12
Oct
2014
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Poetry in vinous motion

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There’s no question that wine can move a man (or woman) to verse, and there have been some dandy results when that transpires. To wit:

When in joy we tap the cask
All our dreams bring what we ask.
DrinkingDrink it! Drink it! Kindly Friend,
Then our cares will swiftly end,
Drink to you, then drink to me,
Pledge our dual prosperity.
— Old French Poem

Four fresh-opened oysters,
Soft as grey velvet,
Cold as deep-sea water;
One long-stemmed glass
Half full of light Rhinewine,
Tasting of fruit-flowers
— Trevor Blakemore

“Velvety brown and bitter-sweet,
a thimbleful cupped on the tongue,
swelling in the mouth
like the nipple of Pomona
(Roman goddess of fruit)”
— William Fahey, on Marsala

11
Oct
2014
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Wines of the Week: Oct. 6-12

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Everyday: Spanish reds that are both rustic and ripe fit squarely in my wheelhouse. The 2011 Protos Tinto Fino Ribera del Duero is just such a Protoswine, tasty and hearty, with ripe fruit and that earthy/dusty thang jostling back and forth all the way through the substantial finish. The winery opened in 1927 and won gold medals at the 1929 World Exposition in Barcelona, an event that makes me long for a time machine. Hearty lamb or spicy sausages and Cajun dishes pare great pairing options. The rollicking new gem by veterans Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers is a splendidly suitable soundtrack.

Occasion: Consumers should be just as excited as West Coast winery folks are about the 2012 vintage, as I recounted in my other venue this week. SojournTypical of that year’s bounteousness is the 2012 Sojourn Rodgers Creek Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($48 at the winery, $55 average on wine-searcher). Herbs and other forest-floor elements dominate the nose, and bright, complex berry/cherry flavors roll across the palate. The fruit, tannins and acidity stay in perfect harmony throughout. Some fall game — pheasant, quail, wild boar — or simple roast chicken and/or winter squash will cozy right up to this wine. The smooth but powerhouse work of one of rock’s first supergroups, Blind Faith, is the perfect playlist.

10
Oct
2014
0

Merlot recommendations

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It was 10 years ago this week that “Sideways” unleashed a line that ostensibly led to merlot’s demise Except that merlot already was fading in popularity before that, and it was mostly the bad merlot that fell by the wayside.

There’s a buttload of great merlot out there, especially from Washington. (One note re. this list: There is no Bordeaux because the vignerons generally don’t say how much of any grape is in their bottlings.) Among the best options:

Bogle$12 and Under
• Bisquertt Colchagua Valley La Joya Reserve
• Bogle California
• Columbia Crest Two Vines
• Copa del Rey Maipo Valley
• Hogue Columbia Valley
• Snoqualmie Columbia Valley

 

Rust$12-$20
• Benziger Sonoma County
• Clos LaChance Central Coast
• Columbia Crest Horse Heaven Hills
• Columbia Winery Columbia Valley
• Folie a Deux Sonoma County
• Milbrandt Columbia Valley
• Murphy-Goode California
• Pedroncelli Dry Creek Valley Bench Vineyards
• Rust en Vrede Stellenbosch
• Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells

L'Ecole$20-$40
• Charles Krug Napa
• Craggy Range Te Kahu Gimblett Gravels Vineyard
• Gordon Brothers Columbia Valley
• Hogue Columbia Valley Reserve
• L’Ecole No. 41 Walla Walla Valley Seven Hills Vineyard
• Milbrandt Wahluke Slopes
• Pine Ridge Crimson Creek
• Seven Hills Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley Seven Hills Vineyard
• Woodward Canyon Columbia Valley

Northstar$40-$60
• Barnett Spring Mountain
• Duckhorn Napa
• Hestan Vineyards “Stephanie” Napa
• Northstar Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley
• O’Shaughnessy Howell Mountain
• Paloma Napa
• Rocca Yountville
• Shafer Napa
• Spring Valley Walla Walla Valley “Mule Skinner”

BlackbirdOver $60
• Beringer Bancroft Ranch
• Blackbird Illustration
• Duckhorn Three Palms Vineyard
• Leonetti Walla Walla

9
Oct
2014
0

This Hails fellow is well vetted

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Most winemakers, when asked what they wanted to be when they were growing up, will throw out standard answers like fireman or pro athlete. In that, among other aspects, Sean Hails is not like most of his peers.

