I'm hosting a gathering at my place on Friday evening, July 7,
2006...Steak on the Egg. Bring a bottle of wine and something to share.
You can arrive any time after 6 p.m.
1373 Spencer Rd. W
St. Paul, MN 55108
Phone: 651-647-1541
Please RSVP so I can figure out how much steak to get.
Betsy
It's a good night to join us. Group will be manageable and style
is certainly approachable.
Good seats available.
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:01:06 -0500
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Merlot (gasp) at Erte (ahhh).
Greetings,
We're heading to Erte. Wine du jour is Merlot from anywhere.
Whites, sparkling, stickies, ringers always welcome.
Erte Restaurant.
329 13 Ave NE, Mpls 55413
612-623-4211
6:30 on Thursday.
Few confirmed, 6 or 8 would be my guess.
Bob
Betsy
Annette
Jim
Roger?
Janet?
Mark/Gloria?
your_name_here??
Regrets
Karen Filming it,
Nicolai ditto (sequel?)
Russ
Lori
More Regrets:
Warren and Ruth are "camping". Taking mushroom hunting to new highs!
Bill's blasting bits.
Fred is traveling the world.
Cheers,
Jim
WINE
Misunderstood Merlot Deserves Another Chance
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; F05
BEN GILIBERTI
If you've recently made up your mind that merlot is not for you, I have two recommendations: taste more merlots and check out a new Web site called Merlot Fights Back ( http://www.merlotfightsback.com ).
The site, which features detailed information on soil, climate and other factors that affect the quality of merlot, is the leading edge of an ambitious campaign undertaken by Napa Valley's Swanson Vineyards to bolster merlot's flagging popularity. In addition to the Web site, Swanson winemaker Chris Phelps has embarked on a nine-city tour touting what he refers to as merlot's "complex uniqueness." The tour features tastings of not only the merlots that Swanson produces from its 50 acres of vineyards in Napa's Oakville district, but also those of quality producers elsewhere in California and in Italy, France and South America.
"What we're trying to show is that when merlot is planted in the right soils and climate, it's one of the world's great grape varieties," Phelps said.
While conceding there are many insipid merlots, he blames not the grape but the red wine boom, which caused merlot to be planted in unsuitable places, sullying the reputation of all merlot. "I wonder if Miles [the merlot-phobic character in the 2004 movie "Sideways"] even realizes that the '61 Cheval Blanc he opened on his birthday was almost 50 percent merlot," Phelps said.
The lovely Swanson 2002 Merlot ($30) is a prime example of merlot's quality potential. Phelps's training at Chateau Petrus in Pomerol comes through in the tight focus of the fruit and the weaving in of subtle cassis and mineral notes on the finish.
Swanson stands in good company. The following merlots are highly recommended based on the combination of quality and value. Prices are approximate.
Beringer 2003 Merlot "Napa Valley" ($19; California; distributed by Washington Wholesale): This sumptuous merlot is a knockout. Vigorously fruity, with warm, ripe tannins, it has the power and concentration to embarrass most cabernet sauvignons. Match with grilled steak.
J. Lohr Estates 2002 Merlot "Los Osos" ($16; California; NDC): Deep purple in color, this merlot from the Paso Robles region of California serves up a powerful bouquet of toasty vanilla, cassis and blackberries, followed on the palate by ripe, fleshy fruit. This deserves prime lamb chops (limited supply).
Chateau Lauriol 2003 Bordeaux ($12; France; Alain Blanchon Selections: The second wine of the respected Chateau Puygueraud in the Cote de Francs region of Bordeaux, this has an intriguing nose of spice and light cedar, followed on the palate by polished flavors of berry and cassis. Much class for the price.
Domaine de Montpezat 2003 Merlot "Les Enclos" ($12; France; Kacher Selections): Offering a full quotient of rustic charm for which the wines of the southern French region of the Languedoc are justly famous, the generous red and black fruit flavors of this wine are tailor-made for grilled red meats.
Kendall-Jackson 2003 Grand Reserve Merlot ($25; California; NDC): Grand Reserve Merlot comes primarily from Kendall-Jackson's premium hillside vineyards in Sonoma. The red berry fruit is lush and layered, with a finishing sheen of vanilla from aging in new oak barrels. Medium in body, it will match well with poultry and salmon but has sufficient structure to handle red meat.
Tortoise Creek 2005 Merlot ($8 to $9; France; Henry Wine Group): Although this is from the small village of St.-Chinian in the Languedoc, it has the pure berrylike fruitiness and complexity of a young petite chateau from the St.-Emilion region of Bordeaux. Its bright fruitiness makes it a superb aperitif red. Exceptional value.
Castillo de Monjard�n 2002 Merlot Deyo ($22; Navarre, Spain; Winebow): The French-influenced Navarre region enjoys a long history with merlot. This generously oaked wine offers layered fruit with a fresh bouquet of vanilla, bing cherries and cassis.
Domaine de St. Antoine 2004 Merlot ($10; France; Robert Kacher Selections): This youthful wine from the Costieres de Nimes region of southern France offers exuberant fruit, moderate tannins and notes of Provencal herbs in a pleasing, drink-now style.
American Winetasters Society 2003 Merlot "Stags Leap District" ($16; Napa; Wine Partners): This is blended from the overproduction of several respected wineries in the prestigious Stags Leap district of Napa, and displays a violet scented bouquet, followed by silky fruit on the palate. Light to medium-bodied, it matches best with veal, duck or roast chicken.
Ben Giliberti, The Post's wine critic since 1987, can be reached atfood(a)washpost.com.
� 2006 The Washington Post Company
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2006 17:50:48 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Southern Hemisphere Cabs at Erte
Greetings,
We're heading to Erte. Wine du jour is Merlot from anywhere.
Whites, sparkling, stickies, ringers always welcome.
Erte Restaurant.
329 13 Ave NE, Mpls 55413
612-623-4211
6:30 on Thursday.
Few confirmed, 8 or 10 would be my guess.
Bob
Betsy
Lori
Annette
Janet
Karen
Nicolai
Jim
Russ?
Roger?
Mark/Gloria
your_name_here??
Regrets:
Warren and Ruth are "camping" with the birds and the bees..... bzzzzzz
Bill's blasting bits.
Fred is traveling the world.
Cheers,
Jim
WINE
Misunderstood Merlot Deserves Another Chance
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; F05
BEN GILIBERTI
If you've recently made up your mind that merlot is not for you, I have two recommendations: taste more merlots and check out a new Web site called Merlot Fights Back ( http://www.merlotfightsback.com ).
The site, which features detailed information on soil, climate and other factors that affect the quality of merlot, is the leading edge of an ambitious campaign undertaken by Napa Valley's Swanson Vineyards to bolster merlot's flagging popularity. In addition to the Web site, Swanson winemaker Chris Phelps has embarked on a nine-city tour touting what he refers to as merlot's "complex uniqueness." The tour features tastings of not only the merlots that Swanson produces from its 50 acres of vineyards in Napa's Oakville district, but also those of quality producers elsewhere in California and in Italy, France and South America.
"What we're trying to show is that when merlot is planted in the right soils and climate, it's one of the world's great grape varieties," Phelps said.
While conceding there are many insipid merlots, he blames not the grape but the red wine boom, which caused merlot to be planted in unsuitable places, sullying the reputation of all merlot. "I wonder if Miles [the merlot-phobic character in the 2004 movie "Sideways"] even realizes that the '61 Cheval Blanc he opened on his birthday was almost 50 percent merlot," Phelps said.
The lovely Swanson 2002 Merlot ($30) is a prime example of merlot's quality potential. Phelps's training at Chateau Petrus in Pomerol comes through in the tight focus of the fruit and the weaving in of subtle cassis and mineral notes on the finish.
Swanson stands in good company. The following merlots are highly recommended based on the combination of quality and value. Prices are approximate.
Beringer 2003 Merlot "Napa Valley" ($19; California; distributed by Washington Wholesale): This sumptuous merlot is a knockout. Vigorously fruity, with warm, ripe tannins, it has the power and concentration to embarrass most cabernet sauvignons. Match with grilled steak.
J. Lohr Estates 2002 Merlot "Los Osos" ($16; California; NDC): Deep purple in color, this merlot from the Paso Robles region of California serves up a powerful bouquet of toasty vanilla, cassis and blackberries, followed on the palate by ripe, fleshy fruit. This deserves prime lamb chops (limited supply).
