Aromatic whites cast a spell
Jon Bonnéunday, October 2, 2011
I'm deep in the midst of the charmed category designated as "other" as I look through white wines for this year's Top 100 Wines.
"Other" can include the ripe tree-fruit pleasures of good Pinot Gris, which by its name usually signals that someone wanted a bit more flesh and depth in the wine - probably with a nod to Alsace rather than to Italy's often peckish version.
"Other" can also include the pine-accented charms of Chenin Blanc, a grape that remains a workhorse in California but a rarely appreciated one (see sfg.ly/nJXxnN). We had hoped that more varietal Chenin Blanc would appear this year, and a few new examples surfaced. There's a ways to go in reviving this affordable, interesting grape, but there is progress.
And then there are grapes like Malvasia, still a relative rarity here but a beauty when done right.
All these are great alternatives for those who already enjoy wines like Gewurztraminer (which we'll look at on its own as fall progresses) and Riesling. The best common link is their aromatic signatures; when made well their inherent pleasures are on full display, with no winemaking to obscure them.
2010 WillaKenzie Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Gris ($21, 13.5% alcohol):
Oregon has long banked on the other Pinot as one of its strong points, and this longtime Willamette name taps plantings from the mid-1990s in the Yamhill-Carlton district for a plump but peppy effort fermented in steel. Like a ripe Golden Delicious spiked with thyme.
2010 Horse & Plow Filigreen Farm Anderson Valley Pinot Gris ($20, 14.2%):
Chris Condos and Suzanne Hagins usually aim for more Rhoneish fare with their label, but here they've harnessed fruit from Mendocino's Alsatian haven for a ripe, barrel-fermented effort. Opulent pear, fig and orange peel flavors, with a distinct Boston cream note but plenty of freshness for its larger style. Open it 15 minutes before you serve.
2010 Picnic Wine Co. Blue Plate Clarksburg Chenin Blanc ($10, 13.3%):
Clarksburg, in the Sacramento River delta, has long been California's answer to the Chenin bounty that is France's Loire. The grape seems to love the mild, river-influenced land, and wise drinkers know that Clarksburg Chenin is worth keeping eyes peeled for. So kudos to this new label helmed by Mason Cellars' Grant Hemingway and two friends; they've devised a great value that shows off a fresh pear blossom Chenin presence, with a bit of grassy bite and ripe apricot fruit. Fresh, crisp and breezy, with a tad of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay blended in.
2010 Etude Carneros Pinot Gris ($24, 13.6%):
Etude proudly continues its tradition with this grape in a Carneros iteration. Aged in small steel barrels, it's a bit shy - taking some time for the aromas to come play. There's saline edge to juicy pear and peach flavors, and its softer tree-fruit opulence is balanced by the fresh bite of salted plum. A serious, noteworthy effort.
2010 Birichino Monterey Malvasia Bianca ($15, 13%):
Take note of this new label, from Bonny Doon veterans John Locke and Alex Krause. They've found a plot of this aromatic Italian variety near the Santa Lucia range, and with some savvy use of lees they've brought forward a dense texture to rich orange and Anjou pear fruit. It's just the foil for the sappy, floral scents of Malvasia - think nutmeg and rose petal - that burst out of the glass.
2010 Husch La Ribera Vineyards Mendocino Chenin Blanc ($11, 12.8%):
This Anderson Valley label has long worked with Chenin Blanc, and theirs is back in fine form with an orange creamsicle finish that balances its cool piney presence and tree fruit. Friendly, approachable stuff.
2010 Pine Ridge California Chenin Blanc-Viognier ($14, 13%):
Napa's Pine Ridge has been tapping Clarksburg Chenin (and adding Viognier for a touch of plushness and peach) for years in this affordable blend. The mandarin, freesia and green apple flavors showcase great acidity and a hint of sweet nectar to soften the finish.
Jon Bonnés The Chronicle's wine editor. E-mail him at jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/02/FDNC1LAUJR.DTL
This article appeared on page G - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
September 30, 2011
The Secret to Buying Bordeaux
By ERIC PFANNER
PARIS . At 8:55 on a dreary September morning in a dull corner of Paris, several dozen shoppers are lined up outside a supermarket. Some are dressed in bankers. pinstripes, others in motorcycle jackets. With a firm grip on their shopping carts, they wait for the doors to open.
At 9 the security guard lifts the grate. Ignoring a special on baby wipes and a stack of dried sausages, the crowd heads toward a ziggurat of wine built out of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of wooden cases. Some of them contain the most precious grands crus of Bordeaux.
Châau Gruaud-Larose? This way, monsieur. Saint-Pierre? Over there, next to the Calon-Sér and the Léille-Barton. Lafite Rothschild, Haut-Brion or d.Yquem? Got .em, too, but no more than two bottles of each per customer, please.
This is no ordinary day at Carrefour. The wine fair, an autumn institution at French supermarkets, is under way.
Every year, French chains like Carrefour, Auchan and E. Leclerc sell hundreds of millions of euros worth of wine during these promotions, which take place in September and October. For some chains, the fairs represent a quarter or even a third of their annual wine sales.
This year, the emphasis has been on the 2009 Bordeaux vintage, called the greatest ever by some critics. Many of the wines have been selling at a sizable discount to the prices available from specialty merchants. Their presence in French supermarkets, in surprisingly large quantities, shines a revealing light on the often opaque global market for Bordeaux.
The greatest wines of the region have soared in price in recent years. After doubling or tripling their prices for the 2009s, owners of the top Bordeaux chateaux followed up with double-digit increases for the 2010s . another excellent vintage, to be sure.
The global economy may be suffering, but Bordeaux-drinking millionaires and billionaires are doing fine. Newly rich Chinese consumers, with a growing interest in wine, are said to be fueling demand.
Yet paradoxically, Bordeaux, the largest high-quality wine region in France, still produces more wine than it can sell. This surplus, in some vintages, extends relatively far up the price and quality scales. The chateaux need to unload this wine in a way that does not undermine international prices. The fairs are one way to do so, because word does not travel far beyond France.
In some cases, the wines sell for less in the supermarkets than they do during the so-called en primeur season, a futures market for wine that takes place more than a year before the wines are even bottled.
