Greenville Avenue Wine

Food Truck Madness

2011-08-29T00:39:00.001-05:00

The excitement was unmistakable.

From the minute the email went out announcing that the First DFW Food Festival would be happening in the Sigel's Greenville Avenue parking lot, the excitement was there. For that matter, it started when the first truck hit our lot earlier this summer. But the festival was different.

I was immediately flooded with RSVP's. Some were the familiar names we see at our wine tastings. But most were new. And they were for groups of 5, 6, and 8, as high as 15. The normally empty comment line was buzzing. "Awesome." "So excited." "Can't wait." And they kept coming. And coming. And coming. Even through Saturday afternoon. A reporter from the Dallas News came by when the count was 850. It was 925 when she left. By the time the event was over we totalled 1110 confirmed RSVP's. The normal ratio is that attendance is double the number of RSVP's, but nothing was normal about this event. Kind of like waiting for a hurricane.

Two things we didn't expect when plans started a month ago. 1. That the temperatures would still be solid triple digits (at least 110 out on the parking lot.) Two, that we would have near this many people. We tried to get the word out to the media that parking was going to be very difficult. (The Lover's Dart Station is a long half block from the store.) We told the trucks to bring extra food. They did and stored the containers in our walk-in cooler.

All in all, I think things went OK. The problems we had were simply due to success beyond our wildest expectation.
The most remarkable thing was the patience and attitude of those in attendance. After my first walk through the crowd I was reminded of the energy of the State Fair. Only there were only great food vendors and no rides!

The Nammi truck was last to take their place and the last to open. When I walked by there were fifty people waiting in line for a truck that wasn't even serving yet. It was then that I began to realize that everyone here was just participating in a Food TV reality show. The event was just like something they'd seen on TV. They knew the drama going on inside that truck as the harried crew struggled to get their food ready for the crowd outside. And of course when the patient customers finally got their food, well, Nammi makes a damn tasty bahn-mi!

Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project

2011-08-22T00:46:00.000-05:00

It's the one of the geekiest marketing schemes I've experienced.

Choose 96 white oak trees. Cut barrel staves out of the top of the tree and out of the bottom. Vary the seasoning. So, 2 two barrels times 96 trees equals 192 barrels. Make 4 recipes of bourbon, 2 with rye, 2 with wheat, vary the entry proof and the aging regimen for a total of 7 variables. 192 barrels. Then bottle and release 12 barrels every four months. That's half bottles (375 ml) for between $55 and $89 according to my latest Google search. What!!!!

Scam or serious?

Buffalo Trace says they want to find the 'perfect' or 'favorite' bourbon. Purchasers are invited to log on to the Single Oak Project home page and register their own tasting notes in a structured format. Even better, the tasters can find out all the particulars down to the last nitty gritty about their particular bottle. And see other tasters and compare notes. At the end of the Project, when all the barrels have been released, Buffalo Trace will have amassed an enormous amount of data. They say they will put the favorite into production!

They sound serious. The bottles are all hand wrapped and hand numbered. The bottles are expensive, but so are the production values. I guess that it ultimately comes down to the whiskey.

I chose a bottle from barrel 67.

Why? Because I did my Internet homework and knew that it was a high-rye recipe from a barrel from the top of an average grained white oak tree. I like high-rye bourbons. And according to what I read, barrels of coarse-grained oak from the bottom of the tree and the MOST effect on the whiskey. Conversely barrels from fine-grained oak from the top of the tree have the LEAST effect on the whiskey. So my whiskey should have some, but not a lot of oakiness.

And how was the whiskey?

Delicious! Rich golden amber in color. Aromas of vanilla, butterscotch, burnt spiced orange peel and delicious whiskey waft langorously. Texture is heavy, rich and unctuous. Flavors of orange, cinnamon, caramel roll over the tongue and coat the mouth with butterscotch and bright little suggestions of anise. Finish is long. Luxurious whiskey. Lets the taster know that life ain't all bad!

There is the possibility of a small Single Oak Project community fueled by the Project web-site, ebay, word of mouth and an ever increasing number of whiskey drinkers with blogs praising some barrels and damning others. I hope the experience of all those who succumb to the geekiness have as rewarding experience as I did. If they do, the rest of the project will be presold and fought over. If not....

We're Not Going to Make It 1.0

2011-08-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I think we're just not going to make it. I received a phone call the other day.

"Dave, do we carry sparkling Prosecco?"

"Hm, Prosecco is by definition sparkling."

"Well, do we carry any?"

"Yeah, we carry five different Prosecco's. Two are Brut and three are Extra Dry, a little sweeter."

"Well, they want to taste Aperol this weekend and want to mix it with Prosecco and soda. Will that work? What does Aperol taste like, anyway. I've never tasted it."

"The drink will work fine. Aperol is sort a less bitter Compari. But bitters are flying! Everyone's drinking spritzers with bitters this summer."

Hm. Ok. Thanks"

The marketplace is more competitive every day. How are we going to make it when those in leadership positions don't know the products?

Pairing Pie

2011-05-03T03:28:00.002-05:00

Pie is eternal. Food trends come and food trends go, but when trends are slow, foodwriters always come back to pie. And no one can argue. Doesn't mean they have to eat it, "Oh, just a small slice, please!"

Lately, our son Travis has been central to our pie fascination. Of course, when he lived in Brooklyn, pie meant pizza. Visits to New York always involved the pilgrimage to di Fara's out at the end of the city for a slice of the 'round pie' and an order of the 'square.' The former plain cheese and the latter Italian sausage and mushroom.

Now that Trav's moved to Boerne, the pilgrimage is to the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls. If the drive is timed right, you can make it in time for pie happy hour, then get one to go! So when he drives up, he shows up with pie. And when we drive down, we show up with pie. And not only that, you have to drive down 281 which is a far superior drive than the dreaded I-35.

The pies are delicious. The problem is the pairing. The problem first presented itself when R.J Shonuff's delicious pralines demanded to be paired with rye whiskey. (See my blog)

Susan and I went down at spring break and picked up a lemon meringue pie. The obvious pairing is lemoncello, which my sister makes and gives at Christmas. She extracts the flavor from Meyer Lemons with 100 proof vodka and Everclear and cuts it 1:1 with simple syrup. Delicious, but with a kick! Poured straight from the freezer, the viscosity dissolves the rich pie into the longest finish imaginable. The next night Travis paired it with a Tequila Daisy. (Here's a recipe!) The edge of the tequila and the lightness of the soda sliced through the pie and rendered it naked on the palate. You could skip the Grand Marnier in the recipe and float the lemoncello and be very glad that you did!

Travis drove up last weekend for a wedding and brought a banana cream pie. The pie was phenomenal, delicious and somehow lightness pervaded the whipped cream and the custard. The lingering nutty buttery crispness of the crust carried through the long finish. Pairing? Old rum of course. But lighter rums, not the dark scrapings of molasses barrels. Plantation Old Reserve 1990 the first night, Pyrat 'Pistol' the second. Both were superb. As the rum is rolled around on the back of the tongue, it picks up all the little bits of pie clinging to the inside of the mouth - just like deglazing a pan - and the resulting 'sauce' is a glorious thing.

Susan's favorite pie is coconut cream. I've just never been a coconut guy, but with the right rum....

Great Moments of Retail: v1.05: Or Not

2011-04-29T18:45:00.002-05:00

Well, more like, sometimes we just suck! (Blogging live from the retail floor.)

We've really been watching our inventory over the last few years. And that's been a good thing, business wise, it really has. The lines between 'wet,' 'dry' and 'damp' that determine where alcoholic beverages can be sold have been changing with every election lately and with every new area that wants the tax revenue and allows alcohol, we lose market share. It's as simple as that.

And as sales dwindle on the wines that are sold in grocery stores, we're paring inventory. It's really sound business sense. But sometimes too much of a good thing can be a little too much.

Case in point:

Our prosecco sales have been a little slow. Why? For one thing, we have a phenomenal domestic sparkler that sells at a low price and makes life tough for any competition. For another we don't have a prosecco that we feature and push at a competitive price.

BUT it's still late April and we're just entering the high prosecco season. So I put a case of prosecco on my order, but corporate looked at themost recent sales history and just sent four bottles out of the warehouse. We promptly sold one which left three.

At which point a young lady walks into the store just a few minutes ago.

"Which are your driest prosecco's?" she asked.

I pointed to two brands on the shelf. I had 7 of one which sold for $17.99 and 3 of another which sold for $14.99. (You don't need to be told which one I had ordered...)

"Do you have four of that one?" she asked, pointing to less expensive brand.

"I don't know," I lied. "Maybe we have more in the cold box." I offered. (Knowing full well that it was empty- how pathetic!)

"I'm sorry, I needed four, I'm sure I can find them someplace else," she said.

And off she went.

Great Moments of Retail: v1.04: Price Matching

2011-04-19T12:21:00.001-05:00

The morning sky was hazy. Like a summer sky but without the heat intensity of a full-on summer morning. Looked like a day that could turn into the first really warm day of late spring. The radio was 'rockin' the Casbah' when the first customer came in with a little scrap torn from the newspaper.

"What is your price on this wine?" she asked the cashier.

"You'll have to check with our wine director, he's over there at his desk."

She came walking in my direction.

"You're hiding!" she said with a smile.

I guess it was true. I was hidden behind a box of zinfandel and my computer screen. "Now that you found me, how can I help?"

She asked me if I could meet a grocery price on either Barefoot or Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio. Well, not just the price, but the case discount off the value card price. I checked. It was barely above our cost. Yikes!

I took a deep breath and countered with my best price. I HAD to make something, so I didn't match, but came very, very close.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I'm a senior you know and I have to get the best price."

And she walked. For a total of $2.40 on six bottles of wine.

And I breathed a sigh of relief. Our sales on the item are so slow I had only two bottle to sell!!!

Bordeaux and Burgundy: An Evening with Clive Coates

2011-04-13T01:21:00.001-05:00

I guess everyone with a passion for wine has their story of how they were hooked. I was talking with a friend/colleague the other evening when he asked what wine I had tasted that really ignited what has become a sometime passion and a late life career.

I gave a great wine-guy answer. It was a Burgundy. A 1964 Beaune 'Les Boucherottes' from Domaine Parent, the label is still tucked away in my 1974 edition of Frank Schoonmaker's Encylopedia of Wine along with a number of early favorite bottles.

Where did the wine come from? Sigel's. I had a friend who had dropped out of UT law school and wound up working behind the counter of the store at Lemmon and Inwood. (He did OK in the long run, he's now Sigel's executive vice-president.) He had a stash that he kept in the back. That was probably 1975, the wine would have been 11 years old and would certainly not have been kept in optimal storage conditions, but the wine had something to it that kept me buying more.

When the wine was gone and all had been consumed, I spent a number of years searching for that wine and never found it. The bottles that I could afford, just never measured up.
Welcome to Burgundy, some would say.

But I somehow thought that if I just learned enough, I would know enough to find that elusive flavor that was stuck in my memory.

And that's where I entered the wonderful world of wine books. I pored over the pictures and descriptions by the likes of Hugh Johnson. It was something like pornography. Graphic descriptions of expensive, sensuous experience beyond the reach of poor schlub like me.

And one of those great English writers who created the mythic worlds of Bordeaux and Burgundy was Clive Coates. Only Mr. Coates didn't stop with the romantic, mythic world, he went for encyclopedic books of incredible detail, profiling not vintages and appellations, but individual domaines and estates.

So, I was delighted to get the call to work the recent dinner where Clive Coates was the guest of honor.

The event was something of a landmark event in that it was co-sponsored by the Commanderie de Bordeaux and the rival Burgundy group, Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin along with the Chaine des Rotisseurs, Sigel's and the Park City Club, the gracious host of the evening. To satisfy both parties, the wines featured selections from both Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Mr. Coates provided pithy commentary on the wines and pairings in his inimitable style, a lovely British rumbling voice, no sentence without some measure of humorous, twisting invective. I'm a poor reporter, I can't make heads or tail of my notes of exactly what he said and I know I didn't understand quite everything he said. But everything was a story and a story told well.

Since I write a wine blog, a bit about the wines:

Oh, and check out Mr. Coates comments on tasting notes on his website (click here), "Why Tasting Notes are a Waste of Space."

Pascal Doquet Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc Champagne - Straw gold, fine bubbles, baked golden apples with nuts and faint yeasty aromatics. Long mineral finish. Delicate with good authority. 'Grower' champagne - grand cru fruit at a negociant price.

Jean Philippe Fichet 'les Gruyaches' Meursault, 2008. Fat tropical fruit which morphs through notions of smoky nuttiness into lean mineral finish. In the words of Mr. Coates, "premier cru quality at a village wine price" with "ripe acidity."

Claude Dugat Gevrey Chambertin 2005. Dark, deep plums, silky and rich. Big "wow' factor. Slight lift of acid on the finish makes it sparkle. Mr. Coates took the moment to blast the "over-oaked, over-extracted wines of the demonic importer Robert Kacher." (Ironic. Half the evening's wines were Kacher imports. Of all Bobby's wines, the least oaky is Dugat. Robert Kacher has been a mainstay of Sigel's French portfolio for years. We LOVE his wines!)

Bertrand Ambroise Echezeaux 2005. Now if any of Kacher's wines are overextracted and over-oaked, it's the wines from Maison Ambroise, but Mr. Coates was silent on the subject and spoke only of the glories of Echezeaux. Subdued fruits were buried in a mass of mocha and coffee and rich sumptuous structural elegance. The wine was perfect with the rich lamb dish, perhaps the best pairing of the evening.

Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2005 was served with the same course as the Echezaux. It is a powerful, magnificent wine, redolent of young delicous Cabernet Sauvignon. Its roar overwhelmed the sophistication of the lamb dishes. Throw this baby into the ring with some young Napa powerhouses, it will hold its own. "Infanticide" according to Coates.

Chateau Leoville Barton 2000 accompanied, should I say steamrolled the cheese course. Magnificent, still a baby, but starting to show how it will come together, this is great wine. It still features the bottomless pit of cassis that it showed when I tasted a pre-release sample bottle 10 years ago. The once massive tannins are showing signs of integration, this wine has years to go.

Beaumalric Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2008. As much as I have loved this wine in the past, it shows its shortcomings on a card with the other wines of the night. Sweet, it seemed well, a little muscaty. Even very good has a hard time competing with great.

All in all, a memorable evening. Sometimes the job has its perks!

Pretty Good Milkshake

2011-04-08T00:53:00.003-05:00

Or to be more precise, "That's a pretty fucking good milkshake. I don't know if it's worth five dollars but it's pretty fucking good."
-Vincent Vega, Pulp Fiction

Got to taste the new Casa Dragones Tequila today. Retails in the $300 range. Just like Vincent Vega and Mia's legendary $5 milkshake, I was interested in seeing what a $300 silver tequila has to offer. And what can they do to an agave bulb to make it cost that much?

One thing they do when pouring it at a tasting is use good glassware. Casa Dragones furnished a special Riedel glass with tall glass sides. The clear tequila looked smashing! The clarity is brilliant.

The nosing (in fact the whole tasting) is structured. The goal is for every taster to experience every nuance and not just toss it back. I didn't really figure out how to smell the aromas at the bottom of the glass... but here's what I got. Sweet agave surrounding wild herbal spices that suggest white pepper but that don't bring the white pepper. Instead you're left with notions of honey and vanilla. Very clean, very long, very precise.

Tasting notes follow the same order, but build on each other in layers of intensity. The layers build and resonate as the silky liquid coats the mouth. Opposites abound. Complex/precise. Sweet/herbal. Light/oily. Powerful/delicate. The rich volcanic soils of the valley make themselves felt in the intense wild herbal alkaloid flavors. These plants are not rushed, they are allowed to ripen to full maturity and the resulting sweetness matches but doesn't overpower the herbal intensity. The long finish hangs forever, in soft clouds of delicate vanilla.

But that all sounds like a great silver tequila. Except where did that vanilla come in? And those odd suggestions of toasted nuts.

The agave 'pinas' are not cooked in the steam autoclaves or gas fired ovens (hornos) as are traditional tequilas. The nectar is extracted prior to being cooked, yielding a pure flavor. The spirit is distilled in column stills which allow careful control of the condensation.

Now here's the trick. Some of the tequila is aged five years (making it 'extra anejo') in new toasted oak barrels. This extra anejo is then blended back into silver tequila, giving the tequila is 'joven' designation. Any color is filtered out, leaving the brilliant clear distillate.

Whatever. I bought the story. And, it's exceptional tequila!

Whiskey Seminar: Woodford Reserve

2011-03-26T08:27:00.001-05:00

A tasting seminar with Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris raised the big question about branded spirits: where's the fine line between branded marketing and artisanal quality? Whisk(e)y producers from both Kentucky and Scotland love to cloak themselves in the aura of old traditional products, produced back in the hills for generation on generation. In truth, the modern distilleries in both countries have their roots firmly planted in the industrial revolution.

Mr. Morris was very up front with the issue. While there over 300 brands of Kentucky whiskey on the market, there are only 10 distilleries, a fact that is at odds with the current fascination with local and authentic sourcing. Mr. Miller emphasizes this fact since Woodford Reserve is a single brand that comes from a single distillery, leaving over 299 brands to come out of the remaining 9.

But Woodford is a young brand. It was the vision of Owsley Brown, chairman of Brown-Forman, the large (but family held) diversified producer of wines and spirits who saw the need for a super-premium Kentucky Bourbon. It was released in Kentucky in 1996. After four years, the market was expanded into neighboring states, then was released nationwide. Not exactly your grand-daddy's mythic whiskey.

So, when the clouds of marketing are swept away, how's the product? Pretty tasty. And for solid reasons that will ring true with artisanal authenticity.

Grain: 72% food grade #1 dimple yellow corn grown in Shelby County, Ky.,18% Dakota grown rye, 10% Milwaukee Malted Barley. Most Bourbon recipes use 5%. Malted Barley provides enzymes that help release the sugars.

Water: unfiltered limestone well water. No surface water which is required to be treated by the FDA.

Yeast: like most distilleries, they grow their own. However they only used a small amount of the sour mash and ferment twice as long as most distilleries to give a rich, flowery, fruity character to the beer.

Pot still: triple distillation utilizing three copper pot stills. The lower temperature of the pot stills brings more flavors through the distillation.

Maturation: Barrels are wine toasted before charring. The whiskey is proofed to 110 before barrel entry. Barrels are selected by flavor in lots of 100 for bottling. The last batch Chris bottled had dates ranging from Nov 2002 to March 2003 making the whiskey 8-9 years old.

They did their homework and made all the right-sounding decisions about putting a product together. How does it taste?

Complex aromas of vanilla wafers, butter, butterscotch, pralines, burnt orange and cinnamon are framed by floral perfumes. The whiskey is smooth and luxurious on the palate with notes of vanilla, honey, and butterscotch followed by spicy orange peel and caramel with anise highlights and a long finish with vanilla and white chocolate. Delicious by itself, dry enough to use for cocktails.

BT#7: Blind Leading the Blind

2011-03-17T02:15:00.000-05:00

It's red.

It has a little age but not too much.

After that, it's anyone's guess. Ahh, we were a little better than that. It was a small group that gathered around the conference table on a recent Sunday afternoon to enjoy some wines. And taste them blind. No theme. Just bottles in brown bags or decanters. In the name of family and responsibility (???) we decided to keep it down to one bottle per participant, but there was question whether bottles of white or bubbles really counted.

The first wine showed pale gold straw and a delicate mousse that quickly subsided to a still presence in the glass. Showing subtle streaks of honey through racy minerals. Notions of champagne (and especially not THAT ONE Mr B!) were quickly dispelled by the lack of yeasty creaminess. The beams of honey reminded Corey of a Cremant Vouvray he had had recently and that's what it was. 2005 Petillant from Domaine Huet.

The first red wine had been open for about three hours with no decanting. It was opaque purple and obviously unfiltered. A plethora of perfumed aromatics filled the room. "It smells like my grandmother's dresser:" dried flowers and fruits, sachets, sweet-tarts and cinnamon. Plenty of structure, the palate showed mature fruits with finely integrated tannins. No signs of age, but obviously a wine with a youthful maturity and an old school style. Huge sediment left inside the bottle. Cabernet. Napa. 2001 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill. Everyone was blown away. Most encounters with this legendary label are like making friends with a grizzly, the wine growls, lets you know it means business and you back off. But today we would tell tales of its opulent compassion.

The gauntlet was thrown down on the next bottle. "It's a tough one!" The bottle had been open for about an hour with no decanting. The wine was intensely black with deep red highlight and showed intense red and black fruits with a deep, dark center and a kiss of acid pulling up on the edges. Great stuff! Quickly dubbed European, Scott narrows the field to Spain. The grape is Tempranillo, but the point of origin is a stumper. Bodegas Mauro VS 2004. 100% Tempranillo, 33 months in French oak. Castilla y Leon is the region. It's similar to an IGT from Italy or Vin de Pays from France. A notch down on the 'quality name' ladder, but make not mistake, this is amazing wine. Castilla y Leon encompasses Ribuera del Duero, Toro and Rioja. Bodegas Mauro is located in the heart of the Duero valley.

Red Wine Number Three had been open and decanted for 90 minutes and showed a brilliant, vibrant dark purple color. Massive black fruits dominated the aromatics and followed through to the palate, complemented with highlights of cedar, red berries and a small stick of black licorice. Napa cab, but the group had a hard time determining the age of the wine. 1996 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet, now showing a bit of age! A second coup for old school Napa! Another wine with dark stains inside the bottle.

The fourth wine had been opened that morning and double decanted. Showing a dark, opaque purple color (hmm... another theme of the day) the wine showed rich cassis tinged with eucalyptus. Australian Cabernet? Perhaps the legendary eucalyptus monster itself: Penfolds Bin 707, 2004? Again, an older cabernet.

And the fifth wine is dark and opaque, but aromas, whoa, bring on the funk! Sheep are singing on the barnyard fence. Gamey notes of cedar and dried fruits begin to emerge on the long integrated finish. Big wine with plenty of grip. #4 signs on: Italian, Super Tuscan, Cabernet, 1995 Sammarco from Castello dei Rampolla.

What a day of old, serious wines. Interesting that all are Cabernets except for the Spanish Tempranillo, and the big ripe reds of the Duero are always fun to throw into Cab tastings.

Thanks to John who volunteered his company's conference room, to Dave for the bread and cheese and to Scott for pulling us all together. Can't wait for the next one. I'd be willing to bet everyone's already thinking about what to bring.

Chinato, It's What Wineguys Crave

2011-02-21T19:49:00.001-06:00

Last February, I briefly wrote about Barolo Chinato after a trip to New York City. The post was about cocktails and the Chinato had been used in a Manhattan. The Manhattan was consumed in Brooklyn, to be precise.

I had become aware of Chinato sometime in the previous year and it quickly became something of an obsession. Finally, at Christmas of '09 I acquired a couple of bottles of Barolo Chinato. One was a gift from my son Travis who brought a bottle of Vergano Chinato from the big city. It was a deep red with rich cherry tones.The other bottle was purchased from Susan's Fine Wines and Liquor in Santa Fe where my other son Michael is the assistant manager. That bottle was produced by Boroli, a Barolo producer, and was much darker with darker fruits and chocolate and creosote undertones. In Brooklyn, we acquired a bottle of Vergano Americano which is made with Grignolino. The Americano is lighter than the Nebbiolo based Chinatos and that is what we used in the drinks in lieu of sweet vermouth.

