Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Domaine de l'Ecu, Expression de Granite, Domaine Guy Boussard, 2001

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Current winner of the longest name wine award this year, you’ll think the name is short when you taste this wonderful wine. Still a baby, it will develop and expand for many years. A lighting bolt of a wine that in all its leanness still explodes on the palate. Concentrated mineral essence with a delicate balance. A beauty that costs all of 16 bucks. Amazing.

Barolo, Villero, Giuseppe e Figlio Mascarello, 1999

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A really fine wine, exotic an balanced and absolute classic Barolo nebbiolo in style. True to type this Villero is forward, round and rich (by Barolo standards). Just starting to drink now, a few more years will be well rewarded. A great wine to recommend to someone who want to know what nebbiolo is really all about. I’m going to grab every bottle I can find.

Pian del Ciampolo, Sangioveto e Canaiolo, Montevertine, Radda in Chianti, 2002

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With a balance and refinement only found in fine Burgundy, this wine is an extraordinary value at well under $20. The light color may confuse some, but the expansive delicate aromas explode on the palate with an intense delicacy that is hard to find these days. A fine wine that reminds one about what made Tuscany great to begin with. Buy as much as you can afford. It’s great to drink now and will age for many years.

Ribera del Duero, Emilio Moro, 2003

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Here’s an excellent big red wine. Big, intense, but balanced. It perfectly matched some garlic lamb kabobs with its bright fruit intensity, structured tannins and racy style. A rich wine, but not overwrought like California zinfandel so often is. I would rate this outstanding as it almost compels you to pick up your glass and bury your nose in it. Drink over the next five years or so to preserve the gorgeous fruit.

Sant'Antimo, Ateo, Ciacci Piccolomini d'Argona, 2000

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Well I did not expect much from this famed Brunello producer now making a wine from a D.O.C. essentially created by Banfi, but boy was I wrong. This is a lovely wine with an earthy intensity that surprised when I was expecting a bland oaky internationally styled wine. This is a real Tuscan wine worth drinking with a big steak. Outstanding structure, complexity and varietal intensity. Drink now and over the next several years.

Marsannay, Les Longeroies, Domaine Charles Audoin, 2002

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Well this is a lovely pinot noir and worthy of any Burgundy fan. I tasted this wine at a restaurant where it was tough to find a bottle I wanted to drink for under a hundred bucks. Frankly the wines were brutally overpriced. This fact forced me to look beyond the obvious and I discovered this beauty. Lean, mean structure and acidity combined with mouth watering  bright fruit, a delicate yet firm balance with a long bittersweet fruity-ness that all lead to a hell of a wine. Certainly it can be cellared for a few more years, but if I had more bottles I’d be drinking them now. Delicious and a great value.

Bitch!

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weatheroregon.gif“Bitch!”

“Bitch!” I sneer again in my thoughts as I glare at the all-to-perky blonde weather girl who is amazingly bright and wide-eyed at 5:00 A.M. In a classic case of shooting the messenger, my frustration has to be directed at this former cheerleader as it will do no good to rail against Mother Nature.

The cute plastic blond on the TV had just forecasted rain. I cannot imagine worse news. It has not rained here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley for months. “Why can’t the god damn rain wait just a few more weeks,” I grumble to myself as I stare at the cloudy, damp morning that seems even grayer in the pre-dawn gloom. So far it had been an almost perfect vintage and the vines are loaded with beautiful fruit that is now just a couple of weeks away from harvest - and now this. The mood at the winery changed right with the weather, with sunny smiles and optimism replaced by a gray moodiness as the clouds covered the bright, warm sun that had shined reliably every day since last June. Now all we can do is wait and hope.

It is this visceral relationship with the daily morning weather report that will forever divide the way wines are perceived by critics and winemakers. Giving a wine points in this context is almost insulting nature to someone who has lived with the vines every day. When you see vines on a daily basis, then pick them, crush their fruit and guide it in its journey to becoming wine you see each wine as an individual. Like a parent thinking of their children, you don’t rate them, but appreciate each of them for their strengths, weaknesses and individual quirks. Every vintage has a personality worthy of consideration if the winemaker lets that personality show through. You also learn from them with each generation giving you information that will make you a better parent with the next.

