Minimal Understanding
While minimalist has become an overused catch-word for many a winemaker, it does mean something. Many wine journalists with minimal understanding of what minimal winemaking means now ridicule winemakers who make such a claim as using a trite phrase with no meaning. However, minimalist does mean something to those who practice it even if the journalists don’t understand and over-romanticize the concept.
I guess there are two types of minimalist winemakers: one group that follows some holistic recipe and the other group that does as little to a wine as nature will allow. Too many wine journalists, with a naive understanding of what it takes to make both great and very good wine think that minimalist winemaking is only the former and that those who practice the second as hypocrites using the phrase for its marketing impact. There is often the view that those that follow their holistic winemaking recipe every year, no matter the vintage, are somehow more natural, but this not the case. The fact of the matter is these “idealists” often make faulted wines that are well reviewed by writers that can’t tell the difference between funk and terroir.
Minimalist winemaking should be defined as those that do as little as possible to a wine, but that will intervene with the most natural, unobtrusive solutions available when a wine is about to become dreck. Any 
winemaker that lets their wine become undrinkable swill because of vineyard or cellar problems is irresponsible and perhaps even incompetent. Unfortunately there are many famous names that fall into this category and get away with it.
As these two minimalist paintings demonstrate you can be either energetic or monochromatic within the idiom. A winemaker must make the same choice, but, as in the painting above, to add color and perspective does not mean you are not a minimalist artist. You do not have to paint your canvas in only one color to be a minimalist winemaker. The wine press wants the winemaker who uses only plain gray techniques to be called minimalist, but this is an ignorant position taken by those who have learned about winemaking from books instead of in the cellar.
A winemaker should let wine make itself only when capable of doing so. When that is not the case they have to live up to their name and make the wine.
Rare Bottles
I’m going to do one of those irritating wine writer things by writing about a bottle you probably can’t get. It’s as rare as can be and put me out four fifty a bottle. Having a bottle of this gem will make your friends jealous. This rare jewel is the Heater Allen Schwarz Lager Beer. That’s right lager beer and it set me back $4.50 for a 22 ounce bottle, but you’re very unlikely to be able to obtain a bottle of this rarity. The reason you can’t get it is because I intend to get there first and I live just ten minutes from the brewery.
I’m lucky to live in craft beer heaven here in Oregon, a state where small breweries have successfully taken away shelf and cooler space from Budweiser and the other mega-brands. Not only in specialty stores mind you, but in gas stations and 7-11’s too. Even the dumpiest of bars will have a selection of serious local beers on tap. As you travel around the state you’ll never find yourself far from a brew pub and there is even a special brew pub map so you’re never IPA deprived.
I met Heater Allen owner and brewmaster Rick Allen at his booth at the McMinnville Farmer’s Market and was lucky enough to buy his last bottle of Schwarz Lager. Believe me, I would have bought a lot more if I’d had the privilege. Rick has chosen to take the lager route, contrary to the usual variety of ale styles produced by craft brewers. His Schwartz Lager is a rich brown with deep chocolaty flavors that finish decidedly crisper and fresher than any ale. It is exciting to drink a beer that is so flavorful, but is not heavy or filling, instead being refreshing and lively with an extremely long finish.
Just like a hot winery, I was lucky to get on the Heater Allen mailing list so I can grab my allocation of each release. No, I don’t intend to share.
Intense Competition
It started out strong, but soon had no chance as the competition overwhelmed it. The 2006 JM Sauvignon Blanc, Klipsun Vineyard was impressive when I took my first sip, but then the unthinkable happened: the food arrived. I was really enjoying the bight, clean and zesty flavors of this wonderfully varietal wine, but what happened next was not fair to any wine, yet is typical on today's menus.
We were dining at Seattle's excellent Dahlia Lounge and the waiter delivered their Sea Bar Sampler, which included; Hamachi sashimi, Dungeness crab with chili paste and tempura crispies, Dahlia smoked salmon with hot mustard, Alaskan halibut ceviche with red chilies and cucumber and Albacore Tuna with sweet onions lemon and ponzu. Everything was delicious, but the first taste of the citrusy ceviche made the formerly crisp sauvignon blanc taste flat, while the rich smoked salmon made it taste thin and so on. Some fresh bread and butter returned my palate to normal and the JM was perfect with my main course of sauteéd Alaskan halibut with brown butter potatoes (some of the most wonderful potatoes I've tasted anywhere) Brussels sprouts chanterelle mushroom and bacon.
