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[wine] In case of emergency for wine lovers

by Russell McCandless

(Don't try this with those artificial corks that are darn near impossible to extract from the bottle.) Well, here it is - If you ever get caught without a corkscrew, as I did once, you can do this. How to open a bottle of wine with a shoe. Just watch.....you don't need to understand French. <http://www.wimp.com/wineshoe> http://www.wimp.com/wineshoe _____

15 years, 5 months

[wine] Terry Theise Tasting, Wine list?

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Is anyone going to the TT tasting? Any idea what he'll be pouring? Cheers, Jim This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the "Reprints" tool that appears next to any article. Visit www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. June 21, 2010 A Thin Field of American Gew�rztraminers By ERIC ASIMOV I�VE been a big fan of California gew�rztraminers for a long time. Let me be more precise. I�ve felt that many California gew�rztraminers, particularly those from the Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, were exactly the sorts of dry, lively, aromatic wines that would make almost anybody fall in love with this unusual, idiosyncratic grape. Or maybe not. I may be a pushover for a good gew�rztraminer, but its attractions are by no means universal. Its exotic aroma, often described as a combination of litchis, grapefruit and roses, can have a polarizing effect, like cilantro or licorice. Some people simply hate it. Others are mystified by it because it�s so different from the usual run of dry, crisp white wines. But many California winemakers love it. It�s rarely any estate�s most important wine, but I�ve always been surprised by how many producers make a little gew�rztraminer on the side, especially because I almost never see people in restaurants actually drinking it. I drink it pretty infrequently myself. Nonetheless, I love dry gew�rztraminer with Cantonese food, even if this oft-cited recommendation has become a clich�, and I think gew�rztraminer is more versatile with food than its singular aroma would lead one to believe. Feeling this way, I was eager and excited at the recent prospect of a wine panel tasting of 20 American gew�rztraminers. I was hoping to discover some new producers to recommend, and looked forward to discussing how rewarding these wines could be. Instead, to my surprise and to the panel�s, we were tremendously disappointed by the wines, finding a bare 9 to recommend, not our usual 10. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, David Gordon, the wine director at Tribeca Grill, and Rebecca Foster, a former sommelier who now works for Tempranillo, an importer and distributor mostly of Spanish wines. We did not limit ourselves to California bottles, or to the Anderson Valley. Maybe the wines would have fared better if we had, but the sad fact is that Anderson Valley gew�rztraminers are difficult to find. Some of the best, like Navarro and Lazy Creek, are available only in restaurants or directly from the wineries. Others, like Londer or Husch, you may find in retail shops if you are lucky. We ended up with nine wines from New York State, six from California, three from Washington and two from Oregon. So what went wrong? Better to ask, what didn�t? Some of the wines had off aromas or flavors, characteristics that you rarely encounter in modern wines. Others were reminiscent of the dry rieslings of Germany in the 1990s, when the term �dry� was taken too literally and almost every last bit of sugar was wrung out of the wines, leaving them brittle and acerbic. Wines with appreciable levels of acidity, like riesling, chenin blanc and Champagne, need at least a little bit of residual sugar for balance. Gew�rztraminer, too, though it doesn�t have as much acidity as these other wines, needs a touch of sweetness � perhaps not even enough to notice � if only so it will seem pleasingly dry rather than coarse and strident. �Dry doesn�t have to mean a total lack of residual sugar,� said David, who described some of the wines as painful to drink. Of course, the gew�rztraminers of Alsace, the grape�s home territory, all too often have a surplus of sugar, so balance with this grape is not necessarily easy to achieve. We found other problems as well. Some of the wines lacked sufficient concentration, and tasted diluted. Others were oddly simple, lacking even the slightest degree of depth. Often, we sensed a disconnect between the aromas, which might resemble the classic scent of gew�rztraminer, and the flavors, which seemed muted. �If you�re going to make gew�rztraminer, you know you�re not going to make money on it,� Rebecca mused. �So why bother if you�re not going to do it right?� All of our complaints should not obscure the fact that we did find some good wines, though from some unexpected areas. Oregon is not known for gew�rztraminer, nor is it known for the Umpqua Valley, a region south of the Willamette Valley with a climate apparently cool enough for good gew�rztraminer. I wish we had found more wines like our No. 1 bottle, the 2007 Brandborg, rich, floral and pink-hued with just enough residual sugar to give the wine flesh. Incidentally, at $15, the Brandborg was also our best value. Our No. 2 bottle came from the Finger Lakes of New York, which makes sense when you think about it, since, like Alsace, the Finger Lakes region is also a good place for riesling. The 2007 from Dr. Konstantin Frank, one of my favorite New York riesling producers, was restrained and pretty, with the classic gew�rztraminer flavors. And what about California? Of the six bottles from California, only one came from the Anderson Valley. Sadly, that bottle, a 2008 from Handley Cellars, did not make our cut. It was one bottle where the attractive aromas seemed dissociated from the reticent flavors. We had a 2008 from Stony Hill, another of my favorite gew�rztraminer producers, but unfortunately that bottle was corked. Sigh. Our top bottle from California, No. 3 in our tasting, was the 2007 Thomas Fogarty from Monterey County, which had an almost Alsatian richness and purity, with a fine, balancing acidity. No region came off particularly well in our tasting, not even the Finger Lakes, which had four of our top nine bottles. Both the 2007 from Red Newt Cellars at $38 and the 2007 from Hermann J. Wiemer at $22 did not offer much value for the price. Tastings like this one are quick snapshots. Ours unfortunately came out a bit blurred. I still have confidence in Anderson Valley gew�rztraminers, and I will look out for the small California gew�rztraminer producers that I have enjoyed in the past, like Stony Hill and Coraz�n from Cathy Corison, the noted Napa cabernet producer, who gets her gew�rztraminer grapes from the Anderson Valley. I will also keep my eyes open for Bedrock Wine Company, which uses the same old vines in the Compagni Portis Vineyard in Sonoma County that used to go into the excellent Bucklin gew�rztraminer. Otherwise I will pick my bottles carefully. Tasting Report: Floral Aromas With a Bit of Sweetness BEST VALUE Brandborg $15 ?? ? Oregon Umpqua Valley 2007 Full, rich, fresh and balanced with spicy floral aromas and a touch of sweetness. Dr. Konstantin Frank $16 ?? ? New York Finger Lakes 2007 Balanced, restrained and pretty with straightforward floral and grapefruit aromas and flavors. Thomas Fogarty $15 ?? ? California Monterey County 2007 Clear, true grapefruit and floral aromas; touch of sweetness. Hook & Ladder $16 ?? California Russian River Valley 2008 Balanced and energetic with aromas of flowers, honey and lemon. Anthony Road $16 ?? New York Finger Lakes 2008 Floral and slightly sweet but balanced and pleasing. Chateau Ste. Michelle $10 ?? Washington Columbia Valley 2008 Lively, fresh yet simple with aromas of flowers and grapefruit. Red Newt Cellars $38 ? ? New York Finger Lakes Sawmill Creek Vineyards 2007 Dry and restrained with aromas of flowers. Hermann J. Wiemer $22 ? ? New York Finger Lakes 2007 Simple and straightforward with a touch of sweetness. Halleck Vineyard $36 ? ? California Russian River Valley Pine Creek Ranch 2006 Aromas of citrus and flowers, but acidity is out of balance. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *

15 years, 5 months

[wine] Gruet Sparkling from New Mexico

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI/FYB June 15, 2010 In Albuquerque, French-Style Wines That Sparkle By SARAH KERSHAW ALBUQUERQUE IT would be really easy to whiz past the demure sign and stately entrance of the Gruet Winery on the Pan American Freeway here, not far from Target and almost subsumed by an R.V. dealership on one side and Tuff Shed on the other. Inside, though, a sister and brother who moved here from the Champagne region of France 27 years ago and took the risk of planting grapes in this high desert climate are producing what have become phenomenally successful domestic sparkling wines. While the recession has pummeled wine producers in Champagne, Napa and elsewhere, Gruet has held its own, and even made headway in some markets, with only some minor wholesale losses. Credit for this goes to budget-minded pricing: most of Gruet.s sparkling wines sell for well under $20. Customers wanting Champagne or sparkling wine have been moved to taste less-expensive products, wine buyers and restaurateurs say, giving these French expatriates in New Mexico a timely edge. Their sparkling wines are especially popular in New York and California, and have, in the last 10 years, appeared on the wine lists of high-end restaurants, including Craft, Del Frisco.s and Bar Americain in Manhattan. The siblings, Nathalie and Laurent Gruet, were pioneers when the family planted an experimental vineyard in 1983, in Lordsburg, N.M., and then settled a year later on land near Truth or Consequences, a small town about 150 miles south of here known among local tourists and retirees for its natural hot springs and mild climate. As it turned out, the climate was an advantage for winemaking, with cool evening temperatures that slow the ripening to produce a pleasantly sharp acidity. Some critics say that despite its high quality-to-price ratio, Gruet pales beside unquestionably superior sparkling wines made in France and even in California. But many wine buyers and reviewers see Gruet as a source of affordable domestic gems that hold up to . or can even outdo . more expensive domestic products. .You can get decent things from the Finger Lakes, and Virginia is doing some nice sparking wines, but there are very few that are classics, and I think Gruet is a classic now,. said Tracy Wilson, general manager of the cafes at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, where the Gruet blanc de noirs is served at Terrace 5 for $12 a glass, or $44 a bottle. .Its profile is beautiful, it drinks like a French wine, but it.s got this twist on it, so it.s not as minerally. It.s crisp. It.s just a pleasant drink.. It makes sense that Gruet drinks like a French wine, because the family behind it has deep roots in France. Gruet et Fils was established in Champagne in 1952 by the family patriarch, Gilbert Gruet, in B�thon. Mr. Gruet, who died in 1999, was an architect who agreed to help build a winery in Champagne in exchange for lessons in making the region.s sparkling wine. He founded the first wine cooperative in B�thon in 1967, persuading the villagers to rip out the sugar beets in the fields and plant grapes instead, family members said. In the early 1980s, like other winemakers in the region, Mr. Gruet decided that with a change in the French government and impending tax increases, it was time to start a winery in another country. With two of his four children, Nathalie and Laurent, he toured California, Texas, New York and finally, on the suggestion of some European winemakers he knew there, New Mexico. .We were pretty charmed by the rugged beauty of New Mexico, and to see these lush vineyards in the middle of the desert was very intriguing to my father,. said Ms. Gruet, 47. The land was also less expensive than other options they considered, she said. New Mexico had a centuries-long history as a leading producer of American wine. But in the early 20th century, flooding and groundwater in the state.s wine country, near the banks of the Rio Grande, became a crippling obstacle, turning fertile land into swamps. By 1920, there were no wineries left. It was not until the early .80s that a government-sponsored study meant to attract European vignerons, some of whom were beginning to set their sights on California and other states, reported improved growing conditions. But the early years were not easy for the Gruets. At the first vineyard in Lordsburg, the brother and sister, together with Ms. Gruet.s husband and their 5-month-old baby boy, lived in a trailer on a small plot of land. They soon discovered the area was too hot for chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, sold the land and planted a new vineyard 100 miles east, in an area called Engle, about 10 miles outside Truth or Consequences. .We didn.t speak a word of English and we were in the middle of nowhere,. Ms. Gruet said. .That was pretty strange. But when you.re in your 20s, you take a challenge better. You have a bit more adventure in your soul.. They wanted to try the Champagne method of making sparkling wines in New Mexico, so they had samples of the sandy and earthy soil sent to France for testing, to make sure the vines could grow the deep roots they needed to thrive. Encouraged by the results, they imported their first press and other machinery from France and rented a small production space in Albuquerque, as their father financed an operation that grew in small increments over 20 years. .We started very small, we didn.t know if it was going to work,. Ms. Gruet said. .I think my father was living his dream through his children. He had a pioneer spirit, a spirit to start something totally oddball in the middle of nowhere.. They went from producing 2,000 cases of wine in 1989, to 100,000 cases a year now, doing everything but the growing in a 45,000-square-foot plant in Albuquerque. The French and New Mexican wineries now produce about the same amount of wine, the Gruets said. (Their other two siblings, twin sisters, stayed in Champagne and now run the operation there.) The New Mexican branch of the family said that they have found the climate here even better for grapes than in Champagne; the days can be very hot, but the nights, as much as 30 degrees cooler, slow the maturation process in what would otherwise be a short growing season. The arid air that wards off rot also helps with the wine.s consistency, Laurent Gruet said, adding that they use no pesticides on the vines. Before they hired a distributor, Mr. Gruet and his brother-in-law carted cases of wine across the state to restaurants, liquor stores and tasting events, aggressively marketing it any chance they got. .We started with one state, then two states, then we were adding states and it took over 20 years of labor,. said Mr. Gruet, 45. .We would tell the distributors, .We.re from New Mexico, open the bottle and taste it.. Sometimes it would be a long time between when they received it and getting them to taste it.. Within a few years, mentions in newspapers and wine magazines helped the Gruets capture the attention of wine buyers and distributors far beyond New Mexico. Their wines are now sold in 49 states . 60 percent of it at about 5,000 restaurants and the other 40 percent at retail stores, Mr. Gruet said. The winery produces seven sparkling wines, four that retail for an average of $15 a bottle, as well as three more-expensive vintage sparklers, which range in price from $17 to $46. They also produce a small amount of still chardonnay and pinot noir. Robert Lemberger, the wine buyer for the Artichoke Cafe in Albuquerque, one of the first restaurants to serve Gruet, was working at a bistro in Florida 10 years ago when he first heard of Gruet, which was on the wine list there. Gruet is produced .in such high-quality fashion that the flavors just layer in their wines,. he said. .Their grand reserve is beautiful, with the taste of caramel and apples, citrus and a little bit of vanilla, as good as a reserve should be, and the blanc de noirs is wonderfully complex.. The region around Truth or Consequences also produces chilies and other crops, but all of them are grown closer to the Rio Grande than the Gruet grapes are. Water for irrigation has to be pumped about 15 miles to the vineyard, which proved to be too cumbersome and expensive for the other wineries in the area. Gruet is the only one left, according to Olivia DeCamp, executive director of the New Mexico Wine Growers Association. Ms. Gruet said that the winery was doing well enough to sustain the extra cost and that the family decided it was not worth uprooting a vineyard that was consistently producing quality grapes. As to whether the Gruets would consider striking out again, adding another Champagne house or American winery, Ms. Gruet laughed and sounded a bit weary. .That.s for the next generation,. she said. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 5 months

[wine] [Fwd: [Fwd: You're invited to a Special Wine Tasting featuring Artisan Vineyards!]]

by Joyce Hegstrom

Tomorrow's weather will be conducive for sipping wine in a courtyard! Some of the wines to be poured (42 total) are indicated at the link below under "Featured Wines." If interested, they would like you to pre-register at: http://www.artisanvineyards.com/Happenings/EventDetails.aspx?ID=10972&Retai… <http://www.artisanvineyards.com/Happenings/EventDetails.aspx?ID=10972&Retai…> * Join us Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 6:30pm *** _Haskell's & Artisan Vineyards!_ WHERE: Old Arizona 2821 Nicollet Ave S. When: Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 6:30pm to 8:30pm COST: ONLY $25.00!* *Proceeds benefit the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital* * Click here to RSVP! <http://em.haskells.com/email/6226630.1/LH/www.artisanvineyards.com/Happenin…>* *Come enjoy a taste of our Artisan Vineyard Selections <http://em.haskells.com/email/6226630.1/LH/www.artisanvineyards.com/Happenin…> of wines with the emphasis on esoteric, extraordinary and lesser known wonders from around the globe. Learn about every wine, the land from which each come, the people who craft them and how it all happens! For directions from your address click here <http://em.haskells.com/email/6226630.1/LH/www.google.com/maps?source=uds&da…> $25 ticket proceeds benefit the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. We look forward to seeing you at Old Arizona!*

15 years, 5 months

[wine] [wine@wineloverspage.com: Wine is good for you. Or is it?]

