Greetings,
FYI/FYE
I've added a bit of Seussism to the bottom.
Would you, could you, with these 10?
- W. Blake Gray, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, February 2, 2006
Click to View
Ted Geisel -- better known as Dr. Seuss -- came from a family of beer brewers. It's a shame he's not still with us, because I think he'd get a kick out of the names of wines these days.
I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan. I think "Calculatus Eliminatus" is still the best thing that we've got. You should see the black writing all over my wine cellar. ("Is this Zin from Amador? No, mark it X-154.")
Although Geisel died in 1991, his spirit lives on in the millions of kids inspired by his work, some of whom seem to have grown up to work for large wine companies. How else to explain wines called 3 Blind Moose?
So in tribute to Geisel, here are this week's selections.
>From Romania come two very fun wines that trapped in a bottle the "blood of the vine." The Vampire Romania Merlot Ros� ($8) smells perfectly fine, of Fuji apple, cotton candy, pumpkin and orange rind. The taste is surprising, with pumpkin uprising. But notes of orange peel and apple and its light pleasant body make it wine for enjoying, perhaps at a party.
At the personal risk of being called dour, I wondered how Vampire could make Pinot Noir. But lo and behold, came a bottle my way, and the 2003 Vampire Transylvania Pinot Noir ($8) made my tasting day. Full of fruit, light of body, nicely balanced it is, tasting of cherry and chocolate with a medium-long finish.
Some like their wine to fly like a bat, but others prefer it be herded like cats. If you like roast chicken -- oh, so many do -- the 2005 Herding Cats Western Cape Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay ($9) may be perfect for you. With flavors of lemon, butter and herbs like rosemary, this South African wine with your palate will marry.
What does the name mean, I said to myself, when I saw the 2004 2-2-10go Mendoza Torrontes ($7) sitting there on the shelf. Then I said it aloud and lo and behold, this Argentine wine's story began to unfold. It's tangy and grassy, with pineapple too; if you like Sauvignon Blanc, you might like this too.
Oh, these wines are so funny, their names make me smile, and one with dual meaning comes once in a while. Because grapes come from plants that grew wild in their time, what's wilder to drink than 2004 Wild Bunch California White Wine ($10)? From a blend of four grapes, and the use of some wood, come flavors of lemon, butter and oil; a hint of lime does it good.
>From a Wine Country veteran with a whimsical bent come some clever brand names worth the money you've spent. Don Sebastiani & Sons made both these two choices, though the 2004 Smoking Loon California Sauvignon Blanc ($9) and 2003 Screw Kappa Napa Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($10) give the same grape different voices.
The Screw Kappa Napa -- how it cleverly rhymes! -- shows the impact of oak on the fruit of the vine. I first tasted vanilla, but after awhile, some lime and white pepper emerged from the style. That's fine in its way, mimicking Chardonnay.
But if you like passion fruit -- I know that I do -- then the Smoking Loon version may be better for you. It tastes of the tropics, with a hint of papaya, and would be great with fresh fish grilled right over a fire.
If the devil had marbles, how would he play them? Would he cheat, use deceit, causing marble-ular mayhem? Chardonnay fans can ponder till their ponderer's sore, then sample 2004 Devil's Marbles Limestone Coast Chardonnay/Verdelho ($10) and ponder some more. It comes from Australia, tastes of lemon and butter, and a nice hint of mineral sets the palate aflutter.
For folks name of Kelly, you're part of a crowd, and the 2003 Kelly's Revenge South Eastern Australia Shiraz ($6) lets you tout it aloud. Simple and pleasant, with slightly sweet cherry fruit, it's a great value so don't be a galoot -- go to the shop, store or market and loudly demand: "My name is Kelly, put that wine in my hand."
As we come to the close of this week's Bargain Wines, we end with the name that inspired all these bad rhymes. Bats are blind, so is love, and there's justice as well, but when three moose go blind, do they make wine by smell? Tasting of cherry candy with a note of vanilla, the 2003 3 Blind Moose California Cabernet Sauvignon ($10) turns a sweet tooth into one happy fella.
Shopping list
The deals that we found, these were best for this week. All have funny names, but they're wines you should seek.
Whites
2004 Devil's Marbles Limestone Coast Chardonnay/Verdelho ($10)
2005 Herding Cats Western Cape Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay ($9)
2003 Screw Kappa Napa Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($10)
2004 Smoking Loon California Sauvignon Blanc ($9)
2004 2-2-10go Mendoza Torrontes ($7)
2004 Wild Bunch California White Wine ($10)
Ros�
NV Vampire Romania Merlot Ros� ($8)
Reds
2003 Kelly's Revenge South Eastern Australia Shiraz ($6)
2003 3 Blind Moose California Cabernet Sauvignon ($10)
2003 Vampire Transylvania Pinot Noir ($8)
W. Blake Gray is a member of the Food and Wine staff. E-mail wbgray(a)sfchronicle.com if this made you laugh.
Page F - 6
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/02/WIGHGH0HFN1.DTL
With apologies to Dr. Seuss, spinning in his grave....
Would you drink it
from a stem,
Could you Drink it
now and again.
Would you drink it
on the floor.
An eastern gem,
pinot noir.
Could you drink it,
Russ Mac Cee.
Pinot noir
from Roman-i-ee
I would not drink it,
from a glass.
I cannot drink it,
It smells like ass.
I would not drik it
from a cup.
It reminds me of,
breath de pup!
I don't allow it
in the house.
The aroma is pure
eau de mouse!
C,
J
--
------------------------------ *
* 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 *
Mostly an update:
An article from the NYT on Grange's poor cousin St. Henri.
An article from the Post on Sophisticated wines at accessible prices.
C,
J
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 15:32:15 -0500
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Current Fr. Whites, Zins at Oddfellows
Greetings,
This week, we're doing Rhone Wines at Oddfellows.
Your choices include whites, reds and of course "ringers".
(Ringers. Wines the approach the style of the day in the glass, but
do not fully fit the criteria. e.g. Rhone style wines not from France)
The Wine Enthusiast Vintage Chart says the bigger reds from 1997 and older
are ready to drink (e.g. Hermitage, Ch Neuf du Pape, etc.) 2002 wines may
also be ready. Smaller wines (Cotes Du Rhone) from more recect vintages
are probably ready.
