Santa Cruz Pinot Noir: The Chronicle recommends
Jon Bonnéunday, June 17, 2012
Our latest foray into this unheralded region for Pinot Noir considered two potentially stellar vintages. Both 2009 and 2010 were modest ('10 was downright cold) and those who gave into each year's potential stood to be rewarded.
The best wines from our lineup of more than two dozen were heady, complex and light on their feet.
The rest? If Pinot Noir's identity issues are revealing themselves nowadays, that's especially true in Santa Cruz. We encountered a few too many off flavors in some wines, and - in what's becoming a theme for 2010 - too many attempts to make a hefty wine in a year that wasn't inclined to provide one.
Santa Cruz has long wrestled with this gap in winemaking quality. As the world takes ever more notice, it will become ever more important to confront it.
As for the region, though, the possibilities for greatness are manifest. Ridgetop vineyards like Mount Eden remain benchmarks, but the plantings - new and old - near Corralitos and Aptos (go to bit.ly/HJmACV) are more than living up to their potential.
They continue to prove just how much there is to marvel at in the Santa Cruz Mountains - when the winemaking is on par with a beautifully defined sense of place.
2009 Windy Oaks Terra Narro Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($29, 13.9% alcohol): Since 1999, Jim Schultze and his family have been building a reputation for ethereal Pinot from the little-known Corralitos area. As Corralitos' profile grows, Windy Oaks is a standard-bearer. This impressive, nuanced bottling shows why. The least oak-influenced of its lineup - compared with the 2009 Diane's Block ($39, 13.9%), with toasty notes amid its rose-petal prettiness - this shows Pinot's shady side, with dusky pine and juniper aromas to balance its delicate strawberry fruit.
2010 Alfaro Family Lester Family Vineyard at Deer Park Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($38, 13.7%): The cool 2010 vintage seems to have brought out the best in Richard Alfaro's efforts, both with his own Corralitos vineyard and with other sites. This bottle from the nearby Lester site, planted to a mix of Dijon and older selections like Mount Eden, is tension-filled, packed with juicy currant fruit. Iodine and juniper accents balance a dose of new oak, but the innate beauty of fruit from this Aptos site shines through.
2010 Wind Gap Woodruff Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($50, 12.7%): Syrah master Pax Mahle has brought out surprising structure in a light-touch wine made entirely with whole grape clusters. There's a saline edge to its taut red fruit - with scents of pomegranate, carob, musk and dried mushroom. As it opens, richer plum flavors show its full flesh.
2010 Ghostwriter Santa Cruz County Pinot Noir ($30, 13.5%): Healdsburg-based Kenny Likitprakong (Hobo Wine) has become a curator of Santa Cruz sites, and while his single-vineyard efforts are winning, this blend of multiple sites (mostly near the town of Aptos) matches bright raspberry and rhubarb to a heartier earthen side. It's a contrast to the wonderful marjoram-scented delicacy of the 2010 Ghostwriter Woodruff Vineyard Pinot Noir ($45, 13.2%), from that 30-year-old dry-farmed site, one of the area's emerging stars.
2010 Thomas Fogarty Rapley Trail Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($55, 14.3%): The winemaking team of Michael Martella and Nathan Kandler is dialing in an ever more nuanced style at Fogarty, including this bottle from Fogarty's old-estate planting in the north of the appellation, near Woodside. The use of grape stems reveals itself in intense aromas of exotic peppercorn, with lavender, tangerine and bright raspberry. Generous and aromatic, if very stylish.
2009 Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($52, 13.5%): As the would-be dean of Santa Cruz Pinot makers, Jeffrey Patterson reveals the full potential of 2009 - rich, powerful flavors and moderate size. That trademark mineral power of this Saratoga site, home to Martin Ray's mid-century efforts - brings a bright, stony edge to match dark underbrush, tree bark, allspice and fresh bayberry. A subtle, long-aging vintage.
