win

win@thebarn.com

1040 discussions

by Jim L. Ellingson

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 Jim/Louise Guess: Lori 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 ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- Authentication-Results: smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu from=wine(a)wineloverspage.com; sender-id=neutral; spf=neutral Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 13:47:43 -0500 (EST) To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: Que Syrah, Sirah From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> X-Sender: <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> X-Greylist: IP, sender and recipient auto-whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-1.6 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu [128.101.142.227]); Wed, 04 Jan 2006 12:44:14 -0600 (CST) X-Spam-Score: -2.599 () BAYES_00 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.54 on 128.101.142.227 THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006 ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSOR * CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Send New Year's Cheer! http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers ________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * QUE SYRAH, SIRAH Our interactive wine-education forum, Wine Tasting 101, reprises one of last year's most popular topics. * HAYMAN & HILL 2002 MONTEREY COUNTY "RESERVE SELECTION" SHIRAZ-VIOGNIER ($11.99) A whack of oak dominates the nose, but bright and sunny Syrah fruit comes through in this robust California wine's flavor. * LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor archives. * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ QUE SYRAH, SIRAH Syrah, Shiraz, Sirah ... what's the difference? Historically, it's been simple enough, if a bit confusing, to sort out these similar grape names: * SYRAH is the great French red-wine variety of the Rhone Valley, a grape that legend traces to the Crusaders but that in reality goes even farther back, probably brought to Gaul by the Romans some 2,000 years ago. * SHIRAZ is the name that the Australians gave Syrah, perhaps inspired by that same Crusader legend, which holds - romantically if inaccurately - that the French knight Gaspard de Sterimberg brought the first vines home to his Hermitage vineyard in the Rhone from Shiraz in Persia. * SIRAH-with-an-I - Petite Sirah - is a California grape most likely named by 19th century marketers to evoke the real Syrah. Known in France as Durif and long thought to be unrelated to Syrah, it's now known to be a direct descendant of Syrah, a cross between true Syrah and another little-known French variety, Peloursin. This lineage is further complicated by the fact that some old California "field-blend" vineyards of mixed vines have traditionally been misidentified as Petite Sirah. All three sound-alike grapes can make similar wines, peppery and robust, but those wines span a considerable spectrum from soft, fruity and slightly sweet to big, tannic and ageworthy. Australia's Shiraz often pushes the limits of fruit-forward, jammy and powerful, while the most memorable Syrahs of the Northern Rhone - Hermitage, Cote-Rotie and Cornas in particular - although big wines also, tend more toward the structured and tannic, astringent but muscular, requiring cellar time. Grown in warm New World climates (or unusually hot European summers), Syrah shows a boldly fruity red-berry nature and may well be vinified with the free-handed use of oak; look for a signature fragrant black- pepper character and plenty of astringent tannin in cooler-climate Syrah. California Syrahs can go either way, and in an intriguing complication, an increasing minority of the Golden State's Syrahs - including the Hayman & Hill featured in today's tasting report - are labeled "Shiraz" these days, perhaps as a marketing ploy aimed at capturing some of the critical buzz that surrounds the version from Down Under. Petite Sirah, meanwhile, has won a loyal corps of fans, even if some Syrah aficionadoes diss it as second-rate. At its best, "P.S." makes a hearty, ageworthy wine that earns its reputation the old-fashioned way. This month in our Wine Tasting 101 forum, we reprise one of last year's most popular topics, "Que Syrah, Sirah," sorting out the differences among these familiar names. You're encouraged to taste the Syrahs, Shirazes and Petite Sirahs of your choice, then drop in to WT101 http://community.netscape.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&folderId=4&webt… to share your tasting reports, ask questions and talk about your impressions. ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you'd like to ask a question or comment on today's topic (or any other wine-related subject), you'll find a round-table online discussion in our interactive WineLovers Community, where you're always welcome to join in the conversations about wine. http://community.netscape.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=2134&… If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at 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/print060104.html ________________________________________________________________________ Why "Shiraz"? Perhaps because the Hayman half of the partnership is an Australian. Hayman & Hill is a venture between two principals of California's Blackstone Winery, Hayman (senior vice president of operations of giant Constellation Brands' Pacific Wine Partners, which owns Blackstone and other properties), and Dennis Hill, Blackstone's chief winemaker. HAYMAN & HILL 2002 MONTEREY COUNTY "RESERVE SELECTION" SHIRAZ-VIOGNIER ($11.99) Spanning three continents in its marketing if not its style, this California wine adopts the Australian name "Shiraz," while emulating the practice of the French Northern Rhone by using a splash (7 percent) of white Viognier to "lift" the hearty red with the white grape's aromatic flavors. The result, sadly, is a bit spoiled by a whack of new oak that brings to the nose an unfortunate impression of freshly sanded wooden floors. Inky blackish-purple with a day-glo violet edge, the wine's woody, almost resinous oak aromas are less than appealing, but the flavor redeems the wine with bright and forward red-berry flavors and crisp acidity, with oak present only as a spice. (Jan. 3, 2006) FOOD MATCH: A rare pan-seared flatiron steak helps bring the wine around, showcasing its fruit while diminishing that markedly oaky aroma. VALUE: Apart from its excessive reliance on wood, it's a full-bodied, robust wine with recognizable Shiraz-style Syrah character, and it's reasonably priced against the competition at just over $10. WHEN TO DRINK: Its heft and forward fruit should hold it for a year or two on the wine rack, but I don't see it as a wine for longer-term cellaring. WEB LINK: A page about Hayman & Hill appears to have been removed from the Pacific Wine Partners' Website, which has its home page here: http://www.pacwine.com/ FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Find vendors and compare prices for Hayman & Hill on Wine-Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Hayman%2bHill/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=WLP ________________________________________________________________________ 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. Wednesday, January 4, 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, 11 months