Chateau Lauriol 2003 Bordeaux ($12; France; Alain Blanchon Selections: The second wine of the respected Chateau Puygueraud in the Cote de Francs region of Bordeaux, this has an intriguing nose of spice and light cedar, followed on the palate by polished flavors of berry and cassis. Much class for the price.
Domaine de Montpezat 2003 Merlot "Les Enclos" ($12; France; Kacher Selections): Offering a full quotient of rustic charm for which the wines of the southern French region of the Languedoc are justly famous, the generous red and black fruit flavors of this wine are tailor-made for grilled red meats.
Kendall-Jackson 2003 Grand Reserve Merlot ($25; California; NDC): Grand Reserve Merlot comes primarily from Kendall-Jackson's premium hillside vineyards in Sonoma. The red berry fruit is lush and layered, with a finishing sheen of vanilla from aging in new oak barrels. Medium in body, it will match well with poultry and salmon but has sufficient structure to handle red meat.
Tortoise Creek 2005 Merlot ($8 to $9; France; Henry Wine Group): Although this is from the small village of St.-Chinian in the Languedoc, it has the pure berrylike fruitiness and complexity of a young petite chateau from the St.-Emilion region of Bordeaux. Its bright fruitiness makes it a superb aperitif red. Exceptional value.
Castillo de Monjard�n 2002 Merlot Deyo ($22; Navarre, Spain; Winebow): The French-influenced Navarre region enjoys a long history with merlot. This generously oaked wine offers layered fruit with a fresh bouquet of vanilla, bing cherries and cassis.
Domaine de St. Antoine 2004 Merlot ($10; France; Robert Kacher Selections): This youthful wine from the Costieres de Nimes region of southern France offers exuberant fruit, moderate tannins and notes of Provencal herbs in a pleasing, drink-now style.
American Winetasters Society 2003 Merlot "Stags Leap District" ($16; Napa; Wine Partners): This is blended from the overproduction of several respected wineries in the prestigious Stags Leap district of Napa, and displays a violet scented bouquet, followed by silky fruit on the palate. Light to medium-bodied, it matches best with veal, duck or roast chicken.
Ben Giliberti, The Post's wine critic since 1987, can be reached atfood(a)washpost.com.
� 2006 The Washington Post Company
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Bob did get reservations at Erte.
Betsy
>>> "Betsy Kremser" <Betsy.Kremser(a)co.anoka.mn.us> 06/20/06 4:13 PM >>>
The owner of the Porter House is on vacation and Mark doesn't think the
manager will let us in without the owner's approval. So, I'll let Bob
know we're back to the fall-back position...Erte...this week. Mark said
he would continue his efforts in getting us into the Porter House.
Betsy
>>> "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> 06/20/2006 11:16 AM >>>
Greeting,
Anyone know where we're going this week? Last I knew is was
Merlot somewhere, but I don't think the where had been determined.
(Erte was an option, but we were going to try someplace new.)
Cheers,
Jim
The owner of the Porter House is on vacation and Mark doesn't think the
manager will let us in without the owner's approval. So, I'll let Bob
know we're back to the fall-back position...Erte...this week. Mark said
he would continue his efforts in getting us into the Porter House.
Betsy
>>> "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> 06/20/2006 11:16 AM >>>
Greeting,
Anyone know where we're going this week? Last I knew is was
Merlot somewhere, but I don't think the where had been determined.
(Erte was an option, but we were going to try someplace new.)
Cheers,
Jim
As I mentioned last night, Mark S. is trying to get us into the Porter
House off of 35E and Little Canada Rd. Hope to know later today whether
we can go there.
Betsy
>>> "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> 06/20/2006 11:16 AM >>>
Greeting,
Anyone know where we're going this week? Last I knew is was
Merlot somewhere, but I don't think the where had been determined.
(Erte was an option, but we were going to try someplace new.)
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor
<wine(a)wineloverspage.com> -----
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 10:25:24 -0400 (EDT)
To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu
Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: More Merlot
From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com>
THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Friday, June 9, 2006
________________________________________________________________________
TODAY'S SPONSOR
* WINEBUYS.COM Irresistible Deals On Our Latest Arrivals! Enter
FIRSTFREE at checkout for free FedEx on your first order!
http://www.winebuys.com?qts=winelovers
________________________________________________________________________
IN THIS ISSUE
* MORE MERLOT Continuing our inquiry into whether the bad rap on
Merlot
is justified.
* MACROSTIE 2002 "KELTIE BROOK" NORTH COAST MERLOT ($14) Well-made,
nothing complex, but balance and acidity make it a table wine than
your
average Merlot.
* WINEBUYS.COM Irresistible Deals On Our Latest Arrivals! Enter
FIRSTFREE at checkout for free FedEx on your first order!
* ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or
unsubscribe.
________________________________________________________________________
MORE MERLOT
Continuing the discussion I started on Monday about our Wine Tasting
101
topic on Merlot this month, I realize that the memorable insult in
Sideways had such an impact that I almost feel a need to apologize
when
I post a Merlot tasting report.
Almost, but not quite.
After all, a big part of being an open-minded wine enthusiast is to
question the conventional wisdom and, when confronted with a wine rule
or custom, check it out. While some wine rules ("don't sip good wine
from a coffee mug") make more sense than others ("don't drink red wine
with fish"), experience remains the best teacher. An appropriate
skepticism about the things you're told can pay dividends ... in wine
as
in life.
So, putting the character Miles's snarky comment about Merlot out of
my
head, I opened a relatively modest California Merlot the other night,
basing my choice on a trustworthy wine merchant's advice ... and
enjoyed
a pleasant surprise. The 2002 "Keltie Brook" Merlot from California's
North Coast (a catch-all appellation for fruit from Napa, Sonoma,
Mendocino and Lake counties) might not qualify as a sought-after
"cult"
item, but this second label from the MacRostie winery in Napa, made
from
purchased fruit, boasts balance and a good acidic structure that lifts
it well above the soft, plushy "chocolate-covered-cherry" character
that
makes mass-market Merlot popular with everyone but wine geeks.
________________________________________________________________________
MACROSTIE 2002 "KELTIE BROOK" NORTH COAST MERLOT ($14)
Dark blackish-purple, garnet edge. Plums and cherries, pleasant fresh
fruit on the nose and palate, nicely balanced by snappy acidity. Well-
made, nothing complex, but balance and acidity make it a much better
table wine than your average Merlot. (June 7, 2006)
FOOD MATCH: Just about any pork, veal or poultry dish would do; it was
fine with pork country-style spareribs scented with fennel seed in a
pilaf-style dish with orzo.
VALUE: Not at all unreasonable at $14, which was a dollar below the
winery price.
WHEN TO DRINK: Not really meant for aging, but it's not going anywhere
in a year or two on the wine rack.
WEB LINK:
The winery Website features information on all the MacRostie wines
including the Keltie Brook line, and offers online sales where the law
permits.
http://www.macrostiewinery.com/
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Compare prices and locate vendors for Keltie Brook Merlot on Wine-
Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Keltie%2bMerlot/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=…
________________________________________________________________________
TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE:
To read and comment on today's column in our non-commercial WineLovers
Discussion Group, you can click directly to it at
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?p=10599#10599
To browse and participate in the overall Merlot discussions in Wine
Tasting 101, start with this forum topic, and feel free to post a
reply
at any point in the "thread."
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=1484
Today's article is cross-posted in our Netscape WineLovers Community,
where we also welcome comments and questions.
http://community.netscape.com/winelovers?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=4515
To contact me by E-mail, write wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond
personally to the extent that time and volume permit.
________________________________________________________________________
PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE
Here's a simply formatted copy of today's Wine Advisor, designed to be
printed out for your scrapbook or file or downloaded to your PDA or
other wireless device.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/print060609.html
________________________________________________________________________
WINEBUYS.COM: IRRESISTIBLE DEALS ON OUR LATEST ARRIVALS
Your 1st order SHIPS FedEx for FREE!
Enter coupon code FIRSTFREE at checkout
Save 23%!
AUGUST KESSELER 2003 RIESLING QBA RHIENGAU
A delicious white that successfully combines richness and steeliness
as
well as in wines twice the price.
Retail $13
WinebuysPrice $9.99
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/prod/WW-KESSRQ-03%26qts=winelovers
Save 28%!