Panelists: Jeff Bareilles, wine director, Manresa; Jon BonnéChronicle wine editor; Rebecca Rapaszky, wine buyer, Noe Valley Wine Merchants.
Jon Bonnés The San Francisco Chronicle's wine editor. E-mail: jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbonne
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/17/FD3M1P1AGE.DTL
This article appeared on page G - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle
You can taste Burgundy here, but it helps to go there
By Dave McIntyre, Published: June 15
This was a once-in-a-lifetime invitation: an exclusive tasting and dinner with fine Burgundy wines from the cellars of the Hospices de Beaune. I would be allowed to write about the event, but only on the condition that I not name the venue nor quote any of its .members. by name. This gave the evening an only-in-Washington, .I.d tell you, but I.d have to kill you. atmosphere I couldn.t resist.
As I headed to an undisclosable location near the White House, I had visions of a posh retreat behind a nondescript door where the city.s power players would sit in overstuffed leather chairs and quietly plot the downfall of dictators, foreign financiers and uncooperative U.S. senators while swirling balloon-shaped glasses of Gevrey-Chambertin. So I was a bit nonplused to see a large blue banner with the venue.s initials waving over the door. No secret handshakes or passwords required. How secret could this place be?
It was posh, though. Lots of hardwood, chandeliers and grand staircases, plus the type of fine restroom linen that makes you enjoy drying your hands. The chief wine guy was known simply as the Ambassador. And yes, there was lots of fine Burgundy.
The tasting was led by Anthony Hanson, a lanky Brit with unkempt, silvery hair and an absent-minded-professor demeanor that suggests he might not remember which pocket holds his hotel key, even though he can rattle off details of several vintages of grand cru cuvees from the Cote de Nuits. Hanson, who holds the prestigious title of Master of Wine, made his reputation with his 1982 book on Burgundy, titled .Burgundy,. in which he famously wrote, .Great Burgundy smells of s---.. (Subsequent editions have omitted this line.)
The Hospices de Beaune today is more synonymous with a wine auction than with the hospital it still supports. The world.s oldest charitable wine auction started in the 1850s, about four centuries after the first vineyards were donated to the hospital. Each year on the third Sunday of November, Burgundy.s winemakers and a coterie of devotees from around the world gather to bid on barrels of wine from the just-harvested vintage. (Hanson has managed the auction for Christie.s since 2005.)
Hanson was in Washington as part of a world tour to promote this year.s auction. His U.S. trip took him to Nantucket and New York as well. Earlier this year he stamped his passport in India, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, reflecting the importance of the Asian market for fine, expensive French wine.
.People are able to connect with the history of Burgundy and France. through the auction, Hanson says. .It.s a key to the door of Burgundy..
Burgundy is never cheap, but buying a barrel at auction can be a value. The tasting included a 2009 Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru that sold for almost $4,000 a barrel, or less than $13 a bottle for the wine. (A barrel is about 300 bottles.) The purchaser then pays a winery to .mature. the wine for two years, then bottle and label it. The labels reflect the wine.s origin with the Hospices, but there is also the opportunity to put one.s own name or company name on the label, with all the marketing possibilities that entails.
During the tasting, I sat next to Timothy Cone, a federal public defender who has been purchasing barrels at auction since 2000. .I bought three 2009s, and mine are better,. Cone muttered as we tasted a Volnay Premier Cru from the Hospices. cellar. That.s a sentiment the auction organizers would probably applaud, because it means Cone is happy with his purchases and keeps coming back. He first attended the annual barrel tasting before the auction in 1998 during a trip to Beaune.
.The experience of tasting all those Hospices wines was a revelation, because the differences between the taste of wines from different villages were more pronounced than I.d ever realized drinking a bottle of Burgundy at home now and then,. Cone recalls.
Going to Burgundy is essential to understanding Burgundy, agrees Lanny Lancaster, co-owner of C.est Vin importers, who helped arrange the event. His enthusiasm explains the fervor true Burgundy fans feel.
