30 Second Wine Advisor

Is $20-plus wine affordable?

2012-01-27T16:14:12Z

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A Delicious Dilemma!

"The only problem with The California Wine Club is that I have a new favorite wine almost every month," says Club member Jim Wiley. Try two award-winning artisan wines for $49.45 (includes s/h).
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]]> If you've been following American politics lately, you'll know that there's been a lot of talk about wealth and who's got it. One of the presidential candidates claims a net worth of $7 million, but another hopeful's tax returns suggest riches that could reach $250 million. Even President Obama's net worth is safely into the millions, according to The Center for Responsive Politics. Meanwhile, billionaire Warren Buffett just watches all the drama, pays his taxes and smiles.

Let's face it: None of these 1 percenters is going to let a $3,000 price tag stand between him and a bottle of Romanee-Conti if he's in the mood for a little Burgundy with his pot roast.

Most of us, though, need to keep a keen eye on the fine line between budget and value in the wines we enjoy. And that may go double for Burgundy, where the combination of limited supply, high demand and cachet come together to make a market in which the finest wines are pricey indeed, and even the bottom-end, generic bottlings aren't cheap.

What's more, when we're bottom-feeding, looking for value among the lowest-price offerings in the category, success isn't guaranteed. In some cases, what's good isn't cheap, and what's cheap isn't good.

Still, I love Burgundy, and if I can't afford the high-end stuff, I'm going to keep on trying, and if I spot what looks like a decent risk in the lower $20s - or better yet, the teens - chances are I'll gamble on a bottle even though it's a bit out of my everyday comfort zone.

This week, for example, I gambled and scored with the 2009 Domaine Bertrand Ambroise Bourgogne Rouge. It set me back $23, which made me think twice. For that price I could get two bottles of a nice California red blend. Or, to be frank, three six-packs of decent local microbrewery beer.

But hey, it's decent Burgundy, characteristic and interesting, if not Romanee-Conti. At the end of the meal, I thought the investment was justified. If you try it, I hope you do, too.

Today's Sponsor

It's a Delicious Dilemma!

"The only problem with The California Wine Club is that I have a new favorite wine almost every month. Thanks!"
--Jim Wiley, PA, CWC Member

The California Wine Club features a new artisan California winery and new award-winning wines every month. In the coming year, we hope that your toughest problem is having new favorite wines on a regular basis. CWC invites you to try two award-winning artisan wines for $49.45 (includes shipping and handling). Click here or call 1-800-777-4443 for details.

Today's Tasting Report

Domaine Bertrand Ambroise 2009 Bourgogne Rouge ($22.99)

Dark garnet. Typical Burgundy aromas, red plum and tomato skin and a whiff of woodsmoke. Good tart fruit flavors, juicy plums, crisp acidity and soft but astringent tannins; appropriate 13% alcohol for a traditional-style table wine. A bit on the simple side, perhaps, but it offers an excellent introduction to Burgundy at a comparatively affordable price. U.S. importer: Robert Kacher Selections, NYC. (Jan. 17, 2012)

FOOD MATCH: Burgundy will almost always make a natural match with rare beef, and it's as good as Pinot Noir gets with wild salmon; we went with its third standard pairing, mushrooms, and scored with an intense mushroom risotto made with a mix of dried porcini and fresh brown mushrooms.

VALUE: It's about as good a value as you'll find for true Burgundy, even at this generic level. Frankly, in competition with many world wines of similar quality, it's pushing the limit for value in the lower $20s range. But sometimes you just want a Burgundy, and this offers a good starting point. It may also pay to shop around, especially if direct wine shipping is allowed where you live, as Wine-Searcher.com reveals an unusually wide range of U.S. prices from $15 to $29 for this item.

WHEN TO DRINK: I don't see any reason why this young Burgundy couldn't last and evolve a bit for five years under excellent cellar conditions, but I'd be dubious about keeping it longer.

PRONUNCIATION:
Bourgogne Rouge = "Boor-gon-yuh Roozh"

WEB LINK: Warning: Google warns of apparent malware on the destination that the search engine reveals as the winery's Website: "... contains content from assolkh.blackhulu.com, a site known to distribute malware. Your computer might catch a virus if you visit this site." Accordingly, I won't link it here, and don't recommend that you try to find it until the issue is resolved. However, here's a safe, if short, fact sheet on the wine from importer Robert Kacher.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Domaine Bertrand Ambroise 2009 Bourgogne Rouge on Wine-Searcher.com.

Talk About Wine Online

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The other Cabernet

2012-01-13T19:25:25Z

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]]> When we start getting into wine, one of the first things we learn is that Cabernet Sauvignon is the boss grape in the Bordeaux-style red blend, and that makes it one of the world's primary wine grapes. Merlot comes next in billing, and only after that do we see Cabernet Franc, Malbec and a handful of relatively rare players in the "other" category.

But move outside Bordeaux and the places like Napa that echo its style, and as often as not, "Cabernet" without a surname might mean "Cabernet Franc." In Northeastern Italy, for example, and New York in the U.S. and Ontario in Canada, this Cabernet cousin that favors cool climates often turns up in single-varietal wines with just-plain "Cabernet" on the label.

And in France, where the label most often reflects a location, not a grape, the red wines of the Loire Valley often turn to Cabernet Franc to make memorable reds with chiseled structure and fascinating minerality. It could be argued (although some in St.-Emilion might quibble) that no place does Cabernet Franc better than the Loire.

Today let's celebrate Cab Franc with a taste of a relatively affordable item from Chinon, Domaine de Noiré 2009 "Soif de Tendresse," whose label adds the word "Fruité" to celebrate its producer's focus on fruit, not oak.

Chinon is an ancient and historic village - home of the poet Rabelais and a stepping stone along the pathway of Joan of Arc - situated on the Vienne river off the Loire in the Touraine region around the city of Tours, center of the Loire wine region. The Domaine de Noiré offers a pleasant expression of the regional character, and despite its claim to "fruity" character, it's by no means international nor critic-driven in style. You'll find my tasting report below.

Today's Sponsor

Discover The California Wine Club Difference!

For more than 22 years, The California Wine Club's proprietors Bruce and Pam Boring have been traveling the back roads of California's wine country discovering the best "mom & pop" wineries.

Why the focus on small wineries? Unlike big wineries, which mass produce millions of cases of wine a year, the artisan family wineries CWC features typically handcraft less than 10,000 cases. This limited production allows them to take a "hands on" approach that is just not possible at large wineries. It's a difference you can taste!

"We constantly marvel at the noticeable differences between the wines we buy locally and the ones you ship; yours being smoother and more flavorful than almost all we buy locally."
--Scott Gottfried, MN, CWC Member

Discover the difference for yourself. Try two award-winning artisan wines for $49.45 (includes shipping and handling). Click here or call 1-800-777-4443 for details. Mention The 30 Second Wine Advisor and they'll include an extra bottle in your first shipment.

Today's Tasting Report

Domaine de Noiré 2009 "Soif de Tendresse" Chinon "Fruité" ($15.99)

Dark purple shading to a clear garnet edge. Plums and red berries, a dash of oregano and a hint of smoke; it's not wood, though, as the back label assures, "expression à ce vin FRUITÉ, non boisé" ("the expression of this wine is fruity, not woody"). Crisp fruit and a whiff of dried herbs carry over on the palate with good, crisp acidity and soft but substantial tannic astringency that makes it delightfully food-friendly. U.S. importers: Vintner Select, Mason, Ohio; North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, and other regional importers. (Jan. 11, 2012)

FOOD MATCH: On the first night it went very well indeed with a simple omelet made with free-range eggs, stuffed with browned onions and garlic. On the next evening, the remainder of the bottle was fine with a lightly spicy ginger-scented Sichuanese stir-fry with shredded carrots and celery.

VALUE: The middle teens is not an inappropriate neighborhood for a good Loire red.

WHEN TO DRINK: Good fruit, good balance and significant tannins suggest that a year or three in the cellar might add a layer of complexity, but good storage conditions would be important.

PRONUNCIATION:
Chinon = "Shee-nohN"

WEB LINK: Here's an article about the Soif de Tendresse from North Berkeley Imports.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Domaine de Noiré "Soif de Tendresse" Chinon on Wine-Searcher.com.

