Chardonnay Chauvinism

"Why are you biased against chardonnay?"

Huh?

I got this question in an email from a reader not too long ago. I won't lie...it got me thinking. I don't write a lot about chardonnay because, honestly, I just don't drink a lot of it anymore.

That's not to say I didn't drink a lot of chardonnay once upon a time. Like most wine drinkers, I started my exploration of the world of whites with chardonnay. House whites are almost always chardonnays. They're ubiquitous wines and there's a reason. Much like cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay will grow almost anywhere, but it takes a certain amount of care to make a truly tasty chardonnay. Chardonnay is probably the wine most affected by terroir. The growing conditions make a huge difference with these wines.

When chardonnay is discussed, there's often talk about "oaky" and "buttery" flavors. Neither of these flavors is inherent to the chardonnay grape. The "toasted" flavor many chardonnays have come from the oak barrels in which the wine is aged. This process also often darkens the wine. The "buttery" flavor comes from a process called "malolactic fermentation." (Wine geeks love to throw this term around because it sounds important.) In a nutshell, it's a bacterial process by which malic acid in wine (which tastes like tart apples) gets converted to lactic acid, which is one of the major flavorings in milk. When you hear someone talk about a wine "undergoing malolactic fermentation" -- expect a softer, creamier taste rather than a crisp, acidic taste.

California winemakers, sometime in the late 1980's and early 1990's, decided that oak and butter were What Chardonnay Is Supposed To Be. Many of these chardonnays were either powerfully oaked or so creamy that they tasted like buttermilk. Neither, in my estimation, was a particularly good thing. Sure, they're drinkable, but I just kept finding more and more interesting white wines.

Also, since I enjoy focusing on food with wine, I could usually find a wine that will complement whatever I'm cooking better than one of these California chardonnays. It's a "good enough" pairing, but again, I can usually find something that works better for me. Over-oaked or overly creamy wines tend to overpower rather than complement food.

Then someone slipped me a white Burgundy. White Burgundies, especially Chablis, are Chardonnay, but they're completely different from their American cousins. There's usually some oak, but the cooler climates keep the barrels from imparting lots of oaky flavor. The creaminess in these wines comes much more from the wine "resting on the lees" (meaning that the fermenting wine is kept in contact with spent yeast) that malolactic fermentation. The result is a crisp, clean wine that goes with almost any food. California chardonnays simply got pushed off my tasting radar.

But then I got this email and I figured -- "OK, let's give some other chardonnays a try...I'm always willing to be convinced..."

Round Hill 2007 "Oak Free" Chardonnay -- Thankfully, thankfully, some of the California winemakers are realizing that the world doesn't necessarily feel like gnawing on charcoal with a glass of white wines. There have been more and more of these "unoaked" chardonnays showing up on the shelves. The Round Hill still has a nose of banana and cloves, which can often be one of the side effects of malolactic fermentation. The body is crisper than many California chards, but there's still a full mouthfeel and there's still a slight smokiness to the flavor from somewhere. It's slightly creamy and does have more of an acidic character, with a little fruit and smoke on the finish. The Round Hill is a much better food wine than one to have on its own. It nestled nicely with roast chicken topped with pancetta and mashed potatoes. $7-10.

Waterbrook 2006 Chardonnay -- There should be no secret to the Vine faithful that I'm a big fan of wines from the upper left-hand corner of the U.S. California chardonnays get blasted with much more heat, so the acidity and fruit can get washed out. Wines produced in cooler climates tend to have softer, crisper flavors, so I hoped this would also be the case with Chardonnays from the Pacific Northwest. The Waterbrook, from Columbia Valley in Washington, didn't disappoint. The nose is light and crisp with scents of lemon and vanilla. Not surprisingly, a much more subtly flavored wine. The flavor is crisp and acidic -- peaches and vanilla with a little bit of oak. The finish starts out softly acidic, but that fades quickly into a gently toasty finish that becomes more pronounced after a couple of sips. A very nice glass of wine that would complement grilled salmon wonderfully. $11-13.

Olvena 2007 Somontano Chardonnay -- I also make no secret of adoring Spanish wine, and I'm a sucker for a glass of Albariño. I hadn't tried a Spanish chardonnay before, so wanted to slake both my thirst and my curiosity. I'm glad that I did, because this is a really interesting wine. The nose was different from many Chardonnays -- it's floral and somewhat "chalky." On the first taste, I thought this would be very similar to a French version, since it started me out with a slightly-citrusy, minerally character. Those flavors give way quickly to vanilla and oak, finishing with a combination of citrus and toast. Imagine a slightly oakier white Burgundy and you'll have it. And for about $12, you can have it! It's a great value at this price, and, like almost anything from Spain, extremely food friendly.

As I mentioned, Chardonnay can be grown almost anywhere that grapes can take root, so the "expressions" of Chardonnay are myriad and can be quite interesting. For me, however, the gold standard is still white Burgundy. If you feel like treating yourself, get yourself a bottle of white Burgundy and see what you think. You'll probably end up paying $18 or more for a bottle, but you'll never look at a bottle of "supermarket" chardonnay the same way again.

Local Eats -- Aussie wine dinner

Those of you in the Cincinnati area are probably aware of the annual Cincinnati International Wine Festival in mid-March. That week's events include a slew of wine dinners around the city. These usually run between $125-150 per person. For those of us more on the budget-minded side who still want a wonderful gastronomic experience, one of my comrades in grapes, Danny Gold, has arranged an independent wine dinner on Wednesday, March 11.

