aka wine for hte 99 percent.
The "stars" are "r"s on my screen.
C,
J
Bargain Bottles
By Dav e McIntyre, Tuesday, October 9, 9:56 AM
Bargain bottles
...Exceptional ...Excellent..Very Good
Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.
Here.s my monthly list of bargain wines that over-perform for the price ($7 to $15).
The Royal, Old Vines Steen 2012
r r 1 / 2
South Africa, $9
This is a tremendous little white wine, crisp and refreshing yet exuberant with fruit. Steen is a South African name for chenin blanc, and this wine conveniently puts both names on the label to avoid confusion. Ideal by itself or with casual foods, it comes with a warning: You will want to open a second one. Fortunately, the price is accommodating. South African chenin blanc may be one of the world.s best white wine values, and this wine shows why.
Kysela: Available in the District at Magruder.s, Rodman.s, Whole Foods Markets (Foggy Bottom, P Street). Available in Maryland at Bo Brooks Lighthouse Liquors, Wells Discount Liquors and Wine Source in Baltimore; Cranberry Liquors in Westminster; Dunkirk Wine & Spirits; Port of Call Liquors in Solomons; Silesia Liquors in Fort Washington. Available in Virginia at Aldie Peddler in Aldie; Balducci.s, Fern Street Gourmet and the Winery in Alexandria; Cork & Fork in Gainesville; Grateful Red Wine & Gift Shop in Arlington; Town Duck in Warrenton.
Finca os Cobatos, Mencia 2010
r r
Monterrei, Spain, $15
Light but not slight, this red has plenty of cherry and black pepper flavors on a lithe frame. Mencia is a grape that thrives in northwestern Spain (Monterrei is in Galicia) and should appeal to fans of cabernet franc.
Nice Legs: Available in the District at Cork & Fork, MacArthur Beverages, Paul.s; on the list at Estadio and Veritas. Available in Maryland at Bin 604 Wine Sellers and Wine Source in Baltimore, Capital Beer & Wine in Bethesda, Frederick Wine House. Available in Virginia at Chain Bridge Cellars in McLean, Opera House Gifts & Gourmet in Manassas; on the list at Bazin.s on Church in Vienna, Bilbo Baggins in Alexandria, Magnolia.s at the Mill in Purcellville.
Josephine Dubois, Chardonnay 2011
r r
Burgundy, France, $11
A terrific chardonnay with mouthwatering acidity and impeccable balance, this is an excellent wine for casual meals.
M Touton Selection: Available in the District at Best D.C. Supermarket, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Rodman.s. Available in Maryland at Nick.s of Clinton in Waldorf, Old Farm Liquors and Westridge Liquors in Frederick, River Falls Seafood Market in Potomac, Rosewick Wine & Spirits in La Plata, Silesia Liquors in Fort Washington. Available in Virginia at Crystal City Wine Shop; Leesburg Vintner; Red, White & Bleu in Falls Church; the Vineyard in McLean.
Rio Madre Graciano 2010
r 1 / 2
Rioja, Spain, $11
Its label looks old-fashioned, but this wine is fresh and fruity fun, an ideal partner to casual red-meat dishes such as burgers or steaks.
Country Vintner: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley, Lion.s Fine Wine & Spirits, Pearson.s, Wagshal.s Market; on the list at Jaleo. Available in Maryland at Balducci.s, Georgetown Square Beer & Wine, and Beer, Wine & Co. in Bethesda; Belby.s Discount Beer & Wine and Village Beer & Fine Wine in Rockville; Bottle Shop in Potomac; Woodmoor Supermarket in Silver Spring. Available in Virginia at Curious Grape in Arlington, Unwined in Alexandria, all Wegmans stores.
Villa San Martino, Pinot Grigio 2011
r 1 / 2
Venzia Giulia, Italy, $9
Fans of pinot grigio will love this textbook example with its refreshing acidity and modest but appealing fruit. It.s what a pinot grigio should be: fun and tasty. It will soon be available in 1.5-liter magnums for parties.
Dionysus: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, D.Vines, Rodman.s, U Street Wine & Beer, Wagshal.s Market, Watergate Wine & Beverage. Available in Maryland at Bradley Food & Beverage and Cork & Fork in Bethesda, Finewine.com in Gaithersburg, Iron Bridge Wine Co. in Columbia, Wine Cellars of Annapolis. Available in Virginia at the Italian Store in Arlington, Norm.s Beer & Wine in Vienna, Oakton Wine Shop, Whole Foods Markets (Alexandria and Vienna).
Piccolo Fiore Bianco di Sicilia
r
Sicily, Italy, $7
Crisp, racy and invigorating, this simple white wine is great with that before-dinner nosh and also simple seafood salads.
J.W. Sieg: Available at all Whole Foods Market locations in the District and Virginia.
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
Dear friends,
Those who tweet and twitter were no doubt way ahead of me on this one, but
Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac got off the tweet of the wine year (so far)
on the subject of harvest 2012 in Burgundy:
http://www.drvino.com/2012/10/02/burgundy-2012-rain-hail-naked-virgins/#more
-11468
Cheers,
Russ
>From WA Post
Think Austria, drink Austria (Boots Optional)
By Dave McIntyre, Tuesday, September 11, 3:40 PM
First of a two-part series
on Austrian wines
When you are presented with several glasses of white wine and asked to determine which one is gruner veltliner, my advice is to think in reverse.
Find the oaky, toasty wine and eliminate it as chardonnay. That overtly grassy one is most likely sauvignon blanc, the flowery flirt is the Virginia viognier ringer, and the ripe peach with lime zest is probably Riesling. The enigmatic wine in the last glass, the one with the bracing acidity that had you thinking Riesling and with the slight herbal quality that unconvincingly suggested sauvignon blanc . that one.s the gruner.
Wine recommendations: Gruner veltliner
So one way of approaching gruner is to define it by what it isn.t, because we.re not familiar with it. But of course it can be described positively as well. Gruner veltliner echoes some of the better-known varieties yet ultimately speaks a language of its own. You have to get rid of the noisy wines in order to hear it, which is to say: Shed your preconceptions about what white wine should taste like and listen to your palate.
