ABC as easy as 123

By Craig Camp

Thursday, May 1, 2003

ABC, easy as 123
Oh, simple as Do Re Mi
ABC. THAT'S wine lingo for Anything But Chardonnay. Chardonnay is too popular to be cool to drink. At least that's what people say. This proves once again that what people say and what they do -- or in this case drink -- is not always the same. It's hard to fight fashion.

Yet chardonnay is popular for many reasons. Along with cabernet sauvignon, merlot and now syrah they can almost grow it anywhere -- and I mean almost anywhere. Chardonnay is easy to grow and to make, and the winemaker can greatly influence the outcome. Because the winemaker can have such a strong influence it is often technique that defines the flavors of chardonnay wines more than terroir. This is why so many chardonnay wines are boringly similar, or just plain boring. Most are created by winemakers taught the same unimaginative standards of flavor, quality, and technique at enology schools the world over.

The grand exceptions to this are the great white wines of Burgundy, where it all began for chardonnay. There the expression of a unique terroir is raised to the highest level, as are the prices.

The wine trade follows the fashion trend of chardonnay without giving it much thought. Sure there is a lot of sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio out there, but most producers are using the same strategies for producing these varieties with similar scintillating results. For instance, at many chain restaurants in the US you are presenting with a wine list consisting of four American chardonnay selections, a pinot grigio, and a sauvignon blanc balanced off with some white zinfandel and interchangeable merlot and cabernet sauvignon wines. Sometimes things are spiced up by the inclusion of Australian or South American wines that are trying as hard as they can to taste just like the California wines.

I was recently in a massive new grocery store in Ohio and the wine manager proudly showed me his wine section. It was gigantic, featuring over 600 different selections. You needed binoculars to see the end of the chardonnay section, which represented almost two thirds of the department. The problem was he could have replaced all the dozens and dozens of chardonnays on the shelf with just four or five of his selections and still have offered his customers the same diversity of styles and price points. They just would have had fewer pretty labels to choose from.

This ocean of identical chardonnay wines with different labels has made serious wine buyers adopt the ABC anthem and to do their best to ignore chardonnay -- except top Burgundies when someone else is buying. Yet we should remember that the reason chardonnay is so popular in the first place is that it tastes good.

Yes chardonnay tastes good and matches well with a broad variety of food. I confess that although it may not be cool, I like chardonnay. What I hate is the cookie-cutter, plastic-tasting swill that most companies spew out onto the market and that most people think is what chardonnay tastes like. It is not as easy as 123 to find wines that really taste like chardonnay. The mass of wine labeled chardonnay would seem to make it easy, but it is in fact harder because the good ones are camouflaged by all the chaff.

At the lower price levels of the chardonnay spectrum, oak is the enemy. That goes double for wood chips. Inexpensive wines should be all about fruit and drinking young. Oak has become the curse of chardonnay wines -- many think the flavor of oak is actually the flavor of chardonnay. At the higher price level, it is well proven by history that the judicious use of oak broadens and adds layers of complexity to chardonnay in a way that that it can do to no other white variety. What constitutes a judicious use of oak is a very broad category. Dominique Lafon can put his powerful and structured chardonnay in barrels for 18 months in his very cold cellar while the same treatment would (and does) destroy a California chardonnay. You can still taste the intense fruit of the Lafon while the California wine would effectively become oak juice.

To find the best bargain in chardonnay today you have to go back to the beginning. That is back to Burgundy. Yes, that Burgundy that is so famous for its hyper-expensive chardonnay is also home to the best deal in chardonnay today and most everyone ignores it:

The Maconnais offers many consistently fine chardonnay wines for under $15 (US). What anyone is doing drinking the Kendall Jackson chardonnay potion of sugar and wood chips when these wines are around is a mystery. I know that Pouilly Fuisse is a notoriously bad buy, but wines under the various Macon appellations like the Macon Village, Macon Vire, Macon Clesse, Macon Lugny, and Macon Fuisse appellations have to be the most interesting, inexpensive chardonnays that are produced. I know many of these wines have committed the sin of not actually putting chardonnay on the label, but rest assured Macon is chardonnay. The best part is you don't even have to buy these wines on sale to get a great deal.

Macon chardonnay offers a firm acidity and a complex mineral flavor balanced with just a touch of green apple fruit. This balance, fresh flavor, and most of all the crisp finish makes these wines not only exceptionally food friendly, but great aperitifs in the American style.

Some of my current favorites are:

- 2000 Macon Clesse, Les Acacias, Cave de Vire, a Christopher Cannan Selection
- 2001 Macon Chaintre, Domaine de Lalande, a Martine's Wines Selection
- 2001 Macon Village, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Jean Touzot
- 2000 Macon Village, Domaine de Roally, a Louis/Dressner Selection
- 2000 Macon Charnay Franclieu, Jean Manciat, a Louis/Dressner Selection

No, these wines are not Lafon Meursault, but for everyday drinking wines that offer real complexity, they kick oak chips in the face of those flabby new world chardonnays.
Come on gonna teach how to sing it out, sing it out, sing it
Oh oh oh, ABC
ABC? Not necessarily.

Dancing Lessons: matching food and wine

By Craig Camp
Monday, October 20, 2003

IT'S LIKE the Tango; precise and intertwined.

Maybe it's is more like a waltz; stately and controlled.

Some think it's like a Salsa; all energy and movement.

There are others that think it is a folk dance -- all costumes and traditions -- and others that think it should be modern dance with no rules at all.

Whatever dance it is, it requires lessons and practice. This foot after that; lead this way and follow that way. It requires concentration and agility to dance well.

We're always trying to dance perfectly: the dance of which wine goes with what.

There are those that argue for contrast, others for harmony, and still others that demand flawless synchronicity. Many others are bound by legend and tradition or, worse, by reviews and fashion. The debate makes knowing the next step seem like your first Tango lesson.

Thirty years ago, Le Francias, in a northern suburb of Chicago, was the ultimate restaurant in the United States. Chef/owner Jean Banchet was on the cover of every American food magazine and the private planes were arriving at the nearby airport every night, where limos were waiting to whisk the passengers to the pleasures of his tables. The sommelier there told me the story of an older gentleman who would come in once a week to dine. He was always alone and would always order the same thing: an old bottle of Chateau d'Yquem and a steak -- finishing every piece and drop of both. The sommelier loved serving the old man because he loved the steak and the great sweet wine equally. "It was a pleasure to serve someone having such pleasure," he told me.

Pleasure, after all, is the only rule that counts.

When I was converted to wine (conversion in the religious sense is the proper reference point for those new to the wine sect), I set off to convert the heathens. The first and easiest target is your own family. At Thanksgiving I served the best Beaujolais Cru I could find. When Christmas dinner overloaded the table I opened fine Bordeaux and Burgundy. They always politely nodded and said "very nice" when I was obviously waiting for them to comment about the wine. Then Easter came and through an oversight I forgot to buy the white wine and, out of necessity, served a cheap California chardonnay. The response was overwhelming. They couldn't say enough good things about the wine. I had to soak the labels off for all of them so they could buy more.

This shook my faith in the true religion. They were experiencing more pleasure from the inexpensive chardonnay then they were from the Lafon Meursault I had served them at Christmas. Personal preference had reared its ugly head to confront all my certainty, not only about what was good or bad, but what was right with the food I was serving.

What really shook me up as an old hippie was that I now felt a certain kinship with Richard Nixon, who would serve his guests domestic wine while he was drinking Chateau Margaux out of a napkin-wrapped bottle. Tricky Dickie seemed somehow more human to me after that.

Believe me I know to what depths this all can take you. I admit it: I am a recovering match-oholic. That's right I was obsessed with matching exactly the right food and wine. More than once the restaurant's kitchen would close before I had even gotten through the first 150 pages of the wine list. I was getting ulcers trying to decide if this Sancerre or that Chablis would be exactly right with the first course. At first it wasn't bad. Most meals followed classical formulas, but then with the onslaught of "new-American" restaurants picking wines soon became a nightmare. During the same course one person could have pasta with a tomato sauce, one spicy pot stickers, one foie gras, and another six types of fresh oysters. What was the perfect wine for all of those things? The answer is simple: there wasn't one. After a few meals like this I was on the road to recovery for match-oholism.

The truth is that wines are much more adaptable to many types of foods than many wine experts would like you to believe. It is far safer to stray from 95 point wines and the safe choices of the world than you think. Few matches are really bad.

This is true. While there are some matches that really sing, most of your options fall into the more than acceptable "pleasure" category. This is great news unless you are more obsessed with ego and conspicuous consumption than about pleasure.

Let's look at a line-up of California wines -- assuming each bottle is of high quality. One bottle is a cabernet sauvignon, one merlot, one zinfandel, and a syrah. Now imagine we are sitting at Morton's and the waiter has just deposited almost two pounds of sizzling aged steak in front of you. Which wine is better with the steak?

The answer is clear: it depends. If you return to Morton's four times and have only one of the wines with your steak your perception will be much different than if you only went once and served all the bottles at once. The fact is they all go very well with the steak and on their own will give you a very high pleasure score. The differences in the wines are what make wines interesting, but the reality is that they all enhance your $30.00 steak with about the same dexterity.

To match wines with foods you only have to break them down into basic categories and find your preferences. Big wines go with big foods; sweet wines go with rich and sweet foods. Delicate dishes need delicate wines. Spice needs some sweet and hates tannin. Most of all you just have to experiment. You will find many matches that you just love and your friends don't. The main thing to remember is this experimentation is not dangerous. Few really disgusting matches imperil your palate although there is some danger to your pocketbook.

This is not to say there are not great matches. There are certainly harmonies of texture and flavor that are broadly appreciated and for good reason. Elegant and complex cuisine matched with just the right wine raises dining to an art form. When faced with the financial risks of ordering wine in restaurants great sommeliers are there to guide you to these gustatory summits. Sommeliers like Mark Slater at Citronelle in DC, Robert Bansberg at Ambria in Chicago, and George Cossette at Campanile in Los Angeles can introduce you to great experiences with wines you have never heard of and that don't require you to tap into the kids' college funds -- if you are open to the experience.

One of the great pleasures of food-and-wine matching is what I call elevation. Often when dining at home alone on some re-heated leftovers I'll open an extraordinary bottle of wine. While the match may not be classic, the wine itself elevates the entire experience of the evening. In this instance the wine matches the person more than the food. To me this is the most important aspect of matching food and wine. There is no arguing taste. If you like Chateau d'Yquem with your steak or Marcarini Barolo with your poached sole your are within your rights: even if you are wrong.

So we conclude by answering that ageless question: which wine is best with popcorn? The answer: the coldest one.

No Respect: Barbera Bursting Out

By Craig Camp
Monday, November 3, 2003

I WENT to a Rodney Dangerfield performance the other night and a barbera tasting broke out.

The wine that Piemonte produces of more than any other is an afterthought for most consumers and a nightmare for importers and distributors. Everybody wants to buy Barolo and Barbaresco and in order get their allocations they also buy the barbera and dolcetto wines of those producers. If you are an importer and decide to carry 5 Barolo producers and 3 Barbaresco producers that can mean you have 14 or so Barbera wines and 10 or so Dolcetto bottlings. They are usually all very good wines, but how many Barbera and Dolcetto selections can your customers put on their wine lists or on their shelves?

In northwestern Italy barbera is everywhere. It is a cheap, often fizzy and mostly thin acidy wine with barely more color than a dark rose. The Italians love it and fill up their shopping carts when it’s on sale at the Ipermarket at € 4.00 for a four liter jug. My neighbor buys it even cheaper as he heads out to a cooperative and buys a demijohn (56 liters -- sort of an Italian kegger). Some Italians will even splurge spending as much as 4 or 5 Euros for a single bottle.

To most Lombards and Piemontese the concept of an expensive Barbera is – well laughable.

The combination of a local market that won’t take you seriously and an overloaded export market can make life tough for serious barbera and dolcetto producers who don’t own Barolo and Barbaresco vineyards and so have no leverage.

Yet like the Union troops at Fredericksburg, serious Barbera producers keep charging the wall of trade and consumer resistance: often with similar results. In spite of this, barriques are purchased, gorgeous labels designed, heavy bottles ordered and old vineyards acquired all with the goal of making great barbera.