All quite delicious and though dolled out in small portions, the bottles did not last long. Well, the quality held up, but consumption, not deterioration was the problem. I grilled suppliers here in Dallas, but no one had any in stock. Chinato. It's what I craved.

You might ask, "What is all the fuss about?"

Start with Barolo wine (made from the Nebbiolo grape). Age the wine for a year in a barrel. Then infuse the aromatics and age for another four years. The proprietary recipes for the infusion always start with cinchona bark (quinine) and wormwood and go from there into clove, cardamom, cinnamon and beyond. Production has always been tiny and the cost expensive.

Chinato is sweetened and lightly fortified. Extremely aromatic with rich complex flavors, it starts sweet and moves to bitter and finishes sweet. Heavy textures finish with a light refreshing flourish.

Dr. S asked me what I knew of Chinato last week and the dormant cravings came back in a heartbeat. And what do you know, one of our suppliers had a few bottles in stock, so I procured a bottle for Dr. S and bought a bottle myself. I shared it with my colleagues and now we are all in agreement: Chinato, it's what wineguys crave.

Still Alive

2011-02-16T13:26:00.001-06:00

Despite the lack of evidence on these pages, I am still alive and well, eating and drinking...

Met this morning with Joe Cafaro, winemaker. He makes about a thousand cases a year of Cafaro wines, mainly Cabernet and Merlot. When the vintage is right he makes a reserve tier called Alta Tierra.

Joe's a little old school. His goal is to make wines to go with food, so he tries to avoid the high sugar, maximum ripeness, blockbuster style. He picks at lower sugar levels so his wines will be totally dry around 13.5%. And he wants good acid levels, so he picks a little earlier than most grower/winemakers! Which means his wines have a more European feel to them, and like European wines, Joe's are a little more dependent on the ripeness of the vintage.

The first few years I tasted Joe's wines he was using purchased fruit as he waited for his vineyard (planted in 1996) to mature. The northen edge of the hillside vineyard touches the southern border of the Stags Leap AVA, Joe's immediate neighbor is Shafer. For the last few years the wines have been made with grapes from estate vineyards and the quality has been much more consistent. We tasted the current releases this morning, all from outstanding vintages and the wines were just delicious.

The 2007 Merlot featured deep juicy black fruit with velvety texture and spicy acids on the finish. It would be perfect with any meats or with rich, oily fish or seafood dish like paella or cioppino. The 2006 Cabernet shows deeper black fruit with cedar notes and integrated tannins. Rich textures and good acid keep the wines alive on the finish. Both wines are blends with small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot. All the wines are vinified separately then blended.

The current Alta Tierra is a treat. 2002 Cabernets were characterized by outstanding integration of the fruits and tannins and the Alta Tierra is no exception. It exudes balance and elegance.

BT#6: The Small Group

2010-12-16T02:13:00.001-06:00

Holy Cow!!!

It had been a while. I guess it took some time for the reverberations to subside after our last Blind Tasting w-a-a-a-y back in May (????) Yes. Back in May. That was a doozy!

Scott courageously tried to rally the troops for a Sunday get together before Thanksgiving but couldn't raise sufficient muster. A couple of voices tried to bring together a small group, but by then even Scott had other plans. Finally three of us got together early on a cloudy Sunday with a couple of newcomers and pulled some corks out of some bottles.

As always, tasting blind is just a damned intimidating endeavor. Our newcomers were a little hesitant about speaking out, but we prodded and were rewarded with some great insights. It's easy to be intimidated by display of wine knowledge, but that's just book learning. We are all tasters and we all bring a lifetime of tasting experience to the tasting. Then it just becomes association of flavor with experience and any answer based on experience is valid. If vocabulary differs from the standard 'sommelier' descriptors, the somm's should pay attention to the differences and learn. In a blind tasting all are naked before the wine. On to the wines...

#1: Dark ruby in color, not showing much color change, but doesn't have the bright lustre of a young wine. The rim doesn't show much glycerin, everyone's in agreement that it's definitely old world, which is confirmed by the earthiness on the nose. Flavors speak of red and black fruits and darkness. Speculation focuses on Spain, then the Rhone. 1999 Hermitage from Guigal.

#2: Opaque and ruby, turning to brownish red on the edge of the rim. Old World for sure. The group surges over the familiar ground of cedar, dried fruits and hints of mint kissed barnyard. Bordeaux? Yes. Pauilliac? Yes. Age? Not twenty years old, better than '97 or 98, must be 1996. Yes! Do we have to start guessing estates? No, it's the classic Pauilliac, Chateau Pontet-Canet, 1996. The second vintage after Alfred Tesseron became the proprietor and began to initiate the drive to the exalted quality the estate has achieved in recent vintages.

#3) New wine! Bright red fruit jumps out of the glass supported by dark undertones and massive oak and vanilla. I was not alone in writing down the name of a property right off the bat, ( I had it pegged as a precocious 2007 Cabernet from Napa.) But I was thrown off by the oak, vanilla and tannins. The wine showed way too much cherry for Cabernet. As the spectacular wine opened in the glass, we chased and guessed around the world and never did get it. 2007 Aquilon, ultra-ripe Garnacha from Alto Moncayo in Campo de Borja. The immense wine is typical of the work of the renowned Australian winemaker, Chris Ringland.

#4) Another younger wine. Rich, dark and opulent in the glass, it has the appearance of a ripe New World wine. Intense aromas of cassis, cedar, vanilla, smoke and espresso follow through on the palate. The long gripping finish is tinged with a perfumed minerality. Despite the ripeness, the wine has an Old World sensibility. Not Bordeaux, not Spainish. It must be Italian and could only be a Super-Tuscan. 2004 Petrona Galatrona.

#5) After a whiff of funk which blows off quickly, the aromas of the last wine show copious black fruit with hints of herbs and vanilla. Once more we venture to say that it tastes like Napa Cabernet, but this time we're correct. A bit of age is correctly noted! 2003 Arns Estate.

And that was it! All that was left was to sit and visit with each other and revisit the wines and compare and contrast. We all had intended to leave around 3, but we stayed until 4:30, but that's the magic of wine: it creates a place where time and space are suspended and friends are made.

Peppers in Your Beer

2010-12-16T01:43:00.000-06:00

It was a crisp cold Sunday with clear blue skies. It was noon as I was driving home, when I was seized by a craving for tamales. A quick check revealed no other lunch plans, so I cruised by the Dallas Tortilla and Tamale Factory, picked up a quick two dozen, a bag of chips some of their incendiary hot sauce and headed for the house.

The tamales were still warm, we just grated some cheese, drizzled some hot sauce and melted the cheese in the microwave. They were moist,meaty and delicious with the rich flavors of pork and fat (they still use lard) permeating the masa. Delicious and comforting.

The meal called for beer and we pulled a large 750 ml bottle of Chipotle Porter from Mikkeller, a dark, rich ale brewed with Chipotle Peppers. The rich, bitter chocolate flavors faded to reveal the spice of the peppers punctuating the finish. The porter integrated well with the rich corn and took the flavors down into earthiness.

We don't hear a lot about European craft breweries. Part of the reason is the highly developed level of craft in traditional European breweries, which provide the inspiration and models for the American craft brewers. Europe does not have the great void of quality beer that has afflicted the America's until recently.

Mikkeller is based in Copenhagen and their products are just now beginning to penetrate the Southwest.

French Wines on a Rainy Afternoon

2010-11-10T02:17:00.004-06:00

The cold, gray rainy day gave rather certain credence to the fact that the baseball season was finally over. In the space of a few hours the fact that just yesterday the Rangers were playing in the sunshine of the World Series seemed a distant illusion.

After spending the morning napping in the hospital receiving an antiviral infusion, I decided to head to Grailey's new location in the design district to taste through the wine portfolio of Kermit Lynch, the legendary importer of artisinal French wines. The warm, cozy room lined with great bottles of wine seemed like the perfect place to be.

Kermit Lynch's Sales Director Bruce Neyers was pouring at the first table. I know Bruce because Sigel's carries his wines and I've poured Neyers wines with Bruce at several tastings, so encountering him here was slightly out of context. I listened and tasted as he poured and commented on the wines. A few of the my favorites:

Chateau Ducasse Blanc 2009 Bordeaux Blanc; Chateau Graville Lacoste 2009 Graves Blanc - These wines are made by the same winemaker from the same blend of grapes (Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and a dash of Muscadelle) but are separated by about 5 miles. The Ducasse is actually in Sauternes (but is finished bone dry, hence the Bordeaux Blanc appellation) and the clay soil gives the wine a soft, richer setting for the the dry citrus infused flavors. The gravelly soil of the Graves gives the same flavors a steely mineral character. Both are delicious, it's a matter of style!

The 2008 Morgon from Domaine Lapierre was something of a revelation. The wine comes from 45 year old vines farmed "bio-dynamic" and is made naturally without additional yeasts, enzymes or SO2. Violet perfumes and gentle fruits lead to flavors that start subtly and delicate and grow in authority as the wine is enjoyed and swallowed. Gentle tannins and vibrant acids keep the perfumes alive on the finish. Great Beaujolais is so hard to find and so misunderstood.

Next up were the Burgundy's from Domaine de Villaine. Yes, the same de Villaine family as DRC. But these wines are from Bouzeron, Rully and Mercurey in the Cote de Chalonnaise just to the south of the famous slope of the Cote d'Or. The fruit does not offer the potential of the famous slopes, so the work in the vineyards and the cellar must be impeccable and that describes these wines: clean, crisp, focused and delineated. The Bouzeron, made from Aligote was Chablis-like in its lean attack. The 'Les Clous" Bourgogne Blanc opened up in breadth and the Rully gave hints of vanilla and spice to the lean and focused wine. Lightning quick with hints of richness, these wines could only come from Burgundy. Two reds were offered, "La Fortune" and "La Digoine," both from Mercurey. "What is the difference?" we were asked. The two wines tasted the same, pinot perfume with lean red fruit and a mineral finish, yet one was clearly richer. The wines were from the same vineyard. The difference was about the age of the vines: about twenty years.

The wine was weaving its spell. I was rediscovering the magic of the French wines in the warmth of the room on a cold dreary afternoon.

French wines captured my imagination in the early seventies as I discovered wine and read and reread Hugh Johnson's World Atlas and Frank Schoonmaker's Encylopedia of Wine. My battered copy still has old labels that I steamed off bottles thirty five years ago. By the nineties, good California wines had outgrown what I was willing to spend and Cotes du Rhone became my standard alternative to dreary bottles of domestic Cabernet and Chardonnay. When I started working as a wine consultant ten years ago, Rhone wines became a passion which was culminated when I went to for Sigel's and was able to go to France one of Bobby Kacher's legendary 'death marches.' We tasted and drank wine from 10 in the morning to 10 at night as we visited properties from the Languedoc up the Rhone River to Burgundy. (It's a young man's trip!

And so I was reconnected to that magic as I left de Villaine and headed for the last table to taste with Daniel Brunier, the proprietor of Vieux Telegraph in Chateauneuf du Pape. The 2009 Le Pigeoulet Rouge, a vin de pays de Vaucluse stole my heart. Offering warm fruits, focused with a slight grip on the finish, it brought me back to the soul of wine. Simple, but with subtle complexity, not so showy that it demands to be the star of the evening, but certainly capable of spreading its magic over a table with food and friends. And priced so you can enjoy a bottle or two and not worry about the cost.

Of course the 2009 Vieux Telegraph was its big rich self, dark and brooding and not too structured so as to offer immediate pleasure. The Bruniers also produce the wines of Domaine la Roquete, a Chateauneuf du Pape and the 2007 L'Accent de Roquete, a cuvee that is 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre. I find that Rhone wines that are 100% Grenache generally have an empty spot on the backside of the finish. The Mourvedre filled that spot with authority! L'Accent is not made every year. There was no 2008, the 09 will be released next September.

What a way to finish a great tasting! Yikes, I spent a lot more time at the tasting than I had intended and there was something else I had to do that afternoon. I remembered, VOTE. So as I said my farewells and headed for the door, Bill asked me if I'd had any of this wine as he pulled a bottle out from under the table: Le Montrachet 2006 from Domaine Amiot. No, I hadn't, but that was soon remedied. Rich, golden chardonnay; redolent of baked pears and apples, mouth-filling and luscious, it was great wine. But I expected fireworks and excitement, I expected to be dazzled and blown away, and I wasn't. Not like I had been earlier by the impeccable wines from much less prestigious vines.

Chenin Blanc: A Personal Favorite

2010-09-02T01:00:00.000-05:00

It was my usual Sunday panic. We were supposed to have guests for dinner and I really hadn't thought about what I was going to fix which really means I hadn't thought about what wines we were going to drink. And that meant I hadn't brought something home from the store on Saturday.

It was the first weekend of the Hatch green chile season, it was hotter than hell and I was thinking fish. But did I have any wine? Digging through the wine cabinet produced a good Spanish Albarino and (yes!) a bottle of Margerum Chenin Blanc!

I love white wines that are lean, mineral and acid driven with tight, complex flavor profiles that slowly open up and reveal themselves. Chenin Blanc can do all that. It can also yield wines with varying degrees of sweetness, from demi-sec Vouvray's to full blown dessert wines. (We just received the amazing Vouvray's from Domaine Huet, a few demi-sec and bottles of sparkling wine are left. Anyone who's read Wine and War will remember Gaston Huet, a hero of the French resistance.)

Margerum Chenin Blanc comes from some old vines planted 30 years at Firestone which used to go into their Chardonnay until the recent change in ownership. The new owners wanted 100% Chardonnay and Doug was happy to purchase the Chenin. Doug picks at full ripeness, there is usually some botrytis infecting some of the bunches. Fermentation takes place in both stainless tanks (75%) and old barrels (25%.) After barrel aging in neutral barrels, the finished wine emerges. The lean wine, driven by acid and minerals is balanced by the richness that comes from the botrytis. Delicate floral aromas contain a vague suggestion of lemon zest. The wine is full and powerful on the palate. Tasting notes are difficult to identify. The wine is too tight and complex.

I remember encountering a Savennieres from the legendary biodynamic producer Nicolas Joly. It was in a blind tasting session during training classes for the beginning level of Sommelier certification. The course was led by the American Master Sommelier, Fred Dame. I had to identify 3 fruit and 3 non-fruit aromatic components of the wine in 24 seconds. I called out "Mineral, lanolin, dried honey, marzipan!" and stalled. He said "I need some fruit!" Finally I said in frustration "There is no goddamn fruit!!!" "CORRECT!" he said, and moved on. (In recap he said there are always some dried fruits that will almost always get you by.)

As the Sunday developed, our guests bowed out of dinner. My wife is a teacher and they were both teachers and the next day was the first day school. But my momentum was underway. Susan would have a great meal to send her into school year.

I pan fried some trout in butter and olive oil with green chile strips, grape tomatoes and basil. The sauce was finished with lemon juice, wine and a little more butter. An ear of super-sweet grilled corn on the side added a little sweetness.

And the wine tied the whole meal together!

Rose: The Last Jewel of the Summer

2010-08-26T11:22:00.008-05:00

The sun has been relentless this summer. The 100 degree days started early and stayed and stayed for an old school 'Baked Dallas Summer' before finally breaking a couple of days ago. Maybe that's why the shipment of Provencal rose wines sold out so fast. They came in late and flew out of the stores. Light, crisp and dry with sometimes delicate, sometimes not-so-delicate hints of strawberries, raspberries and cherries, they provide a delicious foil to the oppressive heat.

And the wines come from all over. France, Spain, California, South Africa and Australia. Some friends were in the store yesterday looking for a rose from Oregon they bought from my son during their stay in Santa Fe. (I hate it when he sells my customers wines I can't get!!!) I sold them some bottles from the last case of one of my favorites, the wine from Mas Carlot in the Costieres de Nimes (ironic, because Noel is French!)

But the real jewel was the last rose to come into the store. It's from Chateau Haut-Bailly and it is special in a couple of ways. First and foremost, the wine is delicious, but delicious in a totally different way from the simpler wines from the south. The fruit notes are the same, but instead of smelling like fresh berries, the subtle flavor is the perfume of berries. The wine seems crisp but the acids run below and support the rich lingering creaminess of the perfumed fruits. Fresh, but perfumed. Crisp, but creamy. I'm smiling as I sit and remember the wine.

But the wine should be good. It's from a highly regarded Bordeaux estate from Pessac-Leognan and it's the first opportunity to taste wine from the spectacular 2009 vintage. The rose is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon bled from tanks of juice destined for the estates first label wine, Chateau Haut-Bailly, which Robert Parker rated 96-98 points and suggested that it may be "the greatest Haut-Bailly ever made."

A rare treat indeed.

Ah, Sweet, Sweet Bitters, in Search of a Better Cocktail

2010-07-20T18:17:00.010-05:00

It was an early rise on my day off. Heading across town in the summer morning to meet with Matteo Luxardo and taste through his family's legendary wares.

The Luxardo company has been in existence since 1821 when Girolamo Luxardo moved the family from Genoa to Zara, on the Dalmatian coast to establish a Maraschino distillery, the region being the only habitat for the Marasca cherry. The company became one of the largest liqueur producers in Italy, exporting the Luxardo Maraschino liqueur around the world. After the factory was destroyed during World War II, it was rebuilt south of Padua, where they planted a 200 acre cherry orchard. Today the family still owns and manages the company which produces a range of 11 liqueurs plus their famous Marasca cherries, both in syrup and jam.

So why is it so special?

Because better cocktails demand better ingredients. Period. End of story. Great spirits are the base. Great flavoring agents are the modifiers. The Luxardo products are uniformly precise in flavor definition. Flavors are intense without being overpowering, sweet without being cloying. The intensity of flavor combined with seeming lightness make the Luxardo products such great flavoring agents. I'll just run briefly through my tasting notes.

Limoncello - Made from Sicilian lemons which are large, with thick skins and a thick zest. Bright yellow and transparent. Brilliant lemon zest with a long bright finish. Sweet but never loses the sense of tartness. Filtered to meet market expectations of clarity, but an unfiltered will be available in the near future. Most commonly served straight up from the freezer. Add soda for a refreshing summer cooler. Or it will make a great sno-cone!

Italian Triplum Triple-sec - Wow, this is intense stuff! Initial aromatic attack of bitter orange that becomes richer and sweeter on the floral finish. Made with with bitter oranges, sweet oranges, mandarin oranges and orange blossoms. For me, this product redefines triple-sec.

Maraschino Liqueur - Clear liqueur with intense, deep, rich essence of cherry. White and milk chocolates come from the depth of the natural flavor of the Marasca cherries. Hints of almond aromatics come from the pits. The product is pure cherry. Fruit comes from the 22,000 trees in the Luxardo orchards in the Euganean Hills near Padua. After fermentation and maturation in larch vats, the juice is distilled in small pot stills and aged for two years in Finnish ash before dilution and bottling. Excellent over fruit and an essential element to a well stocked bar.

Amaretto di Saschira - Light essence of almond with hints of caramel. I'm drinking the macaroons my grandmother used to buy at Henri's Bakery in Atlanta 50 years ago (Until today I always thought it was Henry's!). Made from pure almond paste from Sicilain almonds, aged in larch vats to mature the spirit before bottling. No apricot pits, peach pits or concentrated flavorings. Another product redefined!

Sambuca di Cesari - All Mediterranean countries have their anise based spirit, Sambuca is strictly Italian. An infusion of elderberries (Sambuca nigra) grown near the distillery and green anniseed, the clear liqueur has rich anise flavor and viscous, thick mouthfeel and is not as sweet as one would expect. Elderberries have long been known for their digestive and tonic benefits.

An impressive portfolio of liqueurs. The overarching uniformity of style is noteworthy. All products other than the maraschino and the grappa are infusions which use a distillation of beet sugars as the alcohol base. Matteo says they use the beet product because of the sweetness and neutrality of the spirits.

We also tasted the Luxardo Marasca Cherries themselves which are just unreal. The color of the fruit and the syrup is a deep, dark unctuous red and that's just the way they taste. Simply put, they transform cocktails. Try a Manhattan made with an outstanding rye whiskey, a high quality sweet vermouth and a Luxardo Marasca cherry and you'll be a believer. Or just put one on a chocolate sundae! Become a believer.

And that was the end of the regular meeting. Grappa and Bitters were available for the hardcore.

Grappa Euganea - Made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grown in the Euganean Hills in Veneto. Slightly smoky and nutty aromatics are followed by a warm and viscous grappa. Does not have the burn and jet-fuel characteristics of most grappa.

Luxardo Amaro Abano - Amaro means bitter. Abano Amaro is a medium bitter with sweet smoky bitter orange with cinammon, cardomom and long warm finish infused with sweet bitter (yes!) herbs. Very approachable. Traditionally a digestive, a favorite with the new mixologists.

Luxardo Bitters - A Campari-type aperitif in the Luxardo style. The flavorings come from the infusion of several herbs and spices such as sweet orange, bitter orange, rhubarb, mint, marjoram and thyme. Drink it before dinner to stimulate the appetite.

Luxardo Fernet - A bracing attack of bitter herbs fused with sweet fruit and eucalyptus sustained by overwhelming aromatics that hang around.

The hardcore group was buzzing with excitement at the conclusion. Most of the products are in stock most of the time at Sigel's. We hope to have the three bitters on the shelf soon.

The morning sun had intensified when we wandered into the parking lot and our next destination was not in question: Drip Coffee for a double shot of the best espresso in Dallas.

Better make that a double-double.

Oops!! Has It Been THAT Long?

2010-07-17T02:14:00.001-05:00

Evidently.

(I'm always writing in my head, just not on the keyboard.)

Where to begin. Rather than going way back, I'll just stay in the recent past. Which was vacation. We spent some nice days in Santa Fe with Michael and Laura, an amazing day in the canyons and mountains of Boulder, Utah with Mary and Glen, and a couple of spectacular drives in between the two.

Naturally, highlights were meals.

Visits to Santa Fe always begin with Margaritas, Carne Adovada and Blue Corn Enchiladas at Maria's. Maria's has the best selection of tequila and the biggest list of Margaritas in my known universe. The serious overindulgence is always followed the next morning by a massive breakfast at Tecolote Cafe. My fave: Atole Pinon pancake topped with an egg over-easy, jalapeno bacon and green chile. Oh, and warm maple syrup on the pancake not blessed by the chile. Oh my. I could drive the eleven hours to Santa Fe, eat at Maria's, eat at Tecolote and drive back home and have had a great trip.

But the greatest meals are when we cook at Michael and Laura's. They do like to eat and drink and are such great company! Michael is a manager at Susan's Fine Wine and Spirits, the best wine and spirits shop in Santa Fe and I always bring a bottle or two, so we do drink well.

