>From the LA TImes. Not sure if these are available here.
Cheers,
J
Seek out grower Champagnes for a holiday thrill
Recommended grower Champagnes
The 2004 Champagne Lebrun-Servenay “Vieilles Vignes” Brut Grand Cru, the
2009 Guy Charlemagne Champagne “Cuvée Charlemagne” Grand Cru Blanc de
Blancs Brut and the NV Serge Mathieu “Select Tête de Cuvée” Brut. (Anne
Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
By S. Irene Virbila contact the reporter
Wines Dining and Drinking
.@sirenevirbila recommends grower Champagnes to bring a little thrill to
your holiday bubbly selection
It just doesn't seem like the holidays without breaking out a bottle of
Champagne at least once. The Grande Marques — those well-known Champagne
houses such as Taittinger, Pol Roger, Moet-Chandon, Krug and more — are
always welcome. But what about showing up with something less obvious? The
bottle may not be as elegantly packaged, but what's inside can be thrilling
and revelatory. Most good wine shops have at least a few grower Champagnes,
made by the family that grows the grapes. Some of these smaller estates own
Grand Cru or other notable vineyards, and the prices for their top
Champagnes can be a relative bargain.
lRelated Wine review: 2010 M. & S. Bouchet 'Le Sylphe' Cabernet Franc
Food Wine review: 2010 M. & S. Bouchet 'Le Sylphe' Cabernet Franc
Can't find these exact bottles? Not to worry. Go with whatever grower
Champagnes your favorite wine shop has sought out for the season. Plan to
spend $45 on up.
2004 Champagne Lebrun-Servenay "Vieilles Vignes" Brut Grand Cru
Guy Charlemagne is a very consistent underrated producer, love his
wines. His NV BdB is also lovely. Great recommendations!
A Grand Cru made from 100% Chardonnay sourced from 40- to 80-year-old vines
in the Côtes des Blancs, this elegant Champagne spends nine years on the
lees. The 2004, scented with honey and hazelnuts, is crisp and fresh, and
yet wonderfully complex and creamy, with a long-lingering finish. A class
act. (About $70.)
Available at BestWinesOnline in Santa Ana, (888) 817-8880;
www.bestwinesonline.com; Wally's Wine & Spirits in West Los Angeles, (310)
475-0606, www.wallywine.com; and Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills,
(818) 222-1111 and (800) 678-9463; www.whwc.com.
2009 Guy Charlemagne Champagne "Cuvée Charlemagne" Grand Cru Blanc de
Blancs Brut
The Cuvée Charlemagne from Guy Charlemagne (love saying that name) is made
only in top vintages. The grapes for the 2009 originate from Le
Mesnil-Sur-Oger and Oger in the Côtes des Blancs. Of course, this Grand Cru
is Blanc de Blancs — all Chardonnay. With its mass of fine bubbles,
inviting scent of lemon and sun-dried fruit, and its long, silky finish,
Cuvée Charlemagne holds its own with the big boys. (About $50.)
Available at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, (949) 650-8463,
www.hitimewine.net; Wine Exchange in Orange, (800) 76WINEX, www.winex.com;
Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111,www.whwc.com.
NV Serge Mathieu "Select Tête de Cuvée" Brut
The top wine of this family-owned Champagne house, the Tête de Cuvée Brut
is 70% Chardonnay with the balance made up of Pinot Noir from the Mathieu
family's best vineyards. On the nose, it's toasted hazelnuts and a touch of
lime, with more citrus and tropical fruit in the taste. Beautifully complex
and a great Champagne for the price. (About $45.)
Available at BestWinesOnline in Santa Ana, (888) 817-8880;
www.bestwinesonline.com; Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, (949)
650-8463, www.hitimewine.net; and Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland
Hills, (818) 222-1111, www.whwc.com.
irene.virbila(a)latimes.com
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
Some of us enjoy a wee dram now and then. If you have fond memories of
Larry's Wall of Scotch at the Liq. Depot, he's relocated to Col Heights.
FYI – the annual tasting. Go early, leave early. It gets crowded. Event
is 5 until 8.
Nice Indian food – take out – across Central by the Target (?)
C,
J
http://www.ci.columbia-heights.mn.us/index.aspx?NID=332
Top Valu I
4950 Central Ave. NE
Columbia Heights, MN 55421-2942
Email
Ph: (763) 706-3819
Fax: 1-(866) 476-2140
Maps and Directions: Google / Yahoo
Open Monday - Saturday 9 AM - 10 PM
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
FYI from the NYT
People who love wine generally consume more of it at home than anywhere
else. And regardless of the quality of their glasses or the extent of their
cellars, those who most enjoy wine at home share one attribute: a
commitment to drinking it.
