Why should December 5th be remembered you ask! Yes, it is Joe’s birthday but it’s more important then that. I say it is more important then your anniversary, your husband or wife’s birthday, your mother’s birthday, maybe even more important then your own birthday…it is repeal day!
Repeal Day, repeal of what? On December 5th, 1933, Utah, the final state needed for a ¾ majority, ratified the 21st Amendment, repealing Prohibition. This act restored the rights of “Joe Six-Pack” to purchase and enjoy a drink!
Prohibition was put into effect by the ratification of the 18th Amendment on January 16, 1919. It prohibited the manufacturing, sale, transportation, or exportation of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States and all of its territories.
Congress proposed the 21st Amendment on February 20, 1933. The Amendment was ratified by the required ¾ states majority on December 5, 1933.
It would be nice if, some time in my life, this date was celebrated in this country but for now I am content in informing the customers of the Hair O’ the Dog of its importance. The nice thing about this holiday is it only entails stopping by your local bar or HAIR O’ THE DOG, picking up your favorite “intoxicating liquors” and having a drink, just because you can! By the way, while you’re there wish Joe a happy birthday!
Nastrovia,
Brian (the beer guy)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Getting the Fun Back...
Call this a mea culpa, if you must. We've come to the painful realization that while we were out there trying to grow the empire, the Dog had become a less fun place to be. Some customers complained that our in-store service was sporadically snooty, snobbish and off-putting. This is totally unacceptable to us.
We started this business with the intention that it would always be a fun, clean, inviting place where folks would be comfortable hanging around, whether they were wine savants, beer enthusiasts, or someone who is just starting to discover the breadth and beauty of adult beverages.
So we've made some changes. Joe and I are back from the Crusades of Commerce, and we're directly managing in the stores again. Leeanne, who has graciously bounced from store to store for us, has become an accomplished wine buyer, and is developing a growing cult following.. The staff - Brian, Wendy, Shawn, Martha and Matt - are top notch. Ignore the fact that I'm writing this at 5:30 in the morning when I say that we don't lose a minute of sleep when they are taking care of you in the stores.
Today we are announcing a new partnership with Laurie Forster, better known as The Wine Coach. Sorry, Laurie, I can't make that cool (R) registered trademark symbol on the blog. Laurie is joining the Dog team with a title to-be-determined. We've bandied Lifestyle and Event Specialist, but I'm not sure that fits on a business card. In any case, Laurie is going to be helping us to make this place more funnerer, more customer-friendly, and better.
We've worked with Laurie occasionally for the past few years, and we've always appreciated her goal of de-mystifying wine. Many, many people are still intimidated by the supposed vast amount of knowledge necessary to understand wine, and Laurie's done a great job of lobbing a huge lawn dart of reason into the big balloon of bombast about wine. (It may be early, but my metaphor gland is apparently functioning.) We welcome her assistance.
We're also bringing back more store events, from Darting for Discounts this Friday night to more in-store tastings. We're working to expand The Poop and the web site. Soon we will also be cross-marketing events with Coffee East as well. More on that later.
Thanks for your business.
We started this business with the intention that it would always be a fun, clean, inviting place where folks would be comfortable hanging around, whether they were wine savants, beer enthusiasts, or someone who is just starting to discover the breadth and beauty of adult beverages.
So we've made some changes. Joe and I are back from the Crusades of Commerce, and we're directly managing in the stores again. Leeanne, who has graciously bounced from store to store for us, has become an accomplished wine buyer, and is developing a growing cult following.. The staff - Brian, Wendy, Shawn, Martha and Matt - are top notch. Ignore the fact that I'm writing this at 5:30 in the morning when I say that we don't lose a minute of sleep when they are taking care of you in the stores.
Today we are announcing a new partnership with Laurie Forster, better known as The Wine Coach. Sorry, Laurie, I can't make that cool (R) registered trademark symbol on the blog. Laurie is joining the Dog team with a title to-be-determined. We've bandied Lifestyle and Event Specialist, but I'm not sure that fits on a business card. In any case, Laurie is going to be helping us to make this place more funnerer, more customer-friendly, and better.
We've worked with Laurie occasionally for the past few years, and we've always appreciated her goal of de-mystifying wine. Many, many people are still intimidated by the supposed vast amount of knowledge necessary to understand wine, and Laurie's done a great job of lobbing a huge lawn dart of reason into the big balloon of bombast about wine. (It may be early, but my metaphor gland is apparently functioning.) We welcome her assistance.
We're also bringing back more store events, from Darting for Discounts this Friday night to more in-store tastings. We're working to expand The Poop and the web site. Soon we will also be cross-marketing events with Coffee East as well. More on that later.
Thanks for your business.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Status Report: The Big Sale
We're nearing the end of Day One of The Big Sale. It's been great to see everyone come out and get some tremendous deals on wine and spirits, all of which we're selling for 99 cents over our wholesale cost today and tomorrow. We estimate that customers have already saved nearly $10,000 with today's deep discounts.
A lot of people are interested in the question of why we do it. Every time we have the sale, some folks think that we're circling the drain. Umm, no. We have the sale (a) because it's fun; (b) to reward our fantastic customers for their support throughout the year; and (c) to blow out seasonal wine inventory so that we can replace it with new stock.
We only announce The Big Sale by email, which is reason enough to subscribe to The Poop, our extremely awe-inspiring monthly newsletter. In addition to stunning beverage revelations, hilarious high-brow humor, poorly-altered photos, and the occasional totally fictitious feature, you'll get coupons, advance warning of special events, and a healthy dose of savoir-faire.
A lot of people are interested in the question of why we do it. Every time we have the sale, some folks think that we're circling the drain. Umm, no. We have the sale (a) because it's fun; (b) to reward our fantastic customers for their support throughout the year; and (c) to blow out seasonal wine inventory so that we can replace it with new stock.
We only announce The Big Sale by email, which is reason enough to subscribe to The Poop, our extremely awe-inspiring monthly newsletter. In addition to stunning beverage revelations, hilarious high-brow humor, poorly-altered photos, and the occasional totally fictitious feature, you'll get coupons, advance warning of special events, and a healthy dose of savoir-faire.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Drinking Age to Back to 18?
An item in this morning's news: A group of college presidents are advocating a national debate on the merits of lowering the drinking age to 18. You might think that we'd be all in favor of this, as it would add hundreds of new potential Top Dogs to the marketplace. You might also think that we'd recoil in horror at the idea, so as not to offend the Puritans. The smarter money says that we should just shut up and see how it pans out.
However, this is a complex issue that deserves some debate. Proponents of lowering the drinking age are correct when they argue that since the law starts assigning adult responsibilities to us at 18, it should also convey adult rights. That's a good point. If 20-year old corporals climbing out of foxholes in Afghanistan don't deserve a beer, who does?
Proponents also argue that in most of the rest of the world - where the drinking age is 18 or even lower - youth alcohol abuse is not as big a problem as it is here. Another good point. By demonizing alcohol, it's possible that our society makes it more desireable to those to whom it is forbidden, sort of like getting some chemical strange.
On the other hand, we've got kids. We know how reckless they can be at 18, and that they're less so at 21. As a society, we're probably doing them a favor by asking them to wait until they're 21 to drink alcohol. While fake IDs and older friends certainly lead to a significant amount of underage drinking on college campuses, lowering the drinking age to 18 means that this action shifts from colleges to high schools, and that's just not a good thing.
So what's our position? As with any political issue, we'd be idiots to take one. We're a business, and the customers of many political stripes who buy from us are the ones enabling us to send our own kids to college. However, we'd like to see some consistency in how our society defines adulthood. Does it occur at 18, or at 21?
If it's 18, then let those young adults buy alcohol. If it's 21, then let's not let them sign up to climb into foxholes in Afghanistan until they're old enough both to appreciate the risk they're taking, and to have a beer when they climb out.
And while we're having the debate, can someone please explain to me why we allow 18-year olds to buy tobacco?
However, this is a complex issue that deserves some debate. Proponents of lowering the drinking age are correct when they argue that since the law starts assigning adult responsibilities to us at 18, it should also convey adult rights. That's a good point. If 20-year old corporals climbing out of foxholes in Afghanistan don't deserve a beer, who does?
Proponents also argue that in most of the rest of the world - where the drinking age is 18 or even lower - youth alcohol abuse is not as big a problem as it is here. Another good point. By demonizing alcohol, it's possible that our society makes it more desireable to those to whom it is forbidden, sort of like getting some chemical strange.
On the other hand, we've got kids. We know how reckless they can be at 18, and that they're less so at 21. As a society, we're probably doing them a favor by asking them to wait until they're 21 to drink alcohol. While fake IDs and older friends certainly lead to a significant amount of underage drinking on college campuses, lowering the drinking age to 18 means that this action shifts from colleges to high schools, and that's just not a good thing.
So what's our position? As with any political issue, we'd be idiots to take one. We're a business, and the customers of many political stripes who buy from us are the ones enabling us to send our own kids to college. However, we'd like to see some consistency in how our society defines adulthood. Does it occur at 18, or at 21?
If it's 18, then let those young adults buy alcohol. If it's 21, then let's not let them sign up to climb into foxholes in Afghanistan until they're old enough both to appreciate the risk they're taking, and to have a beer when they climb out.
And while we're having the debate, can someone please explain to me why we allow 18-year olds to buy tobacco?
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Well, here it is....
my first Blog O' The Dog.
I'm a beer guy, as most of the readers of this blog probably already know.
I brew my own beer, I try EVERY new beer I can find (Some I love, most I like, and only 1 I hated), I read as many books and magazines as I can find about beer, I visit a brewery just about every time I travel....and I still can not understand how some people NEVER try new things!
To me, it would be like saying I love peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches on white bread and never trying anything else for lunch, ever! Sure, some people might try 1 or 2 other beers but that's only like having that PB&J on toast or with strawberry jam.
The point I'm trying to get across here is there are 34 different brewpubs and microbreweries in Maryland alone (check out the list here; http://brewpubzone.com/States/Maryland.html). That link will give you the address, email, website, reviews, and even a map to all 34.
Check out them out. You never know - you might like a grilled Reuben for lunch every now and then!
Nastrovia,
Brian
aka-the beer guy
I'm a beer guy, as most of the readers of this blog probably already know.
I brew my own beer, I try EVERY new beer I can find (Some I love, most I like, and only 1 I hated), I read as many books and magazines as I can find about beer, I visit a brewery just about every time I travel....and I still can not understand how some people NEVER try new things!
To me, it would be like saying I love peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches on white bread and never trying anything else for lunch, ever! Sure, some people might try 1 or 2 other beers but that's only like having that PB&J on toast or with strawberry jam.
The point I'm trying to get across here is there are 34 different brewpubs and microbreweries in Maryland alone (check out the list here; http://brewpubzone.com/States/Maryland.html). That link will give you the address, email, website, reviews, and even a map to all 34.
Check out them out. You never know - you might like a grilled Reuben for lunch every now and then!
Nastrovia,
Brian
aka-the beer guy
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Fasten your seatbelts! ~ Philip Bernot
In what must be one of the most frequently misquoted lines from a classic movie, Bette Davis, as aging diva Margo Channing in "All about Eve", proclaims “Fasten your seatbelts, its going to be a bumpy ride!” The actual line is “bumpy night,” and no doubt ranks second to “Play it again, Sam” as the most famous line never said. All that aside, the message is correct-it is about to get a lot bumpier for wine enthusiasts everywhere. I just got word that one of my favorite importers is dropping two French producers due to large price increases. We have carried wines from each of these producers and loved them, but here is the real problem-these wines simply do not have substitutes. One producer makes a rich Chateaunuef-du-Pape, the other a sublime Condrieu. No offense intended, but I have yet to taste a wine from California or Australia that captures the rustic elegance and stony complexity of good Chateaunuef-du-Pape, and I see no indication that any producer outside of France is on the right track of producing Viognier up the quality of a good Condrieu. Sure, there are other producers of these wines, but I fear they too will be facing huge price increase.