You can also buy it direct from North Berkeley at this link.

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Wine Focus on Southern Italy

2012-01-06T13:25:22Z

Fine Italian wine book

Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch's Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy, is comprehensive and authoritative. This hefty guide offers a thorough, region-by-region rundown of all the wines of Italy. It's indispensable if you love Italian wine or want to learn more about it..
Click to buy it now from Amazon.com in paperback for $14.44, 34 percent off the $21.95 list price.

]]> This month we're enjoying the wines of Southern Italy, the "foot" of the Italian "boot," as our Wine Focus topic in the WineLovers Discussion Group. Often called Il Mezzogiorno ("The Midday"), this region was settled by the ancient Greeks even before the Romans came, and so arguably hosts Italy's oldest wine culture.

On the "instep" lies Campania, the region of Naples, home of pizza; and Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, sweet Sorrento, Capri and the lemon groves of the Amalfi coast . In ancient times, the Romans considered Falernum from this region among their greatest wines, and the name, at least, remains in the wine region Falerno. One of Campania's most famous wines is Lachryma Christi del Vesuvio (red and white), but serious wine enthusiasts will probably find more joy in the ancient, rich and aromatic whites, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino; want red? Taurasi is a full-bodied favorite.

Apulia (Puglia), the Italian boot's high heel, is known for focaccia bread, its groves of ancient olive trees and seafood from the waters that surround it. It is also the home of Primitivo, the red grape, rooted across the Adriatic in Croatia, that DNA studies has shown to be genetically the same as Zinfandel, albeit subject to clonal differences that make the wines anything but identical twins. Salice Salentino is another Pugliese red. Like California's Central Valley or Languedoc's inland plains, though, Apulia is Italy's most prolific grape producer, with most of its industrially grown fruit destined for an anonymous fate in simple table wines.

Basilicata fills the "sole" of the boot. Largely rural with a relatively small population, it doesn't play a major role on the wine scene, but its hearty red Aglianico del Vulture, grown on volcanic soil, boasts a heritage back to the ancient Greeks. Its sugary, prickly Moscato and Malvasia satisfy the wine lover's sweet tooth.

Calabria, the "toe" of the boot, joins Sicily as one of the primary sources of the Italian immigrant stream to the U.S. through Ellis Island, and during that same era to Argentina. The rural poverty that drove emigration leaves a lightly populated region with its economy primarily driven by olive oil and commercial fishing. Nevertheless, its iconic wine, Ciro, dating back to the Greeks, is a potent red made from the Gaglioppo grape.

In addition to these mainland regions, Il Mezzogiorno also includes the islands Sicily and Sardinia, and the regions that lie on its northern edge, Abruzzi and Molise. We'll welcome reports on wines from any of these regions this month. To get things started, I opened an excellent white Falanghina, made by Ocone in the Taburno wine region of Campania, in the hills above Naples. My tasting report is below.

You're invited to join our friendly international crowd of online wine lovers as we taste and talk about the wines of Southern Italy. To participate in the conversation, simply click to the forum topic "January: The South of Italy"

All forum discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post your comments and participate actively in the conversation. Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system. For your user name, enter your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D", with the capital letters and the space.

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Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly with correctly formed user names, you'll be able to participate in Wine Focus and in all our online wine and food forums.

Today's Tasting Report

Ocone 2009 Taburno Falanghina ($9.99)

This wine made from Falanghina grapes in Campania's Taburno wine region is a bright, clear gold color. Lovely, subtle scents of white fruit and beeswax lead into a delicious flavor, good body, dry, juicy pears and fresh-fruit acidity, rational 12.5% alcohol, with just a touch of appetite-whetting bitterness in the finish. Well balanced and food-friendly, in a rich style that's distinctly Southern Italian. U.S. importer: Scoperta Importing Co., Cleveland Heights, Ohio. (Jan. 5, 2012)

FOOD MATCH: It would be just fine with the seafood and saltwater fish that abound off the Naples coast; it was splendid, too, with a vegetable main course of lima beans and diced turnip long braised in olive oil with onions and garlic and a touch of Dijon mustard.

VALUE: On sale at a local retailer thanks to a distributor's close-out, it's a back-up-the-truck buy. Even at its more normal price point in the lower to middle teens, it's still an excellent value.

WHEN TO DRINK: It's not for long-term cellaring, but I'd say its richness and color promise at least a couple of years' aging potential. No rush to drink it up.

PRONUNCIATION:
"Falanghina" = "FA-lan-GHEE-nah," with a hard "g".

WEB LINK: This link leads to another U.S. distributor's fact sheet on Ocone Estate and its 2010 Falanghina..

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Ocone Taburno Falanghina on Wine-Searcher.com.

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Occupy this bubbly

2011-12-29T19:13:31Z

Love 'em or hate 'em?

If you insist on the finest crystal for your wine, you may hate this idea. But if you like the idea of a clear, reusable or recyclable food-safe pharmaceutical-grade polymer (okay, plastic) stemless wine glass that you can pack for travel, picnics or tailgating, you might just be excited about these lightweight, thin Govino Shatterproof Stemless Wine Glasses.
Click to buy them now from Amazon.com, $25.90 for eight.

]]> A decent sparkling wine that won't break the bank is a rational way to welcome in the New Year and see out the Old. I think at least 99 percent of us can agree on this.

So, without begrudging $300 vintage Champagnes to those who can afford them, let's cut to the chase for the rest of us: I've long recommended Northeastern Italy's Prosecco as a viable bridge between price and quality for everyday bubbly, and I'll double down that recommendation for the modest bubbly I enjoyed with lunch today.

Tasting ahead of midnight tomorrow so you won't have to, I was delighted with the Prosecco from Ruffino, a major Tuscan producer better known heretofore for its Chianti (including the modest, classically styled model that I featured about a year ago in the Nov. 5, 2010 30 Second Wine Advisor, Good cheap Chianti, no basket).

Fresh and bubbly, with good fresh lime-lemon and peach scents and a crisp, nearly dry flavor that finishes light, not cloying, it's a winner for New Year's Eve or just about any other time, and at $10 to $12 in most markets, the cash register experience won't make your head explode. It's an excellent choice for New Year's toasting, interesting enough to serve your wine-geek friends and accessible enough for the whole gang to enjoy. At 11 percent alcohol, you can enjoy a second glass, but be careful out there on New Year's Eve!

Pop the cork ... without a sound!

(A sparkling wine tip from our WineLovers' Questionary.)

Popping a sparkling wine cork is fun, but letting it fly with a bang isn't really a great idea. You might break the china, poke out a pal's eye, or, in any case, make a mess and waste good wine. So here's my alternative method for opening bubbly--a trick that will impress your friends because you end up nonchalantly holding the cork safely in your hand!

Make sure the wine is ice-cold, and avoid shaking the bottle.

Carefully peel the foil and unwind and remove the wire cage that holds the cork in place.

If there's any gunk around the cork, wipe it off with a damp cloth or paper towel.

Now, here's the trick: Assuming you're right-handed, grip the bottle with your right hand and hold the cork tightly with your left, either bare-handed or using a cloth or paper towel. Hold the cork steady while you gently twist the bottle. The cork will ease loose with a soft hiss, and you'll find yourself holding the cork in one hand and an open bottle in the other.

Today's Tasting Report

Ruffino Prosecco ($12.99)

Very pale in color, light straw shading to clear. A frothy mass of bubbles fills the glass, then falls back to a light but lasting sparkle. Its fresh, citric scent offers subtle lime and lemon and a hint of peach, and the palate follows through with a light, limey, prickly flavor that's crisp and almost dry, with just a touch of fresh-fruit sweetness to make it food-friendly but not cloying. An excellent pick for New Year's toasting, affordably priced, interesting enough to serve your wine-geek friends and accessible enough for the whole gang to enjoy. At 11 percent alcohol, you can enjoy a second glass, but be careful out there on New Year's Eve! U.S. importer: Ruffino Import Co., Rutherford, Calif. (Dec. 29, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: I enjoyed it today with a light lunch of curried cauliflower soup - an inspired match, the crisp fruit played well with the creamy cauliflower; the bubbles calmed the curry fire, and the wine's quenching character put an exclamation point on the sentence. Of course it would go well with a broad range of foods, and will serve you just fine for New Year's toasting.