LOUIS JADOT 2000 DOMAINE DU MONNET BROUILLY CRU BEAUJOLAIS
With a slight chill, this juicy Cru Beaujolais is the ultimate summer
red!
Retail $18
Winebuys Price $12.99
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/prod/RW-JADOMB-00%26qts=winelovers
Save 20%!
GLAETZER 2004 WALLACE SHIRAZ/GRENACHE
Ripe, juicy, and peppery old-vine Shiraz together with a third
Grenache
from 90-year-old vines.
Retail $20
Winebuys price $15.99
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/prod/RW-GLAWCS-04%26qts=winelovers
SHOP TOP SUMMER PICKS
http://www.winebuys.com/shop/merchant.mvc?qts=winelovers
BROWSE WINE UNDER $15
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/ctgy/wines-under-15%26qts=winelovers
SHOP NEW ARRIVALS
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/ctgy/new-wines%26qts=winelovers
* All wines always up to 50% off
* 100% Love-It-Or-Your-Money-Back-Guarantee
* Everyday $9.95 FedEx flat rate - any size order
________________________________________________________________________
SUBSCRIBE:
* WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/rss/
* 30 Second Wine Advisor, daily or weekly (free)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/index.shtml
* Wine Advisor FoodLetter, Thursdays (free)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/foodletter.shtml
* Wine Advisor Premium Edition, alternate Tuesdays ($24/year)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/premium.phtml
ARCHIVES:
For all past editions:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml
CONTACT US
E-mail: wine(a)wineloverspage.com
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com
________________________________________________________________________
ADMINISTRIVIA
To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change
your E-mail address, switch from weekly to daily distribution, or for
any other administrative matters, click
to
http://www.wineloverspage.com/admin.php?id=20970&cs=7d1109b668af1f87d36d12e…
We welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. We do
not use this list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your
name or E-mail to anyone.
All the wine-tasting reports posted here are
consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts
of interest,
I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and
accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Friday, June 9, 2006
Copyright 2006 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greeting,
Anyone know where we're going this week? Last I knew is was
Merlot somewhere, but I don't think the where had been determined.
(Erte was an option, but we were going to try someplace new.)
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> -----
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 10:25:24 -0400 (EDT)
To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu
Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: More Merlot
From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com>
THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Friday, June 9, 2006
________________________________________________________________________
TODAY'S SPONSOR
* WINEBUYS.COM Irresistible Deals On Our Latest Arrivals! Enter
FIRSTFREE at checkout for free FedEx on your first order!
http://www.winebuys.com?qts=winelovers
________________________________________________________________________
IN THIS ISSUE
* MORE MERLOT Continuing our inquiry into whether the bad rap on Merlot
is justified.
* MACROSTIE 2002 "KELTIE BROOK" NORTH COAST MERLOT ($14) Well-made,
nothing complex, but balance and acidity make it a table wine than your
average Merlot.
* WINEBUYS.COM Irresistible Deals On Our Latest Arrivals! Enter
FIRSTFREE at checkout for free FedEx on your first order!
* ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe.
________________________________________________________________________
MORE MERLOT
Continuing the discussion I started on Monday about our Wine Tasting 101
topic on Merlot this month, I realize that the memorable insult in
Sideways had such an impact that I almost feel a need to apologize when
I post a Merlot tasting report.
Almost, but not quite.
After all, a big part of being an open-minded wine enthusiast is to
question the conventional wisdom and, when confronted with a wine rule
or custom, check it out. While some wine rules ("don't sip good wine
from a coffee mug") make more sense than others ("don't drink red wine
with fish"), experience remains the best teacher. An appropriate
skepticism about the things you're told can pay dividends ... in wine as
in life.
So, putting the character Miles's snarky comment about Merlot out of my
head, I opened a relatively modest California Merlot the other night,
basing my choice on a trustworthy wine merchant's advice ... and enjoyed
a pleasant surprise. The 2002 "Keltie Brook" Merlot from California's
North Coast (a catch-all appellation for fruit from Napa, Sonoma,
Mendocino and Lake counties) might not qualify as a sought-after "cult"
item, but this second label from the MacRostie winery in Napa, made from
purchased fruit, boasts balance and a good acidic structure that lifts
it well above the soft, plushy "chocolate-covered-cherry" character that
makes mass-market Merlot popular with everyone but wine geeks.
________________________________________________________________________
MACROSTIE 2002 "KELTIE BROOK" NORTH COAST MERLOT ($14)
Dark blackish-purple, garnet edge. Plums and cherries, pleasant fresh
fruit on the nose and palate, nicely balanced by snappy acidity. Well-
made, nothing complex, but balance and acidity make it a much better
table wine than your average Merlot. (June 7, 2006)
FOOD MATCH: Just about any pork, veal or poultry dish would do; it was
fine with pork country-style spareribs scented with fennel seed in a
pilaf-style dish with orzo.
VALUE: Not at all unreasonable at $14, which was a dollar below the
winery price.
WHEN TO DRINK: Not really meant for aging, but it's not going anywhere
in a year or two on the wine rack.
WEB LINK:
The winery Website features information on all the MacRostie wines
including the Keltie Brook line, and offers online sales where the law
permits.
http://www.macrostiewinery.com/
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Compare prices and locate vendors for Keltie Brook Merlot on Wine-
Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Keltie%2bMerlot/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=…
________________________________________________________________________
TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE:
To read and comment on today's column in our non-commercial WineLovers
Discussion Group, you can click directly to it at
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?p=10599#10599
To browse and participate in the overall Merlot discussions in Wine
Tasting 101, start with this forum topic, and feel free to post a reply
at any point in the "thread."
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=1484
Today's article is cross-posted in our Netscape WineLovers Community,
where we also welcome comments and questions.
http://community.netscape.com/winelovers?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=4515
To contact me by E-mail, write wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond
personally to the extent that time and volume permit.
________________________________________________________________________
PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE
Here's a simply formatted copy of today's Wine Advisor, designed to be
printed out for your scrapbook or file or downloaded to your PDA or
other wireless device.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/print060609.html
________________________________________________________________________
WINEBUYS.COM: IRRESISTIBLE DEALS ON OUR LATEST ARRIVALS
Your 1st order SHIPS FedEx for FREE!
Enter coupon code FIRSTFREE at checkout
Save 23%!
AUGUST KESSELER 2003 RIESLING QBA RHIENGAU
A delicious white that successfully combines richness and steeliness as
well as in wines twice the price.
Retail $13
WinebuysPrice $9.99
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/prod/WW-KESSRQ-03%26qts=winelovers
Save 28%!
LOUIS JADOT 2000 DOMAINE DU MONNET BROUILLY CRU BEAUJOLAIS
With a slight chill, this juicy Cru Beaujolais is the ultimate summer
red!
Retail $18
Winebuys Price $12.99
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/prod/RW-JADOMB-00%26qts=winelovers
Save 20%!
GLAETZER 2004 WALLACE SHIRAZ/GRENACHE
Ripe, juicy, and peppery old-vine Shiraz together with a third Grenache
from 90-year-old vines.
Retail $20
Winebuys price $15.99
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/prod/RW-GLAWCS-04%26qts=winelovers
SHOP TOP SUMMER PICKS
http://www.winebuys.com/shop/merchant.mvc?qts=winelovers
BROWSE WINE UNDER $15
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/ctgy/wines-under-15%26qts=winelovers
SHOP NEW ARRIVALS
http://www.winebuys.com/page/buy-wine/ctgy/new-wines%26qts=winelovers
* All wines always up to 50% off
* 100% Love-It-Or-Your-Money-Back-Guarantee
* Everyday $9.95 FedEx flat rate - any size order
________________________________________________________________________
SUBSCRIBE:
* WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/rss/
* 30 Second Wine Advisor, daily or weekly (free)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/index.shtml
* Wine Advisor FoodLetter, Thursdays (free)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/foodletter.shtml
* Wine Advisor Premium Edition, alternate Tuesdays ($24/year)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/premium.phtml
ARCHIVES:
For all past editions:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml
CONTACT US
E-mail: wine(a)wineloverspage.com
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com
________________________________________________________________________
ADMINISTRIVIA
To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, switch from weekly to daily distribution, or for any other administrative matters, click
to http://www.wineloverspage.com/admin.php?id=20970&cs=7d1109b668af1f87d36d12e…
We welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. We do not use this list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail to anyone.
