win February 2006

win@thebarn.com

6 participants
12 discussions

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Had a wonderful, relaxing evening at Chez Gregory. Many Thanks to our hosts! Thursday: Spanish wines at Alma at 6:30 Christopher Lori Bob Betsy Ruth Jim/Louise (one pour) Russ/Sue (mostly whites for Sue) Nicolai Alma Restaurant 612-379-4909 528 University Ave. (a few blocks SSE of Surdyks, Bobino) Other items of interest. Surdyks wine sale starts tomorrow. February 22, 2006 Wines of The Times Rioja, Serene Above the Trendy Fray By ERIC ASIMOV LET me say it straight out: I am a Rioja partisan. While other regions all over Spain have won acclaim in the last decade for their new and exciting red wines, I keep returning to Rioja, the best-known Spanish region, which all too often is overlooked in the obsession for identifying the latest trends. Compared with Priorat, Ribera del Duero or even newly emerging, up-to-the-minute areas like Bierzo, Rioja offers little to those who revel mostly in discovery. The truth, though, is that Rioja is ripe for rediscovery, and the exceptional 2001 vintage offers the perfect opportunity to do it. The 2001's started coming onto the market a year or so ago. Some have disappeared from the shelves already, while others have not yet been released. Regardless, the Dining section's wine panel was easily able to accumulate 25 bottles for a recent tasting of red Riojas from the vintage. Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, Mani Dawes, an owner and the wine director at T�a Pol, a tapas bar in Chelsea, and Ron Miller, the ma�tre d'h�tel of Solera, a Spanish restaurant on the East Side. The wines we tasted ran a gamut of styles and, at $8 to $250 a bottle, of prices. We included wines labeled crianza, which must be aged at least two years (one year in barrels) before being released, and reservas, which must be aged at least three years, with a year in oak. We also included wines without such designations. These wines are sometimes referred to as new wave or "alta expresi�n," and often, though not always, are made in a modern, powerful, concentrated style. It may not seem fair to taste a simple $11 crianza like our best value, the Conde de Valdemar from Bodegas Valdemar, alongside a $250 bottle like the Grandes A�adas from Bodegas Artadi. Perhaps not, but the two wines give you an idea of the ends of the Rioja spectrum. On the one hand you get the idea of why Rioja crianzas are among the best red wine values in the world, offering juicy, balanced pleasures without the chief afflictions of cheap red wines: overbearing sweetness and heaviness, or wan, insipid character. Other worthy inexpensive crianzas that we liked but that did not make our list include Campo Viejo for $12, Montecillo for $8 and Dinast�a Vivanco for $17. On the other hand you have the Grandes A�adas, a patently ambitious wine that succeeds in every way, giving you the generous opulence that is characteristic of modern wines today without losing the spicy berry-vanilla character that is so often a mark of Rioja. Its price is a high one for any wine, high enough to put this wine out of reach of people for whom $250 has any meaning. Yet I suppose it's proof that Rioja can make wines as profound as the most in-demand cult wines of Napa or St.-�milion. Personally, when I feel the need for proof of the greatness of Rioja, I'm more likely to seek out a defiantly old-school bottle, like a 1985 Vi�a Tondonia Gran Reserva from L�pez de Heredia, which you can still find at retail for around $75. Next to a wine like the Grandes A�adas, this one feels almost weightless, as graceful and subtle as a fine Burgundy. In the old Rioja tradition, the wine was aged for more than 15 years before it was released. It will probably be years before L�pez de Heredia releases its 2001. As much as I love this classic style of Rioja, I have to acknowledge the excellence of wines like our top choice, the Torre Muga from Bodegas Muga. Even more than the Artadi, it manages to offer a modern expression of Rioja without sacrificing traditional character. Perhaps the biggest difference between wines like the Torre Muga and the L�pez de Heredia is the texture, which in the Muga is rich and concentrated rather than light and graceful. Muga, by the way, makes two reasonably priced reservas, both of which made our list. The more expensive Selecci�n Especial is dense and spicy with plenty of oak, while the other reserva, though a bit disjointed, had tremendous potential for a $23 bottle. Incidentally the remaining wines near the top of our list . including the Cune Pagos de Vi�a Real, the Se�orio de San Vicente and the Marqu�s de Murrieta Ygay Reserva . all have evident oak aromas and flavors, and frankly we did not have a problem with that. Ordinarily, I am opposed to obvious oakiness in wine, even though wine and oak belong together like peanut butter and jelly. Just as the sandwich maker is challenged to maintain the proper ratio of ingredients to avoid either glueyness or oversweetness, so must the winemaker create an exquisite balance between the character of a young wine and the powerful aromas and tannins that can be imparted by the barrel in which it ages. To put it another way, far too often winemakers ruin the sandwich by overdoing the oak: ideally, oak should be felt and not tasted. But Rioja has a long and proud relationship with oak. And contrary to my attitude toward its presence in most other wines, I like oak in Rioja. It belongs there, though I can't help adding a qualifier: as long as it tastes like an integral part of the wine rather than the sort of garish makeup or cheap cologne . choose your metaphor . that is so often layered on top of a defenseless wine. Yet it cannot be just any kind of oak. The spicy vanilla quality of Rioja often comes from American oak. In most wine regions barrels made of American oak are generally thought to overpower most wines, which is why, except for a very few Californian and Australian producers, most winemakers who use small barrels opt for French oak. In Rioja the opposite is true. The aromas and flavors of American oak barrels unite seamlessly with Rioja wine, while wines aged only in new French oak tend to have a toasty quality that is a departure from the flavors most often associated with Rioja. My impression is that all of our favorite Riojas spent at least some time in American oak. Curiously, before American barrels became popular in Rioja in the late 19th century, the Bordeaux influence was predominant, and French oak was far more common. Let's just say that, like most great wines, Rioja is a wine of contradictions. Tasting Report: The Reds of '01, Aged in Oak and Ripe for Rediscovery Bodegas Muga Torre Muga $85 *** � Deliciously perfumed, full of spicy fruit; lavish and harmonious. (Importer: Tempranillo, New Rochelle, N.Y.) Cune Pagos de Vi�a Real $115 *** Rich, tannic and well upholstered, with balanced spice, vanilla and fruit flavors. (Pasternak Wine Imports, Greenwich, Conn.) Bodegas Artadi Grandes A�adas $250 *** Rich and complex, with raspberry, spicy vanilla and floral flavors; well balanced and nicely textured. (Wine Cellars, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) Se�orio de San Vicente $36 **� Deep and complex, with evident oak; improves with exposure to air. (Tempranillo, New Rochelle, N.Y.) Marqu�s de Murrieta Ygay Reserva $25 **� Lush, plump and pleasing, with well-balanced oak and fruit flavors. (Paramount Brands, Port Chester, N.Y.) Bodegas Muga Reserva Selecci�n Especial $32 **� Dense and tannic, with pure, spicy flavors and lots of oak; will benefit from a couple of years of aging. (Tempranillo, New Rochelle, N.Y.) Bodegas Muga Reserva $23 **� Extravagant floral, fruit and oak flavors, still knitting together. (Tempranillo, New York) Marqu�s de Tomares Crianza $19 **� Spicy, dense and tannic, with earthy, complex flavors. (Parador Selections, New York) BEST VALUE Bodegas Valdemar Conde De Valdemar Crianza $11 ** Sour cherry and floral aromas and flavors; intensity without weightiness. (CIV U.S.A., Sacramento) Castillo Labastida Crianza $12 ** Spicy and pleasing, light-bodied and well-knit. (Winebow, New York) ----- 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 *