So what, you say, I don’t drink that stuff anyway! Well try this on for size: I recently added a well-known sparkling wine from California to the line-up. Four weeks ago the wine was $34; yesterday I changed the price to $44. In four weeks! So what, you say again, the bubbles tickle my nose so I don’t drink that stuff either. How about the pleasant little white wine that went up 33% on the new vintage? No problem, you say again, though now a little testily, I drink beer in the summer anyway. If you do drink beer, chances are you have already seen the effects of this story from last November on NPR: “Worldwide hops shortage will make stouts, ales and other specialty microbrews more pricy in coming months. A triple whammy of bad weather in Europe, an increase in the price of barley and a decrease in hops production in the U.S. has lead to a price increase of 20 percent for the most widely grown varieties, to 80 percent for specialty hops. The shortage is particularly hitting microbreweries, since they use more hops than major brewers” Ouch! Inexpensive wine is becoming more expensive, expensive wine is becoming very expensive, and good beer now costs twelve bucks a six-pack!
So what is driving all this? Simply put - everything. I have to admit, a couple of years ago I was amazed out how undervalued wine was in the market place. It was just too cheap, and the price only had one place to go. Many people have suggested that California is the logical recipient of the increased prices of European wine, but that has not been my experience. California wine was always more expensive to begin with, and has been increasing in price just as rapidly as European wine, often more so.
We continue to try and find wines that offer great value, and there are still wonderful bottles under $20, but at the risk of using the most hackneyed phrase that has infiltrated our language in recent memory (excepting, of course, ‘a perfect storm’), thirteen bucks is the new nine, and twenty bucks is the new fifteen!
So what, you say, I don’t drink that stuff anyway! Well try this on for size: I recently added a well-known sparkling wine from California to the line-up. Four weeks ago the wine was $34; yesterday I changed the price to $44. In four weeks! So what, you say again, the bubbles tickle my nose so I don’t drink that stuff either. How about the pleasant little white wine that went up 33% on the new vintage? No problem, you say again, though now a little testily, I drink beer in the summer anyway. If you do drink beer, chances are you have already seen the effects of this story from last November on NPR: “Worldwide hops shortage will make stouts, ales and other specialty microbrews more pricy in coming months. A triple whammy of bad weather in Europe, an increase in the price of barley and a decrease in hops production in the U.S. has lead to a price increase of 20 percent for the most widely grown varieties, to 80 percent for specialty hops. The shortage is particularly hitting microbreweries, since they use more hops than major brewers” Ouch! Inexpensive wine is becoming more expensive, expensive wine is becoming very expensive, and good beer now costs twelve bucks a six-pack!
So what is driving all this? Simply put - everything. I have to admit, a couple of years ago I was amazed out how undervalued wine was in the market place. It was just too cheap, and the price only had one place to go. Many people have suggested that California is the logical recipient of the increased prices of European wine, but that has not been my experience. California wine was always more expensive to begin with, and has been increasing in price just as rapidly as European wine, often more so.
We continue to try and find wines that offer great value, and there are still wonderful bottles under $20, but at the risk of using the most hackneyed phrase that has infiltrated our language in recent memory (excepting, of course, ‘a perfect storm’), thirteen bucks is the new nine, and twenty bucks is the new fifteen!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Good cheap wine
Recently the New York Times published an article on inexpensive Malbec wine from Argentina. The central message of the article is something that I have been ruminating on for some time and has nothing to do with the tasting notes on the Malbec. Much more interesting than the tasting notes is a concept I have always lived by, which basically comes down to “The best wine is not always the best wine for the occasion.” As a professional Sommeliere I always made a point to buy wines for my list that were drinking well right now, not twenty years from now. Invariably this meant buying vintages less heralded than what what the wine writers were gushing over. What’s the use of drinking the very best wine from the very best vintage if it is infanticide? Often a so called “off-vintage” provides a wonderful wine for current consumption. Similarly, I can’t tell you how many times I have tasted a lineup to find that I prefer the least expensive, or entry level wine, over the wineries “star.”
New York Times writer Eric Asimov puts it well when he says “I have a different theory of cheapness as it applies to wine: Often in New World regions and increasingly in the Old World, a producer’s most expensive red wines are also the most done up — spiffed and polished and reeking of oaken vanilla and chocolate like too much makeup or hair pomade . . . the wines are made from grapes so overripe that the prevailing flavors are of baked fruit and jam. Either way, creating a flavor profile to fit a preconceived notion of an expensive wine diminishes any sense of place and individuality. That’s why I’m often more interested in a producer’s less expensive wines. If you can dodge the minefields of oak substitutes and other winemaking tricks that are intended to imitate expensive wines you just might find some wines in which you can taste simple essences rather than fancy mock-ups.”
For a look at the whole article, here’s the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/dining/reviews/11wine.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=malbec&st=nyt&oref=slogin
New York Times writer Eric Asimov puts it well when he says “I have a different theory of cheapness as it applies to wine: Often in New World regions and increasingly in the Old World, a producer’s most expensive red wines are also the most done up — spiffed and polished and reeking of oaken vanilla and chocolate like too much makeup or hair pomade . . . the wines are made from grapes so overripe that the prevailing flavors are of baked fruit and jam. Either way, creating a flavor profile to fit a preconceived notion of an expensive wine diminishes any sense of place and individuality. That’s why I’m often more interested in a producer’s less expensive wines. If you can dodge the minefields of oak substitutes and other winemaking tricks that are intended to imitate expensive wines you just might find some wines in which you can taste simple essences rather than fancy mock-ups.”
For a look at the whole article, here’s the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/dining/reviews/11wine.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=malbec&st=nyt&oref=slogin
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
One beautiful thing in common - Philip Bernot
A recent tasting of very different wines yielded a very encouraging result. Three entries from France, four from Italy, and one from California all had one beautiful thing in common: This group of wines was all delightfully dry and relatively low in alcohol (I can already feel mouses clicking by those looking for the latest points score for a 16% Shiraz!). All the entries were impressive wines showing great care in their making; there are no losers here. Every wine was a winner, and largely for the same reason-balance.
All prices as of 5/28/08 and will definitely change!
Moulin De Gassac Guilhem Rouge, 2006, Languedoc, France~ the definition of less is more; this wine is a classic summer red. Perfect mouth-feel and ratio of crisp acidity to sweet-tart fruit, this medium bodied red is a rare thing-a thirst quenching red. On the label it says “Un vin comme autrefois” or roughly “A wine like in the past” - is that ever true! If you are like me and really miss the refreshing and balanced wines of earlier days, you will enjoy this traditional effort. The alcohol checks in at the expected and appreciated 12.5%. The parentage of this wine is impressive as it is an affordable offering from the great Mas de Daumas-Gassac. I served this wine, cool to the touch, with Turkish ground lamb with tomato, mint, and yogurt sauce over lemon-pepper orzo and greens and it flat-out disappeared! It is very hard to explain this sometimes, but what some may find as a fault with this wine (the finish is a little short) is exactly what makes it work so well. You keep going back to the glass for another sip, trying to put your finger on just what’s missing, and before you know it the bottle is empty! Good thing it is such as remarkable value. Top Dog price $13.49
Macon La Roche Vineuse, Domaine Alain Normand, 2005, Macon, France~ Still, even after all of this time, something can come up and smack a smile right on to my face! I frankly didn’t know that wines from this humble, yet revered, region could have this combination of serious playfulness. Everything about this Chardonnay is special, and every time you taste it’s a treat. Just as the fruit decides to reveal itself as another charming, but simple, quaffer it morphs into a lengthy and truly impressive mineral-driven mouthful. You may think the price is a skosh high for this region, but this wine is worth well more than the going rate. A ripe, but totally balanced, 13% alcohol by volume. I have harped on this before, but if you like the taste of magic in your wine, you have to seek out small, individual producers like Domaine Alain Normand
Another winner from Roy Cloud & Co. at Vintage ’59 Imports-I’m a big fan.
Top Dog price approximately $24.00
Montirius Cotes-du-Rhone, 2006, France~ If you like to buy Cotes-du-Rhone as a fruity little quaffer that you don’t have to think about, please do not buy this wine! I was struck by the shear size and formidable profile of this 100% Grenache wine; yet it is all in @ 14% alcohol. There was a time that that number was the ceiling, now we see headache-in-a-bottle table red wines pushing 16.5%! It is for a very good reason I rail against those high-alcohol, high-extract reds. This domaine is biodynamic and you will not find excessive chemical stabilizers or other shortcuts in the wine. Those massive, jammy wines need a lot of chemical help to keep them from exploding in the bottle, and you pay the price for that the next day. I raved about a previous effort from this fascinating winery, and then had an unfortunate experience with another wine, but I always felt like this property was one to watch (They are just as proud of their approach to waste water treatment as their vineyard techniques!). Montirius has nailed it with this mineral-and-earth driven Rhone wine-perfectly dry with just the fruit necessary and no more. Apparently I am not alone in my appreciation of this family-run domaine as I hear the French Ambassador to the US is a big fan. A value without compare; let this wine breathe for hours and hours. Seriously, twelve hours is about right. Check their website for a nice primer on Biodynamics. Vintage ’59 Imports strikes again! Top Dog price approximately $15.00
Valpolicella Classico Superiore “Ripasso,” Marchese Biscarodo, 2003, Italy~
This is the first of three wines from this place. In the “Ripasso” style, this means that the wine gets a further fermentation on the lees, or expended skins, of the intensely ripe Amarone grapes. This adds body, grip, and a bit of sweetness to the wine. Even in the blazing hot 2003 vintage this wine clocks in at a reasonable13% alcohol helping the preserve the silky nature of the palate. The raisin-like finish more of a suggestion than a statement and you are left with a satisfying mouth feel. Fine, fun, and fairly priced. Inquire
Valpolicella Classico Superiore “Ripasso,” La Giaretta, 2005, Italy~ this is my kind of wine, like the Montirius you could instantly tell that this wine was alive. The first sniff is anything but promising, somewhat feral really. But I was pleasantly surprised to get a whiff of tobacco, cedar, and leather aromas that seem rare in today’s wines, having been replaced by the berries. This wine goes through more changes during 90 minutes in a decanter than the poor schmuck in a werewolf movie; so buy this one only if you are willing to work with it. This brawny beauty has a very dynamic range of flavors and its high notes, shimmering like a Philly Jo Jones high-hat, made it stand out from the group of other Valpolicelli. The bright high register acids and aromatics gave this wine a depth that was extremely impressive even after it was opened for 24 hours, not uncommon for a youthful red like this. While I don’t know this winery well, I’m sure they utilize traditional and modern techniques without prejudice to create their wine, and the result is warmly traditional without being slavish. This type of wine should be above the norm in alcohol, and it is at 13.5%, but the alcohol is never a signature in the wine. Top Dog price approximately $20.00
Valpolicella Classico Superiore, Roberto Mazzi & figli, 2005, Italy~ As my friend said while we tasted this one “That Marc de Grazia has struck a deal with the devil!” I have had the same thought myself. Importer Marc de Grazia has an unerring ability to bring us exciting and satisfying wine that could never be mistaken for anything but Vino d’Italia; it is easy to envision a Robert Johnson-like crossroads deal going down between Marco and the Prince of Darkness. The only thing I ask is to keep it up! Everything you want in a Vapolicella is in this wine, and in all the right proportions. I ultimately default to the La Giaretta for its rustic appeal, but this wine is first rate and highly recommended. Alcohol is 13% by volume. Inquire
Propieta Sperino Uvaggio, Piedmonte, 2004, Italy ~ we didn’t know a thing about this one, other than the beautiful and classy label, until we cracked it. Great wine lets you know that it’s in the house, and this one got my attention immediately. This region has many beautiful vineyard sites that have historically made truly impressive wines and have now gone into neglect. Propieta Sperino is from the village of Lesono, and this site is now producing wine again after a fifty-year hiatus. This effort is palpably exciting, and touches all the bases for a Nebbiolo-based wine, and never with clunky, excess weight. Native grapes Vespolina and Croatina round out the blend. Extraordinary fine tannins and crisp fruit on the palate follow a rich and expressive aroma. Let it breathe for at least eight hours to flesh out the superb fruit and tame the acidity, and serve at a cool temperature. This wine would be a savvy buy for the cellar, as I believe it is fully the equal of other great Nebbiolos that cost twice as much. This is precisely the type of perfectly proportioned wine that ages into something altogether superior. Exciting and impressive stuff, with a completely focused 13% alcohol. Top Dog price approximately $26.00
Woodward-Graff Cabernet Sauvignon “A-frame Vineyard” 2002, Chalone appellation, California ~ as I am writing this on Memorial Day, I hereby nominate this wine for some kind of a medal. This is perhaps the most courageous Cabernet I have tasted in recent memory, and I will tell you why: First, the wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is simply amazing to me that many consumers think that blends are some kind of new trend in the wine business; it’s likely that the wine Jesus created from water was some kind of blend. Yet if you have Cabernet of this quality why not ring the bell-loudly! And ring loudly it does in this unabashedly old-school California wine. The Chalone bench in Monterey County was planted with Cabernet in the 70’s, and the original owners of that historic name produce this wine. Sadly the wine that actually carries the Chalone name now is often a bad joke, having been marginalized by the evil Diageo Co., the same folks that ruined Veuve Clicquot Champagne. Second, is the bone-dry treatment of the lovely fruit. If you have never had a traditional style California Cabernet, with it’s the dry, round, olive–like fruit character and nothing that would be more at home in the center of a doughnut, you will probably hate this wine. But if you fondly remember the great wines of the 70’s, the wines that put California squarely on the world stage and many of which show beautifully to this day, than you will no doubt love this balanced offering. Alcohol is 14.3%, which is the highest of this group, but never does it present in jammy, unwieldy fruit; just what is necessary. Inquire
I could have filled pages writing about the character of each of these wines, but the central theme is this: When the alcohol is in correct proportion to the overall structure of the wine it’s magic time. No need to break out the peanut butter and bread for this group; there isn’t a hint of jammy fruit in any bottle here. Are they “easy to drink?” Let me put it to you this way-it’s “easy to eat” at McDonalds, but that doesn’t make it satisfying. Wines like this are for people who want to be engaged by what’s in their glass and will take the extra time to show the wine at its best. There was no reason to suspect that this set of wines would be anything less than wonderful, I’m sure no one in this lineup ever hired a focus group to “help” them make wine. It is becoming quite discouraging, however, to see who is juicing-up the sugar and alcohol levels in their wine to add sweet, thick, boring fruit. Nothing like that here, just complex, fascinating wine-wine like from the past.