All the wine-tasting reports posted here are
consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest,
I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Friday, June 9, 2006
Copyright 2006 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
> on 6/12/06 5:46 PM, Jim L. Ellingson at jellings(a)me.umn.edu wrote:
>
> > Greetings,
> >
> > We're doing "Tuscany" at Arezzo.
Bob has made the reservation for 10.
> > This is probably a hard limit as we're at the round tables.
> > (vines of the round table?)
> >
> > Bob has negotiated a $5 per person charge in
> > leu of corkage. Menu is on line. Wine list is not on line....
> >
> > Prices are reasonable, w/ $10-12 pizza and most entrees (Primi) under $20.
> >
> >> Who confirmed
> >
> > Bob
Betsy
> > Warren and Ruth
> > Dave T
> > Jim and Louise
Russ (may be a bit late)
Annette S.
Bill
> >
> >
> > Arezzo Ristorante
> > 612 285-7444
> > 5057 France Ave S, Minneapolis, 55410
> > www.arezzo-ristorante.com
> >
> >
> Jim,
>
> Ruth and I will be there on Thursday... why was I not assigned to a
> team?
>
> Warren, a team of one.
>
Which wines will stand the test of time?
- W. Blake Gray, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Click to ViewClick to ViewClick to View
Just as Americans often marry the wrong person (judging by the divorce rate), we often choose to cellar the wrong wine.
One of the most common wines for people to age for many years is Champagne. Couples get a bottle as a wedding present and save it for their silver anniversary, or some other special occasion that may never arrive.
Ironically, while older Champagne has fans, it may be the ageworthy wine that novices are least likely to appreciate.
As Champagne ages, its effervescence dissipates, the crispness disappears, and if all goes well, it becomes a rich, mellow, almost-still wine that bears little resemblance to the frisky bubbly served at a wedding reception. Maybe there's a message in that.
"Some Champagnes are not meant to be aged," says Stephane Lacroix, wine director and sommelier for the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. "People get a nonvintage Champagne for a wedding present, and they say, 'Let's try it in 10 years.' They won't like it."
Another common mistake is stockpiling wines from grapes harvested in a year of personal importance -- the year you were married, or your first child was born -- regardless of whether that vintage or varietal is ageworthy.
"People get very emotional about old vintages," Lacroix says. "There's more of an emotional connection to the bottle than to the taste of the wine itself."
So which wines should you age?
With the caveat that you must have the proper storage (see "How should wine by stored," Page F5), and that there are no hard-and-fast rules, here are a few guidelines.
Wines worth aging
Fortified wines, like Port and Madeira. These are the most ageworthy of wines. If you really want to lay aside wine for your silver anniversary, these are your best bets.
The reason is the higher alcohol and sugar levels of these wines. Both alcohol and sugar act as antioxidants, slowing down the natural deterioration of wine over time.
Fortified wines that predate the United States are drinking well now.
"The oldest wine I had was a Madeira from 1745 and that was still brilliant," says Larry Stone, a master sommelier and general manager of Rubicon Estate in Rutherford. "Madeira just might keep getting better with age."
Stone says some dessert wines, particularly those with good acidity and higher alcohol, will also age for decades.
Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines, from California, Bordeaux and elsewhere. Cabernet Sauvignon is the focus of many oenophiles and the auction market for a reason: With the possible exception of Barolo, well-balanced Cabernets are the only non-sweet wines likely to be better in 15 years than they are upon release.
Great Cabernets can last far longer than that. At the Paris tasting re-enactment last month, wine professionals on both sides of the Atlantic raved about the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon, which finished first overall.
And at a private tasting in San Francisco last month of pre-1980 California wines, one of the stars was a 1953 Martin Ray Winery California Cabernet Sauvignon, which was like a delicious blackberry pie in which one could taste the individual berries.
But just because the label says Cabernet Sauvignon, or Bordeaux, doesn't mean the wine's drinking window will extend until the polar ice caps melt and San Francisco goes underwater.
"Ninety percent of the wines from Bordeaux won't age more than 10 years, with improvement," Stone says. "Some vintages drink better young."
So how can you tell if a Cab will improve in your cellar? Will it develop alluring secondary characteristics like notes of violet or mint? Will its tannins soften until they caress your tongue like a silk-draped courtesan? Or will it simply die in the bottle, losing its fruit and tasting like little more than dust?
The first rule, as with all wines, is to know the producer. Some make their wines to age; others do not.
Stone cautions that tasters have to be trained to recognize the characteristics that allow a wine to age well. Tannins -- chemical compounds found in red wine that make it taste "dry" -- are important, because they protect the wine from deterioration. But it's not enough to recognize that a wine is very tannic -- it also has to have balance.
"Structure, acidity and concentration," Lacroix says. "When you taste this wine, it has tannic structure. It has nice acidity and very concentrated fruit."
For all wines you plan to cellar, not just Cabernets, sommeliers recommend buying a 12-bottle case and tasting one wine every six months to a year, so you can appreciate its development -- and avoid discovering, too late, that the wine is past its peak.
Italian reds. Nebbiolo-based reds from Barolo and Barbaresco are among the world's most ageworthy wines, gaining fragrant, floral aromas over time. However, because they are changing in nature, the longevity of current releases is unpredictable.
Giancarlo Paterlini, co-owner and wine buyer for Acquerello restaurant in San Francisco, recently held a series of tastings of Barolos from the 1950s, '60s and '70s and discovered to his surprise that the wines from the '50s were best. The reason is that winemaking was more primitive, Paterlini says, and the wines were released with ferocious tannins.
"Back then, wines in Italy were made by farmers," Paterlini says. "Also, Italy was very poor in those days. People did not invest in barrels and equipment. In those days, wine was made in a fashion that for the first 10 years, you could not drink it."
Paterlini says of today's wines, Amarone has as much longevity as Barolo, as does a good Brunello di Montalcino. Super Tuscan blends with high percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon may also age well.
Riesling, particularly from Germany. Most white wines don't improve much with age, in part because they are so low in tannins. German Riesling -- high in acidity and sugar -- is the big exception.
"Rieslings are virtually immortal," says Mark Squires, a wine educator and consultant who runs the bulletin board at wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr.'s Web site, erobertparker.com. "They age as well as the best red wines. Riesling (fans) talk the same way Bordeaux people talk."
Note that wines from particularly ripe grapes, such as Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, are higher in sugar and alcohol than most Rieslings -- giving them the same antioxidant protection as Ports and Madeiras.
Age with caution
Pinot Noir. Everything about Pinot is unpredictable, and aging is no exception.
Generally, the recommended drinking window for Pinot Noir is not as long as for Cabernet Sauvignon. Most Pinots are best within 10 years of harvest, while many Cabernets are just starting to open up at that point. But some legendary Burgundies -- which are made of Pinot Noir -- age as well as the finest Cabs.
Many sommeliers caution Pinot fans not to age their wines too long, because, as Stone says, "Most Pinot is delicious young. I think most Pinot is meant to be enjoyed within the first five years," particularly the newer, more fruit-forward styles from California.
Because that view is widely held, Pinot-philes like Jamie Kutch can find tremendous values in older wines compared with Cabernets, which can stay high-priced for decades.
Kutch, 32, became so entranced by the taste of older Pinot Noirs that he quit his job on Wall Street to move to San Francisco to make wine -- he hopes his Pinots will be ageworthy. He says he has tasted about 200 Pinots aged 10 years or more and has tasting notes on all of them.
At his apartment, he opened two bottles from the Summer of Love: a 1967 Louis M. Martini Mountain Pinot Noir and a 1967 Inglenook Estate Bottled Napa Valley Pinot Noir that he acquired for just $15 each. He bought them from a store in Chicago that had good storage and had been unable to sell them since their release.
Here's one of the odd things about old wines: the Martini was clearly the better of the two when the bottles were tasted by themselves: It still had bright cherry fruit along with a soft leather character. The Inglenook had no fresh-fruit flavors, only orange peel, earth, raisins and spice. But with roast duck, bought whole in Chinatown, the Inglenook was better.
"Do you want to eat a piece of duck and then put a grape in your mouth?" Kutch asked. "Or would you prefer to eat a piece of duck and have notes of earth, leather and orange peel?"
That's the reason some sommeliers recommend older wines -- because they're less tannic and their flavors more subdued, they won't overpower a dish. In fact, the opposite is the worry.