[wine] S. Italy at Arezzo TOnight

by Jim L. Ellingson

Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 20:50:12 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] Italy, S. of Rome, at Arezzo Greetings, Auriga was very good. Last I heard, we're doing "Italy, Sourth of Rome" at Arezzo. Anyone know if Bob was able to make the reservation? Bob has negotiated a $5 per person charge in leu of corkage. Menu is on line. Wine list is not on line.... Prices are reasonable, w/ $10-12 pizza and most entrees (Primi) under $20. > > Who mostly confirmed Bob Lori Betsy Annette S Russ Warren/Ruth/Steve Jim Maybe (aka Team Proseco!) Sue Louise Guesses (Team in-comunicado) Bill Janet Karin Nicolai Arezzo Ristorante 612 285-7444 5057 France Ave S, Minneapolis, 55410 www.arezzo-ristorante.com S. Italy. Sardinia Sicily Salice Campomarino Augusthronicle's Top Bargain Wines of 2005 - W. Blake Gray, Leslie Sbrocco Thursday, December 29, 2005 2002 Alamos Mendoza Malbec ($10) Bodega Catena Zapata, which makes this wine, is one of the most prestigious wineries in Argentina. Laura Catena, vice president and a winemaker, is also an emergency room physician at UCSF Medical Center. There's no conflict between the jobs, because high-altitude Argentine Malbecs are said to be particularly high in resveratrol, a naturally occurring antioxidant in grapes that studies suggest helps prevent heart disease and cancer. Protect your heart while enjoying this juicy, full-bodied wine's intensity, complexity and quaffability. Click to View 2002 A-Mano Puglia Primitivo ($10) Primitivo is genetically identical to Zinfandel, though some believe it was imported to Italy from California, rather than making its way there from its birthplace in Croatia. In any case, this earthy yet fruity red from the Adriatic coast in southeastern Italy is made in a New World style by Mark Shannon, an American winemaker who now lives on "the boot." 2002 Capcanes Montsant Mas Donis ($10) The Montsant wine region of Spain was created in 2001 when the larger Priorat region was broken in two; Montsant is shaped like a doughnut that encircles what is now called Priorat. The idea was to focus international attention on now-trendy Priorat wines, which have gone up in price. Accordingly, Montsant wines are like "second-growth Priorats," which can mean good value. This blend of mostly Grenache with Syrah is dense and layered, showcasing wild berry character tinged with smoky notes. Click to View 2004 Covey Run Columbia Valley Riesling ($8) Washington state's Covey Run Winery is one of about 27 quadrillion wineries now owned by Constellation Brands. Oddly, Covey Run is lumped by the company in the same subsidiary -- Canandaigua Wine -- with very low-end products including Manischewitz and Wild Irish Rose. This rich, sweet wine raises the standards of the portfolio with flavors and aromas of honey, ripe pear, Meyer lemon and white peach with strong floral accents. It's a good example of how delicious Washington Riesling can be. Click to View 2004 Dry Creek Vineyard Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc ($10) In 1991, California had more than 30,000 acres of Chenin Blanc, representing more than 17 percent of the state's white wine grapes, according to the California Agricultural Statistics Service. By 2004, total white wine grape plantings were up slightly, but Chenin Blanc had dropped under 12,000 acres because it lost favor in the industry. Most of that Chenin Blanc goes into jug wines, and few California wineries still produce it as a varietal. This wine shows why wineries shouldn't give up on it, with floral and ripe fruit notes that pair with zesty citrus flavors. Click to View 2004 Falesco Vitiano Umbria Ros� ($8) The Falesco wines are made by Riccardo Cotarella, Italy's most sought-after consulting winemaker, and his brother Renzo, general manger at the prestigious Marchesi Antinori winery in Tuscany. This wine is made by vinifying a portion of the juice that comes from quickly crushing the same grapes -- Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Aleatico -- that go into Falesco's red blend. Watermelon and strawberry aromas waft from the glass, and a spicy kick finishes each sip. Click to View 2004 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc ($9) The Australian-born leaders of Geyser Peak Winery's winemaking team have always believed in unoaked, crisp styles of white wine, even when big, creamy, oaky whites were all the rage in California. This bottling from the Geyserville winery is in the New Zealand style, with flavors of gooseberry, pineapple and a hint of Meyer lemon. It's only moderately grassy, with additional aromas of dried apricot and pineapple, and is delicious with practically any kind of food. Click to View 2004 Heron California Chardonnay ($10) Laely Heron's parents were hippies who traveled the world in a Volkswagen van, taking her to live in places including Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Botswana, Thailand and Malaysia. She studied winemaking in France and began her winemaking career with a Merlot from France's Languedoc region that she still produces. But her winery, Heron Wines, is based in San Francisco, and most of her wines -- including this one -- are made from California fruit. Tropical aromas leap from the glass; the flavors are lemon, lemon marmalade, passion fruit and mango with a touch of vanilla on the medium-length finish. Click to View NV HRM Rex Goliath California Pinot Noir ($9) Don't wait to buy this wine. The brand was purchased in September by industry giant Constellation Brands, which changed winemakers. Because it's nonvintage -- which means grapes harvested in more than one year are blended -- it's not going to be possible to tell when the old regime's wine runs out and the new stock comes in. Ben Dollard, president of Constellation subsidiary Pacific Wine Partners, says the goal is to maintain quality while increasing production. Nonetheless, it was tempting to leave this wine off the list because of its uncertain future, but this year's release richly deserves the honor because it's a $9 wine that offers the soft fruit and complexity of a much more expensive Pinot Noir. Its aromas and flavors of cherry, cherry tobacco, red plum, tar, soy sauce and vanilla would merit a recommendation even if the wine cost three times as much. And it's named after a legendary 47-pound rooster, making it the heavyweight champ of this year's menagerie of critter wines. Click to View 2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10) There are probably more good bargain Shirazes on the market than any other red varietal, but they tend to be bold and simple rather than memorable. Moreover, bargain Syrah is often not easy to match with foods because of its big body and high alcohol. The 2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10) stands above its many peers because of its juicy, food-friendly fruit character and relatively restrained 13.5 percent alcohol. This is a delicious, complex wine, with flavors and aromas of ripe black currant, raspberry, black mission fig, earth and herbs. The tannins dry a bit on the medium-long finish. Jake, by the way, is supposed to be you, the consumer, according to the Allied Domecq Wines U.S.A. Web site. So if you don't love this wine, whose fault is it? Click to View 2004 Kono Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($10) Kono is a food and beverage brand of Maori-owned Wakatu Inc. of Nelson, New Zealand. This wine takes advantage of the fact that the world center of great Sauvignon Blanc is now that country's Marlborough region. In its cool climate, the grape develops strong, pungent aromas and flavors of tropical fruit and fresh-mown grass that were shocking 20 years ago to fans of the more austere, mineral-driven wines made from Sauvignon Blanc in France's Loire region. Lately, those strong flavors have become the expectation, and sadly, few Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough can be had for $10. That's what makes this wine such a find. Its strong aromas and tangy flavors of passion fruit, pineapple, fresh-cut grass, white peach and white pepper are pure Marlborough, and they linger on the medium-long finish. Click to View 2003 The Magnificent Wine Co. Columbia Valley House Wine ($10) Charles Smith of K Vintners in Walla Walla is one of Washington state's hottest and most eclectic vintners; one of his Syrahs, priced at $40, was chosen earlier this month as The Chronicle's favorite from the entire state. This down-to-earth blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc is packed with rich, dark fruit flavors. It's a successful attempt by Smith to make a wine that people can have every day without being bored -- in other words, a "house wine," hence the name. Click to View 2003 Montevina Amador County Barbera ($10) The Italian varietal Barbera is perhaps the most underappreciated grape in the United States. It's widely grown but often ends up anonymously providing backbone for jug wines. When bottled on its own, it can be an outstanding dinner-table wine that combines two likable characteristics not found together often enough: a big body and palate-cleansing, food-friendly acidity. This Barbera by Montevina offers flavors of bright cherry with some earth and cherry tobacco and will pair wonderfully with pasta, pizza, red meat, pork and practically anything prepared with an Italian accent. You may not appreciate how good it is until you wonder why the bottle emptied so quickly. Click to View 2002 Parducci Mendocino County Pinot Noir ($8) The proprietors of Mendocino Wine Co., which owns Parducci Wine Cellars, were chosen as Winemakers to Watch by The Chronicle in 2005 because of the promise of wines like this one. Parducci is a good steward of the environment -- the company is converting its vineyards to organic farming and uses recycled and treeless paper on its labels and biodiesel in its trucks. This wine shows the company's vines are well worth nurturing. Its complex aroma would fool most Pinot-philes into thinking it costs three times as much; its flavor is of tangy cherry with some strawberry and soy sauce and musky hints. It's pretty amazing to get a Pinot Noir this good for $8. Click to View 2003 Pepperwood Grove California Cabernet Sauvignon ($8) Napa-based negociant Don Sebastiani & Sons is the most anonymous of the 10 wineries chosen by The Chronicle in August as our Best Budget Brands. The company made 1.5 million cases of wine in 2004, but none carried the family name. But wines this good earn names for themselves. The vanilla aroma is strong, indicating lots of exposure to oak, with additional scents of cherry and leather. On the palate, it's nicely balanced between cherry and vanilla flavors with notes of black tea and leather; more cherry keeps coming out on the medium-long finish. Considering the prices many California Cabernets fetch these days, quality this high for $8 is phenomenal. Click to View 2004 Raimat Costers del Segre Chardonnay ($8) The Raimat brand comes from the Raventos family that owns the Codorniu line of sparkling wines in Spain and Artesa winery in Napa. Manuel Raventos bought