----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)ME.UMN.EDU> -----
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 16:32:30 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)ME.UMN.EDU>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Que Syrah Sirah
Greetings,
Off to the newly remodeled Auriga, in search of Syrah/Sirah.
Thursday, 6:30. NW corner of Hennepin and Franklin
Auriga Rest.
1930 Hennepin Ave, Mpls, 55403
612-871-0777
Very nice food at Bobino. Parking tip for next time.
Off street lot meters have 4 hr. limits. 75 cents per hour. Not sure
who owns these.
Street meters are 2 hr limit, are enforced until 10:00
Best wag at who's coming:
Bob
Bill
Lori
Betsy
Nicolai
Jim (assuming I'm over this bloody head cold)
Russ
Annette
Cheers,
Jim
Syrah Superstars | November 2001
Back
Syrah Superstars
By MARK MAZUR
We asked producers to submit two Syrahs.one priced $20 or less, the other priced over $20. Last month, in Part One, we reported on the under-$20 set. This month, we sink our teeth into the upper crust.
This is the big leagues, the upper division finals. Wine Enthusiast.s intrepid tasting team, palates well-seasoned by Part One of our World Cup of Syrah, confronted a global selection of 200 wines priced over $20.some well over $20. Regardless of price or place of origin, these players are in this game for one reason.all were at least 75 percent Syrah, in conformance with ATF labeling regulations. In Part One (.The Next Big Thing,. October 2001), we covered the history and legends of Syrah as well as the less expensive bottlings. This month, we.ll get straight to the juice.
For starters, what do you get when you taste at the top? For sure, you get quality. Overall quality was significantly higher than in Part One.although not uniformly. In marked contrast to last month.s dearth of 90-point scores, this month, 56 wines.more than 25 percent of the wines reviewed.received scores of 90 points or higher.
What Price Performance?
We sampled Syrahs from a very broad price range (from $21 to $145).the most expensive wines were priced almost seven times higher than the lowest-priced wines. The top price could have gone higher, too, had we not already reviewed Penfold.s Grange, which carries a suggested price of $185 and usually retails for more, earlier this year. Flights were grouped in comparable price and geographic groupings, so wines were not blind-tasted against competitors costing twice or thrice as much, or directly against wines of vastly differing origin.
After .Is it good?. the inevitable question is .What does it cost?. Everyone is interested in the bang-for-the-buck factor. Wines at the lower-end of the price spectrum, those costing $28 and less, perhaps relate more to wines from Part One of our survey than the upper-end wines covered here. The strongest performers in this range are our Top Values.
Top Value is a qualification awarded to wines that retail above our normal Best Buy range, but are notable for their positive price-quality rapport. We only use the Top Value designation in our tasting features. We list 17 Top Values in the sidebar. Many other top-scoring wines were priced just above our defined cut-off points for Top Value in this survey. These warrant serious consumer attention, especially if discounted this holiday season.
Enthusiasts should remember that price, quality and rating are not necessarily related factors. Price is most often a factor of the scale of production.a wine made in small quantities will almost always cost more. We hope these wines will be excellent, but there.s no guaranteed correlation.
Price is also the product of specific marketing decisions, a factor that has no impact on our panelists. estimation of a wine. In tasting feature flights, samples are tasted blind. Reviewers do not know which wines, or the cost of the wines, they are tasting until after a rating has been assigned.
Where is the good stuff coming from? From all over the world.and also from a few select places. In the U.S., winemakers have taken to this Rh�ne variety, planting it just about anywhere grapes will grow. In California, although no single region stood out, we found a wealth of quality Syrah from all parts of the state. Further north, Washington turned in an impressive performance.evidence of just how important this grape may be to the future of the wine industry there.
Not surprisingly, we found a lot to like in Australia. Top wines came from many subregions, but South Australia, and especially the Barossa Valley, were strong performers. Predictably, France.s Rh�ne Valley.and, less predictably, the Languedoc.yielded great wines in numbers out of all proportion to the number of offerings tasted. Other parts of the world are producing Syrah, too.with growing success.