.You have to put boots on the ground,. Lancaster says. .If you stand with your back to the northwest side of the village of Vosne-Romanee and face west, up a small, single-lane road you will see an ancient cross. This marks Romanee-Conti,. he explained, naming one of Burgundy.s most famous vineyards. .Without moving your eyes, in the same view you have 100 percent of the vineyards of Romanee Conti, La Grand Rue, La Romanee and most of La Tache. One can argue that these are perhaps four of the top six or seven pinot noir vineyards in the world.
.I get chills every time I drive up that road,. he says.
McIntyre blogs at www.dmwineline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dmwine .
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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 *
Cabana Boy not included...
June 12, 2012
Take On Summer With Gin From Experienced Hands
By ERIC ASIMOV
GROW your own, brew your own, butcher your own, ferment your own. This has been the mantra of the do-it-yourself ethos in pursuit of authentic flavors and pleasures uncorrupted by corporate or other intrusive interests. Distill your own was never far behind.
Small distilleries have proliferated throughout the United States in the last 10 years. They.ve made any number of applejacks and fruit brandies, whiskeys and eaux de vie. But no spirit seems to have captured the imagination of these small distillers more than gin has.
Ah, gin. Brisk, peppery gin. Once, it epitomized summer elegance. It was the cool-breeze component of martinis and gimlets, rickeys and slings, fizzes and Collinses. It was the soothing tonic that helped the quinine go down. It was yardarms and pastel sunsets.
Then the ground trembled and the sky darkened. Along came the devil, I mean vodka, and gin was forsaken in favor of . What? No flavor? No aroma? No character? Well, that.s vodka for you: a bland, neutral cipher. Gin.s cocktails became vodka.s cocktails, championed by those who ought to have known better, consumed by the masses who had no idea what a martini was, much less a yardarm.
And yet, great gins abound. Unlike the craft-brewing movement, spurred 35 years ago by the poverty of the mass-market beer selection, small distillers faced no such desperation. If anything, consumers are blessed with a profusion of superb, distinctive gins in many guises that are widely available, among them the elegant, graceful Plymouth; the crisp, proper Tanqueray; the classic Beefeaters and Boodles; and the more exotic Citadelle and Hendrick.s.
Even inexpensive standbys like Seagram.s Extra Dry and Gordon.s London Dry are pretty good, though I submit you will not find a better gin than Plymouth for enjoying a martini with a summer sunset.
Even so, the vodka blitzkrieg required action. In the last third of the 20th century, gin sales plummeted as vodka sales accelerated. The big spirits companies fought back by trying to duplicate vodka.s success, using high-budget branding, marketing and positioning. While they emphasized packaging and status, they also toyed with the classic, predominantly juniper flavor profile of gin. High-end brand extensions like Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray No. 10 aimed at a new audience by infusing the standard gin palette with a range of related but unconventional spices and herbs.
These efforts have been modestly successful, though they have done nothing to slow vodka.s ascendancy. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group, sales of vodka in the United States have risen steadily to around 62 million cases in 2011, from about 39 million in 2002. Sales of gin, however, have been static, hovering around 11 million cases a year. The one area of encouraging growth has been at the highest end, in the super-premium category, which was up 24 percent in 2011 compared with in 2002.
The output of the new, small distilleries amounts to no more than a trickle. Like so many in the cocktail renaissance, many of them have rejected vodka as hopelessly square and dull while embracing gin as complex and distinctive. Perhaps, too, they have a historical appreciation for gin, just as the cocktail connoisseurs embraced the nearly forgotten rye whiskey and, in an earlier generation, craft brewers resurrected moribund styles of beer.
They have practical reasons to focus on gin as well. Whiskeys and brandies, and sometimes even rums, generally require distillers to put the spirits into barrels to age. The expense of production and storage without a significant return on investment is simply not feasible for small start-up distillers.
That leaves vodka and gin, two spirits that are perpetually at odds yet ever intertwined. Vodka is easier to make . hold that thought . yet fails the hipness test. So for small distillers who want to make names (and possibly profits) for themselves, and do that immediately, gin is the thing.
