OK, you don't get ALL twenty for a total of 20.
It's under $20 each.... :)
Cheers,
Jim
20 world-class wines you should know, all $20 or less
Jon Bonnéunday, July 24, 2011
More...
Back we go into the land of value, where the word bargain doth not speak its name.
Last winter we unearthed 20 great wines, all $20 or less, that we wanted to stand behind - not as deals on the cheap, but as important bottles that just happened to be available for a Jackson.
More often than not, these are made by serious, talented winemakers and estates that happen to believe in perhaps the most important tenet in wine: Quality should be available to everyone.
Should you worry that concept is in short supply these days, fear not: Back I went to the aisles, looking for bottles that deliver in any context. So here are another 20 from around the globe, wines that offer greatness in a modest package.
Once again, these are listed without vintages because you should be able to look for them perennially. That, more than anything, is the sign of a wine worth knowing about.
Note: Alcohol levels are listed for the most recent vintage.
Alice & Olivier De Moor Bourgogne Aligoté$18, 12.5% alcohol)
Tastes like: $28
What: A proper tribute to Burgundy's underappreciated white grape.
Why: The De Moors, Chablis masters based in Courgis, deserve equal credit for their deep-flavored Aligote, a grape typically neutral enough that its historic use was in a Kir cocktail. No neutrality here; the De Moor is packed with granite and apple blossom, with tons of acid and Aligote's characteristic citrus-pith bite. The 2009 adds a riper pear-like texture, but it's still as beautiful and precise. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections)
Les Vins de Vienne Remée Red Wine ($14, 14%)
Tastes like: $25
What: A window into top Rhone winemaking in a modest package.
Why: Vins de Vienne is a joint project of three superstars: Yves Cuilleron, Pierre Gaillard and Francois Villard. For the most part their efforts focus on fancier wines from top Rhone spots. Sourced from throughout the region and marked as a simple table wine, this effort shows how their talents extend to cheaper fare. From a mix of Grenache and Syrah, it's tightly wound and full of pepper and lilac aromas that would do a Crozes-Hermitage proud. At a time when even Cotes du Rhone want to sharpen their image, here's proof of the wisdom of humility. (Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates)
Chateau Coupe-Roses La Bastide Minervois ($13.50, 13%)
Tastes like: $21
What: Proof that the Minervois area has the seeds of greatness.
Why: Aside from having a wallpaper-worthy label (seriously, Betsey Johnson should make a pattern) Francoise and Pascal Frissant show off the beauty of higher elevations of the Minervois, a swath of France's Languedoc near the Mediterranean. The Minervois has at times been a source of unremarkable reds, but here's proof to the contrary. Grenache's happy berry flavors are in play, with Carignane and Syrah's rooty accents as a baseboard, bringing iodine, beetroot and hibiscus. Those dulcet Grenache tones can be deceiving; the 2009 has surprising mineral nuance and structure, more than enough to keep returning this bottle to your table. (Importer: Vintage 59 Imports)
Niepoort Projectos Docil Vinho Verde Loureiro ($15, 11%)
Tastes like: $22
What: A Port mastermind takes on Vinho Verde's workhorse grape.
Why: When not running his family's Port house or collaborating on dry reds, Dirk Niepoort has spare time for this collaboration with Soalheiro, one of the region's top producers. It's a textural masterpiece for the sometimes tepid Loureiro grape, here grown on granite soils and yielding a glassful of softer peach and lemon-curd flavors, with no hard edges; a beautiful cinnamon-stick spice brings extra depth to the 2010. (Importer: Martine's Wines)
Luna Beberide Bierzo Mencia ($13, 13.5%)
Tastes like: $23
What: A dazzling, pure expression of Spain's Mencia grape.
Why: Mencia is Spain's answer to Cabernet Franc, offering innately buoyant fruit and a unique sanguine signature (see sfg.ly/nU4Fol). In this basic bottle, fermented in steel, winemaker Alejandro Luna finds unadorned purity in a grape that's increasingly being tarted up. Even the 2008 (the 2009 was recently released) needs a moment to open in the glass. But Mencia's signature beams: pimenton and dark earth in full effect, with dried cranberry and a tarry kick. No dolling-up to be found. (Importer: Grapes of Spain)
Gonzalez Byass Vina AB Amontillado Seco Sherry ($18, 16.5%)
Tastes like: $25
What: An often overlooked classic Sherry that over-delivers.
