Wine Picks

It's good to make reasonable goals or, failing that, to make unreasonable goals and be ready to adjust them often. That's all a way of saying that no, that big box of rosé I was planning to have for summer never made it to the summer solstice. But! When I adjusted my goal, hoping only to make the rosé last until June, I achieved my goal and now I feel like a winner. However... I am a winner with no house wine now. So here are three wines that have filled the hole in my heart and my refrigerator.

Skouras White Peloponnese, Greece 750ml $10.95
This wine is the Mediterranean in a bottle (without the smarmy guys and all the tourists). It's has really nice fruit upfront and, especially on the nose, I get lots of peach and some white flower notes. I really love it when this wine gets on my palate, though. That's when the wonderful, creamy texture shows up, along with some nice, light spice. It's great to have a wine that's full of character but really easy going a the same time.

Chateau Benoit Müller Thurgau Oregon, USA 750ml $12.95
Müller Thurgau is one of my favorite grapes. It has a lot of its own character but also responds well to the wine-making techniques of different regions. In northern Italy, wines made from Müller Thurgau tend to be crisp and clean and wonderfully minerally. In Oregon, they are often made with a little (or too often, a lot of) sweetness. Elegant floral notes combine with some tropical notes and that touch of sweetness for a graceful, balanced wine. (Read more about Müller Thurgau at Craig Camp's blog)

Magdala Rosé Provence, France 3000ml $28.95
This is almost too easy a replacement. Sure it looks like wine that you'd get from a pharmacy, but that should only make you confident that these winemakers put more money into their wine than into their packaging. This little better-for-the-Earth box has four bottle's worth of light, very easy to drink and very tasty rosé inside. It's perfect for a weekend with friends or, for that matter, a weekend alone. I'm thinking doctors should start prescribing this rather than pills. (Kidding! Sort of.)

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Scandal!

When scandal hits the world of politics, resignations are called for, private details are released on the evening news and tension is built up until the money shot: the politician holding a press conference and eating humble pie. But when scandal hits the wine world, things take shape a bit differently, as we're seeing again right now. Back in March, Italian investigators implicated certain wine makers of not making their brunello di Montalcino wines from 100% sangiovese grapes. Not quite a hooker-grade fiasco, it's true. This is what the wine world gets for scandal, and it's a big enough deal that the U.S. government is taking action. Brunello di Montalcino wines are some of the highest priced wines on the market — many carry price tags in the hundreds of dollars — with a large chunk of sales coming from restaurants. Much of that high price is based on reputation, which in the case of brunello and most European wines, is built upon the strict wine laws that govern wine making. Under such laws, certain grapes and wine making methods must be used in order to receive higher and higher classifications and therefore command higher prices.

Now when word started to spread about this scandal, some of us wine professionals showed mock indignation and plenty of eye-rolling: "You say Italians have been bending the rules? You say some wine laws haven't been followed to the letter? Nooooooooo." It's true that at first this 'scandal' doesn't seem very important, but it does give us an interesting view of the changing status of the wine industry right now.

By trying to make brunello wines more approachable — and when "more approachable" means adding bigger, bolder varietals like cabernet, merlot and syrah — we get a good example of the pressures put upon old-world wine makers. With an influx of new wine drinkers used to new-world wines, even those wine makers that have been making good wine for decades see that there is a chunk of the market from which they are missing out. This is exactly why many old-world wine makers have begun to put a wine's grape varietals on the label. So interestingly enough, one of the prominent new-world countries, the U.S. of A., is in their own way enforcing the standards of the old-world by not restricting the brunello allowed in to the country.

The wine industry is definitely in a time of change and although all of these laws will probably stay as they are for now, this is how the wine industry inches along. Some wine makers stubbornly and proudly sticking to traditional methods and others boldly and stupidly trying new things very quickly. There will always be some reason for scandal especially in times of change, though I doubt, unfortunately, that we'll ever see Robert Parker wearing a red, white and blue tie looking ashamed and penitent because of the poor judgment he's exhibited at his job.