All this investment and attention has changed the entire concept of what barbera is and what you can expect when you pull the cork. Famed for its tooth jarring acidity, producers have taken to the barrel to soften out their barbera wines. Barriques combined with lower yields and old vines are producing wines that are lush, giant, deep purple that are out-and-out soft. The 11% and 12% alcohol levels of the grocery store brands become 14% or higher in these new style barbera wines.

Nebbiolo and barbera have opposite attributes. Nebbiolo has low color and high tannins. Barbera has high acids, low tannin and high color. Perhaps this is why they follow each other so well. The naturally low tannin of barbera means that this variety has a totally different relationship with aging in barriques made of new oak than the tannin laden nebbiolo. Oak aging can soften the sharp acidity and add a dose of needed tannic structure.

Giacomo Bologna changed everything for barbera when he released his Bricco dell’Uccellone in the early eighties. He selected grapes from the best vineyard and aged them in new French barriques and the results started a revolution in Piemonte.

This means that there are basically two types of barbera available in the export market as the cheap stuff fortunately tends to stay in Italy. The first is a fresher, fruity style that is aged in stainless steel. The second are the barrique aged powerhouses. Which one to pick depends on what is on the table, how much is in your wallet and your deep personal feelings about strong oak flavors in wine.

I say basically two types because there is in fact a third type: many producers are blending nebbiolo and barbera. It is in these blends you will find the Piemonte answer to the super-Tuscans. These super-Piemonte wines, that fall under the Langhe Rosso DOC, tend to be around 60% barbera and 40% nebbiolo and feature loads of toasty new oak flavors from many months in new barrique. Another thing they have in common with the super-Tuscans are their super prices and they often cost as much (if not more) than Barolo and Barberesco. Famous examples include the Sandrone Pe Mol and Altare La Villa, but take the time to search out the Suo di Giacomo of Eugenio Bocchino as it delivers the same punch for much less money. There is yet another dimension to blended barbera to be found in the various L’Insieme bottlings – some of which include dolcetto, cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

It can’t be denied. Good barbera is fun to drink. A wine full of life, zest and just begging for a good meal to be paired with. I know that some producers want to make a wine to challenge nebbiolo, but for me the pure joy reflected in the flavor of barbera is what makes it a wine I go back to again and again.

Few wines match so well with food. The fruit and structure of barbera in all styles lends itself remarkably well to a wide range of dishes. The fruity stainless steel wines are one of the best choices you can make for classic Italian-American cuisine and the oaky bottlings take on grilled and roasted meats in ways most merlot wines can only dream of all the while offering the same lush fruit that has made that variety so popular. Wine lovers outside of Italy are always in the hunt for search for the perfect pizza wine -- a concept Italians don’t understand. There are few better matches for pizza than a zesty barbera.

Eating in Piemonte is similar to running a marathon: you have to pace yourself. The antipasti can seem endless. At one restaurant when we ordered the house antipasti assortment they brought an extra table to hold them -- not a cart a whole extra table. If barbera did not exist the Piemontese would have had to invent it to handle this onslaught of appetizers. The refreshing acidity of barbera is just the thing you need to keep that palate in shape for the main course – and the Barolo.

The vast majority of the best Barbera wines come from three DOC’s: Barbera d’Alba, Barbera del Monferrato and Barbera d’Asti. Barbera d’Alba tends to be what you most frequently see in export markets as these are the Barbara wines made by the Barolo and Barbaresco producers. However, in the other two zones barbera is king and produces the best wines from those zones. It is in Asti and Monferrato and from small Alba producers that are without Barolo and Barbaresco vineyards that “bountiful barbera bargains” (©) can be found – by bargains I do not mean low prices, but that you get a lot of wine for the money.

Some barbera recommendations:

Big and Rich

-Roberto Ferraris, Barbera d’Asti, La Cricca

-Scagliola Barbera d’Asti, SanSi

-Sciorio Barbera d’Asti, Reginal

-La Zucca Barbera d’Asti, Martizza

-Alfieri Barbera d’Asti Superiore, Alfiera

-Arbiola, Barbera d’Asti, La Romilda

-Martinetti Barbera d’Asti Superiore, Montruc

Zesty and Fruity

-Destefanis Barbera d’Alba

-La Zucca Barbera d’Asti, I Suli

-Arbiola, Barbera d’Asti, La Carlotta

-Bricco Mondalino, Barbera del Monferrato Superiore

-Vinchio-Vaglio Serra, Rive Rosso, Barbera del Monferrato

-Tenuta La Tenaglia, Barbera d’Asti, Bricco Crea

There are literally dozens and dozens more. Every year there are more and more producers improving both their basic barbera for everyday drinking and their top-of-the-line barrique aged old vine cuvee.

Barbera may not get the respect it deserves, but at least no one is laughing anymore.

Nose to Nose: The debate over high-tech wine

By Craig Camp

Monday, November 10, 2003

THEY ARE nose-to-nose and the sparks are flying. The argument has gone on for the better part of two days. What started out as an intellectual debate has dissolved into exchanges of not-so-subtle insults. Luckily, the combatants are mouse-to-mouse instead of face-to-face. It started out simply enough when one of them declared Domenico Clerico (the famed Barolo producer) a genius. However, the other guy took exception to this as he is convinced that Clerico and people who think like him are destroying one of the world's great wines. The battle between old and new never ends.

Winemakers love to promote the idea that they are simple farmers. Romantic images and bucolic country scenes of happy grape pickers, hillside vineyards, and dusty bottles in old cellars are featured in all the brochures. However, if they were more honest the pictures would be of roto-fermenters, reverse osmosis equipment, and the oxygen tanks for micro-oxygenation.

Are the new-style wines better or are they blinding us with science? Why do wines taste so different now than they did twenty years ago?

First of all, there's little agreement about what's right and what's wrong. Hi-tech equipment like reverse osmosis systems can be found in giant commercial Australian wineries and small Burgundy domaines. What one winemaker swears by is anathema to another. The wine media confuse the situation further by railing against high-tech winemaking and then promptly rewarding, with the highest scores, those who make wines by those methods.

Contrary to the quiet country gentleman image most wine producers like to project, those from the most famous wine making districts are usually savvy and experienced business people. They know all too well how to take market research and translate that data into a product that sells. In Hollywood they have tours past the homes of the stars: in Napa they could have tours past the homes of past and present Fortune 500 CEO's -- people who understand the positive results you can get by providing people with pleasure easily attained. Bordeaux and Tuscany have become equally corporate and other great vineyard regions are not far behind. It should be no shock that wines produced in Napa, Maremma, and Pomerol can be difficult to tell apart -- the owners belong to the same vinous country club.

So, why do so many wines taste the same? It's simple: too many winemakers make it in the same way using technology to overwhelm vintage, variety, and terroir (the taste the specific vineyard microclimate gives the wine).

Just as the Vatican is the center of Catholicism, Australia has become the center of the religion of high-tech winemaking. For an example of pure high-tech, just taste the red wine lineup of the well-known winery Rosemount. The portfolio includes cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and shiraz, but the differences in the flavors and textures of these wines is insignificant and, in fact, they are basically interchangeable. The different varietals only exist for marketing purposes. Each of them is made according to a recipe that will appeal to the lowest common denominator, and the result is essentially the same wine in different bottles with different names. Australia may be the holy see of this kind of winemaking, but Bordeaux, Tuscany, the USA, and South America are right there with them -- and the rest of France, Italy, and Spain are trying as fast as they can to become Cardinals. One real danger of all this technology is that as flavors become more standardized, many less popular grape varieties could become even more unimportant because they don't fit well into the grand marketing scheme. Why make a gamay that tastes just like your pinot noir that tastes more or less like your syrah.

Here's a look at some of the winemaker's bag of tricks:

-Roto-fermenters: just like it sounds, these are fermenters that rotate during the fermentation of red wines so there's a more continuous and even interaction between the grape skins and the fermenting grape juice. In standard fermentation tanks the skins form a hard "cap" floating at the top of the tank which has to be "punched down" back into the juice to be sure that color and other components are extracted from the skins. More modern methods include "pumping over," which means simply that: gently pumping the fermenting juice over the cap of grape skins at the top of the tank. Supporters point to quicker color extraction and softer tannins, but detractors complain of over-extraction of obvious flavors and under-extraction of subtle flavors that add complexity.

-Micro-oxygenation: the extremely slow release of tiny (micro) amounts of pure oxygen through wine. Proponents note rounder mouthfeel, better color and reduced vegetal characteristics. This new technique was introduced in 1991 in France. Critics claim it strips the wine of individual personality and texture. The truth about micro-oxygenation is that it is still a concept in its early stages of development with techniques constantly being adjusted and no one is sure about the future. Most of the people making wine with this method are not worried about the future as they want wines than can be consumed immediately.

-Reverse Osmosis and Must Concentrators: an ultra-fine filter that allows liquids -- water, acid, or alcohol -- to pass through, but will retain color and flavor components. You might remember the principle of osmosis from high school chemistry and biology. That is where if you sleep on your book during class the information will somehow pass to your brain. If reverse osmosis has occurred and you have forgotten, basically if you put pure water and wine at the same pressure separated by a semi-permeable membrane, water will flow across the membrane from the water side (more concentrated in water) to the wine side (less concentrated in water). Though this is not what you want in winemaking the principle is useful. The trick is to increase the pressure on the wine side, which reverses the flow. Too much rain during harvest: no problem, filter it out. Overripe grapes giving you too much alcohol: no problem, just filter it out. Too much acetic acid: no problem, just filter it out. This technology can be applied before or after fermentation and if used before fermentation is known as must concentration. As the equipment is expensive this technology is more common among large wineries or producers that can charge super-premium prices. It has become popular among top Chateaux in Bordeaux. Seemingly a winemaker's dream, reverse osmosis has become the most hated of the new techniques by traditionalists.

All of these can be applied with good result in certain circumstances. Contrary to the cookie-cutter results achieved by corporate winemaking, like you see at Rosemount, Antinori, Latour, and Rutherford Hill, some of these techniques and others are being applied with success (okay, controversial success) by top winemakers throughout the world.

Perhaps the biodynamics movement in winemaking can be seen as a backlash against these innovations by some producers as they take on an anti-techno attitude to differentiate their wines and to reflect their belief in wine as a natural product as compared to an industrial one. The wines they produce are bound to create debate when contrasted against highly manipulated ones. To point out yet another contrast between organic and biodynamics, most of the technical manipulations mentioned above would be completely in accordance with organic requirements.

Not so many years ago the debate focused on chaptalization (adding sugar before fermentation) and acidification. There was not much more winemakers could do besides choose what age barrels to use from what forest. The French looked down their noses at the Californians because they added acid to their wines and the Californians complained that the French cheated by adding sugar. However, as much as people argued about this point, it is clear that great wines were made in both places by a few passionate winemakers who knew how to employ these methods with just the right touch. It would seem logical that we could expect the same results from these new technologies.

Wine is a part of our history and it has always changed with the times. Jazz no longer sounds like it did in the days of Louis Armstrong, but it is still a powerful art. Baseball has changed from the days of Babe Ruth, but it is still extraordinarily entertaining. Wine, which combines both art and entertainment (an appropriate if not often accomplished match), is no different.

There are always a few who can innovate intelligently. Most use technical innovation to make more money: making wine trying only to never offend that will avoid more than a perfunctory swirl and sniff. Yet there are always a dedicated few that are trying to open new horizons. It takes a keen eye and an open mind to appreciate art that is pushing the envelope.

The arguments are sure to continue: fun, huh?

A Wine Without Fear: Amarone

By Craig Camp
Friday, September 26, 2003

IT'S MACHO. It's big, tough, and strong. It's not afraid of really moldy, stinky cheese. It's Amarone.

Amarone: it's the massive, powerful, high-octane Italian wine that is the darling of wine drinkers in Italian-American steak houses and restaurants across the United States. For some strange reason the same customers that are addicted to the "delicate" flavors of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio love to order Amarone as their red wine. Not that they care which Amarone it is as long as it says Amarone on the label. This has created a huge demand in the USA for Amarone -- any kind of Amarone. As you might have guessed this uncritical demand doesn't inspire a lot of producers to make great wine.

Amarone is the king of the ocean of wines produced in Veneto, a region cursed by its own fertile soils and benign weather. It's easy to grow grapes in Veneto. Unfortunately it's also easy to grow a lot of them on the same vine. The result has been the destruction of famous names like Soave, Valpolicella, and soon Amarone by producers willing to settle for the minimum qualities required by the liberal DOC rules. Some of the best producers, like Anselmi in Soave, have left the DOC, while others are ignoring the new DOCG Soave with studied boredom. Veneto is a mess. This is a shame because the region has not only the capability, but actually does produce some of Italy's best wines.