Lacroix says, "Older wines are more delicate and elegant. You don't want to have them with any sauce that is overly sweet or powerful. Not too much seasoning, or salt, or powerful flavors. If you really want to enjoy the bottle of wine that you've stored for so long, you should plan the menu around it."
Chardonnay. Whether or not your Chardonnays are worthy of aging depends completely on the style of wine you like. If you like it rich and buttery, drink now.
Rajat Parr, wine director at Michael Mina restaurant in San Francisco, says that many Northern California Chardonnays are "low-acid wines that will fall apart after a couple years."
But if you like a Burgundy-style Chardonnay, with vibrant acidity and interesting minerality -- rather than tropical fruit flavors -- try putting some aside for five to 10 years to see how the secondary flavors develop.
"I used to age Chardonnay and white Burgundy," Stone says. "I have been disappointed by both. There are great ageable white Burgundies, but you have to know the producer and even then you might be disappointed."
Shiraz/Syrah. Some Syrah-based wines from the Rhone Valley region of France -- most famously from Hermitage -- are considered very long-lived. But for lesser wines, their ageworthy reputation may have as much to do with their rustic tannin levels as anything else.
"Most Rhone wines I would drink within 10 years," Stone says bluntly. "They really will not improve beyond that."
As for Australian Shiraz (what the grape is called Down Under), with the notable exception of Penfolds Grange, very few were made to high-quality standards 20 years ago, so there isn't much of a track record. Keep in mind these wines are popular because they're so approachable now.
Sparkling wine. Assuming you prefer your bubbly mellow and rich, rather than crisp and refreshing, be advised that the best aged sparkling wines are not those that have been sitting in a collector's cellar.
Instead, they have been undergoing long, slow secondary fermentation -- which creates the fizz -- at the winery until they are released as "late disgorged" wines many years after harvest. These are more expensive because the winery has done the maturing for you. You'll have much better luck with a recently released late-disgorged wine than a much older, ordinary vintage wine.
Even then, aged wine fans "can get crazy about it," Squires says. "You get people who want Champagne to have no bubbles. They want it to not taste like Champagne anymore. Why not just buy something else?"
Merlot. The great Merlot-based wines of Pomerol in France certainly can age, as can some Merlots made from mountain fruit in Napa Valley.
But this ignores the principle pleasure of Merlot -- it's more approachable, earlier, than Cabernet Sauvignon.
"One of the great things about a great bottle of Merlot is you don't ever feel like you're robbing the cradle," Scott Tracy, sommelier at La Toque restaurant in Rutherford, said last year. "You're not punished for waiting five years, and you're not punished for drinking it now."
If your cellar space is limited; why devote space to a wine you can enjoy today? Ignore Myles from "Sideways" and drink Merlot, but don't stockpile it for your dotage.
Zinfandel. Enologist Andre Tchelistcheff, one of the men most responsible for bringing post-Prohibition California winemaking into the modern era, is credited with the observation that old Zinfandel eventually begins to taste like old Cabernet Sauvignon.
This is a mixed blessing. Old Cabernet Sauvignon can be wonderful. But it doesn't have Zinfandel's uniquely spicy, brambly character.
"I personally don't think Zinfandel is a very good ager," Squires says. "Even when you're dealing with the very best wines, like Ridge Lytton Springs, it doesn't taste like Zinfandel. It tastes like somewhat odd Bordeaux."
If you want to appreciate the Zin-ness of Zinfandel, drink it within about five years of harvest.
Wines to drink now
Sauvignon Blanc. Not one sommelier or wine expert interviewed for this article would say they had ever had a good aged Sauvignon Blanc. It's odd, because Sauvignon Blanc is a genetic parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, the most ageworthy of non-fortified wines. But still, this is a fresh wine to drink now.
Pinot Grigio. Because Americans' affection for Pinot Grigio is recent, we may be tempted to throw a bottle in the cellar for five years. Save yourself the trouble -- others have tried.
"Pinot Grigio doesn't seem to age very well," says Lee Miyamura, a winemaker for Meridian Vineyards in Paso Robles. At least she answered the question; some others just laughed.
Anything that costs $15 or less upon release. Lower-priced wines, worldwide, are made to drink now. Winemakers don't want to say their wines aren't ageworthy, but putting a $12 wine in your cellar for 10 years is ignoring its reason for existence.
"We want consumers, when they're at a supermarket, to pick up a bottle of our wine and enjoy it that night," Miyamura says. "We're trying to present a fruity, easily approachable wine."
If a cheap wine tastes too tannic to drink, it's not that it needs time -- it's simply poorly made.
In the past, "to say a wine was ageable, that was the answer to everything," Stone says. "It explained why a wine doesn't taste good today."
If an inexpensive wine doesn't have good fruit flavors now, it's not going to acquire them in your closet. Drink something else and chalk it up to experience.
Ros�. Squires says he recently attended a tasting of a prominent French ros� producer where he was served a 5-year-old wine that the producer proudly pointed out still had some fruit flavors.
"He proved the wine could hold," Squires says. "But have you gained anything?"
Ros� is the quintessential drink-now wine. And there's nothing whatsoever wrong with that.
E-mail W. Blake Gray at wbgray(a)sfchronicle.com.
Page F - 6
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/15/WIGBHJDEBA1.DTL
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wine7jun07,1,1421168.story?coll=…
>From the Los Angeles Times
Poof! You're now a rich and silky wine
A novel device claims to smooth out the rough edges of a young pour. But critics ask, is that really a good thing?
By Patrick Comiskey
Special to The Times
June 7, 2006
WISH your Two Buck Chuck were just a little smoother? Now, as crazy as it sounds, there's a simple pour-spout gizmo that claims to take the edge off cheap wine . with magnets. The gadget, available in wine shops and online for about $30, is making waves . and raising some eyebrows . in the wine world.
When you place the BevWizard, as inventor Patrick Farrell has named it, on the business end of a wine bottle and pour through it, the wine becomes rounder, softer and less tannic, as if by some miracle someone has taken a power sander and smoothed out the rough edges of the wine. In certain wines, the effect can be dramatic.
But while nearly everyone can detect a difference using the BevWizard, not everyone falls sway to its magic.
Sommeliers and other wine purists look upon this sort of manipulation with suspicion. But retailers think it just might get people afraid of robust tannins to be a little more adventurous when buying.
Farrell, a physician who lives in Huntington Beach, has been demonstrating the powers of his gadget at wine festivals and events such as Hospice du Rh�ne, in Paso Robles last month, and even Vinexpo, in Bordeaux, France, where Farrell showed a prototype last year. It was there that Robin Kelley O'Connor, president of the Society of Wine Educators, first encountered it being used on some coltish Bordeaux barrel samples.
"Farrell was using his pourer and saying, 'Try this one, try that' and asking us which we preferred," recalls O'Connor, "and the wines poured through his contraption were so much smoother, and the aromas weren't affected."
The secret of Farrell's device is powerful magnets that are molded into the plastic sleeve of the BevWizard. Magnets, according to Farrell, can change the molecular structure of a wine's tannins. Tannins are compounds found in the skins and seeds of all grapes, and in oak, that turn up in red wines and some whites too (as well as black tea and coffee).
Tannins structure the wine, and their natural astringency is a very important aspect of how a wine feels in the mouth and how it finishes. Though they're said to have no taste, tannins seem to greatly affect flavor; they can, for example, contribute a sensation of bitterness, pleasing or not, to the wine.
Most wines with a lot of tannins feel more tannic in their youth, but tend to soften with age because with time, the tannin molecules bind with each other for a softer, more burnished mouth feel. Farrell's gizmo accelerates that process dramatically. The magnet encourages the binding process and wines taste softer.
O'Connor, a Bordeaux expert, didn't seem altogether certain that having his experience mediated in just this way was the best thing for him. "I think it's an interesting dilemma for everybody," says O'Connor, "and you really have to ask yourself what do you want from the wine? Will you always be looking for those 'reformed' tastes and flavors?" For O'Connor, the answer was "probably not."
"But for the casual drinker who has no choice but to drink young," he said, "and doesn't always know what they're getting into when they open a bottle, this could have a lot of value."
Soaking up information
FARRELL became interested in wine during a period of convalescence in the late '90s, and his interest turned into a voracious appetite for information. It led him to study for and eventually pass the test to become a Master of Wine, an English certification of expertise considered to be one of the world's most rigorous. Passing the Master test involves blind tasting and being able to identify a wide range of wines from throughout the world.
