A Must Read From Alice Feiring

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"Pablo Alvarez, the general director (and owner's son) of the iconic wine, Vegas Sicilia looks like James Gandolfini. Low key, he delivered his message and opinion about marketing with an almost lithium-infused tranquility. And this understantement made his reaction to LVMH's Xavier even more powerful."Alice Feiring - In Vino Veritas
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Wine Camp Ranked in Top 20 International Wine Blogs

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Internationales Weinblog-Ranking
Internationales Weinblog-Ranking

Rank /Wine Blog / Rating
1 / Vinography ……… 100.0
2 / Winelibrary ……… 99.2
3 / Fermentation …… 98.3
4 / Stormhoek ………… 98.1
5 / The Wine Collector 97.2
6 / El Bloggo Torcido 96.7
7 / The Pour ………… 96.2
8 / Winzerblog ……… 95.8
9 / Winecast ………… 94.8
10 / My Wine Education 93.9
11 / Catavino ………… 93.7
12 / Wine Camp ……… 92.5
13 / AlaWine.com …… 92.1
14 / Grape Radio …… 91.6
15 / Dr. Vino ………… 90.6
16 / Lenndevours …… 90.5
17 / Weinverkostungen 90.0
18 / Celebrate Wine … 89.5
19 / Bainbridge On Wine 89.5
20 / Spittoon ………… 87.8

Many thanks to everyone for continuing to read Wine Camp! It's flattering to be surrounded by the other great blogs on this list.


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Bully Borsao

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Borsao is a bully. It just beats the crap out of not only American wines selling for under ten bucks, but all to many in the $20 range too. We Californians have to stop letting these Spanish bullies push us around. Perhaps when we're less concerned with appearances than what's in the bottle we'll find our courage.

Just south of Navarra and west of Barcelona, Bodegas Borsao is in the Northwest of the province of Zaragoza, There they make a delicious red wine, Borsao Campo de Borja, which I picked up for seven bucks. This blend of 75% garnacha (grenache) and tempranillo is simply delicious. Yes, simple may be the operative word here, but there's just enough complexity to push this well balanced wine well beyond the pack in its price range. This is an outstanding everyday wine that admirably pairs with pizza or pork chops on a Wednesday night or will more than please your guests at that big party next weekend.

Yet again, a wine they have to put in a boat and transport thousands of miles trashes the local competition.


Double Bubbles

It’s hard to imagine two more different winery visits than Mumm Napa and Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma, but it’s their very differences that make them must visits when you go wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma. Both are beautiful, you really learn something and, best of all, you get to drink great bubbly.

Iron Horse is the classic family winery estate - a labor of love for the Sterling family. Producing small quantities of wines from their estate vineyards in the cool Green Valley, they shower attention and passion on their wines. Visitors are often greeted by Sterling family members themselves and their tasting room staff are so well trained you often feel the same passion from them that you do from the Sterlings themselves.

While Iron Horse produces outstanding chardonnay and pinot noir, the star of the show can’t help but be their wonderful sparkling wines. Guests are served at their warm and charmingly rustic open air tasting bar surrounded by the rolling bucolic vineyards that gave birth to the wines you’re tasting. Here you have the opportunity to taste several sparkling wines with different dosage and you’ll find the difference that a small change in the dosage can make in the final wine amazing. By the way, Iron Horse has introduced a new sparking wine called Ultra Brut, which is bone dry, with a racy citrus and crispness laid over a rich, creamy wine with a long toasty finish. This is a wine worth seeking out.

Mumm Napa is anything but a small family estate and instead represents the corporate end of the wine world, which dominates Champagne method sparkling wines. Their tasting room is the model of efficiency, but a warm and delightful efficiency it is and guests are really educated on the what and why of their sparkling wines. There’s no jammed tasting bar here, but visitors are seated on their beautiful patio, featuring stunning views of the Napa Valley, where they are personally served flights of wines along with charming and intelligent commentary from the tasting room staff. The highlight here is a flight showing the distinctive impact of aging en tirage.

Too many tasting rooms these days are mostly cocktail bars and souvenir shops, but these two really teach you something, best of all the fun, bubbly and beautiful views are included.

Pictured above: the beautiful patio at Mumm Napa.

 


90 Cases - Not Points

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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.

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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

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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.

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Squirrely Wine Blog

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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.


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Oysters and Aligote

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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.


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Solo Dieci

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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.

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The Sad Passing of Winemaker Baldo Cappellano

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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



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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.

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Skating With The Love Puppets

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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.
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Snob Buster

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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.