To understand Amarone you have to understand Valpolicella. Yes, that light, cheap, easy-drinking wine sold by the big Veneto wine companies is a direct relative of the powerful Amarone. Valpolicella, like so many Italian wine regions today, is a work in progress even though its wines can be directly traced back to Roman times. The Valpolicella region stretches across the hills north of Verona. To the northwest of the city is the Valpolicella Classico zone where most of the best vineyards are located. In Valpolicella they use grapes not likely to be on the Wine Spectator Who's Who of Grapes: rondinella, molinara, and the leader of the pack, corvina. For you old Steppenwolf fans that is corvina not corina corina. Corvina joins a long list of Italian varieties that makes great wine in only one spot in the world: barbera and nebbiolo in Piemonte, aglianco in Campania, sangiovese in Toscana, montepulciano in Abruzzo and Le Marche, nero d'avola in Sicilia, negroamaro in Puglia, garganega in Soave, ribolla gialla and refosco in Friuli, teroldego in Trentino, and lagrein in Alto Adige to name a few.

So how does that light red wine on sale at the grocery store become the powerful Amarone? It's a complex process. It's hard, time-consuming, and expensive. What does this say? Avoid cheap Amarone.

Like most regions, Valpolicella mostly makes bulk commercial wine. But for a small additional investment there are many wonderful red wines from this region, ranging from excellent light everyday wines to some of the most complex and expensive wines produced.

To make great wines here, first you do the basic things. You use mainly the best vine (corvina), you cut yields, you use old vines for your best selections, you don't pick until the grapes are very ripe (a big gamble), and if you're really dedicated you do something beyond all of these risky choices: after you pick your grapes late you take them and put them on racks for several months to dry. When they dry, water goes and sugar stays. More sugar means more food for the yeasts to eat during fermentation, and more yeast food means more alcohol. It doesn't only mean more alcohol, however. When done with care and proper selection it means more of everything: more fruit, more body, more complexity . . . and that means Amarone. The drying of the grapes is called appassimento and is a process used to improve most of the best red wines of the region.

So the producers take their best grapes and dry them not only to make Amarone, but to create a full range of their best wines. The ultimate expression of the vintners art here are Recioto della Valpolicella and Amarone. In a simplified way they are the same thing, but Recioto is a sweet red and Amarone is dry. Amarone is Recioto della Valpolicella fermented out to dryness. Hence its name from amaro or bitter -- meaning dry. Both Recioto and Amarone are strong cheese wines without rival.

The best producers take portions of the wines and grapes they are drying to make Recioto and Amarone and blend small portions of them into their normal Valpolicella wines to make wines of more character. In one technique the lees (leftovers in the barrels) of Amarone and Recioto are added to the wine to restart fermentation and in another a small percentage of Amarone is added to the Valpolicella blend. The end result is the same: a stronger, more dramatic and complex wine called ripasso. As is so typical these days, the best producers often no longer use this designation and you'll just have to let you palate tell you the truth. When you taste a regular Valpolicella with a dramatic depth and roundness you can be sure that the wine has been super-charged by ripasso to some degree.

So there's a broad range from massively overproduced Valpolicella to ultra-complex concentrated and everything in between. And the only way to tell the difference before you drink is to learn the producers.

There always seem to be cherry trees surrounding the best vineyards in Valpolicella. The growers say the cherry trees add the cherry flavors to their wines. High on the highest hill in the area sits Corte Sant'Alda with the steeply sloping Mithas vineyard below. Although not in the classico zone, owner and winemaker Marinella Camerani has transformed these vineyards into some of the area's best. She has single-mindedly taken this formerly ignored property and, through sheer determination and passion, created some of Veneto's bests wines and an Amarone that has received the highest awards possible. Although all of her wines are excellent her ripasso, Valpolicella Superiore, "Mithas," Corte Sant'Alda, and her Amarone are some of the best examples of the modern style produced in the region. While her wines are not inexpensive they are tremendous values considering the quality. One sip of Corte Sant'Alda and you will realize how hollow commercial Amarone can be. In certain great vintages she also produces a Mithas Amarone. It is not to be missed.

In the heart of the classico zone, Speri has been quietly producing some of the best wines of the region. The Speri Valpolicella Classico Sant'Urbano is as close as you can get to an Amarone without actually being one. This wine is one of the greatest values in the entire region. Speri's exceptional Amarone is produced in a classic style with layered complexity and an unending finish. Speri is incapable of making bad wine, or even mediocre wine.

The peak experience of the region lies in two extraordinary producers -- one old and one middle aged, one exceedingly modern and one exceedingly traditional.

Dal Forno Romano makes wines of exceptional power and concentration. They approach Port in power and exceed it in price.

The other is a quiet gentle old man. You approach the winery that looks not much more than a house. The cherry trees surrounding the house are covered in the early spring smoke of cuttings being burned in the vineyards. You enter the winery through what could be a garage door. Inside these unexceptional surroundings are the extraordinary wines of Giuseppe Quintarelli. The immense fame of the name seems neither to fit the simple surroundings or the gentle old man who greets you with a quiet smile. However there is something about his demeanor that demands your respect and you feel almost humbled in front of him. The wines of Quintarelli have been recognized as the finest of the region for decades. These are the opposite of the Dal Forno wines, not because they're not powerful, but in the sense that they don't hit you over the head with drama. These are wines that demand something from you. As you taste wines with him, Signor Quintarelli watches you to see if you understand. If he feels you understand the wines, he draws from the huge barrels behind him wines that have been resting there for six or more years. You get a small smile when you say arrivederLa. You quietly leave with the feeling that you have somehow grown, just as you do when leaving the presence of a great work of art.

Today, the region has exploded with fine producers and much-improved older ones: Tedeschi, Allegrini, Tenuta Sant'Antonio, Bussola, Bertani, Tommasi, Le Ragose, Le Salette, and Accordini are all making excellent wines. The entire ranges of wines from these producers are worth seeking out. Today, Valpolicella is interesting from top to bottom -- if you stay with the best producers.

I have some really mature gorgonzola waiting for a challenge. Have no fear -- I know just the wine.

Oasi degli Angeli and Kurni

By Craig Camp
Thursday, May 15, 2003

THERE SEEMED to be one less chicken in the yard than there had been in the morning, but my mind was too satisfied to think of much else besides the beautiful afternoon. We had just finished a wonderful lunch at Oasi degli Angeli, an agriturismo and home to Kurni, a wine rapidly becoming the most famous wine in Marche and one of the most collectable wines in Italy.

Eleonora Rossi and Marco Casolanetti are Oasi degli Angeli and Kurni. They are the creators of the wine, food, and sensations that surround this hidden spot in the often ignored Marche region. The Marche is an extremely beautiful region on the Adriatic Sea with Romagna to the north and Abruzzo to the south.

Oasi degli Angeli, located just outside of Cupra Marittima, is an estate that dates back three generations when the great-grandfather of Eleonora created a small farm in the Marche dedicated to the growing of grapes, olives, fruits trees, and vegetables. In the middle of the 1990's Eleonora and Marco, her companion in life and a winemaker, decided to dedicate the farm to the cultivation of wine grapes and to make an agriturismo (a small guest-house in the countryside) out of the family estate. They chose to call their wine Kurni, nickname of the family of Eleonora. Although Kurni has been released only four times, they have already been awarded the prestigious Tre Bicchieri (three glasses), three times by the Gambero Rosso, their top award, and barely missed a fourth in the difficult 1999 vintage. The Gambero Rosso will have to come out with 'four glasses' award to keep up with the exceptional Oasi degli Angeli Kurni as Marco and Eleonora continually strive to improve their creation.

When I asked Marco and Eleonora what they thought the difference was between Oasi degli Angeli and other estates, they enthusiastically and spontaneously answered: "Us!" I agree with them.

Marco and Eleonora bring a unique level of passion and energy to their work and the results of this intensity are clear to see -- and to taste. Eleonora directs her energy to the kitchen and Marco to the winery, but the results of their partnership creates a symbiosis that brings the food, the wine, and the hospitality to peak levels.

The small osteria at Oasi degli Angeli offers the best the estate can grow, all prepared with great care and creativity by Eleonora. This is country food prepared at a very high level with exceptional ingredients. A simple chicken roasted with fresh picked herbs makes you think you have never before tasted chicken. Marco has assembled a wine list that not only offers the best of Marche, but wines from cutting-edge winemakers from all over Italy. The room may be rustic, but the shelves filled with Riedel crystal alert you to the pleasures soon to arrive at your table. Four lovely rooms await those who decide that one meal is not enough.

The Marche has been ignored by generations of wine lovers as a region that only produces a simple white wine, in a fish-shaped bottled, called Verdicchio. Like so many forgotten Italian wine regions, however, the Marche is making a strong comeback, with many small producers emerging to make some excellent wines, both red and white.

Reds are leading the way with fine examples of montepulciano and sangiovese blends being produced in Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno. In Rosso Piceno, Saladini Pilastri is producing some of the best values in Italy with single vineyard wines, Piediprato and Monteprandone, which are dominated by montepulciano. Sangiovese in Marche can be thin and sharp, but in blends dominated by the powerful montepulciano the tart Marche sangiovese brings a refreshing liveliness. Even in the much-maligned Verdicchio there are producers like Villa Bucci making extraordinary wines.

Kurni is on a whole different level of being. A garage wine in the true sense, the 1.4 hectare vineyard yields a miserly 4,000 bottles in a good vintage. Kurni is produced from 100% montepulciano with the vines averaging over 35 years of age, grown at an altitude of 80 to 100 meters above sea level, with a sun-bathed southern exposure. The soils here are calcareous with clay and sand. Marco has cut yields to brutally low levels and as a result these vines yield grapes with concentrated and powerful flavors unrivaled in Marche or in any other montepulciano.

Then Mad Marco the Winemaker takes over in the winery, making wine in a way that can only be calculated to drive his accountant insane. Marco reduces the yields further by taking a small percentage of his few remaining grapes and makes them in a passito fashion much like they do when making Amarone. The rest of the wine is given a long maceration and fermentation in stainless steel vats (approximately 40 days) at a temperature of about 29 degrees centigrade. After fermentation the wine goes into 100% brand-new 224-liter French-oak barrels for 9 months. Then, just to be sure, after 9 months all the wine is racked into a completely new set of 100% brand-new 224-liter French-oak barrels for another 9 months. That's right, all new barrels -- twice. "It's not for the oak flavors, but for the oxygen," says Marco, referring to the fact that montepulciano needs to be oxygenated well to open up and develop finesse. After another four months of bottle age, Kurni is ready for sale.

Selling the wine is the least of Marco's problems, as Kurni has become the darling of the European wine press and demand far outdistances the 4,000 bottles he lets escape from the vines.

Kurni is a majestic, powerful wine most decidedly in the modern camp of Italian winemaking. It is a dark ruby-purple with a rich bouquet redolent of ripe wild berries, sweet vanilla oak, and the rugged earthiness of montepulciano. It is a mouthful of a wine, but the intense flavors are carried wonderfully by a zesty acidity. Drinking Kurni is both a profound and a hedonistic experience -- just like Marco and Eleonora.

As we walk off our lunch with a stroll through the vineyard, my mind goes back to that missing chicken. I wonder where she went?

Pinot Report?

The Pinot Report

Pinot Noir of the Year

Loring Wine Company

Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Cargasacchi Vineyard 2004

“Deep ruby purple color; deep, slightly closed aromas with hints of pepper and cassis; big, bold flavors of black cherry and cassis, deep layers of pepper and spice notes; moderate tannin; smoky oak; great structure and balance; very long finish.” The Pinot Report

The tasting notes above come from The Pinot Report. This Loring Pinot Noir is their selection for the best pinot noir released in 2005. I mean to take no issue with this wine in any regard as I have never tasted it or any other wine from Loring. It may be wonderful. However, the tasting note itself reflects the dangers faced by pinot noir today. Let’s take a look at his comments;

• “Deep ruby purple color”
• “aromas with hints of pepper and cassis”
• “big, bold flavors of black cherry and cassis”

There must be some mistake here as these descriptors certainly can’t describe great pinot noir. Where are the references to the brilliant light garnet color, the elegant and complex bouquet and the haunting delicately long finish. Here we have an opaque purple wine tasting and smelling of cassis. Isn’t that Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon?

