Blind Tasting - Monday Study Group 1.2

Back to starting with a bit of Theory, the last two weeks we covered Washington and Oregon. Today we start with California. We will go quickly as these are the wines we all sell and know best. Started with non-Napa and Sonoma. From Mendocino to Monterey to Santa Lucia Highlands to Paso Robles to Santa Barbara. Every region has its own version of the American story. Initial winemaking efforts by the European settlers, in this case first the Spanish, then the great immigrant influx of the 19th century. The nascent wineries are dealt the dual blows of Prohibition, then phylloxera and most were abandoned only to be revived by successful entrepreneurs who chose to leave successful careers and follow their passion in the sixties and seventies. In every region there are iconic producers who staked the claims for the modern California wine industry.

It was an open blind tasting session, four white wines and three red. Once again the wine I brought was flawed. I bought it from the store's cold box and now wonder if it spent too much time in the fridge. Note to self:  need to look at how long wines stay standing up in the cold. Maybe I'll put a date stamp when they go in and start rotating. Or maybe it was just a flawed bottle. The tasting comments of my colleagues were not kind, to say the least! Nor should they have been. The wine was terrrrrrible!

Otherwise the tasting session went smoothly. As a group we're getting quicker at running through the tasting grid and getting better at getting our notes consistent and without contradiction. Today we had more than a couple of wines on which we identified all the components correctly but for a conclusion could only say, "What the hell is this?"

The first problem was a Santa Barbara Viognier . The surprising acidity led to a call of Italian Pinot Grigio with which no one was happy. The wine had too much weight and complexity for PG. Most tasters were looking for more tropical fruit to call Viognier. I was thinking unoaked Chardonnay. As the wine sat in the glass, the peachiness became more and more evident. Several weeks ago, Rob, our tasting coach, brought a Condrieu which gave us fits as well. Evidently we need to work on Viognier.

The next wine was Alsatian. Everyone had the same "Ah Hah!" moment when smelling the wine. The big floral peachy-lychee aromatics screamed Gewurztraminer. But the rich, seemingly off dry flavor masked the surprisingly persistent acidity which lingered past the sweetness of the fruit and left a dry mineral finish to the wine. Yes, that's right. It was an Alsatian dry Muscat in the classic overripe style of Zind-Humbrecht. It's not the first time the group has faced the Muscat/Gewurz confusion.

Now it was my turn to run the grid. The wine had rich floral citrus aromas that I described as baked Meyer Lemon with a creamy meringue and good acidity. I leaped to the conclusion that it was the Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay that I had brought and so I raced through the rest of the grid, building what I thought was the case for the wine that I thought it was. (Of course as we later learned the wine I brought smelled like ass!) Appropriate. I had just committed the cardinal sin of blind tasting. Premature identification.

As I started into my initial conclusion, I took another sip of the wine.

"Wait a minute," I said. "I think I'm totally wrong. This wine is off dry. It is oozing petrol on the aroma and the palate! How did I miss that? This wine is top quality 2010 Alsatian Riesling from a good producer!"

An embarrassing, but spot-on reversal.

Our first red was a straight forward New World Pinot Noir. The only question was whether it was Sonoma Coast/Russian River or Oregon. I really think it could have been either. The ripeness of the fruit overwhelmed any significant identifying characteristics.

The last two reds were much more problematic and the differences and similarity were classic. The wines were very similar with good acidity, predominately red and black cherry fruit notes with some sort of spiciness on the finish. Both were obviously classically Old World.

The group was split on the second wine. Some thought it was Syrah from the Northern Rhone, some thought it was a Bordeaux varietal. A classic clash of flavor groups, was the spiciness due to some form of Pyrazine driven bell pepper (not necessarily green but possibly dried ancho) or was it due to Rotundone (white or black peppercorns?)  The vegetal note won out over the spice. The wine was a fabulous Cabernet Franc from Chinon in the Loire Valley.

The last wine was very similar, but had more drying tannins and less spice. Discussion centered on the Tempranillo/Sangiovese divide. Nebbiolo was out of the question. The wine did not show characteristics of American Oak which would seemingly rule out Rioja, but did not show the leatheriness expected out of Sangiovese. I thought is was Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero, but it was a very ripe Chianti Classico. I wish Rob had been present to coach us through the subtle structural differences and distinguishing elements between the two wines.

All in all, a really great session. I think we've really raised our game!

Blind Tasting - Monday Study Group 1.1

To bring matters up to date, for a little over a year I have been meeting with a group of young Dallas sommeliers who are intent on achieving advanced levels of sommelier certification. To that end, we meet to study theory of wine involving intensive learning about winemaking and viticulture as well as tasting wines both to reinforce what we are studying and tasting and identifying these wines 'blind' in accordance with the blind tasting examination of the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Our core group consists of three restaurant sommeliers, a salesman for a local supplier - all of whom are quite young - and myself, the grizzled geezer of the group, almost old enough to be their grandfather! They are patient and seem happy to put up with this old man.