Many people who profess to value wine break out bottles only on special
occasions, or on weekends. But people who really love wine think of it as
an ordinary part of their meals, like salt or bread. Regular consumption is
the single most important characteristic of the confident wine lover.
The benefits of commitment far outweigh a primer on proper glassware or
schematics for pairing food and wine. Drinking wine regularly develops your
critical ability and your sense of your own taste. And it helps answer the
crucial question: Do you like wine enough to want to learn more about it?
If you do like it, the repetition of pouring a glass with a meal becomes a
pleasurable learning experience, which in turn leads to a greater sense of
confidence. That, more than anything, improves the experience of drinking
wine anywhere.
Regular wine consumption does not mean you need to drink a lot. It could be
just a glass with dinner. Or a couple could share a bottle, which, like the
90-foot baseline in baseball, is just the right proportion: Two people can
generally finish a bottle happily rather than woozily. Either way, or
anywhere in between, regular drinking renders wine ordinary in the best
sense rather than extraordinary.
Some people may shy away from regular wine drinking as self-indulgent or
hedonistic, and they would not be wrong. Good food is pleasurable, and good
wine enhances that pleasure. But wine is not the end itself. Adding wine as
an ingredient of a good meal diminishes the need to focus on it.
For regular drinkers, wine is no longer a novelty. It’s simply a supporting
player in an ensemble cast that includes food and those with whom you share
it. You want good wine, of course, but good wine does not have to be
profound, attention-grabbing or expensive.
Exciting bottles are not hard to find for $10 to $20, although most are
closer to $20 than $10. If you are sharing the bottle among several people,
it does not add up to a great deal. Still, if drinking well at home
requires commitment, part of that commitment is financial.
But the investment does not have to be great, especially with equipment.
You could drink wine out of juice glasses if you wish, though the
experience improves greatly with good stemware, which doesn’t have to be
expensive. Similarly, you can spend hundreds of dollars on meticulously
engineered corkscrews
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/dining/20pour.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&>,
but a basic waiter’s tool for about $12 will reliably open anything.
You don’t need to own a lot of wine to drink it regularly. If you have a
mixed case of wine on hand — reds, whites and a sparkler or two — you don’t
need more. Replace as needed, preferably by becoming a regular at a good
wine shop and developing a beneficial relationship with a knowledgeable
merchant.
Don’t worry that wine will be ruined if you leave it in an open bottle for
two or three days. Wine, especially young, fresh wine, is sturdier than we
imagine, and so doesn’t require special pumps, stoppers or other
knickknacks marketed as preservers. Older wines are more fragile and should
be saved for occasions when they can be consumed in one sitting.
The time may come when, having decided that you love wine and want it to be
part of your life, you begin to buy a lot of bottles.
The wine itself is the most important investment, but to care properly for
the wine, especially bottles that you want to age, you will need long-term
wine storage. If you have a house with a cool, damp cellar, you’re in luck.
Just keep your wine there in whatever sort of shelving you choose. If you
live in an apartment, it will be worth getting a wine refrigerator (or
two), or off-site storage. Inevitably, loving wine costs money. But if you
love it, the money is well spent.
Email: asimov(a)nytimes.com. And follow Eric Asimov on Twitter: @EricAsimov.
*Introducing NYT Cooking <http://cooking.nytimes.com/>, the recipe resource
of The New York Times, where you can browse, search and save more than
16,000 recipes. You can also sign up for our regular Cooking email
newsletter <http://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/cooking/>, and download the
iPad app <http://appstore.com/nytcooking>**.*
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
Cava Is Overlooked Everywhere but Catalonia
ST.-SADURNÍ d’ANOIA, Spain — If ever a grape needed a champion, it may well
be xarello. It suffers pronunciation woes (in Catalan, it’s shah-RELL-lo;
in Castilian, hah-RELL-lo; in English, zah-RELL-oh). It has spelling issues
(it’s often written xarel-lo among numerous other renderings). Most
important, it is guilty by association as a key component of cava, the
Spanish sparkling wine that most people consider at best cheap and cheerful
and at worst a headache in a glass.
Fortunately, xarello could have no more ardent and convincing a proponent
than Ton Mata, whose family owns Recaredo
<http://www.recaredo.es/#en/welcome>, founded 90 years ago by Mr. Mata’s
grandfather here in this center of Catalonian cava production in the
Penedès, about 30 miles west of Barcelona.
