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One of our readers, Emily, asked a good question about 1, and I'm glad she did. I'm going to offer an extended reply, since this subject comes up periodically "Many people accuse you of only liking very young 'over blown,' very tannic styles of wines.
I don't heart gimmicks (and neither does the Chef), which is why we let the Il Cuore 2000 Rosso Classico (about $11) sit in our cellar for the last year without a second thought.
You see, there's a big heart on the label and a quote to go with it: "A heart can only be held by a heart the fairest setting of the loveliest jewel." Yeck.
The bottle was a present from a friend about the time of our wedding and it came with a disclaimer: "It was a cheapie; I got it for the heart." In other words, appreciate it for the sentiment, not the quality. And we intended to.
In fact, I'm not sure we ever planned to open it, but I'm glad we did. The blend of carignane, zinfandel, grenache, sangiovese and charbono from Mendocino County has an Old World sensibility, plum and cherry fruit, and a well-integrated (13.6 percent) alcohol.
Chateau Petrogasm, I LOVE you. I want to pop several corks with you, and find myself in a compromising position in the morning. Yes, I’d even do the walk of shame for you, Chateau Petrogasm. My butt is firmly planted on the bandwagon. I’ll be your largest sycophantic follower. What in the heck is Chateau [...]
One of my accounts handed me this wine review, written up by a former employee. "She wasn't all there..." they noted, and went on to say she'd find reviews online and cut and paste without actually reading them. This little gem was up for quite a while until horrified customers noted that they wouldn't buy the wine because the description was so off-putting. I, however, find it to be brilliant and would love to partake in the Ecstatic Singing Mantra whenever it transpires. So I searched for wine reviews of Jest Red online, and apparently, most of this review appeared on A Little Vino Would Be Keeno. Which is clearly now my favorite site. Ever.
"Blended from seven noble grape varietals, the nose is deeply perfumed with wild dewberries, Himalayan breeding musk, and horehound candy, while the flavors, so titillating they may only be disclosed in the Ecstatic Singing Mantra. Pair with beef, pork, pasta with red sauce, cheese or chocolate, or go wild and have it with pizza, burgers or even burritos!"
I'm not quite sure which is the best part of that - is it the Himalayan breeding musk or the pairings? It's sublime on so many levels.
Environmental and social action groups were making a last-ditch effort to derail the 2008 farm bill conference report as the House of Representatives and the Senate prepared to debate and vote on the measure.
But even as the Environmental Working Group, Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Rural Affairs attacked the conference report?s authors for ?missing an opportunity to reduce farm subsidies,? a coalition of more than 500 farm organizations were calling on House members and senators to support the legislation.
Torbreck’s top shiraz – the Run Rig Shiraz, priced at well over $200 per bottle – is probably Australia ’s most hedonistic wine. It leaps out of the bottle like a rattlesnake, all fanfare and bite. It is, always, dangerously drinkable. It is thick with flavour and accented by sweetness, its spicy, gravelly, smoky complexity ramping its class through the roof. There’s always been a question mark though: this tastes so bloody good the day it is released – what happens if you stick it in the cellar? Is it Australia ’s best early-drinking wine, or will it develop and evolve if given time? A tasting in the Barossa Valley recently of every vintage yet made of Torbreck Run Rig Shiraz (including the just-released 2005) threw a crust of clear answers.
Anyone who?s read Blanc de Noir for long knows we?re both huge fans of Italian wines. There?s just something about the diversity, quality, and sheer fun factor of Italian wines ? whether it?s a casual summer patio sipper or a robust vintage to accompany a big, festive dinner or one of the meditative Amarones that are still way up there on our list of favourites.
So when BC Wine Appreciation Society decided to add a couple of Italian wines to an educational tasting scheduled just prior to the 2008 Playhouse International Wine Festival ? the theme country for this year?s festival was, after all, Italy ? Frank and our illustrious BCWAS leader, Tim Ellison, decided to add a twist to the event. How about putting up a couple of Italian wines with the usual BC vintages? Frank, however, took the concept one step farther.
Here?s the deal. From BC: three sparklers, four Pinot Grigios, two Pinot Noirs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Merlot. From Italy: three Chiantis ? just three and all from Frescobaldi, one of Italy?s most respected winemakers (multi-generations shown above).