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI/FYE ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- X-Authentication-Warning: winex2100.cniweb.net: nobody set sender to bounce(a)wineloverspage.com using -f To: Jim Ellingson <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> Subject: Wine is good for you. Or is it? From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:33:35 -0400 X-LibVersion: 3.3.1_4 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced by SwiftMailer 3.3.1_4 X-mid: amVsbGluZ3NAbWUudW1uLmVkdSAsIG01NQ== X-Mailer: AC Mailer X-Greylist: IP, sender and recipient auto-whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.3 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu [128.101.142.227]); Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:40:39 -0500 (CDT) X-Spam-Score: 0.001 () HTML_MESSAGE X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.67 on 128.101.142.227 THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Friday, June 11, 2010 ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S??SPONSOR DISCOVER THE HEART AND SOUL OF RIOJA Vibrant Rioja is giving you the chance to win the experience of a lifetime - a trip to Rioja, Spain - and all you have to do is join the Vibrant Rioja Community. http://www.vibrantrioja.com/register.html?id=338 ________________________________________________________________________ WINE IS GOOD FOR YOU. OR IS IT? After 15 years or more of reading about "The French Paradox," I think most wine enthusiasts have become happily blas?? about the hypothesis that wine in general - and red wine in particular - can be heart- healthy even among people like the French who, we're inclined to believe, regularly consume a diet of rich sauces made with butter and cream. Study after study cascades down on us, trumpeting the health benefits of wine's antioxidants, free radicals and resveratrol, oh my! Research really leaves no doubt at this point that wine consumption and cardiovascular health map to a "J-shaped curve," bottoming out with the best blood-chemistry numbers, on average, for those who consume wine moderately, a 5-ounce drink or two per day. Teetotalers actually don't score quite so well, forming the short shank of the "J" on the left. Those who overdo see their bad cholesterol and health in general plummet as their line on the right-hand side of the "J" soars skyward. So watch it! But while the connection seems clear, causation remains opaque: We know moderate wine drinkers seem healthy, on average, but none of the major studies have resolved the question, "Why?" Now, from the land of the French Paradox comes a second look: A study published last month raises an disconcerting possibility: The benefits may not come from the wine at all. Dr. Boris Hansel, an endocrinologist who specializes in cardiovascular prevention at Hopital de la Pitie-Salpetri??re in Paris, is lead author of a report on the study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. According to an article in USA Today, he said the study does "not at all establish" a causal relationship between cardiovascular risk and moderate drinking. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-22-drinking-heart_N.htm The study, which examined the health status and drinking habits of 149,773 French adults, "links moderate drinking to a lower risk for cardiovascular disease but challenges the notion that moderate drinking gets the credit," reported USA Today. "Instead, the researchers say, people who drink moderately tend to have a higher social status, exercise more, suffer less depression and enjoy superior health overall compared to heavy drinkers and lifetime abstainers." Added Britain's Daily Mail: "Although the research shows moderate drinkers are slimmer, less stressed and have a more positive outlook, alcohol, alas, has nothing to do with it. Their rude good health is more likely to be thanks to the fact that moderate drinkers also tend to have a healthier diet, exercise more and have a better work-life balance than both teetotalers and heavy drinkers." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1279589/Drinkers-half-bottle-wine… The French researchers subjected almost 150,000 men and women volunteers to a series of tests, the Daily Mail explained. They were also asked about their education, job, how much they exercised and how much they drank. On this basis, the volunteers were categorized as teetotalers, low-level drinkers, moderate drinkers and heavy drinkers. Mirroring many other studies, the results found members of the low and moderate groups enjoying better overall health than those who never drank or who drank large amounts. Men who drank moderately tended to suffer less stress and depression, were slimmer and had a lower risk of heart problems. Female moderate drinkers were also healthier, had smaller waists and lower blood pressure. For both sexes, moderate drinkers showed higher amounts of "good" cholesterol (HDL). Doctor Hansel, the lead test author, said most previous studies failed to account for the reality that those who drink sensibly tend to care for their health in other ways. Said the Daily Mail, "this group often had a more educated approach to their health. They may exercise more, eat fruit and vegetables more frequently or take up yoga to cut stress levels." Hansel added: "These findings suggest that it is not appropriate to promote alcohol consumption as a basis for cardiovascular protection." However, he did concede that 'pleasure' was the best justification for moderate drinking. I'll drink to that! I've never promoted alcohol as a "medicine," preventive or otherwise, and can't comfortably recommend that a person who doesn't like wine take up drinking for its purported health benefits alone. But if you enjoy wine, isn't it nice to know that drinking it moderately can't hurt and might help? To your health! ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSOR DISCOVER THE HEART AND SOUL OF ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST WINE REGIONS - RIOJA How would you like to discover the land of a thousand wines? How about uncovering the heart and soul of one of the world's greatest wine regions? Vibrant Rioja is giving you the chance to win the experience of a lifetime - a trip to Rioja, Spain - and all you have to do is join the Vibrant Rioja Community. Oh! and you'll receive our newsletters, which will keep you informed of our tastings, events, delicious recipes, tasting notes and much, much more! Just click here to get started: http://www.vibrantrioja.com/register.html?id=338 In the meantime, visit Vibrant Rioja! http://www.vibrantrioja.com/index.html ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S TASTING REPORT HIRSCH 2007 NIEDER??STERREICH GR??NER VELTLINER "#1" ($14.99) Transparent straw color with glints of white. Appealing, benchmark Gr??ner Veltliner aromas, "lentil" and "split pea" forward, a dry touch of lemon zest back. Mouth-watering acidity on the palate, dry and fresh, tart white fruit, a textured mouthfeel with a moderate, food- friendly 12% alcohol. There's a hint of the "rainwater" minerality of GV, a subtle note just below the surface. An excellent, affordable example of this trademark Austrian wine, with a sturdy metal screw cap to retain freshness. U.S. importer: Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.; a Terry Theise Estate Selection. (May 9, 2010) FOOD MATCH: Its light, subtle and crisp freshness makes it a natural with subtly flavored chicken or fish dishes ... chicken with in a tarragon cream sauce, for instance, or our choice, a pasta with sardines (!) modified from a New York Times recipe. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/dining/31mini.html VALUE: The "cute animal" label may suggest a budget-level wine, but in fact the middle teens is more than fair for a "benchmark" GV of this quality. WEB LINK: The Hirsch winery Website is available in German and English. Here's a page featuring its Trinkvergn??gen series (labeled "#1" in the U.S. http://www.weingut-hirsch.at/show_content.php?hid=1&language=en FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Find vendors and compare prices for Hirsch Gr??ner Veltliner "#1" on Wine-Searcher.com. http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Hirsch%2b#1/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=WLP I got mine from Chambers Street Wines in NYC. Click here to review and order the 2007 "#1." http://www.chambersstwines.com/Search.asp?search=go&kw=Niederosterreich To review all Hirsch wines available at Chambers Street, click here. http://www.chambersstwines.com/Search.asp?search=go&kw=hirsch ________________________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADMINISTRIVIA Unsubscribe: We're sorry if you must leave us, but simply click the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of your Email edition to be instantly removed from the mailing list. Change address: With our new Email system, the easiest way to change your Email address is simply to register anew, using the link below. If you are keeping your old address, you may unsubscribe; if you are closing it, you needn't take any action, as our system will delete your old address as soon as the mail starts to "bounce." Subscribe to this Email edition (free): http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free): http://www.wineloverspage.com/rss/ Wine Advisor Archives: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/archives.php Sponsorship Opportunities: For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com ________________________________________________________________________ To Unsubscribe, please click here : http://www.wineloverspage.com/12all/box.php?funcml=unsub2&nl=2&mi=55&email=… ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 5 months