California: Quality all over the Place
It was hard to associate excellence with place in the assortment of top-ranked Californian wines. Two of our top wines, Sine Qua Non.s 1998 E-raised Syrah and Martella.s 1999 Hammer Syrah, bore the broad California AVA employed on many of the state.s least expensive wines. But sourcing fruit from different regions of California can afford winemakers a wider palette of fruit character to employ in blending, regardless of price. In Martella.s case, Sierra Foothills Syrah is blended with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
UNITED STATES
94 Dehlinger 1998 Syrah (Russian River Valley) $35
93 Sine Qua Non 1998 E-raised Syrah (California) $75
92 Dunham 1999 Lewis Vineyard Syrah (Columbia Valley) $45
92 L.Ecole No 41 1999 Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah (Walla Walla Valley) $34
91 Columbia Crest 1998 Reserve Syrah (Columbia Valley) $28
91 Garretson 1999 The Finn� Alban Vineyard Syrah (Edna Valley) $60
91 La Crema 1999 Syrah (Sonoma County) $24
91 Lewis 1999 Syrah (Napa Valley) $55
91 Martella 1999 Hammer Syrah (California) $24
90 Arcadian 1999 Gary.s Vineyard Robert O.Fleming Cuv�e Syrah (Monterey) $50
90 Artesa 1999 Syrah (Sonoma Valley) $28
90 Beckmen 1999 Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley) $35
90 Castle 1999 Syrah (Sonoma Valley) $22
90 Chameleon 1999 Syrah (Napa Valley) $31
90 Daniel Gehrs 1999 Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley) $25
90 Gary Farrell 1998 Syrah (Russian River Valley) $32
90 Hagafen 1999 Syrah (Napa Valley) $27
90 Io 1998 Red Wine (Santa Barbara County) $60
90 L.Aventure 1999 Stephan Vineyard Syrah (Paso Robles) $36
90 Limerick Lane 1999 Collins Vineyard Syrah (Russian River Valley) $36
90 McDowell 1999 Reserve Syrah (McDowell Valley) $24
90 Midnight Cellars 1999 Nocturne Syrah (Paso Robles) $24
90 Paloma 1999 Syrah (Spring Mountain) $36
90 Perry Creek 1999 Cellar Select Syrah (El Dorado County) $24
90 Ridge 1999 Lytton Estate ATP Syrah (Dry Creek Valley) $30
90 Rockblock 1999 Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah (Walla Walla Valley) $40
90 Sierra Vista 1997 Five Star Reserve Syrah (El Dorado County) $60
90 Three Rivers 1999 Boushey Vineyard Syrah (Yakima Valley) $35
90 Voss 1999 Shiraz (Napa Valley) $25
89 Bridlewood 1999 Winners Circle Selection Syrah (San Luis Obispo County) $24
89 Epiphany 1999 Stonewall Vineyard Syrah (California) $45
In California, excellent Syrah.like June in the song.is bustin. out all over. .Not long ago Syrah was scarcely acknowledged beyond a handful of growers and winemakers in California,. observes Mat Garretson wryly. The Paso Robles winemaker should know, as originator and organizer of the Hospice du Rh�ne, the world.s largest gathering devoted to Rh�ne grapes and wines.including, of course, Syrah.
.When we started, there weren.t many people to invite. Now it seems California is virtually exploding with Syrah. My winery is 100 percent devoted to Rh�ne grapes, none more than Syrah, and I work with a dozen different Syrah vineyards throughout the state. I.m honestly amazed by the grape.s strength and adaptability, its diverse, beautiful expressions from a wide range of soils, climates, elevations and exposures. In comparison, try growing Cabernet Sauvignon where it.s too cool.or Pinot Noir where it.s too hot.and see what you get..
Such wines as the complex and ageworthy Garretson 1999 The Finn� Alban Vineyard Syrah, from Edna Valley in San Luis Obispo County are a testament to his commitment. From nearby Paso Robles, check out L.Aventure.s dark and solid 1999 Syrah, or the handsome (and handsomely priced) Midnight Cellars 1999 Nocturne Syrah.
Santa Barbara County is becoming a hotspot for California Syrah.evidenced by the number of top-rated wines from this region and its subappellations of Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley. The darkly elegant Io, a Rh�ne blend containing (this year, anyway) enough Syrah to qualify for our survey, is from Santa Barbara County; Beckmen.s 1999 Purisima Mountain Syrah and Daniel Gehrs. 1999 Syrah both come from Santa Ynez Valley.
For all the success of the south-central coast, northern California wineries are also turning out fine Syrah. The top-rated American wine was Dehlinger.s 1998 Syrah from the Russian River Valley. Tom Dehlinger.s excellent Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have previously impressed our tasters, and his Syrah does not miss a beat. But finding it.like the Sine Qua Non, another very limited-production wine.may be tough. These are wines to buy from restaurant wine lists, as they will hardly ever be found at retail stores.
Besides Dehlinger, other excellent Russian River Valley Syrahs include offerings from Limerick Lane and Gary Farrell. Sonoma County.s many other AVAs are proving fertile for Syrah as well: La Crema.s 1999 is from Sonoma County, Castle.s 1999 is from Sonoma Valley and Ridge.s 1999 Lytton Estate ATP Syrah is from Dry Creek Valley.
Napa, too, deserves its due.the 1999s from Lewis, Chamleon, Hagafen and Paloma are all excellent efforts. McDowell.s 1999 Reserve Syrah shows Mendocino also can produce head-turning Syrah.
>From California high country, the El Dorado AVA in the Sierra Foothills gives evidence of a positive future for Syrah there, with such offerings as the formidable Sierra Vista 1997 Five Star Reserve and the appealing, affordable Perry Creek 1999 Cellar Select.