For example, Carrefour this year offered 2009 Lynch-Bages, one of the most prized wines from the Pauillac appellation in Bordeaux, at .86.75, about $115, 16 percent below the average en primeur price, said Bertrand Le Guern, a retired mathematician who runs a price-tracking Web site.
.Every year there is this fight between those who say you should buy en primeur and those who say you should buy at the wine fairs,. Mr. Le Guern said in a telephone interview from his home in Albi. .For many people in France, buying en primeur no longer makes sense..
An Internet wine auction company in Paris, iDealwine, gave up selling en primeur entirely for the 2010 vintage as French customers realized they would be able to save money by waiting for the wines to arrive at the autumn fairs next year.
.We haven.t had anyone ask us: What happened? Why?. said Angéque de Lencquesaing, a founder of iDealwine.
In some cases, wine fair prices are higher than en primeur prices, but still far below the prevailing market rates. Take Carruades de Lafite, a so-called second wine, made from grapes rejected for inclusion in the grand vin of Chateau Lafite Rothschild. A few years ago a Carruades went for around .30. But the price has soared over the last few years amid a Chinese craze for anything associated with Lafite Rothschild.
Last year, Carrefour sold the 2008 Carruades at .79 a bottle during its wine fair, nearly double the en primeur level. In China, however, the price had already reached to more than .200.
This created a neat little arbitrage operation for some intrepid wine fair-goers, who raced around suburban Paris on their mopeds, snapping up as many bottles of Carruades as they could find and reselling them via Internet auction sites at three times the price.
For wine drinkers rather than speculators, the wine fairs offer bargains, too. This year, among the good values, 2009 Rollan de By, a well-made Medoc, has been selling for about .12.40, 17 percent less than the en primeur price, according to Mr. Le Guern.
2009 was a particularly good year for cabernet sauvignon, the main grape variety for red wines from the Left Bank of Bordeaux . including the Medoc, Graves and other areas to the west of the Garonne River and the Gironde estuary. The Right Bank, where the big names are Saint-Éilion and Pomerol, may be marginally less consistent, but the general level is still high.
Dozens of well-made 2009s from all of these regions have been selling for less than .15 at the wine fairs, proving that, despite the bubble in its most prestigious wines, Bordeaux can still be a great source of value.
There is also plenty of bad wine: bulk production with a nonexistent, clip-art .chateau. on the label, often adorned with a medal from a dubious wine competition, the kind in which anyone who enters receives an award. And the selection from other France wine regions tends to be meager. Burgundy, for one, does not make quality wines in large enough volumes to satisfy the needs of national supermarket chains.
And you can forget about wine shop ambiance. Last autumn, seconds after an Auchan store had opened, I snatched a lone case of 2008 Haut-Bailly away from the outstretched arms of a suited gentleman, getting a nasty splinter in the process.
While access to the fairs is limited by geography . French supermarkets don.t deliver to China . a little knowledge of pricing discrepancies might come in handy elsewhere. Time for some tough talk with your local wine merchant?
Back at the Carrefour in Paris, many of the shoppers jostling for position have clearly done their homework. Some wield long shopping lists, some brandish iPhones displaying critics. scores.
One buying team of three men wheels a pair of shopping carts toward the checkout counter. They place a dozen cases on a conveyor belt more accustomed to carrying potato chips and Coca-Cola toward the cash register. A few loose bottles of Mouton Rothschild and Lafite Rothschild, wrapped in protective tissue, roll along behind.
The bill: .6,800. One of the men, in a track suit and flip flops, counts out .100 notes from a Ziploc bag.
Loyalty card, monsieur? Uh, no.
September 30, 2011
Bordeaux Bargain Basement
By ERIC PFANNER
Bordeaux bargains
Here is a selection of good deals on red Bordeaux available at French supermarkets during the wine fairs this year, some of which continue into October. Prices elsewhere may be considerably higher.
To drink
2009 Châau Fleur Haut Gaussens, Bordeaux Superieur. Merlot dominates the blend in this overachieving wine from a modest appellation. It is soft and fruity and benefits from a .vintage effect.. .6.50.
2009 Châau Larose-Trintaudon, Haut-Medoc. Until recently this estate, one of the largest in Bordeaux, made fairly coarse wine. But this vintage is excellent, with subtle oak, considerable finesse and a citrusy freshness. .9.50.
2009 Châau de la Dauphine, Fronsac. A velvety wine, made mostly from merlot, from an underrated Right Bank appellation. It rivals some of the grander, more expensive wines from nearby Saint-Éilion. .14.95.
To keep
2009 Châau Seguin, Pessac-Lénan. This is a beautiful wine from an up-and-coming producer in the best part of the Graves, south of the city of Bordeaux. Loads of black fruit, a serious structure and a long, fresh finish. .19.95.
2008 Châau Calon-Sér, Saint-Estèe grand cru classéHow did this classic fall through the cracks at this price? Snap it up if you can find it, then wait 10 years for it to shed its austerity and to let the tobacco and lead pencil notes come to the fore. .33.
2009 Châau Saint-Pierre, Saint-Julien grand cru classéThis is always one of my Bordeaux favorites . a dense, ripe, structured, delicious wine. Not cheap, but at less than one-twentieth the price of 2009 Lafite-Rothschild, it.s a bargain of sorts. .55.
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
August 30, 2011
Alsatian Rieslings Return to Form
By ERIC ASIMOV
FEW things have made me as happy recently as the wine panel.s tasting of dry rieslings from Alsace. Not only did we absolutely love many of the wines, but also the rieslings actually tasted pretty dry.
Yes, I know, this seems a bit of a truism, like remarking that the steak tastes like steak. Why wouldn.t a dry riesling be dry? But just about anybody who.s been following wines from Alsace for a long time knows that in the past 20 years many historically dry whites have been made with more and more residual sugar, often leaving the wines flaccid, cloying and out of balance. These wines, with no indication of sweetness on their labels, have caused uncertainty and frustration among consumers, and have turned many people away from Alsace.
This tasting restored the excitement for me. The parade of stony, taut, complex and at times majestic wines was thrilling. If anybody, dismayed by recent history, doubts the potential of Alsace to produce wines of beautifully etched delineation, the proof was in the glasses before us.