VALUE: In the lower teens or below, you ought to be able to supply toasts and a few extra sips for a New Year's Eve party of decent size.

WHEN TO DRINK: You can keep it on the rack or in the fridge for a year or so, but why? Enjoy it now, or the next time you feel celebratory.

WEB LINK: Here's the winery's fact sheet on Ruffino Prosecco.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Prosecco Ruffino on Wine-Searcher.com.

Talk About Wine Online

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Nouveau worth the wait

2011-12-23T16:06:53Z

Love 'em or hate 'em?

]]> You may have noticed last month that, after many years of marking the arrival of the annual Beaujolais Nouveau on the third Thursday of November, I didn't even bother to do that this year.

Frankly, as I reported in November 2010, the Nouveau trend, a postwar invention created more for profit than for pleasure, appears to have "jumped the shark." As I said then, "there's mounting evidence that the Nouveau trend, running since soon after World War II, has peaked and gone into free fall: Sales of Nouveau have dropped by half since 2005. That's a marker that would have any sensible buyer selling off his stocks."

So, when the still-sizable river of Nouveau began to flow last month, much of it bearing the colorful label of "The King of Beaujolais," Georges Duboeuf, I passed on by.

Last week, though, browsing my neighborhood wine shop for something to open with dinner, I spotted a second row of Nouveau bottles under the poster colors of the Duboeuf shelf. These bore an old-school French label unaffected by the appeals of public-relations advisors or focus groups; and to my delight, when I turned a bottle around to look at the back label, it was an Alain Junguenet Selection imported by Wines of France Inc., of Mountainside, N.J., one of my favorite suppliers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and other appealing Rhone wines. For $13.99 it was an easy sell, and a last-minute chance to keep my annual string of Nouveau intact after all.

Domaine Rochette 2011 Beaujolais Villages Nouveau, made by Matthieu and Joel Rochette in the Beaujolais-Villages region of Regnie, proved to be all that I had expected. A great wine, no, but that's not what you expect from Nouveau. A fun wine, rather, fully deserving of the French term "gouleyant" ("gulpable") that was allegedly coined to describe Beaujolais. My tasting notes follow.

The old wisdom holds that Beaujolais Nouveau is best drunk up before Christmas, but in fairness, with modern wine making technology and, frankly, sanitation, most will last - if not improve - for a year or so. This one, with its good balance and rustic style, might hang on for two, but why bother? Drink up, and enjoy the 2012 next winter.

Today's Tasting Report

Domaine Rochette 2011 Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ($13.99)

Clear ruby color. Very ripe strawberry aroma, typical nouveau but happily without the banana or bubble-gum overtones that make Nouveau widely loathed. A hint of red-clay minerality adds aroma and flavor interest, and crisp, fresh-fruit acidity makes it a natural at the table. One of the better Nouveaus I've tried, and an extra month in bottle certainly hasn't done it any harm and may have helped. U.S. importer: Wines of France Inc., Alain Junguenet Selection, Mountainside, N.J. (Dec. 18, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: It fared well with a meatless dish of lima beans braised with onions, garlic, butter and sage and three peppers. The beans, butter and sage "tamed" the wine's wild strawberry flavors and took advantage of its fruit, minerality and crisp acidity as a fine table wine. Of course the wine would be fine, too, with more traditional pairings, simple red meats, chicken or a variety of cheeses.

VALUE: The low teens are the usual neighborhood for better Nouveau, and this one certainly qualifies.

WHEN TO DRINK: It won't fade for months or maybe a year or two, but I suggest drinking it up soon. That's what Nouveau is all about.

WEB LINK: Domaine Rochette's Web page appears to be published only in French, but even if your command of the language, like mine, is largely limited to food and wine terms, it's worth poking through it for the photos and to get a sense of the producer.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Because Nouveau moves through the market so quickly, it doesn't linger on the shelves. However,
Wine-Searcher.com lists many vendors and prices for the Beaujolais wines of Domaine Rochette, all worth consideration; many of these vendors should have the Nouveau.

Talk About Wine Online

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums.

To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.

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This winter warmer won't wear out

2011-12-16T16:54:47Z

Today's Sponsor

It's a Perfect Holiday Gift!
Award-winning, hand-selected wine from the heart of California's wine country is a perfect gift for friends, loved ones, business associates and clients. Gifts from The California Wine Club start at just $49.45!

]]> We've all known the frustration that comes with an excellent bottle of wine that's too much to finish in a sitting but, to be honest, too good not to.

This frustration can only increase when we're looking at a bottle of Port or other "fortified" wine that's been dosed with brandy to kick up its alcohol content to 20 percent or so, resulting in a delicious strong wine that's really too much for a responsible individual or even a couple to knock back in a sitting.

In the past, our parents and grandparents may have been perfectly happy to keep a decanter of Port or Sherry on the sideboard from Christmas through Easter, but that won't work for most of us who recognize the deterioration that comes so quickly to wine in an opened bottle, even if we stick the cork back in.

The issue becomes acute during winter and the holiday season, when many wine-loving households see an increased likelihood of a bottle of Port being uncorked.

Well, here's good news: While Vintage Port, despite its alcohol, begins to lose its subtlety after only a few days in an open bottle, its more casual sibling Tawny Port will keep on ticking, just like the iconic Timex, only more elegant.

What's the secret? Tawny Ports are aged in wood casks until they are completely mature, losing their rough edges while acquiring a "tawny" golden-brown color and complex aged aromas and flavors.

The Website of Porto Kopke ("cop-key"), producer of today's featured tasting, adds, "Where vintage ports have immediate air shock upon opening the bottle wherein they were aged and have a shelf life of only a few hours to a week; tawny ports have had air working on them through the cask during all the years of aging, giving them a shelf life of a month or longer. Lighter and drier than vintage ports, the tawnies are immediately understandable and enjoyable to the novice and an ongoing pleasure to the experienced port drinker."

What's more, Tawnies, like many Ports, are available in 375 ml "half-bottles," an option that cuts the price roughly in half and offers a portion that makes a little more sense for consuming in the shorter term.

Try a Tawny for the holidays and see what you think. And while you're at it, feel free to share your thoughts and tasting notes in our monthly Wine Focus conversation in our WineLovers Discussion Group. To join in, click to the forum topic "December: Holiday Sweets"

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly with correctly formed user names, you'll be able to participate in Wine Focus and in all our online wine and food forums.

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Today's Tasting Report

Porto Kopke 10 Years Old Port ($17.99/375ml)

Clear bright reddish-umber, dark bronze with a purplish hue. A distinct and delicious note of pecans on the nose is backed by a whiff of black plums. Warm and gently sweet on the palate, dried plum flavors and good acidity; appropriate sweetness for a dessert wine, but it's not as toothache sticky as some Ports; just a good balance of fruit, pecans and warmth, smooth with its tannins largely resolved through time in barrel. A fine sip for a wintry night. U.S. importer: Wineworth, LLC, Bellevue, Wash. (Dec. 14, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: Perfectly fine by itself as a dessert in its own right, it nevertheless went well with traditional Port snacks including walnuts, dried purple figs and, in lieu of the traditional Stilton, Point Reyes blue cheese. Each goes well individually; put them together and it's a match made in wine heaven.

VALUE: Take note that this price is for a 375 ml half-bottle, but we find that's plenty to provide two evenings of pleasant sipping for two. It's a decent value at that price.

WHEN TO DRINK: In contrast with Vintage Port, Tawny Port is ready to drink when you buy it, and for many, that's an advantage. However, it will certainly keep, and possibly gain added depth and complexity, for years in a well-managed wine cellar.

WEB LINK: Here is the U.S. importer's Porto Kopke page, with additional links to tasting notes on Kopke's Ports including the 10 Years Old Tawny. Kopke's Website is published in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French. This link goes to the English-language home page.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Compare prices and find vendors for Kopke 10 Years Old Tawny at Wine-Searcher.com.