Oddfellows is one block east of Surdyks on Hennepin.
These are mostly guesses. Tables are small, so
make the reservation for two more than we expect?
Reminder that we go to Five next week. We're down for 10 people,
but we want to provide Joyce and the rest. w/ an update by next Tuesday.
Surdyk's Heart Healthy Sale is Th-Saturday. All wines are 20% off.
Betsy
Bob
Annette
Nicolai
Bill
Ruth
Jim/Louise
Russ
Lori
Betsy, Bill and Louise are tentative at this point.
I haven't heard from Lori.
Starting our list for Read and Read at Five!
Joyce
Annette
Betsy
Bob
Ruth/Warren
Jim/Louise
Russ/Sue
Cheers,
Jim
February 1, 2006
The Pour
An Australian Sibling Comes Into Its Own
By ERIC ASIMOV
HALF a century ago, two wines were born at Penfolds in South Australia. They were like brothers, really. Both were made largely of shiraz, with a little cabernet sauvignon occasionally thrown in, yet they offered completely different expressions of the same grapes. As with so many siblings, each seemed to represent all that the other was not, the apparent differences concealing their shared pedigree.
One of these wines is now justly celebrated around the world. It is prized by collectors and commands $200 to $300 a bottle for recent vintages and far more for bottles with a little age. This wine, christened Grange Hermitage and now known simply and grandly as Grange, is today the most famous of all Australian wines.
Its brother has lived a considerably more obscure life. It goes by the modest name St. Henri, which sounds especially self-effacing if you pronounce it with an Australian accent. As you might guess, it is a quieter wine than Grange. Yet its elegance and purity, for those who take the time to know it, are undeniable.
Back in the 1950's, Grange and St. Henri cost essentially the same. Today, you can find St. Henri for around $50 a bottle, not cheap by any means, but a relative steal for a wine of this quality.
The history of St. Henri and Grange is a story of the importance of preserving choices among wines. It is a reminder of how different styles can best be understood and appreciated in contrast to one another, and a cautionary tale about how fragile this diversity can be. As Grange and its stylistic adherents became wildly popular, Penfolds considered doing away with the St. Henri approach.
"Marketing types kept urging us to keep the name, keep the label, but change the style," said Peter Gago, the chief winemaker at Penfolds, who visited with me in New York last week. "But we resisted, and it's never changed."
Mr. Gago came to New York with 13 different vintages of St. Henri, ranging from a 1958, which offered a quick impression of its youthful allure before slowly fading in the glass, to a robust-yet-juvenile 2002, which will be released this spring. As he and I tasted through the wines, it was fascinating to compare the St. Henri style with the better-known Grange, and to see how beautifully St. Henri stands up for itself.
Grange, which was first produced as an experiment in 1951, was at first considered shockingly modern. Max Schubert, its creator, was consciously trying to produce a shiraz with the aging potential of top Bordeaux, and he made a big, powerful wine that was aged in small barrels of American oak.
The initial reception was lukewarm.
"Knife and fork stuff," one journalist said at the time, referring to the young wine's almost impenetrable concentration, a style that many have since come to prize.
By contrast, St. Henri was considered an old-fashioned wine, even in the 1950's. Unlike Schubert, John Davoren, a Penfolds winemaker who created St. Henri, looked backward for inspiration. He wanted to make a wine that demonstrated the pure character of the shiraz grape rather than framing it with the flavors of new oak. Yet he was not making a small wine; younger St. Henris have a sort of raw-boned power, while grape tannins offer a structure that can last for years.
Instead of using small barrels of new oak, which can impart powerful flavors, he chose to age the wine in huge oak vats that were at least 50 years old, which have minimal impact on the flavor of the wine.
The battle of styles characterized by the use of small new barrels or big, old, neutral containers has been fought all over the wine-producing world, from Barolo and Montalcino to the Rhone and Burgundy to California. Those who have favored the lusher, rounder flavors imparted by new oak have held sway for the last 20 years, but tastes may slowly be moving back toward the center as a small but significant portion of the public has been registering its vote in favor of less oak influence.
Mr. Gago said he has noticed an increased interest in St. Henri in the last few years.
"Everything is about fashion, isn't it?" he said. "What's old is new again."
FROM the almost joyously grapey 2002 back to the still-dignified 1958, each decade offered different insights into St. Henri. A 1962 had a eucalyptus quality, while a 1966 had a sense of power and a caramel-like flavor that Mr. Gago called "praline."
A 1971, from one of South Australia's best vintages, was rich and complex, with smoky, meaty flavors that lingered in the mouth, while a 1974 . a poor vintage . was pleasing, though without the concentration of the '71. A 1976 was inky black, with a pronounced licorice flavor. I loved two vintages from the 1980's, the '83 and the '86, but my two favorites in the tasting were the 1990 and the 1991, both excellent wines that kept changing in the glass. The '90 was pure, with sweet fruit aromas and a high-toned brightness, while the '91 seemed to have darker licorice and plum flavors.
What was striking about the wines was their transparency, each offering clear insights into the peculiar characteristics of different vintages.
"It's much harder to make this style," Mr. Gago said. "The fruit quality has to be that much better because it's not just a component, it's the structure, too. So much more effort is put into the fruit, the vineyard and the grapes, because you don't have the other support."
The grapes for St. Henri, like those for Grange, come from a variety of sources in South Australia. Each year, Mr. Gago and his team of winemakers do numerous blind tastings to select what will go into the St. Henri blend. For St. Henri, he said, he is looking for fleshy, succulent flavors, as opposed to the assertive, darker, chunky Grange flavors. Neither wine offers the pleasure of tracking the flavors of a single vineyard over time. For that, there are other shirazes, like Henschke Hill of Grace or Penfolds's own Magill Estate. Nonetheless, both Grange and St. Henri have their important place.
"Too many people, they don't even look sideways at St. Henri because they don't get the style," Mr. Gago said. "But there are so many different variations on a theme. Why not offer them?"
Sophisticated Wine on a Budget
Developing Palates, One Sip at a Time
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 1, 2006; F07
So what transpired when we gathered a group of young, hardworking, Type A overachievers for their first professional wine-tasting experience (meaning not in a college dorm room or at what-was-his-name's apartment)?
Lots of chattering. Tony Forte, a 23-year-old financial analyst for a real estate investment management firm, was having too much fun. His hearty laugh turned into an infectious giggle by his seventh taste, a 2004 Mas Carlot.