Hails 2“Growing up, a friend’s family had a vineyard,” said the affable Canada native. “The industry was coming into its own, and they were pulling out native grapes to plant vinifera [European grapes]. And I just loved that, and then couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

So he studied microbiology at Ontario’s University of Guelph, and immediately headed to Wine Country: Australia, then Canada’s Okanagan Valley and Niagara Peninsula. And finally California to work for the Gallo folks, who knew a good man when they found one and installed him as winemaker at Columbia Winery in Washington.

It was an apt fit.

“The legacy that struck me first was the older tradition, with David Lake,” Hails said of the man who released Washington’s first single-vineyard wines. “He was the first one up here to plant pinot gris, syrah and cabernet franc. So stepping into that role, I thought that was something I can’t not do.”

In a few scant years, Hails has rejuvenated the winery’s tradition of quality wines for affordable prices. The 2012 merlot is laden with gorgeous blue fruit, the cabernet replete with body and soul, plus darker fruits and cocoa. (Both have deft dollops of syrah, btw.)

The 2012 chardonnay, meanwhile, is stunning: refreshing and downright delicious, with just-right acidity, a splendid mouthfeel and a delightfully brisk Columbia chardfinish. Good luck finding a better — or more food-friendly — $15 chardonnay than this one.

These wines spring from a combination of Hails’ science background and work ethic. He chooses and monitors every vineyard the winery uses. “Some days we’re driving and tasting for 10 hours,” he said, adding that most of the white grapes come from Yakima Valley and the reds from Wahluke Slope and Horse Heaven Hills. “The diversity of grapes is huge.”

So is the diversity of yeasts and oak treatments that this microbiologist explores.  “I’m always using new yeasts and types of barrels. But I do have a few go-to yeasts and go-to coopers.

“We do a lot of work in the vineyards, and every day in the winery you’re making decisions. I don’t want [his bosses] thinking ‘what do I need you for?’ ”

Not much chance of that.

7
Oct
2014
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Linkin’ logs: 10-7-14

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Today at Linkin’ Memorial High, we journey all over the map, including to certain, uh, nether regions:

• It never had occurred to me that my favorite sportswriter and my favorite beverage could be connected, but Evan Dawson makes a great case for it in a splendid mashup of Roger Angell and wine.

Jura• There has been a lot of buzz about wines from France’s Jura region (left) of late, and I have had some fabulous (and a couple of not-so-fabulous) wines from there. Here’s a great overview of the area and its wines.

• For those of us who can’t get enough of Northern California’s wine regions, this is one hell of a bucket list.

• Most veteran cork dorks have likely had a range of experiences on this front: Wine Folly tries to get at the relationship between wine and sex drive.

• Finally, here’s the way some of us view the ideal time to quaff some fermented grape juice:

Wine Tuesday

 

6
Oct
2014
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Wines of the Week: Sept. 29-Oct. 5

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Everyday: Possibly the most encouraging trend in the wine world of late has been the variety of styles chardonnay makers are embracing, not long after Snoqualmiea bland, unctuous sameness prompted the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) movement. The 2012 Snoqualmie Columbia Valley Chardonnay ($11) is gorgeous on the nose and dark in the glass (a lovely gold) for such a light and lively wine, starring stone fruit and lovely little jolts of acidity. This white beauty fairly dances across the palate and gets seriously clean on the finish. A salad with lightly grilled tuna, some corn chowder or shrimp bisque and roasted acorn or butternut squash are among the great pairing options. The hearty and heartfelt J.J. Cale tribute from Eric Clapton, “The Breeze,” makes this tasty gem even easier to wash down.

Occasion: It’s tempting to sneak the 2010 Macul “Domus Aurea” Upper Maipo Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($65) into a flight of California cabs, Domusso supple and smooth are its charms. But this red is  a bit more persistent than many of its Cali counterparts, with the spot-on tannins making their presence felt throughout the long finish, where the plum and currant flavors still shine as well. The cooler weather provides a host of potential accompaniments, including most any duck preparation and some similarly silky braised short ribs. Toss in crystalline vocals of Dinah Washington, and you’re talking a nigh onto perfect autumn evening.