All prices as of 5/28/08 and will definitely change!
Moulin De Gassac Guilhem Rouge, 2006, Languedoc, France~ the definition of less is more; this wine is a classic summer red. Perfect mouth-feel and ratio of crisp acidity to sweet-tart fruit, this medium bodied red is a rare thing-a thirst quenching red. On the label it says “Un vin comme autrefois” or roughly “A wine like in the past” - is that ever true! If you are like me and really miss the refreshing and balanced wines of earlier days, you will enjoy this traditional effort. The alcohol checks in at the expected and appreciated 12.5%. The parentage of this wine is impressive as it is an affordable offering from the great Mas de Daumas-Gassac. I served this wine, cool to the touch, with Turkish ground lamb with tomato, mint, and yogurt sauce over lemon-pepper orzo and greens and it flat-out disappeared! It is very hard to explain this sometimes, but what some may find as a fault with this wine (the finish is a little short) is exactly what makes it work so well. You keep going back to the glass for another sip, trying to put your finger on just what’s missing, and before you know it the bottle is empty! Good thing it is such as remarkable value. Top Dog price $13.49
Macon La Roche Vineuse, Domaine Alain Normand, 2005, Macon, France~ Still, even after all of this time, something can come up and smack a smile right on to my face! I frankly didn’t know that wines from this humble, yet revered, region could have this combination of serious playfulness. Everything about this Chardonnay is special, and every time you taste it’s a treat. Just as the fruit decides to reveal itself as another charming, but simple, quaffer it morphs into a lengthy and truly impressive mineral-driven mouthful. You may think the price is a skosh high for this region, but this wine is worth well more than the going rate. A ripe, but totally balanced, 13% alcohol by volume. I have harped on this before, but if you like the taste of magic in your wine, you have to seek out small, individual producers like Domaine Alain Normand
Another winner from Roy Cloud & Co. at Vintage ’59 Imports-I’m a big fan.
Top Dog price approximately $24.00
Montirius Cotes-du-Rhone, 2006, France~ If you like to buy Cotes-du-Rhone as a fruity little quaffer that you don’t have to think about, please do not buy this wine! I was struck by the shear size and formidable profile of this 100% Grenache wine; yet it is all in @ 14% alcohol. There was a time that that number was the ceiling, now we see headache-in-a-bottle table red wines pushing 16.5%! It is for a very good reason I rail against those high-alcohol, high-extract reds. This domaine is biodynamic and you will not find excessive chemical stabilizers or other shortcuts in the wine. Those massive, jammy wines need a lot of chemical help to keep them from exploding in the bottle, and you pay the price for that the next day. I raved about a previous effort from this fascinating winery, and then had an unfortunate experience with another wine, but I always felt like this property was one to watch (They are just as proud of their approach to waste water treatment as their vineyard techniques!). Montirius has nailed it with this mineral-and-earth driven Rhone wine-perfectly dry with just the fruit necessary and no more. Apparently I am not alone in my appreciation of this family-run domaine as I hear the French Ambassador to the US is a big fan. A value without compare; let this wine breathe for hours and hours. Seriously, twelve hours is about right. Check their website for a nice primer on Biodynamics. Vintage ’59 Imports strikes again! Top Dog price approximately $15.00
Valpolicella Classico Superiore “Ripasso,” Marchese Biscarodo, 2003, Italy~
This is the first of three wines from this place. In the “Ripasso” style, this means that the wine gets a further fermentation on the lees, or expended skins, of the intensely ripe Amarone grapes. This adds body, grip, and a bit of sweetness to the wine. Even in the blazing hot 2003 vintage this wine clocks in at a reasonable13% alcohol helping the preserve the silky nature of the palate. The raisin-like finish more of a suggestion than a statement and you are left with a satisfying mouth feel. Fine, fun, and fairly priced. Inquire
Valpolicella Classico Superiore “Ripasso,” La Giaretta, 2005, Italy~ this is my kind of wine, like the Montirius you could instantly tell that this wine was alive. The first sniff is anything but promising, somewhat feral really. But I was pleasantly surprised to get a whiff of tobacco, cedar, and leather aromas that seem rare in today’s wines, having been replaced by the berries. This wine goes through more changes during 90 minutes in a decanter than the poor schmuck in a werewolf movie; so buy this one only if you are willing to work with it. This brawny beauty has a very dynamic range of flavors and its high notes, shimmering like a Philly Jo Jones high-hat, made it stand out from the group of other Valpolicelli. The bright high register acids and aromatics gave this wine a depth that was extremely impressive even after it was opened for 24 hours, not uncommon for a youthful red like this. While I don’t know this winery well, I’m sure they utilize traditional and modern techniques without prejudice to create their wine, and the result is warmly traditional without being slavish. This type of wine should be above the norm in alcohol, and it is at 13.5%, but the alcohol is never a signature in the wine. Top Dog price approximately $20.00
Valpolicella Classico Superiore, Roberto Mazzi & figli, 2005, Italy~ As my friend said while we tasted this one “That Marc de Grazia has struck a deal with the devil!” I have had the same thought myself. Importer Marc de Grazia has an unerring ability to bring us exciting and satisfying wine that could never be mistaken for anything but Vino d’Italia; it is easy to envision a Robert Johnson-like crossroads deal going down between Marco and the Prince of Darkness. The only thing I ask is to keep it up! Everything you want in a Vapolicella is in this wine, and in all the right proportions. I ultimately default to the La Giaretta for its rustic appeal, but this wine is first rate and highly recommended. Alcohol is 13% by volume. Inquire
Propieta Sperino Uvaggio, Piedmonte, 2004, Italy ~ we didn’t know a thing about this one, other than the beautiful and classy label, until we cracked it. Great wine lets you know that it’s in the house, and this one got my attention immediately. This region has many beautiful vineyard sites that have historically made truly impressive wines and have now gone into neglect. Propieta Sperino is from the village of Lesono, and this site is now producing wine again after a fifty-year hiatus. This effort is palpably exciting, and touches all the bases for a Nebbiolo-based wine, and never with clunky, excess weight. Native grapes Vespolina and Croatina round out the blend. Extraordinary fine tannins and crisp fruit on the palate follow a rich and expressive aroma. Let it breathe for at least eight hours to flesh out the superb fruit and tame the acidity, and serve at a cool temperature. This wine would be a savvy buy for the cellar, as I believe it is fully the equal of other great Nebbiolos that cost twice as much. This is precisely the type of perfectly proportioned wine that ages into something altogether superior. Exciting and impressive stuff, with a completely focused 13% alcohol. Top Dog price approximately $26.00
Woodward-Graff Cabernet Sauvignon “A-frame Vineyard” 2002, Chalone appellation, California ~ as I am writing this on Memorial Day, I hereby nominate this wine for some kind of a medal. This is perhaps the most courageous Cabernet I have tasted in recent memory, and I will tell you why: First, the wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is simply amazing to me that many consumers think that blends are some kind of new trend in the wine business; it’s likely that the wine Jesus created from water was some kind of blend. Yet if you have Cabernet of this quality why not ring the bell-loudly! And ring loudly it does in this unabashedly old-school California wine. The Chalone bench in Monterey County was planted with Cabernet in the 70’s, and the original owners of that historic name produce this wine. Sadly the wine that actually carries the Chalone name now is often a bad joke, having been marginalized by the evil Diageo Co., the same folks that ruined Veuve Clicquot Champagne. Second, is the bone-dry treatment of the lovely fruit. If you have never had a traditional style California Cabernet, with it’s the dry, round, olive–like fruit character and nothing that would be more at home in the center of a doughnut, you will probably hate this wine. But if you fondly remember the great wines of the 70’s, the wines that put California squarely on the world stage and many of which show beautifully to this day, than you will no doubt love this balanced offering. Alcohol is 14.3%, which is the highest of this group, but never does it present in jammy, unwieldy fruit; just what is necessary. Inquire
I could have filled pages writing about the character of each of these wines, but the central theme is this: When the alcohol is in correct proportion to the overall structure of the wine it’s magic time. No need to break out the peanut butter and bread for this group; there isn’t a hint of jammy fruit in any bottle here. Are they “easy to drink?” Let me put it to you this way-it’s “easy to eat” at McDonalds, but that doesn’t make it satisfying. Wines like this are for people who want to be engaged by what’s in their glass and will take the extra time to show the wine at its best. There was no reason to suspect that this set of wines would be anything less than wonderful, I’m sure no one in this lineup ever hired a focus group to “help” them make wine. It is becoming quite discouraging, however, to see who is juicing-up the sugar and alcohol levels in their wine to add sweet, thick, boring fruit. Nothing like that here, just complex, fascinating wine-wine like from the past.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Great Bordeaux - and why we don't sell them - Philip Bernot
I like the wines of Bordeaux, but have never been “in-love” with them as I am with wines from other parts of France. I have tasted many top-quality wines from Bordeaux from vintages ranging over fifty years. I have never had 1947 Cheval Blanc, 1945 Mouton Rothschild, 1928 Margaux, 1920 Lafite, or 1904 Haut Brion, or any wine from the 1800’s. Any Bordeaux wine, I mean. I have never visited Bordeaux; but I don’t feel bad about it. My feeling has always been this: These wines, especially the great ones, rarely shine their light of greatness on the observer. Often when you taste Bordeaux it’s impressive, but I’m rarely blown-away. I know this because when the stars align and you do taste great Bordeaux, in the right setting, when the wine is showing at top-form, it is amazing. When that light shines on you it’s like those searchlights at the new Chevy dealer - illuminating to say the least! But those experiences are few and far between. More often I have what happened today- a really nice, well-known wine from 2004 that I would sell for about $175 a bottle. It was really good, but I think for most people the better part of two C-notes is a lot to ask. Not that 175 bucks is the high end; far from it. The best wines from the 2005 vintage could be $3,500-$5,000. That is not for a case but a bottle. And that’s if you can find it; the list of hedge fund managers willing to slip a $60,000 case of wine into the boot of their gold-plated Bentley Flying Spur is a long one; thankfully that list is getting shorter everyday!
So we have a few Bordeaux wines. Like everything I buy I tend to seek out the properties that offer exceptional value. The difference between the fifty dollar bottle and the hundred and fifty dollar bottle is often quite small. And what about those high-flyers? I would love to tell you that we churn through hundreds of cases of first and second growth wines-but we don’t. It is literally a different business, and you are going head-to-head with mega-stores in mega-markets. In other words, a lock to lose for us.