Why: The historic Gonzalez Byass house, best known for its Tio Pepe fino, gets far less cred than it deserves. Its amontillado consistently delivers star performances without ever quite finding the spotlight. Amontillado offers more robust flavors than fino, and in this case there's tremendous clarity and freshness to those flavors: driftwood, hazelnut skin, nori, mulled citrus peel and dried fig, with a chalky edge. Bonus: Since it's in an oxidized style, keep returning to an open bottle for a few weeks. (Importer: San Francisco Wine Exchange)
Roagna Dolcetto d'Alba ($17, 13%)
Tastes like: $28
What: A humble Piedmontese wine that reaches for the stars.
Why: Dolcetto is Piedmont's everyday treat, something to keep glasses full while Barolo matures. But there's nothing uncomplicated about the version from Barbaresco producers Alfredo and Luca Roagna, traditionalists to the core. Here's a high-wire act of a Dolcetto, sourced from Barbaresco's Paje site, full of plum, suede and anise. The 2009 has enough acidity that decanting will help. In return, you're rewarded with the depths of Dolcetto, proof that even the humble can shine in proper Piedmontese hands. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections)
Banyan Monterey County Gewurztraminer ($12, 11.9%)
Tastes like: $20
What: A finer, lighter take on Gewurz from a skilled hand.
Why: Kenny Likitprakong (Hobo Wine Co.) has for years made this priced-to-go Gewurztraminer; the latest 2010 hails from the Ventana Vineyards site in Arroyo Seco. A lengthy 40-day fermentation releases nuanced aromas - pert and aromatic, this is Gewurz on gossamer, with mandarin orange, ginger, white peach and orange blossoms. Often relegated to lists at ethnic restaurants (Likitprakong is part Thai), Banyan deserves a deeper look.
Sherman & Hooker's Shebang Fourth Cuvee North Coast Red Wine ($13, 14.2%)
Tastes like: $22
What: An homage to California blends from a rising star.
Why: Morgan Twain-Peterson is en fuego with his Bedrock label (see sfg.ly/ofXPxy), but his negociant effort is worth a look as well. (As with his Zin, it's a worthy following-in-footsteps of his dad, Ravenswood's Joel Peterson.) The latest Fourth Cuvee, a mix of Syrah, Pinot, Alicante and random old-vine grapes, shifts Shebang - our tasting coordinator informs me a Ricky Martin joke is appropriate here - from a liter jug to a veddy proper 750 ml bottle. The big brambly fruit inside has a chewiness to balance subtler floral and soy tones. That mix is proper tribute to the tradition of mixed California reds.
Domaine de la Pepiere Les Gras Moutons Cuvee Eden Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie ($17, 12%)
Tastes like: $32
What: A world-class white that happens to be Muscadet.
Why: The humble Marc Ollivier already has a loyal following for his other Muscadets, including the dramatic Clos des Briords. This bottle from the Gras Mouton parcel, a sort of Muscadet grand cru, further raises the stakes. It's dense and dramatic, and the 2009 wears some of its rich baby fat amid lean flavors of chervil, fresh apple and quince. But the balance and firm structure are so clear that from the first sip it's obvious this is serious wine. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections)
Gemtree Moonstone McLaren Vale Savignin ($13, 13%)
Tastes like: $23
What: An eloquent case of mistaken identity.
Why: Filed under "oops" - Australia in 2009 acknowledged that much of what was planted as the popular Albarino grape was in fact Savagnin. After revising their labels, Australian producers rolled forward. This biodynamically farmed specimen from the heart of Big Red country is a worthy counterpart to examples from France's Jura. Filled with juicy pear and fig flavors and a celery and saline bite. Surprisingly deep texture in the 2010 makes it a perfect summer white with extra gravitas. (Importer: Guardian of the Grape Imports)
St. Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein Mosel Riesling Kabinett ($20, 8.5%)
Tastes like: $30
What: A stellar snapshot of the Saar Valley.
Why: Nik Weis' Riesling focused house is in the Middle Mosel town of Leiwen, but his family's 1980s purchase of a parcel in the Bockstein vineyard, upstream in the heart of the Saar, was a savvy expansion. Saar wines are lacy and fine in good years, but the 2010, an early snapshot of a freak vintage (see sfg.ly/lh0XP5), puts that into overdrive. It's a blast of energy, with notes of lime ice, tarragon and cool stone minerality. There's sweetness, but 2010's intense acidity is blazing enough to hone it to a razor's edge. It's like eating salt-and-vinegar chips: You just find yourself going back for more. (Importer: HB Wine Merchants)
Zocker Paragon Vineyard Edna Valley Gruner Veltliner ($19, 13.5%)
Tastes like: $26
What: A serious domestic consideration of Austria's defining grape.