Some members of the club where Farrell swims learned he was an expert in wine. They were involved in the use of magnets to change the polarity of salts in water lines, and thought they might have a use in the wine industry, so they approached him with a very crude prototype.
"I tried it out of politeness," he says, "I really thought there was no way that it would actually do anything." But he poured a Barossa Shiraz through it, and to his great surprise, it made the wine smoother. "And I tried it on a Bordeaux from the Medoc that had some harsher, greener tannins," Farrell says, "and the sensation of those tannins was reduced."
So he started doing research. The first magnetic device used on wine and spirits, he learned, was registered at the U.S. Patent Office in 1900, designed, according to the patent document, "to make anyone using it a powerful health-giving suggestion of electricity and magnetism."
After that, a few magnetized pourers reached the market, but they usually attached outside of the neck, and they had a weaker charge than the one he and his partners were developing. On a hunch, he drilled a hole in his cylinder to let in more oxygen, which acted like an instant decanter. And on most wines aged in oak, it seemed to make a big difference in their taste and mouth feel.
So how much softer are the tannins of a wine that has passed through a BevWizard? It depends on the wine's tannic structure. "The device works best on changing hard, unripe tannins," Farrell explains. "The structure of those tannins change to be closer in structure to ripe tannins." A wine that's already balanced, he thinks, doesn't need changing, and the device might actually disrupt the balance a little . again, depending on your taste.
Farrell recently attended a wine-tasting group I belong to to demonstrate the BevWizard.
He may be a wine geek, but our group that night was pretty geeky in its own right. There was Bonnie L. Graves, a wine consultant who was a sommelier at Spago and Jean Georges in New York; Tim Smith, who used to pull corks at Rix and the Fenix; Mike Greene, general manager of Woodland Hills Wine Co.; and our host, Justin Gallen, who sells Italian and Austrian wines for an importer called Vin Divino.
When we were finished with the whites, Farrell opened a Washington Cabernet, and asked us to pour a taste. Then he pulled out his gizmo, pressed it down on the neck of the same bottle, and instructed us to pour another taste through the device into another glass.
Farrell then asked us to try them. The first glass tasted like the decent, four-square Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon it was, picked up by Farrell for about $14 on the way over. It had good blackberry fruit and tannins that were substantial, mildly astringent, slightly harsh and a bit clunky.
And the second glass? It was the same wine, with the same fruit and similar aromas. The quibbles we'd had with the tannins had vanished. The wine had grown ampler, smoother and rounder; the harshness was gone, vanished . poof . like it was never there. We all agreed that the BevWizard had changed the wine. But beyond this, we agreed on nothing.
A blanket effect?
SMITH noted that stripping the wine of its upper register of tannin pushed the wine's fruit component into a newer, plumper role. Gallen noted that smoothing those tannins broadened the texture, but it also gave the impression that the wine had been muffled slightly, as if covered with a blanket.
The question ultimately became, how comfortable were we with the change?
Like Farrell, all of us in the room had tasted thousands of wines during our careers, and we had a healthy set of assumptions as to what a wine was supposed to taste like and when. A 2003 Cabernet from Washington State, a warm vintage from a warm place, was supposed to taste a little tannic; what did it mean to strip the wine of this marker, even if that marker wasn't to everyone's taste?
Graves was perhaps the most resistant. "I bring a sommelier's bias to gizmos in general," she said. But that wasn't her only objection; she worried that it would encourage American impatience. People would turn to the BevWizard, she worried, for instant age on wines that may not be ready to drink.
"If it makes people pour wines before they're ready, just because they can, I take pause," Graves explained. "There's no need to cellar your Barolo, because suddenly you have this thing that makes it soft and round and approachable."
But Greene, a retailer, disagreed; this sort of device wasn't going to appeal to the average Barolo drinker, who knows the pleasure of cellaring wine . "the thrill of delay," as Graves put it. But it would be perfect for the casual wine drinker who wasn't crazy about tannins.
"I've got lots of customers who come in and ask for smooth wines, without that 'bite' common in California Cabernet or Petite Sirah," he said. "A thing like this that rounds out the edges would have a loyal following."
Greene, who, like many people in the wine industry, once worked in the music industry, made an elegant comparison. "It's like CDs," he said. "Compact discs are basically a 'mid-fi' format . not the best fidelity for hearing music. But they got people to enjoy music again."
Farrell, who was remarkably impassive as we hashed this out, decided then to pipe in. For whatever reason, he explained, the device was most effective on harsher, more obtrusive tannins, like those found in wines made with unripe fruit, or wines that used oak chips or staves for flavor. "This thing turns Two Buck Chuck into Six Buck Chuck," he said. Why not Twelve Buck? "I don't think so," he said.
The BevWizard is available for about $30 at Gourmet Cheese & Wine in Redondo Beach, (310) 214-2122; Cooks Family Market in El Segundo, (310) 615-1990; Vendome Wine & Spirits in Toluca Lake (818) 766-9593; the Wine House in Los Angeles, (310) 479-3731; Morry's of Naples Wine Shop in Long Beach, (562) 433-0405; Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111; and online at http://www.bevwizard.com . <252>
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings,
We're doing "Tuscany" at Arezzo. Bob has made the reservation for 10.
This is probably a hard limit as we're at the round tables.
(vines of the round table?)
Bob has negotiated a $5 per person charge in
leu of corkage. Menu is on line. Wine list is not on line....
Prices are reasonable, w/ $10-12 pizza and most entrees (Primi) under $20.
> Who confirmed
Bob
Ruth
Dave T
Jim
> Who (Team Probablito)
Lori
Betsy
Annette S
Russ
Maybe (aka Team Proseco!)
Sue
Guesses (Team In-Comunicado)
Bill
Janet
Karin
Nicolai
Arezzo Ristorante
612 285-7444
5057 France Ave S, Minneapolis, 55410
www.arezzo-ristorante.com
Chianti may well be synonymous with Tuscany, but there is far more diversity here than a visit to your average wine merchant would suggest. Recent years have witnessed considerable changes, with most articles on Tuscan wine commenting upon the shift of emphasis from quantity to quality,
Above all, Tuscany produces red wine and, above all, this wine is made from the Sangiovese grape. The practice of adding white grapes to the Chianti blend has, thankfully, all but disappeared; the last twenty or so years has seen Sangiovese find a new partner - Cabernet Sauvignon - and when this marriage works, as it often does, the resultant wines are usually excellent and, occasionally, truly great.
Brunello di Montalcino manages ably to retain the crown of `Italy's most expensive wine', although the likes of Tignanello and Sassicaia are not too far behind. Some other areas worthy of investigation are Morellino di Scansano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Rosso di Montepulciano, and wines of Lucca & Montecarlo.
The white wines of Tuscany are far less important than the reds. Produced predominantly from the workaday Trebbiano grape, a notable exception is Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Good Sauvignon and Chardonnay is made, but the prices tend to be quite high. Vin Santo, the famous after-dinner wine, is also seeing a renewed commitment to quality.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WINES OF CHIANTI
Chianti is without a doubt the most well known of all Italian wines. There may be only one denomination - Chianti D.O.C.G - but there are many different styles, ranging from light Beaujolais-style quaffing wines to structured, complex wines with enough backbone to reward aging and maturing.
The predominant grape variety is Sangiovese, but the laws allow for an addition of between 10 and 15% of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. A Riserva wine is one that has been aged longer before being released; it should come from a good year and benefit from further aging, although it is not always the guarantee of quality that might reasonably be expected. Click here for a brief history of the wines of Chianti over the centuries.
The vineyards of Chianti are scattered over much of central Tuscany; the Classico zone begins northwards of Siena and reaches most of the way to Florence. This zone generally produces the best wine. The other six zones are:
Colli Aretini The hills around Arezzo produce a medium-bodied Chianti, soft and best drunk young.
Colli Senesi From the hills to the south and west of Siena, this is the largest Chianti sub-zone. Chianti plays second fiddle to Brunello and Montepulciano.
Colli Fiorentini All styles of Chianti, from light everyday stuff to some excellent Riservas.
Montalbano From the hills west of Florence. The better grapes tend to go to make Carmignano.
Rufina The smallest of the seven, this zone, to the north east of Florence, produces some of the most complex and long-lived wines in Chianti.