We had some good cheese to start and a bottle of Mas Carlot 2009 Rose, which had just come off the container the day before. Intense strawberries and raspberries jumped from the glass. Wild cherries joined the party on the palate and were kissed on the finish by gentle acidity. Delicious, but the bottle was gone in a flash! Laura took the helm in the kitchen and fixed pork chops with bacon and sage in a vinaigrette glaze. We had some asparagus and I chipped in with a mushroom risotto, and we enjoyed a bottle of Brian Loring's 2007 Russell Vineyard Pinot Noir. The wine met the savory pork with intense wild black berry fruits and the risotto brought out a touch of earthiness from the wine.

The next day's late afternoon sun found us driving across the northern head waters of Lake Powell at the junction of the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers and through the spectacular deep red palisades of Fry Canyon. A ghostly twilight drive gave us a taste of the massive formations of the Capitol Reef and then we pushed over the 9600' summit of Boulder Mountain in the dark, surprising elk, deer and herds of cattle who thought the road was theirs at that late hour.

In the midst of the mountains and slick rock canyons lies the oasis of Boulder, Utah. The fertile valleys were farmed first by the Fremont culture and later by Mormon farmers. For years the village was a dairy center as the cattle grazed on the lush mountain meadows.

We spent the next day driving up the spine of the Capitol Reef. It can only be described as driving up a trench in the middle of the ocean bed, only there's no water at all. After the long hot drive, we discovered delicious pastrami burgers at Slacker's in Torrey, then headed up over the mountain to Mary and Glen's vintage Shasta 'Canned Ham' trailer where we enjoyed a bottle of sparkling wine and margaritas. Well fortified, we raced down the mountain to dinner.

Our goal was the Boulder Mountain Lodge and the Hell's Backbone Grill. The restaurant is run by two visionary women, Blake Spalding and Jennifer Castle who are dedicated to local sourcing. They have their own farm and gardens, raise hens for eggs, meat is locally produced, the goal is local, organic and sustainable. Not only that, they are lovely, charming and amazing women who produce delicious food. My sister Mary has gotten to be good friends with them so Blake joined us at our table and guided our selections. Salads with local greens, radish vichysoisse, enchiladas with tender young tumbleweeds, trout, bison filets, tender lamb and rich ice creams with eggs supplied by Blake's 'girls' (her hens.)

Of course with wine. Did I mention the wine? Before dinner we shared another bottle of new Rose, this time from Mas Guiot. Similar to the Carlot but Francois and Sylvia always get a touch of dark black cherry in their rose. We enjoyed the wine on the porch behind our room overlooking the marsh/pond with Reef formations and Boulder Mountain off in the distance. Two bottles with dinner, first a bottle of 2008 Melville Inox Chardonnay. Single clone, meticulously farmed chardonnay, cold soaked, cold fermented, stainless steel, minimum handling. Edgy, nervous, laser beam of intense flavor. I love it! The wine sliced through the vichysoisse and made the trout sing. And another bottle of 2007 Loring Pinot Noir. This time, from the Brousseau vineyard, grown the sparse Pinnacle highlands of the Chalone AVA. Dark, rich and brooding, it was the perfect foil for the tender lamb and spice-rubbed bison filets.

After a late breakfast at the Grill, we headed over the mountain and through the canyons back to Santa Fe and a last meal with Michael and Laura. I found a Brunello at Michael's store and though it was way too young, I just had to have it. Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova 2004. I've enjoyed both the Rosso and base level Brunello over the last few months, so it only seemed natural. I mean professionally speaking and all... The wine was big, intense and young, so I splash decanted it twice and let it breath for a couple of hours and then poured through a Vinturi aerator. It was still big and intense, but the manipulation pulled an amazing amount of the dark, hoisin tinged black cherry fruit out of the wine so that the fruit helped mask the wine's massive structure.

To match the wine I seared and pan roasted a pork tenderloin and sauced it with mushrooms in an intense wine reduction accompanied by gnocchi tossed in brown butter and sage from their garden. And Parmigiano out of hand as we wiped out plates and finished the bottle.

Pralines and Cream Ice Cream for dessert.

I was happy. We all were happy.

We headed back to Dallas where Susan immediately had two root canals. Yes, she did the whole trip flying on hydrocodone!

BT#5: Descent Into Bacchanalia...

2010-05-20T02:44:00.003-05:00

Well, it was supposed to rain, but it didn't. Instead the sunny afternoon found the crew at Taverna, a casual Italian restaurant opened by Alberto Lombardi, who has been at the forefront of Dallas Italian restaurants for 30 years. The long table was jam packed with a staggering array of brown bags. Nothing to do but take a deep breath and start tasting and taking notes!

1) The first wine (NOT in the above photo...) showed aromatics of lemon zest with brisk acidity and a dry minerally finish with a slightly bitter edge. Medium bodied with tons of flavor but a modicum of fruit, the wine had to be Italian. The weight pointed to Cortese and Gavi di Gavi it was. 2008 from Marchesi de Barolo.

2) Butterscotch and Meyer lemons with nicely integrated toast on the finish. The wine screamed California Chardonnay. John astutely picked up aging notes in the touch of darkness in the butterscotch. Brilliant acidity suggested Sta. Rita Hills. Indeed the wine was Gratis 2004 Chardonnay with fruit from the famed Seasmoke Vineyard.

3) Layers of citrus oils and rocks inform the aromatics and flavors of the next wine. John exclaims, "Pinot Bianco" and then "or Pinot Gris or Pinot Auxerrois or Riesling or one of those Alsatian..." If only he'd stopped with his first thought. Terlano Pinot Bianco 2008 from the rocky vineyards of Alto Adige. I guess nobody reads my blog.... check it out. Tasting the Rock at the Center at the Center of the Wine.

4) Whit introduces the next wine as just something fun they brought to stump the group. And stump us it did. Gorgeously floral and complex with both indescribable lightness and depth with a beautiful balance of acidity and minerality. Wow, I really enjoyed this wine. Turns out to be from young producers in Friuli. The main grape is Rondinella Bianca. The grape is normally red, but they found some trending to white in a corner of their Valpolicella vineyard and isolated and developed the clones. Hence the name, From Black to White, Il Bianco, 2008. From Zyme.

5) Poached pears, apples and hints of citrus. The fruit is sweet, the texture is rich, the finish is dry. Tasting with a fuzzy brain, instead of instinct, I kept trying to fit it into the Hyde Vineyard in Carneros, but no, the wine was French and NOT Chardonnay. If anyone said Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, it went unnoticed. Les Cailloux, 2008.

6) Finally a decanter of red wine is passed around and like a sprinter jumping from the blocks, the wine is mowed down. France, YES! Bordeaux, YES! Right Bank, YES! Pomerol, YES! 2000, YES! Vieux Chateau Certan, YES, YES, YES!!!! The wine is, in fact, quite spectacular and pretty damned perfect in my humble opinion. 2000 Vieux Chateau Certan. Pomerol. Thanks Will, and good luck in Charleston. We'll miss you, that's for sure!

7) One whiff and the cat's out of the bag on this wine as well. Napa Cabernet redolent with black fruit, a touch of smoke and dark chocolate, well-integrated fine grained tannins. Again, John calls for an older wine. And it was. 1996 Sullivan Estate Cabernet, in perfect condition. In a perfect state of transition, showing both primary and secondary fruit and only 13.2%

8) Dark purple in color, showing milk chocolate and dark black fruit with a structured smoky, toasty finish. The wine is pegged as South American, but every variety is called out except Merlot. Santa Ema 2007 Reserve Merlot.

9) An older wine. The aromatics perplexed some tasters. What's that smell? Hmm. Barnyard or brett, brett or barnyard? You gotta know the territory. Sweet dried fruits on a silky yet grippy finish. France? Most definitely. 1995 Chateau de Fonbel, Saint-Emilion.

10) Wow, cherries, chocolate, chocolate covered cherries. Giuseppe yells out "Brach's!" from the other end of the table. Long, lingering finish. Definitely grenache! 2005 Olivier Hillare Chateauneuf du Pape.

11) MORE cherries, this time with brilliant acidity, a long leathery finish and surprising tannic grip on the finish. I'm thinking Sangiovese, but I'm told to go west. Rioja, tempranillo, time in barrel. It all adds up. Marques de Murrieta Reserva Reserva, 2005.

12) Is my glass just stained with flavors? Am I really tasting more cherries? Yes. This time they turn dark and perfumed, rich and spicy. Pinot Noir? Yes it is! Is Pinot's long run started to fade? We've tasted 11 wines before the first Pinot Noir. The group pegs this wine. It's been at just about every one of these groups. 2007 En Route Pinot Noir.

13) More bright red fruit. The name Hermitage is kicked around, but this didn't taste like Syrah from the Northern Rhone, not enough meat, no bacon. Just clean red fruits with dark edged minerals. But Hermitage it is. Definitely not Australia and the acid's high for California. From Betts and Scholl, 2005.

14) "98 points Robert Parker," announces Giuseppe as he walks around the table with a decanter. Dense, dark, cloudy and opaque. Monolithic notes of licorice, violet, black and blue fruits overlay minerally asphaltics, underbrush and roasted meats with a dense structured finish. This wine didn't come within 100 feet of a filter. Glasses are stained with grit, but that doesn't compare to the sludge in the bottom of the decanter. 2001 Clos Mogador, Priorat. (Hmm. Someone needs to buy really expensive unsold wine. 98 Point Cellars. Make some real money!)

At this point, we start to become aware of the time. It's a large group and many people brought numerous wines and everyone's getting a little loud and rowdy. But we've got to be out of the restaurant before the evening crowd starts to arrive and we've still got 7 or 8 wines to go. So we pick up the pace and cut back on examination and conversation (such as it is at this point) about wines. Which is a real shame and not very fair to the people whose wines are at the end of the tasting. Wines are chose with a lot of thought and often at considerable expense and now they're not receiving reciprocal attention. Some great wines are going to be overlooked.

15) Case in point. The next wine was opened and double decanted around noon. (Maybe a little early, as John is very disappointed at how the wine is showing. We probably should have tasted it much earlier.) Still, it's magnificent wine, the fruits are a little muted, the aromatics are dried and dusty, but the perfumes are still delicate and beautiful. But the boisterous setting does the wine no favors. A treasure, 1994 Diamond Creek Cabernet. Volcanic Hill.

16) Spicy cherries, wild berries, brilliant acids, long complex finish. Gorgeous wine. Sounds like the theme of the day. Whit offers 5 bucks to anyone who gets close. Didn't matter. A hundred bucks wasn't going to get me any closer. Another wine from Alto Adige. Bressan Schioppettino, 2004 from the Bressan winery in Fruili. And yes, Schioppettino is the local name for the grape. You might know it as Ribolla Nero. I do now.

17) Hmm. Lush black fruit, hints of eucalytus and vanilla. Rich, full-bodied, integrated tannin. Balance and integration hint at some bottle age. Napa Cab anyone? Yes, by golly! Rudd Oakville Cabernet, 2001.

18) More big dark fruits, rich tannins and a kiss of barrique on the finish. California, NO. France, NO. Italy, YES. Super-Tuscan, YES. About as far as anyone gets. Will calls out Montpulciano and yes, it's Montepulciano, with Sangiovese, Marselan, and Alicante. Eneo, 2006 from Montepeloso.

19) Wow, another older Cabernet. Need more time for this wine as well. Structure is a little atypical for Napa, but it's a beautiful, well aged wine from a great producer in a much maligned vintage. 1998 Pride Cabernet Sauvignon.

20 & 21) A couple of 2006 Barbera's from Marchesi di Barolo, Ruvei 2006 and Maraia 2006. By this time, we were paying checks and people were starting to leave. No notes were taken.

So, 14 people, 21 bottles of wine. Not many empties. There's some left in a bottle I brought, but I put a pour restrictor on the bottle, which made the pours a little stingier.

These tastings started with a group that wanted to taste wines blind and try to reason through the wines as an interactive group. That requires a little self-discipline. Every glass, every bottle does not have to be consumed. There is nothing wrong with spitting or dumping (even the staggering high quality wines people have generously brought to share.) It's always fun to be able to go back and retaste favorites. OOPS. Sorry. Didn't mean to lecture, so please forgive this old man's rant.

We've had a great thing going, let's keep it.

Just Black Bean Ravioli and Yesterday's Wine

2010-05-15T00:58:00.000-05:00

Many years ago, while Susan and I were both exploring the counter-culture of the late Sixties and early Seventies our parents met and became best of friends. Particularly the Mom's. One of the common traits of both women was their unfailing ability to make friends with every shopkeeper with whom they did business. Since these relationships are reciprocal and they lived in the same neighborhood, it is not surprising that they did business with the same shopkeepers. One of those businesses was an automotive repair shop run by the Lucido family. Susan and I continued to business with them for years after we met and were married.

The story continues at the local White Rock Local Market which has started near our house. Susan has been buying pasta from Lucido's Pasta and Herbs and last week she finally popped the question. Sure enough, it's the same family. I've maintained for years that Dallas is the largest small town in the world. So tonight we had their Ravioli filled with Black Bean and Jalapeno. Tossed it with olive oil, butter and garlic; coated lightly with tomato sauce and it was delicious. The jalapeno was not spicy while eating the pasta, but the heat did aggregate and the mouth began to tingle. We washed it down with a cool, refreshing bottle of dry Rose'.

Spring brings many wonderful things. In the wine world it means rose' wine. Specifically dry rose' wine. Young, fresh, the first serious offerings from the harvest of the previous fall. (Apply your choice of metaphor for the magical rotation of the seasons here.)

In the retail world it means "get rid of last year's rose's!"

Conventional wisdom tells us that the fruit fades as the wine grows older and certainly no one would choose to pay full price for last year's wine when the new wine is on the shelf. So down come the prices. But what's in the bottle?

In the name of science, I picked up one of last years' bottles and that's what we had with our Ravioli. 2008 Mas Carlot. Mas Carlot is located in the Costieres de Nimes, on the Western Bank of the Rhone River. The wine is made from the typical Provencal varietals, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre and from grapes ripened for red wine. The juice is bled from the tanks during maceration when the desired color and flavor is attained, and then fermented to dryness. (Usually the same alcohol as the red wines.) Arrested maceration leaves higher apparent acidity which gives the wines their fresh crispness and creates dry, delicate fruit flavors of strawberries and raspberries, which can range as deep as black cherries, depending on the length of the maceration.

Interestingly, the Mas Carlot was a little disappointing when it arrived last spring. But it really showed well tonight. The fruit was clean and bright and the wine was crisp and refreshing. Color was pink with no hints of amber. It's possible that it's just been a long time since I had a bottle of rose, but the wine seemed better tonight than it did a year ago!

Anyway, at the drastically low prices, last year's wines are selling briskly. When the new container hits town, we'll be thirsty and ready for the new harvest to see us through the hot summer months!

Tasting the Rock at the Center of the Wine

2010-05-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

It was a gorgeous day. Gentle warm sun, cool breeze, no clouds and it was time for lunch.

There was an Italian portfolio tasting downtown. I could go. Time was tight, I had to try to be back at the store on time. Transportation, parking, negotiating the changes of elevators necessary to get to the 42nd floor. Taste wines. The winery reps were there from Italy, you have to show some interest and respect and then there's always people you know. It's tough to be quick!

On the other hand, I had a sandwich, I could just go park my car in the sun and nap.

I fell asleep at my desk just thinking about it. Whatever it was that was in my hands fell on the floor. The noise woke me up and I went to the wine tasting. Good decision.

Emerging from the third elevator, I gave myself 30 minutes and plunged into the wines. The first table found Petra Egarter pouring the wines of Cantina Andriano from Alto Adige. What caught my palate was the Pinot Bianco. Very lean, very mineral with suggestions of green pears and apples barely defining the precise edges of the wine. Hello! I love this wine! Theme of the day.

Inspired, my next stop was Cantina Terlan, also from Alto Adige, where I saw an old friend, the Terlan Classico. I used to sell a lot of this wine when I first got into the wine biz. It's a blend of Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc that's a fresh, clean alternative to the standard California expressions and especially to the ubiquitous Pinot Grigio. The brand has changed suppliers a couple of times and I'd lost track of the wine, which showed well, gentle aromatics, easy viscosity and the characteristic mineral finish.

But before I go on to the Pinot Bianco's, let me put these wines in their geographic context.

Alto Adige is located in the foothills of the Dolomites (Alps) in Northeast Italy. The vineyards are located on the south and east facing slopes of the valleys at altitudes between 800 and 3000 feet. Soils are decomposed dolomite and calcareous rock. The high mineral content gives these wines their signature intense mineral core. The warm days gently ripen the grapes, the cold nights give them their brilliant acidity.

The Pinot Bianco Classico was very lean. Notions of lemon oil infused the hints of green apple and pear that surrounded the intense mineral core. Technical notes inform the wine: fermentation in stainless steel, no malolactic, aging on the lees in steel for six months. Very direct, very focused. (Now in stock at the store!)

The Pinot Bianco Vorburg was next. Fruit for this wine comes from older vineyards higher up on the slopes. Yields are lower and the juice more concentrated, the wine is fermented in large oak casks with full malolactic and twelve months aging sur lees. Again, the signature polished river rock provides the rich, mineral core. The wine is still lean but the acids are not as crisp and prevalent as the Classico. A thin veil of elegant richness wraps the tongue. A burnished patina colors the bottom of the rock.

Sales Director Klaus Gasser had a couple of treats under the table...

The 1993 Pinot Bianco was made from the same fruit as the Vorburg. Like the Vorburg it was fermented and aged for 1 year in barrel, but this wine had been racked back into steel and aged for 9 years on the lees before bottling. Aromatics were a melange of delicate floral perfumes. The wine was a delicate fusion of flowers, citrus and cream. Emphasis on delicate veil, the acids keep the wine from heaviness. As always these notions are wrapped around the rock at the center.

Klaus then pulls out a dirty, crusty bottle, a 1955 Vorburg, recorked about ten years ago. The wine is the color of old gold. Flavors and aromatics are difficult to analyze. Complex notions of toasted nuts, dried fruits and citrus peels inform the aromatics and expand on the palate where they, yes, they coat the rock at the center. It's a visual thing, this round rock, dark on the bottom where it rested in the soil. Years of handling impart an amber burnish and rich layered patina.

Tasting old wines is time travel. In 1955, in the Italian Alps, the grapes were transformed by the sun from earth and water. They were preserved through fermentation, then stored in cool, dark caves until they were revealed in Dallas, Texas on a glorious spring afternoon in 2010. In 1955, I was five years old. My youngest sister was born in October, about when the wine was being made. Elvis arrived in 1956 when the wine was bottled.

2010 finds us both alive. I don't know about the wine but I've had some dicey moments along the way. We both have replacement parts. I have a new kidney, the wine has a new cork! I only wish I was as alive, vibrant and healthy as the wine.

Anatomy of a Wine Dinner

2010-04-27T11:55:00.001-05:00

A big wine dinner looks easy enough. Snag a winemaker looking to show his wares, book a restaurant on a slow night. Come up with a menu that delivers enough panache to entice the buyers. Send out an email, do some publicity and voila. Everybody shows up, enjoys some good wine and some good food and goes home happy. Maybe even some wine is sold. As one might expect, there's a lot of work putting it all together.

Monday night a sold out room enjoyed a magnificent evening of great wines and great food to welcome Jean-Guillaume Prats, managing director of the great Bordeaux estate Cos d'Estournel to Dallas. The amazing food was prepared by Chef Bruno Davaillon and Sous Chef Eric Brandt of The Mansion on Turtle Creek.

One of the perks of my job is that I get to work these dinners. Work? You might ask. Yes, work.

I showed up about 4:30 to find that Randy Mclaughlin, one of the masterminds behind the event was already opening the bottles. It wasn't as complicated as the big Bordeaux dinners we host in the fall, but that just meant we were able to pay more attention to the preparation of the wines.

Randy handed the job of opening the bottles over to me and he began the tedious task of double-decanting 32 bottles of wine. Double decanting involves splash pouring the wine into a decanter and then carefully pouring the wine back into the original bottle. Splash pouring puts bubbles of air into the wine. The double pouring exposes the wine to air twice. The surface area of the bubbles combined with the double pour pulls the aromatic and flavor molecules to the surface and increases perception of the fruit characteristics of the wine. (Here's a link to a scientific study of this process as it relates to champagne.) We double decanted all the younger wines three hours before they were poured. The 1995 was carefully decanted and served from the decanters.

Of course sediment is the other reason to decant. The 2006 and 2007 wines were pretty clean. The 2001 threw a lot of clunky sediment. So much that we had to rinse all the bottles before they could be refilled. The 1995 appeared to have been stored upside down! The necks contained a sticky sediment which stuck to the corks. Pouring these was tricky indeed. The good news was that each decanter of the '01 had a little wine left in the bottom. Hmm. It didn't take much ingenuity to aggregate the dregs into one decanter. We wound up with enough for two small glasses. A nice reward for a couple of hours of tense and tedious work.

Oops! Not yet. More work to be done. We lay out the menus and wine lists. Then check each place setting, making sure the glasses are clean and no stray glasses have made it onto the tables and that they are arranged correctly so every place setting is identical.

Now we can sit for a minute and enjoy the wine. The 2001 is magnificent.

Then, back to work. Randy meets with the wait staff and I start opening the white wines. It's the first time I've seen a bottle of white Bordeaux from Cos. The label is the familiar Cos label, but where you expect maroon ink, it's pale green. Interesting. The aromatics are tart and redolent of lime.

By now guests are starting to show, so it's on with the jackets and on with the show!

Dom Ruinart 1998 Blanc de Blanc Champagne is poured as hors d' oeuvres are passed. The pale gold wine is still in the glass, but lively on the palate. The silky mousse delivers citrus oils and honeyed hazelnuts with a touch of lemon right on the finish. Goes beautifully with the Gougeres stuffed with goat cheese and the skewers of lobster tempura with tamarind sauce and a bite of watermelon.

John Rector, who pulls these evenings together, welcomes everyone and introduces our guest, Jean-Guillaume Prats. Jean-Guillaume is just in from a tasting in Shanghai with Angelo Gaja and Opus One and is "happy to be back in civilization." They both lament the absence of the 2009 barrel samples that had been bottled for tonight's tasting. Jean-Guillaume had personally consigned them to the air carrier, but the Iceland volcano intervened and the samples have yet to arrive in Dallas. Nice. It's not everyday that you can legitimately use a volcano as an excuse!

The 2006 Cos d'Estounel Blanc is poured with the Tuna Tartare and Chilled Pea Soup. The wine is produced from grapes grown at the very northern tip of the Medoc where the Gironde meets the Atlantic. 2006 was just the second vintage the wine was produced. The wine is crisp and voluptuous simultaneously with lime and guava notes. It's fantastic with the bright green fresh pea soup and the curry seasoned raw tuna. (Sorry, no photos of the food, it just seemed too rude. But the dish was spectacular in the big white bowl!)

The 2006 Chateau Goulee 2006 is from the same area. It is good solid wine with notes of black fruit and cassis leading to a gently gripping finish of vanilla and spice. It doesn't overwhelm the rich delicacy of the braised veal cheeks, which just melt in the mouth.