Perhaps .doubt. is too strong a word. It.s not as if all Alsace whites had sweetened up. Trimbach.s brilliant top rieslings, Clos Sainte Hune (which some people regard as the world.s greatest riesling), and the more affordable CuvéFréric Éile, have always been resolutely dry. Other producers, like Ostertag and Kreydenweiss, have likewise sought to keep their wines dry, unless, of course, the wines were designated as sweet.
I can.t say the problem has ceased to exist. Alsace whites still require consumers to be vigilant. A few weeks ago, I ordered a 2007 riesling Vieilles Vignes from Albert Boxler, a producer whose wines I generally believe are going to be dry. Wrong. The wine was sweet, too sweet, in fact, for the oysters I had ordered, and not entirely balanced.
By contrast, our No. 1 wine in the blind tasting was the 2008 Boxler Sommerberg .E,. a magnificent wine with intense mineral and fruit flavors, so good it earned a rare four-star rating from the panel. Was the wine dry? It sure seemed dry. At the least, it was perfectly balanced. The .E,. by the way, indicates that the wine comes from a specific parcel high on the slope of the grand cru Sommerberg vineyard. Wines from a warmer site lower on the slope are designated .D.. Either, alas, may be hard to find outside restaurants.
For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Joshua Nadel, the beverage director at Locanda Verde and the Dutch, and Carla Rzeszewski, the wine director of the Spotted Pig, the Breslin and the John Dory Oyster Bar. We wanted to focus on the most recent vintages, and this led to a preponderance of 2008s, and also a few less ambitious .09s, which were already on the shelves. It might be that our tasting was a little misleading, as the .08 vintage was conducive to high acidity, which can mask residual sugar that might be more apparent in a vintage of lower acidity, like 2007. Yet, the vintage also illustrates how superb these rieslings can be when they are well balanced.
Why did the wines from Alsace become sweeter? In some cases, no doubt, mass-market producers and néciants have intentionally catered to consumers who like a little sweetness even if they say they prefer dry wines. Many American producers do the same.
Among more conscientious producers, efforts to cut back yields to make wines of greater intensity and concentration can result in grapes of profoundly high sugar levels. These producers also believe in intervening as little as possible in the winemaking, so if the fermentation stopped before all the sugar had been converted into alcohol, well, they believed, that.s what nature intended. Making the wines dry might have resulted in absurdly high levels of alcohol in any case. You could say these wines ended up sweet with the best of intentions.
Now, nothing is intrinsically wrong with sweet wines as long as two conditions are met. First, the sweetness should not come as a surprise. The wines should be clearly labeled as such. The German labeling system, as arcane and complicated as it may seem, ensures pretty much that you know what you are getting.
Second, as I suggested, the wines must be balanced. That is, if a wine does contain residual sugar, it must also contain sufficient acidity to make it refreshing, not flat and fatiguing. Not to belabor the comparison with German rieslings, but they live in a lacy, ethereal world in which, if the residual sugar is high, the alcohol is low, and with enough acidity the wines are delicate and crystalline. In Alsace, where the wines are much more powerful, even wines with residual sugar can have a lot of alcohol, which makes them feel bigger, sweeter and more voluminous.
To combat this lack of balance, one of Alsace.s greatest producers, Zind Humbrecht, has altered its viticulture over the last decade in an effort to produce grapes that achieve ripeness earlier, with less sugar and greater acidity. Olivier Humbrecht, the proprietor along with his father, Léard, said in an e-mail that the transformation in the vineyard has paid off.
.We have higher acid levels now than in the .90s, which makes no sense as the recent vintages were warmer and more precocious,. he said.
In the late 1990s, Zind Humbrecht was always among the last in the region to harvest. With the viticultural changes, he said, Zind Humbrecht is today among the first to start harvesting. The estate also began in the last decade to include a discreet dryness scale, or indice, on each bottle, with 1 representing dry and 5 high sweetness.
Three Zind Humbrecht rieslings were in the tasting (the estate offers a bewildering number of rieslings, each expressing a specific terroir), and each made our Top 10. Our No. 2 wine was the 2008 Zind Humbrecht Grand Cru Brand, a rich, golden wine with honeyed flavors of minerals and flowers. It may have had a touch of residual sugar, but it was so well balanced that it tasted dry to us. Indeed, it was an Indice 2, representing a wine that may not be technically dry, but seems dry on the palate.
Likewise, our No. 3 wine, the 2008 Zind Humbrecht Heimbourg, was also an Indice 2. This seemed lusher than the Brand, with exotic fruit flavors, yet it, too, was superbly balanced and focused. Rounding out the estate.s three wines was our No. 5, the 2008 Clos Windsbuhl. This was an Indice 1, a dry, savory wine that, as Josh put it, seemed like soil speaking through the wine.
Because of our focus on recent vintages, we did not include the top Trimbachs in the tasting (2005 is the current release). We did have the 2008 Schlossberg CuvéSainte Catherine from Weinbach, a wine that is not necessarily dry in every vintage. The .08 was a beautifully balanced, complex, subtle wine that danced lightly through the mouth despite its somewhat thick texture.
This was a rare tasting in which the five most expensive wines in the lineup finished in the Top 5. Our No. 6 bottle, the 2008 Éénts from Bott Geyl, was one of the least expensive bottles in the tasting, at $15, and our best value. It was rich yet light-bodied with enticing stony mineral flavors.
By any estimation, Alsace is one of the planet.s greatest places to grow riesling. It.s thrilling for me to feel that they are restored as an option. With the tasting lingering in my mind, I recently got a bottle of 2008 Zind Humbrecht Clos Häerer riesling to drink at home with dinner. The wine, an Indice 1, was a dry, complex, minerally delight. I will still be cautious with Alsace, researching as best I can a particular wine.s style before a purchase. But I will be hopeful.
Tasting Report
Albert Boxler Alsace Riesling, $53, ****
Grand Cru Sommerberg .E. 2008
Graceful and airy yet intense, with majestic floral, ripe fruit and stony mineral flavors. (Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York)
Zind Humbrecht Alsace Riesling, $90, *** ½ Grand Cru Brand 2008
Rich, golden and deep yet dry and balanced with gorgeous, honeyed flavors of minerals and flowers. (The Sorting Table, Napa, Calif.)