In the world of these young Dallas somms, the year culminates in the TEXSOM Conference, a three day weekend full of workshops, tastings, a sommelier competition and testing conducted by the major somm accreditation programs. It's a big deal!

So getting together post TEXSOM is like starting the school year.

And so it is that we have some new faces in the group as well as the return of familiar but intermittent members from the past year all with good intentions of regular attendance and sticking with it. Our core group is back and looking forward to another year.

So far we've covered Europe from Germany and Austria to Spain and Portugal. Of course France and Italy required many weeks of study. So where do we go next?

Before the TEXSOM break, we were fortunate to have Master Sommelier Candidate Ben Roberts coach us through some blind tasting sessions. We thought we had been doing pretty good and making progress, but in fact we were babes in the woods. Ben was able to give us a new sense of perspective and focus to help us when we're blind tasting.

Blind tasting is like walking through a densely treed forest and it is easy to forget where you are. But if you combine the identity of the plants and trees with the geography, the geology, the climate, the position of the sun, the direction of the wind; all these points of data combine to define the notion of place. It's a deductive exercise that forces examination of all factors of the wine.

Critical tasting of wine often seems silly and is an easy target of jokes. But the rationale is simple. To develop a vocabulary that will make us more able to describe wine to customers whether in a restaurant or in a wine shop.

We all agreed that the primary focus of the groups needs to shift to blind tasting. And that means not just running willy nilly through tasting grids, but taking notes and holding each other accountable for making correct, non-contradictory calls, being more precise and eliminating ambiguity and to make our final identifications consistent with the descriptions we have called.

So this morning we concentrated on aromatic white wines whose primary flavor characteristics are driven by terpenes and we blind tasted:  2 Spanish Albarinos, 2 Alsatian Gewurztraminers, 1 Alsatian Riesling, 2 German Rieslings, a Gruner-Veltliner from Austria and a Napa Valley Viognier. Whew! A serious assault on tooth enamel.

So this post was written at Method Coffee, a new café at the corner of Ross and Hall. Forty years ago I drove through this section every day on my way to work and it's just now finally showing signs of gentrification.

 I finished writing with two empty cups of the best espresso I have had in Dallas, a serious contender for top cup ever. The Kenyan beans yielded espresso with a deep, rich crema with a brilliant acidic flourish of baked Meyer lemons. Showy, spectacular stuff.

Not bad for a Monday.

Tasting on a Gray Day in August

Gray days are rare in Dallas in August but it's nice that the predicted rains have held off. Parking at the hotel where Pioneer Wine always holds their annual portfolio tasting is always a bitch. (Though as #4 tells me, valet is available, but my low-rent brain never thinks that way.) So I wasn't parked in a muddy field and that's a good thing.

Portfolio tastings are always fun, a big room filled with great wines and great friends I've met through the now fifteen years in the wine biz. Champagne from Billecart-Salmon filled the first table and the day brightened immediately. The wines were crisp with a bone dry elegance. The Rose is mostly chardonnay which gives it its legendary austerity softened by the final addition of Pinot Noir. Fruit is barely detectable in most red Pinot Noir I've tasted from Champagne. It's always amazing how much more fruit is apparent when it's diluted in the white base wine. The 1999 reserve was the standout with its undercurrents of tart red berries.

One of my favorite wines  I've tasted in a long time is Cartology from Alheit Vineyards from South Africa. An elegant austere blend of Chenin Blanc and Semillon (a new combination for me!) The lean Chenin greets the palate and is lengthened and complicated by the richness of the Semillon. The bright acids of the Chenin hold the complex stone and orchard fruits in suspension through the long finish. A bit pricey, but spectacular.

For me that was the star of the show. (Although the room was filled with great wines.) That and a few old friends.

Fish Wine

We spent a memorable weekend in a snowy New York City.

After a long afternoon in the American Museum of Natural History, it was difficult hailing a cab in the driving snow along Central Park West, so we ducked into the subway. After a long cross-station walk, we caught the #7 shuttle from Times Square to Grand Central, arriving at dinner-time. A perfect night to eat at the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station.

The menu is huge. The wine list is long. Decisions are difficult.

Actually, the wine was easy.

Some of the greatest fish wines in the world come from France's Loire Valley. Whether it's Muscadet from Nantes, Chenin Blanc from Savenierres or Vouvray, or Sauvignon Blanc (I like to just say Sauvignon) from the inland valleys, the wines are fresh and clean, driven by citrus and mineral flavors with high acidity that clears the palate and makes you want more to eat and drink.