Washington: A Power Performance
In a surprisingly strong.and admittedly unexpected.performance, three of the top five American Syrahs were from Washington. Washington State growers have been putting Syrah in the ground virtually as fast as the nurseries make plants available.and in a variety of locations. .The nature of Syrah to reflect individual terroirs affords the ability to make a diverse assortment.or combination.of styles, as desired,. says Washington winemaker Eric Dunham, echoing observations heard earlier from California.s Garretson. .The impact of specific sites on the quality and taste of fruit is dramatic. Separate blocks within a vineyard can have vast differences. I try to reflect what I love about both the Aussie and Hermitage styles of Syrah, and blend to that end.
.If a single vineyard really stands out in a year, I.ll release a vineyard-designated wine,. Dunham continues. .However, most Dunham wines will be blends of fruit from contracted vineyards and from our own estate. I think year to year it makes a better wine.. This year, the Dunham 1999 Lewis Vineyard Syrah from the Columbia Valley tied for top Washington honors with the L.Ecole No. 41 Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah from the Walla Walla Valley. Widely available Columbia Crest turned out a dense, flavorful 1998 Reserve.
Australia: A Southern Constellation of Stars
You can field a full team of top wines from South Australia, Oz.s most productive wine region, and the one that accounts for almost half the country.s output. Among the 26 wines in the entire tasting rated 91 and above, 10 came from this state. The Barossa Valley, perhaps the most famous of the South Australian GIs, provided five of these 10. Most South Australian wine comes from GIs (not soldiers, mind you, but Geographic Indicators, Australia.s equivalent of France.s appellations and the U.S..s AVAs) around the city of Adelaide.
AUSTRALIA
- BEST BUY - CELLAR SELECTION - EDITORS' CHOICE
95 Barossa Valley Estate 1998 E&E Black Pepper Shiraz (Barossa Valley) $80
94 Grant Burge 1996 Meshach Shiraz (Barossa Valley) $145
93 Elderton 1997 Command Shiraz (Barossa Valley) $62
93 Jim Barry 1998 The Armagh Shiraz (Clare Valley) $100
92 Oliverhill 2000 Jimmy Section Shiraz (McLaren Vale) $33
92 St. Hallett 1997 Old Block Shiraz (Barossa Valley) $40
92 Yalumba 1997 Octavius Shiraz (Barossa Valley) $80
91 Frog Rock 1998 Shiraz (Mudgee) $25
91 Paracombe 1998 Shiraz (Adelaide Hills) $28
91 Tatachilla 1996 Foundation Shiraz (McLaren Vale) $40
91 Wynn.s Coonawarra Estate 1997 Michael Shiraz (Coonawarra) $49
Great Syrah on a budget? Yes, it.s possible. We generally award Best Buys to wines priced under $15, so there were no candidates in a tasting starting at $21. However, we definitely found wines that represent plenty of .bang-for-the-buck,. and that.s where our Top Value qualification comes in. It.s our way of identifying outstanding values in a price-defined tasting like this one. Here are 17 super Syrahs that make the grade.
91 Frog Rock 1998 Shiraz (Mudgee) Australia $25
91 La Crema 1999 Syrah (Sonoma County) California $24
91 Martella 1999 Hammer Syrah (California) $24
91 Paracombe 1998 Shiraz (Adelaide Hills) Australia $28
90 Castle 1999 Syrah (Sonoma Valley) California $22
90 Daniel Gehrs 1999 Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley) California $25
90 Fern Hill 1999 Shiraz (McLaren Vale) Australia $22
90 McDowell 1999 Reserve Syrah (McDowell Valley) California $24
90 Midnight Cellars 1999 Nocturne Syrah (Paso Robles) California $24
90 Perry Creek 1999 Cellar Select Syrah (El Dorado County) California $24
90 Reilly.s 1998 Dry Land Shiraz (Clare Valley) Australia $25
90 Voss 1999 Shiraz (Napa Valley) California $25
89 Rosenblum 1999 England-Shaw Vineyard Syrah (Solano County) California $21
89 Russian Hill 1999 Syrah (Russian River Valley) California $22
89 Santa Barbara Winery 1999 Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley) California $22
89 St. Andrews Estate 2000 Ceravolo Shiraz (Adelaide Plains) Australia $22
89 Te Awa Farm 2000 Longlands Syrah (Hawkes Bay) New Zealand $21
.Barossa has a climatic profile that suits the Shiraz grape,. observes winemaker Natasha Mooney, maker of the Barossa Valley Estate 1998 E & E Black Pepper Shiraz, which tied for top honors in our World Cup Part Two with France.s J.L. Chave 1998 Hermitage. .The warmth of the growing period and little rain during the summer allows even ripening of both fruit flavors and tannins,. she continues. Previous vintages of E & E have also rated well (the 1996, 91 points and the 1997, 90 points), and the great 1998 vintage has yielded a truly superb wine.
Other impressive wines from South Australia included Oliverhill.s 2000 Jimmy Section Shiraz and Tatachilla.s 1996 Foundation Shiraz from McLaren Vale. From Clare Valley, Jim Barry.s 1997 The Armagh; from the Adelaide Hills, Paracombe.s 1998 Shiraz; and from Coonamwarra, Wynn.s Coonawarra Estate 1997 Michael Shiraz round out South Australia.s lengthy list of star performers.
