Razor sharp. Lean, electric and racy, with brilliant stony, mineral notes. Very nice and a great bargain at $16. You could age this, of course, but why not enjoy its explosive lean-ness now?
Racy and refined, this is a lovely bargain. Bittersweet with just a touch of tannic bite, this is what Chianti used to be as it sports a nice earthy character along side its streamlined fruit. A very nice wine for everyday drinking.
OK it’s under $10, but this sticky, sweetish cooked wine is not very pleasant.
The movie that kick started pinot noir sales had the opposite effect on merlot sales. Although the Sideways slap was no news to wine geeks, who had long known that merlot was the worst value in the market. Merlot, once the darling of industrial wine world, was suddenly out. Like a congressman caught paging too many pages, one day merlot was hot and the next it was not. Those in the wine-know snickered with glee.
Perhaps now the dust is settled we all need to go back to school on merlot. After all, they make a pretty good one in France that they call Petrus. You would be hard pressed to find a more expensive wine than Petrus, although I doubt that most of those that gulp it because of the price alone actually know their drinking merlot. There’s a lot of excellent merlot being made in Bordeaux and Washington State and to blow it off is to miss some outstanding wines.
I can think of no better place to go back school on merlot than the 2002 L’Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Merlot. This wine is a svelte beauty that came alive paired with some grilled lamb chops. Seamlessly smooth and velvety without any heaviness, the bright ripe plum fruit is highlighted with spicy oak and a refreshing herbal touch that is dominated by a lively minty-ness laced with traces of thyme and sage. I really loved the lean, angular character that well carried the ripe fruit flavors. I would only recommend short term aging for this wine because it is so good to drink right now, but a year or two more in a good cellar is sure to add complexity. A blend of 80% merlot, 12% cabernet franc, 7% cabernet sauvignon and 1 % carmenere aged 18 months in French and American oak.
I’m guess I’m drinkin’ &%#*&$# merlot again.
Hallelujah! Finally some great white wine from Alsace. The Albert Mann 2004 Riesling is an absolute delight. It’s a tightrope of acidity and mineral essences over unmistakable, absolutely bright riesling fruit that even sports a nice touch of petroleum. This wine was a bargain for $19.99 and I am going out of my way to track down the Grand Crus from this estate. This beauty was made by the brothers Maurice and Jacky Barthelmé who own 19 hectares of prime vineyards, of which five are in Grand Cru vineyards.
In such a wine you can taste varietal, vineyard and vintage - none of which are overwelmed by cellar technique or ultra-ripe fruit. The Barthelmé brothers are to be complimented for their skill, vision, focus and their courage to make a wine counter to the “hot” style in Alsace these days. They made an outstanding wine with this riesling and I’ll soon report on their other offerings. As good as this wine is, I’m sure they’ll be excellent. Not suprisingly, the Mann wines are selected by the talented importer Peter Weygandt and imported by the Weygandt-Metzler company.
So on a monthly basis I will offer my “Dancing Troupe” of the month, a selection of wines that have made my meals and my life better - wines that dance across my palate. I suppose they are my “Zen” experiences with wine and food, which I choose not to separate as an experience.
My September 2006 Dancers are:
Muscadet, Climat, Château de la Fessardièe, Alex Sauvion, 2004 A svelte, compelling Muscadet.
Sparkling Wine, Argyle, Knudsen Vineyard Brut, Willamette Valley Oregon, 1998 A great sparkling wine - on par with the world’s best.
Bourgueil, Trinch!, Catherine & Pierre Breton, 2004 Perhaps one of the best everyday wines ever.
Cour Cheverny, Le Petit Chambord, Domaine Francois Cazin, 2002 One of the best dry white wines you’ve never heard of.
Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc, Saint Peyre, 2005 What a BARGAIN!!
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Domaine de l’Ecu, Expression de Granite, Domaine Guy Boussard, 2001 Very simply a great white wine.
Pian del Ciampolo, Sangioveto e Canaiolo, Montevertine, Radda in Chianti, 2002 A pure experience in what should be great about Tuscan red wine.
Régnié, Cuvée des Braves, Cuvée des Braves, Domaine Jöel Rochette, Vielles Vignes, 2004 A wonderfully pure Beaujolais.
Touraine, Clos Roche Blanche, Cuvee Pif, 2004 Does anyone create more reliably delicious wines than Clos Roche Blanche - I don’t think so.
Marsannay, Les Longeroies, Domaine Charles Audoin, 2002 Real Burgundy, real character without a big price tag.