[wine] rose - the big and the small of it fwd nyt

by Jim L. Ellingson

>From the NYT. Well, Mr. Asimov, It's about time! C, J June 7, 2010 Ros�s, With All Due Respect By ERIC ASIMOV FEW wines are both as beloved and belittled as ros�. Since its return to fashion in the last five years or so, the public has embraced it as a wine of summer. Yet bottles of ros� seem to come with neon-red warning signs admonishing consumers that they run the risk of pomposity if they dare to critically assess the wines. Why is this? Part of the great appeal of ros� is that it.s not considered a serious wine. Everyone can let down their guard and feel free of any demands to demonstrate sophistication by issuing trenchant analyses of what.s in the glass. We can relax and enjoy, like swapping office wear for shorts and huaraches. By all means, breathe easy and enjoy . all wines, not just ros�s. Yet this call to abandon critical faculties is an insult, both to ros� and to us, the consumers. If we.ve learned nothing else over the four decades since the beginning of the American food revolution, we have learned to pay attention to small, seemingly insignificant things. The quality of ingredients, no matter how humble, is crucial to the perception and enjoyment of a meal. The critical spotlight shines not only on ambitious high-end restaurants but also on street food, on burgers and noodles, tacos and dumplings. Even in the most modest surroundings, quality is never insignificant. Why should ros� be different? Why should any wine get a free pass, no matter how cheap, or seemingly unserious? Consider the lesson of Beaujolais nouveau: It was embraced uncritically as a seasonal joy until the novelty wore off and the public realized that so much nouveau was confected and banal. Good nouveau is out there, but its poor reputation is a big obstacle to overcome. Good ros� is out there, too, and few wines are as transporting. You really don.t need to see the seaside shimmering in the heat to enjoy a bottle, or smell the lavender, garlic, anise and saffron. It.s all there in the glass, along with the blues, pinks and yellows of a pastel sky, and the sounds of the motor scooters chugging over the cobblestones. Those are my images, at least. Good ros�s call forth from each of us their own. Bad ros�s are out there, too . lifeless, unbalanced wines that you.re supposed to like anyway because, after all, they.re just ros�s. When I hear people say that, I think of somebody trying to dump a boatload of bad wine for a profit. Here at the wine panel, we take ros� seriously, though we try not to be overbearing about it (or anything else). We.ve had great ros�s from all over the world, but this year we decided to go back to Provence, ros�.s fantasy heartland, for a tasting of 20 bottles. Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, Bernard Sun, beverage director for Jean-Georges Management, and Emilie Garvey, wine director at SHO Shaun Hergatt, a restaurant in the financial district. What are we looking for in good ros�s? First of all, they ought to be fresh and lively. With rare exceptions, they ought to be dry, free of noticeable residual sugar. Ideally, good Proven�al ros�s offer a chalky minerality that can be both tremendously refreshing and intriguingly textured, compelling repeated trips back to the glass because it simply feels so good to drink. These wines, generally made of the region.s usual grapes like mourv�dre, grenache, cinsault, carignan and occasionally syrah, are more about texture and mineral flavors than ripe fruit, though light berry and citrus elements can add to their appeal. Yet, we sell ros� short to think it must be young and carefree. Bandol ros�s from estates like Tempier and Pradeaux, neither of which was in our tasting, are deep and complex, and can improve for years. Ch�teau Simone.s 2008 ros�, from the tiny Proven�al appellation of Palette, was in our tasting, and it stood out for its richness, fruitiness and complexity, yet it was bone dry and balanced as well. It was the most serious wine in the tasting, and I think in the context of the lighter wines, we may have undervalued it at No. 6. That is not meant to demean the other wines in the tasting, which simply are not as ambitious, or expensive, as the Simone. Our No. 1 wine, for example, the 2009 Corail from Ch�teau du Roquefort, is simply delicious . light and refreshing yet not at all stinting on texture or flavor. What.s more, it was just $14, a terrific value. In fact, it was our best value. I SAY it.s not an ambitious wine, which is perhaps an unfair categorization, yet very much the crux of the issue. Ros� is demeaned partly because most producers choose to make wines that are fresh, refreshing and intended to be drunk young. But is that not a worthy goal? Ambition alone has killed as many good wines as indifference. While ros�s like the Simone, along with the Tempier and the Pradeaux, can be awfully good, my guess is that few people would trade the easygoing style of ros� for a slew of wines aged in oak and ultra-concentrated. Not with such inviting wines around, like our No. 2, the 2009 Domaine du Jas d.Esclans, a deliciously savory bottle, or the 2009 Ch�teau de Peyrassol from Commanderie de Peyrassol, an earthy, slightly tannic wine and our No. 3 bottle. Let.s not forget richer ros�s, like the 2009 Ch�teau Miraval, called Pink Floyd after the band that once held a recording session at the chateau, or the Ch�teau Marg�i, with its lingering floral, mineral and berry flavors, which achieve a pleasant complexity. Lighter bottles like the Roquefort or the 2009 Domaine Sainte Lucie are perfect daytime wines, just right for a summer lunch under a sparkling sun. We were all pleased with the quality of almost all the wines in the tasting. None were too oaky or too sweet. The less impressive wines were simply innocuous. I say .all,. but perhaps Emilie was not quite as happy as the rest of us. She did say that she wished she had tasted more evidence of terroir, more of what she called limestone and chalk. Standards, even for ros�. Now that.s what I.m talking about. Tasting Report: Seriously Refreshing and Lively BEST VALUE Ch�teau du Roquefort $14 ... (Three Stars) C�tes de Provence Corail 2009 Well textured, juicy and refreshing with lingering flavors of flowers, minerals and earth. (V.O.S. Selections, New York) Domaine du Jas d.Esclans $19 ... (Three Stars) C�tes de Provence 2009 Dry with an inviting texture and savory mineral and berry flavors. (Savio Soares Selections/Metropolis Wine Merchants, New York) Commanderie de Peyrassol $23 .. � (Two and a Half Stars) Ch�teau de Peyrassol C�tes de Provence 2009 Earthy and expressive with tannic grip and briny fruit flavors. (Rosenthal Wine Merchants, New York) Ch�teau Miraval C�tes de Provence $22 .. � (Two and a Half Stars) Pink Floyd 2009 Rich yet balanced style with lingering floral, mineral and berry flavors. (Philippe Chiv�e Selection/Integrity Wines, New York) Domaine de la Fouquette $14 .. � (Two and a Half Stars) C�tes de Provence Ros�e d.Aurore 2009 Dry and savory with refreshing earth and mineral flavors. (Jeff Welburn Selections, Van Nuys, Calif.) Ch�teau Simone Palette 2008 $55 .. � (Two and a Half Stars) Serious, balanced and substantial, with complex herbal and fruit aromas and flavors. (Rosenthal Wine Merchants) Ch�teau Marg�i $20 (Two and a Half Stars) Coteaux-du-Varois-en-Provence 2009 Rich yet balanced with lingering floral, mineral and berry flavors. (Bradley Alan Imports, New York) Domaine Sainte Lucie $14 .. (Two Stars) C�tes de Provence 2009 Pale, pleasant, dry and refreshing. (Savio Soares Selections, Manhasset, N.Y.) Domaine du Bagnol Cassis 2009 $23 .. (Two Stars) Dry and textured with floral and berry aromas. (Rosenthal Wine Merchants) Ch�teau Coussin C�tes de Provence $17 .. (Two Stars) La Croix du Prieur 2009 Crisp and tangy with berry and citrus flavors. (T. Edward Wines, New York) -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 6 months

