26
Oct
2014
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Wines of the Week: Oct. 20-26

Everyday: Bonarda, a grape known as charbono on these shores and tagged with the unfortunate name douce noir elsewhere, often finds great Tercosexpression in Argentina. The Tercos Mendoza Bonarda ($13) is all darkness: a smoke-laden nose, lots of lush purple and black fruit, a toasty edge in the midpalate and semi-lengthy finish. Yet it’s more medium- than full-bodied, with nice spice, surprising acid and soft but semi-grippy tannins. Any food worth some char on it, whether through roasting or cooking with fire, is a nice match: root veggies, pot roast, grilled lamb burgers. The wizened, toasty/tasty Leonard Cohen’s new album (or any album by this octogenarian master) provides fitting accompaniment.

Occasion: They say wine is a living, breathing thing. Not sure who “they” are, but there’s enormous vim, verve and, yes, life in the 2012 and ’13 Cadaretta Columbia Valley SBS ($21). CadarettaThe acronym stands for sauvignon blanc (72 percent) and semillon (28 percent), and what a perfect blend of Bordeaux’s white grapes this Washingon standout is, with the honeyed semi-thickness of the latter grape buffering the sharp citrus and stone fruit laden with jolts of acidity of the former. This wine reminds me of the fabulous Italian dish saltimbocca, which translates as “jumps in the mouth.” And that classic, whether made with the traditional veal or fowl rolled with prosciutto, cheese and sage, is a great paring, but so is most any chicken preparation. Some up-with-life joyfests from Martha Reeves & the Vandellas sound just right with this.

24
Oct
2014
1

Chillin’ wine sagas: ‘Blood on the Vine’

If there’s anything I love almost as much as wine, besides of course my WAY better half, it’s mysteries, especially of the British ilk. Inspectors Morse and Lewis, “Sherlock,” “Foyle’s War,” “Cracker,” Inspector Lynley, “Prime Suspect,” etc. They need to show some darkness but not be too gory or just hope-free (“Luther”), but mostly not too frothy (“Hetty Wainthrop,” a few iterations of Miss Marple).

So imagine my delight when I discovered “Blood on the Vine,” a series of 90-minute mysteries set in France’s vineyards and featuring a wine expert/critic as the initially reluctant hero. BloodTurns out that Benjamin Lebel has a great nose for wine and a pretty darn good one for sleuthing, once he catches the bug.

That takes him to Champagne, Cognac country, Sauternes, the Loire and other vine- and blood-splashed landscapes; snippets of this would make a great travelogue. Murder is not always at the heart of the story, but uncovering who’s contaminating wine and why can be just as shadowy a scenario. Learning a little bit about wine is just a bonus of soaking in these smart and sophisticated sagas

Pierre Arditi inhabits the Lebel role with equal parts savoir-faire and edginess, grace and grit. His two sidekicks and a detective help unravel the cases, and these characters develop nicely as the series moseys along. There are two sets available now, each containing four 90-minute episodes.

With just enough shifty characters and unexpected turns and twists, “Blood on the Vine” is a compelling, often riveting offering. If it was a wine, it would be a Right Bank Bordeaux: full-bodied and lush yet light on its feet.

23
Oct
2014
0

Magical, mystical wine places, Part Deux

I continue to get fabulous responses to a query I sent out recently, asking wine folks to write about “an oh-wow experience at a particular vineyard or AVA … it can be about terroir, or beauty, or something mystical/ethereal, or all of the above, whatever makes it feel special.” The first set was posted last week; here are more, all about a certain country:

Lonny Isenberg, Haskell’s, Minnetonka
“My wow experience was our trip to the Rhone Valley in southern France. I love the wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and was looking forward to Gigondas IIvisiting there. The wines and region that really stood out for me, however, was Gigondas. [Wife] Kim and I  fell in love with it.