Veteran Post wine critic Ben Giliberti was on hand to keep the talking in check and the sipping of 10 wines -- five reds and five whites, priced between $9.99 and $18.99 -- in perspective. Look for flavor, aroma, color and finish in a fine glass of wine, Giliberti told the wine neophytes, and "finish," he went on to explain, is "the impression that the wine leaves in your mouth."
Kristy Huh, a paralegal for the Department of Justice, scrunched up her face after taking a sip of the 2004 Hayman Hill Pinot Noir. "This one is tangy," said the 24-year-old. "Like a sweet-and-sour candy."
John McKinley, a Justice Department program analyst, prodded Renee Faulkner, a trainer at the Posse Foundation, a scholarship program, to give the 2003 Chateau de Roquefort another sip.
"Try it again. Try it again," said McKinley, 24.
"It's just too strong for me," said Faulkner, also 24, shaking her head. "It reminds me of cough syrup."
They cracked up.
Amanda Fein, a 23-year-old paralegal at the Justice Department, wasn't initially a big fan of wine -- whites or reds. It wasn't until after college, she said, that she began to develop an appreciation for it. These days, she usually orders a glass of cabernet sauvignon.
What does she look for in a glass of fine wine? "A balance between something sweet and something substantive," said Fein. "I'm straying away from wine that tastes like grape juice."
Jose Antonio Vargas writes for Style.
� 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 *
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 15:32:15 -0500
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Current Fr. Whites, Zins at Oddfellows
Greetings,
This week, we're doing Rhone Wines at Oddfellows.
Your choices include whites, reds and of course "ringers".
(Ringers. Wines the approach the style of the day in the glass, but
do not fully fit the criteria. e.g. Rhone style wines not from France)
The Wine Enthusiast Vintage Chart says the bigger reds from 1997 and older
are ready to drink (e.g. Hermitage, Ch Neuf du Pape, etc.) 2002 wines may
also be ready. Smaller wines (Cotes Du Rhone) from more recect vintages
are probably ready.
Oddfellows is one block east of Surdyks on Hennepin.
These are mostly guesses. Tables are small, so
make the reservation for two more than we expect?
Reminder that we go to Five next week. We're down for 10 people,
but we want to provide Joyce and the rest. w/ an update by next Tuesday.
Surdyk's Heart Healthy Sale is Th-Saturday. All wines are 20% off.
Betsy
Bob
Lori
Annette
Nicolai
Jim/Louise
Russ/Sue
Cheers,
Jim
January 22, 2003
A Rhone With Substance, but No Pretense
By FRANK J. PRIAL
C�TES DU RH�NE is looked at as the poor relative of the great Rhone wines like Hermitage, Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape and C�te R�tie. It is thought of in France as an inexpensive, unpretentious bar wine; ask for a glass of red in a cafe and very likely you will be served a C�tes du Rh�ne. The millions of gallons of it produced each year by dozens of anonymous cooperatives do little to change that opinion.
To their credit, C�tes du Rh�ne producers rarely try to fool anyone. While C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages may sell for $20 or more, most ordinary C�tes go for about $10, with some in the current market as low as $6.
The Dining section's tasting panel had a pleasant afternoon sampling 26 C�tes. Going into the tasting with the preconceived notion that these could be tough, harsh and cheap wines, we left it thinking that this was one of the more enjoyable groups of wines we have encountered since this panel began its explorations.
Our panel consisted of three regulars . Amanda Hesser, Eric Asimov and me . along with Sam Perkins, executive editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine. We limited ourselves to wines from the 1999, 2000 and 2001 vintages with one orphan, a 1998.
Mr. Perkins called the wines in our tasting "not complex, but interesting." Mr. Asimov said he was "pleasantly surprised."
"These wines were almost amazingly consistently good," he added, while Ms. Hesser found them to have "a great range." And at times, I thought this was a Ch�teauneuf tasting.
The vast Rhone Valley is divided into two regions, north and south. Most simple C�tes du Rh�ne wines come from the softer, warmer southern Rhone, although a few of the best, like Jaboulet's famous Parall�le 45, come from the north. Those from the northern Rhone are mostly C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages.
The Rhone Valley has 17 different appellations. C�tes du Rh�ne is by far the largest, stretching 60 miles north and south and 30 miles east to west. In all, 24 different grapes can be used to make C�tes du Rh�ne, although usually a dozen or fewer are used. Only four red grapes can be in the Villages wines. Chief among the red grapes are grenache and carignan. The best reds may also include syrah and mourv�dre.
Because the C�tes du Rh�ne area is so large and varied geographically, vintages are less meaningful than they would be for smaller appellations. In his book "Rhone Renaissance" (Wine Appreciation Guild, 1996), Remington Norman says of C�tes du Rh�ne: "In the main, vintages follow Ch�teauneuf and Gigondas." That being the case, 1999, 2000 and 2001 were all good years.
The least expensive wine in our selection was $8, the most expensive $28, and 11 of the C�tes were $12 or less. Five of them were $20 or more. All in all, we considered them bargains.
Assembling a list of the top 10 was not easy, as our overall scores were mostly in the two- to two-and-a-half-star range. Thus a healthy bunch of wines with two stars missed out on our chart, but I would not hesitate to buy any of them.
Our No. 1 choice was a 2001 St. Cosme Les Deux Albion, at $18. Mr. Asimov had a series of complimentary words for it: "fruity," "spicy," "meaty," and I, too, thought it was substantial. Seven wines scored two and a half stars, including our best value, the 2000 Paul Jaboulet A�n� Parall�le 45, at $8. Mr. Perkins called it "mouth-filling, a wine that grew on me," while Mr. Asimov referred to it as "classic southern Rhone wine." The 2001 Belleruche from M. Chapoutier, at $8, was third, which meant that none of the top three were from the higher Villages appellation, and only three of the top 10 were C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages.
Two of the wines on our chart came from the Perrin family, who own Ch�teau Beaucastel in Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape: the 2000 Coudelet de Beaucastel, at $28 the most expensive wine at our tasting, and the 2000 Perrin R�serve, at $9 one of the least expensive.