While more expensive appellations produce amazing wines, the basic wines of the appellations are delicious unto themselves, offering great flavors at fair prices. I ordered a young Sauvignon from Touraine. I did not know the producer, but the region is known for high basic level of quality. The price was within my budget and the wine was delicious.

My special treat was ordering a few oysters. Normally raw seafood is off my diet due to my lowered level of immune-suppression necessary to protect my transplanted kidney and I have been real strict through the years. Susan smiled and said go for it. The provenance of the Oyster Bars oysters is as tight as can be found. I ordered a few old friends and one new, an extra-large beauty from Wianno Bay on the southern shore of Cape Cod. As you can see, the oysters are harvested from icy cold water.

 

The bivalve was so large I had to cut it into two bites. I felt immersed in the Atlantic with bursting sweet, briny, ocean flavors. Washed down with a swallow of wine, I felt reborn. Experience confirmed with the second bite.

Main courses followed. Susan had Salmon served with a Béarnaise, I had a grilled Branzino served with lemon, capers and olive oil. It was a great meal and we had great wine and stayed within budget.

For desert it was a short walk to Junior's in the food concourse where we enjoyed their classic cheesecake.

Then walked through an empty Grand Central and a couple of snowy blocks to our hotel. And I think we fell asleep. Happy.

Semi Demi Somm, Part Deux

So after my last post I read a thread which posts the question, "Do you have to work in a restaurant to be a sommelier?"

The answers were all over the place, though in this case they all referred to wine. Many felt the term was strictly restaurant specific. Most seemed to think that the term can refer to anyone who is a wine professional. Some felt that a strong educated interest qualified.

Merriam-Webster is quite specific, "a waiter in a restaurant who is in charge of serving wine: a wine steward." First known use was in 1829. The term derives from the Middle French, "soumelier: official charged with transportation of supplies, from old french, pack animal driver."

Merriam-Webster also asks why the word was referenced. There were 62 responses. Many concerned pronunciation. An equal number wanted to know what the word meant. A good number had children or knew someone who was a sommelier. Most of these were wine sommeliers, most restaurant, a couple were retailers. And most were wine, there were also coffee, water, tea, tomato, fresh raw juice, chocolate and beer sommeliers.

The Court of Master Sommeliers does not help. Though their focus is always on service, they offer their lower two levels of certification to those in the wine trade or to anyone serious enough to pay the money to take the tests. They're not cheap and they're not easy. I know a number of professional 'wine consultants' who have taken the tests and not passed. The Advanced and Master certificates are only open to serious candidates with a minimum of five years in wine service and written recommendations from Master Sommeliers.

Sommelier skills certainly apply to retail wine sales. To work in a large store requires knowledge of all major wine regions, the culture, the food, the wines , the grapes and the producers. Customers expect to find menu consultants, food and wine pairings and wedding and party planning. I've had customers call from Paris, New York, Las Vegas for help making selections from wine lists. One called from his Alaskan cruise ship, he had to put his phone down to take a picture of a calving glacier. On the service side, we are expected to make recommendations on opening and decanting, proper serving temperature and storage.

So, somm or no somm?

I wrote in my previous blog Semi Somm about my sister's reaction to the movie SOMM. She had a similar lengthy reaction to my onesided reporting of her position. She is an ardent believer in greater knowledge about almost everything. She has been to biodynamic farming workshops in Napa, she has been through professional wine education courses. What she's against is elitism and certification for certification's sake. You can read her words in her comments to the previous post.

There is a reaction to the sommsnobbery.Here's a link to a column in the Washington Post which begins with the question, "Are we seeing a backlash against sommeliers?" Yikes!

But the need for educated wine sellers is greater than ever. Wine, like everything else is rapidly fragmenting. Electronic media combined with modern transportation and marketing have made small producers available like never before. But the consequence is that reading a good wine list or walking into an unfamiliar wine shop is more bewildering than ever. And the key to reaping the benefits is a well trained sommelier or wine consultant who is passionate about his or her products.

Or of course you can shop the major brands off a plastic wine list and at a nationally franchised restaurant at your megachain discount grocery store.

You choose.

Semi Somm

Seems like Somm is the new buzz word.

I don't remember much ado about sommeliers until recently. Sommelier was and to some still is, a restaurant term. In the retail world "Wine Geek" was much more common. Whatever rack held white wines that were not Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc or possibly Rieslings held "Geek Whites."

But that's all changed.

Locally the Texas Sommelier Conference TEXSOM in its ten years has grown into a huge event with national attention.

And the documentary SOMM shows what it takes to become a Master Sommelier. And that the world of a somm is an intense geeky place. I mentioned the film to my sister the food critic and she flew off on a twenty minute tirade, the gist of which I gathered was that she didn't like the movie or Somms among other things.