“The quaint little town itself, set on a hillside off  the main road, is beautiful. It doesn’t appear to have changed  much since Roman times. We had lunch at a little restaurant off the square that was one of the best meals of our trip. We sat outside on a terrace, even though the mistral winds were kicking up, to soak in the view.

“The wines were fresh, distinctive, and balanced. They reflected where they were grown without any of the over-ripeness that some of the more modern CDP producers are moving toward, and they went beautifully with the food. We’re looking forward to going back!”

Peter Vars, Thomas Liquors, St. Paul
“How do you describe energy in wine?  I spent a dreary day tasting and touring the Jura vineyards of Domaine de L’Aigle à Deux Têtes with Le Roywinemaker Henri Le Roy (left) earlier this year.  We had a chance to walk the small, organically farmed plots at the very end of the valley of Vincelles where grapes consistently struggle against frost and available light.

“As we stepped into the shabby looking En Griffez vineyard, we worked against the heavy red soils of iron-rich clay as they clung to our boots.  It was twilight as he pointed out all the vines that failed during flowering as frost took most of his potential harvest … it was almost the entire vineyard.  This is the fate of many vignerons so deep in the valley as cold air settles at the foot of the hill.

“We moved into his damp and dark cellar to taste his chardonnay, savagnin, poulssard and marc; wine pulled from barrel, proof that the vine can endure in some vintages. We all tasted very quietly. The wines were transcendent. It was as if there were beams of light coming out of the barrels … incredible energy!  We all looked at one another and realized how special those shabby vineyards were, when they survive the cold Jura nights.”

Annette Peters, Domaines and Appellations importer
“Becoming wine-educated back in the ’70s and ’80s was not as easy as it is today.  There were basically only two books: SchoonmakerAlexis Lichine’s wine encyclopedia and a Frank Schoonmaker book. Neither of these have pictures, maybe an ink sketch now and then, but generally imagination was required. I pored over these books, creating the slopes, delineations, chalky soils,  grape varieties, trellises and sweeping vineyards vistas. Taste and read. Read and then taste.  Going to see the vineyards was only a dream.

“In 1994 I made my first trip to Europe.  I had worked in the wine business for over 10 years.  I had been to California and seen shiny steel vats and my first vineyards, too, but never France. … We were a band of wine sales reps from the Midwest who had sold enough wine to win a contest and would hopefully sell even more after this educational junket.

“France was like an old black-and-white movie I had watched as a kid. Smoke curling up from tiled roofs, wine-laced stews bubbling in cauldrons over fires, and ancient walls that crumble into fields where knights once rode into battle. It was shocking if you’d never seen it before.  A chatty compatriot says “everything is sooo old here!” In a real good way, you silly.

“My eyes dart between a crumpled red Michelin map and back to the passing vines. The grapes are anonymous to me at this point. The van slows and turns from the highway. Nuits‘NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES this way’ the sign says!  I see the slope ahead rising up to the edge of a forest; the Morvan plateau just like the book described. Nuits, you are a long and narrow appellation. You look like a normal French village, but you are special. You are not a place; you are flavor and texture.

“And Premeaux-Prissey, there you are, you lucky dog. You get to use the AOC designation, too. You have no Grand Crus, but 41 Premier Crus. Placards line a post, so many names I cannot read them all: Gouges, Arlot, Chevillon, Mugneret. My heart is racing. With each name is a recollection of a wine tasted, or desire to taste those I have not. Years of reading and imagining, ideas are confirmed or negated in a moment.”

“I am in Burgundy.

“I may never ever be this fortunate again.

