90 Cases - Not Points

in ,

image1911299362.jpgA short note about a wine you can’t buy, but should be trying your best to find. I hate to write about wines that are essentially unobtainable, but for those that care about really distinctive wines you should get on this mailing list. La Fenêtre is a project by Joshua Klapper at Timeless Palates Wine.

His 2006 La Fenêtre Cargasacchi Jalama Pinot Noir is a marvel. A lovely garnet color with touches of brown, no purple is to be seen. The nose is high toned with hints of porcini, leather and hard, stony cherry pit fruit. At a 13.5% alcohol you can still taste the wine and the terroir. Damn this is a good wine and anybody that can make a wine like this is worth watching.

They were serving this by the glass at LA’s Water Grill, who said they got twenty of the ninety cases produced. What a great idea for a such a tiny production as far more people got to taste this lovely wine than if it had all gone out through their mailing list by the bottle.

Keep up the good work Josh.

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

 

Whiney Spectators

The blogsphere is home to a lot of whining these days, obviously there’s some pretty big things to whine about. Wine blogs are no exception and the winey whining can be a bit much sometimes.Everyone’s favorite thing to whine about often seems to be The Wine Spectator. After all, it’s easy to take potshots at the king of the hill and to pile on every time they’re caught making a mistake. I too have taken this easy route more often than I should. We’re sometimes whiney spectators of The Wine Spectator.

While a lot of negative commentary is made about The Wine Spectator, too few words are devoted to the things they do right - and there are many of them. First and foremost is that The Wine Spectator has been the avenue that countless consumers have taken as they learned about wine. More knowledgeable consumers buy better (and more expensive) wines and that means that more wineries stay in business There can be no doubt that The Wine Spectator has educated more Americans about the joys of wine than any other source. For this alone they deserve respect.

The other thing is that there is some tremendous content in its pages. Matt Kramer is very possibly America’s best wine writer. I emphasize the word “writer” for Kramer is more writer than critic and his commentary on the world of wine is some of the most thoughtful, sensitive and knowledgeable around. There are other excellent writers there too and James Moleworth’s coverage of the Loire and the Rhone should not be missed. Then there is Executive Editor Thomas Matthews courageous defense of his magazine by taking time to comment on blog after blog on issues concerning the Spectator. Considering the somewhat rambunctious nature of blogs and forums, Matthew’s is to be commended for his guts and willingness to publicly stand up for what he believes in a totally uncontrolled, unedited environment.

While I cannot overstate my misgivings about the 100 points scoring system employed by The Wine Spectator (and almost everyone else these days) it cannot be denied that The Wine Spectator has done far more good than bad to the wine world and that many, many thousands of consumers are drinking better wines because of them. Although their acceptance of advertising from the very industry they are reporting on has raised a few eyebrows over the years and is the the source of a lot of snide comments in the back rooms of wineries around the world, I don’t see any alternative means of financing that could have kept a publication like The Wine Spectator in print all these years. I think it is fair to suggest to them that advertising sections that look like editorial content could be more clearly marked than it is now.

I started subscribing to The Wine Spectator when it with a thin, newsletter style publication in the early eighties. Looking at the glitzy, glossy magazine these days with its ads for Acura, Rolex, Vegas casinos and high powered financial firms, it’s hard to believe that simple newsletter evolved into the powerhouse it has become. I guess I feel the same way about the Spectator as I do about the Yankees, there’s a lot about the organization I don’t like, but I sure have enjoyed watching them play over the years.

It’s tough to be on top.

The 89 Project

in
I received my invitation to participate in The 89 Project with relish. With the revolutionary spark of an old hippie I thought to myself "right on" and "power to the people"! After all, Wine Camp is a points-free zone because I can think of few things that have driven us to the bland wine world of today more than the 100 point scale. So when I recieved my invitation I was ready to go, to become the Abbie Hoffman of points and blister the blog with righteous indignation about passed over wines.

Then as the days spread into weeks, that spread into months and before I know it probably years, I have yet to place a single post on The 89 Project. What's my problem? After all I could not agree more with the concept that hundreds, if not thousands, of beautiful wines are condemned to the neither here nor there purgatory of getting 89 points in a world that only cares for 90+ wines. So what was my problem?