[wine] Petillant Originel Loire sparklers

by Jim L. Ellingson

Dosages? We don't need no stinking dosages.... latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-loire-20100603,0,3642273.story latimes.com French wines' natural sparkle Petillant Originel sparkling wine, to which sugar and yeast may not be added, is a product of the Loire Valley's Montlouis appellation. By Jacqueline Friedrich, Special to the Los Angeles Times June 3, 2010 Advertisement Reporting from Paris . At L'Ebauchoir, an upscale bistro in Paris' 12th arrondissement, a quickly gentrifying neighborhood east of Bastille, a swarm of wine professionals . journalists, bar owners and sommeliers . is diligently tasting a range of Chenin Blancs from the Montlouis area of France's Loire Valley. At the stroke of 7 p.m., two vignerons, Bertrand Jousset and Damien Delecheneau, interrupt the tasting with an ear-splitting call to attention. They are standing at the front of the restaurant, beside an oak wine barrel attached to a small bottling machine, and are about to demonstrate a crucial step in the making of a new kind of Montlouis: a thoroughly dry, gently sparkling wine officially named P�tillant Originel but often called by its makers P�tillant Naturel, or more affectionately, Pet'Nat. Montlouis is an appellation just east of the city of Tours, where white wines are made from Chenin Blanc in a multitude of styles . from bone dry to unctuously sweet; from still to two traditional types of sparkling wine, m�thode traditionelle, made like Champagne, and P�tillant, which, with half the bubbles of Champagne, is creamier and less vigorously fizzy. And now comes P�tillant Originel, which won legal status from the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine in 2007, different from traditional P�tillant. Most significant, P�tillant Originel must be absolutely natural, a product of the grapes harvested and no more. It is illegal to add either sugar or yeast at any stage of the wine's production, although both are commonly used in Champagne. Hyper-naturalists view these additions . not to mention the use of other additives such as enzymes and bentonite . as nothing more than chemistry, all of which undermines the purity of the wine. While eschewing additives may be a matter of principle for all Pet'Nat producers, for Montlouis vintners like Delecheneau and Jousset, it is also a matter of law, not to mention painstaking, meticulous work in vineyard and cellar, as Jousset is about to demonstrate. A rangy 35-year-old with the square-jawed good looks of a latter-day Marlboro Man, Jousset explains that the barrel is filled with new, unfinished wine. The wine stopped fermenting in January while it still had 14 grams of residual sugar and has been kept in a refrigerated room since then. Behind him, a small assembly line of vintners suctions the wine from the barrel, through the spigots of the bottling machine and into bottles that are then capped like Coca-Cola. Jousset continues: Once warmer weather arrives, that residual sugar and any remaining natural yeasts will restart the fermentation and, in the process, produce the bubbles that make the wine sparkle. "It dawned on me," recalled winemaker Delecheneau, 31, of Domaine de la Grange Tiphaine, "I don't add sugar or yeast to my still wines, so why do I add them to my P�tillant? This was in 2005. That's when a group of us started talking about P�tillant Originel, although we called it 'Pet'Nat' at the time." Honest approach Whatever you call them, the wines are made, for the most part, by resolutely organic, doggedly noninterventionist vintners, among them Christian Chaussard, who, Delecheneau observes, inspired him and a lot of other young winemakers. Way back in the 1990s, when Chaussard was located in Vouvray . across the Loire River from Montlouis . he made a fizzy, not-quite-p�tillant simply by letting his Vouvray re-ferment spontaneously in springtime. Those were the very early days of the hyper-naturalist, noninterventionist winemaking movement in France . when outliers like the Puzelat brothers (Clos du Tue-Boeuf) and Claude Courtois (Cailloux du Paradis) in Touraine and J.J. Brun in Beaujolais (Domaine des Terres Dor�es) began opting for organic or biodynamic farming and forswearing industrial yeasts, enzymes, sulfur, added sugar, added tannins . you name it . as well as just about any technique counseled by modern enologists. Since that time, hyper-natural winemaking has become a movement, spreading the gospel of "natural wines" throughout France and well beyond. And the Pet'Nat movement is spreading throughout France as well. Now relocated an hour north in the Coteaux du Loir appellation, Chaussard remains true to the cause, making a variety of quirky hyper-natural wines including Pet'Nats such as "You Are So Happy," a herbaceous blend of Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc, and "You Are So Bubbly," a foamy weave of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Grenache and Cinsault. Other popular producers such as Pierre and Catherine Breton in Bourgueil, Thierry Puzelat in Touraine, and Dominique Derain in Burgundy are among the growing number of eco-serious vintners adding some Pet'Nat fizz to their line of still wines. Most of these Pet'Nats from outside Montlouis are sweet . ranging from slightly off-dry to as sweet as Dr Pepper . and many hark back to old-fashioned styles of winemaking (appropriately called m�thode ancestrale and m�thode rurale) in the regions of Limoux and Gaillac. An important subgroup is deep pink, in the style of Cerdon, a sparkling wine in the Savoie's Bugey appellation. Emile Heredia from the Domaine de Montrieux outside Vendome, for example, makes a Cerdon-like Pet'Nat called Boisson Rouge from old Gamay vines. Simon Hawkins of Domaine de Fontenay in the C�te Roannaise makes a sudsy Gamay with the sweet-tart flavors of cranberry relish. Montlouis P�tillant Originel is totally dry, however. And it differs from Pet'Nats in another significant way: Most, if not all Pet'Nats, are vins de table or vins de France . in other words, not part of any official wine group, with all the anarchy and qualitative differences that implies, from the urbane to the outlandish. Montlouis P�tillant Originel is governed by law and aims to be reliably urbane. Quality charter Jousset and Delecheneau, along with Xavier Weisskopf (Domaine des Rocher des Violettes) and Domaine Alex-Mathur wanted to make a P�tillant that was not only ultra-pure but also a full-fledged wine . ripe, vinous, consistent in quality and fine enough to serve in Michelin-starred restaurants, but reasonably priced. (Most sell in France for $10 to $15.) To this end, they drew up a quality charter with exigent requirements. In addition to abolishing the addition of yeast and sugar, the charter mandates low yields, greater ripeness of the grapes than is anticipated for most sparkling wines, as well as aging for a minimum of nine months before being disgorged. "It's very difficult and very risky," Delecheneau says. "The danger is that the wine might stop fermenting." Less consequential risks include off-flavors resembling beer or cider, which is why Jacky Blot of Domaine de la Taille aux Loups decided to add just a bit of yeast for the prise de mousse when making his very successful "Triple Zero," a Montlouis P�tillant. According to Delecheneau, his P�tillant Originel is catching on nicely in the U.S. and the wines are beginning to surface in up-to-the-minute wine bars and shops in Paris like La Quincave and Cru et D�couvertes. To understand the simple yet huge pleasures that are P�tillant Originel, try Xavier Weisskopf's 2006. Disgorged in 2008, it's rich and appetizing, lightly salty, with subtle, intriguing flavors of apple and stone. Downright gourmand. Add grace notes of ginger and you've got the 2007 version. Weisskopf sells almost his entire production of P�tillant Originel to Denmark. "They're crazy for natural wines," he explains. It is also available in Southern California at Wine Expo and Hi-Times Wine Cellars. Indeed, availability of any Pet'Nats is spotty . though that is supposed to improve by early summer .it's a new product made in startlingly small quantities. Risks combined with the very newness of the wine explain why only four Montlouisiens currently produce it and why there is so little of it . roughly 20,000 to 25,000 bottles a year. But as Delecheneau and Jousset point out, the wine has no track record. Other vintners may be waiting to see how it catches on; others may be experimenting until they get it right. Thierry Bruneau, general manager and wine buyer for L'Ebauchoir, which specializes in hyper-natural wines, was impressed by what he tasted and intends to add a P�tillant Originel to his list soon, most likely Jousset's 2008 "Bubulle" or his favorite, Delecheneau's 2008 "Nouveau Nez." "It was creamy, dry and mineral. I liked it a whole lot. They're a hard sell right now because people don't know them, but once they try them they really like them and order them again." food(a)latimes.com Copyright � 2010, The Los Angeles Times -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 6 months

