Disbelief

I tasted the wine and could not believe it. Astounded I took another sip, then another and finally a joyous gulp. I still could not believe. I went back to my desk and rummaged through my papers until I finally found it. Even with the proof in front of my very happy nose I could not believe. Yet the truth could not be ignored. There printed on the receipt was the undisputable truth: $18.89. I still don’t believe it. They had even given me a 10% discount. What I got for $18.89 was an astounding pinot noir that I would have thought a value at twice the price.

The Marsannay, Les Saint Jacques, Domaine Bart 2005 may be the finest pinot noir bargain I have ever tasted. At least it’s the best I can remember. You’d be hard pressed to find an equal for under $60. This is what pinot noir is all about. It is stunningly fragrant with layers of exotic spices, black fruits and black truffles all laced into a vinous magnet that attracts your nose to the glass and won’t let it go. The flavors are rich, concentrated and powerfully elegant. This is a wine that deserves respect and that means about five more years of pampered aging to allow the great potential of this wine to show itself.

A wine of this quality at this price is a glaring indictment of all the overripe, variety and terroir-free New World pinot noirs selling for four times the price of this treasure, not to mention the many Burgundy wines with more famous names and prices that have no relationship to what’s actually in the bottle. We are entering a new era in the world of wine where wines with the highest prices and the most famous names are often some of the least interesting wines to actually drink.

Now the only question is do I have the willpower to age my remaining five bottles.

(pictured above: Domaine Bart) 

What a Loss

With the first of the year approaching and people making all those New Year’s Resolutions, I think this quote, which is from Florida Jim’s signature line at Wine Therapy, is particularly meaningful:

“I went on a rigorous diet that eliminated alcohol, fat and sugar. In two weeks, I lost 14 days.” Tim Maia, Brazilian singer-songwriter.”

Wine Pics - Foggy Dawn Harvest

 

A picker runs through rows of riesling in the morning fog during the 2007 harvest in Oregon.

A Vintage Bargain

As a well seasoned business traveler I have the dining alone thing down. I have my magazine in hand and seek out the best meal I can find. One thing about dining solo is you get to really dig into those massive wine lists. Were you not dining alone the half-hour of study sometimes required, bouncing back and forth between the menu and the list, would not endear you to your dining companion. I am divorced after all. However, this night the magazine would not be required as a far more alluring companion unexpectedly joined me.

As you dig into these big wine lists you get buried under the weight of the prices. Every bottle that catches your eye is both outrageously expensive and way too young. As my attention always drifts to the Burgundies and pinot noirs the shock of the prices of the available new releases is more often than not depressing. These stratospheric prices mean that a restaurant is certainly no place to experiment. One of the main advantages of solo wine list reading is you have time to do your research. Due to the bizarre world of the wine business today, often younger wines are more expensive than older wines and one of the best places to find bargains is older vintages. Obviously this is not always the case, but I have found many relative bargains on some wonderful wines with a few years under their corks that are perfectly ready to drink.

One recent find was the 1998 Pommard, 1er Cru, Les Clos des Boucherottes, Monopole, Domaine Coste-Caumartin, which was selling for some $50 less a bottle than 2005 Big Point California pinot noir. This was a put-your-magazine-away type of wine as no other entertainment was needed. I stashed the magazine away and spent the meal with the scintillating company of the wine alone. It is moments like this that refocus your passion for wine. The Pommard was an otherworldly accompaniment to rich braised pork shank served buried under a small mountain of black winter truffles. As you sip on such a complex wine you can really feel the direct sensory connection of flavors to the pleasure centers of the brain. This is what great wine is all about. While still richly fruity, the black fruits are just giving way to an exotic spicy earthiness that both mirrored and amplified the fragrant truffles on my plate. I spent another half-hour lingering over a last glass and then shared the rest of the bottle with the captain and sommelier, both of whom had been drawn to my table by the bottle I’d ordered.

We finished the last sips and I asked for the check, which arrived with a complimentary dessert and a glass of Kracher Beerenauslese, with which I toasted the late great Alois Kracher who just passed away.

When a meal is perfect, you never dine alone.