“Xarello is an original, wonderful, great grape,” he said as we walked
through his biodynamically farmed vineyard on a sunny afternoon in June. To
the north, Montserrat rises up in impressive crags, blocking cold winds
from chilling the vines. From the south, moist breezes from the
Mediterranean keep the vines from getting too hot.
“It’s not exuberant — it’s not an impact grape,” Mr. Mata said. “It’s deep,
subtle and transparent. Even we don’t know the limits of this grape.”
A handful of meticulous, quality-conscious cava producers like Recaredo,
Gramona, Mestres, Bohigas, Castellroig and Raventós i Blanc are determined
to explore those limits. In the process, they hope to change fixed opinions
that consign cava to the bargain bin. It may not take much more than a
bottle of Brut Nature Gran Reserva 2008, Recaredo’s basic cava, to make
that case. It’s feathery light, snappy yet elegant, lightly floral with a
welcome touch of bitterness, a delicious cava with finesse.
The Gran Reserva costs around $30, considerably more than the $6 or so for
a bottle of the mass-produced Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut. Recaredo also
makes a number of astonishingly good higher-end cavas, like the 2001 Turó
d’en Mota, made entirely from a parcel of xarello planted in 1940. The 2001
was pure, fresh, incredibly subtle and very expensive at $175 or so.
Subtlety? Finesse? Complexity? Anybody who ever lubricated an undergraduate
party with cases of cheap cava would be befuddled by the notion. Yet cava
does have a significant asset compared with other popular sparklers like
prosecco: It’s one of the few sparkling wines that is required to employ
the same traditional techniques used for Champagne, rather than
bulk-production methods. After cava producers make a still wine, they
bottle it with a sweet mixture and yeast, as in Champagne. The wine
undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle, which produces the bubbles.
A multitude of grapes are permitted in cava, including Champagne’s
chardonnay and pinot noir, but the best are made of the three traditional
grapes: xarello, macabeo (known as viura in Rioja) and parellada. Depending
on the vintage, Recaredo Brut Nature is generally 50 to 65 percent xarello,
with the remainder made up of macabeo and parellada.
“In the 1980s, we planted chardonnay and pinot noir — everybody did,” Mr.
Mata said. “Now, no. We don’t want to make something like Champagne. Here
we have the opportunity to make a sparkling wine of xarello. It’s unique.”
He said that of roughly 20,000 acres worldwide of xarello, 90 percent of it
was in the Penedès.
Cava can be made all over Spain, but 95 percent of it comes from Catalonia,
which has a historic connection to Champagne, said Xavier Gramona, whose
family has made cava since the early 20th century.
“Most cork suppliers to Champagne were Catalan,” Mr. Gramona said. After
phylloxera, a vine-killing aphid, devastated the Champagne vineyards around
the turn of the 20th century, he said, Catalonia sent still wines to
Champagne, which used them to make sparkling wines. Nonetheless,
Champagne’s worldwide reputation has done little to repay Catalan wine
producers for their help.
“People believe top sparkling wine must be Champagne, or it’s not top,” Mr.
Gramona said.
Carefully made cavas like the 2001 Turó d’en Mota can age beautifully. A
2002 III Lustros Gran Reserva from Gramona was fresh and floral, with a
lovely light fruitiness. A 1997 Mas Via Brut Gran Reserva from Mestres was
full of complex lemon, herbal and floral aromas and flavors that lingered
long after you swallowed.
To emphasize the age-worthiness of cava, Mr. Mata took me into the Recaredo
cellars, where he pulled out a bottle of 1984 Reserva Particular, the last
vintage made when Mr. Mata’s grandfather was alive. The Reserva Particular
blend is actually 60 percent macabeo (also an underrated grape, Mr. Mata
said) and 40 percent xarello. It was remarkably like an older Champagne,
yet lighter in texture, with lightly caramelized flavors of truffles,
minerals and chamomile, a beautifully expressive wine at a peak.
The best cava producers take great care in overseeing their vineyards.
Recaredo is certified biodynamic and uses only grapes from its own
vineyards. Gramona farms organically and biodynamically, and it works with
the soil scientists Claude and Lydia Bourguignon
<http://www.wineterroirs.com/2013/07/claude_lydia_bourguignon_vineyard-soil_…>,
who were integral to restoring the depleted soils of Burgundy in the 1980s.
Mestres is striving to become organic.