19 years, 9 months

[wine] Re: Cal Wines, Beef Brgny at Chez Gregory

by Christopher

I want in if I can! Betsy Kremser <Betsy.Kremser(a)co.anoka.MF.us> wrote: Was hoping I could make it Thursday night, but it looks like I'll be working late. That opens up a spot at the table. Betsy >>> "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> 02/22/2006 1:23 PM >>> Greetings, Hope you all survived the deep freeze. We've been invited to Warren/Ruths for Beef Bourgognia (?). Vin du jour is California. > > I-94 to Cretin-Vandalia. Go south to Randolph, East to 2139. > > Warren, Ruth Gregory 698-5337 > 2139 Randolph 55105 > wrcgregory(a)qwest.net Warren/Ruth Beef Brgnia Bob Cheese Lori Betsy Jim/Louise Breads Karin ? Cheers, Jim On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 03:08:35PM -0600, Warren Gregory wrote: > Hi Jim, > I don't know if you've talked to Bob yet but Warren and I offered to have > the wine group at our house on Thurs. Limit of 8 including us. We are > going to be making beef bourguignon. The wine theme is California reds. (I > have been less than impressed with the burgundy tastings of recent) The > dish will hold up under any red. I am looking for someone to bring, > bread,salad, and desert. Bob is bringing cheese. Hope to see you there. > Ruth <snip> --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

19 years, 9 months

[wine] Re: Cal Wines, Beef Brgny at Chez Gregory

by Betsy Kremser

Was hoping I could make it Thursday night, but it looks like I'll be working late. That opens up a spot at the table. Betsy >>> "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> 02/22/2006 1:23 PM >>> Greetings, Hope you all survived the deep freeze. We've been invited to Warren/Ruths for Beef Bourgognia (?). Vin du jour is California. > > I-94 to Cretin-Vandalia. Go south to Randolph, East to 2139. > > Warren, Ruth Gregory 698-5337 > 2139 Randolph 55105 > wrcgregory(a)qwest.net Warren/Ruth Beef Brgnia Bob Cheese Lori Betsy Jim/Louise Breads Karin ? Cheers, Jim On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 03:08:35PM -0600, Warren Gregory wrote: > Hi Jim, > I don't know if you've talked to Bob yet but Warren and I offered to have > the wine group at our house on Thurs. Limit of 8 including us. We are > going to be making beef bourguignon. The wine theme is California reds. (I > have been less than impressed with the burgundy tastings of recent) The > dish will hold up under any red. I am looking for someone to bring, > bread,salad, and desert. Bob is bringing cheese. Hope to see you there. > Ruth <snip>

19 years, 9 months

[wine] [jellings@me.umn.edu: Cal Wines, Beef Brgny at Chez Gregory]