Here?s the catch. The Chiantis were bottled in 2004, 1982, and 1975. No, it?s not a typo. The last two came from the collection of Italian wines Frank recently acquired ? one of those fantastic opportunities that come about from being in the right place and the right time and having way more patience than most when it comes to negotiating.
Alas, on the night of the event, Frank was sick with flu, but you can bet eyes went wide as people realized what he?d sent.
The 2004 was, pretty much as expected, dark purple with lots of fruit and tannins that were more ?in your face? than makes for a good sipping wine unless you?re eating. But truth is, few people spent much time with that particular wine since they were all eager to try the two older offerings.
Immediately apparent was the change in colour ? now tawny with a much larger rim than the 2004. Controversy was plentiful and several people found neither one was ?quite my thing? as one member put it in an attempt to be diplomatic. The level of oxidization, especially in the 1975, caused raised eyebrows among half the folks there. It was virtually unanimous that the ?82 needs to be drunk now and the ?75 is clearly a bit past its prime ? although not a soul suggested it should be tossed.
However wide ranging the evening?s opinions were, one thing we all did agree on. These are wines made with love and benefit from patience.
Frank?s Tasting Notes: Castello di Nipozzano Riserva 1982 This wine has aged well, probably because it is a Riserva. After more than a quarter of a century there?s still lots of fruit left ? black cherry and dark fruits with a note of white truffles in the background. The tannins have smoothed right out so they are now a little silky, and the finish is fairly long. This wine shows just how well age can improve a Chianti. Alcohol 12.5%. All the bottles for both these wines are numbered ? I have 10 left, all around 84,960 series out of 293,600 bottles produced in 1982.
Castello di Nipozzano Chianti Rufina 1975 Sadly just a little past its prime but still drinkable as the acidity has helped this one hold up. Wide orange rim, brick red colour. Truffles leave sherry undertones. This vintage has shown a lot of bottle variation ? the fruit showed up a little more in this one than the first one we tried. Alcohol 12.7%. The last bottle I have left is number 74324 of 80,000 bottles produced.
Going against the better advice of my high school English and sex education teachers, this story starts with the climax. For anyone involved in wine, the three months from the end of August until the end of November are both the most exciting and the most frightening of the year. These three months dictate the final say in whether you happily learn that your wines will be served at the White House or whether you become the largest vinegar producer in your neighborhood. These are months of 60- to 80-hour work weeks (and many times more) that on one hand require complete control of the environment around you and on the other hand require you to give in completely to the whims of nature. These are months where all thoughts of family and friends dim in an ever growing purple haze as your sleep deprived mind attempts to reconcile the hundreds or thousands of details that'll make or break the next year of your life. This is Crush.
More specifically this is my accounting of Crush for David Coffaro Vineyards and Winery. This vineyard/winery is owned and operated by (take a big guess here) David Coffaro and I'm his assistant winemaker (i.e. only employee). This is the inside scoop of what we have to do in order to put a prime bottle of vino on your table. David Coffaro Vineyard and Winery consists of 20 acres of grapes that Dave planted in 1979 and a winery building that he's been operating since 1994. We make wines that are big and red; zinfandel, petite sirah, carignane, an "Estate Cuvee" (a blend of the previous grapes plus cabernet sauvignon) and a "Neighbors Cuvee" (our only non-estate wine whose blend changes from year to year). Like a sandblaster to Tammy Faye Baker's face, I hope to strip away the layers of overglamorized marketing rhetoric and highlight the best advice I ever got about becoming a winemaker -- "Don't do it!"
The excitement of crush takes place on two separate but intertwined stages that seem to spin and twist in independent motion. The first of these stages is the vineyard. The 20 acres of vines we grow is minuscule by industry standards (There are certainly vineyards that are smaller but we are definitely of the side of pretty-darn-tiny). The first job we have in the vineyard is to wait for the grapes to turn from a rather pretty translucent pink color into an intense dark purple/black color. This process is called veraison. Once the color changes we're in the picking ballpark and ready to play the game. The second step is doing a large amount of grape sampling from each block of vines. It's amazing how grapes will vary from one small block to another, even if they're only 10-100 feet away. For about a month before the actual harvest, my job is to pick a representative sampling of all the grapes we grow and monitor them for sugar content. In general we're looking for a level of 24 to 25 percent sugar, which we measure as 24 to 25 degrees Brix.