Why: This effort from the stable of the Niven family seems an improbable Central Coast experiment. But winemaker Christian Roguenant has found a particular talent with this grape - and an expression that transcends noble tinkering to reach delicious territory. The 2010 is tense and proper, with snappy pea-shoot, quince, celery and a bright stoniness. Gotta love when a bold gamble pays off.
Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger Kamptal Riesling ($18, 12.5%)
Tastes like: $25
What: A tribute to Austrian quality from a nonpareil name.
Why: Michael Moosbrugger could spend his time working with the profundities of the Gobelsburg estate. But the more low-key Gobelsburger label, from less hallowed fruit, is where his talents truly shine. The 2009 Riesling shows the warm-spice refinement of the Kamptal region, with softer texture and cassia aromas to match lime-blossom flavors. And the tack-sharp 2010 Gruner Veltliner is one to stock away once you find it on shelves. (Importer: A Terry Theise Selection/Michael Skurnik Wines)
Geyerhof Rosensteig Kremstal Gruner Veltliner ($20, 12.5%)
Tastes like: $33
What: A defining Gruner Veltliner from a historic house.
Why: Ilse Maier's family has resided in the Kremstal since the 16th century, and this expression from the organically farmed Rosenstein parcel shows Gruner's ability to have both precision and opulence. Limpid and full of green flavors: poblano chile, oregano, ripe apple, apricot and lime zest. The texture of the 2009 is eye-opening; if you've bought into Gruner as a peppy, bright wine, here's your bottle for reconsideration - gravitas under screwcap. (Importer: Blue Danube Wine Co.)
Lini 910 Labrusca Emilia Lambrusco Rosé$19, 11%)
Tastes like: $24
What: A pink Lambrusco with a no-nonsense attitude.
Why: Alicia Lini is redefining the quality of an Emilian wine once considered the vinous equivalent of Mello Yello. Dark even for a pink Lambrusco, this is more ruby than pink and the red-grape presence is in your face, with a distinct tannic presence. Blood orange, rosehip, yellow raspberry and a chalky stone note create the perfect mix for salumi. True artisanal Lambrusco? You bet.
2008 Buil & Ginéinériorat Red ($20, 14%)
Tastes like: $30
What: A reminder of Priorat's potential beauty.
Why: Juan Giné family returned to its Priorat roots 15 years ago, and this mix of younger and older plantings of Grenache and Carignane, grown on the region's defining Llicorella slate, shows Priorat's purity without the oaky trappings that are hobbling the region. Don't miss the floral and spice hints in the 2008 - dried chamomile and the candied fennel seed you find in Indian restaurants, matched by a mouthful of berry and dark earth accents. As Priorat struggles with its identity, here's a very clear, self-assured expression. (Importer: Think Global Wines)
Louis M. Martini Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon ($13, 13.9%)
Tastes like: $26
What: A solid, underrated Cabernet from a legendary California name.
Why: Martini, now owned by E&J Gallo, has nailed a robust, classic Cab profile here: a charred whiff of licorice and dark oak in the 2008, plus black currant and dried leaves. But when you consider the volume of this wine (sometimes exceeding 200,000 cases) the perennial quality is an absolute feat. Napa may capture the attention, but Martini continues a proud tradition of good Cab from the left side of the Mayacamas, where the winery has long made its defining Monte Rosso bottle.
Catherine & Pierre Breton La Dilettante Vourvray Sec ($19, 12%)
Tastes like: $22
What: Deliciously delicate Vourvray from a Loire benchmark
Why: The Bretons are better known for reds from Chinon and Bourgeuil, but these Loire wizards have a deft hand with Chenin Blanc, too. "Sec" is pushing it a bit, as there's sweetness quietly sitting in the corner in the 2009. But the soapstone and spruce aromas, and a sweet pear and apricot profile, hit the balance so often lacking in Vouvray. Always crowd-pleasing and a perfect seafood foil. (Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant)
2010 Qupe Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne ($18, 13%)
Tastes like: $33
What: A defining California white, with a bulletproof track record.
Why: When not making the world safe for Syrah, Qupe's Bob Lindquist has been making this dramatic white faithfully since 1987. The great white grape of the northern Rhone, Marsanne can have the rich, almondy tones to please a Chardonnay lover while retaining a crucial edge in its fruit and mineral components. For a barely-break-even 18 bucks, Lindquist offers up a wine worthy of a good decade in the cellar. (For more, see sfg.ly/lq1N55) While it often takes about a year after harvest to unwind, the 2010 is surprisingly open and generous, full of bright lemon and hay flavors. A delicious example of winemaking public service.
Jon Bonnés The Chronicle's wine editor. Find him at jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com or @jbonne on Twitter.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/24/FDTM1KCSPC.DTL
This article appeared on page G - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
Not sure if any of these are crisp enough for today...