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Wine books for the holidays

2011-12-09T19:09:08Z

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]]> Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Stockings hung by the chimney with care? Christmas tree lights or dreydls, menorahs or manger scenes or even a Festivus Pole. Shop 'til you drop or try to let materialism fall away. Whatever the holiday season means to you, chances are you're making a gift list for at least a few special friends, relatives and loved ones.

If your gift list includes a wine lover, your job is simple: Wine books are just about always in good taste, and easy to pick up at a local book shop or online. Let's take a quick look at a few of my perennial favorites.

Jancis Robinson's The Oxford Companion to Wine is a massive volume, edited and frequently revised by Jancis Robinson, the British Master of Wine who's one of my favorite wine writers. Robinson has assembled a worldwide team of experts to cover just about every wine-related topic you can think of in clear, direct (but not dumbed-down) prose. Even in the age of Google and Kindle, this one's worth enjoying on good, old-fashioned paper between heavy covers.

Click here to buy The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Edition, from Amazon.com in hardcover for $40.95, a 37 percent discount from its $65 list price.

If you're into wine geography, with topographical maps to help you visualize the vineyards, and color photos and detailed discussions of the places that provide our wine, you can't do better than Hugh Johnson's World Atlas of Wine.

Hugh Johnson's World Atlas of Wine is currently available for $31.50 in hardcover from Amazon.com, a 37% discount from its $50 list price.

And speaking of Johnson, another favorite wine writer from England, his annually updated Pocket Wine Book 2012 was out early this year, hitting the book stores in August. If you didn't get yours in the Nouveau shipment, it remains a book that I recommend year in and year out; although its substance remains the same, Johnson adds new information, updates vintage information and provides much more in each edition. Easy to tuck into pocket or purse, it contains tasting information and one- to four-star ratings for many thousands of wines. It's an indispensable reference and a perfect stocking-stuffer for the wine "geek" on your list.

Click here to buy Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2012 from Amazon.com for $10.19, a 32% saving from its $14.99 list price.

There's still plenty of time before Hanukkah or Christmas to get these books delivered - and gift-wrapped, if you like. In the spirit of full disclosure, should you choose to buy these books through the links provided (and buy other books while you're in Amazon.com during that session), we'll receive a tiny but welcome commission to help us pay the rent at WineLoversPage.com. Thanks in advance for that, and happy holidays to you and yours.

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Today Only: Get a $26 bottle of Pinot Noir with every gift purchase from The California Wine Club! Use Promo Code: ROBIN12 during check out when ordering gifts. Click Here to Order Gifts Now!

Your gift bottle:

Castoro Cellars 2010 "Blind Faith" Paso Robles Pinot Noir
Concentrated fruit aromas that are a hallmark of Castoro's "Blind Faith" Pinot Noir...black cherry and tea notes, toasty, smoky flavors and every reason to take another sip! Tasting Room Retail: $26

Gifts from The California Wine ClubThe California Wine Club start at just $49.45 (includes shipping, taxes extra where applicable) and feature:

* Two Bottles of award-winning, limited-production wine from California's best "mom & pop" wineries
* Fun and informative Uncorked(R) magazine
* A 100% bottle guarantee
* Your holiday gift message
* Bonus gifts for your recipients: $25 CWC Wine Credit and a fun wine-bottle shaped notepad

Send as many gift months as you wish. Special discounts are available on 3, 6, 9, and 12-month gifts. It's a fun and unique holiday gift that will be remembered!

Call 1-800-777-4443 or The California Wine ClubClick Here to give a holiday gift and get a gift bottle of Pinot Noir for yourself! Remember to use Promo Code: ROBIN12 during check out!
Hurry: Offer ends at midnight, PST, 12/09/2011

Today's Tasting Report

Monte Antico 2007 Toscana ($14.99)

Dark, blackish purple with a clear ruby edge. This blend of 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon yields a wine with a distinct Tuscan personality, really more reminiscent of Chianti than of its French-heritage varietal components. Black cherries and dried fruit on the nose add a subtle hint of spice. Fresh and tart on the palate, clean black-fruit flavors are consistent with the aroma, a bone-dry flavor shaped by crisp, food-friendly acidity. U.S. importer: Empson (U.S.A), Alexandria, Va. (Nov. 24, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: While it would be fine with the classic pairings, rare beef or tomato-sauced pasta, it's a natural with pork and poultry, too. It was particularly good at Thanksgiving time with shredded turkey in sage cream.

VALUE: This wine is widely available around the U.S. For $10 or less, often a dollar or two less. The $15 price tag at Woodlawn Park Kroger in Louisville is an embarrassment. Still, it's an good value at any point up to the lower teens and a great buy when you can find it for $9 or less.

WHEN TO DRINK: A few years in the cellar under good storage conditions, cool and dark and on its side, will do it no harm, but it's fine to enjoy now.

WEB LINK: Here's a tech sheet on Monte Antico on the U.S. Importer's website.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Compare prices and find vendors for Monte Antico at Wine-Searcher.com.

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The ongoing timeline of wine

2011-12-02T18:57:32Z

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]]> Every year it's fun to watch the seasons come and go. Baseball, football, basketball ... no, wait! Summer, autumn, winter, spring, warm to cool to freeze and back again; drops of dew and flakes of snow, frost and cold, ice and sleet, storm clouds and thunderbolts: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

Seasonal changes keep us centered in life and remind us that the years come and the years go, changing us and the world we live in with each new circle around the sun.

What inspires me to these deep thoughts? The approaching Winter Solstice? Maybe a little; that, and Advent leading up to Christmas. But mostly, to be honest, it was the recent arrival of the 2009 vintage of Falesco Vitiano Rosso, a good red wine from Umbria in Central Italy that I've been enjoying in each new vintage for many years.

There's something about the fun of seeing an old friend return in each new vintage, the ongoing timeline of wine, that brings together the simple pleasure of wine with the deeper satisfaction of relating its enjoyment to our passage though the journeys of our lives.

Vintage, after all, reflects more than just a different number on the bottle. As I wrote in a prior rumination on this topic, it is both fun and educational to pay attention to the similarities that the grape, the land and the wine maker's hand bring to a particular wine each year, and to contrast these fixed points against the inevitable changes that result from differences in each vintage's weather and other variables.

You'll find my notes on Falesco 2009 "Vitiano" Rosso Umbria "Winemaker's Selection" just below. It's a blend of the French-heritage Cabernet Sauvignon variety with Italy's own Sangiovese. Note that there's also a Cab-Merlot-Sangiovese blend without the "Winemaker's Selection" label, which is very widely available and sells for a few dollars less. I'd be happy with either.

Today's Tasting Report

Falesco 2009 "Vitiano" Rosso Umbria "Winemaker's Selection" ($12.99)

Dark garnet, almost black at the center. Black fruit aromas, cherry and plum, carry over intact on the palate in a dry, appropriately tart and very well balanced table wine that goes very well with food. A Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese blend, it's a reasonably priced Umbrian analogue of the "super Tuscan" wines from Tuscany, Umbria's next-door neighbor. U.S. importer: Winebow Inc., NYC; Leonardo Locascio Selections. (Nov. 25, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: It was excellent with a stereotypical choice for Sangiovese, spaghetti with a simple tomato-based Italian-American "gravy." It would be fine, too, with that other Tuscan favor, grilled rare red meat.

VALUE: This price is entirely fair for a wine of this quality. If you run into the regular Vitiano, the Cab-Merlot-Sangiovese blend, expect it to be tagged for $10 or under; it should be a good value too.

WHEN TO DRINK: Our WineLovers Discussion Group forum did a cellaring experiment with Falesco Vitiano a while back, putting bottles aside for comparative tasting a few years later. We found that the wine didn't suffer with short-term aging, but didn't really evolve, either. I'd say drink up, and enjoy watching for future vintages.

WEB LINK: Here is a Vitiano fact sheet (PDF format) on the U.S. Importer's website.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Compare prices and find vendors for Falesco Vitiano at Wine-Searcher.com.

Wine Focus on Holiday sweets

It's December, the multicultural season of holidays, and we've chosen an appropriate Wine Focus topic for the month in our WineLovers Discussion Group.