Zind Humbrecht Alsace Riesling, $55, *** ½ Heimbourg 2008
Lush flavors of exotic fruit, citrus and flowers, yet well focused and structured. (The Sorting Table)
Weinbach Alsace Riesling Schlossberg, $43, *** Grand Cru CuvéSainte Catherine 2008
Slightly thick in texture but light in the mouth with savory flavors of fruit, spices and minerals. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, Ala.)
Zind Humbrecht Alsace Riesling, $85, *** Clos Windsbuhl 2008
Dry, tangy and refreshing with savory, chalky flavors. (The Sorting Table)
BEST VALUE
Bott Geyl Alsace Riesling, $15, *** Les Éénts 2008
Rich and golden yet light-bodied with deep, stony mineral flavors. (Winebow, New York)
Kuentz-Bas Alsace Riesling, $16, ** ½ Tradition 2008
Tart and taut with lingering flavors of ripe peaches and mint. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, Calif.)
BarmèBuecher Alsace Riesling, $26, ** ½ Rosenberg 2008
Tightly wound, with lively, spicy flavors of citrus and flowers. (The Petit Pois Corporation, Moorestown, N.J.)
Hugel Alsace Riesling, $19, ** 2009
Clean and dry with stony mineral and citrus flavors. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York)
Weinbach Alsace Riesling, $30, ** CuvéThé2009
Rich and a tad hot, with pleasant flavors of minerals and mint. (Vineyard Brands)
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
Michele Chiarlo - great value
i
August 15, 2011
Barbera: I Knew It When
By ERIC ASIMOV
OH, me. Oh, barbera. Are we growing old together? My once youthful scruff now comes in gray, while you, Giacomo Conterno Barbera d.Alba, who sustained me in my graduate-school days at $8 a bottle, cost $50 now!
Inevitable, of course . I mean the graying. But $50 for barbera, what can this signify?
Partly, I suppose, the price indicates that more people appreciate this once-humble wine. More important, though, it demonstrates how the estimation of Giacomo Conterno as a great producer has risen spectacularly in 30 years, as has the worldwide thirst for Barolo, Conterno.s primary stock in trade. Just as an unassuming little Bourgogne rouge made by an exalted vigneron costs as much as another Burgundy producer.s premier cru, so have the prices risen for barberas from top Barolo and Barbaresco producers.
In the Langhe region of the Piedmont, in northwestern Italy, barbera largely remains the little brother to nebbiolo, the grape of Barolo and Barbaresco. Around Alba, prime Barolo country, nebbiolo hogs most of the best vineyard sites. Barbera must settle for leftovers, some choicer than others. This was the natural order of things. Barolos sold for big bucks and were socked away to age, and age, and age. Barberas were bottled for immediate pleasure, were sold cheap and were opened at dinner.
That.s how it was when I was first developing a taste for wine. Those memorable, and inexpensive, bottles of Conterno captured me with their gorgeous, juicy, yet bitter red fruit that danced a tightrope between sweet and savory, propelled along by an energetic, vivacious acidity. For me, it was an easy-to-swallow lesson in how wine could be both pleasurable and thought-provoking, while performing its basic function of making food taste better.
Barberas from the hilly Asti region to the northeast of the Langhe would seem to have it a little easier than their Alba siblings. Nebbiolo is not grown so much around Asti, so barbera gets the best vineyard sites. Indeed, in the 1980s Braida di Giacomo Bologna, a producer of Barbera d.Asti, pioneered the aging of single-vineyard barberas in barrels of new French oak, winning critical acclaim and raising prices accordingly.
Braida.s success inspired other producers to age their wines in new oak, often with unfortunate results. The lively immediacy of this honest wine often ended up buried beneath vanilla and chocolate cheesecake, wiping away any trace of regional identity.
Nonetheless, my affection for barberas remains both sentimental and real. To check in on barberas currently in the marketplace, the wine panel recently tasted 20 bottles, 14 from Alba, 6 from Asti. Indeed, the tasting confirmed our belief that top Barolo and Barbaresco producers tend also to make the best barberas, at prices that reflect the esteem in which they are held.
For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Lacey Burke, a sommelier at Del Posto, and Levi Dalton, a sommelier at Bar Boulud.
All of us, I think, came away with the feeling that barbera has settled into a more confident period after a prolonged, awkward battle with its oak issues. While some wines were indeed marked and even marred by oak, we found much less of it than we had feared. Perhaps, as with Barolo, producers are using oak in subtler ways? Or maybe, as Levi suggested, our sample was not entirely representative.
In any case, we had bigger issues than oak: namely, balance. The structure in barbera comes from its buzz-saw acidity, which keeps it fresh and cuts through rich fatty foods. If the acidity is out of whack, barbera can be unpleasantly aggressive, like heartburn in a glass.
Other issues with balance emerged as well. The 2008 vintage of my old favorite, the now $50 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d.Alba, still showed robust fruit and mineral flavors, but something seemed disjointed. It was a bit sweet and a little hot, from high alcohol.
We had no such problems with our top wines. Our No. 1, the 2006 Vietti Barbera d.Asti La Crena (another $50 barbera) was gorgeous: zesty and energetic as barbera ought to be, with lovely flavors of red fruit and earth. Our No. 2, the 2008 Bartolo Mascarello Barbera d.Alba, a $45 bottle, was beautifully balanced on that knife.s edge between sweet fruit and mouthwatering acidity, the tension keeping the wine lively.
Our No. 3 wine, the 2008 Barbera d.Alba from Bruno Giacosa, was by comparison downright cheap at $30. It was what Levi called .real-deal barbera,. with that pull between sweet and bitter that exemplifies many good Italian wines but is impossible to imagine in, say, a French wine.
By contrast with our top three, our No. 4 bottle, the 2008 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d.Asti Le Orme, really was inexpensive at $13. It.s a wine reminiscent of the simple barberas of yore, fermented and aged in big, old oak barrels and offering direct, uncomplicated pleasure. Year in and year out this wine is a good value.
Of the 13 Barberas d.Alba, 6 made our top 10, as did 4 of the 7 Barberas d.Asti. One that did not was the 2007 Bricco dell.Uccellone from Braida. Aside from being the most expensive at $65, the wine was powerful, hot and a bit clunky at 15.5 percent alcohol. It was not oaky, though.