This is a more beautiful way to look at wine than the sterile rankings of people like Parker, The Wine Spectator and Tanzer. Not only is it more beautiful, it is more natural and in line with what wine really is: a product of nature.

I’m not talking about commercial, industrialized plonk like Kendall Jackson, Santa Margherita, Two Buck Chuck, Yellow Tail or the long list of beverage alcohol products that are brands only designed to please inattentive palates with a static style regardless of natures whims, but about the myriad of wines made by producers who live with their vines and to whom winemaking means something beyond making a buck. The market is full of wines that speak of the nature that created them. If you pay attention to what you drink, you can feel the intensity and complexity created by the combination of human aspirations and nature’s power. Points have little to do with wines that exhibit this electric synergy, so depend more on your palate than scores, which are sure to miss the nuance and complexity layered through such wines - be they simple everyday wines or classics for your cellar.

“Bitch!” It’s going to rain again today.

Eight Glasses of Pinot Noir

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willakenzie pierre leon.jpgIn front of us are four glasses of pinot noir, which we are trying to rank. The wines are all excellent, but there are clear differences. The group arrives at a unanimous decision ranking wine #2 in first place.

The next day we are at it again and once more in front of us are four glasses of pinot noir. After more debate than the day before wine #4 is a unanimous choice as our favorite with number #2 a close second.

 These eight glasses of pinot noir were in fact not eight different pinot noir wines, but just four bottles of wine with the second tasting repeating the first after the wines had twenty-four hours of air.

To make matters even more confusing, not only was there not eight different wines, there were not four different wines. In reality there were only two wines. The glasses held the following wines:

  1. 2003 Willakenzie Aliette Pinot Noir, Cork-Free (screw cap)
  2. 2003 Willakenzie Aliette Pinot Noir (cork finish)
  3. 2003 Willakenzie Pierre Léon Pinot Noir, Cork-Free (screw cap)
  4. 2003 Willakenzie Pierre Léon Pinot Noir (cork finish)

What made these two wines four in our blind tasting was not the wine, but the closure. Oregon’s Willakenzie Estate bottled the exact same wines under two different closures in 2003 and in the process turned two wines into four because there are clear differences between the wines under cork and those with screw caps.  It is interesting to note that the clear winner of each of our tastings was cork finished.

On the first day, the screw cap finished wines were clearly brighter and fruiter, but the 2003 cork finished Aliette seemed more complex and aromatic. It was my theory that the differences between the wines would become less distinct after being exposed to oxygen overnight, but it was not the case. The cork finished 2003 Pierre Léon, which was closed and tannic the first day, positively sang the next - a really lovely wine. To prove the final judgment of  our group (winemakers all) the two cork finished bottles were empty, while a good third remained in both screw cap finished bottles, which by then had been unveiled.

Certainly there is not enough data here to say screw caps are inferior or superior to corks, but it does raise some interesting questions. One of the big debates with screw caps is how much oxygen needs to be in solution when the wine is bottled. The theory is you need to leave more oxygen in the wine than you do with corks as the screw cap is much less permeable to oxygen than cork. This issue would indeed change the way the wine tastes. Another variable is the tasters themselves. We are more accustomed to cork finished wines and our palates may just be tuned to that channel. However, one thing was very clear: the wines were different.

There was one other thing that was very clear - Willakenzie made some very fine pinot noir in the difficult 2003 vintage, they stand out for balance and restraint in a year that had few such wines and I would happily pull the cork (or unscrew) a bottle of these excellent wines at any time.

Roannaise

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l'authentique2004.-jpeg.jpgNow there was a wine I had not seen in an American wine shop before, for that matter any wine shop: Côte Roannaise. So I snapped it up and went home and looked it up. Located just northwest of Lyon, the Côte Roannaise is known more as a vacation spot for the French and wines produced from the gamay grape that are best consumed there, while in a vacation state of mind. I did not expect much from the wine. One sniff totally changed my mind.