by Jim L. Ellingson

I've got 4 yeses and two maybes. Warren/Ruth may have a different count. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:23:56 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Cal Wines, Beef Brgny at Chez Gregory User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i Greetings, Hope you all survived the deep freeze. We've been invited to Warren/Ruths for Beef Bourgognia (?). Vin du jour is California. > > I-94 to Cretin-Vandalia. Go south to Randolph, East to 2139. > > Warren, Ruth Gregory 698-5337 > 2139 Randolph 55105 > wrcgregory(a)qwest.net Warren/Ruth Beef Brgnia Bob Cheese Jim /Louise? Breads Karin ? Cheers, Jim On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 03:08:35PM -0600, Warren Gregory wrote: > Hi Jim, > I don't know if you've talked to Bob yet but Warren and I offered to have > the wine group at our house on Thurs. Limit of 8 including us. We are > going to be making beef bourguignon. The wine theme is California reds. (I > have been less than impressed with the burgundy tastings of recent) The > dish will hold up under any red. I am looking for someone to bring, > bread,salad, and desert. Bob is bringing cheese. Hope to see you there. > Ruth http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wine22feb22,1,5801862,full.story… WINE & SPIRITS Swirl, sniff, sip, search and blog In the glut of wine websites, there's the snooty, serious and silly. Here's a guide to the best of them. By Patrick Comiskey Special to The Times February 22, 2006 LET'S say that last night you had a fantastic Italian wine with your dinner at Il Grano, and you want to find out more about it. So you boot up the computer and open the Web portal and find the paper napkin you wrote the name on (never mind that Il Grano doesn't use paper napkins . this is an Internet fantasy). Just for kicks you first Google the word "wine" . and come back with about 150 million hits. Curious, you type in beer: fewer than half that many. Whiskey: one-tenth. Coffee comes close, and only water has more. Fortunately your wine, a Barbera, is a little more obscure. So you type in a few keywords, and soon you're swinging from link to link on a daisy chain of references, epic histories of Italian wine, etymologies and origins of the grape itself. You find accounts of supposedly better Barberas than the one you enjoyed (with buying options, of course) as well as heated arguments to the contrary. You read about the region, the winery, the winemaker, his children and what each of them thinks about the 2002 vintage. The Internet provides a thousand ways of looking at this Barbera, and some won't be of any use to you, but a few might end up being interesting in ways you didn't expect. This is one of the Web's great virtues, with wine especially: information that used to be the province of the few and the snooty is now, with a few clicks, available to everyone. Of course, information in such an egalitarian domain can be spotty, misleading or just discouragingly amateurish. But good content does exist. Indeed, if you know where to look, the Web does offer indispensable resources, fascinating opinions, provocative if occasionally annoying discussions, and not least, several websites that poke holes in all that wine-induced high-mindedness. * A domain of gurus SEVERAL well-known wine critics have an online presence, including Robert Parker, whose website is eRobertParker.com, Stephen Tanzer, whose opinions can be accessed at wineaccess.com and L.A.-based Allen Meadows, whose site is burghound.com. All of these paid-subscription sites supplement a print edition. For fans, having a searchable online database of, say, Parker's influential opinions is probably invaluable, but it comes at a price. For my money, the site worth paying for is jancisrobinson.com. Jancis Robinson, M.W., a critic for London's Financial Times, is the preeminent English-language wine journalist at the moment. Her breadth of knowledge is so vast she edited an encyclopedia to contain it, the 850-page "Oxford Companion to Wine," the most dogeared wine reference book on my shelf. The website's homepage allows access to a few current articles, but the site's "Purple Pages," available with a paid subscription of about $2 a week, give access to an unfettered Jancis, with tasting notes on hundreds of wines (rated on a 20-point scale), wine essays, vintage reports, and not least, the entire "Oxford Companion to Wine." Robinson possesses what few who write for the Internet share: economy of language. She says exactly what needs to be said and almost nothing more, except for the occasional charming Anglicism, such as her withering description of a recently sampled Barbera: "rather candified and short," she wrote. Quite. If you don't want to shell out the quid, you might find your Barbera among the tasting notes at wine-pages.com, a free English site managed by wine writer and educator Tom Cannavan. For years Cannavan was a columnist at Harpers, one of England's premier wine magazines, and his site is consistently entertaining, well-written and unpretentious. The wine education pages, a series of cleareyed and instructional essays on winemaking, wine history, choosing wines, reading labels, region overviews and the like, are useful for novices and veterans alike. He even gives online quizzes, with instant results. Beyond these features, wine-pages.com is worth visiting just for guest columnist Tom Stevenson's mind-jogging glossary of descriptive terms for wine's aromas and flavors, arranged in categories such as fruits, flowers, herbs and spices. Under "green apple" for instance, you'll find a list of grape varieties that commonly display this quality and the name of the chemical that's responsible (malic acid, in this case). Not since Dr. Anne Noble's Aroma Wheel, devised at UC Davis in 1990, have I seen such a helpful tool for delineating wine's attributes. * Connoisseur chat rooms IF you wanted to tell the world about your Barbera epiphany, the place to do it would be a bulletin board. Philadelphia lawyer Mark Squires manages the online bulletin board for Robert Parker, and at 9,000 members, 77,000 threads and posts approaching 1 million, it is by far the most far-flung and heavily trafficked wine bulletin board in the ether. So if you wanted advance word on how the 2000 Burgundies are tasting, you can probably find a tasting note or 50 here; or get a sense of how your stash of '94 Dominus is aging from notes based on a vertical tasting a member conducted recently. You may or may not choose to voice your opinion on the raging "Ugliest Wine Label" discussion along the way. The best and worst thing about eBob is that everybody contributes: You'll find winemakers, sommeliers and serious aficionados making regular posts; Parker posts a thread from time to time. But there is often the feeling that you've just stumbled onto a room full of men who haven't quite learned how to play well together: The posts can be arrogant, peevish, sycophantic and hysterically passionate. There are less-trafficked bulletin boards . the rather geeky winetherapy.com, and the regionally oriented westcoastwine.net have far fewer signal-to-noise issues . but who can resist watching a good tantrum now and then? As you delve into wine blogs through a clearinghouse website such as wineblogwatch.arrr.net, what will amaze you is the variety, intensity and occasionally the hilarity of wine-world views on display. The ones I like to read are more curious about wine than opinionated, more about wonder than authority. Vinography.com, by San Franciscan Alder Yarrow, has spirited opinions on everything from corkage to screw caps. Yarrow is exactly the kind of blogger who would write an opus on your coveted Barbera . witness his recent tasting note on a wine from Rh�ne producer Auguste Clape, a 1,000-word entry at once preposterously overlong and completely absorbing. Joe Dressner is a Manhattan wine importer who shares his fairly irascible opinions at joedressner.com, where I recently read a stimulating discussion on the origin of the word "spoofulation" (roughly, manipulating a wine to the point where it tastes "fake"). I happen to really like reading Dressner for his umbrage . if he hates something (such as spoofulation) he's not afraid to say it, noisily. * Tools of the trade IF your Barbera was domestic, winerelease.com might alert you as to when the winery plans to release the next vintage. Localwineevents.com, meanwhile, listing wine events for dozens of North American cities, might give you a few occasions to enjoy it. Travelenvoy.com has the best directory of American wineries, period. (Its Italian directory is a work in progress). Wine-searcher.com and winezap.com are designed to help you find that Barbera and compare prices and availability across the country. Type in its name and you'll get a national list of participating retailers who carry that wine, with prices and availability. In most cases, you're just a few clicks away from a purchase. For more on the grape itself and where it's grown on this continent, check out appellationamerica.com. This site has devoted itself to describing and mapping all of the appellations in North America . that's the where of wine, that sense of place in a bottle that fascinates all of the writers, critics, sommeliers of this world. It surveys the whole continent, not just California, Oregon and Washington, including regions that don't normally get much attention (such as Hermann, the Missouri AVA, home of Norton, the grape which resembles Barbera). But perhaps its most entertaining feature is its collection of "varietal characters" . grapes personified in illustrations by Tyler Landry that would make Maurice Sendak chuckle . accompanied by some appropriately purple prose. * All in good taste FINALLY, what is the Internet if not diverting? One of its greatest virtues, after all, is its unqualified egalitarianism; so for every puffed-up wine site, there's another with a sharp object, ready to skewer the snobs. Sean Thackrey is no snob. His wines, though, named for constellations such as Pleiades (which has Barbera in the blend), made in the Marin County surf town of Bolinas, might have been cult well before the term was invented. At his very thoughtful website, wine-maker.net, you'll find something he calls "the Thackrey Library," a beautifully designed, well-reproduced archive of early books and manuscripts relating to the subject of winemaking and enjoyment. For some help taking the hot air out of pretentious tasting notes, click on Greg Sumner's random tasting note generator, http://www.gmon.com/tech/stng.shtml . Here's an example: "A mouthful of varnish, structured pork and second-rate melted crayon. Drink now through eternity." Choose normal or extra silly. Or to simply read some silly tasting notes with a poetic license all their own, have a look at Lane Steinberg's marvelous website, redwinehaiku.blogspot.com. You may not agree that a certain Barbera's plump texture is "like a big round grandma/that never lets go," but you'll be amused nevertheless. Or better yet, grab that Barbera, a glass, a laptop and an hour of careful attention, and see what you come up with on your own. And be sure to share. * (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) The best wine-soaked websites appellationamerica.com. This site maps and chronicles North American appellations. burghound.com. A paid site for all things Burgundian; includes incisive vintage reports and tasting notes. erobertparker.com. The influential critic's paid site, with a searchable database of scores and tasting notes; location of robertparker.com/bboard/boardintro.asp. America's largest and most active wine bulletin board. gmon.com/tech/stng.shtml. Never at a loss for words: a random tasting note generator. jancisrobinson.com. A combination free/paid site from one of the world's most erudite and entertaining critics. joedressner.com. A blog as literate as it is opinionated, from an importer of French and Italian wines. localwineevents.com. A comprehensive national calendar of wine and food events. redwinehaiku.blogspot.com. Often hilarious, sometimes even accurate, tasting notes as poetry. travelenvoy.com. The country's best winery directory, bar none. vinography.com. Notes, raves and rants from a passionate Bay Area blogger. westcoastwine.net. A San Francisco-based bulletin board frequented by a fair number of winemakers, with an emphasis on the California scene. wineaccess.com/expert/tanzer. A paid site linked to Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (via wineaccess.com, and shopping site). Tanzer's tasting notes are no-nonsense and reliable. wineblogwatch.arrr.net. A website that serves as a link to other wine blogs. wine-maker.net. Sean Thackrey's winery website includes historical texts and sources. wine-pages.com. From an English wine writer: extensive notes, award-winning columnists, fine educational essays and quizzes. winerelease.com. A calendar of release dates for many American and Canadian wines. winetherapy.com. A bulletin board with a fairly high geek factor. wine-searcher.com. Where to find and buy wines and what to pay for them; an especially strong regional search engine. winezap.com. Similar to wine-searcher, with more search options, including by grape variety and food pairing. . Patrick Comiskey ----- 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 *