July 19, 2011 A Stepchild Lacks Identity By ERIC ASIMOV
IMAGINE you produce wines made from the sauvignon blanc grape. Immediately, you have problems.
Competition, for one. Your grape grows in just about every corner of the wine producing world. You cannot travel through France, Italy, Slovenia, South Africa, South America, New Zealand or California without running into sundry other merchants trying to hawk their own sauvignon blanc wines.
Now, it.s one thing if you.re making a wine in a region recognized for greatness, or at least for its high prices. But the number of sauvignon blancs regarded as great . that can fetch big bucks or at least whet demand because of their scarcity . is minute.
A few top producers in Sancerre or Pouilly-Fuméave a small but ardent following. And while the best dry white Bordeaux certainly cost a lot, how many people even know that sauvignon blanc is a significant component in these wines?
At least, your wine has to have some sort of identity. You want cheap yet refreshing? Try Chile. Brash and pungent? New Zealand. Old World terroir? Sancerre. And for California, that leaves ... what, exactly?
An excellent question. If you had asked me a few years ago, I might have said that California (Northern California, at least) was doing a fine job of emulating three distinct styles for its sauvignon blancs. Some displayed vibrant fruit in the New Zealand fashion. Some offered restrained mineral flavors àa the Loire Valley, and others the richer, barrel-aged wines of the Graves. All together, they may not have expressed a distinct identity, but I would have felt secure in recommending them as well-made, versatile, refreshing options.
Now, I.m not so sure. In a tasting of recent vintages of sauvignon blanc from Northern California, the wine panel felt a distinct absence of excitement. Sure, we found bottles that we liked. But too many lacked freshness and vibrancy, and unless you are making wines intended for aging, those qualities are essential. Others seemed disjointed or unbalanced or simply lacked harmony.
For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Pascaline Lepeltier, wine director of Rouge Tomate, and Jordan Salcito, wine director at Crown, a restaurant on the Upper East Side scheduled to open in September.
.Some were so oaky and ripe that the nuance was masked,. Jordan said. Pascaline expressed disappointment, saying she had been looking to add to the California sauvignon blanc selection at her restaurant, but that these wines largely lacked personality. Florence was faintly more pleased: .There were some decent wines, especially if the price is not off the charts..
Well, the wines weren.t too expensive. Seven were $20 or less, though six were $28 or more.
Let.s look at the less-dim side. Among the 20 bottles in the tasting, we certainly had our favorites, like our No. 1, the 2010 Groth from Napa Valley, which, with its liveliness and balance, pleased all of us. Our No. 2 bottle, the 2009 Twomey, also from Napa Valley, was fresh and pungent, yet somewhat restrained as well. It was harmonious, a quality that we didn.t find often enough.
We saw it, too, in our No. 3 wine, the 2009 Quivera from Fig Tree Vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, which combined ripe California fruit flavors with an enticing texture and presence. At $17, the Quivera was our best value.
Fourteen of the 20 wines were from the 2009 vintage, with five from 2010 and one from 2008. One came from Lake County, while nine each came from Napa and Sonoma, and one came from both. Both? That was the 2009 Spottswoode, which, scrupulously adhering to California labeling laws, revealed that its grapes were 52 percent Napa County, and 48 percent Sonoma.
Spottswoode is one of the great cabernet sauvignon producers of Napa Valley. Like other exalted Napa cabernet producers (Araujo, for example), its sauvignon blanc is not cheap. At $43, it was our most expensive bottle. Yet in our blind tasting we could not muster much enthusiasm for it. The wine had an earthy quality and full, rich flavors that we appreciated, but it also seemed to have a touch of sweetness and a lack of harmony, as if the acidity were in a separate room from the fruit. As Florence likes to say, the components of the wine were not on speaking terms.
Nonetheless, it was No. 9 among our top 10, indicating that it was a decent bottle and that the field was pretty weak.
Some wines were certainly correct. We liked the 2009 Longboard Vineyards, from the Russian River Valley, for its balance and restraint, and the 2009 Cakebread, an old standby from Napa, for its brightness and tart fruit. Honig makes a consistently good sauvignon blanc, and the 2009 Napa Valley was no different, and though we were put off by a touch of sweetness in the 2009 Duckhorn from Napa, it was also grassy and pungent.
I.ve liked other vintages of the Frog.s Leap sauvignon blanc better than the 2009, which seemed thin by comparison, and I was a little mystified by the 2009 Merry Edwards from the Russian River Valley. Five years ago, this might have been a go-to sauvignon blanc for me. Now it seems far riper, broader and oakier.