And what about those wines I do love? I think Burgundy is the end-all, and you can still turn up some remarkable values. The best wines from there, however, are hideously expensive. But man-oh-man is there amazing wine from the south for the price! I am crazy about the delicious wines from Provence, Languedoc-Rousillon, and the Rhone. There are some pretty amazing values from Bordeaux as well, but I just love the earthy connection that the wines from the south have. Stop by sometime and talk to me about it; I always have something fun from those places.
So we have a few Bordeaux wines. Like everything I buy I tend to seek out the properties that offer exceptional value. The difference between the fifty dollar bottle and the hundred and fifty dollar bottle is often quite small. And what about those high-flyers? I would love to tell you that we churn through hundreds of cases of first and second growth wines-but we don’t. It is literally a different business, and you are going head-to-head with mega-stores in mega-markets. In other words, a lock to lose for us.
And what about those wines I do love? I think Burgundy is the end-all, and you can still turn up some remarkable values. The best wines from there, however, are hideously expensive. But man-oh-man is there amazing wine from the south for the price! I am crazy about the delicious wines from Provence, Languedoc-Rousillon, and the Rhone. There are some pretty amazing values from Bordeaux as well, but I just love the earthy connection that the wines from the south have. Stop by sometime and talk to me about it; I always have something fun from those places.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
A nice compliment/more Moshin - Philip Bernot
I recently posted a blog about the marvelous wines from Moshin Vineyards and the dynamic Rick Moshin. One of the things I love about the wine business is the many very smart people you meet-all doing something they love. In chatting with Rick he mentioned how the heavily extracted wines that are currently popular need so much more chemical stabilizing, so I asked if he could send me a few words on it:
Hello Philip,
Thanks for the great words in your blog. I said I would get back to you about the SO2 levels in my wines. SO2 levels in wines follow some recommended level depending on the pH of the wine. The lower the pH at bottling, the less amount of free sulpher is required. What we do at Moshin is to capture the acidity and pH at harvest, thus making our wines requirements for sulfites additions low from conception.
Also reduced oxygen levels in the wine due to little or no pumping helps keep our total SO2 levels in the measures of 20 to 50 PPM. We also work in the vineyards to reduce malic acid production in the berries. Thus after ML we maintain lower pH levels in the wine because of less malic acid. If you have more questions let me know.
Good luck with selling Moshin Wines in your store. Happy Summer! Rick Moshin
Thanks for the compliment Rick - Thanks for thinking that I am a LOT smarter than I really am! LOVE the wines, BTW :)
Philip
Hello Philip,
Thanks for the great words in your blog. I said I would get back to you about the SO2 levels in my wines. SO2 levels in wines follow some recommended level depending on the pH of the wine. The lower the pH at bottling, the less amount of free sulpher is required. What we do at Moshin is to capture the acidity and pH at harvest, thus making our wines requirements for sulfites additions low from conception.
Also reduced oxygen levels in the wine due to little or no pumping helps keep our total SO2 levels in the measures of 20 to 50 PPM. We also work in the vineyards to reduce malic acid production in the berries. Thus after ML we maintain lower pH levels in the wine because of less malic acid. If you have more questions let me know.
Good luck with selling Moshin Wines in your store. Happy Summer! Rick Moshin
Thanks for the compliment Rick - Thanks for thinking that I am a LOT smarter than I really am! LOVE the wines, BTW :)
Philip
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wine Buying 101 - Philip Bernot
I think everybody is guilty of this little sin, or would like to be: you are in a store and you see an item that you just know is mis-priced. It should be twenty five dollars, but there it is at $10.99. You want to tell someone “I think the price is wrong here!” but hey, things are going up every day and it harder to make ends meet. You scoop up the item, all of it, and hope you don’t get busted before you get out of the store. The same is true for wine; only different. Two to three times a month I taste something that is wickedly under-priced to its value and I buy it with gusto. I tell the customers who want to hear it about the amazing value, but let’s be honest-not everyone wants to hear it. Some folks buy what they buy strictly on price. Many shoppers, and not just here, are deeply suspicious of items they think are “too cheap.” Three things happened today that made me want to write about this:
One: We have been selling a wonderful wine from Spain; so much in fact that it has become the top-selling wine in the store in the year 2008. I’m not surprised-from the moment I tried it I thought it was an obscenely good value. I just got word that the new vintage is slated for a price increase-up to 90%! Obviously this is more than currency fluctuation and transportation costs. To be honest the new price is really more in line with the quality, but we were happy to sell as much as we did when it was cheap.
Two: One of our customers who knows his Italian wine very well bought an interesting red wine from Southern Italy on our recommendation. The wine was being discounted by our wholesaler for one reason only-nobody there knew how to sell it. It is amazing wine and we are selling it for an even more amazing price. The customer and I came to the same conclusion-this is a fifty-plus dollar bottle of wine-at less than fifteen dollars!
Three: I tasted a line of premium California wines, of which the least expensive would set you back about thirty-five bucks; and it went up from there. The resume of the winemaker is one of very well-known, but commercial, wines. I wouldn’t give you thirty-five cents for all four that I tried.
If you want to know the names of the first two wines, stop by and see me. The last wines I don’t ever want to talk about again!
One: We have been selling a wonderful wine from Spain; so much in fact that it has become the top-selling wine in the store in the year 2008. I’m not surprised-from the moment I tried it I thought it was an obscenely good value. I just got word that the new vintage is slated for a price increase-up to 90%! Obviously this is more than currency fluctuation and transportation costs. To be honest the new price is really more in line with the quality, but we were happy to sell as much as we did when it was cheap.
Two: One of our customers who knows his Italian wine very well bought an interesting red wine from Southern Italy on our recommendation. The wine was being discounted by our wholesaler for one reason only-nobody there knew how to sell it. It is amazing wine and we are selling it for an even more amazing price. The customer and I came to the same conclusion-this is a fifty-plus dollar bottle of wine-at less than fifteen dollars!
Three: I tasted a line of premium California wines, of which the least expensive would set you back about thirty-five bucks; and it went up from there. The resume of the winemaker is one of very well-known, but commercial, wines. I wouldn’t give you thirty-five cents for all four that I tried.
If you want to know the names of the first two wines, stop by and see me. The last wines I don’t ever want to talk about again!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
More on inexpensive wine - Philip Bernot
Hot on the heels on my previous post is this excellent article in New York Times. If you are passionate about wine then the points in this article hit home. If you are not passionate about wine, but like it for its health and therapeutic effects, then this stuff is still important-maybe more so! Check it out!
http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/does-your-wine-need-viagra/
http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/does-your-wine-need-viagra/
Friday, April 25, 2008
Under ten dollar wine - endangered species? - Philip Bernot
Quite understandably we are hearing a lot more of this recently – “You got any nice wine at or under ten bucks?” Yes, but . . . The under-ten-dollar category for wine is disappearing faster than the polar ice caps. There is, and will always be I suppose, wines under ten dollars. But the wine that was nine dollars last November is now twelve to thirteen. This should surprise no one-why should we be immune to global inflation? By extension this means last years fifteen dollar wine is pushing twenty, and the twenty dollar wine is pushing twenty-five. It may help to reshape your expectations or parameters. There seems to be widely held myth that wines from South America are the best values in the market place. That is simply not my experience. They spill more wine in France in a year than they make in all of South America; naturally there are more and better choices. Ditto for Italy & Spain. California? The wine from the Golden State (my home) historically is and will remain more expensive than those of Europe. It is a different business there, and the cost of doing business is higher. Too, it will definitely help if you are open to grape varieties outside of the big names. Eight-buck Chardonnay from the Central Valley of California is usually worth what it costs-or less. The unknown grape variety from France or Italy may be dramatically undervalued in quality to the price.
How about those big bottles? I think there are some really good values to be had in this arena with some pretty solid selections available for around twelve bucks. We will continue to seek out wines that offer the best value for the money spent, but value is relative. A twenty-five dollar wine can be a great value every bit as much as a nine dollar wine; often more so.
We feel your pain-literally! We are in the same boat and paying much more for the same items than we paid last year.
How about those big bottles? I think there are some really good values to be had in this arena with some pretty solid selections available for around twelve bucks. We will continue to seek out wines that offer the best value for the money spent, but value is relative. A twenty-five dollar wine can be a great value every bit as much as a nine dollar wine; often more so.
We feel your pain-literally! We are in the same boat and paying much more for the same items than we paid last year.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Stand by your brand? - Philip Bernot
No question about it; we are the most “sold-to” society of all time. Madison Avenue has more impact on most Americans than the street that they actually live on. I doubt that most people even realize the role that advertising plays in their decision making process-and that is just the way the marketers want it. When marketing a brand everything is about market share, and when increasing market share everything is fair game. What does this have to do with the price of Shiraz in Barossa? The fact is that the most enjoyable wines in the world are not from “brands,” but from producers, a subtle yet distinct difference. Producers are actual individuals, families and small groups of like-minded, passionate individuals. These people are more often than not farmers. Brands are the domain of behemoth International Spirit & Wine conglomerates. They are frequently also in other businesses such as hotels or fast food. If there has ever been a group less likely to understand the simple joys of a well-made bottle of wine I don’t know who they are. In that end of the business it is all about increasing market share, or “moving boxes.” Quality is collateral damage. Brands are what you find in the supermarket; producers are what you find in ours and other stores that actually taste what they sell.
The reason I make this distinction is to try to put in perspective continuity. I know it can be frustrating for customers to find a bottle of wine that they like only to return and find out it is no longer available. But there is an inverse relationship between continuity and quality. Simply put, the more of a given wine there is the less likely that it is worth drinking. This is not to say we cannot have extensive runs of very good quality wines. It is to say that the most interesting wines, by their nature, are limited in supply. Too, it is important to remember that wine is a product of a finite growing season, or vintage. It is simply not possible to go back and get more of the 2005 Chateau Fillintheblank when the vintage is sold out. This still seems to surprise many people. Also surprising to many is that wines we have confidently sold can be dropped because of quality differences from vintage to vintage. For quite a while we happily sold an under-ten-dollar Spanish red that was my favorite kind of wine-one that was worth well more than what it cost. The new vintage of the wine was decidedly underwhelming. The biggest problem was that the new wine was not just a weaker vintage but represented a dramatic departure in style-and not for the better. It was still under ten bucks, but now it tasted like it.
Lastly on this subject is how a producer can become a brand in a heartbeat. A trip through the wine aisle in the local Acme supermarket can be a painful experience for me. It is there where I see formerly wonderful names that conjure up warm memories of tastings and visits reduced to commodity brands. The California wine industry is littered with these formerly terrific producers who couldn’t resist the economics of selling their label to a conglomerate who then puts any old swill in the bottle and hopes that takes at least five years for anyone to notice the difference.
Now I’m sure that there are readers out there who are already crying foul and thinking, “Phil, you are just a wine snob.” If that’s what I am than so be it – I’m used to it by now. I spent many years in the high-end of the restaurant business and one thing I learned is this: The Chef who seeks out only the highest quality ingredients, who eschews corner-cutting in their preparation, who has exacting standards that will not allow him or her to serve a meal that smacks of mediocrity; that person is a genius. The person who applies the same standards to wine is a wine snob. Go figure!
The reason I make this distinction is to try to put in perspective continuity. I know it can be frustrating for customers to find a bottle of wine that they like only to return and find out it is no longer available. But there is an inverse relationship between continuity and quality. Simply put, the more of a given wine there is the less likely that it is worth drinking. This is not to say we cannot have extensive runs of very good quality wines. It is to say that the most interesting wines, by their nature, are limited in supply. Too, it is important to remember that wine is a product of a finite growing season, or vintage. It is simply not possible to go back and get more of the 2005 Chateau Fillintheblank when the vintage is sold out. This still seems to surprise many people. Also surprising to many is that wines we have confidently sold can be dropped because of quality differences from vintage to vintage. For quite a while we happily sold an under-ten-dollar Spanish red that was my favorite kind of wine-one that was worth well more than what it cost. The new vintage of the wine was decidedly underwhelming. The biggest problem was that the new wine was not just a weaker vintage but represented a dramatic departure in style-and not for the better. It was still under ten bucks, but now it tasted like it.