You're invited to join our friendly international crowd of online wine lovers as we taste and talk about the world's great variety of sweet wines and dessert wines. Bring out your French Sauternes, the German Beerenauslesen, Trockenbeerenauslesen and Eiswein (Canada's, too!); delectable Port or sweet Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, Malaga; Loire Moelleux and Quarts de Chaume, Alsatian SGN, those Aussie Liqueur Muscats and just about any other nectar you can think of.

Grab a sweet wine and settle in for some holiday cheer! To participate in the conversation, simply click to the forum topic "December: Holiday Sweets."

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly with correctly formed user names, you'll be able to participate in Wine Focus and in all our online wine and food forums.

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Wait, there's more - every Rioja is ready to drink when purchased, providing instant gratification.

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Try a Rioja today and discover why Rioja is pure genius. Rioja wines make great gifts too - don't be afraid to share the love!

Visit us at www.VibrantRioja.com, join the community, and enter to win a case of Rioja.

Talk About Wine Online

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Pass the Port ... and the cheese

2011-11-23T17:35:17Z

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Black Friday has come early! Special offer for 30 Second Wine Advisor readers: Get a $26 bottle of Pinot Noir with every gift purchase from The California Wine Club! Use Promo Code: ROBIN during check out when ordering gifts.
Click Here to Order Gifts Now!

]]> It's almost Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Tomorrow, many of us will be enjoying sumptuous family feasts, good wine, and, perhaps, a glass of Port after dinner.

Ah, Port. We've talked before about this Portuguese classic, a wine made in the scenic, steep Douro river valley and traditionally "fortified" with the addition of brandy. This trick was originally done to help the wine keep well in barrels on its sea voyage to England, where Port became beloved in the 17th century, inspiring the canny Douro producers to alter what had been a simple, hearty red table wine into something more iconic.

Not only did fortification preserve the wine, but coincidentally it provided alcoholic strength to make a warming wine for blustery English winters; it halted fermentation before all the grape sugar had been eaten by yeast, resulting in a deliciously sweet after-dinner wine; and it created a wine that aged very nicely, gaining character and complexity over years in barrel and bottle.

"Connoisseurs" often demand Vintage Port, which is made only in years when good weather conditions fostered ripe grapes to make extraordinary wine. But the categories of Tawny Port (non-vintage, aged in barrel until it turns mellow and brown) or Ruby Port (non-vintage, simpler, more accessible in its youth) offer the rest of us an opportunity to try Port without the initial expense or the need for long-term cellaring.

The other day, checking out the recently opened branch of Trader Joe's in my home town, I spotted a bottle of Quarles Harris Ruby Porto going for a cool $9.99. I had sampled this smaller producer's ports in the Douro but hadn't seen it in the U.S. At that price, who could resist? I took a bottle home and sampled it on a chilly autumn evening. (My tasting notes are below.)

Which brings us to the obvious follow-up question: What do you serve with Ruby Port? The easy answer is "more Port," as this dessert-in-a-glass goes well enough on its own. But it's nice to have something to munch, and so we put down a plate of some obvious suspects: nuts (specifically walnuts), dried fruit (Mission figs), fresh fruit (Satsuma tangerines) and a tangy cheese (a local favorite, mild Capriole Farmstead goat cheese from nearby Southern Indiana).

The results were interesting. First, I tried each item by itself with the Port. The cheese went pretty well, coating the palate with a smooth, tart-sweet creaminess that seemed to mellow the wine's harsh edges.

The walnuts were okay with the Port, too, and so were the dried purple figs, although there was no special synergy going on. The tangerine pieces, sweet as they seemed alone, came across as sour with the wine.

But when I tried a little of the mild, soft white goat cheese together with the other bites, the cheese somehow bridged the gaps to create new and interesting flavor sensations among all three items and the wine. The cheese softened the acidity of the tangerine to a sweet cream effect that, with the wine, was strangely - and pleasantly - reminiscent of Dreamsicles. The flavor of both the cheese and the walnuts seemed to intensify when I tasted them together, and the wine brought the combination home. Ditto for figs spread with cheese and tasted with the Port.

Best of all, though, a bit of dried fig, walnut and cheese together showed a symphonic synergy with the Port that put this combo in the winner's circle.

Playing with Port. Try it after Thanksgiving dinner, or on a wintry evening some time soon.

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Special offer for 30 Second Wine Advisor readers: Get a $26 bottle of Pinot Noir with every gift purchase from The California Wine Club! Use Promo Code: ROBIN during check out when ordering gifts.
Click Here to Order Gifts Now!

Your gift bottle:

Castoro Cellars 2010 "Blind Faith" Paso Robles Pinot Noir
Concentrated fruit aromas that are a hallmark of Castoro's "Blind Faith" Pinot Noir ... black cherry and tea notes, toasty, smoky flavors and every reason to take another sip! Tasting Room Retail: $26

Gifts from The California Wine Club start at just $49.45 (includes shipping) and feature:
* Two Bottles of award-winning, limited-production wine from California's best "mom & pop" wineries
* Fun and informative Uncorked(R) magazine
* A 100% bottle guarantee
* Your holiday gift message
* Bonus gifts for your recipients: $25 CWC Wine Credit and a fun wine-bottle shaped notepad

Send as many gift months as you wish. Special discounts are available on 3, 6, 9, and 12-month gifts. It's a fun and unique holiday gift that will be remembered!

Call 1-800-777-4443 or Click here to give a holiday gift and get a gift bottle of Pinot Noir for yourself! Remember to use Promo Code: ROBIN during check out!

Hurry: Offer ends at midnight, PST, Nov. 23, 2011.

Today's Tasting Report

Quarles Harris Ruby Porto ($9.99)

Dark ruby, shading to a clear reddish-purple line at the edge. Good dried fruit aromas, plum and berry, with an edge of alcohol (at 19 percent typical of Port) a little more noticeable on the nose than the palate. Ripe and sweet dried-fruit flavor follows the nose, fresh-fruit sugars bound up with firm acidity. There's some tannic astringency present, but nothing compared to the searing tannins of a young vintage Port. Good intro to Port, good value. U.S. importer: International Wine Imports, American Canyon, Calif. (Nov. 22, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: We enjoyed it with a tray of traditional Port snacks: walnuts, dried Mission figs, Satsuma tangerines and mild goat cheese. As detailed in today's article, the cheese proved to be the magic ingredient that brought all the flavors together.

VALUE: We got this top value at the new Trader Joe's in Louisville. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, stock up.

WHEN TO DRINK: Unlike Vintage Port, which is considered a finer wine and is usually priced to match, Ruby Port isn't made for long-term aging. That being said, however, the same factors that make Vintage Port cellarworthy - alcoholic strength, residual sugar and tannins - would surely carry a good Ruby through several years in the cellar.

WEB LINK: Quarles Harris is a relatively minor player in the major Port conglomerate Symington Family Estates.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
In the U.S., Trader Joe's may be the only reliable source of Quarles Harris Ruby Porto at this price or any other. However, Wine-Searcher.com offers a wide selection of Ruby from other producers, available at vendors around the world.

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Quest for good cheap Bordeaux

2011-11-18T19:51:58Z

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]]> Bordeaux. It's a name to conjure with, a French wine region that has been producing highly regarded red wines since before the 12th Century, when Eleanor of Aquitaine brought the land that is now Bordeaux under the English crown, at least for a while, with her marriage to King Henry II.

The British have been drinking Bordeaux ever since, and just about all the rest of the world eventually followed suit. After all, there's plenty to like about this stylish blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and, often, splashes of juice from other local grapes including Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Over many centuries of experience, the Bordelaise have really got the wine-making process down pat.

But a funny thing happened around 1855, when the wine merchants of Bordeaux's Medoc region got together and settled on a formal classification, a regulatory process that created a hierarchy of value based, crassly enough, on the prices each producer ("chateau") earned in the marketplace. It was at that point that top-rank producers Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Lafite, Latour and Ch. Haut-Brion (joined about a century later by Mouton-Rothschild) earned the title "First Growth" and began commanding prices well beyond everyday drinking for most of us.

The rise of popular, widely published critics like Robert M. Parker Jr. and Wine Spectator's tasting panels in the 1980s put the icing on the cake, until it has come to the point that classified Bordeaux is simply no longer within a range that I am usually willing to pay for wine.