It's probably impossible to select one wine that would be perfect with each part of the Dahlia Lounge's Sea Food Sampler and not necessary as the JM Sauvignon was delicious with almost everything, but it's good to remember that some foods can make very nice wines not taste very good. The only thing I could think of to better handle such a broad range of flavors would have been a just off-dry riesling or a sparkling wine. Perhaps a more important point is that you can't always get a wine that is perfect with the entire meal and that should not be your goal, you can always revert to the water for the mismatched course and return to the lovely wine you've selected when the next course arrives.
Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You
I was beat. Harvest is upon us and I can’t exactly remember the last day off I’ve had. While few things are more exhilarating than harvest, few things are more tiring. The thought of cooking tonight was just too much so I grabbed some pizza on the way home. With it I popped open a bottle of 2005 Rosso Piceno Brunori, Torquis. Now I’m a big Marche fan and love the montepulciano/sangiovese blend of Rosso Piceno, but this wine did not thrill me and I considered opening something else. I guess I was just too tired to get up, but that appears have been a good thing. Indeed it was a good idea I waited for, as I took a sip of my second glass, the wine suddenly changed. What had seemed flabby and uninteresting suddenly transformed itself into a firm, enjoyable wine with good character and backbone. What had changed? It was me. The wine was the same, but a bit of food and wine made me relax after a hectic day and my palate finally woke up enough to appreciate this very nice wine.
So the fault was not with the wine, but with me. You have to take time to get to know a wine and take into account that you may not be at your best. Mario and Giorgio Brunori worked hard to make this wine and I was wrong to judge their work so quickly and at a time I was not at my best. Once again, this reality must make anyone question the validity of the 100 point scale where wines are rated based on rapid fire tastings. Not even a tasting machine like Robert Parker can work at the same level of effectiveness every day and under every condition. This is where the king and I have divergent views on how wines should be evaluated.
Every time you taste a wine you should remember that the faults you find may be more yours than the wine’s.
Mamietage: "age" Without the Merit
This being too funny not to share, I post this press release without further comment, as none is needed. The wines from Armida winery must be really great if they choose to participate in projects such as this. Warning: do not attempt to peel away your computer screen. This only works if you buy a bottle.
For Immediate Release:
Sonoma County/ Beverly Hills- Screen legend and notorious blond bombshell Mamie Van Doren, will team with Wine Country Cellars and launch the first limited edition of collectible Mamietage® wine bottles at a VIP/Press reception on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at the Fountaingrove Golf & Athletic Club in Santa Rosa. Mamie Van Doren will attend.
Mamie is releasing a new series of wine labels on 1.5 Liter bottles featuring three images of Mamie. Two of the images are of Mamie today, and the third image is from Mamie at age 21. The wine labels are unique in that they all feature nude poses of Mamie covered up by a top, clear "peel away" label that has stars strategically placed. Peel the label away, and there is Mamie nude. The peel away portion is attached, and can be replaced to it's original form. The wine is called Mamietage®, a Bordeaux blend from Sonoma County's Armida Winery, and is a limited production of only 2000 bottles of each image. Each of the 2000 bottles will be individually numbered.
"The delicious Bordeaux blend of Cabernet sauvignon, petite verdot, syrah and malbec was made and bottled by Armida Winery. This is a beautiful, rich wine with flavors of black cherry, vanilla, and a touch of chocolate. The light tannins and medium body give way to a long, fruit filled finish."
Melange a Notes
Some recent under $20 tastes:
- 2005 Domaine La Garrigue, Cuvée Romaine, Côtes du Rhône - An excellent bargain from importer Eric Solomon. Rich, earthy and structured with bright, but not simple fruit. Very peppery and spicy with a warm, but firm tannic finish.
- 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba, Lorenzino, Germano Ettore - Brightly rich, fruity and charming, but with an edge you would expect from vineyards in Serralunga d’Alba. Delicious and ready to drink with anything from pizza to a good steak. Very nice.
- 2006 Barbera d’Alba, Germano Ettore - Zesty, fresh and bright. A wonderfully fruity and refreshing barbera that should be drunk young to enjoy all its youthful charms.
- 2006 Dolcetto, Walla Walla Valley, Woodward Canyon - A nice effort, deeply purple in appearance, aroma and flavor and enjoyable to drink. However, you can buy much better dolcetto at a lower price than this from top Italian producers. A curiosity, but a pleasant one.
- 2006 Coteaux du Languedoc, Domaine Le Pas de l’Escalette, Julien Zernott & Delphine Rousseau Vignerons - This wine is just so charming and pleasurable to drink that buying by the case is mandatory. Brilliantly and brightly fruity without simplicity, this is just a great red to have around this house as it’s guaranteed to elevate many a weekday dinner or weekend party.
- 2004 Pinot Gris, Pfleck de Wettolsheim, Domaine Barmès - Yet another oily, over-the-t0p quasi-late harvest wine from Alsace. Thick, sweet and ultimately boring (to me anyway). At 14.5% alcohol avoid driving after dinner.
- 2005 Riesling, Winninger Uhlen Kabinett, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Freiherr von Heddesdorff - At 9% alcohol, this wine is the polar opposite of the wine above - thank goodness. Light and delicate without missing any complexity. What a great bargain and so, so easy to drink. With just a touch of sweetness to balance the zesty acidity, this wine is so refreshing a second glass always seems to follow the first.
Pinot Syrah
While sipping on an excellent syrah with dinner tonight, I could not help but be struck by the thought: why do producers try to make pinot noir taste like a syrah, when syrah itself is so much better at tasting like, well, itself. This is always confusing to me. It just seems that if you want to make a big, rich jammy wine that you would pick a vine that’s good at it.
The 2005 L’Ecole No. 41 Syrah, Columbia Valley is a wine that combines power and an earthy richness with complexity in a way no pinot noir can (or should). Pinot done in this style seems blowsy, but this L’Ecole is stylish, structured and balanced in its depth and intensity. If you want big and elegant a great syrah, like this L’Ecole, is a better choice (and cheaper) than those strange syrupy pinot noirs running around the market these days.
Big fat pinots seem a bit slutty, but big rich syrah has real class.
Harvest in Oregon
Don’t forget to check in on my Anne Amie Vineyards Willamette Valley Cellar Blog as we tell the story of the 2007 harvest in the Willamette Valley.
Where's the Pinot
The three of them sat down next to me at the bar and ordered a bottle of the very same wine I was tasting. It was the Pinot Noir, Failla, Keefer Ranch, Russian River, 2005, a wine that I just could not bring myself to like. Hard as I tried, I could not find any pinot there. I left my glass unfinished, while they downed their first bottle and then ordered a second. Both bottles were consumed without a bite of food. This is a concept I just can't get my palate around. Drinking glass after glass of high octane red wine without any food to absorb all the alcohol and tannin sounds more like work than pleasure. The more I taste such wines the more exaggerated their course characteristics become. In fact, I can rarely finish an entire glass. Yet here was this threesome on their second bottle, which, by the by, was running $100+ a pop.
I know there is no arguing taste (unless you have your own blog), but at some point you have to ask the question; what is wine for? Is it just another alternative to vodka on the rocks, another alcohol delivery system, or is it a food and a part of the dining experience? Even vodka lovers rarely drink their favorite with meals, instead consuming when it can do that thing it does so well without undo interference. Wine will never deliver a buzz as quickly or as powerfully as vodka and a big glass of Absolut on the rocks will never be the ultimate companion to fine food.
It may be an Absolut world, but hopefully wine will remain one of the food groups.
Wine Bars
Like most things there are wine bars and there are wine bars. A visit to the renowned Morrell Wine Bar, located next to their famed wine shop on Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan is a a great treat for any wine aficionado. To top it off, the food’s pretty good too. The expansive list of wines available by the glass makes choosing a complicated affair. Best of all, as Morrell’s is packed every day, the wines are fresh even though they have so many wines open at once. Here is a sampling of wines I tasted there on my last visit:
- Riesling Magus, Leasingham, Clare Valley, Australia, 2004 - The exotic fruit flavors and aromas put me off at first, but soon I saw the error of my wines as the crisp, mineral foundation of this wine emerged to elevate the mouthwatering tropical fruit character beyond its simple first impression. The dry finish almost shyly revels itself behind the sweet impression of the fruit. By the time I reached the end of the glass I really hated to see it go.
- Chinon Rosé, J.M. Raffault, 2006 - This is just such a pretty wine from the delicate salmon pink color, to the beautiful fruit purity on the nose and on to the zesty freshness that the bright fruit flavors ride to the long, absolutely delicious finish. Just a wonderful wine.
- Pinot Noir, Failla, Keefer Ranch, Russian River, 2005 - Just not much to like here, over-ripe and overwrought with a hot, porty finish. On top of that, it’s very expensive.
- Pinot Noir, Merry Edwards, Méthode à L’Ancienne, Olivet Lane, 2005 - A glorious pinot noir that highlights every refined characteristic that make pinot so seductive and irreplaceable. A beautiful pale garnet in color with delicate aromatics that continually invite you to dig deeper and deeper to find all the secrets hidden within. The complexity contained within this delicate framework is truly incredible. As always seems to be with such fine pinot, there is almost none available and it’s very expensive. A great bottle to order when out on a vendors expense account.
- Ribero del Duero, Convento San Francisco, Crianza, Bodegas San Francisco, 2002 - This glass arrived with some roasted rabbit and a perfect match it was. The aromas and flavors of sweet oak express themselves throughout this wine, but as with so many Spanish wines, it just seems to work. Brilliant black current fruit, eucalyptus and a warm richness join the oak to create a big, yet harmonious and complex wine. A few more years of bottle age would be well worth waiting for as this wine, as good as it is now, has more potential.
Pie in the Sky
Finding good pizza in the USA used to be a pie-in-the-sky proposition. All that was available was the soggy mush made with loads of waxy fake mozzarella and way too old vegetables. When you picked up a slice the sodden crust would collapse under the weight of mediocrity. Of course, the vast majority of pizza in America is still like this, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
That light hit me the other night while traveling on business. Often you arrive too late and too tired to seek out fine food and the restaurant at hand is the only thing you have the time and energy to consider. This is what happened just the other night in Atlanta when I was lucky enough to walk through the door of Baraonda, an excellent pizzeria a block from my hotel. I ended up with a great pizza, but what’s exciting here is that crisp thin crust pizza made with fresh ingredients and cooked in wood-fired ovens are getting a lot easier to find. There seems to be a growing pizza revolution baking in America these days. Everywhere you turn there are pizzerias investing in wood-burning ovens and paying attention to their ingredients.
Now that there’s good pizza to eat, the next question is what to drink with it. The Italians tend to drink beer or fizzy local red wine, both of which are great matches. Woody or high-alcohol wines are absolutey terrible with pizza, but fresh, zesty young reds that appreciate a bit of a chill are perfect. Dry pink wines are also great for pizza. Good draft beer is a match made in heaven and most pizzerias that invest in these expensive ovens can be depended on to have a range of good micro-brews on tap.
Often when presented with really good pizza like Baraonda’s, I can’t resist trying a bottle on the list that normally would be considered too elite for pizza. That night I was inspired to try the 2001 Vigneti La Selvanella, Chianti Classico Riserva, Fattoria Melini, this Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri winner is made predominately from sangiovese grosso aged in large old barrels. It is a complex, balanced and elegant wine that reflects real sangiovese character. The combination of an excellent wine with an excellent pizza made for a lovely dinner. I admit a chilled frizzante barbera would have been a better match, but each glass and each bite was so good on its own I could have cared less.
A great pizza is the ultimate comfort food. Drinking this wonderful Chianti Classico Riserva with it my not have been the ultimate match, but it was very, very comforting.
B and B - Molto Vegas Style
When you hear B and B you think of some charming Victorian farm house in a beautiful and peaceful setting. There is nothing beautiful and peaceful about Las Vegas so as you might expect B and B means something absolutely different. The B & B here is part of the edible empire of Mario Batali and his partner, Joseph Bastianich. These two have created an intertwined empire that includes restaurants, wineries, books, television shows and consumer products.
Their two newest ventures are located in the massive Venetian Hotel on the Vegas strip. I was prepared to hate these corporate eateries packaged in the faux glitz of the casinos, but I was won over by the food. The prices as you would expect are painful unless you just hit the jackpot.
Located in Piazza San Marco itself is Enoteca San Marco, the more casual version of the two. In the photo above Proscuitto di Parma is thinly sliced while the pageant that is San Marco rolls on in the background. My meal here started 
with an Insalata Caprese and this dish was the only disappointment of either meal. Not that there was anything wrong with any of the ingredients as each was wonderful, but they just did not fit together. Instead of simple fresh basil, they used pesto, which, while it was excellent, overpowered the delicate flavors of the spectacular mozzarella di bufala. Some dishes just can’t be improved. This was followed by an almost perfect bavette cacio e pepe. A more simple dish you 
won’t find and they blissfully left it alone presenting it in all its simple glory. This was like eating pasta in Italy as it was perfectly cooked and sauced. It’s not cheap to eat here, but then it’s not cheap to eat on the real San Marco either. You have to give them credit as they could have offered mediocre food and the tourists would still crowd the tables just for the view, but this restaurant is the real thing and offers better food than most restaurants in Venice itself.
The big show is B & B , which is located just off the Venetian casino floor. Filled to the brim with beautiful people with beautiful bank accounts every night, this would have been another easy opportunity to offer less than exciting food to an audience more interested in the Mario brand than 
the food itself. Yet this is an outstanding restaurant with food that both challenges and caresses your palate. I started with refreshing marinated fresh anchovies giardiniera, which mixed crisp veggies with delicately flavored anchovies. These kind of anchovies are a revelation for those that have only tasted the canned version. Next was another pasta wonder, spaghetti alla 
chittara with heirloom tomato and miszuna. The fresh pasta was once again cooked perfectly and the richness of the tomato could not have been challenged by a tomato from your own garden. So few restaurants can resist the urge to over sauce their pasta dishes, but Mario grants his wonderful pasta equal billing with his sauces. It 
was a tough act to follow such a fine pasta, but the rabbit with baby carrots, pearl onions and carrot vinaigrette stayed true to the essence of Italian cooking in its clean and simple preparation and presentation. The rich caramelized flavors of the meat and carrots were countered by the sweet tartness of the vinaigrette. Once again the dish was expertly cooked arriving juicy and tender throughout.
As you would expect both restaurants have extensive and expensive wine lists. However, there are plenty of excellent wines available at moderate prices for those with a sharp eye. You can also rely on the surprisingly enthusiastic wait staff or one of the sommeliers to find you a bottle if you’ve left a little more money than you wanted at the craps table. However, if you won big there are plenty of big names with big prices to relieve you of your ill gotten gains. At the Enoteca I had the 2005 Bastianich Refosco Rosé and the 2004 Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Maskario, Terre di Gurfo, both were pleasant, but that’s about it. At the Enoteca they offer their wines by the glass by the quartino or quarter bottle, which is a great way to share and try several wines. At B & B we set our sights a bit higher, but still found a reasonable buy in the outstanding 1998 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis, which is everything a great Barolo should be: unbelievably aromatic, dramatically complex and not ready to drink. This is simply a great wine that should be ready to drink in another five years or so. That being said, it was so delicious we loved and enjoyed every sip.
The bigger than life image of Molto Mario fits in well with glitter of Las Vegas, but it’s no gamble when it comes to eating at his two Vegas ventures.
KIVA -www.kiva.org
Most of the things we hear about the internet are either bad or stupid. Pornography, phishing, junk mail and inanities like You Tube dominate the presence of the internet in our lives. However, someone finally figured out something that the internet can really do to make this world a better place and that’s Kiva. Kiva is “loans that change lives” and is a website that enables anyone, with any amount of money to give to make a difference in the world.
From their website:
We let you loan to the working poor
Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.
We partner with organizations all over the world
Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified borrowers. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva.org, our partners upload their borrower profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them.
Take a minute of your life to visit Kiva and make a difference in the world you live in.
Beauty and the Wine
Recently, on a spectacular sun drenched afternoon, I enjoyed a delicious bottle of 2006 King Estate Oregon Pinot Gris with a lovely lady at my favorite seafood restaurant on Oregon’s coast, Local Ocean, in Newport. The day was perfect, we started with stroll through the Yaquina Head Lighthouse (pictured) and after drinking in the gorgeous views proceeded to sip on the King Estate at Local Ocean alongside some perfect Dungeness Crab Cocktail, Crab Po’boys and grilled blonde salmon.
I thought the wine was excellent, but hope you’ll forgive me if you enjoy it in less perfect circumstances and it disappoints. However, I’m confident it won’t. The King Estate Pinot Gris is reliably exactly what you want from both pinot gris and Northwest white wines. That is bright, crisp, dry and refreshing. It is a great companion to the bounty of the Oregon coast matching crab, clams, fried oysters, razor clams and rockfish with refreshing precision.
Coteaux du Languedoc, Domaine Le Pas de l'Escalette Les Clapas Rouge, 2004