To get a sense of what these small distilleries are doing, the spirits panel recently tasted 20 bottles of gin, all made in the United States, mostly by distilleries that have started in just the last few years. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by our colleague Julia Moskin, for whom gin has long been a favorite spirit, and David Wondrich, the cocktail historian and author.
Though gin has been blown out of the market by vodka, it nonetheless depends on it. You cannot have gin without vodka. Vodka is neutral spirits. It can be distilled from practically anything. Most is distilled from grain, but you can also find it made from grapes, potatoes and plenty of other materials. Regardless of the base, the point is to distill the distinctiveness out of the vodka, rendering a spirit of aloof purity.
While that is the end result of vodka, it.s just the beginning with gin. The vast majority of gins, modeled on the prevailing style known as London Dry, are essentially vodka that has been infused, steeped or otherwise flavored with botanicals, that is, herbs, spices and fruit essences. The traditional flavorings begin with juniper, which gives gin its bracing burst of cool. Other classic flavorings include coriander, licorice, citrus zest and angelica: pretty much anything you.d find in a witch.s brew, though individual recipes are generally guarded as zealously as the formula for Coca-Cola.
If the preparations have a medicinal ring, it is not without reason. Gin was invented in the 17th century by a Dutch doctor seeking a cure for kidney disorders. It took some time to earn its reputation for elegance. In its early days, it was the drink of the British working class, and it was not until the mid-19th century, after producers like Beefeater and Boodles shaped the flavor of modern gin, that upper classes adopted it. Even so, gin has fought off less flattering sobriquets, like .gin soaked. and the Prohibition-era bathtub gin.
Most of the new American gins are in the London Dry style, though many of the distillers, perhaps reserving the right to be creative, call their gins American Dry. Given the fondness for rare and bygone styles, it would not surprise me to see American distillers take a crack at genever, a staple of the Netherlands rarely seen in the United States, which offers a sort of malty edge that is very different from London Dry, and a sweetened gin known as Old Tom.
As with vodkas, most big gin producers buy their neutral spirits from huge distilleries rather than making it themselves. But that is not the way of the small gin producers, who do it themselves. Three of the 20 distillers in our tasting are based in Brooklyn, and a fourth, though situated elsewhere, calls its gin Brooklyn, for all that connotes nowadays.
Regardless of where the gins came from, the collection offered a clear lesson: making gin is not for amateurs. The best of the big gins, like Beefeater, Plymouth and Tanqueray, are excellent and beautifully integrated. They seem to achieve their signature complex blends almost effortlessly. Except for our favorites, the small-producer gins seemed far more labored.
.Gin is the hardest spirit to make well,. David said. .It.s hard to get the balance of these things right..
The evidence bore him out. Too many of the gins seemed out of balance, dominated by one flavor: too sweet, too floral, too sweaty, too vegetative or simply harsh and artificial tasting. It reminded me of the early days of craft brewing, when so many brewpubs that talked a great game were unable to deliver. A shakeout was inevitable, and those that could not improve fell by the wayside.
So, the question has to be asked: If the last third of the 20th century was cruel to gin, has the beginning of the 21st been crueler still?
We.ll know in a few decades. Meanwhile, the matter of yardarms remains. Few things speak of summer like gin, whether at the beach or on the deck, lazing on the balcony or on a tarpaper roof, gazing out the window or merely settling back and putting your feet up. Vodka favors complacency, but gin offers a stylish infusion. By all means, toast the season with a Collins, fizz or gimlet. And let it be gin.
Tasting Report
BEST VALUE
Berkshire Mountain Distillers, $28, ***
Greylock Gin; Great Barrington, Mass., 40%
Light, subtle and complex, dominated by classic flavors of juniper, citrus and coriander.
The New York Distilling Company, $33, ***
Dorothy Parker American Gin; Brooklyn, 44%
Brisk, bright and pungent, with citrus and herbal flavors; not classic, but intriguing.