Okayfine. That's life in the fast lane. But it occurred to me recently that, in what can only be described as a Bordeaux-related tantrum, I've been unconsciously boycotting the entire Bordeaux genre.

That's not so smart.

After all, even if I can't sip Chateau Pétrus with the big dogs, there's still plenty of modest Bordeaux around, so much that it makes up about one-third of the value of all French wine exports.

No, it's not at the same rarified level; but it's worth bearing in mind that even the most generic category of the region, the controlled appellation just-plain Bordeaux, is still made from the classic Bordeaux grapes by producers who share the region's DNA and its tradition. We're talking about dry, acidic varietal blends with a substantial heritage, everyday wines with character in their own right, wines that for centuries have been made with the dinner table as their destination.

I promptly suited action to idea and got out among the bargain bins. Here's one for $12, there a tenner, and wait, what's this? Le Cluzet 2009 Bordeaux Rouge for $7.99? In this day and age when it's getting hard to find "interesting" wines under 10 bucks, I'm willing to risk eight bucks on simple Bordeaux, figuring that at worst I'll be able to choke it down.

This goodie proved far better than mere choke-able, though. While it's no wine for the ages, it gave me what I expect of basic Bordeaux: Crisp and tart, cherry and plum aromas, and a good, snappy acidity on the palate to make it a friendly companion with food.

The bad news? Searching online, I can't find this wine except in a more pricey version with a different label that seems to be available mostly in Holland and France. I'm not at all certain whether I got lucky and nabbed a tiny shipment that happened to find its way here, or if more is on the way. With regrets that it's not going to be easy for you to find, I present it so you can keep the name handy in hope it does show up.

Meanwhile, the moral of today's sermon is simple: Don't boycott cheap Bordeaux. Keep your expectations within reason, but when you spot a fresh vintage at an appealing price, give one a try. The "Find this Wine Online" link in the tasting report below may help you get started. Also, don't be shy about asking advice at your friendly neighborhood wine shop. The results may be well worth the small effort.

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Each holiday gift month is just $49.45 (includes shipping) and features two bottles of award-winning, limited-production wine and an in-depth look inside the featured winery with Uncorked(R) magazine.

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Send more, save more: Special discounts are available on 3, 6, 9, and 12-month gifts. Send as many months as you wish. Call 1-800-777-4443 or visit www.cawineclub.com.

Today's Tasting Report

Le Cluzet 2009 Bordeaux Rouge ($7.99)

Garnet, with a clear edge. Cranberry, red plum and a whiff of brown spice on the nose. Tart red fruit flavor, fresh and dry, appropriate table wine alcohol at 12.5%; snappy acidity lingering. A blend of 75% Merlot with 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. U.S. importer: Prestige Wine Group, Princeton, Minn. (Nov. 6, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: Excellent pairing of an autumn dish of roasted pumpkin and potatoes with lots of browned onions to bring the roasted veggies up to meet the dry red wine. The back label suggests more traditional matches with lamb, steak, burgers and Cheddar, all of which should work fine.

VALUE: If you can find this serviceable, balanced and food-friendly table red anywhere near this price, I suggest buying it by the case.

WHEN TO DRINK: Low-end Bordeaux from the generic Bordeaux-wide appellation isn't made for cellaring, but I have no reason to believe this one wouldn't fare well under good storage conditions for a few years. No rush to drink it up.

WEB LINK: The U.S. Importer's Website doesn't seem to show Le Cluzet at this time, but you might use this link for more information about it and other wines in their portfolio.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
This link to Wine-Searcher.com a random selection of Bordeaux Rouge under $10 from vendors around the world.

Talk About Wine Online

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums.

To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.

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Mild-mannered Gewurz

2011-11-04T18:59:24Z

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]]> Look! Up in the sky!

Remember those excited opening lines of Superman? "It's a bird! It's a plane!" I always wondered why people got so excited about a bird or a plane, but I guess it was a simpler time.

Ultimately, though, it all came back to Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter at a major metropolitan newspaper, who'd don his tights and fly out for truth, justice and the American way when duty called, but who spent most of his time being, well, mild-mannered.

Today's wine is something like that, too. Gewürztraminer is not a wine that I choose often, and that's frankly because it's rarely anything like mild-mannered. Call it a Technicolor movie of wines, a TV show with the volume turned way up, your Uncle Charlie who wears bright plaid suits with paisley shirts and polka-dotted ties. I like my wines elegant and subtle, mostly, and Gewurz is generally loud.

But today's wine, an unfortunately hard-to-find Gewurz from California's Castoro Cellars, turns the usual image of the grape on its head. Varietally correct but balanced, Castoro Cellars 2010 Paso Robles Gewürztraminer stylishly avoids the over-the-top aromatic abundance that's too typical of the way many producers handle this grape.

It's a very good wine - you'll find my tasting notes below. But there's bad news: Castoro's Gewuerz is made in tiny quantities, and the California Wine Club's allocation has apparently used up the entire world supply. It is still in stock, with the caveats that it's available only to Club members and only in case or half-case lots, although those cases may comprise a mixed selection of Club offerings. Check the tasting notes below for information about The California Wine Club and to browse the databases at Wine-Searcher.com for Castoro Cellars' other, more available wines.

Wine Focus on Cabernet Franc

November has arrived, and that means we've moved on to a new Wine Focus topic in our WineLovers Discussion Group.

You're invited to join our friendly international crowd of online wine lovers as we taste and talk about this French-born grape that's often used in blending but nowadays inreasingly shows up in single-varietal wines. To participate in the conversation, simply click to the forum topic "November: Cab Franc for Wine Focus!"

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly with correctly formed user names, you'll be able to participate in Wine Focus and in all our online wine and food forums.

Today's Tasting Report

Castoro Cellars 2010 Paso Robles Gewürztraminer

Transparent, very pale gold. Varietally correct, elegant, pears and apples and subtle whiffs of peach and litchee. On the palate it's medium-bodied, crisp and dry; clean fruit favors that the nose with tart acidity, stylishly moderate 12.5% alcohol, and a distinct touch of peach-pit bitterness that adds to its firm structure. Its blend adds 15% Viognier and 8% Muscat Canelli to the mix for added complexity. (Oct. 19, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: The exotic aromas and flavors of Gewurz do make it a natural with Asian fare; we paired it with Sichuan-style pan-fried tofu with sesame-peanut sauce over stir-fried baby bok choy and onions. This one is much more versatile, though, and would make a great match with pork, poultry and seafood.

VALUE: This is an exceptionally stylish Gewurz, well worth the mid-teens price when you can find it, and a noteworthy bargain at The California Wine Club's current $10.99 restocking price for club members.

WHEN TO DRINK: The winery recommends drinking it within the coming year, and I think that's good advice, although Gewurz can age unexpectedly well, so don't pitch it without tasting it if you should "lose" a bottle or two.

WEB LINK: Here's a link to the Castoro Cellars website.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
The California Wine Club offers Castoro Gewurz in case lots to members (including new members) at this link.

Check out Wine-Searcher.com for a broad selection of all Castoro Cellars' wines.

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Minimalist Mosel

2011-10-28T16:43:31Z

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]]> Why is German wine such a hard sell? A lot of people blame the label. German wine labels look antique. They contain puzzling terminology, tiny print and so many unpronounceable German words! Who can ask for "Pickelwasser Gesundheitzchen Schnitzelbank Riesling Tovarich Behundertjahren" with a straight face?

But wait! What's this? Here's a spiffy new Riesling in a screw-capped clear bottle just one inch too tall to stand upright on my refrigerator shelf, and the front label (pictured below) bears only a handful of words. In English!

Flanking a semi-abstract graphic that looks like a stream flowing between stacks of flat rocks, we read:

Clean Slate
2010 Riesling
Mosel, Germany
a region of steep slate hills
and winding rivers

That's it! And to tell you the truth, the back label isn't that much more informative. As the front label disclosed, it's a Riesling from Germany's Mosel region, 2010 vintage. It's brought into the U.S. by Winebow Inc., a respected New York City importer, and the language "Selected, Shipped and Imported" reveals that Winebow worked with a German partner or partners to assemble wines from the Mosel into a regional-generic Riesling, not that there's anything wrong with that. The alcohol content is a gentle 10.5 percent, the Surgeon General offers his usual stern warning, and there's a bit of ad copy that I won't quote here but that you're welcome to read on the Clean Slate website.