Lastly on this subject is how a producer can become a brand in a heartbeat. A trip through the wine aisle in the local Acme supermarket can be a painful experience for me. It is there where I see formerly wonderful names that conjure up warm memories of tastings and visits reduced to commodity brands. The California wine industry is littered with these formerly terrific producers who couldn’t resist the economics of selling their label to a conglomerate who then puts any old swill in the bottle and hopes that takes at least five years for anyone to notice the difference.
Now I’m sure that there are readers out there who are already crying foul and thinking, “Phil, you are just a wine snob.” If that’s what I am than so be it – I’m used to it by now. I spent many years in the high-end of the restaurant business and one thing I learned is this: The Chef who seeks out only the highest quality ingredients, who eschews corner-cutting in their preparation, who has exacting standards that will not allow him or her to serve a meal that smacks of mediocrity; that person is a genius. The person who applies the same standards to wine is a wine snob. Go figure!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Chillin' & Grillin'
The warm weather is here, hopefully to stay, and you know what that means: time to break out the grill! And what is the best thing in the whole wide world to match with the first grilled foods of the season?: Italian red wine - especially a zesty Barbera. We are featuring a killer line-up of amazing Italian reds in different styles and prices. Some of these wines are already in stock, others will be here shortly!
D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture Riserva “Vigna Caselle” 2000, Basilicata ~ Easily those most unusual wine of the group and probably my favorite. This wine is stone-cold old-school with no apologies! The rustic Aglianico grape makes what is essentially the Barolo of the South; D’Angelo is the only producer left making this wine in the traditional style. Fermented and aged in “Botti,” or large, neutral wood casks, the wine presents beautiful spice-scented notes on the nose and robust tannins from the grapes, and not the wood.
Gorgeous wine for true aficionados who cringe at the sweet world-wine paradigm. Serve with goat or other crazy stuff! We got a great buy on this wine and are happy to pass the savings to our customers. About $15.00/btl (Believe me, people pay 4X this much for this quality in Tuscany & Piedmont!)
Bibi Graetz Casamatta 2006, Tuscany ~ This wine is 100% Sangiovese, from various vineyard sites, fermented in stainless steel. Soft, forward fruit makes this a perfect choice for a thick burger or ribs. $16.99/btl.
Bucaro Montepulciano Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2006, Abruzzo ~ Don’t walk. Run down here, RIGHT NOW, and stock up on this delicious wine. Made from organic grapes, this is stand out Montepulciano wine from the grape of the same name. Rich fruit, but even more impressive structure. Make sure you let this wine breathe for 45 minutes or more after opening; it tastes a little fruity and simple on opening but rights itself quickly. VERY LIMITED SUPPLY! $17.99/btl.
Fratelli Seghesio Barbera D’Alba 2006, Piedmont ~ Has there ever been a more perfect wine to serve with roasted yard bird with a spicy-sweet BBQ sauce? The answer is no! Loads of rich, ripe fruit and the crisp acidity you need for tomato-based sauces. $21.99/btl.
Carpineta Fontalpino Montaperto 2005, Tuscany ~ A classically structured wine from a very unusual combination of grapes; this one blends Sangiovese, Alicante, and a little Gamay to excellent results. If you are looking for a fruit-bomb, look elsewhere. This wine has more in common with a top Bordeaux than an overripe Shiraz. Serve with a choice steak. Let it breathe for a couple of hours for best results. $28.79/btl.
Braida Monferratto Rosso “Il Bacialè” 2006, Piedmont ~ Braida is probably the master of Barbera, and this wine is a tour de force (or the equivalent Italian phrase). It may not be typical, but this blend is 60% Barbera, 20% Pinot Noir, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Merlot. This all adds up to 100% delicious! This one should be served with more elaborate grilled dishes to match the complex nature of the wine. $35.00/btl.
Fattoria Montellori Salamartano 1999, Tuscany ~ People happily pay twice this price for Claret-style wines like this from prestigious Bordeaux producers. Equal parts Cabernet and Merlot, this is stylish wine and a great value. Serve this when the grilled fare comes inside to a white table cloth and crystal glasses! Exquisite! $44.99/btl.
We have many other great selections for the grill, including more from Italy!
Note: This post was written by Philip Bernot.
D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture Riserva “Vigna Caselle” 2000, Basilicata ~ Easily those most unusual wine of the group and probably my favorite. This wine is stone-cold old-school with no apologies! The rustic Aglianico grape makes what is essentially the Barolo of the South; D’Angelo is the only producer left making this wine in the traditional style. Fermented and aged in “Botti,” or large, neutral wood casks, the wine presents beautiful spice-scented notes on the nose and robust tannins from the grapes, and not the wood.
Gorgeous wine for true aficionados who cringe at the sweet world-wine paradigm. Serve with goat or other crazy stuff! We got a great buy on this wine and are happy to pass the savings to our customers. About $15.00/btl (Believe me, people pay 4X this much for this quality in Tuscany & Piedmont!)
Bibi Graetz Casamatta 2006, Tuscany ~ This wine is 100% Sangiovese, from various vineyard sites, fermented in stainless steel. Soft, forward fruit makes this a perfect choice for a thick burger or ribs. $16.99/btl.
Bucaro Montepulciano Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2006, Abruzzo ~ Don’t walk. Run down here, RIGHT NOW, and stock up on this delicious wine. Made from organic grapes, this is stand out Montepulciano wine from the grape of the same name. Rich fruit, but even more impressive structure. Make sure you let this wine breathe for 45 minutes or more after opening; it tastes a little fruity and simple on opening but rights itself quickly. VERY LIMITED SUPPLY! $17.99/btl.
Fratelli Seghesio Barbera D’Alba 2006, Piedmont ~ Has there ever been a more perfect wine to serve with roasted yard bird with a spicy-sweet BBQ sauce? The answer is no! Loads of rich, ripe fruit and the crisp acidity you need for tomato-based sauces. $21.99/btl.
Carpineta Fontalpino Montaperto 2005, Tuscany ~ A classically structured wine from a very unusual combination of grapes; this one blends Sangiovese, Alicante, and a little Gamay to excellent results. If you are looking for a fruit-bomb, look elsewhere. This wine has more in common with a top Bordeaux than an overripe Shiraz. Serve with a choice steak. Let it breathe for a couple of hours for best results. $28.79/btl.
Braida Monferratto Rosso “Il Bacialè” 2006, Piedmont ~ Braida is probably the master of Barbera, and this wine is a tour de force (or the equivalent Italian phrase). It may not be typical, but this blend is 60% Barbera, 20% Pinot Noir, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Merlot. This all adds up to 100% delicious! This one should be served with more elaborate grilled dishes to match the complex nature of the wine. $35.00/btl.
Fattoria Montellori Salamartano 1999, Tuscany ~ People happily pay twice this price for Claret-style wines like this from prestigious Bordeaux producers. Equal parts Cabernet and Merlot, this is stylish wine and a great value. Serve this when the grilled fare comes inside to a white table cloth and crystal glasses! Exquisite! $44.99/btl.
We have many other great selections for the grill, including more from Italy!
Note: This post was written by Philip Bernot.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A plea for dry wine - Philip Bernot
If you are new to wine, say you just started sipping in the last ten to twelve years, or you are a very disinterested observer, you may not be aware that there has been a fundamental shift in wine making style in the last decade plus. This shift is especially apparent in the current crop of red wines, but has its roots in a similar phenomenon that started with California Chardonnay. This may be completely irrelevant to you as a wine drinker. Most people like wine for its therapeutic effects and I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to become a student of the game. Wine is a complicated subject and I doubt that most people have the time or inclination to take up the subject. After all, that’s why we are here! The only reason I bring it up is because the trend creates conflict between what consumers say they want and what they really seem to buy and consume. I am talking, of course, about the rising level of sweetness in wine as measured by residual sugar. Naturally occurring sugar in grapes works with yeast to create a byproduct – alcohol, by way of fermentation. When talking about table wines the standard for years was for there to be a fairly complete fermentation that left just trace amounts of residual sugar. This is what defines the term “dry.” Now, especially amongst the new world producers of Australia and California, there is a powerful market trend to leave some unfermented sugar, or even add back some sugar, in the finished wine. Again, the only reason I mention this is because the average customer grimaces at the idea of sweet wine but happily plunks down the pesos for a detectibly sweet Shiraz.
This story illustrates the conundrum perfectly; and would be quite funny if it did not make me want to cry; which it did: This week I tasted a dozen or so wines with Sigfried Pic, Export Director for Rhone Valley producer Ferraton Pere & Fils. The wines were uniformly excellent, and a couple selections were sensational values. As an experiment the folks at Ferraton took one of their dry red wines and added sugar (to approximately 6 grams/ per liter residual sugar, or about twice the level for “dry” and similar to the average Australian Shiraz) back into it, put the wine into the equivalent of a paint mixer, shook it up to integrate the sugar into the wine, and sped off to England for a tasting. Can you imagine doing this at home? I would wager large that most people would find the idea sickening. The UK is known for favoring the traditional, so this is particularly interesting - the tasting group was made up of both casual wine buyers and seasoned wine merchants. Many of the casual tasters went crazy “This is great, so bold!” The veterans were less impressed - “Did you change winemakers?” was the cautious, concerned reaction. It may be very easy to draw the conclusion that the market had spoken and that the buying public prefers sweeter wines. If that were completely true we would still be wearing leisure suits. I guess what I am trying to say is this sweeter style is a trend or a fad more than an absolute. I hope.
More than anything else, though, it is what you lose when you leave this much residual sugar in the wine - complexity. These sweeter wines are one-trick ponies. Lots of people seem to like the trick, but ultimately it is boring. Dry wines allow your mind to fill in the subtle nuances and ultimately are more complex and rewarding. At least in the opinion of this grizzled veteran!
This story illustrates the conundrum perfectly; and would be quite funny if it did not make me want to cry; which it did: This week I tasted a dozen or so wines with Sigfried Pic, Export Director for Rhone Valley producer Ferraton Pere & Fils. The wines were uniformly excellent, and a couple selections were sensational values. As an experiment the folks at Ferraton took one of their dry red wines and added sugar (to approximately 6 grams/ per liter residual sugar, or about twice the level for “dry” and similar to the average Australian Shiraz) back into it, put the wine into the equivalent of a paint mixer, shook it up to integrate the sugar into the wine, and sped off to England for a tasting. Can you imagine doing this at home? I would wager large that most people would find the idea sickening. The UK is known for favoring the traditional, so this is particularly interesting - the tasting group was made up of both casual wine buyers and seasoned wine merchants. Many of the casual tasters went crazy “This is great, so bold!” The veterans were less impressed - “Did you change winemakers?” was the cautious, concerned reaction. It may be very easy to draw the conclusion that the market had spoken and that the buying public prefers sweeter wines. If that were completely true we would still be wearing leisure suits. I guess what I am trying to say is this sweeter style is a trend or a fad more than an absolute. I hope.
More than anything else, though, it is what you lose when you leave this much residual sugar in the wine - complexity. These sweeter wines are one-trick ponies. Lots of people seem to like the trick, but ultimately it is boring. Dry wines allow your mind to fill in the subtle nuances and ultimately are more complex and rewarding. At least in the opinion of this grizzled veteran!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
When Worlds Collide: Sometimes It's Cool!
A few months ago, our crack business team (actual crack use varies) decided that rather than just replicate our wine inventory in both stores, we should allow the inventories to naturally diverge through a series of mutations and adaptations, sort of like Evolution (or Adaptation Over Time, depending upon where your textbooks are printed).
Why pursue this apparently insane idea, which flies in the face of brand continuity? Well, for one thing, instead of hiring moronic clerks who frequently drool, we wasted money by bringing in two wine professionals. Philip and Jane, unlike those idiots Joe and umm....that would be me, actually know what they're doing. So we would be ever stupider than usual to waste their talents.
Secondly, we've noticed that wines sell differently at the two stores. At Elliott Road, we sell a lot more New World wines - stuff from the Americas, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. At the Marlboro store, we tend to sell more Old World wine from Europe.
We could write a dissertation about this for a diploma mill, and probably get a Ph.D., but who cares? As Rudyard Kipling wrote, "Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do and die." Okay, that's depressing. Let's change it to "...ours is but to do and thrive!" There, much better. Kipling was a real buzzkill.