“Over 300 companies make cava, but maybe only 10 grow the grapes and make
the wine,” Mr. Mata said. “Producers are alienated from growers and distant
from the terroir. If more producers made cava from their own vineyards, our
prestige would grow.”
CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/dining/cava-is-overlooked-everywhere-but-…>
25COMMENTS
Not surprisingly, people drink a lot of cava in Catalonia. Good cava goes
brilliantly with the plates of jamón Ibérico and olives that seem to appear
spontaneously at any gathering, along with the ubiquitous pan con tomate, a
delicacy made of the yeasty local bread rubbed with half a tomato, doused
with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.
Most cava producers also make still wines of cava’s constituent grapes.
I’ve never had one made of parellada, which seems to play a subordinate
role to the other grapes. I’ve had mildly interesting wines made of
macabeo, which, of course, as viura is used for the great traditional white
Riojas of Lopéz de Heredia. Xarello holds the most interest. Recaredo makes
Can Credo, a beautifully textured, 100 percent xarello wine that,
unfortunately, is not imported to the United States.
Still, xarello shows best as cava, which, if made meticulously by producers
and given a chance by consumers, can be wonderful in its own right.
Email: asimov(a)nytimes.com. And follow Eric Asimov on Twitter: @EricAsimov.
A version of this article appears in print on August 13, 2014, on page D4
of the New York edition with the headline: Overlooked Everywhere but
Catalonia. Order Reprints
<https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?contentID=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ny…>
|Today's Paper <http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html>|
Subscribe
<http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp839RF.html?campaignId=4…>
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
My wonderful mother passed away suddenly. You can read her obituary here if
you like.
http://www.bensonfuneralhome.com/obituary_display.php?id=1264
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
Russ McC has been recommending the Merk. Uurz Wuuz for a while now:
Your 2014 Resolution: Drink Adventurously
By ERIC ASIMOVJAN. 6, 2014
Launch media viewer
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Here's my resolution for 2014: Drink adventurously.
Nowadays, great wines come from all directions and continents. You can easily be content drinking familiar, wonderful wines. Yet for me, the joy of wine requires the warm embrace of old friends and the thrill of recognizing new ones.
Obscure wines hold one potential advantage over their better-known counterparts: greater value. Because there is less demand for unfamiliar wines, they can offer a greater ratio of quality to price. A $20 bottle from the old reliable Mâconnais may bring you a pretty good expression of chardonnay. But that same $20 may also bring you one of the best possible expressions of vespaiolo, a white grape from the Veneto in northeastern Italy that, for now at least, has all the cachet of an old sock.
Related Coverage
It's long been my contention that the greatest values in wine can be found in the neighborhood of $20 a bottle. It's not cheap, I know. You can certainly find many drinkable wines for less than $10 a bottle, and some wines that are highly interesting for $10 to $15. But the number of fascinating bottles rises exponentially in the $15-to-$25 range.
Here, in no special order, are 20 winter wines for about $20 apiece that offer not only value but also intrigue. Not all are unknown (Côtes du Rhône, anyone?), but many pique the interest because they come from unfamiliar places, are made from unknown grapes or reflect an unusual style. They are delicious testimony to the bounty of unexplored wines.
Not all will be easy to find. I purchased these in New York City retail shops, but if you have no luck, a good wine shop ought to be able to recommend something similar, and of course the web offers tools like wine-searcher.com, which will give you a fighting chance at tracking them down.
Recent Comments Hall monitors gonna monitor.
Some of you may be moved to quibble with my choices. No chardonnay but three rieslings? Well, what of it? I happen to love both chardonnay and riesling, but on this occasion, the rieslings were singing beautifully and the chardonnays were maybe a bit flat. Riesling, of course, is not exactly an obscure grape. But riesling from Michigan? My guess is you will be hearing a lot more about Michigan rieslings in the near future.
I'm not one for strict seasonal rules regarding wines. Even in winter, I eat a fair number of dishes that call out for whites. You might even find a rosé on my table in the dead of January. Still, I do make adjustments, seeking out fuller-bodied wines among both whites and reds. Yet I believe there's always a place for delicacy. In deciding what to drink, I pay more attention to mood and food than to weather.
Graphic: 20 Winter Wines for $20
1. The Eyrie Vineyards Dundee Hills Pinot Blanc 2011
In the last few years, I've really come to appreciate pinot blanc, a grape that rarely gets its due. It makes a wine characterized more by texture than fruit flavor, and so doesn't lend itself to effusive description. I love this wine, from a pioneering Oregon producer. It's creamy yet lively, rich yet energetic. In short, delicious.