"Clean Slate" contains a vinous pun of sorts, representing both its English connotation of a fresh start on a blank piece of paper, and a possible tasting note for a typical Mosel Riesling, known for its clean, fresh flavors and the minerally stony nuances that slate soil purportedly imparts.

It's a nice idea, and at a buck over $10 in this market (a few dollars less in some regions), it's an excellent introduction to Riesling in the Mosel style. You'll find my tasting notes below.

As a matter of fact, this weekend wraps up this month's Wine Focus exploration of Rieslings on our WineLovers Discussion Group. You're welcome to join our friendly international crowd of wine lovers as we delve into a world of Rieslings. To tell us about your choice, click to the forum topic "October Wine Focus: Riesling, Riesling and more Riesling." And watch the forum for an announcement about November's Wine Focus, coming up soon.

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly with correctly formed user names, you'll be able to participate in Wine Focus and in all our online wine and food forums.

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A scary-good deal you don't want to miss: The California Wine Club is offering $1 shipping on all full and half cases of award-winning, limited-production wine ordered today! You'll save up to 50 percent off retail, plus you'll save up to $36 in shipping on every case. Mix and match a case to your taste! Click Here to Shop Now!

What's so great about wines from The California Wine Club? They hand-select wines from California's best "mom & pop" wineries. These wines are made in such small quantities that you will rarely find them outside of the wineries themselves.

Shop deals like these:

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Today's Tasting Report

Clean Slate 2010 Mosel Riesling ($10.99)

Transparent pale gold. Good aromatic fruit scents, peach and a whiff of mango, fresh but not over the top. Flavors are consistent with the nose, fresh mango and tart acidity, and perhaps just a hint of that fabled Mosel slatey stony character in the background. If there's sweetness there, it's hard to pick out against the zippy acidity. Light 10.5% alcohol makes for easy sipping as table wine or aperitif, and there's a gentle peach-pit bitterness in the finish. U.S. importer: Winebow Inc., NYC. (Oct. 27, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: Riesling may be the most versatile white wine for food matching, and this fresh, crisp model would serve across a range of food companions from freshwater fish to seafood to pork, turkey or duck, cheeses and even spicy fare. We enjoyed it with an offbeat Asian vegetable dish, Chinese okra (fresh loofah) stir-fried with onions, garlic and ginger and a touch of Thai spice.

VALUE: While I have no complaints for value at this price, it's worth checking around if you can order online; Wine-Searcher.com finds it at U.S. vendors as low as $7.64, with many sources under $10.

WHEN TO DRINK: It's made for immediate enjoyment, but the combination of good balance, a sturdy screw cap and Riesling's natural ageworthiness could probably support several years under good cellar conditions.

WEB LINK: Moselland and Winebow, partners in Clean Slate, jointly operate this informative, brochure-style website.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and locate vendors for Clean Slate Riesling on Wine-Searcher.com. To find specific retailers in your region, try this handy tool on the Clean Slate website.

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Seeing stars in wine country

2011-10-21T20:44:06Z

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]]> "If you want to make a small fortune in the wine business, start with a large one."

This wisdom, which has been uttered in regard to many enterprises besides wine, speaks to the difficulty of earning great riches in an endeavor that faces abundant risks. Rain, snow, storms and heat can threaten vineyards, and so may insect pests, molds and bacteria; persnickety regulators and notebook-toting Big Name Critics, and even the changing tastes of a fickle public may quickly draw down that large fortune into something sadly less.

Nevertheless, wealthy investors still flock to the vineyards, checkbooks wide open. And it should come as no surprise, given the California wine country's proximity to Hollywood, that the vineyards are alive with the sound of past and current actors, singers, directors and producers.

The actor Fess Parker, for instance, perhaps better known as "Davy Crockett" for his film role as the American pioneer, owns a Central Coast winery that you may have seen, without realizing it, as the anonymous "Frass Canyon," site of a hilarious scenes in the movie Sideways.

Baby Boomers, and some younger enthusiasts too, surely remember the comedy team The Smothers Brothers. They owned a winery back in the day, and Tommy Smothers reportedly remains a financial "angel" to a winery or two. The Smothers' sidekick Pat Paulsen made some pretty good cheap wine in the '80s, too, with labels like "Refrigerator White" bearing plenty of his deadpan humor.

The memory of Raymond "Perry Mason" Burr lives on in Burr Winery, which he and his partner founded and which still bears his name. The actor Fred MacMurray raised horses on his ranch, mostly; now the Gallo family owns the place and makes MacMurray Ranch wines there. Nor is wine activity limited to the American cinema: The French actor Gerard Depardieu has been involved in wine making in so many nations that his passport allegedly lists his occupation as "vigneron," not "Acteur-Realisateur."

Some celebs may be in for the short haul, earn their 15 minutes of fame and move on. In the case of Hollywood's noteworthy movie director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola and his family, though, the wine country connection is serious.

Coppola has been a serious player in Napa wine for more than 35 years, investing some of his earnings from The Godfather trilogy to take over Gustave Niebaum's home and vineyard in Rutherford in 1975, where he makes wine under the Niebaum-Coppola label. In 1995 he purchased the historic Inglenook Winery building, later renaming the winery Rubicon Estate. Rounding out the portfolio, Coppola took over Chateau Souverain near Geyserville, in Sonoma County, naming it Francis Ford Coppola Winery and expanding it into a mini-Disneyland of wine with restaurant and resort facilities.

Today let's raise a glass to the wine country's Hollywood contingent, and let's fill that glass with Coppola 2009 "Votre Santé" California Pinot Noir. Cut! That's a wrap!

Today's Tasting Report

Coppola 2009 "Votre Santé" California Pinot Noir ($12.99)

Clear garnet with crimson glints. Shy but pleasant in the scent department, black cherries and a subtle whiff of smoke. Dark cherry-berry fruit more apparent on the palate, fresh and dry, with tart, food-friendly acidity and just a touch of tannic astringency. The smoky, fruity flavor profile may be a bit New Worldish, but the reasonable 13.5% alcohol and relatively subtle overall character save it from the excesses that befall some more pricey West Coast Pinots. (Oct. 7, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: Look toward Pinot Noir's more hearty companions to keep up with the relatively gentle California-style wine: Steaks or roast beef, robust cheeses, or perhaps mushroom dishes like our choice, a hearty mushroom and onion ragout over mashed potatoes.

VALUE: It's a good buy at this price, and you may find it for a buck or so less in some markets; Wine-Searcher.com for vendors and prices.

WHEN TO DRINK: It's not really made for long-term cellaring, but it won't fall apart over the next couple of years, and is modest enough to make an experiment in aging a bit longer worth the toll.

WEB LINK: Click here for the "Our Wines" page on the winery Website. Then click "Votre Santé" in the row of bottle pictures or in the column at left to read more about this wine and its Chardonnay companion.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Coppola "Votre Santé" Pinot Noir on Wine-Searcher.com.

iPhone App!

Get Food and Wine Pairing Tips On-the-Go

Get Food and Wine Pairing Tips On-the-Go with The California Wine Club's Food and Wine Pairing Wheel.

I've already got this app running on my iPhone. It makes it easy to pair food and wine like the experts, easily choosing wine matches that will bring out the best in every meal or snack.

Use this app as your personal wine consultant:
* In restaurants, to help you pick the perfect bottle from the wine list to enjoy with your meal.
* In the grocery store, when you are picking up ingredients for your dinner.
* At home, if you need a suggestion for this evening's dinner.

The app is intuitive and user-friendly.
* Simply pick your meal category from the top menu bar.
* Spin the wheel to find your tasty choice.
* See the wines that pair perfectly.

The wine listed in bold type will be your No. 1 choice to pair with this selection.

Find it in the App Store on your iPad, iPhone or other iOS device, or click this link to find the app in iTunes.

