15
May
2015
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Linkin’ logs: 5-15-15

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Don’t know much about geography, as the song sorta kinda goes. Used to, but the globe on which I learned every country is an anachronism, with countless new nations and/or names now dotting our orb. Some globe-trotting news of note:

• I’m always on the lookout for new stuff, and this fun-fact-filled look at Moldova makes me really want to find some of the wines.

Venice• Another unlikely site is making a mini-comeback, as a couple of determined producers make Venetian wine work despite the ever-present encroachment of salt water.

• On the other side of the world, China’s wine market now features a lot more youngish, less obsessive consumers. Love the labels that Wine Intelligence’s China Portraits 2015 report gave to subgroups among the country’s 38 million quaffers of imported wine: “Adventurous Connoisseurs, Prestige-seeking Traditionalists, Social Newbies, Health Sippers and Frugal Occasionals.”

• Closer to home, the ribald comic who calls himself “the Fat Jew” is releasing a rosé called “White Girl” with the tag line “This is so us.”

• Finally, I have no idea on the location, but this is one worldly wise sign:

Wine sign

13
May
2015
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Wines of the Week: May 4-10

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Everyday: Spain remains a font of vinous value. The 2013 Venta Morales La Mancha Venta 2Tempranillo checks in at around $7 and delivers nigh onto twice the value. The dark berry/plum fruit is tasty, the tannins spot on, the acidity and mouthfeel lip-smackin’ and the finish rustic and hearty. It’s a friendly wine and a simple pleasure, which often are the best kind of course, but quite versatile at the dinner/picnic table, starting with burgers, brats and most anything else off the barbie. The sturdy, straight-ahead rock of Franz Ferdinand provides apt accompaniment.

Occasion: Some wineries can do no wrong, even with wildly varying, often challenging vintages. A.J. DhronerAdam is one of them, and the 2012 A.J. Adam Dhroner Riesling ($30) is a stellar exemplar. The focus and purity on this puppy are downright stunning, the fruit/acid interplay alternately piercing and lush. It’s a muscular but refined white, a peerless example of how superb a “village” wine can be. Plop on the gorgeous pop of Mr. Brian Wilson and revel in life its own self.

 

5
May
2015
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Wines of the Week: April 27-May 3

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Everyday: Many Proseccos are a bit too creamy for my palate, but the Cavicchioli 1928 Extra Dry Prosecco ($14) has only deft 1928touches of creaminess gently nudging through the snappy stone-fruit goodness. This bubbly beauty lingers long on the palate. The name comes from the year that Umberto Cavicchioli began bottling wine under his family name at a site near Modena (think balsamic vinegar); his grandson Sandro is the current winemaker. This is a fantabulous patio wine but also would play beautifully with most any brunch dishes and salty appetizers. So would the clean but assertive music of a fabulous 1960s band that has aged well: Spirit.

Occasion: The folks in Oregon’s Willamette Valley are excited about chardonnay — now planted primarily with Dijon clones Ponziafter the California stock bombed — and it’s easy to see why. The 2012 Ponzi Willamette Valley Reserve Chardonnay ($33) has one of the freshest aromas I’ve ever encountered with this varietal, and the wine follow suit, with a fruit-cocktail array of flavors and a texture that proves both racy and refined. The waves continue through the delightfully persistent finish. I can;t imagine a better match for shrimp or crab claws with a zingy/hearty cocktail sauce, and barbecued chicken would sing with this gem. Its lush/lively nature brings to mind the deep, rollicking music of harmonica maestro Little Walter.

30
Apr
2015
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Gleanings: 4-30-15

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It’s been fun being me of late, with several experiences to recount:

• More and more in recent years, I have found California cabernets/Bordeaux blends to be largely uninteresting, often Leviathanmonolithic and sometimes just plain boring. And that’s the high-end stuff. Well, thanks to Allen W. Witcher, managing partner at the local Capital Grille, I found one I really like, and it’s not too spendy ($48 a bottle). It’s called Leviathan, and is a side project for the winemaker at Screaming Eagle. The 2011 is earthy/herby but also packed with stuffing and fabulous acid/fruit/tannin/alcohol harmony. Yum.

• At a recent gathering my friend Mark brought a 1990 Barolo. It was tasty but not transcendent, and a reminder of why I tend to err on the side of drinking red wine younger than older. As Mark pointed out, “old Barolo tastes like old Bordeaux” — in other words, as good wines age, they lose the identity of their grape and site and become much more alike than when they’re younger.