Danny teamed up with Bouquet restaurant in Covington and the importers of d'Arenberg wines from Australia to create an Australian-themed wine dinner. d'Arenberg wines have been featured on The Naked Vine before. Their "Love Grass" shiraz is an all-timer of mine.

The meal is five courses for $70 per person -- the price includes a 5-course meal, wine, tax, and tip. Seating is limited. If you're interested, contact Danny for more information.

Also, Danny and I are planning another wine-related venture. More on that as it develops...

And, on a local eats tangent -- I finally stumbled on Wine Me, Dine Me -- a great blog about food and restaurants in Cincinnati. Mike sez check it out...

Tropic of Capricorn-ucopia

The Scene: A novice wine drinker scurries nervously down the aisle of a local wine store. He studiously avoids eye contact with the "overly helpful" store employees who hover like Eddie Bauer associates around a 2-for-$25 rack of mock turtlenecks. All he wants is a bottle of wine that will simply taste good to his uneducated palate. Ducking left out of the chardonnay aisle, he finds himself staring at an array of multicolored bottles of red wine from Australia. He exhales, looks left and right, snags a bottle of Rosemount Shiraz, tucks it under his arm like John Riggins, and heads straight for the checkout...

Yes, yes -- that was me back in the day. I didn't have much of a palate. My knowledge of pairings didn't extend much past "red with beef, white with chicken." Swirling wine was something snooty people did. I just wanted something where I'd like the taste and I could fill my glass again and again without thinking.

The Australian aisle was my saving grace. The Ozzies produced an ocean of cheap "plonk" (still one of my favorite words in WineSpeak...) in the mid-to-late 90's, but they established themselves as go-to cheap, decent "wine for the people." I drank plenty of that stuff. My palate became more adventurous as I started going to wine tastings and learning more about pairing food with wine, and I largely drifted away from Aussie offerings. I was introduced to California Syrah and I became acquainted with the offerings from the Syrah-heavy wines from Rhone valley in France, so the cheap, down-under versions tasted like fruity messes. New Zealand also burst onto the scene with their crazy sauvignon blancs and pinot noirs, so Australia got eclipsed in my wine rack for awhile.

I'm coming back around on Australian wine. The Barossa Valley shirazes have become more and more interesting over the last several years, as I wrote about last January. They've also become more and more expensive. The latest trend I've seen, however, is Australian winemakers following in the footsteps of the Italians.

About a decade ago, Italy started cranking out these wines they called "Super Tuscans." These were sangiovese-based wines blended with non-native grapes like cabernet sauvignon and merlot. The result was powerful, fruity and complex wines that the Parkerites snapped up by the case. (I like Super Tuscans, but I think many of them are terribly overpriced and far too fruity to pair with a lot of Italian cuisine, but that's just me...) The Australians started doing the same sort of blending on a large scale with Shiraz over the last few years. The result has been an increase in relatively inexpensive, food friendly, complex wines.

On the heels of my column about domestic white blends, I thought I'd have a look at some of these reds from where the liquid in the blending tank spins the other way:

First Drop 2006 "First Love" Red Wine -- Since I'm writing this column on Valentine's Day, this wine seems like a fitting place to start. The First Drop is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache, and Barbera. (65/25/10) The nose is interesting. The Shiraz comes through on the nose with a big whiff of ripe blackberries, but there's an undertone of earth there. The flavor is, as you'd expect, big and fruity -- but tempered and given a bit of depth by the Barbera. The finish is a little smoky and still quite fruity, with some solid tannins. I really enjoyed this wine as a kick back bottle at the end of the evening, but you could certainly have this with any number of foods. It bills itself as a "Southern French inspired wine with Italian stylings." I have no idea what that means. It's good. Try it. $10

Turkey Flat 2005 "The Turk" -- Here's an interesting blend: Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Mourvedre. (50/28/16/6). Turkey Flat does a lot of wines in the $25-60 range, so this one's their "experimental" second label wine. A successful experiment, at that. The Turk (the nickname of the winery itself) starts you with a deep nose of dark fruit and licorice. It's fruity on the initial taste, but broadens into a chocolatety middle. The finish is slightly dry and very chocolatey. Not surprisingly, a great wine to actually have with chocolate. It's no slouch with food, either. We had this with a pork tenderloin roasted with sliced fennel bulbs. The aromatics in the fennel nicely complement the fruitiness in the wine. $12-15.

Water Wheel 2006 "Memsie" Red Blend-- Water Wheel wines is in the Bendigo region, which is one I haven't explored very much. "Memsie" is the name of the estate where the grapes are grown, and that moniker is also on their red and white blends. Their red is a Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec/Petit Verdot blend. (70/16/6/6) Not surprisingly, this was the fruitiest of the three wines I tried here. This wine has a classic fruity Shiraz nose of plums and berries tempered by the smoky scent of the malbec. Probably the most complex smelling wine of the bunch. Jammy initially at first taste, the wine mellows quickly and ends up tasting like a fruity cab. Some licorice and spice float around in the body as well. The finish is quite long with soft tannins. Like the others, a very pleasant wine by itself because of the out of the ordinary nose, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommended it with burgers or any kind of red meat, really. $11-13.


Stumble It!

Death and Taxes -- updated

They may be inevitable -- but there's no reason we have to like them.

I've tried to keep most of my politics out of this blog -- but Governor Beshear's current call to raise the state alcohol tax to 17% (which would make it one of the highest in the nation) is downright ridiculous.

