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Syrah – Nice and Spectacular, Plus a Case Buy Recommendation
Syrah wines have a special status in our house – this is my wife’s most favorite type of wine, so I’m always trying to keep some on hand. With the status of “favorite”, it is customary for us to open a bottle of Syrah for different celebratory occasions. Sometimes, Friday feels like a special occasion (I’m sure you can easily relate to that), so yes, Syrah it was.
I was thinking about opening this wine for a while. As I don’t employ any cellar organization systems, neither software nor paper, I simply have a general idea of the wines I have, and then I get more opportunities to touch many bottles in the search of one to be opened. I noticed that particular Syrah bottle during few of the recent searches, so I was mentally getting ready to part with it (most of the bottles I have are in the single bottle quantities, so yes, I need some mental prep to deal with that). Thus when the Friday came, it was an easy decision – it will will be a Syrah Friday (well, to be entirely honest, Syrah Friday decision was made on Thursday, but I don’t think it matters here all that much).
2003 J.L. Chave Offerus Saint-Joseph, France (13.5% ABV), a 100% Syrah from Northern Rhone appellation. Just to give a you a bit of the reference, J.L Chave (Jean-Louis Chave) represents the latest generation of the winemaking family from Northern Rhone. Their first Hemitage wine was produced in 1481. Try to remember J.L. Chave name next time you are looking for the Rhone wines, you can’t go wrong with their wines.
Talking about this 2003 Syrah – no sign of age on the color – dark, concentrated garnet ruby. On the nose, the wine had a whiff of the barnyard, which I personally find very attractive, and some dark fruit. The palate was showing more of the dark fruit, plums and blackberries, with a touch of minerality and clean acidity. Elegant, round, perfectly structured, full bodied, with spicy kick in the back and long finish. The bottle disappeared without a trace. I think “restrained elegance” would be the best descriptor for this wine. Drinkability: 8
And then there was another Syrah. About a week ago, I got an e-mail from PJ Wine, one of the best wine stores in New York, describing “secret” Shiraz. That wine was made by an excellent French producer, Michel Chapoutier (a seventh generation winemaker himself), in Australia, and it had 94 rating by Robert Parker, while priced under $12. I generally don’t buy the wines based on ratings, and I also consider that we have a “palate misalignment” with Mr. Parker, but 94 points and $12 is definitely something to think about. When I saw the wine in my local Cost Less Wines, I simply had to get it (it was $14.99 here in CT).
2011 Michel Chapoutier Tournon Mathilda Shiraz Victoria, Australia (13% ABV) – screw top is off, wine is poured. Bright ruby color in the glass. First smell and the very first reaction – what is it? Really? Pepper? Wow! Yes, peppery notes are the signature of the Syrah grape – but I’m used to finding it after the sip, not in-you-face once you smell the wine. Here it was – bright, fresh black pepper, as I was smelling the pepper mill instead of a glass. The first sip extends the “wow” moment even further – it is a rare luck in my experience, when there is a full match between the smell and the taste. Here is was – freshly ground black pepper, perfectly present without overpowering the taste. The black pepper was elegantly weaved into a core of red plums and tart cherries – delicious, sip after sip. This was definitely an exciting wine – clean, elegant, alive, sexy and vibrant. The grapes for this wine were macerated for 2-3 weeks in stainless steel and cement tanks for the better tannins extraction, and then aged for 12 month in stainless steel and cement tanks (no oak!). A pure expression of a beautiful Syrah. This is the wine to be experienced – and to buy by the case. It is gone at PJ Wine, unfortunately, but according to the wine-searcher, it is still available in the number of other stores find this wine. I don’t say it too often, but I feel this is very appropriate now – this is the wine to buy by the case! Drinkability: 9
That concludes the tale of two Syrah wines. While Offerus was very classic old world version, the Tournon Mathilda was definitely an eye-opener for me – if you can find this wine, you should experience it just to get acquainted with Syrah in its pure expression – it was a very delicious encounter for me. And I guess I need to look for more Robert Parker recommended wines – either his palate is changing, or may be its mine… Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, WTSO Magnum Marathon, #MalbecWorldDay, Can Wine Critic be Objective?, Pinot Noir #winechat
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #98, Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 2.
For the long time, the grape trivia series was focused on the single grapes. But now we are stirring things up, so all the questions in the quiz are about blends (well, even if it is a blend of one ), as most of the wines in the world are actually blends. As usual, there were 5 questions in the quiz.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: This grape was created as a cross between Cinsaut and Pinot Noir. Can you name the grape?
A1: Pinotage, the famous grape of South Africa
Q2: Take a look at this list of the grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, ?, Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris. Two questions:
a. Name the missing grape
A2a: Pinot Meunier. Listed above are the names of all grapes allowed to be used in the Champagne region in France, so the missing grape is Pinot Meunier
b. What wine is made most often by blending some of these grapes?
A2b: Champagne!
Q3: Which grape is missing?
– Tempranillo, Garnacha, ?, Graciano
A3: Mazuelo. This is the list of the grapes typically blended in production of the Rioja wines.
Q4: This dry red wine from California is related to famous Caymus, and made out of the unknown, secret blend of grapes. Can you name this wine?
A4: Conundrum. The famous Caymus wines are made by Wagner family in California. The same Wagner family produces the wine called Conundrum, both white and red, where the exact composition of the blend of grapes is kept secret.
Q5: Carménère to Merlot is the same as Douce Noir to ?
A5: Bonarda/Charbono. Carménère grape (originally from Bordeaux), was mistaken for Merlot for the very long time in Chile. Similarly, the popular Argentinian grape Bonarda, which happened to be identical to the Charbono grape in US, was actually the almost forgotten french grape called Douce Noir in Savoie region.
When it comes to the results, I’m glad to report that again there was good participation in the quiz. We also have a winner – Wayward Wine , who correctly answered all 5 questions, and thus gets the coveted prize of unlimited bragging rights. Jeff the drunken cyclist and Suzanne of apuginthekitchen get honorable mention for correctly answering 4 questions out of 5. Well done all!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
WTSO is on it again- the time has come for the famous Wine Til Sold Out Marathon! Mark April 22nd in your calendar – it will be go big or go home day – WTSO Magnum Marathon. Starting from 7 AM Eastern until midnight, WTSO will be offering wines in the 1.5L or 3L format. Each wine will be available for 30 minutes or until it will be sold out. All new wines will be announced only on Twitter, so make sure you follow @WTSO if you want to get real time notifications about new wines.
Do you like Malbec? There is a good chance you do, as many other people around the world. Just two easy references for you – shipments of Argentinian Malbec to US increased from 1.9 million cases in 2008, to over 4 million in 2013. Argentinian wines are also most popular wines among people of 25-34 years old in UK – for more interesting details on Argentinian Malbec, here is an article for you to read. Why all of a sudden we are talking about Malbec in the news section? Because tomorrow, April 17th, is Malbec World Day! Get the bottle of your favorite Malbec, pour the glass and join the celebration! Oh yes, and don’t forget to tweet about your favorite Malbec using the #MalbecWorldDay hashtag.
With hundreds of thousands of different wines produced around the world every year, we need to have some guidance as to what is new, what might worth our attention, what might not. This is where the wine critics come into a play – to help us navigate that ocean of wine by writing the wine reviews and rating the wines. Here comes an interesting question – can the wine critic be 100% objective, or can her work be influenced by personal preferences? Here is an interesting post on Jamie Goode’s wine blog, which raises this question – be sure to read the post and all the comments, it is quite a lively discussion.
Few more updates regarding the #winechat (if you are not familiar with the concept of #winechat, here is the blog post which will explain it). Last Wednesday, the #winechat was focused on Lenné Estate Pinot Noir from Yamhill-Carlton AVA in Oregon. Continuing the Oregon Pinot Noir theme, the subject of tonight’s #winechat is biodynamics of Youngberg Hill vineyards. The next week’s #winechat subject is wines of J Wrigley Vineyards from Willamette Valley in Oregon. All #winechat take place on twitter on Wednesdays at 6 PM Pacific/9 PM Eastern time. You can always participate using the #winechat hashtag. Join the conversation, it is fun!
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
When The Vines Work Hard – #WineChat with Lenné Estate
“You’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to work hard if you want anything at all” – one of my favorite lines from the song by Depeche Mode, a popular electronic music band from the 80s. Yes, the notion of ‘working hard” is half banal, half extreme, and half misunderstood (I’m sure you are admiring my math skills here with three halves, aren’t you). People often (mostly?) achieve the best results when faced with adversity, when they need to overcome something, work against difficult circumstances, work hard. Give people everything they want – and they stop growing. Vines are like people. When water and sun are plentiful, the vines can produce a lot of grapes – but those individual grapes can be pretty dull. When the vines need to fight for survival, those much fewer grapes the vines will bear, will have the flavor and finesse almost unachievable in the “nice and easy” setting.
When Steve Lutz, the proprietor and winemaker at Lenné Estate in Yamhill-Carlton district in Willamette Valley in Oregon, planted the Pinot Noir vines for the first time back in 2001, 35% of those vines died. Ever heard of Peavine soils? In today’s age of the internet, you can easily learn anything you want – so if you want the exact definition of Peavine, you can find it here. But, in simple terms, Peavine is a mixture of clay and rocks – yeah, not your ideal agricultural setting. So the vines had to work hard to survive, go deep into the soil to find water and nutrients. The payback for all the hard work? A great fruit, the grapes which render themselves to the complex and intriguing wines.
Last Wednesday, April 9th, I participated in my second #winechat – a guided virtual tasting that takes place most of the Wednesdays at 6 PM Pacific/9 PM Eastern, in the Twittersphere next to you. The theme of the wine chat was, as I’m sure you guessed already, the wines of Leniné Estate. Steve Lutz was participating in the #winechat, explaining about Peavine soils, talking about his Pinot Noir wine and answering numerous questions (#winechat conversations get generally quite active, with #winechat being among top trending topics on Twitter).
In addition to being able to talk to passionate people with vast knowledge of the subject, what I personally like about the #winechat is that I get to spend dedicated time in my grape geek setting, my grape laboratory. I get to play with the wine and take detailed notes. Coming to the Lenné Pinot Noir tasting, I read in the technical notes that the wine is expected to age well for the next 8-12 years. To me, the immediate thought was – let’s decant!
I decanted a small amount of wine about 2 hours before the tasting and put cork stopper into the bottle.
2 hours later, we started the #winechat – 2010 Lenné Estate Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Oregon (14% ABV, $45). I started with the wine in the bottle, which was at 21°C/70°F.
Color: Dark Ruby
Nose: Smoke, raspberries, a touch of mint, nice, open
Palate: Beautiful sweet fruit in the back, a touch of dark chocolate.
Next, I made a big mistake. I decided that I need to chill my Pinot Noir slightly, so I put the wine chiller on. Of course, I got carried away with the chat twitter stream, so when I said “oh, crap” and removed the chiller, after about 5 minutes on the bottle, it was already too late. At 12°C/53.6°F, the nose became completely muted, and wine became mostly sweet with some acidity, but the complexity was gone. For the rest of the chat, I kept waiting for the wine to come back to me – chilling is easy, but you can’t play any tricks with warming the wine up, you just have to let the air do its [slow] magic. At 16.2°C/61.1°F, the classic nose came back, together with the palate of cherries and ripe strawberries. Meanwhile, the decanted wine also played in somewhat of a strange way – the wine was showing smooth and elegant – but every sip was leaving me wanting more acidity.
The #winechat was over, so I pumped the air out with VacuVin (my standard routine), and put the bottle aside, to be continued the next day. And the next day – without decanting or any temperature games – the wine was shining! Beautiful nose of cranberries and cherries, with a touch of smoke and barnyard – call it funkiness or earthiness, I call it barnyard – just a touch. Beautiful palate with acidity, strawberries, and cranberries in the front, then soft, but very present tannins started to gently grip the front of the mouth, and mocha and sweet cherries showed in the back, with pleasant minerality. The finish was lasting almost a minute. Overall this was the perfect example of balance and finesse which may be only Pinot Noir is capable of.
Verdict: This was a beautiful wine, which can be enjoyed now (just don’t do anything stupid with the temperature), but will deliver even more pleasure with time. Drinkability: 8+
That’s all I have for you for today. Now you know – Wine Wednesday is always better with #winechat – join the conversation! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #98: Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 2
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, with the focus now on Blends. All the questions below are focused on the grapes which work well in the blends – and occasionally on those which do not. White, Red, Rosé, Sparkling and not, dry, sweet and may be even fortified – all goes.
Let’s proceed!
Q1: This grape was created as a cross between Cinsaut and Pinot Noir. Can you name the grape?
Q2: Take a look at this list of the grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, ?, Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris. Two questions:
a. Name the missing grape
b. What wine is made most often by blending some of these grapes?
Q3: Which grape is missing?
– Tempranillo, Garnacha, ?, Graciano
Q4: This dry red wine from California is related to famous Caymus, and made out of the unknown, secret blend of grapes. Can you name this wine?
Q5: Carménère to Merlot is the same as Douce Noir to ?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, 25 Top Selling Restaurant Wines?, Winery of the Future, #MWWC9 Theme, #winechat and more
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #97, Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 1.
While this quiz is still a part of the Grape Trivia, it is slightly a new twist on the grapes – the questions are centered on the concept of blends, to stir things up a bit. Despite the fact that we are almost at a hundred of posts in the quiz series, it was still a learning experience for me – not from the point of view of the content, which is always a part of the learning exercise – but from point of view of being able to state the questions correctly to make sure there can be only one correct answer to that question. Read on, and you will see what I mean.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Which grape is missing?
– Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, ?, Petit Verdot
A1: This was a very easy one – yes, this is a classic Bordeaux blend, so the missing grape is Malbec.
Q2: Wines of this region, made out of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, considered some of the best white wines in the world. Can you name that region?
A2: This is the questions which was supposed to be phrased better. I believe my expected correct answer will work here, but mostly as a technicality and not because it is squarely one and only answer. So the correct answer here is Pessac-Léognan, a region in Bordeaux, which produces both white and red wines, but their dry white wines, made out of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, are long living and spectacular ( and equally expensive). Number of people put Sauternes as an answer for this question. Technically, the wines in Sauternes are made out of Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes – thus technically, Sauternes is not the right answer. However, most famous Sauternes, Chateau d’Yquem, is made only from Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, thus it is hard to say that Sauternes is a wrong answer. Have I asked about “some of the best DRY white wines”, Sauternes would have to be excluded.
Q3: This wine might be the biggest officially sanctioned blend of the grapes in the world. Do you know what wine is that?
A3: Again, precision was a bit off on this question. Yes, the correct answer is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a region in the Southern Rhone in France, which allows up to 18 different grapes, both red and white, to be blended together, and there is a number of producers who do exactly that. Again, the word “dry” would help, as one of the answers was Port, where technically 82 varietals are allowed to be used in the appellation – however, the best Port is typically made only out of 6 grapes as the most, so Port is not the right answer here. Another suggested answer was Valle d’Aosta, a region in Italy which allows 19 different grapes to be used in production of the wines – however, the question was about grapes blended together, not just allowed to be used in the appellation.
Q4: This simple wine is classified as a field blend. This is probably best known European white field blend wine. Now:
a. Can you explain what field blend is?
A4a: Come to any (almost any) vineyard, and you will be able to see the rows of vines, all clearly identified – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, etc. All the grapes harvested separately, pressed and fermented separately, and then blended together into the final wine as winemaker deems necessary. And then there are exceptions to this separate processing of the grapes. Such an exception is a field blend. Different grapes are growing together, sometimes without clear separation between different vines and grapes. All those different grapes are harvested together, pressed and vinified together, so don’t ask for specific percentages on the label, or even for the names of the individual grapes. Such field blends can be found in Portugal (many of the simpler Port wines made as field blends), Austria, Alsace and probably other places.
b. Can you name this wine?
A4b: My intended answer was Gemischter Satz – a white wine, a field blend produced from the vineyards in the Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC, which is located within the city limits of Vienna, Austria with the total vineyard area exceeding 1,700 acres. This is a dry, simple white wine, which should be made from at least 3 different white grape varieties, harvested and pressed together. It seems that Gemischter Satz wines are getting more popular as of recent, so here is the link where you can read more about them. Some of you said that the answer is White Port, which can be also made as a field blend, so again, I should’ve being more careful with the wording of the question – but right now, White Port also is an acceptable answer.
Q5: This wine, one of the most famous in the world, is often made from 70% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot. Do you know what wine is that?
A5: Chateau Cheval Blanc, one of the most famous Bordeaux wines in the world, uses Cabernet Franc and Merlot to make their wines. The ratio is not always 70/30, but conceptually it is enough to help you to come up with the right answer.
When it comes to the results, I’m glad to report that there was a very good participation – the subject of blends definitely was less intimidating than those rare single grapes we got into. We have two winners today – the drunken cyclist and Connoisaurus both answered all 5 questions correctly, so they get the prize of unlimited bragging rights. Well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
Wine & Spirits magazine compiled the list of 25 top selling wines in US restaurants. According to that list, the #1 top selling restaurant wine in US is Cakebread Cellars with an average price of $86.48, followed by Jordan ($101.57) and then Duckhorn ($90.29) – here is the link for you to find more information. I would be really curious to know how many of you would consider ordering any of these wines in the restaurant especially at these prices (I wouldn’t). It will be also interesting to understand how the list was compiled, as the claim is that the information comes form the wine directors of the restaurants, and how many restaurants employ wine directors? Anyway, it is always interesting to take a look at the numbers.
We all know that winemaking is an art. But there is nothing wrong in bringing the technology to help the artists to make better art. Wines and Vines published a very interesting article, talking about the tools which are either already available or might be available to the grape growers and winemakers to help them make better wines.
Are you afraid of any wines? Do you get butterflies in your stomach as you open the door of your wine cabinet? Do you think any of the wines in your cellar hold some scary secrets? Is your hand trembling when you pull the cork out of the bottle, as you don’t know what might be hiding behind that cork? Well, it might be the time to face your fears – Jeff, a.k.a. The Drunken Cyclist, announced the theme of the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #9, and as you probably guessed it, the theme is … Fear. Please take a look at this post for all the important dates and rules.
It is so interesting how far the wineries and wine consortia would go to protect their names. In majority of the cases, it is the big guy going after the small guy, like Duckhorn Vineyards from California suing Duck Walk winery on Long Island, or the French INAO going after Fairview winery in South Africa to protect Côte-Rôtie against Goat Rotie. Latest case – now all local in France – is Mouton versus Mouton. Château Mouton Rothschild, first growth from Bordeaux, is suing winemaker Laurent Mouton from Burgundy, who had being making wines under Domaine Mouton label for 4 generations, to stop Domaine Mouton from using their own name on the label. Why now? I have no idea, but – for more details, here is the link for you.
Last but not least for today – there is an interesting #winechat talking place tonight, in the Twittersphere next to you, at 9 PM Eastern time/6 PM Pacific, and your participation is greatly encouraged. If you are not familiar with the concept of #winechat, here is the blog post which will explain it. Today’s #winechat is the first out of three talking about the wines of Yamhill-Carlton AVA in Oregon, and the wine which will be discussed today is Lenné Estate Pinot Noir. Yes, I know, short notice – but, if you have time, join the #winechat and learn more!
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #97: Grape Trivia – Blends, Part 1
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, but changing gear slightly. Until now, we talked only about specific grapes – each weekly quiz was dedicated to one and only one grape, whether it was red or white. Of course some of the questions included mentions of the blends, but still, the single varietal was a star. For the next few quizzes, I want to change that. Most of the wines we drink are blends. So why don’t we talk about blends for a while? Let’s mix things up.
At this point, as I’m not entirely sure yet of the exact direction. Below you will find 5 random questions regarding blending of the grapes – in the particular wines, and in particular regions. We are not going to focus on a single region, and will be blending both red and white grapes. Some questions might also be just opposites of the blends. We shall see. And yes, please comment and let me know what you think.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: Which grape is missing?
– Cabernet Sauvignon
– Merlot
– Cabernet Franc
– ?
– Petit Verdot
Q2: Wines of this region, made out of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, considered some of the best white wines in the world. Can you name that region?
Q3: This wine might be the biggest officially sanctioned blend of the grapes in the world. Do you know what wine is that?
Q4: This simple wine is classified as a field blend. This is probably best known European white field blend wine. Now:
a. Can you explain what field blend is?
b. Can you name this wine?
Q5: This wine, one of the most famous in the world, is often made from 70% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot. Do you know what wine is that?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, April Fools Roundup, Win a Trip To Sonoma
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #96, Grape Trivia – Alicante Bouschet. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about the red grape called Alicante Bouschet, also known in Spain as Garnacha Tintorera.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: True or False: according to the 2010 data, Alicante Bouschet is one of the 15 most planted red grapes in the world?
A1: True. In 2010, it was the red grape #15 with 38985 acres planted worldwide
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Alicante Bouschet-based wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
A2: There is a number of Alicante Bouschet wines with the WS ratings of 90 and above, so the answer is False.
Q3: Alicante Bouschet makes a very popular addition (albeit in miniscule quantities, about 5% or less) to some of the very well known and popular California varietal wines. Can you name two of those popular California grape varieties?
A3: Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Because the quantities are really miniscule, you would very rarely read about addition of Alicante Bouschet on the back label – but many producers do add the grape.
Q4: Below is the list of countries growing Alicante Bouschet/ Garnacha Tintorera. Based on 2010 data, sort that list from the biggest area plantings to the smallest:
a. Chile, b. France, c. Italy, d. Portugal, e. Spain
A4: The right order is Spain (19551), France (4957), Chile (4228), Portugal (3322), Italy (645), so it is e,b,a,d,c
Q5: Which one doesn’t belong and why?
a. Carlisle, b. Francis Ford Coppola, c. Ridge, d. Turley
A5: All wineries in this list produced at least once single varietal Alicante Bouschet wines – with the exception of Turley, which only uses Alicante Bouschet for blending.
The only person who attempted to solve the quiz was Suzanne of apuginthekitchen – she definitely deserves an honorable mention for the effort! The next week we will change gears – for a little bit, we will be talking about the blends instead of single varietals. After all, most of the wines produced in the world today are blends – so blending the grapes together hopefully will produce more courageous responses on your part.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First of all – happy past April Fools day! Yesterday was April 1st, and the number of bloggers took advantage of that fun day, and wrote interesting, witty and funny blog posts. Here is a small collection for your enjoyment:
Joe Roberts, a.k.a. 1WineDude, wrote a hilarious piece about Robert Parker and Wine Advocate apologizing for their raunchy behavior as of recent – yeah, you can only dream of that stuff on the April 1st… Here is the link for you to read. Dave McIntyre, the wine columnist for the Washington Post, wrote an excellent post about the end of wine blahgging – you can read it here. Harpers, a wine and spirits trade publication out of UK, shared an excellent article about bee-o-dynamics and use of the bees to improve aging of the wines – very cool idea, hopefully someone will look at it for real!
Few years back, I was happily reading all the April Fools day posts, and was absolutely convinced I can never write anything of that nature. Then I took a stub last year, and I liked it (ohhh, it actually makes me uneasy to say that I like my own writing). And I felt that I had to do it again this year, so this was the news update I posted yesterday. There is a mix of things in my post – yes, Coravin technology allows you to taste the wine without opening it, but while someone might be dreaming of the computerized wine analysis technology, that actually doesn’t exist. Yes, while Burger King indeed offered to supply the food for the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian wedding, the Korbel so far was not involved (hmm, may be they will like my idea, though?).
This finishes my April Fools day post roundup – if you came across something hilarious, please share in the comments section.
So, how about all paid Sonoma Wine Vacation for you and three of your friends? Yes, you can have it – if you win Underground Cellar Sonoma Winecation Getaway. Underground Cellar is the new concept wine selling site, where you can participate in the bidding for the rare wines directly from the wineries, and once you win the bid, you even have an option of upgrading your wine! I didn’t have a chance to try it yet, but it sounds very cool. In the effort to promote their new concept, Underground Cellar is sponsoring the Sonoma Winecation getaway – please use this link to enter the contest – who knows, you might soon be heading to the Sonoma county for the fun time!
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
A Trip to Spain – at Barcelona Restaurant in Greenwich, CT
About a month ago I got a note, which I shared with all my readers – Barcelona Restaurant in Greenwich is offering a special wine education program, called Passport Through Spain – 4 evenings of exploring the wines of the different regions in Spain, of course accompanied by the food. I didn’t have a chance to attend the classes until the very last one – but boy, am I happy I was able to attend at least one class!
The last class was focused on the region called Valencia. Valencia is more known for its paella and oranges than for its wines – but this is probably what made it more fun for me. The previous three classes were focused on Rioja, Galicia and Priorat, and I’m somewhat familiar with the wines of those three regions – but Valencia is quite unknown to me, and thus intriguing.
Region of Valencia is located on the east coast of Spain, along the Mediterranean sea line. There is a number of winemaking areas in Valencia, with Jumilla probably being the most known. There is a mix of climate zones in the region, some been more Mediterranean, and some more continental, but the very hot temperatures are quite common throughout the summer. However, in the areas with the continental climate the temperatures can drop very low in the evening, so the grapes can achieve great flavor concentration and depth. Similar to all other regions in Spain, the quality of wines in Valencia is steadily increasing, with the regions such as Valencia, Utiel-Requena and Alicante taking their place on the wine map. There is a mix of indigenous and international varieties growing in the region, with probably Malvasia and Moscatel being stars among the whites, and Monstrell, Bobal, Garnacha Tintorera and Garnacha Tinto among the reds.
The Valencia wine class was conducted by Jose Valverde, the Sommelier at Barcelona Greenwich, who is the wealth of knowledge and just a pleasure to listen to. We started with the wine called 2010 Bodegas Rafael Cambra Soplo Valencia DO (14% ABV, 100% Alicante Bouschet/Garnacha Tintorera, 3 month aging in oak) – it was this wine, made out of the Alicante Bouschet, known in Spain as Garnacha Tintorera, which prompted my last wine quiz – so here you can read some interesting facts about that grape.
Here are my notes about the wine:
Color: Dark ruby, concentrated
Nose: Earthy, warm, inviting, with touch of espresso, cherries and pencil shavings, very intense
Palate: Perfect acidity, cassis, almost a Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc profile, espresso, touch of bell peppers, very restrained.
Verdict: Beautiful wine, you just can’t put your glass down. Drinkability: 8+
Barcelona is actually a restaurant group, and they have a number of restaurants in Connecticut and even outside, all focused, of course, on Spanish food and wine. It was very interesting for me to learn that Barcelona takes the idea of cultural heritage very seriously – yes, I’m talking here firstly about food, cooking and overall Spanish cuisine traditions. Every year the group of chefs and other people who make your restaurant experience special, travel to Spain to immerse into, to embrace the cuisine, the food, the wines, to learn the ways Spanish restaurants operate. Best of the best is brought back home and then shared with us, lucky customers, in the form of special food and special experiences. The very first dish which was served to us, lucky customers, was the Toast with Bacalao Spread. Executive Chef Michael Lucente tasted that dish at one of the restaurants in Spain while being on educational trip. He loved the dish, and he asked for the recipe. Guess what – he didn’t get it, as the chef outright refused to share it. Chef Michael spent a year (!) perfecting that recipe, but as a foodie I think it was totally worth it. Incredible balance of flavors, and texturally interesting – this was one delicious tapas.
We continued our journey through Valencia with 2010 Bodegas Sierra Norte Pasión de Bobal Utiel-Requena DO (13.5% ABV, 100% Bobal). Bobal is a unique Spanish grape, which doesn’t grow anywhere else – however. there is plenty of it growing in Spain, with more than 80,000 acres, which makes it one of the most planted red grapes in the world. The climate in Utiel-Requena is one of the harshest in Spain, with very hot summers and cold winters with frost and hail, but still, the grapes persevere!
Here are the notes for this wine:
Color: Ruby
Nose: Freshly crushed grapes, but restrained. Brighter nose than the previous wine, with some black cherries, herbs and tobacco.
Palate: Noticeable tannins, but overall light, open and clean, should be very food friendly. I crave the complexity of the first wine!
Verdict: Nice, simple and very food friendly – will complement wide range of foods! Drinkability: 7+
The dish which was served with dish was Roasted Hen with pimento, fried chick peas and cilantro. The dish itself was very tasty, with all the flavors perfectly melding together – and it also worked perfectly with the wine! All those mild flavors of the wine very complementing bold flavors of Mediterranean cuisine, so this was definitely an excellent match.
Our last wine of the evening was 2009 Pedro Luis Martínez Arriba Término de Hilanda Monastrell, Jumilla DO (14.5%ABV, 100% Monastrell, 14 month aging in new American and French oak) – Monastrell, which is a lot more international grape than the previous one (it is known as Mourvedre in France and Mataro in Australia), is definitely the best known grape in this tasting group. One problem I often have with Monastrell wines is that they are made overly jammy, with lots of in-your-face overcooked fruit. Luckily, not this wine!
Here are the notes:
Color: Dark ruby, concentrated, almost black
Nose: Closed
Palate: Powerful, coffee, dark chocolate, espresso, black plums, firm structure with spicy undertones, tar. Thought provoking, with excellent balance.
Verdict: Excellent wine, one of the best Monastrell wines I ever tasted. Drinkability: 8-
Care to guess what our last dish was? Yes, Paella! You can’t have a class on Valencia wine and not experience the classic of the cuisine. It was not even one paella, but two – both seafood and meat (rabbit and sausages) paella were served, and they both were absolutely delicious! No, I’m not going to describe them to you – just get to the restaurant and taste it for yourself.
That was definitely an evening of fun learning, great food, great wine and great conversations. There are only a few things are left for me to do here. First of all, I want to thank Barcelona Greenwich Sommelier Jose Valverde, Executive Chef Michael Lucente and PR Director Ria Rueda for the excellent program and great experience of Spanish wines and Spanish cuisine. Also, I want to bring to your attention the fact that Barcelona Restaurant group does a lot of work to educate the customers on both food and wines of Spain, so you will do yourself a lot of good if you will check their calendar and sign up for updates – there are great events happening literally every week! You can find Barcelona Restaurant and Wine Bar calendar right here – it covers all of the Barcelona locations and even more general events where Barcelona restaurants participate, so don’t think you should live in a close proximity of Greenwich to take an advantage of these special events.
Sommelier Jose Valverde and Executive Chef Michael Lucente
And we are done here. If you are looking for the great Spanish food and wine experience – there might be a Barcelona restaurant near you! Cheers!
Barcelona Greenwich
18 West Putnam Ave.
Greenwich, CT 06830
Tel: 203.983.6400
203.983.6400
Weekly Wine Quiz #96: Grape Trivia – Alicante Bouschet
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, still focusing on the red grapes, and today’s subject is Alicante Bouschet, or Alicante Henri Bouschet, if we want to use the full and official name.
How many of you ever heard of Alicante Bouschet, let alone tasted the wines made from that grape? How about Garnacha Tintorera? Still nada? Yes, I know – at this point, I’m reaching into the obscure grapes territory, the dark side of the wine world. But this grape, Alicante Bouschet, is so unique and different, in its past and present, that I can’t pass an opportunity to learn about it together with you.
Alicante Bouschet grape was created in 1866 by Henri Bouschet as a cross between Petit Bouschet and Grenache. To make things a bit more interesting, it is worth noting that Petit Bouschet was created by Louis Bouschet, the father of Henri Bouschet, this time as a cross between two ancient varietals, Teinturier du Cher and Aramon. Talking about unique – Alicante Bouschet is one of the very few red grapes in the world which are classified as teinturier – the grape which makes the juice of red color. Take any of the well known red grapes – Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, most anything – and break it apart. The juice which will be coming out will be clear. It is the skin which gives the color to majority of the red wines. When it comes to Alicante Bouschet (and other teinturier grapes, which are very few), the juice will be coming out as red.
After being created in 1866, Alicante Bouschet somewhat rapidly spread out all over the world. It was used in France to replant vineyards after the phylloxera devastation. It made it to Portugal and Spain, where it is known under the name of Garnacha Tintorera, and continued its successful journey further into Italy, Australia, Chile, United States and the number of other countries.
Alicante Bouschet is known to produce not even large, but rather huge crop. It is also an early ripening grape, which creates somewhat of a problem, as it doesn’t accumulate enough flavor depth and enough sugar to make it into the single-varietal wine. As the result, it is often used as part of the blend just with the purpose of adding the color (and the color it got!). Another important characteristic of the grape is a very thick skin, which helps it to withstand the long distance transportation. This quality of Alicante Bouschet made it extremely popular grape during prohibition times in the US, as it could sustain the long railroad voyage from west coast to the east. In addition to handling the long distance transportation quite well, Alicante Bouschet think skin and juicy flesh was allowing for it to be pressed three times (most of the common grapes will allow for one, or an absolute maximum of two pressings), thus one could get more decently colored wine from much lesser amount of grapes.
Today, the plantings of Alicante Bouschet decreased in the countries like France and United States, where it is used mostly for blending. However, the grape is increasingly popular in Portugal, where it makes wonderful concentrated wines in the Alentejo region. Southern Spain also has very substantial plantings of Garnacha Tintorera, and with controlled yield produces outstanding single-varietal wines.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: True or False: according to the 2010 data, Alicante Bouschet is one of the 15 most planted red grapes in the world?
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Alicante Bouschet-based wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
Q3: Alicante Bouschet makes a very popular addition (albeit in miniscule quantities, about 5% or less) to some of the very well known and popular California varietal wines. Can you name two of those popular California grape varieties?
Q4: Below is the list of countries growing Alicante Bouschet/ Garnacha Tintorera. Based on 2010 data, sort that list from the biggest area plantings to the smallest:
a. Chile
b. France
c. Italy
d. Portugal
e. Spain
Q5: Which one doesn’t belong and why?
a. Carlisle
b. Francis Ford Coppola
c. Ridge
d. Turley
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Beyond Tokaji – Exploring Wines of Hungary
Stop a random wine lover on the street (hmmm, question of the day – how can you identify a random wine lover on the street?), and ask what Hungarian wines he or she knows and what Hungarian wines he/she tried. I would bet that at least three times out of five, you will get the blank stare, and then probably two people out of five will recall that they at least heard about Tokaji, the famous Hungarian dessert wine. On a very lucky day, one out five (I might be overly optimistic here) would also mention red wine called Egri Bikavér (Bull’s Blood). By the way, want even more blank stares? Ask what grape Tokaji is made from…
This is rather unfortunate, as winemaking traditions in Hungary would easily rival those of France. The wine was produced in Hungary since the Roman times, and according to the Wikipedia, Hungarian language is one of only three European languages where words for wine were not derived from Latin (the other two are Greek and Turkish). As most of the countries in Europe, history of Hungary was filled with ups and downs, being conquered and being conqueror, but the wine was thriving through the years, until the phylloxera of the 1870s and communist rule after the World War II delivered their devastating blows. For the last 25 years, there was a lot of hard work done in Hungary to restore the old glory – and the results are starting to show.
In today’s wine world, it is hard to be an underdog (change it from “hard” to simply “painful”, if your winemaking traditions are thousand years old) – the battle for the space on the wine shelves of liquor stores and supermarkets is simply fierce. Luckily, Hungary has at least one advantage when it comes to this wine fight – dessert wine called Tokaji. Tokaji is produced out of the white grape called Furmint, in the style similar to the German Riesling and Sauternes, also making the most concentrated wines out of the grapes affected by the Noble Rot (so called botrytized grapes). But general knowledge and availability of the Hungarian wines often starts and ends with Tokaji – and it should not, as Hungary offers a lot more wine deliciousness beyond Tokaji.
How can you discover new wines? There are only two ways that I know of. You read about them and you taste them. When it comes to the wines of Hungary, there is one company which dedicated itself to bringing those unique wines to the US market – Blue Danube Wine Company. The company was founded in 2002 with the mission of bringing the best wines from Central Europe (that includes wines from Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro) to the US market. I heard about the Blue Danube Wine Company a while back, but never had the opportunity to taste the wines they are representing. Last week, the opportunity presented itself in the form of the virtual tasting on Twitter called #winechat. #winechat is the regular weekly event on Twitter, created by Protocol Wine Studio, which focuses on educating and connecting oenophiles and everybody who are “into the wine”, whether as trade professionals or just the amateurs. Actually, last week’s event was double-first for me – my first #winechat, and my first encounter with the Blue Danube Wine Company.
The way #winechat works is this. The overall #winechat calendar is published on the Protocol Wine Company Facebook page. For each topic, there is a company which hosts the #winechat. In case the wine samples are available, this information is noted on the events page. If you are interested in the theme of the particular #winechat, you contact the host which might or might not have the samples available. On the day of the #winechat, all the participants get together at a given time ( typically 6 PM US Pacific/9 PM US Eastern), and discuss the wines on the Twitter, using the appropriate hashtags – very simple.
For the #winechat last Wednesday, there were three wines available, made from the grapes called Kadarka (red), Furmint and Olaszrizling (a.k.a. Welchriesling or Riesling Italico). Before the tasting we got the e-mail from the host, giving the tasting order and all the wine notes for these three wines. At 9 PM Eastern, all the fun started.
Contrary to what you might expect, we started the tasting from the red wine ( the other two were white) – 2011 Eszterbauer “Nagyapám” Kadarka, Szekszárd, Hungary (13.5% ABV, 100% Kadarka). This wine is made out of the indigenous grape variety called Kadarka, which is also used as part of the blend in Egri Bikavér wines. Kadarka is known to have big berries and thin skin, and makes a pretty difficult variety to work with. Szekszárd region is located south of Budapest (the capital of Hungary), longitude-wise between Bordeaux and Loire, and the vines had being growing in that regions for more than a thousand years. The Eszterbauer family started making wines in the region in 1746, after immigration from Bavaria. The family owns about 20 acres of vineyards, but farms total of 54. There is a number of Kadarka clones which Eszterbauer family uses to produce their wines. The grapes for this particular wine came from the oldest vineyard, hence the name of the wine “Nagyapám”, which means Grandfather in Hungarian.
It was recommended to treat this wine like Beaujolais, i.e, drink it slightly chilled. Ask the wine geek to chill the wine, and he (or she) will start playing with thermometer (isn’t it true?) – this is what I did. Here are the tasting notes as I played with the wine.
Color: Ruby/garnet color, more of light Pinot Noir style, somewhat dim.
Nose: Freshly crashed berries, very similar to Beaujolais with a bit more restraint.
Palate: at 13°C/55.4°F, clean acidity, but the wine is too cold, comes through quite astringent. Cranberries and tart cherries, medium to long finish. At 15.6°C/60°F the wine is showing softer in the glass, not as astringent. At 17°C/62.6°F – the best showing so far (at this point the wine is opened for about 50 minutes) – soft, supple, together, with hint of spice in the back.
Verdict: This wine should be consumed at the room temperature (20°C/68°F) or very slightly cooler. Overall, nice and simple, should be good with food. Drinkability: 7+
Our next wine was 2011 Bodrog Borműhely Lapis Furmint, Tokaj, Hungary (13% ABV, 100% Furmint). This wine comes from the region of the best known Hungarian wines in the world – Tokaj, and it is made from the same white grape, Furmint. However, while Tokaji is made from the botrytized grapes, this wine is part of the line called Borműhely, which stands for the “wine workshop”, made with the goal of avoiding any of the botrytized grapes in order to showcase Furmint as a foundation for the dry white wines. This particular wine comes from the Lapis Vineyard which is located near the town of Bodrogkeresztúr, and is considered one of the very best vineyards in the Tokaj region. The mixture of soils at the Lapis Vineyard includes some of the volcanic soil, which imparts an additional minerality on the wines. After harvested by hand, this wine was fermented and aged on the lees for the 9 month in the Hungarian oak barrels.
Here are the notes (started tasting at the temperature of 14.4°C/58°F):
Color: Almost clear in the glass, straw pale
Nose: Beautiful – hint of sweetness, caramelized peach, mint, nutty complexity, very unusual. As wine warmed up, nose became phenomenal, almost impossible to describe.
Palate: Great acidity, white peach, toasted pecans, beautiful. Nice legs, medium to full body.
Verdict: Outstanding wine, tastes different at the different temperatures, really should be experienced. Drinkability: 8
Last wine of the #winechat was 2011 Fekete Béla Olaszrizling, Somló, Hungary (14.5% ABV, 100% Olaszrizling). You know, I have a problem here. I know very little about Hungarian wines, and all the facts I gave you about the two previous wines were taken from the excellent notes created by the Blue Danube Wine Company (all available on their web site if you care to read them). My problem here? The note for this wine are so interesting that I would love to include them verbatim! But okay, let me try to compress it into the format of the blog post. Somló is the smallest appellation in Hungary, located on what was the underwater volcano in the very old days. You can imagine the richness and diversity of the soils which can be found in the Somló appellation. The winemaking traditions in Somló go back to the 10th century, and the vineyards in the region were always the object of desire for kings and farmers alike. Here is the excerpt from the tasting notes just to give you an illustration of preponderance of the region of Somló: “In 1752, local laws stated that if you were found adding water to wine, expect 25 lashings as the minimum punishment. If you were found to be labeling wine as Somló but using other fruit sources, you would be banned from making wine permanently and might even have your property confiscated. Perhaps most well known is that belief that drinking the wines of Somló before copulation would guarantee a boy. “Nászéjszakák bora” or “wedding wine” was soon the favored wine of the Hapsburgs to keep the Monarchy in full swing.”.
This particular wine comes from the winery of Fekete Béla, who had being tending to about 10 acres of vines for more than 30 years. The grapes for this wine were harvested by hand, then fermented with the natural yeast in the 1200 liter Hungarian oak casks, and then aged for two years, never punched down and never completely sealed from the oxygen. You have to taste the resulting wine to believe it.
Here are the notes (starting temperature 12.8°C/55°F):
Color: Straw, pale yellow.
Nose: Wild flowers, tamed, distant, very inviting.
Palate: great complexity, very unusual, swings from toasted oats to touch of lemon, granny smith apples, butter, very noticeable legs, crisp and long finish. Noticeable minerality and substantial mid-palate weight.
Verdict: Truly unique wine. I really want to try it in 10 years, as it should evolve incredibly. Yes, you have to taste it to believe it. Drinkability: 8
All in all, this was a great tasting and great opportunity to learn something new and expand your palate. Thank you Blue Danube Wine Company and Protocol Wine Studio for all the fun and education! Until the next time – cheers!
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