“It was like Schoonmaker and Lichine were riding along. They whisper in a British accent ‘We tried to tell you.’ ”

22
Oct
2014
0

Gleanings: 10-22-14

What a month! Perhaps the two best wine dinners I’ve attended, at least from the bottled-juice standpoint. Tons of fabulous trade events and even a home visit from a fetching young French woman (have I mentioned that I love my gig, and my life?). Highlights:

Hermitage• The deeper I delve into wine, the more I realize how little I know about it. At a fantabulous Northern Rhone tasting the other night, my friend Nico said we would do a flight of “La-La’s,” the amazing Côte Rôties from E. Guigal, before the vertical (1988-90) of J.L. Chave Hermitages (left). Once I sipped the ethereal but intense 1990 La Mouline, I hazarded a guess: “Is it because the Côte-Rôties are more feminine than the Hermitages?” “Oui,” said. Nico (he’s French). That La Mouline, btw, was my runner-up Wine of the Night to the ’89 Hermitage.

Yael• The next morning Yaël Sacy (left), ambassador extraordinaire from the stellar Champagne house Louis de Sacy and an almost dead ringer for “Ferris Buehler”-era Mia Sara, dropped by for a visit with my friend Ulf. She recounted the origins of her family’s vineyards in Verzy back in 1633, although they were dormant for eons until Yaël’s grandfather started making bubbles in the 196os. I asked if the winery stamped disgorgement dates on its bottles, as many others are doing. “No,” she said. “That date can mean anything, or it can mean nothing.” She showed similar straight-shooting when describing our first bottle. “It has zero dosage. With no sugar, you cannot hide anything.”

• Being a pack rat, I have stuffed wine-themed papers into a few folders over they years. In sorting through one last week, I found a Xeroxed clip from almost 150 years ago that my friend Bruce had unearthed and shared. I was going to try to describe it before I realized I could just shoot a photo and share that:

 

Gleaning

 

21
Oct
2014
0

Linkin’ logs: 10-21-14

Is  wine more about art or science? Or just about fun? This week’s links might provide an “all of the above” answer.

Football• The gifted crew at looky wine blog VinePair have concocted one of the cooler info-graphics I’ve seen, on pairing for a football-watching crowd.

• A few years back, stories surfaced of unsold tons of French wines being converted into ethanol. Here’s more on how our favorite beverage’s byproducts can be turned into biofuel.

• There appears to be some evidence that young wines are better for you than old wines. Wine Folly examines the issue.

• It’s a bit less scientific, but every bit as believable: We should ditch the flutes and sip Champagne from a regular wine glass. At least the good stuff. I actually find the big ol’ Oregon pinot noir glasses from Riedel to be the optimum conveyor.

• Joe Roberts makes a strong case for why wine reviewers should be regarded in the same way as music or movie or book reviewers. I concur, for better or worse.

• Finally, some words to live by:

Therapy

 

20
Oct
2014
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Wines of the Week: Oct. 13-19

Everyday: Sometimes I wonder if many of the vintners in Argentina shouldn’t yank up their malbec vines and plant cabernet. If so, maybe more of Catena 2them could make a wine as hearty and tasty as the 2011 Catena High Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon ($16). I certainly haven’t had a malbec with as much structure as this bold red, which boasts dark-berry flavors, a wee bit o’ spice and a delightfully grippy midplalate and finish. Turns out the Catena Zapata family planted these high-altitude vines decades ago, which explains the concentration of this beauty. Make the most of our extended autumn by firing up the grill and plopping on most any cut of beef or lamb to pair with this. Grooving to some early Santana (dig the album cover!) sounds about right.

Occasion: I have seen the future of California wine, and it is … gruner veltliner? Not really, but if the stunning 2013 Habit Santa Ynez Valley HabitGruner Veltliner ($31) is any indication, the grape has a dandy future in at least some pockets of the Golden State. The purity and focus are off the charts, and the bracing midpalate only somewhat prepares you for the almost explosive finish. Oh, and it’s flat-out delicious, with tropical and lime notes and a touch of gruner’s trademark white pepper. The fruit is dry-farmed, and the juice fermented in stainless steel. Grill some chicken with almost any seasoning or sauce and dig right in with this; or save it for a Thanksgiving mega-treat. The pristine piano compositions of Frederic Chopin, played by the nonpareil Vladimir Horowitz, provide a sublime soundtrack.