If you're a Kentucky resident and you actually enjoy buying spirits at a reasonable price, give a buzz to your state reps and the governor's office.

Kevin Keith at Liquor Direct has a good take here. I like Kevin's suggestion -- get rid of all the damned dry counties. Why should preachers and bootleggers have all the fun?

UPDATE -- per K2...the alcohol tax increase passed the House 66-34. I never thought I'd root for the Kentucky GOP to do anything, but here's hoping it crashes in the Senate. What an upside-down world we're in...


Stumble It!

The Conundrum Conundrum

I like to know what I'm drinking.

One nice thing about American wines is that they're generally pretty easy to figure out. A sauvignon blanc will say "sauvignon blanc" right there on the label. Merlot is "merlot." White Zinfandel is...well...pink. No great mysteries.

Like many novice wine drinkers, I was flummoxed by European wines because I had no idea what they were -- and there aren't usually "Hey! Pouilly-Fuisse is really Chardonnay!" signs posted in wine stores. I usually avoided Eurowines and others without grape names on the labels since I had no idea what I was getting into. There was, however, one notable exception:

Conundrum.

Back in the day, it was "Caymus Conundrum" -- and I adored this wine. The SPinC and I used it as our "special occasion" white for years. (We used to save all the corks as remembrances -- so we were disappointed when it went to a Stelvin closure.) I was fascinated by it. Sauvignon blanc, muscat, chardonnay, and viognier all happily co-existing in a deliciously complex white wine. "Who ever thought that blending a bunch of different grapes together could create something this good?" I thought.

I knew that there were plenty of red blends. I was used to seeing "Grenache/Syrah" on the side of a bottle of Rosemount, for instance. But whites -- aside from the occasional Australian "Semillion/Chardonnay" which I generally didn't care for -- I just didn't think they got blended.

[Factoid: For an American wine to be labeled with a grape, it must contain at least 75% of that grape. A U.S. made chardonnay is at least 75% chardonnay, for instance.]

I've learned differently, of course -- few European whites, especially French whites, are 100% of any kind of grape. There are predominant grape varieties, of course, but blends are more common than not, which is one of the reasons that I find whites from Europe more "textured."

American winemakers are learning, though. Much like the "Rhone Rangers" in California first came up with "meritage" to mimic some of the French red blends, a number of American winemakers are starting to experiment with white blends to make the most of what they have on hand. None of the white blends -- at least as of yet -- have drawn the star power of Conundrum, but most of them also don't carry the same pricetag.

I've run into a few of these blends recently that I think are worth your while. One quick note on almost all of these, though. At least in my experience, white blends tend to be considerably more temperature-sensitive than straight varietals. All of these wines will be much more complex and flavorful if you let them warm up a few degrees above where you'd normally pour whites. Trust me, it's worth it. Here's a few for you to check out:

Magito 2006 "Rivertrace Blend" White Wine -- The back label of this bottle leads with a quote from one of my favorite poets, the Persian poet Rumi:

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you truly love."

What that exactly has to do with this particular wine, I'm not sure, but it was enough to get me to give it a whirl. This complex, interesting wine from Sebastopol is made primarily from sauvignon blanc with some viognier and verdelho blended in. With the presence of those "V" wines, I expected a perfumey wine. Instead, there's a gentle nose of pears and lemons. The body is rather full with some melon flavors. The finish is a little bit dry and pleasantly acidic. I really enjoyed this wine with a meal of grouper with jicama & tomatoes in a black bean sauce over some yellow rice. The wine was assertive enough to let those citrus notes through while not detracting from the other yummy flavors flying in every direction. $10-12.

Seven Daughters (NV) White Wine -- This wine struck me as blend where it seems the winemakers said, "Let's just throw all this extra grape juice together and see if it works." I know that there's more care than that -- but it's interesting to see that many grapes on the label. French Columbard (the backbone of cognac), Chardonnay, Riesling, Symphony (a relatively new clone from California), Orange Muscat, Gewurztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc make up this little California creation. The wine itself? Well, at first we tried it after we'd eaten some red fish... Swedish fish to be exact. [Fail. Reboot wine drinking...] After a couple of crackers, we tried again, took a sip and weren't impressed. There was a nice fragrance of oranges and flowers on the nose, but the body quickly turned bitter. We put it aside for a bit. That made all the difference, since the wine needed to warm almost to room temperature. The body then broadens quite a bit, with more melon and mineral characters standing out. The finish becomes more crisp and less bitter. Once it got to that point, it reminded me a little of a Loire wine with its minerality -- and I'd pair it with many of the same foods: white fish and shellfish, Thai, and other cuisines with a bit of spice. $10-13

Hedges 2006 "C.M.S." White Wine -- Hedges winery makes a number of higher end red blends and single varietals. Their second-label blends are known as "CMS." They've done a cabernet-merlot-syrah blend for awhile, but they've started doing whites -- the "CMS" stands here for "Chardonnay, Marsanne, Sauvignon Blanc." Marsanne is a grape grown largely in the northern Rhone Valley but made its way via California to Washington -- where it gets blended into this very interesting wine. French Marsanne creates rich, spicy wines on its own and is blended in with other grapes to create depth. A little goes a long way. While there's only 3% in this mix, that's plenty to enrich the flavor. Coupled with the creaminess of cool-climate chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, this white winds up with a very complex, well-balanced flavor -- especially since you're drinking something with a $10 pricetag. There's some pear flavor, some oak, some mineral, and a firm, lasting finish. Again, fish and shellfish are the obvious pairings.