A few wines we thought highly of, but that missed the list, included a Domaine St.-Gayan, C�tes du Rh�ne-Village Rasteau ($14); a Domaine du Jas C�tes du Rh�ne ($11); an Eric Texier Br�z�me Vieilles Vignes C�tes du Rh�ne ($20), all from 2000; and a 1998 Domaine les Goubert Beaume de Venise, C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages, $15.
For the most part, this was a remarkable group of wines. They were rich, intense and, for wines supposed to be almost rustic and one-dimensional, actually both smooth-textured and complex. Everyone commented on the delightful spiciness many of them showed. The word peppery appeared in several of the critiques.
It was also quite clear that with the exception of the Parall�le 45 and the Perrin R�serve, both exceptional bargains, price did make a difference, according to our taste buds. The $15 to $18 wines showed the extra care that went into making them. Unlike Bordeaux and California wines, where high prices are often related to hype, these wines showed that extra touch of finesse that comes with the winemaker's skill and devotion.
Almost any of our top 10, served in a decanter, would be mistaken for something much higher up the price scale, particularly Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape. Wine prices are tumbling everywhere; perhaps the prices here will, too. But these wines are good buys at their present levels.
Tasting Report: A Wine That Finishes What It Sets Out to Do
St. Cosme Les Deux Albion C�tes du Rh�ne 2001 $18 ***
Spicy, intense wine that reminded Eric Asimov of a good Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape. Big and chewy, Amanda Hesser said, while Frank J. Prial called it substantial and balanced with good fruit. But Sam Perkins found it green.
BEST VALUE:
Paul Jaboulet A�n� Parall�le 45 C�tes du Rh�ne 2000 $8 ** 1/2
Elegant and harmonious, Prial said, and Asimov called it meaty and a classic southern Rhone wine. Perkins found it mouth-filling yet not too big, and he called it classy, while Hesser liked the finish.
M. Chapoutier Belleruche C�tes du Rh�ne 2001 $8 ** 1/2
Nuanced and interesting, Perkins said, with aromas of dried berries and plums. What you look for in a C�tes du Rh�ne, Prial asserted. Hesser found it delicate, while Asimov thought it improved in the glass with exposure to air.
Domaine Alary La Jean de Verde C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages Cairanne 2000
$27 ** 1/2
Rich and full-bodied, with an elegant finish, Prial enthused. Asimov found it complex, with a long finish; Perkins, too, remarked on the finish, and found sour cherry aromas. Hesser felt it improved with exposure to air.
Coudoulet de Beaucastel C�tes du Rh�ne 2000 $28 ** 1/2
Spicy and lively, Hesser said, with aromas of anise and tobacco. Perkins surprised himself by detecting the aroma of oatmeal. Asimov liked the herbal aromas and flavors, and Prial found it dry and peppery.
Tardieu-Laurent Guy Louis C�tes du Rh�ne 1999 $24 ** 1/2
Hesser was put off by the oak. Asimov, too, found it oaky but liked its complexity and herb and olive aromas. Prial liked the wine a lot, feeling it was burly enough to carry the oak. Perkins enjoyed the berry aromas.
Olivier Cuilleras Vieilles Vignes C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages Visan 2000
$16 ** 1/2
Big, intense and concentrated, with lots of fruit, Asimov said, and Prial called it flamboyant with good body. Perkins found it balanced and elegant, but not a blockbuster. Hesser liked it but detected some funk.
Ch�teau des Tours C�tes du Rh�ne 1999 $15 ** 1/2
Prial found it spicy and very attractive. Integrated, was Hesser's description. Perkins tasted lots of fruit but felt it was thinnish. Asimov also tasted an abundance of fruit, but thought it was almost over the top.
Perrin R�serve C�tes du Rh�ne 2000 $9 **
Short but well balanced, Perkins said. Prial found it solid, with spice, fruit and richness, while Asimov found it round and rich. Hesser called it well-balanced but said the fruit was hidden.
Domaine les Aphillanthes Cuv�e des Galets C�tes du Rh�ne-Villages 2000
$18 **
Prial loved the richness and long finish. Perkins liked the balance, and called it plummy. Hesser found it a very simple, straightforward wine, and Asimov described it as earthy and rustic . in a good way.
--
------------------------------ *
* 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 *
Mostly an update, and an article on half glasses of wine.
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 16:39:24 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Bordeaux Style Grapes from Anywhere at JP's
Greetings,
Great food, interesting wines at Vincent. Thanks Annette for getting us in.
Thanks to Dave T. for the Dujacs (2!).
Heading to JP's this week. Vin du juor is Bordeaux style
grapes (Sauv. Blanc, Cab Sauv., Cab Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot,
and a couple of others) from anywhere.
Varietals and Blends, although I suppose blends are more in brdx character.
A rough estimate of the vintage charts is that most anything from
1997 or older is drinking well now. Dial that forward to 2000 or '01 for
Washington and Australia. For California, it's 2000, 98 and 94 and older.
Thursday Brdx grapes from anywhere at JP's
JP's American Bistro
JP Samuelson
2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300
9 Confirmed:
bob
lori
ruth
Russ/Sue
jim/louise/susan_hickman
Anette S.
4 likely suspects.
Christopher
nicolai
karin
bill
Cheers,
Jim
Progressive Sale at the Cellars. Not sure how many of Brian's wines
are still being stocked or are in stock.
The Half-Glass Makes a Splash
By Candy Sagon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 25, 2006; F01
Is the glass half-full? Yes, it is -- and that's a good thing when it comes to wines by the glass at several young, energetic restaurants in the area.
Instead of offering the typical choice of a glass of wine or a bottle, these wine-serious places think customers should be able to order an even smaller serving (for a commensurately smaller price).
The half-glass, or taste, as some restaurants call it, is 2.5 to three ounces of wine -- just enough to sip with an appetizer course and then, perhaps, order another half-glass of a different wine to enjoy with an entree.
"Everyone loves having another option. It lets them try things they've never had," said Danny Boylen, general manager of Notti Bianche, which opened in May near the Kennedy Center and offers 18 wines by the half-glass.
At 6-month-old Sonoma on Capitol Hill, servers will even offer customers a splash of wine to sample if they're having trouble deciding among the 15 whites and 25 reds offered by the half-glass.
It's an even tougher decision at Tallula in Arlington, where all 76 wines offered by the glass are also available by the half-glass, or at Grapeseed in Bethesda, which boasts 95 half-glass choices.