The Loring may or may not be a great wine in its own right, but if it tastes anything like The Pinot Noir Report says, great pinot noir its not. If you are going to report on pinot, report on pinot.

Wente Vineyards and Foreigner Create ''Legends of Wine & Rock'

LIVERMORE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2006--In a cross-promotion illustrating the emergence of wine as the adult beverage of choice on a rock and roll scene long dominated by spirits and beer, Wente Vineyards has teamed with legendary rock band Foreigner to create the "Legends of Wine & Rock" pre-concert wine tastings. These exclusive gatherings represent a first-of-its-kind opportunity for fans to meet Foreigner, while sipping wines from Wente Vineyards. A sweepstakes to win a trip to The Concerts at Wente Vineyards to see Foreigner live in 2007, and free online music downloads, are also part of the promotion. To date, nineteen events are set for 2006 in eight states and four countries.

This is one of the most appropriate pairings I’ve seen in a long time. Sales of Wente wines and Foreigner CDs are sure to skyrocket! It really shows you how bad the PR problem is for the Wente brand, when they have to team up with a has-been rock group to improve their image. Come to think of it, it also shows you how bad the situation is for Foreigner when the only wine brand they can partner with is Wente.

Wente and Foreigner are certainly names that will live on as legends. Legends of what I’m not sure.

Corky Paranoia

By Craig Camp
Friday, August 15, 2003

I SIT in the corner of a dark restaurant on a worn chair with dark green plastic upholstery. The walls are a dark imitation wood. The room is empty except for me and the wait staff. As I peruse the menu the only safe bet is the filet mignon. There was no other choice. I could drive no longer and when I pulled into the hotel it was almost 10 p.m.. There was nothing else open in this wide spot on the interstate in Iowa so it was going to be dinner here or nothing else.

I see her coming out of the corner of my eye and the paranoia starts to build in my mind.

"Would you like a cocktail?" she asks in an automatic way.

"Can I have the wine list?" I ask with a sense of resignation.

She brings the list back in a few minutes and I am relieved to find Gallo Sonoma Zinfandel. Not bad, it will wash down the steak just fine.

After a few minutes watching the "Frasier" rerun on the bar TV she finally arrives back at the table.

"Would you like some wine?" she asks with complete and sincere boredom.

"Yes, I will take number 124," I say, knowing better than to order it by name.

After a few more minutes with "Frasier," she returns to tell me my selection is not available by the glass. I explain I want the whole bottle and she reacts with disbelief and with more than a little irritation that she will actually have to open a bottle at the table.

But it is only now that the paranoia really starts to set in. What if the wine is corked? I know what the response will be: disbelief, irritation, and the certainty that I am trying to rip them off. First the bartender will come out then the hotel manager.

"Don't you want to try something else," they will ask, assuming I just don't like the wine.

She finally arrives at my table with the bottle some minutes after my steak has arrived. I watch with apprehension while she attacks the bottle with a huge winged auger corkscrew. She pours about 11 ounces in a 12 ounce glass that weighs about a pound and waits for me to taste.

With trepidation I put the glass to my nose waiting for the nauseating smell of books that have been in the basement for a few decades.

But wait! There it is! The smooth fruity smell of blackberry jam. No problem after all. This will wash down my now-cold steak quite well.

I tell the waitress the wine is fine. We are both visibly relieved.

"Would you like an ice bucket?" she asks.

I developed my corky paranoia because so many times the bottle has been bad and then I've had to deal with hassles. Sometimes even at the Holiday Inn they replace the bottle with the speed and aplomb of the sommelier at Trotter's; other times it is not so easy. Even at well-known restaurants you can run into problems. One time, while eating at one of the outlets of a famous Chicago restaurant group, I got a badly corked bottle of Trimbach Riesling. When I returned the bottle the manager came to the table and insisted I order a different wine instead of getting a new bottle. He said it was restaurant policy. I was not happy.

The root of these problems is simple: neither consumers nor the trade know what corky wines taste like. Recent estimates say around 5% or more of bottles are spoiled by bad corks. The huge majority of those bottles are consumed not returned. This is a nightmare for producers as consumers that drink these wines just think that winery doesn't make very good wine. It is confusing for servers who have some customers drink and some return corked wines.

Corky wines are easy to spot and once you get the knack it's like riding a bike. First of all think musty. Find an old damp basement with some books that have been sitting there for a few years. Open that damp book and insert your nose. Breath deeply. That's what corky wine smells like. The first thing that goes are the fruit aromas. The next time one of your corky savvy friends rejects a bottle be sure to save your glass to compare to the new unaffected (with any luck) bottle. The difference will astound you. Sometimes you may have even thought the first wine was fine, but when you put the two side-by-side the fruit in the good bottle will sing compared to the bad one. Comparing in this way is the only sure fire way to learn to identify corked wines.

The villain in this story is 2,4,6-trichloroanisole or TCA for those of us who don't like to mispronounce words badly in public. When a cork is contaminated with TCA it makes the wine that comes into contact with it stink and taste bad and we say the wine is corked or corky. Scientists have come up with several culprits that create TCA in corks, but the exact reason is still unknown and hotly debated. The most common reason cited is the interaction between chlorine used to process the cork and the TCA that already exists in a mold present in the cork bark, but the cork industry has widely abandoned the use of chlorine and bad corks are still with us. Cork manufactures are rushing to find ways to prevent TCA-tainted corks and are using a wide array of new technologies for processing cork including ultra-high pressure, microwaves, and other Rube Goldberg contraptions, none of which are yet proven.

So the real question may be why the heck are we using corks to seal wine bottles anyway? There can be no doubt that the main reason is tradition and status. The great wines of the world come in cork-sealed bottles. Lesser wines want to appear grander in the eyes of the consumer and feel obligated to use real corks. The massive demands placed on the cork industry by the producers of millions upon millions of bottles of wine destined for consumption within months of release mean that a lot of people are drinking bottles of funky-smelling and foul-tasting wine. There's no reason to use natural corks in wine that is intended for current consumption. Well, no reason other than marketing.

Are there any reasons to use real corks? Tradition holds that minute quantities of oxygen pass through the cork and interact with wines, helping them to reach the perfect point of maturity. Romantic, yes; likely, no. Angelo Gaja, the famed producer of super-premium and super-expensive Italian wines, has for years used the largest and most expensive corks available. His thinking was that by forcing his supplier to make very long corks he would assure that only the finest sections of the cork bark could be used in producing his corks. Even so it is worth noting that for his wineries' own libraries he uses Stelvin screw-caps to guarantee the quality and consistency of those wines he is saving as historical reference points.

Led by producers dedicated to protecting their creations and by mass brands that see the commercial benefits, alternative closures are making their presence felt in the market. The major types are:

-Plastic-based synthetic corks. These are widely used by both upper- and lower-end producers. They seem to function well with the major problem being that they can be hard to get out of the bottle. These are popular because the can fit in traditional bottles and made to look kind of like cork -- or they can be made in sporty colors for the more adventurous. Made from food- or medical-grade plastic they theoretically add no flavors to the wine, but some experts (I am not sure who they are) complain of a difference in flavor over time. Certainly in the short term they work fine.

-Screw caps or Stelvin caps. These will take you back to your college days and the fine wines you were drinking then. Long the favored seal of wines like MD 20/20, screw caps appear to work great. They are totally neutral and easy to use, with the added benefit of not having to lug that heavy corkscrew around with you all the time. One huge plus is when you have leftover wine you just screw the top back on. There appear to be no problems with screw caps except image. People just seem to have trouble accepting that serious wines come in these bottles. Pioneering wineries like Plumpjack in California are helping educate consumers that great wine can come with threads on the neck of the bottle.

-Altec. A brand created in France that uses very fine natural cork particles bound together with an adhesive. The producer, Sabate, claims them to be 100% TCA free. Critics say the glue flavors the wine. This type seems to be losing popularity. One of the main attributes is that it works with a corkscrew with the same feel as a regular cork.

-Crown caps. Yes, like glass Coca-Cola bottles. These have long been used by the Champagne industry to seal bottles while they are aging on the lees. All you Champagne lovers out there will attest to how well they keep wine over long aging periods. Pioneering work is being done now in Australia and we can expect to see more of these in the future. Like screw caps, they work great but have an image problem. Oh, and you have to carry around a bottle opener or use your teeth. (Warning: That was humor. We do not recommend opening crown-top bottles with your teeth. Except in emergency situations -- like when you don't have a bottle opener -- and then at your own risk).

When I tear the foil off of bottles these days and see a synthetic cork on my Beaujolais or Grignolino that was chilling in the refrigerator I feel a sense of calm. No stinky wine tonight. I am also sure my server in Iowa would have preferred to twist off the top of the Gallo Zin instead of wrestling with her little-used corkscrew -- and I would have been paranoia-free. However, I admit to still preferring the ceremony of pulling and sniffing the cork when I open more serious bottles. I like it more out of the romance than logic.

Screw tops on bottles of Lafite, Spottswoode, or Gaja Sori Tilden are hard to imagine, but who knows? The future is changing and it is no longer as hard to imagine as it used to be. After all, the last bottle of 1982 Gaja Sori Tilden I opened was corked. So much for romance.

Brianna, Basilicata Bianco, IGT, 2003, Italy

A white wine from Basilicata in the USA? That's a suprise, but in this case a pleasant one. The Briannia is 100% greco, and once again this varietal shows its potential to make really charming white wines with more than a little complexity. Fresh and crisp with just enough richness, this is a wine to reach for with your seafood pasta dishes.

Jumilla, Juan Gil, Monastrell, Spain

Monastrell and Mourvedré are one in the same, and like growers in southern France, the Spanish have discovered the value of their old vineyards. This chewy, but still structured wine is warm and earthy with touches of leather all packed into a concentrated rich dark red fruit package. However, unlike so many others, this wine is rich, deeply fruity and powerful, but not overblown or blowsy. I enjoyed this wine over three days, so some short term aging is fine, but probably not absolutely necessary as this is a wine wearing all of its charms up-front. It was a great match with some smoky homemade sausages from my local butcher. From 40-year-old vines.

Walla Walla Vintners, Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, 2002

I liked this wine a lot. Nice balance, lovely bright cherry aromas and flavors blended with a lively herbal touch and a tobacco bite. Certainly rich and forward, but in a balanced sort of way. Plenty of new oak shows throughout, but it manages to not go over the top. Compared to what's out there, it is worth the $40 price tag. A short term ager that will benefit from 3 to 5 years of cellaring.

Champagne Pierre Moncuit, Grand Cru, Blanc de blancs

Lovely, lilting, lively and lingering, the frothy Blanc de blancs is yet another slap-in-the-face to the major Champagne houses and at $36.00, a bargain compared to most ultra-premium domestic sparkling wines. Wonderfully toasty and yeasty on the nose and palate with a smooth creamy texture that delicately coasts every corner of your mouth. Very long and complex finish. I'[m going back for more.

Barolo Wars: not-so-long ago in this galaxy

Barolo Wars: not-so-long ago in this galaxy
By Craig Camp
Friday, September 5, 2003

THE WAR had dragged on for decades. So long nobody even seemed to remember when the first shot was fired. At first it was underground -- just a few revolutionaries calling themselves The Modernist Party -- but soon their numbers had exploded and eventually they controlled almost the entire region. The Conservative Party, which had ruled for generations, was overwhelmed before its leaders knew what hit them. Perhaps they deserved this revolution. They had become set in their ways and the economy had declined as the old infrastructure rotted away without modernization. The Conservative Party was satisfied with the way things were and wanted nothing to change, even if everyone could see that change would make things better -- fertile ground for a revolution.

The Modernists had been encouraged by support in the international community fueled by sensationalist press reports published throughout Europe. Soon it became more of a fashion to join the Party than a statement of true beliefs. It wasn’t long before the Modernists had enough of an army to invade the United States. Led by Generalissimo Marc De Grazia’s brilliant tactical moves it wasn’t long before they overran the whole country -- all with the adoring support of the American press. Only recently have both sides realized that war would ruin them all, and an uneasy truce has been signed. Today you can even find them dining at the same table.

This brings us up to date in the ongoing story of The Barolo Wars, the battle between new wave producers and believers in traditional methods. Barolo, with its grand tradition, has long been recognized as the greatest Italian red wine. Certainly, the conflict between old and new is a battle that has occurred in all the important wine growing regions of the world. But the speed and the totality of the change in the aristocratic, conservative Barolo region has made this transition very controversial and divisive.