Since it's possible to create reasonably complex, yet inexpensive, wine through blending -- I think you'll see more and more blends like this showing up on the market. The trick will be figuring out where they'll be shelved in your local wine store.

As for Conundrum, it's still out there and it's still a good bet. If you want to give it a try, a bottle's around $25.





Stumble It!

Liquor Direct staff showcase

One of my favorite times of the year at Liquor Direct. The wine staff has a little competition. They look for a wine that's under $50 (usually way under), is in the store and in good supply. There's usually some...erm...friendly competition surrounding the tasting, which is this weekend. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, head over to Covington or Ft. Thomas.

After all...Don't cost nothin'...


Stumble It!

Espiritu de Chile

Every once in a blue moon, I get a request to sample wines that are just making their way to the market -- like last year when I sampled the Monsoon Valley wines from Thailand. I was recently asked to give some new Chilean wines the once-over. I received four bottles and recipes to go alongside each.

I've always enjoyed Chilean wines. I think they're some of the best values out there. So I really looked forward to sampling these -- all of which retail for around $11.

Gewurztraminer (2007) -- I'd never had a Chilean gewurz, and at first taste I was a little surprised. It's lighter in body than many of the others we've tried. It's on the drier side, although it's not bone-dry like an Alsace gewurz. It has a slightly floral nose, a flavor of tart green apples, and a soft finish. It's a little bit peppery, but less spicy than many. By itself, honestly, it wasn't my favorite. The recommended food pairing with this wine was a green curry chicken salad. That's where this wine shone. I always add more curry paste than is called for, so this was a spicy dish with some bitter greens alongside. The flavors of this wine cut through both easily. The apple flavor became more pronounced, the peppery notes broadened, and we really enjoyed the complements. I'd put this wine easily with any kind of spicy Asian or Indian cuisine and have a very, very nice match.

Sauvignon Blanc (2007) -- Chile is well-known for sauvignon blanc, and I've praised those wines for their food-friendliness, consistency, and general all-around tastiness. This straw-colored sauvignon has a flavor as light as its color. The nose of slightly floral lemon is barely noticeable at first. If you'd blindfolded me, I could easily have mistaken this for pinot grigio. The body is light, bordering on a little bit watery. The finish is soft and only slightly acidic. The recommended food pairing was an exceptional recipe in and of itself: a simple roasted fish stew. The flavors were wonderful and the citrusy notes in the wine became much more pronounced and interesting. That said, there are less-expensive Chilean sauvignons that I'd probably choose ahead of this one if it weren't going to be paired with something.

Carmenere (2007) -- Carmenere is a first cousin of merlot. It has a slightly fumey, herbaceous nose. This fragrance yields to a medium bodied red with lots of smoky flavors, along with some blackberry. There was also an earthy undertone like a Cotes-du-Rhone with a relatively tannic finish. I was somewhat surprised by the tannins here, since I don't get those in a straight merlot. On its own, it struck me as fairly straightforward, but when set next to the recommended pairing -- which was a grilled marinated sirloin, sliced thin; topped with sautéed mushrooms with lemon juice and parsley; and grilled green onions, this wine was downright delicious. After a bite of the steak, the tannin cut through the steak's fat, bringing out a much more "merlot-ish" flavor. The onions pointed up the earthy flavors, and the mushrooms with it just plain tasted good.

Shiraz/Cabernet (2006) -- Most shiraz/cab blends that I've tried lean heavily towards the "Shiraz" side of things -- the fruit dominates with hopefully enough tannin to make the wine interesting. At a 75/25 split, I expected the same here. However, given a little time to open up, this wine was a completely different story. The nose wasn't all that fruity -- instead leaning towards vanilla and smoke. It smelled a little like roasted meat, honestly. On its own, medium-bodied with more of that vanilla/smoke blend. The finish was tannic. Decent enough. The suggested pairing was a strip steak with chimichurri sauce and criolla salsa. Four for four on food pairings. The smoky flavor of the wine meshed nicely with the meat -- and the sauces made a nice complement. I'd like to try this recipe again in the summer, since all of those flavors would be really nice when it's hot.

So, bottom line, I'd recommend all of these except the sauvignon blanc -- and I only downcheck the sauvignon because of the price point. At $7-8, it would have been perfectly acceptable. They're all definitely wines with a taste for food -- especially recipes similar to these. I also want to pass along a compliment to whomever created these recipes -- they were very easy to put together and were absolutely scrumptious. (Links to the recipes are here and here.)

Many thanks also to Monica and the folks at Balzac for giving me the chance to check these out.



Stumble It!

Cleaning Out My Closet

I didn’t want to leave you hanging all thirsty for some new bottles to try. As you can see from the site index, a fair amount of wine gets sampled around here. Not all of it makes it into the blog. Usually it’s for topical reasons – the wine just doesn’t fit what I’m writing about at the time, but it’s interesting enough for me to keep in reserve. I take my notes and stash them for a rainy day. Well, the clouds have come.

In no particular order, a few wines that were plenty good enough to make the Vine’s cutting, but just never wound up in a column:

Hogue 2005 Chenin Blanc -- Hogue is one of my favorite Vine-level producers. I've been extremely pleased with just about everything that I've tried from them. The Chenin Blanc certainly didn't disappoint. Within each of their varietals, I find the Hogue wines to be much richer than many of their counterparts. Not necessarily more complex, but more full-bodied and, for my money, more "elegant." The chenin has a nose of melon and green apples. I expected this to be a lighter-styled wine, but the body was rich without being cloying. A nice fruity, melony taste with a texture that reminded me a lot of a viognier. The finish is more lingering than crisp. I had this with cod loin with vegetables and herbs cooked in foil packets, and it was wonderful. $8-10.