The Anchor Distilling Company, $32, ***
Junipero Gin; San Francisco, 49.5%
Clean, dry and classic gin; botanical flavors and a slight alcohol burn.
Philadelphia Distilling, $36, ** ½
Bluecoat American Dry Gin; Philadelphia, 47%
Smooth, bracing and straightforward with a touch of heat.
Finger Lakes Distilling, $29, ** ½
Seneca Drums Gin; Burdett, N.Y., 43%
Complex and slightly sweet, with spicy, earthy flavors and a bit of vanilla.
Death.s Door Spirits Gin; Middleton, Wis., $36, **
47%
Flavors of juniper and licorice; a little sweet.
Greenhook Ginsmiths, $30, **
American Dry Gin; Brooklyn, 47%
Unusual combination of cucumber, juniper and salty flavors.
Breuckelen Distilling, $30, **
Glorious Gin; Brooklyn, 45%
Smells like potpourri, with flavors of root beer, anise and wintergreen.
Spring 44 Gin; Loveland, Colo., $25, **
40%
Very busy, with smooth, spicy flavors of cloves and ginger.
Great Lakes Distillery, $38, **
Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin; Milwaukee, 44%
Savory, with aromas of lemon, lime, root beer and witch hazel.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 12, 2012
A previous version of this article misstated the number of cases of vodka and gin sold in recent years, expressing sales in the thousands. In 2011, 62 million cases of vodka were sold; 39 million cases in 2002. Sales of gin are steady at around 11 million cases a year.
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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 *
Dear friends,
For those who have been following the news of Rudy K's indictment and other stories pertaining to wine fakery, Vanity Fair has just released a fairly lengthy article by Michael Steinberger in their July 2012 issue: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/wine-fraud-rudy-kurniawan-vintage…
Happy reading -- see you at the Acker Merrall auctions :)
Russ
FYI, from the WA Post.
The roséhat wasn.t supposed to be
By Dave McIntyre, Published: June 4
It happened near the end of last year.s frenetic harvest, as the exhausted vineyard crew at Black Ankle Vineyards near Mount Airy scrambled to get grapes off the vines and into the cellar. Incessant rain from mid-September into October squeezed the harvest from its normal six weeks into three, and the crew worked 16-hour shifts every day of the week in a race to get the grapes picked before they took on too much water . or worse, rotted.
Walking through the winery, co-owner Ed Boyce met with vineyard manager Evencio Martinez, who was .bleeding. the last lot of merlot: draining some of the just-pressed juice into another tank in order to concentrate what.s left. The separated juice would be used to make a rosér to top off some of the final red wine blends.
Boyce noticed something was wrong. The hose from the merlot tank was not connected to the .bleed tank. but to the adjacent one, which held the winery.s fermenting proprietary white wine blend, coincidentally called Bedlam. By the time he managed to stop the flow, the white wine had been stained by about 120 gallons of pink merlot juice.
.Evencio is our star, the best guy we have,. Boyce said recently, recalling the incident with a laugh. .The first thing he did was call Sarah and apologize,. referring to his wife and co-owner, Sarah O.Herron, who.s in charge of the winemaking.
On Memorial Day weekend, Black Ankle released its 2011 Bedlam Roséa blend of gruner veltliner, albarino, viognier, chardonnay and muscat, as well as about 10 percent merlot. It.s a wine that wasn.t supposed to be, and, as you might expect with that blend, it doesn.t taste like a typical roséBut it is good, and even at $28 a bottle, Boyce expects to sell out of the 208 cases they produced. (Fans of the Bedlam white blend needn.t fret; after the accident, Boyce and O.Herron blended more Bedlam from their separate white wines.)
Some popular wines are created by accident. Others are improvised by creative winemakers forced to deal with what nature offers instead of what the winemaker intended.
