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[wine] What to do this week? Auriga? Sapor?

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Any idea what we're doing this week? There had been some talk of going to Sapor. We also have a suggestion to do Spanish at Auriga. Both/either work for me. Can someone call Bob? Not too early. :) Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:30:53 -0400 (EDT) To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: Uncorking New York From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Monday, May 15, 2006 ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSOR * THE CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Introducing our By Reservation Only Program! www.cawineclub.com/?Partner_ID=winelovers ________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * UNCORKING NEW YORK Will changes in U.S. wine-shipping laws elevate New York from niche market to greater stature as a significant wine producer? * DR. KONSTANTIN FRANK 2003 FINGER LAKES DRY RIESLING ($15.99) Rich but bone-dry, this classic Riesling builds credibility for New York's Finger Lakes. * CORRECTION The winery price on Friday's Oregon Pinot Noir wasn't as bad as I thought. * THE CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Introducing our BY RESERVATION ONLY Program! * THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM An extensive report on a tour of the Port region, and forum discussions on comparing U.S. and New Zealand Pinot Noir and selecting wines that newcomers will find easy to like. * LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor archives. * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ UNCORKING NEW YORK Think of wine in the United States, and chances are you'll immediately visualize the West Coast: sunny California and perhaps the rainy but mild Pacific Northwest. Wine-related thoughts about New York State are not likely to pop into your head. This might not be entirely fair, as New York, in spite of its failure to register as more than a blip on most wine lovers' radar, is actually the third-largest wine-producing state in the nation (after California and Washington State), with sales approaching nearly a half-billion dollars in 2004; and its commercial wine-making history goes back just about as far as California's, dating to the middle of the 1800s. Why is such a major wine producer so little-known? A combination of factors have held back the Empire State on the national wine scene ... but watch for this to start changing. If the climate in California's wine regions is somewhat like that in Mediterranean France, Spain and Italy, New York's is more like Germany; indeed, New York's long, narrow and deep glacial-cut Finger Lakes even look a bit like the Mosel or the Rhine. Until recent decades, that continental-style climate, with its freezing winters, has held back the development of Vitis vinifera vineyards, the familiar wine grapes that dominate the fine-wine market. New York has been better known for Vitis labrusca, strong flavored grapes normally used to make sweet, syrupy wines that more closely resemble Welch's grape jelly than Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel; even the more ambitious wineries typically compromised on "French-hybrid" grape varieties, designed to withstand fierce winters that can kill vinifera but that only rarely yield world-class wines. Eventually, though, a few pioneers, including Dr. Konstantin Frank and Hermann J. Wiemer in the Finger Lakes, fought the odds to grow classic European wine grapes and, particularly when they specialized in varieties appropriate to colder climates, such as Riesling, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, they won competitions and earned a growing reputation. But even as the wines got better, another problem stood in the way: In contrast with California's liberal wine sales and shipping policies, New York law forbade the state's wineries to ship wine out to consumers, as it denied its own citizens the right to buy wine across state lines. As a result, and in the absence of any real national demand to move New York wines into traditional distribution channels, the state's wines were (and largely remain) unknown in the rest of the world. But last year's Supreme Court decision on wine shipping, which banned disparate treatment of in-state and external wineries in interstate commerce, may have opened the gates. Thanks to enabling legislation passed over the wails of the distribution lobby, New York wineries are now free to ship wine direct to consumers in other states where the law allows; and to the extent that this change increases visibility and demand for the wines, wider distribution is likely to follow. ________________________________________________________________________ NIAGARA WINE GATHERING: I'll be exploring New York wines myself in June, as I attend the annual "NiagaraCool" gathering of Eastern wine enthusiasts in Niagara Falls, taste a lot of local wines and tour some wineries in the region. The gathering, like the similar annual "MoCool" wine-lover gathering in Michigan in August, is strictly social, non-profit and non-commercial, with participants agreeing to share the actual costs of wine touring and a Sunday wine-and-food picnic. If you live within reach of the Niagara Falls and Buffalo area (on either side of the U.S./Canadian border) or will be traveling in the region the weekend of June 10-11, you're welcome to participate. Check out the details on our WineLovers Discussion Group, http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=380 or, if you prefer, send me E-mail at wine(a)wineloverspage.com ________________________________________________________________________ DR. KONSTANTIN FRANK 2003 FINGER LAKES DRY RIESLING ($15.99) This is a pale, transparently clear but distinctly golden wine. White fruit and stoney slate aromas display the odd but pleasant minerally scent that Riesling-lovers call "petrol." Its full, ripe flavor hits the palate with a surprising burst of tangerine, shaped by firm, steely acidity. Rich in texture but fully dry, its tangy citrus flavors linger in a very long finish. Excellent Riesling; it would be intriguing to see it served "blind" in a flight of Rieslings from Germany, Austria and Alsace. (May 14, 2006) FOOD MATCH: Almost too rich for more delicate seafood and fish, this one seems made for veal and pork dishes. It went very well with simple veal burgers made in the style of Italian polpette meatballs. VALUE: With the exception of a few dessert wines and a handful of sought-after producers, Riesling in general remains a good buy around the world. No complaints about value at this mid-teens price. WHEN TO DRINK: Riesling is one of the most long-lived of whites, and this wine's good fruit and sturdy structure suggest it would fare well in the cellar. It would certainly be safe to keep it five years or more under good storage conditions. WEB LINK: The Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Cellars Website offers online sales and a wine club (shipping limited to states where the law allows), plus information about the winery and its wines. http://www.drfrankwines.com/ FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Find prices and online vendors for Dr. Konstantin Frank wines on Wine- Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Konstantin%2bFrank/-/-/USD/A?referring_si… ________________________________________________________________________ CORRECTION In my "VALUE" comments on Friday's wine tasting report, Henry Estate 2003 "Umpqua Cuvee" Oregon Pinot Noir ($15), I questioned an apparent $39 price for a wine that sells in wine shops for $10 to $15. As it turns out, the $39 price (plus $9 shipping) is for three bottles, which is not a bad deal if you can't find this good Pinot locally. ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE: I've posted today's column in our Netscape WineLovers Community, where you're welcome to read the replies and add your own comments or questions at this link: http://community.netscape.com/winelovers?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=4403 For more advanced wine-enthusiast discussions on this or any wine- related subject, you're welcome in our non-commercial WineLovers Discussion Group, where today's article is featured at this link: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=1145 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/print060515.html ________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCING THE CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB'S BY RESERVATION ONLY PROGRAM Many of California's highest-rated and most coveted wines sell out before most wine consumers ever have the chance to purchase even one bottle. Wines like these are even difficult for The California Wine Club to find. In fact, the club sometimes acquires so few cases of a special wine that it's not possible to feature them as a regular selection or post them on the website, so these special treasures are instead offered to a select group of customers. Now 30 Second Wine Advisor readers can join California Wine Club's BY RESERVATION ONLY program, offering you selective access to these rarities, only the wines you want, with no commitment and no obligation. Here's how it works: * When a very special or limited wine opportunity comes up, we will automatically reserve a case for you. * Once your case has been reserved, we will contact you. At that time, you can choose to accept or withdraw your reservation. * Priority is given on a first-come, first-served basis. The longer you are on the list, the higher your priority level. To add your name to The California Wine Club's BY RESERVATION ONLY program please call 800-777-4443 or email info(a)cawineclub.com. ________________________________________________________________________ THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM Some highlights of recent articles on WineLoversPage.com that I hope you'll enjoy: * FOR THE LOVE OF PORT: The Dynamic Douro Port expert and columnist Roy Hersh and his associate Mario R. Ferreira recently collaborated to host a group of wine enthusiasts on their first visit to Portugal, an extensive visit to the Upper Douro, home of the great Port region. In this report, Hersh details many of their winery visits, with extensive tasting notes of Ports and Douro reds. http://www.wineloverspage.com/port/tourofduty.phtml * HOT TOPICS IN OUR WINELOVERS' COMMUNITY Our WineLovers' Discussion Groups are the best places online to ask wine questions and participate in the civil and intelligent discussion of good things to eat and drink. In addition to our WineLovers Community on the Netscape/CompuServe service, we've just revamped our "classic" WineLovers Discussion Group (WLDG), the Internet's original wine forum, a non-commercial venue intended for serious wine conversations that range from apprentice-level to wine professionals. I hope you'll take the time to visit both of our forums today! U.S. VS. NEW ZEALAND PINOT NOIR In this intriguing tasting report from the Philippines, a group of wine enthusiasts in Manila samples Pinots from opposite sides of the Pacific in a blind tasting, with some surprising results. http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=1108 WINES FOR BEGINNERS Members of our Netscape WineLovers Community suggest a few ideas for a wine newcomer who's looking for selections that are easy to like. http://community.netscape.com/winelovers?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=4391 ________________________________________________________________________ LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns: * Remember Sideways? (May 12, 2006) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa060505.phtml * Affordable Spanish red (May 10, 2006) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa060510.phtml * Is ritual necessary? (May 8, 2006) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa060508.phtml * Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml * Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Trompe la bouche (May 11, 2006) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tsfl060504.phtml * Wine Advisor Foodletter archive: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/foodlist.phtml ________________________________________________________________________ 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. Monday, May 15, 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 *