The wine was 2004 Domaine du Fontenay, L’Authentique, Côte Roannaise. Out of my glass came gloriously refined, clean and floral gamay aromas that most Beaujolais can only dream of - most don’t even dream of it. This charming wine is light yet mouth-filling on the palate with a singing purity of fruit that makes even a simple meal a memorable experience. The exact opposite of most of today’s highly pointy wines, this is a wine based on finesse and grace and it only costs $12 a bottle. What a tremendous  bargain!

But what’s the deal here - great Côte Roannaise? A quick trip to the estate’s website solved the mystery. The wines of Domaine du Fontenay are made by an Englishman, Simon Hawkins, whose dedication to quality is very obvious in the wines he makes. Hawkins believes the tiny Côte Roannaise, with its granite soil, is the ultimate climate for gamay. He is producing wines from vineyards with extremely low yields using natural, minimalist treatments in both the cellar and vineyard. Hawkins actually uses a traditional vertical basket press, a rarity in the age of horizontal presses. The wines are un-fined, un-filtered, un-chaptalized and un-everything. This “un-ness” shows in the beautiful purity and expansive, yet delicate flavors and aromas of Hawkin’s wine.

Thank goodness for small importers like Triage Wines in Seattle, who imported this gem as I dont think the Côte Roannaise is on Diageo’s priority list.

Memories of Alsace

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nigelmuscat.jpgRecently I tasted a bottle of the best Alsatian Gewürztraminer I’ve had in a very, very long time. The only problem is that it was neither Alsatian nor gewürztraminer, but it reminded me in every way of the steely, yet flowery and perfumed racy lush balance that seemed to define gewürztraminer from Alsace. Sadly, as I have often written before, Alsace today all-to-often produces blowsy, over-ripe semi-dessert wines that deaden the palate instead of enlivening a meal.

The lovely wine that so reminded me of what used to be great about Alsatian gewürztraminer was the 2004 Nigel Gelber Muskateller, Kremstal from Austria. Racy, and steely with a refreshingly biting acidity supporting the floral, lychee nut and tropical fruit aromas and a graceful 11.5% alcohol, this is a wine that almost demands a second glass. Grab this for all those pan-Asian meals that used to call for gewürztraminer and you will be far happier. Also, at under $20 a bottle this is a real value and you’ll get a trip down an Alsatian memory lane in the bargain.

 

 

IPNC 06 #3: Pinot Envy No More

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hawks view wadenswill 2005 .jpgThe rest of the world always envied Burgundy as the only home for great pinot noir, but times have changed. That’s not to say the wines of Burgundy are less distinctive or lower in quality, for they certainly are not. In fact, the pinot noir wines of Burgundy are better and more terroir driven than ever. What has changed is finally other regions are really delivering a broad range of excellent pinot noir wines that are not trying to mimic Burgundy, but are standing on their own. Those regions include California, Oregon, British Columbia and New Zealand. We can only dream about the wonderful future of pinot noir in these regions and its homeland of Burgundy.

Below is a wrap-up of some lovely wines I tasted at this year’s International Pinot Noir Celebration. This list is by no means all-inclusive as I missed the chance to taste many wines as we were too busy pouring our own wine selected for IPNC, the 2003 Anne Amie Vineyards Hawks View Vineyard.

Highly Recommended Pinot Noir from IPNC 06: 