19 years, 9 months

[wine] Cal Wines, Beef Brgny at Chez Gregory

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Hope you all survived the deep freeze. We've been invited to Warren/Ruths for Beef Bourgognia (?). Vin du jour is California. > > I-94 to Cretin-Vandalia. Go south to Randolph, East to 2139. > > Warren, Ruth Gregory 698-5337 > 2139 Randolph 55105 > wrcgregory(a)qwest.net Warren/Ruth Beef Brgnia Bob Cheese Lori Betsy Jim/Louise Breads Karin ? Cheers, Jim On Tue, Feb 21, 2006 at 03:08:35PM -0600, Warren Gregory wrote: > Hi Jim, > I don't know if you've talked to Bob yet but Warren and I offered to have > the wine group at our house on Thurs. Limit of 8 including us. We are > going to be making beef bourguignon. The wine theme is California reds. (I > have been less than impressed with the burgundy tastings of recent) The > dish will hold up under any red. I am looking for someone to bring, > bread,salad, and desert. Bob is bringing cheese. Hope to see you there. > Ruth http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wine22feb22,1,5801862,full.story… WINE & SPIRITS Swirl, sniff, sip, search and blog In the glut of wine websites, there's the snooty, serious and silly. Here's a guide to the best of them. By Patrick Comiskey Special to The Times February 22, 2006 LET'S say that last night you had a fantastic Italian wine with your dinner at Il Grano, and you want to find out more about it. So you boot up the computer and open the Web portal and find the paper napkin you wrote the name on (never mind that Il Grano doesn't use paper napkins . this is an Internet fantasy). Just for kicks you first Google the word "wine" . and come back with about 150 million hits. Curious, you type in beer: fewer than half that many. Whiskey: one-tenth. Coffee comes close, and only water has more. Fortunately your wine, a Barbera, is a little more obscure. So you type in a few keywords, and soon you're swinging from link to link on a daisy chain of references, epic histories of Italian wine, etymologies and origins of the grape itself. You find accounts of supposedly better Barberas than the one you enjoyed (with buying options, of course) as well as heated arguments to the contrary. You read about the region, the winery, the winemaker, his children and what each of them thinks about the 2002 vintage. The Internet provides a thousand ways of looking at this Barbera, and some won't be of any use to you, but a few might end up being interesting in ways you didn't expect. This is one of the Web's great virtues, with wine especially: information that used to be the province of the few and the snooty is now, with a few clicks, available to everyone. Of course, information in such an egalitarian domain can be spotty, misleading or just discouragingly amateurish. But good content does exist. Indeed, if you know where to look, the Web does offer indispensable resources, fascinating opinions, provocative if occasionally annoying discussions, and not least, several websites that poke holes in all that wine-induced high-mindedness. * A domain of gurus SEVERAL well-known wine critics have an online presence, including Robert Parker, whose website is eRobertParker.com, Stephen Tanzer, whose opinions can be accessed at wineaccess.com and L.A.-based Allen Meadows, whose site is burghound.com. All of these paid-subscription sites supplement a print edition. For fans, having a searchable online database of, say, Parker's influential opinions is probably invaluable, but it comes at a price. For my money, the site worth paying for is jancisrobinson.com. Jancis Robinson, M.W., a critic for London's Financial Times, is the preeminent English-language wine journalist at the moment. Her breadth of knowledge is so vast she edited an encyclopedia to contain it, the 850-page "Oxford Companion to Wine," the most dogeared wine reference book on my shelf. The website's homepage allows access to a few current articles, but the site's "Purple Pages," available with a paid subscription of about $2 a week, give access to an unfettered Jancis, with tasting notes on hundreds of wines (rated on a 20-point scale), wine essays, vintage reports, and not least, the entire "Oxford Companion to Wine." Robinson possesses what few who write for the Internet share: economy of language. She says exactly what needs to be said and almost nothing more, except for the occasional charming Anglicism, such as her withering description of a recently sampled Barbera: "rather candified and short," she wrote. Quite. If you don't want to shell out the quid, you might find your Barbera among the tasting notes at wine-pages.com, a free English site managed by wine writer and educator Tom Cannavan. For years Cannavan was a columnist at Harpers, one of England's premier wine magazines, and his site is consistently entertaining, well-written and unpretentious. The wine education pages, a series of cleareyed and instructional essays on winemaking, wine history, choosing wines, reading labels, region overviews and the like, are useful for novices and veterans alike. He even gives online quizzes, with instant results. Beyond these features, wine-pages.com is worth visiting just for guest columnist Tom Stevenson's mind-jogging glossary of descriptive terms for wine's aromas and flavors, arranged in categories such as fruits, flowers, herbs and spices. Under "green apple" for instance, you'll find a list of grape varieties that commonly display this quality and the name of the chemical that's responsible (malic acid, in this case). Not since Dr. Anne Noble's Aroma Wheel, devised at UC Davis in 1990, have I seen such a helpful tool for delineating wine's attributes. * Connoisseur chat rooms IF you wanted to tell the world about your Barbera epiphany, the place to do it would be a bulletin board. Philadelphia lawyer Mark Squires manages the online bulletin board for Robert Parker, and at 9,000 members, 77,000 threads and posts approaching 1 million, it is by far the most far-flung and heavily trafficked wine bulletin board in the ether. So if you wanted advance word on how the 2000 Burgundies are tasting, you can probably find a tasting note or 50 here; or get a sense of how your stash of '94 Dominus is aging from notes based on a vertical tasting a member conducted recently. You may or may not choose to voice your opinion on the raging "Ugliest Wine Label" discussion along the way. The best and worst thing about eBob is that everybody contributes: You'll find winemakers, sommeliers and serious aficionados making regular posts; Parker posts a thread from time to time. But there is often the feeling that you've just stumbled onto a room full of men who haven't quite learned how to play well together: The posts can be arrogant, peevish, sycophantic and hysterically passionate. There are less-trafficked bulletin boards . the rather geeky winetherapy.com, and the regionally oriented westcoastwine.net have far fewer signal-to-noise issues . but who can resist watching a good tantrum now and then? As you delve into wine blogs through a clearinghouse website such as wineblogwatch.arrr.net, what will amaze you is the variety, intensity and occasionally the hilarity of wine-world views on display. The ones I like to read are more curious about wine than opinionated, more about wonder than authority. Vinography.com, by San Franciscan Alder Yarrow, has spirited opinions on everything from corkage to screw caps. Yarrow is exactly the kind of blogger who would write an opus on your coveted Barbera . witness his recent tasting note on a wine from Rh�ne producer Auguste Clape, a 1,000-word entry at once preposterously overlong and completely absorbing. Joe Dressner is a Manhattan wine importer who shares his fairly irascible opinions at joedressner.com, where I recently read a stimulating discussion on the origin of the word "spoofulation" (roughly, manipulating a wine to the point where it tastes "fake"). I happen to really like reading Dressner for his umbrage . if he hates something (such as spoofulation) he's not afraid to say it, noisily. * Tools of the trade IF your Barbera was domestic, winerelease.com might alert you as to when the winery plans to release the next vintage. Localwineevents.com, meanwhile, listing wine events for dozens of North American cities, might give you a few occasions to enjoy it. Travelenvoy.com has the best directory of American wineries, period. (Its Italian directory is a work in progress). Wine-searcher.com and winezap.com are designed to help you find that Barbera and compare prices and availability across the country. Type in its name and you'll get a national list of participating retailers who carry that wine, with prices and availability. In most cases, you're just a few clicks away from a purchase. For more on the grape itself and where it's grown on this continent, check out appellationamerica.com. This site has devoted itself to describing and mapping all of the appellations in North America . that's the where of wine, that sense of place in a bottle that fascinates all of the writers, critics, sommeliers of this world. It surveys the whole continent, not just California, Oregon and Washington, including regions that don't normally get much attention (such as Hermann, the Missouri AVA, home of Norton, the grape which resembles Barbera). But perhaps its most entertaining feature is its collection of "varietal characters" . grapes personified in illustrations by Tyler Landry that would make Maurice Sendak chuckle . accompanied by some appropriately purple prose. * All in good taste FINALLY, what is the Internet if not diverting? One of its greatest virtues, after all, is its unqualified egalitarianism; so for every puffed-up wine site, there's another with a sharp object, ready to skewer the snobs. Sean Thackrey is no snob. His wines, though, named for constellations such as Pleiades (which has Barbera in the blend), made in the Marin County surf town of Bolinas, might have been cult well before the term was invented. At his very thoughtful website, wine-maker.net, you'll find something he calls "the Thackrey Library," a beautifully designed, well-reproduced archive of early books and manuscripts relating to the subject of winemaking and enjoyment. For some help taking the hot air out of pretentious tasting notes, click on Greg Sumner's random tasting note generator, http://www.gmon.com/tech/stng.shtml . Here's an example: "A mouthful of varnish, structured pork and second-rate melted crayon. Drink now through eternity." Choose normal or extra silly. Or to simply read some silly tasting notes with a poetic license all their own, have a look at Lane Steinberg's marvelous website, redwinehaiku.blogspot.com. You may not agree that a certain Barbera's plump texture is "like a big round grandma/that never lets go," but you'll be amused nevertheless. Or better yet, grab that Barbera, a glass, a laptop and an hour of careful attention, and see what you come up with on your own. And be sure to share. * (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) The best wine-soaked websites appellationamerica.com. This site maps and chronicles North American appellations. burghound.com. A paid site for all things Burgundian; includes incisive vintage reports and tasting notes. erobertparker.com. The influential critic's paid site, with a searchable database of scores and tasting notes; location of robertparker.com/bboard/boardintro.asp. America's largest and most active wine bulletin board. gmon.com/tech/stng.shtml. Never at a loss for words: a random tasting note generator. jancisrobinson.com. A combination free/paid site from one of the world's most erudite and entertaining critics. joedressner.com. A blog as literate as it is opinionated, from an importer of French and Italian wines. localwineevents.com. A comprehensive national calendar of wine and food events. redwinehaiku.blogspot.com. Often hilarious, sometimes even accurate, tasting notes as poetry. travelenvoy.com. The country's best winery directory, bar none. vinography.com. Notes, raves and rants from a passionate Bay Area blogger. westcoastwine.net. A San Francisco-based bulletin board frequented by a fair number of winemakers, with an emphasis on the California scene. wineaccess.com/expert/tanzer. A paid site linked to Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (via wineaccess.com, and shopping site). Tanzer's tasting notes are no-nonsense and reliable. wineblogwatch.arrr.net. A website that serves as a link to other wine blogs. wine-maker.net. Sean Thackrey's winery website includes historical texts and sources. wine-pages.com. From an English wine writer: extensive notes, award-winning columnists, fine educational essays and quizzes. winerelease.com. A calendar of release dates for many American and Canadian wines. winetherapy.com. A bulletin board with a fairly high geek factor. wine-searcher.com. Where to find and buy wines and what to pay for them; an especially strong regional search engine. winezap.com. Similar to wine-searcher, with more search options, including by grape variety and food pairing. . Patrick Comiskey