19 years, 6 months

[wine] Fw: Sorry to announce: no wine party

by jhegstrom＠csom.umn.edu

Anyone else willing to host a wheel barrel full of champagne and 40+ wrapped pinots on a table that night? : ) Bubbles ----- Forwarded by Joyce Hegstrom/FS/CarlsonSchool on 05/16/2006 08:36 AM ----- "Jason Kallsen" <jkallsen@cpinter net.com> To "Angela Kallsen" 05/15/2006 10:05 <kallsen(a)cpinternet.com>, "Annette PM Peters" <annettep(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Beth Nault" <bethnault(a)comcast.net>, "Bill Hooper" <bhooperltd(a)hotmail.com>, "Bill Schmelzer" <schm1219(a)umn.edu>, "Black Dog Wine Bar" <ssremke(a)black-hole.com>, "Bob Andrzejek" <randrzejek(a)comcast.net>, "Brandt Grandy" <brandtg(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Brightwines.com" <dave(a)brightwines.com>, "Bubbles" <jhegstrom(a)csom.umn.edu>, "Chris Griese" <chris(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Chris Osgood" <chris(a)rc4arts.org>, "Chuck Kanski" <chuck(a)solovinowines.com>, "Scott Pampuch" <scott(a)cornertablerestaurant.com>, "Dale Short" <dale(a)worldclasswines.com>, "David Begg" <David(a)domaineserene.com>, "David Peterson" <Dangerdbp(a)aol.com>, "Doug and Jessica Anderson" <arebours(a)myway.com>, "Russ Fay" <slrafay(a)earthlink.net>, "Gini Sisson" <gini(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Harvey McClain" <harvey(a)turtlebread.com>, "Hanneman Kjersti" <hanneman(a)umn.edu>, "Jeff Nelson" <jefnelson(a)mn.rr.com>, "Rohlfsen Joanna" <jlrohlfsen(a)yahoo.com>, "Joe Cassell" <joecassell(a)hotmail.com>, "John R. Daugherty" <johnd(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Julie Duckstad" <jjdr(a)quixnet.net>, "Kirk Bachler" <SnowshoeTS(a)cpinternet.com>, "Kristen E. Ringham" <kristenr(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Kris Igo" <kris(a)france44.com>, "Lincoln Kallsen" <kalls001(a)umn.edu>, "Dan Oskey, Longfellow Grill" <djoskey(a)aol.com>, "Michael Wirzlyo" <sommelwb(a)juno.com>, "Mike Dombrow" <dombrow(a)urbanpioneer.org>, "Nadeau Nick and JoAnn" <nick.joann(a)comcast.net>, "Nancy Tellor" <nancy.tellor(a)olympusventures.com>, "Patty Douglas-Campbell" <patty(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Paul Dagget" <paul(a)thewinecompany.com>, "Rachael Hanson" <Rachael.Hanson(a)target.com>, "Ray Zemke" <rzemke(a)thecellars.com>, "Robert Strunk" <eldonss(a)yahoo.com>, "Roger and Laura Clark" <LandRClark(a)aol.com>, "Sam Haislet" <sam(a)samswineshop.com>, "Scott Pampuch" <frenchchef(a)cornertablerestaurant.c om>, "Sean LaBonty" <uberjam(a)hotmail.com>, "Mom" <skallsen1(a)mn.rr.com>, "Stacy Remke" <ssremke(a)blackhole.com>, "Steffel Mike" <mjsteffel(a)attbi.com>, "steph shimp" <stephanie(a)highlandgrill.com>, "Susan Kallsen" <skallsen(a)mn.rr.com>, "Ted and Karmen Trampe" <tedkarm(a)hotmail.com>, "Thomas Liquors" <thomasliquors(a)aol.com>, "Tim Hutchens" <rastjh(a)hotmail.com>, <jasonk(a)worldclasswines.com>, "Solo Vino, Dana Lade" <info(a)solovinowines.com>, "Dave Kuennen" <dave(a)brightwines.com> cc Subject Sorry to announce: no wine party I’m sorry to announce we’re not having our Bubbly + Pinot Noir Memorial weekend party this year. Things have been quite busy in our household. In case you haven’t heard, Angela got a contract to illustrate a children’s book (hooray for Angela!). That’s great news, but the deadline is approaching fast. Add to that some projects I’ve taken on at work, general exhaustion as Spencer winds down fourth grade, and a new puppy. We’re looking forward to a relaxing Memorial Day weekend at the farm. We just can’t take the time to have a great party like ’05 and ’04. We may try again in September or October, we’ll see. In the meantime, please spread the word to others that normally attend (Bubbles – forward to Jim and the wine group). Take care friends, and hope to see you soon, Jason

19 years, 6 months

[wine] Tail of the missing stem.

by Jim L. Ellingson

Mostly for Russ/Sue, but thought it of general interest. Cheers, Jim May 11, 2006 Online Shopper A Stemless Glass (and Otto Keeps His Tail) By MICHELLE SLATALLA IN so many ways, Otto is an ideal dog. He does not dig in the garden or chew chair legs. He has never raided a kitchen counter, even for unprotected roast beef. He watches benignly while our little dog Sticky struggles to drag away his bone as if it were a felled redwood. So I hesitate to complain about Otto's tail. True, it is a big, swishing, street sweeper of a tail. Inside the house, his tail wreaks more havoc than a billy club. One casual swipe at the coffee table can knock over an entire cocktail party's worth of wineglasses. But I realized, as I dabbed at red wine stains and picked slivers of glass from the rug the other day, that it was not necessarily Otto's fault. How graceful would any of us be if we were Labrador retrievers trying to manage a 13-inch tail? Still, something had to be done. Tail-reduction surgery was not an option. I turned to the Internet for help, and there I found a novel solution: stemless wineglasses that the tail will have a tougher time toppling. Stemless is a trend that has been gaining followers. In 2004, the glassmaker Riedel Crystal introduced an O series of lead-free crystalline stemless glasses in six different styles, designed to complement such different grape varietals as cabernet and chardonnay. The glasses, which look more like egg-shaped tumblers than anything else, are plentiful these days at online stores. At wineenthusiast.com, for instance, a set of eight (four red wine glasses and four white wine glasses) was $67.80. In recent months, many variations of the stemless style have become available at prices ranging from $1.95 a piece (for "casual no-stem, no-frills, un-goblets" at Crateandbarrel.com) to $100 for two Waterford crystal glasses at Michaelcfina.com. Target.com has a set of four for $14.99 and Amazon.com even has a set of four "tipsy tumblers" with tilted rims for $29.95. I can understand the appeal. Stemless glasses fit compactly into a dishwasher. They take up less room in a cabinet. Their egg shapes lend a casual and modern air to place settings at a dinner party. It's the sort of idea that seems obvious. But I wondered what was the inspiration for this style. I asked a Riedel representative, "Does someone at Riedel by any chance have a big Labrador retriever?" No, said Kathleen Talbert, a spokeswoman for the company. "They came about because Maximilian Riedel, the C.E.O. of Riedel Crystal of America, moved from a large house on Long Island to a small house in Hoboken and realized he didn't have enough room for his wineglasses," Ms. Talbert said. "He started thinking about what is taking up the space. It was the stem. He sent drawings to Austria, where they tasted wine in the glasses and made a few adjustments." Ms. Talbert said the tumbler's egg shape collects aromas in the headspace of the glass, bringing out a wine's best qualities. The trick, she added, was to fill the glass less than halfway . one-third full was ideal . to leave room for the aromas to gather. "How well does the egg shape repel tail attacks?" I asked. "I have cats," said Ms. Talbert, whose pets jump on the table. "Most of the glasses, if you tip them over gently, will tip right back. Remember Weebles? Like Weebles, the glasses wobble but they won't fall down." I still had qualms. Without a stem to hold, I would have to cup the tumbler in my hand. Wouldn't warmth from my fingers heat the wine? Wouldn't the temperature change alter the taste? "If you're having a glass of wine at dinner, you drink from it and put it down, instead of holding onto it to warm it up," Ms. Talbert said. Still, I wanted a second opinion. I phoned Hildegarde Heymann, a viticulture professor at the University of California, Davis, who recently completed a study of cheese eaters, discrediting the theory that eating cheese enhances the flavor of red wine. "I don't know if anyone has sat down and figured out how much you heat up a glass by picking it up, taking a sip and putting it down," she said. "But obviously if you hold onto a glass it will warm up." "So stemless could be a bad thing for the wine?" I asked. "It may depend on the wine," Professor Heymann said. "If you have a really good wine, you might want to heat it up a little. With a really bad wine, you don't want to heat it up because you want to minimize the volatiles that come out. You may want to drink it straight from the refrigerator." "Sometimes I even put an ice cube in cheap white wine," I said. "Me too," she said. Emboldened, I made a confession. "Riedel recommends only filling the glass one third of the way to enhance aromas," I told her. "But I have lots of children, and I drive a lot of car pools, and I have a job. And at the end of the day, sometimes I fill the glass, um, a little higher so I can feel like I am only having one glass." Professor Heymann said: "Then you just have to buy a bigger glass." By this time, I felt like Professor Heymann was someone I could really talk to and, if she didn't live more than an hour's drive away, perhaps invite over for a glass of wine sometime. But could a serious wine scientist survive a run-in with Otto's tail? Would a drive-by swishing unglue her? "Do you by any chance have a dog?" I asked. "Cats," she said. (Hers don't get on the table.) "But I've been very well known in restaurants for gesturing and having glasses knock over." "You have?" "Yes, and we just bought some stemless Riedels," she said. "I'm very pragmatic when it comes to what I do at home." I am too. I bought Riedel glasses from wineenthusiast.com in two sizes, chardonnay and "bigger." E-mail: Slatalla(a)nytimes.com -- ------------------------------ * * 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 *