MB1• The highlight of a Napa visit earlier this year was a visit to mountain vineyards owned by Jackson Family Wines, with the charming Kristen Reitzell of the Spire Collection as my host/chauffeur. First we went up Mount Veeder to the Mt. Brave property, which is lovely even by Napa standards. I recognized the building where the site’s former owner, Chateau Potelle, held its tastings. As good as Potelle’s wines were (they had a line called VGS, for Very Good Shit, that lived up to its name), the Jackson folks have made improvements that produce even better juice under the Mt. Brave label.

La Jota Estate Image-Estate VineayrdsThen we crossed the Napa Valley and climbed Howell Mountain to some remote vineyards where the La Jota wines are sourced. Like most vineyards, it was beautiful, but it also had a mystical feel to it, an ineffable sensation that something really special was happening here. The wine we drank the next day, not surprisingly, had a surpassing “sense of place.” Double yum.

• Wish I could write this good: Kort van Bronkhorst crafted the winning entry in The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers creative wine review competition. His hilarious offering:

“Toasted Head Cannabis Sauvignon: Oh Em Gee. This is a mind-blowing wine! Wooooooo! In the glass, it’s like a magenta kaleidoscope of shimmering, uh, wineness. On the nose, it reeks (and I mean that in a good way) of stoned fruits and wet earth. And if ever a wine was herbaceous, it’s this one. In the mouth, it turned my tongue into Playland at the Beach. Especially the Fun House. Yeah. Wow. Look at my head in that mirror! And Dudes, you really must pair this wine with food. Lots and lots of food. Like especially Taquitos, and Cheese Puffs, and that Munchie Pack that Jack in the Box serves after 11pm. Awright awright awright! Best of all, it’s only $4.20 a bottle, but I highly recommend getting a magnum so you can pass it around at your next party.”

28
Apr
2015
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Linkin’ logs: 4-29-15

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My way better half’s late, great mom used to serve ocassional dinners that she called “going to China,” meaning that chow-mein noodles were involved. This week, we go to China and elsewhere for tasty tidbits:

• I’ve been watching a bit of “Red Obsession,” a documentary about the Chinese and high-end Bordeaux, and have been turned off mightily by the how cavalier the people fueling price spikes are about money. (It’s not a Chinese thing; it’s a rich, perhaps mostly nouveau riche, thing.) Anyway, this plan to have the “highest” dinner party ever on Mount Everest fits that mold as well.

Yao• Speaking of rich Chinese people with major chutzpah, retired NBA millionaire Yao Ming took to Kickstarter to fund a winery project.

• Joe Roberts has a dandy look at what wine prices mean on one website, and offers up some interesting points on the priciest wines, how they got there and the role of us ink-stained wretches here.

• The estimable Elin McCoy deftly explains what makes a great restaurant wine list.

• A fun glance at what types of wine to pair with Hillary Clinton speeches.

• Finally, I get where this person is coming from:

Wine Sign

 

27
Apr
2015
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Wines of the Week: April 20-26

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Everyday: For those leery about spending the $20-plus for a good Sancerre (or most any Sancerre), the 2012 Domaine ChenesRicard Les Trois Chênes Touraine ($18) is a fabulous alternative. Seriously tasty fruit with citrus and pear notes and lush but tingly texture are the stars of the show, but alluring floral and fruit aromas and a super-clean finish shine as well. This is better than a lot of Sancerres I’ve sampled, and it’s a really versatile food wine, likely to play well with most any seafood preparation and perfect for salads with chicken in them. Plop in the plaintiff warbling of Iris DeMent and say hello to spring.

Occasion: When is a rosé worth splurge-errific prices? No, not when it’s brought to you by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Matthiasson(although the Miraval is a dandy wine). Rather, it’s when the wine is as ethereal, sexy and downright tasty as the 2014 Mathiasson Napa Valley Rosé ($26). A classic Provence-style rosé (syrah, grenache, mourvedre, counoise) coming in at 11.2 percent alcohol, this pale beauty delivers lovely berry and peach flavors and perfectly integrated acidity, dancing on the palate through the smooth, stunningly long finish. It plays well with everything fresh in spring — peas, greens, even asparagus — and most anything else, frankly. The sweet, soulful works of the criminally under-recognized NoLa clarinetist Dr. Michael White only enhance the proceedings.