Are differences between the Asti and Alba barberas discernible? Levi, along with many producers, says the Barberas d.Alba tend to be plusher and fruitier while the Barberas d.Asti are tauter in texture. Honestly, with so many variables in the vineyard and cellar, it.s very hard to tell the difference.
Barbera remains a good friend, even if I don.t see as much of it as I once did. My gray beard is just temporary. High prices for barbera, I.m afraid, are here to stay.
Vietti Barbera d'Asti, $50, *** La Crena 2006
Ripe, energetic and tangy, with lively flavors of fruit and earth. (Dalla Terra, Napa, Calif.)
Bartolo Mascarello Barbera d'Alba, $45, *** San Lorenzo 2008
Zesty and beautifully balanced with subtle, savory fruit and smoke flavors. (Robert Chadderdon Selections, New York)
Bruno Giacosa Barbera d'Alba, $30, ** ½ 2008
Classic barbera, slightly bitter and tensely balanced between sweet and savory. (Leonardo LoCascio Selections/Winebow, New York)
BEST VALUE
Michele Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti, $13, ** ½ Le Orme 2008
Densely textured yet understated with floral aromas and flavors of purple fruit. (Kobrand, New York)
Cigliuti Barbera d'Alba, $24, ** ½ Compass 2008
Lingering fruit and floral flavors with a touch of oak. (David Vincent Selection, New York)
Elio Grasso Barbera d'Alba, $35, ** ½ Vigna Martina 2008
Straightforward and savory with earthy fruit flavors and a little oak. (Martin Scott Wines, Lake Success, N.Y.)
Vietti Barbera d'Asti, $22, ** ½ Tre Vigne 2008
Pleasing, long-lasting flavors of plums and spices. (Dalla Terra)
Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba, $50, ** Cascina Francia 2008
Brash, spicy flavors of fruit and minerals, but slightly unbalanced. (Polaner Selections, Mount. Kisco, N.Y.)
Coppo Barbera d'Asti, $19, ** Camp du Rouss 2007
Direct and sprightly with earthy, floral flavors. (Leonardo LoCascio Selections/Winebow)
Pio Cesare Barbera d'Alba, $25, ** 2008
Silky texture and flavors of black fruit, but oakiness is overbearing. (Maisons Marques et Domaines, Oakland, Calif.)
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
>From SFGate.com
Loire Valley reds - a dose of honesty and affordability
Jon Bonnéunday, August 14, 2011
Where in the world to find compelling, affordable honest reds? The knowing bottle hounds are already drawing an arrow to Loire Valley. The Loire Valley, a lengthy stretch along France's heartland river, is home to some of the great French wines of all colors - Chinon, Muscadet, Sancerre. Though often viewed as white-wine country, even in the core of the Pays Nantais, where Muscadet thrives in the cool maritime shadow of the Atlantic, red grapes happily ripen.
It is France's original engine of affordability. Near the city of Tours, the communes of Chinon and Bourgeuil, and Saumur just a touch west, remain the source of simple carafe reds that are the very lifeblood of the Parisian bistro. And yet bottles of Saumur-Champigny and Chinon often outwork their price and provenance, blossoming after 20 years in the cellar. To those who want to age wine without a fat wallet, my answer is always the same: Buy Chinon.
Problem is, the Loire is often the recipient of a cold shoulder. Why? For one, its quality of winemaking remains uneven. There is too much rusticity that remains, too much supermarket wine in the mix, too many negociants willing to pump generic Chinon or Muscadet along the pipeline.
Yet there is a growing army of scrupulous producers who harness old vines, low yields and increasingly organic and biodynamic field work to make impressive wines at modest prices. (The Loire seems impervious to Bordeaux-style price inflation.) A current generation of fashionable importers like Louis/Dressner Selections - Kermit Lynch too, at times - have made the region a sought-after ticket.
And there is a burgeoning avant-garde, winemakers like Olivier Lemasson and Christian Chaussard, who are capitalizing on the Loire's perennial uncoolness to make wines outside the usual appellation rules. La Dive Bouteille, the Woodstock of the natural wine movement, is annually held here.
For this tasting, we tackled an interesting pair of vintages. 2009 started cold but soon made up for 2008's tough frosts with a potential bumper crop pushed by a progression of early autumn rain and sun - which meant offered the potential for deep flavors if you resisted the temptation for that bumper crop and pruned your vines.
In 2010, another cold winter and then generally fine weather stretched into October, creating potentially ripe wines with few of the green flavors that cause so much harrumphing about the Loire.
I was joined by Sarah Elliott, wine director of Commonwealth in San Francisco, and Gerald Weisl, owner of Weimax Wines & Spirits in Burlingame. Both are confirmed Loire devotees, and we found many wines with potential, grown on the region's complex patchwork of limestone, silica and clay soils.
But our panel of some 30 wines was still a mixed bag, showing the variable quality of winemaking and grape-growing that remains the region's shortfall.
It's this mixed bag that keeps the Loire from transcending its modest appeal. And something else: I suspect the real issue, at least for the region's reds, is the base material.
Cabernet Franc, the region's anchor grape, is polemic as can be - savory, spicy and delicate to its lovers; green and bizarre to others. The bit players, like Cot (Malbec) and Pineau d'Aunis, are similarly advanced-level fare. These are not grapes for the novice, and they do not hide flaws well. Thus they have been buried under years of derision by those who see Loire reds' freshness and verve as a liability.
Silly folks. These wines have quintessential nuance and life. Chinon and Bourgeuil have been bistro staples for one reason: The wines beg to be on the table. Put them there.