[wine] Rose

by Jim L. Ellingson

To Paraphrase/quote Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon. "Ros\xe9 is the wine for those who "get it" and for those who don't." Cheers, Jim The Chronicle Recommends: dry ros� Jon Bonn� Sunday, May 30, 2010 >From left: 2009 Breggo Mendocino County Rose of Syrah, 20... From left: 2009 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Vin de Pays de l... From left: 2009 Curran Santa Ynez Valley Grenache Rose, 2... 2009 Gaia Wines 14-18h Peloponnisos Agiorgitiko Rose (lef... More... The pink conundrum continues. Ros� is as popular as ever, the case having finally been made for its summery charms. And yet the quality gap keeps growing. It's almost axiomatic: The more people drink ros�, the more mediocre ros� appears. Part of this is just an extension of wine-growing concerns; as grapes get riper across the board, ros� - especially if made in the saign�e method, in which pale juice is drained from red grapes - follows suit. A lot of what we rejected in the course of tasting 80 dry pink wines fell short because of evident alcohol and ripe fruit flavors that had lost balancing acidity. Lower-acid red wines might make a (meager) case, but the entire point of ros� is freshness, so a dull pink wine is no happy creature. To that point about freshness, we stuck to the 2009 vintage for our exploration. There are still 2008 wines on shelves, and they may well be vibrant, but so rare is the ros� that evolves with age (Rioja's Lopez de Heredia comes to mind) that we decided to focus on the freshest of the fresh. We had a relatively good sampling of global ros� options, though a few prime spots (the Loire Valley, in particular) weren't in the mix. After parsing our results, it was worth noting that some of the best ros�s are being made from fruit designated for that purpose. That's not to slag the saign�e process - some lively examples were made that way - but when grapes are picked (usually earlier) with ros� in mind, it tends to preserve freshness. I'd go further: When fruit is set aside for ros�, that's often a sign that a winery takes the pink stuff seriously. We saw more Pinot-based pinks getting bigger and darker, even as more Grenache and Rhone-style ros�s showed a lighter hand. Could it be a signal of Pinot's amplitude issues? And if ros� is one place where the herbal edge of Cabernet and Merlot can shine, we saw little indication of that this time. Indeed, at times our ros� ramble seemed like a barometer of the concerns about how far ripeness is being pushed. But we also found plenty of examples where freshness reigns, and no shortage of pink to keep our glasses - even our tumblers - well filled as Memorial Day arrives. This article has been corrected since it originally appeared in print. 2009 Breggo Mendocino County Ros� of Syrah ($20): A light touch for some serious fruit. It's not on the label, but the Syrah comes from top-notch Alder Springs Vineyard in Laytonville, then got just two hours on the skins. Flavors are savory and subtle: salted cherries, mace and vibrant citrus zest. 2009 Charles & Charles Volume II Talcott Vineyard Columbia Valley Syrah Ros� ($11): A repeat of this user-friendly effort from duo Charles Bieler (Three Thieves) and Charles Smith (K Vintners). Tangy and full of sweet tangerine, black cherry, cherry pit and dried herbs. 2009 Commanderie de Peyrassol Cotes de Provence Ros� ($16): Provence is ground zero for ros�, and this historic label dialed in an effort that has tarry Mourvedre underpinnings to its bright Grenache fruit. Think nectarines on hot asphalt, plus gorgeously bright red apple, watermelon, leather and apricot. (Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant) 2009 Curran Santa Ynez Valley Grenache Ros� ($20): Central Coast star Kris Curran (Sea Smoke) derived a subtle Grenache take for her own label. Perfumed and floral, like buttercups and wild strawberry, with a welcome slight sweetness. 2009 Domaine de la Janasse Cotes du Rhone Ros� ($14): A big-boned Rhone blend (Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault) from high-profile Chateauneuf maker Christophe Sabon. Jammy strawberry and black currant, with hawthorne aromas and a dusty mineral edge. A bit of tannic bite at the finish makes it one for the dinner table. (Importer: Eric Solomon/European Cellars) 2009 Domaine de la Petite Cassagne Costieres de Nimes Ros� ($12): Another winner from this organically farmed estate outside Nimes. A deeper, more food-aligned ros�, with roasted orange, dried thyme, sweet raspberry and a bit of fruit-skin bite at the end. (Importer: Robert Kacher Selections) 2009 Domaine Grand Veneur Reserve Cotes du Rhone Ros� ($15): Another classic southern Rhone mix from Chateauneuf producer Alain Jaume. Apricot, ripe strawberry and bright mineral accents, with a delicate juicy profile that avoids fruit overload. (Importer: Kysela Pere et Fils) 2009 Donkey and Goat Isabel's Cuvee Mendocino Grenache Ros� ($18): The slightly cloudy look of Jared and Tracey Brandt's excellent ros� hints at their natural winemaking. In this case, half the Grenache fruit (from 90-year-old vines) was left on skins for 36 hours, the other half quickly pressed. The result is earthy, briny and contemplative, like salted strawberry licorice with a peach overtone. 2009 Elyse California Ros� ($15): A barrel-fermented Rhone tribute (mostly Grenache) from the Sierra Foothills. Big, sweet flavors of strawberry, lime pith, dried thyme and a coriander-seed bite. Rounder and riper, and happy to be poured in a tumbler on the porch. 2009 Gaia Wines 14-18h Peloponnisos Agiorgitiko Ros� ($18): This rising-star Greek estate sources native Agiorgitiko grapes from hillsides in Nemea, then soaks them for 14 to 18 hours (hence the name). Cranberry, chervil and chalky mineral. Refreshingly sharp-edged, with a bit of tannin to commend it to a skewer of meat. (Importer: Athenee Importers and Distributors) 2009 Husch Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Vin Gris ($16): One of Anderson Valley's pioneers turns in a big boy of a Pinot ros� (14.5 percent alcohol) that got a full 28 hours on the skins. Sweeter notes come forward; butterscotch and roasted beets accent more delicate, soft raspberry flavors. 2009 Librandi Ciro Rosato ($9): This large Calabrian concern delivers with its ripe, mellow all-Gaglioppo ros�. Stony and a bit sweet, with cranberry, ripe strawberry, black cherry and peach pit. Think Dixie cups. (Importer: Winebow) 2009 Lucia Vineyards & Winery Lucy Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Ros� ($18): The Pisoni family turned its thoughts rosy last year, with this somewhat weighty saign�e of Santa Lucia Pinot. Full of roasted strawberry, with a sweet pie-filling aspect and a biting lemony edge to cut the sweetness. 2009 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Vin de Pays de l'Heurault Ros� ($12): The Guibert family (Daumas Gassac) nails this delicious Syrah-Grenache mix from the Languedoc for their wallet-friendly second label. Bright peppercorn and peach nectar, with lots of bright acid momentum and just enough berryish depth to carry you through a meal. (Importer: Beaune Imports) 2009 Paramo Flor del Paramo Castilla y Leon Prieto Picudo Rosado ($15): Enologist Pedro Gonzalez Mittelbrun made it a priority to revive the Prieto Picudo grape indigenous to this area of central Spain, south of Leon. In ros� form, it's deeply colored and bursting with flavors of nectarine, plum, blood orange and a slight coppery bite. (Importer: Classical Wines) 2009 Ponzi Rosato Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Ros� ($17): Twenty-four hours on the skins brought a bit of extra color. It's juicy, with a grapefruit overtone to the sharp cranberry tang. Vivacious and clean. 2009 Uvaggio Lodi Rosato ($14): Winemaker Jim Moore has a knack for pink wines under his Uvaggio label; this time Primitivo (i.e., Zinfandel) got added to the usual high-acid kick of Barbera for a sharp, aromatic result. Think cherry SweeTarts, burnt orange and limeade, with stellar acidity. A summer-salad sort of ros�. 2009 Van Duzer Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Ros� ($16): This Oregon winery selected a single Pommard-clone block for its latest pink offering. Freshly shaved berry ice, tart citrus and a sultry earth presence for depth. Panelists: Jon Bonn�, Chronicle wine editor; Sarah Fritsche, Chronicle cellar coordinator; Mike Millett, wine buyer, Rainbow Grocery. Jon Bonn� is The Chronicle's wine editor. Find him at jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com and at twitter.com/jbonne. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/30/FD521DKT19.DTL This article appeared on page K - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle � 2010 Hearst Communications Inc. | Privacy Policy | Feedback | RSS Feeds | FAQ | Site Index | Contact -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 6 months