96 Points 2005 Shiraz/Viognier -- One of the best marketing ideas I've seen – why worry about what Parker’s going to give your wine when you can slap a score right on the label? It's certainly an interesting wine. Australian shirazes are always fragrant, and the viognier in this blend amplifies that, giving this a very strong nose of strawberries, coffee, and mint. Lush on the tongue, and not as fruity as I would have expected. Finish starts out with a light tannin that strengthens for a long time into a lingering coffee flavor. Around $10.

Laurel Glen 2005 "Reds" -- Marketed as "a wine for the people" -- this red blend from Lodi, California is a blend of four grapes -- Zinfandel, Carignane, Petit Sirah, and Syrah. The result is a big ol' smooth red wine. The nose is cherries and blackberries. As you would expect with those particular grapes, this is a big-tasting wine, but the fruit-bomb tendency of the zinfandel is tempered by the syrah and petit sirah -- leaving a taste of smooth tart cherries. The finish slides easily into a slightly dry, slightly fruity end which is quite nice. This wine was born to go with grilled or roasted red meat. Rare roast beef and new potatoes would be scrumptious here. At $8-10, you can spend the extra money on meat from the butcher's case.

Woodsman's White 2005 Cserszegi Füszeres – I simply didn’t know where to put this wine when I first tried it. The grape is pronounced chair-seggy fooser-raish. A clone of a gewürztraminer grown in Hungary. reminiscent of Alsace gewürztraminer. It starts you out with a strong sweet apple nose. Body is initially very dry. After a couple of sips, a gentle fruit flavor comes out. Finish is somewhat crisp. Had this with a Thai eggplant, bean, and tomato salad and it went quite nicely. I first found this at Trader Joe’s for around $4, of all things – it’s definitely worth it!

Chateau de Pena "Ninet de Pena" 2006 Cuvee Rose – A good, basic table rose from the makers of my favorite red box wine. Expect nothing fancy here. The nose is straightforward -- a little bit honey and flowers. Full bodied full for a rose and more than a bit acidic. The finish is bone dry. If you’re just sipping at it on it's own, it's decent. But for something to throw back if you're eating some meat or other earthy stuff and for some reason you don't want a red, it's hard to beat this for $5-6.


Stumble It!

Felice Anno Nuovo!

Now that I've had a couple of days to rehydrate so that my brain feels less like it's been slow-cooked in bacon grease, I can start the Vine train rolling again.

For those who haven't followed the Vine since its inception, the Sweet Partner in Crime and I hunker down each New Year's Eve, try some recipes that we haven't made before, open a bunch of wine, and generally enjoy ourselves while avoiding Amateur Night in the public square. This year, inspired by our Med Cruise and buoyed by a new cookbook, we decided to think Italian and embark on our own "Big Night." (Side note: if you haven't seen that movie and you call yourself a foodie, you're missing out in so many ways...)

The lineup for the evening (I waived my usual $15 limit, since this was a special occasion):


Terlan 2007 Alto Adige Pinot Grigio ($20)
Bisci 2006 Verdicchio di Matelica ($15)
Cecci 2006 Chianti Classico ($15)
Vietti 2006 Dolcetto d'Alba Tre Vigne ($20)
Rotari "Arte Italiana" Talento Trento Brut ($14)

Aperitif: The Terlan pinot grigio -- to get us started, because how can anyone be expected to make an Italian meal without a glass or two of wine at the ready? Also, since there was a must-see basketball game on New Year's Eve, we had something to sip on while our various dishes started down their succulent courses.

The Terlan was an excellent choice for a starter. This pinot grigio was much fuller and softer than many I've tried. Still a high-acid wine, for sure, but there was less of a citrus taste -- more melon and a crisp, strong finish that wasn't biting.

Antipasti: Our first course was a thinly sliced grouper marinated in lemon juice. The recipe initially called for non-Chilean sea bass or striped bass, but there wasn't any available locally that I could find.


This dish is very similar to ceviche. If you're unfamiliar with ceviche, it's raw fish and red onion marinated in lime juice. The Italian version used flat-leaf parsley and lemon juice instead of lime juice and cilantro. The acidity of the lemon juice"cooks" the fish in a few hours, creating a fully-cooked, light, flavorful concoction. We tried both the Pinot Grigio and the Verdicchio with the dish. (The Verdicchio was a fragrant, peachy smelling white. Full-bodied and crisp, this had a little more oomph than the Pinot Grigio.)

Split decision. I liked the Verdicchio better, since I thought the fuller wine balanced the acidity of the lemon and brought out more interesting flavors. The SPinC preferred the pinot grigio, since she liked the "acid with acid" effect on all the citrus. Either way, you couldn't lose.

Primi: We followed the grouper with the produce of one of our new holiday toys -- a pasta maker.

We wanted to play, so we made homemade linguini in a simple tomato & anchovy sauce became our pasta course. (Don't wrinkle your nose at the anchovies -- the sauce didn't taste fishy at all.) We sampled with both the Verdicchio and the Chianti Classico. The latter was the clear winner, although both wines got outshined by the pasta itself, which was heavenly. A regular Chianti would probably have been a good choice, or perhaps a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. I don't know if I could get used to making my own pasta every day, since it's fairly labor intensive -- but the difference between homemade and store-bought pasta is nothing short of amazing.