The Brix reading is only the second stage however. Knowing the sugar level lets you know the technical ripeness of the grapes but not their actual flavors. Somewhere in the early to mid-twenties (sugar level), grapes go through an incredible change of flavors that ultimately add to the complexity of flavors in the finished wine. This change can only be determined by tasting the grapes themselves. So during the final week before harvest Dave and I walk through every block and randomly snack on grapes to make sure they have the flavors we want. If the sugars are perfect but the flavors aren't there then we simply wait until they develop before picking. Once they do, Whamo!, it's time to wake up really damn early and pick some grapes!
Harvesting grapes is a demanding and sticky job. The grapes are about 25 percent sugar and as the workers dump their picking tubs into the half-tons bins, grape juice splashes everywhere. It's well worth the effort, however, because I get to drive a really cool tractor. Once the half-ton bins are full they are driven to the winery and weighed. From there they're taken, by forklift, into the winery and the grapes are put through a machine called a crusher/destemmer. Now, agricultural machine manufacturers are not very creative when it comes to naming their equipment. When I say we dump the grapes into a crusher/destemmer you can be well assured that the machine will probably crush (lightly) the grapes and destem then, doing very little if anything else. We then pump the destemmed/crushed grapes (a.k.a. "must") into a one-ton bin (again, no big guess on how much it holds). The must is then inoculated with yeast and the transformation into wine begins. [As a side note I should mention that this is specifically the process for making red wine. White wine is processed in a similar but distinctly different manner. I'll get into the whites later.]
The addition of yeast is technically a winemaking choice and not a requirement. Native yeasts, which accumulated on the grape skins in the vineyard, will naturally transform the grapes into wine. But most winemakers don't trust these native yeast strains for the same reason you don't let your crazy cousin Leroy baby-sit your kids -- you just don't know what might happen and, even though the results might be fine, it's just not worth taking the chance. Yeast contribute four things to the winemaking process: heat, alcohol carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfites. The heat and alcohol produced make it possible to adequately extract the flavors and characteristics from the grape skins (almost all of the character and all of the color of red wine comes from the skins being broken down). Alcohol acts as a solvent that extracts organic compounds in the grape skins and the heat aids in and speeds up the chemical reaction involved in fermentation.
The CO2 has a separate and interesting effect on the fermenting grape skins. As the CO2 is released by the yeast cells it catches in the grape skins and causes them to float to the surface of the fermentation bins. This forms a solid layer of covering the top of the bins like ice on a lake. This layer is called the "cap" and can get so thick in larger tanks that a full-grown person can walk across it without falling through. The cap, however, presents a small problem. Since most of red wine's character comes from the skins, having them separate from the juice during fermentation can be bad. This small problem is solved by either "punching down" or "pumping over" your bins or tanks. Punching down involves taking a stick-like device (a 2x4, garden hoe, etc.) and breaking up the cap while at the same time mixing it with the juice. Pumping over involves hooking up a pump to the bottom of the tank and pumping the juice over the top of the cap. These actions insure that the grape skins have enough opportunity to breakdown into the wine.
We monitor the fermenting bins at Coffaro constantly and record the residual sugar levels and temperatures at least once a day. When our measurements show that there's one percent sugar or less left in the wine we prepare the press. We use what's called a bladder Press (For $200, what item is inside this press?). The bladder press is a long cylinder made up of a perforated screen. We pump the fermented juice and skins into the press and rotate it while inflating the internal bladder. This is such an efficient form of pressing that when we remove the grape skins -- the squeeze-dried skins is now called pomace -- they are dry, warm and flaky. They serve no real further purpose and are dumped back into the vineyard as fertilizer.
The pressed wine is pumped from the press into a selection of barrels that we've pre-chosen dependent on the wine varietal and individual character it exhibits. At Coffaro we use six to 10 different cooperages, with barrels ranging from American, French and Hungarian oak. However, this doesn't mean we make "oaky" wine. Barrels serve two general purposes; the first is storage and aging; the second is imparting flavor. Barrels only contribute oak flavors to wine for the first two-to-three years of their life, then, after that, are considered "neutral." As storage containers they can be used for decades with the proper care. So, although all of our wines are barrel aged, we only use 20-25 percent new oak to contribute delicate oak flavors. (This percentage varies from winery to winery. Some use as much as 100 percent new oak, some don't use any depending on the varietals grown and the style of wine preferred by the winemaker.