In 2005, Virginia experienced a large, excellent harvest, and many wineries, such as Cooper Vineyards in Louisa County, had more grapes than they could handle. Co-owners Geoffrey Cooper and Jacquelyn Hogge decided to make ice wines from 2 tons each of vidal blanc and Norton grapes they had left over. So they sent the grapes to a commercial freezer facility in Waynesboro. Gently pressing frozen grapes allows the winemaker to separate the ice (water) from the concentrated juice, yielding an unctuous sweet wine.
.We came out with a very nice white wine, which became our Vida dessert wine,. Cooper said. .The Norton grapes, however, produced a wine that was not as sweet as we wanted and had a lot of berry flavors. I believe they had thawed too much prior to pressing. I love berries with chocolate, so I suggested a chocolate-infused wine..
Winemaker Graham Bell set to work with some chocolate extract samples and created Noche, which has won several medals in competitions and is now Cooper Vineyards. most popular wine.
.Noche now makes up about 30 percent of our total production and outsells all of our other wines by more than double,. Hogge said.
Bernd Jung, owner and winemaker of Chester Gap Cellars near Front Royal, Va., faced a quandary in 2006, when he wanted to make a sweet wine from petit manseng but the grapes refused to ripen enough. So he pressed the wine, blended in some viognier for balance and called the final product Cuvee Manseng. It is a wine unlikely to be made anywhere in the world except Virginia, because that.s the only place those two grapes grow together.
A floral, off-dry white, the Cuvee Manseng was a hit, and Jung produced 350 cases at its height. But it won.t become his signature, as his petit manseng vines have been hit by disease and are dying. .The variety will probably go away within a few years,. he says. .I.ve already lost about 30 percent of the vines..
At Black Ankle, Ed Boyce says he hopes the Bedlam Roséon.t become a signature wine. .I don.t want to make it again,. he said before the wine was released. .But we.ve told customers the story and they.re raring to try it. This is a funny business..
Wine Recommendations
McIntyre blogs at dmwineline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dmwine .
Bargain bottles
Published: June 5
Bargain bottles
...Exceptional ...Excellent..Very Good
Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.
Here.s my monthly list of bargain wines that outperform for their low price ($9 to $16). Included are two roséfrom southern France, each a bargain in different styles, and a charming red from Portugal that doesn.t even reach double-digits in price.
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier 2011 ..1 / 2 California, $15
Long a great-value white from California, this wine is creeping up in price, which is a shame. But the quality is still there: vibrant fruit and racy acidity that keeps it fresh. Try to save some for dinner. It goes great with a variety of summer foods.
Winebow/Bacchus/Country Vintner: Widely available in the District, including at Bell Wine & Spirits, Best D.C. Supermarket, Cairo Wine & Liquor, Calvert Woodley, Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits, Circle Wine & Liquor, Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor, Continental Wine & Liquor, Cowgirl Creamery, Dean & DeLuca, Georgetown Wine & Spirits, Local Vines, MacArthur Beverages, Magruder.s, Morris Miller Wine & Liquor, P&C Market, Paul.s of Chevy Chase, Pearson.s, Potomac Wine & Spirits, Rodman.s, Schneider.s of Capitol Hill, Trader Joe.s, all Whole Foods Market locations, Wine Specialist. Available in Maryland at Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits and Eastport Liquors in Annapolis; Blue Wind Gourmet in Lexington Park; Calvert Wine & Spirits in Hunt Valley; Corridor Wine & Spirits in Laurel; Eddie.s of Roland Park, Graul.s Wine & Spirits, North Charles Fine Wine & Spirits and Wells Discount Liquors in Baltimore; Frederick Wine House; Gilly.s Craft Beer & Fine Wine and World Market in Rockville; Grape Expectations in Gaithersburg; I.M. Wine in Fulton; Jason.s Wine & Spirits in Ellicott City; Mays Chapel Wine & Spirit Shop in Timonium; Montgomery County Liquor Stores in Kensington and Rockville; Rodman.s in White Flint; Roots Market in Olney; Wine Harvest in Potomac; Wine Merchant in Lutherville. Available in Virginia at Arrowine and Grand Cru in Arlington; Balducci.s and Unwined in Alexandria; Cheesetique in Alexandria and Shirlington; Norm.s Beer & Wine in Vienna; all local locations of Total Wine & More, Wegmans and Whole Foods Market.