16
Oct
2014
0

For these wine lovers, magical, mystical places

One of the major side benefits of being a wine enthusiast is visiting the regions that spawn our favorite beverage. Beside the truth in the old saw “grapes like to grow in beautiful places,” Me 2we can get up close and personal with the vineyards, tasting rooms, people and wineries. The food’s usually stellar, too, btw.

A while back, my friend Bill Abrahamson sent out an email extolling the virtues of an area he had just visited. So I decided to ask others to write about “an oh-wow experience at a particular vineyard or AVA … it can be about terroir, or beauty, or something mystical/ethereal, or all of the above, whatever makes it feel special.”

The answers have been fabulous, heartfelt, articulate and imbued with passion. Rather than hack them down to have them all fit in one post, I’ll be doing them four at a time, lightly edited. These hit four different countries; next week’s post will have a decidedly French accent

Bill Abrahamson, Top Ten/Northgate stores, Twin Cities
“California’s Central Coast is home to some of the state’s most fascinating wine regions. The juxtaposition of the Pacific Ocean with its air-conditioning powers, the mountain ranges folding in both north-south and east-west orientation along with limestone soils that were once ancient sea beds, lifted up by millennia of violent plate movements provide geeks like me with endless opportunities for exploration. 

“In one of the newest AVAs in the region, Ballard Canyon, I was presented with one of the most compelling examples of terrior I have ever seen. BallardStanding on a ridge above the city of Los Olivos looking southwest, one can take in almost all of the viticultural region.

“The cool and constant 20-mph breeze coming from the gap in the east-west-running mountain range pulls cool ocean air through the cities of Lompoc, Buellton, Solvang and beyond, to the hot Mojave Desert to the east; 15 to 20 inches of broken-up topsoil lay on top of a few hundred feet of broken-up limestone. The sun sends intense rays down onto these vineyards as they are at the same latitude as North Africa (thank goodness for the ocean).

“The growers in Ballard Canyon have put their faith in syrah and roussanne, not the most commercially viable varietals on the market today, but the results so far scream “right grapes in the right place!” Refreshing these days that you find people putting passion ahead of economics. The wineries of Ballard Canyon are building it, and the people will come around eventually.”

Victoria Norvell, Lucia’s restaurant and Stinson wine store, both Minneapolis
“How is it possible to pick just one memorable wine experience? The most subjective and complicated beverage on the planet? Yet all wine lovers probably have that moment, where everything just merges to form a magical important experience. For me, it was in 2004, when Lucia [Watson, chef/owner of the restaurant] and I made a trip to the Loire Valley in central France. We booked a five-day visit with stops all along the Loire River, an incredible landscape filled with wineries and castles.

Allias“Turning into an ancient courtyard, we arrived at Domaine Allias in Vouvray (left), where we were greeted by an elegant older woman. Expecting our visit, she led us into the tasting room, where she had organized six bottles of the chenin blanc they specialize in. All the while she ran from tasting room, across the courtyard (in heels) to the kitchen to check a roasting chicken, as we continued tasting.

“Afterward, we were given a tour of the cellar. What an experience! An underground cave with the most amazing smell of apples and wet cement. You could feel the organic aliveness of this cellar.  Hanging stalactites of mold hung from the ceiling. But it didn’t feel dirty or unkempt. The cellar was like a living, breathing organism, all for the greater good of the wine making. This made sense to me, but I had never seen anything like it before.

“One particular wall had dugouts for a bottle from each year going back to the 1800s. The only years missing were two during WWII. The hospitality of Madame Alias and her pride in the clean, crisp and complex flavors of well-made organic chenin, the smell of roasting chicken, and the mystery of an old family cave made this memorable.

“An amazing tour, with lessons in both organics and history.”