A rare slice of Kobe beef with Duck Fat French Fries came with the 2006 and 2007 Cos d'Estournel's. The 2007 was silky smooth with round juicy fruits. The '06 was much more powerful and structured and was a great match for the rich sticks of potato.

A spectacular trio of cheeses chosen from the cheese case at the Sigel's Addison store accompanied the 2001 and 1995 vintages. I've heard the story from both Rector and Monsieur Prats of the discussion of elevating the quality of Cos d'Estournel after the 2000 vintage, so it must be true. It was a fateful breakfast when John gave his blessing to the reduction of yields (and increase of price) to transform Cos from very good wine to great wine. 2001 was the first vintage to reflect this change in vineyard management and the proof is in the bottle. While the wine is ripe, concentrated and built for the long haul, it sure is fun to drink right now with its exuberant dark fruit and seamless integration of powerful flavor and powerful tannin.

Tonight is the second time I've had the '95 at a Cos dinner and both times I've been surprised by the blend. 50% Merlot. The most ever. The wine is maturing. The color is showing some notes of amber and the aromatics are powerful and complex, dominated by cedar and dried fruits and flowers. It's like opening an old chest full of exotic smells.

Dessert was accompanied by a rich 1996 Chateau Coutet. We were to open the wines after the entree, but when I was getting up to go, Randy was standing by my the table, looking exhausted. He had already opened the wines. All the corks had crumbled under the pull of the corkscrew and had to extracted piece by piece. He then carefully decanted the wines. I remembered the dinner I'd worked last fall. Randy was feeling bad that night and went home after opening the wines. It was my first time opening wines solo at a big event and the corks had crumbled. I was crumbling as well, but managed to keep the wine clean, pour it back into the bottle and everything was fine. Moments like these can shake your soul!

Finally, the guests have left. We pack up the unopened bottles and the ever generous staff helped load the cases into Randy's car.

10:30. Time to go home.

Following Dreams: Robert Craig and Tor Kenward

2010-04-26T23:46:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure when it was that I realized I was not going to do something else when I grew up. That this is it. The pinnacle. End game. Thirty-five years ago a series of decisions inadvertently landed me in the packaging industry. After being down-sized ten years ago, I answered a want-ad in the newspaper and became a wine consultant. Bingo! And here I am. Not a bad gig really. I taste wines and then sell them.

Robert Craig and Tor Kenward took a slightly different path and wound up with significantly different end games. Theirs would truly be considered pinnacles as they have small family wineries producing extremely high quality wines.

Tor developed a passion for wine and moved to Napa, where he spent 27 years working for Beringer. Most of those years were spent working with Ed Sbragia and Bob Steinhauer developing and marketing the Private Reserve program, wines which have one of the longest track records in Napa for quality, style, and aging.

Together, these men walked vineyards and tasted grapes both in California and Europe in pursuit of quality. And made the wines. For twenty years, Tor's bonus was that he got to make a barrel of wine for himself. That's a lot of wine-making! And when Beringer did their deal with the Australians, Tor sold his stock and retired. And now he makes his own wine, in small lots, a few barrels at a time.

Robert Craig came from the Texas coast. With a degree in accounting, he joined the Coast Guard to serve his then required time in the armed service. Which took him to San Francisco where he discovered wine country and his passion. The only problem was that the only way he could crack into the biz was to have been born into the action or be a field worker. So he became a banker and started putting together land deals in Napa. He sold Donald Hess vineyard land on Mount Veeder and that was his ticket. He built Hess Collection into the Napa winery it is today. And now he makes his own wine.

I knew a guy thirty some odd years ago who dropped out of law school and eventually started selling wine for Sigel's. He had a passion for wine then as he does to this day. John Rector is now Executive Vice President for Sigel's and he's the guy that brought Tor Kenward and Elton Sloan, Robert Craig's Managing Partner to the Greenville Avenue store last week for a portfolio tasting. A huge enthusiastic throng of passionate wine-loving customers showed up to taste and buy the wines produced by these men who had spent their lives following their passion.

Oh yeah, John sold me a few bottles of wine through the years as well. And here I am. Passionately selling wines.

Just a Friday Night: Pizza and Wine (but special!)

2010-04-17T00:08:00.000-05:00

We finally made it out to Il Cane Rosso last Friday night for the first night of celebration for significant birthday for my wife Susan. We started with a trip to Love Field to pick up our eldest son Travis (her first surprise of the weekend) and then onto the pizza.

Il Cane Rosso is a guerrilla attack on Dallas' notions of pizza started by Jay Jerrier. Jay had a wood-burning oven made in Italy and then had it mounted on a trailer so he can pull it from location to location. Having a really big party? Give him a call.

Three nights a week, he sets up in the parking lot front of the Chocolate Angel at Preston and Forest in North Dallas and uses their dining room. Voila! Table Service. And best of all: NO LIQUOR LICENSE!!! They totally encourage BYOB as long as you don't linger at your table while people are waiting. (Just kinda not in the spirit of the place...) Pizzas are one size and are strictly Neopolitan.

Now Travis has spent the last few years in Brooklyn conducting intense investigations into the state of Pizza in New York City and qualifies as an expert. As he perused the list of pies, he noticed many references to New York pizza culture. Notably Paulie Gee (noted fanatic who just opened his own place.) So why was I taking Travis to eat pizza in Dallas, of all places? Because Il Cane Rosso is getting serious notice on NYC pizza blogs. Check out the dialogue between Jay and Paulie here on Slice, a most influential NYC blog.

The place was hopping, but service was friendly and welcoming. We ordered a series of pies, starting with basic tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil and then moving on to artichokes and mushrooms. We finished with the Super Mario, featuring the chef's choice of ingredients, usually involving multiple meats and usually spicy. All the pies were spot-on. Very correct and quite delicious!

The oven is wood fired, and gets to 900 degrees. The thin pies cook in around two minutes which gives some char to the crust and melts the cheese. There's not a lot of bulky, stringy masses of cheesy glop to hold the heat, so they cool quickly and it's a rush to eat the pie while it's still hot. Tough to do! Everyone wants to talk about how good they are, but there is no time. The pies came quickly, allowing just enough time to have a little wine, savor what you just ate and get ready to move on.

Oh. The wine. Yes we did have a bottle of wine. The 2007 Rosso di Montalcino from one of my favorite producers, Casanova di Neri. I posted a note about the Brunello in February. The Rosso is all Sangiovese and usually comes from younger vines and from vineyards not used in the main estate wines. Required aging is just a year and the wines, while complex, are not as austere and structured as the Brunello's. Still, the wine's savory dark cherries with hints of soy punctuated the cheeses, toppings and the char of the crust and primed the anticipation of the next pie.

Until the middle of the third pie, when we started to slow down. But not much, no. We finished.

Travis had noticed bags of marshmallows under the table of ingredients. Turns out the dessert pizza is a S'mores Calzone. Good not-too-sweet chocolate folded with marshmallows inside a pizza crust and baked until slightly charred and gooey. And yes. It was every big as good as it sounds.

At the end of the evening, our waitress had mentioned to Jay that he had a customer who had been to Paulie Gee's in Brooklyn, so Jay came over and we had a good visit after dinner. Even if there had been doubts, they were erased. This guy is serious about his pizza. Thanks for a great evening.

I'm sorry, the overall rush was so great I forgot to take pictures. What you see was taken from the Il Canne Rosso Facebook page. Check 'em out!

But come by the store. I'll fix you up with some good Italian wine before you go!

Pizza and Carmignano? No.... Crabcakes and Viognier!

2010-03-27T11:27:00.001-05:00

We had planned to finally make it to Il Cane Rosso for their guerrilla restaurant quick-fired Neopolitan Pizza, but Mom called and said she was making crab cakes.

'Nuff said!

She does ethereal minimalist cakes! Just beautiful crab meat with just enough mayonnaise to bind. Chill, pack crushed saltines on top of the cake and then into a hot saute pan (crust-side down). While the cakes are browning she packs more crushed saltines on the cakes and after initial browning, she loosens the cakes from the bottom of the pan and lets them finish cooking. Tension is high as she manages to turn them over. I don't understand why in the hell they're not sticking, but the cakes are a little loose and maintenance of shape is somewhat tenuous. Somehow they come out of the pan onto the plates and then it's straight to the table. (I look longingly at the browned stuff in the bottom of the pan and say a prayer for the unborn sauce...)

Served simply. A little tartar sauce, Meyer Lemon wedges. Crispy potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes and mozzarella.

I took a bottle of Melville Viognier. The wine's rich flavors of honeysuckle, peaches and Meyer lemons set the sweet crab on a pedestal and the long mineral finish let all the flavors fade into a beautiful sunset.

BT #4: Port-Mortem

2010-03-10T00:20:00.011-06:00

I don't think we've had as glorious a day with clear blue skies and warm gentle sunshine since the last gathering back in October. The big windows at Dali Wine Bar let in the sun and gave us a great view of the Dallas Arts District. Thanks to Paul Pinnell and his generous staff for putting up with us for the afternoon. The food was delicious and extremely wine friendly. And, as always, thanks to Scott for putting this event together and coordinating everyone's schedules.

When I arrived the table was jam packed with bottles in brown bags and we jumped right in. Readers of the blog might have noticed a recent tendency to shy away from straight tasting notes, but with a day like today, I will just run through the wines. No back stories today! I made the (seemingly) astute remark that it seems like we never have white wines, but boy was I wrong. The spring like weather brought out some beauties.

#1 A pale gold with hints of green on the edges exploded from the glass with grapefruit, guava and minerals and shouted "I am Sauvignon and I am New Zealand!" Matt wanted to say with all his heart that it was from somewhere besides Marlborough, but sadly, could offer no alternatives. Spy Valley 2008.

#2 As this pale, copper-tinged salmon wine was first poured, I was writing down Domaine Tempier, but when I felt the tall riesling style bottle, I knew I was sunk. Slightly sweet and redolent of creamy strawberries, floral perfumes and hints of honey, the wine was simultaneously bright, crisp and silky. Guesses start popping: Tavel? Grenache? France? No. Italy? No. Slightly sweet, pink? Bradley isn't bothered. He's just sitting back texting, the rest of us are stumped. The answer? Kessler Spatburgunder Rose 2007. Pink pinot noir rose from the Rheingau? Give me break! Rachelle arrives as we are starting the next wine, takes a sip and says. "Pinot Noir." Just like that.

#3 Yet another pale golden straw colored dry white. Lean, with very reticent aromatics. Slightly salty on the palate, flavors begin to emerge. The wine is getting interesting with very subtle notions of grapefruit emerging both on the nose and palate. Matt makes a bold declaration, "If anyone guesses the variety, I'll buy them lunch here for a year!" The guessing game starts again. France? No. Italy? Much discussion here, but finally, no. Portugal? No, but you're getting there. Finally the salt triggers my brain, "Tchakialokolioli, or whatever!" Close enough. I got the appellation (sorta) but not the variety. Hondaribbi Zurri (Chris forgive me, how could I forget?) Txakolina is the correct spelling. Itzas Mendi 2007 is the wine.

#4   Pale, golden (what was that I said about no white wines?) but exotic aromatics. The perfume is so intense and so familiar. It's pure honey! Perfumed floral aromatics infuse the honey and the palate shows hints of residual sugar and anise. Italian? Yes! Piedmont? Yes! But not moscato (maybe) or arneis (not so much). Cortese! But this is not the dry, minerally wine of Gavi, it is a light and delicate wine. L'Aurora Cortese 2007, from Icardi.

#5   The table arrives at immediate consensus on this wine. 2000-01 Left Bank Bordeaux, Saint-Julien or Margaux, a low classified growth. Definite. Final Answer. No discussion necessary. Then the question is asked, "Laura, what do you think?" "I think it's delicious! With long lingering notes of black cherries..." Oops! The wine is revealed. Chianti Classico Nippozano, 2004 Riserva! Arms jerk to raise glasses in a rush of rapid, rampant revisionism. Damn, scratch that Sangiovese blog I've been meaning to write.....

#6 Deep, dark and redolent with vanilla and smoky blueberry pie, Brad and John both jump on this right out of the bag! Archaval Ferrer? Yes! "Finca Altamira?" asks Masseto Man. Yes, but this time it's the 2007. The 2006 was one of the crowd's favorite at BT 3. And so this wine becomes one of our first to taste in two vintages!

#7   The light ruby colored wine shows notes of cherries, raisins and prunes with hints of leather. The flavors aren't quite in sync with the color and a guessing game ensues as we chase the wine from Burgundy to the Rhone Valley and Spain, then finally to Italy. But not to the Veneto! Oops again. 2003 Tommasi Amarone.

#8   Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as we have a wine that offers familiar footing. Blackberries and cassis drive this wine with authority. It is Napa Cab 06. We try to get it closer. The intense dark fruit speaks of mountains, the midpalate speaks of Oakville. Were we right? I don't know. The wine is Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2006.

#9   The color moves from brick to pale ruby, aromatics move from tar and creosote to cherries and delicate notes of anise. First ideas start in Burgundy, but as the wine opens in the glass, thoughts go South to the Rhone. I was surprised that it was not an older Chateauneuf du Pape. I was even more surprised to find it was a Cotes du Rhone, it was way too sophisticated and complex. The wine was an intricate jewel box of nuance and delicacy. Oh, but of course, it's Chateau Rayas Fonsalette, Cotes du Rhone 2004. Old school and spectacular in a very un-modern way.

#10 More big red wine. The onslaught is underway, batten down the hatches, we're back on the highway. Cabernet? Yes! Italy? Yes! Super-Tuscan? Yes! Sangiovese? Yes! One more grape gives us a pause. Finally, petite verdot. But which wine? Who knows. The answer: Brancaia, Ilatraia 2005.

#11   Wow, the nose is arresting. TCA? Definitely NOT! Brett? Maybe. Menthol? Definitely, Espresso? Definitely. Bordeaux? Yes. Big, gritty tannins. 2005? Yes. Left Bank? Yes again. Chateau Rauzan-Segla, Margaux, 2005. This wine has a long, long life ahead of it! Mr. Parker suggests that you start drinking it in 2017!

#12   The brick rimmed dark garnet wine offers notes of roses and tar and Brad quickly calls Barolo. The tannins are tight and gripping and the wine is reluctantly giving up intense notions of soy, black cherries and hoisin and more tannins. The youth seals the vintage. Brad calls it one more time. He's obviously feeling it today, the move from amateur to the pro ranks has certainly made a difference! The wine was the 2004 Barolo Brunate from Macarini. Another old school wine that could have lasted for a long, long time, but instead we enjoyed it today.

#13   Wow! Nothing reticent here! Explosive wild cherries, plums and a melange of red fruits jump from the glass amid heady the heady perfume of rich, super-ripe Pinot Noir. Exotics acids, minerals and sweet integrated tannins keep the long finish lingering on the palate. Hirsch Vineyards, 2006 Estate Pinot Noir. A rare treasure from this tiny Sonoma Coast grower.

#14   Ok, get down, bring on the FUNK! This is some dense stuff here!! There's a touch of amber on the rim to suggest a little bit of bottle age. Some of the funk blows off the glass and layers of soy, spice, black tea grudgingly reveal glimpes of dark cranberries and black cherries at the heart of the tannic core. Older Brunello? Maybe Riserva? Close. La Poderina 2001 Brunello di Montalcino.

#15   Ashland Park, California Red, 2005. I missed the backstory on this low-priced jewel, but I gather it's mainly Sonoma County Cab and Merlot and apparently it is going fast at Binny's in Chicago. I've never seen the label in this market. Some internet sites suggest it has a history as a controlled/private label. This release would fly out of the store at the price John's been paying!

#16 Coho 2007 Napa Red. This meritage blend is big and rich, with with massive servings of rich blackberry cobbler and smoky vanilla aromatics.

Is that all? I don't think I missed a wine this time. As always, a good time was had by all. The evening crowd was beginning to filter in and um, I think we were starting to get a little rowdy. I wonder why?

Time to head to the Ginger Man, where no notes were taken.

OK Masseto Man, I did miss a wine. But I did get to taste it, unlike the wine I missed totally at the last event. And while we have had many bottles of Bordeaux and Pinot Noir and now 6 (count 'em, SIX) Italian wines, Syrah is woefully under represented.

#17   Especially when the wine is like the Rockblock Reserve Syrah 2006. Made by famed Oregon pinot producer Domaine Serene from Walla Walla fruit, this wine had rich full body with deep red and black fruit and just a hint of the dark side. So smooth, so easy to drink yet so complex. Everybody loves Syrah's when they taste 'em, but nobody wants to buy 'em! What a shame.

Delicious Left-Over Riesling

2010-03-08T11:24:00.001-06:00

Saturday was BeerFest at the store. A massive tasting with 30 different Craft and Belgian beers featuring a number of new releases and seasonal offerings. It's always well-attended and we sell a lot of really good beer. It's a fun day, but it's a lot of work.

So I went home suffused with notions of hops and malt. Susan had been to the store and bought some pork chops for me (the cook) to fix for dinner along with some apples, potatoes and some brussels sprouts. I'm thinking about how to work some beer into the meal. I was wishing I had some of the new Samuel Adams Noble Pils when I saw the bottle of riesling. More to the point, two-thirds of a bottle of riesling, left from a tasting at the office two or three weeks ago. It's just been sitting in the fridge with just a cork, no vacuvin, no wine-saver, nothing. A long time for a half-empty bottle of wine.

Which was a shame, it was a fabulous wine, a 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese Riesling from our new supplier 90+ Cellars. (They buy lots of wine that have been rated 90 points and release them under the 90+ label at very competitive prices.) But surely it would taste great in the bottom of a skillet with browned chops and apples, so I grabbed the bottle, pulled the cork, and took a swig right out of the bottle.

Wow! Fabulous! The wine had changed, but the degree of oxidation had just accelerated the aging curve of the wine. Where it had been sleek and crisp, all apples and green pears, it now showed notes of apricot, brown sugar and baked apple pies.

"Susan! Bring wineglasses, NOW!!!"

Well, some of the wine did end up in the pan and the chops and apples in their riesling/butter pan sauce was quite delicious indeed. And I shouldn't have been surprised at how good the wine tasted. Sugar and acid are both preservatives and really good Spatlese's have plenty of both.

I never did get around to drinking that beer!

Whither Tasting Notes, for Kim

2010-03-03T08:14:00.003-06:00

Kim Pierce, a frequent contributor to (and mainstay of) the Dallas News' food and wine coverage called the other day to ask about tasting notes. More specifically to ask about taking tasting notes on wines and keeping track of them. And even more to the point, there are apps for smart phones. Does anybody use them?

I had seen her fishing for information on the subject on Facebook, but had not responded. My answer was somewhat embarrassing. No, most of the time I don't take notes. And at our regular staff tastings, I don't see many of my colleagues taking notes either. Why is it that? (One might ask.)

My first response is my standard line, that if wine guys were diligent organized individuals we would have big jobs making big money. But I think the truth is that one of reasons we are wine guys is our ability to analyze and remember flavors. Most of our staff tastings are visiting new releases of familiar producers, so there is a context for storing the information. The information has to be in our heads in a fluid system of logic so we can recall the information when talking with customers. NO NOTES ON THE SELLING FLOOR!!!

Where I do see notes being taken and coming back into the store is when guys go to big portfolio tastings where there are wines and producers which are either new or significant. So notes are taken. Are they stored? Well, they're usually on a desk or in a pocket.

Readers might be relieved to know that I have been a little more diligent about note-taking since I started writing this blog. But as far as storage, it's nice that I have the blog! When I started in the industry, my mother (a bookbinder) made a beautiful book for me to take notes. I took copious notes on a trip to France. Some are legible. At Mas Carlot in the Costieres de Nimes, a dog knocked over my wine glass with his tail and spilled wine on my book. From then on I recorded the color of every wine by controlled spillage. Sort of a Jackson Pollock approach to note taking. (Can't do that with an app!)

Alas, diligence flagged on the return home. Every now and then I drag it out and think I will make more notes. Yeah, it's a sad and sporadic journal.

I did tell Kim about a customer who takes pictures on his phone of every bottle of wine he drinks. When he comes into the store he shows me the ones he liked. He's an older gentleman, a friend of my father's. She was going to give him a call.

Wine on a Tuesday Afternoon

2010-02-27T02:33:00.001-06:00

Spent a lazy afternoon at a neighborhood pizza and pasta place with a few friends and some bottles of wine. Nothing was tasted blind, nobody was trying to wow anyone. The wines were the excuse for conversations that started with the wines and as food and wine will do, they shrank the world to the space around us as our thoughts and ideas expanded.

The wines were all interesting. The Freeman Pinot Noir 2007 is a Russian River Pinot Noir new to the market. It is another terrific 07 Pinot in the big rich Russian River style. Big aromas with unmistakable perfumes of Pinot Noir, mouth-filling flavors with rich plums and berries covering the hints of forest floor that linger on the spicy finish. A big wine for a big price and a big meal.

Everyone's first thought was that the next wine should have been opened first. The Fire Road Pinot Noir 2008 (another nice New Zealand Pinot under $20) was a clear pale ruby color and looked like a dark rose'. Complex aromas of fresh strawberries led to flavors of creamy raspberries, strawberries and blueberries all dancing with a vibrant acidity. I know the description sounds like a rose', but there was way too much going on both in the glass and on the palate. Conversation drifted to bacon wrapped shrimp and paella, chorizo and smoked paprika.

While the Freeman was as big, luxurious and delicious as it should have been and certainly lived up to what $50 should deliver in the current Pinot market, somehow, the Fire Road, with its pale color and big flavor managed to capture our fancy. Maybe it was just the pizza!

We then jumped to Italy for the 2007 Tre from Brancaia. A blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot that sees time in barrel, the Tre comes in around $20, definitely on the high end its category. The wine was very tight at first, but its heritage began to show more and more as the afternoon passed. The black fruit of the Bordeaux grapes came out first and eventually the Sangio' woke up and the wine showed its true Italian heritage with flying colors.

And last there was a Brunello. 2004 Casanova di Neri. When we really started to tuck into the wine it had been about 4 hours since the wine had been double decanted and the wine was flat out singing with dark aromas of soy and cherry leading to a fruity core of black cherries and cranberries mingled with earth, brush, spices and integrated tannins. Priced in the mid $50's, the wine is a veritable steal in the pricey world of Brunello's.

At this point, the pizza was gone, the wine was gone. Other customers had long since left the restaurant and there was maybe time to get something done before the afternoon was over. Or not. There was talk of espresso. There was more talk of grappa.....

Great Moments in Retail 1.03

2010-02-20T07:16:00.003-06:00

Cell phones. They drive me nuts.

I understand when I'm helping customers who get an important call, business or personal. I step aside and give them space to conduct their business. They apologize and we resume. Sometimes customers get calls and say they're busy and ask if they can call back. Sometimes.

Usually they just wander around and it goes like this:

A customer walks in the store talking on the phone, looks around and heads for the wines. Still talking. Wanders down the Chardonnay aisle, looks around. Walks toward the wall of Cabernet. Stops, still talking, looks to right and glances to the left. Turns around and walks through South America, talking all the while. And frequently, just keeps on walking and talking, right on out of the store.

