FRENCH WINE CHAUVINISM
I recently hosted a Parisian friend in San Francisco. He is a wine enthusiast and we share a common interest in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone wines. Figuring that he hasn’t had much exposure to others, I arranged a non-French wine line-up for him. Over a weekend of tasting and dining, these included two California cabernets (‘06 Quintessa & ‘03 Jordan), a Russian River Pinot Noir (‘14 Arista), a Northern Italian Pinot Grigio (‘14 Scarpetta) and a Spanish Verdejo (‘14 Nisia).“This wine is very good,” he said as he tasted the Quintessa, with lamb at Boulevard restaurant. “This wine is better than[...]
OAKLESS? A CHANGE IN SILVER OAK
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” I said at the bar, after putting down my fourth sip of Silver Oak. “But these wines seem to have much less oak than they used to ten or fifteen years ago.”“You’re absolutely right,” replied the attendant in the Alexander Valley tasting room. She was quite knowledgeable, unusually so for pourers at wineries.I was tasting a flight of four Silver Oaks, a pair of 2009s and another of 2012s, each from the Napa and Alexander Valleys. They were all still young puppies, tight, packed with upfront fruit but smooth and elegant. The Alexander Valley ones,[...]
FATUOUS FERMENTATION; CAUSES AND REMEDIES
Defective wines, rare as they are, can be educational. This bottle of Galernau, a Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, made a poor impression in a recent tasting. Not only did it have the prominent nose and flavor of Brettanomyces, a yeast that spoils wine flavor, but also a strong fizz in the entry and mid-palate, what we recognized as secondary fermentation, an undesired one. The occasion provoked some thought on the subject. Fermentation, usually mediated by yeast, is the process by which sugars in grape juice are converted to acids, CO2 gas and yes, that all important alcohol. It[...]
MOSCATO MANIA; PRELUDE TO DELIVERANCE
I will call her Signora Moscato.“If someone only drinks Moscato, but would like to switch to a red,” she asked, “what kind of red would make a good transition?”The question arrived via Facebook Messenger. When I pulled up a photo of the sender, sure enough, she was young. She had discovered my wine blog and was asking for advice. She was in for a big leap. I first consulted some seasoned veterans at Wine Wizard’s, provoking numerous smiles and raised eyebrows at Signora Moscato’s predicament. Before giving her advice I tried to firm up her spirits. Regardless of your first impressions, I[...]
GOING CLUBLESS
I recently cancelled all my wine club memberships, except one. They were a waste of money, but that’s not why I did it. It was a proliferation of unopened wine bottles all over my house, wines I would never drink, that finally caused me to go clubless. Living in Northern California, so close to thousands of wineries, the temptation to join wine clubs can be hard to resist. It was often the first time charm of a new winery that caused an impulsive decision to join. If I wasn’t taken by the landscape, décor, or winery staff, it would be the[...]
WINE ON THE ROCKS?!
It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte loved Chambertain, a wine from Burgundy, and he drank it watered down. Was Napoleon a brute, coarsely treating fine wine?Au contraire. Burgundy wines at the time were not at all fine. They were so muddy and rough that diluting them with water was the only way to make them drinkable. What about wine chilled with ice, like hard liquor on the rocks? Never! That’s the standard snob answer. Really?A case in point. The 2007 Jaboulet Vacqueras you see in the above picture was so highly extracted, almost tarry, and so tight, despite its nine year old[...]