19 years, 6 months

[wine] East Side Assoc. Tasting

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Nothing official on the docket for this week. (There was some talk of going to Sapor, but I don't know that we have critical mass. Let me know if that's changed.) The East Side Neighborhood Assoc. tasting is 5 to 8 on Thursday at the Nicollet Island Pavilion. Go to the website FFI. http://www.esns.org/index.asp?Type=B_EV&SEC={A7C12463-09B6-45DB-8891-3E7F1B… TICKETS - $35 in advance, and $40 at the door. Call 612-781-6011 for ticket information Surly Brewing Open House is Friday 4-8 and Saturday noon-4. Free tours and samples including Bender, Furious, and the new Cynic Ale. Off 100 in Crystal SurlyBrewing.com FFI. Blessing of the Maibock is at 6:00 on Saturday at Mpls TownHall Brewery. Cedar/Riverside/Washington. Free Maibock from 6 until 7. Cheers, Jim Here's a list of "crowd pleasers" from The Post. They're also "good to have on hand". WINE For Large Events, Simplify Your Choices Wednesday, May 10, 2006; F05 BEN GILIBERTI Theoretically, five different wines are needed for a full menu at a graduation party, anniversary celebration or June wedding. These are a red and white wine for the cocktail hour, two reds for the dinner (a light red to go with poultry or salmon, and a heartier one for meats), plus a full-bodied dinner white to go with seafood or cream sauce entrees. But with everything else you have to worry about when planning a large event, this is too complicated. Simplify by choosing two cocktail hour wines (a red and a white) with enough body to move over to the dinner table afterward. Then you will need only a hearty red wine -- for total of three wines -- to complement the red meat dinner entrees. Guests tend to drink more at late-afternoon and evening celebrations, so such events require more wine than do luncheons. For a late-afternoon or evening wedding celebration with a one-hour cocktail hour followed by dinner, plan on a minimum of three cases of wine, or approximately 36 bottles, per 100 guests. Divide the mix equally among the white wine, the light red and the full-bodied red. Adjust up or down according to the number of guests, whether beer and mix drinks will be served at the bar and the amount of red meat on the menu. If you decide to buy extra as a safety margin, note that some stores will take back unopened bottles of wine. Take advantage of the opportunity provided by many caterers and banquet facilities to provide a preview dinner to test the wine and food matches. Finally, don't overspend. At a large event, wines are rarely the focus of attention. The following wines from my recent tastings are great choices for the big event. Even if you are not entertaining, these wines are ideal for stocking your home cellar. Prices are approximate. WHITE WINES (cocktail hour and dinner) Mezzacorona 2004/2005 Chardonnay ($8-$9; from Italy; distributed by Washington Wholesale); Mezzacorona 2004/2005 Pinot Grigio ($8-$9; Italy; Washington Wholesale): Mezzacorona Chardonnay is made from a rare Austrian clone of chardonnay offering distinctive yellow fruit flavors. The pinot grigio is bright and fresh, with a soft, round finish. Louis Latour 2004/2005 Chardonnay Vin de Pays des Coteaux de l'Ardeche ($9; France; Winebow): This wine, from a famous Burgundy house, offers balanced, lightly oaked fruit and French prestige. Pepi 2004/2005 Pinot Grigio ($10; Oregon; NDC): Because it is made from cool climate Oregon grapes, this brisk pinot grigio retains lots of zesty acidity to complement its apple and tropical fruit flavors. Santa Julia Torrentes 2004/2005 ($8; Argentina; Henry Wine Group): Intense tropical aromas of mango and melon make for a great match with crudites and first-course salads. LIGHT- TO MEDIUM-BODIED REDS (cocktail hour and dinner) Mirassou 2005/2004 Pinot Noir ($10; California; NDC): Given the rising popularity of pinot noir, this well-made, supple California offering will be a hit with your guests. Heart Kris 2003 Merlot ($12-$13; Italy; Winebow): The delicate fruit of this perfumed red carries through nicely to the finish. Tortoise Creek 2005 Merlot ($8; France; Henry Wine Group): An excellent match with salmon or light poultry in the manner of a petite chateau Bordeaux, this can also be served slightly chilled during the cocktail hour. >> French Rabbit Pinot Noir and French Rabbit Merlot ($10 for one liter; France; Wine Partners): Packaged in an innovative, environmentally friendly box and using grapes from Languedoc vineyards employing sustainable vineyard practices, the smooth merlot and the berry-accented pinot noir are both tasty and socially responsible. FULL-BODIED REDS (meat entrees) Rosso Classic 2004 "Francis Coppola Presents" ($9; California; NDC): This delectable blend of zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon and syrah has a full-throttle bouquet of spice and vanilla, a voluptuous, velvety texture on the palate and finishes with harmonious tannins. You won't want to return leftover bottles. McWilliam's 2004 Shiraz "Hanwood Estate" ($9; Australia; NDC): Offering an assortment of plum and red fruit flavors on the palate, this finishes with enough tannins to stand up to red meat without being at all harsh. Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti 2004 ($12-$14; Italy; Bacchus): This seductive young Chianti offers a lovely bouquet of violets and berries, followed on the palate by layers of black cherry and tart strawberry fruit. Thoroughly sophisticated. 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 *

19 years, 7 months

[wine] [Dennis.Skrade@courts.state.mn.us: White House Dinner] - Colbar

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, This is worth watching. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from "Skrade, Dennis" <Dennis.Skrade(a)courts.state.mn.us> ----- Subject: White House Dinner Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 10:38:37 -0500 X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: White House Dinner Thread-Index: AcZt/nraQIxfRxFAQDWOfJaeVH+LXg== From: "Skrade, Dennis" <Dennis.Skrade(a)courts.state.mn.us> http://blogs.citypages.com/ctg/2006/04/the_truthiness.asp This is the link for the White House Correspondence Dinner featuring Steven Colbert from the Colbert Report. It is one of the best pieces of satire I have seen recently. dennis ----- 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 *

19 years, 7 months

[wine] Arborfest Beer Festival Tix

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Sounds like the group is taking a week off. Some of us are going to "Arborfest", a bennefit Craft Beer Tasting at Macallister College on Thursday. Rake Mag has a deal on Tix. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from "Louise A. Stich" <louise.stich(a)verizonbusiness.com> ----- Date: Tue, 02 May 2006 09:10:07 -0500 From: "Louise A. Stich" <louise.stich(a)verizonbusiness.com> Subject: Arborfest ? To: "'Jim L. Ellingson'" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> Arborfest 2006 - Regional Craft Beer Festival and Fundraiser Exclusive offer for Rake readers: $10 off ticket prices <http://www.rakemag.com/images/uploaded_images/17718/17719/arborfest-logo2x2 .jpg> Arborfest is a fundraiser to help the Family Tree Clinic of Saint Paul, a non-profit clinic serving as a leading low-cost health care provider in Saint Paul since 1971. Thursday, May 4 5:30 to 9 p.m. Macalester College in the Kagin Commons building Tickets include a commemorative tasting glass tos sample 35 beers from 12 breweries, food, entertainment, and live music. Rake ticket price: $30 Regular ticket price: $40 Purchase tickets online at: www.ticketworks.com <http://www.ticketworks.com/> Enter "The Rake" in the discount code You must be 21 or older and present a valid ID in order to attend Participating breweries include: Bandana Brewery, Barley Johns Brew Pub, Bell's, Fitger's Brewhouse, Finnegans, Great Waters Brewing Co., Lake Superior Brewing, Rock Bottom Brewery, Rush River Brewing Co., Summit Brewing Co., Surly Brewing Co., Town Hall Brewery For more information visit the www.familytreeclinic.org/arborfest/ <http://www.rakemag.com/images/1x1invis.gif> ______________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned by Verizon Managed Email Content Service, using Skeptic? technology powered by MessageLabs. For more information on Verizon Managed Email Content Service, visit http://www.verizonbusiness.com. ______________________________________________________________________ ----- 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 *