19 years, 9 months

[wine] SURDYKS CHARITY WINE TASTING - TOMORROW NIGHT

by jhegstrom＠csom.umn.edu

Hi Here is a first draft, CONFIDENTIAL list of the wines for the Spotlight tasting. If you haven't already signed up it's tomorrow night at the Grand Hotel at 5:30 - 9:00. These wines will be served from 5:30-6:30 and then the regular tasting starts at 7:00 - 9:00. Cost is $60. (they are offering no discount) Joyce P.S. There will be plenty to drink because the attendance is low. |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE TEN | | | | | | |TABLE | | | | | | | | | | | | | |TWELVE | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2003 Dom. | | | | 27.99 | 25.19 | |2003 | | | | 24.99 | 22.49 | |Drouhin Aurthur| | | | | | |Sebastiani | | | | | | |Chardonnay | | | | | | |"Alexander"| | | | | | | | | | | | | |Merlot | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |11710 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Dashe | | | | 30.99 | 27.89 | |2002 Casa | | | | 64.99 | 58.49 | |Cellars | | | | | | |Lapostolle | | | | | | |Zinfandel | | | | | | |"Apalta" | | | | | | |"Louvau" | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |95207 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2001 Flora | | | | 91.99 | 82.79 | |1998 | | | | 80.99 | 72.89 | |Springs Holy | | | | | | |Chimney | | | | | | |Smoke Cabernet | | | | | | |Rock | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |"Dionysus" | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2000 Errazuriz | | | | 52.99 | 47.69 | |2002 | | | | 74.99 | 67.49 | |Don Maximiano | | | | | | |Ornellaia | | | | | | |Estate | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2004 Campo Di | | | | 26.99 | 24.29 | |1996 | | | | 184.99 | 166.49 | |Sasso Insoglio | | | | | | |Massetto | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |33613 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE ELEVEN - | | | | | | |N/V Veuve | | | | 48.99 | 44.09 | |MURPHY GOODE | | | | | | |Clicquot | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Brut | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2003 | | | | 18.99 | 17.09 | |32060 | | | | | | |Murphy-Goode | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Island Block | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Chardonnay | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |TABLE | | | | | | | | | | | | | |FIFTEEN | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 | | | | 47.99 | 43.19 | |1999 | | | | 224.99 | 202.49 | |Murphy-Goode | | | | | | |Penfolds | | | | | | |Terra A Lago | | | | | | |Grange | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |10511 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 | | | | 37.99 | 34.19 | |2001 | | | | 84.99 | 76.49 | |Murphy-Goode | | | | | | |Penfolds | | | | | | |Snake Eyes | | | | | | |RWT | | | | | | |Zinfandel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |97133 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2001 | | | | 17.99 | 16.19 | |2002 B.V. | | | | 89.99 | 80.99 | |Pedroncelli | | | | | | |Georges de | | | | | | |Port | | | | | | |Latour | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |Hess | | | | 29.99 | 26.99 | | | | | | | | |Mountain | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cuvee | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |NOTES: | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 3| |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE SIXTEEN | | | | | | |TABLE SEVEN| | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | |WINE | | | |REG. |SALE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | | | | | |PRICE |PRICE | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2004 Talley | | | | 24.99 | 22.49 | |2002 | | | | 44.99 | 40.49 | |Chardonnay | | | | | | |Talbott | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Vineyars | | | | | | | | | | | | | |"Sleepy | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Hollow" | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Chardonnay | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |19307 | | | | | | |46219 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2004 Pine Ridge| | | | 26.99 | 24.29 | |2004 Au Bon| | | | 22.99 | 20.69 | |"Dijon" | | | | | | |Climat | | | | | | |Chardonnay | | | | | | |Chardonnay | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |35022 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |N/V Bolinger | | | | 47.99 | 43.19 | |2003 | | | | 35.99 | 32.39 | |Special Cuvee | | | | | | |Seghesio | | | | | | | | | | | | | |"Old Vine" | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Zinfandel | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |29892 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2004 Archery | | | | 22.49 | 20.24 | |2003 | | | | 57.49 | 51.74 | |Summit Pinot | | | | | | |Domaine | | | | | | |Noir | | | | | | |Serene | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Pinot Noir | | | | | | | | | | | | | |"Evenstad | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Reserve" | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |17384 | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Ladera | | | | 65.99 | 59.39 | |2001 | | | | 22.49 | 20.25 | |Lone Canyon | | | | | | |Castello di| | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | |Bossi | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |Chianti | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Classico | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |14212 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Swanson | | | | 54.99 | 49.49 | |2002 | | | | 27.99 | 25.19 | |Alexis | | | | | | |Lageder | | | | | | | | | | | | | |"Lehenhof" | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Titus Napa| | | | 41.99 | 34.86 | |TABLE NINE | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |97512 | | | | | | |2002 Robert| | | | 52.49 | 47.24 | | | | | | | | |Craig Mr. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Veeder | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |N/V Peller | | | | 69.99 | 62.99 | | | | | | | | |Extates | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Riesling Ice | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Wine | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |2002 | | | | 78.75 | 70.87 | | | | | | | | |Whitehall | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Lane | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Reserve | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvigon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE NINETEEN | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Sequolia | | | | 34.99 | 27.98 | |2003 | | | | 39.49 | 35.54 | |Grove Cabernet | | | | | | |Hewitson | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |Old Garden | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mourvedre | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Columbia | | | | 34.99 | 27.98 | |2003 | | | | 27.99 | 25.19 | |Crest Reserve | | | | | | |Gundlach | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | |Bundschu | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |Pinot Noir | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |12397 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2001 Rodney | | | | 33.99 | 30.59 | |2000 | | | | 54.49 | 49.04 | |Strong | | | | | | |Bertani | | | | | | |Alexander Crown| | | | | | |Arvedi | | | | | | |Cab.Sauvignon | | | | | | |Amarone | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |95408 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |NOTES: | | | | | | |2004 | | | | 89.74 | 80.76 | | | | | | | | |Inniskillin| | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Franc Ice | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Wine | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2 | | | | | | | | | | | | 7| |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE FIVE | | | | | | |TABLE | | | | | | | | | | | | | |TWENTY-TWO | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2004 Conundrum | | | | 23.99 | 21.59 | |2003 Biale | | | | 31.99 | 28.79 | | | | | | | | |Black | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Chicken | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Zinfandel | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |44354 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Tinto | | | | 26.99 | 24.29 | |2003 | | | | 34.49 | 31.49 | |Pesquera | | | | | | |Katherine | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Kennedy | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Lateral | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2001 Paradigm | | | | 53.99 | 48.59 | |1998 Villa | | | | 27.99 | 25.19 | |Cabernet | | | | | | |Chiara | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |Barolo | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Catena | | | | 37.99 | 34.19 | |2002 | | | | 27.49 | 24.74 | |Alta Malbec | | | | | | |Truchard | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Syrah | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |13949 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE SIX | | | | | | |2002 Kunde | | | | 32.49 | 29.24 | | | | | | | | |Estate | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Reserve | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Chardonnay | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Rene | | | | 60 | 54 | | | | | | | | |Rostaing Cote | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Roti "Les | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Terroirs" | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |44354 | | | | | | |2000 Andre | | | | 37.49 | 33.74 | | | | | | | | |Lurton Ch. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |LaLouvier | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Rouge | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |NOTES: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |2003 Artesa| | | | 32.49 | 29.24 | | | | | | | | |Estate | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Pinot Noir | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |1994 | | | | 26.25 | 23.62 | | | | | | | | |Montecillo | | | | | | | | | | | | | |13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Aniversario| | | | | | | | | | | | | |Gran | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Reserva | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |NOTES: | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |8 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1| |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |TABLE | | | | | | |TABLE ONE | | | | | | |TWENTY-FOUR | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | |WINE | | | | REG. | SALE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | | | | | | PRICE | PRICE | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2001 Cellers | | | | 18.49 | 16.64 | |2002 Tench | | | | | | |Gramona Grand | | | | | | |Carpenter | | | | | | |Cuvee Penedes | | | | | | |Nickel & | | | | | | |Cava | | | | | | |Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |2002 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Branding | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Iron Nickel| | | | | | | | | | | | | |& Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 Ch. | | | | 31.99 | 28.79 | |2002 | | | | | | |Bouscaut Grand | | | | | | |Sullenger | | | | | | |Cru Classe, | | | | | | |Nickel & | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |Peessac-Leognan| | | | | | |2002 Rock | | | | | | |Blanc | | | | | | |Cairn | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel & | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2005 | | | | 24.99 | 22.49 | |2002 Vogt | | | | | | |Mulderbosch | | | | | | |Nickel & | | | | | | |Sauvignon Blanc| | | | | | |Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |10642 | | | | | | |2002 | | | | $450 | $405 | | | | | | | | |Carpenter | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel & | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2002 DeToren | | | | 36.99 | 33.29 | |Sold as a 6| |15376 | | | | |Fusion Five | | | | | | |pack Only | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | |2002 Rock | | | | 74.99 | 67.49 | | | | | | | | |Cairn | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel & | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nickel | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Cabernet | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sauvignon | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |2001 Dom. | | | | 28.99 | 26.09 | |96715 | | | | | | |Duclaux | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Chateauneuf du | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Pape | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |14212 | | | | | | |NOTES: | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |1998 Klein | | | | 41.99 | 37.79 | | | | | | | | |Constantia, Vin| | | | | | | | | | | | | |de Constance | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | |(500 ml) | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| |NOTES: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+--------+--------|