Dino, an Italian restaurant and wine bar that opened in Cleveland Park in July, takes another tack. Nine reds and seven whites are offered in two sizes: a three-ounce pour called an ombra and an eight-ounce carafe called a quartin , which can easily be shared by two people.
"This is the traditional way they do it at the wine bars in Italy," said service director Justin Guthrie. The response from customers, he adds, "has been fantastic. We change our wines by the glass pretty frequently, so this is an opportunity to try a lot of things in quantities you wouldn't normally get."
People also like being able to taste an expensive wine without having to spring for an entire bottle, said Jeff Heineman, Grapeseed's chef-owner. They might balk at spending $70 on a bottle of wine they've never tried, but they're willing to spend $17.50 for a glass or $8.75 for a taste.
"Customers really embrace the tasting thing," he says. "It just works to let them try more kinds of wine."
Here's a sampling of restaurants in the area offering a generous selection of wines by the half-glass and the glass. A half-glass pour is about three ounces; a traditional glass of wine is about six ounces. (A standard bottle of wine contains about 25 ounces, or enough for about four glasses of wine.)
Sonoma, 223 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, 202-544-8088.
Troy Bock, general manager and sommelier: "We first began doing half-glasses at our sister restaurant, Mendocino, in Georgetown. For this location, we wanted the list to have more Italian wines to go with the food we offer."
Wine list: 15 whites, 25 reds by the half-glass.
One to try: Ajello Furat ($7 half-glass, $10 glass). "It's a Sicilian wine, a blend of Nero d'Avola, merlot and syrah and a little cabernet. It has a full-bodied flavor with a little spice."
Perfect match: "The Furat with the Muscovy breast of duck, parsnip puree, mini bok choy and balsamic jus. It's a natural match with the wine's fruit and slightly spicy finish."
Tallula, 2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington, 703-778-5051.
Josh Radigan, general manager: "People like to create their own flights, like ordering three half-glasses of different cabernets and comparing them."
Wine list: 76 wines by half-glass.
One to try: Ayles Garnacha ($3.50 half-glass, $7 glass). "It's from Spain, made from the grenache grape. It's medium-bodied with aromas of cranberry and a little spice. It's a very versatile wine."
Perfect match: The Stolleis Trocken Kabinett Riesling ($3.50 half-glass, $7 glass) with the duck confit appetizer. "The confit is served with sausage and beans. It's an Alsatian dish that was just made for this dry Riesling. The wine cuts the heaviness of the food."
Sette Osteria, 1666 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-483-3070.
Raimondo Russo, general manager: "People like to pair half-glasses with each course. Or they order a glass with dinner and a half-glass to enjoy while lingering after the meal."
Wine list: Italian wines only. Six whites, 12 reds by the half-glass.
One to try: Le Volte, Ornellaia ($6 half-glass, $12 glass). "A modestly priced wine from a famous winery known for its expensive super-Tuscans. It's a blend of sangiovese, cabernet franc and merlot."
Favorite match: The Lacryma Cristi del Vesuvio ($5 half-glass, $8 glass), with any of the pizzas. "The wine is made from grapes grown in the volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius, and the combination with our stone-baked pizza crust is fabulous."
Notti Bianche, 824 New Hampshire Ave. NW, 202-298-8085.
Danny Boylen, general manager: "People tell us they like ordering a half-glass when they're going to the theater and don't want to get sleepy."
Wine list: Eight reds, eight whites, two sparkling by half-glass.
One to try: The Grappler ($5 half-glass, $10 glass). "It's by Twenty Rows, and it's a red I adore. The staff loves it, too. It's a big, round zinfandel softened by some syrah and cabernet. It's a gentle giant."
Perfect match: Cla ($6 half-glass, $12 glass) with the stuffed rack of pork with white bean puree and braised kale. "Cla is medium-bodied and rich with a little pepper on the finish, which complements the prosciutto stuffing and the kale."
Grapeseed, 4865 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 301-986-9592.
Jeff Heineman, chef-owner: "People don't always want two full glasses of wine with a meal, but two half-glasses are perfect."
Wine list: 95 wines by the half-glass, plus 12 dessert wines and 11 ports.
One to try: D'Arenberg Hermit Crab ($4.50 half-glass, $9 glass). "It's an Australian white. The winery always has these strange names for their wines, like Dead Arm. This one is a great blend of viognier and marsanne that works with a lot of different foods."
Perfect match: Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage ($7.75 half-glass, $15.50 glass). "From Day One, everyone has loved this wine with the filet mignon we serve with oxtail-mushroom ragout and horseradish mashed potatoes. The salinity of the wine goes really well with the rich sauce."
Dino, 3435 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-686-2966.
Justin Guthrie, service director: "Ninety percent of our wines are Italian, but occasionally I throw in a California or Oregon and a few French."
Wine list: 22 wines in three-ounce and eight-ounce sizes.
One to try: Costanti Brunello ($7 half-glass, $18 glass). "You definitely won't see this offered by the glass at other restaurants. Brunellos are big wines and this one, from a small winery in Montalcino, is a particularly elegant example."
Perfect match: Ciacci Piccolomini Rosso di Montalcino ($5 half-glass, $13 glass). "This is 100 percent sangiovese from just south of Chianti. It goes well with our beefsteak with salsa verde or our pappardelle with wild boar because the wine is from the same area as these recipes. They have each other in mind."
� 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 *
Greetings,
Great food, interesting wines at Vincent. Thanks Annette for getting us in.
Thanks to Dave T. for the Dujacs (2).
Heading to JP's this week. Vin du juor is Bordeaux style
grapes (Sauv. Blanc, Cab Sauv., Cab Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot,
and a couple of others) from anywhere.
Varietals and Blends, although I suppose blends are more in brdx character.
A rough estimate of the vintage charts is that most anything from
1997 or older is drinking well now. Dial that forward to 2000 or '01 for
Washington and Australia. For California, it's 2000, 98 and 94 and older.
Thursday Brdx grapes from anywhere at JP's
JP's American Bistro
JP Samuelson
2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300
No idea who's/how many are coming. Here are 10 likely suspects.
bob
bill
lori
ruth
jim/louise/susan_hickman
nicolai
karin
Cheers,
Jim
Progressive Sale at the Cellars. Not sure how many of Brian's wines
are still being stocked or are in stock.