The Barolo region is located in Piemonte, in Northwestern Italy, only a short distance from the French and Swiss borders. The name Piemonte (Piedmont in English) literally describes the area: piedi monte means foothills, and indeed this region of steep hills is at the foot of the Alps.

The legal restrictions on growers and winemakers in Barolo are strict and clear: Barolo can be produced only from the nebbiolo vine grown in specifically delimited areas in the Cuneo province of Piemonte. It must be aged for three years in barrels of oak or chestnut before release (or five years if designated as Riserva). There's a long list of other rules regarding what you can and can't do.

So what’s the problem? How can there be such a battle between styles if there are all these rules?

First you have to see the way things were -- no not the movie -- the way things were in Barolo. When I first traveled there in the early 1980s it was like going to a winemaking museum. I was accustomed to all the sparkling stainless steel in California, and it was hard to believe that people still actually made wine in such a seemingly primitive manner. They would ferment the nebbiolo forever on the skins at high temperature, leeching out all the harsh tannins, and then they'd age it for another forever in huge (30 to 50 hectoliters), old, and often not very clean barrels. When modern professors of oenology see this in their nightmares, they wake up screaming. What you ended up with were brownish, semi-oxidized wines with little fruit and lots of screaming tannins that needed years of aging in bottle to mellow out -- if they ever did before what little fruit that was there disappeared. I’ve got some bottles from the early 70s that will still take the enamel off your teeth. (I bet you can’t wait to get a bottle.) Wines produced in great vintages and grown in the finest vineyards, however, could not only survive this abuse, but prospered from it. They were in fact some of the most complex and interesting wines on the planet. These are the wines that made Barolo famous. The problem was that the weather was only good enough in about three vintages out of a decade to make wines like this, and in weaker years the wines were, to be kind, well, weaker.

There was another problem. What if you where a winegrower in Barolo, but did not own one of the hotshot vineyards that would make the great wines in great vintages? The owners of famous vineyards could sell their wines in the lesser vintages because of their fame, but you were stuck with wine you couldn't sell easily. Well, a couple of sharp growers thought they saw the answer in a style of winemaking that was spreading over the planet at the time. Led by winemakers in Australia and California the so called "international style" of winemaking produced wines very dark in color, with huge sweet fruit flavors, soft easy tannins, and strong oak flavors from aging in small barrels of new French oak. All of these combine to make easy-drinking, consumer-friendly wines that don’t require long aging. These sharp growers realized that with these techniques they could replace the complexity that their vineyards could never give with the charm and fruit that this new fashion in winemaking would provide.

Before long, a couple of these producers got rave reviews from wine critics whose palates were attuned to this modern style -- and the buyers beat a path to their door. The rush was on and the salesmen of French oak barriques (224-liter oak barrels) got rich. Nobody wanted to be left behind and even producers with great vineyards rapidly adopted these modern techniques. Only a few traditionalists have survived. Fortunately, the traditionalists that have survived are some of the best winemakers in Barolo.

But it's really an overstatement to say that any traditionalists have survived. Even the staunchest conservatives don’t make wine like they did thirty years ago. Winemaking in Barolo is a cleaner, more scientific endeavor these days. There have been dramatic advances in vineyard techniques, and growers in all the communes are re-planting with a more balanced blend of the three allowed clones of the Nebbiolo vine. All of this means that the winemakers have much better grapes to work with than in the past.

There are great wines in both styles and which you prefer will depend on when and how you're drinking Barolo and, of course, on your own palate. I confess to being a lover of the more traditional style. I like my wines to taste of the place, and the ultra-modern Barolos lack varietal intensity and the flavors of the region where they were grown. This is not to say I don't enjoy some of the modern Barolos made with a lighter touch.

Although the war itself has calmed down there are still battles. The battle of the moment is over the aging potential of the new style. Aging ability is considered a crucial characteristic of Barolo by many lovers of this wine who believe that, without proper aging, you can't release the full range of nebbiolo's complexity. Many people now complain that the modern Barolos they bought in the early 1990’s have aged badly and do not now have the structure to support all that oak and alcohol.

It's convenient to say that there are two Barolos today: one modern and one traditional. But in reality there's a continuum of styles ranging from the ultra-modern on one end to the ultra-traditional on the other, with most falling somewhere in between.

You are the final victor in this war. Barolo as a winemaking region has improved dramatically. There are more outstanding Barolos available than ever before and they come in a myriad of styles that can please almost every palate.

In Piemonte, Barolo is served at the climax of the meal: when the meat comes. With earlier courses, the lighter Barbera and Dolcetto wines are served. A classic accompaniment for Barolo is Brasato al Barolo (beef braised in red wine), as of course is almost any dish made with the famous white truffles of the Alba region. Barolo is a rich, complex wine with a firm tannin structure. Match it with grilled and roasted meats, game birds, and complex dry cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano. Serve Barolo at cool room temperature. Several hours in a decanter will bring out the flavors in younger wines. Older wines should be also be decanted well before serving because they usually have sediment. Traditional style wines benefit from long decanting times -- some people open them five or more hours before serving. (I recommend at least two hours.) By the way, just opening the bottle doesn't count. You have to decant the wine for it to get the required air. Decanting is not as essential for modern style Barolo, but I recommend it whenever possible.

Although I prefer the traditional style, I also admire the new style and which wine I drink depends on the situation. It's also important to realize that the leading producers of each style are equally dedicated and passionate about winemaking. Having both styles is a great situation: I drink the modern wines when they're young (5 to 10 years old) while I'm waiting for the traditional wines to reach maturity. What a great world: a nebbiolo for every season.

Watch out, though. Somebody is going to take a shot at you no matter the style you choose. War is hell.

The Perfect Vintage - Barolo and Barbaresco 2000

By Craig Camp
Monday, November 24, 2003

IN FRONT of me are three glasses of wine. Wine for thought? Indeed.

They are all from the same producer, same grape, same region, but different vintages and vineyards. All are from a winemaker renowned for his classic style.

These are my tasting notes on each wine:

Tasting notes -- Wine 1: Bright ruby/scarlet with garnet hints. Just translucent. Closed at first, but opens into floral, rose dust, and firm ripe plum aromas. Firm on the palate, but the tight flavors slowly grow to a delicious layered intensity. Tarry, bitter cherry flavors grow into warm ripe raspberries on the palate. The finish is extremely long with full tarry, bitter cherry flavors that fade into firm but well-rounded tannins. An excellent wine that needs 2 to 3 years aging and should be at its best by 2006. (A-)

Tasting notes -- Wine 2: Ruby with garnet hints. Translucent. The aromas are quite round, with a hint of overripe plums and spices with earthy hints. There are also bright floral notes with violet hints. Round and ripe on the palate with quite a load of very ripe fruit. Dark canned cherries and raspberries followed by very apparent but well integrated tannins. Compared to other vintages, I would put it as just a bit overripe. Although still too young, I think it will mature quickly and drink between 6 and 8 years old. (B+)

Tasting notes -- Wine 3: Bright scarlet/ruby with hints of garnet. Translucent. Smoky dried porcini aromas slowly open into tart raspberry fruit. Closed and intense on the palate with layers of flavors: mushrooms, leather, cherry, and raspberry. The finish is concentrated, long, and very tannic. Truly an outstanding classic wine destined for long-term greatness. Needs at least ten years of aging. (A+)

Each of these wines clearly shows the characteristics of the vintage from which it was produced and raises the question: Is there such a thing as a "perfect" vintage. Recently The Wine Spectator announced it was rating the 2000 vintage in Piemonte a perfect score of 100 points. Is such a thing possible? Can Mother Nature ever be perfect?

Rating a vintage as perfect is, of course, controversial and indeed that probably was The Wine Spectator's intention: nothing like controversy to sell a few more magazines. However, the real controversy here is not the perfect rating of the 2000 vintage, but the fact that the producers themselves almost universally prefer the two vintages on either side of 2000: 1999 and the vintage perhaps most highly regarded of all by growers, 2001.

So, why does a magazine like The Wine Spectator prefer a vintage like 2000 while the producers prefer 1999 and 2001? The answer may lie in the three wines above.

These three wines are all from the nebbiolo grape and produced by the exceptional Poderi Colla estate (one of my favorites). The wines of Poderi Colla are made by the highly respected Colla family, who make wines with great respect for the vine and vineyards from which they come and reflect a strong sense of history. In other words, the nebbiolo wines of Poderi Colla actually taste like nebbiolo and accurately reflect the character of the vintage in which they were produced.

The three wines were:

- 1. Poderi Colla, Nebbiolo d'Alba, 2001

- 2. Poderi Colla, Barbaresco, Roncaglie, 2000

- 3. Poderi Colla, Barolo, Bussia, Dardi Le Rose, 1999

Each of these wines was very good, but the super-ripe flavors of the Barbaresco from the 2000 vintage stood out clearly when compared to the other two wines. These ripe flavors intensified when matched with food. The Nebbiolo d'Alba and Barolo stood out for not only their balance, but for the complexity that balance allowed to show through. The super-ripe flavors of the Barbaresco seemed more one-dimensional and to overwhelm the myriad of nuances that the other two wines promised to deliver in the future.

I don't want to pick on the Colla Barbaresco, which is a fine wine, and when I say super-ripe I am not talking about the super-overripe flavors you get in many southern Italian and Spanish wines. However, in relation to the other two wines, its riper but less complex flavors clearly stand out. What also stands out is that the Barbaresco is much easier on the palate for drinking right now. The intense nebbiolo flavors and tannins of the Nebbiolo d'Alba and Barolo require years of aging before they can share their inner secrets.

What makes 2000 a perfect vintage in today's marketplace is that it's a perfect vintage for offering pleasures easily attained. Super-ripe vintages produce soft, early maturing wines, so the focus for great vintages today always seems to be only on ripeness. Certainly, grapes that are under-ripe will not make good wine, but overripe grapes do not make good wine either. Just like a vintage can lack sun, a vintage can have too much sun: ripeness alone does not determine quality.

Too often wine consumers seem to equate quantity of flavor with quality. The more money they spend, the more flavor they want. Yet the quantity issue for wine should be how much complexity they can get into the wine, not how much power they can pack in.

A recent tasting of the modern-styled Moccagatta Barbaresco wines showed their 2000s to be soft, round, fruity, and once again just a shade on the ripe side. However, in the forward, oaky style of nebbiolo produced by this estate, the soft and ripe character of the 2000 vintage seemed to enhance the gentle, round flavors of this style as contrasted to the more classic Colla style. In more balanced vintages like 1999 and 2001 new-wave wines like Moccagatta often seem to be straining unnaturally to hide their natural nebbiolo tannins: like someone wearing a too-tight girdle. What is a great vintage for one producer in one style is not necessarily a great vintage for another in another style.

What makes a great vintage is simple:

-Enough sun, but not too much.

-Enough wind, but not too much.

-Enough rain, but not too much.

-Enough fruit, but not too much.

Then if all of that works out: enough winemaking, but not too much. Too much of anything is bad when it comes to wine.

The Piemonte region has been blessed with a now famous and unprecedented string of wonderful vintages. These vintages can loosely be grouped into classic nebbiolo vintages for long-term aging and more forward vintages for earlier (not early) consumption. Those vintages are:

Classic long-term vintages

1996, 1999, 2001

Riper, more forward vintages

1997, 1998, 2000 (and probably 2003)

Which of these is the best vintage, the perfect vintage? That depends on you: if you like softer wines or wines for aging; if you store your wines in your warm closet or in temperature-controlled luxury; whether you like the classic or modern barrique style; and a long list of other personal preferences. Every authoritative source declares each of these vintages to be top quality and rates them within points of each other: the differences in the scores so narrow that they are statistically insignificant. Great wines were made in all of these vintages, and you just have to find the ones that fit your taste, storage conditions, and your wallet.

The last point is another factor to take into account when choosing what vintage to buy. Now that The Wine Spectator has declared the 2000 vintage to be perfect, you can bet they will be perfectly expensive.

Too much press makes for rich producers and importers, like too much sun makes for rich wine.

That's Tokay for You - Tocai, Tokaji and Tokay

By Craig Camp
Tuesday, December 9, 2003

IN EASTERN Hungary small groups of rolling hills give birth to one of the world's great dessert wines. The luscious, dark golden wines of Tokay are among the most historic of the world's great wines. They were sought after by Europe's royal houses long before many of today's classics were known. During the Communist era, this area of Hungary fell on hard times. But following the breakup of the Soviet Union and the subsequent growth of the European Union, foreign investment has reversed the neglect. Once again Tokay wines are taking their rightful place on elegant wine lists and in serious wine cellars.