  • 2004 Quail’s Gate Winery Family Reserve, British Columbia, Canada - about as graceful, floral and delicate as pinot noir can get and still have substance and complexity. Absolute silk on the palate.
  • 2004 Savigny les Beaune 1er Cru, Les Peuillets, Domaine D’Ardhuy - fantastic structure and concentration. Very tight, but a very multi-faceted wine that demands another five years in the bottle.
  • 2004 Volnay 1er Cru, Clos de Chênes, Domaine Pascal Bouley - a wonderfully stylish and elegant wine with a punch that begs for another five years or more to grow up and out.
  • 2003 Beaune 1er Cru, Vignes Franches, Domaine du Château de Chorey - even in such a hot year, the graceful and refined style of this Domaine shows through. This is one of the more enjoyable 2003 Burgundies you will find. Wait another three or four years before drinking.
  • 2004 Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru, Au Closeau, Domaine Drouhin-Laroze - a classic, firm and very closed Gevrey that demands eight to ten years before pulling the cork. A smoky, mineral-laden treasure.
  • 2004 Volnay Robardelle, Domaine Huber-Verdereau - I’m a sucker for the smooth, delicate and lingering character of good Volnay and this wine totally seduced me. Drinkable now, but wait a few more years for a real beauty.
  • 2004 Beaune 1er Cru, Les Toussaints, Domaine Lucien Jacob - Lovely, graceful, delicate and expansively floral. As always, it will be better in a few years, but it tastes so good today I’d probably drink it up.
  • 2004 Te Muna Road Vineyard, Craggy Range, New Zealand - Brilliantly clean, bright fresh and juicy. Lights up the palate with zesty, but complex fruit. I’d drink it young.
  • 2004 La Encatada Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, Alma Rosa, CA
  • 2004 Carneros Estate, Bouchaine Vineyards, CA
  • 2003 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate, David Bruce Winery, CA - Big, but balanced Pinot. Not at all ready for drinking, I’d give it at least five or six more years. Richly smoky and earthy, with tarry, but ripe cherry fruit. As big as it is, it never goes over the top.
  • 2004 Cuvée Lollapalooza, Fiddlestix Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, Fiddlehead Cellars, CA - Consistently one of my favorite California pinots. Rich, but very balanced and firm with great depth and complexity. I’d age it, but Fiddlehead pinot always seems to drink well whenever you open it.
  • 2004 La Cruz Vineyard, Keller Estate, Sonoma Coast, CA - Here’s a real find that I’d never tasted before. Sleek and balanced with a graceful style and just the right touch of California ripe fruit. Really pretty.
  • 2004 Bethel Heights Vineyard, Casteel Reserve, OR - From one of my very favorite pinot noir producers anywhere, Bethel Heights always leans towards complexity and balance not power and this lean beauty is no exception. A gorgeous pinot that should be aged at lease five more years.
  • 2004 Mt. Richmond Vineyard, Elk Cove Vineyards, OR - Wow is this a lovely pinot! Earthy with just the right touch of sweet fruit on a just firm enough frame. Very, very nice.
  • 2004 Ponzi Reserve, OR - While a lot of new comers get more press attention, old-timer Ponzi Vineyards keeps plugging along making some very nice pinot. Their single vineyards and reserve are always the real thing and show a wonderful refined and balanced pinot noir character.
  • 2004 Witness Tree Vineyards, Vintage Select, OR

Lirac, Château de Ségriès, Henri de Lanzac, 2004

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I thought this was a wonderful wine and a bargain. The kind of wine you can drink in gulps with grilled sausages that still delivers something to spice the meal and interest the mind. Well balanced with bright fresh fruit that offers good complexity and a good backbone, this is exactly the kind of wine that serious wine aficionados buy by the case for everyday meals and barbecue parties. Very nice stuff at a very nice price.

Zweigelt, Hopler, Burgenland, 2002

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A rich bright purple color leads to an expansive fruity and mouthwatering, delicious wine. Very bright, not big on complexity, but big on pleasure, this was a wonderful wine with a modern style Vietnamese beef lunch. Keep it a bit cool to bring out the charming fruit. While it certainly has more guts than a simple Beaujolais (which I love) it has a depth more in tune with pinot noir than gamay.

Sauvignon Blanc, Fiddlehead Cellars, Happy Canyon, Santa Ynez Valley, 2004

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Good luck in finding a better American sauvignon blanc. Richly flavored, but with a vibrant zesty  fruity-ness combined with tart grapefruit and an underlying creamy texture. Delicious. Lively enough for an aperitif, but with more than enough complexity and character to stand up to a serious meal. Kathy Joseph continues to make lovely wines across the board.