infertile salt plains abandoned by farmers in this semi-desert region of northeast Spain in 1914. It took the family 50 years of planting cattle fodder, pine trees and cereals before the soil was ready to become the vineyard that produced this wine. No oak was used in this wine, so it's fruity and vibrant, yet it will appeal to lovers of all types of Chardonnay because it has a creamy character gained from aging on its lees (spent yeast cells). Click to View 2003 Ruffino Libaio Toscana Chardonnay ($9) Ruffino is most famous for its high-end wines from the Chianti Classico region. Chardonnay from Italy is hardly traditional, but this one is quite refreshing, fruit-driven and crisp, smelling of Asian pear and sweet apple. Though no oak is used, this Chardonnay has a creamy complexity that comes from letting the wine rest on the lees for one month. This adds a layer of flavor to the wine while maintaining vibrant acidity. Click to View 2005 Simonsig Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc ($10) When Americans think of Africa, we tend to imagine hot, dry plains. For Stellenbosch, one of South Africa's best wine regions, that couldn't be further from the truth. Ocean breezes bring the average summer temperature of this beautiful area below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool weather helps give this wine its crisp character and juicy pear flavors, which are enhanced by mineral notes. Chenin Blanc has been South Africa's workhorse grape for many years, and this bottling shows why. Click to View 2004 Walnut Crest Central Valley (Chile) Sauvignon Blanc ($7) This wine is shy about its homeland. You read Central Valley and think Fresno, but in this case it's a long valley running parallel to the Andes Mountains in Chile, just 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The country of origin is hidden in tiny type on the back label. Fortunately, this wine's aromas and flavors are the opposite of shy. Tangy pineapple and passion fruit jump from the glass, with notes of grass, apricot and white pepper. Sauvignon Blanc is still relatively rare in Chile, but this wine shows it has a bright future there. Click to View 2004 Wildhurst Reserve Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($10) Lake County, due north of Napa County, is a relatively new frontier for North Coast wineries, so its cachet isn't as high as Marlborough, New Zealand, and neither are prices for its wines. This wine, made in the Marlborough style, is fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve its citrusy freshness, then blended with a dash of Semillon to add a bit of lushness. Best 10 bargains: He said, she said W. Blake Gray Whites 2004 Covey Run Columbia Valley Riesling ($8) 2004 Geyser Peak California Sauvignon Blanc ($9) 2004 Heron California Chardonnay ($10) 2004 Kono Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($10) 2004 Walnut Crest Central Valley (Chile) Sauvignon Blanc ($7) Reds NV HRM Rex Goliath California Pinot Noir ($9) 2003 Jakes Fault California Shiraz ($10) 2003 Montevina Amador County Barbera ($10) 2002 Parducci Mendocino County Pinot Noir ($8) 2003 Pepperwood Grove California Cabernet Sauvignon ($8) Best 10 bargains: He said, she said Leslie Sbrocco Whites 2004 Dry Creek Vineyard Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc ($10) 2004 Raimat Costers del Segre Chardonnay ($8) 2003 Ruffino Libaio Toscana Chardonnay ($9) 2005 Simonsig Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc ($10) 2004 Wildhurst Reserve Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($10) Ros� 2004 Falesco Vitiano Umbria Ros� ($8) Reds 2002 Alamos Mendoza Malbec ($10) 2002 A-Mano Puglia Primitivo ($10) 2002 Capcanes Montsant Mas Donis ($10) 2003 The Magnificent Wine Co. Columbia Valley House Wine ($10) Page F - 4 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/29/WIG99GE1IE1.DTL Sicily: Flavors of an Island, Easy to Enjoy By ERIC ASIMOV IN the 19th century the nation of Italy was created by joining regions that had maintained uncomfortably separate political existences. Depending on which Italian you ask, the union may or may not have succeeded. For understanding Italian wines, though, it's fair to say it is a failure. Too often, deep-seated regional differences among wines are lost as they are lumped together under the term Italian. While a love of wine and food may bind together Italians from Alto Adige in the north to those in Apulia in the south, the wines from each region are as different as the local grapes, soil, climate and culture. You may already know and love Amarones (from Veneto) or Chiantis (from Tuscany), but neither, as the Dining section's wine panel found out, will help you much in deciphering the wines of Sicily. We approached our tasting of 25 Sicilian reds with great anticipation. Few wine regions have undergone as thorough a transformation as Sicily has in the last 20 years, and few are as unfamiliar. For Florence Fabricant and me, along with our guests, Howard Horvath, the wine director at Esca restaurant, and Scott Mayger, a consultant who worked most recently at Barbuto in the West Village, the tasting was a chance to reacquaint ourselves with a category that we find in restaurants all too rarely. Even in ancient times, Sicily was known for producing vast quantities of wine. But in the last two decades the tanks of cheap blending wine have given way to wines that at their best are fruity and embraceable yet retain the character and personality of the island. It's not easy for a region that has been making wines out of the spotlight for centuries to give up the old ways, but in wine zones like Faro in the northeast of Sicily, Cerasuolo di Vittoria in the south and Contessa Entellina in the west, winemakers have modernized their farming techniques and improved their methods in the cellar. Occasionally, the urge to modernize has gone too far, and producers have eliminated their local grapes in favor of international varietals like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. These are not necessarily bad wines. We all liked a 2001 merlot from Planeta, one of the biggest Sicilian producers. It was well made and enjoyable, but not a wine with much soul. No, the most distinctive Sicilian wines continue to be made primarily with the traditional Sicilian grapes, most notably nero d'Avola, which makes deep, rich wines, and, to a far lesser degree, frappato, lighter and more aromatic, and nerello Mascarese, which is used primarily in the Faro zone. Some have speculated that nero d'Avola is related to syrah, and have even gone so far as to suggest that the name syrah was derived from the Sicilian city Siracusa. Perhaps, but that connection seems tenuous to me, even if one of the wines we liked best, the 2002 Morgante Don Antonio Riserva, which was made entirely of nero d'Avola, reminded me of an Australian shiraz, though one with enhanced acidity that cried out for tomato sauce. When tasting a wide range of wines from an up-and-coming region like Sicily, you expect a fair share of clunkers. Although we did find a few bottles that tasted like assembly-line confections or of baked, over-ripe fruit, the overall quality was exceptional - "across-the-board drinkable," as Mr. Horvath put it. Our favorite bottle was the 2000 Nerobufaleffj (neh-ro-boof-uh-LEFF-ee) from Gulfi, made entirely of nero d'Avola. Like most of these wines, it was easy to enjoy. The Gulfi and four other wines in our Top 10 carried the designation IGT, for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, a term that gives government sanction to wines that meet less stringent rules regarding grape varieties or areas of production than required for wines that carry regional names, like Contessa Entellina or Faro. Many forward-looking producers opt for IGT status rather than be bound by the regional rules. But sometimes those rules encourage experimentation. Our No. 2 wine, the graceful 2002 Tancredi from Donnafugata, meets the standards for the Contessa Entellina designation, even though it is an untraditional blend of 70 percent nero d'Avola and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. That zone was created in 1993, when blending experiments were well under way. As a result, grapes as diverse as cabernet, syrah and pinot noir can be part of the mix. Maybe the authorities were on to something, because the cabernet lends the Tancredi subtlety and an attractive cedary tinge. By contrast, Donnafugata's 2001 Mille e Una Notte, a big, inky, powerful wine that was No. 6 on our list, is 90 percent nero d'Avola and 10 percent other local grapes. It is also twice as expensive as the Tancredi. The Donnafugatas were not the only example of price not quite correlating with quality. Our No. 3 wine, a 2001 Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Valle dell'Acate, was our best value at $19. This wine, which gains freshness from the blending of nero d'Avola with frappato, outperformed much more expensive wines, like our No. 4, a 2001 Faro from Palari for $58. Not that we didn't like the Palari - it was dense and spicy, but also oaky. Palari makes a second wine, Soprano, that sells for half the price of the Faro. I have long liked this wine, which is generally full of fruit and mineral flavors, but a 2000 Soprano in our tasting did not make the cut. If Sicilian wines are going to succeed in making names for themselves, it will be because distinctive wines like the Gulfi, the Donnafugatas, the Palaris and the Valle dell'Acate force people to take notice. When they do, they will not imagine that these are great Italian wines. They will say, "These are great Sicilian wines," and that will be enough. Tasting Report: Big, Earthy and Rich With Fruit Gulfi Nerobufaleffj IGT 2000 $38 *** Big, balanced, earthy and concentrated; not complex but a pleasure to drink. (Importer: Selected Estates of Europe, Mamaroneck, N.Y.) Donnafugata Tancredi Contessa Entellina 2002 $27 ** � Subtle and light-bodied, though with plenty of fruit and an herbal, cedary aroma. (William Grant & Sons, New York) BEST VALUE Valle dell'Acate Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2001 $19 ** � Full of bright, fresh fruit flavors and cherry and smoke aromas; easy to enjoy. (Panebianco, New York) Palari Faro 2001 M $58 ** � Dense fruit and chocolate aromas, well balanced but a little oaky. (Panebianco, New York) Morgante Don Antonio Riserva IGT 2002 $30 ** Big and fruity, like a shiraz with great acidity. (Winebow, New York) Donnafugata Mille e Una Notte Contessa Entellina 2001 $60 ** Inky black with big, rich flavors and plenty of acidity and tannins. (William Grant & Sons, New York) Ceuso Scurati IGT 2003 $15 ** Big and brawny yet supple with balanced fruit and mineral flavors. (Vias Imports, New York) Gladiator Nero d'Avola 2002 $10 ** Jammy fruit and earth aromas; slightly candied. (Testa Wines of the World, Port Washington, N.Y.) Planeta Merlot IGT 2001 $38 ** Well-made and pleasing but lacks a sense of Sicily. (Vias Imports, New York) Abbazia Santa Anastasia Litra IGT 1998 $50 ** Tannic, with international flavors. (Empson U.S.A., Alexandria, Va.) -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