[wine] Subtle Syrahs fwd nyt

by Jim L. Ellingson

June 1, 2010 Is There Still Hope for Syrah? By ERIC ASIMOV FORESTVILLE, Calif. THERE.S a joke going around West Coast wine circles: What.s the difference between a case of syrah and a case of pneumonia? You can get rid of the pneumonia. It would be funnier if it weren.t so sad. In the last few years, beginning even before the economic downturn, sales of American syrah essentially dropped off a cliff. While precise numbers are not available . for tracking purposes, syrah is often lumped in with Australian shiraz, or consigned to .other red wines. . American syrah producers all tell the same story. .It appears to have crashed and burned in this country,. said Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards, who 20 years ago was one of the early proponents of planting California with grapes from the Rhone Valley, like syrah, grenache and mourvedre. Or, as Ehren Jordan, proprietor of Failla Vineyards, put it: .There has been a collective running into a brick wall by people who make syrah.. Such an impact is hard to fathom with a glass of a Failla syrah in front of you. The aroma . of herbs, olives and flowers . stimulates the appetite. The question is not, what.s wrong with syrah, but, where.s dinner? Back in the mid-1990s, syrah was thought to be the next great hope for American red wine. Growers and winemakers, looking for an alternative to cabernet sauvignon and merlot, pinned their hopes on syrah, known for making savory wines in Rhone appellations like Hermitage, C�te-R�tie, Cornas, St.-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. How syrah went so horribly wrong may be a cautionary tale for anybody looking to capitalize on the next great trend. It.s fair to say that much of the syrah produced in California is dreadfully generic red wine of little character. But perhaps more important to recognize is that quite a few producers like Failla are making superb California syrah, a fact that should not be lost in any analysis of the moribund market. Some producers have made good syrah for years. Others are fairly new to the field and are plunging resolutely ahead, even as the market shrinks. Crucially, though, they are succeeding by staying true to the northern Rhone ideal of making balanced, pungently aromatic wines that belong on the table. Here in Forestville, a small crossroads town in western Sonoma County, two childhood friends, Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts, are making beautifully aromatic, elegant syrahs under the label Arnot-Roberts. Rather than emphasizing power, concentration and heavy fruit flavors, the Arnot-Roberts wines are graceful and relatively low in alcohol. .We.re California kids,. said Mr. Meyers, standing in front of barrels holding the previous year.s vintage. .We believe that we can make really good wines here, but our reference points are the northern Rhone.. He and Mr. Roberts teamed up in 2002 on a shoestring budget. With little financial pressure to cater to the marketplace, they have enjoyed the luxury of stubborn idealism, making wines aimed at achieving the classic northern Rhone aromas and flavors of olives and herbs, bacon and minerals, flowers and spices, blood and earth. .We don.t want to make really fruity wines,. Mr. Roberts said. .It.s those nonfruit aromas that we.re really focused on.. One sniff of the Arnot-Roberts 2006 Clary Ranch syrah, made from grapes grown on the Sonoma Coast near Freestone, leaves no doubt of their ideals. With captivating aromas of black olives, laurel and minerals, the direct connection to the northern Rhone is clear. In the beginning, that was the idea. Back in the 1970s and .80s, the early efforts of American syrah pioneers like Mr. Grahm, Joseph Phelps, Bob Lindquist of Qup� and Steve Edmunds of Edmunds St. John were all intended to emulate Rhone wines. Later entrants to the game had different ideas. Syrah was barely on the radar screen in 1990 when, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, only 164 acres of the grape were planted in the state. Then came an explosion. By the end of that Rhone-mad decade, more than 10,000 acres were planted, and since then even that number has doubled . less perhaps than other red grapes like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, zinfandel and pinot noir, but significant nonetheless. .People were looking for something that would not be too tannic or challenging, and syrah was poised to be that go-to drink,. said Patrick Comiskey, who is writing a book about the American Rhone movement. What happened? Partly, Mr. Comiskey said, pinot noir with its cinematic .Sideways. boost stole syrah.s thunder. More damning, though, was a confusion of styles that robbed American syrah of any sense of identity. As syrah production was beginning to take off, some American wine critics were starting to award their highest scores to big, broad, powerfully fruity wines that displayed richness and opulence. Prominent among them was Barossa Valley shiraz, as syrah is known in Australia. The desire for critical approval, Mr. Comiskey suggested, caused many American syrah producers to emulate this intensely ripe, jammy style. .Syrah tends to lose its character at higher ripeness levels,. he said. .The thing that makes syrah beguiling, beautiful and feral is all lost, and you end up with a much more generic, fruity experience.. Pax Mahle can attest to that personally. Back in 2000 he founded Pax Wine Cellars, making rich, powerful single-vineyard syrahs that were acclaimed by critics like Robert M. Parker Jr. and Wine Spectator. Some of these wines reached alcohol levels above 16 percent. But after a dispute with a financial backer, Mr. Mahle left Pax. He and his wife, Pamela, now make wines of a completely different style under the Wind Gap label, right here in Forestville. .The Pax wines were good of their kind,. he said. .But I found on a Tuesday or Wednesday night they were the wines I least wanted to drink.. So he recalibrated his approach, and now aims for lower alcohol, subtler, more savory wines. .I want the wines to show more earth than fruit, more savor and spice than sweetness,. he said. .I want them above all to be bright and fresh.. His 2006 Sonoma Coast syrah is full of the herbal, meaty, bacon and olive flavors craved by lovers of northern Rhone wines. It weighs in at 13.1 percent alcohol, but even his biggest wine, at 14.9 percent, from the Castelli-Knight vineyard in the Russian River Valley, is discernibly Rhonish. Contributing to the confusion is the fact that a good deal of California syrah is simply planted in inappropriate places. .If you want it to actually have character, it needs to be grown in a very cool climate,. said Mr. Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards, and most top syrah producers would agree. The Peay brothers, Nick and Andy, along with Nick.s wife, Vanessa Wong, grow syrah on their vineyard near Annapolis, in the extreme northwestern corner of Sonoma County just four miles from the Pacific Ocean. There, the fruit struggles to ripen each year, but retains a freshness that comes from sufficient acidity in the grapes. .Syrahs from warm areas lack the syrah signature of pepper, olive, meatiness, iron and mineral,. Nick Peay said. .From warm areas they just have this monochromatic blueberry and oak quality.. His brother chimed in: .There is no better wine for lamb, game and meats, but people are making wines with too much alcohol, too much fruit, no elegance and too much oak.. The Peay syrahs are elegant and polished, not quite as savory as the Wind Gap or Arnot-Roberts wines, perhaps, yet still dripping with the pepper, olive, meat and animal character of syrah. Cool climates, at least in Northern California, are not without risk. Arnot-Roberts made a delectable wine from the grapes from Clary Ranch on the Sonoma Coast in 2006. In 2009, they didn.t ripen enough to make a single-vineyard wine. As with any grape there is no single correct way of making a syrah. It mostly comes down to the personal preference of the growers and winemakers. .The single most important thing is making a good decision about when to pick the grapes,. said Mr. Edmunds of Edmunds St. John, who makes gentle, graceful syrahs with grapes purchased from a variety of sites in California. His preference is for freshness, so he tends to favor those picked on the early side. Other producers, including many in Paso Robles and Santa Barbara County, prefer riper grapes and bigger wines. .Just because you can get it riper doesn.t mean you should get it riper,. said Mr. Lindquist of Qup�, who has never strayed from his original ideal of balanced, Rhone-influenced wines. While the finest syrah producers still manage to sell their wines, it is not without a struggle. Wells Guthrie of Copain Wine Cellars makes excellent single-vineyard syrahs with enthralling mineral, saline, briny flavors. His loyal customers buy direct from the winery. Nonetheless, from the 3,000 cases of single-vineyard syrah that he made in 2006 he reduced his production to 1,200 cases in 2009. .Without the good portion that we sell direct, I don.t know how you would sell any syrah,. he said. Still, producers are keeping their hopes up. Mr. Jordan of Failla points out how young California.s syrah vineyards are, and how much the grapes will improve as the vines age. .People are already making dynamic wines, and are increasingly conscious of where things should be,. he said. Mr. Grahm, Mr. Edmunds and Mr. Lindquist, who.ve seen consumer interest in California syrah rise from nowhere only to crash and burn, likewise continue to focus on the potential. .It.s a great grape, obviously,. Mr. Lindquist said. .And great grapes always rise to the top.. 10 That Defy The Trend Here are 10 of the best California syrah producers (which make wines that emphasize balance and savory aromas and flavors rather than power, concentration and fruitiness), along with some suggested bottles to seek out: ARNOT-ROBERTS Clary Ranch and Griffin.s Lair, both from Sonoma Coast. BONNY DOON VINEYARD Le Pousseur. COPAIN WINE CELLARS Baker Ranch, Brosseau and Hawks Butte. A DONKEY AND GOAT Mendocino and Sierra Foothills. EDMUNDS ST. JOHN Cuv�e Fairbairn and Wylie-Fenaughty. FAILLA Estate, Phoenix Ranch. THE OJAI VINEYARD Melville. PEAY VINEYARDS La Bruma and Les Titans. QUP� Bien Nacido and Stolpman. WIND GAP Sonoma Coast, Griffin.s Lair. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 6 months