France: Old and New Strengths
France.s Rh�ne Valley set the original standard for quality Syrah and continues to do so. Six of our top-rated wines are French, despite France.s many fewer entries than Australia or the United States. The J.L. Chave 1998 Hermitage tied for top overall honors. It.s totally different from, but equally as impressive as, the Aussie with which it shares the top spot. The intense, fabulously expressive bouquet, beautiful balance and structure of this wine promise great life, and follow more than a decade of steady, fine performances from this estate. And with this family background, why not? The venerable Chave family has been engaged in viticulture since 1481.before Columbus sailed to the New World.
FRANCE
- BEST BUY - CELLAR SELECTION - EDITORS' CHOICE
95 J.L. Chave 1998 Hermitage $100
94 M. Chapoutier 1999 Les B�casses (C�te-R�tie) $75
93 Alain Voge 1998 Cuv�e Vieilles Vignes (Cornas) $45
92 Domaine de Nizas 1998 Coteaux du Languedoc $28
91 Abbotts 1999 Cumulo Nimbus (Minervois) $35
91 Paul Jaboulet A�n� 1999 Les Jumelles (C�te-R�tie) $68
90 No�l Verset 1998 Cornas $45
90 Rene Rostaing 1998 C�te-R�tie $55
88 Bernard Chave 1999 T�te de Cuv�e (Crozes-Hermitage)$21
87 Delas Fr�res 1997 Marquise de la Tourette (Hermitage)$58
87 Perrin 1999 Crozes-Hermitage $24
Other impressive Rh�ne offerings include M. Chapoutier.s 1999 C�te-R�tie Les Becasses, Alain Voge.s 1998 Cornas Cuv�e Vielle Vignes (generally deemed the lesser of his two cuv�es) and Paul Jaboulet A�n�.s 1999 C�te-R�tie Les Jumelles. As you might expect, they are less forward and fruit-driven than almost all of the New World offerings. But all are wines of great substance and depth, with fine aging potential. Many C�te-R�ties contain a small percentage of white Viognier, which can contribute unusual, frequently impressive aromatics.
Syrah has become important beyond the Rh�ne.in fact, all across France.s southern growing regions. The Domaine de Nizas 1998 Syrah from Coteaux de Languedoc is made by Bernard Portet, the French-born winemaker at Napa.s Clos du Val winery. .For me, this was a fantastic opportunity to close a life-circle,. comments Portet. Having grown up in a French wine family (his father worked at Ch�teau Latour), Portet says, .I came to Napa 30 years ago with the intention of making California wine with a French accent. I have now returned to supervise winemaking at an estate close to where I went to school, to learn to make wine..
The property, largely run-down, is undergoing extensive renovation and replanting. Fifty acres remain of the 120 planted when it was purchased in 1998 by John Goelet, a Clos du Val partner. .We.ve kept the best of the older vines, and will be replanting at about 10 acres per year over the next decade. The potential at Nizas is just fantastic, and very energizing,. says Portet, during a break in harvest at Clos du Val. Another attention-getter from France.s south was Abbotts 1999 Cumulo Nimbus, from Minervois.
The Global View: Up-and-Comers
Everyone wants in the game, and there.s tasty Syrah coming from all over the world now. South African growers and vintners have made a serious commitment to the grape, mostly.but not uniformly.called Shiraz there. Though not yet fully realized, the grape definitely has an important place in that nation.s winemaking future. The Abraham
Perold 1996 Op Die Berg from Paarl was our top-rated South African entry, with Slaley.s 1999 Hunting Family Shiraz from Stellenbosch and Fairview.s 1999 Cyril Back close behind.
GLOBAL
- BEST BUY - CELLAR SELECTION - EDITORS' CHOICE
90 Abraham Perold 1996 Op Die Berg (Paarl) South Africa $145
89 Mills Reef 1999 Elspeth Syrah (Hawkes Bay) New Zealand $28
89 Slaley 1999 Hunting Family Shiraz (Stellenbosch) South Africa $28
89 Te Awa Farm 2000 Longlands Syrah (Hawkes Bay) New Zealand $21
89 Varramista 1997 IGT Toscana Italy $51
88 Fairview 1999 Cyril Back Shiraz (Paarl) South Africa $24
88 Spice Route 1999 Flagship Syrah (Swartland) South Africa $30
87 Montes Alpha 2000 Vi�edo Apalta Syrah (Colchagua) Chile $22
87 Rust en Vrede 1998 Shiraz (Stellenbosch) South Africa $22
86 Saxenburg Estate 1998 Private Collection Shiraz
(Stellenbosch) South Africa $30
86 Simonsig 1998 Merindol Shiraz (Stellenbosch) South Africa $45
Australia may have the experience and the market jump, but in New Zealand, the plucky Kiwis, too, are taking to Syrah. Hawkes Bay is the region with the most promise.Mills Reef.s 1999 Elspeth Syrah and Te Awa Farm.s 2000 Longlands Syrah demonstrate the possibilities for Syrah in this other Pacific island nation.