Once the wine is in the barrel we inoculate it with a malo-lactic starter. All red wines and most whites go through a process called malo-lactic fermentation (ML). ML is a bacterial process that changes the malic acid that's naturally found in wine (it's the same acid that makes green apples taste tart) and changes it into lactic acid (the same acid found in milk). This process makes reds more chemically stable, and for white wines it adds flavor (i.e. that "buttery" flavor in most chardonnays). Now that this is done both the wine and the winemakers get a chance to take a short break and recuperate before it's time to start the whole process over again.
Next time we'll learn why they call cellar workers "rats."
Check out Brendan's "Harvest Diary -- A week in the life of Crush at David Coffaro Winery" at http://www.coffaro.com.
It's hard to believe that a year has almost gone by and Christmas Time is here. In getting into the holiday rhythm, I went looking for some music only to find most of it unsatisfying (surprise, surprise). There are exceptions, and here I think is one of them.
December 1965, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was aired and became an instant standard. Most people will remember the Charles Schultz cartoon along with the catchy tunes. Upon listening to the recent 2006 re-master of this album by Fantasy records, I was amazed. This is so much better than coming out of a 14 inch mono TV. Arranged & composed by Vince Guaraldi, there is an underlying quality of happiness and cheer to the music. Perhaps it brings back happy memories of my childhood but I think it is intrinsic to the music. Guaraldi to me, has the lyrical qualities of Bill Evans together with the rhythm and swing of a Dave Brubeck - it is a shame he died of a heart attack at an age of 47 between sets at a jazz club. Thought I would share this one with you, the album code is FCD-30066-2 in case some of you are interested.
Merry Christmas, good health, peace on earth and may joy come over the world.
In 2006, while I was teaching Spanish bankers how to chat up a beautiful woman in English (hey, how else do you get students interested in learning a second language?), Ryan was slaving away at the computer, inventing new and creative ways to involve wine lovers from around the world in Spanish and Portuguese wine. After many creative attempts, he stumbled upon a zany idea he called, the 2+1 Iberian Wine Survey. Sent to a handful of bloggers and wine geeks, the survey asked them to answer 2 questions about Iberian wine, and in return, they could ask 1 of us.
However, at the time, we weren’t entirely confident the idea would work. Having only been in the wine blogging scene a year, we didn’t know if our readers would be interested in hearing about a wine blogger’s selection of Spanish wine in Canada, or whether a blogger based in the UK enjoyed the unique and diverse wines coming out of Portugal. It was a crap shoot, but indeed, it worked! Why we didn’t continue the idea? I don’t have a clue, but we are now!
We’re bringing back the 2+1 Iberian Wine Survey, and over the next few weeks, you’ll be hearing not only what other bloggers are experiencing with Iberian wine, but also some of the pressing questions they’ve had about Spanish and Portuguese wine mulling around in their heads. Let’s cross our fingers that we can make up a convincing answer
In addition, we’d like to include everyday folk who are simply interested in wine, like you! So if you’re simply a wine lover, or an uber geek interested in chiming in your ideas on our blog, let us know so that we can get a survey out to you asap. All the collected surveys will be posted on Catavino beginning on June 1st.
And to get you in the mood, I’ve included a series of questions asked of Catavino way back in 2006 when we were all still green to wine blogging!
Andrew Barrow of Spitton “Is sherry destined to go the way of Marsala and be relegated to cooking use only?” We sure don’t think so!
Erin and Michelle of Grape Juice “We?re very curious about Basque wines. Are the wines as unique as the language and culture, and if so, what sets them apart from the typical Spanish wines we?re likely to encounter? Do you yourself enjoy them? Are there any that you would recommend us trying for an introduction? I realize that?s actually about four questions, but we?re very nosy people, so I hope that?s okay.” Txakolis are typically misunderstood and under appreciated.
Tim Elliot of Winecast “I’m reading quite a bit about how good Portuguese red wines are and would like to explore this region for one of my podcasts. What 3 wines, $25 USD or less, would you choose for a tasting that would give me an idea of the quality of these wines?” Here are our suggestions!
How many times have you bought a wine based on a promotional price? Or bought multiple wines you didn’t really want because of a three for two type offer? We may be all falling for “artificial promotions” that are anything but a good deal.
There are some good quotes in the article from wine industry insiders confirming that what have long been speculated to be dubious “offers” are exactly that and give no real value to the wine drinker at all.