 

26
Apr
2015
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Here’s to our health!

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Most of the evidence indicates that wine does have benefits to our health, especially in moderation. Which reminds me of one of my favorite toasts: “All things in moderation! Including moderation!” But I digress. Here are some wise words on wine and health:

Maggie“Precision and wine are the keys to a long life.” — Maggie Smith in “My Old Lady”

“Wine enhances food, reduces stress, kindles romance, promotes good health, and it certainly improves our dispositions.” — Margrit Biever-Mondavi

“Fermented beverages have been preferred over water throughout the ages: they are safer, provide psychotropic effects, and are more nutritious. McGovernSome have even said alcohol was the primary agent for the development of Western civilization, since more healthy individuals (even if inebriated much of the time) lived longer and had greater reproductive success.  — Dr. Patrick McGovern, et al., “The Origins & Ancient History of Wine”

“I have enjoyed great health at a great age because everyday since I can remember I have consumed a bottle of wine except when I have not felt well. Then I have consumed two bottles.” — Bishop of Seville

24
Apr
2015
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A great view: ‘The Secret of Santa Vittoria’

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Like a little cheese with your wine movie? A bit (actually a good bit) of ham? Well, I’ve got the flick for you.

“The Secret of Santa Vittoria” stars the king of 1960s ham-osity, Anthony Quinn, is a splashy comedy about an Italian town trying to keep nasty Nazis from purloining their precious fermented grape juice.

MussoliniIt’s the summer of 1943, and the ludicrously imperious buffoon Benito Mussolini has been overthrown. So the titular village chases off its Fascist mayor and, in ever so Italian fashion, installs town drunk Bombalini (Quinn) in his place. Soon the Nazis are encroaching, and they want the community’s cache of a million-plus bottles of ballyhooed wine. (Blessedly, the Nazis are more menacing than that era’s Col. Klink and Sgt. Schultz.)

A battle of wits ensues, and Bombalini proves anything but witless. Or hapless, thanks in no small part to the firm direction of Rosa (Anna Magnani) and the distraction of the fetching Contessa, Caterina Malatesta (Virna Lisi).

Quinn chews up scenery and spits out dialogue in mid-century method fashion, and the accents seem super-cheesy even from the Italian thespians. But it’s all great good fun and froth, and “Secret” garnered a Golden Globe Award for best motion-picture comedy.

The 1969 film, adapted from a Robert Crichton novel that spent 18 weeks atop the New York Times’ bestseller list, was Vittorianominated in two Oscar categories, film editing and music score; Quinn, Magnani and director Stanley Kramer got Golden Globe noms.

This movie is very much of its era — especially the dialogue (“Brave men and good wine, they don’t last long”) — but is well suited for those of us who love Italy as well as wine enthusiasts and anyone who gets a kick out of small-town shenanigans.

Now for the bad news: “The Secret of Santa Vittoria” is currently not available on DVD (well, Amazon has one for $55) or at Netflix, but is in semi-regular rotation on TCM. I’m also hoping, this being 2015, that we’re near the day when we can click and watch most any movie for a small fee.

23
Apr
2015
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Linkin’ logs: 4-23-15

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It’s a history-heavy week at Linkin’ Memorial High:

Titanic• A few years back, I wrote a piece about a Twin Cities man who had bought some wine found on the Titanic. Yes, that Titanic. Now comes word that Champagne from an 1840s shipwreck has been found and analyzed. Pass the flutes, please. In semi-related news, the U.S. government has made it illegal to age wine underwater.

• At the other end of the geographical spectrum, wine grapes might soon be growing in outer space.

• I’m starting to see a parallel here. Back in the day, the 1997 Napa cabs were ballyhooed and the ’98s lambasted. But time has 1998 Cabbeen much kinder to the ’98s than the ’97s. The 2011 season was cool and hinky like ’98; 2012 had “ideal” conditions like ’97. The ’11s I’ve had have been fascinating and generally of high quality, and perhaps made for aging like the ’98s. Laurie Daniel likes the 2011s, too. We’ll see about the ’12s, which are showing well now.

• A look at two dozen plus one cool wine labels from Grape Collective via Pinterest, or vice versa.

• Finally, a swell potential change to my keyboard:

Wine Key

 

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