South America is perhaps a step behind, but is hustling to catch up. Top performers from our neighbor continent to the south were Chile.s Montes Alpha 2000 Vi�edo Apalta Syrah from Colchagua and Argentina.s Finca La Anita 1996 Syrah from Mendoza. More, better wines are coming as growers and winemakers increase their familiarity with Syrah.
In Italy, where Syrah is now a legal component of Chianti, there is interest and achievement. The 1997 Varramista from Tuscany impressed our tasting panel as a sign of great potential. Surely more is to follow.
Conclusion
There.s a tremendous amount of delicious wine available at many prices, from many places, to the prospective Syrah buyer. Our World Cup of Syrah has confirmed our sense that Syrah.or Shiraz, whatever your preference.is poised to be the ascendant red wine of this decade. This is the grape the growers and winemakers have put their markers on. Happily, there is already a dazzling selection of quality offerings to choose among, and a rosy.er, a dark red, aromatic, deeply fruited.future ahead.
We reviewed over 200 Syrahs for this tasting, but didn.t have the space here to reprint them all on the Web. For the complete listing of all the Syrahs we tasted (plus tasting notes), see the print version of the November 2001 issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings,
Off to Auriga, in search of Syrah/Sirah. Thursday, 6:30.
NW corner of Hennepin and Franklin
Very nice food at Bobino. Parking tip for next time.
Off street lot meters have 4 hr. limits. 75 cents per hour. Not sure
who owns these.
Street meters are 2 hr limit, are enforced until 10:00
Best wag at who's coming:
Bob
Bill
Lori
Betsy
Nicolai
Jim (assuming I'm over this bloody head cold)
Russ
Annette
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> -----
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 14:05:00 -0500 (EST)
To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu
Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor - WT101: Syrah, Shiraz, Sirah
From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com>
THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Wednesday, March 2, 2005
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IN THIS ISSUE
* WT101: SYRAH, SHIRAZ, SIRAH Get ready to compare and contrast in this
month's Wine Tasting 101
* BOGLE 2002 CALIFORNIA PETITE SIRAH ($9.99) A taster-friendly
introduction to the Petite Sirah style at an affordable price.
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SYRAH, SHIRAZ, SIRAH
Big, peppery, earthy and robust, or soft, fruity and slightly sweet?
Rough and tannic, demanding cellar time, or slurpy and simple, meant for
drinking now? Depending on circumstances and the bottle you choose,
Syrah can meet either of these seemingly contradictory descriptions ...
and that's before we've even started talking about Shiraz or Petite
Sirah.
This month in WINE TASTING 101, we'll sort out the differences among
these familiar names. Today, let's touch lightly on all three, setting
up the framework that we'll fill in with tasting and talking during
March.
SYRAH, by most reckonings one of the world's handful of truly "noble"
wine grapes, may reach its pinnacle in the Northern Rhone, first and
foremost in Hermitage but also memorably in Cote-Rotie, not to mention
Cornas, St.-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage and more. It's also an important
player - most often in blends - in the Southern Rhone, Languedoc and
Provence; and it's a hot variety in California, where it leads the
market category jokingly called "Rhone Rangers." It's gaining
recognition in Spain, Italy, South Africa, Washington State and just
about every other world growing region. And it's the leading grape of
Australia under another name ... more about that in a moment. Syrah,
according to legend, was brought back to the Rhone from ancient Persia
by a French Crusader, Gaspard de Sterimberg, who is said to have put
down his sword and shield, planted a vineyard atop a beautiful mountain
above a sweeping curve of the Rhone, and declared the place his
"Hermitage."
The French name for the grape took its name from the Persian city of
SHIRAZ, where the Crusader is said to have found it; and by
happenstance, when cuttings were shipped to the new colony of Australia
in the early 1800s, the grape took back the Persian name. Syrah in
France, Shiraz in Australia, but it's the same grape, even if local
custom and vinification practices might make it seem like two different
wines. South Africans, by and large, have adopted the Australian name,
although curiously, a handful of New Zealand producers who are
experimenting with it - largely on relatively mild Waiheke Island near
Auckland - prefer to call it Syrah, perhaps in a gentle jab at their
neighbors to the west. A minority of California producers also use
"Shiraz," perhaps to signal that their wine is made in a fruit-forward
Australian style.
Finally, PETITE SIRAH, a completely different grape, confuses the issue
with a similar name that was almost certainly chosen in hope of being
mistaken for the more respected variety. A California pioneer, it's
still found in some ancient vineyards, intermingled with other
varieties, that can make some of the state's most interesting wines.
Actually the same as the low-rent Southern French grape called Durif,
it's a 19th century cross between true Syrah and another little-known
French variety, Peloursin. Some tasters find a superficial resemblance
to Syrah in the inky, fruity if rather one-dimensional wines that Petite
Sirah makes; good examples can survive for decades in the cellar,
staying little changed until they finally start to develop interesting
complexity after 20 years or more.
