Hot Pepper

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Norm McKibben is Walla Walla. Obviously, you also have give credit to Leonetti, L’Ecole No. 41 and Woodward Canyon, whose great wines showed the possibilities of this region, but it was Norm that pushed it over the top. In 1991 he planted Pepper Bridge and in 1994 he purchased Seven Hills Vineyard making him the owner of two of the Northwest’s finest vineyards and the two vineyards that define Walla Walla. 

As well as Norm speaks, nothing can speak better than his wines at Pepper Bridge, which are nothing short of spectacular. The Pepper Bridge wines, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, are wines that make you stop and take notice that you are tasting wines on a different level. Sourced from both Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills vineyards, these wines prove the potential for greatness in wines from Walla Walla.These are world-class collectibles that should be cellared for years before pulling their corks. Those that wait will be rewarded with wines of incredible depth and complexity. Those that don’t will get the same thing, but on a lower plane of consciousness.

Tasting Walla Walla

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An impressive group of Walla Walla's winemakers recently cruised through town and hosted a fairly definitive tasting of the wines of this exciting AVA. Over forty wineries showed a full range of their wines to some eight hundred wine enthusiasts and trade.

Such opportunities bring out the focused madman of my personality and, foolishly, I seriously attempted to attack the room by varietal. Saving the whites for last, which I always think is a good strategy in mass tastings, I first powered through the merlots, circling the room and skipping other wines so as to focus my attention on that variety. Completing the merlots, I headed back to confront the cabernets, which I followed by the blends.

Once again, I confirmed the truth about these mass tastings. That is, that the wineries in the second half of the alphabet, in general, make less interesting wines than those in the first half.

I'm a pro, obsessed with tasting, with three decades of tasting experience and I can't do it. The wines offered by tables in the last half of these tasting marathons just don't have a chance to show well. While a great promo for the AVA, this was certainly no place to judge the quality of the wines or make buying decisions. These mega-tastings should only be considered social events, with a good time for all the only goal, but getting anything but the most general impressions of a certain wine's quality is all that you can hope to discern. Recognize these events as the promotional cocktail parties they are and leave your tasting notes book at home.

Misinformation

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“As with any well-mixed margarita. Madeira should be sweet, fruity. acidic, salty and bitter all at once.”

That’s just wrong, Sercial and Malmsey have has much to do with each other as Fino and Cream Sherry. This is just another example of the misinformation commonly published in the wine columns of our nation’s newspapers.  Why is it that major newspapers don’t bother to apply the same journalistic standards they apply to the rest of the newspaper to wine columns? As I travel throughout the USA I can’t help but be astounded by the amount of  wine misinformation that is allowed to pass as journalism in America’s newspapers.

The writer above also recently told readers that there were no wines labeled “pinot gris” produced in Alsace. That too is just wrong.

Editors may not know a thing about wine, but they are not experts in every topic covered by their newspapers and still they demand that someone who knows should check the facts. Of course, in the other areas of the newspaper, the editor can depend on, for example, the sports editor to know something about sports, but in the food section you can assume the editor knows little or nothing about wine. Can you imagine hiring a sports editor that knows nothing about baseball or a business editor that never heard of the New York Stock Exchange?

Outside a few shining examples, like the New York Times, few newspapers care much for the accuracy of their wine columns, seeing them only as vehicles to increase advertising.

So much for journalism.

Flying to the Moon on Gossamer Wings

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The delicacy was astounding. How is it possible to be so delicate, so refined, yet so dramatic and hypnotizing. The first sip only teased,  a mere shadow of what was to come. With each following taste the complexity expanded like the Universe, while the body and power stayed within our solar system. It remained haunting and demanded your attention from first to last for, if you were not open to its charms, you surely would miss them. Such was the 2001 Domaine Dujac Morey Saint-Denis. A more perfect example of the delicately powerful refinement that is at the heart of pinot noir you will not find. Pinot noir at its finest intoxicates your emotions more than your brain. Yes, it intoxicates your brain too, but in this case it’s just bonus points, not the main attraction.

American Wine Blog Awards Finalist

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finalistlogo.jpgI’m pleased and flattered to announce that I have been selected as a finalist in The American Wine Blog Awards, which were created and are hosted by Tom Wark of Fermentation. If you would like to vote for the award winners (hint, hint), please click on this link, which will take you to Fermentation to mark your ballots.

It is particularly rewarding to me to have been singled out for the “Best Wine Blog Writing” award as it is the pleasure that writing brings me that led me to create Wine Camp in the first place. So vote now and vote often and my sincere thanks to those who nominated me and to the finalist selection committee for finding my work worthy of this honor.

Mimmo’s Bruschetta

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Mimmo’s Bruschetta

-Small, very ripe (preferably homegrown) tomatoes, sliced

-1 or 2 large cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and one small end sliced off.

-The best extra virgin olive oil you can find — preferably a big, rich oil from the south.

-Thin loaves of crusty French bread (you want slices close to bite size)

-Fresh oregano finely chopped

-Fresh basil cut or torn into small pieces

-Freshly ground black pepper

-Sea salt

Cut the bread into thin slices and lightly toast. Rub the toast with the raw garlic to taste (a latex glove makes this process a breeze, and a fresh one at that). Arrange on a large platter and lightly salt and pepper each piece of bread and top with a slice of tomato. Liberally drizzle all with extra virgin olive oil. Lightly sprinkle with oregano and top each with pieces of basil.

It's A Boy!!!

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boyk.jpgIt’s been a long hard road with more bumps than rest stops. I’ve tried and tried to love the Rhone Rangers, but few have delivered interesting wines. The only really consistent one has been Steve Edmunds and those wines were born out of his unique sensitivity and search for terroir-driven wines that make you think instead of just drink.

Tonight I opened yet another “Rhone Blend” more out of duty than interest, but upon inserting my expecting to anesthetized nose into the glass, I found that elusive quality that Rhone wines often deliver but New World wines rarely do. That is the combination of power and balance and a richly intoxicating earthiness. “Boy” did I find one!

The 2004 “The Boy” from K Vintners in Walla Walla Washington is one of the very few blends of Rhone varieties that I’ve tasted that can take on fine Chateauneuf du Pape in depth and complexity. A blend of 50% grenache, 18% syrah and 14% mourvedre (very CdP-like) this is a wine that sings in a deep rich, warm baritone.

First you should focus on what this wine is not. It is not a dark purple, oaky cassis fruit-bomb nor a port-like monstrosity. What it is is a big, yet balanced and richly complex wine. Its deep scarlet hue is still translucent with just a touch of garnet  - more pinot than Rhone Ranger. The aromas are wonderfully spicy with a deep, warm earthy touch of wild mushrooms, steak tartare and truffles layered with a smoky sweetness.

While eastern Washington may be renowned for its cabernets and merlots, wines like this will soon make you think the Rhone should be the inspiration for Washington’s winemakers instead of Bordeaux.

What stands out most about most about this wine compared to its other west coast cousins from California and Washington is this wine never got boring - one glass demanded a second. After all, that is the difference between commercial plonk, over-extracted goo and real wine.

 

Syrah, Hudson Vineyard, Havens, Carneros, 2001

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This was a surprise, although it probably should not have been as it’s from the cool Carneros zone. A rich wine with great balance and real syrah character that’s not the simple cassis bombs offered by most new world producers of this variety. Rich fruit is layered with black peppercorns and earthy butchershop highlights. A very nice wine to drink over the next several years. This wine make you think Rhone not Australia.

Spanna Riserva (nebbiolo) Dessilani, Colline Novaresi, 2001

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Always a good bargain, this release from Dessilani does not disappoint. Here is real nebbiolo character at a price you can enjoy often. Classic lean, tannic nebbiolo flavors and aromas that make this a nice wine to introduce you friends to the wines from this noble vine. Like all real nebbiolo, this is not a pasta or pizza wine, but better suited to steaks, chops and roasts.