Sort of awkward. It was dinner at my house and I was pouring some pretty nice wines.

I saw the movie with a couple of wine buddies. Colleagues in fact. We had taken and passed the first level of the Court of Sommelier tests together and had received three of the highest scores in our class. But the movie was insider and geeky.I wondered at the time how it would play to an outsider.

In a recent Wine Spectator James Laube wrote a column titled "Dim Somms" in which he railed at Sommeliers who are "misguided know-it-alls who are doing more harm than good." More specifically he is railing against the group 'In Pursuit of Balance" whose mission is "to promote dialogue around the meaning and relevance in California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay."

Well, there you have it. Meaning and Relevance. Is this a graduate seminar?

CONFESSION

I am Somm. I have passed first level examinations with both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Society of Wine Educators. I am an active member of the Dallas Sommelier Society. I attend a Monday Morning Theory Study Group with some young sommeliers intent on pursuing higher certification. Whether higher certification is in my future is uncertain, but I am certainly learning.

I was pondering all these issues as I went to a meeting at 10 pm on a Thursday night in a dark restaurant. We met with David Jeffrey, proprietor and visionary of Colluna Vineyards, a tiny new producer he shared his vision:  MISSION:  To capture the qualities of great Bordeaux--balance, intensity and longevity-- in the context of the Chalk Hill Appellation.
I listened to him talk, I tasted his wine. And everything clicked into place.

 

Something New: Pairing Craft Beers

Last Saturday was exhausting.

Customers had been doing some serious wine-buying all day then Susan and Travis showed up at the store ready to go out to dinner. I was exhausted and none of our favorite places had any appeal. They all sounded just as tired as I felt. Thoughts were trending Vietnamese when I thought of a place we'd never been.

Mot Hai Ba was started by Jeana Johnson and Colleen O'Hare , the same two women who started Good to Go Tacos which we love. After GTGT had been such a great success, they went on a motorcycle trek through North Vietnam and came back to Dallas and opened a Vietnamese restaurant to great acclaim. Not only did most Dallas reviewers name it one of the top new Dallas restaurants in 2013, the Zagat review put it in their top 25 most significant openings in the country. So we decided to check it out.

It was getting late when we arrived, but a number of tables were still occupied. We were greeted and seated immediately. I scanned the menu, immediately flipped it over and looked for something to drink. All I could see was the beer list. I was too tired to read about cocktails and didn't see any wines. Now I know they have a great looking wine list, all French, how could I have missed that? All I had been doing all day was selling French wine! BUT the beer list was GREAT!

To start, we ordered a Green Papaya Salad and a bottle of Cherry Funk Sour Ale from Prairie Artisan Ales out of Tulsa. What a great beginning! The salad was delicious, light and crisp. The ale was a perfect aperitif. The sour cherry flavor was precise and defined, balanced by the malty funk on the finish and everything was kept light and bright by the acidity and carbonation. Plus there was enough alcohol to do the job, always an important function of the proper aperitif. The salad and the 17 ounce bottle were perfect for 3 people to share.

Next came a second salad, this time a Banana Flower Salad followed by our main dish, a flash-fried whole Branzino and sides of grilled baby bok-choi and vermicelli. The fish was filleted tableside and was delicious. We chose another ale to accompany the fish, Trellis Garden Ale by Odell, out of Colorado, a substantial ale infused with locally grown herbs and spices. The effects of the botanicals was very subtle, but kept the flavors surprisingly light and balanced. At 8.7%, it is a strong ale, but it paired wonderfully with the fish. The 25 oz. bottle let us each have several glasses. We ended the meal by finishing our second salad along with our last glass of ale.

What a great dinner! Delicious food paired with delicious beers, chosen from a wonderfully curated list of beers. Some, especially Asian brands, are beers that would be normally expected. But they also offer a good selection of bottled specialty craft beers, some of which are extremely limited. Mot Hai Ba provides a tremendous opportunity to pair these complex flavors with expertly prepared foods. The larger format bottles are perfect for sharing and several different beers can be served during the meal.

Frankly, wine prices are so jacked up in most restaurants that several large bottles of beer are cheaper than one bottle of wine. I always find it nerve wracking to pay $40-50 for a mediocre bottle of sauvignon blanc, it's one reason we don't go to fine dining restaurants. So it was a great relief to feel free to order anything I wanted and be able to pay for it.

All in all it was a great evening. The restaurant staff was very professional, but also low-key and friendly at the same time. Chef Johnson gave it the personal touch with a nice visit at the end of the meal. She remembered us from the first taco stand. We felt very relaxed and at home at the end of the evening.