19 years, 11 months

[wine] Italy, S. of Rome, at Arezzo

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Erte was very good. Last I heard, we're doing "Italy, Sourth of Rome" at Arezzo. Last I heard, we're doing Italian at Arezzo. Anyone know if Bob was able to make the reservation? Bob has negotiated a $5 per person charge in leu of corkage. Menu is on line. Wine list is not on line.... Prices are reasonable, w/ $10-12 pizza and most entrees (Primi) under $20. > > Who mostly GUESSES Bob Lori Betsy Bill Janet Warren/Ruth/Steve Russ/Sue Jim/Louise Karin Nicolai Arezzo Ristorante 612 285-7444 5057 France Ave S, Minneapolis, 55410 www.arezzo-ristorante.com August 24, 2005 Sicily: Flavors of an Island, Easy to Enjoy By ERIC ASIMOV IN the 19th century the nation of Italy was created by joining regions that had maintained uncomfortably separate political existences. Depending on which Italian you ask, the union may or may not have succeeded. For understanding Italian wines, though, it's fair to say it is a failure. Too often, deep-seated regional differences among wines are lost as they are lumped together under the term Italian. While a love of wine and food may bind together Italians from Alto Adige in the north to those in Apulia in the south, the wines from each region are as different as the local grapes, soil, climate and culture. You may already know and love Amarones (from Veneto) or Chiantis (from Tuscany), but neither, as the Dining section's wine panel found out, will help you much in deciphering the wines of Sicily. We approached our tasting of 25 Sicilian reds with great anticipation. Few wine regions have undergone as thorough a transformation as Sicily has in the last 20 years, and few are as unfamiliar. For Florence Fabricant and me, along with our guests, Howard Horvath, the wine director at Esca restaurant, and Scott Mayger, a consultant who worked most recently at Barbuto in the West Village, the tasting was a chance to reacquaint ourselves with a category that we find in restaurants all too rarely. Even in ancient times, Sicily was known for producing vast quantities of wine. But in the last two decades the tanks of cheap blending wine have given way to wines that at their best are fruity and embraceable yet retain the character and personality of the island. It's not easy for a region that has been making wines out of the spotlight for centuries to give up the old ways, but in wine zones like Faro in the northeast of Sicily, Cerasuolo di Vittoria in the south and Contessa Entellina in the west, winemakers have modernized their farming techniques and improved their methods in the cellar. Occasionally, the urge to modernize has gone too far, and producers have eliminated their local grapes in favor of international varietals like cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. These are not necessarily bad wines. We all liked a 2001 merlot from Planeta, one of the biggest Sicilian producers. It was well made and enjoyable, but not a wine with much soul. No, the most distinctive Sicilian wines continue to be made primarily with the traditional Sicilian grapes, most notably nero d'Avola, which makes deep, rich wines, and, to a far lesser degree, frappato, lighter and more aromatic, and nerello Mascarese, which is used primarily in the Faro zone. Some have speculated that nero d'Avola is related to syrah, and have even gone so far as to suggest that the name syrah was derived from the Sicilian city Siracusa. Perhaps, but that connection seems tenuous to me, even if one of the wines we liked best, the 2002 Morgante Don Antonio Riserva, which was made entirely of nero d'Avola, reminded me of an Australian shiraz, though one with enhanced acidity that cried out for tomato sauce. When tasting a wide range of wines from an up-and-coming region like Sicily, you expect a fair share of clunkers. Although we did find a few bottles that tasted like assembly-line confections or of baked, over-ripe fruit, the overall quality was exceptional - "across-the-board drinkable," as Mr. Horvath put it. Our favorite bottle was the 2000 Nerobufaleffj (neh-ro-boof-uh-LEFF-ee) from Gulfi, made entirely of nero d'Avola. Like most of these wines, it was easy to enjoy. The Gulfi and four other wines in our Top 10 carried the designation IGT, for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, a term that gives government sanction to wines that meet less stringent rules regarding grape varieties or areas of production than required for wines that carry regional names, like Contessa Entellina or Faro. Many forward-looking producers opt for IGT status rather than be bound by the regional rules. But sometimes those rules encourage experimentation. Our No. 2 wine, the graceful 2002 Tancredi from Donnafugata, meets the standards for the Contessa Entellina designation, even though it is an untraditional blend of 70 percent nero d'Avola and 30 percent cabernet sauvignon. That zone was created in 1993, when blending experiments were well under way. As a result, grapes as diverse as cabernet, syrah and pinot noir can be part of the mix. Maybe the authorities were on to something, because the cabernet lends the Tancredi subtlety and an attractive cedary tinge. By contrast, Donnafugata's 2001 Mille e Una Notte, a big, inky, powerful wine that was No. 6 on our list, is 90 percent nero d'Avola and 10 percent other local grapes. It is also twice as expensive as the Tancredi. The Donnafugatas were not the only example of price not quite correlating with quality. Our No. 3 wine, a 2001 Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Valle dell'Acate, was our best value at $19. This wine, which gains freshness from the blending of nero d'Avola with frappato, outperformed much more expensive wines, like our No. 4, a 2001 Faro from Palari for $58. Not that we didn't like the Palari - it was dense and spicy, but also oaky. Palari makes a second wine, Soprano, that sells for half the price of the Faro. I have long liked this wine, which is generally full of fruit and mineral flavors, but a 2000 Soprano in our tasting did not make the cut. If Sicilian wines are going to succeed in making names for themselves, it will be because distinctive wines like the Gulfi, the Donnafugatas, the Palaris and the Valle dell'Acate force people to take notice. When they do, they will not imagine that these are great Italian wines. They will say, "These are great Sicilian wines," and that will be enough. Tasting Report: Big, Earthy and Rich With Fruit Gulfi Nerobufaleffj IGT 2000 $38 *** Big, balanced, earthy and concentrated; not complex but a pleasure to drink. (Importer: Selected Estates of Europe, Mamaroneck, N.Y.) Donnafugata Tancredi Contessa Entellina 2002 $27 ** � Subtle and light-bodied, though with plenty of fruit and an herbal, cedary aroma. (William Grant & Sons, New York) BEST VALUE Valle dell'Acate Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2001 $19 ** � Full of bright, fresh fruit flavors and cherry and smoke aromas; easy to enjoy. (Panebianco, New York) Palari Faro 2001 M $58 ** � Dense fruit and chocolate aromas, well balanced but a little oaky. (Panebianco, New York) Morgante Don Antonio Riserva IGT 2002 $30 ** Big and fruity, like a shiraz with great acidity. (Winebow, New York) Donnafugata Mille e Una Notte Contessa Entellina 2001 $60 ** Inky black with big, rich flavors and plenty of acidity and tannins. (William Grant & Sons, New York) Ceuso Scurati IGT 2003 $15 ** Big and brawny yet supple with balanced fruit and mineral flavors. (Vias Imports, New York) Gladiator Nero d'Avola 2002 $10 ** Jammy fruit and earth aromas; slightly candied. (Testa Wines of the World, Port Washington, N.Y.) Planeta Merlot IGT 2001 $38 ** Well-made and pleasing but lacks a sense of Sicily. (Vias Imports, New York) Abbazia Santa Anastasia Litra IGT 1998 $50 ** Tannic, with international flavors. (Empson U.S.A., Alexandria, Va.) -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

19 years, 11 months

[wine] Spanish Wines at Auriga-Come out and Play!