Anyhoo, Jane had a great idea today, which I will hereby steal credit for. We should make sure that the top-selling wines at each store are available at BOTH STORES! So we're going to do that, thanks to my fabulous idea.
We'll still have different selections at the two stores, but we'll make sure that the most popular wines are at both. Brand continuity? BORRRRINNNGGG. When it comes to wine, we say "Vive La Difference!"
By the way, a free bottle of wine to whoever can name the dude in the photo.
Why pursue this apparently insane idea, which flies in the face of brand continuity? Well, for one thing, instead of hiring moronic clerks who frequently drool, we wasted money by bringing in two wine professionals. Philip and Jane, unlike those idiots Joe and umm....that would be me, actually know what they're doing. So we would be ever stupider than usual to waste their talents.
Secondly, we've noticed that wines sell differently at the two stores. At Elliott Road, we sell a lot more New World wines - stuff from the Americas, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. At the Marlboro store, we tend to sell more Old World wine from Europe.
We could write a dissertation about this for a diploma mill, and probably get a Ph.D., but who cares? As Rudyard Kipling wrote, "Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do and die." Okay, that's depressing. Let's change it to "...ours is but to do and thrive!" There, much better. Kipling was a real buzzkill.
Anyhoo, Jane had a great idea today, which I will hereby steal credit for. We should make sure that the top-selling wines at each store are available at BOTH STORES! So we're going to do that, thanks to my fabulous idea.
We'll still have different selections at the two stores, but we'll make sure that the most popular wines are at both. Brand continuity? BORRRRINNNGGG. When it comes to wine, we say "Vive La Difference!"
By the way, a free bottle of wine to whoever can name the dude in the photo.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Well tie me kangaroo down, mate!
People who know me know that I am a little less excited about Australian wine than others seem to be (he says showing a complete mastery of understatement). While this may surprise some people, it is not that unusual for a person with my experience in this business. In fact it is the very characteristics of most Australian wine that appeals to John Q. Public that turns me and other grizzled veterans off; especially when we talk about Shiraz. Most of these wines are just too sweet and terminally lack structure. “Loads of jammy fruit” is the code phrase for me to hightail it in the opposite direction. So imagine my surprise when I tasted not one but two remarkable wines from down under in a recent tasting. Honestly, if there were more beautifully structured wines like this from Australia I would be a big fan. I doubt that will happen, but in the mean time these two are well worth mentioning:
West Cape Howe Chardonnay “Styx Gulley,” Western Australia- The first thing that greets you when you put the glass to your nose is the rich smell of toasted barrel. Thankfully, though, it is a fully integrated aroma that does not overpower. The palate rewards you with focused, dry Chardonnay fruit of a very forthright nature. More to the style of Burgundy, the overall impression is of an extremely well-crafted wine that is a stone-cold value at $20.69/btl. Highly recommended!
Picardy Pinot Noir, Western Australia- Never, ever did I expect to taste Pinot from Australia this focused and balanced. Undeniably in the Burgundy style, this beautifully made wine features earthy terroir in the nose and elegant balance on the palate. This is one of the few wines made outside of Burgundy that captures the true essence of Pinot Noir – a great value at $32.84/btl.
prices subject to change without notice.
West Cape Howe Chardonnay “Styx Gulley,” Western Australia- The first thing that greets you when you put the glass to your nose is the rich smell of toasted barrel. Thankfully, though, it is a fully integrated aroma that does not overpower. The palate rewards you with focused, dry Chardonnay fruit of a very forthright nature. More to the style of Burgundy, the overall impression is of an extremely well-crafted wine that is a stone-cold value at $20.69/btl. Highly recommended!
Picardy Pinot Noir, Western Australia- Never, ever did I expect to taste Pinot from Australia this focused and balanced. Undeniably in the Burgundy style, this beautifully made wine features earthy terroir in the nose and elegant balance on the palate. This is one of the few wines made outside of Burgundy that captures the true essence of Pinot Noir – a great value at $32.84/btl.
prices subject to change without notice.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Burgundy: Heaven on earth or labyrinth of Hell?
Catchy title, heh? The region of Burgundy, home to the finest expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on the planet, is a remarkably frustrating place. There is no question that the best wines from this place are in the top percentile of the world’s great wines. Many critics, collectors, enthusiasts, etc. would say these are the finest wines available. You will get no argument from me. The sight, smell, and sensation of a great Volnay or Grands Echezeaux moving around in your glass is just different than other wine, even other great wine. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why, and I think that is the point. There is a certain indefinable quality to these wines. Yet there can also be no question that this region has its share of common, often expensive, wines. How does the buyer know what to expect? Burgundy is like buying real estate in a foreign country; local knowledge is everything. You definitely want to do your homework on who the best importers are; they are the people that do the heavy lifting. How frustrating is it for importers? This story gives us an idea- Daniel Haas, second generation American importer of fine wines under the Vineyard Brands label, told me the story of working with a renowned producer of great and expensive wines. Upon the retirement of the Father vineyard sites were divided between two sons. Since I believe there is no direct French equivalent for the phrase “team-player,” a fairly predictable thing happened. Each son set up shop in different caves (wine facilities) and set about making the same wine from the same place - twice. Now when Danny wants to visit this producer to taste and negotiate, he has to do so twice. If you have ever negotiated with a recalcitrant and wily Burgundian it is not something you would want to do twice for the same result. The French are all about art and there is no question that they have raised the family feud to an art-form. Burgundy is rife with fathers that don’t speak to sons, brothers that don’t speak to brothers and even a few women whom nobody speaks to. Add to that that many of these people have the same last name and you can see the problem. And the vineyards themselves? A complete patchwork of individual owners, farmers, and producers exists. It is not uncommon for a small vineyard to have six or more interested parties working the vines, each with their own vine management techniques. Individual rows of vines are owned or leased, meaning your neighbor may own the vines six feet from yours. There are also many different types of producers, from farmers who sell their grapes and make no wine, to small producers who make wine only from vines they own, to large “negociant” houses that purchase most of the fruit they use. And of course there is the vintage.
So why bother with all of this complexity? It’s all in the bottle. There is nothing on earth like the experience of a great Burgundy, and even a good Burgundy can be a real eye-opener. Look on the label for information about the importer. The best importers have long-term relationships with their producers. And of course, develop a relationship with a wine merchant who understands the area. Last, when drinking Burgundy, give it your full attention. These wines are about subtlety and style; if you are multi-tasking while sipping Montrachet I guarantee you are missing the elements that make Burgundy “The wine of Kings.”
Importers to look for: Vineyard Brands, Vintage ’59 Imports, Jeanne-Marie Champs, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Wilson-Daniels, and many others.
So why bother with all of this complexity? It’s all in the bottle. There is nothing on earth like the experience of a great Burgundy, and even a good Burgundy can be a real eye-opener. Look on the label for information about the importer. The best importers have long-term relationships with their producers. And of course, develop a relationship with a wine merchant who understands the area. Last, when drinking Burgundy, give it your full attention. These wines are about subtlety and style; if you are multi-tasking while sipping Montrachet I guarantee you are missing the elements that make Burgundy “The wine of Kings.”
Importers to look for: Vineyard Brands, Vintage ’59 Imports, Jeanne-Marie Champs, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Wilson-Daniels, and many others.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
File under W for wood. Spanish wines by Philip Bernot
Spain is the largest user of American oak in the production of wines, and if you are a fan of sweet American oak, here's a group you will love.
Note: This article falls under the category of "we taste a lot more then we can stock," so there is a very good chance we don't have all of these selections in stock:
Azabache Reserva 2001, Rioja~ 70%Tempronillo, 30% Graciano, we have stocked the lesser expensive version of this wine in the past, which I felt was a very good value. The Reserva is undoubtedly a better wine, but the less expensive wine is actually a little more user-friendly. Good stuff, but not my favorite of this very good group.
Castell de les Pinyeres 2003, Monsant~ Probably the softest and easiest to drink of the group, this wine is 45% Grenache, 30% Carignan, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet, and 5% Tempronillo. Apparently the kitchen sink didn't ripen fully, or I would have expected a small percentage of that too! I liked this wine for its forward nature and woody underpinnings, but ultimately it is not terribly complex; surprising when you look at the blend. Solid, but not spectacular.
Emina 2005, Ribero del Duero~ This wine is part of the "GRUPO MATARROMERA," a complex of wineries, a restaurant, a for-rent country house, and something called a "wine interpretation center." This wine is 100% Tinta del pais, or "country red grape;" my understanding is this term is the local vernacular for Tempronillo. Twelve months in a combination of American and French oak yields a dark and rich wine with a decidedly woody finish. The winery web site says this wine ". . . goes well with red meats, roasts, cheese and blue fish." I'm not sure if "blue fish" is the same as Bluefish, but while I can see the wine working with hot-smoked Bluefish, the idea of serving this with a grilled Bluefish fillet kind of makes me ill. Solid and enjoyable wine.
Emina "Prestigio" 2005, Ribera del Duero~ I frequently find "reserve" wines of this type to be a little too much of everything, often obliterating the subtle charms of a given wine in exchange for more oak & tannin. Not so here, "Prestigio" actually has more richly integrated fruit than the standard blend. That's no doubt because the wine is aged in 100% French Alliers oak for 16 months; no American oak. Before I am accused of being a Francophile (again!), the old stands of European oak have a much tighter grain then their American cousins, which impart less sweet woody vanillin's to the wine. The upside of this is the natural fruit of the wine can show through, and the overall structure of Prestigio is much more balanced than the regular blend. Very good wine, this one.
Matarromera Crianza 2004, Ribero del Duero~ There is a lot of world class wine made in the Ribera del Duero, some of the most famous and expensive wines in Spain come from this area. I honestly don't know whether this example is near the top of the heap or not; I just haven't tasted Vega Sicilia, Tinto Pesquera, etc. recently. I will say that I thought this wine was quite fine, exuding class and distinction throughout the flavor spectrum. Here the Tempronillo is aged in 100% American oak to very good results with the oak perfectly integrated into the overall structure. Superb wine with much to commend.
Galena 2004, Domani de la Cartoixa, Priorat~ While grapes have been grown in the Priorat since before Da Vinci doodled; the region is a relatively new wine producer in any real sense. Now some of Spain's best and most expensive wines hail from the rocky, inhospitable terrain. Garnacha negra (Grenache) 35%, Cabernet Sauvignon 25%, Merlot 25%, Cariñena (Carignan)15% aged 12 months in French(80%) and American(20%) oak yields a wine of intense concentration and weight, with a nicely integrated but prevalent oak finish. The big brother of this wine, Clos Galena, scores big points on the review circuit, and this wine is quite impressive as well.
Zarus Barrica, Ribera del Duero~ I often see people go ga-ga over wines that I consider to have fatal amounts of oak; and while not corrupted by oak, this wine is for folks who love the anesthetizing feel of wood on their tongue. A little surprising considering that this 100% Tempronillo wine sees only seven months in French & American oak. This wine defines the value quotient of Spanish red's as you can you can get this one for around twenty bucks. This wine is what I call a "crowd-pleaser," as long as the crowd is oak junkies!
I can honestly say that all of the above wines are quite good. If you are interested, stop by and see us & we will give you price & availabilty quotes.
Note: This article falls under the category of "we taste a lot more then we can stock," so there is a very good chance we don't have all of these selections in stock:
Azabache Reserva 2001, Rioja~ 70%Tempronillo, 30% Graciano, we have stocked the lesser expensive version of this wine in the past, which I felt was a very good value. The Reserva is undoubtedly a better wine, but the less expensive wine is actually a little more user-friendly. Good stuff, but not my favorite of this very good group.
Castell de les Pinyeres 2003, Monsant~ Probably the softest and easiest to drink of the group, this wine is 45% Grenache, 30% Carignan, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet, and 5% Tempronillo. Apparently the kitchen sink didn't ripen fully, or I would have expected a small percentage of that too! I liked this wine for its forward nature and woody underpinnings, but ultimately it is not terribly complex; surprising when you look at the blend. Solid, but not spectacular.
Emina 2005, Ribero del Duero~ This wine is part of the "GRUPO MATARROMERA," a complex of wineries, a restaurant, a for-rent country house, and something called a "wine interpretation center." This wine is 100% Tinta del pais, or "country red grape;" my understanding is this term is the local vernacular for Tempronillo. Twelve months in a combination of American and French oak yields a dark and rich wine with a decidedly woody finish. The winery web site says this wine ". . . goes well with red meats, roasts, cheese and blue fish." I'm not sure if "blue fish" is the same as Bluefish, but while I can see the wine working with hot-smoked Bluefish, the idea of serving this with a grilled Bluefish fillet kind of makes me ill. Solid and enjoyable wine.