The 89 Project has made me realize how far out of the mainstream of the wine world I've drifted. Not having followed The Wine Spectator or The Wine Advocate for some years now I just don't know what they're talking about anymore. I couldn't name an 89 or a 90 if my life depended on it. It's not so much that I want to fight the pointy people anymore as much as I just don't care.

In the past, although I never gave points on Wine Camp or, my previous blog VinoCibo, I used to score wines for my own personal edification. Three or four years ago even that drifted away as I concentrated more and more on how wine and food made me feel instead of trying to reach for an absurd codification or ranking.

So I apologize to the the dedicated writers of The 89 Project for my silence, but I have nothing left to say about points other than they are pointless. Thank you for continuing the fight against the the stupidity of the 100 point scale. While I may have tired of the fight, I am glad a new generation has taken up the cause.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Squirrely Wine Blog

in ,
American Squirrel Wine Blog Award Winners « Las Flores View Point Squirrel Colony (Camp Pendleton CA)

I cannot describe my surprise at winning the "Best Jazz Writing on a Wine Blog" award from the American Squirrel Wine Blogs Awards. It equaled my surprise in learning there was an American Squirrel Wine Blog Awards.  Some had accused my blog of being squirrely, but I did not realize I had reached such heights. Be sure I'll squirrel this award away to use in leaner times. They must be nuts to give this award to me, but I humbly accept it.

It's reassuring to know that at least rodents can spot a good wine blog as evidenced by the other squirrely wine blogs that share with me this once in a lifetime honor.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Oysters and Aligote

in ,

image1486138564.jpg

In Burgundy Aligoté is either poured from a pitcher or served with a generous dollop of cassis as Kir. Yet once in a while this poor cousin from Burgundy gets serious treatment, most notably in the wines of Aubert de Villaine, of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti fame, at Domaine de Villaine.

Jed Steele has produced a crisp, charming 2007 Washington State Aligote under his Shooting Star label, which paired perfectly with a dozen pristine Northwest oysters at Etta’s in Seattle (pictured here). As you would expect from Steele, the wine is not bone dry, but it’s dry enough and downright zesty by American wine standards. At 11 bucks it’s a great deal, but’s it’s a bit of a shame they didn’t go really dry.


[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]


Solo Dieci

in ,

Is there any website to hate more passionately in the online wine business than the confusing and irritating Bonny Doon site? Once upon a time it was cute, but no more now that it’s corporate manipulation instead of the genuine weirdness of Randall Grahm. Is there anything more embarrassing than corporate suits trying to act cool? Well, maybe they’re trying to make up for that with their wine. I can’t speak for the other Ca’ de Solo wines, but their 2007 Sangiovese selling for only ten bucks (solo dieci) at Whole Foods is a damn good everyday wine. Does it taste like sangiovese? Not a bit. However, it’s a good honest everyday red wine that goes well with carry out pizza or burgers.

It’s a shame that a good, solid everyday wine like this needs so much hoopla to surround it. Wine like this is all about gulps and good, simple food. Trying so hard to be cool for a ten buck wine is a bit embarrassing. They should just be proud for what they are.

Randall was always ahead of the game, but the corporate types that have replaced him don’t have a clue.

,

Powered by ScribeFire.

The Sad Passing of Winemaker Baldo Cappellano

in ,
The sad passing of Barolo winemaking great Baldo Cappellano is marked by three wine bloggers who knew him well.


He fought tirelessly against the homogenization and over-commercialization of wine and was a steadfast opponent of the use of international grape varieties in Italian wine. Memories of Baldo Cappellano « Do Bianchi

One of those gentle giants, long and weedy, he is winemaker, jokester, philosopher.
—Alice Feiring

The world of wine — and not just Piedmontese wine and not just the Barolo and Langa community (which he represented with authority) — is in mourning today for the sudden and cruel passing of Teobaldo Cappellano. He was a tireless activist and an advocate of lost causes — causes even more worthy for the very fact they were lost — because when you know that you have no chance to prevail, defending your beliefs is even more righteous.
—Franco Ziliani, Vino al Vino



,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Nonna - Wine Blog Wednesday

It could not be darker. You weave up the dark road, which becomes suddenly brilliant from the lights illuminating the castle of Grinzane Cavour, yet another of the castles that mark the towns of Barolo. The lights of the castle quickly fade and you are plunged into a blackness only punctuated by the lights of the few sparse farm houses. Where you are going to dinner bonds you to the families in those houses that are just now sitting down to food much like you will soon be eating. You are headed to have dinner at your grandmother’s house in Piemonte - or at least as close as you can come to that pleasure if you’re not Piemontese. The first time you are bound to pass it and have to turn back, but getting lost is part of this pleasure.

The Trattoria Nonna Genia (Grandma Genia) is located in what feels like the middle of nowhere on this cold, dark Langhe evening in Piemonte, Italy’s northwestern capital of food and wine. Home to Barolo, Barbarecso and the Slow Food movement, this region is a rich blend of the cultures of northwestern Italy and southeastern France - not a bad culinary combination. The local dialect here has a distinctive French patois as do the foods, wines and cheeses. There is no pretense or menu at Nonna Genia, you eat what they’ve made for dinner that night and drink whatever they’ve liked and purchased from local winemakers. That’s not to say there’s no wine list, as there is, but you’re unlikely to be able to use it as Dario will decide for you no matter what you try to choose. Nonna Genia is run by the Marengo family and Dario rules the dining room, while his wife is queen in the kitchen. Dario will be picking your wine for you and you’ll need quite a few glasses to get through this meal.

As usual in the Piemonte, dinner starts with a seeming myriad of antipasti and you can depend on carne crude and vitello tonnato showing up as they do on tables throughout Piemonte. It’s bad luck to have an even number, so expect more if you’re only at six or eight. This will be followed by due primi ( two pasta and/or risotto courses) like the classic plin (tiny local hand formed ravioli) al burro e salvia. Of course, you are just getting warmed up here in Piemonte so this will be followed by due secondi (two main courses) like the mouth-watering brasato (braised beef) al Barolo and coniglio (rabbit) al civet. Then, of course, comes the cheeses and a full plate of assorted desserts a person. All of this costs not much more than dinner at your local Fridays.

The food is good, honest and hardy. There’s nothing fancy about it - it’s the real thing. The same goes for the wines Dario will bring to your table once he discovers you’re serious about your vino. He has the full range of local treasures: barbera, dolcetto, freisa, gavi and so on, but we’re there for the Barolo. The Baroli and other wines are likely to come from producers you’ve never heard of and you’ll find no big Euro bottles from Gaja, Conterno or Giacosa. It’s Dario’s passion and he scours the Langhe hills for exciting small producers. It was at his instance that I had my first taste of the wines from Teobaldo Cappellano and that alone is enough to be forever grateful to him. It’s always the same with Dario, you look at the list and choose, but all to often those wines are long gone and it’s just not all the important to him to reprint the list. He is more than a sommelier, Dario himself is the winelist. I always consider myself lucky to be in his hands.

Oddly enough there is no Nonna Genia at Nonna Genia, which is named after a famed cookbook of traditional Piemontese cuisine, which the Marengo family is ably keeping alive. Everything is about tradition at Nonna Genia - the food, the wine and the people. The evening ends with an assortment of grappa bottles on your table - some without labels. Dario just brings the bottles and glasses and lets you sip at your leisure and the warm glow of the grappa lights your stomach and your mind just like the golden light from the castle of Grinzane Cavour, just across the valley, warms the windows of Nonna Genia on this chilly fall night.

There are some traditions that cannot be improved on.

, ,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Skating With The Love Puppets

in ,
We're sometimes marionettes when it comes to food and wine matching, but Love Puppets and skate can cut those strings. Skate wing is one of my favorite fish dishes and meaty, rich fish like this sometimes go better with red than white wines. Especially the way I cooked it, quickly floured and sauteed, then served with a beurre rouge - in this case accented with some pancetta and capers. Easy and delicious.

What better to go with skate wing and a red wine sauce than Love Puppets. The Love Puppets here (I'm not sure what you were thinking of) is a lovely Oregon pinot noir from Brandborg Vineyards. The 2006 Brandborg Vineyards Love Puppets Pinot Noir catches all the romance that is pinot noir. Very spicy, brightly fruity and charming, but with just a touch of the earthy, wild mushrooms notes that always highlight the best pinots this is a wine you can drink now or over the next several years. The San Francisco Chronicle placed it in their top 100 wines of 2008 and I can see why. Besides that, it's a bargain at only $30.

The real love puppets are the husband and wife team of Terry and Sue Brandborg who make this excellent pinot and a host of other wines from cool climate varieties in their decidedly very cool climate in the the Umpqua Valley in southern Oregon, which they are so successfully pioneering.

All to often we seek romance in winemaking, but rarely find it in these days of corporate wine factories, but the Brandborgs are the real thing and you can taste their passion for both wine and each other in the wonderful wines of Brandborg Vineyards.
Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Snob Buster

in ,
I looked down on it with disdain. It was below me. I'd wallowed in that mud before. Why waste the time?

For some reason it always grabbed my attention. I walked by time and time again with the self righteous boredom of a commuter passing the same pan handler every day. Yet there was something about it that caught my eye. Finally, with a sneer I picked up the bottle.  An $8 California zinfandel? I knew what that meant - overripe, sweet purple glop. A perfect example of low budget spoofulation. A glutton for punishment, I picked up the bottle using wine blog fodder as an excuse.

I took a sip. Then another. Could I be having a bad palate day? I took a gulp, then another. I liked it. What was up with that?

The next morning I snickered at myself. What could I have been thinking? Yet my next trip to the store that floor stacking was calling, almost challenging me again. I gave in and bought another bottle. The second tasting not only confirmed my first feelings about this wine, I even liked it better.

First of all it really tastes like zinfandel with a lovely briary, raspberry fruit that tastes like wine, not jam. Then there is the refreshingly medium body at an easy 13% alcohol and zesty touch of acidity that livens up the finish. This is a very nice wine and a nice wine it all it is and I think that's great. The world's full of great wines these days, but a charming bottle of zinfandel for under ten bucks is really hard to come by.

The wine? The 2007 Green Bridge Paso Robles Organically Grown Zinfandel is a real steal ($7.99 Whole Foods). Compared to the bland and/or jammy-sweet cabernet and merlot being sold in this price range it's a miracle. Green Bridge delivers real wine instead of industrial purple plonk. It's varietal in character, balanced and perfect for everyday meals, while offering more than enough character for occasions that demand good wine that won't break the bank. It's too bad more zinfandel like this is not produced. After all, can you think of a better wine to be America's everyday go to wine? How in the world did merlot steal that job away?

Often I like simple easy meals. That doesn't mean that I don't expect the food to be flavorful and fresh. The same goes for the wines I like to drink with those meals. It's great to finally find such a wine so close to home.

A Three Sided Coin

in ,

jumbo_coin_quarter The old saying two sides of the same coin all to often applies to wines these days. Diversity is drowned in the head on pursuit of Points. We can’t really criticize wineries for seeking financial success. I know that it’s strange to think of an elite winery having to make a buck in these days of multi-multi-million dollar wine temples, but it’s a fact that some producers actually have to turn a  profit to stay in business. Blaming them for Point hunting seems a bit disingenuous when both the trade and wine buyers are so Point drunk.

Recently I tasted three wines from the same variety and region. Each could not have been more wonderful, lovely or good at what they were trying to be. Each winemaker had a different goal and achieved it. To somehow rank these wines is silly as they were made with different visions, but each accomplishes that vision with equal dexterity. Awarding these wines Pointless Points only confuses the consumer because to every wine  there is a season – Turn, Turn, Turn.

Here were three barbera wines from the Piemonte region of Northwestern Italy that have little in common except variety and the fact that when served with the right meal they’re almost perfect.

scarrone 2006 Vietti Barbera d’Alba, Scarrone – Scarrone  is barbera presented as a great wine. From old vines planted in a vineyard that by all rights should be planted in nebbiolo for Barolo, winemaker Luca Currado crafts a powerful, magnificent barbera that ages beautifully. That same evening we tasted the 2006 we had a 1996 Scarrone that had aged into a graceful beauty. Young Scarrone is deeply colored, concentrated, richly fruity and powerful. A wine that always gets big Points – how could it not?

brovia barbera2006 Brovia Barbera d'Alba DOC Sori Del Drago – Brickish with touches of brown in color, the wonderfully traditional Brovia winery has made a high strung graceful beauty.  With an aromatic complexity that will please Barolo traditionalists, this firm, structured zesty wine is a wonder with classic Northern Italian dishes – I’m thinking Ossobucco Milanese. This wine is all about complexity, structure and aromatics and power. Points are not what it’s about. I feel this is an exceptional barbera.

2007 Fontanafredda, Barbera Piemonte, Briccotondo – Purple, fresh and lip-smacking good.  A bright, fresh, fruity modern wine that still tips its hat to real barbera character. The nice acid pucker underneath the veneer of sweet dark fruit reminds you that this is indeed an Italian wine. I’m buying this for ten bucks at Cost Plus and I can think of few better values in a wine at this price. Most wines at this price range have a innocuous jammy sweet fruitiness that quickly bores. There is nothing boring about this fun and delicious wine.  Eating pizza or simple spaghetti con pomodoro? This is your wine.

To rank these three lovely wines is Pointless as each served with the right foods will appropriately show their charms. Appropriate is the right word and that responsibility lies with the consumer because if you follow Points, you’ll be led astray at the table.

Technorati Tags: ,

Is the (2nd) Fiasco Over?

in , , ,

fiasco in italia Wine trade legend had it that the word fiasco entered the English language when the Italians flooded  the American market with mediocre wines after the war and destroyed their reputation for decades. The fiasco was the the name of the straw wrapped around those bottles of cheap Chianti, which became the symbol of Italian wine in the United States. Cheap, innocuous or worse -the straw covered bottles were omnipresent on tables covered with red checked table cloths and provided romantic light, covered with candle wax, in dorm rooms in the 60’s and 70’s.

Of course, Italian wines long ago recovered from that debacle and are sold at prices on par with the the worlds finest. However, there was a second Italian wine fiasco. The first was them sending bad wine here, the second was our fault. We imported Italian varieties and proceeded to make some very boring wine from them. In the eighties there were a lot of high profile efforts to make expensive wines from Italian varieties in California and the category was even given a name: Cal-Ital. There was a lot of hoopla, but the wines were mediocre and expensive – not a good combination. Even today all too many American sangiovese and barbera wines look ridiculous when compared to Italian wines (or other American wines) selling for half the price. Those that deigned to attempt nebbiolo fell far shorter than ridiculous. What could the possible reason be to buy these American wines at $40, $50 or more when you could buy better Italian ones at $20. What made these Americans even worse is that they had no varietal character. They could have been made from zinfandel, merlot  or cabernet, but were not as good as the wines made from those varieties. Why buy an expensive sangiovese when a zin or cab that tasted better cost less? As you might expect, the Cal-Itals soon went out of fashion.

Is this second fiasco over? It may well be as some exciting wines from Italian varieties are finally being made up and down the west coast. They are distinctly New World, as they should be, while maintaining true varietal character. Cabernet from Bordeaux and Napa may not taste the same, but the family resemblance is unmistakable. Finally you can now say the some thing about a few wines produced from varieties like barbera, sangiovese and even nebbiolo. While most of the better examples seem to be coming from Washington there are a few Californians producing some exciting wines too.

Palmina_Nebbiolo I can think of no more stunning example of this new trend than the 2004 Palmina Nebbiolo, Stolpman Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley. This is a gorgeous wine that is true both to its variety and its vineyard. First of all it is perfectly pale, with a radiant garnet color. Dark purple nebbiolo, like pinot noir, is not to be trusted. On the nose it is powerful, yet elegant and laced with all the classic tar and roses you could want. However, it also shows its pride in its American birth with a round, warm spiced fruit forward personality. The firm classic tannins, that are a hallmark of fine nebbiolo, are very present suggesting that those that age this lovely wine will be well rewarded.

The second Italian wine fiasco is coming to a very happy ending.

No Sh*t Sherlock

in ,
Wines & Vines - Wine Industry News Headlines - How Consistent Are Wine Judges?

Wine judges are rather unsteady, study finds - Los Angeles Times

There has been a spate of articles and blog posts about a study that statistically proves that results from large judgings are, for all practical purposes, worthless. They had to do research to figure that out? The wine trade figured this out long ago and the only place a gold medal from some judging does a winery any good is in their own tasting room. Tell a wine buyer in a top restaurant or retailer that you've just won a double gold and best of show and they'll look at you like you're some rube from the sticks. They could care less.

Everyone who has participated in such events knows that their results are skewed. It's just not possible to taste and accurately rank large numbers of wines. For example, if you took just ten wines and had the judges rank them, then took the same wines, changed the order and retasted them an hour later the results would change. If you did it ten times, in different orders over the course of a day, you'd get different results each time. You would also get different results if you took those same ten wines and had the judges taste one wine a day with dinner over the next ten days. In such a test even a tasting machine like Robert Parker Jr. would give different scores to the same wine as he, like all of us, is not a not machine, but a human whose palate is impacted by too many variables. This is not to say that professional wine criticism is not useful, but it is an opinion, not a science. To be scientific results have to be repeatable.

The explosion of wine blogs and sites where consumers post their notes, like on CellarTracker and Adegga, offers the antidote to relying on notes from a few critics and competitions. After all, can you think of a worse way to appreciate and understand a wine than sitting down and tasting it buried in a lineup of dozens (if not hundreds) of them? The notes from bloggers and consumers come from tasting conditions more in line with how wines are meant to be actually consumed - leisurely, thoughtfully and with meals. It is also a wonderful thing to have so many different opinions of the same wine tasted in different circumstances by different people. Of course you always have to be aware that some of these new media reviews may come from tasters with little experience, but it's easy to spot that inexperience in their notes. Also the risk of inaccurate information is no greater than that coming from professional judges when those judges are basing their opinions on results from mass tastings.

Over the last few decades wine sales have been driven by points and medals awarded by tasters plowing through masses of bottles at a single tasting. As a result, wine producers started making wines that tasted great with other wines, but not so great with food. Fortunately the tide seems to be turning back to wines with balance and elegance.

Perhaps with the price of gold these days, wineries should be sending in their old medals to Cash 4 Gold.

Non Plus Ultra

in ,

Those of us in the wine blogging community know Jeremy Parzen for his passionate wine blog Do Bianchi, but the multi-talented Parzen is also a rocker and his band Non Plus Ultra is grabbing attention in Europe and on the college radio circuit. Non Plus Ultra has a new CD out and just released this video to support it. Good biodynamic wine drinking music indeed!

 

Why Does That Wine Cost $550 A Bottle?

in ,

fredthompson_jmccarth_8441278 It was a quiet Sunday night in late January, not a big night even for this well-known restaurant. I got a reservation with no problem.  Not long after we were seated a couple swept into the room with a bottle in tow. He was grey haired and elegantly, but casually dressed. She was quite a bit younger and beautiful – just like the bottle of wine he was carrying.  It seems he had decided to bring two trophies to dinner.

The wine was 2006 Chateau Margaux and it goes for well over $500 a bottle these days. Probably cheap compared to his date. The sommelier did his duty and was suitable attentive as he pulled the cork and poured the wine. Graciously they offered him a taste. Then they ordered. He took a bowl of clam chowder, she a dozen pristine, fresh oysters – and that was it. Now I’m as open minded as they come when it comes to serving red wine with almost anything, but one thing I know for sure is that a young, tannic red Bordeaux is disgusting with fresh oysters and not much better with chowder. Yet the fact that the Margaux was nowhere ready to drink and that it was terrible with the food made not a difference to this couple. It only mattered that they could afford it. That’s why it costs $550 a bottle because people that don’t have a clue about what they’re eating or drinking buy it because it costs $550. A living example of the which came first the chicken or the egg dilemma. They didn’t buy the wine because it was great, but because it was expensive.

There is a range where wines are expensive because of their excellence, but that dollar point is passed at a much lower level than today’s trophy wines. It’s hard to say where that line is, but $550 is way over the top. Such prices are achieved only when people who have no idea what they’re drinking must have a wine to prove they know what they’re drinking.

Much to the pleasure of the staff, when they left the bottle was still a third full and she left almost a full glass. It mattered not because the wine had fulfilled their wants before the cork was pulled. They got their money’s worth.

Note: Fred Thompson was not in attendence that evening. Photo used for humor value alone.