January 18, 2006
Wine Talk
Rolling Out Those Chewy Behemoths
By FRANK J. PRIAL
IN a series of articles in The New Yorker beginning in the mid-1930's, the writer Frank Sullivan set out to do battle with the inane and the banal in popular writing. He created a clich� expert, Mr. Arbuthnot, and made him the scourge of triteness.
Mr. Arbuthnot turned up intermittently in the magazine into the 1950's, well before wine writers began to impose themselves on the reading public. Because they are everywhere now, it seemed appropriate to resurrect Mr. Arbuthnot and query him about wine and writing.
Q. Mr. Arbuthnot, do you consider yourself a wine expert?
A. No, I am a clich� expert, but I have looked into the literature and have concluded that my expertise is needed even if I can't distinguish a Bordeaux from a Burgundy.
Q. How so?
A. Let me start with the word "nose." Poking into current wine literature, I found "brilliant" noses, "subtle" noses, "off" noses and "troubling" noses. Some wines, I learned, are said to have memorable noses while others, it is claimed, have no noses at all.
I quickly determined that a wine's "nose" is not a gross physical appendage but its bouquet or aroma. Even so, constant repetition has made a clich� of the word, one of the worst sort because constant use has debased it into argot.
Q. Are there other wine words that upset you as strongly?
A. Indeed there are - if you can call them words. I refer to "chard," "cab" and "zin," nicknames as it were for important grapes. Are the words chardonnay, cabernet and zinfandel so difficult to pronounce? Did Baron Rothschild ask, "How much cab have you planted?" when he bought Ch�teau Lafite? Is the great white wine of Le Montrachet actually derived from something called chard?
Q. You have forgotten zinfandel.
A. No, it warrants special consideration. The zinfandel appears to be a fine, robust grape that lacks some of the charm of cabernet and chardonnay. For this it has suffered a worse fate than either of them. Its often obstreperous fans delight in referring to it as "zinful" and joke about "mortal zin."
Q. Anything besides wine books you find troubling?
A. The worst offenders are often the winemakers themselves and their spokesmen. They no longer make wine, they "craft" it. "We craft our wines," they write, or "these wines were crafted," or, worse still, "hand-crafted." How else would you "craft" something than with your hands?
>From what I gather, winemaking has become a high-tech (another clich�) process and, as the procedure becomes more complex, the language describing it becomes more fanciful.
I found, too, a phrase borrowed from the business world: "roll out." A new wine is no longer introduced, offered or announced; it is rolled out, like an 18-wheel truck. The phrase has nothing to do with barrels, which of course, can be rolled around in a wine cellar. It refers to new airplanes being rolled out of the hangars where they were built to go on display. Does one "roll out" a delicate wine? I hope not.
Q. What about the wines that aren't delicate?
A. Some, it would seem, are anything but. They are "behemoths," "mammoth," "stupendous, large-scale, full-throttle" and "blockbusters." They may have "husky mouth-feel" and can display "massive quantities of fruit, glycerin and alcohol." They can be, as one writer described a California cabernet: "Opulent, as well as tannic, with huge chocolaty, roasted herbs, cassis aromas, magnificent flavor concentration, a big graceful richness on the palate and stunningly focused components that coat the palate with viscous flavors and superlative purity of flavor." All that and "food friendly" too?
Q. And what about Champagne?
A. Some writers refer to all sparkling wines rather childishly as "fizzies," others desperate for another word for Champagne use "bubble" as a noun, as in "a bottle of the bubbly." But the most overworked Champagne clich� is "vintage." Once, vintage Champagnes - wines from a single harvest - were rare. Blends from two, three or more years were the norm. Now almost every year is a vintage year, and the term "vintage Champagne" has become mostly a clich�.
Q. Dare I ask for your closing thoughts?
A. My brief exploration into the wine world leads me to believe there are almost as many clich�s as there are wines.
There are catchphrases that are also clich�s. Like "excellent value for everyday drinking" or "perfect now but will last 10 years or more" or "great wines begin in the vineyard."
And lest you think hackneyed stuff is all of recent vintage, here, from Alexis Bespaloff's "Fireside Book of Wine," is the legendary Andr� Simon, writing in the 1930's on a 1905 Margaux: "The 1905 was simply delightful; fresh, sweet and charming, a girl of 15, who is already a great artist, coming on tiptoes and curtseying herself out with childish grace and laughing blue eyes."
Q. Thank you, Mr. Arbuthnot and do come back. With wine clich�s, it appears that we've only scratched the surface.
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Greetings,
Yet another reason to "Just Say No To Yahoo"
(Recall they're working w/ the Chinese government to censor the internet.)
Thanks to Carl for the DIY to keep Yahoo from tracking your every move.
Note that you need to opt out on every machine and every browser! Truly evil!
In Europe, privacy is automatic. The use/sale/sharing of Web beacons,
driver's license data, credit card data and most any other
invasion of our privacy would require that we explicitly "Opt In".
(they also get 5 or 6 weeks of vacation, but I digress.)
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com -----
Date: 19 Jan 2006 13:51:47 -0000
From: phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com
To: phc-club(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [phc-club] Digest Number 959
There is 1 message in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. FW: Yahoo is watching you - ALWAYS
From: "off_peak_brewing" <ceidbo(a)i29.net>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:19:09 -0000
From: "off_peak_brewing" <ceidbo(a)i29.net>
Subject: FW: Yahoo is watching you - ALWAYS
If you belong to ANY Yahoo Groups - be aware that Yahoo is now
using "Web Beacons" to track every Yahoo Group user. It's similar
to cookies, but allows Yahoo to record every website and every group
you visit, even when you're not connected to Yahoo.
Look at their updated privacy statement at
http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy
About half-way down the page, in the section on cookies, you will
see a link that says WEB BEACONS.
Click on the phrase "Web Beacons." On the page that opens, find a
paragraph entitled "Outside the Yahoo Network."
In that section find a little "Click Here to Opt Out" link that will
let you "opt-out" of their snooping. Be careful! NOT to click on the
next button shown. It is an "Opt Back In" button that, if clicked,
will UNDO the opt-out.
Note that Yahoo's invasion of your privacy - and your ability to
opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific.