Emina "Prestigio" 2005, Ribera del Duero~ I frequently find "reserve" wines of this type to be a little too much of everything, often obliterating the subtle charms of a given wine in exchange for more oak & tannin. Not so here, "Prestigio" actually has more richly integrated fruit than the standard blend. That's no doubt because the wine is aged in 100% French Alliers oak for 16 months; no American oak. Before I am accused of being a Francophile (again!), the old stands of European oak have a much tighter grain then their American cousins, which impart less sweet woody vanillin's to the wine. The upside of this is the natural fruit of the wine can show through, and the overall structure of Prestigio is much more balanced than the regular blend. Very good wine, this one.
Matarromera Crianza 2004, Ribero del Duero~ There is a lot of world class wine made in the Ribera del Duero, some of the most famous and expensive wines in Spain come from this area. I honestly don't know whether this example is near the top of the heap or not; I just haven't tasted Vega Sicilia, Tinto Pesquera, etc. recently. I will say that I thought this wine was quite fine, exuding class and distinction throughout the flavor spectrum. Here the Tempronillo is aged in 100% American oak to very good results with the oak perfectly integrated into the overall structure. Superb wine with much to commend.
Galena 2004, Domani de la Cartoixa, Priorat~ While grapes have been grown in the Priorat since before Da Vinci doodled; the region is a relatively new wine producer in any real sense. Now some of Spain's best and most expensive wines hail from the rocky, inhospitable terrain. Garnacha negra (Grenache) 35%, Cabernet Sauvignon 25%, Merlot 25%, Cariñena (Carignan)15% aged 12 months in French(80%) and American(20%) oak yields a wine of intense concentration and weight, with a nicely integrated but prevalent oak finish. The big brother of this wine, Clos Galena, scores big points on the review circuit, and this wine is quite impressive as well.
Zarus Barrica, Ribera del Duero~ I often see people go ga-ga over wines that I consider to have fatal amounts of oak; and while not corrupted by oak, this wine is for folks who love the anesthetizing feel of wood on their tongue. A little surprising considering that this 100% Tempronillo wine sees only seven months in French & American oak. This wine defines the value quotient of Spanish red's as you can you can get this one for around twenty bucks. This wine is what I call a "crowd-pleaser," as long as the crowd is oak junkies!
I can honestly say that all of the above wines are quite good. If you are interested, stop by and see us & we will give you price & availabilty quotes.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Do Terroirists hate our freedom? - Philip Bernot
Do Terroirists hate our freedom?
That is not a typo. “Terroir” is the French term used to define the specific characteristics of a given vineyard site, and it is in France that a group of wine fanatics who think soil is everything have come to be known as “terroirists.” Terroirists are everywhere, however; if anything the German system of rating vineyards is even more specific than the French. California has its share of terroirists, too. “Rutherford dust” is a well known term used to describe the dusty tannins found in the best Cabernet from the Rutherford bench in Napa. Entirely too much has been written about terroir, and heaven knows the term gets thrown around at tastings when nobody has anything more insightful to say. There are basically two views on terroir – one view is that true terroir is an elusive thing found in the very best wines of the world and is the defining trait; e.g. the soil of Champagne cannot be duplicated elsewhere, therefore no other sparkling wine can approach Champagne’s greatness. The other view is that since all vines are grown in dirt, all wine has terroir. Which is correct? Mmmm, both. Sure, all vines are grown in dirt, but some dirt is better than others. This leads me to point of this article. Talk about wine for more than five minutes and someone is sure to say something like “It’s all subjective, it’s all about what you like best.” It is, but it aint. Like anything worth studying, like art or music, there is much more to wine than just personal taste. The established great wines of the world are established for a very good reason. Over many decades or centuries certain places have shown that they make wine of superior quality. It doesn’t mean that everyone will prefer these wines, but it does mean that people who know about such things have noticed that some vineyard sites just make better wine than others. This kind of rubs Americans the wrong way; we tend to think all things are equal. Heck, it’s literally part of our constitution! It’s a nice thought, but the logic is faulty. The California wine business is predicated on the easy to understand but woefully unspecific “Varietal” system; the type of grape is on the label. But Chardonnay from Napa tastes quite different than Chardonnay from Sonoma, and from Monterey, etc. Frankly, just knowing that the wine is made from Chardonnay is not much help at all. The French system is quite different-you are supposed to already know that Chardonnay is the grape of white wines from Burgundy; the question is whether you want Meursault or Chablis, then more specifically whether it’s Meursault “Les Charmes” or Chablis “Vaudesir.” Logic and specificity is both the great strength and the great weakness of the French Appellation Controlee system.
So are these terroirists attacking our core values by asserting that some places are better than others for the production of superior wine? Strangely, some people seem to think so. People love to believe that you can get a little plot of land, clear some brush, plant some vines and win some medals. But think about this – a trip through the cellars the worlds foremost wine critic (you know who I’m talking about) might surprise you. What are missing are many of the highly-rated new world and “buzz” wines. What is in the cellars of the top critic and other experts? Wines that completely define the place on earth where they are made. Here are four that fit that description:
A quartet from Shaps & Roucher-Sarrazin:
It should go without saying that we taste a lot of wine around here, but I’m going to say it anyway-we taste a lot of wine around here. I’m not complaining, but it’s usually much closer to work than you might imagine. Sometimes, though, it’s nothing but a pleasure -like this quartet from Burgundy producer Shaps & Roucher-Sarrazin. Burgundy is frequently the “it” place for serious wine people, and with this group it’s easy to see why. Michael Shaps, an American from Virginia, has teamed with Michel Roucher-Sarrazin of Burgundy, France, to make wines of great distinction. Winemaker Roucher-Sarrazin’s work should be well-known to Burgundy aficionados already having made wine at the now defunct Chartron et Trebuchet. And like his best efforts at C et T, the Shaps & Roucher–Sarrazin wines exude class and style.
One note: we taste a lot more wine than we can ever stock and we currently do not stock these wines. We will be happy to order them, however, and will no doubt add them to our line-up at a later date.
Meursault “Les Vireuils” 2005- Don’t ask me for pronunciation help on this, I think the word “Vireuils” could be used as a litmus test as to whether you are a native French speaker. This wine was remarkably forward with an intense nose of honeycomb and bee pollen. The palate is replete with minerality and focused acids. A fairly remarkable value in this space with the wine retailing around $60.
Meursault “Les Charmes” 2005- A total classic, the Les Charmes is silky-fine; sort of what it must be like to drink a Hermes tie. Winemaker Roucher-Sarrazin really has a way of coaxing out subtle and elegant flavors, and the wine exhibits apple, pear, and clove on the nose. The finish is longer than a night in jail with superb balanced acidity. If you can think of $110/bottle of wine as a value, this is it.
Volnay “Les Santenots” 2005- If Burgundy is the “it” place for wine aficionados, Volnay may be the “it” place in Burgundy. The nose exhibits gorgeous cherry and raspberry notes, but it is the tremendous depth, complexity, and style that set this wine apart. The average age of the vine here is about fifty years, so the concentration and elegance should be no surprise. Superb Pinot Noir! About $75
Nuits St. Georges 2005- This wine surprised me. By all rights this should be very, very good, but not great wine, at least not by standards of the Volnay. But this example was flat-out yummy and actually a little easier to relate to than the Volnay at this time. Very rich and complete with deep, focused acidity and earthy Pinot Noir aromas. Around $65
All of these wines will reward the patient buyers who tuck them away for a few years. If drinking them young give them plenty of time to breathe. The reds did not really start to hit their impressive stride until they had been open about 8 hours.
That is not a typo. “Terroir” is the French term used to define the specific characteristics of a given vineyard site, and it is in France that a group of wine fanatics who think soil is everything have come to be known as “terroirists.” Terroirists are everywhere, however; if anything the German system of rating vineyards is even more specific than the French. California has its share of terroirists, too. “Rutherford dust” is a well known term used to describe the dusty tannins found in the best Cabernet from the Rutherford bench in Napa. Entirely too much has been written about terroir, and heaven knows the term gets thrown around at tastings when nobody has anything more insightful to say. There are basically two views on terroir – one view is that true terroir is an elusive thing found in the very best wines of the world and is the defining trait; e.g. the soil of Champagne cannot be duplicated elsewhere, therefore no other sparkling wine can approach Champagne’s greatness. The other view is that since all vines are grown in dirt, all wine has terroir. Which is correct? Mmmm, both. Sure, all vines are grown in dirt, but some dirt is better than others. This leads me to point of this article. Talk about wine for more than five minutes and someone is sure to say something like “It’s all subjective, it’s all about what you like best.” It is, but it aint. Like anything worth studying, like art or music, there is much more to wine than just personal taste. The established great wines of the world are established for a very good reason. Over many decades or centuries certain places have shown that they make wine of superior quality. It doesn’t mean that everyone will prefer these wines, but it does mean that people who know about such things have noticed that some vineyard sites just make better wine than others. This kind of rubs Americans the wrong way; we tend to think all things are equal. Heck, it’s literally part of our constitution! It’s a nice thought, but the logic is faulty. The California wine business is predicated on the easy to understand but woefully unspecific “Varietal” system; the type of grape is on the label. But Chardonnay from Napa tastes quite different than Chardonnay from Sonoma, and from Monterey, etc. Frankly, just knowing that the wine is made from Chardonnay is not much help at all. The French system is quite different-you are supposed to already know that Chardonnay is the grape of white wines from Burgundy; the question is whether you want Meursault or Chablis, then more specifically whether it’s Meursault “Les Charmes” or Chablis “Vaudesir.” Logic and specificity is both the great strength and the great weakness of the French Appellation Controlee system.
So are these terroirists attacking our core values by asserting that some places are better than others for the production of superior wine? Strangely, some people seem to think so. People love to believe that you can get a little plot of land, clear some brush, plant some vines and win some medals. But think about this – a trip through the cellars the worlds foremost wine critic (you know who I’m talking about) might surprise you. What are missing are many of the highly-rated new world and “buzz” wines. What is in the cellars of the top critic and other experts? Wines that completely define the place on earth where they are made. Here are four that fit that description:
A quartet from Shaps & Roucher-Sarrazin:
It should go without saying that we taste a lot of wine around here, but I’m going to say it anyway-we taste a lot of wine around here. I’m not complaining, but it’s usually much closer to work than you might imagine. Sometimes, though, it’s nothing but a pleasure -like this quartet from Burgundy producer Shaps & Roucher-Sarrazin. Burgundy is frequently the “it” place for serious wine people, and with this group it’s easy to see why. Michael Shaps, an American from Virginia, has teamed with Michel Roucher-Sarrazin of Burgundy, France, to make wines of great distinction. Winemaker Roucher-Sarrazin’s work should be well-known to Burgundy aficionados already having made wine at the now defunct Chartron et Trebuchet. And like his best efforts at C et T, the Shaps & Roucher–Sarrazin wines exude class and style.
One note: we taste a lot more wine than we can ever stock and we currently do not stock these wines. We will be happy to order them, however, and will no doubt add them to our line-up at a later date.
Meursault “Les Vireuils” 2005- Don’t ask me for pronunciation help on this, I think the word “Vireuils” could be used as a litmus test as to whether you are a native French speaker. This wine was remarkably forward with an intense nose of honeycomb and bee pollen. The palate is replete with minerality and focused acids. A fairly remarkable value in this space with the wine retailing around $60.
Meursault “Les Charmes” 2005- A total classic, the Les Charmes is silky-fine; sort of what it must be like to drink a Hermes tie. Winemaker Roucher-Sarrazin really has a way of coaxing out subtle and elegant flavors, and the wine exhibits apple, pear, and clove on the nose. The finish is longer than a night in jail with superb balanced acidity. If you can think of $110/bottle of wine as a value, this is it.