19 years, 7 months

[wine] Rhone Style at Town Talk

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Had some interesting wines at St. Paul Grill. Much of the food was very good. The Roast Beef Loin was rather boring. Lacked flavor, texture. Ribeye was fantastic. Pork chop looked to be excellent. This week, Rhone style grapes/wines at Town Talk Diner. Thanks to Warren for setting it up. TOWN TALK DINER, 2707 1/2 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612.722.1312; www.towntalkdiner.com. Yes: Bob Betsy Lori Warren/Ruth Chris Bill Jim France 44 Sale is on now. Ditto Haskell's "nickel" sale. Cheers, Jim Talkin' Bout Town Talk: Remember the good old days, when all the cars had fins, all the girls' hair was up in beehives, and all the malted milkshakes were health food for growing boys? Me neither. Nonetheless, I can't wait for the rebirth of the dear, long-departed Town Talk Diner. Yes, Minneapolis's most beloved and most photographed abandoned restaurant is about to light up anew, as...the Town Talk Diner. Not the old one, the new one. While the name will be exactly the same, everything else should be exactly different: The restaurant is the first by three young partners with more fine-dining experience than any other group of Gen-X/Gen-Yers I can think of: Tim Niver (the sweet, slick former general manager of the Minneapolis Aquavit), Aaron Johnson (onetime restaurant and bar manager of Cosmos, the Le Meridien hotel restaurant), and chef David Vlach, who spent two years working at California's beyond-legendary French Laundry and cooked at Levain for Stewart Woodman in that restaurant's opening days. These three young-uns, who have more rarefied, ultra-fine-dining experience than you'll find in many of our local white-tablecloth hot spots, are trading in an obvious future in squab and mother-of-pearl caviar spoons for a less obvious one in burgers, malts, "canned beer and hard-core American food," as Niver told me. Canned beer? From people who emerge straight from the world of kitchen-steeped fresh wasabi-aquavit and cauliflower panna cotta? Well, there will be bottled beer too, but I think it's safe to say you can expect a beverage program as ambitious as the ones at the big-ticket restaurants downtown, but built along everyday south Minneapolis lines. Think $3 and $4 everyday picnic wines by the glass, as well as homemade Cherry Coke floats (don't ask me, I don't know how that'll work either) and, for dessert, a few shakes and malts made with (don't tell the kids!) special grownups-only ingredients, like orange vodka in the Dreamsicles. "The general idea we're working with is, good and tasty, but also light and lively," explains Niver. To wit, options on the opening dinner menu will include crowd-pleasers like smoked-tomato soup with a grilled cheddar-cheese sandwich, as well as more highfalutin, but still down-home, choices like a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with endive jam and cherry sauce. If you remember the old itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny Town Talk space, you should know that the new diner will have an additional attached dining room, bringing the total seat count to about 80. "We're hoping that this will be the kind of place that people can come into three times a week and not break the bank," says Niver. "It will also have great, well-trained service. Hopefully people will sit there and think, I can't believe we're getting this incredible level of service in a diner." The new Town Talk is hoping to open in mid-August; keep an eye out for the big sign--when it's lit up, that will be your chance to see what our youngest generation of up-and-comers can do when they pay for the griddle, and thus get to decide what to do with it. (TOWN TALK DINER, 2707 1/2 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612.722.1312; www.towntalkdiner.com.) ----- Forwarded message from Russell McCandless <russellmccandless(a)frontiernet.net> ----- From: Russell McCandless <russellmccandless(a)frontiernet.net> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] TN Rhone Grapes at Oddfellows 2-2-06 Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 12:31:13 -0600 Rhone Grapes at Oddfellow's - 2-2-2006 W1 - bashful nose (wine very cold), SO2; lacks fruit in the mouth; finishes appealing citric, surprising length, is this just closed? 2002 Elemental Cellars Viognier, Deux Vert Vyd, Willamette Valley. (Popular at the table, but just never opened up for me.) W2 - full gold; powerful floral nose, minerals, touch of honey, floral quality suggests viognier; midpalate minerals, smoke, considerable oak, this sure isn't all about the fruit, slightly odd mouthfeel; smooth transition to aromatically reticent finish, again I'd like to be finding more fruit, quite long though, interesting wine. 2003 Tablas Creek Roussanne, Paso Robles. W3 - light gold; attractive honeyed nose; midpalate soft, richly honeyed fruit, delicious in a very southern Rhone style; finesse transition to a minerally finish, excellent length, very nice wine overall. 2003 Tablas Creek Roussanne, Paso Robles. (My analysis is that W2 was corked, not enough for any of us - not even Betsy - to actually smell the TCA, but enough to kill the fruit a little and upset the wine's balance. Note that these two identical wines were not even the same color. The wood was quite obvious in W2, but much better balanced with W3's higher fruit level. W2 was shipped directly from the winery and went right into my cellar; so, the difference between the wines is likely to have been the corks.) 1.1 - light purple; sour note on nose, just a bit odd, gunpowder and bacon; tastes as it smells, mouthfilling flavor despite light body; finish lacks fruit (getting old?) but reasonable minerality and length. 2000 Cotes du Rhone, Perrin, Reserve. 1.2 - medium red; attractive smoky, bacony nose; very oaky and tannic in the mouth though, and excessive smoked meat flavor, body medium minus; dominant smoked meat on the finish, quite long. 1996 Lirac, Domaine de la Mordoree. 1.3 - medium purple; light fruit on nose; in the mouth, some richness and structure, finishes very light though; attractive small wine. 2002 les Baux de Provence (AC), Mas de Gourgonnier. 1.4 - medium-dark purple; oaky candied nose; sour flavor, light body, little finish. 1999 Cotes du Rhone Villages. (I failed to note the producer, who may wish to remain anonymous in any case.) 2.1 - medium purple; attractive primary fruit nose; lovely balance in the mouth, young fruit and smoke; finishes as it tastes, could wish for more length but this is quite young, very attractive overall. 2003 Tablas Creek Mourvedre, Paso Robles. 2.2 - inky; black fruits and menthol on nose, considerable depth; rich Aussie midpalate, big fruit, high deliciousness factor; smooth transition to a building finish, excellent wine. 2001 Penfolds RWT Shiraz, Barossa Valley. (This stood up well to a bite of the extremely spicy blackened salmon.) 2.3 - inky, but just a touch of age showing at the rim; bacony northern Rhone nose with some real breed; light to medium body, tastes like Cote Rotie, could be more concentrated, very good though; finish is best feature, fruit coming out, classy. 1993 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier, La Mordoree. (An off vintage, which Parker rates "appalling." Good example of fact that with sufficiently strict selection, fine wine can be made in almost any vintage.) 2.4 - medium purple; very clear cotton candy note on nose, with smoky fruit and bacon; medium body, this one tastes like Cote Rotie too, plenty of fruit; excellent aromatic finish although this seems to lack the power and concentration of a really big vintage. 1998 Cote Rotie, Chapoutier, Les Becasses. (Not quite the massively ripe year in the north that it was in the south, but it's hard to complain about getting served two Chapoutier Cote Roties back to back! Thursday night wine tasting is a tough job, but someone has to do it..) ----- 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 *