"Goodbye!" I think. "Maybe, just maybe I could have helped you find something? Oh, thanks for coming in!"

Sometimes you overhear snippets of conversation and you know the customer is talking to a friend about wine. They look at this and they look at that. Their friend is telling them to look for a certain wine, who knows what? Who knows if the customer is even in the right aisle? I hover nearby, waiting for an opportunity to penetrate this cone of technological isolation. PEOPLE, WAKE UP! I know my inventory, I can satisfy your oenological need!

Last Friday a customer was standing in the middle of the Southern Rhone and looking from label to label all the while talking on his phone. I was watching, waiting, feeling like a vulture when I was interrupted by a phone call. It was a J***, a longtime customer who is an avid devotee of Rhone wines.

"A friend of mine is back in your Rhone section and I was trying to help him find Domaine Fondreche, could you go back and help him."

"Of course. I was watching him look at the wines, but I couldn't help him because he was talking on his cell phone!"

The irony was devastating. I walked back with a smile on my face and interrupted with confidence. "I can help you!" He was looking for something rich, dark and velvety for a Valentine's Day dinner. Fondreche is an amazing producer of intense wines from Cotes du Ventoux. J*** knows his wines and has bought many a case.

The customer bought a couple bottles of the Domaine Fondreche 2007 Cuvee Persia which is 90% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre, all barrel aged. The wine offers dark floral aromas followed by intense black and red berries with notions of darkness swirling beneath the fruit. The finish is long with integrated tannins and hints of minerality. (Yes, it got the requisite 93 points the in The Wine Advocate for them that don't believe...) He also bought a bottle of the 2007 Cuvee Nadal which is half Grenache and tends toward brighter red fruits. The Nadal is a more traditional Rhone red and while it doesn't offer the hedonistic decadence of the Persia, it's an outstanding wine (91 points). Both wines are great values and sell in the mid -twenties.

Cell phones, though are just the beginning of retail technology.

Smart phones can read barcodes and tell you about the products. For example, Greatbrewers.com sells an app that can read the barcode on a bottle of beer and not only tell you about the brewery, and the style, flavor and bitterness of the beer, but can tell you the nearest store or pub that sells the beer. I saw their logo on bars and deli's all over New York City a couple of weeks ago.

Ole Imports, a new innovative importer of Spanish wines puts a telephone number with a code on each bottle so you can call the number and hear information about the wine. That's in addition to the unusual amount of information about the variety and growing region they put on the back label. Which is an extremely useful alternative to the usual drivel about the romanticism of the wine and the vineyard.

But these information aids are what you need to shop in a grocery or discount store.

Surely the best alternative is a well-stocked wine store staffed with customer oriented 'flavor junkies' who know their stuff and are filled with evangelical fervor to fill the world with great wine.

Watching the Detectives: Who Can You Believe?

2010-02-14T23:32:00.000-06:00

It's a huge world of wine out there. There's some 2500 or so labels in my store alone. I try to count them sometimes, but hell, I'm a wine guy. If I could count I'd be making real money doing a real job, not just tasting fermented grape juice and telling those who listen what's good and what's not.

But I can't taste it all and who's breaking open all those expensive wines just for me to try anyway?

So we all read Robert Parker, James Laube, Stephen Tanzer, James Suckling and a host of wine writers writing for various publications and how tied are they to the advertising dollars anyway? It was ten years ago and I hadn't been in the business more than a few weeks when I heard my first customer tell me he doesn't drink anything that doesn't get 90 points. It was about a year later when I head James Clendenen, the mind behind Au Bon Climat tell us that 89 points from The Wine Spectator was just a "big f--- you." And stories like that go on forever.

So we were celebrating a certain family member's birthday last night (the age is only slightly beyond comprehension.) Take out Chinese and Stein's chocolate cake with white butter cream.

La Cuvee Ancienne from Domaine Boumard was fabulous with shrimp rolls with peanut sauce. The wine, a blend of several vintages ranging from sort of old to very old Chenin Blanc was a golden amber with dried fruits, rich honeyed notes and a complex nutty minerally finish. The sweeter notes of the orange beef focused the acids and made it shine. What would critics think of this, much less consumers? I shudder to think. Sadly I know what Texas buyers thought of this gorgeous stuff. The wine was purchased on a close-out sale.

The 2006 Espirit de Beaucastel from Tablas Creek was its ususual silky smooth California expression of Rhone varietals. It's hard to think of food that wouldn't pair with this wine. The 2007 in current release is maybe a little more intense, but sweet, spicy, meaty, fishy; all were incorporated by the wine in stride. The critics love the wine, it gets great press as it should. But it's pricey. Rhone customers don't buy it because it's from California and it's priced like Chateauneuf-du-pape. California customers dont' buy it because it's not Cabernet or Pinot Noir.

At the end of the meal we opened a 2002 Chateau Pontet Canet and things hit the wall. It offered a blank slate with suggestions that floral cassis might be found somewhere on the other side of the austere tannins. And it was onto candles and birthday cake. And two-thirds of an opened bottle went home to see another day.

Valentine's Day saw another wave of cold air as the wind picked up from the Northwest and the hints of blue sky disappeared under waves of slate-grey clouds. A grocery list with ingredients for a beef stew went unfulfilled on the kitchen table. Blogs went unwritten. Solitaire was way easier. Finally a trip to the store yielded a porterhouse steak on sale, mushrooms and a potato or two.

Yes, and a couple of full glasses of the Pontet Canet. And as even Bordeaux from an off vintage can do, the wine had finally come to life. Aromas suggesting the perfume of violets and purple flowers came from the opaque purple wine. Gentle notions of cassis and black fruit intensified as the wine swirled around the mouth with a silky smooth finish that finished with a gentle yet firm grip of fine tannin. Subtle, elegant and ultimately powerful.

It was then I looked up what Mr. Parker had to say.

"This wine has seemingly gone to sleep and is in a dormant, ungracious stage, exhibiting notes of green tea leaves intermixed with red and black currants in its dusty nose. A medium-bodied wine with moderately high tannin and a certain austerity, it seems to be a much less impressive effort than I thought from barrel or is it just impossibly closed? There is still substantial size and tannic clout to the wine, but the fruit seems to have gone into hiding. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2020+. 88 points."

How much wine is that review going to sell?

Surprise, Mr. Parker, surprise!

Manhattans in Manhattan

2010-02-02T08:37:00.005-06:00

In New York for a few day's to taste and learn about Italian wines, thanks to the Italian Trade Commission. Came up a few days early to throw out a sleeping bag in my son's apartment in Brooklyn and live like a graduate student for a few days. Damn, it's exhausting!

So it was Saturday evening, we were sitting in a noisy bar, drinking a beer and watching bad basketball while we pondered our next move. I was exhausted and tempted to head back to the Apt, but that meant back to the cold streets and endless subway steps, and I think that's what we were doing when Travis mentioned an energetic Sake bar. Then the notion of a cocktail emerged, T's eyes lit up, he said "I know just the place!" And we wound up at the Pegu Club, a quiet 2nd floor lounge dedicated to administrations of classic and classically inspired cocktails. "A bit of the restorative" as Bertie Wooster would say.

The temptation here is to write a review, but there are plenty to be read online. I ordered a "The Little Italy", a variant of the Manhattan, with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, a delicious true maraschino cherry, but the kicker was Averna, the dark bitter Sicilian digestif. One sip and the world changed before my eyes. The sweetness of the cherry and the vermouth darkened by the various earthy chocolate bitters took all edges from the whiskey. The drink glowed on the table, a source of new life.

So, last night, after a relaxed dinner at the Apt, Travis broke out the Sazerac 18 year rye, a bottle of Averna and instead of the vermouth, a bottle of Chinato. Chinato is an herbal infused, fortified wine made in the Piedmonte, typically from Barolo. The leading flavors are quinine, clove and cardamom among many others. We had a bottle of Vergano Chinato made from Grignolino which has a brighter cherry component than richer, darker Chinato's made from Nebbiolo.

The first try was the classic Manhattan ratio of 2:1. On the first sip, it didn't seem that the Chinato had disrupted the massive flavor of the Sazerac 18, but on reflection the cherry was shining with a glowing brilliance all around the edges. Quite nice. But Travis wanted more. He cut back on the Chinato and added a good splash of Averna and a couple of drops of Angostura bitters for good measure, stirred on ice and poured.

Wow! The cherries were still glowing around the edges both from the whisky and the Chinato, but the rich vanillas and toastiness of the whisky were now dragged into undertones of bitter chocolate by the dark and bitter Averna. Delicious.

Damn, we just didn't have a cherry. And to paraphrase Trapper John, "A Manhattan just isn't a Manhattan without a cherry."

Great Moments in Retail 1.02

2010-01-25T19:18:00.004-06:00

A customer comes walking down the cabernet aisle pushing a cart. He already has several bottles of wine and is perusing our selection. Always looking to be friendly and helpful, I address the customer.

"Sir, can I help you with a wine selection, or is there anything I can help you find?"

"No, thanks I'll just look around, I think I'm doing a pretty good job."

"All right, thanks for coming in today, let me know if I can be of assistance..."

I glance in his basket. Well, he thinks he's doing a pretty good job. I see nothing but nationally advertised brands of the standard Franco-Californian varietals. Not that there's anything wrong with that... BUT the customer could be doing so much better. Generic canned chicken noodle soup will sustain, but does it have the soul to cure a cold?

Good wine shops are chock full of regional wines from around the world that bring soul to the table, many times for less money than the generics.

And good wine guys and gals, aka 'Flavor Junkies' are in the good wine shops to share those wines which can help to cure the soul!

DIATOM: Extreme Chardonnay in Attack Mode

2010-01-25T09:25:00.002-06:00

Travis' good friends Sam and Lilli spent a few days with us over the holidays and we found some time where we could just have an evening at the house with a good meal and some good wines. I was in a wine-biz post-holiday slump and planning dinner seemed insurmountable, when Travis reminded me, "Well, what are we going to drink? Once we know that we'll know what we want to eat!" Duh!!!

I knew what I wanted! I'd been saving the Diatom 2008 Huber Vineyard Chardonnay for just such an occasion! That would be a start, anyway.

Diatom is the personal project of winemaker Greg Brewer. Greg is one of THE cutting edge winemakers working in the Santa Rita Hills appellation in Santa Barbara. He is winemaker for the Melville Winery and with Steve Clifton, makes the stunning Brewer-Clifton wines.

All of the Chardonnay's from both Melville and Brewer-Clifton are what I would term extreme Chardonnay's.

What makes them extreme are extraordinary high levels of BOTH acid and alcohol, which means that the fruit is able to produce BOTH high acid and sugar levels. Which never happens. Conventional wisdom dictates that when sugar levels spike, acid levels drop and the juice is sweet. Conversely, when the acids are high, the sugars are low and the juice is tart. The unique micro-climates of the Santa Rita Hills provides super long growing seasons with early bud-break and no fall rains to rush the harvest allowing the super-ripe sugars. The East/West valleys connect the cold Pacific with the hot Central Valley to pull the fogs in early every day to cool the valleys and leave the acids.

But the DIATOM chardonnay's go beyond the mere extreme as does the INOX Chardonnay Greg produces for Melville. All involve meticulous care of the fruit in the vineyard. The surgical approach to wine-making discards any processes which detract from the purity of the fruit. Fermentation is long and very cold in stainless steel. Aging is in steel, on the lees, but with no stirring. Malolactic is inhibited. Needless to say, NO OAK! The wines all have tremendous explosion of flavor. The vivid acids give sensations of effervesence. Finishes are long and complex, but above all, clean and crisp. There is variation, but that is of course, totally driven by the vineyard. The Huber was made from vines planted 23 years ago in almost pure sand.

But, back to dinner, and what to have with the wine? I knew I wanted a meaty white fish, so I bought a piece of halibut, and sliced into small single serving slices about 1/2" thick. I made a down and dirty quick aioili with Hellman's Mayo, some olive oil, and generous amounts of crushed garlic and lemon juice. It was pretty assertive. I threw some fresh flour tortillas (cut in thirds) on a hot grill until they were crusty on one side, soft on the other. While I threw the fish on the grill, Travis spread aioli on the tortillas. I turned the fish quickly and took them off equally quickly and put the fish on top of the aioli.

And a perfect match with the wine! The wine's citrusy attack was led by crisp, clean lemons and limes which dissolved into a lengthy melange of citrus oil, sea salts and minerals. The texture was rich, but the wine was crisp and very precise and focused.
The powerful flavors of the wine matched the aioli stride for stride and the fish melted with the creaminess from the mayo and toasty grilled notes from the tortilla.

I was pretty pleased if I say so myself!

Bandol: A Note for Richard

2010-01-22T21:43:00.003-06:00

Richard, good friend, former colleague and coffee-roaster supreme purchased some bottles of an older Bandol at a close-out sale, opened one of the bottles with friends and evidently, it caused some discussion. He gave me a bottle to see what I thought.

Well, last week I finally got around to opening the wine. It was late when Susan, Travis and I finally started thinking about supper. We'd been eying the bacon, ham, eggs and long spaghetti they'd bought at Lovera's in Krebs, Oklahoma and Spaghetti Carbonara was on the collective brain. I used young Mr. Barsotti's recipe fron Nonna which called for sauteing onion and then the cooked spaghetti in the bacon grease before adding the eggs and cheese and finishing the dish. (OK, he called for pancetta, but we had all this smoky bacon and country ham thanks to the Ham-Santa...) It worked! The bacon grease made for a rich, smoky carbonara that definitely called for a glass of red wine. And yes, the Bandol was an inspired selection!

For those not in the know, Bandol is a small appellation perched on sundrenched cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean just kilometers east of Marseille. The climate is moderated by the proximity to the sea. The primary grape is the smoky brambly Mourvedre, blended with Grenache and Cinsault. The soils are rocky and yields are naturally low, producing wines with good concentration of flavor and structure. The long sunny growing season combined with the moderate climate allows the Mourvedre to develop its characteristic flavors of black fruits, licorice, leather and smoke.

The bottle of the evening was the 2000 vintage from Domaine de l'Olivette. The wine threw massive sediment and would have benefited from standing for a day or two to let the wine settle. But we just had to make due with a cloudy, silty wine. Opening the bottle revealed musty aromas of leather, smoke and wood which yielded to smoky black fruits as the wine sat in the glass.

The wine followed the same pattern on the palate, opening up to musty dried black fruits and adding notes of oily black olives as it sat it the glass. It was very complex and seemed to change constantly through the meal. While the wine was dark, complex and full-bodied, there was a lightness to the wine and it never overpowered the Carbonara. The cheese and smokiness of the ham and bacon kept the flavors working together.

Of course the sediment kept getting more and more evident as we crept closer to the bottom of the bottle. A week later, the empty bottle is sitting on my desk with a 2 inch diameter stain in the shoulder of the bottle and trail of detritus leading to the bottom.

Altogether a very pleasant evening.

Brewdog Paradox: Beer/Whisky Fusion Creates Confusion

2010-01-08T20:12:00.004-06:00

It was late in the evening on a cold winter night in Santa Fe, fire blazing, with delicious tacos and burritos. We'd spent a disappointing evening watching a courageous kid try to lead Texas to a comeback win over the hated Crimson Tide. Everyone was tired and thinking about bed.

BUT we had these beers....

1st Brewdog Spotting: I heard about Brewdog last spring from the Springbank rep who mentioned they were sending barrels to the brewery to brew cask conditioned beer. Alarms went off at the thought of the fusion of bitter hops, chocolate stouts and smoked peat! Research ensued.

Brewdog was started in 2007 by two 24 year old Scottish lads who were "bored of the industrially brewed lagers and stuffy ales that dominate the UK." They were determined to make beers that "bite" and are currently the largest independent brewery in Scotland. Paradox is their line of stouts aged in used Single Malt casks. Although I have found references to other distilleries, their website currently indicates they are using casks from The Arran Malt, Springbank, and Smokehead.

2nd Brewdog Spotting: I had the opportunity to taste some of their production brews at a trade show last summer and was quite impressed. The Punk "Post Modern" IPA and Riptide "Twisted Merciless Stout" were the only products left to sample. The samples of the cask conditioned ales were long gone.

3rd Brewdog Spotting: Vincent Henderson, a former colleague, shows up on Facebook drinking the Paradox IPA. Massive jealousy ensues. When asked where the brew was procured, he said San Francisco, but that as far as he knew the cask ales were only available in New York and California. I knew otherwise, Michael carried them in Santa Fe.

4th Brewdog Spotting: Travis and I drove out to Santa Fe and our first stop was Susan's Fine Wines where Michael works. SPOTTING!!! There, in the cold box! I bought 3.

The current release was aged in Smokehead Islay casks. Smokehead is a mystery malt. It's intensely peaty, and the on-line consensus is that it's an independent bottling of young whisky. The mystery is which distillery.

Which brings us to the 5th Brewdog Spotting, in Michael and Laura's living room, by the fire, in a glass, notebook in hand.

Initial Notes: Porter-like toastiness with sweet, dark, Belgian undertones; piney, hoppy, citrus highlights; smoky and salty, images of a campfire on a beach; dark, bitter chocolate.

Random Impressions:

"An initial attack of treble bitterness."
"It has an intense bitter salty thing at the front."
"The aroma is lean and dry, you expect sweetness and you just don't get it."
"Intense smokiness fading to seaweed with chocolaty malt."
"It never gets as heavy as you think it's going to get. It always stays on the light side."

A Brilliant Idea: Travis pours glasses of Ardbeg Uigeadail and a glass of Laphroaig 10 year old and then gets a wild hair and adds dashes of Oaxacan Chocolate Bitters to the Laphoaig.

Initially, the whiskies cancel out all the darker elements of the Paradox, rendering it rich and creamy, full of butter fat and white chocolate, with hints of milk chocolate bubbling underneath. As the whisky fades, the stout's identity returns, first tasting of smoky peat, then growing into rich, toasty chocolates which melts to reveal a smoky salty nuttiness. To my palate, the flavor was identical to the smoky, salty kernels of malted peat I chewed several weeks ago at a Laphroaig tasting.

Michael doesn't say a thing. He just keeps nosing the whisky, nosing the beer, nosing the whisky. Maybe takes a sip. Turning his head. Nosing the whisky, nosing the beer.

In Conclusion: Throughout the tasting discussion rages on the dominating question of the evening: "Is the smokiness and perfume from the hops or from peat and smoke from the barrel?" Michael thinks and we agree, the peaty phenolics have to come from the barrel.

Wine Aerators: More Flavor Through Bubbles!

2010-01-07T13:27:00.008-06:00

A big seller over the holidays was the Vinturi Wine Aerator. They sold just as fast as we could get them in. Why? They work.

We were conducting an in-store tasting of a couple of Bordeaux's on a Saturday afternoon. One was Chateau Clarke 2005, from Listrac. Good vintage, good value producer, the wine was scored 90-92 from the barrel by Robert Parker.

Poured straight from the bottle after opening, the wine showed classic black fruit and floral aromas with upfront black fruits, a slightly hollow mid-palate with good tannic grip on the finish. Exactly what you want!

We then poured the wine through the Vinturi. The noise is hilarious as the wine is accelerated through the aerator pulling in air which is injected into the wine. The design utilizes the Bernoulli principle and mixes the wine and air, just like gasoline and air are combined in the carburetor of an internal combustion engine.

The aromas were richer and more intense. Where the mid-palate was hollow there was now rich velvety fruit which overlapped and the diminished perception of the tannins. Randy, our 'wine guy emeritus' tasted the samples and thought they were two different wines! We had to repeat the experiment to convince him otherwise.

The other wine we poured was the 2006 Chateau Caronne Ste. Gemme, which is much more a ready-to-drink wine than the Clarke, featuring smoky cranberries on a dark, medium bodied frame. While the Vinturi brought slightly more texture and flavor, the effect was nowhere near as dramatic as on the more complex age worthy wine.

In subsequent weeks, we used the Vinturi during our Saturday tastings, selling both wines and Vinturi's. I have used it several times at home with my son, Travis, taking detailed tasting notes tasting wines ranging from Sean Thackrey's Pleiades to a 2005 Premier Cru Burgundy from Gevrey Chambertin. Results are consistent.

So what's happening to the wine? I suspect a couple of things.

The first and most significant is the infusion of air into the wine in the form of many tiny bubbles. A few months ago a French Scientific Journal posting made the cyber rounds about a study of Champagne bubbles and their relation to flavor. Two interesting facts: There are 5L of CO2 in a 750ml bottle of champagne compressed in around 100 million bubbles. The surface area of the bubbles is around 80 square meters.

Aromatic molecules attach both to the liquid and the bubbles. The infusion of air is similar, but much more effective than 'splash' decanting. As the bubbles break, the flavors are released. Infusion of air into the wine in the form of tiny bubbles allows the flavors to be released at a much faster rate. The accelerated rate emphasizes perception of fruits and air bubbles give the wine a richer texture.

The surface area of the bubbles also acts as an "exchange surface" through which gases can pass, allowing oxygen to mingle with the wine and perform the oxidative changes which, over time, bring out the full flavor profile of the wine. By increasing the size of the "exchange surface" with the greater number of bubbles, the Vinturi accelerates the oxidative flavor changes.

So the Vinturi Aerator definitely enhances the immediate perception of flavors, especially fruits in a newly opened wine. But the development and maturation of a wine is a very complex process, involving many aspects of flavor. Questions remain. Is the change similar to the effect of steroids on a body builder? Does the Vinturi emphasize on aspect of the flavor profile and leave other aspects in the dust?

And if it does, so what?

Most customers take their big bad-boy wines home to drink, not to hold, why shouldn't they enjoy them more!

Holidays in the Liquor Biz

2009-12-30T01:45:00.000-06:00

Holidays in the liquor and wine biz basically means no holiday at all! Just longer hours and no days off. The staggering demand for alcohol at this time of the year is always amazing.

Posts are happening constantly, just in my head and not online.

Fermenting topics:

Vinturi Wine Aerorators
Diatom Chardonnay
Great Wines at Christmas Dinner
Dogfish Head Palo Santo: Deconstructed
Vergano Chinato
Sean Thackery Pleaides XVII

Smoke of the Peat, Nut of the Barley: Laphroaig Tasting

2009-12-17T02:10:00.002-06:00

Fascinating tasting at the store last night with Simon Brooking, Laphroaig's Master Ambassador to the States. The whiskies delivered the goods as always with plenty of peat, but beautifully balanced and self-contained. We tasted several expressions of Laphroaig as well as Ardmore, a peated Highland Malt, and Teachers, a blended whisky which features a big dose of Ardmore.

My desk is next to the tasting bar in the store and I was catching up on paperwork while Simon was talking to customers when I noticed a smoky aroma. The smokiness didn't dissipate and grew stronger. My first concern was a fire of some sort, but it didn't have that electrical smell, instead it was perfumed like some strange incense. Ben confirmed my suspicions and said that Simon had a couple of lumps of peat and was heating them. Nice. I quickly abandoned the paperwork and went to investigate.