Bill Hooper, winemaker at Paetra, Oregon:
“The town of Forst is located directly on the German Wine Road (Deutsche Weinstraße) in the Pfalz region. You won’t find the dramatic steepness of the Mosel or Mittelrhein vineyards here, but rather the sunny charms of a quaint village tucked into the gently climbing slope of green vines and flowering fruit trees more familiar to visitors of Burgundy or Alsace.

“What sets the vineyards of Forst apart isn’t the scenery, though, but the soil. Thanks to a large volcanic pocket in the forested mountains above the town, the vineyards here are Basaltlittered with basalt, an extremely rare (in Germany), mineral-rich igneous rock that quickly weathers into clay (I can also say from personal experience that it is among the most pain-in-the-ass soils in which to plow or dig). It acts like a super-food for vines and has great nutrient and water-holding capacity, which is very beneficial in this dry southwest corner of the country.

“The Forst vineyards are rightly planted almost exclusively to riesling, and it is on this soil where riesling gives her most exotic performance. This is not the Granny-Smith apple and steel of the Mosel, but a spicy, aromatic extrovert ([Importer] Terry Theise aptly refers to these wines as ‘Cajun.’) The wines are fuller-bodied, lower in acidity, and most often quite dry. The heavier soils produce thicker skins that contain more aromatic compounds and also provide a sort of armor against botrytis, allowing the bunches to hang intact well into the autumn.

“The most famous (and at 200€ per square meter, the most expensive) vineyard in Germany is the Kirchenstück, which along with the Jesuitengarten has the heaviest basalt soils, and the wines are the biggest and fullest-bodied in these two vineyards. Ungeheuer is higher up and closer to the forest and has more sandstone and chalk mixed in, resulting in slightly lighter, more lively wines. The Pechstein vineyard borders the town of Wachenheim and the Muschelkalk (shell-rich limestone) vineyards within, and a blend of these two soils makes for the most elegant of the Forst wines. The greatest producers of these wines are Bürklin-Wolf, Bassermann-Jordan, von Winning and Georg Mosbacher.

“That these wines are so prized in Germany makes them more scarce abroad, but any and all of them are worth seeking out. They are among the great and most delicious wines of the world, are remarkably age-worthy, and an important chapter in the story of riesling.”

Chuck Kanski, Solo Vino, St. Paul
I’m fortunate that my career (passion) has allowed me to visit some wonderful places in this world. Often I’m at a winery that I’ve been drinking and supporting for years. Sometimes I feel that I’ve been there before and I’m just now returning home. Like many of us, regarding travel, great to go but can’t wait to get back home. To sleep in my own bed, drink coffee from my favorite mug.

Austria“In only one place in all of my travels have I felt like I WAS at home … Austria! Just landing at the airport and seeing people who ‘looked like me’ (I’m Eastern European). Austrian cuisine also brought back memories of dinners that my grandma cooked. And everyone that I met seemed to have a LONGER story than me.

“The wine to me was also something I wasn’t prepared for. Gruner veltliner, to me, is the ‘great rabbit hole’ of white wine … how one grape varietal can express itself in such a range of styles, a truly remarkable wine. The more I taste gruner, the more excited I become. I never feel like I really understand it or even want to. I just get excited about what it wants to tell me next. And like the people that I’ve been fortunate to meet in Austria, it tells me a very long story!”

15
Oct
2014
0

Linkin’ logs: 10-15-14

It’s geography time at Linkin’ Memorial High this week, with hap’nin’s far and wide and right here in Tundraland:

• We start in Bulgaria, part of that buzzed-about behind-the-old-Iron-Curtain area that might be on the verge of becomingBulgaria 3 a playa in the wine world. Foreign investors think so, anyway.

• Closer to home, my friend Sean Sutton has released his annual list of Washington’s top 100 wines, and it’s interesting not only for the choices but the way it’s categorized, including rising stars, “Taste the Place” and … malbec.

• The Evergreen State’s neighbor to the south apparently is harvesting one fantastic vintage, a “juggernaut.”

Shatner• I bow to William Shatner in most all realms. For those who haven’t heard it — or those who have — this video of one of his musical nuggets is a hoot. And now, his realm includes wine, tasting with sundry folks in his inimitable fashion. (H/T my pal Fred)

• I had fun compiling this list of “party wines,” plus backups. But it was more work than I expected, to avoid repeating previous Star Tribune touts. (Regular readers of this blog will recognize at least a few wines). Plus I kissed a buttload of frogs to find these.

• Finally, someone has come up with another good use for pumpkins:

 

Wine Chillin'

I

 

 

14
Oct
2014
0

Gleanings: 10-14-14

It’s been a glorious stretch of weather, food and trade tastings, not necessarily in that order. As I collate my notes from the events, I also have encountered some fascinating (at least to me) aspects of wine:

• Had an interesting tasting experience with my friend Mark earlier this week. We were checking out four cabernets from Sonoma and Napa, from the 2011 vintage save for one. They were nice enough, but all had “holes” in them: no midpalate or no finish or too much greenness or too soft tannins. So we decided to mix a pair to fill in the holes. Olema’s ample midpalate helped punch up Hook & Ladder, and Hook & Ladder’s nice finish filled in Olema’s almost nonexistent one, while Olema’s black fruit and Hook & Ladder’s red fruit played together nicely. Then the Freemark Abbey’s sturdy structure  and fresh midplalate enhanced Hook & Ladder, while the latter’s bright berry flavors offset the “green” elements of the Freemark Abbey.

ZinI often urge budding wine enthusiasts — or, hell, experienced ones — to get a group together and have everyone bring a similarly priced version of the same varietal. I will now add this counsel: Think about individual wines’ imperfections and see if another wine on hand can mask or offset them. Fun stuff.

• I get weekly emails from the fabulous magazine Lapham’s Quarterly with excerpts from an article, and the most recent one had this from a letter written by English author Charles Lamb in 1930:

“It is an observation of a wise man that ‘moderation is best in all things.’ I cannot agree with him ‘in liquor.’ There is a smoothness and oiliness in wine that makes it go down by a natural channel, which I am positive was made for that descending. Else, why does not wine choke us? Could Nature have made that sloping lane not to facilitate the downgoing? She does nothing in vain.”

• The rewards of going to Wine Country are many and varied. One that came up on our recent Sonoma sojourn unfolded at the MacPhail tasting room in MacPhailthe seriously cool Barlow complex in Sebastopol. The pinots were superb, and the wagon sculpture (left) was swell as well. But perhaps the most fun part involved trying two 2012 chardonnays from the same vineyard, Gap’s Crown. They even came from the same tanks, with one batch staying away from oak and the other getting a moderate oak treatment.

The unoaked wine was gorgeous, with a big, tropical nose and buoyant flavors, very expressive. The oaken rendition was more lush, and the oak was apparent, but it actually magnified the fruit rather than subsuming it, on the nose and palate. Both were exceptional wines, but conventional wisdom holds that oak tamps down fruit flavors, and that was far from the case here. Live and learn, I reckon.

• Trying to decipher the standards around labeling on American wines is a mission from GodHades. But Decanter’s Andrew Jeffords explains (and elucidates a bit):

“Another layer of trust concerns the information which consumers can find on labels, and in particular information about variety, vintage, alcohol level and regional origin. Much of this looks precise, but is in fact approximate. In most US states, for example, a 2013 varietal Chardonnay labeled 13% abc [alcohol] could include 25 per cent Muscat, be 14% abv (or, less probably, 11.5% abv), and include 15 per cent of wine from 2012.

“If the Chardonnay claims to be from an AVA, then 15 per cent of the blend could have come from outside that AVA. If it says it comes from a county or state, then 25 per cent could have come from outside that county or state (though not in the case of the biggest wine-producing state, California, which has a 100 per cent requirement). How are we doing on trust here?”

• Finally, this apparently is a thing (in more ways than one):

Penis Wine