You're encouraged to taste the Syrahs, Shirazes and Petite Sirahs of
your choice this month, the drop in to WT101 to share your tasting
reports and talk about your impressions. For those who enjoy comparing
notes with others who've tasted the same wines, I have selected three
New World "benchmarks" in the relatively affordable $10 range. Prices
shown are those I paid in Louisville at a national-chain wine shop, Cost
Plus World Wines, and may vary in other parts of the world:
* Cline 2002 California Syrah ($13.99)
* Yalumba 2002 South Australia Shiraz ($10.99)
* Bogle 2002 California Petite Sirah ($9.99)
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TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE
Remember, you're encouraged to participate actively in WT101, our free
online wine-education program that's aimed at sharing information, and
gaining experience reporting your wine-tasting experiences, in a
friendly and supportive community of online peers.
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If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at
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Let's leap right into the WT101 action with a quick tasting report on
this month's "benchmark" Petite Sirah. This widely available bottling
gives a good sense of the grape in a rendition that's full of lip-
smacking fruit, ready to enjoy right now.
BOGLE 2002 CALIFORNIA PETITE SIRAH ($9.99)
Very dark purple, black in the glass, with a day-glo violet edge.
Attractive black-plum and blueberry aromas, fruit-forward with hints of
smoke, seem typical of Petite Sirah. Ripe and juicy black fruit and
tangy acidity meet on the palate, so fruity that there's a brief
impression of sweetness, but so tart and powerful with nearly 14 percent
alcohol that it seems to finish dry. Tannins aren't perceptible, but
good structure and balance elevate it above a mere "fruit bomb." (Feb.
28, 2005)
FOOD MATCH: Bold enough to call for robust fare. Red meat or sharp
cheese would be welcome; it went nicely with a more offbeat dinner
choice, fettuccine alla carbonara made with American smoky bacon.
VALUE: Very good value for $10. U.S. prices for this wine range from $8
to $13, so shop around.
WHEN TO DRINK: Although it lacks the tannins of top-rank Petite Sirahs,
there's no reason to believe that this one, like its varietal kin, won't
last for many years in the cellar and eventually develop aged-wine
character.
PRONUNCIATION:
Petite Sirah = "Peh-teet See-rah"
WEB LINK:
Here's Bogle's fact sheet on the 2002 Petite Sirah:
http://www.boglewinery.com/factsht.htm#petite_sirah02
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Bogle Petite Sirah on Wine-
Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Bogle%2bPetite/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=W…
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Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Copyright 2005 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
----- End forwarded message -----
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* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Cross posting this from the Chicago Beer list.
FYI.
----- Forwarded message from Zemo <zemo(a)BUYVICTORY.COM> -----
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 10:10:23 -0600
Reply-To: Zemo <zemo(a)BUYVICTORY.COM>
From: Zemo <zemo(a)BUYVICTORY.COM>
Subject: igourmet offer
To: CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
Precedence: list
Once a year igourmet offers Free Shipping for One Day Only.
Check out www.igourmet.com and below.
NAJASC
Z
HOW TO GET FREE SHIPPING:
1. Order a minimum of $75 worth of igourmet products this coming Tuesday
(3/8/2005), with all items shipping to a single address.
2. Type in the Promotion Code 4C79 during online checkout or mention it when
ordering by phone (toll-free 877-446-8763).
3. igourmet will ship your package using the most appropriate shipping
method, regardless of the shipping method you choose during checkout.
4. Your order will ship to arrive no later than ten business days after the
date of purchase.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings,
Mostly an update, and an article on Fr. wine.
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:11:05 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Brian's Brdx Bash at Bobino (CORRECTION)
Greetings,
We're going to Bobino, to check out the new chef.
Thanks for the correctors and the responders....
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
X-MessageWall-Score: 0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 14:02:12 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Brian's Bordeaux Bash at Erte
Greetings,
A quick correction. The 510/La Belle Vie deal is far from done.
510 will most likely remain open until a new tenant is found.
LBVie says they are looking at "several Mpls locations."
This week, we're trying to pull Brian back into the group.
So we're doing Bordeaux wines at BOBINO , 6:30 on Thursday.
Sparkling/white/ringer/dessert wines always welcome.
Bobino 222 E. Henne 612-623-3301
Note that the meters are no longer "Free after 6:00".
Rates vary.
Who: (mostly guesses)
Wine Pro Bob
Wine Pro Lori
Betsy
Russ and Sue (mostly whites and bubbles)
Bill
Janet
Ruth G.
Jim
Nicolai
Karin
Brian
Big S sale starts soon/tomorrow (3/1 [vip] - 3/19).
Thomas Liq sale starts today.
Aurora in Chaska starts today (?).
Cheers
Jim
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
WINE & SPIRITS
Who's killing the great wines of France?
Facing a crisis, the French wine industry is finally forced to loosen its grasp on tradition.
By Corie Brown
Times Staff Writer
March 2, 2005
The notion that French wine has fallen into the hands of philistines is sure to find an audience when the documentary "Mondovino" is released in L.A. theaters April 29. Director Jonathan Nossiter belabors that idea for two hours, 17 minutes and 11 seconds, cutting back and forth between crusty traditionalists in worn sweaters and suspendered trousers who absolutely love terroir and their spiritual opposites: chain-smoking pragmatists in fancy cars who hawk modern methods of manipulating wine.