19 years, 7 months

[wine] New World Brdx Blends at St Paul Grill on 4/20/06

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Annette S. has arranged for us to go to the Saint Paul Grill this Thursday. Time is 6:30. Vin du juor is New World Brdx Blends. The SPG is red meat heaven, but whites are always welcome. We were last there in May of 2005. I have not updated the wine list nor did I expand it to include the more general New World Brdx Blends. Cheers, Jim Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:18:05 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] St. Paul Grill Wine List Greetings, I've copied the Cab section of the wine list: They may well appreciate that a 95 or 97 Arrowood is different from a 2000, but why push the issue. More info at: http://www.stpaulgrill.com/ St. Paul Grill 350 Market St (651) 224-7455 Parking: Some of the Meters are free after 4:30 or some such. Your chances of finding a spot improves as you move away from the Ordway. Open lot accross from Fima, Marshall Fields is inexpensive. (6th and Wabasha) Annette S. Bob Betsy Warren/Ruth Russ Jim (late: 7-ish) Karen T. Nicolai Cheers, Jim 512 Arrowood, 2000, Sonoma 501 Beaulieu Vineyard, 2001, Napa 508 Beringer, Knight.s Valley, 2000, Sonoma 518 Cakebread, 2001, Napa 513 Carmenet, Dynamite Cabernet, 2001, Sonoma 519 Chalk Hill, Estate, 1999, Sonoma 517 Conn Creek, 2000, Napa 68 Cathy Corison, 1998,Napa 506 Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cold Creek, 2001, Columbia Valley 520 Chimney Rock, 2000, Stag.s Leap Napa 608 Estancia, .Meritage., 2000, Alexander Valley 611 Franciscan, .Magnificat., 2000, Napa 502 Franciscan, Oakville Estate, 2001, Napa 507 Freemark Abbey, 2001, Napa 523 Grgich, 1999, Napa 515 Jordan, 2000, Alexander Valley 500 J. Lohr, Seven Oaks, 2001, Santa Clara 503 Robert Mondavi, 2000, Napa 509 Mettler Family Vineyards, 2001, Ukiah 612 Mount Veeder, 2000, Napa 504 Newton, Claret, 2000, Napa 521 Provenance Vineyards, 2000, Rutherford 605 St. Francis, 2000, Sonoma 85 Silver Oak, 1999, Alexander Valley 609 Simi, 2000, Alexander Valley 63 Spring Mountain, 1998, Napa 524 Stag.s Leap, 2000, Napa 511 Trefethen, 2000, Napa 94 Truchard, 1999, Carneros 516 Turnbull, 2000, Napa 600 White Oak, 2000, Napa 66 Viader, 1999, Napa EUROPE 505 Chateau Clerc Milon, Pauillac, 1999 514 Chateau Duhart-Milon Rothschild, Pauillac, 2000 45 Chateau Gloria, St. Julien, 2000 907 Chateau La Cardonne Rothschild, Medoc, 1998 50 Chateau Le Ormes de Pez, St. Estephe, 2000 52 Chateau Lynch Bages, Pauillac, 2000 950 Lafite, Pauillac Reserve, 1999 SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 510 Henry.s Drive, 2002, Padthaway 910 Penfolds, Bin 407, 2001, Australia 903 Santa Rita, .Medalla Real., Maipo Valley, 2001, Chile http://www.wineskinny.com/wine_review_archives/archive_californiameritage_r… April/May 2006 Wine Review Archive - California Meritage and Bordeaux Blends, Red Benziger 1997 Rancho Salina Red Table Wine ($35). We're all hyped up about California red Bordeaux blends these days, and this is a very nice example. This one is about 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and 20% Cab Franc. It is rich and heady with concentrated fruit like ripe plum, cherry, and red currant, and it has earthy accents alongside the solid oak notes. Delicious now and should age well for the next few years. Wonderful with hearty, cold weather comfort foods. (Weekend Wine, 01/01) Beringer 2000 Alluvium Knights Valley ($30). A very good value, considering the high level of winemaking -- and the smooth, enchanting results! A pretty, aromatic, Merlot-based blend, with velvety blackberry flavors mingling with mocha, mint and a sweet, smoky note. So easy to pair with food -- try it with something like pork tenderloin or rack of lamb! Ready to drink now and over the next three or four years. (Weekend Wine, 11/04) Bernardus 1997 Marinus Carmel Valley ($46). Marinus is Bernardus' Bordeaux blend. The 1997 is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon (79%), with Merlot (18%), Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Although I thought this was a tasty wine, I didn't think it came close to justifying the fairly steep price tag. Enjoyable, medium-bodied, and showing ripe fruit and spice, but the finish stopped a bit short. Ready to drink now and over the next couple of years. (Weekend Wine, 12/01) Burgess Cellars 1997 Enveiere Napa Valley ($85). This is the first vintage of this red Meritage, and it is a blockbuster success. Concentrated and intense, it shows concentrated black cherry, plum, and berry fruit with plenty of oak and cedar and sophisticated herb flavors. It is outstanding now and should only continue to improve with age. Can cellar easily for 10 years. (Weekend Wine, 02/01) Byington 1999 Alliage Sonoma County ($21). A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Cherry and cassis fruit on a medium-bodied frame, with nutmeg, smoke and herbal notes. Ready to drink now and over the next three years. (Weekend Wine, 11/02) Casa Nuestra 2000 Meritage Napa Valley St. Helena Estate ($45). Merlot (70%), Cabernet Franc (15%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%) blend seamlessly and produce smooth red cherry and plum fruit with milk chocolate, heather and roasted nut accents. Long, supple finish. Very food-friendly. Easy to enjoy now and over the next five or six years. (Winery Spotlight, 04/03) 1997 Quixote ($23). This is a classic Bordeaux blend of Merlot (60%), Cabernet Franc (31%), and Cabernet Sauvignon (9%). And it is delicious. Medium bodied and smooth, featuring cherry, red currant, and chocolate flavors with a pronounced herbal, earthy note. Drink now and over the next four or five years. (Weekend Wine, 01/01) Clos du Bois 2001 Marlstone Alexander Valley ($39). A rich, complex blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this California red offers aromatic dark chocolate and leather accents to velvety black cherry and currant fruit. Very good now and over the next three or four years. (Weekend Wine 04/05) deLorimier Winery 1999 Mosaic Meritage Alexander Valley ($30). Full-bodied and with plenty of tannic backbone, this wine features currant and red cherry fruit, with milk chocolate, herbal notes and toasty oak. Could use a bit more bottle time to smooth out the tannins. Drink from 2004-2008. (Robyn's Picks, 10/02) 1997 Mosaic Red Meritage Alexander Valley ($28). Founders Al and Sandy deLorimier are committed to the concept that a well-crafted blend is superior to a varietal wine due to the unique contributions of each grape in the blend and the resulting complexities that cannot be found in a varietal wine. This Mosaic is a very good example. It is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, blended with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec, and it is an excellent wine. Concentrated and rich, with a velvety texture, and featuring black cherry and berry fruit with coffee and cola accents, this wine is approachable now and has the potential to age for at least another five years. (Weekend Wine, 11/00) Dry Creek Vineyard 1999 Meritage Dry Creek Valley ($28). Spicy blackberry bouquet leads to rich red currant, black plum, and cherry fruit with clove and licorice accents. Nicely balanced, rich but still elegant, with a ripe, generous finish. Delicious. Ready to drink now and over the next four or five years. (Robyn's Picks, 10/02) EOS 2001 French Connection Paso Robles ($20). Delicious Meritage blend (58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Cabernet Franc and 18% Merlot), with medium-bodied ripe red cherry and plum fruit laced with mint and spicy notes. Nice tannic structure and finish. Very enjoyable overall package. Ready to drink now and over the next three or four years. (Party Planning, 02/04) Flora Springs 1999 Trilogy Napa Valley ($60). Deep reddish purple color and appealing spicy cherry bouquet introduce concentrated black cherry and berry flavors that are layered with rich chocolate, smoke and herbal notes. Picks up light vanilla extract on the luxurious finish. Very good now and should age nicely for at least six or seven years. (Robyn's Picks, 10/02) IO 2000 Santa Barbara County ($60). Concentrated color, bouquet and flavors on a plush, silky frame. Black currant, blueberry, white pepper, tobacco, mineral and a light touch of mint. Nice acidity and a lingering finish. Very good. Ready to drink now and over the next five or six years. (Splurge Wine, 04/04) Joseph Phelps 2000 Insignia Napa Valley ($137). A super splurge! But a beautiful wine, with deep, rich, concentrated blackberry and black cherry fruit layered with creamy chocolate, warm spices, tobacco and a light mineral note. Lush from start to lingering finish. Should age beautifully. Tempting now and over the next ten years. (Splurge Wine, 04/04) Justin 2001 Justification Paso Robles ($37). Blend of Cabernet Franc (71%) and Merlot (29%) offers smooth black cherry and wild blueberry fruit laced with violet, earth and mint notes. Lovely, smooth and perfumed wine. Ready to drink now and over the next three or four years. (Weekend Wine, 07/03) Norman 1996 No Nonsense Red Paso Robles Claret ($12-$15). A blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Cab Franc, and you have to like the name! This is really great for drinking now, has a beautiful crimson hue, and a bright fruity taste. I think you'll like it! (Richard.s Picks, 6/99) Quintessa 2000 Rutherford ($110). Substantial tannic structure holds up equal portions of rich, concentrated blackberry and plum fruit and funky, earthy aromas and flavors. Picks up sweet tobacco and anise accents on the finish. A really big, powerfully structured wine. Drink now (decant first!) and over the next 6-8 years. (Splurge Wine, 04/04) Robert Craig 2001 Affinity Napa Valley ($40). Excellent value on a powerful, complex wine. Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with 20% Merlot and a dash of Cab Franc, this deeply colored wine offers a ripe, fruity bouquet with sweet spice and espresso notes. Flavors feature focused black cherry and berry fruit with layers of tobacco, earth and licorice. Full, lingering finish. Nicely balanced. Ready to drink now and over the next five or six years. (Splurge Wine, 04/04) 1999 Affinity Napa Valley ($48). This is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (77%), Merlot (18%) and Cabernet Franc (5%). It is a beautiful deep red and offers a heady bouquet of spicy plum and sweet black cherry. Concentrated cherry and berry fruit are layered with earthy notes, savory herbs, and subtle caramelized oak. This wine manages to be quite full-bodied and rich, but still elegant. Lush, generous finish. Very good now and over the next four or five years. (Winery Spotlight, 04/02) Spring Mountain 2001 Elivette Napa Valley ($90). Mostly Cabernet (89%), with Merlot and Petit Verdot making up the balance, this is a rich, powerful wine that offers deeply concentrated blackberry and cherry flavors and aromas layered with spicy, toasty oak throughout along with green olive, espresso and a touch of sage. Absolutely delicious! Ready to drink now and over the next six or seven years. (Weekend Wine, 11/04) St. Clement 2001 Oroppas Napa Valley ($50). Full-bodied and structured, with good balance between the rich black plum and berry flavors, waves of warm baking spices, and restrained touches of chocolate, eucalyptus and earth. Complex, lingering finish. Ready to drink now and over the next four or five years. (Weekend Wine, 11/04) 1999 Oroppas Napa Valley ($50). Mind-melting bouquet of rich red cherry, chocolate, and sweet oak notes that repeat on the palate, playing off focused blackberry and black plum fruit, tobacco, and spice. Lingering finish. Huge wine. Wonderful now and over the next five or six years. (Robyn's Picks, 10/02) St. Supery 1998 Meritage Red Napa Valley ($50). A well-crafted effort in a challenging California vintage. Elegant plum, black cherry and cassis fruit is interwoven with tobacco, mineral, and earthy notes. Nice finish. Medium bodied. Ready to drink now and over the next couple of years. (Weekend Wine, 04/01) Stonestreet 1997 Legacy Red Meritage ($60). Wow, this was a fantastic wine. A wine list splurge at Fleming's Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Houston (although at $125, not a bad deal at all!), it packed a powerful punch, featuring concentrated blackberry and cherry fruit, layers of bittersweet chocolate, cedar, and tobacco, all on a firmly tannic frame. About half Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Delicious now and will continue to evolve beautifully over the next ten years. (Weekend Wine, 02/03) Viader 2001 Napa Valley ($80). Ripe and jammy, with lush blackberry and blueberry flavors and aromas picking up smoke, bittersweet chocolate and dried herb accents. Finishes with an earthy note. Ready to drink now and over the next three or four years. (Splurge Wine, 04/04) White Oak Vineyards 1997 Myers Limited Red Reserve Sonoma County ($32). This is from a small yielding winery in California. This particular red Meritage (50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% Cabernet Franc) is a very deep ruby red with delicious cherry and licorice flavors, and a slight earthiness on the palate. The finish was what I enjoyed the most about the wine -- it is very elegant and drinkable now. (Richard's Picks, 04/00)