That means you will have to opt-out on every computer (and browser)
you use.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phc-club/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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------------------------------ *
* 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 *
Re: [wine] vincent
----- Original Message -----
From: Warren Gregory<mailto:wrcgregory@qwest.net>
To: Annette Stadelman<mailto:mandastad@msn.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: [wine] vincent
HI,
Here's the final group of 12:
Yes:
Bob
Roger
Jim
Louise
Bill
Betsy
Russ
Annette
Chris
Warren
Ruth
Dave ?
No:
Lori
Fred
Thanks,
Annette
HI Annette,
Warren and I will be coming on Thurs. See you then
Ruth
Hi,
We're confirmed at Vincent for this Thursday in the private upstairs room. I've made the res. for 12 but we can up that if need be. I will need an exact head count by Wed..
So, I'm assuming it will be Burgundy...
Should be a fun, new, experience!
Annette
Mostly an update, and some fodder for the mill on
the restaurant business from the NYT.
Also a bit on Petite Syrah. Not sure if they grow
any of that in Australia.
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 15:12:28 -0600
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Aussie at Muffies
Greetings, Happy New Year, Bah-Mitzvah!
Had some truly fantastic food at Alma. The three course, $39, prix fixe
was the order of the day for most of us. Alma tasting option is unusually
flexible. Diner's are able to pick "one form each column". That is
any starter, any primi/pasta and any entree. Local pheasant and
the risoto were very good.
This week, we've been invited to Muffuletta.
Muffuletta Cafe
2260 Como St. Paul, 55108
St. Anthony Park
651-644-9116
Style du jour is "Australian".
Yes
Warren/Ruth
Betsy
Bob
Russ
Lori
Jim
Louise is a maybe...
Guess:
Nicolai
Karin
Directions: Take Hwy 280 to Como, go east up the hill and then to the
second light (Carter).
Alt: Take Snelling to Como, West to Carter.
Cheers,
Jim
January 11, 2006
Critic's Notebook
Creeping Up on Diners: Stealth Charges
By FRANK BRUNI
IF you want some red wine with dinner at the opulent new restaurant Gilt in Midtown Manhattan, your options typically rise from a minimum of $20 to a maximum of $1,000, with a median of $55 and an average of $246. That range is about what you would expect, but for this: It's not for red wine by the bottle.
It's for red wine by the glass.
And while Gilt's pour may exceed the usual, this munificence is a matter of only a few droplets, judging from a $24 glass of 2004 Cakebread sauvignon blanc I had recently.
I could have chosen a lesser sauvignon blanc for the veritable pittance of $18, the cheapest alternative among nine whites and the only alternative under $20. But I also could have spent up to $225.
Is Gilt an aberration? Yes and no. You'll find few New York restaurants at which Bacchus is such a bully and a snob. But you'll find more and more with tactics, which sometimes seem like tricks, for making a meal costlier than it first appears to be. With add-ons that stealthily add up. With menus like minefields, financially perilous to anyone who strays broadly and heedlessly across them.
At Gilt, an extreme case in point, an advertised fixed price of $92 for two savory courses and dessert turns out to be fiction, even apart from the wine. When I dined there, three of eight appetizer options entailed supplemental charges, and those supplements weren't paltry, ranging from $18 to $28. One of seven entrees had a supplement of $16, while another had a surcharge of $18.
When I dined at the new restaurant Telepan on the Upper West Side, I spent $15.50 on roasted cauliflower with a special herb oil and crushed heirloom shell beans. Granted, the cauliflower came in three kinds and colors, and it was exceptional cauliflower, undoubtedly artisanal cauliflower, for all I knew the Kobe of cauliflower, hand-massaged and moistened hourly with atomized Evian.
But still, it was cauliflower. And as noteworthy as its price was its placement on the menu in a category of "Mid Course" dishes, which was printed after the appetizers and before the entrees and planted the suggestion that a diner who wanted to experience the restaurant fully needed three savory chapters, with respective average costs of about $13, $17 and $27.
The structure of the menu at Telepan, which opened in December, recalls the structure of the menu at Thor, which opened in September.
Like Telepan, Thor points diners toward two courses prior to the entree, dividing what other restaurants might label appetizers into distinct categories called "Cold Plates to Start" and "Warm Plates in the Middle." Thor has yet another category called "From the Market on the Side," which is where items like roasted or pur�ed potatoes lurk, entailing surcharges of $6 each.
Thor's chef, Kurt Gutenbrunner, said in a telephone interview that despite the semantic cues "to start" and "in the middle," the menu is not some culinary bait-and-bait designed to fatten checks by persuading diners to order a little from here, a little from there and, while they're at it, some quark spaetzle or fennel and figs from way over there.
Like other architects of today's increasingly segmented menus, Mr. Gutenbrunner said his goal was to give diners more options and control.
"When people are going out, they know exactly how much they're going to spend the minute they walk out the door, and they're not going to spend more," he said. "And if you somehow make them, you've lost a long-term customer."
But what if it's only a little more?
Vicki Freeman, one of the owners of Cookshop, which opened in Chelsea in September, said the existence on its menu of an appetizerlike category for "snacks" has not prompted the diners who order snacks to forgo conventional appetizers, which still have their own category. It has prompted them to explore both categories, and a check for a table of two is $5 to $6 higher as a result.
The broadening presence of snacks on menus - Taku, which opened in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn in June, also has them - provides just one example of rampant category inflation.
A few blocks north of Cookshop, at D'or Ahn, which also opened in September, there are four savory categories ("raw," "cold," "hot," and "side") for modestly portioned dishes, in addition to a category for entrees.
Italian restaurants all over the city separate the crudi from the appetizers and the verdure, or vegetables, from the salumi, and before you know it, your $15 pappardelle has become a $50 production.
Restaurant consultants and industry observers say that actual prices of appetizers, entrees and fixed-price multicourse meals at upscale restaurants haven't been rising as fast as inflation. But perhaps because of that, they say, some surprising surcharges have popped up.
When I ate lunch a few months ago at Bann, a new Korean restaurant in Midtown, the lettuce and miso paste that other Korean restaurants consider a complimentary accouterment to barbecued meat entailed an extra $3.
Over the last year, I've been struck by how cunningly many servers push bottled water, asking diners if they want "still" or "sparkling" without ever mentioning a less taxing possibility. In restaurants, apparently, "tap" is a four-letter word.