Sure enough, he had two dark lumps of peat. The larger one was the Islay peat used at Laphroaig to dry the malted barley. The smaller lump was Highland peat and is used at Ardmore, the only 100% peated Highland Malt. Peat being organic material compressed over a long period of time, it is composed of whatever grows in the region it is found. It follows that the flavors of the smoke would be different.

The Highland peat produced a sweeter and slightly resinous smoke. The first impression was rich charcoal. It was sweet and earthy with an overall impression of dense smoke. I imagined I was walking into an old barbeque house in Lockhart where they've been smoking all manner of meats for years and years. Simon attributed the sweet resin notes to the heather which native to the area.

The Islay peat was not as dark and smoky, but was more complex and aromatic and was perfumed like an incense. I was reminded of sandalwood, but much darker, with bitter chocolate undertones. Simon said the peat bogs contained a lot of bog cotton and bog myrtle. Bog myrtle is very aromatic with rich essential oils. It is used for medicines and sometimes as a substitute for hops in making beer.

Both the Ardmore and Laphroaig are 100% peated. According to Simon 15% of Laphroaig's peated malt is produced at the distillery, the rest is sourced from Port Ellen. The Islay produces a much peatier whisky. The Laphroaig contains approximately 40 parts per million peat, while the Ardmore is just 15 ppm.

The peat is used to dry the barley after it has been malted. The peat fires produce hot smoke which impart the peaty flavors into the malt. Simon also had a jar of peated, malted barley from Laphroaig, which we chewed. The small grains were nutty with smoky pipe tobacco flavors and aromas with a myriad of salty minerals and iodine from the ocean air. Addictive and delicious, the flavors just hung around on the palate forever!

Oh, we also tasted some whisky! The Teachers was surprisingly smoky and smooth. The Ardmore Traditional Cask was sweet and smooth with fruit and floral aromas floating over the delicate notes of smoky peat. The youthful Laphroaig 10 Year Old delivers the focused beam of smoky, salty pipe tobacco that is the signature of a young Islay. However the whisky is very finely balanced with hints of honey showing through the dark flavors.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask sees a second aging in small quarter casks that were traditionally used to deliver whisky on horseback. The second aging in the smaller casks allows the spirit 30% more contact with the wood. The result is a sweeter whisky with notes of creamy citrus intermingled with the dark flavors of smoky peat. The luxurious viscosity is amazing, encouraging the taster to roll the spirit around in the mouth, turning the kaleidoscope of flavors around and around. The 15 Year Old is a mature version of the 10. The focused beam of youth has matured into more refined whisky with notes of creme brulee, nutmeg and burnt orange riding the waves of smoke and peat.

As we were reflecting, Simon pulled a sample bottle of Ardmore 31 year old from his bag of tricks. The spirit was the same color as the younger Ardmore, but the flavors were much more concentrated. Simon guessed that about 60% of the whisky went to help the angels sing. Intense floral aromatics of heather and honey dominated both the nose and palate, supported by subtle notions of smoky peat. Definitely a treat!

Simon packed his bags and left for his next tasting. We were left with a lingering smoky perfume in the store and salty nutty flavors of peated barley still hanging on our palates. Those flavors were surely there during our short but sweet tasting. Talk about enhancing perceptions of flavor!

Two Mezcals: Minero and Pechuga

2009-12-10T00:34:00.002-06:00

Wow, it seems like forever I've been trying to get this post written. Every time I start it just gets too long, too involved, with way too much information. So I'm going to take a direct method. I've poured myself a touch of both Minero and Pechuga. I started to say, "of each mezcal," but that would be incorrect. The two are both expressions of the same mezcal. They are both imported by Del Maguey Mezcal who brings a number of mezcals from different villages around Oaxaca. They are all outstanding, world class spirits.

Ok, a few basics so all readers are up to speed. Mezcal is the generic name for any distillate produced from any agave. Mezcal is produced from about 120 different varieties of agave in many different regions in Mexico. Tequila is a name-controlled region around Jalisco and must be made from the Weber 'Blue' Agave native to that region. Thus, all tequila is a mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila.

By far the most mezcal is produced from agave grown in the mountains around Oaxaca. Much of the mezcal is produced in artisanal fashion with the starchy stems (called pinas which can weigh up to 125 lbs) roasted in earthen pits over hot rocks which have been heated in oak fires. The pits are covered with moist fiber from the plants, or in some villages banana leaves. The pinas are typically roasted for 3-5 days. They are then covered and allowed to sit to absorb yeasts before being crushed by large stones turned by mules or tractors. The pulp is mixed with water and allowed to ferment. It is then slowly distilled. The resulting mezcal has a characteristic smoky flavor.

Minero is made is the true artisenal fashion. The mezcal is double distilled in clay pots with bamboo tubing. Pechuga is a third distillation that takes place when the fruits ripen on the trees. 75 liters of Minero is placed in the still along with 25 pounds of wild mountain apples and plums, red plaintains, pineapple, a handful of almonds and a few pounds of rice. Over the liquid is hung a washed and skinned (but still on the carcass) chicken breast. The vapors pass over the chicken breast before condensation. They say the chicken serves to take the edge off the fruit flavors. Production is exremely limited. Just 350 bottles of the current 2007 vintage was released in February 2008.

Late one Saturday night (Sunday morning), after a long day at the State Fair of Texas, I sat down with my son Travis to do some serious analytic tasting. The mezcals were accompanied by toasted pine nuts dusted with heirloom Chimayo red chile.

The Minero shows an initial aromatic hit of smokiness which is followed by complex notes of banana, honey, citrus, some weird alkaloid herbal shit with refined 'jet fuel' aromatics providing a long finish with a steely minerality. It is very difficult to find words for the complex set of flavors encountered when the thick, viscous liquid coats the tongue. A kaleidoscope of flavors emerge from the initial smokiness as the mezcal is rolled around the mouth. Bitter lemon zest, resin, herbs and alkaloids are followed by smoky honey with hard rocks and pepper on the long desolate finish.

My sister Mary is a professional food writer. When she first encountered Minero she wrote the following: "This mezcal was a whole new kind of tasting experience for me: it was almost entirely olfactory. Maybe this is how a lizard “tastes,” by just flicking its tongue. As well as savoring a sip every few minutes, I stuck my nose in the glass and just inhaled every few minutes. The aroma was a lot more complex than anything my tongue’s taste bud receptors were designed to recognize. It had a "flavor" designed more for the limbic brain than the mouth. Other extremely volatile drinks (armagnac, cognac, old whiskey) have at least one or two comfortingly identifiable taste connections--sweet, acid, bitter. This mezcal had cut all the kite strings attached to the usual contents of the sensory memory bank. And I tend to think that’s part of the enchantment."

I had to look up limbic. "The limbic system includes the areas in the brain involved in emotion, motivation and emotional association with memory. It influences formation of memory by integrating emotions with stored memories of physical sensations." The limbic system is descended from the olfactory bulb of the brain and provides an evolutionary basis for the union of emotion, smell and memory.

So, to make Pechuga they take the intense complex flavors of Minero, add all the fruit, nuts and rice, and run the vapors over a chicken. What the hell do you get from that?

The aroma features a much milder smokiness followed by buttery, yeasty, liquified bananas reminiscent of the 'Elvis fried PBJ + Banana Sandwich' we had eaten earlier at the Fair. Fine fruity alcoholic aromatics reminiscent of a super-refined European Eau de Vie float to the forefront. The complex herbal aromas that dominated the Minero are still present, but are lurking beneath the fruit and cool refreshing notes of fresh aloe vera. One has the sensation of being very lost in a very rich and complex thing. Navigation is difficult.

Amazing viscous textures coat the palate like a lip balm. Notes of honey, complex fruits and smoke emerge in that order. The overall impression is that of the finest, cleanest, richest silver agave you could imagine. The rich spirit is tender and delicious like the best roast chicken. The finish is extremely long and complex with dark, bitter undercurrents of raw chocolate and black pepper intertwined with smoky honey.

In conclusion: Where the Minero leaves you alone on a desolate but contemplative metaphysical plain, Pechuga wraps you in a safe, warm spiritual place, safe from any storm

Difficult to find, but worth the search. We occasionally have them at Sigel's, but they don't last long!

Lots of Friends When You're Pouring Krug, Dom, Grande Dame....

2009-12-04T08:31:00.001-06:00

Had well over 500 of our closest friends in the store last night. Poured 13 different Sparkling Wines. Had over 100 empty bottles! Thanks to Ed and our good friends with Moet Hennessy for putting on a fabulous tasting.

We started with 4 selections from Domaine Chandon. The Brut and Blanc de Noir were their usual delicious selves, really good quality bubbles at very reasonable prices. Etoile was delicious, but I thought the Etoile Rose was stunning. Delicious sparkling wine at the base with just a touch of strawberries and a finishing slip of honey down the back of the tongue.

Moet Chandon showed their rich and delcious Grand Vintage 2000. Basically made with the wine that doesn't go into Dom Perigon, there is no other wine in the portfolio between the Grand Vintage and Dom. The Vintage 2000 represents an amazing value. Imperial Brut Rose has a bold touch of cherries and the Nectar Imperial has its reliable rich touch of sweetness. The Nectar has been my favorite dessert bubbly for many years.

Clicquot Brut was Clicquot Brut, full and very toasty. The Vintage 2002 was a winner as was the Rose, made for a summer Sunday watching Wimbledon with its strawberries and cream!

Of course the big table featured the tete de cuvees. Dom Perignon 2000 was fresh and crisp with stone fruits, honey, minerals and sparkling acidity. Grande Dame 1998 featured hints of toast and hazelnuts with complex fruits and honey.

Krug's current Grand Cuvee was very interesting as it is nowhere near as nutty and toasty as previous releases. They use 7 vintages to blend the wine and they have used the same barrels for fermentation for many years so the barrels are essentially neutral. They use the same vineyards and the same family has blended the wine for many years. The only variable is vintage variation. Ed suspects there is a large dollop of the 1995 in the blend. Of the different vintages of Krug he has in his cellar, the 95 is the least approachable and he's still waiting for the acidity to calm down, which would account for the crisp attack of the wine. That being said, it is quite delicious and the current blend with its crisp attack on top of the nutty complex of fruits and honeys is my favorite style of white Burgundy. Only Krug has bubbles which just makes it that much better!

Chris Ringland Shiraz Tasting with Chris Ringland

2009-12-03T03:08:00.002-06:00

As was mentioned in the previous post, the R Wines tasting was a great success. The event was very well attended, as it should be when a world famous winemaker is in the store. The wines showed very well, and best of all, sales were very brisk. In addition to selling wines with 'everyday' pricing, we took a large number of pre-sale orders for the rare and exceptional limited production shiraz's.

But the real treat was at the end of the tasting. Chris had with him a four year vertical selection of the legendary Chris Ringland Shiraz, which he had opened for a private tasting earlier in the day. And in a moment of extraordinary generosity, he shared the wines with the wine staff who had worked the tasting.

A little back story is in order. Chris Ringland Shiraz is a tiny production wine made from the Three Rivers Vineyard, located at the top of ridge in Barossa. The vines were planted in 1910. Yields are miniscule, generally around 1 ton per acre, extremely low for the Barossa Valley. Production typically is 750 to 1100 bottles, depending on the the vintage. Intervention and manipulation of the vineyard is minimal.

Chris said he throws bird netting over the vines after the grapes change color at veraison and rarely goes under the nets until it's time to harvest. "I used to be fairly obsessive about checking the progress of the grapes," he said. "But now I just throw on the netting and let it go. When you really know the vineyard, you can usually tell what's going on just by looking at the grapes. Now, when I think it's about ready, I go under and taste the grapes and maybe test the sugar. Usually it's about a week or so before they're ready to harvest and sometimes, it's 'Oh shit, we need to get these grapes in now!'"

The winemaking is equally minimal. The grapes are crushed, the juice is fermented and aged in new French oak for around 40-42 months. It is then aged in bottle for another couple of years before release. The bottles are wrapped and packaged in individual wooden boxes with lead seals. Buyers beware, there's no checking the fill level of these bottles! Generally about 1/3 of the production is sold in Australia, the rest in the States. Any wine sold in Europe is via after market transactions. Needless to say, it is not cheap.

And, needless to say, the wines are amazing. We tasted the 2001 and 2002 vintages which have been released, as well as the 2003 (about to be released) and the 2004, which is still a year or so away. The wines all show a remarkably consistent flavor profile and identity. There is vintage variation, but it doesn't come close to overriding the singular flavor of the wine produced from this exceptional vineyard.

Aromatics are deep and dark, redolent of any black fruit you can name, licorice, creosote, earth, smoke. Intensity of floral perfumes seemed to vary by vintage. The dense, dark wines bring flavors of deep, dark intensity. Notions of black fruits tend to be swallowed by soy, hoisin, smoked meats and provencal herbs before those are devoured in turn by dark minerals, asphalt, truffles, earth, integrated tannins and surprising acidity which keeps the flavors turning on the palate through the long extended finish. Alcohols tend to be massive, even by Australian standards, but totally unobtrusive. You would never even think about alcohol unless you looked at the label.

Even against this massive tapestry, each vintage presented unique characteristics and it seemed that every taster had a different favorite. The 2001 (100 pts- Robert Parker) had a dark snarl to it, reminiscent of V-8 engines and glass-pack mufflers. The 2002 (100 pts - Robert Parker) had rich, opulent fruits and was showing a seamlessly silky profile. The 2003 (97 pts- Robert Parker) showed expressive elegance and rich, exotic perfumes. The 2004 (not yet rated) was just a monolithic mass of flavor and fat baby fruit. Yet despite their differences, each wine was just a different expression of the vineyard.

(Different Expression. The term is thrown around with increasing frequency these days. Whisk(e)y folk use it all the time. This tasting gave real meaning to the expression.)

I want to express my thanks to Chris for the entire evening. He is easy to be around, to work with and to talk to. He was great with the customers and signed many, many bottles. It was an overwhelming treat to be able to taste the Chris Ringland wines at all, let alone sit around a table, taste and discuss them with the winemaker. Let me just say that it was up there as far as experiences go for wine guys like me and my colleagues. Needless to say, we wore big grins for the next few days!

R Wines Tasting with Chris Ringland

2009-12-02T01:11:00.007-06:00

It was a real treat to have Chris Ringland in the store a couple of weeks ago for a public tasting of some new releases. Chris makes the wines for "R" Wines, a partnership with Dan Philips and the wines are imported through The Grateful Palate. Over the past few years, Chris and Dan have been focusing on securing leases on some of the choicest vineyards in Australia and are producing a multitude of wines of amazing quality that are selling at amazingly affordable prices. Of course the upper tier wines will still knock your socks off!

It was my first opportunity to taste the 2008 Marquis Philips Riesling 44. Classic riesling notes of rich apricot and petrol waft from the glass, followed by crisp, mineral laden riesling that is bone dry. Very Alsatian in character.

Next we poured the 2008 Bitch Grenache. The response to this wine has always been the same. People buy the wine for the novelty of the label and then they come to buy more. The recipe is very simple: pick ripe old-vine fruit, let it ferment and put it in a bottle. No oak, no manipulation, just ripe concentrated fruit-driven wine.

2008 Permutations Pinot Noir and 2006 R Wine "Little R" Cabernet are both well-made and varietally correct, which is a big statement when you are talking about these prestigious grapes and the affordable prices these wines command.

The star of the evening was the 2007 Chris Ringland Ebenezer Shiraz. And what's not to like about this wine? Beautiful silky black fruits are robed in veils of vanilla and toasty oak. It just tastes too good and is way too easy to drink. Surprisingly, Chris says this wine is just a baby and recommends using a Vinerator wine aerator or double-decanting the wine to see all the comlexity. People seemed to like it straight from the bottle as we sold every bottle we had in the store.

And then they went to the table with the big-boy wines!

First up was the Chateau Chateau 2007 David and Goliath McLaren Vale Grenache. The Chateau Chateau series features small lots of exceptional single vineyard Grenache. The spectacular labels are designed by the Hungarian Artist, Istvan Orosz, who creates images with impossible objects, optical illusions and double-meanings. The David and Goliath, 100 cases produced from 80 year old vines aged in neutral barrels, featured layers of richly perfumed red fruits, spices, minerals and leather.

The next three wines were extremely limited expressions of Shiraz and were only available on a pre-sale basis. Evil Incarnate 2004 and The Wine 2004 are both sourced from the Hoffman Vineyard in Ebenezer, but the barrels selected for each wine were selected for their unique characteristics. Evil Incarnate was aged for 36 months in French hogsheads. The multitude of pure black fruits were precisely etched, with soy and truffles leading down a dark path of smoky earth and finely integrated tannin. The Wine saw the same barrel regimen, but the fruits are richer and more opulent and are graced with notes of soy and hoisin before dissolving into a long finish with fine tannin and dark chocolates.

Anamorphosis 2006 is sourced from Kalimna and was aged for 30 months in new French oak barrels made from four of France's finest coopers. The wine explodes on the palate in a dizzying array of red and black fruits. Imagine berries of pomegranate, huckleberry, raspberry, blackberry, red currant, black currant and cranberry all popping crazy on your palate simultaneously. Something like that. And then it just slowly dissolves into infinite inky blackness. Nice.

It so happens that the word 'anamorphosis' has a very specific meaning. (I had to look it up!) An 'anamorphisis' is a drawing that presents a distorted image which only appears in its natural form under certain conditions, say, viewed in a cylindrical mirrored surface, like a wine bottle. Istvan Orosz specializes in such things. The wine comes in a special box with the bottle (in a black fabric bag to protect the mirrored finish) and the poster with the inscrutable drawing of a forest floor on which to place the bottle to reveal the image.

A Perfect Pairing

2009-11-25T00:22:00.001-06:00

Whisky and whiskies have risen back with a vengeance. Driven by the younger generation with a ferocious drive for maximum flavors in all things alcoholic, from extreme beers to rare and powerful spirits, the current demand was not foreseen 15, 18 and 25 years ago when the spirits the market demands today had to have been fermented, distilled and laid to rest in casks. Twenty years ago, distilleries were being mothballed and cask stocks were being sold, converted into cash. The result is that today, releases are carefully parcelled out of dwindling stocks, allocated to lucky stores who sell them to loyal customers who have the foresight to put their names on waiting lists well in advance of the availability of the goods.

Recently I was lucky to share the latest release of the Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye Whiskey, which was bottled in Fall, 2009. The whisky is smooth and rich, with a heavy viscosity which coats the tongue like heavy satin. The flavor is surprisingly light yet full of the buttery brown sugars of baked apples and candied citrus dancing through the long finish. It's hard to imagine doing anything with this liquid but just savoring it neat and somehow trying to make it last as long as possible.

However, I was also lucky enough to have on hand a praline made by one of the masters, R.J. Shonuff. The pralines are large flat puddles of crisp and creamy brown sugar with a mound of pecans piled in the center. They were the perfect extension of the whiskey, taking the flavors to a deep rich nutty vortex of deliciousness. The whiskey and the praline joined in ecstatic union. Pretty hedonistic stuff for an old man like me!

Addicted: Ardbeg

2009-11-20T08:58:00.000-06:00

Devotees of the Smoky Peat and Honey gathered at the store on a cool and drizzly Monday night to meet the spirited Ardbeg 'Evangelist' Davinia Small and to welcome the newest Ardbeg offering "Corryvreckan" to Dallas.

Ardbeg is a small Islay distillery that produces some of the peatiest intensely flavored whiskies to be found. Production is tiny, they only have two stills. The distillery has been mothballed and the startup has been slow. Offerings have been limited blends of existing stocks, but are avidly sought after, achieving cult-like status.

We tasted four expressions.

The Ten Year Old, aged solely in ex-bourbon casks offered brisk smoky peat of the pure malt, highlighted by the salty lime and iodine notes of the Atlantic. Davinia kept referring to oysters! Among the publicity materials was a recipe for an Ardbeg margarita, which I initially thought was something of a heresy, but then I remembered having margarita's in New Mexico with the complex smokey Del Maguey Mezcal floated on top. Hmm. Good Reposado with Agave Nectar and lime juice, shaken, served up, Ardbeg on top.....

Uigeadail, aged in bourbon and sherry and bottled at 54% abv, packs a more powerful punch. I was able to sit at home the other evening and compile some detailed notes on both Uigeadail and Airigh Nam Beist, tasting the two side by side. They are surprisingly different expressions. Uigeadail present aromatics (in approximate order of perception) of smoke, peat, iodine, citrus oils, salt, rosemary, cedar, and honey. Tasting revealed smoke, peat, more smoke, more peat, honey, citrus oils, dense medicinal herbs followed by still more honey and then the creamy, oily texture dominates the sensation followed by sweet fruits with a long smoky floral and honeyed sweetness on the lingering finish. And then dizziness.

Airigh Nam Beist is a limited 1990 release. My understanding is that what is in shops is what there is, so don't delay if you're interested. At 46%, the whisky is a little less hot than the Uigeadail. Oak comes first on the nose with notes of vanilla and nutmeg, followed by smoke, peat and citrus oils, with apple, fennel and pine transitioning into lingering notes of smoky floral honey. Luxurious vanilla scented honeyed cream coats the palate accented by smoke, citrus oil, apples and spice before finally coming to ground in dense salt, peat, iodine and medicinal herbs, dissolving in a cloud of delicate floral creamy honeyed sweetness. Intense stuff.

Corryvreckan is the newest release. The French Oak finish gives it a different character from the other expressions which are grounded in traditional bourbon casks. First impressions are of deeply burnished wood. Polished nutmeg and spice with notes of burnt oranges give a deep resonance and then more traditional flavors of smoky, peaty honey begin to intermingle with rich warmth of creamy spicy vanilla. The 57% abv combines with the caramel and allspice to keep the richness lively on the tongue through the long finish. Quite delicious.

The following week has been one of intense addicition and withdrawl. Waking hours are spent craving any and all these flavors. As I sit here writing at 8 in the morning I have two bottles on my desk. They are so tempting. Well.... it is Friday!

Back! Outrageous Sauvignon Blanc

2009-11-20T07:23:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the absence. I've been fighting a cold and hit a lull after that very busy last week in October, but it's time to get caught up!

At last week's tasting meeting, I experienced an outrageous Sauvignon Blanc. It is the new vintage Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc from Robin Lail. The wine presented brisk aromas of candied citrus peels: lemon, lime grapefruit and hints of tangerine. It then coated the palate with tremendous viscosity. The citrus peels continued on the palate transitioning through a brief grassy interlude into a long complex minerally finish, kept sparkling with vibrant acids. The sensation was not unlike drinking a bone dry Sauternes. The wine is so rich, it's hard to believe it is crafted totally in stainless steel. After the meeting everyone joined in one common reaction, "WOW!!!" Randy was working on a dinner pairing the next day that involved grilled halibut with a pinapple glaze which would be a tremendous pairing with this wine.

For those not familiar with Robin Lail, she is an amazing woman who grew up in the inner circle of Napa Valley. Her great-uncle, Gustav Niebaum founded Inglenook Cellars in the late 1800's with the vision of making world-class wines. He passed this vision to Robin's father, John Daniels who oversaw the production of the legendary Inglenook Cabernet's of the mid 20th century that are still magnificent 50 years later. Robin grew up in the cellars while her father passed the vision to Robert Mondavi. While working with Mondavi on the Opus One project, she met Christian Moueix and together founded Dominus from the old Napanook vineyards then founded Merryvale with a young real estate developer named Bill Harlan. In 1995 she founded Lail Vineyards.