NV Les Vins Contes Poivre et Sel Vin de France ($20, 11.5% alcohol): The minimal winemaking of Olivier Lemasson frames the Loire's quintessential flavors - but often he works outside official appellations, which is why this mix of Pineau d'Aunis and Gamay Noir has a simple table-wine moniker. Aunis' telltale agave scent emerges in this mellow bottle, with a salty edge and ripe plummy fruit. If this were a movie character, it would be the Dude abiding. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections)
2010 La Grange Tiphane Les Cassiers Touraine ($16, 13%): This young release from rising star Damien Delecheneau shows why his talents, and this label, are worth watching. A pure expression of Gamay, it has a rooted, foresty side: pinecone, wintergreen and radiant, amply rich raspberry fruit. (Importer: Farm Wine Imports/USA Wine West)
2009 Chateau de la Bonneliere Touraine ($14.50, 13%): Marc Plouzeaux organically farms this site at the edge of the Chinon appellation; technically it could be Chinon but the regional name stuck. A pitch-perfect Cabernet Franc nose, with lily and chile, and a dark hue to the fruit; think black cherry and anise. For perhaps the deal of the season, seek out Plouzeaux's 5-liter box of 2010 Les Tuffeaux Chinon ($65/5 liters, 12.5%), a winning Chinon equivalent to nearly seven bottles of wine. (Importer: Winewise)
2009 Clos de la Briderie Touraine Mesland ($19, 12.5%): Amid Touraine's better-known red wines, there's also Touraine Mesland, a small appellation on the right bank. Here we depart from the Cab Franc routine, with a mix of Cot (Malbec) and Gamay Noir in addition to 30 percent Franc. Vincent Girault, who farms his properties biodynamically, shows the rare proper use of Cot, with its pretty India ink presence, plus dried porcini, loam and black plum. Robust, with lots of dark fruit. (Importer: Martine's Wines)
2009 Alain Boréomaine du Fresche Anjou ($15, 13.5%): In La Pommeraye, on the western edge of the Anjou area - verging on white-wine country - the Boréamily works their small estate. Here's Cabernet Franc without obfuscation, fermented in glass and aged in steel, from 40-year-old vines on schist soil. Ripe and deep, it leans more toward ancho chile and blueberry, with a saline edge and a big chew of tannin. (Importer: Paul M. Young Fine Wines)
2009 Gerald Vallee La Croisee St. Nicolas de Bourgeuil ($24.75, 12.5%): Vallee works the lesser-known soils of St. Nicolas, just west of Bourgeuil proper. A classic, dark Cab Franc expression: roasted red pepper, chicory and plum skin. Up-front saline notes and tart cherry fruit add a bright edge. (Importer: North Berkeley Wine Imports)
2009 Catherine & Pierre Breton Nuits d'Ivresse Bourgeuil ($32, 12%): The Bretons are Loire royalty, and their various Cab Franc cuvees - despite a disturbing price hike - are among the must-taste canon. Here's quintessential Bourgeuil, in their unsulfured bottling (the name means "drunken nights") grown on clay and limestone soil. Deep and loamy, with charcoal, eau de vie, tarragon, pimenton and black fruit. Let it age a bit. (Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant)
2009 Bernard Baudry Les Grezeaux Chinon ($28, 13%): Baudry has become one of the Loire's most serious practitioners since 1975, making Chinons with true durability. The Grezeaux comes from the domaine's oldest vines, 50 years old, and is aged in older barrels. Warm aromas emanate: carob, ancho chile, baked soil. The fruit is robust and dark, more blackcurrant and black plum, with an impressive backbone. To drink now, Baudry's 2009 Les Granges Chinon ($20, 12.5%) is steely and fresh. (Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant)
2009 Charles Joguet Cuvee Terroir Chinon ($20, 13%): Joguet completes the Chinon roster here, and the Terroir harnesses younger vines from the soils of Beaumont-en-Vén for a drink-now bottle. Proper and tart, with more direct bayberry fruit than spicy aromas. But give it 20 minutes and the spice appears around the edges. (Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant)
2009 Domaine des Hautes Troglodytes Saumur Champigny ($15, 12.5%): A serious expression of Saumur, the other part of the Anjou red equation. Saumurs can be brooding and intense, and no exception here in this bottle from vintner and negociant Joseph Verdier. When it opens, there's a deep, loamy expression: beetroot and fermented tea, roasted cherry, sea salt and mirabelle plum. Decant it for full effect. (Importer: Winewise)
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/2011/08/14/FDVT1KLUG3.DTL
This article appeared on page G - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
Check out Bill Ward's column in today's strib.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/126708638.html
Liquid Assets: 'Survey says ... ' and we respond
Article by: , Star Tribune
Updated: August 3, 2011 - 2:47 PM
Item: Millennials are more likely to consume
wine while socializing, especially at friends'
homes, than are their predecessors.
Reaction: The Wine Business Institute study
cites that generation's values of
collaboration and work/life balance. Good
on 'em. I'd also like to think that they're
smarter about the whole adult-beverage
thing: At least for this segment, it's
something you sip rather than pound, and a
lower-alcohol option than booze.
Item: According to a study of high-
frequency wine drinkers by Wine Opinions,
only 40 percent of wine is consumed during
meals: 27 percent with no food around, 19
percent with appetizers or snacks and 14
percent while preparing a meal.
Reaction: A lot of forces at work here. The
proliferation of both wine bars and "cocktail
wines" that aren't particularly suited for
food-pairing. Glossy magazine ads showing
"beautiful people" sipping wine sans food,
marketing it as something that sophisticated
people do (a la cocktails a generation or two
ago; a social thing but not imbedded into the
culture as in Europe). And it's nice to see
recognition of what my wife and I call
"cooking wines," what we consume while
chopping and sauténg.
Item: Oregon's commercial wine industry
nearly doubled its contribution to the state's
economy in four years, from $1.4 billion in
2006 to $2.7 billion last year.
Reaction: With more tourism, lots of new
wineries and America's continued love affair
with pinot noir, Oregon has upturned during
the downturn. The surprising part: Most
Oregon wines are priced in the recession's d
ead zone, $20 to $50 a bottle. But they tend
to deliver quality and value, and are hard
enough to find that merchants often say
"Well, I only get a case of that." Ka-ching.
Item: Moscato and malbec have shown
"explosive" growth nationally in the past two
years, according to Nielsen, which cited H
ispanics as a major factor. Moscato sales
have grown by 95 percent this year, and
malbec by 49 percent.
Advertisement
Reaction: This is not the first time we will see
Hispanics driving a trend; their ties to South
America's most popular wine shouldn't
surprise. But will the moscato embracers
who are new to wine stick with it the way so
many white-zin lovers have, or will they
"move on"? My guess is that moscato is here
to stay. Meanwhile, it's good to see a trend in
which Minnesota was ahead of the rest of the
nation, as it was with malbec.
Item: Barefoot remained No. 1 in sales at
major food and drug stores for the 52 weeks
ending June 13, and even expanded its lead.
With $255 million in sales, Barefoot grew 27
percent.