It’s almost getting boring to write about excellent Muscadet, but it may well be the most exciting white wine region around these days. Not that there are so many great producers, but now there are literally dozens of top notch wines being imported by small importers dedicated to quality and these wines are without a doubt the best values in white wine available in the market today.
This wine is no exception with a refined balance between its firm, mineral-laden fruity-ness and its bright acidity. Just lovely and only about $12 a bottle. Delicious now, but this fine wine will improve for the next several years.
Carabella is one of the labels to seek out. Great vineyards farmed by great people. This fine pinot gris combines richness, balance and freshness into a style all Oregon producers should aspire. A perfect rich shellfish wine.
I love rosé and, in general, the best I have tasted are French. Strangely they have become a fashion with young New Yorkers and that means that will spread across the country. Ott is the in-brand in NYC and has long been famed for their dry pink wines, but let’s face the fact that the name is in makes it one of the worst values around. Yes, it’s very pleasant light stuff, but at these prices??? Please!
I never thought anything would convince me that real Champagne was not king. I’ve had many fine sparkling wines from many countries that approached the finest Champagnes (notably Iron Horse in California and Bellavista in Italy), but I’ve never had a wine that really knocked out Champagne.
However, that is the past and the reality is that Oregon’s Argyle is not only producing world class sparkling wines that compete with some of Champagne’s finest, but extraordinary values that have their own unique personality.
This wine is flat out extraordinary and somewhat widely available for under $50. Toasty, frothy, lively and most of all complex, this has to be a top quality sparkler in anyone’s book. In fact, I rather drink this than the hotshot big names of Champagne that are in with the rappers, but out with anyone who is thinking about what they drink.
This is a great sparkling wine.
There are so many great French bargains these days it’s hard to keep up. Such wines are a major embarrassment to the American wine industry. How can they sell wines at this price that taste so good with the Euro is so much stronger than the dollar.
Here is a big, deep fruity wine with real flavor and complexity for $11 a bottle. Give me a break, why can’t we do this in the USA? A blend of 70% syrah, 20% grenache and 10% mourvedre, if anybody made a wine of such quality in the USA it would cost $40 a bottle.
When was the last time you had an excellent Chianti Classico that cost under $30? How about under $20 - maybe never? Well this Casa Emma is that most rare of Tuscan breeds these days and for under $20 offers classic Classico style. No simple fruit bomb overlayed with oak, this wine show real terroir, sangiovese character and a complex, structured style. With a wonderful lean, bittersweet sangiovese character, those of you who remember the glories of Tuscany before the invasion of the enologists will love this classic - and it’s a bargain besides!
A bargain from Burgundy sounds like an oxymoron, but here is one that is sure to please. No, it’s not great Burgundy, but it’s damn good Burgundy. With a nice richness, plenty of pinot noir character this is the real thing and a very good value.
A candidate for great house wine of the year, I dare you to find a domestic wine that tastes this good for under $13. Almost explosively fruity and clean with an acidity that dares your saliva glands to keep up this wine is food friendly perfection. A great combination of juicy ripe fruit and balance. Yes, you can be deeply fruity without being overweight. Buy cases.
While certainly chunkier and showing more wood than a Beaujolais this is still a very nice wine. More in the cheeseburger with raw onion mode than the omelette with truffle mode when it comes to food. Drink while young and fruity and don’t think too much about it.
A very fine Cru Beaujolais with a graceful, silky texture and a fruit brilliance that shows how much complexity can be packed into a refined and delicate package. Just a delicious wine to drink.
Pungently mineral and firm and almost demanding food, this is a really lovely wine. Lean and mean, but with just enough fruit, every sip demand yet another. Not surprisingly, this is a Louis/Dressner selection, who else would bring in such an obscure Loire appellation. We can be glad they did as this wine is a steal at around $12. Buy, buy, buy! Made from 100% Romorantin, a rare varietal to say the least.
A refined, classically styled Bordeaux for drinking now and over the next several years. As befitting a St. Estephe, this is a real cabernet in style with plenty of herbs and spice that overlay the lovely, but appropriately lean fruit. If you’re wondering what a Haut Medoc Bordeaux is supposed to taste like but don’t want to break the bank this is a very nice wine. Think lamb chops.
Real dolcetto here: bright, zesty and sassy, but offering a good dose of earthy complexity. A really fine effort that shows why dolcetto that tastes like concord jam aren’t what good dolcetto is about. Very, very nice wine.
Here is a zesty, refreshing delight that will match your best seafood and provide the perfect clean, acid driven foil for deep fried fish. Absolutly mouthwatering and fresh. IT COST’S $8.75!!! Anybody buying industrial California/Australian white wine these days is a fool.