2. Destro Terre Siciliane Nausìca I.G.T. Bianco 2012
The reds from Mount Etna in Sicily get most of the attention, but the whites are fascinating. This one, from Destro, made of both carricante and catarratto, is provocatively fragrant, with an almost resinous, lemon balsam aroma. The wine blossoms as it warms in the glass, becoming pleasantly savory. It will get even better with another year of age. (Panebianco, New York)
3. Left Foot Charley Michigan Riesling Dry 2011
Michigan? As is often said, all 50 states now make wine, but Michigan is one of a handful making notable wines with excellent potential. If you can find Left Foot Charley's riesling - Michigan's best white grape - it's absolutely worth trying. It's bone dry, with an almost decadent aroma of dried flowers and stones, and is exceedingly refreshing.
4. Eva Fricke Rheingau Riesling Trocken 2012
In recent years, the Germans have moved decisively toward dry rieslings. This modest but lively trocken is an excellent example from the Rheingau, with a little more body than you might find from, say, the Mosel. It's fresh, tangy and winning, with nutlike, melon, mineral flavors. (Bonhomie Wine Imports, South Orange, N.J.)
5. Alfred Merkelbach Mosel Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett 2012
Is it wrong for a winter wine to be graceful, delicate and light-bodied? Beauty is always in season, and this lightly sweet riesling is gorgeous, harmonious, graceful and delicate. It's the balance that draws me in. Pure pleasure. (A Terry Theise Selection/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.)
6. Kabaj Goriska Brda Ravan 2010
Goriska Brda is in Slovenia, just east of the border with the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Many terrific wines come from this historic area. The bottle identifies the grape as "green sauvignon," which makes sense. Green sauvignon is supposedly a synonym for tocai friulano, but this offers the brash snap of sauvignon blanc, too. Zesty and fresh with persistent, tangy flavors. (Blue Danube Wine Company, Los Altos Hills, Calif.)
7. Brovia Dolcetto d'Alba Vignavillej 2011
In the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, dolcetto is a workhorse grape, perennially underrated in the rush to exalt Barolo and Barbaresco. Perhaps that's as it should be, but when it comes to drinking, dolcetto is what the people of Piedmont pour daily. The 2011 Vignavillej from Brovia is kind of a baritone version, with deep, dark, persistent fruit flavors and, of course, the typical pleasing bitterness. (Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York)
8. Leo Steen Dry Creek Valley Saini Farms Chenin Blanc 2012
If you can't imagine good chenin blanc coming from California, here is Exhibit A. This lively, delicious wine ought to gladden the heart of any chenin blanc lover with its aromas of lemon, minerals and herbs, and that touch of honey that marks chenin for me. It's rich but not heavy, the kind of insistent wine that I can't resist.
9. Ponce Manchuela Reto 2012
The Manchuela region of east-central Spain is little known to Americans, and grapes like the red bobal and white albillo are equally unfamiliar. But quality has greatly improved in recent years, and the wines are increasingly interesting, like this dry, penetrating albillo from Ponce, with a juicy, persistent citrus flavor, a pleasantly oily texture and a welcome touch of bitterness. (T. Edwards Wines, New York)
10. Domaine de Ferrand Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Antique Vieilles Vignes 2011
A Côtes du Rhône needs little explanation, especially when it's as soulful and satisfying as this 2011 from Domaine de Ferrand. It's made primarily of old-vine grenache, and the soft, supple, juicy red fruit simply sings. (Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, Pa.)
11. Contrà Soarda Breganze Vespaiolo 2012
Like the albillo, the white vespaiolo grape is almost completely unknown. Contrà Soarda specializes in the indigenous grapes of the Veneto. Its Breganze Vespaiolo is full-bodied and substantial, with a ripe, rich citrus flavor that cries out for oily seafood. This wine was bottled with a dose of carbon dioxide, which gave the first glass a surprising, pleasant spritziness. (Jan D'Amore Wines, Brooklyn, N.Y.)
12. Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny La Grande Vignolle 2009
The Loire Valley remains a bargain-hunter's paradise, and Saumur-Champigny is fertile ground for lovers of cabernet franc. The 2009 Grande Vignolle from Filliatreau is rich and mouth-filling, with ripe flavors of red fruit, as befitting the warm vintage. But the fruit is laced with an undercurrent of minerality that kept drawing me back for more. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
13. Bloomer Creek Vineyard Finger Lakes White Horse Red 2008
Cheval Blanc, White Horse: get it? Just as with the great St.-Émilion, White Horse is a blend of cabernet franc and merlot, and if it lacks the polish, gravitas and staying power of the classic, it's nonetheless deep, rich and structured, generous and well shaped with flavors of earthy red fruit. Great value from the terrific husband-and-wife team of Kim Engle and Debra Bermingham from the Finger Lakes.