Wine That Loves

While living in Italy I always thought that the best value wines I found were the most versatile with food. An excellent dolcetto or montepulciano tasted pretty good with pasta, pizza or or bistecca. It was only the most expensive, distinctive wines that wanted or deserved more precise food pairings. After all there is eating and there is fine dining. There are peak culinary experiences and then there is just plain good eating. I’ve found in those good eating circumstances that the wine you choose can be very adaptable as long as it’s a good wine. Good food and good wine, there’s not much more you could want on most nights.  Save the perfect matches for Per Se and special occasions, but other than that just enjoy. This is particularly true at the more reasonably priced end of the wine spectrum where the best wines are up-front, fruity and just plain delicious.

However, a new company seems to disagree with my simple pleasures and insist that they have developed a line of $12.99 wines that are so diverse that they have selected and produced individual red wines to go with specifically “pasta with tomato sauce”, “roasted chicken”, “pizza” and “grilled steak”. Frankly, I find it hard to conceive of a $12.99 red wine that I really like that I wouldn’t happily consume with any of these dishes.

Let’s think about what these wines are all about. They don’t own vineyards or a winery so they are out there buying in bulk and coming up with blends. Not that there is anything wrong with that if you make a good everyday wine, but there seems to be a scam going on when they take these bulk wines and try to con the consumer into laying in a supply of the “different” blends so they don’t make the disastrous mistake of having to serve the “pizza” blend with chicken one night because they’d run out of the proper “roasted chicken” blend. Which apparently somehow would ruin your dinner by being an imperfect match.

This is just what the already self-conscious American consumer needs, the feeling that wines selling for 12 bucks need to be precisely matched to just the right food to be enjoyed. On top of this the lone white in the line-up is for “Grilled Salmon”. How confident are we to be in their recommendations if they can’t even get the color of the wine to be served right?

Wine loves food, but to be so picky about it at this price range is silly at best.

Wine That Loves

The New Prohibition

 Wines & Vines - News Headlines - Oregon Shipping Permits Needed

When the Supreme Court seemingly overthrew interstate shipping restrictions for wine a few years ago we all celebrated. However, the cure was worse than the disease in this case. Formerly there may have been only a small group of reciprocal states, but they were easy. If you shipped to them they’d ship to you. That’s all there was too it. Today that system is being thrown by the wayside as state after state foregoes the simplicity of the old reciprocal system and adds layers of taxes and registrations required for out of state wineries to ship to consumers in that state. Now even Oregon has gone down this path.

The fundamental argument here is that large, industrial producers and distributors want to eliminate any competition from small producers in their markets and pay “lawmakers” to create regulations that give them a monopoly in their markets. As only small wine producers and consumers are hurt there seems to be nothing to worry about in state capitals across the nation.

There is no such thing as consumer protection when the government gets involved in wine, It’s only about grabbing tax money.

Obituaries: Erich Salomon and Alois Kracher

Obituary: Erich Salomon - decanter.com - the route to all good wine

It’s been a very sad month for Austria with the deaths of two exceptional winemakers, Alois Kracher, Jr (New York Times Obituary), and Erich Salomon. In 1973 I spent a semester studying in Austria and the wines produced there were nothing more than picnic wines to be consumed by the liter at picnic tables outside the wineries while drinking in the view. In just a few decades these two gentlemen, and a handful of others, transported Austrian wines from picnic tables to the white tablecloths of Charlie Trotter’s. The French Laundry, Per Se and other great restaurants. It was an amazing feat and these two men will always be revered. They were both too young to go, but as they fathered generations of great Austrian winemakers to come, their impact will never be forgotten.

Wine Pics: Wine Falls

New pinot noir flows out of the press.