If you happen to dwell in the land of hard copy, check out the current issue of Salt Lake Magazine. Whilst neglecting Basic Juice in cyberspace, I have been nurturing it in the world of print. Alas, I am still struggling to multitask.
For those who eschew paper, have a look at the extended, 'Author's Cut' of the article below the fold.
This I Sip Chances are you?ve read many a wine article wherein the author recommends a particular bottle or two. What exactly does one do with such recommendations? Do you accept them on blind faith, dutifully seek out said bottles and schlep them home? Of course you do! We all do. Everyone trusts and accepts expert opinions on all manner of topics ? movies, restaurants, music and, of course, wine. However, there comes a time when one realizes that expert opinions on matters of taste, are essentially just that ? opinions. For example, recall the last time you sat through a painfully bad, critic-recommended film and thought, ?I?ll never follow that guy?s advice again.? Experts and critics may know more about their specialty than you, but your tastes may be dramatically different. Taste, particularly when it comes to wine, is exceedingly personal. An expert may guide you in a general direction, but the final arbiter of taste, is you and your palate. The take home message is this: It pays to know a wine critic?s palate before plunking down 10/20/30 bucks for a bottle you may very well despise.
Over the coming months, I will recommend hundreds of wines in this space. Some you will adore, others may be consigned to the dubious category of ?cooking wine.? However, I will always do my best to explain what I like about a particular wine. I will open my mouth - as it were - and attempt to expose every nook and cranny of my wine palate. I don?t expect readers to employ oeno-faith and blindly follow my recommendations. Rather, at some point, I hope our tastes connect and a wine idea put forth in this column, yields exciting discovery and fond memories. So, in lieu of a personal introduction, allow me to introduce my wine palate, in two parts. This, I sip ? the whites.
It?s An Acquired Taste ? Everyone has that one beloved specialty food that makes others cringe (Think: Kipper snacks, Brussels sprouts or Vienna sausages). ?It?s an acquired taste.? You say. I love dry Sherry. It?s wonderfully weird wine ? slightly nutty, aggressively tangy, delightfully funky and very much an acquired taste. My favorite Sherry combo is utterly simple: An Amontillado Sherry (Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado, $18) with oven-roasted almonds is a fiesta of out-of-the-ordinary flavors. If you?re the type who relishes the challenge of acquiring tastes, give Sherry a try. Cheap and Cheerful - Let?s face it; acquiring taste is demanding work. Occasionally, I long for something uncomplicated. Wine doesn?t need to be complicated. There are plenty of good, simple wines. When I would rather sip than ponder, I go for budget-priced Austrian Grüner Veltliner (Berger Grüner Veltliner 2005, $12). This wine is simple, refreshing and exceedingly flexible with food. Budget Grüner compliments almost any entrée exiting the oven or flying off the stovetop. Cheap and cheerful wines like this don?t catalyze any epiphanies. Rather, they cause one simply to remark, ?That?s good.? I?m Feeling Naughty ? Admit it. Every so often you yearn to do something off-the-wall - something naughty. Of course, following through on such impulses can lead to a heap of trouble. When I yearn for naughtiness, I grab a bottle of decadent Alsatian Gewurztraminer (Domaine Weinbach Cuvee Laurence, $40). Gewurz-based wine has a tendency to grab one?s schnozz and hypnotize with scents of lychee, apricot, mango and honeysuckle. The talented vintners in Alsace often introduce a layer of naughty to this decadent wine by incorporating a small portion of overripe grapes into the cuvée. The result is wine with an added scent dimension best described as earthy (or dirty). The indulgence doesn?t end here. These wines possess a very thick & cheek-coating mouthfeel. Indeed, drinking such wine feels a little bit naughty. Try Gewurztraminer with salmon sashimi and commit an indulgent act of gastronomy.
Other White Palate Pleasers
Acquiring That Taste: Aveleda Vinho Verde NV, $8; Lopez de Heredia Vina Gravonia Crianza 1995, $25; Feudo Arancio Grillo Sicilia 2005, $9
Cheap and Cheerful: Saint M Riesling 2005, $10; Segura de Viudas Brut Cava, $9; Santa Julia Torrontes 2006, $7
Naughty, Naughty: Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvee LD 1995, $33; Twisted Oak Viognier, $26; Pine Ridge Chenin Viognier 2006, $12 Coming in Part II, I introduce a few of my preferred, palate-pleasing red wines.