14. Broadside Paso Robles Margarita Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Fine California cabernet sauvignon is not restricted to Napa Valley. I've had wonderful cabernets from Sonoma and the Santa Cruz Mountains, and this one from one of the cooler areas in Paso Robles. I've enjoyed Broadside's classically structured cabernet for several vintages now, and the '11 is especially good: dry, rich and slightly tannic, with snappy red fruit and an herbal tinge.
15. Mulderbosch Stellenbosch Faithful Hound 2010
This blend of five Bordeaux grapes - cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec - is a big, juicy, tannic mouthful that really develops aromatically in the glass. It's both distant and inviting in a classic Old World style, fruity yet not sweet. Roasted meats, please. (Mulderbosch, Bridgeport, Pa.)
16. Burlotto Verduno Pelaverga 2012
Beyond the most famous wines of the Piedmont are those made from more esoteric grapes like freisa, ruchè, grignolino and pelaverga, a specialty of the Verduno area. Burlotto's Verduno Pelaverga is like a fresh breeze, light, spicy and pure. Delightful and versatile, for when you need a break from the heavier reds. (Bacchanal Wine Imports, Port Chester, N.Y.)
17. À Vita Cirò Rosso Classico Superiore 2010
When was the last time you said, "Cirò from Calabria"? It's new for me, too. But because I've come to know and enjoy the Savuto wines of Calabria, the unruly toe of the Italian boot, I was excited to try a Cirò, made with the ancient gaglioppo grape. It was both surprisingly delicate and profoundly tannic (give this a few hours in a decanter), with an intriguing mealy, nutlike note. With air, it developed a pretty aroma, like pressed roses. Serve with fatty meats. (DeGrazia Imports, Winston-Salem, N.C.)
18. Joan d'Anguera Montsant Altaroses 2011
Montsant is to Priorat as Gigondas is to Châteauneuf-de-Pape, a modest but charming region that both benefits and suffers from its association with the grandeur of its neighbor. While proximity to Priorat makes for an easy sales pitch, it also tends to obscure what Montsant does best, offering delightfully amiable wines like this one from Joan d'Anguera, made entirely of garnacha, or granatxa as rendered in Catalan, gently fruity with grippy tannins and touches of anise and earth. (De Maison Selections, Chapel Hill, N.C.)
19. Domaine le Roc Fronton La Folle Noire d'Ambat 2010
What is negrette? What is Fronton? What on earth is La Folle Noire d'Ambat? To answer that last question, you must try this red, made from the inky black negrette grape grown in Fronton, in southwest France just north of Toulouse. You will find La Folle Noire d'Ambat is a ripe, succulent, exotically fruity wine that makes for delicious, easy drinking anytime. What else do you need to know? (Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles)
20. El Maestro Sierra Oloroso Jerez-Xérès-Sherry 15 años 375 milliliters
Isn't it time to climb on the sherry bandwagon? Oloroso is the sherry equivalent of red wine, as against fino's white. While this 15-year sherry offers an aroma of sweet fruit, it is dry and graceful with complex, luscious flavors of caramel and minerals. Though light and refreshing, it is 19 percent alcohol. Nonetheless, try with red meat or game. (De Maison Selections, Chapel Hill, N.C.)
A version of this article appears in print on January 8, 2014, on page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Exploring, a Bottle at a Time. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe
James Ellingson
James Ellingson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
School of Engineering at the University of St. Thomas
Mail OSS 100, 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105-1096 USA
651 962-5415 mobile 651 645-0753 James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu<mailto:James.Ellingson@StThomas.edu>
British wine writer Jamie Goode has an interesting and perceptive set of
2014 predictions on his blog this week (wineanorak.com/wineblog)
[In Minnesota terms, for "supermarkets," read "large wine stores" - which is
certainly timely with the arrival of Total Wine in our market. I thought #5
was particularly interesting.]
1. The commoditization of wine will continue apace
Supermarkets do their job well. For most people, wine is just wine, and they
want a glass of something red, white, pink, or fizzy at a good price. The
improvement in quality of cheap wine, coupled with the near monopoly on
route to market that supermarkets enjoy (bringing with it irresistible
negotiating power) means that wine is becoming a commodity. In the absence
of strong brands, and with infinite substitution in this fragmented
category, there's a huge downward pressure on price. It's great for
consumers looking for drinkable inexpensive wine, but not good for producers
playing at this end of the market, who are struggling for profitability.