That's the problem.

The re-entry of Tokay into the world wine market coupled with the increased regulation of food and wine names by the EU has created an identity crisis for two of Europe's other fine white wines: Alsace's Tokay d'Alsace and Italy's Tocai Friulano.

While all three of these wines go by the name, Tokay, there are many differences. They are spelled differently: Tokaji in Hungary (often labeled Tokay outside of the country), Tokay in France and Tocai in Italy. They are made from different grapes: Furmint in Hungary, Pinot Gris (pinot grigio) in France and Tocai Friulano in Italy. So to simplify the situation: Tokay in Alsace is made from pinot gris, which is called pinot grigio in Italy. But Tokay in Hungary is made primarily from a grape called furmint which is not related to pinot gris or the pinot grigio in Italy. Furmint in Hungary and tocai friulano in Italy may or may not be related and each country argues that they used the name first. The tocai friulano in Italy is in no way related to the Tokay of Alsace which is made from what they call pinot grigio in Friuli. No need to clear that up.

The EU bureaucracy decided years ago that the name Tokay belonged only to the wines produced in those rolling hills of eastern Hungary. They ruled that by 2006 the French and the Italians must give the Hungarians exclusive right to the name Tokay. But the debate goes on, appeals continue and the outcome remains in doubt.

The French went to work right away and began hyphenating the old name, Tokay d'Alsace, with the new name, Pinot Gris. But after years of "Tokay d'Alsace-Pinot Gris" crowding their labels, they are now dropping the old name and today everyone is accustomed to seeing only pinot gris on the label. Meanwhile, the Italians did nothing.

Well, not quite nothing. In one way they have been quite busy. A small group of producers in Friuli, willing to cut yields, have elevated tocai friulano into a competitor for Italy's best white wine varietal. Unfortunately, their right to use this name in the future is running out.

Although the exact reason for the use of the name Tocai is lost in history, it seems probable that at one point the Tocai wines of Friuli were actually made from furmint, the same grape variety that produces Hungary's Tokay. But some time after the turn of the 20th Century, furmint was replaced by sauvignon vert in the vineyards but winemakers still bottled under the old name. This change most likely was a consequence of the replanting forced by the devastating attack of the phylloxera root louse during this period. The sauvignon vert offered a more productive and hardy alternative. Whether the furmint vine and the Tokay name moved from Italy to Hungary or the other way around probably depends on the nationality of the historian!

The tocai friulano is the same vine that the French call sauvignon vert or muscadelle. It is widely planted in South America where it is commonly (accidentally I'm sure) mislabeled and sold as sauvignon blanc. Like so many other varietals, this vine only seems to produce great wines in one region of the world while yielding uninteresting results on the rest of the planet. Tasting a wine like the Borgo Dan Danielle Tocai Friulano from the Collio region will convince you that, indeed, this varietal is capable of greatness -- if only in Friuli.

Friuli has now established it leadership among the Italian regions when it comes to producing exceptional white wines. Tocai, along with Ribolla Gialla, produces the most interesting white wines of the area. Commercial attention focuses on pinot grigio (or is that Tokay d'Alsace?), chardonnay and the various "super-white" blends of varieties created by winemakers as personal creative statements. But time after time, if you taste through a producer's wines, it's the tocai friulano that sticks out in your mind.

If you are looking for a varietal descriptor of tocai friulano it is pears. Ripe, luscious pear flavors carried by a refreshing mineral flavor and zesty acidity that mixed together create an exceptional wine to enhance food.

Now that they have figured out how to make it, they must figure out what to call it.

Some tocai friulano wines recently tasted and recommended:

-Alberice, Tocai Friulano, 2002 Tenute Aleandri, Corno di Rosazzo, Colli Orientali del Friuli

Bright pale gold with lively hints of green when caught by the light. Very floral perfume that reminds one of apple blossoms and acacia. The floral notes are rounded out by mineral hints with just a touch of butterscotch. The floral characteristics continue on the palate, but are well balanced by bittersweet almond flavors with just a slight touch of lime in the finish. This wine has a round mouthfeel but carries all this fruit and flowers on a firm backbone of acid. The finish is long and firm and there is not a touch of fruit sweetness: just clean mineral flavors with just the right finishing tang of acid.

-Villa Russiz, Tocai Friulano, Collio, 2002

Bright, very light gold. Racy, perfect pear aromas with underlying notes of hazelnuts. Very fresh. Concentrated pear essence on the palate followed by firm mineral and nutty components. Absolutely mouthwatering on the palate, but not a simple light wine. The crisp acids and clean firm fruit flavors carry the substantial 13.5% alcohol effortlessly. Seafood anyone?

-Torre Rosazza, Tocai Friulano, Colli Orientale del Friuli, 2002

Bright, sparking light gold. Full and rich in the nose. Firm mineral and tart pear aromas open into apricot and licorice notes. Broad rich poached spiced pear flavors expand into apricots with a touch of lime. The finish is expansive and complex with both fruit and minerals and with lovely light and lingering citrus flavors.

-Livon, Tocai Friulano, Ronc di Zorz, Collio, 2002

Bright light gold. Full aromas loaded with fresh pears, lime and butterscotch. Fresh and racy on the palate, but not light. Crisp, mouthwatering acids broaden into spiced pears with firm mineral notes. The finish is balance, long and refreshing. The lightness and balance on the palate makes the hefty 13% alcohol almost imperceptible.

Other top producers include: Miani (oaky style), Roncus (elegant, structured), Russiz Superiore, Schiopetto (classic, racy), Paolo Rodaro, Borgo del Tiglio (dramatic), Borgo San Danielle, Livio Felluga, Edi Keber (intense, concentrated), Dario Raccaro, Ronco dei Tassi, Ronco del Gelso (dramtic fruit extraction).

Hallelujah, I'm born again! The rebirth of Chianti Classico

By Craig Camp
Wednesday, January 21, 2004

THE VIEW is breathtaking. Spread out as far as you can see are the famous hills of Tuscany and they do not fall short of their much fantasized reputation. We are standing at the edge of the highest vineyard in Gaiole, one of the communes of Chianti Classico. The hillsides in all directions are covered with undulating rows of vines radiating rich green tones in the watercolor gold sunlight that has attracted painters for thousands of years.

The vineyards directly in front of us are on the steepest slopes of all. Standing next to us is the winemaker of this estate on the crest of this hill and he carefully explains the nuance of each rise and fall of the terrain in perfect English -- as well he should. The winemaker’s name is Sean O’Callaghan and he makes the exceptional wines of Riecine from the beautiful vineyards in front of us. Sean is Irish and came to Riecine to work for its late British owner, John Dunkley, and is now part-owner with an American, Gary Baumann. He is an exceptional winemaker and his talents, combined with these special vineyards, creates Riecine Chianti Classico Riserva, one of the greatest fine wine bargains in the world. Chianti Classico is indeed an international place.

The Chianti Classico zone that spreads out south of Florence has undergone a tremendous transformation in the last quarter-century. Today the owners of the estates are no longer just old aristocratic Italian families, but are owned by successful business families that are almost as likely to come from England, Germany and Switzerland as from Milan and Rome. Slowly, but surely Tuscany is becoming more-and-more like the wine-theme park that Napa Valley has become. Not so long ago it was very different.

The man sitting across the table from me is a revolutionary. It is 1984 and many wealthy Italians live in fear of the Red Brigades. However, this man is not a political revolutionary. His radicalism has led him to do the unthinkable -- he is making a wine out of 100% sangiovese in Chianti Classico and has banned the famed “Gallo Nero” black rooster logo of the Chianti Classico consortium from the necks of his bottles.

This man was the late Sergio Manetti and I had spent a pleasant afternoon with him wandering the vineyards, visiting his wine museum and tasting the wines of his exceptional estate: Montevertine. It is now evening and we are tasting all of the wines he has produced to date including the phenomenal Le Pergole Torte. As the smells and crackling sounds of the rabbits roasting in the huge fireplace filled the warm Tuscan farmhouse kitchen, he described each wine and vintage and talked about the potential greatness of sangiovese. Sergio Manetti believed in sangiovese.

These winemakers were creating what came to be called Super-Tuscans: wines that intentionally took the DOC name off of their wines so they could make them the way they chose. In these days, other than the DOC name, there was only the simple Vino da Tavola designation that had been the domain of Italy’s most common and cheapest wines. Suddenly Vino da Tavola became chic. This was a time when Super-Tuscans were new and controversial and not at all like today when even humble estates offer a Super-Tuscan for sale. While Antinori and most others went the route of “improving” their sangiovese with merlot and cabernet sauvignon, Manetti and a few others devoted their attention to establishing the greatness of sangiovese in its own right.

It seems strange to think that the wines we now think of as Chianti Classico did not exist in the 1970’s. No one ever heard of the term Super-Tuscan and most producers were satisfied to put out average wines and then depend on the name of Chianti Classico and the Gallo Nero logo to sell their wines to the world. Chianti Classico was a region stuck in its own tradition and suffering from the Italian government policy of treating all of Chianti as a brand to be developed for export with all emphasis based on quantity instead of quality.

Then, to make matters worse, there was the famed Chianti “recipe” developed by the legendary Barone Bettino Ricasoli in the late 1800’s. This formula required blending white grapes to soften and freshen the sangiovese and made a lot of sense in those days. This formula was eventually formalized by the Chianti Classico Consorzio in 1924 and producers had to follow it to carry the respected Gallo Nero on the neck of their bottles. Then there was also the tradition of “governo” or a second fermentation started by adding sweet, dried grapes to the new wine. This process also made the wines more drinkable in their youth. However, times had changed and the tradition bound Consorzio had not. Revolution was inevitable and it happened fast.

Tignanello was born in 1971 and Le Pergole Torte in 1977 and their impact, along with the wines of other innovators, on the press and the market was immediate and dramatic and by 1984 the Chianti Classico Consortium was forced to change its regulations or perish as producer after top producer abandoned the Chianti Classico DOC and the Gallo Nero for at least some of their wines.

As late as 1983 the regulations for Chianti Classico allowed the addition of up to 30% white grapes into the blend and required a minimum of 10%. This all changed with the introduction of the DOCG Chianti Classico in 1984, which lowered the minimum percentage of white grapes to 2% and set the minimum for sangiovese to 75%. Equally revolutionary was the allowance of up to 10% of foreign varieties – essentially meaning cabernet sauvignon and merlot. These changes simply made legal what the best producers had already been doing for years anyway. More changes in the regulations occurred in 1996 when the minimum requirement for white grapes was totally dropped, the minimum percentage of sangiovese was raised to 80% and the percentage of allowed foreign grapes and/or classic indigenous grapes like canaiolo was set at 20%. For the first time a wine that was 100% sangiovese could be legally called Chianti Classico. Once again the bureaucrats were simply admitting to reality.

Today, Tignanello (2000 vintage: 80% sangiovese, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc) and Le Pergole Torte (still 100% sangiovese) and many other Super-Tuscans could carry the Chianti Classico DOCG and the Gallo Nero. However, this is not likely to happen as the Super-Tuscan category is now firmly established and their Super-Tuscan offering is usually the most expensive wine offered by producers in the Classico zone. With the spotlight of fashion on the Super-Tuscans and with the changes in regulations and improvements in viticulture, Chianti Classcio Riserva has become the best value in great Tuscan sangiovese. The market seems to have become fixated on Super-Tuscans for prestige and regular Chianti Classico for value meaning that Chianti Classico Riserva has been caught in the middle and it too often ignored by consumers. While the flavor profile of many Super-Tuscans seems to be defined by new oak, the character of many Chianti Classico Riserva wines often speak more of sangiovese and their vineyards than their more expensive “Super” cousins -- and they cost less.

The rebirth of Chianti Classico is a long way from complete. The recently concluded “Chianti Classico 2000 Project” was launched in the late eighties to analyze and study every aspect of the varietals and vineyard techniques used to produce Chianti. The results of this study identified 7 clones of sangiovese as ideal for the Classico zone and these clones are now approved and available for replanting or new vineyards. These results, along with the mass of other data produced by this unique and exhaustive research project means that we can expect continued dramatic improvement of the wines of Chianti and Chianti Classico in the coming decades. While Chianti Classico is ancient winemaking zone it is in fact undergoing the growing pains of a young one. The concepts of winemaking, viticulture, varietals and everything surrounding wine production in the Chianti Classico zone have been reborn.