Some Required Reading

There is so much good wine writing and reporting going on these days that there are few excuses for anyone not to think for themselves when it comes to learning about wines. The best wine writers challenge you to think rather than tell you what to think. Best of all, it's all free. Here are some insightful examples from Lyle Fass and Thor Iverson, two writers always ready to challenge conventional wisdom:

Thank God for Neal Martin by Lyle Fass at Rockss and Fruit

Where Critics fear to tread by Thor Iverson at oenoLogic

Mary Baker

High on the list of my daily blog reading list is Mary Baker of California’s excellent Dover Canyon Winery. Her blog brings makes you feel like you’re part of their world there at Dover Canyon. What more could you ask of a winery blog?  Today, Tom Wark of Fermentation profiles Mary. Check out her interview at the link below:

Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog: Bloggerview #14: Mary Baker

An Opulent Certification

In the Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow finally gets his brain by getting a piece of paper he can frame and put on the wall. While the Scarecrow had to prove his intelligence to get his paper, there are other documents that people hang on their walls that prove exactly the opposite. After all, there is that old saying that a fool is born every minute.

Now you too can prove to your friends that you are a bonafide wine expert by getting your very own piece of paper to hang on the wall. For a mere $195 you can get certificates ready for framing from The Parker & Zraly Wine Certification Program, which you can check out at this link: Wine Certification Program.

Having to hang such a document on your wall to prove you’re an expert proves something else. Taking that $195 and investing it in a few books and, most importantly, more wine to taste is a far better investment. There is also the reality that these days there is a vast amount of information available online for free. If you really need something to put on the wall, you also can just print one up on your own.

Next time you wander into someone’s office or house and see one of these certificates, the refrain, “If I only had a brain” should come into your head.

Future Tense

It's rare these days when you have to write about a wine in the future tense. Most wines are all they can be upon release with their Rubenesque charms right there for any palate to perceive. These wines don't require the encyclopedic knowledge of a Michael Broadbent to be put into perspective: Brittany Spears can handle the description on her way out of the limo. However, there may be some of you who are old enough remember when it was common to have wines that weren't as charming as they were ever going to be on the first day they hit the market. These were wines that excited you because of the riches you knew awaited you if you nurtured them through grouchy adolescence into majestic maturity.

Such a wine is the 2003 Cappellano Nebiolo d'Alba, a wine that will someday surpass many a Barolo in complexity and intellectual pleasure. This wine is no pleasure to drink now, however, in a decade or so it will bring pleasure hard to put into words in a commentary such as this: meaning that you're going to have to take my word for it. If you ever wondered what nebbiolo is all about this taught, tight and bracingly tannic wine is a good place to start. Cappellano wines teach everyone a lesson about tannin. That is that powerful, mouth-drying young tannins don't have to be green or brutally bitter. Tasting these streamlined, intense tannins teases and taunts you to wait for what only time can bring. While Cappellano Barolo itself is otherworldly and more complex than this wine, the Cappellano Nebiolo (yes they spell it with only one "b" at Cappellano) is an outstanding wine at a fraction of the price. Frankly, it's a far better wine than many wines sporting the name Barolo on their label and price tags. This is a buy as much as you can type of wine.

Another revelation for most drinkers will be the 2005 Cappellano Dolcetto d'Alba Gabutti. No purple glop here, but a real wine that will improve and develop for years. I never understood why so many wine guides refer to dolcetto as the Beaujolais of Italy and tasting this wine will make you wonder what the heck they were drinking. The Cappellano Dolcetto has zesty, bright fresh fruit, but it doesn't stop there like so many dolcetto wines these days. The brilliant fruit is layered with bitter tar, black truffle, rich porcini mushroom flavors and aromas that remind you more of nebbiolo than dolcetto. This is dolcetto at its best and most complex. Don't waste this on pizza, but save it for more elevated fare. I would seriously consider aging this wine for at least two more years. That's my plan with my remaining bottle.

The Cappellano wines are some of the finest examples of pure, classic winemaking coming out of Italy today. They are wines of place and variety that radiate purity of character. This means they are not wines for everyone and that you must age them to realize their greatness. You become part of the process that brings these wines to their finest. It's that personal involvement that adds an extra level of complexity to the enjoyment of such wines. As you carefully age them you become an integral part of the winemaking team and part of the process that makes that bottle extraordinary. There is nothing quite like opening a bottle you have kept for many years. The emotion and experience of opening such a wine can never be replaced by the simple hedonistic pleasures of a wine manufactured to be drunk the day the cork goes into the bottle. While there is nothing wrong with easy wines made to be drunk young, (after all, what would we drink while waiting for our best wines to mature or with cheeseburgers on a Tuesday night?) it's a waste when potentially great wines are emasculated by winemakers in the name of making them ready-to-drink beverages instead of reaching for the heights that could be achieved with bottle age.

As it becomes harder-and-harder to find wines designed to improve with age, producers like Cappellano become more-and-more something to be treasured.

Two Bottles, Two Wines, Too Bad

I was looking forward to the arrival of my 2005 Morgon, Javernièes, Louis Claude Desvignes from Chambers Street Wine Merchants. I knew this was going to be great stuff without even tasting it so I grabbed some of the few bottles they had available. Now I know that this wine won’t even start to be ready to drink until next year and will be better yet in two or three, but, alas, I was weak and as soon as it arrived just had to taste a bottle. After all, I had five more bottles. I pulled the cork and into a big Riedel I poured my little present to myself to serve alongside some fragrant rosemary braised lamb. I lifted the glass in giddy anticipation of the gloriously gamy gamay glamorously gussied up in its beautiful purple robe. With great skill I swirled that swirl that takes years of wine swirling to achieve and put this treasure to my nose and inhaled with practiced precision prepared to experience every aspect of this fabulous wine. All this anticipation came to a grinding halt. The wine was just ordinary. I smelled again and again in disbelief. A few tastes confirmed my nose’s bad news. There seemed to be greatness hidden somewhere, but everything was strangely muted and the wine was more dead than alive. Then I picked it up, hidden in the background was a slight mustiness: the wine was corked. Just barely, but it was corked. With a heavy heart I reached for a corkscrew and pulled the cork on another bottle of my all to limited supply, which was now down to four. This second bottle not only lived up to my expectations, but exceeded them. This is an extraordinary wine with depth and complexity that many a Burgundy only achieves in its dreams. It is a substantial wine with a mouth coating richness and texture. The velvety tannins remind you that you should not be drinking this wine tonight, but in three to five years. Not surprisingly, this gem is imported by Louis/Dressner.

These slightly corked bottles are an all too common problem. You taste the wine and it seems just not “right”. Often even in a group of experienced tasters, some may miss the corkiness and fault the wine instead of just the bottle before them.  Without a doubt most are consumed with the drinkers either ignoring the problem or just plain not recognizing the problem. When you get a bottle of wine that seems not quite right, give it a close second look. When your instincts tell you something is just not right, you’re probably right.

I’ve been on a bad run over the last couple of weeks getting a corked bottle every few days. Screw caps are looking better and better.

Photography

Over three decades ago, back when I was blind tasting jugs of Almaden Claret and Burgundy to see which was better (yes, points and all), I was a photojournalist before getting into the wine business. Over the years the wine business ate up most of my time and photography fell by the wayside, but recently I have returned to my old profession as an avocation and I have created a web site to share my efforts. I invite you to visit the growing gallery of my photography at http://craigcamp.phanfare.com, where your comments are always welcome, just as they are here at The Wine Camp Blog.

I Give the Gestapo 95 Points

From Decanter:

Parker slams Nossiter with ‘Gestapo’ slur
October 31, 2007

Robert Parker has accused Mondovino director Jonathan Nossiter of ‘bigotry’ and ‘stupidity’. Posting twice on his bulletin board yesterday, the eminent US wine critic savaged the controversial filmaker for his views on the globalisation of taste. ‘Anyone with half a chimp’s brain can see through Nossiter’s transparency easier than a JJ Prum riesling,’ said Parker. ‘It is Nossiter and his ilk (call them scary wine gestapo) chanting the same stupid hymn that demand wines be produced in one narrow style.’ Parker continued, calling Nossiter’s new book Le Goût et le Pouvoir (Taste and Power) ‘propaganda’ and labelling his 2004 film Mondovino ‘migraine-inducing’ and ‘disingenuous’. Nossiter argues that, ‘after Kant, judgements of taste are an expression of human autonomy, symbols of moral liberty’. ‘We live in a strange time, characterised, it seems, by the collective and willing abandonment of this liberty,’ he says. Parker, following up with a second post on the bulletin board said he was doing his part to ‘save the world from appalling stupidity…and the wine bigotry that comes from narrow-minded zealots.’ The publication of Le Goût et le Pouvoir looks set to cement Nossiter’s credentials as one of the most divisive wine commentators, with posters on decanter.com falling on both sides of the fence. ‘Mr Nossiter claims to love wine but, really, he is in love with himself,’ said one poster, calling himself Jack. Others support Nossiter’s stance, with one New Zealand writer saying he ‘applaud[s] Jonathan Nossiter’s sentiments wholeheartedly’. Another comment pulls Decanter itself into the row. ‘Spot on, Jonathan Nossiter,’ said Sarah Hennessy. ‘Decanter Magazine: guilty as charged.’

I guess I’m now the wine gestapo according to Robert Parker. I don’t get it. Why would anyone at the pinnacle of their power like Parker lower himself with such mean spirited diatribes?

The paranoia is running deep these days at eRobertParker.com with forum host Mark Squires regularly banning members of the so called “wine gestapo”. Unfortunately they have banned such thoughtful and highly respected writers as Alice Feiring, who commented on her blog, “Like many other wine folk I’ve been amused by the going ons over at the eBob.com site this week. While the Parkerbeestes*** feasted on Jonathan Nossiter’s book and politics and questioned his palate and wine knowledge, he’s proved to be a champ in France.”

The thoughtful, but not yet banned (I think) Lyle Fass comments. Parker’s attacks on anybody who disagrees with him are becoming more and more filled with hate and vitriol. He is definitely not winning any new fans based on these outbursts. He seems to be increasingly threatened by voices of opposition.

On top of this brouhaha, Decanter reports that, “Hanna Agostini, Robert Parker’s one-time representative in Bordeaux, is publishing an unauthorised – and by all accounts highly inflammatory – biography of the world-famous critic.” This attack once again caused great anguish at the eRobertParker.com forum, much to the pleasure of Ms Agostini as the free publicity will certainly dramatically increase the sales of her book.

I think it’s a shame that anyone who has accomplished as much as Robert Parker should respond to criticism in such a demeaning way. Taking the high road would be a far better strategy. What even he must find strange is the venom spewed by his supporters on his behalf. They act more like an Oprah devotee defending their idol than serious wine aficionados pursuing their avocation. These digressions and paranoid reactions only dilute Mr. Parker’s very real accomplishments and a fantastic forum filled with information that can be found nowhere else.

By using comments like “half a chimps brain” and “scary wine gestapo” , Mr. Parker has done more damage to his own reputation than Jonathan Nossiter did in his movie or book.

Celine's Kind of Wine

Americans equate quantity with quality. Big plates of food and big voices like Celine Dion fill seats in restaurants and amphitheaters alike. The same proven concept has overwhelmed the wine industry: (big wine x price)+big points=sales. Everything is about power and we no longer can hear or taste the nuanced pleasures of complexity. In music the artistry of Ella Fitzgerald is replaced by the vocal pyrotechnics of Celine Dion, while in wine the layers of Lafarge have been replaced by the variety-free jammy characteristics of Loring. Can Dion sing and Loring make good wine: sure. However, they leave nothing to the imagination or the individual forcing the drinker/listener down the path they have chosen instead of creating art that awakens their spirit and intellect and invites them to become part of the experience. A Loring wine or a Dion song happens to you like a sit-com with a laugh track that tells you when to laugh.

Michael Foley, an outstanding chef in Chicago, once told me that Americans were so used to flavor overloads that they could not understand simple foods. That palates raised on the dozens of flavors of a Big Mac could not understand the subtle beauty of a simply poached fresh salmon. I think he was right and palates and ears accustomed to Whoppers, Dion and Loring lack the ability to experience anything beyond that first wave of flavor or sound.

To be art, the work should involve you and make you think. The same goes for great wine.

Melange a Notes

Under $20

• Rosso Conero, Barco, Brunori, 2004  - These Marche wines are great values. This montepluciano/sangiovese blend combines the structure, earthy fruitiness and zesty acidity that is so distinctively Italian. I’m going back and buying a case. Just a great food wine.
• Menetou-Salon, Cuvee Le Charnay, Jean-Max Roger, 2005 - I have been a fan of Roger Sancerre for several decades. In this Menetou-Salon Roger offers a wine that, while just a notch below their Sancerre, is an outrageously good sauvignon blanc at bargain prices. Lean, clean and with a salivating minerality to balance its pungent fruitiness. No cat piss here, just zest and brilliance. I’m going back for more.
• Riesling Halbtrocken, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Frieherr von Heddesdorff, 2005  - I’m a halbtrocken fan. All to often trocken wines seem just a bit hollow to me, but not so halbtrocken. This riesling has more body and is dryer than most Kabinett wines (which I adore too), while maintaining that bright fruit sweetness that defines riesling to me.
• Beaujolais, Pierre Chermette, 2005 - Pretty, pretty and pretty again. What a charmer and what a bargain. Drink as much of this lovely flower as you can, as young as you can.

Over $30

• Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Pithos, Azienda Agricola Cos - 60% nero d’avola, 40% frappatto, 2005 - An Cerasuolo from Sicily that goes for over $40? Yup, and it’s quite a wine. Shimmeringly translucent ruby laced with exotic spices and wild strawberry fruit (wild is important, no simpering grocery store strawberry here) blended with touches of earthy tar and and a firm minerality. I wish it was cheaper, but I could say that about a lot of wines. Lovely stuff.
• Coteaux du Languedoc, Terrasses du Larzac, Le Grand Pas, Domaine Le Pas de l’Escalette, 2004 - I have become a huge fan of the wines from Domaine de l’Escalette. This is their top of the line and an outstanding wine it is and I would certainly consider this as a fine cellar investment over the next decade. A robust blend of grenache, carignan and syrah that deftly combines power with complexity, this is the type of wine that has inspired many a Rhone Ranger to attempt to recreate these beautiful southern French wines in America. Worth every dime.
• Barbera d’ Alba, Giacomo Borgono, 2006 - This old estate located in the heart of the village of Barolo constantly improves their wines while staying true to their traditionalist style. This is a brilliant barbera packed with zest, raciness, generous brambly fruit and a perfectly balanced explosion of fruit and character on the palate. An almost perfect food wine that just demands hedonistic gulp after gulp.

Think For Yourself

A big wine tells you what to think, while a more elegant restrained wine forces you to think for yourself. One happens to you, the other involves you; seduces you.

A perfect example of a wine that invites you into such an experience is the 2005 Bourgogne, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Joseph Voillot. This is a wine that can only be described as vivaciously alive. The drinking of it releases its spirit and that essence flows into you. Is this a great pinot noir? No, but it is a wonderful one and a great value selling for under $30. It is also the perfect entry point for those wondering what all the angst surrounding the crafting of fine pinot noir is all about. Unfortunately all too many consumers are exposed to pinots that taste more like syrah than pinot and after that palate dulling experience can't appreciate the delicate flower that is pinot noir; that characteristic that no other variety can mimic. This is sad both for pinot noir, which is not very good at being big and for syrah, which is very good at it. With confused consumers using pinot noir as a syrah surrogate all too many fine syrah wines are ignored.

The 05 Voillot Bourgogne is a delicate beauty, shy at first, but soon opening its full radiance to you. At a lilting 12.5% alcohol, today's sandblasted palates may not get it, but those whose taste buds still live will discover a myriad of haunting flavors and aromas that linger in a perfect balancing act that expands with every sip.  This is what pinot noir is all about.

Coteaux Costco

I just tossed almost fifty bucks down the toilet. It’s my fault, I should have known better, but as they say, a sucker is born every minute. Today that sucker was me.

I ventured into Costco to buy big chunks of food to prepare for some events where a lot of very hungry people would be “consuming mass quantities” and, while on my way to the food department, passed the wines. I could not resist taking a spin to see what was what. There it was, their private label French Champagne, under the elegant Kirkland label, going for only $22 a bottle. I mean, how bad could it be? It was real French Brut Champagne and had been selected by a real M.W. named D.C. Flynt. I guess being an M.W. is not what it used to be.

How bad could it be? The answer is pretty bad. First of all there was the ugly brown color, followed by the the insipid taste and oxidized aromas. On top of that, it didn’t even have many bubbles left. In my opinion, this is one of the worst rip-offs I have ever tasted and don’t understand how any reputable merchant can sell such a wine. You would be better off with a bottle of $6 Spanish Cava than this terrible wine. No, that’s not a glass of Fino Sherry pictured here, it’s a glass of Kirkland Champagne about to be poured down the drain.

Perhaps this was a decent wine when our M.W., D.C. Flynt selected it, but somewhere along the way I think this wine has been so abused by bad storage and bad shipping conditions that it’s certainly not worth $22 a bottle or, for that matter, $2 a bottle.

I was a sucker because I let myself be conned into buying a wine from Costco. If you buy wine from a store where not a soul in the store has a clue about the wines their selling you get what you deserve. I got two bottles of undrinkable Champagne and I deserved it. Costco tosses in some famous names to make themselves look like a serious wine merchant and a lot of people get taken in by this ploy. For example they were selling wines like 2004 Ducru Beaucaillou today, but you have to ask yourself how those stacked up bottles were treated before you lay them down for a decade only to find out that, like me, you were a sucker too.

I can’t think of a worse place to buy wine than Costco.

Old Hippies

I was under the Eiffel Tower drinking some of the best wine I had ever tasted. It had no brand name other than 12%. It was 1974 and I had picked up the jug in the Parisian version of a corner grocery, where the wine was sold by the level of alcohol, not a brand name. I know it didn’t cost very much because I basically had no money. That bottle was my ticket to lunch as my contribution to the myriad communal meals being shared by small groups of traveling hippies like me scattered on the broad green expanse surrounding the tower. It was great, you just showed up with some wine, bread, cheese or salami and joined into a group meal. I still remember those meals with a certain psychedelically enhanced sentimentality.

Recently I was sitting at the bar of a restaurant in Washington D.C. that I had just wandered into as it was close to my hotel, it was late and I was hungry. It turned out to be swankier than I expected and I, still wearing my standard issue Oregon attire, felt quite underdressed. First one gentleman, than another, joined me at the bar. Both were wearing dark suits, white shirts and red ties, which I now believe are the only items stocked by men’s shops in D.C.. I had ordered the excellent 2004 Giacosa Nebbiolo d’Alba, while the other ordered an expensive Super-Tuscan, which to save a few more oak trees, will remain nameless and as boring as almost that entire genre. The other ordered a bottle suggested to him with great Italian accented flair by the chef. At first we were all quiet, but by the second glasses of wine we had become friends and bottles were passed around. One was in the oil business (Cheney must have been busy that night) and the other was, not surprisingly, a lobbyist.We were all a clearly 50+ bunch, so these guys could have been sharing wines with me under the Eiffel Tower some 33 years ago. Not only had the wines we shared gone up a lot in price over the years, but also increased a lot in alcohol. That 12% wine I bought three decades ago had been the top-of-the-line jug wine, but that D.C. evening’s expense account driven meal did not bring a wine under 13.5% to our glasses. Needless to say we were best friends and exchanged cards and hugs as the evening came to a close. You can’t beat a reunion of old hippies.

The chef had recommended the 2001 Braida di Giacomo Bologna Barbera d’Asti ai Suma to my new best friend. This is a wine that combines eccentricity, exoticness, excess, and expensiveness into the perfect wine for Washington D.C. expense accounts. It’s a late-harvest, barrique-aged barbera that instead of a wine flavors, creates kind of a strange, sweet, raisiny grape stew in your mouth. Like Amarone, it may be a great combination with some delicious, stinky, runny cheeses, but the idea of matching this glob of wine with any kind of refined cooking is not very appetizing. Just to give you an idea of how over-the-top this wine is, Parker gave it 94 points, and you know what that means. I’m not saying this is a terrible drink, but it certainly is nothing to match with a meal.

Those few Francs I paid for that simple French wine in 1973 brought me far more pleasure and luck than this big buck Barbera in 2007 as Nixon resigned while I was drinking that little French wine under the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, even with the increased price of the Bologna ai Suma, it brought no such luck in 2007.