Talk About Wine Online

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Riesling with a prickly tickle

2011-10-14T20:23:37Z

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]]> I often wonder why Riesling isn't more popular.

Sure, this historic grape has its fierce partisans, who argue passionately that this German-born white grape makes some of the world's most noble wines, wrestling on even terms with contenders like Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon for the crown.

Riesling can make wine of depth, clarity and transparency, wondrous in its capability to extract mineral complexity from the soil. It can be delicious in youth, yet it ages beautifully. It can be made syrup-sweet, bone-dry, and, perhaps most often, stylishly in-between, with light fresh-fruit sugars perfectly balanced by mouth-watering acidity. Fresh, thirst-quenching, fruity and aromatic, relatively light in alcohol, with gentle, well-balanced sweetness. And wait! There's more! There's hardly another wine, saving possibly Pinot Noir, that's as versatile on the dinner table.

All this sounds like it ought to be an easy recipe for commercial success; but try this: Compare the shelf space given to Chardonnay or Zinfandel against the Riesling shelves at your local wine shop. If you can find the Riesling at all, let me know how many bottles you find.

What's not to like? Not much that I can see. And yet, as I've admitted before, I am no poster boy for Riesling. Whatever my intentions, I end up opening the stuff maybe a half-dozen times a year.

My personal Riesling resistance is based more on the simple reality that Riesling is different. It requires a paradigm shift, to use a buzzword, to move over from the familiar flavor profiles of dry French and Italian table wines and their New World descendants to Riesling's aromatic, tart-sweet style.

But it's more than worth the effort now and then, if only for a pleasant change of pace. And there couldn't be a better time than right now, as we're talking about Riesling in this month's Wine Focus in our WineLovers Discussion Group.

I've brought along today an offbeat but appealing Riesling from Down Under, Frisk 2010 Victoria "Prickly" Riesling, fills that bill and then some: It's a crisp-sweet, limey Aussie Riesling, food-friendly and easy to quaff at a light 9 percent alcohol.

And yes, it's prickly. The winery Website explains: "And the prickle? A gentle spritz produced by those clever yeasts, captured to deliver a tickle that will rouse your palate. It's downright Frisky."

Join us as our friendly international crowd of wine lovers delve this month into a world of Rieslings. To tell us about your choice, click to the forum topic "October Wine Focus: Riesling, Riesling and more Riesling."

All forum discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post your comments and participate actively in the conversation.

Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system. For your user name, enter your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D", with the capital letters and the space.

Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly with correctly formed user names, you'll be able to participate in Wine Focus and in all our online wine and food forums.

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Today's Tasting Report

Frisk 2010 Victoria "Prickly" Riesling ($9.99)

Transparent pale straw color. The metal screw cap breaks with a soft pop, and a light froth of bubbles comes up when the wine is poured but don't persist in the glass. A good scent of lime zest, characteristic of Australian Riesling, provides an appealing invitation, and there is, indeed, a gently prickly sensation from light carbonation on the first taste. There is limeade there, lime and soft sweetness well balanced by snappy acidity, particularly while the wine is cold. As it warms, sweetness becomes a little more apparent, so I for one would enjoy this sprightly, low (9%) alcohol wine the most, I think, as a refreshing sipper - friendly with picnic fare - on a hot day. There should be a few more of those before autumn settles in once and for all around in this part of the world. U.S. importer: Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, Calif. (Oct. 1, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: It made a fine match with a main-course garden dinner of fresh green beans with tomatoes and lots of browned onions and garlic.

VALUE: A fine value locally at $10. If Internet wine buying is legal in your area, price-shopping may be worth while, as Wine-Searcher.com finds it at U.S. prices from $8 to $15. Where you live can make a difference in wine buying.

WHEN TO DRINK: Both its fresh, limey fruit and its prickly tickle are made to be enjoyed soon. The sturdy metal cap will be protective, and Riesling ages very well, but I don't see this one as a candidate for cellaring. Enjoy it over the next year or two.

WEB LINK: Frisk has an enjoyably quirky Website here; even the silly music behind the "Click if you're 21" page is fun. For still more about Frisk, check out U.S. Importer Old Bridge Cellars' product page.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Frisk Prickly Riesling on Wine-Searcher.com.

Talk About Wine Online

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Check that label again

2011-10-07T21:55:58Z

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Get Food and Wine Pairing Tips On-the-Go with The California Wine Club's Food and Wine Pairing Wheel.

]]> Shopping for wine the other day, I wandered down an aisle full of Spanish reds, and suddenly thought, like Homer Simpson salivating over a burger, "Mmmm, RiOOOOja." It had been a while since I last sampled this historic, Tempranillo-based red from the Basque country in northeastern Spain, and it's usually easy to find a few $10 goodies among the highly rated trophy bottles.

There's a familiar name: Montecillo. And whoa! Look at that red label! "Desde 1874"? You've got to be kidding me! A 137-year-old wine?

Well, no. "Desde" means "from" or "since" in Spanish, and the sizable golden numerals that stand out on the front of the bottle don't represent its vintage (actually 2007) but celebrate the historic winery's 19th century founding. The lesson, of course, is simple: If you see something on a wine label that seems too good to be true, check again, and read the smaller print.

In fairness, I don't believe Montecillo sought to deceive. The actual vintage is also prominently displayed, and if I don't translate Spanish words like "Desde" on sight, I have no one but myself to blame for being an obligate Anglophone.

And the wine itself, Montecillo 2007 Rioja Crianza, was a goodie, in the dry, tart and tannic European style. The name "Crianza," (pronounced "Cree-ahn-zah,") comes from the Spanish word for "nursing" or "bringing up." In Rioja and the Ribera del Duero region, the law requires that Crianza spends 12 full months in oak, plus at least 12 more in bottles.
This may seem like a long time in wood, but in Spain, where oak aging is traditional, Crianzas are actually in the least-oaked category - you'll need to look for "Riserva" or "Gran Riserva" if you want still more.

The wine is appealing, a fine food match with meat, cheese or hearty vegetarian fare, and the price is more than fair. You'll find my tasting report below.

iPhone App!

Get Food and Wine Pairing Tips On-the-Go

Get Food and Wine Pairing Tips On-the-Go with The California Wine Club's Food and Wine Pairing Wheel.

I've already got this app running on my iPhone. It makes it easy to pair food and wine like the experts, easily choosing wine matches that will bring out the best in every meal or snack.

The app is intuitive and user-friendly.
* Simply pick your meal category from the top menu bar.
* Spin the wheel to find your tasty choice.
* See the wines that pair perfectly.

The wine listed in bold type will be your No. 1 choice to pair with this selection.

Find it in the App Store on your iPad, iPhone or other iOS device, or click this link to find the app in iTunes.

Today's Tasting Report

Montecillo 2007 Rioja Crianza ($9.99)

Dark garnet, with reddish-orange glints against the light. There's a distinct presence of oak in this Crianza, notes of leather and a whiff of fennel over austere black-cherry fruit. Markedly acidic on the palate, a tart, mouth-watering acidity that males a good backdrop for food. Tart cherries and a whiff of rose petals at the back of the palate, and a buzz of tannic astringency joins in the finish. An old-style Rioja, and there's nothing wrong with that. A good introduction to the genre in its classic form at a very affordable point of entry. U.S. importer: Underdog Wine Merchants, Livermore, Calif. (Sept. 30, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: It was excellent with an experimental dish, pulled "pork" barbecue made with soy curls, a meatless alternative, but it would be just as good with the real thing, or red meat in just about any form, or a chunk of Spanish Manchego cheese or just about any milder cheese of your fancy.

VALUE: As noted, my local price at the $10 point is quite fair for a decent, well-balanced entry-level Rioja. It is widely, internationally available, and Wine-Searcher.com shows a wide range of retail prices from about $8 to $14, with one Colorado shop asking an insane $20, so if your local market is on the high side, you may wish to shop around.

WHEN TO DRINK: Quite drinkable now, but if you have decent cellar conditions, there's no reason not to save it, and watch it evolve, for five years or more.

WEB LINK: Here is the U.S. Importer's information page about Montecillo.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Montecillo Rioja Crianza on Wine-Searcher.com.

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To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.

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