"Mondovino" is a lot of things; subtle, however, isn't one of them.
The French wine industry is in crisis. More comfortable basking in tradition than questioning it, French winemakers are rethinking the rules governing how they make and name their wines, the grapes they grow and how they are grown. Even the look of their wine labels is being reconsidered. The French government is scrambling to promote its wines in America, even . gasp . considering a Madison Avenue advertising campaign. (Champagne already has one, and it's the one French region for which sales are actually climbing.)
The debate central to "Mondovino" . one that's raging across France's storied wine regions . only appears to be a tug of war between art and commerce. Those stark contrasts grow fuzzy in the gray light of the real issue: The world is not buying enough French wine. Market forces aren't known for encouraging individuality . Velveeta sells better than Taleggio. But for the first time in the history of French wine, the demands of the global market are an unavoidable fact.
"It has taken a while for our producers to understand that there is a problem," says Christian Berger, the agricultural counselor with the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. And even now that they have accepted that fact, "there is no unanimity at all on what should be done."
Wine looms large on the French economic landscape. Representing 12% of France's agricultural production, it accounts for $9.9 billion of the country's gross domestic product. French wine sales worldwide have been gradually eroding for years. The situation became a crisis last year when wine exports (excluding Champagne) fell 6.7% in volume and 9.2% in value on the heels of 2003 sales, which were considered dismal, according to the French Federation of Exporters of Wines & Spirits.
Making matters worse, French wine consumption has dropped to historic lows, with the country drinking half as much wine per capita as it did in 1960. An aggressive federal campaign against drunk driving is part of the reason, according to Berger. Strict new standards, more stringent than those in California, have the French thinking twice before having a second glass of wine with dinner.
But the real problem is there's too much French wine. Hoping for a quick fix in the region that appears to be hardest hit, the government is paying grape growers in Bordeaux to rip up marginal vineyards and turn surplus wine into industrial alcohol. So far, however, only 475 acres of a targeted 25,000 acres of vineyards have been plowed under. The government plans to distill a whopping 250 million liters of wine from the abundant 2004 vintage into alcohol, 10 times as much wine as would be distilled in a typical year; most of it is labeled Appellation d'Origine Contr�l�e (AOC). Still, it won't be enough to sop up all of the surplus.
*
Altering the structure
Ultimately, it is the structure of the wine industry that must change, according to Ren� Renou, a Loire Valley winemaker and the current president of the powerful National Committee for Wine of the AOC, the organization charged with enforcing the country's strict regulations for the making of premium wines. Renou has proposed a radical overhaul of the country's winemaking rules . the most sweeping changes since the AOC was codified in 1929 . to give winemakers greater latitude in how they make and sell their wines.
"People say I am burning the history of France," quips Renou. But perhaps the better analogy is religion, he says, "like when they changed the way the priest says Mass," referring to the Catholic Church's decision to abandon Latin for modern languages in the 1960s. French wine sales are suffering, he says, because France has failed to modernize its winemaking industry.
Renou advocates producing less AOC wine. Perhaps 10% of it isn't up to minimum standards, he says. "We can't anymore tell the nice wine story to people and not have it correspond to what is in the bottle," he says.
When pressed about how much wine he'd like to see taken off the market, Renou backpedals. "We're France. If you push too far, winegrowers will riot. They go on strike and shout in the streets. The politicians don't like it." While there is no formal schedule for considering Renou's proposal, he says the French government could enact it as early as this year.
It likely will take longer. "France acts as if it still has a monopoly on wine and can insist that consumers learn our complicated wine story," says Renou. "We have lived for centuries where the only problem was to make the wine producer more comfortable. Today our problem is to make the customer more comfortable. They buy whatever they like."
And they are buying American, Australian, Chilean, Argentine and South African wines along with improved wines from Spain and Italy. For $10, these wines may not equal fine French wine, says Renou, but they can be very good. And from the point of view of the American consumer . Renou likes to refer to a grocery store shopper in Little Rock, Ark. . they are infinitely easier to comprehend.
"A second way to understand wine has been created by the New World. It's about the grape type, the color, the sugar," he explains. In other words, it's easier to understand Pinot Noir than to memorize the appellations of Burgundy. "In Little Rock, wine is a quick, immediate pleasure, no dream, no story, no explanation. The New World is more efficient. The French are not prepared for this world," he says.
America matters because the U.S. spends more money on imported wine than does any other market in the world. And while French wine sales have fallen in America, overall consumption here is inching up. Americans now annually consume roughly 10 bottles of wine each, up from seven bottles 10 years ago. Compared with the French, who drink an average of 77 bottles a year, there is plenty of room for the American market to grow.
The falling value of the dollar . a 40% shift over the last three years . is making the American market more and more difficult to navigate. What was a $10 bottle of French wine in 2001 now costs $14, taking into account the shifting exchange rate. Wines from outside Europe haven't experienced the same currency fluctuation, or the resulting price increases.