Reaction: Well, to my palate at least, the
moscato is Barefoot's best wine.
Bill Ward . bill.ward(a)startribune.com
WINE OF THE WEEK
MALVIRÀLaNGHE FAVORITA 2008
The experience: Sniffing and drinking this white delight is almost like being plopped
down into a lemon grove. It's light and bright with some salty minerality and a
really zingy finish. All of Malvirà wines are well worth checking out, and this
ess expensive white is a very good introduction.
The setting: Bring on the calamari, or most any other light seafood dish. This
brisk white also plays well with tough-to-match vinaigrettes and fresh cheeses.
The back story: The brand is a made-up word rather than a family name: "Mal" means
wrong and "viràis Italian for situated. The grape name is one of many Italian variations of vermentino.
The tab: $19, available at Bacchus, Lakeside, Sorella, Cafe Latte, Domacin Wine Bar and Kinsen restaurant.
BILL WARD
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
Well, big in so far as the $90 worth of Dundee Hills juice.
AUGUST 1, 2011, 3:43 PM
Reconsidering Boxed Wine
By ERIC ASIMOV
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
It.s taken a long time, but discerning American wine drinkers are slowly getting used to the idea of drinking wine from a box. No doubt, that is partly because the quality of boxed wines is improving, as the wine panel found.
Another reason is the rising popularity of kegged wines, which more and more restaurants are using to serve wines by the glass. Their acceptance, I think, has caused Americans to reconsider their reflexive distaste for alternative wine packaging.
The bag-in-a-box technology is uniquely suited to preserve wine once a package is opened. How does it work? A plastic bag, as big as five liters, is filled with wine. The bag is then placed within a cardboard box, which serves as a sort of exoskeleton protecting the bag. A plastic tap allows access to the wine within, through a hole in the box. As wine is poured through the tap, the process acts as a vacuum, sucking air out of the bag, which shrinks to encase the remaining wine. With no headroom for air to fill, the wine is well protected. Once opened, the wine lasts for weeks, rather than for a few days in a bottle.
The boxes have practical applications. They.re perfect for picnics or the pool or beach, providing that wine at the beach is legal. And, if your refrigerator can accommodate a box, you have wine available at a whim. If you just want a glass, or need a splash to deglaze a pan, you don.t have to open a bottle and worry about wasting the rest of it. They can be fun, too. I admit I get a kind of childish pleasure working the spigot, knowing I have if not an unlimited supply of wine, at least a lot of it available.
If the bag-in-a-box guards against air so well, why not put all wines in such containers? Simple. While the packaging prevents large amounts of air from attacking the wine, it is still relatively porous. Even when closed, air slowly penetrates the box and bag, at a much swifter pace than through a bottle and cork. For that reason, boxes are not appropriate for aging wines. It is also the reason that some boxes will have both a vintage date and an expiration date.
While the wine panel restricted its tasting to three-liter bag-in-a-box wines, another, very different category has caught on with consumers: Tetra Pak wines. These boxes, made of foil-lined paper like those used for juices and milk, are light and easy to carry but offer no protection against air once opened. A subject for future investigation.
August 1, 2011
Thinking Inside the Box
By ERIC ASIMOV
IT.S the epitome of déasséthe vinous equivalent of trailer trash, the wine snob.s worst nightmare. No, I don.t mean the screw cap. I.m talking about boxed wine.
Despite the almost reflexive elevation of noses at the mention of boxed wines, one significant detail undermines these smug dismissals: the idea of putting wine in a box, or more accurately, in a bag within a box, is brilliant. The packaging solves significant problems that have dogged wine for millennia, whether it was stored in urn, amphora, barrel, stone crock or bottle.
No matter how elegant or handy those containers may be, their fixed volumes permit air to enter when wine is removed. Air attacks and degrades wine, making it imperative to drink up what remains, usually within no more than a few days.
The bag-in-a-box, to use the unlovely industry term, resolves this problem of oxidation by eliminating space for air to occupy. Wine can stay fresh for weeks once it has been opened. But while the packaging may be ingenious, what.s inside has been a problem.
Quite simply, the quality of the boxed wines sold in this country has been uniformly bad. Those in the wine trade have tried to explain this sad fact by citing an entrenched public perception of boxed wines as wretched. What.s the point of putting better wines in boxes, they said, if people won.t buy them?
Even so, the logic of placing wine in a box is so compelling that sooner or later, some producers were going to take a chance that better wines would sell this way. I have had isolated examples in the last few years of just the sort of fresh, lively, juicy wines that thrive in the bag-in-a-box environment. Did this signal that overall quality was turning a corner?
To answer the question, the wine panel recently tasted 20 wines from three-liter boxes. We tasted 12 reds and 8 whites, without regard to price or provenance. The only guideline for our tasting coordinator, Bernard Kirsch, was to seek out producers who were striving for quality. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Colin Alevras, the service manager at the Dutch, and Alexander LaPratt, the sommelier at db Bistro Moderne.
Let me backtrack for a moment. To say that consumers have rejected boxes is not strictly accurate. At the lowest echelon of quality, the realm of domestic burgundies and rhine wines, a great deal of boxed wine is sold. These boxes, largely in five-liter sizes, the equivalent of 6.67 bottles, which might sell for as little as $12, did especially well just after the economic meltdown, said Danny Brager of the Nielsen Company, which tracks sales.
But sales are relatively flat now. The biggest growth in boxed wines, Mr. Brager said, was in the three-liter, higher-priced category: that is, $20 or more. Sales last year were up 19 percent, he said, and this year through June they are up 16 percent.
So let.s get to the crucial question: How were the wines?
Without a doubt, the choices are far superior to what was available five years ago. Among the wines we liked best, we found more than a few that we.d be happy to serve as a house pour, especially among the reds. We liked the boxes brought in by two small importers who specialize in French wines: the Wineberry Boxes from Wineberry America, and From the Tank from Jenny & Françs Selections, who focus on natural wines.
Jenny Lefcourt of Jenny & Françs became a fan of boxed wines while living in France for 10 years. .I always thought it was a fantastic way of serving and conserving wine,. she said. .I didn.t see any disadvantages to it, except that people still have a negative image of them in the U.S..
Since the From the Tank wines, one white and one red, were introduced in 2008, she said, they have taken off nationally. .I.m pretty bowled over by the success of it,. she said. .We were cautious at first, but we just kept selling out..