19 years, 7 months

[wine] Vino Sans "C" at SOPHIA - RIVERPLACE

by Jim L. Ellingson

We're going to Sophia in Riverplace this week. Note the change from the previous announcement. Sorry about the SNAFU. Info corrected below. Also articles on Riesling and Merlto from the Post, NYTimes. ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:16:45 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] Vno Sans "C" at Sofitel, Corkage Greetings, Lori has made arrangements for us to go to Sophia this week. Bob's first thought was "French White Wine on the order of Entre Deux Mears and such." That bounced about and settled in on "Grapes that do not begin with C." So bring your favorite "White and Right" or Red and Ready" (tm) as long as it isn't a chard, a chenin blanc, a cab, a carginon, etc. Reservation is in Lori's name. Sophia Bistro 65 Southeast Main Street at Riverplace Minneapolis, MN 55414 612 379 1111 Info, menus, wine lists, etc. on line at http://www.sophiaattheriver.com/ Time is 6:30 on Thursday. Count is 10, can be adjusted as needed. Arrangement is "free corkage" BUT the house would like some of the 20 to 30% we leave for the server. There are places where we pay $5/person in lieu of corkage. Seems the bill always gets hosed up when we do that. Not sure how to best manage this situation. 1. Use the 1/3 rule, but round up and add a dollar (e.g. 40 + 14 + 1 = 55)?j 2. Go for 40% (bill plus half, minus 10%. e.g. 40 + 20 - 4 = 56)? Not sure how the house moves their cut into the register, but then we don't really want to know how sausage is made either. Lori Betsy Bob Bill (?) Ruth Russ-yes Sue-maybe (Pinot Champagne? Proseco?) Jim/Louise Nicolai Below is the artical from the SFGC on "corkage". Interesting stuff, but the issues are diffferent. SF is a bit higher ($ and Quality) on the food chain than MSP SF is wine country (Vintners working w/ restaurants). Per the article, one for one seems quite workable. That is, buy one off their list and bring one in w/o corkage. The straight $20 markup seems both fair and rare. 200% markup on wine and food would be reasonable if applied to the true cost. If we're buying it for 10, the restaurant is probably buying it for $8. Why is it on the list for $40 instead of $24? Cheers, Jim April 12, 2006 The Pour Rieslings From Germany Scale the Heights By ERIC ASIMOV THE sap rises. The swallows return. And without fail each year something in the spring air touches the nerve that causes me to crave riesling. Could it be the scent of the tulips along Park Avenue? The shedding of the winter woolens? The thwack of ball against bat? All right, all right, I'll lose the seasonal romance. It's the clogging of the sinuses, the car alarms now all too audible through open windows, the promise of sweaty days ahead, whatever. Either way, the first warm days of spring signal the official opening of riesling season. Many wines have their seasonal associations. I think of Sancerre and sauvignon blanc in the summer, Rhone wines in the fall, Amarone in the winter, and Burgundy and Champagne pretty much any time at all. Yet, just as riesling reigns among wines in conveying a sense of origin, it is also unsurpassed in connoting the sense of rebirth and renewal that we almost physically equate with spring. Among its less mystical attributes, riesling is also one of the most versatile wines to pair with food. You would think that with all of this going for it, riesling would be one of the most popular, revered wines in the world. Instead, it remains something of an insider's wine, enjoyed passionately by a relatively small number of consumers who seemingly can't decide whether to rejoice in the mainstream neglect, which keeps prices reasonable, or despair in having to forge their own path in an oaky, vanilla, fruit cocktail white wine kind of world. (Righteous indignation, you see, is an essential component of riesling love.) I can point to many occasions over the last 20 years when riesling-loving wine writers asserted that the tide had turned, that riesling was finally about to have its moment. We're still waiting for that wave to arrive. Hopeful signs abound, nonetheless. Maybe it's just spring talking, but in New York, at least, sommeliers like Paul Grieco at Hearth in the East Village and Rebecca Foster at Cookshop in Chelsea are big believers in riesling and effectively convey their enthusiasm through their wine lists. Retail shops are doing a much better job among themselves of featuring riesling. Best of all, more great riesling is being made today than ever before, and it is coming from more places. Alsace, of course, has a proud riesling heritage, and its wines can be among the most powerful and profound whites in the world. I've grown to love the dry, rich, minerally rieslings of Austria, while the surprisingly good rieslings of Australia may come to be recognized one day as the best Australian whites of all. California has a few riesling pockets, like Navarro in Mendocino County and Smith-Madrone in Napa Valley, though the best American rieslings may come from the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. But for dedication to the riesling grape and for wines of a rare beauty, depth and clarity that can match fragility with intensity, no country can rival Germany. The drawbacks of German rieslings are all too well known. The labels are indecipherable, the nomenclature is confusing, and the language, for non-German speakers, is difficult to translate. All true, yet ultimately irrelevant. Burgundy is awfully confusing as well, yet because the wines are worth the effort, people eventually figure it out. Believe me, German rieslings are worth the effort, too. One more thing comes to many people's minds about these wines: they are sweet. Indeed, this is frequently the case, yet again, it often doesn't matter. Why is this? Consider for a moment that although many popular American wines claim to be dry, they are in fact slightly sweet. Believe it or not, these American wines often taste sweeter than many rieslings because the sugar in the German wines, unlike in the American ones, is balanced by high acidity. Paradoxically, these sweet German rieslings taste drier than the so-called dry New World cabernets and chardonnays. Here's a bottle that reflects all that Americans consider nightmarish about German rieslings: It's a 2004 R�desheimer Magdalenenkreuz sp�tlese from Josef Leitz, one of the excellent producers that are rejuvenating the reputation of the Rheingau, a small, historic area full of crumbling castles and vineyards that rise up from the Rhine on unbelievably steep slopes. Forget the mouthful of words. What's important to know is that this wine offers exactly the sort of tension between sweetness and acidity that gives German rieslings their taut precision and focus. It is light and graceful, full of lingering mineral and rich lemon flavors, and even though it has some residual sugar, the wine tastes almost dry because each element is in harmony. It's a difficult balancing act, made to look easy. Oh, and it's just 8 percent alcohol. While the Leitz tastes dry, some Rheingau wines are legitimately dry. Robert Weil, another Rheingau producer, makes a wonderful sp�tlese, but also makes a dry wine (with a label in English that simply reads, "Estate Riesling Dry"). Like most German rieslings, the predominant flavors are of minerals, but the Weil also has a floral component, and the 2004 has a slight fizziness that is characteristic of many young rieslings. Because in dry rieslings all the sugar has been fermented into alcohol, they tend to have a higher level of alcohol than wines in which the fermentation is halted, leaving residual sugar. The Weil is all of 11.5 percent, as against the 14-plus percent typical of most American wines. Along with the Rheingau, the most famous German wine region is the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. It is the home of many great producers, like J. J. Pr�m, Fritz Haag and Selbach-Oster. But producers in other regions are worth following, too. I've recently enjoyed superb wines from Hexamer, D�nnhoff and Sch�fer-Fr�hlich in the Nahe and M�ller-Catoir in the Pfalz. Most remarkable of all was a riesling from the lowly Mittelrhein, which mostly produces plonk from the M�ller-Thurgau grape. This bottle, a 2004 Bopparder Hamm Ohlenberg sp�tlese from Weingart, was another of those exquisitely balanced sweet wines that taste dry. But in addition to its lively floral and mineral qualities, this one had intense peach and apricot flavors, and delicacy, too. What more could you want? Oh, I don't know. Maybe saut�ed river trout or scallops? Or Dover sole, or white asparagus, or roasted squab? I'd even settle for another glass. 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 *