The Reds coming in Part 2 Business in the Front, Party in the Back
I Lost 2 Pounds! Let?s Gain it Back
My Imaginary Smoking Jacket
Comments/Questions: Email Beau at beau@basicjuice.com Find more wine ideas at basicjuice.blogs.com
I scraped myself up and out of Hong Kong to go grab the ferry to Macau. I later found out that helicopters are also available and a lot faster, although the boat trip wasn?t that bad, lasting only an hour. The ferries leave from Hong Kong every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, and [...]
[04/20/2008, 15:24]
Hi!
So, I know this is really only exciting to me because you don't know me, but I had to shout it off somewhere. I got into university! In September I start a degree in Oenology and Viticulture, at Plumpton college. I can't wait!
Also, UK wine fans, LoveThatWine is a great site for looking up wines, prices, styles, reviews etc. Enjoy :)
The title of this post, rather, should have read ?outstanding Tempranillo in the Americas.?Turns out Familia Zuccardi of Argentina have been cultivating this emblematic Spanish variety in Mendoza for quite a while. Even then, we shouldn?t overlook the grape?s trajectory farther back?being one of the Spanish crown?s original Río de la Plata colonies, scores of 17th and 18th century settlers in the Andean Cuyo region wanted to replicate their wines from back home.In other words, unlike some of the other oddball varieties being cultivated under Familia Zuccardi?s ?new varieties program,? Tempranillo cultivation in the general Mendoza area has a profound socio-historical basis tied to criollo settlement.The question shouldn?t elude us, however?have Argentine Tempranillo wines been anything to write home about?
It wasn?t until the early nineties that Familia Zuccardi managed to become the first Argentine producer to export wines made from this variety.Although demand for fruit-forward Malbec cuvées and Cabernet have always outpaced that of Tempranillo wines?, Zuccardi did something quite praiseworthy?not allow foreign demand to solely dictate their wine styles and choice of projects.Case in point, I?ve happily recommended reviews of their Torrontés and other red wines, however, their Tempranillo went on to hold its own against similarly priced Rioja wines at UK-based blind tastings.
It is no surprise though, that I have always looked toward Zuccardi for innovation in Argentina?the kind that doesn?t involve foreign tasting panels, glossy-rag journalists and marketing gurus.Zuccardi has proven itself unorthodox and highly idiosyncratic concerning many aspects of its operations.Their ?new varieties program? consists of expanding their already exciting selection of rare varieties through vine nurseries; some of the exciting prospects include finding sophisticated Andean expressions of Barbera, Marsanne, Aglianico, Tannat and Mourvèdre, among other favorites of mine.In addition to this, they are obsessed with the importance of utilizing yeasts indigenous to their vineyards, rather than the standard strains.Other exciting offerings I would love to get my hands on would be their Malbec-based fortified wine and Torrontés-based dessert wine.
Don?t get me wrong. While I consider myself a bit more obsessed about rarer varieties than most, I have reverence and much appreciation for the way in which Tempranillo shows its pedigree in good examples of Valdepeñas, Rioja, Ribera del Duero and several other styles.Given this, it takes quite a bit for me to take the plunge and gush about a New World interpretation that does the variety any justice.Why do I appreciate Zuccardi?Because they haven?t simply produced an above-par Argentine Tempranillo, but because they have produced Tempranillo wines in Mendoza with an unmistakable personality of their own.While I recognized the variety?s general characteristics when tasting Zuccardi?s, I simply could not accuse Zuccardi of copying the style of any particular Spanish region?s Tempranillo expression, although I honestly tried.
Even if the variety came along with Spanish settlers centuries ago, it wasn?t until recently that Tempranillo in Mendoza achieved its very own stylistic idiosyncrasy.I especially recommend trying the Zuccardi Q Tempranillo to those who enjoy the prestige Spanish regions? Tempranillo-based wines, particularly if making comparisons to similarly priced $15-$20 range Rioja.
Visual/Aromatic Profile:Deep ruby and garnet in the glass.I would decant this one to let the gorgeous nose unfold for a nice couple of hours at least.It features very pronounced dark cherry, blackberry, currant and sweet orange peel.The oak is not an overbearing presence, with aromas of toast, vanilla, chocolate and soft leather.