Most French vintners have cut their prices to try to keep their wines competitively priced, according to American importers. But often that's not enough. "With the 2000 vintage, I sold thousands of cases of Bordeaux wine for $7 a bottle," says Steve Winfield, a Los Angeles-based importer who sells only Bordeaux wines. "I'm scouting for wines with the 2003 vintage that I can sell for $7, and they are hard to find. Everyone's margins are squeezed."
There is no crisis for the best French wines, says Berger. "At the top of the market, prices are a bit crazy, rising higher and higher every year with no problem selling the wine. The difficulty is for the middle and lower end segments. The global market for wine is more competitive there. There are plenty of new producers."
And for these wines, America is the most important market. "The bulk of the market is new to wine," says Berger. "They don't know much about it, and they apparently like wines that are fruity with a lot of sugar. Our product is not as well suited to this market as, say, Australian wine. French wine is more subtle. We have no big brands. Our labels are difficult to read."
Bordeaux winemakers, says Berger, have been the most outspoken critics of the changes proposed by Renou. After record sales of its celebrated 2000 vintage, "it has been hard for them to come down to earth," says Berger. "The situation is very tense in Bordeaux."
*
Two branches of AOC?
Renou has proposed bifurcating the AOC into a higher and a lower level, or, he says, they can be considered "the complex and the simple."
A new "excellence" category would require winemakers to follow more stringent controls on wine grape growing and winemaking than current AOC rules demand. The top 20% of current AOC winemakers likely would opt for this "excellence" category, Renou estimates. This is the luxury market for traditional wines, and "it must be protected," he says.
A second level of AOC wines, what Renou refers to as "normal" wines, would be allowed to disregard many of the current AOC rules. These are the ones that must compete with emerging international wines, he says. Winemakers who opt for this category should be allowed to consider any grape-growing and winemaking protocol. "Winemakers would propose their ideas to the National Committee for Wine, and we would decide if those ideas would be permitted," says Renou. "Everything is open for discussion, while today it is prohibited to even talk about these ideas."
That means the question of when or how to irrigate vineyards or what grapes to plant . variables that are tightly regulated now throughout France . would be considered. There would be fewer restrictions on what grapes could be blended together in particular wines as well. While Bordeaux and Rh�ne blends would remain tightly controlled for the "excellence" AOC, second-tier wines could have broad latitude with what could be considered for their blends. In appellations in which blending is not now allowed, it would be permitted in the second tier. Rules also would be relaxed concerning blending grapes harvested from different parts of a region or even across regions, among other things, according to Renou.
What about allowing the addition of oak chips during barrel aging to exaggerate certain flavors, as is practiced in the U.S. and Australia, for instance? "Why not?" says Renou. "We have to allow people to make decisions for themselves about their own wine."
At the same time, Renou would like the French wine industry to police itself more aggressively on quality. Producers who ignore vineyard yield limits, a common occurrence today, says Renou, should not be allowed to call their wine AOC. This overproduction "must disappear," he says. "If we want to say we are the best, each bottle must be checked."
Renou's proposal also would relax AOC labeling rules to allow varietal names and other New World conventions. While there are AOCs (such as Alsace) that use varietal labeling, most don't. Winemakers have to opt out of the AOC, labeling their wines simply vin de table, to do these things now.
The French government isn't waiting for the AOC rules to change. It is taking small but significant first steps to help French producers sell their wines in the United States. "We didn't usually attend wine events in America," says Berger. "Now we are going, asking for advice on what we should do to improve sales. The idea is to give our producers a higher profile."
Last month, the government sponsored its first five-city sales tour . Miami, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles . for producers eager to find American importers. It's the kind of dog and pony show the Spanish and Australian wine industries have been taking on the road for at least a decade. In Los Angeles, 30 vintners poured wine tastings for distributors.
"We decided to be proactive," says Charlotte Selles-Simmons, a producer whose family has been making wine in Beaujolais and Burgundy since 1820. She recently redesigned the domaine's labels to make them more appealing to Americans.
"We make it so difficult to buy French wine," she says. "Especially for the $10-and-below wines. Showing the varietal name on the labels at this price point is crucial. Then they don't have to get out their reading glasses, they don't have to ask for help."
It's also about looking modern, she says. The bottle has to stand out, which isn't easy in a crowded grocery store wine aisle. New World wine regions have been doing it for years. Even Italy and Spain are sprucing up their labels. If you don't do it, there is no hope of creating a brand name that consumers will remember, Selles-Simmons says.
Selles-Simmons sells her wines through Trader Joe's, but she would like to find a traditional distributor as well.
The model for Selles-Simmons? E.& J. Gallo's Red Bicyclette.
Gallo is showing us the way, says Berger. "Joe Gallo has the guts to believe in French wine, to put his money there to make something happen. We are very thankful for that," he says, noting that the Gallo wines produced in France are increasing the sales of French wine in America.
Gallo, the savior of French wine? The chasm separating the French government from the traditional vintners in "Mondovino" just got a little wider.