19 years, 7 months

[wine] Vno Sans "C" at Sofitel, Corkage

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Lori has made arrangements for us to go to Sofitel this week. Bob's first thought was "French White Wine on the order of Entre Deux Mears and such." That bounced about and settled in on "Grapes that do not begin with C." So bring you favorite White and Right or Red and Ready as long as it isn't a chard, a chenin blanc, a cab, a carginon, etc. Not sure if we're at Collette or La Fougasse. Reservation is in Lori's name. Hotel Sofitel 5601 West 78TH Street BLOOMINGTON 55439 952/835-1900 Time is 6:30 on Thursday. Count is 10, can be adjusted as needed. Arrangement is "free corkage" BUT the house would like some of the 20 to 30% we leave for the server. There are places where we pay $5/person in lieu of corkage. Seems the bill always gets hosed up when we do that. Not sure how to best manage this situation. 1. Use the 1/3 rule, but round up and add a dollar (e.g. 40 + 14 + 1 = 55)?j 2. Go for 40% (bill plus half, minus 10%. e.g. 40 + 20 - 4 = 56)? Not sure how the house moves their cut into the register, but then we don't really want to know how sausage is made either. Lori Betsy Bob Annette Bill (?) Ruth/Warren Russ/Sue (Pinot Champagne? Proseco?) Jim/Louise Nicolai Below is the artical from the SFGC on "corkage". Interesting stuff, but the issues are diffferent. SF is a bit higher ($ and Quality) on the food chain than MSP SF is wine country (Vintners working w/ restaurants). Per the article, one for one seems quite workable. That is, buy one off their list and bring one in w/o corkage. The straight $20 markup seems both fair and rare. 200% markup on wine and food would be reasonable if applied to the true cost. If we're buying it for 10, the restaurant is probably buying it for $8. Why is it on the list for $40 instead of $24? Cheers, Jim Taming of the screw Diners and restaurateurs alike are confounded by corkage fees - Amanda Gold, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, April 6, 2006 Click to ViewClick to ViewClick to View When Craig Stoll decided to prohibit diners from bringing their own wines into his Pizzeria Delfina, he didn't think he was doing anything newsworthy. Was he ever wrong. Just ask the angry pack of wine-toting customers huddled on the sidewalk outside Stoll's San Francisco pizzeria on a Friday night after they were told they'd have to leave their bottles at the door. Sure, it's just a pizza place, and with a very reasonably priced wine list. Yet the backlash that ensued when Pizzeria Delfina opened in July 2005 with its don't-bring-your-own-bottle policy shows that the ability to take one's own wine into Bay Area restaurants has become as commonplace -- and accepted -- as sharing plates. It also spotlighted the dilemma restaurateurs face when they create their BYOB policies -- and few Bay Area restaurants don't allow the practice. Restaurants charge what's called a "corkage" fee to open and serve the wines brought in by patrons, but corkage doesn't make up for lost sales from the restaurants' wine lists, or the resources it takes to pour customers' wines. BYOB also shows a disregard, restaurateurs say, for the wine program they have carefully crafted to match their cuisine and atmosphere. While it's up to individual restaurateurs to set their corkage fees -- or as Pizzeria Delfina has done, ban corkage altogether -- the ambiguity of corkage policies has created heated debate among restaurateurs and their customers. For some consumers, taking a bottle to dinner might be considered a necessity; high markups and/or limited wine list selections encourage them to bring wine from home. The amount they pay for this privilege -- usually between $15 and $25 in the Bay Area -- is often less than the amount spent ordering from the list. Yet there's another side. "I just don't understand what the whole fuss is about," Stoll says. "We're working really hard at putting our wine program together. It's our package, our vision. The program is part of the restaurant, like a painting on the wall or the food on your plate. I don't understand why people feel so entitled to bring their own. "What if you collected fine tablecloths from all over the world, and you don't ever cook at home so you wanted to bring one in to eat off of? It's ridiculous." It's also a sentiment echoed by other restaurateurs, who say they spend countless hours and dollars developing wine programs, purchasing and replacing crystal stemware and decanters, investing in temperature-controlled storage, hiring and training wine-service staff and keeping a well-regarded sommelier. For Bay Area folks, however, it seems natural that with Wine Country in their backyard, and wine being an important part of dining, they should be able to enjoy a bottle at dinner without paying an enormous price for it. Hal Oates, who runs the online wine shop www.porthos.com, sells to collectors all over the country. He says his customers are "jealous of those of us in California who can bring our wine to restaurants," as it's illegal to do so in some states. For him, taking his own wine to dinner has become so routine that he first chooses the bottle, then decides where to eat. Echoes Alder Yarrow, author of the wine blog Vinography.com, "Bringing in a special bottle to share with friends over dinner is one of the great pleasures of the wine connoisseur, and great pleasures tend to mean good things for those in the hospitality business." But it's no longer just about special bottles. Just ask Lance Cutler, a "commander" of Sonoma-based Wine Patrol, an organization that, among other things, lobbies against expensive restaurant wine. In an e-mail, he writes, "It used to be that most people who brought wine to restaurants were bringing 'special' bottles to open at special dinners, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and the like ... As restaurant wine prices shot into the stratosphere, more and more customers started bringing bottles in an attempt to keep their dinner bills within the national budget. It was a type of financial self-defense." Most consumers' consternation comes from what they believe to be greedy markups. Yet Napa wine consultant Ronn Wiegand, publisher of the newsletter Restaurant Wine, says wines sold at restaurants have the same markup as food. "It's a common misconception among diners," he says. Restaurants typically mark up wines between 2 and 3 times, meaning a bottle that the restaurant pays $10 for will land on the wine list at around $25, translating into $15 profit. At the higher end, however, there is a sliding scale. While the markup percentage isn't always as high on more expensive wines, the dollar amount -- the profit -- is usually greater. These percentages are similar to food markups -- except that with wine, Wiegand says, there is a much greater range in pricing. "The sky is the limit as to how much someone will spend," he says. Some diners don't hestitate to buy a $200 bottle of Bordeaux, yet would never consider dropping $200 on a steak. Corkage fees and the escalating prices of wines at restaurants feed the belief that restaurants are doing just fine on beverage sales. As a result, it's almost as common for diners to bring a $7.99 bottle of Chardonnay from Safeway as it is for them to bring an '88 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. And why not? In most cases, paying corkage is still less expensive than buying off the list. "It's gotten to the point that if I don't bring my own wine, I don't have much of a selection," says commercial real estate agent David DonHowe, who travels frequently between San Francisco and New York. "I usually have only a few bottles on the lower end of the spectrum to choose from." Many restaurateurs say it's a vicious cycle -- the more wines people bring in, the fewer they're buying off the list. Without the income from wine sales, prices stay high and corkage fees climb. Most consumers, restaurateurs claim, don't realize that those who bring in vast amounts of wine to be opened can be a major strain on their business plan. "This is a huge, huge issue for me," says Richard Reddington, whose Redd restaurant in Yountville opened to much acclaim in November 2005. Due to the many vintners in Wine Country, BYOB is a particular problem for Napa and Sonoma county restaurateurs. Reddington is not ungrateful -- his restaurant is full nightly and has a large local following. He acknowledges and appreciates his good fortune -- "I love being a local hangout; these are my friends," he says. But "local" and "friend" often mean vintner, or a wine collector with a 15,000-bottle cellar. Reddington would like to waive corkage for his friends, but it becomes difficult when they bring bottles into Redd by the dozen. "In an average night, I'll do 150 covers (dinners), which means I'm opening about 70 bottles of wine," says Reddington. "Thirty to 35 of those are corkage. Sometimes we'll open 20 bottles with corkage before 6:30 p.m." For Reddington, making money back from lost wine sales is an uphill battle. "When you write a budget," he says, "you think wine is going to represent a big chunk of your revenue. When it doesn't, the numbers don't make sense. I had no idea when I was putting the restaurant together that the amount of wine brought in would be this out of hand." He adds that if he made money only on food sales, he'd have to do more than 200 covers a night to stay profitable. That's a huge leap for his 65-seat restaurant. Reddington says two people dining together at Redd can spend anywhere from $80 to $400 on a meal; the amount depends largely on whether they order wine, bring in their own bottle and pay the $25 corkage fee, or skip wine altogether. It's a similar situation all over Wine Country. Press in St. Helena, another recent addition to the Napa Valley dining scene, charges $20 corkage, but waives it for local vintners who bring in their own wine. Press general manager Stefan Matulich says that policy offends local residents who aren't vintners and don't get the same treatment. "People seem to think corkage fees should apply only to tourists," he says. "It's a funny little dance we do," says Kenneth Goldfine, general manager of Syrah restaurant in Santa Rosa. "On the one hand, we don't want to offend or lose our customers. Our policy was designed to allow people to bring in a special bottle." Now, he says, many patrons bring in bottles (and pay $15 corkage) that they've picked up at wineries and wine shops -- wines, he says, that are comparable to those on Syrah's list. "It really undercuts our business model," he says. Not all restaurateurs have this concern. Bobby Stuckey, a master sommelier and former wine director at French Laundry in Yountville, left to open a restaurant in Boulder, Colo., where state law prohibits patrons from bringing in wine. He says the law works in everyone's favor, in terms of both price and selection. "I mark my wines up only $20 above retail, no matter if it's $15 or $500 to begin with, and I can afford to do it because people support my wine list," he says. Stuckey argues that the profit restaurants make on wine-list purchases allows them not only to keep prices lower, but also to amass interesting collections. "Walk into a restaurant in any wine-growing region, like Burgundy or Alsace, where they don't allow corkage," he says, "and you're going to find some great, affordable wines with a lot of age on them." Stuckey says lists with multiple vintages of a particular wine are harder to find in Northern California, because consumers can bring in their own aged wines. That makes it difficult for restaurants to cellar the good stuff -- they're not rewarded for doing so. He also says the solution isn't to raise corkage fees, because those who can