[wine] Savennieres - Chenin from Loire's Anjou

by Jim L. Ellingson

Anyone ever had one of these? Cheers, Jim May 21, 2010 Savenni�res, a Demanding Wine Worth the Work By ERIC ASIMOV SAVENNI�RES is a demanding wine. The characteristics that make it so distinctive and beautiful require attention and thought, which is perhaps more effort than many people would wish to devote to a beverage. But that is the tradeoff. Savenni�res, from the Anjou region of the Loire Valley, is intense and austere, and not quickly accessible. Unlike Sancerre, its Loire cousin, which comes with an easy Cliffs Notes explanation . It.s just sauvignon blanc! . Savenni�res does not lend itself to the sort of high-concept simplification-by-analogy that can appease the puzzlement of studio executives and wine novices alike. Sure, one could describe Savenni�res as 100 percent chenin blanc, but what does that get you? Chenin blanc is one of the most underrated and underappreciated grapes in the world, achieving greatness only in the Loire Valley, though promising wines do come from South Africa and isolated pockets of the United States. Many people may have heard of Vouvray, a chenin blanc wine from the Touraine region of the Loire east of Savenni�res , but I doubt many people can summon an impression of what the wines are like. Even if Vouvray were to strike a flash of recognition, it offers a very different expression of chenin blanc than Savenni�res. Vouvray is generally easier and friendlier, less of a cerebral wine than Savenni�res. I don.t mean to suggest that some consumers don.t have the ability to appreciate Savenni�res. Not at all. I.m just saying that it is not for everybody. It can.t be. Very few producers make Savenni�res, and only small amounts are available. But if you decide to try it, and are patient enough to savor a bottle over the course of a meal, the pleasures of Savenni�res are many. What makes this wine singular? To ponder that, the wine panel recently sampled 20 bottles of Savenni�res. Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Michael Madrigale, the sommelier at Bar Boulud, and Pascaline Lepeltier, the wine director at Rouge Tomate on the East Side of Manhattan. Pascaline, by the way, is from the City of Angers, on which the Anjou region is centered, so Savenni�res is essentially her hometown wine. To illustrate how hard it is to obtain Savenni�res, our 20 bottles came from only 12 producers. And, while we sought the most recent vintages available, we found only five bottles from 2007 and five from 2006. We were compelled to include seven bottles from 2005, one from 2004 and two from 2003. The various vintages made for a less-than-level playing field for the tasting. The .03 and .05 vintages, for example, showed quite a bit more warmth than the others. But the 20 bottles we put together were an accurate reflection of what consumers would find exploring retail outlets. Great Savenni�res offers a spectrum of unusual flavors. Our No. 1 bottle, for example, the 2007 Les Clos Sacr�s from Nicolas Joly, reminded us of beeswax, citrus and spice, with a mineral, saline quality thrown in for good measure. Combine this with the floral, honeysuckle edge that I often find in chenin blanc, and a texture that is typically and paradoxically rich, viscous and wonderfully light, and you have one complex, unconventional wine that is a long way from chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. We agreed that these wines practically demand to be served with food. They are also excellent candidates for decanting, as the air seems to help bring the flavors to life. In fact, Nicolas Joly recommends opening bottles of his wine a full 48 hours before serving, not really a practical notion, especially if you encounter a bottle in a restaurant. Joly, the most prominent Savenni�res producer, accounted for 3 of our top 10 bottles, all from the 2007 vintage. The Joly Clos de la Bergerie, our No. 3 wine, seemed less complex than the Clos Sacr�s, but shared its balance, liveliness and rich texture. The Joly Clos de la Coul�e de Serrant, our No. 8 wine, might be the most complex of the three, but we were a bit put off by the heat from the high alcohol content, 15 percent. In fact, all three Joly wines were at 15 percent, the highest in the tasting, although we could really detect excess alcohol only in the Coul�e de Serrant. I asked Virginie Joly, Nicolas.s daughter, who now makes the wines, about the high alcohol. She responded that with the warmer climate, the grapes develop a higher level of sugar before they are fully ripe, hence the higher alcohol. Frankly, I find the alcohol level a bit disquieting. While Nicolas Joly is the most prominent Savenni�res producer, and incidentally a global spokesman for the virtues of biodynamic viticulture, other excellent bottles are out there. We loved the vibrant, elegant 2006 Clos de la Marche from Domaine du Petit M�tris, a producer with which I was unfamiliar. And while prices rose as high as $93 for the .07 Coul�e de Serrant, our best value at a mere $20 was our No. 4 wine, the lovely 2007 Ch�teau d.�pir�. Each of the wines in our top 10 has something to recommend it, though we had a marked preference for the younger wines . all five of the .07 Savenni�res made our top 10. Aside from some of the older bottles in our tasting, which seemed tired, we rejected a few that seemed overwhelmed by the flavors of new oak, and a few others that seemed to have an unpleasant lactic quality. Nonetheless, Savenni�res can age beautifully. Not so long ago I enjoyed a beautiful 2002 Joly Clos Sacr�s, which still has many years ahead of it. Pascaline was impressed with the bottles we liked, but nonetheless expressed some disappointment. .They can do so much better with this terroir,. she lamented, suggesting that some of the viticulture and winemaking were not doing justice to the great potential of these wines. I was curious how Michael and Pascaline presented such distinctive wines in their restaurants. Clearly, Savenni�res is not your typical by-the-glass pour. .I almost think it.s our duty to recommend these wines,. Michael said. .They all have personality.. Well, I.m not sure recommending wine is ever a duty. But it is a pleasure. Top 10 Savenni�res Nicolas Joly Savenni�res $52 ... 1/2 Les Clos Sacr�s 15 percent 2007 Rich and round yet focused with lingering waxy, mineral, saline, citrus and spice flavors. (Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York) Domaine du Petit M�tris Savenni�res $28 ... Clos de la Marche 13.6 percent 2006 Elegant, lively and vibrant with classic aromas and flavors of honeysuckle and minerals. (Boutique Wine Collection, Philadelphia) Nicolas Joly Savenni�res $53 ... Roches-aux-Moines Clos de la Bergerie 15 percent 2007 Full-bodied yet balanced with rich texture and flavors of flowers, honey and minerals. (Domaine Select Wine Estates) BEST VALUE Ch�teau d.�pir� Savenni�res $20 ... 13.5 percent 2007 Deep and complex with beautiful floral and wax aromas. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants, Berkeley, Calif.) Domaine Laffourcade Savenni�res $26 .. 1/2 2006 12.5 percent Complex, textured and harmonious with herbal, spice and mineral flavors. (Langdon Shiverick, Cleveland) Domaine des Deux Vall�es Savenni�res $22 .. 1/2 14 percent 2007 Lovely aromas of minerals and honeysuckle; viscous texture yet light. (The Wine List, New York) Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coul�e de Serrant $93 .. 1/2 15 percent 2007 Waxy, wooly, spicy flavors; potentially profound but showing heat from alcohol. (Domaine Select Wine Estates) Jo Pithon Savenni�res $23 .. 1/2 La Croix Picot 13 percent 2005 Dry and complex with lingering fruit and mineral flavors (Elite Wines, Lorton, Va.) Damien Laureau Savenni�res $28 .. Cuv�e les Gen�ts 14 percent 2005 Quite closed down, but complex mineral and citrus aromas indicate it will blossom. (Jon-David Headrick Selections, Asheville, N.C.) Domaine du Closel Savenni�res $28 .. Clos du Papillon 14.5 percent 2005 Attractive waxy, mineral and saline flavors with a touch of heat from alcohol. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

15 years, 6 months

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