Follow the link to hear her tell her story: Robin Lail, Lail Vineyards.

And a Bordeaux Dinner!

2009-10-29T02:48:00.003-05:00

Tuesday morning, I received a call from Randy at the office asking if I could help at a Bordeaux Dinner Wednesday night at The Mansion on Turtle Creek. This question came as quite a surprise. I was not even aware of the event. But I wasn't too surprised to decline. The dinner was with a small group of customers honoring the proprietors of two estates that have become cornerstones of Sigel's Bordeaux portfolio, Alfred Tesseron of Chateau Pontet-Canet from Pauillac and Alexandre and Francois Thienpoint of Vieux Chateau Certan and Wings from Pomerol.

The evening began with Krug Champagne and passed Hors d'Oeuvres. The Krug was delicious as always with delicate hazelnuts infused with citrus and lemon oils leading to a long finish of lightly toasted brioche and honey.

Crusted Monkfish in Lobster Minestrone was the first course. It was paired with Chateau les Carmes Godard Blanc 2007 from Cotes de Franc, owned by the Thienpoints and located near Chateau Puygueraud. The rich tomato broth was complemented by the wine, which gets its richness from its unusual blend 75% Semillon, 25% Sauvignon Gris, and 10% Muscadelle.

Then the dinner took a serious turn as attention was turned to the red wines. Each course was paired with a wine from each estate and the wines were progressively older with each course. As we delved into the recent history of these two legendary estates, the dramatic theme of the evening emerged. Both of the estates had in the past enjoyed excellent reputations but had fallen into periods of relative decline. Both estates have now been taken over and driven to new heights of excellence by their current owners.

Mr. Tesseron and Mr. Thienpoint both spoke to the passions necessary to drive the course to quality. In the words of Mr. Tesseron, "The soil is our gift, our job is to learn to understand it." To that end he is moving from tractors to horses. His expectation is that the vines will live longer in the looser soils. "Horses stop when they are about to damage the vine-tree, tractors do not." The older vines should produce more intense fruit yielding more intense wines. Although it is hard to imagine his wines becoming more intense.

Roasted Squab on Butternut Squash Risotto was paired with the younger reds. The 2004 Pontet-Canet showed aromas of vibrant black fruit and a initial bright juiciness on the palate followed by waves of dark fruits and fine, gripping tannins on the finish. The wine is quite young and the mid-palate will gain weight as the wine matures. The 2001 Vieux-Chateau-Certan was dark, rich and spicy with layers of red and black berries and plums leading to depths of licorice, chocolate and espresso. Both vintages presented challenges and both were adjacent to vintages considered classic, but both wines were delicious and were well paired with the food.

Petite Filet with Roasted Porcini Mushroom on Parsnip Puree. The complex flavors of the tender beef, earthy mushroom and creamy parsnips were paired with wines from the classic 2000 vintage. Quick floral notes surrounded the deep cassis aromas of the Pontet-Canet. Massive black fruits integrated seamlessly into a sea of melted tannins. The Vieux-Chateau-Certan moved straight into pools of deep velvety black fruits of unperceived depths with very dark undercurrents. Both wines were spectacular and both spoke of their individual and common origins. Pontet Canet was definitely Pauillac, Vieux-Certan was definitely Pomerol. Both were definitely Bordeaux.

A spectacular trio of cheeses: 5 yr Gouda, Perail de Brebis, Delice de Bourgone were accompanied by the older wines. The Pontet-Canet was from 1994. Though considered an off year, 1994 was the first year Mr. Tesseron began to operate the estate with his aggressive dedication to quality. The dark wine showed no sign of age in the color. The fruit was beginning to recede from primary to dried fruits but any subtlety was lost in the intense, dark brooding flavors. I thought the wine was magnificent. 1998 was a banner year for the Right Bank and the Vieux-Certan verified the acclaim for the vintage as the wine took us deep into spectacular velvet pools of infinitely dark fruits.

Dessert was a deconstructed Tarte Tatin with a delicious Barsac, Chateau Coutet 1996 and it was almost a disaster from my end. For the first time at one of these affairs, I was given the job of opening the wines unsupervised during the meal. The corks were moist and tender and one totally crumbled. I managed to extract the very bottom of the cork intact averting total disaster, though there were a few floaties, which I was able to fish out. I do mean to tell, I was sweating!

Before their involvement in Bordeaux, the Tesseron family has long been in the Cognac business and have tremendous reserves of old stocks. Tonight he served the Lot 53, which was silky and smooth with more chocolate, praline, caramel and dried fruit flavors and aromatics than I could count. What a treat.

It's difficult to write about the last toasts of the evening. John turned the floor over to Dr. Goran Klintmalm, who started the Baylor Organ Transplant Program 25 years ago. He spoke softly and eloquently of the 'double blessing' made possible by organ transplants. He finished by turning and offering me a toast on the first anniversary of my transplant. I was totally overwhelmed. And he is right. Organ donation and transplantation is a gift of life and I have been doubly blessed to be a recipient. The knowledge and awareness of this gift grows deeper with every passing day.

BT #3 - Post Mortem

2009-10-29T01:04:00.000-05:00

BT #3
Oct 27

Once again the group gathered for an afternoon of double blind tasting. After a month of rain with only one or two sunny days, Bacchus smiled and granted us a glorious afternoon. We met again at Urbino Pizza e Pasta on Henderson and enjoyed their terrific cheese and salimi boards, flatbreads and pizzas. The front wall of the restaurant opened to the afternoon, so we were virtually sitting outside. Many thanks to the Urbino staff for their gracious hospitality. Enough about that, on to the wines!

#1 Though it started in brown paper, the clear bottle and delicious bubbles quickly betrayed the 1999 Louis Roederer Cristal. The bursting bubbles released aromas of rich yeast surrounding the essence of any citrus oil you would care to name, with delicious notes of honey toasted brioche lingering on the long effervescent finish. Nice start!

#2 This dark black/ruby wine offered aromas of deep dark fruit buried in earthy flavors of mocha and espresso. Definitely Old World in flavor, the wine showed New World richness and texture. It was quickly identified as Malbec and after further discussion as the black wine of Cahors. Chateau Coutale, 2007. It was noted that the local name for Malbec in Cahors is Cot.

#3 Another wine is betrayed by its packaging. The aromatic red fruit and the red waxy capsule left no mistake, this was a Brewer Clifton Pinot Noir. All that was left was to identify the vintage and the vineyard. The lack of pure intensity led some to think it was 2006, but it was 2007. The sappy aromatics and minerality led to guesses of Clos Pepe and the Santa Rita Hills blend, but it turned out to be the high scoring 2007 Cargasacchi.

#4 Whoa! This wine was huge, rich and powerful! It was still close to cellar temperature and the aromas were reticent, but the wine didn't last long enough to warm up. Complex and elegant, with dark smoky black fruit, distinct minerality and a rich velvety finish with a lingering grip of tannin, the wine prompted initial flirtations with Super-Tuscans and Bolgheri, but these notions were quickly quashed. It was finally revealed as an Argentine Malbec, Archaval Ferrar Finca Altamira la Consulta, 2006.

#5 Darkly transparent, the deep ruby wine was beautifully silky and floral with rich red fruits and licorice. Almost Pinot-like, its Southern Rhone origin was betrayed by subtle smoky notes of garrique. The first guess was Vacqueras and the total lack of rusticity precluded Gigondas. The bag was removed... 2005 La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape.

#6 Big rich flavors of classic Pinot Noir jumped out of the glass. The combination of wild cherries and dark black fruits on the rich velvety texture spoke compellingly of the New World. En Route 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir from Far Niente made an auspicous debut! Limited availability.

#7 As the first glass of this beast was poured from the glass, it was immediately pegged as Petite Sirah! Powerful and dark, the wine showed copious black fruits with limestone, mint, pine, rhubarb and a myriad of other flavors buried in the dense finely integrated tannins. Sirius Petite Sirah 2006 from the iconoclastic winemaker Sean Thackrey. Powerful stuff!

#8 This wine stumped the chumps! Black and blue fruits were followed by complex spices and a citrusy finish. Not only that, it had a shiney glass cork! I don't think anyone identified this Austrian blend of zweigelt and blaufrankisch. Heinrich Red, 2005.

#9 Immediate impression of this elegant refined wine: Aged Bordeaux! The tells were the slight hints of brick on the rim and the cedary notes of dried fruits. 1995-96 was the consensus on age, the problem was nailing down the appellation. The cedar and tannin pointed to the Left Bank, the dried tobacco and cigar pointed to Cabernet Franc and the Right. 1995 Chateau Moulin St. George, Saint Emilion, owned by Alain Vauthiers, co-proprietor of Ausone. The wine has an unusually high percentage of Cabernet Franc.

#10 Another wine that threw the group for a loop. The rich red/black fruits with the herbaceous mid-palate and toasty finish had everyone on their chairs screaming Napa Cab. But I know I overlooked the spicy acidity and leathery notes in the delicous structured finish. Hello! A big slug of Napa Sangiovese blended with bits of Cab, Syrah, Petite Sirah and even Viognier sure made everyone crazy happy! Pazzo by Bacio Divino.

#11 Beautiful aromas of cassis, vanilla and refined fruit led to a complex blend of primary red and black fruits with delicate aromatics of dried cranberries filling in the empty spaces. A wine this refined with beautifully integrated structure has to be Bordeaux, though at this point in the afternoon, specificity was getting difficult. 2001 Quinalt L'Enclos, Saint Emilion.

#12 Dark purple color and strong notes of rich cassis and black fruits betrayed the youth of yet another Bordeaux. Beautifully balanced and silky, yet powerful in its youth, this wine is drinking great today! Chateau Coutet, Saint Emilion 2005.

#13 Wow! #13 jumps out of the gate and it looks like... NO! It can't be... but it is! Another Bordeaux. Yessss! Bright black fruits intermingle with red fruits amid notes of licorice, cedar and toasty oak on the long integrated finish. Very ripe fruit with sweet tannins. Marojallia 2003, Margaux. This small garage operation is managed by Jean-Luc Thunevin. Production is usually less than 500 cases.

#14 Definitely brick in color, the 1995 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape showed floral notes with abstracted dried cherries and cranberries over the lengthy herbal and earthy finish.

#15 Vanilla, flowers and jammy black fruits lead to speculation that the wine is an Aussie Shiraz. But the fruit is not quite jammy enough and the pepper is more white than black. The wine was correctly identified as a Washington State Syrah. Doyenne Syrah 2006 from deLille. (delicious!)

#16 Andrew Will Sorella 2006. Damn! How did I miss this? By the time I saw the bottle it was empty.

#17 The last wine was not tasted blind, (well the wine wasn't blind.) Antinori Muffato Della Sala, 2000. A blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc with Grechetto, Traminer and Riesling. Botrytis gives the wine its characteristic honeyed sweetness, it has delicious complexity with dried fruits and candied fruit peel dancing on the long finish. There is enought vibrant acidity to keep the wine alive and fresh on the palate. A wonderful close to a long, wonderful day!

THANKS to all for their valuable contributions to making these special days special and THANKS to Scott for pulling it all together!

Morning Tasting With Joe Briggs

2009-10-28T23:51:00.000-05:00

We met and tasted with Joe Briggs, owner and winemaker of August Briggs Winery. Some of the wines we tasted were discussed on postings a couple of months ago. What was great about this meetings was just the conversation that took place with Joe. He's a very laid back and upfront guy. It was fascinating to hear him talk about his relationships with his growers. The most successful and those built on handshakes and mutual respect. In good times his growers don't demand price increases, in hard times he doesn't demand price decreases. Vines take time to grow. Wines take time to mature. Time slows down and the world shrinks. As Joe says, Napa is really a very small community of growers and winemakers. Word gets around. The fact that he places an emphasis on hand delivering payments for grapes rather than just dropping a check in the mail says volumes about his style.

We tasted the new release of Petite Meunier which is grown adjacent to the winery in the Frediani vineyard. He makes it in the manner of its cousin, Pinot Noir, but the wine is dark musty cherries with a spicy finish. It shows its warm Calistoga heritage, but is unique and delicious.

He sources Pinot Noir from a grower that is in the overlap of the Sonoma Coast appellation and the Russian River Valley. In special years Joe bottles the wine as Sonoma Coast. In other years it is blended with the Russian River appellation. 2007 was special. The initial impression of sappy wild cherry fruit leads into a dark earthy finish. Like a Gevrey Chambertin morphing into a Nuits St. Georges. Very nice!

Sunday Dinner With a Good Rhone

2009-10-25T20:23:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we received a new label from one our most reliable producers in the Southern Rhone, Fayard from Domaine Fondreche. Located in the Cotes du Ventoux, Fondreche has long been regarded one of the premier producers in the appellation. The young winemaker Sebastien Vincenti is a protege of Andre Brunel of Chateauneuf du Pape fame. Sebastien takes a firm hand in the vineyard where his production typically cames in at half the yields allowed in the appellation, making his wines intensely flavored with rich texture and deep concentration. The blend is pure Southern Rhone, 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah (the high percentage gives the wine its rich body) with the balance Carignan and Mourvedre. Fermentation takes three weeks and the wines stay on the lees for 9 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The photo shows the old Grenache vines with Mount Ventoux in the background. I remember the house from a watercolor painting on the labels Fondreche bottlings several years ago.

Anyway, to shorten the story I rubbed a porterhouse with a mixture of red chili led by some spicy Chimayo from New Mexico, threw it on the grill, fried some potatos with onions, red pepper in some bacon grease and served it all with a tomato-onion and lettuce dressed with balsamic vinagraitte. Tasted pretty good!

The dark silky smooth wine pulled all the flavors together but still let them stand on their own. The body in the wine comes purely from the dense complexity of the blended grapes. Typical Southern Rhone two-step: rich red and black cherry from the Grenache up front, a touch of funk and complexity from the Carignan and Mouvedre with a little spice from the Syrah, but not enough to clash with the chili.

In sum: a great wine from a great producer in a great vintage and a great value!

A Slow Couple of Weeks on the Wine Front.... and a Couple of Beers

2009-10-17T00:45:00.002-05:00

In case anyone was wondering, it's been a slow couple of weeks on the wine tasting front. Business is starting to pick up. Fall is series of big wine sales, new releases which means new product to bring in and work into the shelves. Many customers don't believe it, but we do try to keep a semblance of order to the wine racks.

Meanwhile, it's been a busy couple of weeks on the 'life' front. If you're interested, check out my other blog, Surviving PKD. Nicholas Kristof wrote a column in the New York Times a couple of Sunday's ago on my sons dilemma about whether to be tested for PKD to become a kidney donor when my kidney failed several years ago. Being diagnosed with the disease can severely limit insurability under current policies. The column received national attention and the reaction dominated our lives for the next week.

Then my son and a friend came to town to see the State Fair of Texas and Matt wanted to see some of Texas. So last Friday we hit the road. We circled the Denton County courthouse and headed west to Jacksboro. We saw the terrain change from the rolling horse country of North Texas to northern outcroppings of the hill county to the beginnings of West Texas.

In Jacksboro, Herd Burgers has been serving customers since 1916. Follow the link for a discussion of their unique burgers. Heading down the infamous Jacksboro Highway, we circled the Tarrant County courthouse and headed to Dallas where we drove past the Dallas County courthouse while tracing the Assassination Route. We drove past the Schoolbook Depository and accelerated past the grassy knoll and north on Stemmons.

We arrived in North Dallas an hour early and there was really nothing to do but head to the Flying Saucer for a couple of beers. We all had draft, Matt had a Real Ale, Travis had a St. Arnold's cask, I ordered Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, whereupon the waitress asked if we wanted to wait until 5 when they would be tapping a keg of Dogfish 120. Since it was already 4:30....

The thing that Dogfish does is continual hopping. For the 90 Minute Ale, a variety of hops are added slowly over the 90 minute cooking time. More hops are added over the next month as the beer ages. The result is a high alcohol beer with a tremendous level of IBU's. 'International Bitterness Units.' The trick is that so many flavors: citrus, red and black fruit, herbs and spices too numerous and complex to identify, are pulled out of the hops that the alcohol and the bitterness become the structural elements that carry the flavors.

What does this process have to do with wine? We have just received the phemonal 2007 Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from the Santa Rita Hills region in the Central Coast of California. The cool, foggy afternoons, nights and mornings allow the grapes to develop intense acid levels. The warm noon hours and the extremely long growing season (there are no fall rains forcing early harvests) produce massive flavors and massive sugars which produce high alcohol wines. So when the massive flavors are balanced by the acids and structural elements of the wine, it is balanced and luscious with tremendous depths of flavor.

The same thing happens during the 120 Minute Ale, which I tasted after the 90. Do not be deceived. The progression from the 90 to the 120 is roughly akin to going from a class 3 to a class 4 Hurricane. Technically they are the same, but the effect is way, way more powerful. IBU's are off the chart, but there is no bitterness. The beer is all hoppy, fruity, creamy and sweet with random bitter notes chiming in from all directions to somehow keep the massive flavors somewhat focused. But with the 20% alcohol kicking in everything becomes blissfully muddled happiness.

And then I think we picked up my wife and went out for Mexican food. I think.

Wines Only in Your Dreams

2009-10-01T09:47:00.004-05:00

Every fall sees suppliers holding large portfolio tastings to show new releases and to spark sales as the industry moves into the busy Fall and Winter Holidays. Recently I attended Republic/National's 'Toast to the Trade' where they graciously open bottles of the legendary wines normally gazed upon by anxious eyes and read about in publications like Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate.

The first time my wife saw a copy of The Wine Advocate, she remarked that, " This is just like reading pornography!" She was absolutely correct. Reading Parker or any of his colleagues is to read about exotic, rare and expensive sensory experiences that most of us encounter only in our dreams.

Tastings like Toast to the Trade give us lowly wine guys opportunities to benchmark their palates by tasting some of those wines. From the many wines offered I've chosen just a few to reflect on here.

Two Champagnes

Taittinger Comte de Champagne 1998: Blanc de Blanc blended from several 100% Grand Cru rated vineyards, made only in the best vintages. Light notes of citrus float in the delicate foam turning to rich brioche filled with dry honeycomb lingering in the long dry minerally finish. Big, rich and delicate at the same time. Complex and delicious!

Salon 1997: Blanc de Blanc from Salon's vineyard, Le Jardin de Salon and selected parcels from the famous Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, all 100% Grand Cru rated. Very similar to the Comte except that the flavors are richer and much more defined and precise. This would be expected as the fruit sourcing is limited to a single area. The finish has a deft touch of honey slipping down the back cleft of the tongue. Very sexy!

Four Burgundies

Raphet Pernand Vergelesses 2006: Tight aromatics give little hint of the dark plums found in the glass. The wine shows promise, but seems a little closed today. Good producers making wine from vineyards in out of the way creases in the slopes can offer good value in Burgundy. This is one of those wines.

Raphet Pernand Vergelesses 2006: From under the table comes a bottle of the same wine from 2002! Wow! The same dark damson plums that were shy and coy in the 2006 are strutting their stuff in this bottle. Undertones of soy make the dark fruit sparkle! The transforming miracle of bottle age is very evident.

Marc Roy Gevrey Chambertin 2006: Classic Gevrey showing the sappy vitality of red cherries, berries and plums exploding before the wine closes in tannic darkness. Tasting this wine was just plain fun. Gevrey Chambertin has always been my favorite and it was enhanced by conversations with my son who had recently spent a Saturday wandering the vineyards of Gevrey. He lucked onto a Faiveley picking crew who shared their lunch and wine. He repaid the favor by taking shears and bucket and picking a couple rows of Premier Cru fruit! Domaine Faiveley is represented by Republic/National, but their wine was not shown today.

Domaine Com Vogue Bonnes Mares 2006: Beautiful aromas of pungent berries and plums that can only be produced by great Pinot Noir jump from the glass. The wine has a rich texture full of ripe red and black berries and plums integrated into long dark earthy finish. The wine is very open and approachable in its youth with beautiful primary fruits bursting from the glass. However, it is ridiculously expensive!

A Big Bad Boy From a Big Bad Vintage

Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2005: This is a very nice surprice because RNDC opened the 2005 at last year's Toast. A year ago the wine resembled partially liquified espresso grounds. From very, very good espresso, I might add. But I don't think I've ever tasted a less evolved wine of such massive proportions. In one year's time, the wine has shown remarkable developement. Hints of fruit are starting to emerge from the massively dark espresso flavors. It has lost some of the grittiness and almost seems light on the palate. I suspect this apparent 'lightness' is just temporary. (Even I was skinny for a brief period in my life.) This wine has years to go before the flavors and weight are fully developed.

Rochioli Pinot Noir and Sunday Night Supper

2009-09-22T23:16:00.003-05:00

Susan bought some fresh whole wheat linguine at a new local market. It was flavored with garlic and basil. While normally I don't go in for flavored stuff, I thought it might work well with a mushroom cream sauce, which it absolutely did. A nice porterhouse was on sale at the store, and then, oh yeah, the big question. What do you pull out to drink? It's the usual Sunday dilemma: no house wine, nothing but the good stuff. What'cha gonna do?

I found a 1999 Rochioli Russian River Pinot Noir and said, 'what the hell!' Beautiful spicy black cherries with dark 'pinot' perfumes. Nice. Juicy at first but the texture grew velvety as the wine opened up. Perky acidity kept the wine alive as primary fruits gave way to dried fruits on the long finish. The color was deep,dark, transparent ruby with hints of brick just starting to show on the edges. The wine was a fabulous match with the mushroom sauce and the earthy pasta.

It's always fun to taste wines with some age. Being in the wine biz, I am continually exposed to new vintages and young wines, but am always speculating with customers on drinking windows. This wine was right in its wheelhouse showing both primary fresh fruit flavors of a young wine transitioning into the secondary dried fruits of an older wine.

I did research the wines several days later. Both The Wine Spectator and Robert Parker scored the wine 90-91 points with the drinking window ending in 2007 and 2005 respectively. But the Rochioli was far from gone. The Spectator's tasting notes were still spot on for the wine even in its 10th year. Which goes to show that well made wines from great growing sites make great wines!

And speaking of great growing sites, Rochioli is one the great growers of California Pinot Noir. After years of working in vineyards, the family began acquiring Russian River property in the 50's. The oldest vines currently are Sauvignon Blanc planted in 1959 and Pinot Noir vines planted in 1968 and 1969. Wines produced first by Williams Selyem and then Gary Farrell helped spread the fame of Rochioli fruit and the family started producing their own wines, mainly Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The wines are sold mainly through their mailing list and restaurants with minimal retail exposure.