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Sick


I've recently been suffering from wine drinker's ennui, that strange affliction that makes most wines — even your favorites — seem uninteresting & ordinary. I started a palate rehabilitation program and as I had been drinking a lot of American wines, I followed these steps.

Step one: Cut down on American & new world wines & increase intake of old world, primarily French wines.

I jumped right into this step & went for the French, hoping to get rid of this affliction quickly. I cracked open the Montvac Cotes du Rhone that's been in my wine rack for a couple months. I have enjoyed this wine before & I know I like it's style & range of flavors. My palate perked up a bit during the first glass. What I had been missing most was right up front — that great old-world earthiness, a really evident terroir. And with it's supple texture & berry notes, I felt confident that the Montvac had cured me. But by the second glass, the ennui returned. Every sip seemed to lay on my tongue like Gogurt, and everything seemed disjointed. I was truly sick & needed to up my presciption.

Step two: Drink wines from less common regions or from less common grapes, or both.

I bought a bottle of the Hai Cabernet from Israel & the Erste & Neue Schiava from Alto Adige, Italy for a party I was supposed to go to (I didn't even want to *give* ordinary wine anymore). When I ended up not going to the party, I quickly opened the Schiava, knowing, again, that this is a wine I have enjoyed & it's from a region I love. It's an interesting wine as soon as you pour it, as the color is unlike most wines. It's definitely darker than most rosés, but lighter than most reds. It is beautifully floral on the nose & that's about the last time I saw this wine. It is dangerously easy to drink & I could barely keep my glass full. It's a very fruity wine & the fruit is balanced out with an interesting slight nuttiness that I noticed as the wine raced down my gullet. I was definitely on the road to recovery, but just to make sure, I went on to step three.

Step Three: Drink a higher quality wine from a reputable region.

I had a bottle of 2004 Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer that I'd been holding for a few years. This is a $25-35 bottle from Alsace that I've had a few times before. I was making Indian food which is usually an ideal pairing with Gewurztraminer, so I was going all or nothing. I poured the beautiful blonde yellow wine into the glass and caught a whiff of those enchanting Alsatian scents — nutmeg, jasmine, honeysuckle. I took my first sip & I could feel the ennui slipping away for good. This wine was intricate & nuanced and demanded my attention. There was so much good in this wine, a 750ml bottle seemed like a bad tease, but it was a big enough dosage to solve my problem.

Now that I'm cured, I'm following a regimen of somewhat eccentric wines & soon I will be able to drink a wine from anywhere and enjoy it again. If you too are sick with winedrinker's ennui, the doctor's office hours are every Wednesday from 5:30-8:30pm.

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How fickle am I? How fickle are you?

If I tell you this you have to swear never to tell another person I am so fickle in some of my likes and dislikes that at times that even I can't keep up. One moment I love American Chardonnay again and the next I can't quite believe that I could ever drink anything that overly oaked. Sometimes my fickleness comes from an overload of one thing; too much steel fermentation and the tongue needs some oak. Sometimes though I am just plain indecisive and fickle; I can no longer love Lyle Fass because his new photo is not nearly brooding and dark enough for me, This is not the same thing as being fickle about my over-arching loves. There are some wines that every time I drink them they are even better than I remembered; the Alloro Pinot Noir, Larmandier Bernier Blanc de Blancs and the Angus Cabernet. Then there are some wines that I fall out of love and back in love with on a regular basis; Cabernet Franc from all over, Loire Chenin Blanc's and even Rioja. But mostly I think my being fickle comes from context and the more I think and learn about wine the more I am convinced it is all context.

Imagine if you could take mood, temperature, sickness and health, garlic and all other strongly flavored foods, wealth and relative poverty out of the equation. If you could taste wine in a perfect vacuum where you didn't just get yelled at by a crazy man on the subway and our president didn't just make an ass of himself. What would the wine actually taste like? Is it even possible to taste wine like this and would wine even matter if you truly lived in a bubble? Which is why context becomes so important because what I am looking for a wine to do for me is constantly changing based upon where I am in my life. So there, I think that my fickleness comes from an entirely valid and realistic place. Now can anyone get Lyle to change his picture?