Wineberry began with its boxes two years ago, and now sells three reds, two whites and a roséThe Wineberry boxes are unusual in that they are made of wood rather than cardboard, which gives them heft, solidity and a certain personality the cardboard boxes lack.
.We live in the most sophisticated area in the world,. said Eric Dubourg, the founder of Wineberry, which is based in New York. .People care about what things look like. Still, the quality of the wine is the main point..
True enough, and Wineberry.s 2010 Cô-du-Rhôfrom Domaine le Garrigon was our clear favorite, with its fresh red fruit and mineral flavors. A juicy, pleasurable wine, it would be good for gulping uncritically but offers enough interest to satisfy people who care about what they are consuming.
We also liked the From the Tank red, a 2009 Cô-du-Rhôfrom Estérgues, a very good cooperative. This, too, was fresh and lively, though perhaps a little more straightforward than the Garrigon. Still, these were exactly the sort of pleasing wines we were hoping to find, and reasonably priced. Both were under $40 a box, the equivalent of less than $10 a bottle, and excellent values, in fact, compared with most $10 bottles.
The boxed whites on the whole were less attractive. Too many were flat, lacked vivacity and seemed muted aromatically. We liked our top white well enough, the 2010 Torre del Falasco from Cantina Valpantena in the Veneto region of Italy. It was made of the garganega grape, the main grape in Soave, but for one reason or another didn.t qualify to be called Soave. Nonetheless, it was lively, with the nutlike quality that I often find in Soave and a fine value at $27.
Our next white, a 2010 New Zealand sauvignon blanc from Black Box, struck none of us as sauvignon blanc in the blind tasting. This was odd, as sauvignon blanc is generally one of the easier grapes to identify. But this wine, while fresh and tangy, lacked any sauvignon blanc character. We liked it enough to make it our No. 6 wine. We also liked the 2010 Picpoul de Pinet from La Petite Frog in the Languedoc, in southern France, a very pleasant summer drinker.
Even though two more whites made our Top 10, we all thought they could have been better. It occurred to me that while box packaging solves a problem once the wines are opened, it perhaps creates one before they are opened.
Unopened boxed wines have a shorter shelf life. The box and bag are more porous to air than an unopened bottle, so they must be consumed relatively young. What.s more, because they are so inexpensive, they may not be handled or stored with great care. Heat and vibration can be hard on whites in particular, which is one possible reason the whites didn.t perform as well as the reds.
I said these wines were cheap, but we indeed had one outlier. It was our No. 3, Dominio IV.s Love Lies Bleeding, a 2009 pinot noir from the Dundee Hills in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. It cost $90, almost twice as much as the next most expensive box on the list, Wineberry.s 2010 Bourgogne Blanc from Baronne du Chatelard, which was $48. What accounts for this disparity?
For one thing, grapes from the Dundee Hills aren.t cheap, and neither is aging the wine in oak barrels, 30 percent new, said Patrick Reuter, the winemaker.
The wine was fresh and deep, very ripe and a bit oaky but clearly identifiable as good pinot noir. Mr. Reuter said the boxes had sold well to restaurants, which poured it by the glass. But consumers, he said, seemed to think that the high price required a more elegant vessel.
.I think I need to think out the packaging,. he said.
At the same time, he said, he has kept a box on the counter in his kitchen for months, and the wine is still good.
.I can.t believe how intact it.s stayed,. he said. .It.s the craziest thing..
Tasting Report
Domaine le Garrigon, $39, ***
Cô-du-Rhô2010, 3 liters
Aromas of red fruit and herbs, fresh and lightly tannic, lingering flavors of fruit and minerals. (Wineberry America, New York)
>From the Tank Cô-du-Rhô $37, ** ½
Estérgues 2009, 3 liters
Fresh, bright and balanced, with tangy flavors of red fruit. (Jenny & Françs, New York)
Dominio IV Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, $90, ** ½
Love Lies Bleeding 2009, 3 liters
Rich cinnamon-scented fruit with clear pinot noir identity, but a touch too much oak flavor.
Cantina Valpantena Veronese, $27, ** ½
Torre del Falasco I.G.T. Garganega 2010, 3 liters
Lively with mellow flavors of nuts and minerals. (Omniwines, Flushing, N.Y.)
Châau Moulin de la Roquille, $39, ** ½
Francs Cô de Bordeaux 2009, 3 liters
Dark fruit flavors with a pleasant herbal edge and a light rasp of tannins. (Wineberry America)
Black Box New Zealand, $22, ** ½
Sauvignon Blanc 2010, 3 liters
With flavors of peaches and apricots, it doesn't quite taste like sauvignon blanc, but fresh, balanced and pleasing. (Black Box Wines, Madera, Calif.)
La Petite Frog Coteaux du Languedoc, $30, **
Picpoul de Pinet 2010, 3 liters
Dry and refreshing with flavors of nuts, citrus and herbs. (Kysè Pere et Fils, Winchester, Va.)
Baronne du Chatelard, $48, **
Bourgogne Blanc 2010, 3 liters
Low-key and somewhat neutral with simple flavors of apples and herbs. (Wineberry America)
Wüheinhessen Riesling, $27, ** 2010, 3 liters
Light citrus, herbal and floral aromas; serve well chilled. (Domaine Select, New York)
Osborne Spain Seven Octavin NV, $20, ** 3 liters
Straightforward and fruity red with a suggestion of sweetness. (Underdog Wine Merchants, Ripon, Calif.)
--
------------------------------
* 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 *
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
--
------------------------------
* 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
Also
127 wine picks by restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila Photos: 127 wine picks by restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila
Dining: Café Gratitude in L.A., for the vegan Stuart Smalleys of the world Dining: Cafératitude in L.A., for the vegan Stuart Smalleys of the world
Culinary SOS: Urth Caffé's gazpacho Culinary SOS: Urth Caffé gazpacho
The Find: Jun Won's farm-fresh Korean cuisine The Find: Jun Won's farm-fresh Korean cuisine
Raw meat, a manly dish in Ethiopia Raw meat, a manly dish in Ethiopia
MAP: Looking for a good place to eat? MAP: Looking for a good place to eat?
See more stories »
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.
--
------------------------------
* 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.