Primi parte due: Here, we broke from "traditional" Italian meal model. Soup generally does not follow pasta, but since we were stretching this meal out over the course of the evening, we decided to do this as a separate course. So, we settled on an an escarole, bean, and barley soup. With this traditional rustic Italian soup, we decided to go with a wine equally rustic. We paired this up with the Chianti Classico and had our first "WOW!" pairing of the evening. Chianti Classico can be a little rough around the edges taken on its own, but nuzzled up against a steaming bowl of this earthy concoction that we had going in the slow cooker for a few hours -- absolutely a heavenly experience. The earthy flavors in the soup deepened. The fruit in the wine shone through marvelously. We ate this course without saying too much, as we were so focused on the flavor.


Secondi: For our main course, we did a pan-roasted veal shoulder stuffed with spinach and garlic. I'd never done a stuffed roast before, and I was a bit nervous about anything requiring the use of kitchen twine, but my fears were unfounded. The roast came out done to a turn -- and after plating it up, we were treated to the second "WOW!" pairing. Dolcetto is from the Piedmont region, home of Barolo and Barbaresco. Dolcetto is a fruitier, more acidic, more delicate wine than those two tannic monsters. The Vietti has a deeply fruity, slightly smoky nose and a wonderful balance of fruit and tannin in its medium-bodied style. As wonderful as the wine tasted, paired with the veal, it was absolutely sublime -- the perfect amount of tannin to cut through the fat, and the savory, delicate flavor of the veal married perfectly with the wine's fruit. Just exceptional.



Dolci: Of course, we needed to finish with a sweet, so I poached tangerine slices in simple syrup, white wine, and lemon juice, then sprinkled them with some allspice. We rang in the new year with this, paired up with the Rotari sparkling wine. By this point in the evening, we couldn't properly appreciate the pairings, but we can safely say that it tasted pretty darned good.


After watching the ball drop, we toasted in the New Year with the Rotari (and I added a shot of grappa...), slammed some water and headed for bed, full and happy.

In case you're interested, the cookbook we used was "Every Night Italian" by Giuliano Hazan. All of the recipes (except for the tangerines) are based on what we found there. Mr. Hazan was generous enough to give permission for me to reprint the recipes. Follow the links to get the individual recipes. If you're interested in the book itself, click here to get it on Amazon.



Welcome to 2009, everyone! May it be a prosperous, healthy year for all of us.

Help Kentucky join the modern era

Speaking of wine and law, I saw this article in the Enquirer today. Some grocery stores in Kentucky are starting a petition drive to allow wine sales in supermarkets.

Non-Bluegrass readers probably read the above sentence and went, "Huh?" Yes, what you read is correct. It is currently illegal in the state of Kentucky for a grocery store to sell wine. You'll usually see a liquor store, often owned by the grocery, next door -- but the law requires a separate storefront and separate transactions.

Kentucky's a pretty bass-ackwards state when it comes to alcohol sales. Of Kentucky's 120 counties, only 30 are truly "wet," meaning that alcohol sales are permitted. 52 are truly dry, meaning no alcohol sales at all. The rest have some weird combination of regulations usually around restaurants and golf courses. (I remember my uncle Alan's reaction when he learned about dry counties at my sister's wedding a couple of years ago. Alan is from NYC. I think the shock still hasn't worn off...)

Needless to say, this setup is patently ridiculous. According to the article, "Liquor store operators and legislators, opposed to expanding the sale of alcohol, are against the bill." The former probably fear a drop in their business, but I would guess the impact would be negligible. The latter are likely the same legislators who demand creationism side by side with evolution and who require the state Homeland Security office to credit God with keeping the state safe.

Anyway, there's an online petition to support changing the law so that you can do your food and wine shopping together. There's also a Facebook group if you're into that sort of thing. Take a couple of seconds and sign the petition if you can.


Stumble It!

A little Christmas cheer...

...from the Federal Appeals Court in Cincinnati. They ruled yesterday that the state of Kentucky must allow wine shipments into the state if an individual makes a purchase, even if that purchase is over the phone or online.

More "activist judges" like this, please!

(h/t Vine Reader Steve G.)


Stumble It!

The Best Meal of the Day -- Brunch wines

Breakfast is "the most important meal of the day." Lunch is all too often fast food or something you scarf while you're plowing through the workday, since America hasn't adopted the tremendously civilized siesta. Everyone puts their focus on creating tasty dinners. I'd venture that upwards of 90% of wine pairings, tastings, et al focus on dinner.

But what about brunch?

Brunch is decadence. It's the "No alarm. I slept in today." meal. It's flexible -- go light or heavy, healthy or greasy. It's my most mood-dependent meal. At what other time will you see a Reuben, poached eggs, breakfast sausage (or goetta for the locals), fresh fruit and a panini happily coexisting on the same table? A good brunch means you've had a good time the night before -- either in a big group (which often means nursing a hangover along with your V-8) or with one other lucky person so that, come late morning, you're gazing moonily across steaming lattes.

Of course, if you're going to be truly decadent, you need wine. [I know, I know -- there are some of you out there saying "Beer. It isn't just for breakfast anymore," but let's move past shotgunning a Schaefer's to get ourselves going on a morning after.]

If you're thinking of wines to go with brunchiful goodness, keep it simple. Sure, you could put a lot of thought into finding the perfect wine, but just like with Thanksgiving, you're probably not going to have much success. Honestly, who has that kind of mental energy in the morning?