Texture and Finish:Knockout balance and complexity. The wine was matured in medium toasted American oak barrels (new), and never clarified in any way. The style is dry, with medium acidity and high tannin structure holding up the full body.Flavors are nicely concentrated, with dark cherry, blackberry, toast, chocolate and smoky leather.Some of these more robust elements power on through to the lengthy finish, with dark chocolate, toast and soft leather.
99-100 Parker: "Domaine de Pegau?s magical 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo is a magnificent offering. Tipping the scales at 16.1% alcohol, it boasts a blockbuster nose of dry vintage port intermixed with pepper, herbes de Provence, and roasted meats. Frightfully concentrated with layers of glycerin and fruit, it should prove to be one of the appellation?s greatest classics. More backward than either the 1998 or 2000 Capos, it is an enormously endowed, hugely concentrated, exhilarating effort that will last for three decades or more. It is a strong candidate for the ?wine of the vintage.? Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035+. When I asked Laurence how she would describe this beauty, she said, ?It consists of 80% of a great vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape, 20% a vintage port, and the rest some Syrah and other things we throw in for complexity.?
With the warm weather heading this way, a few words about white wines from Italy. Where I live, the next five months will be warm and warmer. Red wine can just be too heavy, as a daily regimen. Vegetables are coming to the table; lighter foods are appearing as well. I am turning to white wines.
A few lately have come across the table.
Marco de Bartoli Grappoli del Grillo This wine appeared on the table right before a dish of pesce crudo with grapefruit and wild greens. This Sicilian Grillo, from one of the great Marsala producers, is a bouquet of freshness. I was parched when this wine was poured into my glass, and I was blessed with a benediction of flavors, hinting at ?someday when I grow up I?m gonna be a Marsala.? Not a chance, this wine has famous grandparents, but it?s a thong and flip flop sandal set wine.
Bruno Giacosa Arneis ?I?m going to order this wine because I don?t get Arneis.? was what my colleague at lunch confessed. What he meant, he elaborated, was that there is no defining style for this variety. I agree. I've had the Ceretto and the Pio Cesare recently in Piedmont and they were polar opposites. The Giacosa entry matched up well with fare served recently at the Landmarc in Tribeca. We had it with a fois gras terrine, followed by a grilled half chicken with mashed chickpeas and arugula. The wine is a sexy-delicate quaff, but paired with food it slipped into something a little more comfortable. Not just a one-night-stand kind of wine, more of a long-weekend fling. Very nice with the food, and on a wine list priced slightly above retail to encourage experimentation.
Falesco Est! Est!! Est!!! Coming off a recent death march of a road trip, I headed straight from the airport to a reception. The last thing I wanted to do was drink wine. Water was what I needed and lots of it. But there was this little tray of white wine being passed around and I couldn?t be the speaker at a wine event only drinking water. I was pleasantly surprised when this wine splashed onto my palate. I wasn?t expecting much substance, what I got was a lingering memory of a delicate, understated wine with a striking aroma of sweet lilies. The flavor was a brisk jump into a fresh stream of nectarines and unripe green apples, sweet and tart not sinking to the bottom, floating down the course in an inner tube of contentment.
All Hail Texas Grapegrowers If you want something else, a shameless plug for the trials and tribulations of extreme winemaking in Texas. Kim Pierce has written a fascinating article about a place that makes me want to go and see what they're are doing up in the High Plains, 4,000 feet above sea level. Check it out.
And, as they say in the Bronx, ?Chin-tann? y'all. I'm heading to the Met.
After having a look through the supermarket shelves for the first time in ages I was actually pleasantly surprised that there were quite a few decent mid-range wines on offer.
I don't think that makes up the majority of wine sold to their customers and if you regularly go to just one supermarket branch I think you'd get bored quickly.
However the point is that there are some good even great wines being offered. I have been especially impressed with Tescos and Sainsburys premium own brands which have gone to specific regions and made authentically regional wines. Sounds easy but too often I have drunk a winemaking- rather than wine- style.
Over the past three weeks Waitrose put on their annual press tasting showing their 270 wine
Tecnorati
Environmental and social action groups were making a last-ditch effort to derail the 2008 farm bill conference report as the House of Representatives and the Senate prepared to debate and vote on the measure.
With the warm weather heading this way, a few words about white wines from Italy. 
A few lately have come across the table..jpg "a")