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What do you drink for the holidays?

As we roll right in to the thick of all of the holidays the question keeps on coming up ; what should I drink for Thanksgiving? In some worlds being that Thnaksgiving is truly an American holiday (okay I know about the Canadian one but still...) there is a belief that only American wines should be consumed. While I hold to that belief for many reasons; good silky cabernets disguise dried out turkey, rich creamy chardonnays stand up to mashed sweet potatoes, and of course the age old Zinfandel is the way to be. I have been finding that it is actually all about the Italians for me. I am not sure why since I have never actually eaten a turkey in an Italian restaurant or in Italy for that matter but it really seems to work. So in that vein here are a few of my faves for the turkey day:

Chiorri Rose, this one is made for Thanksgiving and what a great reason to drink rose
Squinzano Rosso, big earthy rich and interesting, almost like a sauce in its own right
Terre di Gioai Sauvignon Blanc, lovely lingering flavors of melon and a white that actually just gets better as it warms up.

Maria, Troy and I will be tasting these and other wines in the store on the Wednesday before so stop by. As for Christmas time well that is whole different story.

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Updates

It may seem that in our settling down for a long cold winter we have been neglecting our blog but in fact we have so much going on behind the scenes right now that is about to emerge that we are keeping things under wraps for the time being until we can announce it all at once.

I can tell you that we have some amazing champagnes coming in soon that we will all have the chance to taste in December and that everyone needs to mark their calendars for the Coturri tasting November when the winemaker himself Tony will be joining us to taste and teach us about his wines.

Soon I promise more updates until then console yourself with a bottle of Morellino di Scansano and a chicken from Pio Pio Rico (the number is on the delivery page).

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Vacation in a Bottle


It's August. It's hot and it seems like everyone I know is too broke to go on that vacation or long weekend they planned earlier in the summer. What to do?

Treat yourself right with a fancy bottle of wine. Not pretentious fancy. Not break-the-bank fancy. Just something you haven't tried before that costs a little more than you would usually spend. Make a night of it. Buy some cheese and bread and bottle (or two) of wine and have yourself a little "I'm broke (tired of summer, sick of my job, irritated with my significant other, freaked out by the world), but I still treat myself right" party. Invite friends. Have everyone bring a bottle of wine and something fancy to eat. The funny thing is, you'll probably spend less than if you went out to a bar, had three drinks and took a car service home.

What to get?

At $15.95 Flying Cloud Pinot Gris from San Luis Obispo County in California is an affordable luxury. This crisp white has lovely notes of Asian pear and a long clean finish. Perfect chilled with a soft ripened goat cheese like Le Chevrot or Lingot de Quercy.

What else?

Try Bandol Rose from Domaine la Suffrene. A full bottle will run you $20.95. It's also available in half bottles for $10.50. Bandol is a wine making region in Provence, on France's Mediterranean coast. Mourvedre, Grenache and Cinsault are the main grapes in this rose, and, with the addition of Syrah, of the Bandol region as well. It's a sturdy but supple rose, with nice raspberry lushness and sprightly lemon notes. Get yourself some aged sheep cheese from the Pyrenees like Abbaye de Belloc, Ossau Iraty or Vermont Shepherd (admittedly, from Vermont but in the Pyrenees style). Better yet, get some Brin D'Amor - an herb covered soft sheep cheese from Corsica. You will be in heaven.

Feeling really fancy? Want a wine with some real substance?

Crank up the ac and get yourself a bottle of Domaine Ligneres Notre Dame. It has a sleek modern label, is from Corbieres, France and if I was made of money I would drink a bottle of this wine twice a week. At $29.95 a bottle it's not an everyday wine for most of us, but worth every penny and more. The Notre Dame is big and silky with a beautiful warm, round fullness. Really go for it and buy yourself the most gooey, stinky, delicious cheese you can find. Brie de Meaux or Brie de Nangis would do it. A triple cream would also be appropriate. Invite someone you love, or think you might like to love, to drink it with you. You know those blizzard babies? Consider yourself warned.

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