Sean O’Callaghan arrived at the hilltop winery of Riecine in 1991 after the changes launched by visionaries like Sergio Manetti had been put in motion. His dramatic and elegant Chianti Classico Riserva is 100% sangiovese aged in a blend of small French oak barrels and classic large barrels of Slovenian oak and is packed with the character of both sangiovese and the vineyard where it is grown. Mr. Manetti would approve.

After the 2005 vintage no longer will any white grapes be allowed in the Chianti Classico blend and an era will come to an end in the hills south of Florence. With every death there is a birth and indeed Chianti Classico has been born-again.

Brunello - The impatient need not apply

by Craig Camp
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

IF YOU don't have patience stop reading now. If you make snap judgments this article is not for you. If you judge someone in ten seconds find something else to do.

If you don't take the time to look deeper you often miss hidden complexity. That goes for wine too. The fashion today is to make wines that put all their charms up-front. Grapes like merlot and shiraz have excelled in this environment, but some grapes just don't give up their personalities quite so easily. Brunello is one of those grapes.

On a hill 25 kilometers south of Siena in Tuscany sits a medieval town clinging to the edge of the cliffs. The surrounding hills and slopes are planted almost exclusively with the sangiovese grosso clone of sangiovese. In these vineyards the sangiovese produces a particularly hard wine to get to know. In fact, the sangiovese grosso here is so distinctive it has its own name: Brunello. The town of Montalcino is ancient, but the wine Brunello di Montalcino is not. While its name is now famous, Brunello di Montalcino did not start to gain its current status on the world market until the 1970's. The wine as we know it today owes its character to two families: one Italian and one American.

The creators of Brunello di Montalcino could not be more Italian. When the patriot, Ferruccio Biondi, returned to his family after fighting with Garibaldi for Italian unification, he and his grandfather, Clemente Santi, replanted their estate, Il Greppo. Santi, a noted agronomist and enologist, was the first to identify sangiovese grosso and it was this variety they chose to cultivate. Their goal was to make a classic wine for aging. Instead of following the recipe for Chianti used in those days, which included a second fermentation to increase fruity flavors, they used only sangiovese grosso. Then they gave the wine an extended maturation in oak barrels. In 1888 they released the first vintage of their new wine. Some bottles of the first Brunello di Montalcino still live in the old cellars at the Il Greppo estate

Unfortunately, the Biondi-Santi family was obviously so far ahead of the times that no one bothered to follow their lead in Montalcino for about 60 years when they were finally joined by Fattoria dei Barbi, Costanti and a few other adventurous souls in the 1950s. However this still didn't do the trick for Montalcino. In the 1970's you could still grab vineyards at bargain-basement prices.

In 1975 less than a million bottles of Brunello was produced by less than 30 estates. Now, not quite 30 years later, the figure is approaching four million bottles with more than 130 estates in production and more coming all the time.

What happened? The Americans invaded.

Brunello di Montalcino was famous in spite of itself. To knowledgeable drinkers of Italian wine with the patience to see what could happen to a bottle of Biondi-Santi if you waited 3 or 4 decades, this wine surrendered its secrets. However, it was the arrival of John and Harry Mariani in 1978 that changed not only the face of the ancient town, but also what being bottled there.

The Mariani brothers were sons of Italian immigrants who had made good -- and made good in a big way. Their company, Banfi Vintners, and its chief import, Riunite Lambrusco, made the family fortune. Today, Banfi Vintners is as powerful as ever representing three out of the top ten imported wine brands (Concha y Toro from Chile, Riunite from Italy, and Walnut Crest from Chile). It has ranked as the largest American wine importer for thirty years running. Yes, all you old hippies, Riunite is still the second largest Italian brand in the USA -- somebody is still drinking a lot -- although strangely enough we never seem to see anyone actually drinking it!

So in the late 70s, the Mariani family came to sleepy Montalcino and, with the quiet diplomacy we Americans are famous for, loudly threw almost everything out the window. Although this was a great shock to the local wine aristocracy, the arrival of these American tycoons was the second best thing that happened to Montalcino since Siena lost the war with Florence. The first thing was the genius of Biondi-Santi family in recognizing the potential of the sangiovese grosso and its affinity for the region, but it took the Mariani's drive and wealth to expand the whole range of possibilities in the vineyards of Montalcino.

The estate that the Mariani's created they called Castello Banfi and everything they did was loaded with American business aggressiveness and scale. They purchased a large estate, took an old castle and created a consumer-friendly winery that would make the Mondavis feel right at home. They even opened a restaurant that was good enough to recently earn a Michelin star. While they pushed all the right marketing buttons and installed all the bell-and-whistles, they also spared no expense in researching what it takes to make great wine in Montalcino. At first regarded with suspicion by the local growers, the Castello Banfi estate is now respected throughout Italy and has been awarded every Italian winemaking award that you can possibly think of -- and some you can't.

What Castello Banfi did was to push the envelope not only to expand the concept of what was good wine in Montalcino, but what was possible if you pushed beyond the probable. Today every producer from Biondi-Santi to the newest estate owes Castello Banfi a nod of respect. The success of Banfi has also brought a new round of heavy-weight wine producers to Montalcino and the likes of Gaja (Pieve di Santa Restituta), Antinori (Pian delle Vigne), Frescobaldi (Castel Giocondo) and Ruffino (Greppone Mazzi) are now selling some very expensive modern style Brunello di Montalcino wines. Even the legendary Biondi-Santi estate has entered the new-wave market with the decidedly modern Sassoalloro. But don't worry-- the Biondi-Santi wines remain a bastion of classic Brunello di Montalcino. Montalcino is also home to the Mondavi and Frescobaldi Luce project.

The goal at Castello Banfi was to make a modern, internationally styled, type of Brunello. They pulled out all the stops and used all the tricks, but they have, in fact, proved only one thing -- you can't make Brunello di Montalcino into Australian Shiraz. While the Banfi wines from international varietals, like ExcelsuS, can take on the best of the internationally styled wines (and has the scores and price to prove it) their Brunello di Montalcino remains a wine that needs age to be fully appreciated.

In a recent tasting of their 1998 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino, I could not deny that their wine had more initial appeal than some, but more interesting is what happened to the wine over several days. At first the wine was all fruit and oak, but after one day the wine changed and the Brunello characteristics started to show. By the second day there was no doubt that, with time, this wine would reveal much more than the simple flavor profiles of oak and ripe fruit found when you first pull the cork. The longer you age the ultra-modern Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino the more it tastes like classic Brunello.

Sometimes terroir and varietal character win over technique.

Contrary to what most wine books suggest, Brunello di Montalcino is not a dramatic, obvious wine. It is a big wine; but not ponderous. It is powerful wine; but it is layered with delicate complexity. It is a concentrated wine; but it is lean and angular. It manages to walk the tightrope between all these characteristics to claim its rightful place as a great wine.

As in all of the world's great wine regions, most of the wines from here are not great and just go along for the ride with a famous name on the label. However, there are many outstanding producers and, as most of the production is exported, Brunello di Montalcino is easy to track down. Unfortunately, along with fame comes high prices and good Brunello di Montalcino is expensive.

So you have a wine that is hard to appreciate, requires aging and is expensive: hardly attractive for dinner tonight. However, the growers in Montalcino have a solution for you in Rosso di Montalcino. Both wines must be produced from 100% Brunello (sangiovese grosso) grapes, but Brunello di Montalcino requires four years of aging before release while Rosso di Montalcino requires only one year of aging. Producers use wines from younger vines or from casks that are more forward to make their Rosso wines more ready to drink in their youth. The Rosso di Montalcino wines from the best producers often reflect the style of their Brunello di Montalcino wines and offer a good starting point for learning the character of the area's wines and the styles of the various producers.

Drinking young Brunello is like playing hide-and-seek with greatness: patience pays off.

Some personal favorites:

-Andrea Costanti: classic wines needing aging to show their greatness.

-Eredi Fuligni: elegant and graceful.

-Fattoria dei Barbi: classic, powerful terroir driven wines.

-Lisini: powerful yet refined.

-Biondi-Santi: only when it's old and someone else is buying.

-Castello Banfi: very modern and approachable.

-La Rasina: great value

-Poggio Antico: graceful and restrained with lovely fruit.

Disco Dom

By Craig Camp
Monday, January 5, 2003

WHEN THE supposedly blind monk Dom Perignon first tasted the sparkling wine he had created he is said to have exclaimed, “I am drinking stars!” Perhaps a more appropriate statement would have been, “I am drinking dollar signs!”

It was almost 300 years ago when Dom Perignon (as legend has it anyway) conceived the idea of blending different vintages and varietals and capturing the gas formed during fermentation in a sealed bottle to create the sparkling wines in the Champagne region of France. This legend is probably as accurate as the other popular legend that always surfaces around the end of the year: Santa Claus.

The true Champagne method (methode champenoise) for making truly complex sparkling wines is time-consuming and expensive. There are other methods that make lovely sparkling wines for light-hearted consumption and entertainment, but these methods just don’t make wines that steal your attention away from the celebration at hand for more than a few seconds.

All the methods used for making sparkling wine work on one simple concept. When the yeasts eat the grape sugar they put out two waste products: alcohol and carbon dioxide (always remember that Dom Perignon is mostly made from yeast waste combined with the flavors of the dead yeast cells breaking down in the bottle). For regular table wine the gas is allowed to escape, but for sparkling wines the gas is trapped in the wine. You cannot add gas to a wine and call it sparkling wine. Wines made in this fashion must be referred to as carbonated wine on the label.

The main method used to make lighter, fresher sparkling wines for immediate consumption or for mass-produced cheap sparkling wines is the Charmat method. In this process the wine is put into a large stainless steel container and yeast and sugar (if needed) are added. The container is sealed and the yeasts go to work making the bubbles. The process can be carefully controlled by refrigeration and has the capability to produce delicate and elegant wines when the right base wines are used. When the second fermentation is finished the wine is transferred under pressure to bottles and is ready to drink from day one. The best examples of this style seem to be uniquely Italian.

Prosecco is both a grape and the name of a sparkling wine from the Veneto region of Italy. It is produced in both dry (brut) and just off-dry (extra dry) styles. Although it may be produced from both the Charmat and methode champenoise, the vast majority of these wines are produced by the Charmat method and I think with very good results. This type of fermentation emphasizes the light, fresh fruity flavors of the Prosecco grape and is perfect for producing this easy-drinking wine -- which is hard to beat as a choice for parties and an everyday aperitif. In the Piedmont region the fresh and lushly sweet moscato grape is transformed into the mouth-watering Moscato d’Asti and Asti Spumante wines. It is hard to imagine more refreshing after dinner quaffing than these two low-alcohol, sweet, sparkling wines. Moscato d’Asti has lower gas pressure than Asti Spumante and has a wonderful creamy texture that is unique. The Charmat method is the perfect way to produce these lovely wines. However, most of the wines produced by this method and the closely related “transfer process” are simple industrial wines that are better suited to giving shampoos to sports champions or improved with orange juice and other mixers.

Then there is the royalty of sparkling wine processes: methode champenoise. This is the method perfected by Dom Perignon and friends and is the only process allowed for sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region.

Champagne is first and foremost a place. It is a French winemaking region that makes both still and sparkling wines. The only true Champagne sparkling wines are from this region and this region only. There can be no doubt about the greatness of the sparkling wines of Champagne and there are two elements to their success: First the terroir: the vineyards, varietals and weather; and second, the work-intensive method required to make great sparkling wines.

Wines destined to become French Champagne can only be produced from three grape varietals, two reds: pinot noir, pinot meunier and one white: chardonnay. Almost all of the finest sparkling wines of the world also tend to use pinot noir and chardonnay as their base. The juice of these grapes is immediately separated from their skins so that none of the red color is given to the wine -- except for rose Champagne, which is a story for another day. The soils of Champagne are chalky and full of minerals and the climate is on the cool side for making fine table wines. In a very real sense, Champagne was discovered because the poor soils and cold climate of the region made thin, low color, high acid wines in most years. In other words, the perfect raw materials for making sparkling wine. This also created the necessity for inventing a non-vintage wine as blending wines from weak vintages with those of better years gave the weather-challenged winegrowers in Champagne the chance to offer wines of consistent quality and style every year. To this day, each Champagne producer is defined by their non-vintage cuvee, which represents their house style and the height of the blender’s art.