I find I can't write these blogs just off the top of my head. I have to learn more and feel the need to verify what I think I know. So I go digging for information and photographs because the wines I tend to like are often just tips of the icebergs which are the stories of the people who make the wine and the people who grow the grapes and the soils where they are grown. And I find treasures:

Williams Selyem Interview with Joe Rochioli

My digging led me to this interview with Joe Rochioli, Jr. on Williams Selyem's website. They have video interviews with a number of their growers, but here Joe tells the story of grape growing in the Russian River Valley, going from grapes to hops to green beans and back to grapes. The Rochioli's have grown them all. I found the experience to to be magic. Primary history. The download is slow, so be patient. When it stalls, just go back and listen again while it loads, you'll learn more that way. Look at his hands as he handles a leaf stem at the end of the interview, the gnarled hands of a farmer. He says, "I guess I had something to do with that Pinot Noir thing..." Yeah, I guess he did.

California Heirlooms? August Briggs, Part Two

2009-09-11T08:58:00.001-05:00

Part two is focused on Charbono, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel, varieties that Californians like to claim for themselves. Is that really the case? And what is Charbono anyway. People always talk about it but it's almost never for sale in stores. (Well, we do get a little from August Briggs here at Sigel's!)

According to Carole Meredith, UC Davis' guru of the origins of grape vines, Charbono originates in the Savoie region of France, where is known as Corbeau, Douce Noire or Charbonneau. It is the same grape that is widely planted in Argentina, but there it is known as Bonarda. BUT the Argentine Bonarda is NOT the same as the Bonarda grown in the Piedmont region of Italy. Are you confused yet? If not then you're not reading carefully enough. Most Charbono originally came into California labelled as Barbera, which it is not. Existing California plantings are extremely small, about half being located around Calistoga. Most of the existing vines owe their existence to long-term contracts with the original Inglenook who produced Charbono's for many years.

August Briggs' Charbono comes from the older blocks of the Frediani Vineyard and were planted around 1940. Frediani Charbono is highly sought after and Joe feels very fortunate to be offered the fruit. The wine is inky black with penetrating laser beams of intense black fruit that linger on the palate supported by acids and ripe integrated tannins. It's almost Italian in style except for the ripe black fruits which reveal the signature California sun.

Petite Sirah is a young variety. The cross was discoverd by a Professor Durif of the University in Montpellier in vineyards in the Languedoc. DNA analysis shows the cross was made when Pelousin flowers were pollinated by Syrah. The new grapes saw an initial wave of popularity due to its resistance to powery mildew, but soon fell out of favor and is now almost non-existent in France. It proved popular first in California as a blending grape and is now found in Australia and Israel.

August Briggs Petite Sirah comes from the obsidian filled, red volcanic soil of the Black Rock Ranch vineyards in Lake County. The shiny black glass rocks both absorb and reflect the heat which ripens the fruit. The tiny berries develop thick skins which give the legendary tannins. Rich, soft blue and black fruits initially puts smiles on the faces of the uninitiated which scrunch when they encounter the astringent tannins on the finish. I tell them to imagine a well-marbled ribeye fresh from the grill. The fat protects the mouth from the tannins, while simultaneously the tannins cut through the fat. Which gives the most pleasure? Have a glass of old vine Petite Sirah with a great steak and let me know!

Zinfandel was long regarded as America's grape until the resemblance to Italy's Primitivo began to be noticed. It was debated for some time until Carole Meredith's DNA anaysis confirmed that Zinfandel was indeed the same as Primitivo and share common ancestry in the very rare Croatian grape Crtjenak Kastelanski. It is now thought that Zinfandel came in shipments to growers in Long Island in the 1820's and was brought to California in the Gold Rush. There are references to Napa Zinfandel in the late 1850's and by the end of the 19th Century, it was was the most widely planted variety in California.

August Briggs comes from two old vineyards near his winery in Calistoga. The Luvisi Vineyard was planted in 1908 and from the Frediani Vineyard (Note the Briggs winery in the photo to the right). Joe produces a rich silky Zin with lush, smoky black fruits leading to a velvety, spicy finish. The wine is definitely closer to the 'zin as claret' style than 'zin as dry port,' which makes it very drinkable and food friendly. And isn't that really what it's all about?

Staff Tasting: Miner Family Vineyards

2009-09-10T11:05:00.001-05:00

Tasting through Miner wines is always a good way to start the day. Highlights of the day were led by the 2007 Viognier which is nothing new. This wine has been on fire all summer! Big peach and nectarine flavors explode into the long minerally finish with the rich viscosity of the Viognier coating the mouth. The wine is summer in a glass!

The 2007 Pinot Noir's showed very well. Both were very balanced with smooth rich flavors. The Rosella's (right) was light in color as ususual but long in flavor with dusty cherries and plums lingering on the long finish. The wine is from Pisoni and Dijon clones and the Burgundian heritage shows in the wine. The Garys' features mainly Pisoni clones and as might be expected, the wine is deep, dark, rich and spicy. Unlike many big California Pinot's, this wine is beautifully balanced and definitely not over-extracted.

And that's not to mention the Chardonnnay and Cabernet's!

Blind Tasting Post Mortem

2009-09-08T23:48:00.002-05:00

Well, if everyone made it home or to the airport successfully, the tasting was a great success. Spit buckets were not in evidence nor should they have been considering the outrageous quality of the wines. If you read the previous entry, you no doubt have visions of copious notes and rigorous analysis. Well, that's just not the way things go down. Pleasure drives kick in and that means just plain drinking. Still amazing stuff went down. I'll go briefly through the wines with a bit of play-by-play. We tasted through most of the wines and then revisited them for final conclusions and then opened a couple more just for good measure. The wines were accompanied by fabulous Salumi/Cheese platters and pizza's at Urbino's on Henderson. The flatbread pizza's were just delicous, check them out!

#1 Descendientes de Jose Palacios Corullon Las Lamas, 2003. Showed aromas of red fruits and minerals which were reinforced on the palate with an abundance of rich fruit and mineral laced gripping tannins and acidity on the long finish. Proved a tough one to crack. First guess of Burgundy was shot down, followed by Spain. John then followed with a series of 'nots': not Bierzo, not Corullon not Priorat, not Rioja as he danced around the true identity. Most tasters were familiar with the lower tier Petalos, which Palacios produces from the same region and were not anticipating the intensity of this single vineyard expression.

#2 La Cedre, Cahors, 2004. Wow! Another tough one to crack! Truly opaque black wine, the moderate rim variation indicated an old world wine, but the smoky blockbuster fruit scooted us out of most familiar haunts. The deep, smoky black fruit was followed a touch of acid and some red fruit and cranberry notes before the wine yielded to rich sweet tannins. The first guess was Mourvedre from Bandol and was followed by the correct designation of Malbec. From left field came the discovery of Tannat which also proved to be correct. Finally, after a second tasting, the wine was identified as Cahors. But, wow! I know I've never tasted a Cahors with this level of opulence and power!

#3 Ca' Marcanda Promis, Toscana, 2006. The floral aromatics of rose petals, violet and soy had everyone chasing this wine in the wrong direction. With the acidic finish it seemed to be definitely from from Italy's Piedmont. But no! The wine softened by the second go round revealing notes of silk panties according to some tasters (that was definitely considered a good thing!) We were told the wine had three grapes which threw out most Italian regions. The blend was unusual: Merlot, Sangiovese and Syrah.

#4 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Masseto 2005. From the get-go, this wine had everyone spinning. Both the aromatics and flavors revealed copious rich black fruits, cassis and licorice, backed by firm oak and integrated tannins. Tasters were staggered. Before anyone could even gather their thoughts, John nailed the wine dead to rights. He shall henceforth be know as Number Four! Thanks to Jeff for such a treat!

#5 Melis 2008, Priorat. Aromas of cedar, floral fruit and earthy minerality led to dark cherries on the palate and a long finish with tart red fruits. Another wine that had tasters grasping at straws. The Spanish origin was identified, but characteristics led tasters to an old traditional Rioja, John however kept calling out Grenache! The wine opened up some on second tasting and the Grenache (not Carignan) dominated Priorat was revealed.

#6 Palomero 2000, Ribero del Duero. Wow. Another blockbuster. This one was not presented blind. The massively funky nose dominated intense aromatic black fruits while on the palate the fruits trumped the funk. All this massive flavor was layered over a richly textured, massively integrated structure. What a treat!

#7 Groth Cabernet, Napa, 2006. Though tasted blind, tasters lept at the joy of being on familiar territory, and this did not disappoint with its classic Cabernet profile. Pricewise, it might have been the star of the day. Napa producers can do Cabernet very, very well and this is a great effort from a longtime producer.

Goodness, that was a tough afternoon. THANKS to all!

Tasting Blind

2009-09-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

Invited to a blind tasting group this afternoon, always intimidating affairs. The wines will be double blind and it's so-o-o-o easy to look like a fool. But very interesting and demanding. Blind indentification of wine is a major component of advanced wine accreditation. 6 wines in 24 minutes for an MS. BUT there is a system. If you correctly identify 6 components of visual, aromatic, taste and general assessment you have 24 unique points that make up the signature of the wine. Think of a scantron with 24 choices. If you think it's Cabernet, use the answer overlays for Napa and Pauillac. There are differences! Which one matches up best?

Blind tasting becomes an intellectual exercise combining wine analysis and wine knowledge rather than Scientific Wild Ass Guessing combining memory and intuition. Well, until you've swallowed too much.

Last time we got together I managed to get one right through analysis, SWAG, and some helpful elimination and have heard about my 'feat' several times since. Funny, nobody talks about the ones I missed by a mile, I guess you just take what you can get!

An Introduction to Nebbiolo

2009-09-07T10:02:00.001-05:00

My mother is a great cook and so was her mother. My sisters went almost immediately into culinary careers; one as a chef and now a cheese expert, the other as a food stylist and now writer. I took a 25 year detour in packaging before finally landing in the wine biz. (OK, sometimes I'm clueless!) So when Mom invited us to dinner Saturday and said she was fixing veal shanks, well, I'm not THAT clueless. At least I knew what wine to bring!

I went straight for Barbaresco, the queen of Italy. Wines made from the Nebbiolo grape are a classic pairing for braised meats. They are rarely flamboyant, in-your-face wines. Subtle dried fruits are veiled behind floral, earthy perfumes and masked with acid and tannins. The flavors are complex, but once you find the key, the wine opens up like a painting.

However, I don't think either my wife or my parents have had much experience with these wines, so I chose the basic Barbaresco from the renowned cooperative, Produtorri del Barbaresco. The 2003 vintage was unusually hot, so there would be plenty of fruit to increase accessibility to the flavors. The extreme heat limited production, so fruit that normally went into their Riserva wines went into the basic cuvee, so there should be some complexity to the wine.

The evening was a great success! The Ossu Bucco melted in our mouths. The shanks yielded copious marrow. The rich meat squeezed the wine's fruits into a concentrated bubble that burst in the mouth with flavors of sweet dried cranberries that lingered on the palate.

25 years of boxes never yielded such pleasure.

Tasting: August Briggs: A Small Family Affair

2009-09-04T22:51:00.002-05:00

We had a great staff tasting Thursday morning with Bryan Harley, national sales manager for the August Briggs Winery. It's a big title for a little winery. August 'Joe' Briggs is the owner/winemaker. He makes around 4500 cases, but 13 different varieties. Do the math. They are all tiny artisanal lots. The Briggs operation is a Napa fantasty: it's small and it's almost totally family. When visiting the Napa Valley, absolutely pay them a visit.

Onto the wines: I'll split this piece into two parts. The first will focus on the traditional Napa grapes: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The second will highlight California 'heirloom' varietals. Joe makes several Pinot Noirs as well, but restaurant demand has rendered them rarities on our retail shelves.

We tasted two vintages, 2007 and 2008 of Chardonnay sourced from the Leveroni Vineyard in Carneros. It is a relatively small vineyard with the fruit going to Briggs and into the Leveroni's own wine. Joe barrel ages the wine and allows his Chardonnay's to go through full malolactic. Recent years have seen a dramatic reduction in the use of new oak, allowing the vineyard's flavors of citrus, pear and apple to dominate the wine with acid and minerals sustaining the creamy finish. 2007 was the warmer vintage and the sun brought out rich aromas of tropical fruits. 2008 began with a severe frost in the late spring resulting in a tiny fruit set and very low yields. The wine shows more intense mineral notes and acid than the 2007. We opened the 2008 (the current retail vintage) at the in-store tasting later that evening and the wine opened up considerably after being open for a couple of hours.

We tasted the 2005 and 2006 vintages of the Monte Rosso and Napa Cabernets. Both are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a little old school. In the absence of achieving layered flavors through blending, Joe uses a combination of American and French oak barrels. The fruit comes through the creamy herbal notes of the American barrels into the finishing vanilla and spice notes of the French. Think of the barrel regimen as a spice rack.

The signature characteristics of the vineyards come through on both wines and override vintage variations. The Monte Rosso (above) shows its Sonoma heritage and rich red volcanic soils in red fruits which integrate into silky tannins. The oak, especially the American, is more evident on the Monte Rosso wines.

The Napa Cab is an 'East Meets West' affair as the fruit is sourced from both the Stagecoach Vineyard in the hills east of Oakville and the Corbett Vineyard (above) on Spring Mountain to the west. The fruit is pure mountain blackberries and cassis with dark floral aromatics and more aggressive tannins. The 2005 vintage was plagued by heat spikes and the flavor profile is a little blocky. 2006 was warm and consistent and the fruit is silky from beginning to end. Vintage notes were consistent for both wines.

In summary, the tasting was educational as well as an opportunity to enjoy some well-made wines (even at 8:30 in the morning!) All August Briggs wines are made for the table and are approachable and enjoyable right off the shelf, which is Joe's style. He lets the fruit ripen fully and he resulting wines are balanced and silky.

Coming soon, notes on the stars of the tastings: Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Charbono.

Finding Great Values in Burgundy

2009-09-01T23:25:00.001-05:00

Sometimes people don't think it's possible to find great affordable values in Burgundy. But you can and I'm not talking about an $80 wine that drinks better than some $150 wines. The secret is finding a good producer. Look for a 'Domaine' label of a producer who grows his own grapes, makes his own wines and does it well. Look on the label to see where the producer is located. If the Domaine is in Meursault, chances are most of their holdings are in Meursault. Then look for their Bourgogne appellation label. The fruit is usually from their main holdings, but from younger vines, or from barrels that don't quite measure up to the quality of other barrels. Of course, one key is to buy these wines in good vintages so that the quality trickles down to the lower classifications.

We opened a perfect example the other day, a Bourgogne Blanc 2005 from Domaine Xavier Monnot. The wine sells in the mid to upper $20's, which is an outstanding price for top quality Chardonnay, be it from Burgundy or California. The majority of the fruit comes from 20-25 year old vines in Meursault according to the importer, Robert Kacher.

When the wine was opened, it showed bright citrus notes with good acidity and hints of richness. The 4 year old Chardonnay needed some time to develop. As we revisited the wine over the next few hours, it continued to reveal layers of complex flavors over medium to full body textures on the palate. (How many New World Chard's will perform like this?) After being open for 4 hours, the wine showed rich citrus over light notes of hazelnut with a long rich, slightly oily finish. Classic Meursault flavors.

This wine is a spectacular value, available at an affordable price and yielding performance well beyond expectation. Of course, the easiest way to find these values is to find a wine guy you trust. If he has enough inventory, he might even sell you some!

A Fun Day on the Selling Floor

2009-08-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

What makes a good day? From the business side it means a lot customers dropping a lot of change. But from the wine guy side, it means customers looking to buy good wine who are willing to take a chance. Selling wine is always easier if it's a tasting game. The wine sells itself. But that's usually not the case. Most of the time it's a talking game: find out what they want, what they like and how much they want to spend. Sometimes it's just a case of taking them to their favorite product. But when they ask for advice the fun begins. You can take them to something in their price range that will knock them out or it might be a wine from a different grape from a different country that way exceeds their expectations. Yesterday, that's who walked in the door and that's why it was a fun day selling wine.

Serious Cabernet: Snowden Vineyards

2009-08-28T08:53:00.001-05:00

In 1955 the Snowden’s found a property up in the rolling hills east of the Silverado Trail in Napa. It was 40+ acres of woodlands and fruit trees in dusty perlite soils. In 1962 they had the foresight to plant wine grapes and the legendary Nathan Fay directed the first plantings with cuttings from his Stags Leap vineyards.

The first grapes were sold to Fay and Stags Leap Wine Cellars. After subsequent plantings, grapes were sold to Phelps, Far Niente and Silver Oak. In the early 90’s the first Snowden wines were made under the direction of Ted Lemon. Sigels had the good fortune to represent Snowden in the Dallas market and the wines developed a following for their solid quality and remarkable aging potential. After some quality issues with the 02 and 03 vintages, the project was reborn under the leadership of Diane Snowden Seyesses (oenologist at the renowned Domaine Dujac in Burgundy) with David Ramey consulting, and was totally back on track with the 2005 vintage. We are very happy to say that with the even better 2006 Snowden is back home with Sigels.

We tasted the wines Thursday morning with sales manager Jamie Adams. It’s always a challenge to face big Cabernet’s at 8:15 in the morning, but hey, we’re professionals!

Snowden Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Sourced from vineyards adjacent to Andy Beckstoffer’s house, the wine is a lean Loire Valley style with tight citrus flavors and clean acids that keep the wine tightly focused on the mineral finish. The wine is very nice without the floppy fruits found in so many California Sauvignons. 500 cases produced. (91-Wine Spectator, 90-Robert Parker)

Snowden Cabernet Sauvignon, The Ranch, 2006

Beautiful, rich, ready-to-go estate grown Cabernet. Aromas of cassis and chocolate lead to rich flavors of dark cassis and espresso with gripping integrated tannins on the finish. At $40 this is a tremendous value in the rarified prices of Napa Cabernet. (92-Wine Spectator, 92-Robert Parker)

Snowden Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, 2006

Made from both selected blocks of fruit and selected barrels from the cellar, the wine is definitely built to age. This morning, the floral black fruit aromas are a little sleepy, but the wine has just been opened. Brambly blackberries and cassis lead the palate to dark undergrowth and espresso and a long structured finish. The acids linger on the sides of the tongue. As much flavor as the wine shows now, it still seems muted. I imagine it will be singing this afternoon if it makes it past someone’s breakfast. (94-Wine Spectator, 95-Robert Parker)

Brunello di Montalcino 2004: Notes on a Blind Tasting

2009-08-26T22:17:00.004-05:00

Blind Tasting of 10 Wines Selected for Regional Characteristics
VINO 2009, New York
January 2009
Led by Karen MacNeil
Notes by David Waddington

Montalcino is a hilltop village in Tuscany located about 40 km south of Siena and 40 km from the sea. Vineyards surround the town on the northern, eastern and southern slopes. The hill was formed in different geologic eras, yielding a variety of soil types. The only grape allowed are the localized clones of Sangiovese. The result is a wine producing region with slightly different clones growing in a myriad of terroirs. Thus Brunello di Montalcino is one wine with many different expressions. The tasting was organized by the governing organ of the region, the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, who chose the wines for their different expressions of the region.

Generally the wines showed black cherry fruit at their core surrounded by layers of tannin, acid and minerals. According to the Conzorzio, the average alcohol for the 2004 vintage was 14% which is unusually high, showing great ripeness. The powerful tannins and elegant acids are both strong preservatives and create the great aging potential of Brunello.

TASTING NOTES

Wine #1
Aromas: Black cherry fruit, anise
Palate: Bitter black fruit, high acid, moderate tannin
Impressions: Quite delicious!

Wine #2
Aromas: Reticent black cherry, soy mineral
Palate: Soy, minerals, intense black fruit at the core
Impressions: Very lean, almost salty

Wine #3
Aromas: Dark raisins, soy
Palate: Deep dark flavors, black fruits, soy
Impressions: Big, full, brooding dark wine

Wine #4
Aromas: Dark black cherry, bitter chocolate
Palate: Complex dark fruits
Impressions: Surprisingly more open that the nose would suggest

Wine #5
Aromas: Tar, anise
Palate: Tar, anise, core of black fruit, tannic finish
Impressions: Definitely a wine for bottom feeders!

Wine #6
Aromas: Damp earth, soy
Palate: Soy, earth, umami
Impressions: All shadow and forest floor, not flawed, but no fruit today!

Wine #7
Aromas: Dark soy, red and black cherries
Palate: Broad black fruits laced with acid and tannin
Impressions: Nice

Wine #8
Aromas: Floral, reticent black fruit
Palate: Herbal elements, core of black fruit
Impressions: Finishes with good acid and tannin

Wine #9
Aromas: Black cherry, cassis, mineral
Palate: Dark fruits, tar and soil
Impressions: Powerful and concentrated

Wine #10
Aromas: Tart black fruit, spice
Palate: A fruit bomb with truffles and sweet integrated tannins
Impressions: Today was this wine's day to shine! A fun finish to an intense tasting.

So, there it is, Brunello 2004. As you can see, there is a definite pattern to the wines with the same flavors flowing in and out of the various wines. Depending on where the estates are located, they all taste different. The point is that overall, THEY ALL TASTE LIKE BRUNELLO!

Now THAT was a fun morning in the wine biz!

Wither Italian...

2009-08-25T12:27:00.002-05:00

A customer was in the store last night and he wasn't happy with our selection of Italian Dolcetto's. As we talked it became apparent that it wasn't just our selection, but the general selection of Italian wines in Dallas. I suggested our best selling Dolcetto's, Palmina and Pavi, both of which are domestic and quite delicious. Well, that was a less than successful suggestion. He comes from a city with more Italian influence. But all was not lost, he was happy with our Rose and Spanish selections and it's always fun to have a customer who is knowledgeable and has opinions. But selling fine Italian wines has always been difficult. They are veiled in mystery to many of our customers and pricing is high. In January I had the opportunity to attend VINO2009 in New York and do some intensive tastings of Brunello and Nebbiolo. I will discuss these tastings in future posts.

2009-08-24T08:23:00.003-05:00

Hats off to Central Market! Their first HatchFest take home dinner kit was Fettucine with Shrimp in a Hatch Chile Pesto Cream Sauce. First open a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. We had Doug Margerum's Sybarite, which has richness (gained from aging the wine on the lees) surrounding the laser beam of acid formed in the cold Santa Barbara valleys. Saute some shrimp in Hatch Compound Butter, add the Sauce, add the pre-cooked Fettucine and you've got a panful of deliciousness in about 7 minutes. Apparent genius was never so easy!

Gotta Start Somewhere!

2009-08-24T07:55:00.003-05:00

Been thinking about this project for far too long. Better just have a shot of tequila and start pounding some keys. No, wait a minute, it's 7 in the morning, yesterday was the Texas Package Stores Association tasting session where every supplier of alcoholic beverages in the state sets up to pour samples. Really. The prospect and the reality staggers the imagination. Is it a great place to do serious tasting? Well, maybe not. But it is a great place to see anybody who you worked with, crossed paths with, or just really drove you nuts. Everybody's tasting, everybody's getting a buzz, everybody's happy. Three rules: Taste something new, Taste what you can't afford, Stay within the lines.

Highlights:

Mulderbosch Rose 2009
Gaillard Condrieu
Whichever bottle James MacFadyen just opened
BREWDOG Ales
The beasts of Ardbeg
Who would win: Hennessy Paradis or Pierre Ferrand?
DART rail, the safe way home!