Colline Pisane Pleasant, light wines from the hills around Pisa
There are various theories as to the origin of the name Chianti. The most popular has it that the word derives from the Latin clangor, meaning the cry of a bird or a high pitched note from a trumpet, and that this alludes to the wild and uncultivated countryside of the area, fit for hunting rather than agriculture. Another far more mundane theory ascribes the name to an Etruscan family of the area, or perhaps a winegrower from the hills above Florence.
What is more certain is that the name was well established by the early fifteenth century, although the wine known as Chianti in those days was almost certainly a white wine. As late as the 1960's there was still a Chianti bianco and even the DOC laws of 1967 allowed for 30% of white grapes in the red wine. By the early 1900's the wines of Chianti had become very popular - or at least the 'style' had, as a bottle labelled as Chianti may not have come from Chianti proper, if indeed it came from Tuscany at all.
The year 1924 saw the formation of the Consorzio per la difesa del vino tipico del Chianti, a group taking as its symbol the black cockerel, the Gallo Nero still seen on all bottles today. The significance of this dates to a border dispute between Siena and Florence, a dispute that saw the border drawn at the point where a horseman from each city would meet on the road. They were both to set out at the cock-crow, as indeed they did, except that the Florentine cockerel had been starved, and woke to greet the day considerably earlier than its Sienese counterpart.
The DOCG regulations of 1984 attempted to achieve what the DOC ones of 1967 failed to do in terms of quality and consistency, and there is no doubt that post DOCG Chianti is a much improved wine, however, many growers still found the rules too restrictive and archaic. This led to the rise of the so-called 'Super-Tuscans', wines made from the same grapes and the same vineyards as traditional Chianti, yet made in a way and using blends that 'flouted' regulations, and led them to be labelled as table-wines. This didn't bother the growers overmuch as these wines (then and now) command prices way beyond even the best Chianti Classico. Eventually, the regulations were altered to allow these wines back into the fold. Grape varieties that were outlawed are now permitted, and the requirement to effectively ruin a wine by forcing the inclusion of white grapes in the blend has lapsed.
There is a re-assessment of Chianti under way; ever higher standards coupled with some wonderful vintages are allowing the very best wines to walk tall, and many recent tastings have commented on the wonderful ageing potential of top Chianti. The prestige that that the 'Super-Tuscans' afforded the Sangiovese grape is now allowing the focus to return to the making of good Chianti.
A QUESTION OF STYLE
Between tradition and renewal, the challenge for Tuscan wines is to exploit the distinctive marks of the territory. To .dare. with less international wines but always with bigger personalities.
It is a difficult world, felicitous at times but with an uncertain future. Or so the lyrics of a song that was popular a few years ago would have it. The lyrics are even more appropriate today when applied to the situation of the Italian wine sector. I don.t wish to take this article as a pretext for wandering the byways of the current market and dispensing advice on marketing and prices. Not at this time when censors of bad habits are admonishing those who have erred and who threaten apocalyptic scenarios for the future of sales of Italian products.
It.s a shame that many of these admirable prophets were peddling entirely different theories until only a short time. Let.s say instead, and more honestly, that nearly all the leaders in the world wine sector galloped through the period of rampant euphoria of the last decade. In reality, however, there was no lack of factors that attenuated such attitudes. We went in the blink of an eye from the sour, immature, prickly, diluted and often defective wines of the past to products that are softer, rounder and fruitier. Perhaps a touch too marked by oak but even that, for heaven.s sake, is an indicator of renewal and modernity. It says .enough. with all those old, gross and stinking casks. And, then, why waste time with such irksome and capricious varieties like Sangiovese when we have at our disposal grapes of immediately efficacy like Cabernet and Merlot?
The response to that question was wines that automatically raised the level of consumer satisfaction and enthused even us critics. What a difference from the .antique. wines! What a pleasure! What concentration! This is the new Italian and Tuscan wine! This is the model to follow!
This type of recipe has worked without any setbacks until now but the first doubts are beginning to appear. The few bottles of some years ago are progressively becoming many, new vineyards are being planted and new estates are appearing, while others are giving themselves a makeover. Large numbers of wines have adopted the winning model or even expanding its intensity: super soft, super fruity, super concentrated and super bois�. In a few words, all are apparently more endowed but at the same time similar to one another. Have we, therefore, reached a notorious state of uniformity? Not yet, fortunately, but the risk is obvious and it is not easy to avoid it and to resist the pressures of the international market. The motive is clear. If I prepare wines with the flavor I have cited, which is accepted without complications by the majority of consumers and critics, the chances are good that I shall be able to sell it.
At first glance, nothing to object to but, if we look more closely we may come to other conclusions. In a world context consisting not of a million but a billion bottles, a territory like Chianti Classico, which appears so big to us, represents only a small speck, the so-called niche. And, in a niche, what sense is there in having the prospect of producing wines with an international flavor beaten in advance on the level of price? We must, therefore, make our wine distinctive. Premium wines must possess recognizable characters traceable to the zone of origin. That is what occurred at Bordeaux where, with a minimum of experience, the taster cannot mistake a Pauillac for a Margaux, and even more so in Burgundy where an abyss separates a Chambertin from a Volnay. And that.s not to mention the clear difference between a Barolo from Monforte or another from La Morra.
In Chianti Classico.but let.s expand the horizon to the whole of Tuscany.the imprint on a wine.s style of the enologist currently on duty is more frequently cited than the influence of the zone of origin. Please note, this is not an accusation directed at our technicians, who, like the referees in soccer, are among the best in the world. It is aimed instead at a diabolical system that demands determined results in time spans that, for viticulture are unnaturally short. The signs of the territory, on the other hand, emerge only with the value of the vineyard and will be much more incisive when the vines are older and more deeply rooted. Inevitably, more time is required along with a vision of greater depth and farsightedness in order to obtain results and a definite style.
In that sense, the privilege, although it is not exclusive, of native varieties that are more acclimatized to the territory is manifest. And then we can finally emerge from the opportunism and the provisional character of the gilded cage made with false gold. We can withdraw from the internationality trap and create wines with more authentic characters, wines that are sapid and mineral, with marked but still elegant contrasts. They are drinkable and never boring or predictable. There is the loss, perhaps, of a pinch of fruit and the softness may be too facile but they are wines in magical accord with our cooking and with flavors that are just as decisive and never cloying.
Ernesto Gentili
Augusthronicle's Top Bargain Wines of 2005
- W. Blake Gray, Leslie Sbrocco
Thursday, December 29, 2005
2002 A-Mano Puglia Primitivo ($10)
Primitivo is genetically identical to Zinfandel, though some believe it was imported to Italy from California, rather than making its way there from its birthplace in Croatia. In any case, this earthy yet fruity red from the Adriatic coast in southeastern Italy is made in a New World style by Mark Shannon, an American winemaker who now lives on "the boot."
Click to View
2004 Falesco Vitiano Umbria Ros� ($8)
The Falesco wines are made by Riccardo Cotarella, Italy's most sought-after consulting winemaker, and his brother Renzo, general manger at the prestigious Marchesi Antinori winery in Tuscany. This wine is made by vinifying a portion of the juice that comes from quickly crushing the same grapes -- Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Aleatico -- that go into Falesco's red blend. Watermelon and strawberry aromas waft from the glass, and a spicy kick finishes each sip.
Click to View
2003 Montevina Amador County Barbera ($10)
The Italian varietal Barbera is perhaps the most underappreciated grape in the United States. It's widely grown but often ends up anonymously providing backbone for jug wines. When bottled on its own, it can be an outstanding dinner-table wine that combines two likable characteristics not found together often enough: a big body and palate-cleansing, food-friendly acidity. This Barbera by Montevina offers flavors of bright cherry with some earth and cherry tobacco and will pair wonderfully with pasta, pizza, red meat, pork and practically anything prepared with an Italian accent. You may not appreciate how good it is until you wonder why the bottle emptied so quickly.
Click to View
2004 Raimat Costers del Segre Chardonnay ($8)
The Raimat brand comes from the Raventos family that owns the Codorniu line of sparkling wines in Spain and Artesa winery in Napa. Manuel Raventos bought infertile salt plains abandoned by farmers in this semi-desert region of northeast Spain in 1914. It took the family 50 years of planting cattle fodder, pine trees and cereals before the soil was ready to become the vineyard that produced this wine. No oak was used in this wine, so it's fruity and vibrant, yet it will appeal to lovers of all types of Chardonnay because it has a creamy character gained from aging on its lees (spent yeast cells).