2. Wine will continue to lose market share; craft beer is on the rise
2014 could be a big year for craft beer. At the more commercial end of the
market, wine is becoming expensive and quite boring; you have to spend quite
a bit now to get something really interesting. Beer used to be a boring
category, with most beers stuck in a limited flavour space: the rise of
craft beer has seen beer become more interesting, without it becoming more
expensive. You can now get some great flavour experiences from beer for
relatively little money. The same isn't true of wine, and those who make
mid-priced boring wine are the ones who will suffer loss of market share.
3. It's going to be a good year for the Balkans and the ancient wine
countries
In 2013 we have seen some interesting wines coming out of the
Balkan/'ancient wine' countries. Georgia, Turkey, Serbia, Greece, Israel,
Hungary, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Romania are all now making some
really good wines, and are starting to sell these successfully in export
markets. They have good stories to tell, interesting grape varieties and
good terroirs. As they begin to get their viticulture, winemaking and
marketing up to speed, they'll find buyers even in competitive markets such
as the UK. Wines stocked by the Wine Society, Waitrose [major British
grocer, big player in the wine market] and especially Marks & Spencer
[British department store, another big wine market player] are testimony to
this.
4. It's going to be a bad year for many wine writers
The barrier for entry into wine writing has been lowered massively over
recent years, with the dawn of the internet, blogging and social media. It's
not a bad thing: personally, I have been a beneficiary, having come to make
a living out of wine communication as an extension of a hobby website. But
it means there are increasingly more people writing about wine, most with
relatively little reach. For existing wine communicators who have failed to
adapt to the digital age, it has been very bad news indeed. And as PR
companies, generic bodies and wineries struggle to assign authority to the
massed communicators (how do they decide who is worth investing in, in terms
of samples, press trips and invitations?), a lot of people are going to lose
out. Let's just hope that the talented voices, new and old, rise to the top,
and not just the aggressive self-promoters.
5. Many will wish they'd paid more attention to their established markets
A lot of generic bodies and wine producers have been seduced by the lure of
making easier money in China. While there is little doubt that China is
going to be an incredibly important place to sell wine, in 2014 many will
wish they'd not abandoned their established markets to the degree they have
in recent years in order to chase China, which is proving to be a tricky and
uncertain market at the moment.
6. 2014 will be the year of the niche
Wine is a niche interest. And in 2014 we'll have realised that, and we'll be
fine with that. Look: lots of people drink wine, and lots of people enjoy
wine, but for the majority it is just a drink, and they don't have a special
interest in it. Those of us who write about wine need to recognize that
reading about wine is just too abstract to be of interest for most people,
no matter how accessible our writing is and no matter how engaging we are.
But there are enough people who have a special interest in wine for it to be
a niche worth bothering with. We, as communicators, just have to remember
who we are communicating with. The good news: the internet has made
connecting with those who are interested in what we have to say much easier,
and the likes of Kickstarter and the ease of electronic publications has
made it possible for authors to produce books which are too niche for
mainstream publishers to be bothered with.
7. The rise of neo-prohibition will threaten the wine industry in many
countries
Wine contains alcohol, and alcohol is the enemy in the eyes of influential
public health advisors [and Muslim governments - R.]. Many loud voices in
the medical profession are lobbying against alcohol, which is seen as an
evil in much the same way that tobacco has been targeted over recent decades
in western countries. In this debate, there is little acknowledgement of the
social and medical good achieved by modest wine consumption. Alcohol is bad
and it is increasingly being legislated against. This poses a direct threat
to wine, and expect to see this grow as a problem in 2014 as governments
lose patience with the ability of the alcohol industry to regulate itself.
In the UK, binge drinking among teenagers is rife, and becoming an epidemic.
The reaction against this is going to see wine caught in the crossfire, and
the danger to wine production and sale should not be underestimated - not
only have we legislation to fear, but also broader societal attitudes
towards drinking.
8. We'll finally see some real innovation in the wine category
Go into any supermarket and browse the wine aisle. The wall of wine is made
up largely of products packaged the same way (in tall glass bottles), which
look the same, and to the average person, taste the same. There is massive
clustering in terms of look and flavour in the wine category, and there's
little sign of real innovation aside from a few brave attempts with label
design. 2014 will be the year that finally sees some new brands with the
courage to be genuinely innovative. One of the reasons that wine has become
commoditized at the bottom end is because of the lack of strong brands; and
with commoditization comes an inevitable downward pressure on prices.