It.s tempting to speculate on why the wines were not better. For one thing, some top wines were not in our tasting. I.ve always liked the sauvignon blanc from Grgich Hills, for example, but we could not find a bottle. Iron Horse seems to have stopped making its T-Bar-T, which is too bad.
Some of the wines seemed manipulated. Quite a few seemed to have had tartaric acid added, which is a legal method for making up for acid deficiencies but one that sometimes results in harsh or disjointed wines.
Particularly in regions like Napa Valley and the Russian River Valley, where the status crops are cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir, one might legitimately fear that sauvignon blanc is not given the meticulous care reserved for its betters. For many wineries, no doubt, it.s nice to have a white to serve to guests in the tasting room or at the beginning of a fancy dinner before they haul out the big boys.
Sometimes it.s far too obvious when a wine is second fiddle. But it.s hard to expect consumers to take a wine seriously if the producer itself does not.
Tasting Report
Groth Napa Valley, $20, ** ½
Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Lively and balanced with ripe fruit, floral and earthy flavors.
Twomey Napa Valley, $24, ** ½
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Fresh and pungent but restrained, with flavors of ripe citrus fruit.
BEST VALUE
Quivera Dry Creek Valley, $17, ** ½
Fig Tree Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Ripe and round with enticing texture and tart lingering flavors of fruit and grass.
Longboard Vineyards Russian River Valley, $17, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Balanced, restrained and straightforward with green apple, citrus and oak flavors.
Cakebread Napa Valley, $29, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Full of bright, tart fruit and herbal flavors, and a little oak.
Honig Napa Valley, $16, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Pleasant and dry, with grassy, herbal flavors.
Duckhorn Napa Valley, $30, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Grassy and pungent with a touch of sweetness.
Frog's Leap Rutherford, $23, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
High-toned and pleasing with bright, tart and floral flavors.
Spottswoode Napa/Sonoma Counties, $43, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Rich fruit, slightly earthy and a tad sweet.
Merry Edwards Russian River Valley, $38, **
Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Very ripe with tropical fruit flavors and plenty of oak.
AND A BONUS from the LA TIMES
By S. Irene Virbila, Los Angeles Times
July 14, 2011
2009 Châau Lamothe de Haux Bordeaux Blanc
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A beautiful Bordeaux Blanc with a bouquet of acacia, lime and fresh-cut grass. A blend of 40% Sauvignon Blanc with an equal amount of Semillon and 20% Muscadelle, the 2009 from Châau Lamothe de Haux has the bracing minerality that makes these wines such terrific summer drinking. And this one is a particularly wonderful bargain.
Drink it as an aperitif, with chilled shellfish, Dungeness crab and sushi. Or a classic combination: with goat cheese.
Region: Bordeaux
Price: About $15
Style: Elegant and aromatic
What it goes with: shellfish, crab, sushi, goat cheese
AND possibly a repeat from the SFGC
Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc: Chronicle recommends
Jon BonnéSunday, June 26, 2011
Here is a first glance at the whites of 2010, a vintage that will go down as a paragon of late-ripening cool. That split the always-evolving category of Napa's Sauvignon Blancs in two: racy, fresh specimens that simply gave in to the year's realities, and bigger bottles that pushed well past 14 percent alcohol, presumably in a tricky wait for flavors that evolved beyond green.
What was the tell? For one, harvest dates that typically were late September and even October, a schedule more appropriate for Chardonnay than liftoff-in-August Sauvignon Blanc.
The result was an uneven showing, even for some popular names who clearly struggled with a tough year. But those wines made to be fresh and fleet-footed are showing beautifully, just in time for an official summer kickoff.
As we start to assess more results from 2010, I suspect this showing will keep repeating itself.
2010 Azur Wines Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc ($26, 14.1% alcohol):
Winemaker Julien Fayard, a Bordeaux veteran, shows off a powerhouse approach here. Packed with winter melon, mint leaf and apricot. Intense, with real weight but no fat. Big, impressive Sauvignon Blanc.
2010 Frog's Leap Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($18, 12.8%):
It should be no surprise that John Williams' Rutherford label kept to an earlier picking plan (starting in late August) and steel fermenting to repeat its classic style. Curt, racy and unabashedly green: A bell pepper twang mixes with fresh herb and zested lime. Shows a vital energy.
2010 Round Pond Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc ($24, 14.5%):
Winemaker Brian Brown took a bigger-is-better approach here, and the ripeness of the fruit comes through in a hefty but skillful steel-fermented style. Packed with dark stone and curry leaf accents, ripe pear and heady Meyer lemon, this makes for a boisterous glassful.
2010 Peju Province Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($22, 13.5%):
>From this longtime Rutherford name comes a vibrant, precise example, all the notes in the right places. Stone and chervil highlights give depth to a pear richness and a fresh lime zing. Beautifully energizing.