Click to View
2003 Ruffino Libaio Toscana Chardonnay ($9)
Ruffino is most famous for its high-end wines from the Chianti Classico region. Chardonnay from Italy is hardly traditional, but this one is quite refreshing, fruit-driven and crisp, smelling of Asian pear and sweet apple. Though no oak is used, this Chardonnay has a creamy complexity that comes from letting the wine rest on the lees for one month. This adds a layer of flavor to the wine while maintaining vibrant acidity.
Best 10 bargains: He said, she said
W. Blake Gray
Whites
2004 Covey Run Columbia Valley Riesling ($8)
2004 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc ($9)
2004 Heron California Chardonnay ($10)
2004 Kono Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($10)
2004 Walnut Crest Central Valley (Chile) Sauvignon Blanc ($7)
Reds
NV HRM Rex Goliath California Pinot Noir ($9)
2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10)
2003 Montevina Amador County Barbera ($10)
2002 Parducci Mendocino County Pinot Noir ($8)
2003 Pepperwood Grove California Cabernet Sauvignon ($8)
Best 10 bargains: He said, she said
Leslie Sbrocco
Whites
2004 Dry Creek Vineyard Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc ($10)
2004 Raimat Costers del Segre Chardonnay ($8)
2003 Ruffino Libaio Toscana Chardonnay ($9)
2005 Simonsig Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc ($10)
2004 Wildhurst Reserve Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($10)
Ros�
2004 Falesco Vitiano Umbria Ros� ($8)
Reds
2002 Alamos Mendoza Malbec ($10)
2002 A-Mano Puglia Primitivo ($10)
2002 Capcanes Montsant Mas Donis ($10)
2003 The Magnificent Wine Co. Columbia Valley House Wine ($10)
Page F - 4
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/29/WIG99GE1IE1.DTL
Sicily: Flavors of an Island, Easy to Enjoy
By ERIC ASIMOV
IN the 19th century the nation of Italy was created by joining regions that had maintained uncomfortably separate political existences. Depending on which Italian you ask, the union may or may not have succeeded. For understanding Italian wines, though, it's fair to say it is a failure.
Too often, deep-seated regional differences among wines are lost as they are lumped together under the term Italian. While a love of wine and food may bind together Italians from Alto Adige in the north to those in Apulia in the south, the wines from each region are as different as the local grapes, soil, climate and culture. You may already know and love Amarones (from Veneto) or Chiantis (from Tuscany), but neither, as the Dining section's wine panel found out, will help you much in deciphering the wines of Sicily.
We approached our tasting of 25 Sicilian reds with great anticipation. Few wine regions have undergone as thorough a transformation as Sicily has in the last 20 years, and few are as unfamiliar. For Florence Fabricant and me, along with our guests, Howard Horvath, the wine director at Esca restaurant, and Scott Mayger, a consultant who worked most recently at Barbuto in the West Village, the tasting was a chance to reacquaint ourselves with a category that we find in restaurants all too rarely.
Even in ancient times, Sicily was known for producing vast quantities of wine. But in the last two decades the tanks of cheap blending wine have given way to wines that at their best are fruity and embraceable yet retain the character and personality of the island.
It's not easy for a region that has been making wines out of the spotlight for centuries to give up the old ways, but in wine zones like Faro in the northeast of Sicily, Cerasuolo di Vittoria in the south and Contessa Entellina in the west, winemakers have modernized their farming techniques and improved their methods in the cellar. Occasionally, the urge to modernize has gone too far, and producers have eliminated their local grapes in favor of international varietals like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. These are not necessarily bad wines. We all liked a 2001 merlot from Planeta, one of the biggest Sicilian producers. It was well made and enjoyable, but not a wine with much soul.
No, the most distinctive Sicilian wines continue to be made primarily with the traditional Sicilian grapes, most notably nero d'Avola, which makes deep, rich wines, and, to a far lesser degree, frappato, lighter and more aromatic, and nerello Mascarese, which is used primarily in the Faro zone. Some have speculated that nero d'Avola is related to syrah, and have even gone so far as to suggest that the name syrah was derived from the Sicilian city Siracusa. Perhaps, but that connection seems tenuous to me, even if one of the wines we liked best, the 2002 Morgante Don Antonio Riserva, which was made entirely of nero d'Avola, reminded me of an Australian shiraz, though one with enhanced acidity that cried out for tomato sauce.
When tasting a wide range of wines from an up-and-coming region like Sicily, you expect a fair share of clunkers. Although we did find a few bottles that tasted like assembly-line confections or of baked, over-ripe fruit, the overall quality was exceptional - "across-the-board drinkable," as Mr. Horvath put it.
Our favorite bottle was the 2000 Nerobufaleffj (neh-ro-boof-uh-LEFF-ee) from Gulfi, made entirely of nero d'Avola. Like most of these wines, it was easy to enjoy. The Gulfi and four other wines in our Top 10 carried the designation IGT, for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, a term that gives government sanction to wines that meet less stringent rules regarding grape varieties or areas of production than required for wines that carry regional names, like Contessa Entellina or Faro.
Many forward-looking producers opt for IGT status rather than be bound by the regional rules. But sometimes those rules encourage experimentation. Our No. 2 wine, the graceful 2002 Tancredi from Donnafugata, meets the standards for the Contessa Entellina designation, even though it is an untraditional blend of 70 percent nero d'Avola and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. That zone was created in 1993, when blending experiments were well under way. As a result, grapes as diverse as cabernet, syrah and pinot noir can be part of the mix.
Maybe the authorities were on to something, because the cabernet lends the Tancredi subtlety and an attractive cedary tinge. By contrast, Donnafugata's 2001 Mille e Una Notte, a big, inky, powerful wine that was No. 6 on our list, is 90 percent nero d'Avola and 10 percent other local grapes. It is also twice as expensive as the Tancredi.
The Donnafugatas were not the only example of price not quite correlating with quality. Our No. 3 wine, a 2001 Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Valle dell'Acate, was our best value at $19. This wine, which gains freshness from the blending of nero d'Avola with frappato, outperformed much more expensive wines, like our No. 4, a 2001 Faro from Palari for $58. Not that we didn't like the Palari - it was dense and spicy, but also oaky. Palari makes a second wine, Soprano, that sells for half the price of the Faro. I have long liked this wine, which is generally full of fruit and mineral flavors, but a 2000 Soprano in our tasting did not make the cut.
If Sicilian wines are going to succeed in making names for themselves, it will be because distinctive wines like the Gulfi, the Donnafugatas, the Palaris and the Valle dell'Acate force people to take notice. When they do, they will not imagine that these are great Italian wines. They will say, "These are great Sicilian wines," and that will be enough.
Tasting Report:
Big, Earthy and Rich With Fruit
Gulfi Nerobufaleffj IGT 2000 $38 ***
Big, balanced, earthy and concentrated; not complex but a pleasure to drink. (Importer: Selected Estates of Europe, Mamaroneck, N.Y.)
Donnafugata Tancredi Contessa Entellina 2002 $27
** �
Subtle and light-bodied, though with plenty of fruit and an herbal, cedary aroma. (William Grant & Sons, New York)
BEST VALUE
Valle dell'Acate Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2001 $19 ** �
Full of bright, fresh fruit flavors and cherry and smoke aromas; easy to enjoy. (Panebianco, New York)
Palari Faro 2001 M $58 ** �
Dense fruit and chocolate aromas, well balanced but a little oaky. (Panebianco, New York)
Morgante Don Antonio Riserva IGT 2002 $30 **
Big and fruity, like a shiraz with great acidity. (Winebow, New York)
Donnafugata Mille e Una Notte Contessa Entellina 2001 $60 **
Inky black with big, rich flavors and plenty of acidity and tannins. (William Grant & Sons, New York)
Ceuso Scurati IGT 2003 $15 **
Big and brawny yet supple with balanced fruit and mineral flavors. (Vias Imports, New York)
Gladiator Nero d'Avola 2002 $10 **
Jammy fruit and earth aromas; slightly candied. (Testa Wines of the World, Port Washington, N.Y.)
Planeta Merlot IGT 2001 $38 **
Well-made and pleasing but lacks a sense of Sicily. (Vias Imports, New York)
Abbazia Santa Anastasia Litra IGT 1998 $50 **
Tannic, with international flavors. (Empson U.S.A., Alexandria, Va.)
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
