LESSONS FROM OFF YEARS, 1964 TO 1997
I have touted the virtues of off-year Bordeaux wines in past blogs. Recently we journeyed into this world deeper with a tasting devoted to inferior vintages with bottles assembled from various vendors and our personal collections. It took place in the house of George and Gail Heron, proprietors of Fine Wines of Stockton, with 10 tasters in attendance. The driving force behind this was Mike Hernandez of Fresno, who spent the last six months scouring merchants for such wines. He contributed half the bottles to the tasting (many others he bought were not included because some were actually good vintages, and others[...]
BARGAINS IN THE LAND OF SNOBS
For those cabarnet sauvignon and merlot lovers out there I have surprising news: you will get the best bang for your buck with Bordeaux!For the average American drinker Bordeaux has an image problem. Hard to pronounce names, a seemingly infinite number of Chateau's, bottle labels that don't carry varietal designations, to name a few. Worse yet, it is considered expensive, a luxury item. Its well known need for long term storage before consumption restricts it to the domain of wealthy snobs who can afford fancy wine caves. Yes, all of the above is true. But for only a small portion[...]
IDENTICAL TWINS, HARD TO SPOT
In a recent tasting, a group of us picked a "grenache" theme, and each brought a randomly purchased bottle, a total of seven. We ended up with a mish-mash of Californian, French, Australian and Spanish wines. After randomly shuffling the bottles and double-blinding them, we attached "A',"B", "C" etc. labels onto the bags. Each of us poured a few ounces of this line-up into seven glasses in front us. We then tasted them in one session, and discussed and unveiled them one by one.As luck would have it, two people had bought the exact same bottle, a 2010 Tres Picos Grancha Borsao from[...]
HOME AND AWAY IN WHITE
Ask any wine enthusiast a simple question: "what are you drinking nowadays?" You'll get surprising answers. Oftentimes they will not mention hoity-toity labels. They will quote reasonably priced wines within their comfort zone, some of which you may know, and some you won't. The big names remain relegated to ceremonial occasions.There are some enthusiasts out there who restrict themselves to only certain categories. For instance, I know a few who won't touch white wine. Many refuse sweet wines like Port or German Riesling. The list is endless. I myself am a sampler of all that's out there and I don't pre-judge[...]
PINOT-SYRAH CONFUSION
Last night the above bottle appeared in our weekly tasting where we try to identify blinded wines. This 2003 Penner-Ash syrah was still surprisingly young. It had a distinct domestic syrah nose, but its flavor profile was more typical of Central Coast pinot noir, of the kind that is now ubiquitous in the Edna Valley, Arroyo Grande and Santa Lucia Highlands. It had smoky, dark berry fruit flavors upfront, noticeable but subtle sweetness in mid-palate, and a spicy finish with hints of oak. Our group tilted between syrah and pinot in their guesses. We were all certain however that if was American. When we unveiled[...]
IT IS CHINON WEATHER
As the days shorten and nigths get long, the mornings foggy, with cold humidity penetrating deep into our joints, winter doldrums begin to set in. Here in Northern California we are blessed with no snow, no blizzards, no hurricanes. Instead it rains, and it has rained a lot this year. This is the time when all my patients flock into my office with worsening back pains and we all look forward to sunshine which will hopefully arrive in late February. As the excitement of the holidays wane, the remaining bleakness of winter invariably turns my thoughts to Chinon, a suitable salve for the[...]