Gruner veltliner is the main white grape of Austria. Riesling shines there as well. So think Germany as your reference, but don.t simply lump Austrian white wines in with their northern neighbors. Austrian whites are almost invariably dry, so they should appeal to consumers wary of sweetness in German wines. (I don.t condone that fear in German Riesling, but it exists, and Austrian wines are the answer.) Austria.s dry whites are often compared with those of Alsace, which have a German accent as well. But I find them more delicate and subtle.
Gruner veltliner enjoyed a mini-popularity wave about a decade ago, when the quality of these wines was discovered and unscrupulous wine writers and PR folks tried calling it .GruVe.. (I.ll stick with .gruner,. no matter how angry that makes me sound.) American winemakers are taking interest: Black Ankle Vineyards in Maryland and Galen Glen in Pennsylvania make respectable gruner, and the grape is being grown in small amounts on the West Coast.
Yet these wines are not all the rage among consumers. .People remain wary of umlauts and words that sound too much like .schnitzel,... importer Terry Theise wrote in his 2012 catalog on Austrian wines. Theise was one of the first importers to bring these wines to the United States; he has been joined by many others.
.Austria produces very food-friendly wines . red and white,. says Klaus Wittauer, who imports wines for his Northern Virginia-based KW Selections brand. .Our biggest challenge is that for the average consumer, Austrian wines are in the same category as German wines..
There are several reasons to explore Austrian gruner veltliner, and to do so now. Simply put, the wines offer tremendous value throughout the price spectrum. At the low end, they are almost uniformly good and occasionally spectacular in a vibrantly fun, fruity way. At $15 or more, gruner begins to show complexity and subtlety, with lemon grass (citrus and herbs), meadow flowers and a faint talc minerality. Spend $30 or more and, yes, the wines get expensive, but they can rival and exceed any other whites at that price range for excitement and value.
The 2011 vintage was particularly ripe and successful in Austria, and the whites are now on the market here. That means quality was high throughout the entire range of wines, including several that are sold inexpensively in the one-liter format . 33 percent more than the typical bottle.
.You are advised to go stir-crazy on this category,. Theise wrote.
I could not agree more.
Wine recommendations: Gruner veltliner
Next week: Austrian red wines. McIntyre blogs at dmwineline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dmwine.
Tuesday, September 11, 3:06 PM
Recommendations
...Exceptional ...Excellent..Very Good
Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.
Austrian white wines, especially gruner veltliner, are easier to find today than they were just a few years ago as importers and retailers have discovered the tremendous value they represent. The best single selection in the Washington area is probably at Weygandt Wines in Cleveland Park, where importer Peter Weygandt features his own portfolio. He specializes in France but has made a strong effort in Austria. I.m especially fond of the wines of Birgit Eichinger.
Here are some other Austrian whites that are more widely available in the area. Don.t serve them too cold; they taste best with just a slight chill.
Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger Gruner Veltliner, 2011
...
Kamptal, Austria, $19
.Textbook. makes this wine from importer Terry Theise sound ordinary, but it is indeed what gruner should be: crisp and refreshing, with hints of straw and lemon grass overlaying exotic tropical fruit flavors plus a long and enticing finish. Consider this a blanket recommendation for any wine from Schloss Gobelsburg.
Country Vintner: Available in the District at Cork Market, Dupont Market, MacArthur Beverages, Paul.s of Chevy Chase, Rodman.s, Schneider.s of Capitol Hill; on the list at Central Michel Richard, CityZen, Corduroy, Cork Wine Bar, Hank.s Oyster Bar (both locations), Mintwood Place, Proof. Available in Maryland at Silesia Liquors in Fort Washington; on the list at 8407 Kitchen Bar in Silver Spring.
Hermann Moser Gruner Veltliner Per Due 2011
...
Kremstal, Austria, $16
Very few wines at this price level offer as much complexity and subtlety of flavor, which includes a faint but persistent lemon grass herbaceousness and the quince and apricot flavors dusted by a floral, talclike minerality. All without the excessive makeup of oak aging.
J.W. Sieg: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits; on the list at Westend Bistro. Available in Virginia at Unwined in Alexandria, Vienna Vintner; on the list at Alegria and Bazin.s on Church in Vienna.
Anton Bauer Riesling Berg 2011
..1 / 2
Wachau, Austria, $18
Here.s a delicious Riesling from importer Klaus Wittauer of KW Selections: dry and bracing, with great focus to its lime zest, apricot and peach flavors. Think of a tuning fork, the purity of its tone ringing out, and as it fades you perceive the hidden harmonies of an unsung arpeggio. This producer makes one of my favorite bargain gruner veltliners, called Gmork; other gruners, called Rosenberg and Spiegel, are more serious and also highly recommended.
Select Wines in the District and Virginia; Prestige in Maryland: Available in Virginia at Balducci.s in McLean; Harris Teeter and Planet Wine & Gourmet in Alexandria; Red, White & Bleu in Falls Church; Twisted Vines Bottleshop in Arlington; Vienna Vintner; Wine Cabinet in Reston; various Total Wine & More and Wegmans locations. On the list at Euro Bistro in Herndon, Lalou Bistro in Leesburg.
Wimmer-Czerny Gruner Veltliner Fumberg 2011
..
Wagram, Austria, $20
This Demeter-certified biodynamic wine is softer than other gruners, with scents of straw, lemon grass, lime and talc and flavors of star fruit and an apricot just on the cusp of overripeness. The wine has a meditative stillness.
Bacchus: Available in the District at Cork Market; on the list at Komi. Available in Maryland at North Charles Fine Wine & Spirits in Baltimore; on the list at Bolton Hill Bistro and Chesapeake Wine Co. in Baltimore.
Biohof Pratsch Gruner Veltliner Rotenpullen 2011
..
Niederosterreich, Austria, $20
Another fine gruner with flavors of star fruit and talc. It would be fun to sit down and examine the subtle differences among the bottles included here. But at this level, just enjoy.
Country Vintner: Available in the District at Pearson.s; on the list at Proof. Available in Maryland at Finewine.com in Gaithersburg and the Perfect Pour in Columbia. Available in Virginia at German Gourmet in Falls Church, Rick.s Wine & Gourmet in Alexandria.
Schloss Kinzer Gruner Veltliner 2011
.. 1 / 2
Niederosterreich, Austria, $14 (1 liter)
Several Austrian wineries offer one-liter bottles of their basic gruner veltliner and zweigelt (red) wines. This one is relatively pricey; several are around $10. But it has excellent quality, with fruit-forward flavors of green apple and pear. Drink this, and you might wonder about the party you.re missing in Austria.
M Touton Selection: Available in the District at Ace Beverage, Best in Liquors, Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor, Magruder.s, Morris Miller Wine & Liquor, S&R Liquors. Available in Maryland at Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits in Annapolis, Old Farm Liquors in Frederick.
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
They were the best of wines, they were the worst of wines.
Pinot's promise, and peril, on the Sonoma Coast
Jon Bonnéublished 4:43 p.m., Friday, August 17, 2012
Nowhere in California has more prestige in Pinot Noir right now than the Sonoma Coast.
For all the shortfalls of this sprawling appellation - it occupies nearly half the county of Sonoma, and is four times as big as the Russian River Valley - it has become a powerful mark on a label. As always with California, the prospect of the coast holds strong allure.
So it has become a new benchmark for Pinot Noir in the state. Especially so with the 2010 vintage, a tough year if ever there was one. Just as with the Russian River Valley wines we tasted recently, 2010 was a bellwether for decisions about style.
The vintage had a one-two punch of hot and cold: cool weather for much of the year, interspersed with a couple of heat spikes that burned a lot of fruit. Being farther out toward the Pacific - closer to what is now sometimes dubbed the "true Sonoma coast" - helped modulate those heat spikes a bit. But rare was the vineyard that wasn't affected.
I was joined for a lineup of about 40 wines by Alan Murray, a master sommelier and the wine director at Masa's, and by Jason Lefler of Solano Cellars. We expected that even the best wines might have some uneven aspects, given the changeable weather.
What we didn't expect was such a wobbly lineup. Many bottles did, indeed, exhibit both slightly unripe, green flavors and raisined ones. That, though, wasn't as unsettling as some wines' somewhat unfinished nature - efforts that tasted as though they had endured some unfortunate cosmetic cellar work in a drive toward drinkability. In a few cases, we detected smoky aspects reminiscent of the wildfire-touched 2008 vintage. Could a phantasm of '08 be lingering in a few bottles?
All these things made the wines especially hard to parse. Some might improve with a few more months in bottle; we waited longer than usual to taste, but maybe these are particularly late to blossom.
Some wines awaiting release later this year certainly have plenty of potential. The big, fecund flavors of the 2010 La Follette Sangiacomo Vineyard ($40, 14.7% alcohol) show a balance of size and style.
As you drift farther toward the fog-draped shoreline, reasons for excitement emerge. The tension and power in Williams Selyem's bottles from the Hirsch ($75, 14.3%) and rare Precious Mountain ($94, 14.2%) vineyards mark a fine showing for the extreme farming of the coast's far reaches.
If our current list of selections seems a bit abridged, that's because I'm withholding final judgment on how the Sonoma Coast fared in 2010. Perhaps it's one of those vintages that requires an extra stay in bottle. Or it may be, as the Russian River wines were, a tough referendum on the limits of style ( sfg.ly/R373UM).
One other thing. At the West of West festival in Occidental earlier this month, a range of 2009s and 2010s from what has come to be diplomatically called the West Sonoma Coast - seeing that grapes in pip-spitting distance from Sonoma Valley can, bureaucratically speaking, be from the Sonoma Coast - were on fine display.
Because geography is the Molotov cocktail of California wine, the Westies are hesitant to push too hard for an official delineation of the proper coast and its subareas (although the federal government approved one such long-standing request, for the Fort Ross-Seaview area north of Jenner, earlier this year). It is a far stretch from the Lakeville area near Carneros to the hills above Bodega Bay. The gusts of the Petaluma Gap should reasonably stand apart from the fog of remote Annapolis to the north.
It's good to keep discussing geography. But it's also good to acknowledge that when we talk about this appellation, we are almost necessarily speaking in overly broad terms. Sonoma Coast may now be a familiar sight on the shelf, but that doesn't mean we've begun to understand its true nature.
2010 Zepaltas La Cruz Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($42, 13.6% alcohol): Ryan Zepaltas has a fondness for this Petaluma Gap spot, north of Novato's Gnoss Field. He uses a mix of 115 and Pommard clones, lesser-known selections that help explain the wine's innate tension. A slightly cloudy appearance hints at a wine meant for cellar time. But for 2010, here's a benchmark. Evoking a damp forest on a rainy day, with sweet umeboshi plum, currant and a licorice accent, it's a dense and complex bottle. His 2010 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($29, 14.1%), largely from La Cruz fruit, delivers, too, as an early-drinking effort.
2010 LaRue Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($60, 13.2%): Winemaker Katy Wilson took her San Joaquin Valley farm upbringing into account when moving into winemaking. Her young label, named for her great-grandmother, focuses on just one wine: a blend from three vineyards near Occidental and Sebastopol. Dense and packed with exotic dried-herb notes, this forthcoming release shows the tart red fruit you'd expect from Occidental's chill in a cool vintage. A fantastic clarity of Pinot flavors.
2010 Hirsch Vineyards Bohan Dillon Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($32, 13.1%): With Ross Cobb (Cobb Wines) now at the winemaking helm, David Hirsch's famed property is pursuing a restrained, complex style that suits the extreme coast. Hirsch's second wine, which draws from a few neighboring sites on the Cazadero ridgetops, is tension-filled and pleasingly leafy, full of wet flowers, bergamot and the minerality that marks the Hirsch site. Raspberry and watermelon fruit round out a subtle bottle that's more approachable right now than the young, slightly blocky 2010 Hirsch San Andreas Fault ($60, 13%).
2010 Freeman Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($44, 14.1%): The Freemans' blend, tapped from seven vineyards around the appellation, finds a headiness and spice under guidance from Ed Kurtzman. Some roasted fruit flavors are balanced by a tangy orange and pine needle, and vivacious bayberry. A deft snapshot of the coastal appellation.
2010 Failla Occidental Ridge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($60, 13.9%): This vineyard at 800 feet near Occidental, pioneered by Warren Dutton, isn't the most extreme among Ehren Jordan's sites. But Jordan - who also farms his own site on the far coastal ridges - finds just enough plushness here to balance a chewy, mineral mouthful of cherry fruit. Its broad shoulders are matched by a wonderful energy to the taste.
2010 MacPhail Pratt Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($47, 14.3%): James MacPhail's label, recently acquired by the Hess Collection, is back on point with its aromatically packed, rich style. Amid jam-packed cherry fruit is an intense dark soil aspect and a savory herbal side, almost like wild ramps. A distinct oak tone lingers, and the fine quality of Sebastopol's Pratt site radiates through it all, with a bit less amplitude, given the vintage.
2010 Schug Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($24, 13.5%): Tapping into the eastern Sonoma interpretation of Sonoma Coast, Schug turned out a blend from noteworthy vineyards (Sangiacomo, Stage Gulch and so on) that functions as the sort of solid weeknight bottle too rare these days. Rooty and mint-edged, with ripe strawberry and a sarsaparilla edge that offers up-front pleasure.
2010 The Forager Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($25, 14.4%): Jonathan and Susan Pey (Pey-Marin) are on a noble mission, providing a drinkable Pinot without pretense. They've merged a parcel near Sonoma Mountain with a Russian River site for that broad, raspberry-packed interpretation of Sonoma. Aromas of sea salt and dry leaves make for a straightforward, robust bottle.
Jon Bonnés The San Francisco Chronicle's wine editor. Find more of his coverage at sfgate.com/wine. E-mail: jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbonne
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/wine/wineselections/article/Pinot-s-promise-and-peril…
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
>From the NYTimes:
S. African Chenin Blanc (aka "Steen") isn't was it use to be, and
that a bad thing.
While Googling to check on the spelling of "steen" I also found this from
Gary Vandercheck
http://tv.winelibrary.com/2010/04/06/south-african-chenin-blanc-tasting-epi…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenin_blanc
C,
J
July 12, 2012
A Wine That Isn.t What It Used to Be
By ERIC ASIMOV
WINE tastings are intended to illuminate, but sometimes confusion gets the upper hand. This was one of those times.
The subject was chenin blanc from South Africa, a category I last addressed about five years ago. Back then, I lamented the shortage of options for good chenin blanc wines outside the Loire Valley of France, the grape.s spiritual home, while suggesting that South African chenin blancs might prove a welcome refuge.
After all, chenin blanc had long been widely planted in South Africa, encompassing twice as many acres as in the Loire. While the South African wines did not approach the heights of a good Vouvray or Savenniès, the wine panel back then found them to be, well, forgive me if I quote myself, .wines of freshness and character with prices that make them exceptional values..
Now, five years later, it seemed time to refresh our sense that chenin blanc in South Africa remained a trove of inexpensive, rewarding wines. Yet at a recent tasting of 20 bottles, the wine panel was surprised, and not in a good way.
Instead of finding many bottles that we.d enjoy drinking, we were instead hard pressed to find many that we liked at all, and somewhat mystified as to why this might be so. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Pascaline Lepeltier, wine director at Rouge Tomate, and Carla Rzeszewski, wine director of the Spotted Pig, the Breslin and the John Dory Oyster Bar.
All of us treasure chenin blancs and are gratified to discover the occasional good bottle from California or Long Island, regions where making chenin blanc is a sign of idiosyncrasy. We were well disposed to the South African wines, all from recent vintages, and looked forward to a pleasurable tasting.
But many of the wines we tasted were hard to identify as chenin blanc. They lacked the signature floral, mineral and citrus aromas and flavors, often underscored by a suggestion of honey. On paper, those flavors may sound as if they could come from scores of other white wines. But served cool in the glass, they are carried by the indelible texture of chenin blanc, thick and rich on the tongue yet improbably light. No other grape offers a texture so immediately identifiable as chenin blanc.
.I didn.t expect to find Loire wines, but I did expect to find chenin blanc,. Pascaline said.
Sadly, many of the wines also lacked the structural hallmark of chenin blanc: great acidity. Like riesling, chenin blanc depends on high acidity not only for its zesty, refreshing energy, but also for its fine bone structure, which gives it the versatility to glow like a fashion model in a full range of styles, from austerely dry to lusciously sweet. Instead, we tasted too many wines that seemed either flabby or dispiriting.
What could the problem have been? Here, we must speculate. Were the wines excessively manipulated? That is, were the grapes lacking in balance, requiring winemakers to add acid, which can sometimes seem artificial, or carbon dioxide, which can lighten a wine and make it seem fruity, for a little while, anyway?
.The grape is not being celebrated here,. Carla said. .These have veered into a drink, rather than a wine..
Perhaps the vintage was the problem. Of our 20 wines, 13 were from 2010, which by most accounts was difficult. Four more were from 2011, which was difficult as well, while three were from 2009, often termed a dream vintage.
Still, even in poor vintages, good producers can generally make interesting wines. And the vintage doesn.t explain why the 2009 F.M.C. from Ken Forrester, one of the leading names in South African chenin blanc, seemed so sweet, oaky, unbalanced and fatiguing. It did not make our top 10, although it was by far the most expensive wine in the tasting at $75.
Most of the wines were much cheaper, with 13 for $15 or less, and 4 more up to $19. While this is good in theory, might it also indicate that many South African growers don.t take chenin blanc very seriously? Many of the wines tasted that way.
Even so, we found some wines that we liked quite a bit, like our No. 1 bottle, the 2010 Secateurs from Badenhorst Family Wines in Swartland, which was full bodied yet well shaped and distinctly chenin blanc. Though it was not the cheapest among our top 10, it was our best value at $16 because we liked it so much better.
Our other favorite, the 2010 Mullineux, was a different sort of wine, enjoyable now but intended for aging. It was only 80 percent chenin blanc, with 10 percent each of clairette and viognier, and while the exuberant fruitiness of the viognier was apparent, so was the structure and the essence of chenin blanc. At $31, it was the most expensive wine among our top 10, but also the only one that seemed to have a real sense of place.
Many of the other wines on our list seemed somewhat interchangeable, though we preferred the 2010 La Capra from Fairview and the 2011 Man Vintners to the other two-star wines.
More interesting to me were wines that did not make the list, like the 2010 Raats Original Unwooded, a wine I.ve liked before, and the 2010 Graham Beck Game Reserve, another wine I.ve enjoyed in the past.
Has my taste changed? Or have the wines? Or was this an anomalous tasting that warrants another look before too long? We also wondered whether the grape yields were too high for some of the producers, which could have explained the muted flavors.
Eighteen of the bottles came with screw caps, which led to further speculation. Care must be taken when making wine specifically for the more air-deprived environment of screw caps rather than cork-topped bottles, which permit the interchange of tiny amounts of air. If adjustments to the winemaking are not made, flavors can be suppressed as well.
Our tasting did not lead to many answers. But we were left with plenty of questions.
Tasting Report
BEST VALUE
Badenhorst Family Wines Secateurs Chenin Blanc Swartland 2010 $16 ** ½
Full-bodied yet discreet and inviting, with herbal, floral and citrus flavors. (Broadbent Selections, San Francisco)
Mullineux Swartland 2010 $31 ** ½
Well structured and balanced with aromas of honeysuckle, citrus, oak and minerals. (Kysela Pere et Fils, Winchester, Va.)
Fairview La Capra Chenin Blanc South Africa 2010 $13 **
Clean and succinct with flavors that span sweet and savory. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, Ala.)
Man Vintners Chenin Blanc Coastal 2011 $11 **
Juicy with citrus and floral aromas. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, Ala.)
Indaba Chenin Blanc Western Cape 2011 $8 **
Light floral and lemon flavors, bland but palatable. (Cape Classics, New York)
Robertson Chenin Blanc South Africa 2010 $13 **
Light and pleasant with honeysuckle and lemon aromas. (Indigo Wine Group, Venice, Fla.)
Mulderbosch Vineyards Chenin Blanc Western Cape Steen Op Hout 2010 $15 **
Light and unstructured, with lime and melon flavors; pleasant but not much about it says chenin blanc. (Cape Classics, New York)
Teddy Hall Chenin Blanc Stellenbosch 2010 $10 * ½
Lightly fruity with a touch of salinity. (Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.)
Franschhoek Cellar Chenin Blanc Western Cape La Cotte Mill 2010 $13 * ½
Pungent tropical flavors and a bit of residual sweetness. (Cape Wine Ventures, Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Spice Route Chenin Blanc Swartland 2009 $17 * ½
Floral, but dominated by oaky aromas and flavors. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, Ala.)
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
>From the Wash Post.
By Dave McIntyre, Published: July 17
...Exceptional ..Excellent .Very Good
Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.
Muscadet is a relatively simple wine, with nice structure that makes it interesting even in ripe years such as 2009 and 2010, when acidity levels might be lower than normal. Some producers emphasizing particular vineyards and agricultural practices produce wines with more complexity and interest.
Domaine de l.Ecu, Expression de Gneiss, Sur Lie 2009 ...
Muscadet Sevre et Maine, Loire Valley, France, $20
Winegrower Guy Bossard makes separate muscadet cuvees based on the soil types of his various vineyards, all of which are farmed according to biodynamic principles. His wines tend to be richer, fatter and riper than most muscadets, with juicy fruit flavors and an inherent mineral quality that gives them verve.
Kysela: Available in the District at MacArthur Beverages, Magruder.s, Rodman.s, Paul.s of Chevy Chase; on the list at Brasserie Beck. Available in Maryland at Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits in Annapolis, Pinehurst Wine Shoppe in Baltimore, Pine Orchard Wine in Ellicott City. Available in Virginia at Unwined in Alexandria and Wegmans in Dulles and Leesburg; on the list at L.Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls.
Clos de la Fine 2009 ...
Muscadet de Grandlieu, Loire Valley, France, $14
Tasting like ripe melon, this wine has a stony mineral quality that gives it length and structure. Unfortunately, area retailers apparently do not agree with me, as only a few have been bold enough to stock it.
Bacchus: Available in the District at Modern Liquors. Available in Maryland at Wine Cellars of Annapolis and State Line Liquors in Elkton; on the list at Harry Browne.s in Annapolis.
Domaine de la Quilla, Sur Lie 2010 ..
Muscadet Sevre et Maine, Loire Valley, France, $13
This may be the muscadet many area wine lovers first learned to appreciate, and it is textbook: crisp, citrusy and fresh, an ideal partner to warm-weather seafood salads or raw shellfish. It often can be found on sale below the retail price, making it an exceptional bargain.
Kacher/Washington Wholesale/Robins Cellars: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley, Dixie Liquor, MacArthur Beverages, Pearson.s Wine & Spirits, Rodman.s and various Whole Foods Market locations; on the list at Bistro La Bonne, BlackSalt, Brasserie Beck, Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Sur la Place. Available in Maryland at Quarry Wine & Spirits in Baltimore; on the list at Mussel Bar in Bethesda. Available in Virginia at Balducci.s in Alexandria, the Wine House in Fairfax and Wine Cabinet in Reston; on the list at Brabo in Alexandria, Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg and Liberty Tavern in Arlington.
Chateau de la Bourdiniere Tradition 2010 ..
Muscadet de Sevre et Maine, Loire Valley, France, $14
A crisp and stylish wine, this muscadet shows a bit more pineapple fruit than the typical melon flavors. Quite delicious.
Oslo Enterprise/Voila!: Available in the District at Chat.s Liquors and Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits. Available in Maryland at Eddie.s of Roland Park and Spirits of Mt. Vernon in Baltimore, State Line Liquors in Elkton and Victoria.s Fancy Foods in Severna Park; on the list at 13.5% Wine Bar in Baltimore and Cafe de Paris in Columbia.
Chereau Carre 2011 .1 / 2
Muscadet de Sevre et Maine, Loire Valley, France, $10
A delightful, simple muscadet that covers the bases: clean fruit, bracing structure and acidity that makes one want more.
M Touton Selection: Available in the District at Gandel.s Liquors, Hayden.s Liquor, Rodman.s and Sherry.s Fine Wine & Spirits. Available in Maryland at Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, Nick.s of Clinton in Waldorf, Old Farm Liquors in Frederick and Rosewick Wine & Spirits in La Plata. Available in Virginia at Leesburg Vintner and Unwined in Alexandria.
Chateau de la Chesnaie Sur Lie 2010 .1 / 2
Muscadet de Sevre et Maine, Loire Valley, France, $11
>From the same producer as the Chereau Carre, this wine, aged on its lees, shows a tad more complexity and body.
M Touton Selection: Widely available throughout the District, Maryland and Virginia.
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
Many of you know Paul Daggett of the Wine Company.
Paul's mother Donna passed away last week per the obit in last Sunday's Strib.
Funeral is this Saturday.
Details and a great photo here:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/startribune/obituary.aspx?pid=158331165
Daggett, Donna L. A woman of unique grace, elegance and taste that were present in everything she did. A devoted wife, a loving mother (three boys, no small feat!) and generous friend. A petite woman, who was big on charm, loved to laugh and was welcoming to all. Donna passed away at home surrounded by loved ones on June 21, 2012 at the age of 84. She joins her beloved husband of 59 years, Donald R. Daggett. She is survived by her sons, Paul & Becca Vargo Daggett and their son Max; David Daggett; and John Daggett & Catherine Filloux. Memorial service 12 PM Saturday, July 7 at Lakewood Memorial Chapel, Lakewood Cemetery, 3600 Hennepin Ave S., Mpls.
Sincerely,
Jim
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
Santa Cruz Pinot Noir: The Chronicle recommends
Jon Bonnéunday, June 17, 2012
Our latest foray into this unheralded region for Pinot Noir considered two potentially stellar vintages. Both 2009 and 2010 were modest ('10 was downright cold) and those who gave into each year's potential stood to be rewarded.
The best wines from our lineup of more than two dozen were heady, complex and light on their feet.
The rest? If Pinot Noir's identity issues are revealing themselves nowadays, that's especially true in Santa Cruz. We encountered a few too many off flavors in some wines, and - in what's becoming a theme for 2010 - too many attempts to make a hefty wine in a year that wasn't inclined to provide one.
Santa Cruz has long wrestled with this gap in winemaking quality. As the world takes ever more notice, it will become ever more important to confront it.
As for the region, though, the possibilities for greatness are manifest. Ridgetop vineyards like Mount Eden remain benchmarks, but the plantings - new and old - near Corralitos and Aptos (go to bit.ly/HJmACV) are more than living up to their potential.
They continue to prove just how much there is to marvel at in the Santa Cruz Mountains - when the winemaking is on par with a beautifully defined sense of place.
2009 Windy Oaks Terra Narro Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($29, 13.9% alcohol): Since 1999, Jim Schultze and his family have been building a reputation for ethereal Pinot from the little-known Corralitos area. As Corralitos' profile grows, Windy Oaks is a standard-bearer. This impressive, nuanced bottling shows why. The least oak-influenced of its lineup - compared with the 2009 Diane's Block ($39, 13.9%), with toasty notes amid its rose-petal prettiness - this shows Pinot's shady side, with dusky pine and juniper aromas to balance its delicate strawberry fruit.
2010 Alfaro Family Lester Family Vineyard at Deer Park Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($38, 13.7%): The cool 2010 vintage seems to have brought out the best in Richard Alfaro's efforts, both with his own Corralitos vineyard and with other sites. This bottle from the nearby Lester site, planted to a mix of Dijon and older selections like Mount Eden, is tension-filled, packed with juicy currant fruit. Iodine and juniper accents balance a dose of new oak, but the innate beauty of fruit from this Aptos site shines through.
2010 Wind Gap Woodruff Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($50, 12.7%): Syrah master Pax Mahle has brought out surprising structure in a light-touch wine made entirely with whole grape clusters. There's a saline edge to its taut red fruit - with scents of pomegranate, carob, musk and dried mushroom. As it opens, richer plum flavors show its full flesh.
2010 Ghostwriter Santa Cruz County Pinot Noir ($30, 13.5%): Healdsburg-based Kenny Likitprakong (Hobo Wine) has become a curator of Santa Cruz sites, and while his single-vineyard efforts are winning, this blend of multiple sites (mostly near the town of Aptos) matches bright raspberry and rhubarb to a heartier earthen side. It's a contrast to the wonderful marjoram-scented delicacy of the 2010 Ghostwriter Woodruff Vineyard Pinot Noir ($45, 13.2%), from that 30-year-old dry-farmed site, one of the area's emerging stars.
2010 Thomas Fogarty Rapley Trail Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($55, 14.3%): The winemaking team of Michael Martella and Nathan Kandler is dialing in an ever more nuanced style at Fogarty, including this bottle from Fogarty's old-estate planting in the north of the appellation, near Woodside. The use of grape stems reveals itself in intense aromas of exotic peppercorn, with lavender, tangerine and bright raspberry. Generous and aromatic, if very stylish.
2009 Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir ($52, 13.5%): As the would-be dean of Santa Cruz Pinot makers, Jeffrey Patterson reveals the full potential of 2009 - rich, powerful flavors and moderate size. That trademark mineral power of this Saratoga site, home to Martin Ray's mid-century efforts - brings a bright, stony edge to match dark underbrush, tree bark, allspice and fresh bayberry. A subtle, long-aging vintage.
Panelists: Jeff Bareilles, wine director, Manresa; Jon BonnéChronicle wine editor; Rebecca Rapaszky, wine buyer, Noe Valley Wine Merchants.
Jon Bonnés The San Francisco Chronicle's wine editor. E-mail: jbonne(a)sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbonne
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/17/FD3M1P1AGE.DTL
This article appeared on page G - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle
You can taste Burgundy here, but it helps to go there
By Dave McIntyre, Published: June 15
This was a once-in-a-lifetime invitation: an exclusive tasting and dinner with fine Burgundy wines from the cellars of the Hospices de Beaune. I would be allowed to write about the event, but only on the condition that I not name the venue nor quote any of its .members. by name. This gave the evening an only-in-Washington, .I.d tell you, but I.d have to kill you. atmosphere I couldn.t resist.
As I headed to an undisclosable location near the White House, I had visions of a posh retreat behind a nondescript door where the city.s power players would sit in overstuffed leather chairs and quietly plot the downfall of dictators, foreign financiers and uncooperative U.S. senators while swirling balloon-shaped glasses of Gevrey-Chambertin. So I was a bit nonplused to see a large blue banner with the venue.s initials waving over the door. No secret handshakes or passwords required. How secret could this place be?
It was posh, though. Lots of hardwood, chandeliers and grand staircases, plus the type of fine restroom linen that makes you enjoy drying your hands. The chief wine guy was known simply as the Ambassador. And yes, there was lots of fine Burgundy.
The tasting was led by Anthony Hanson, a lanky Brit with unkempt, silvery hair and an absent-minded-professor demeanor that suggests he might not remember which pocket holds his hotel key, even though he can rattle off details of several vintages of grand cru cuvees from the Cote de Nuits. Hanson, who holds the prestigious title of Master of Wine, made his reputation with his 1982 book on Burgundy, titled .Burgundy,. in which he famously wrote, .Great Burgundy smells of s---.. (Subsequent editions have omitted this line.)
The Hospices de Beaune today is more synonymous with a wine auction than with the hospital it still supports. The world.s oldest charitable wine auction started in the 1850s, about four centuries after the first vineyards were donated to the hospital. Each year on the third Sunday of November, Burgundy.s winemakers and a coterie of devotees from around the world gather to bid on barrels of wine from the just-harvested vintage. (Hanson has managed the auction for Christie.s since 2005.)
Hanson was in Washington as part of a world tour to promote this year.s auction. His U.S. trip took him to Nantucket and New York as well. Earlier this year he stamped his passport in India, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, reflecting the importance of the Asian market for fine, expensive French wine.
.People are able to connect with the history of Burgundy and France. through the auction, Hanson says. .It.s a key to the door of Burgundy..
Burgundy is never cheap, but buying a barrel at auction can be a value. The tasting included a 2009 Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru that sold for almost $4,000 a barrel, or less than $13 a bottle for the wine. (A barrel is about 300 bottles.) The purchaser then pays a winery to .mature. the wine for two years, then bottle and label it. The labels reflect the wine.s origin with the Hospices, but there is also the opportunity to put one.s own name or company name on the label, with all the marketing possibilities that entails.
During the tasting, I sat next to Timothy Cone, a federal public defender who has been purchasing barrels at auction since 2000. .I bought three 2009s, and mine are better,. Cone muttered as we tasted a Volnay Premier Cru from the Hospices. cellar. That.s a sentiment the auction organizers would probably applaud, because it means Cone is happy with his purchases and keeps coming back. He first attended the annual barrel tasting before the auction in 1998 during a trip to Beaune.
.The experience of tasting all those Hospices wines was a revelation, because the differences between the taste of wines from different villages were more pronounced than I.d ever realized drinking a bottle of Burgundy at home now and then,. Cone recalls.
Going to Burgundy is essential to understanding Burgundy, agrees Lanny Lancaster, co-owner of C.est Vin importers, who helped arrange the event. His enthusiasm explains the fervor true Burgundy fans feel.
.You have to put boots on the ground,. Lancaster says. .If you stand with your back to the northwest side of the village of Vosne-Romanee and face west, up a small, single-lane road you will see an ancient cross. This marks Romanee-Conti,. he explained, naming one of Burgundy.s most famous vineyards. .Without moving your eyes, in the same view you have 100 percent of the vineyards of Romanee Conti, La Grand Rue, La Romanee and most of La Tache. One can argue that these are perhaps four of the top six or seven pinot noir vineyards in the world.
.I get chills every time I drive up that road,. he says.
McIntyre blogs at www.dmwineline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dmwine .
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
Cabana Boy not included...
June 12, 2012
Take On Summer With Gin From Experienced Hands
By ERIC ASIMOV
GROW your own, brew your own, butcher your own, ferment your own. This has been the mantra of the do-it-yourself ethos in pursuit of authentic flavors and pleasures uncorrupted by corporate or other intrusive interests. Distill your own was never far behind.
Small distilleries have proliferated throughout the United States in the last 10 years. They.ve made any number of applejacks and fruit brandies, whiskeys and eaux de vie. But no spirit seems to have captured the imagination of these small distillers more than gin has.
Ah, gin. Brisk, peppery gin. Once, it epitomized summer elegance. It was the cool-breeze component of martinis and gimlets, rickeys and slings, fizzes and Collinses. It was the soothing tonic that helped the quinine go down. It was yardarms and pastel sunsets.
Then the ground trembled and the sky darkened. Along came the devil, I mean vodka, and gin was forsaken in favor of . What? No flavor? No aroma? No character? Well, that.s vodka for you: a bland, neutral cipher. Gin.s cocktails became vodka.s cocktails, championed by those who ought to have known better, consumed by the masses who had no idea what a martini was, much less a yardarm.
And yet, great gins abound. Unlike the craft-brewing movement, spurred 35 years ago by the poverty of the mass-market beer selection, small distillers faced no such desperation. If anything, consumers are blessed with a profusion of superb, distinctive gins in many guises that are widely available, among them the elegant, graceful Plymouth; the crisp, proper Tanqueray; the classic Beefeaters and Boodles; and the more exotic Citadelle and Hendrick.s.
Even inexpensive standbys like Seagram.s Extra Dry and Gordon.s London Dry are pretty good, though I submit you will not find a better gin than Plymouth for enjoying a martini with a summer sunset.
Even so, the vodka blitzkrieg required action. In the last third of the 20th century, gin sales plummeted as vodka sales accelerated. The big spirits companies fought back by trying to duplicate vodka.s success, using high-budget branding, marketing and positioning. While they emphasized packaging and status, they also toyed with the classic, predominantly juniper flavor profile of gin. High-end brand extensions like Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray No. 10 aimed at a new audience by infusing the standard gin palette with a range of related but unconventional spices and herbs.
These efforts have been modestly successful, though they have done nothing to slow vodka.s ascendancy. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group, sales of vodka in the United States have risen steadily to around 62 million cases in 2011, from about 39 million in 2002. Sales of gin, however, have been static, hovering around 11 million cases a year. The one area of encouraging growth has been at the highest end, in the super-premium category, which was up 24 percent in 2011 compared with in 2002.
The output of the new, small distilleries amounts to no more than a trickle. Like so many in the cocktail renaissance, many of them have rejected vodka as hopelessly square and dull while embracing gin as complex and distinctive. Perhaps, too, they have a historical appreciation for gin, just as the cocktail connoisseurs embraced the nearly forgotten rye whiskey and, in an earlier generation, craft brewers resurrected moribund styles of beer.
They have practical reasons to focus on gin as well. Whiskeys and brandies, and sometimes even rums, generally require distillers to put the spirits into barrels to age. The expense of production and storage without a significant return on investment is simply not feasible for small start-up distillers.
That leaves vodka and gin, two spirits that are perpetually at odds yet ever intertwined. Vodka is easier to make . hold that thought . yet fails the hipness test. So for small distillers who want to make names (and possibly profits) for themselves, and do that immediately, gin is the thing.
To get a sense of what these small distilleries are doing, the spirits panel recently tasted 20 bottles of gin, all made in the United States, mostly by distilleries that have started in just the last few years. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by our colleague Julia Moskin, for whom gin has long been a favorite spirit, and David Wondrich, the cocktail historian and author.
Though gin has been blown out of the market by vodka, it nonetheless depends on it. You cannot have gin without vodka. Vodka is neutral spirits. It can be distilled from practically anything. Most is distilled from grain, but you can also find it made from grapes, potatoes and plenty of other materials. Regardless of the base, the point is to distill the distinctiveness out of the vodka, rendering a spirit of aloof purity.
While that is the end result of vodka, it.s just the beginning with gin. The vast majority of gins, modeled on the prevailing style known as London Dry, are essentially vodka that has been infused, steeped or otherwise flavored with botanicals, that is, herbs, spices and fruit essences. The traditional flavorings begin with juniper, which gives gin its bracing burst of cool. Other classic flavorings include coriander, licorice, citrus zest and angelica: pretty much anything you.d find in a witch.s brew, though individual recipes are generally guarded as zealously as the formula for Coca-Cola.
If the preparations have a medicinal ring, it is not without reason. Gin was invented in the 17th century by a Dutch doctor seeking a cure for kidney disorders. It took some time to earn its reputation for elegance. In its early days, it was the drink of the British working class, and it was not until the mid-19th century, after producers like Beefeater and Boodles shaped the flavor of modern gin, that upper classes adopted it. Even so, gin has fought off less flattering sobriquets, like .gin soaked. and the Prohibition-era bathtub gin.
Most of the new American gins are in the London Dry style, though many of the distillers, perhaps reserving the right to be creative, call their gins American Dry. Given the fondness for rare and bygone styles, it would not surprise me to see American distillers take a crack at genever, a staple of the Netherlands rarely seen in the United States, which offers a sort of malty edge that is very different from London Dry, and a sweetened gin known as Old Tom.
As with vodkas, most big gin producers buy their neutral spirits from huge distilleries rather than making it themselves. But that is not the way of the small gin producers, who do it themselves. Three of the 20 distillers in our tasting are based in Brooklyn, and a fourth, though situated elsewhere, calls its gin Brooklyn, for all that connotes nowadays.
Regardless of where the gins came from, the collection offered a clear lesson: making gin is not for amateurs. The best of the big gins, like Beefeater, Plymouth and Tanqueray, are excellent and beautifully integrated. They seem to achieve their signature complex blends almost effortlessly. Except for our favorites, the small-producer gins seemed far more labored.
.Gin is the hardest spirit to make well,. David said. .It.s hard to get the balance of these things right..
The evidence bore him out. Too many of the gins seemed out of balance, dominated by one flavor: too sweet, too floral, too sweaty, too vegetative or simply harsh and artificial tasting. It reminded me of the early days of craft brewing, when so many brewpubs that talked a great game were unable to deliver. A shakeout was inevitable, and those that could not improve fell by the wayside.
So, the question has to be asked: If the last third of the 20th century was cruel to gin, has the beginning of the 21st been crueler still?
We.ll know in a few decades. Meanwhile, the matter of yardarms remains. Few things speak of summer like gin, whether at the beach or on the deck, lazing on the balcony or on a tarpaper roof, gazing out the window or merely settling back and putting your feet up. Vodka favors complacency, but gin offers a stylish infusion. By all means, toast the season with a Collins, fizz or gimlet. And let it be gin.
Tasting Report
BEST VALUE
Berkshire Mountain Distillers, $28, ***
Greylock Gin; Great Barrington, Mass., 40%
Light, subtle and complex, dominated by classic flavors of juniper, citrus and coriander.
The New York Distilling Company, $33, ***
Dorothy Parker American Gin; Brooklyn, 44%
Brisk, bright and pungent, with citrus and herbal flavors; not classic, but intriguing.
The Anchor Distilling Company, $32, ***
Junipero Gin; San Francisco, 49.5%
Clean, dry and classic gin; botanical flavors and a slight alcohol burn.
Philadelphia Distilling, $36, ** ½
Bluecoat American Dry Gin; Philadelphia, 47%
Smooth, bracing and straightforward with a touch of heat.
Finger Lakes Distilling, $29, ** ½
Seneca Drums Gin; Burdett, N.Y., 43%
Complex and slightly sweet, with spicy, earthy flavors and a bit of vanilla.
Death.s Door Spirits Gin; Middleton, Wis., $36, **
47%
Flavors of juniper and licorice; a little sweet.
Greenhook Ginsmiths, $30, **
American Dry Gin; Brooklyn, 47%
Unusual combination of cucumber, juniper and salty flavors.
Breuckelen Distilling, $30, **
Glorious Gin; Brooklyn, 45%
Smells like potpourri, with flavors of root beer, anise and wintergreen.
Spring 44 Gin; Loveland, Colo., $25, **
40%
Very busy, with smooth, spicy flavors of cloves and ginger.
Great Lakes Distillery, $38, **
Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin; Milwaukee, 44%
Savory, with aromas of lemon, lime, root beer and witch hazel.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 12, 2012
A previous version of this article misstated the number of cases of vodka and gin sold in recent years, expressing sales in the thousands. In 2011, 62 million cases of vodka were sold; 39 million cases in 2002. Sales of gin are steady at around 11 million cases a year.
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
* james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *
