As harvest approaches excess crop is dropped and leaves are pulled from the fruit zone. Here bunches of Cabernet lie on the ground in Yountville.
--- the burgundy report --- The latest edition of The Burgundy Report by Bill Nanson is out. As always, don't miss it. With the combination of this free report and Burghound by Allen Meadows, the definitive report in this category, there is no longer any excuse for suffering through bad Burgundy.
A balloon pilot drops down to touch the vines by Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley.
While tasting through barrels of our 2008 cabernet sauvignon today, I kept thinking as good as they were they needed a little lift - a little cabernet franc. I love the minty brightness with a vegetal punch that the mouth watering cabernet franc wines of the Loire deliver - often at bargain prices. I think just of touch of that cabernet franc lift would be perfect in our powerful Napa cabernet.
Like soy sauce, Parmigiano and truffles, cabernet franc is packed with umami, that distinctive savory essence that that makes flavors just explode in your mouth. Certainly cabernet franc can be delicious on its own, as in the wonderful reds of the Loire Valley, but its "umami" effect on cabernet sauvignon cannot be overstated. A dollop of cabernet franc "lifts" the nose and expands the finish on many a cabernet and, in my opinion, this variety is under-utilized in Napa where power is easy, but high tones are not.
An absolutely seductive example of California cabernet franc at its best is the 2005 Keenan Napa Valley Cabernet Franc, Spring Mountain District. Rich and powerful without being overwhelming, this is one of the finest American cabernet francs I've tasted. Deep in color, with an expansive, bright nose and a fresh, salivating finish, a telling point about this wine is that while I drank this bottle over three days, the wine never got tired. This very fine cabernet franc is a great education on what is possible from this variety in California.
No shy blushing wine this one. Not at all embarrassed by its pinkness, this is a explosively fruity, but dry wine with wonderful depth. The 2008 Mas Amiel “Le Plaisir” Côtes du Roussillon Rosé, if not a serious wine, is seriously delicious. Born from old vine grenache, syrah and carignane in the sunny Mediterranean vineyards of southwestern France, wines like this can only make you shake your head in wonder that so few outstanding rosé wines come from the similarly blessed vineyards of California. I suppose part of the reason for that is that so many consumers think sweet when they see pink that dry pink wines like this aren’t that easy to sell. It’s amazing that that misconception about rosé has hung on so many years after the white zinfandel craze. A great value and under $20 this is a wine I’d gladly gulp the rest of the summer.
Gray Pinot (pinot gris) sounds pretty drab and 9 times out of 10 the name fits the wine. Yet in the hands of some winemakers this variety can sing. Joining the ranks of delicious and interesting wines from this variety, including wines like Jermann, Chehalem, Albert Mann among others, is the Horse and Plow 2008 Pinot Gris,, Filigreen Farm, Anderson Valley. Crisp, refreshing, but in no way light and simple, it is loaded with creamy fresh pear and white peach flavors all accented by a tangy minerality and firm acidity. This wine was barrel fermented in neutral oak, which shows in the lovely texture and a yeasty whisper on the nose. A whopping 350 cases were produced so Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio has as much to worry about as it has flavor.
The 2006 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Wachau, Terrassen Weissenkirchen, Trockken, Andreas Lehensteiner is a wine that will indeed make many a winemaker green with envy. This is nothing short of an exceptional wine at an unbeatable price. This green/gold beauty is directly plugged into the socket, with an electric bite of mouthwatering acidity carrying ripe apricot and fresh pear flavors along with a firm mineral highlight on its razor edge. This is one of those wines that you can barely get your nose out of the glass long enough to take a sip.
These Austrian wines are the darling of every Master Sommelier in the country and rightfully so. More often than not they are the wine I go to when white wine wine is in order. They remain tremendous values and you can find exceptional examples for under $100 even on wine lists with the stiffest markups.
'Bordeaux should be selling everything,' he said. He also criticised the region for being too focused on Parker points and said it was no longer a benchmark for Cabernet Sauvignon.
link: Wine pundits label France 'dysfunctional' - decanter.com - the route to all good wine
Pale and more brick red in color than ruby and made from the Trousseau grape grown in the Arbois region of France - this is the kind of wine that frequents a wine marketers nightmares. I found it to be wonderful.
A vineyard is sprayed at dawn during late June in Napa. Vineyards here are sprayed at night or at dawn as most applications require cool temperatures to be effective.
Barco Reale di Carmignano from Capezzana has been a best buy for so many years it’s almost trite. Yet, there is something really special about such a low profile accomplishment. Their 2005 is yet another in a long line of lovely, lively wines at low prices. Structured and fragrant with a nice touch of complexity to boot. Here’s a wine that falls into the buy by the case category.
1985 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia - a gorgeous nose of strawberry and underbrush immediately grabbed my attention. I had in my glass that magical thing, a wine you want to coddle and sniff for a long while before even sipping it. Such glorious aromatics. At last, though, I struck out to discover if it was going to be an interesting sip, to boot. Zounds. On the palate, it was even better than what its heady scents promised. Such death-defying complexity! Waves of silky, elegant fruit and earthiness, with a sudden twist of sap and bark right in the middle, and then playing out forever, until I was wide-eyed and shaking my head. Wow.
Touraine Gamay “Pouillé,” Thierry Puzelat 2006 $18. 13% alcohol. Cork. Louis/Dressner, New York, NY. Relative to “Le Tel Quel,” which I’ve written about here before, “Pouillé” is arguably Thierry Puzelat’s more serious – perhaps substantial would be a better word – expression of Gamay. In this case, the fruit comes from Puzelat’s own vineyards, which he purchased from Michel Oger. Situated near Clos Roche Blanche in the commune of Pouillé, the 65 year-old selection massale Gamay vines are planted in argilo-silex (clay and flint) soil that’s been farmed biodynamically for the past fifteen years. Following fermentation, the wine is aged in old oak casks until bottling, without filtration, in the summer following the harvest.
via McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail
Arbois Poulsard “M,” Jacques Puffeney 2005 $30. 13.5% alcohol. Cork. Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York, NY. Puffeney’s wines may be a little pricey for a typical midweek repast, but I’ve been on vacation the last couple of days so I figured why not give myself a treat. Straight from the bottle, this is lean and firm in both acidic and tannic impact. Its color is a completely transparent, pale ruby, tinged green/orange at the rim. With a few moments to settle, aromas emerged of red tea, rose petals, teak and tart cherry fruit. Like its color, the wine’s flavors are delicate but intensely penetrating. If you’ve been looking for a “light” wine to serve with hearty fare – think duck, beef daube or, why not, pot pies – this may be your ticket.
via McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail
When I first got into wine I spent as much time with my nose in a wine book as it did in a wine glass - come to think of it that’s still true. That was thirty years ago and wine books were serious things in those days - thick tomes by British writers that read like the textbooks they were. I learned a lot, but it was a rather dry experience, which seemed a bit of an oxymoron when the subject was wine. I balanced the books with a tasting group that was loaded with energy - we had a blast and learned a lot.
One of the most exciting things about the online wine community (bloggers, Twitter, Facebook etc.) is they have expanded the online wine world into one gigantic virtual tasting group. Not to say studying about wine is any less important, perhaps more so now there are so many more wines, but the amount you can learn about wine on the Internet is truly astounding.
One of the most charming aspects of the explosion of wine blogs is the large number of young wine drinkers who share their thrill of exploration with their readers. They’re not really critics, but more like the host of a wine tasting. Visiting their blog is like visiting their home for a wine tasting party. Yes, sometimes there may be some inaccurate technical information, but the energy and love of wine they share more than makes up for it. They’re learning along with you, not pontificating from up on high.
I love to visit these blogs as they recharge my batteries with their enthusiasm and make me remember my excitement of discovery when I first fell in love with the world of wine. We all should remember it’s less important to get the pH of a wine right than it is to feel its spirit - its soul. These writers are about soul not technical sheets and I love them for it. These are the writers that are giving birth to a new generation of wine drinkers that, while it will be a small percentage of them, will be drinking the wines that the writers in my previous post,“Going to School” are writing about now. This new generation will preserve those wines as my generation drops the wine list. They represent a passing of the torch even if they don’t yet know it or appreciate the beauties of Poulsard yet, but some of them will some day. Eventually they, and a sadly small percentage of their readers, will turn away from the obvious side of the force and learn to love finesse over sheer power. This is the way of the wine world and it will always be so. It’s a right of passage. I went through it too.
Here’s a woefully short list of these young leaders. It’s a dangerous thing to make such a list as there are so many talented wine bloggers out there. So my apologies to the majority that I leave out here as I include just a few I’ve had the pleasure to meet personally. I encourage you to visit my blog roll or the ones on Vinography or Fermentation to really experience the beautiful diversity of these new, new media wine writers, which interestingly are mostly female. Change is a good thing.
My blogroll is getting overwhelmed on my Bloglines reader, which is also the basis of the wine and food blogroll on Wine Camp. I’ve tried to get every wine blogger and a lot of food bloggers on there, but I can’t keep up anymore. As much as I want to, I can’t read all those blogs on a daily basis or even get them all listed. On that note, if your blog doesn’t have a link on my blogroll page give me a break and let me know so I can get you listed. It’s my goal to be inclusive.
Without a doubt the volume of interesting wine writing out there there is both overwhelming and exciting. Never has the consumer had so many sources of information. Only so much of this flood can be digested so ultimately you have to pick - you can’t read it all. There is a small group of blogs I consider must reading. I read far more than that, but not a daily basis - there are just not enough hours in the day. Once a week I plough through Bloglines to read as much as I can of the wonderful writing out there, but on a daily basis I keep on eye on my core group of about fifteen or so compelling wine blogs.
What draws me to this group is that I actually learn something new from them almost every time the author posts. Not satisfied just to spew attitude, opinions and reviews, these writers dig deep and have a unique and passionate voice. What is interesting about these writers is that every last one of them is not obsessed with pumping up their stats. Each seems more concerned with saying what they feel rather than simply inflating Google Analytics. There’s not a carny hustler among them - they simply love wine and love writing about it. I’ve just moved this group into my NetNewsWire aggregator on their own so I can be far more focused on the education they offer me.
Here are my favorites:
Appellation Feiring - Alice Feiring is first and formost a writer and it is a pleasure to follow her quest for natural wines. I’m a fan of her book and admire her passion and integrity. Her voice is an important, if small, counterpoint to the mainstream wine media. Thank the wine gods that writers like this still exist. Listen and learn.
Besotting Ramblings and Other Drivel - Peter Leim’s blog is a marvel and an incredible souce of information mostly about Champange, which for me is reason enough to read it. Peter gives a real inside look at Champagne and introduces his readers to the wonders of small, grower producers. Peter has also launched ChampagneGuide.net, which is an indispensable resource for Champagne lovers - and I think that includes almost everyone.
Brooklynguy’s Wine and Food Blog - A food and wine lovers life in Brooklyn. This is what a blog should be all about as you really share their personal wine and food experiences. Most consumers will not have heard of many of the wines he writes about, but he writes about the real deal - wines that have distinctive character and meaning. Really a must read for American wine drinkers who think there may be something “more” out there than what the distribution system and big media wants them to drink. A current wine of the week was Tissot Arbois Poulsard…enough said.
Do Bianchi - Renaissance man Jeremy Parzen is a scholar of the Italian language, a wine and food connoisseur and a rock and roller in the band Nous Non Plus. He has a lot to say and says it well in a couple of languages. Reading Jeremy will teach you what real Italian wine, food and culture means, which is something very different than the Disney version you’ll get in the mainstream wine media. Jeremy is also a contributor to VinoWire, an important source for breaking Italian wine news along with the dynamic Italian wine writer and blogger, Franco Ziliani.
McDuff’s Food and Wine Trail - David McDuff lives in the wine hell of state controlled Pennsylvania, yet week after week writes about wonderful wines and food. We must assume that the state does not control food the same way they control wine. Despite the wine fascist state laws of Pennsylvania, David finds and writes about wines made with real passion and intensity and his love for them comes through beautifully in his writing. If David can get these wines in Pennsylvania not one of us has any excuse not to make the extra effort to find the beauties he writes about.
Rockss and Fruit - You’ll sometimes feel you’re watching NASCAR and waiting for the crash, but Lyle Fass is the go to guy for German and Austrian wines. His Burgundy commentary is worthwhile too, but Lyle is the definitive commentator on riesling and all things German. Lyle thinks acidity is beautiful and so do I.
Sharon’s Wine Blog - We can all hate Sharon because she gets to live in Paris and drink a lot of great French wine, but in spite of our jealously we can live her life vicariously by reading her blog. Sharon digs out real wines made by real people. It may take some work to get the wines she writes about, but it’s worth the search.
Reflections on Wine - Writer Tom Hyland loves and, more importantly, understands Italian wine. Few writers out there tell the stories of the Italian producers and their wines with more sensitivity and accuracy. Tom gets it and you will too if you read his blog. Tom does us all a service by debunking the myopic view of Italian wine you get from the big American wine magazines. If you want to drink wonderful, authentic Italian wines - read this blog.
La Gramiere - Hands down the best winery blog in existence. Passionate and educational, Amy Lillard recounts in wonderful detail their struggles and pleasures on their Cotes du Rhone estate. On top of it they make a damn good wine. Every winery that wants to blog should admire the honesty and personality that Amy brings to her blogging - they’re the real thing. No PR schmalz here.
Pinotblogger - Josh Hermsmeyer should be the poster boy for American winery bloggers. He has involved his readers in the birth of his Russian River Winery, Capozzi Vineyards, and made them partners in his project. Passionate and open, Josh has truly shared his voyage of creation with us. It’s hard to think of a more anticipated wine. Best of all, Josh delivers the real nuts and bolts of what it takes to bring a winery to life - spreadsheets graphs and all. (Pictured above is the Capozzi Vineyard)
This list is not meant to be all-inclusive, nor exclusive, as there are many wonderful wine blogs, but these writers really speak to me and best of all, almost always teach me something. One thing about wine, the more you learn, the more you understand how much you don’t know. Each of these writers is helping me in my ongoing and never ending education on the world of wine.
Here's the progress on the same block of Cabernet in Yountville just over a week later.