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, This week, Spanish wines at Auriga. (Normally pronounced Are-eye-ga, but perhaps Oar-ree-Ga for our Spanish tasting.) Sparkling(cava?)/white(alvarino)/ringer/dessert wines always welcome. My guess is the turnout will be light. So if you've been sitting on the sidelines, here's your chance. Come join us for some interesting wine sampled with very good food. Auriga Rest. 1930 Hennepin Ave, Mpls, 55403 612-871 -0777 Who: (mostly guesses) Wine Pro Bob Betsy Bill Jim Nicolai Annette S. Dave T. I'll be away from my desk much of day on Weds and off on Thursday. I will check my e-mail periodically. Alternately, give Bob a call. 612-672-0607 Cheers, Jim washingtonpost.com Spain's Lighter Side By Michael Franz Wednesday, August 24, 2005; F05 The biggest story in wine during the past five years may be the remarkable resurgence of Spanish reds, which emerged from decades of underachievement to challenge the world's best bottlings. But big as this story may be, I confess that it could seem a bit beside the point in the swelter of a Washington summer, when you might well ask: Does Spain also have something great that is light, white and right for this tropical time of year? I'd answer with a resounding yes. Encouraged by booming consumer interest in Spanish reds, importers are now bringing in Spain's finest whites in rapidly increasing numbers. As recently as three or four years ago, you'd likely have needed good luck and multiple trips to find a good albari�o or verdejo, but today they can be found in many retail shops and restaurants in our area. Although the Spanish renaissance has only recently become a two-tone phenomenon here, whites have been improving steadily within Spain for decades. An influx of modern technology started the process, and demand for fine whites has also risen dramatically. Thanks to general prosperity and revolutionary improvements to the country's transportation system, sparkling seafood is now trucked into Spain's interior every day. Madrid is every bit as hot as Washington, and its food-savvy residents now show the same zeal for sipping albari�o with fresh clams that they've long shown for quaffing Rioja with cured ham. Spain's leading whites are crafted from two grapes that are closely associated with specific growing regions: albari�o from Rias Baixas and verdejo from Rueda. Most renditions of both are bottled and released early to maximize their freshness, yet both show enough substance to stand up to moderately robust foods like crab or chicken. Lovely whites are also popping up from elsewhere across Spain, and every wine I've recommended below was chosen not only for general quality but also refreshment value -- in keeping with the season. Recommended wines are listed in order of preference within categories below. Wines sourced from Rias Baixas and Rueda are grouped together, and regions of origin for wines in the "Best of the Rest" category are indicated in parentheses, as are approximate prices, importers and D.C. distributors: RIAS BAIXAS Lagar de Cervera Albari�o 2004 ($25, Europvin/Country Vintner in Virginia; National in the District): Pricey but undeniably superb, this benchmark bottling shows vivid peach fruit with lovely floral aromas and citrus acidity that enlivens the deep flavors. Complete and convincing, this is proof of albari�o's potential greatness. Valmi�or Albari�o 2004 ($13, imported and distributed by Kysela): Tough to beat on performance and almost impossible to beat on price, this features fresh, expressive aromas, substantial fruit and excellent balancing acidity. Palacio de Fefi�anes Albari�o 2004 ($17, Kysela): Always among the most delicate and intricate albari�os, Fefinanes is wonderful in 2004, with light body but plenty of flavor and nicely nuanced aromas. Gran Vinum Albari�o 2003 ($24, Grapes of Spain/Elite Wines): The albari�o grape is capable of producing everything from light, fluffy quaffers to prodigiously powerful wines, and this impressive bottling is from the latter side of the spectrum. Deeply concentrated and very rich, it nevertheless maintains its balance. Santiago Ruiz 2004 ($19, imported and distributed by Touton): This blend of albari�o, loureiro and treixadura is light, bright and flashy, with delicate fruit recalling peaches and apples. Esencia Divi�a (by Gran Vinum) Albari�o 2004 ($19, Grapes of Spain/Elite Wines): Still a bit undeveloped aromatically, this is nevertheless a very satisfying drink, with deeply flavored peach fruit and nice mineral accents. Pazo San Mauro Albari�o 2004 ($19, Billington/Winebow): Ample and deeply flavored, with ripe fruit but plenty of acidity for balance. Abadia de San Campio (from Terras Gauda Estate) Albari�o 2004 ($18, A.V. Imports/National): Lean but still flavorful, this refreshing wine shows notes of pears and bright citrus fruits. RUEDA Jose Pariente Verdejo 2004 ($18, Grapes of Spain/Elite Wines): Vivacious and peerlessly fresh, this delightful wine features notes of apples and melons accented with interesting aromas of dried herbs and hay. Pass the shellfish! Fuente Elvira Verdejo 2004 ($14, Grapes of Spain/Elite Wines): This is just a bit less detailed in aroma than the Pariente reviewed above but is even more generous in terms of flavor and body. A serious wine for the money, this seemed as fresh after being open for two days as when the cork was first pulled. Mantel Blanco Verdejo 2004 ($14, imported and distributed by Country Vintner): The makers of this wine seem to get it right every year regardless of seasonal conditions, and the 2004 is a lovely wine with intense citrus notes and interesting aromas of herbs and freshly cut grass. Pasil Verdejo 2004 ($13, Kysela): This textbook verdejo boasts intense fruit with notes of green apples, ripe lemons and dried herbs. Valdelainos Verdejo 2004 ($11, Grapes of Spain/Elite): This excellent value shows relatively rich fruit recalling melons as well as citrus fruits, with nice aromatic accents and bright balancing acidity. Palacio de Bornos Verdejo 2004 ($11, Kysela): Lean and brightly acidic but still flavorful, this must be one of the most refreshing wines available from anywhere in the world at this price. BEST OF THE REST Arabako Xarmant Txakolina (Txakoli de Alava) 2004 ($12, De Maison/Bacchus): Tough to pronounce but easy to like on a hot night, this wine from the Basque country is almost glaringly bright, with green apple and lemon-lime fruit that is tart but not sour. Creu de Lavit (Penedes) Xarel-lo 2003 ($15, Freixenet USA/National): Interesting and aromatically complex, this wine shows lovely notes of baked apples and ripe pears, with wonderful undertones of wood smoke and straw. Medium-bodied, it is amply flavored but totally dry, with a long, detailed finish. Marques de la Villa (Toro) Malvasia 2004 ($7, Touton): A surprisingly delicate white from a region that produces some of Spain's most muscular reds, this features lovely floral aromas, fresh fruit and plenty of acidity. Los Monteros (Valencia) Blanco 2004 ($10, Tasman Imports/Wine Partners): Light and impeccably dry but still very expressive, this offers floral aromas that are flashy but not overbearing, followed by light-bodied fruit and a clean, refreshing finish. � 2005 The Washington Post Company washingtonpost.com Spanish Discoveries By Michael Franz Post Wednesday, June 15, 2005; F05 The dollar's value has been taking a wicked pounding from the euro until very recently, making it seem impossible that anyplace in Europe could currently rival the world's greatest sources for high-value wine. Yet the Levant region in southeastern Spain is sending us a surprising slew of remarkable reds that are packed with flavor and value. My recent tastings turned up 18 wines that I'll recommend to back up this claim. Only two of them top the $20 mark, and 10 will ring up for $12 or less, so we're dealing with wines in a popular price range. However, I'd wager that few readers are familiar with more than one or two of them, so we're also dealing with wines that offer the pleasure of discovery along with all that flavor and value. The wine-growing portion of the Levant is a relatively large area served by the Mediterranean port cities of Alicante and Valencia. Most of southeastern Spain is wickedly hot during the growing season, but some of the prime portions of the Levant enjoy cooling from the nearby sea or from the effects of altitude. The growing regions of Jumilla, Bullas, Yecla and Utiel-Requena include vineyards reaching heights from 2,000 feet to nearly 3,000 feet above sea level and are consequently capable of producing wines marked not only by ripeness but also by real complexity and class. Winemaking in the Levant extends back to Roman times, but consistent quality wasn't achieved until temperature-controlled fermentation technology was widely adopted during the past two decades. Technical progress made the wines reliable, but they became salable here only in the past few years, as American consumers began displaying openness to Spanish reds other than famed Riojas. This has encouraged importers to begin working with Levantine wines, and though Utiel-Requena isn't likely to become a household word anytime soon, you'll probably be able to track down several of the top wines with a couple of calls to retailers. Recommended wines are listed in order of preference, with regions of origin, approximate prices, importers and Washington distributors indicated in parentheses: Coronilla (Utiel-Requena) Reserva 2000 ($24, Tasman Imports/Wine Partners): The Bobal grape is even more obscure than the Utiel-Requena region, but this wine suggests that both should be taken seriously. Made entirely from 60-year-old Bobal vines, it shows dark color and impressive density, with dark berry fruit and interesting accents of roasted meat, smoke and spices. Ready to drink but still capable of further development. Vi�a Honda (Jumilla) 2001 "Allier-Finesse" 2001 ($17, Grapes of Spain/Elite): A blend of 85 percent Monastrell (known as mourvedre in France) and 15 percent Tempranillo, this is mature enough to show excellent softness and integration of flavors but also young enough to feature fresh black cherry fruit. Full-bodied and deeply flavored, it is nevertheless soft and smooth in texture. Casa Castillo "Valtosca" (Jumilla) Syrah 2002 ($22, Jorge Ordo�ez/Henry Wine Group): Traditionalists may frown at a wine made from a French grape on Spanish soil, but their disapproval will likely wilt after a single sip of this. The dark, dense blackberry fruit is intense but drinkable, and so concentrated that it has already soaked up a serious dose of spicy oak, resulting in a bold but balanced profile. Alceo (Jumilla) 2001 ($17, Grapes of Spain/Elite): A heady blend of 50 percent Monastrell, 25 percent Tempranillo and 25 percent syrah, this displays intense aromas and flavors of ultra-ripe plums, dried black cherries, roasted nuts, black licorice and wood smoke. Full-bodied and deeply flavored, this is ill-suited to cocktail-style sipping, yet grilled meats should tame it sufficiently for near-term enjoyment. Casta�o "Solanera" (Yecla) Vi�as Viejas 2002 ($15, European Cellars/Henry): Dense, deliciously ripe fruit from old vines is the prime attraction here, and the winemaker has wisely let it stay in the forefront by eschewing fining [a clarification technique that can lessen flavor impact as it removes suspended particles from wine], filtration or excessive oak aging. Powerful but pure. Rozaleme (Utiel-Requena) Bobal/Tempranillo 2003 ($16, De Maison/Bacchus): Complete and convincing, this features complex fruit flavors recalling dark berries and red cherries. Admirably balanced between ripe richness and bright freshness, it shows well-proportioned accents of oak and culminates in a long, symmetrical finish. Casa de las Especias (Yecla) "Forte del Valle" 2004 ($17, De Maison/Bacchus): Impressive and tasty if still a bit raw and undeveloped, this powerhouse would benefit from a protracted timeout. However, if paired with robust meat dishes, its intense blackberry flavors will win many admirers. Dominio del Arenal (Utiel-Requena) Crianza 1998 ($10, Country Vintner/Country Vintner): I've tasted this wine several times over the past couple of years, and whereas it sometimes seemed to be overly oaky, it has now matured into a well-balanced beauty offering outstanding value. A blend of 50 percent Tempranillo and 50 percent syrah, it shows alluring scents of ripe berries, wood smoke, vanilla and roasted meat. Casa Castillo (Jumilla) Monastrell 2002 ($12, Jorge Ordo�ez/Henry): With substance, elegance and symmetry, this is an exemplary rendition of Monastrell and an achievement at this price level. Given a little time to aerate and unwind after opening, it shows medium-bodied fruit that is expressive and generous without seeming chunky or obvious. Strong but soft, this is a steal. Alce�o (Jumilla) Tinto 2003 ($12, Grapes of Spain/Elite): Fruity and fun but hardly frivolous, this shows dark, concentrated blackberry fruit that is delightfully expressive, thanks to a light touch of oak. The fresh fruit can take a light chilling for use with grilled meats throughout the summer. Coronilla (Utiel-Requena) Crianza 2002 ($13, Tasman Imports/Wine Partners): Another winner crafted from the Bobal grape, this features vivid flavors of dark berries and cherries, and reserved accents of smoke and spices. Wrongo Dongo (Jumilla) 2003 ($9, Jorge Ordo�ez/Henry): Generous to a fault, this is a bit chunky for a Spanish wine, yet it remains far less obvious than most California zinfandels. Ripe and juicy, it will work well with almost any sort of barbecued meat. ALSO RECOMMENDED: Finca Luzon (Jumilla) 2003 ($10, Jorge Ordo�ez/Henry); Castillo del Baron (Yecla) Monastrell 2003 ($9, Europvin/Bacchus); Travitana (Alicante) Old Vines Monastrell 2003 ($11, Tasman Imports/Wine Partners); Los Monteros (Valencia) 2004 ($10, Tasman Imports/Wine Partners); Carchelo (Jumilla) Monastrell 2004 ($10, Classical Wines/Henry); Agarena (Utiel-Requena) 2003 ($7, Tasman Imports/Wine Partners). � 2005 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, 11 months

[wine] Cabernet at Erte

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, JP's was wonderful, as usual. We're heading to Erte. Wine du jour is Cabernet from anywhere. Whites, sparkling, stickies, ringers always welcome. Erte Restaurant. 329 13 Ave NE, Mpls 55413 612-623-4211 6:30 on Thursday. 8 people. No idea who. Bob Betsy Lori Russ Nicolai Jim Warren/Ruth? Janet? Cheers, Jim -- ------------------------------ * * 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, 11 months

[wine] French Far Afield at JP's, Bubbles at Liq. Depot

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Heading to JP's this week. Vin du juor is "Other French". That is French but not bordeaux, not burgundy, and not rhone. Thursday French from far afield at JP's JP's American Bistro JP Samuelson and our friend Karl 2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300 No idea who's/how many are coming. I'm a maybe at this point, although I am taking Friday off. bob betsy bill nicolai karin Cheers, Jim Liquor Depot Free Tasting! Champagne and Premium Spirits Sale Dec. 8th - 31st Every Champagne and sparkling wine in our store is on sale. Save 15% - 40%! Check out www.liquordepot.com for the list. Also save on dozens of your favorite premium spirits for the holidays. We also recognize that Champagne alone will not satisfy all your holiday wants, so we've put hundreds of fine wines on sale as well. Free Champagne and Sparkling Wine Tasting Thursday, December 8th, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Stop by the store for this fun and free event. We will be sampling almost three dozen Champagnes and sparkling wines in a variety of styles and price ranges. December 7, 2005 The Pour Words on Wine, From Opposing Shores By ERIC ASIMOV FOR two entirely different perspectives on wine, you can do no better than Robert M. Parker Jr. and Hugh Johnson. They are American and British, Venus and Mars, Vidal and Mailer, with each representing for the other much of what's irritating, if not dangerous, in the world of wine. What, then, could be more delicious than for both men to have written new books? Mr. Johnson, the older of the two, has been writing about wine for 40 years. His new book, A Life Uncorked (University of California Press, $35), available next month, is not so much an autobiography as a loving but bittersweet look back at bottles he's emptied and the people and places that produced them. It's a world that he treasures, and that he fears is on the way out, shoved along by people like Mr. Parker, whom he believes reduces a great bottle's story to tasting notes and a score. His device is to offer readers a tour of his cellar, where each category - Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, etc. - uncorks not only memories of long, leisurely meals with wines but trenchant observations on what makes wine so endlessly entrancing to so many people. He's troubled that the subtle, challenging wines that have given him such pleasure - the sort worth waiting for as they age - are being replaced by obvious, heavier, more alcoholic styles that cater to that bad man, Mr. Parker, who lives outside of Baltimore. Or, as Mr. Johnson pungently puts it, "Imperial hegemony lives in Washington and the dictator of taste in Baltimore." But Mr. Johnson is too intrinsically jolly to stay bitter for long. He's a delightful writer who will make you hungry and thirsty, and the rare wine reviewer who can capture the essence of a bottle without resorting to winespeak. Mr. Johnson is not for wines with "mouth-staining levels of extract," a phrase that Mr. Parker uses as a compliment. Mr. Johnson might find such a wine undrinkable. No, when he likes a wine, he says things like: "You cannot go wrong with a Chablis. Why? Because it has more character than personality." Certainly, Mr. Johnson has both character and personality, of a distinctively British sort. He learned about wine at Cambridge and lives in a manor, with a name, even - Saling Hall. He indulges in a continental predilection for dressing up in goofy costumes to meet the ceremonial demands of the various wine-drinking clubs to which he belongs. MR. JOHNSON may move the mind, but Mr. Parker moves the market. When he loves a wine, the public tends to love it, too. In his new book, The World's Greatest Wine Estates: A Modern Perspective (Simon & Schuster, $75), Mr. Parker offers up his nominees for the 155 greatest wine producers. No doubt Mr. Johnson would dispute some of Mr. Parker's choices, but chances are he would agree with most of them. This is a handsome reference guide, for the most part full of technical details that aficionados will dip into from time to time. But the most interesting part is a short opening chapter in which Mr. Parker tries to define what he means by greatness. He also spends some time getting even with his critics. Mr. Parker doesn't name names, so how he feels about Mr. Johnson in particular is unclear. But he spares no patience for writers like Mr. Johnson, who have made him a lightning rod for their disapproval. Do people really want to turn the clock back, he asks, to a time when "disappointingly emaciated, austere, excessively tannic wines from famous terroirs were labeled 'classic' by a subservient wine press that existed on the largesse of the wine industry?" He dispenses with them quickly, comparing them to "reactionary romantics" and "disingenuous politicians," their opinions gibberish. What to Mr. Johnson are matters of taste and fashion are to Mr. Parker matters of right and wrong. Mr. Parker was trained as a lawyer, and he tends to write like one, marshaling arguments one by one, checking off points as he makes them. It's direct, businesslike and easy to understand. But wine - at least in his writing - exists in sort of a vacuum for Mr. Parker. While the bottles that he loves come off as staggering achievements, they don't inspire much in the way of thirst. Perhaps conveying the great pleasure he takes in wine will have to wait for his memoirs. Those two giants may be slugging it out, but the wine terrain is so wide that there is plenty of room for the little guys, even when their books are not so little. The Wines of the Northern Rh�ne (University of California Press, $55) by John Livingstone-Learmonth, is an exhaustively researched, comprehensive guide to almost everything anybody wanted to know about the vineyards and wine producers of C�te-R�tie, Hermitage and all the subordinate appellations of the region. Mr. Livingstone-Learmonth, a British wine writer, previously published three editions of "The Wines of the Rhone," but evidently one volume was no longer big enough for the entire region. He dissects every aspect of the northern Rhone, including the vineyards, the changing weather and evolution of viticulture and winemaking techniques. His tasting notes are pithy and his descriptions of each estate sharp. While he is a traditionalist, Mr. Livingstone-Learmonth is not dogmatic about it. He gives the modernists their due, and not reluctantly, either. Paul Lukacs, an American who wrote "American Vintage," an excellent history of the American wine industry, now weighs in with The Great Wines of America: The Top Forty Vintners, Vineyards, and Vintages (W.W. Norton & Company, $30). As with any sort of list, its primary benefit is to provoke discussion. Mr. Lukacs's list could easily have resulted in a familiar, ho-hum rendition of greatest hits, but he refuses to settle for that. Instead, he offers a group of wines that is fiercely individual, in which distinctiveness is as important as critical approval. How else to explain the side-by-side placement of Harlan Estate, maker of one of California's most sought-after cult wines, and Horton, which makes viognier in Virginia, or the inclusion of Stone Hill Winery, a Missouri producer that specializes in norton the grape, not the sewer worker? Count it as a gift that Mr. Lukacs knows his history, and can make us understand why we should care about Missouri norton. TWO other books are worthy of quick notice. Don and Petie Kladstrup, who wrote "Wine and War," chronicling the history of French vineyards and winemakers under Nazi occupation, have now produced Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times (William Morrow, $24). The bloody history of Champagne has been told before, but not in such a breezy, easygoing volume. Good froth. Finally, while wine producers love to portray themselves as humble artisans, winemaking these days is a complicated process that cannot always be understood intuitively. Fortunately, Jamie Goode's new book, The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass (University of California Press, $35, available next month, explains some of the terms that critics toss around, like reverse osmosis and cane-pruning, while asking (and trying to answer) common-sense questions, like how much manipulation is acceptable in winemaking and whether a wine can taste like minerals. These could be dull topics, but Mr. Goode manages to make them lively and provocative. -- ------------------------------ * * 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, 12 months

[wine] Champagne Brunch on Sunday at Muffy's, Big S on Th.

by Jim L. Ellingson

Greetings, Garage Nouveau was wonderful, as always. Thanks Kris, Eric, Lars, Fritz! This week, we've been invited to Muffuletta. 11 a.m. on Sunday the 27th. Muffuletta Cafe 2260 Como St. Paul, 55108 St. Anthony Park 651-644-9116 Style du jour is "Champagne" I've included a couple of articles on affordable sparklers from the Times. Yes Warren/Ruth Joyce Betsy Bob B-Dave Jim/Louise Russ/Sue Guess: Lori 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. Next Thursday, it's the Surdyk's Chamapagne Tasting for just $23.50. See Joyce's note FFI. Cheers, Jim December 11, 2002 Sipping Champagnes at $40 or Less By FRANK J. PRIAL CHAMPAGNE is the wine of legends: the widow Clicquot setting off for St. Petersburg in a coach and four with her case of samples. Edward VII's servant following him around the golf course with a bottle at the ready; his son George V serving Pol Roger in magnums to the seven reigning monarchs of Europe after his father's funeral; Mo�t & Chandon sending a trainload of Champagne to the San Francisco earthquake survivors. With less intrigue perhaps but no shortage of seasonal enthusiasm, the Dining section's tasting panel sipped and nosed its way through 26 nonvintage brut Champagnes last week, all costing $40 or less. Still, Champagne being what it is, some of the panelists supplied their own romance. Amanda Hesser imagined tasting her Champagne with cured ham. Eric Asimov opted instead for sushi, or fried chicken. Well, to each his own. In addition to Ms. Hesser, Mr. Asimov and me, our panel was joined by Howard Horvath, the wine director at Esca in Manhattan. As esteemed as Champagne may be, we all agreed that Champagne was, strangely enough, underrated. Its unmatched status as a wine for celebrations has also kept it confined to parties. "It goes well with lots of different foods," Mr. Asimov said. "Champagne has been pigeonholed." Mr. Horvath quickly chimed in, "And that is a mistake." Most Champagnes are nonvintage. Instead of using a wine of a single year, they are complex blends that can contain wine from 20 different vintages and as many vineyards. Winemakers manipulate the blends until they achieve the qualities they are seeking, whether light-bodied, heavy-bodied, fruity, yeasty or somewhere in the middle. In all those nonvintage blends, all the big houses blend toward a norm, seeking consistency year after year. These Champagnes do not have the same individuality that vintage Champagnes have, and after a while the panel felt a bit panicky trying to find different terms to describe the often subtle differences between bottles. What we were looking for from these nonvintage brut Champagnes was freshness and liveliness, and from a good many of them, that's what we got. "I wouldn't refuse any of these," Mr. Horvath said, and Ms. Hesser echoed that sentiment, saying, "They're all perfectly drinkable." We also all agreed that a few of them did leap out, and that the prices were right. Even though Champagne is a complicated wine to make, it remains relatively inexpensive. While it is possible to spend $250 on a bottle of Dom P�rignon ros� or $300 on an older bottle of Krug Clos du Mesnil, in our recent tasting the most expensive bottle was a Ruinart at $40. Average price per bottle was $29.60. Vintage Champagnes are invariably higher priced, but even with their proliferation in recent years, most houses base their reputations on their nonvintage wines. "Brut," the most common style of Champagne, means raw or untreated in French, and indicates that the Champagne is dry, that it contains little or no added sweetness. Paradoxically, "extra dry" Champagne is sweeter than brut, and "sec," which means dry, is sweeter than extra dry. A Champagne even drier than brut might be called "brut nature" or, in one case, "brut sauvage." Our tasting panel was generally enthusiastic about the Champagnes we tasted. Our favorite, garnering 3 1/2 stars on our 0-to-4-star scale, was a Louis Roederer Premier Cuv�e R�serve at $32.50. Two wines received three stars, Bollinger Sp�cial Cuv�e, also $32.50, and the Nicolas Feuillate Gold Label Premier Cru at $23. This Feuillate also was chosen the tasting's best value. The Roederer and Bollinger wines were consensus winners, a rarity among our generally contentious group. The Roederer was an elegant wine with, Mr. Asimov said, "power, finesse and complexity, yet with a creamy texture to it." Ms. Hesser described it memorably as "taut and springy." The Bollinger, as Bollingers often do, "mixed power and grace" and, Mr. Horvath said, displayed attractive "toasty" aromas. I called it brawny, but with a touch of elegance. It's worth noting that Champagne is made only in the Champagne district of France, 90 miles east of Paris. "La" Champagne is the region; "le" Champagne is the wine. Once it was common to use the name Champagne on wines made anywhere from California to the Crimea, but the European Union cracked down, threatening trade sanctions against offenders. It also banned the use of the term "m�thode champenoise" to describe sparkling wines made with the same techniques used in Champagne. This represents an understandable but slightly holier-than-thou attitude on the part of the Champagne producers, who once had to contend with riots over their illegal use of grapes trucked in from other parts of France and who still buy and affix their labels to bottled Champagne purchased from other producers within the region. Five of our nonvintage bruts took home 2 1/2 stars, and in describing almost all of them, the terms that kept popping up were "lemony" and "toasty." Of the three ros�s we tasted, two received 2 1/2 stars: a Jacquesson & Fils ($37) and another Nicolas Feuillate ($30). It was also eye-pleasing to see some salmon-colored liquid in a sea of straw-colored glasses. The Jacquesson I particularly liked. I thought it had extra body, and then said it had that je ne sais quoi. Luckily, my panel mates didn't ask me exactly what I meant. Ms. Hesser enjoyed the crisp flavor of the Feuillate ros�. A total of 11 Champagnes made our chart below, with three wines tied at two stars apiece: A Laurent-Perrier ($30), Veuve Clicquot ($36), and from Mo�t & Chandon, its Brut Imp�rial ($36). At our tasting, some of the bottles were poured into Champagne flutes, others wound up in wine glasses. Writing recently in Gourmet magazine, the critic Gerald Asher quotes Jean-Herv� Chiquet, one of the two managers of Jacquesson & Fils, on the use of the flute. "Flutes are pretty," Mr. Chiquet told him, "and they are fine for looking at the tiny bubbles. But to fully appreciate a Champagne as a wine, you must use a wine glass." I have long felt the same, and our rather ambitious tasting confirmed that view. We ran out of flutes and employed about eight standard wine glasses. We found that they made judging the wines much easier. They were easier to fill and drink from and rarely tipped over. If nothing else, they were certainly easier to stick one's nose into to smell the wine. And they retained the wines' bouquets longer than the flutes. Still, the flutes are more attractive. And since few Champagne drinkers are seriously evaluating the wines, there is no compelling reason to switch. And flutes are themselves a vast improvement over the flat short-stemmed glasses still favored in Hollywood films and on cruise ships. They are for shrimp cocktails, not good Champagne. Tasting Report: Sometimes Light, Sometimes Full-Bodied, but Always Lively Louis Roederer $32.50 *** 1/2 Brut Premier Cuv�e R�serve High praise from all: Frank J. Prial called it elegant, and Eric Asimov found power, finesse and complexity. Taut and springy, Amanda Hesser said, while Howard Horvath detected good acidity and aromas of fruit and vanilla. Bollinger Brut Sp�cial Cuv�e $32.50 *** Another consensus winner, mixing power and grace: Hesser likened it to a ripe persimmon. Asimov found it full-bodied yet fresh and exuberant. Brawny but elegant, Prial said. Horvath liked the toasty aromas. BEST VALUE Nicolas Feuillate $23 *** Gold Label Premier Cru Hesser and Asimov were big fans of this one. Asimov called it lively with a long finish, while Hesser called it clean and crisp. Horvath enjoyed its freshness, but Prial found it merely correct, with no faults. Piper Heidsieck $28 ** 1/2 Beautiful and well balanced, Horvath said, and Prial liked its body and long finish. Asimov found it pleasant, with a yeasty aroma, but not complex. Taittinger Brut La Fran�aise $29 ** 1/2 Hesser found it dynamic, full, clear and powerful. Asimov liked its finesse and long finish. Prial called it harmonious, but for Horvath, it was too sweet. Guy Larmandier $28 ** 1/2 Premier Cru � Vertus Asimov and Horvath found it lively and well balanced. Prial called it attractive and liked its touch of sweetness. A pretty Champagne, Hesser said. Jacquesson & Fils Ros� $37 ** 1/2 Prial found extra body and substance. Asimov detected an herbal complexity in the flavor, and Horvath liked the combination of fruit and acidity. He felt this would go well with chocolate. Hesser called it bitter and fragmented. Nicolas Feuillate $30 ** 1/2 Ros� Premier Cru Perhaps influenced by the pale red color, Hesser, Horvath and Asimov detected raspberry and strawberry aromas. Asimov liked the full body, Hesser and Horvath the crisp flavors. But Prial found a flat middle. Laurent-Perrier Brut L.P. $30 ** Light-bodied and fresh, Asimov said. Prial, too, liked the body and texture, while Horvath found clean grapefruit notes. Hesser settled for clean and nice. Veuve Clicquot $36 ** Prial called it big-bodied and substantial, while Horvath, who pegged it as Veuve Clicquot, detected peach and apricot flavors. Hesser found it pleasant with some sweetness, and Asimov, too, tasted a little sweetness. Mo�t & Chandon Brut Imp�rial $36 ** Vivacious, springs out of the glass, Prial said. Asimov liked the soft, light bubbles, floral aromas and long finish. Toasty, with citrus notes, Horvath said. But Hesser found it dense and bitter. June 23, 2004 WINES OF THE TIMES In Champagne's Shadow, the Sun Shines By ERIC ASIMOV MERICAN wines almost all bear a burden, but none more so than sparkling wines. Cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and pinot noir all have French ancestors with which they have been endlessly compared. Only zinfandel, a wine that has reached prominence only in the United States, is exempt from the French albatross. Perhaps these comparisons are unfair. While the grapes grown in the United States and France may be the same, the climate, soil and cellar practices are often completely different. It stands to reason that the wines should be different, too. The problem is Champagne. Both in the mouth and in the brain, Champagne's identity is so powerful that it has left little room for American sparkling wines to maneuver. Practically all the winemaking regions in the world produce sparkling wine, but unlike the American version, they do not invite comparisons with Champagne. Instead, they have carved out their own identities. Spain has its cava, Germany its sekt and Italy its various spumantes. Even other parts of France . Alsace, the Loire and Burgundy, to name a few . make sparkling wines that are distinct from Champagne. With a few exceptions, most use the local grapes to make their sparklers, rather than the Champagne combination of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. But in the United States, without a competing local tradition, winemakers use the Champagne formula. Sometimes they even use the Champagne name. And if they don't quite charge Champagne prices, they are not so cheap that they can avoid the comparison. When, with the Fourth of July approaching, the Dining section's tasting panel gathered to sample 25 American sparklers, we asked ourselves whether we could find a distinguishing identity. My colleague Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Beth von Benz, the wine director at Judson Grill in Manhattan, and her husband, Scott Mayger, the wine director at WD-50, also in Manhattan. All of us agreed that American sparkling wines had improved dramatically in the last 25 years as vintners have become wiser about where best to grow their vines. But we also agreed that an identity for these wines had yet to coalesce. "In the New World, the struggle is to make sparkling wines that have some sense of place, as in Europe," Mr. Mayger said. "They are quaffable, but have no identity." Ms. Fabricant felt that the point of comparison should not be Champagne but other regional sparklers, and Ms. von Benz, too, wondered if we were setting the hurdle too high. She suggested instead that the American sparklers had their own fruity "crowd-pleasing style," distinct from the more austere Champagnes, and, in fact, more appealing to Americans. Maybe so, but I felt she was generous in finding virtues. The challenge for Americans, after all, is difficult. The Champagne region is on the cold edge of the winemaking world, where each year farmers struggle to get their grapes to ripen. When they succeed, the result is grapes of great acidity but not a lot of sweetness, not good for still wines but perfect for Champagne. In California, where the climate is far warmer, the goal is the reverse . to produce grapes that are not too ripe, with sufficient acidity for sparkling wine. This is the reason the California wines tend to be fruitier, without the dry, tangy leanness that gives Champagne its liveliness and energy. Personally, I don't see how the benchmark for American sparkling wine can be anything other than Champagne, given the ambitions of American winemakers and, indeed, their identities, which include such well-known Champagne names as Roederer, Mumm, Chandon, Taittinger and Piper. I was pleased . and relieved, since we taste blind . that my favorite was the sparkling wine that I have long touted as the best in California, the Roederer Estate Brut. While we also appreciated the quality of Roederer Estate's high-end (and more expensive) L'Ermitage, it lacked the subtlety of its nonvintage sibling. The panel's overall favorite came from the J Wine Company, which also makes very good still wines. Its 1998 brut had balance and finesse, important qualities for any sparkler. We gave it three stars. We found price had little bearing on our ratings. Our top 10 included neither of the two most expensive bottles in the tasting, a 1997 J. Schram from Schramsberg for $80 and a $45 '97 Le R�ve from Domaine Carneros, Taittinger's arm in California. Prior experience mattered little as well. Aside from the Roederer Estate, I've been a fan of two other American sparkling wine producers, Iron Horse in Sonoma County and Gruet in New Mexico. Their wines didn't make the cut, either. Age, however, mattered less than we might have expected. Two wines in our sampling already had considerable age. A '94 Royal Cuv�e from Gloria Ferrer, owned by Freixenet of Spain, was full-bodied yet elegant, and still youthful. An 1985 Falconer, made in San Luis Obispo County and released only recently, was light-bodied and intriguing, with an extreme toasted flavor. At $15, we all felt it was worth trying. Nonetheless, the tasting left us with more questions than answers. Comparing domestic sparkling wine with Champagne might be not be fair, but we could not help it. "They make good sparkling wine in California, but it's of rich soil and sun," Mr. Mayger said. Vive la diff�rence, I guess. Tasting Report: Warm Weather Sets Off These Sparklers J Wine Company Brut Russian River Valley 1998 $29 *** Medium-bodied, well balanced and very dry, with floral aromas and persistent creamy, yeasty and citrus flavors. BEST VALUE Roederer Estate Brut Anderson Valley NV $17 ** 1/2 Classic Champagne style with toasty aromas; has verve and style. Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuv�e Carneros 1994 $20 ** 1/2 Full-bodied, with citrus and toasty aromas. Rich fruit flavors. Roederer Estate Brut L'Ermitage Anderson Valley 1998 $38 ** 1/2 Big, round and ripe, well balanced and lively; a crowd pleaser. Piper-Sonoma Brut NV $13 ** Balanced and refreshing, with fruit and floral aromas. Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noirs Carneros NV $16 ** Rich, with herbal and fruit flavors; finishes with alcohol heat. Pacific Echo Brut Anderson Valley NV $13 ** Floral and yeasty aromas; fresh at first but quickly turned flat. Falconer Blanc de Blancs San Luis Obispo County 1985 $15 ** Toasty, nutty, slightly oxidized quality indicated age. Light-bodied with citrus flavors; an interesting wine. Domaine Carneros Brut Napa Valley 2000 $18 * 1/2 Big wine with floral aromas; pretty but one-dimensional. Argyle Brut Willamette Valley NV $22 * 1/2 Straightforward and clean; nothing wrong but doesn't stand out. -- ------------------------------ * * 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 *

20 years

[wine] Further discounted tickets on December 1st champagne tasting

by jhegstrom＠csom.umn.edu

Hi I was able to negotiate the Bubbles Discount down to the 10+ group rate as advertised in Surdyk's recent holiday catalogue. Therefore, the price is $23.50!!!! If you have not already made reservations, call Lynn or Zack (during the day) at 612-379-3232. The rate is still available for those of you who have not already signed up. Additionally, please let me know if you paid CASH for your ticket the night of the Terry Theise tasting. I'd like to get a list to the store to make sure I have your refunds available at the registration table. See you on the 1st !!!! Bubbles

20 years

[wine] Garage Nouveau, Sweet Sake'

by Jim L. Ellingson

November 17, 2005 Online Shopper For Sake's Sweet Sake By MICHELLE SLATALLA OVER the years my husband has tinkered with many exotic drinks. We survived his zombie phase, the summer of mangrove smashes and what I now think of as a dark period he devoted entirely to mixing the ingredients of a Manhattan in unnatural proportions. He has filled our liquor cabinet with parrot-colored liquors like Midori, and he has served dinner guests large choke-provoking quantities of muddled mint. It was only a matter of time before he discovered nigori sake. Soon after we moved to Northern California he got a tip that Sushi Ran, a well-known Japanese restaurant in Sausalito, served 30 kinds of sake. So we rushed over, waited an hour for a table and then settled in to do some serious research. My husband scanned the list of fermented rice liquors, pointed to his choice, and within minutes the waiter returned bearing two small glasses that sat inside open square boxes. He poured from a large bottle. Milky white liquid overflowed the glasses into the boxes in a Japanese gesture of generosity. We took a sip - it tasted like chilled pineapple - and then another, which reminded me of coconut. There was a look in my husband's eye that was familiar. It was the look he gave me the night we met. I realized that all I had to do to forestall a return of the mangrove smashes was to keep a steady supply of nigori sake in the refrigerator. The only problem was finding it in a store. Although cloudy unfiltered sake has been steadily growing in popularity in the United States over the last 10 years, it still accounts for only a small percentage of the sake market, manufacturers say. Nigori sake, whose sweetness is a good foil for spicy food, remains unfamiliar to many who are used to drinking warm filtered sake. Since nigori sake has a shorter shelf life than filtered sake - the rice sediment at the bottom spoils quickly if bottles are not properly stored at cool temperatures - I wondered whether I would even be able to find it for sale online. Once again I had underestimated the Internet. A key word search for nigori sake turned up sites like 00sake.com, which sells imported Nikko Kirifuri (described as "soft and mild taste, very thick nigori sake compared to others") for $18 a bottle, and Winespecialist.com, which sells imported Ozeki nigori sake ("preserves the fresh flavor of the moromi - the fermenting mixture of rice, water, koji and yeast - for a crisp, vibrant presence") for $7.99 a bottle. And Bevmo.com, the Internet arm of a bricks-and-mortar retail chain called Beverages & More, sells imported Rihaku nigori sake Dreamy Clouds ("superb with halibut over a toss of fresh spinach and mild sweet red onions") for $14.99 a bottle and Tozai nigori sake Voices in the Mist ("a hint of anise") for $21.99 a bottle. My choices were many. To get advice on how to narrow the field I phoned Sushi Ran's owner, Yoshi Tome, who is also the president of the Northern California Japanese Restaurant Association. "I heard you are the top expert in California," I said just to be cordial and not because I was hoping to get a table faster the next time I go to Sushi Ran. "If somebody is recommending me, maybe I should take the credit," Mr. Tome said courteously, but he did not ask me to repeat my last name for future reference. "When buying nigori sake, what should a shopper look for?" I asked. "Be very careful to ask first about how it is stored," he said. "In Japan a good sake brewery puts a date on the bottles. Ask if it is kept refrigerated. It tends to sour very quickly." "How do you avoid that problem at your restaurant?" I asked. "I've had many occasions, more than one or two, when I tasted it, and the sake was bad," he said. "Occasionally we do bring in a premium imported nigori sake from Japan, but right now on the menu we have two kinds, both made nearby in the United States." The two locally brewed brands Mr. Tome serves are SakeOne's Momokawa Pearl nigori sake ("wonderful with chocolate or as a dessert," according to sakeone.com, where it costs $10 a bottle) and Takara's Sho Chiku Bai nigori sake (available at Winespecialist.com for $4.95 for a small bottle and at 00sake.com for $18 for the much larger bottle, which you will wish you had bought if you don't). Takara Sake USA Inc., an offshoot of the parent company in Japan, has since 1984 made nigori sake at its plant in Berkeley, Calif., near where I live. It seemed necessary to visit. There I was met by Masatoshi Ohata, the general manager for marketing, who gave me a tour of the company's historical sake museum, where 10,000 visitors a year view exhibits that explain traditional 19th-century methods of fermenting, pressing (which in those days required huge boulders) and filtering rice to make sake. Mr. Ohata said that in the last decade the popularity of Takara's nigori sake has steadily grown and now accounts for about 8 percent of the 600,000 cases the company sells each year in this country. "But in Japan it is not as popular because they like sake that is dry, not so sweet or rich," he said. "In Japan they are surprised that we can sell nigori sake in the big bottles here." "What makes your nigori sake taste like tropical fruit?" I asked. "The fermented rice is very important for the taste," Mr. Ohata said. "We make it with water from the snow in the Sierra Nevada and very good rice from the Sacramento Valley." I went home excited to face a future that did not include zombies, long-handled glass stirrers or maraschino cherries. My husband said he was excited too about working out the kinks in a new cocktail he was developing. With a sinking feeling I asked what it was called. "A nigori colada," he said. E-mail: slatalla(a)nytimes.com ----- Forwarded message from jhegstrom(a)csom.umn.edu ----- Subject: [wine] Fw: Nov 17- Beaujolais Nouveau party To: wine(a)thebarn.com From: jhegstrom(a)csom.umn.edu Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 10:42:08 -0600 Erik has asked that I forward this on to the group........Our annual invitation to the Garage Fest!!!! Garage Party-Beaujolais Nouveau The Freeburg/Igo family will host their annual Beaujolais Nouveau celebration in honor of the international release of the famous French wine on: Thursday November 17th ? 6:30 until 11 pm South Minneapolis 4204 10th Ave. South, Mpls 55407 (10th is just two blocks east of Chicago Ave) Please bring an inexpensive bottle of wine to be opened and shared- anything will work really. Feel free to bring friends and children to hang with Lars and Fritz while they are up. RSVP appreciated but not required. Simple French themed food will be provided- baguette, really good butter, ham, mustard, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, olives and a bit of chocolate. We?ll also have some home fermented draft cider and non-alcoholic beverages available. The party will be in our cozy wood stove heated garage- dress warmly and wear your beret. Questions/Directions/RSVP- Eric 612-220-6693 or efreeburg(a)aol.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 *

20 years

[wine] FREE Sam's Tastings

by karin

Sam's Washington Avenue Wine Shop 218 Washington Ave N. Minneapolis, MN 55401 ph 612.455.1045 fx 612.455.1048 Bordeaux tasting tonight, 5-7:30 pm Nouveau Beaujolais tasting Thursday, 5-7:30 PM

20 years

Jump to page:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

win