Like a treasure map in an old movie it was tattered and frayed and the rest of the place was well past its glory days. Everyone seemed from another time and the bustling world outside had somehow left them all behind.
That's how I felt as I sat down to dinner in Manhattan's venerable Barbetta Restaurant, which passed its 100th birthday in 2006. The once regal dining room now seems a bit frumpy and worn. Like a Grand Dame trying to still play the femme fatale in her old age, Barbetta's age is not disguised by all the makeup. However, hidden under the stodgy and slightly tattered surroundings are some real treasures. First is the food, which is well executed traditional Piemontese cuisine. The food is well made country cooking, which however good, seems out of place with all the tuxedoed waiters and formal service. What's important here is that the cooking is solid because the main reason to eat here is the treasure map that is presented when you arrive at your table: the wine list.
If you love the wonders of Barolo and Barbaresco this wine list will almost bring you to tears. The thick, if slightly worn tome, is filled with page after page of deep verticals from the finest producers of the Langhe zone. This is simply a stunning collection of Baroli and Barbaresci that exceeds many (if not all) of the restaurants around Alba itself. On top of this, the prices are not only fair, but outright bargains considering that you are dining on Restaurant Row in Mid-Town Manhattan. The only downside of this list is that it comes with a bored, grouchy sommelier whose main claim to the job seems to be that he was born somewhere in Piemonte. However, the quality of the wine list alone will overwhelm all of Barbetta's negatives for nebbiolo lovers.
My wine selection for the evening was the stunning, classic 1995 Marcarini Barolo Brunate, which was priced under $100, an almost unbelievable value at any restaurant in the United States, is an amazing value by Manhattan standards. While there was a full range of the great vintages from 1996 on, I chose this 1995 over the more famous years as I knew it would be more ready to drink. I have been fortunate to enjoy the 95 Brunate many times over the years and it has never disappointed and is now finally reaching maturity. The aromas are fleetingly intense with a delicate lacework of fragrances that engage both the mind and body, this is nebbiolo at its hauntingly powerful best. Lean and grippingly brilliant on the palate with layer after layer of complex dark fruit, black truffle, burnt orange spices and lilting wild flowers riding on the firm, but not bitter tannins. Wines like this are more experiences than a drink.
Barbetta is a veritable treasure chest for nebbiolo aficionados.
I’m beginning to think it’s time to let the anti-Parker tirades fade into the past, just as his dominating influence is starting to do. It is clear that Parkerism has reached its zenith and is on the decline. In fact, this recent spate of Parker bashing books are coming a little too late as the natural rise and fall pattern of something like The Wine Advocate was already in place and I think these books are having little impact and seem more like piling on than muckraking. I can think of few less productive uses of my time these days than reading a book about Robert Parker’s sins. The Wine Advocate that everyone rails against no longer exists as Parker has brought in a whole staff of writers all of whom have their own convictions, palates and style. Things have changed not only at The Wine Advocate, but in the wine world as a whole, where the so called “Parkerization” of wine style is also something that is clearly going out of fashion. While it won’t disappear overnight, you can’t miss the growing interest in smaller production wines that express distinct personalities. It is also clear that there is a strong and growing consumer movement building for wines with more moderate alcohol levels. I think its time to let Parker and his Wine Advocate ride off into the sunset on its own and move our focus back to wine instead of personality. Concerning these realities, I think we can even spend some time considering all the good things that Robert Parker has done for the wine industry and consumers during his reign.
While it’s time for all of us to mellow out about Parker and his now declining influence, I think it’s also time for Parker himself to mellow out and assume the well deserved role of elder statesman rather than continuing the vitriolic outbursts on his forum, one of which had this result: Parker fined for defamation - decanter.com - the route to all good wine. Such outbursts do far more to hurt his image than any book has done.
Anyone who is upset about the the current direction of winemaking and wants to change things would better use their time reading about wine rather than reading about Parker. Robert Parker is, as they say, history.
Now it appears there is another name to add to the list. Scott Paul Wright of Scott Paul Selections has been quietly assembling an outstanding portfolio of Burgundy estates that produce classic, purely styled pinot noir and chardonnay wines. A tasting of Wright’s selections will explain the concept of terroir to any doubter. Those familiar with Oregon wines will also recognize the Scott Paul name from his excellent winery based in Carlton Oregon where he strives to make elegant pinot noir inspired by his love of Burgundy. If you wonder why Scott didn’t call his winery Scott Wright instead of Scott Paul, you might remember there’s another outstanding winery and a winemaker named Ken in Carlton already using the Wright name.
I have been tasting with pleasure his selections over the last two years and just attended a compelling tasting of some of his current releases.
I find George Will particularly irritating. The conservative columnist and television commentator is just too smart and well-spoken. All too often in face-to-face debates he shreds the argument of the liberal commentator across the table from him with his swifter wit and broader knowledge. It ticks me off no end.
In the debate about so called “natural” winemaking we have the same situation. Clark Smith, winemaker, super-consultant and king of spoofulated wines as the owner of Vinovation, is becoming as irritating to me as Will and for the same reasons. Smith, who makes his own wines besides consulting and “correcting” wines for hundreds of wineries, just has too much knowledge and experience for it to be a fair fight when it comes to debating winemaking ethics with people who have never made wines themselves. All to often these people are known as wine writers. It does surprise me how many writers who have don’t have enology degrees and whose experience working harvests is more akin to adventure vacations than real winemaking come to consider themselves winemaking experts. After all, does a trip to a dude ranch make you a cowboy?
Smith uses his superior knowledge and experience to effectively dismantle the “natural” winemaking debating team’s positions (which I mostly agree with) as he did in a recent article published on Appellation America’s website called Spoofulated or Artisanal, which is well worth reading. Spoofulated, for those unfamiliar with the term that debuted on the Wine Therapy Forum and became part of wine lingo, refers to manipulated wines, which are often made in a style that appeals to Robert Parker and The Wine Spectator. It is a word used as an insult by those seeking a more terroir-driven winemaking experience as spoofulated wines all-to-often taste more-or-less the same.
Is spoofulation always evil? I don’t think so. Commercial wines, which are produced for consumers not seeking nuance or complexity, but just a “winey” tasting beverage are better wines than ever due to these techniques. For all to long these inexpensive wines produced in huge quantities were thin and faulted. However, now those seeking nothing more can easily buy clean, fruity wines that neither require nor invite thought or contemplation. It is a fact of the market that the vast majority of consumers are perfectly satisfied with such wines and want nothing more. Clark Smith and his methods are a positive boon to such consumers.
It’s when wines pretend to more lofty goals that Clark Smith and I part company. I’ll draw an arbitrary line at the $10 a bottle point. That’s starting to get expensive and I think the consumer has a right to expect that wines with different labels will actually be different wines. The main problem with spoofulated wines is that they all taste the same. The differences get manipulated out as the wine is more-and-more manipulated. The fact that there are so many expensive New World wines that exhibit the bright simple ripe flavors of the commercial wines mentioned above is a real problem that is starting to destroy the reputation of places like the Napa Valley. Consumers that are willing to spend a significant amount of money for these wines are starting to realize how boring they are.
On the other end of the argument are writers who are “natural” wine fundamentalists who seem to believe the high point in winemaking knowledge was achieved by the Romans and any technique or knowledge achieved after Nero are unnatural manipulations that destroy a wines terroir. Of course such extremists only display their limited winemaking knowledge and a lack of sophistication as they (instead of the wines) are manipulated by winemakers who tell them only what they want to hear. While there are many winemakers who believe in and practice minimalist, natural winemaking, there are few to none willing to let several tons of fruit in a fermenter with problems become garbage without taking actions that don’t always meet these ideals. These are stories that journalists are unlikely to hear or understand if they did. Contrary to some writers opinions, winemakers sometimes actually have to make wine.
Spoofulators like Clark Smith and biodynamic guru Nicolas Joly actually have more in common than partisans on either side of the debate understand. Both are passionate, brilliant winemakers who are driven to pursue their vision of what makes a wine great. To make a truly great wine you need to ignore the ranting of journalists and the whims of consumers and make the wine you believe in. This is something that winemakers like Smith and Joly share.
As always, those that oversimplify issues are usually blinded to the finer points of the debate.
Here’s an excellent essay on the 100 point wine tasting scale by David Lillie, proprietor of the outstanding wine shop, Chambers St. Wines, in Manhattan.
Rockss and Fruit: David Lillie takes on the 100 point Scale
I admit I really out of it when it comes to California wines. I just don't drink them as there are so few I enjoy. There are also California wines I love like: Calera, Alma Rosa, Edmunds St. John, Iron Horse, Corison and Spottswoode to name just a few. However as the number of wineries I really enjoy are indeed few, I don't pull many corks from bottles of California wine.
Forced into a hotel restaurant dinner due to the late hour of my arrival, I decided to try to be open minded and give The Golden State another shot and ordered a glass of 2005 Clos du Bois Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon, which my host for the evening, Marriott, was offering for $15 a glass and $50 a bottle. I mean, at that price it must be pretty good, right?
The first sip was smooth enough, although there was little varietal character. My taste buds now awakened, the second sip revealed much more. This wine tasted, for lack of a better word: cheap. It was like the awful under $10 California Cabernet stacked up at your local grocery store. My righteous indignation meter was off the charts. How could Clos du Bois dare foist such a mediocre wine on consumers at such a price!
Upon returning to my room I checked wine-searcher.com to find the retail price of this rip-off only to find this wine sells for around $13 a bottle. That means Marriott is paying about $7 a bottle (or less). What we have here is rip-off build up. First of all, this weak effort by Clos du Bois would be overpriced at $4 a bottle, but, perhaps, the Marriott has even more to be ashamed of as, instead of offering their guests a decent glass of wine for $15, they offer only wines they can cut a deal on.
How does this happen? Well Clos du Bois is owned by Constellation Brands, which describes itself as " a leading international producer and marketer of beverage alcohol brands" (that's inspiring) and "the largest by volume wine producer in the world" (doesn't that excite your taste buds). Besides wine this massive company sells beer and spirits. Conglomerates like this come in and set up all sorts of cross-brand deals with national chains like Marriott and often incentives that, shall we say, don't meet the letter of the law have been known to change hands. However (ahem), I'm sure this did not happen in this case.
Brands like Clos du Bois are industrial wines at their worst. They are bad wines and bad values that exist and sell only because of the marketing muscle and money behind them. They also exist because national chains like Marriott are too lazy or too cheap to put in place decent wine programs.
You can be sure you'll find the folks from Constellation and Marriott partying down together in Vegas as this year's WSWA convention. After all, what better place is there to cut a deal than in Vegas.
If it’s Friday it must be Charleston. I’ve been on a whirlwind sales trip as you can probably tell from my lack of posts recently. I’ll make up for that over the weekend as I catch up with my notes. I started off with six days in Manhattan followed by stops in Charlotte, Greenville S.C., Charleston, Hilton Head and Savannah.
As you travel though the United States these days you can’t help but be impressed by the explosion of interest in artisan wines and foods. It’s no surprise to find excellent restaurants in Manhattan, but everywhere you travel in the United States today you find excellent independently owned restaurants run by chefs dedicated to using outstanding ingredients and doing their best to source them locally. It was not so many years ago that this was not the case.
Fortunately these restaurants carry their passion over into their wine lists and it’s more and more common to find excellent offerings by the bottle and by the glass. Varieties like grüner veltliner, albarino, tempranillo and aglianico are pushing chardonnay, merlot and cabernet into minor roles on many wine by the glass lists. Wait staffs and bartenders gush about their favorite riesling, but turn up their noses when you ask about the chardonnay.
Things are changing and, in fact, are starting to change faster and faster. If this keeps up you may actually be able to get a decent glass of wine at national chains like Friday’s and Houlihan’s in a few years. Well, maybe that’s getting a little carried away.
Not being a big fan of California wines these days, I did not expect much when I pulled the cork, but the wine soon converted me. It was certainly rich and full-flavored, but there was an underlying structure and a lot more to grab your attention than simple fruit. This was a damn good cabernet as it was very varietal and had personality, but best of all, the second glass was even more interesting and enjoyable to drink than the first. My instincts led me to check out the pointy rankings awarded this wine by the major critics. Sure enough, I was right as the point rankings hovered in the high 80's with the top wines hitting that magic number 88.
The reality is that many (if not most) of the wines that are really wonderful to drink with food are rated in the high eighty point range by The Wine Advocate and The Wine Spectator and other major wine publications. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for this service as their reviews are keeping high alcohol, oaky, over-extracted wines designed for pointy reviewers instead of dinner at the highest prices, while the very best wines are held to more reasonable price points. While those suckers are out there taking out second mortgages to grab the latest Screaming Eagle, we can grab up cases of wonderful wine for what they pay for bottles. The dangers of buying these highly rated wines with scores as high as their pH can be found in this previous post.
Somehow we need to shift our concept that the very first sip of a wine tells you more about its character than the second glass. Considering that's not likely to happen in a Wine Spectator world, we'll just have to save money and enjoy the fact that many of the best wines don't make it into the hallowed 90 point range. The point about these points is clear to anyone who knows anything about statistics. That is while there is statistically no difference between a 90 point wine and a 88 point wine, there almost certainly will be a difference in price.
These particular 88's came from the Dry Creek Estate Vineyards of Michel-Schlumberger, a brand name that must cause their marketing director migraines and proves that naming a winery after yourself is not always a great idea. I first visited this estate years ago when it was simply Domaine Michel, but with the arrival of current owner Jacques Schlumberger, of the famous Alsatian winemaking family, the name morphed into its current hyphenated form. However, this is bonus points for frugal consumers as the combination of a clumsy name with under 90 points reviews is a positive boon when the wines are this good.
Those that follow the writings of Jeremy Parzen on his blog Do Bianchi appreciate his erudite posts, which cover a range artistic topics ranging from food, to wine, to music and literature. Parzen is one of the most educated and thoughtful food and wine writers on the Internet and reading his blog always makes you examine your own thoughts on the topic. He makes you think and teaches in the process. I learn something new from each of his posts.
Recently Parzen applied to participate on the eRobertParker.com Forum. It’s hard to imagine someone who could contribute more about Italian wine, food and culture to a forum. However, Mark Squires, moderator of Mr. Parker’s Forum decided to decline Parzen’s application for membership. Apparently brilliant, well educated people who can write are not what they’re looking for over at the eRobertParker.com Forum. What strikes me particularly strange about this is that Wine Advocate writers Robert Parker, Antonio Galloni, Neal Martin, Jay Miller and David Schildknecht are all thoughtful, well educated people who would certainly appreciate not only Parzen’s blog, but his contributions to their Forum. Apparently Mr. Squires does not work on the same level as the Wine Advocate’s star reviewers.
The scuttlebutt around the Internet is that Parzen was denied membership to the eRobertParker.com Forum due to his connections to two bloggers already banned from that Forum: Alice Feiring and Lyle Fass, who are both writers that I enjoy, respect and follow regularly. Yet Parzen’s posts are without the strident certainty of Alice or the rage against-the-machine character of Lyle and it is hard to understand why he would be banned. I guess guilt by association is good enough for Squires as it is inconceivable that he actually read any of Parzen’s work and still banned him.
I think most wine lovers applaud Mr. Parker’s additions of such knowledgeable writers and reviewers as Galloni, Martin, Miller and Schildknecht to The Wine Advocate. Like Parker himself, you can agree or disagree with these writers, but their consistency of palate makes their ratings a valid reference point. It is unfortunate that the bannings and censorship at the eRobertParker.com Forum are detracting from the real improvements in The Wine Advocate itself.
Perhaps it’s time to considering upgrading more than the forum software.
Susan Camp is a very talented jewelry artist that also happens to be my sister. She’s not only talented, but thin, blonde and beautiful, which means she looks nothing like me, apparently hogging all the good genes for herself. Living in upstate New York she has plenty of time buried under the snow to devote to her art, but, not sharing the Internet obsession of her brother, is only now launching her own web site. So this post is a shameless plug for my sister Susan’s new web site, Susan Camp Studio, and her work, which her loving brother thinks is amazing. Check out her work at: https://www.susancampstudio.com.
In my past I was part of an idealistic company (long on ideals and short on cash) that had to sell out for financial reasons and was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force that promised they just wanted to get into the fine wine business. After I cut the deal with the devil, part of my new duties included yearly attendance at the annual convention of the W.S.W.A and never have I felt more soiled and embarrassed in my life as a wine professional. The only purpose of the W.S.W.A. is to preserve the monopoly of large liquor distributors that also happen to sell wine as a sideline because it lets them touch an elegance and sophistication that they aspire to, but can never understand or achieve.
To see proof of this we only have to visit their own brochure for their upcoming convention in Las Vegas (the perfect location for them), where W.S.W.A. president and C.E.O. Craig Wolf tells prospective attendees while he understands they are there for business (wink wink, nudge, nudge), they certainly wouldn’t want to miss the ribbon cutting ceremony, which will be done by a Penthouse Playmate. Such elegance defines the W.S.W.A. I confess the four years I was compelled to attend the W.S.W.A. convention were low points of my professional career. After three days with this crowd you understand that they not only don’t care about wine, but can’t understand it. For them, it’s just another beverage to sell with the same passion they put into selling Red Bull or whatever. As far as drinking wine, for them it’s only the alcohol that goes between the multiple Martinis before dinner and more booze after dinner. One thing for sure is that every W.S.W.A. convention I attended was an event stewed in sleaze that always made me feel dirty by even being associated with it. Can you imagine how professional women that attend these W.S.W.A. conventions must feel?
The photos around this post are all from the the promotional brochure for the 2008 W.S.W.A. convention. They are proud to present themselves in this light.These are the people that want to control what wine you drink. The people that organize this debauchery in Vegas are the very same people that say they want to protect your children from the evils of winery direct sales. Look at the morals they promote to their own members. Do you believe they care about 
This topic had come up just a few weeks ago in another post and I will reiterate my compliments to Tom Wark at Fermentation and the Specialty Wine Retailers for leading the fight against what can only be viewed as an anti-fine wine organization. As the proud father of a beautiful 26 year old woman closing in on her Masters Degree in Social Work, I also despair at the crass misogyny of this organization. Make no mistake, such people have no interest in protecting you from anything. If they can think of a way to make enough money selling vodka to your fourteen-year-old daughter they’ll do it, but until they can figure out how to do that they’ll act like they want to protect her.
If you have any last doubts about their integrity, the keynote speaker for W.S.W.A 2008 in Vegas is Tony Snow, who spent most of the last few years defending Bush and Cheney. I don’t think you’ll see many Obama or Clinton buttons at W.S.W.A. 2008 in Vegas. What you see here are their photos and words, this is what they are proud of and how they want to present themselves to their own members. Remember this the next time they tell you how much they want to protect your family. Take my word for it, I’ve been there. These old guys in their silk suits and gold chains leering at these twenty-something (hopefully) girls are not worthy of your trust. They’re just a bunch of dirty old men and their sons who want your money and will do anything to take it.
Recent wines I’ve enjoyed:
After a particularly compelling weekend at this year’s Portland Jazz Festival I could not help but ponder what complexity is all about. On Friday I watched Ornette Coleman in what was one of most moving artistic performances I have ever experienced. This was followed on Sunday by a solo piano performance by Cecil Taylor, whose music is so complex and creative it refuses to be captured by any genre, including jazz. The thing that defines the music of artists like Coleman and Taylor is that it does not request your attention, but demands it. If you don’t focus your attention on their music you will miss the challenging beauty and energy it processes and its elegance becomes cacophony. The contrast to this is music like Led Zeppelin with big clear rhythms impossible for the deadest ear to miss. Such music requires little of the listener except to dance, not that there’s anything wrong with that. As seductive as those 95 point Led Zeppelin wines may be, true complexity can only be found in wines that demand your attention to fully appreciate them. Obvious wines don’t make you dig deeper to understand them. The best wines draw you in slowly, sip-by-sip and glass-by-glass until they finally reveal every aspect of their complexity to you. Eventually they demand your attention.
Having no time after work to grab a bite before the Ornette Coleman concert, I went out to eat afterwards and my over-stimulated brain received another jolt from the excellent Marsannay, Les Saint Jacques, Domaine de Beauclair, 2002 I had with dinner. The dramatic increases in the knowledge of winemaking and viticulture have transformed Burgundy and appellations like Marsannay ( related posts here and here). Once a place name to be ignored, growers in places like Marsannay are often producing better wines than their more famous neighbors. This is a wonderful pinot noir with a regal richness laced across a firm backbone and bright acidity. What was most exciting about this wine was how it grew and expanded with each sip eventually becoming a wine that demanded your attention. That’s what defines complexity.
At the end of the concert I was mentally spent from the intense concentration the music demanded. However, there is something about experiencing great art that is elevating and expands your mind. This was such an experience.
Ornette Coleman once said there was music before there was a word for it. Now I understand what he meant.
Host Andrew Barrow of Spittoon has posted the wrap-up for the 42nd Edition of Wine Blog Wednesday. His challenging topic of describing an Italian red wine using only seven words produced over 50 entries from wine blogs around the world. The results are not only fun, but thought provoking.
The task for this Wine Blog Wednesday seemed daunting to a wordy writer like me. This month's host Andrew Barrow at Spittoon proposed we comment on an Italian red wine using only seven words. At first I thought this difficult, but then, when I thought of my ultimate compliment for a wine, it suddenly became easy!
Barbera d’Alba, Marcarini, Ciabot Camerano, 2005
A wine I could drink every day.