Once the base wine is fermented the winemaker blends the wines of the various grapes to achieve the style of their winery, or as it is known in the Champagne business: house. Each of these grapes offers different characteristics to the winemaker: pinot noir, depth and complexity; pinot meunier, softness and fruitiness; chardonnay, freshness and a unique ability to absorb the ‘toasty’ or ‘yeasty’ characteristics so highly regarded by Champagne lovers. Blends range to include any mixture possible of these three varietals including 100% unblended versions. Blanc de blancs refers to pure chardonnay wines while Blanc de noirs refers to 100% pinot noir wines. Wines that have high percentages of pinot meunier tend to be the simplest and cheapest Champagnes -- White Star anyone?

Once the blend is completed the wine is put into bottles with a bit of sugar and yeast, the bottle is sealed with a crown cap and the fermentation that makes the bubbles commences. This is the heart of the methode champenois process as the second fermentation and aging must take place in the bottle in which the wine is sold. Only the very large bottles are not produced in this way. Once the yeast have eaten up all the sugar they die and the newly sparkling wine is hazy with the dead cells. It is here that the unique flavors of Champagne are created as the wines are then left for years to age on the yeast cells -- which give the wines that special toasty flavor and bread dough aromas. During this aging the bottles are placed in special racks that allow the bottles to be gently shaken a quarter-turn at a time until they arrive to the upside-down position with all the sediment sitting on the bottle cap and leaving the wine clear. This process is called “remuage” and used to be done by hand, but these days is more than likely done by machine. When the proper aging point has been reached it is time to get those old yeast cells out of the bottle. This is accomplished by dipping the still inverted bottle into a super-cold brine solution that freezes the sediment in a plug of ice, which is then shot out of the bottle and then the bottle is topped up with a bit of old wine and a sweet syrup that adjusts the wine to the required sweetness level. This last process is called “degorgement”. Then it is off to the labeling machine and the market as the Champagne producers consider the wine ready to drink upon release. Some consumers like to age Champagnes longer, but with few exceptions I am not among them.

French Champagne is a work intensive winemaking method that requires producers to maintain massive inventories of aging wine and the grapes they buy from growers in the Champagne zone are among the most expensive in the world. Good Champagne can never be cheap.

The Champagne region long rested on its laurels secure in the knowledge that only they could make great sparkling wines, but today there is a long list of fine sparkling wines made by the Champagne method that show the unique character of their own regions and this small, cool region northeast of Paris no longer holds the monopoly on great sparkling wines. While there is only one true Champagne, the choices of fine sparkling wines available to the consumer are broader and better than ever.

Everyone loves bubbles and this combined with the rising costs and limited production zone in Champagne has inspired winemakers all over the world to make sparkling wines that can approach Champagne in complexity. The situation in the Champagne region has also forced the French Champagne companies to establish wineries throughout the world to increase their own productions. Most of the early attempts to make serious sparkling wines in the Champagne tradition fell short – including those of the French themselves. However today there has been a major transformation in the philosophy of sparkling wine makers outside of Champagne. Instead of making wines following the exact Champagne recipe they are making sparkling wines that reflect their own micro-climates and in the process have created a broad range of excellent sparkling wines that, while they don’t taste exactly like Champagne, are interesting to drink on their own merits and for their own style and character.

Top regions that produce outstanding Champagne method sparkling wines include: USA, Sonoma, Mendocino, Oregon and Washington; Italy, Franciacorta and Trentino; Spanish Cava; Australia and New Zealand.

It is safe to say the humble and pious monk who first tasted “stars” would be shocked and disturbed that the famous prestige Champagne bearing his name has come to symbolize conspicuous and thoughtless consumption by those who have more money than taste.

Dom Perignon is the prestige cuvee of Moet and Chandon; the giant sparkling wine conglomerate owned by LVMH the even bigger conglomerate selling luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Christian Dior and Hennessy Cognac among many other expensive toys and baubles. Moet and Chandon loves to project Dom Perignon as a hard-to-get elite product produced only in limited quantities, but a quick look at the market would seem to tell us otherwise. Dom Perignon is not only available at every good hotel, upscale restaurant and wine shop in the world, but at most casinos, fancy discos, strip clubs, gentleman’s clubs (shall we call them) and in a huge number of locked glass cabinets behind the counter in countless seedy liquor stores, convenience shops and drug stores throughout the world. It seems while Moet and Chandon wants to project an elegant image, they are more than happy to have a significant amount of Dom Perignon sold in less than elegant surroundings and the more of them the better -- so much for limited production only in great vintages.

The growth of top quality sparking wines made by the Champagne method in all the great wine growing regions of the world is something for which Dom Perignon (the monk) can indeed be proud. Today there are more stars than ever to drink.

Some personal favorites (not including Rose):

-California: Iron Horse Blanc de blancs

-Other US:

Argyle Brut, Oregon

Gruet Brut, New Mexico

-Champagne:

Bollinger Brut N/V

Salon Clos de Mensuil

Ployez-Jacquemart Brut

Diebolt-Vallois Brut

-Italy:

Metodo Classico: Bellavista Franciacorta Gran Cuvee Brut

Prosecco: Col Vetoraz, Valdobbiadene Extra Dry

Moscato: Marcarini Moscato d'Asti

-Spain:

Mont-Marçal Cava Brut Reserva (best value)

Huguet Brut Nature Gran Reserva (top quality)

Some Sparkling wine terminology:

Vintage: a wine of a single year instead of blend. Usually only produced in distinctive vintages.

Nature: Absolutely dry – no sweetening wine added. Often too dry for most.

Brut: Extremely dry. The most classic of styles.

Extra Dry: Just off-dry.

Sec (dry): Lightly sweet.

Demi-sec (half-dry): Sweet.

Doux: Very sweet for desserts.

Bottle sizes in 750 ml. equivalents:

Magnum – 2 bottles

Jeroboam – 4 bottles

Rehoboam – 6 bottles

Methuselah – 8 bottles

Nebuchadnezzar – 20 bottles

Fifteen Buck Barolo

By Craig Camp
Tuesday, February 3, 2004

LAST NIGHT while at a friend's house for dinner our host pulled out a bottle of 1998 Barolo. While this normally would bring with it a sense of anticipation, the bottle in question only engendered suspicion. I had seen this label before on sale at the local grocery store at prices well below the going rate even for even average-quality Barolo. Sure enough, the wine was a thin parody of what Barolo should be. The same thing happened in the USA a few months earlier when another friend served a washed-out Barolo purchased at discount prices at Trader Joe's. Both of these wines sold for under fifteen bucks and proved the P.T. Barnum theory of sales: "There's a sucker born every minute."

You can't make cheap Barolo that tastes like Barolo.

Everybody wants something for nothing. However, the reality of the situation is that more often than not you get what you pay for. Selling poor quality wines with famous names is big business and buying these wines is certainly the worst wine value in the market today. It's a little like buying a Kia with all the nameplates changed to Mercedes: now it has the name you want, but it just doesn't go down the road with the same feeling. Cheap Barolo doesn't go down very well either. A famous name is not enough.

If you want a Mercedes you have to pay for it and it can be argued you get great value for your money. The same with wine: if you want both greatness and a famous name you have to pay. However, the winemaking world has changed dramatically in the last decades and advances in winemaking and vineyard techniques has created an explosion of wines offering outstanding quality and a distinct personality that are cursed with a name almost no one has heard of outside his own region.

At last night's dinner a $10 Nergroamaro from Puglia was also served, and at the end of the evening the Barolo was only half-empty while every drop was drained from the Negroamaro bottle. The palates had voted and Puglia had won. If you want real value for your money you have to do your homework and you often have to go outside the famous place-names and varietals for excellent wines that are good values.

The expansion of varietal instead of geographical wine labeling, powered by the commercial successes of New World winemakers, has created new and broader categories of over-priced wines that span regional and international borders. Merlot and Chardonnay lead the worst-value wines-without-borders category. With few exceptions you have to spend some serious money to get really interesting examples of these varietals. The store shelves are filled with bland, oaky examples of Chardonnay and Merlot selling for $20 or more, and the under $20 slots are mostly made up of commercial grade, fruity-sweet wine of indeterminate varietal character. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule as, for example, the many fine chardonnay wines from the Macon region of France, but these wines are most decidedly exceptions in the sea of mediocre and, all too often, expensive chardonnay and it is worth pointing out that most do not even carry the name chardonnay on their label.

If you want to buy a California white wine and have $20 to spend are you better off buying a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay if both go with your menu? For my money, you have to go with the Sauvignon Blanc because for your $20 you get a top-of-the-line wines in the cheaper Sauvignon Blanc category instead of a "budget priced" Chardonnay. Yes, $20 is budget priced for Chardonnay these days in California.

There is no denying the excitement and pleasure of great bottles from famous vines and vineyards -- and they are something that every wine lover should experience -- but don't expect to taste their wonders without straining your budget. However, instead of straining your budget I would recommend straining your eyes instead. A little time invested in research can fill your wine cellar with extraordinary bottles that don't require you to fight over allocations or sleep out by the mailbox so you can get your copy of the The Wine Advocate first and beat your buddies in the wine club to the store.

How do you find these wines? First of all you have to open your mind and palate to new grapes and place names, and second, you have to find a good wine merchant. If you walk into a store packed with promotional material touting the latest Parker or Wine Spectator scores you are probably in the wrong place. You have to find a wine shop with a buyer whose passion and curiosity matches yours. A place like this:

A customer walks into a wine shop on a slow day. There is not another customer in sight. The customer says, "I have a special occasion coming up and my wife and I want a really special bottle of wine, something old from a great vintage. I was thinking of a top Bordeaux like Latour or Lafite, because we have never had one. I think we are willing to spend three of four hundred dollars a bottle." Now here's the funny part. The shop owner actually talks the guy out of dropping that much money and convinces the guy to try a bottle that doesn't cost of third of what the guy was willing to spend. "After talking to him about what he liked and disliked and what he had enjoyed before I just thought he would be disappointed in an old wine," said Howard Silverman. "He was looking for drama and excitement that would match the occasion, so I recommended he experiment on a less important day."

How does a guy like that stay in business? This is not a fairly tale, and merchants like this do stay in business. In fact this store owner, Howard Silverman, has stayed in the fine wine business for over thirty-four years even though he has only just hit 50 years of age. In 1997 Silverman opened Howard's Wine Cellar on Belmont Avenue in Chicago after a career that started as a teenager in his father's wine shop, followed by over fifteen years as Wine Director at Sam's Wine Warehouse. Silverman's father was the legendary Leo Silverman who started the transition of Sam's, with owner Fred Rosen, from a corner liquor store and bar into what it is today: one of the largest wine stores in the world.

Every inch, top to bottom, of his small shop is packed with wine. "It is a little overwhelming for many people because they have never seen these labels before, normally people will pick up the first thing they recognize, but here they don't recognize anything," said Silverman with a smile. "Everything is here because I like it and I will not buy a bad wine no matter how good the reviews are."

"I buy what I like, not what I need. After all of these years I can judge intelligently enough to taste every category -- even those that are not my personal favorites. With only 1000 square feet it takes a special wine to get in," says Silverman.

Like small wineries, emerging wine regions, and unknown varietals small wine shops are under attack from the continuing consolidation of the wine business into the hands of fewer and fewer producers, distributors, and retailers. You may find super-low prices on some famous names at Costco and Trader Joe's, but you will not find thin, bitter Barolos no matter how cheap they are at wine shops like those run by Howard and hundreds of others like him to whom the title of wine merchant means responsibility to the client first and the accountant second. You may pay a bit more sometimes, but in the long-run you will save money and broaden your experience with these small shops. Personal service and knowledge are worth an investment.

When a deal seems too good to be true it usually is.

Some of Howard's current favorites:

-1999 Finca Allende, Calvario, Rioja, Single Vineyard Estate Bottled $46 from vines planted in 1945

-2000 Don Antonio, Nero d'Avola, Morgante $28

-2001 Castle Rock Carneros Pinot Noir $10

-2001 Cimicky Trumps Shiraz, Barossa Valley $14.50

-N/V Gruet, Brut, New Mexico, $12

2000 Givry A. Poncey. Domaine Parize $18

2001 Joesph Leitz Rudeshiemer Magdalenenkrunz Riesling Kabinett $12

Howard's Wine Cellar
1244 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 248-3766
email; howcell@jaske.com