19 years, 9 months

[wine] Re: [jellings@me.umn.edu: Red and Ready at Five] TONIGHT

by jhegstrom＠csom.umn.edu

19 years, 9 months

[wine] [jellings@me.umn.edu: Red and Ready at Five] TONIGHT

by Jim L. Ellingson

Mostly an update and an article on Barossa and RWT. ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 13:07:33 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Red and Ready at Five User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i Greetings, We're heading to Five this week. We're paying $5 per person lieu of corkage. Wine style du jour is "Red and Ready". Thanks to Joyce for arranging! Address, web site, etc: Five Restaurant & Street Lounge 2917 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis 612.827.5555 www.fiverestaurant.com It's a stone's throw from JP's. Just a block or two west. We're down for 10 people, but we want to provide Joyce and the rest. w/ an update by the end of today. Joyce Betsy Bob Annette Lori Ruth/Warren Nicolai Jim Roger LeClaire Russ/Sue Bill Cheers, Jim Barons of Barossa Australia's famous big-bodied Shiraz wines are produced by some outsize personalities - Linda Murphy, Chronicle Wine Editor Thursday, February 9, 2006 Click to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to ViewClick to View Tanuda, Australia -- It was pouring, so 75-year-old Peter Lehmann did the gentlemanly thing. He pulled his SUV off the muddy lane that led to the tiny country cemetery, drove to within a foot of a headstone and let his passenger out -- nearly on top of a grave marker. "I know people here," he said. "They won't mind." Lehmann was giving a tour of the Barossa Valley, settled by his German Lutheran ancestors in the 1840s and now arguably Australia's finest wine-producing region. Along the way, he called on other vintners without appointments, chain-smoked in front of an asthmatic, let his beloved dog, Bronson, have the run of any place, and salted his speech enough to be edgily entertaining, though not pristine enough to print. No worries, because the folks in Tanunda, the largest town in South Australia's Barossa region, love Lehmann for all that he is -- bigger than life, loyal and true, a Barossan through and through. Just like Barossa Shiraz, the region's big, bold and richly flavored -- never shy -- red wine made from grapes also known elsewhere as Syrah. Barossa Shiraz has the softness and warmth that make it more sumptuous than Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and the depth and complexity to satisfy any red-wine drinker. Shiraz put the Barossa on the world wine stage; Lehmann and his fellow "barons of Barossa" made it possible. Like people in nearby Nurioopta, Angaston, Marananga, Bethany and the other hamlets that make up the tight-knit Barossa community, Tanundans have a deep respect for Lehmann, who helped save their wine industry from drowning in its own liquid in the 1970s. He later rescued his own company, Peter Lehmann Wines, by going public and adding nearly 4,000 loyal shareholders to his list of friends. Then he dodged a hostile takeover by a multinational wine and spirits company in 2003 by partnering with a Swiss company that Lehmann says "has family values." He's got street cred in "the Barossa," a region encompassing the Barossa and Eden valleys and located an hour's drive north of Adelaide, South Australia's capital city. For most of his life, Lehmann has preached with the fervor of his Lutheran pastor father that Barossa wines are on par with any in the world. He's had help, from Max Schubert starting in the 1950s, Robert O'Callaghan, Grant Burge and Bob McLean in the 1980s, and newcomers like David Powell in the 1990s. First taste of greatness Schubert in 1951 created the great Penfolds Hermitage Grange wine, an American oak-aged Shiraz that today commands $200-plus per bottle. It was the first Australian red wine to be taken seriously outside of Oz. In the mid-1980s, O'Callaghan, proprietor of Rockford Winery (he's still there today) prevented the destruction of many of the ancient, low-yielding vines that thrive today in the Barossa and are the backbone of its best wines. With the South Australia government encouraging growers to yank out their old Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro vines because they were uneconomical -- Aussies were drinking white wine then -- O'Callaghan persuaded growers to keep their red-grape relics in the ground. In 1992, Powell, then working at Rockford, started cleaning up sections of these old, dry-farmed vineyards and made small lots of wine from the grapes. By 1994, he founded Torbreck Vintners, paying the growers a percentage of the market value of the grapes in exchange for viticultural control. Critic Robert M. Parker Jr.'s 90-point-plus ratings of Torbreck wines have added more sheen to Barossa's image. "Peter Lehmann saved the growers, and Robert O'Callaghan stood in front of the bulldozers waiting to pull out the old vines," Powell says. "To keep the growers in business, Lehmann bought their fruit, made it into wine, and told the growers they would be paid when the wines were sold. It might have taken him three years, but the growers got paid." Barossa driving tour As Lehmann drives through the Barossa's lush rolling hills and traverse valleys, he points out vineyards 100 to 150 years old, their stumpy, gnarled vines growing so close to the ground that workers must get on their knees to tend them. He recites the names of the dozens of small churches whose heavens-pointing spires are in sharp contrast to the dense, emerald vines around them. Homes made of stone mined from local quarries stand next to shops selling smoked meats, sausages and baked goods. Germanic and English architecture intermingle, blending Old World history with New World winemaking. The European culture came from English and German-speaking Prussian immigrants who arrived in the Barossa in 1842 and planted an array of crops, including wine grapes, which were mostly used to make fortified wines -- Australian versions of port and sherry. Lehmann, a fifth-generation Barossan, was born in 1930 in Angaston. He hated school and in 1947, at age 17, became a winemaking apprentice at Yalumba winery in Angaston. After 13 years there, he moved to nearby Saltram winery and became winemaker, staying for 20 years. To increase production at Saltram, Lehmann formed a strong bond with area growers who sold him the high-quality fruit he needed. Deals were sealed with handshakes. After Saltram's owner reacted to a massive country-wide grape surplus in 1978 by telling Lehmann to break his deals with the growers and stop buying their fruit, Lehmann refused and bought the grapes himself. "The growers would be ruined financially if they couldn't sell their grapes," he says. "I couldn't let that happen. I gave them my word." He formed his own company, Masterson, named for the Damon Runyon character Sky Masterson from the "Guys and Dolls" collection of stories. Masterson was a gambler; the queen of clubs became the company logo and continues to be used for Peter Lehmann Wines. "Peter went out on his own, and many employees -- including me -- walked out with