afford to bring in great wines aren't concerned about the cost of opening them. "The average consumer thinks it's in their best interest to have corkage, but it's not true," he says. "It really only helps the people with a lot of money, because they're the ones who want to bring in something from their cellar." Stuckey says he believes most diners don't have the opportunity to drink listed wines that are both affordable and mature because restaurants can't afford to buy and store them for years. If they do, they have to charge an astronomical amount. So is the solution to ban BYOB altogether? It seems to work in Colorado, according to Stuckey. Still, Stoll knows that while he can defend his pizzeria's no-BYOB policy -- most wines on the list are priced under what a corkage fee would cost -- his policy of charging $18 corkage per bottle at the more formal Delfina restaurant next door will remain. He sees an ocean of wine brought in each night, and that frustrates him. Other San Francisco restaurants, including Fifth Floor, are trying more creative approaches to the corkage conundrum. After experiencing problems with a set $30 corkage fee, Emily Wines, sommelier at Fifth Floor, installed a graduated corkage policy that she says makes everyone happy. The first bottle a patron brings in costs $20 to open; the second is an additional $40, the third an additional $60, and so on. Thus, someone bringing in six bottles will be charged $420. "It means that when people have multiple bottles, it can be a hefty corkage, but on the first bottle, it offers a break to someone if they just have one special wine," she says. At Boulevard in San Francisco, sommelier John Lancaster has a $25 corkage fee and a two-bottle limit. "It happened because we were watching as people brought in cases of wine," he says. On an average Saturday night, Lancaster says, he and his staff will open as many as 25 bottles brought in by diners, and that the number keeps increasing. Bay Wolf in Oakland might open as many as five to seven bottles a night that weren't sold off the list. At the new Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino, manager and server Tim Halsted says patrons continually bring in their own wines. Though the restaurant charges $20 corkage for the first two bottles, the fee goes up if many bottles are opened. "It's hard," says Halsted, "because when parties bring in a lot of wine, it takes us away from other tables." Though Bay Area restaurant staffers witness a mass of bottles being brought in, it doesn't compare to what's happening in Wine Country. Reddington and others say that the amount of wine coming into Napa and Sonoma restaurants is excessive, and it has become difficult to determine who gets charged a corkage fee and who doesn't. Restaurants count on referral business from wineries, so when vintners come to dine, it's become common courtesy to waive their corkage fees. And that results in lost income. "I have investors that I need and want to pay back," Reddington says. "How do I make up the profit?" For starters, restaurants can charge higher corkage fees. Reddington's original fee of $15 -- with frequent comps for industry friends -- wasn't cutting it, so he raised it to $25, with a two-bottle limit. While he will comp corkage on one bottle for each bottle purchased, the policy applies to all, including the mayor of Yountville. He still loses money when diners don't purchase wine off the list and admits it's a struggle. "I'll get someone in here who says, 'I waived your tasting fee when you came into the tasting room,' " he says. "But if I waive corkage for a table of vintners, it's like giving them 50 percent off their meal." Down the street at French Laundry, corkage isn't as much of an issue. Though chef/owner Thomas Keller struggled for years to figure out a good system, he now has one that -- for the meantime -- works. Though it might be in line with the esteemed restaurant's stratospheric pricing, the corkage fee is double Redd's. French Laundry wine director Paul Roberts doesn't see a problem with the corkage practice. He's happy to open wine brought into the restaurant as long as it's not already on the list. Yet he believes the $50 fee is necessary to generate a profit. "I don't get why people look at it in a confrontational manner," says Roberts. "We're simply providing a service." Roberts didn't flinch when a group walked in with two cases of wine for a tasting. The corkage charge was $1,200. But if Reddington sees similar numbers of wines brought into Redd and is making only half the income, is it enough? "All that corkage really covers is the 12 glasses that get ruined every night," he says. "We broke a $100 decanter the other night, and there's your corkage." On the flip side, there are vintners selling their wines to restaurants at wholesale prices, only to see the wine marked up two to three times the retail price on a wine list. What's a vintner to do if he or she wants to pour a wine for someone over a meal -- buy it off the list, or bring it in and pay corkage? Few vintners say they don't bring wine into a restaurant. Most expect to pay corkage. "There's a very symbiotic relationship between Napa wineries and restaurants," says Garen Staglin, owner of Staglin Family Vineyards in Rutherford. "We've created this relationship by sending customers and bringing distributors to restaurants, and there's a tremendous amount of reciprocity." Yet he understands that wine sales keep a restaurant afloat. "Restaurants deserve a corkage," he says. They have to stay in business." Don Stephens, proprietor of D.R. Stephens Estate, agrees. Stephens divides his time between his real estate business in San Francisco and his St. Helena winery, so he's constantly eating out. "The times I go to a restaurant and don't bring my own wine is one out of 20," he says. "But I also expect to pay for it." Stephens says that unless he's specifically working on a sale of a current vintage, he won't bring his own wine into a restaurant that carries it. Michael Ouellette, owner of Blockheadia Winery in St. Helena and also a consultant who previously worked as a wine director for Napa Valley restaurants, including Mustards Grill and Budo, says it's ultimately the responsibility of vintners to pay corkage, but not everyone agrees. When he started as managing partner and wine director at Martini House in St. Helena in 2001, Ouellette decided he would find a system that could work for everyone. "I thought, 100 percent no exclusions, everyone will pay corkage," he says. "But I'd do something to soften the blow." That meant donating a portion of the corkage proceeds to charity, specifically the Napa Valley Farmworker Housing Authority, an organization that provides housing for the migrant workers who tend the vines. "The hostility that I got back was shocking," says Ouellette. "People were completely taken aback that I was charging corkage." These days, however, most California enophiles realize that they're lucky to be able to bring wine into a restaurant in the first place -- at whatever cost. "Let's be clear," says Ouellette. "Just because you have a well-priced list doesn't mean you won't have an army bringing in wine." Adds Reddington, "Half the time people come in, they don't even open the wine list." While each sommelier or restaurateur has his or her own notion of what works, they agree that mutual respect is the key. For restaurateurs, that might mean waiving corkage on one bottle brought in for each bottle purchased from the list. According to Yarrow, "Such a policy is an indication that the folks running the place value their wine-loving customers." And for patrons, it's about focusing on special bottles, and showing support for those who spend time and money putting together interesting wine programs. Reddington says, "The last thing I want to do is piss off my customers. The wine and food pairing clientele is my customer base. I just want them to understand that a beverage program is a big part of a restaurant." At some point, Ouellette says, people will feel that they're better off buying the wine and trying the program than bringing in their own bottles. And there's always the Stuckey school of thought: "If corkage was illegal," he says, excitement building in his voice, "18 months from now, the Bay Area would have the most rocking wine scene on the planet." Wishful thinking, Bobby. Sampling corkage policies It's increasingly difficult to find a restaurant with a fee of less than $10 to $15, but more and more, restaurants are adopting the "one for one" policy: Purchase one bottle off the restaurant list and corkage is waived on one bottle that you bring in ("one for one"). Many are trying to limit the amount of bottles being brought in by setting a two-bottle limit. Some offer free corkage nights to bring in business. Bottom line: it's up to the restaurateur to find a corkage policy that makes the most sense for the restaurant. Here is a random sampling of restaurant corkage policies from the San Francisco Bay Area through wine country. Campton Place (San Francisco) -- Graduated corkage policy: The first bottle is $30, the second $40, the third $50 and so on. Chow (San Francisco and Lafayette) -- $7.50 per bottle. Christopher's Nothing Fancy Caf� (Berkeley) -- No corkage fee. Dry Creek Kitchen (Healdsburg) -- Free corkage on first two bottles brought in bearing a Sonoma label. Each additional bottle is $15. Gary Danko (San Francisco) -- $30 per bottle, two-bottle limit. Julia's Kitchen (Napa) -- $15 per bottle, two-bottle limit. Free corkage on Thursday nights. Michael Mina (San Francisco) -- $35 per bottle, two bottle limit. The restaurant won't accept wines that are already on the list. PlumpJack Restaurants -- $15 per bottle, one for one; corkage is waived on wine purchased from PlumpJack wine shops. At Jack Falstaff, corkage is free on Sunday nights. Tra Vigne (Napa) -- $19 per bottle; one for one. No corkage at the attached pizzeria. Syrah (Santa Rosa) -- $15 per bottle, double if the bottle is already on the list, one for one. Viognier (San Mateo) -- $20 per bottle, $50 if it's on the restaurant list, $15 if it comes from the wine shop in Draeger's downstairs, two bottle limit. -- Amanda Gold BYO etiquette Bringing your own wine? Here are a few know-before-you-go tips. Call ahead. Check with the restaurant to see what its policy is. Don't double up. Many restaurants won't allow you to bring in wine if it's already on their list. If they do, it's still in poor taste to do so. When you call ahead, check and see if they already list your bottle. If so, buy it off the list or bring another. Share the wealth. Offer to pour a taste for the staff -- they'll appreciate it. Even Richard Reddington says that if bringing in wine was banned, he wouldn't get to taste the great things he can't carry, like an '82 Bordeaux. Make it count. In other words, that $7.99 bottle that you grabbed from Safeway on the way to the restaurant is better left at home. Most wine lists will have at least a small selection of bottles that are affordable based on the entree prices. If you can find something comparable on the list, it's a nice idea to support the program. If not, at least bring a special bottle. Go one for one. Most restaurants will waive corkage if you purchase an additional bottle from the list. Tip well. Even if you bring a bottle, your server or sommelier will treat it as though you've purchased it off the list. Let your tip reflect that. -- Amanda Gold E-mail Amanda Gold at agold(a)sfchronicle.com. Page F - 1 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/06/WIGRPHVGP975.DTL -- ------------------------------ * * 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 *

19 years, 8 months

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