I've had servers wordlessly replace finished bottles of water with new ones, so that my companions and I realized only when the bill arrived that we'd had five bottles at a cost of $60. That's insidious, and that's insane.
But it's indicative of the sneakiness at loose upon the restaurant landscape.
Sneaky is a fair word for Gilt (where, it should be noted, wines by the bottle aren't as shockingly expensive as by the glass). Gilt opened in December in a series of sumptuous rooms inside the New York Palace Hotel, replacing Le Cirque 2000.
While other fixed-price menus have dishes with supplemental charges, I have not seen another New York menu on which the percentage of those dishes is so high. Or on which the charges seem so odd. There's no supplement for lobster, but there's $16 for lamb and $18 for a portion of Dover sole that, when I sampled it, could be consumed in fewer than 10 bites.
Gilt may present itself as comparable in price to Jean Georges and Le Bernardin, both of which charge $95 for three savory courses and dessert. But tack on the surcharges and a glass or two of white - at Jean Georges you can get one for $9, at Le Bernardin for $13 - and Gilt has lofted you to unexpected stratospheres of spending.
It's hardly the only New York restaurant these days that takes you there.
THE CHRONICLE WINE SELECTIONS
California Petite Sirah
- Linda Murphy
Thursday, January 12, 2006
There is nothing petite about Petite Sirah. This black grape, grown throughout the warmer regions of California, produces teeth-staining, brawny wines with dark berry and plum fruit, a grind of spice (usually black pepper) and sturdy tannins. Once considered a rustic wine, California Petite Sirah has become softer and more polished in recent years, as winemakers have learned to tame the tannins and astringency with various techniques in the vineyard and cellar.
Petite Sirah -- intentionally misspelled "Petite Syrah" by some producers -- is the same as Durif, a workhorse grape of southern France. Petite Sirah is also related to "regular" Syrah; Syrah is Petite's father, Peloursin the mother. Despite their common genes, Petite Sirah and Syrah are very different wines -- the "petite" son has more muscles and hair on his chest than Dad.
Here are our favorites from the 65 Petite Sirahs tasted for today:
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Chiarello Family Vineyards Roux Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($50) Napa Valley chef and Food Network star Michael Chiarello produces this wine, which despite its somewhat high 15.2 percent alcohol, tastes balanced and bright with crisp acidity. Racy raspberry, blackberry and cassis flavors are enhanced by black peppercorn, black tea, mocha and toast notes. If Petite Sirah can be pretty, this is it.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Concannon Central Coast Limited Release Petite Sirah ($15) Sweet vanilla and black-fruit aromas lead to a ripe, blueberry- and black cherry-filled wine. It's spicy and toasty, yet refreshing thanks to brisk acidity.
TWO STARS
2003 Foppiano Vineyards Estate Russian River Valley Petite Sirah ($23) While toasty oak dominates the nose, the palate delivers rich, ripe wild blackberry and black plum flavors and an intense black-pepper spice. There is a slight mid-palate dryness, though a burst of juicy raspberry fruit and crisp acidity plumps up the finish.
THREE STARS
2004 Michael-David Earthquake Lodi Petite Sirah ($28) This is the big one, with massive, jammy fruit (blackberry, black cherry and pie cherry), powerful tannins and a Richter-scale 15.7 alcohol content. Rarely are wines of this size balanced, yet Earthquake maintains its equilibrium and offers fine complexity in its toast, smoked meat, cola, vanilla and white-pepper notes.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Mitchell Katz Ruby Hill Vineyard Livermore Valley Petite Sirah ($16) Yes, Virginia, the Livermore Valley can produce great wine, and here's proof. This wine is incredibly smooth and fine-textured -- full, rich and concentrated in its blackberry, blueberry and cassis flavors with vanilla and black pepper accents. It has great balance, firm acidity and a lingering finish that does not taste hot, as the labeled 15.4 percent alcohol might suggest it would. Great price, too.
THREE STARS
2002 Quixote Panza Stags' Leap Ranch Napa Valley Petite Syrah ($40) Carl Doumani, who made Petite Sirah fashionable in Napa Valley when he owned Stags' Leap Winery (he was also the first to purposely spell it "Syrah" on the label), now makes the varietal at his Quixote Winery nearby. His 2002 effort, sealed with a screw cap, is inky-purple in color, toasty in aroma and tastes intensely of black fruit. There are also hints of blueberry, spice, coffee and chocolate, wrapped in supple tannins.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Quivira Wine Creek Ranch Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah ($24) Black never goes out of style, as demonstrated by this blackberry/black plum/black licorice-loaded wine. While it's deep and dark, there's no brooding here, as the juicy fruit, peppery spice, gentle toastiness and moderate 14.2 percent alcohol content give the wine a sense of elegance not often found in Petite Sirah.
THREE STARS
2003 Rosenblum Pickett Road Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($28) Lush blackberry and blueberry fruit, black pepper and licorice notes, rustic earthiness and big, chewy tannins make this the powerhouse that Petite Sirah aficionados seek. Despite its size, the wine has wonderful balance and palate-cleansing acidity. The alcohol is a heady 15.6 percent, yet there isn't a lot of heat on the palate.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2003 Rosenblum Rockpile Road Vineyard Rockpile Petite Sirah ($36) Deep purple and intensely fruity -- almost Port-like -- this wine pushes the envelope with its very jammy blackberry and black plum fruit, yet has enough acidity, peppery spice and worn-leather complexity for balance. At 15.4 percent alcohol, it packs a punch.
TWO AND A HALF STARS
2002 Vina Robles Jardine Vineyard Paso Robles Petite Sirah ($26) Stop reading if you don't like big, hedonistic wines, because this one is huge, loaded with wild, brambly blackberry fruit, black pepper, espresso, toast and vanilla flavors. The tannins are muscular and the palate is ripe, with a touch of residual sweetness.
TWO STARS 2004
Vinum Cellars Pets Clarksburg Petite Sirah ($14) "Pets" is what some producers call Petite Sirah, and this wine is as easygoing as the family golden retriever. It's packed with juicy blackberry and blueberry fruit and notes of spice, chocolate, saddle leather and vanilla, with medium tannins. A portion of the sales proceeds go to the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Key:
FOUR STARS Extraordinary
THREE STARS Excellent
TWO STARS Good
Page F - 3
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/12/WIG74GL8G71.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 *