him, as did 50 or 60 growers," says Lehmann chief winemaker Andrew Wigan, who has worked for Lehmann for 30 years. "He saved the valley with that move. People said he was crazy -- there was a glut of wine, so how would he survive? "Our plan was to make bulk wine from the growers' fruit, sell it to the industry and play golf the other six months of the year. We tried bloody hard and we didn't quite get there; the glut forced us to bottle our own wine for sale." With investor backing, a winery was built in Tanunda in time for the 1980 harvest. On Feb. 12, 1980, Lehmann waited at his sandstone weighing station for the first of his growers to bring in their grapes, which he weighed before directing them to the crusher. "The Weighbridge" became a place where Lehmann and the area's farmers swapped stories over bottles of wine and platters of pickles, smoked meats and cheese. The tradition continues today, with Lehmann still holding court. In 1982, the company changed its name to Peter Lehmann Wines, and all was well until 1992, when the winery's majority partner experienced financial difficulty and the business was in jeopardy. With financing from a close friend and a public stock offering that drew 3,600 shareholders, Lehmann was back in the black. Hostile takeover averted He had yet another battle ahead, in 2003, when he fought off an uninvited takeover by drinks giant Allied Domecq. Lehmann formed a relationship with Swiss investor Donald Hess, whose Hess Group (owner of The Hess Collection in Napa) became majority shareholder in Peter Lehmann Wines. Peter, who "retired" in 2002, and his wife, Margaret, retain a 10.7 percent share and he still goes to the winery most days. Their son, Doug, is the company's managing director. At Torbreck, Powell is the winemaker, managing director and a shareholder. The company owns 150 acres of vineyards, share-farms 100 acres and purchases grapes from 40 independent growers. Named for a forest in Scotland where Powell worked as a lumberjack for 2 1/2 years, Torbreck has skyrocketed to success after just 10 years in business. "The Barossa is a special place, with special old vineyards," Powell says. "Syrah and other Rhone varieties are what Barossa does best, and the wines we make here are different than anywhere else. "There is no real Barossa terroir, no one thing that typifies the soil. It's quite a mix. Most of the valley floor (vines), I wouldn't tie a 10-foot pole to. Most of our vines are not on the deep alluvial soils of the valley floor." Rather than produce single-vineyard wines, Powell prefers to blend. "Some Syrahs are one-dimensional," he says. "In most cases, you're better off blending from various sites." Barossa Shiraz typically has blackberry, black cherry and plum flavors that are bright and lively, although a prune-y character creeps into Shirazes made from super-ripe grapes. Coffee, chocolate and vanilla are usually present, and licorice, black pepper, mint and baking spice crop up as well. Once devoted to American oak barrels, Barossans are using more French oak, which tends to impart fewer dill and coconut notes, and more vanilla, and gives the wines a finer texture. Balance and smooth, supple tannins are a Shiraz winemaker's goal. "When made the right way, Shiraz is a powerful velvet explosion," Lehmann's Wigan says. "There is a powerful intensity to Barossa Shiraz; the trick is to make balanced Shiraz." High-alcohol wines Balance is the way the fruit ripeness, acidity, tannins and oak character acquired from barrel aging all come together, so that no one component dominates the others. In the hot, dry Barossa, grapes are going to get quite ripe in a normal season and that means the alcohols can get into the 15-percent range. The Shiraz wines tasted for this story (see Page F4) range in alcohol from 14 to 15.5 percent. "The difference is when you pick the grapes and how you blend," Powell says. "If the fruit can carry the alcohol, the wine is balanced." Powell gets grapes from the Eden Valley, home to Henschke winery's 140-year-old vines and its iconic $200 Hill of Grace Shiraz. Eden Valley is cooler than the Barossa Valley to the west, and grapes grow at higher elevations (up to 2,000 feet), thus producing wines that are firmer in structure and with more mint and eucalyptus character. There are approximately 550 growers in the Barossa, many of them sixth-generation residents. Some 22,000 acres of vineyards contribute just 5 percent to Australia's total grape crush, yet the Barossa's colorful history and startlingly good wines elevate the region to superstar status. Small producers like Torbreck, Rockford, Elderton Wines, Charles Melton Wines, Rolf Binder Wines and Three Rivers surround multinationally owned wineries such as Wolf Blass and Jacob's Creek. Yalumba, founded in 1849 by British brewer Samuel Smith, is still in the family, directed by Robert Hill Smith. Owned by Foster's Wine Estates, Penfolds, based just outside of Adelaide, has major vineyard holdings in Barossa, including the Kalimna Vineyard, a major contributor to Grange. Barossa vintners are proud of their Rieslings, Semillons and old-vine Grenaches, yet those varietals aren't easy sells in the United States. The Rhone white variety Viognier, however, has found favor, both as a blender with Shiraz -- a common practice in the Cote Rotie region of France's northern Rhone Valley to enhance Syrah's aromas and color -- and as a standalone wine. Yalumba senior winemaker Louisa Rose has a deft touch with Viognier, producing four versions, including the well-made and widely available Yalumba Y Series Viognier ($10). Viognier is also a key component of Yalumba's generous Barossa 95% Shiraz & 5% Viognier wine. Still, Shiraz is king here, and the mighty Penfolds brand played a major role in drawing global attention to Australian Shiraz. By definition, the maker of Grange is a baron of the Barossa. The heritage of Grange Peter Gago is only the fourth chief winemaker at Penfolds, following Schubert (1948 to 1973), Don Ditter (1973 to 1986) and John Duval (1986 to 2002). He continues the success that is Grange (changed from Hermitage Grange in 1989 after protests from producers in the Rhone Valley's Hermitage region) and shapes the RWT (Red Winemaking Trial) Barossa Valley Shiraz, which takes advantage of Penfolds' access to Barossa fruit. In addition to Grange, Penfolds has used Barossa Shiraz in several wines, including Bin 28, Bin 398 and St. Henri. With RWT, Barossa stands alone in the bottle. "Grange is a style," Gago says. "It's a blend from multiple regions, it's aged in American oak, it won't change. It's made to be consistent, vintage after vintage. "But RWT is all from the Barossa and is matured in French oak. We created a new wine with RWT, without compromising Grange." Not compromising -- it's the Barossa mindset, a never-say-uncle attitude that, for most of the region's wine folks, puts loyalty, family and the preservation of traditions ahead of profits. Peter Lehmann is a personification of that. E-mail Linda Murphy at lmurphy(a)sfchronicle.com. -- ------------------------------ * * 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 *