Happy New Year to all!
Russ
I hope this find you warm and wined
December 28, 2013
Words for the Dumpster
By TIMOTHY EGAN<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/timothy_egan/i…>
WITH the last tick of 2013, let's throw out the most annoying, overused and abused words of the year. A few of these terms, "twerking" or "stay classy," die a natural death when someone like John McCain starts using them - the aural equivalent of a comb-over. Others need a push.
Many of these words originated in the food world and would have been perfectly fine had they not migrated to the general population. Some came out of mid-management office talk. What these hapless clichés have in common is this: They have been so diluted by misuse that they've lost their meaning. And like bad holiday sweaters and Sarah Palin outrage, the following list is highly selective. To the Dumpster:
ARTISAN Once the legitimate term for cheese makers with alternative grooming habits and creative body art, this word has been co-opted by all the wrong people selling all the wrong products. Toilet-cleaning chemicals. Convenience store "food" with pull dates measured in decades. This is what happens when farmers' markets fail to sue for copyright infringement.
BRAND A close second to artisan, used as a verb and a noun for self-promotion. It sprang from corporate marketing, and then went viral after every 9-year-old with a Facebook page or a Twitter handle began obsessing over how to shape random life events into a monetized narrative. It's bad enough that politicians worry about their brand. But prisoners?
GLUTEN-FREE It's a public service to warn the less than 1 percent of the population who suffer from celiac disease that bakery products might contain something that could make them sick. But putting this label on things that have no connection is a cynical corporate play for clueless consumers who buy something simply because they think it's healthy. Red Bull boasts of being gluten-free. So is paint thinner.
WHATEVER Long ago, "whatever" was a cover for inexpressive ignorance - Hitler invaded Poland and then, whatever. Now this word reigns as a facile dismissive: I know it's Mother's Day, but whatever. For the fifth year in a row, "whatever" was just rated the nation's most annoying word in a survey done by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, beating out the hardy perennials "like" and "you know" and "just saying."
24/7 No longer a byword for helpful availability, 24/7 evokes bad hours, poor pay and some customer service rep in India trying to explain an HDMI cable at 3 a.m. My bank is 24/7, or so they say; after a half-hour discussion with someone from this stellar institution, the "associate" said I should Google the problem. Well, yes, because Google is 24/7 in the only way that this term makes sense: It's robotic.
END OF THE DAY A counter, seemingly, to the above dreary infinity. But think again: There is no end to the way that "end of the day" has been used to signify anything but a close of business. No doubt, the rise of 24/7 has made end of the day impossible, at least in the news and public affairs cycle. President Obama is a chronic abuser of "end of the day." Most recently, he used it to describe how his health care law would be viewed. Raises the question: What day are you talking about?
WORLD-CLASS Makes the list because Donald Trump, who is decidedly not, has almost single-handedly run it into the ground. All of his casinos, golf courses, hotels and other concentrators of showy square-footage are world class, even those that ended up in bankruptcy. He is also self-declared in that realm. "I am the evidence," he said, attacking wind turbines in Scotland that threaten his golf interests. "I am a world-class expert in tourism." He promised that his world-class private investigators in Hawaii would expose the shocking truth of President Obama's birth. A better use for them would be back in Scotland, on the Loch Ness case.
BEST PRACTICES Just below "world-class" in the category of crutch words used to enhance mundane tasks. As a rule, if you can imagine anyone in office casual using a particular term in a presentation, it's best to keep it under the fluorescent lights of a meeting room. By some peculiar osmosis, what happens in management seminars keeps infecting normal speech. I asked my neighbor what kind of tomatoes to grow this year, and she went on a long discussion of "botanical best practices." I put potatoes in the ground.
A final thought: I'm as guilty as anyone in letting these banish-worthy words get into print. This column is both artisan and gluten-free, an extension of my brand in a 24/7 environment full of world-class competitors. Whatever. At the end of the day, I'll try to use best practices and resolve to do better.
In that spirit, I renew an earlier objection to "literally." It's become the most overused of phony emphasis words, as in I went to the store, and they were out of kumquats - I mean, they were literally out of kumquats!
James Ellingson
James Ellingson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
School of Engineering at the University of St. Thomas
Mail OSS 100, 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105-1096 USA
651 962-5415 mobile 651 645-0753 James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu<mailto:James.Ellingson@StThomas.edu>