3
Oct
2014
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Well-scripted wine words

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The stage and screen have brought us no shortage of interesting observations on our favorite beverage. A few of my faves:

Corleone• “I like to drink wine more than I used to.” — Vito Corleone in “The Godfather” (left)

• “Give me a bowl of wine. In this I bury all unkindness.”
— Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare’s play

• “The last time that I trusted a dame was in Paris in 1940. She was going out to get a bottle of wine. Two hours later, the Germans marched into France.” — Sam Diamond in “Murder by Death”

• “I love everything that’s old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine.” — Oliver Goldsmith, “She Stoops to Conquer”

2
Oct
2014
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Gleanings: 10-2-14

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Well, it’s been a hectic and hellaciously fun stretch here. A few gleanings from recent experiences:

Picnic

• Thanks to one of the coolest and nicest people in the biz, my friend Kate’s introduction to Wine Country was especially memorable. Kent Rosenblum (left), whom I caught up with last month, invited us to a picnic at a Russian River Valley vineyard he owns, Lone Oak. The weather was perfect. The food was amazing (my first abalone, and hopefully not my last). The setting … well, when someone from Napa/Sonoma calls a place “really beautiful,” as my friend Ann (second from left) did in this case, that’s saying something; it was magical Chardand mystical. And of course there were delicious wines on hand, including a stunning 2o1o Rock Wall Chardonnay. Its freshness and vibrancy indicate that Kent’s daughter Shauna has quite a future as a winemaker.

• That blissful 3 1/2-plus-hour outing came on the heels of judging for the Sonoma Harvest Fair. For those those who think that’s more fun than work, two words: 52 zinfandels. My puckered mouth made me feel like Moe Howard after drinking allum-laced punch in the Three Stooges classic “No Census, No Feeling.” Somehow amidst all that, I correctly identified a Carol Shelton wine. She makes distinctive, delicious zins, and our panel awarded her Rocky Reserve a double gold. Another stunner: a dessert chardonnay from Sonoma-Cutrer.

• As if a week in Sonoma weren’t euphoric enough, I was blessed with an unforgettable night of wines (maybe my favorite array ever) with some friends
Baroloto fete my retirement/transition. The food at It’s Greek to Me was downright fabulous, and one wine after another stood out, with just one slight disappointment among a slew of 20th-century bottlings: a 1964 Barolo, older than my friend Brian who brought it and still fill of life; a stunning 1985 white from Laville Haut Brion; stellar red Bordeaux from 1982 and ’85 and Chateauneuf-du-Papes from ’90 and ’99 and the otherworldly 1992 E. Guigal La Mouline.

• I never cease to be surprised when a red wine turns out to be better on the second night — not “still good,” better, 24 or so hours after it was opened and sampled. This seems to hold especially true for Rhone grapes and blends. The latest example: the 201o Philippe Gimel Saint Jean du Barroux L’Argile, which got both heartier and smoother in a day’s time. Some wines, as they say, just get better with age.

1
Oct
2014
0

A great read: ‘The Man Who Made Wine’

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Your mission, should you decided to accept it (and you absolutely should):

Set aside a couple of hours on a lazy, hazy afternoon (or any other kind). Turn off all electronic devices, except perhaps for a stereo playing chamber music. Pour a sizable serving of Bordeaux (or whatever), and settle into an easy chair with J.M. Scott’s “The Man Who Made Wine.”

ScottThis book is the very definition of a reverie, evolving from engaging to engrossing, and deserves a suitable environment in which it can be savored like … you know.

Basically, the novella encompasses one night’s ruminations of Michel Rachelet, covering his 53 years as vigneron at Chateau La Tour-St-Vincent. Just like the vintages of wines, his path has its ups and downs, but the writing is infused with a warmth and passion that quickly have us caring deeply for M. Rachelet.

Indeed, this character is an embodiment of the kinds of wines the best Bordelais vintners produce, with that ineffable combination of intensity and elegance. When Rachelet says he “would not have changed places with an emperor,” we believe him.

Happily, Scott does not fall into the trap of going wine-geeky or oversentimentalizing Rochelet’s reflections.

In fact, with wonderfully detailed descriptions of what transpires in the vineyard and cellar, this would make a dandy primer on winery work for the budding enthusiast. Meanwhile, those who love wine in general and Bordeaux in particular are highly unlikely to find a better afternoon’s or evening’s companion.

(The book appears to be out of print but can be found at public libraries. And I bought a copy at a very reasonable price at the wonderful website biblio.com.)

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