19 years, 9 months

[wine] Red and Ready at Five

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, We're heading to Five this week. We're paying $5 per person lieu of corkage. Wine style du jour is "Red and Ready". Thanks to Joyce for arranging! Address, web site, etc: Five Restaurant & Street Lounge 2917 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis 612.827.5555 www.fiverestaurant.com It's a stone's throw from JP's. Just a block or two west. We're down for 10 people, but we want to provide Joyce and the rest. w/ an update by the end of today. Joyce Betsy Bob Annette Lori Ruth/Warren Nicolai Bill Jim Russ/Sue 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 *

19 years, 10 months

[wine] TN Rhone Grapes at Oddfellows 2-2-06

by Russell McCandless

Rhone Grapes at Oddfellow's - 2-2-2006 W1 - bashful nose (wine very cold), SO2; lacks fruit in the mouth; finishes appealing citric, surprising length, is this just closed? 2002 Elemental Cellars Viognier, Deux Vert Vyd, Willamette Valley. (Popular at the table, but just never opened up for me.) W2 - full gold; powerful floral nose, minerals, touch of honey, floral quality suggests viognier; midpalate minerals, smoke, considerable oak, this sure isn't all about the fruit, slightly odd mouthfeel; smooth transition to aromatically reticent finish, again I'd like to be finding more fruit, quite long though, interesting wine. 2003 Tablas Creek Roussanne, Paso Robles. W3 - light gold; attractive honeyed nose; midpalate soft, richly honeyed fruit, delicious in a very southern Rhone style; finesse transition to a minerally finish, excellent length, very nice wine overall. 2003 Tablas Creek Roussanne, Paso Robles. (My analysis is that W2 was corked, not enough for any of us - not even Betsy - to actually smell the TCA, but enough to kill the fruit a little and upset the wine's balance. Note that these two identical wines were not even the same color. The wood was quite obvious in W2, but much better balanced with W3's higher fruit level. W2 was shipped directly from the winery and went right into my cellar; so, the difference between the wines is likely to have been the corks.) 1.1 - light purple; sour note on nose, just a bit odd, gunpowder and bacon; tastes as it smells, mouthfilling flavor despite light body; finish lacks fruit (getting old?) but reasonable minerality and length. 2000 Cotes du Rhone, Perrin, Reserve. 1.2 - medium red; attractive smoky, bacony nose; very oaky and tannic in the mouth though, and excessive smoked meat flavor, body medium minus; dominant smoked meat on the finish, quite long. 1996 Lirac, Domaine de la Mordoree. 1.3 - medium purple; light fruit on nose; in the mouth, some richness and structure, finishes very light though; attractive small wine. 2002 les Baux de Provence (AC), Mas de Gourgonnier. 1.4 - medium-dark purple; oaky candied nose; sour flavor, light body, little finish. 1999 Cotes du Rhone Villages. (I failed to note the producer, who may wish to remain anonymous in any case.) 2.1 - medium purple; attractive primary fruit nose; lovely balance in the mouth, young fruit and smoke; finishes as it tastes, could wish for more length but this is quite young, very attractive overall. 2003 Tablas Creek Mourvedre, Paso Robles. 2.2 - inky; black fruits and menthol on nose, considerable depth; rich Aussie midpalate, big fruit, high deliciousness factor; smooth transition to a building finish, excellent wine. 2001 Penfolds RWT Shiraz, Barossa Valley. (This stood up well to a bite of the extremely spicy blackened salmon.) 2.3 - inky, but just a touch of age showing at the rim; bacony northern Rhone nose with some real breed; light to medium body, tastes like Cote Rotie, could be more concentrated, very good though; finish is best feature, fruit coming out, classy. 1993 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier, La Mordoree. (An off vintage, which Parker rates "appalling." Good example of fact that with sufficiently strict selection, fine wine can be made in almost any vintage.) 2.4 - medium purple; very clear cotton candy note on nose, with smoky fruit and bacon; medium body, this one tastes like Cote Rotie too, plenty of fruit; excellent aromatic finish although this seems to lack the power and concentration of a really big vintage. 1998 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier, Les Becasses. (Not quite the massively ripe year in the north that it was in the south, but it's hard to complain about getting served two Chapoutier Cote Roties back to back! Thursday night wine tasting is a tough job, but someone has to do it..)

19 years, 10 months

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