So, easy enough...Sparkling wine. You can't miss. No one's going to care. Most people's palates wake up more slowly than they do, so give them something that's basically going to cut through the clutter of foods and just plain ol' taste good.

If you're out and about and you want to impress a group without breaking the bank, order a bottle of Gruet Brut Sparkling Wine ($15). While it may sound like a French bottle, it's actually produced in New Mexico and, for my money, is as interesting as almost any sparkler out there. The reason, I suspect, is that it's made in the traditional French method, called "Methode Champenoise." (If you want to know more about that, I wrote about it once before.) The result is a very crisp, balanced sparkling wine that pairs with almost anything -- but dry sparkling wine really shines when you've got something that's a little bit (or a lot) fatty. So, if you need a plate of hash browns to go with that throbbing headache and queasy stomach, this will be the perfect hair of the dog.

For those of you who aren't big fans of dry wines, you're not out of luck. One of the best brunch wines out there is on the sweeter side -- Moscato d'Asti. Moscato d'Asti is, in general, a sweet, fruity, lightly carbonated wine. "Asti" refers to the Italian locale where the wine is made.Also, these wines are traditionally only between 5-6% alcohol, so if you're looking for something you can drink without catching too much of a morning buzz, this type of wine is a perfect choice. These wines generally have a lot of peach and pear flavors, and are quite refreshing. The nicest thing about them is that they're generally rather uniform in quality, so the majority are going to be decent, and usually around $8-10. The best I've tried is the Tintero 2007 Moscato d'Asti. (Many thanks to the Liquor Direct crew for turning me on to this one.) While it shares many of the same characteristics, for a couple of extra dollars, I thought its flavors were more defined and more interesting. See what you think.

Finally, there's the "champagne cocktail." Way back in January, I wrote about toasting in the new year with cava, and then saving the bulk of the bottle for morning mimosas. Now, honestly, if you're just mixing together some store bought OJ and some leftover bubbly, you don't have to be too choosy. That said, if you're doing this right, and you've got some fresh squeezed on hand, I'd prefer to use some relatively decent wine as a mixer. I've also discovered that "extra dry" sparkling wines make better mixers, largely because they have a little bit of residual sugar. I started the year with Freixenet and I'll finish the same way. I stand by Freixenet Extra Dry Cordon Negro Cava ($10) for any of your mimosa-making needs. It would also work well with kir (which is sparkling wine with crème de cassis) or bellini (sparkling wine with peach puree).

And, with that, The Vine closes the book on 2008. Your humble reviewer is going to take a couple of weeks off to let his liver recover, and I'll be back with more fun in the new year. Thanks to all of you out there for sticking by me in this little venture. You guys are my motivation, and I appreciate all the good vibes.

Have a great holiday season, travel safely, enjoy the parties, and may the new year bring you health, happiness, and wonder.

Later days.

Green Wine

No, no -- not another verse-filled vinho verde column...it's the environment, silly!

I enjoy being greener. Call it "Gore's example" or clean living, or just plain old smart, but I like it. I like looking for everyday ways to trim a little here and there from the ol' carbon footprint. I do what I can. I try to keep the house energy-efficient. I drive less. I recycle more. I try to buy local when I can. I've got a composter (code name: "The Muffin Machine") humming silently, happily away in the backyard.

But what about my other habits? Am I as green as I can be when it comes to this little literary enterprise of mine? Thankfully, wine and winemaking contribute nicely to the "green experience." Winemaking is an exacting process. Vinifera grapes (WineSpeak for "the major grape varietals in wine") tend to be finicky critters, so companies that use huge, soulless mass-production methods, lots of pesticides, automated harvesting, and the like -- the grapes don't respond well and what ends up in the bottle is generally an inferior product.

"Organic" is nothing new in the wine world, nor are environmentally friendly agricultural practice. Regardless of the price of a wine, the care taken as the grapes move from bud to bottle almost always shows through in what winds up in the glass. There's much more to conservation than just being organic, so here are a few bottles I've tried (and recycled) lately that contain a "green tint"

I discovered X Winery 2006 "X3" Cabernet Sauvignon one day at the wine store when I was looking for a cabernet with a Stelvin screwtop, largely because, honestly, I wanted a wine I wouldn't have to fool with all that much when I was ready to drink it. Yes, there are some days I'm too lazy to pick up a corkscrew. This winery is focused on using new technologies, environmentally friendly production techniques, and the growers that they work with are committed to sustainable agriculture -- meaning that they try to do as little harm as possible to the ecosystem while farming. What I didn't realize was that I found a very, very good wine to boot. This wine is their second-line cabernet at around $15. This cab has a big nose of vanilla and blackberries. The body is well-balanced with some smoke and chocolate flavors. Paired with chocolate, you've got a big winner.

Seeing a display for the Yellow Jersey 2007 Pinot Noir surprised me. At first, I thought it was simply a bunch of half-liter bottles with bright yellow labels. I was wrong. The bottles were a full 750 ml, and they were made entirely of plastic. It makes sense that a plastic bottle would be smaller -- they're not going to be as thick as a glass one. The wine itself? Well, it wasn't bad for a $10 pinot. I certainly didn't taste anything significantly different from a glass-container wine. This was honestly a relatively nondescript pinot, meaning that it wouldn't get in the way of most foods, and it wasn't a bad quaff if you just wanted a glass of something without thinking too much. Now. where this wine would come in very handy is any picnic, hike, or somewhere that you'd have to pack it in and out. The bottle itself is 90% lighter than glass, shatterproof, and, of course, recyclable. When the weather's nice, a bottle of this with a cheese and meat board somewhere outside would be delightful. Just make sure that you clean up when you're done.