Volnay “Les Santenots” 2005- If Burgundy is the “it” place for wine aficionados, Volnay may be the “it” place in Burgundy. The nose exhibits gorgeous cherry and raspberry notes, but it is the tremendous depth, complexity, and style that set this wine apart. The average age of the vine here is about fifty years, so the concentration and elegance should be no surprise. Superb Pinot Noir! About $75
Nuits St. Georges 2005- This wine surprised me. By all rights this should be very, very good, but not great wine, at least not by standards of the Volnay. But this example was flat-out yummy and actually a little easier to relate to than the Volnay at this time. Very rich and complete with deep, focused acidity and earthy Pinot Noir aromas. Around $65
All of these wines will reward the patient buyers who tuck them away for a few years. If drinking them young give them plenty of time to breathe. The reds did not really start to hit their impressive stride until they had been open about 8 hours.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Easter Wines - from Philip Bernot
Easter is right around the corner, and the foods served at this meal require us to get out of our comfort zone a little bit. Please, please, please – low acid, overly-oaked Chardonnay is a really poor choice for this holiday. Most Easter meals revolve around a culinary dynamic duo-Ham & Lamb. Great! Love ‘em both! Here are notes on few things I have tasted that are great choices for the Easter meal:
Reds
Chateau de Basty Règniè, France- When I tasted this wine one thought came immediately to mind-Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham! Règniè is “Cru” Beaujolais, and made from the Gamay grape. Cru Beaujolais is from one of the ten designated vineyard sites in the Beaujolais region that have proven over time to be both distinctive and of excellent quality. Règniè is the newest of the Cru’s, being elevated to this status in 1988 after an exhaustive study (the French take their wine very seriously). The wine is medium-bodied, with the classic sweet/tart flavor and chalky, bracing acidity typical of Gamay. It should be served cool to coax out the best flavors. Give it plenty time to breathe; I found the wine to taste very good after being opened two full days! $17.98
Domaine Clavel “Garrigues,” France- I’m crazy about the wines from Domaine Clavel. They are superb values and represent an authentic taste of Southern France. The wine is medium-full, with a complex nose favoring the herbs that run rampant in the Languedoc region. The blend is Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah, and is especially suited to roasted leg of lamb with rosemary. $15.50
Domaine Geoffrenet-Moraval “Extra Version” Chateaumeillant – You seriously need to stop what you are doing, RIGHT NOW, get down here, and buy this wine. A blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Gamay from central France, this wine put a smile on my face that is still there three days later! Light-medium body and a superb, balanced palate of fruit and acidity. Tasting this wine reminded of when I first met my Cocker Spaniel when she was a teeny pup- it was love at first site! Don’t even think about getting just one bottle. $21.14
Rosé
Chateau du Roquefort “Corail”, France- I’m a little surprised, but even after the 8 billion or so words written about the joy of rosé wine the last couple of years, many of our customers are still deeply suspicious of rosé. I blame White Zinfandel. Ch. du Roquefort is disarmingly delicious and belongs on your short list of enjoyable rosé. A blend of five grape varieties from a tiny, biodynamic property, this is the ticket for Easter ham. $14.39
White
Dr. Loosen Riesling, Germany – Look up “textbook Riesling” in the dictionary; you will see a picture of this wine. Yes, it is a little sweet, but that is not a crime. Our best selling Riesling-for a very good reason. $11.99
Massarosa Frascati Superiore, Italy- Just because 90% of Frascati isn’t worth the effort it takes to pour it down the drain doesn’t mean the other 10% isn’t worth drinking! This delicious example is one of the most versatile white wines we carry. Grown and produced in Latium, just outside of Rome, this pretty wine has great aromatics and is fresh and lively; a perfect match to fresh herbs. Nobody does Easter like the Italians! $13.91
Other good choices are Grenache-based wines from Spain or Australia, dry rose from France or California, and Pinot Noir from your favorite locale.
Reds
Chateau de Basty Règniè, France- When I tasted this wine one thought came immediately to mind-Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham! Règniè is “Cru” Beaujolais, and made from the Gamay grape. Cru Beaujolais is from one of the ten designated vineyard sites in the Beaujolais region that have proven over time to be both distinctive and of excellent quality. Règniè is the newest of the Cru’s, being elevated to this status in 1988 after an exhaustive study (the French take their wine very seriously). The wine is medium-bodied, with the classic sweet/tart flavor and chalky, bracing acidity typical of Gamay. It should be served cool to coax out the best flavors. Give it plenty time to breathe; I found the wine to taste very good after being opened two full days! $17.98
Domaine Clavel “Garrigues,” France- I’m crazy about the wines from Domaine Clavel. They are superb values and represent an authentic taste of Southern France. The wine is medium-full, with a complex nose favoring the herbs that run rampant in the Languedoc region. The blend is Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah, and is especially suited to roasted leg of lamb with rosemary. $15.50
Domaine Geoffrenet-Moraval “Extra Version” Chateaumeillant – You seriously need to stop what you are doing, RIGHT NOW, get down here, and buy this wine. A blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Gamay from central France, this wine put a smile on my face that is still there three days later! Light-medium body and a superb, balanced palate of fruit and acidity. Tasting this wine reminded of when I first met my Cocker Spaniel when she was a teeny pup- it was love at first site! Don’t even think about getting just one bottle. $21.14
Rosé
Chateau du Roquefort “Corail”, France- I’m a little surprised, but even after the 8 billion or so words written about the joy of rosé wine the last couple of years, many of our customers are still deeply suspicious of rosé. I blame White Zinfandel. Ch. du Roquefort is disarmingly delicious and belongs on your short list of enjoyable rosé. A blend of five grape varieties from a tiny, biodynamic property, this is the ticket for Easter ham. $14.39
White
Dr. Loosen Riesling, Germany – Look up “textbook Riesling” in the dictionary; you will see a picture of this wine. Yes, it is a little sweet, but that is not a crime. Our best selling Riesling-for a very good reason. $11.99
Massarosa Frascati Superiore, Italy- Just because 90% of Frascati isn’t worth the effort it takes to pour it down the drain doesn’t mean the other 10% isn’t worth drinking! This delicious example is one of the most versatile white wines we carry. Grown and produced in Latium, just outside of Rome, this pretty wine has great aromatics and is fresh and lively; a perfect match to fresh herbs. Nobody does Easter like the Italians! $13.91
Other good choices are Grenache-based wines from Spain or Australia, dry rose from France or California, and Pinot Noir from your favorite locale.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Welcome from Philip Bernot, Chief Bacchanalian Coordinator
Hey Puppies!
We created this blog to share our thoughts with our wonderful customers. Speaking for myself, I will be posting mostly tasting notes and random thoughts. We will probably not go in to great detail here, more like some quick notes on interesting wines and such. Hopefully this will be helpful to all you grape-nutz out there! Without further ado . . .
Two wines I tasted recently that made me smile (We will be stocking these wines soon, near the end of Feb.):
Hop Kiln "Big Red" - It was in 1981 that I made one of my first visits to a winery, Hop Kiln in Healdsburg, Sonoma, California. The iconic building, a historic landmark, obviously owes it heritage to beer, but a hop-fungus wiped out that business in the 50's. The ranch had been around since mid-1800's, so naturally they moved on to another agriculture product. This is a beautiful property, located in the Russian River Valley. I am not used to being taken aback by these inexpensive field blends, especially from a non-vintage wine, but I am very impressed by this offering. What set this wine apart was it's impeccable structure; classic California - definitely not a "fruit-bomb." I'm tearing-up just a little because this wine reminds me of Old California, which is my home, not the adult Disneyland of today's Napa Valley. The wine is a blend of Zin, Carignan, Syrah, etc., but all you really need to know is that it's delish! http://www.hopkilnwinery.com/ Under $20.
David Hill "Farm House White" - Another non-vintage blend, this time from Oregon. Farm House White is a perfect picnic wine, delicious fruit, rich aromatics, and a slightlly off-dry finish. Grapes for wine production have been grown on this property since the late 1800's, but the new owners have been here since 1992. I know it's Chardonnay (yawn!) that most people like to talk about, but I simply loved this unassuming but rewarding wine. Farmhouse White is a blend of Viognier, Gewürztraminer, Semillon, Chardonnay and Riesling; perfect with asian cusine, especially Thai! http://www.davidhillwinery.com/index.html About $15.
We created this blog to share our thoughts with our wonderful customers. Speaking for myself, I will be posting mostly tasting notes and random thoughts. We will probably not go in to great detail here, more like some quick notes on interesting wines and such. Hopefully this will be helpful to all you grape-nutz out there! Without further ado . . .
Two wines I tasted recently that made me smile (We will be stocking these wines soon, near the end of Feb.):
Hop Kiln "Big Red" - It was in 1981 that I made one of my first visits to a winery, Hop Kiln in Healdsburg, Sonoma, California. The iconic building, a historic landmark, obviously owes it heritage to beer, but a hop-fungus wiped out that business in the 50's. The ranch had been around since mid-1800's, so naturally they moved on to another agriculture product. This is a beautiful property, located in the Russian River Valley. I am not used to being taken aback by these inexpensive field blends, especially from a non-vintage wine, but I am very impressed by this offering. What set this wine apart was it's impeccable structure; classic California - definitely not a "fruit-bomb." I'm tearing-up just a little because this wine reminds me of Old California, which is my home, not the adult Disneyland of today's Napa Valley. The wine is a blend of Zin, Carignan, Syrah, etc., but all you really need to know is that it's delish! http://www.hopkilnwinery.com/ Under $20.
David Hill "Farm House White" - Another non-vintage blend, this time from Oregon. Farm House White is a perfect picnic wine, delicious fruit, rich aromatics, and a slightlly off-dry finish. Grapes for wine production have been grown on this property since the late 1800's, but the new owners have been here since 1992. I know it's Chardonnay (yawn!) that most people like to talk about, but I simply loved this unassuming but rewarding wine. Farmhouse White is a blend of Viognier, Gewürztraminer, Semillon, Chardonnay and Riesling; perfect with asian cusine, especially Thai! http://www.davidhillwinery.com/index.html About $15.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Brewy Decimal System
We just reshuffled the beer cooler for the billionth (and last) time. Beer is the ugly stepchild in our business, but it shouldn't be. Brewing dates back to pre-history, and the variety and subtlety found in beer is probably exceeded only by that of wine and chocolate.
We've always thought that we should treat beer with the same respect as our other products. And while we've always maintained an informal system of organization that attempted to keep similar beers together in the cooler, we've finally formalized that system.
Enquiring beer minds will now notice the shiny signs at the top of each cooler door. We've segregated our beer into eight categories, as follows: Light Lager; American Lager; Pilsner & Wheat Beer; European Lager; Pale Ale; Ale; Dark Ale; and Fruit Grenades.
Each category contains a brief explanation of these beer types, which I won't include here because that will just make it easier for our competitors to steal yet another of our awesome, revolutionary booze marketing ideas.
The point of the signs is to help our customers to educate themselves, and to expand their beer horizons. Life is way too short to be boring, people. Let's all live a little ! - Ned Blugman
We've always thought that we should treat beer with the same respect as our other products. And while we've always maintained an informal system of organization that attempted to keep similar beers together in the cooler, we've finally formalized that system.
Enquiring beer minds will now notice the shiny signs at the top of each cooler door. We've segregated our beer into eight categories, as follows: Light Lager; American Lager; Pilsner & Wheat Beer; European Lager; Pale Ale; Ale; Dark Ale; and Fruit Grenades.
Each category contains a brief explanation of these beer types, which I won't include here because that will just make it easier for our competitors to steal yet another of our awesome, revolutionary booze marketing ideas.
The point of the signs is to help our customers to educate themselves, and to expand their beer horizons. Life is way too short to be boring, people. Let's all live a little ! - Ned Blugman
Friday, February 8, 2008
Welcome to Blog O' The Dog
Thanks for finding us. We've created this spot as a place for the daily epiphanies that occur to us as we do our daily thing here in the Booze Game. Here you'll find tasting notes on some of the over 1,000 wines we taste every year, as well as our thoughts on subjects ranging from critter wines to biodynamics to small batch bourbons and craft brews. We'll also provide colorful travelblogs of our entirely tax-deductible trips to strange lands.
For the same kinda crap, but in longer format, please visit our website. If you want to interact with us, that's what our email is for. We look forward to hearing from you.
Ned Blugman, Publisher
For the same kinda crap, but in longer format, please visit our website. If you want to interact with us, that's what our email is for. We look forward to hearing from you.
Ned Blugman, Publisher
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)