Mas de Bressades Cabernet-Syrah 2010 ..1 / 2 Pays du Gard, France, $16
Producer Cyril Mares labels this wine .Les Vignes de Mon Pere,. and his respect for his father.s vines and wines shows through in this lovely, lively red that is ideal for summer grilling. It is another great red from the terrific 2010 vintage in southern France.
Kacher/Washington Wholesale/Reliable Churchill: Available in the District at Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits, Dixie Liquor, MacArthur Beverages, Whole Foods Market P Street. Available in Maryland at Carrolltown Liquors in Sykesville, Enchanted Forest Wine & Spirits in Ellicott City, Perfect Pour in Elkridge, Quarry Wine & Spirits and Wine Source in Baltimore, Vineyards Elite in Pikesville.
Chateau Grande Cassagne Rosé011 ..1 / 2 Costieres de Nimes, France, $11
A bright red roséhat bursts with juicy strawberry flavors and refreshing acidity, the wine has a hint of sweetness that probably comes from ripe fruit. Think of this in the Tavel style of roséwith its deeper red color. An excellent value that you will probably have trouble keeping in your glass.
Kacher/Washington Wholesale/Reliable Churchill: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley, Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits, Dixie Liquors, Pearson.s, Rodman.s, all Whole Foods Market locations. Widely available in Maryland.
Coeur de Cep Rosé011 .. Coteaux Varois en Provence, France, $10
More in the style of Provence, this pale pink roséas subtle melon flavors to match its lighter color. It.s a delicious wine, refreshing and with acidity to match even heartier summer dishes.
M Touton Selection: Available in the District at Barrel House Liquors, Best in Liquors, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Market at Columbia Plaza, Paul.s of Chevy Chase, Rodman.s. Available in Maryland at Franklin Liquors in Ijamsville, Old Farm Liquors in Frederick, Silesia Liquors in Fort Washington, Wine Bin in Ellicott City. Available in Virginia at Cork & Fork in Gainesville, Crystal City Wine Shop, Fern Street Gourmet in Alexandria, Marvelous Market in Arlington; on the list at Yves. Bistro in Alexandria.
Jean Dumont Muscadet de Sevre et Maine 2010 .. Loire Valley, France, $10
Muscadet, made with the grape melon de Bourgogne (although the area is nowhere near Burgundy), is typically a dry, mineral white that cries out for oysters. This example from the ripe 2010 vintage lives up to the grape.s name with lush melon flavors and a lovely, refreshing finish.
J.W. Sieg: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits. Available in Virginia at All About Wine in Tappahannock, J. Emerson Fine Wines & Cheese in Richmond, Unwined in Alexandria and Belleview.
Alta Corte 2008 .. Lisboa, Portugal, $9
I.ve made no secret of my love for Portuguese wines, and this tasty little red waves the flag quite well. It.s a blend of caladoc (a rare cross of grenache and malbec) and tinta roriz, the Portuguese name for tempranillo. This would make an excellent house red for the summer, though you might want to break into a chorus of fado.
Dionysus: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Rodman.s, Wagshal.s Market, all Whole Foods Market locations. Available in Maryland at Bradley Food & Beverage and Montgomery Gourmet Beer & Wine in Bethesda, Chesapeake Wine Co. and Wine Source in Baltimore, Iron Bridge Wine Co. in Columbia, Wine Bin in Ellicott City, Wishing Well Liquors in Easton; on the list at Red Red Wine in Annapolis. Available in Virginia at Iron Bridge Wine Co. in Warrenton, Whole Foods Market in Vienna, WineStyles in Chantilly.
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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 *