2010 Starmont Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($18, 13.9%):
This offshoot of Merryvale reaches up and down the length of the valley for fruit to balance out the flavors in this larger-production bottling. Fermented in a mix of mostly older oak and steel, it comes out a touch edgy and tart. But the cat's-business scents are a shout-out to New Zealand fans, backed up by pretty snap pea and tart peach. Zesty and fulfilling.
2010 Twomey Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($25, 13.4%):
An unexpected, refreshing showing from this Silver Oak sibling. The provenance might explain the creamy, wood-accented profile, but there's great integral acidity and a citrus-pith bite from the Calistoga fruit, with a tautness to the texture (malolactic fermentation was blocked). Fresh peach and pea-shoot flavors round it out.
2010 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($16, 13%):
A lean, fresh effort from this St. Helena name that shows off its charming dry-grass presence - hay and apricot skin aromas, with a mineral edge to ripe lemon fruit. Refreshing and modest.
Panelists: Jon BonnéChronicle wine editor; Jeff Diamond, wine buyer, Farmstead Cheeses and Wines; Nicole Madden, wine buyer, Ubuntu restaurant.
Jon Bonnés The Chronicle's wine editor. Find him at jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com or @jbonne on Twitter.
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* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
*Drinking & Voting* *Join CLA alumni for a fun night of beer tasting, with
a little civics lesson thrown in.*
*Wednesday, August 17, 2011*[image: Coffman Union Terrace with a view of
downtown Minneapolis]
*7:00 - 10:00 pm
Coffman Memorial Union, Campus Club terrace*
We will be featuring a sampling of Minnesota microbrews--both beer and root
beer--and live music by alumnus *Reid Kennedy* and his jazz ensemble.
After we’ve tasted them all, we’ll elect our favorite beer using *Ranked
Choice Voting* (RCV), a method of voting that ensures we have a majority
winner that represents the will of the people.
RCV (aka Instant Runoff Voting) is used in Minneapolis’s city elections and
will be used for the first time this November in St. Paul’s city elections.
It is also used to select the Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards.
OK, so just 5 ways... "top" is inferred.
5 ways to improve California wine
Jon BonnéSunday, July 3, 2011
Last Independence Day, I set out five themes to define California wine (see sfg.ly/myxL7s). That seemed like a savvy July 4 tradition to continue, so I sifted through my past year's notes to devise another five.
Again, these aren't about how to build a more perfectly generic Merlot. There are about how independent vintners can carve a better path to the future.
And so, five more ways to continue the roll of innovation.
1. Take white wine seriously. There's a quiet cynicism about white wine - a school of thought is that no serious wine drinker will dabble in it, aside from the occasional overwrought Chardonnay.
Ridiculous. Sure, there have been failures of white-wine ambition - anyone still shelling out for white Meritage? - and whites will always struggle for attention in a market where Cab and Pinot get all the glory. But the seas of bad Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, the ho-hum Rieslings and all that bionic Chardonnay are sad testament to what California vintners think of white-wine lovers.
Enough.
Some of the most compelling winemaking is taking place in white wine, whether it's fermenting Sauvignon Blanc in small steel barrels to finesse its texture or the arrival of old-vine white field blends from places like Sonoma's Compagni Portis vineyard. (Even in the supermarket, a blend like Big House White acknowledges the potential of forward-thinking whites.) There's ever more energy behind Vermentino and Grenache Blanc and Albarino, any of which could make a bid to transcend their niche status.
The wine-drinking world has signaled that red-wine bias isn't there; Nielsen Co. data show as much white being bought as red (55 million cases this past year). So give whites their due.
2. Stop the AVAs. What was the original purpose of an American Viticultural Area? To delineate somewhere with unique winegrowing properties.
Point being, there was a time when you made wine, built a reputation for a locale and then tried to get that reputation protected by law - usually in order to preserve your franchise. Now the appellation application comes first; if you're lucky, reputation follows.
You might agree that newly approved Coombsville has earned a reputation as a happy slice of Napa. Maybe the Annapolis area of the Sonoma Coast has ample cachet. But has the Lake County area of Big Valley (southeast of Lakeport), now preparing to submit its application, set the world alight? Not to target them; dozens of obscurities dot the AVA map. (Quick: Where's Covelo?) Even the federal government seems to be wary of the hinky politics behind the flood of applications.
The geography geek in me has a soft spot for AVAs. Wine is all about place, and a regulatory system exists to affirm that. But let's momentarily pause and return to the hard part: building a reputation that earns a place name on a bottle.
3. Let the Pinot thing go. So Pinot was - maybe still is - the next great hope for California wine. The best of California Pinot has unquestionably earned a place at the table with Burgundy. We know that consumers want a $10 bottle of Pinot, and we know what might be required to make that happen (see sfg.ly/9M1nBE ).
Now let's move on. Pinot was always meant to be special; the best way to honor it is to stop trying to turn it into confected, cheap wine. Let's exalt the beauty of grapes that do well in a $10 bottle rather than trying to use silk to sew a dishrag.
In other words, let Pinot go back to being Pinot. Find another grape to overexpose. That probably will be Malbec, though let's pray that California doesn't think it's wise to take on Argentina in a race to the bottom.
4. Redefine the estate. A great tragedy of California's Wine Country is the ridiculous price now required for an enterprising vintner to buy a little slice of heaven.
The prospect of an estate winery, which contains its own vineyards, has become a bauble for the well-off or well-financed. Thus we have lived for at least a decade amid a disconnect, in which those with the knowledge to make amazing wine are often the least able to control that process from budbreak to bottle - which might be why "estate bottled" has fallen into irrelevancy.
I won't be so foolish as to suggest that land prices spin down. But those making wine in warehouses and sheds are trying harder than ever to control their entire farming process; consider arrangements like those made by the owners of the tiny Anthill Farms label to help farm the Abbey Harris site in Anderson Valley. You may not own the soil, but just as leaseholding has long existed in France's vineyards, you can still work it yourself.
One of the most stubborn gaps in California wine is between grower and winemaker. With a new generation of winemakers who very much want to farm, but can't acquire their own land, now's the time to reconsider that gap by encouraging winemakers to hop on the tractor.
5. Simplify. Winemaking costs money. Want wood flavor? Those oak chips (to say nothing of barrels) add to the bottom line. Picked at the wrong time? All that de-alcoholization and acid addition is an added expense.
In the spirit of giving a nickel for each time "great wine is made in the vineyard" has been uttered, it's time for winemakers to practice the essence of that phrase - and simplify their jobs.
So: Grow better fruit (or work with growers to improve their practices) and fine-tune your picking decisions; aim for a balance of flavor so that fruit doesn't need to be tweaked in the winery; put your basic wines in simple steel tanks and your fancy stuff in whatever you think it requires; stop turning every wine into a science project. Have faith that California can grow fruit that requires no repair.
Of course there are vintages that go awry and need high-tech help. Witness Germany's 2010 vintage, when outrageous acid levels forced many noninterventionist winemakers to de-acidify, usually with aghast looks on their faces. But these efforts should be a rare exception, not the rule.
The bonus? You'll spend a lot less money fixing bad decisions later.
Jon Bonnés The Chronicle's wine editor. Find him at jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com or @jbonne on Twitter.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/03/FDR71K4B5H.DTL
May be worht it to hear Terry Theise "spin" this one....
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2011/07/01/germanys-bizarro-2010-vinta…
Germany.s bizarro 2010 vintage
Posted on 07/01/2011 at 9:03 am by Jon Bonnén Wine, Winemakers
The Rotenfels vineyard in the Nahe, a site nearly as intense as the 2010 wines. (Photo: German Wine Institute)
Next to the bearded lady and the four-leaf clover in the Curiosities folder, you can place Germany.s 2010 vintage.
An odd combination of rain and hail, and general lack of sunshine until the very crucial end of the vintage . buoyantly termed a .Golden October. by the Germans . caused a drastic reduction in crop, by an average 25 percent, and produced a heck of an anomaly.
By .anomaly,. I mean a year that left pretty much everyone violently shaking their heads. No one has come up with an apt comparison to any other year. And so, just in time for 31 Days of German Riesling, arriving today, a crazy dose of Riesling.
That might be because the 2010 wines are concentrated in a way virtually no one has ever tasted . little powerhouses of purity. .Forget .vinosity.,. wrote importer Terry Theise in his annual catalog, .these babies are as dense as paperweights..
(Even better is a quote Theise included, which I.ll heist and pass along here, from Johannes Geil in the Rheinhessen: .This year we didn.t really discuss the crop; we knew the names of each berry..)
I queried Theise on the vintage a few months ago, because the head-scratching had begun even before tanks finished fermenting. He was still struggling to get his head around the wines, which are marked by remarkably high sugar levels and even ridiculously high levels of acidity. While recent years have given a surplus of sugar, the acids in 2010 saw that sugar and raised it. By about a million bucks. These wines are very much turned up to 11.
Acid, be gone
Which brings us to 2010.s tricky little side story. Most wines were so high in acid that even some of the most hidebound vintners were typically forced to de-acidify. (Mostly by the use of calcium carbonate; more on that here.) Germans don.t much cotton to tinkering with their wines, so to yank out crucial acid, just to make it drinkable? Well, this must have been one heck of a vintage.
Thus it was with major curiosity that Theise.s annual tasting of German wines rolled into town this week.
How were the wines? Really hard to parse. Even in this first brief glance (although Theise.s tastings are nearly canonical in RieslingWorld), most usual rules of thumb went out the window.
Take a wine like the A.J. Adam Dhroner Riesling, a dry bottling from one of my favorite Mosel producers. It was opulent and nearly impossible to understand . mute in one moment, showing off a polished honeycomb aspect the next. One of Adam.s sweet efforts, the Dhron Hofberg Kabinett, had that same polished aspect, with fermentation aromas still lingering. There wasn.t the electricity I had come to expect, as though the intensity was wrapped in wool; I wondered if the wines received malolactic fermentation, almost unheard of in German Riesling but occasionally used this wacky year. When I later asked Theise about the wines, he said they.d been showing gorgeously in New York. .YMMV [your mileage may vary],. he wrote. Could that be the motto for the vintage?
The TBA that shall not speak its name
Then came were freak wines. The Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Rotlay, for instance, showed up without a Pradikat (kabinett, spatlese, etc.) level . mostly because Johannes Selbach wanted to highlight this teensy parcel within the Sonnenuhr vineyard without falling back on classifications. But also because the wine was picked with sugar levels that qualify as Trockenbeerenauslese (at least 150 degrees Oechsle), yet with ridiculous acidity that placed it in a completely other realm. I had no reference point, beyond it being crazy good. Emphasis on both words.
As counterpoint, the Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Beerenauslese. I was shocked to find it in a full 750ml bottle (BAs are almost always in half bottles) until I realized that another vintner might have labeled it a Spatlese, but Merkelbach took the forthright step of slapping a true Pradikat level on the bottle rather than quietly classifying it downward. And it tasted like a Spatlese on steroids. The flavors just hung out in my mouth for a few minutes, refusing to leave.
The tiny Nahe region appeared as a stronghold of finesse in 2010. Harald Hexamer had to resort to a touch of de-acidifcation to bring his edgy wines into line. But his Rheingrafenberg Kabinett and In Den Felsen Spatlese both found ways to harness the beauty of ridiculous acidity . 10.4 grams/liter of acid and up, about double what you.d find in a California Chardonnay. Flavors of lemongrass and fern and grapefruit not only burst forth; they pretty much smacked me in the face.
Of course there was Donnhoff, perhaps the most famous of Theise.s estates, etched and already beautifully showy. Witness the twofer of Oberhauser Brucke wines from Donnhoff.s wholly owned vineyard, crafted from two sides of the same grape bunches. The sun-exposed halves went into the Auslese Goldkapsel, the others into the Spatlese. The Auslese was lush but invigorating, while the Spatlese showed a weightlessness, like a Kabinett on overdrive. .My wines should be a little bit like fresh spring water,. Cornelius Donnhoff told me by way of understatement.
Throw out the rules
If his were a spring, some wines provided a waterfall. A wine like the Meulenhof Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese, usually a bit shy when young, was flat-out electric . full of stone and green apple flesh, already with perfect pitch. But others seemed a bit too twitchy, perhaps overwhelmed by their acid.
In the end? Question marks. There have been many preliminary rules of thumb on 2010 . dry wines will be too austere, typically rich Pfalz wines be snappy and lean. I suspect we.ll throw most of those out; these wines have no obvious corollaries.
But some true successes are already clear. Witness a lineup like that of Johannes Leitz, who engaged in some moderate de-acidification (he gave me a recap on how the process also removed harsh oxalic acid, typically found in rhubarb). His most unkempt, rowdy effort? The popular Eins Zwei Dry, which follows a bit of that party line about dry wines in .10. But his benchmark Dragonstone was charged and powerful, with acidity to nearly transcend its sweet profile (at 90 degrees Oechsle, it.s well into Spatlese territory).
That charged sensation came through even more directly in Leitz.s Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Spatlese. It exuded the presence of a nectarine at its perfect point of ripeness, with some current (as in electricity, not as in little red fruit) running through.
It.s a galvanizing wine. From a galvanizing year that offered rollercoasters in a bottle. Rather than listen to endless blather about another Bordeaux vintage to die for (or die paying for), I.d prefer to contemplate a vintage that wants to Taser me into appreciation.
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Whew! For those of you diligent enough to stick it out until the end, a bonus photo from our Teutonic friends. And so 31 Days of Riesling begins . now.
Do not cross the Riesling. (Photo: German Wine Institute)
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