus and care — I get a lot out of them. Some more than others.

Which brings us to last month’s Cascadia Wine Competition in Richland, Wash. It was great to meet and get to know so many wine folks from the Northwest, from Idaho to southern Oregon to British Columbia. It was even cooler to check out the wines from the (seriously) Great Northwest.

World-class cabernet and chardonnay from Idaho’s Snake River Valley along with classic merlots from the nation’s best locale for the varietal (Washington). Bubbles from British Columbia along with pinot noir from Oregon (the Umpqua Valley along with the more ballyhooed Wilamette). It was an amazingly wide-ranging array of seriously swell fermented grape juice.

If there were one word I’d use for these wines, it would be “expressive.” By and large they represented their perspective grapes splendidly, but they also showed something I seek out in wine: They came from a place, and evoked it beautifully. They were no-way-no-how manufactured or spoofelated.

Now I haven’t had enough wines from the Okanagan (left) or Lewis-Clark valleys to be able to say, “Oh that’s from [this particular place],” but after this, I’m doing my damnedest to get there. And to journey to these regions to enhance my chances of understanding them.

Yes, there were some offerings from bigger wineries such as Maryhill and Willamette Valley Vineyards, but these were stellar in their own way. In fact, Maryhill captured an unreal 14 gold medals and won best-red-wine honors for its 2015 Elephant Mountain Vineyard Carménère. White-wine honors went to the 2017 Pinot Gris from British Columbia’s Wild Goose Vineyards; the 2016 Wild Goose Pinot Gris had won last year.

The award for best sparkling wine went to another BC operation, Township 7, for its 2015 Seven Stars blanc de blanc. That was one of 40 gold medals for wineries from the Canadian province. In addition, 11 Idaho producers garnered 19 gold medals and four best-of-class wines, including top dessert wine for the Cinder Wines 2016 Dried on the Vine Viognier.

These wines were universally delicious — I can’t recall a more impressive sweepstakes round in recent years — as best dessert wine. I was especially enamored with hearty but food-friendly nature of the reds I tried from B.C. and Southern Oregon. And I finally got to taste the Abacela Albariño at a judges’ dinner. Love that wine!

Unfortunately, many of these wines are not widely distributed, especially in places like Minnesota. Progress is being made: San Diego-based I.B. Imports is now bringing in Wild Goose’s stellar wines, and more of this kind of work is on the way. I’ve been talking with distributors here about seeking these wines. (FYI, I have no skin in that game except to get Minnesota consumers more great options.)

In the meantime, these regions should be at or near the top of any wine lover’s travel plans.

(To follow the wine scene in this stupendous neck of the woods, get thee onto the Great Northwest Wine email list, operated by the indefatigable Eric Degerman and Andy Perdue, two of the nation’s very best wine writers. And thanks to Eric for looping me into this phenomenal event.)

9
May
2018
0

Linkin’ logs: 5-9-18

Long time coming, long time gone for link-o-mania:

• Amy Poehler? Tina Fey? Napa-themed movie? Sign me up.

• In my Navy years in Italy, I was intrigued by a wine called Lacryma Christi (“Tears of Christ”). Like almost everything sold in stores back then, the wines were crummy. But given insane improvement in Italy’s wines since then, I’m intrigued again.

• A free bottle of wine for a tale of abuse? Yikes! Every person who gave the OK to this idea should be canned.

• My friend Larry has been in the Republic of Georgia seeking out wines. Guessing he saw some of these seriously cool amphorae.

• So the latest of a gazillion conflicting studies says an extra glass of vino a day reduces one’s life by 30 minutes. It fails to point out that those last half-hours would be pretty crappy anyway.

• Here are a few seriously swell vinous photos, with links to more.

• Old French soldiers don’t die; they go make wine.

• Finally, my buddy Joe and I knew we were in the right restaurant in Turin when we saw this poster: