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Daily Glass Meets Treble Journey: Norton, The Real American Grape, or #245
As I mentioned in my previous post, grape called Norton was on my “to try” list for the long time ( ever since I started with The Wine Century club). 
Finally, during my visit to Chrysalis Vineyards, I got an opportunity to try it in the different versions (Estate 2005, Estate 2006, Locksley Reserve 2005 and Sarah’s Patio Red, a semi-sweet wine). As I also shared the bottle with friends, I decided that it would be appropriate to share this post between daily glass and treble journey.
Talking about whole line of Norton wines I happened to try during the tasting, they were all good wines, or to use the previously given definitions, they were all “pleasant” wines. Not to say that I’m very judgmental, but this would not be my average experience of visiting the wineries. So I’m happy to repeat that I was pleasantly surprised. Now, looking at all those Norton wines, I have to say that while Norton Locksley Reserve 2005 is designated “best” by the winery (if price, $35, is any indicator), and excluding Sarah’s Patio Red, as semi-sweet wine to me is a “special occasion” wine, my favorite was Norton Estate 2005 ($19).
This Norton Estate 2005 wine was very round and supple, with good amount of red fruit, like blackberries, and hint of spicy cedar notes. Soft tannins, fruit and acidity are well balanced, and finish is lingering for a very long time.
Drinkability: 8-
My only wish at this point is that the rest of the 55 grapes I still need to get through in my Treble journey would be as good as the grape #245 – Norton, The Real American Grape.
Chrysalis Vineyards in Virginia – Definitely Worth a Trip
While traversing the wine blogosphere, I came across a post about the book called “The Wild Vine” by Todd Kliman. This sparked my interest because of two reasons – for one, it was talking about the grape called Norton, which was for a long time on my “to try” (of course partially due to the Wine Century Club and my Treble Journey). Another reason was that the book was talking about Virginia on the very first page, and Virginia was already set as my vacation destination for the coming week. To my full delight, Chrysalis Vineyards, located on Champe Ford Road in Middleburg, was the place where The Wild Vine book started, and it happened to be just around the corner of our intended destination in Virginia, which made visiting it very easy.
When visiting wineries in some “well developed” areas, like Napa Valley in California, you usually drive along a big road, simply making turns into short driveways. 
Coming to Chrysalis Vineyards was pleasantly different – a mile and a half on the narrow unpaved road, surrounded by luscious greens. Somehow you get this real rustic feeling, which sets you in the right mood for tasting the wines ( and probably affects the way wines taste, but I guess this will be a subject for another post :)).
There was a great lineup of wines at the winery. There were simply no wines that I didn’t like (has something to do with the road and right mood, huh?), and all the wines were of a very good quality. The selection of grapes that are used at the winery also was very unusual – being accustomed to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah from the West coast, and then Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir from the Northeast seeing Viognier, Petit Manseng, Albarino, Petit Verdot and Tannat (and of course Norton), was exciting.
The tasting included 12 wines, out of which 2009 Viognier (exceptionally perfumed and vibrant), 2005 Norton Estate Bottled (80% Norton with the addition of Petit Verdot and other grapes, very balanced with silky tannins and long finish), 2005 Petit Verdot (80% Petit Verdot and 20% Tannat, very soft and round) and 2005 Norton Locksley Reserve (again, very balanced and soft) were really shining, I would rate them all at 7+ and 8 (Viognier definitely deserves an 8).
All in all, if you have a chance to visit Chrysalis Vineyards – don’t miss it, go discover the Real American Grape for yourself – and let me know your opinion!
Daily Glass: Arnoux & Fils Gigondas Vieilles Vignes 2007
Gigondas is a small appellation in Southern Rhone in France, which produces the wines somewhat similar in style to the famed Chateaneuf du Pape. 
Absolute majority of the wines are red, and main grape is Granache (up to 80% in the final wine based on AOC laws), with Syrah and other grapes adding up. Grenache is a very versatile red grape, used in a wide range of wines all over the world.
Considering that Robert Parker gave 2007 vintage in Southern Rhone a 98 rating ( of course this rating is generalized for the whole region and nobody expect all the wines to achieve the same rating), I had good expectations for this wine as well ( as I had already a number of great generic Cote du Rhones from 2007 vintage). Unfortunately, that didn’t play out. The problem with this wine was related to alcohol. Yes, yes, the wine is alcoholic beverage, duh, of course. But it is the balance which I’m looking for in wine. While at 14.5% ABV it doesn’t stand out in today’s wine world as super-loaded, somehow the alcohol in this wine was not integrated at all. Burning sensation of alcohol was overpowering all other smells on the nose, and burning sensation of alcohol was absolutely prevalent on the palate, even on the second day. While it was possible to catch a glimpse of leather and pepper, which is a characteristic of Southern Rhone wines, this wine didn’t achieve great deal of balance. So the rating is:
Drinkability: 7-
Well, I guess I have to keep trying…
Treble Journey: New and Unusual Grapes, #242 – #244
And once again this will be rather a progress report on the road to the Treble status at Wine Century Club. Three new grapes, three unusual names (well, yeah, it would be surprising to see grape #242 being called Merlot).
#242, Seyval Noir
Domaine Du Ridge Champs de Florence 2008, Quebec, Canada
As I routinely check the grapes for the wines I drink, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this Rose wine was made out of the grape called Seyval Noir. I know Seyval Blanc, which is a popular grape choice for the white wines in the eastern part of US, but Seyval Noir is a new one. The wine, Champs de Florence from Domaine du Ridge is a nice rose wine, with aromas of fresh strawberries ( quite typical for rose), medium body and good refreshing acidity.
Drinkability: 7-
#243, Heida
Bibacchus Heida 2009, Valais AOC, Switzerland
Every time I’m lucky enough to come across the wine from Switzerland, I regret that it is almost impossible to find them in US – both traditional ( Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chardonnay) and indigenous grapes (Gamaret, Diolinoir, Humagne…) produce very good results there – but the wines are literally unknown outside of Switzerland. This particular white wine is made out of the grape called Heida. I would like to note that every “unknown” grape forces me to do quite a bit of research (and it deserves a separate post) – and based on information available on internet, Heida is a close relative of another grape coming from Jura in France and called Savagnin – however, the information is not strong enough to declare Heida and Savagnin to be identical, so please let me consider Heida a grape on its own for now.
Going back to wine, it has very pleasant nose with aromas of white peaches and hints of white flowers, medium body and nice rounding acidity, all in all making it great wine for summer day. Interesting to note that wine didn’t have enough aromatics to stand up against Asian food, but should work better with mild cheeses ( well, I wish I had another bottle to try it with 🙂 ).
Drinkability: 7
#244, Raboso Piave
Vigna Dogarina Ros de Plana 2004, Veneto IGT, Italy
This wine comes from Vigna Dogarina winery in Veneto region in northern Italy. Veneto is well known for its traditional Valpolicella, Amarone and Bardolino wines, though grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot also produce very good results. Ros de Plana is a very good example of that – this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Raboso Piave is unmistakably Italian wine – dense and earthy on the palate, somewhat of a middle ground between Barolo and Brunello, two of very famous and powerful Italian wines, it opens into a very nice and balanced wine, with spicy oak, walnuts and sour cherries and great midpalate density. This balanced wine will also continue to age very nicely. Just to comment on what seems to be a wine-geek talk, “midpalate density” (essentially the feeling of the liquid weight in your mouth) is a term I recently learned in the article by one of my favorite wine writers, Matt Kramer, regular contributor to the Wine Spectator magazine. Matt Kramer uses midpalate density as a main factor in determining age-worthiness of the wine. One more comment on a comment – to open an article from the link above you might need a subscription to the Wine Spectator online (if you like wine – this is one of the best investments you can make). Anyway, talking about Ros de Plana – here is the rating:
Drinkability: 8-
I just hope that I didn’t overwhelm my readers with the wine speak and geek – and if I did – please feel free to slap me…
Daily Glass: Is There Such Thing As Dangerous Wine, or Carchelo
So, what do you think – is there a such thing as dangerous wines? Let’s leave all the issues of addiction outside of this conversation, as this is not worth debating – addictions are bad, no matter what the subject is, so let’s leave it at that. So let’s start again – when would you call the wine “dangerous”?
First, of course, there are all the forms of the wine faults – wine can be corked ( smells like musty basement, not pleasant to drink at all, because no flavor left), wine can be oxidized (again, no flavor left), wine can be “cooked” ( this is usually the result of of prolonged exposure to the heat, like transporting the wine for a day or two in the trunk of a car during hot summer), and so on. If you actually interested in learning more about wine faults, here is very good Wiki article.
Then the wine can be simply not made well. This is the case when you try the wine and you just want to spit, and then you declare a bottle “not good even for cooking”. Not sure if this is the case of “dangerous” we are looking for, but this is definitely the case of wine we don’t want to drink.
And now, let me explain what I call a “dangerous” wine. To me, dangerous wine is the one you can not put down. You take a sip, you say “wow”, you take another sip, your glass is empty, and then in a while you don’t understand what happened with the bottle? Where this all go? Did I spill half a bottle? Is my dog walks suspiciously – but, hey, she couldn’t reach that bottle, right? So what just happened here??? Yep, the wine was so 
smooth, so round, so it went down so easily that now you completely astonished – but it’s all gone… This is what I call dangerous :).
Recently, I was lucky to come across such a dangerous wine, thanks to my friend Zak from Cost Less Wines and Liquors in Stamford – this is the wine called Carchelo:
Carchelo 2008, Bodegas Carchelo, Jumilla, Spain
This wine comes from the Jumilla region in Spain, and it is a blend of Monastrell, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine has very deep purple color, beautiful nose of dark fruit, plums, sweet cherries and blackberries, silky smooth tannins and good acidity, so all together comes in a “dangerously” balanced package. Final verdict:
Drinkability: 8
Try is today, and tell me if how dangerous it was for you!
Daily Glass: Finding Pleasure, or Haut Charmes Sauternes
I already touched on the subject of the “best wine” in my previous post, which can be defined as “the one you like the most”. Continuing the subject, I would also like to refer to the great teacher, author and wine guru Kevin Zraly, who taught tens of thousands of people (myself included) to understand and appreciate wine in his Windows on the World Wine School. In the words of Kevin Zraly, the best wine is the one which gives you pleas
ure. As simple as that. Why do I bring it up? Because today I want to talk about wine called Sauternes. Sauternes is a white dessert wine which comes from Sauternes region in Bordeaux in France and typically made out of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle grapes in various proportions. And if you ever tasted any of the Sauternes (and if you didn’t – please do it as soon as possible), you would agree, that this is one of the few wines which can be consistently associated with pleasure, which is also proven by the fact that Chateau d’Yquem (one of the very best, Grand producers in Sauternes) wines received a perfect score of 100 points (absolute max) from Wine Spectator literally more often that any other rated wine ( you can check for yourself at Wine Spectator web site).
Enters Haut Charmes 2007, Sauternes, France.
As with any wines from any regions,of course not all of Sauternes are created equal, and there are always ups and downs. Luckily, Haut Charmes 2007 belongs to the “up” side. This wine comes beautifully clean on the nose and palate, with white fruits like peaches, and honey being prominent in the taste, all complemented with very good minerality and acidity. The wine presents itself in a very ethereal fashion, and doesn’t leave sweet residue on the palate, which many of its cousins would do, finishing with desire to reach for the glass again and again and again. I have to also mention that rumor has it that it is declassified d’Yquem – you can find this information in a number of places on Internet, but not at the Chateau d’Yquem official web site, so we have to take it as is. With or without any relationship to the actual d’Yquem, this wine is 10-fold less expensive that the actual d’Yquem – assuming you can find it ( in one of the near future posts, I will write about wine stores I shop at, so you will learn about the right places for that). And talking about rating:
Drinkability: 8+
Make an effort – find it and try it, and then let’s talk about wine and pleasure!
Wine Century Club Treble Journey – Xynomavro, Grape #241
I would be nice if I can open this post with “this is a quick update on the progress”, but such a statement would be strange, as I don’t believe anyone asked for my updates. Therefore, this is a “memory knot” post for myself, just to be able to look back one day and see the path to Treble status in The Wine Century Club. (you can read more about Treble “journey” in my previous post ).
So the grape called Xynomavro happened to become number 241 on my list. The wine Boutari Naoussa 2006 was made from 100% Xynomavro. This grape is described as one of Greek’s best in terms of firm tannins and aging potential. Unfortunately, the Boutari Naoussa 2006 was not the best representation of the grape, with tannins being somewhat off and having isolated taste on a side of the mouth, and the rest of the wine being not very impressive grape juice.
If anyone wonders about the rating, you can imagine it will not be too high…
Drinkability: 6-
In general, I think it would be safe to state that we drink wine because it gives us pleasure (I’m absolutely NOT talking about being “drunk and happy”) – and it should be a pleasure of taste, pleasure of flavor sensation unfolding in your mouth. So when the wine doesn’t taste good, it is really a disappointment (of course nobody is talking about pain). However, when you have an additional purpose, not just a sensual pleasure, it changes the perspective – when trying to reach a next level in The Wine Century Club, even the wine which doesn’t taste great still gives you a pleasure of inching towards your goal. Having realize that, I’m feeling better already!
Let’s go to Treble!
Cheers!
Le Champa Del Mar – Keep the Cava Coming
Let me start from a thought, which is not original at all – it is great to have friends (huh, wow, who would’ve even thought, right? :)). My dear friend Kfir, was taking an amazing care of me in Israel, ensuring the culinary experiences. After the great time at Norma Jean, he brought me into another one of his favorite places – Le Champa Del Mar, cava bar.
The place is more or a less a hole in a wall – you have to know where you are going in order to get there. Once inside, you will find a bar and a few tables – and lots of delicious foods in the perfect bar format – tapas. In the best traditions of the Spanish cuisine, there are lots of great choices, all in the tapas, or “small snacks” format – cheese and olives, octopus, chorizo, Serrano ham and so on and so on, all watered down with variety of Cava – a sparkling wine from Spain. 
Cava is the only wine served at Le Champa Del Mar, hence the name “Cava Bar”. There is about a dozen of varieties, starting from simple Brut and going into Reserve Cavas. The great thing about Cava in general is that while the bubbles a slightly bigger than in the classic champagnes, it typically has more life in the glass compare to the equal level of champagnes ( and a lot cheaper!). We had a Brut Nature Classic and Brut Rose Classic, coming from Vallformosa winery in Spain. While Brut Rose tasted somewhat flat, Brut Nature had a great balance of acidity and yeasty fresh bread flavours, perfectly complementing “full-bodied” tapas (in case anyone is interested in my rating, I would put Drinkability at 7). I guess the only issue was the fact that all those Cavas where way easy to drink, and therefore disappearing very quickly… But we managed to overcome this challenge quite successfully.
And to give you better idea about Le Champa Del Mar, here are few more pictures:
Tapas Selection at Le Champa Del Mar
Cava is popular at Le Champa Del mar
Smoked duck breast – very delicious!
Just to conclude – another great place for food and drink – find it and enjoy!
Daily Glass: Teperberg Malbec 2007 and Rioja Faustino 2008
First, a little confession – blogging daily is more challenging than I thought – and not even because I don’t what to write – no, simply because that there is not enough time in a day. Therefore, this blog post covers the wines I had a few days ago, while in Israel. And going forward, I will do what I can, so Daily Glass might not be all so daily. And secondly, if you are wondering what was the logic of tasting Malbec and Rioja together, the answer is very simple – there was none. Both wines happened to be at the table and here we go – two for one in this Daily Glass post.
Rioja Faustino VII 2008, Spain
I have to admit – Rioja wines are one of my favorites. Typically Rioja wines balance fresh fruit, smooth tannins and acidity, all of it paired with great ageing potential (especially in a good year). Faustino is one of the widely available Rioja wines, however looking at the Wine Spectator ratings throughout the year (I don’t have much experience with this particular brand), overall it should be classified as rather average. This was a first time I tried 2008 Rioja, so I don’t have a frame of reference yet (I do now, of course, after tasting this wine 🙂 ).
Talking about this particular Faustino VII Rioja 2008, it had a good amount of fruit, paired with good acidity. As this is young wine, tannins kicked in a bit later, but at a very powerful level, keeping the mouth plucked for a few minutes. It will be interesting to come back to this wine in a few years to see where it will evolve. Overall, it was lacking the “umph”, while still being quite drinkable. Therefore the rating is…
Drinkability: 7-
Teperberg Terra Malbec 2007, Israel
As of last 4-5 years, Israel is is very confidently taking its place in the wine world. Still not known all that much to the general wine buying public, outside of the kosher wines, of course, it is becoming quite well known among wine lovers, and prices of Israeli wines reflect it quite well.
Nevertheless, seeing Israeli Malbec was somewhat of a surprise. Until now, most of the Israeli reds I tried were made of of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, of course in various proportions. But when it comes to Malbec, the first place which comes to mind is Argentina, despite the fact that Malbec originated in Cahors region in France (known there under a name of “cot”). Argentinean Malbecs are well known as good and very enjoyable wines – and so of course I was really curious to see how Israeli Malbec will fair.
To my surprise (as I have to admit), Teperberg Malbec exceeeded my expectations. Very bright, with great fresh fruit on the palate, raspberries and blackberries and very balanced tannins – in a blind tasting I’m sure I would put it more as California Syrah than Malbec (never mind even a glimpse of an idea that it can be Israeli wine). I was looking for a possible fault, and outside of a bit of an sharp edge in the finish, which should probably be cured with another 2-3 years of aging), there was nothing to complain about. Therefore, this wine deserves a good grade:
Drinkability: 7+
If you are lucky enough to find this Teperberg Malbec, especially in US, do it – and you will not be disappointed.
Daily Glass: 2008 Block 2 Syrah by B2 Cellars
Just to finish the story on 2007 Cameron Hughes Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 140 – I did try that wine over the next two days, with expectation that as the wine will age in the open bottle (of course the bottle was not standing open, the air was removed using one of my favorite accessories, Vacu Vin Pump. Unfortunately, aging process didn’t help the wine to become balanced – alcohol, tannins and fruits all were standing on their own, refusing to meld. Therefore, the 7- is the final word on that wine. And now, let’s talk about totally different wine experience.
2008 Block 2 Syrah by B2 Cellars, Horse Heaven Hills, Washington
Syrah wines from Washington have almost cult status for me. They are usually quire rare in the stores in new Jersey and Connecticut, where I usually buy the wines, they are typically are somewhat on a pricey side, at the same time they usually taste great. I got this one as I was intrigued by the description in the Stew Leonard’s wine store in New Jersey, which said that it was an amazing find and the wine which typically cost $70 is offered at $19.99. So I decided to give a try. And I’m glad to report I was very happy I did! After my expectations were set, I also decided 
to use an appropriate Syrah glass, which you can see in the picture. The wine was great from the get go. It opened up with a beautiful nose of white pepper, leather and tobacco ( all characteristics of the good Syrah wines). On the palate, the wine was as beautiful, with all the same aromas complemented by earthiness, acidity and soft round tannins (needed some time to breathe first), very balanced. This wine is perfectly drinkable now, and will improve of the next 5-10 years ( or may be more – I still keep experimenting with my level of success in prediction of age-worthiness of the wines – but I would love to set this experiment up and report back in 5 and then in 10 years :)). All in all, Block 2 Syrah happened to live up to the store description and my expectations, which doesn’t happen all that often. And now, the verdict:
Drinkability: 8
Get a case for yourself and enjoy!
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