One of my favorite couplings of environmental improvement and wine quality is box wine. As I've written before, the days of Vella and Franzia are thankfully coming to a close. Companies are starting to package more and better qualities of wine in boxes. Although, as I think about it -- I don't know how much of the box itself can be recycled. The cardboard of the box is obviously recyclable -- but the spigot and the Tetra Pak plastic inside the box...I'm not sure. I did some research and couldn't find anything definitive.

Regardless of the specific container, a single box of wine is a more efficient transport than the four glass (or plastic) bottles of the same amount. The Chateau de Pena 2005 Cuvee de Pena is one of the more interesting wines in a box I've had. This blend of Syrah, Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre from a cooperative in Roussillon bills itself as "the world's friendliest red wine." I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but it's definitely an affable companion which will nuzzle up to any number of recipes. It's the earthiest box wine I've had. There's even a little bit of that Old World funk on the nose. The finish is dry and a little earthy. I'd call it a "Cotes-du-Rhone Lite" and be happy. A bottle's around $8, but the 3 liter box, my purchase of choice, is around $25.

On an interesting side note, I recently met the parents of Christine the Pie Queen. Her father is a former engineer at Dow who worked on the technology that eventually led to bag-in-a-box wine. He said that the bags are usually several layers of plastic laminate thick. Each layer does something specific, whether preventing oxygen from getting in, esters (those yummy smell molecules) out, protection from pollutants, etc. The innermost is the most important, because it's the one that would impart (or, rather, not impart) flavor to the wine. Hearing the process by which these things are made was nothing less than fascinating.


Stumble It!

"econnoisseurs" unite!

Via vine reader John C. -- today's Urban Dictionary word of the day:

econnoisseur

One who insists on the highest quality at the lowest price.

Being an econnoisseur I bought the ten dollar chilean wine instead of the fifty dollar french.

Guilty as charged!



Stumble It!

Relax.

Welcome to the most exhausting time of the year.

Thanksgiving travel gives way to familial dinner table stress. Black Friday comes, with its yearly dose of lines, crowds, stampedes and shootings. Blood pressures rise. Tension mounts. TV, radio, email, Twitter, Christmas music on all stations, bad weather, road rage. The long stretch of holiday parties, shopping, budgetary woes, seasonal affective disorder, all screeching towards the end-of-month holidays and...finally...New Year's, after which everyone is too hung over to be stressed.

Repeat.

I'm tired just thinking about it all.

In our rare moments of downtime, calm is not something that we as Americans either value or savor. There's always something in the inbox, waiting on the DVR, or around any corner. Here at the Naked Vine, I'm proposing the Minute of Calm. At least once a day, every day, between now and the end of the year, I'm going to try to stop for sixty seconds and quietly reflect on...nothing.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Try it. See if you can be still for one minute. Start...right...now.

Don't worry about me. I'll wait.

[tick...tick...tick...15 seconds...20...30...]

Couldn't do it, could you? Don't worry. Neither could I...at least not at first. I need at least something to distract that nervous little voice in my head. I needed an assist.

Of course, I went for the easy way out...a glass of wine. Something I could pour, sit back, and savor while I let my mind go dark. This site being an egalitarian place, I wanted to give you some options. For me, it's all about the time of day:

The Just-Home-From-Work Glass: Stepping over the threshold after my evening commute, drop the lunch bag on the counter, play with the pups, change into some sweats, reach for a glass and pour myself a dollop to pause and refresh. I generally want something a little crisp if this is going to be the Minute. Ecker 2007 Grüner Veltliner is a recent find that fits the bill. "Grapefruit and rocks" was my first thought after tasting this high-acid, cool white. It's fragrant for a Veltliner, and the flavors cut right through whatever stress might manifest on your tongue, both giving you a little jolt of energy and allowing you to sit back and unwind. Best of all, it comes in a 1 liter bottle, so you get a little extra for your $10.

The Relaxing Evening Glass: Sitting in a comfy chair or laid out on the sofa, a glass to exhale fully and then breathe in the bouquet. Something lovely and supple, like...say...a pinot noir. In this case, Bearboat 2006 Pinot Noir. One of the prettier wines I've had the opportunity to sniff in quite some time, the cherry/vanilla/smoke triumvirate of a good California pinot is in full effect here. First on the nose, and strongly on the tongue, the full fruitiness of this wine quickly slides into a smoky, sinuous middle and a long, lasting finish. Absolutely a delicious wine over which to sit and ponder the meaning of life. (And you could even invite a friend along if you felt social) Now, I'll be honest -- you may have a hard time finding this one for $15. I found it on sale, and after all -- you deserve it. Splurge if you gotta.

The Nightcap: Perhaps you're not going to get to spool down until just before you head for bed. One of the evening rituals around here is a piece of chocolate or a two-bite brownie with a glass of wine. That combination sends anyone into a deliciously contemplative mood, in my opinion. So, as winter's grip starts to tighten, get those port glasses out and pour yourself a dram or three of port to go with some chocolate. For this, I chose Graham's "Six Grapes" Reserve Port. A big, robust port, full of plums and cherries -- and a bouquet of fruit and pipe tobacco. (I kid you not.) A 375ml can be had for around $15. Well worth the price.

Don't let the holiday season overwhelm you. Focus on the peace and the calm wherever you may find it. Who knows? The Minute of Calm may last beyond New Year's. That may well be my New Year's resolution.